Of the Christian-oriented books on divorce recovery that I've read, this is the best. Though it comes from a somewhat more fundamentalist perspective than I usually subscribe to, it avoids being preachy, and is accessible in tone, even for people who don't come from a fundamentalist background. I highly recommend this one for people dealing with an unwanted divorce - I'm keeping it around to share with others who are going through what I've been through!

12/27/00

It has been exactly a year since my wife had an affair with her girlfriend's husband, filed for divorce, and hired my city's most notorious Family Law attorney to attack me. There are now five attorneys involved (2 custody, 2 financial, & a discovery referee) and four accountants.

If you are going through a divorce, or contemplating one, I must tell you, this last year has been the most difficult in my life. I have a strong faith in GOD, I am the father of two wonderful children, and I am the CEO of a large holding company.

I have always read 50 books a year. And this year is no exception. Only this year, 25 were on divorce ranging from "When a mate wants out" to "Moving on when your mate moves out". However, by far the best book I read was Joseph Warren Kniskern's book, "When the Vow Breaks".

I am the leader of a large organization and I teach as well. One of the greatest compliments I can get, is for someone to say, often many years later, "You made a difference in my life".

This is exactly the compliment of a lifetime that I want to give to Warren. His book made a difference in my life and it will in yours as well.

Mr. Kniskern addresses many issues in this book for those facing a seemingly impossible situation. It is so painful to find yourself facing divorce when you really believed in "till death do you part". Whether your spouse is wanting out of the marriage, or circumstances have occurred that make it impossible to stay, this book is a Godsend! He discusses the Biblical views on marriage, when divorce is acceptable for Christians, why we should first consider reconciliation (for me, a very important topic), emotional and spiritual healing, as well as legal issues. In my case, I did have scriptural grounds for a divorce, but God used this book to encourage me to try again with my husband. We are currently working on reconciliation, and God has worked many miracles in our relationship and lives. A definite "must read" for anyone who thought their marriage would last forever, only to have the rug pulled out from under them. I have recommended this book to several friends, and would encourage pastors and counselors to check it out as well.

This book won the Pulitzer prize for the soundest of reasons. As the other reviews indicate, this book gives perspective to the actions and times of General Stillwell in China, but like Ms. Tuchman's other books "Stillwell" operates on several levels, giving a sensible and ultimately useful history of Sino-American relations since the arrival of the American missionaries in the middle of the 19th century. By the time I finished reading this book, American foreign policy towards China made great sense even when those policies were ill-founded. I don't believe you can find a more profitable or enjoyable read in all of history. Definately give this book a read.

I dicovered this book by accident in a used book store a few years ago. My first introduction to Barbara Tuchman, and I was hooked. The other reviewers have highly rated the ease of reading this book and I wholeheartedly agree. This is a substantial book on many levels. I would like to comment that in addition to its ease of reading, it brought to light a man that I believe has been neglected by post World War II historians, politicians and his own military. I recall the (1960s) film titled Merrill's Marauders in which General Stillwell makes a brief appearence. Little did I know then what depth of involvement he had in China and that theatre of the war. One knows of Patton, Nimitz, King, Halsey, and of course, Eisenhower and MacArthur, but Stillwell, well, he truly had the most thankless job in WW II. Ms. Tuchman did a wonderful job of describing a China caught between feeble attempts at modernizing and reverence for the old ways, competing political systems and national interests at a time of great change in the world at large. I came away from this book with the utmost respect for General Stillwell.

This book has stood the test of time and it is good to see it available again. Barbara Tuchman was not a professional toiler in the trenches of academe and the wide spread acclaim she gathered for Guns of August (c.f) and her other works did not endear her to those who could not write a coherent and understandable sentence.
For a work done so long ago before many of the files were opened in the archives of the world especially those then held by the CIA and now declassified, it still provides insight into the man and his times. It is just too unfortunate that he was such an irascible person, perhaps he would have prevailed.
As it was, they did not fire him directly, they kicked him upstairs and replaced him with two generals. :-). One wonders what he would have said and done in response to the barkers about "Who lost China.?" He would have put the blame right where it belonged, on Chaing Kai Shek. I do not think he would have stood idly by and let the State Department railroad Service, Davies, and the others out of the government. And would have gotten David Barrett his well earned star.

Great book, but in need of a new edition

the perfect companion for treating lower and upper extremity infection, in fact the best tool for just plane understanding how to treat infections of the skin and bones.

I grew up in New York City, but have lived for the past 10 years on seven acres in a semi-rural part of New Hampshire. I am also in the process of building a barn (next to the house the we actually live in). So when I saw this book, I had to buy it.

However, within a few chapters I was starting to have some concerns that Monninger was missing the point, and the more I read the more it was confirmed. What he has written is a New Yorker's view of life in New Hampshire. When I got to the point in the book where he describes how he used to live on Central Park West, I understood my concerns, but also really lost touch with the book.

He describes expansive fields with levels of gardens and myriad flora and fauna. In my mind's eye I was picturing a real expansive New Hampshire farm, but then I was drawn back to the fact that he is talking about three acres, abutting on the town school. Three acres is a lot of land in Manhattan, but if you live in New England for a while you will understand that it is just a back yard. Monninger catalogs every plant and every bird he finds, with the child-like glee of someone who has never seen nature before, but he is so lost in the details that he can't get beyond that fact that he is writing a New Yorker's view of New Hampshire for other New Yorkers.

I also found it annoying that he does not describe the impact of having on job on his ambitious renovation project. It would be great if I could have the amount of free time that he seems to have, both to spend with family and work around the house. It comes off as an idealized view of life, and does not describe the realities of what he has undertaken. He also makes a few attempts to add local color and local history, and I feel the book would have been better if he had had more of that.

From a literary standpoint, he really does overdo the metaphors and descriptions, but I can imagine how difficult it must be to accurately convey the feeling of spring in New England, or the size of a large structure. He would do better though with more description and less attempted poetry.

I can see how this book might be an interesting read for someone in a large city imagining life in the country, but it is not really an accurate or well written portrayal, and it left me, now a committed New Hampshirite, frustrated.

I just completed the relishing of Joseph Moninger's , A Barn. Agreeing with anothers veiwpoint of too much flowering descriptions I ignored a few choice lines and skipped to new paragraphs; yet with respect I know I would never have enjoyed the parts I did read if they had not been described with such love and experience. I am one of those "wanna be barn owners"; ever since I was eight years old and watched the people two streets over gut, renew and live in this massive building with huge windows and sturdy walls. I fell in love. Amongst all the eloquence this book offers; it is the underlying theme; the reason I did not read it, that leaves me speechless and in awe. It is in the storyline that Monninger weaves the secondary and yet primal thread of family and the fact, as he states, that he realized that he and Wendy were creating thier son's past. What a beautiful, thought provoking, loving and spiritually filled knowing. As they were focused on integrity during the ever present process of renewing this structure; they also were creating sustanance, substance and stablitiy for Pie. My son is twenty-three and if I ever get another opportunity to go around with him again; I pray that I rememeber that once we become parents; however that is gifted to us; that in our present we are creating our childs past.

If you read this, Joseph Monninger, Wendy and Pie; thank you.

This is a great book that offers to show us a different way of life than most of us live. Having grown up in the suburbs of California, the oldest house I lived in was 30 years old. I never had to worry about heating, or beams falling apart things that are very real concers to Joe and his family.
In addition to the general information about "barn" living, we see what it is like to integrate three lives into one new one. The stories of the deepening relationship between Joe and Pie are heartwarming and touching, as are the moments of closeness between Joe and Wendy.
Mr. Monninger gives us a wonderful insight to barns, New England, and creating a new life with people that you love.

While this book may not be for everybody, and it might not include all the aspects that a reader might expect - kind of a one stop shopping to tell everything that is necessary to understand this sect - it nevertheless tells you what the Amish are really like and why they wear the unusual clothes they do, as well as preach against the "worldly wisdom." You get to follow Rosanna through her childhood, youth, courtship, and marriage, and child-rearing. Not only that, you see how her Amish life will differ from that of her Catholic friends, especially when they visit from their Philadelphia home.

While this is not a modern day presentation, it is really useful as a historical piece. Just don't get bogged down by expecting a thorough intellectual examination of the Amish. The book is not intended for that. It is written as a honest, sympathetic and straightforward reflection of these folks from a religious, social, and economic snapshot. The traditions of the Amish are celebrated, and it's done very nicely. Recommended!!!

I loved this book....and was sorry to see it end. The author (son of Rosanna) wrote a beautiful yet simple and compelling biography on the life of his mother, and the people closest in her life. I felt privileged reading this story - almost as if I were a member of this close-knit community. This story of honor and simple values would be wonderful today as it was then. Probably the most surprising statements which helped me to put it in perspective were comments made about Lincoln.....while I would prefer to believe this was a modern day story - stage coaches were in use and Lincoln was the President of the day. I highly recommend this book as an insight into the wisdom of how people should hold respect for one another, how families could work together for each other's good......and how communities can thrive without the aid of much of the electronic gadgetry of our modern times. This is a book of simple wisdom and peaceable lives. I am so grateful to son Joseph for his writing. There is even a very few pages at the end of the book, telling a bit about him......I highly recommend this book and hope you find value in it as I certainly did.

The author is the son of the main character, Rosanna. Rosanna is the daughter of an Irish immigrant who is born around 1840 (my estimate as it is never given in the book). Rosanna's mother dies following Rosanna's birth. She is given to an Amish family on a temporary basis. When her father dies some months later, she ends up being permanently adopted and rasied by this old order Amish woman who later marries and bears more children.

The author tells this interesting story, all the while weaving information about the lives of the old order Amish. I found this an interesting read. Explanations for why the Amish do things the way they do are given. There are details about their religious services, weddings, and funerals. Why they refuse to buy medical or fire insurance, why they refuse government aide, and why they refuse to fight in American wars is all explained.

The author ends up going to college and later leaves the old order Amish to become a Mennonite. The old order Amish don't allow attending college as the author chose to do, to further his formal training as a teacher, so he had to change religious affiliations.

What is missing from this book is a true spirit for Rosanna as a woman. Specifically, there is not much emotion or thoughts about certain things such as what it is like to mother children. There was virtually nothing about the experience of pregnancy, childbirth from her point of view, or how she could balance all that work and rearing so many children. The emotional aspect of losing her only daughter when she was just a toddler was not really elaborated on. I understand that it may be the custom to not verbally express emotions but I refuse to believe that emotions are not experienced...then again, if she was quiet about expressing her emotions I guess she would not have told her son therefore making these thoughts impossible for him to know and write about. Also missing was an explanation for what an Amish childhood is like, how much do they play and work? How much do they contribute to the laborious farm work the families accomplish? How does a busy Amish mother have time to pamper and enjoy her newborn baby? Also I'd like some parenting information such as common philosophies such as "is corporal punishment used"?

Something else that I would have appreciated is a bit of an overview of the differences between the different orders and about the differences with the Mennonites. A better explanation of when and why people are ex-communicated, banned or shunned would put things more in perspective. There is nothing about this except a couple of sentences of inferred information. To get that information will take further research and reading.

The account of the old order Amish is tastefully and respectfully written about in this book. I think this would make a great read aloud book for young children or as a book for a young person to read to themselves, perhaps if learning about American history or just to satisfy a curiosity about the Amish. There is nothing in here that is controversial such as sexual content. Since they live such a clean and virtuous life, there is nothing that needs censoring here for young children.

The old order Amish are portrayed as a content, happy, and peaceful people. If we each changed a few things we non-Amish do to follow in their footsteps we'd be all the better for it.

Robert Penn Warren, Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce (Random House, 1983)

Warren's penultimate book of poetry, published as he was nearing eighty, is less something to be criticized or examined as it is to be learned from. Warren, seventy-five at the time of this long poem's writing, had been in the game for over a half century, had won the Pulitzer three times (as well as most other major prizes known to man), and was one of the last century's most influential writers on many fronts. Forget nitpicking, and just learn from one of the few Americans who has truly earned the title of "master" in the poetic realm. ***

I rode a motorcycle through the Dakotas, Wyoming, and Montana some years ago, and became sensitized to the tragic plight of the Native American Indians. Robert Penn Warren has created a beautiful and lasting "monument" to this unsung hero of peace who was slaughtered by the United States Cavalry. This tiny book is similar to Gutzon Borglum's monument to Chief Crazy Horse -- only a different medium. I would give it a highest recommendation for enlightenment reading and to keep close forever as a visionary friend.

This book was recommended to me by a college counselor who has high praise for the authors. If I may paraphrase: The book is eloquently written, the format is very well put together and usable. The authors discuss the aversion to math that has a long history purpetuated in American schools: mathematics and real world rationale continue to be divided by an abyss. One important fact pointed out by the academic counselor is that the book is written by PhD. Mathematicians, which seems to be the only way to get math departments interested in trying new programs. I look forward to using this book.

Most readers of this book who are familiar with Joseph Leidy and his work will be disappointed. The biography offers an ear full about the scientific climate during the late 1800's of America, but relatively little about, Joseph Leidy, himself. Throughout the book the author laments the fact that Leidy was not an experimental biologist or theorist, and overlooks Leidy's talents as a descriptive biologist, geologist, and (what he is most known for) paleontologist. This book, even, lacks a bibliography of Joseph Leidy's writings. I would suggest anyone to read Joseph Leidy's original words. Hopefully we don't have to wait another 150 years for the next biography to be published.

This book is required reading for anyone interested in natural history or the academic and scientific climate of 19th century Philadelphia. Leidy, a man of immense distinction in his time, was virtually forgotten in this century. Warren has given us an absorbing account of the life and times of this eminent Victorian, and in doing so has restored him to the stature he deserves as "The Last Man Who Knew Everything."