We can all benefit from this very informative book! Whether we are 25 or 45, we need to take control of our finances and build a financial future that we can all be comfortable with! No more excuses for why we do not have enough money to start with; look at the examples of Anne Scheiber, Oseola McCarty and Gladys Holm, Donald Othmer, little known people who started with little and built a fortune, leaving it to help others.

Read this book and use the tools! Be frugal and reap the benefits!

Great Book! I totally enjoyed reading it. I have a small collection of books on money management. None have moved me to action such as this one. It was so easy to read. Everything was explained very well. What I also loved about this book was the endless resource Ms. Stephens gave. Her example of everyday people whom did well investing small amounts of money encouraged me tremendously. I founded myself running back to my budget trying to find more money to invest. She removed all my fears and doubt. I hated keeping a budget at first. I hated seeing in printed how much money I did not have. Now I love keeping my financial records. I gladly count my pennies because I know it is my beginning of a bright financial future! Thank you Brooke Stephens.

Brooke Stephens has written a book which is a presentfromheaven. I bought this book... some time ago; what asteal. Anyhow, I thought it was like the Suzie Orman's book, but once I started to read this book, I notice there was something different here. It was a simple day to day plan for personal growth as well as personal finance. The financial guide is not a get rich book but the book is for those of us who truly do not understand finance. BS book could also help the knowlegeable finance manager out there. I must tell you this, I have read only 100 pages and I already must say it is worth 10 stars. This book has drove me to pencil in notes in the margins. The booksellers have not given this book a top spot in their stores, and I must say, I wonder WHY. Good people, please, do not pass up this book if you are interested in making your finances better. Wow, enough said here, but do not forget to come back and check out my next review.

Personal Finance Books are no sure thing for riches, but this BOOK is not just good, but VERY GOOD !

The End Is Near brings together interesting essays and most unsual artists. The quality of the images and paintings displayed in this book make it a MUST for any art collector and connoisseur of fine books. Essayists in this book bring new meaning to the art depicted. Visionary art and Outsider Art come together in this book beautifully. WELL DONE...a "must have".

"The End is Near" makes you yearn for Divine inspiration regardless of its source or circumstance. The artwork is stunning, the artist bios are awe-inspiring and the essays are thought provoking, empowering and spiritually comforting. This is an amazing gift to give to others...but do yourself a favor and give it to yourself first. And then go out and pick up a paintbrush, a pencil, or a piece of coal and create. This book will make you realize that the best art you ever see could be just below the surface of your own consciousness.

By showing the amazing collection of the American Museum of Visionary Art, this book provokes the reader to re-think the distinctions our society draws between genius and madness. I've actually been to the Museum in Baltimore and am thrilled that this artwork is now available on a large scale. This book may not be for everyone, but those willing to expose themselves to its often disturbing imagery will be rewarded.

This book is one of the best spiritual guidebooks I have everread. I strongly recommend this book to any person who wants to thinkthrough the meaning of life and is sincere about self-improvement. The best quote is probably "Life is not so complex if we do not persistently make it so...The springs of life are all from within. Invariably it is true--as is the inner so always and inevitably will be the outer." Another quote I like is "The great central fact in human life, in your life and in mine, is the coming into a conscious, vital realization of our oneness with this Infinite Life, and the opening of ourselves to this divine inflow." He discusses visualization, positive thinking and the need to become our own best friend: "In the degree that we open ourselves to the higher powers and let them manifest through us, then by the very inspirations we carry with us do we become in a sense the saviors of our fellow men, and in this way we are all, or may become, the saviors of one another." Get this book and help change the world into a better place by learning more about who you are in relation to the Infinite.

Reading this book had a more profound effect on my life than hearing any sermon in a church. Trine succinctly and eloquently explains how and why we all must be "in tune with the Infinite." As the title page of his original 1897 book states, "Within yourself lies the cause of whatever enters into your life. To come into the full realization of your own awakened interior powers, is to be able to condition your life in exact accord with what you would have it." If he were alive today, I'm certain this would be an Oprah Winfrey "Book of the Month" club selection.

"In Tune With The Infinite: Fullness of Peace, Power and Plenty" is a book about the essence of the existence of mankind. And Mr. Ralph Waldo Trine couldn't be any more precise in explaining this when he said that, "The great central fact in human life, in your life and mine, is the coming into a conscious, vital realization of our oneness with this Infinite Life, and the opening of ourselves fully to this divine inflow". Based on some of Mr. Waldo's precepts, man is created to the image of the Infinite and by this grace begets the power to control his own dominion. We are ONE with It and therefore all connected to one another. For this reason, the cause and effects of our actions toward others will always reflect back. This book is soothing not only for the spirit and the soul but also for the body. Because of its profound ideas it may seem hard to read at first but as you begin to understand its words, it flows gently into one's mind. This book has helped me change my life. In tune with the Infinite. I highly recommend it to all readers.

There is a quote - I'm not sure who said it - that the longest journey man will ever take lies in the distance between his head and his heart. Stephen G. Scalese's book, The Whisper in Your Heart, will significantly reduce the length of that particular journey for all who read it and apply its simple principles. I started my own journey some 10 years ago, and have been working fairly diligently at it ever since. First was a search for meaning in life - "Is this all there is?" Then came a spiritual awakening, that there was something larger than me at work in my life. Then came a search for simplicity and balance. Finally came the realization that wholeness is what we all seek, and that all life's answers have already been provided for and are already within us - we have only to carry them out. If we can find them, that is. Especially with all the distractions our lifestyle and culture can throw in our path. Scalese's book is a clear short-cut to tuning in your frequency to the channel that carries your answers within you - how I wish I had found it 10 years ago. After reading the first two chapters, tears of joy welled up inside me at the overwhelming sense of truth these words carry. It reminds me of a song by A Ragamuffin Band, "My Heart Already Knows," one line of which goes, "You know my head ain't even close to what my heart already knows." Read this book to learn what's already in your heart!

Over and over as I read Stephen Scalese's book The Whisper in Your Heart, I found myself saying "This is it! This is the answer I have been searching for." I knew I had allowed logic to dominate my life and needed to find my way back to more balance. I had a nagging sense that the answers were within, believing we had been divinely given personal tools to wholeness. How to get there though had eluded me. I am so excited about The Whisper In Your Heart. Scalese has a talent not only for writing with clarity, but also for communicating the peace and wisdom of this most profound subject. I hold this book to be one of the most valuable in my library. It is an essential guide for living abundantly in every area of one's life.

STOP! LISTEN! Our life-walk need not be alone! Stephen Scalese has been blessed with an experience that will change the lives of those of us who employ the principles he has discovered and has shared within the pages of this book. By spending a few minutes a day in a receptive, peaceful mode, your answers to life struggles will become clearer and your life path less thorny. Why not LISTEN TO THE WHISPER WITHIN YOUR HEART?

This is probably the best and only book that clearly states the current understanding of stars and formation/evolution of planets around them, in plain speech. The information is as extensive as it is scientifically accurate which is a great plus for an aspiring fiction writer who does not want to look over the countless pages of an Encyclopaedia Formulae on astrophysics. Besides the numerous formulas one needs to create a (scientifically) cohesive world, Gillett also gives many tidbits from the fiction writing over the course of time, allowing you to become familiar with the possibilities of several future technologies/discoveries. Also included are several studies of fictuous odd-ball worlds ( one is an ocean world filled with sulfuric acid). This book will likely be useful to the writer as well as the explorer within everyone.

"World-Building" is the volume in the Science Fiction Writing Series edited by Ben Bova devoted to constructing star systems and life-supporting planets. Stephen L. Gillett has a doctorate in geology, was the science columnist at "Amazing Science Fiction" and has written SF under a pseudonym. My doctorate is in rhetorical studies, so I am starting at ground zero when it comes to understanding or at least appreciating the mathematical equations for escape velocity, scaling tidal forces or Roche's limit. While this book thoroughly convinced me that I have no aptitude for writing hard science, I can see how it would be extremely helpful to anyone interested in being on a strong scientific foundation when it comes to writing their own stories.

Gillett's volume has eight chapters: (1) Why World-Build? looks at the necessity of using real science to create the requisite sense of wonder in your science fiction writing; (2) The Astronomical Setting covers the important differences between planets and stars in general and gravity, orbits, seasons and tidal action in particular; (3) Making a Planet details how the formation of a planetary system impacts the resulting planets and the options for story writing; (4) The Earth looks at the interconnected aspects that make interesting variations possible with the home worlds you create because of plate tectonics, water and air, magnetic field, colors, etc.; (5) The Ancient Earth deals with avoiding the "Cenozoic Earth Syndrome" (creating an alien world by making a few slight changes on ancient earth) by better understanding our ancient past as an inspiration for creativity; (6) The Other Planet looks at the wealth of data we have accumulated from our deep space probes as another source of inspiration; (7) Stars and Suns looks at how such heavenly bodies can supporting interesting planets as well; and (8) Not as We Know It discusses differences in volatile content (e.g., wetworlds, nitroworlds, brimstone worlds) as a final means of providing major scope for variation in words.

Hopefully this will provide you enough information to decide if "World-Building" will help you in writing your own Science Fiction. I appreciate that for some people this book does not go far enough, but certainly for the vast majority of us it gives us enough information that we will not thoroughly embarrass ourselves when it comes to creating new worlds for our characters to inhabit and visit.

I can not say enough about World Building. The whole Science Fiction Writing Series is fantastic, but World Building stands above them all. Stephen Gillett does a wonderful job of showing how planets, both exotic and ordinary, develop and how life would work on those worlds. I highly recomend this book to anyone writing science fiction!

Despite the criticisms levelled at Trollope for his "authorial intrusions" (see Henry James for example) this novel is always a pleasure to read. The characters take precedence over the plot, as in any Trollopian fiction and this is what makes a novel like BARCHESTER more palatable to the modern reader, as compared to any of Dickens's. Some readers may find the ecclesiastical terms confusing at first but with a little help (see the Penguin introduction for example), all becomes clear. What is important, however, is the interaction between the all-too-human characters and in this novel there are plenty of situations to keep you, the reader, amused.

Do yourself a favour and take a trip back into Nineteenth century where technology is just a blink in everyone's eye. What you will discover, however, is that human beings have not really changed, just the conventions have.

"Barchester Towers" has proven to be the most popular novel Anthony Trollope ever wrote-despite the fact that most critics would rank higher his later work such as "The Last Chronicle of Barset","He Knew He Was Right" and "The Way We Live Now".While containing much satire those great novels are very powerful and disturbing, and have little of the genial good humor that pervades "Barchester Towers".Indeed after "Barchester Towers",Trollope would never write anything so funny again-as if comedy was something to be eschewed.That is too bad,because the book along with its predecessor "The Warden" are the closest a Victorian novelist ever came to approximating Jane Austen."Barchester Towers" presents many unforgettable characters caught in a storm of religious controversy,political and social power struggles and romantic and sexual imbroglios.All of this done with a light but deft hand that blends realism,idealism and some irresistible comedy.It has one of the greatest endings in all of literature-a long,elaborate party at a country manor(which transpires for about a hundred pages)where all of the plot's threads are inwoven and all of the character's intrigues come to fruition."Barchester Towers" has none of the faults common to Trollope's later works -(such as repetiveness)it is enjoyable from beginning to end.Henry James(one of our best novelists,but not one of our best critics) believed that Trollope peaked with "The Warden"and that the subsequent work showed a falling off as well as proof that Trollope was no more than a second rate Thackeray.For the last fifty years critics have been trying to undo the damage that was done to Trollope's critical reputation."Barchester Towers"proves not only to be a first rate novel but probably the most humorous Victorian novel ever written.

This is the second of the six Barsetshire novels, and the first great novel in that series. THE WARDEN, while pleasant, primarily serves as a prequel to this novel. To be honest, if Trollope had not gone on to write BARCHESTER TOWERS, there would not be any real reason to read THE WARDEN. But because it introduces us to characters and situations that are crucial to BARCHESTER TOWERS, one really ought to have read THE WARDEN before reading this novel.

Trollope presents a dilemma for most readers. On the one hand, he wrote an enormous number of very good novels. On the other hand, he wrote no masterpieces. None of Trollope's books can stand comparison with the best work of Jane Austen, Flaubert, Dickens, George Eliot, Tolstoy, or Dostoevsky. On the other hand, none of those writers wrote anywhere near as many excellent as Trollope did. He may not have been a very great writer, but he was a very good one, and perhaps the most prolific good novelist who ever lived. Conservatively assessing his output, Trollope wrote at least 20 good novels. Trollope may not have been a genius, but he did possess a genius for consistency.

So, what to read? Trollope's wrote two very good series, two other novels that could be considered minor classics, and several other first rate novels. I recommend to friends that they try the Barsetshire novels, and then, if they find themselves hooked, to go on to read the Political series of novels (sometimes called the Palliser novels, which I feel uncomfortable with, since it exaggerates the role of that family in most of the novels). The two "minor classics" are THE WAY WE LIVE NOW and HE KNEW HE WAS RIGHT. The former is a marvelous portrait of Victorian social life, and the latter is perhaps the finest study of human jealousy since Shakespeare's OTHELLO. BARSETSHIRE TOWERS is, therefore, coupled with THE WARDEN, a magnificent place, and perhaps the best place to enter Trollope's world.

There are many, many reasons to read Trollope. He probably is the great spokesperson for the Victorian Mind. Like most Victorians, he is a bit parochial, with no interest in Europe, and very little interest in the rest of the world. Despite THE AMERICAN SENATOR, he has few American's or colonials in his novels, and close to no foreigners of any type. He is politically liberal in a conservative way, and is focussed almost exclusively on the upper middle class and gentry. He writes a good deal about young men and women needing and hoping to marry, but with a far more complex approach than we find in Jane Austen. His characters are often compelling, with very human problems, subject to morally complex situations that we would not find unfamiliar. Trollope is especially good with female characters, and in his sympathy for and liking of very independent, strong females he is somewhat an exception of the Victorian stereotype.

Anyone wanting to read Trollope, and I heartily believe that anyone who loves Dickens, Austen, Eliot, Hardy, and Thackery will want to, could find no better place to start than with reading the first two books in the Barsetshire Chronicles, beginning first with the rather short THE WARDEN and then progressing to this very, very fun and enjoyable novel.

Older infants and toddlers will probably enjoy leafing through this book. There aren't many words here and what language there is, is written in a silly and whimsical fashion that isn't that musical or poetic. However, the book does introduce the sounds of various animals (e.g. cows, chickens, pigs, bees, etc.) in a way that appeals to very young children. Also, some of the illustrations are rather amusing, causing children to laugh. Recommended for children two years and younger.

This book cracks my 10 month old son up like no other book! The rhythmic words and funny faces of the animals in the illustrations really make him laugh out loud - and he wants me to read it over and over.

My son has enjoyed this book from 2 months of age, and still loves it at 7 months! "Cow Moo Me" depicts different animals and some of their funny behaviors with beautiful illistrations and a simple rhyme. It's the one book we take wherever we go!

This is Nietzsche's first, and in some ways the best, philosophy book. Prior to Human All-Too Human, he penned The Birth of Tragedy and Untimely Meditations. But it is only in this book that Nietzsche comes into his own as a philosopher. The book was written soon after his retirement from teaching, due to ill health, and Nietzsche suffered a lot from physical pain, while writing the book, having to take hashish to relieve it. The book contains opinions on almost everything under the Sun. Although it is clearly broken down into distinct chapters, the thoughts within chapters are not arranged systematically. This is intentional and represents Nietzsche mistrust of grand theorizing and excessively systematic thinking. He retained this aphoristic writing style till the last days of his productive life. Thus in his approach, Nietzsche anticipates both existentialism and post-modernism. He views life personally, passionately, and with distrust to grand system(narrative) building. Thoughts slither through the labyrinth of human life, revealing strartling insights and forcing us to reconsider received opinions and conventional wisdoms.

By Nietzsche's standards, the perspectives presented in the book are fairly measured, and the author's voice is not nearly as shrill as it would become ten years later, in his last books. Because Nietzsche settles at a high level of generalization, some opinions do sound narrow-minded and prejudiced. In this, Nietzsche was also a victim of his time and culture: his comments on women and "the youthful Jew of the stock exchange" are not intellectuals gems, to put it very mildly. Some of his other opinions, on marriage, for example, also strike me as strange. Overall, this is a book by an all-too-human philosopher, yet it is a path-breaking work, a precursor to existentialism and post-modernism, written in a style that can appeal to the reader sheerly as good literature.

In this book, actually an anthology of three books, Nietzsche anticipates and comments upon social, cultural, political and psychological issues most of which are still current and troubling. A central theme is the human tendency to look for comfort, stability, and easy answers. He seemed to foresee that this tendency would become even more maladaptive as the pace of change increased, than it was in his own time. He offers an analysis of its causes, and a treatment, in the form of a relentless series of verbal shock-treatments, delivered in one-half to one page essays. The reader is constantly stimulated to take another look at issues that he thought he had settled.

Another issue for Nietzsche is the examination of the appropriate roles for science and art in human development. Anticipating contemporary thinking,he proposes that the brain has two competing/complementary functions. One, whose main product is science, brings an immediate sense of power to be able to understand what was not understood before, and what is not understood by many others. As an after-effect, however, it brings a sense of despair and depression, that previously-held illusions have been destroyed. The other half of the brain, the artistic sense, which he also calls the will to falsehood (not in a negative sense)presents possibilities, creative syntheses, or holistic images.

For Nietszche,human evolution proceeds by each individual maximizing the potential of each part of his brain, constantly generating new creative ideas, and then subjecting them to relentless analysis and criticism. This is the method Nietszche himself uses. He warns, however, that it requires incredible energy and strength to constantly be aware of and examine one's basic assumptions. Many who try will fall, (as Nietszche himself did) but, anticipating Darwin, he describes a process whereby the strongest, those most capable of enduring physical and psychological adversity, are the ones who survive and pass on the benefits of their growth.

Read this book if you are feeling depressed, read it if you are feeling strong, read it if you are feeling bored, read it if you are feeling overstressed, read it if you want a really good time, read it one page per day, read it all at once, read it in your own way, but my recommendation is READ IT.

In order to give form to his Overman, Nietzsche had to call to account many human failings and weaknesses, and then reveal their baseness to the world. Nietzsche identified so much that had to be rejected in human life and affairs, (and so much that constituted greatness), which is the reason for the sheer scope of "Human, All Too Human". In 638 short aphorisms it covers politics, warfare, ascetics, morals, art, poetry, marriage, crime & punishment, the soul, and the gamut of human feeling, emotion, motive, instinct, will to power, habit and need.

In Human, All Too Human", Nietzsche outlines the basis of his later, more focused works. It is distinguished from these by its lack of arrogance, lack of aggression and its lack of real direction. Chapters are harnessed together by titles such as "A Look At The State", "Man Alone With Himself", "Signs Of Higher And Lower Culture", Man In Society", and "Woman And Child".

The book was written just after Nietzsche gave up his professors chair at Basel in Switzerland, and around the time of his break from his erstwhile father-figure, Richard Wagner. Nietzsche had now lost the shackles of youth and employment and was at his most free-spirited and this book is testimony to that fact: "Human, All Too Human" is dedicated to deliciously-malicious free-spirits everywhere.

Less intense than some of his later work, this book evokes a walk in the mountains enjoying pleasant conversation with one of the most penetrating and enlightened minds in history. Less intense perhaps, but no less compelling or unsettling.

In difficult times we like to turn to books, especially to novels. But it would be a mistake to think that only light and syrupy stories bring us relief. On the contrary, we need the company of authors who, thanks to their perceptiveness and creative vigor, describe the world as it is, without false embellishment. We sense that these writers are able to face the worst of all possible worlds because they keep alive in themselves the promise of peace and goodness. For this reason we are moved by their vision.

Vizinczey's Innocent Millionaire brings us such a subtle solace. The novel is an enthralling roller-coaster of fortunes and passions, full of striking dialogues. It even manages to say something new about the birth of love. Marianne, the heroine of an ultimately tragic love affair, is one of the most lovable woman I have ever encountered in fiction, surpassing even the desirable and generous ladies of the author's previous masterpiece In Praise of Older Women. But this is a very different novel. Here the author weaves a tragic love relationship into the story of a fraud, showing how small and ridiculous are all those stupid and greedy people who make our life miserable or dull. If you are satisfied with the world as it is and approve its values, you will scorn this book. But for the dissatisfied reader, it is a rare treat and a unique source of comfort.

On the advice of a good bookseller, of the kind that has now practically disappeared, I read An Innocent Millionaire quite some time ago. Through that novel I discovered Stephen Vizinczey. The quality of the book inevitably led me to read all his other work, including his essays, which are models of clairvoyance.

I acquired the habit of reading some decades ago, and that habit not only taught me to distinguish the good literature from the bad, but also to appreciate it as a source of knowledge, rather than only of entertainment.

The novel that I am referring to is a veritable fountain of knowledge. It is ideal for those who do not know the USA (or the world), and even more so for those Americans who wish to comprehend their country. Although the future of a work of art is not predictable, this may well be one of those novels that, in a hundred years, will be read to learn of a culture and of a civilization.

But I am not writing these lines to praise An Innocent Millionaire. Its caliber has already been recognized by people such as Graham Greene and Anthony Burgess. And the critics have unanimously (or almost) rated it as one of the books of the century.

I am writing to identify a significant error that I have found in some critiques. In many of these, the book has been categorized as an "adventure novel." Due to the current understanding of the meaning of the word "adventure" this is totally misleading.

The first (and perhaps the best ever) adventure novel from the Western Hemisphere, from which all subsequent novels originated, was Adventures of the Ingenious Knight Don Quixote de la Mancha (1605), by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. The fact is that the word "adventure", from Latin adventurus or advenire, simply meant 'things about to happen'. Today, unfortunately, it is associated with the leaps and bounds of James Bond or Indiana Jones.

I do not believe that there is a single novel (including those written in the past tense) in which there are not 'things about to happen'. Even the epic poems of Homer could be considered adventure novels. Especially The Odyssey, a work that was transformed, in the cinematographic version with Kirk Douglas, into what is today considered an "adventure".

I condemn those critiques that lightly pigeonhole works of art. An Innocent Millionaire is a book full of ideas and concepts, with brilliant dialogues that are not only meant to sustain actions. Perhaps this is the reason that MGM is taking so long to make the film. If the novel is not well understood, there is a distinct risk of transforming a contemporary epic poem written in prose (I prefer this classification for An Innocent Millionaire), into a banal adventure.

Pablo Urbanyi

Every once in a great while- if you are lucky- you enounter a book or a writer so special that you cannot help but buttonhole everyone you meet in an effort to share the good news with them. Thanks to the miracles of cyberspace, I can now buttonhole strangers all over the world and let them know via this forum what a wonderful writer Stephen Vizinczey is and how I feel it has enriched my life. An Innocent Millionaire is not just Vizinzcey's best novel it is, at least in my opinion, the greatest novel of the 20th century. I re- read it regularly and find new depths of meaning and insight in it each time. Also, like a missionary, I do my best to get others to read it as well. In the little over four years since I discovered the novel myself, I have bought at least one additional copy of the book every month to pass along to someone I feel would appreciate it. Again, like a missionary, I cannot claim to have had a 100% success rate. But I have found no one who merely "likes" the book; the ones who enjoy itlove it passionately and, as I, begin anxiously seeking out Vizinczey's other works. The novel certainly had that sort of almost intoxicating effect on me; after I first finished AIM I became desperate to get a copy of Truth and Lies in Literature. In those pre- Amazon days, my local distributor couldn't get a copy and jokingly suggested I try driving to the University of Chicago and try my luck there. With only the slightest hesitation, I did in fact make that five hour drive for that book and never regretted it. Vizinczey's work is so special and so mentally invigorating that it is easily worth such effort. Though Iunhesitatingly call, An Innocent Millionaire Vizinczey's greatest work, Truth and Lies in Literature is another favorite of mine. It is a collection of marvelous essays about literature.What a feast! . And, at the time in my life when I read this book, I desparately needed such an injection of passion. I was an undergraduate literature major . And, at the time in my life when I read this book, I desparately needed such an injection of passion. I was an undergraduate literature major and my teachers were doing an outstanding job only of sucking all the pleasure out of every book we read- making me forget why literature had ever mattered to me. But his essays helped refresh my memory- and it is another title I regularly re read. I really do not know how to say this but I truly feel as if I have learned quite a bit about the world from Vizinczey'swork and for that I shall always be profoundly grateful.

I bought this book along time ago, but it has remained on my shelf untouched until tonight because I knew that Rilke wrote in German and that I would be reading a translation which I thought my detract from the power and original intention of the poetry. But I decided to open it tonight out of curiosity after reading a few of the letters from Letters to a Young Poet and Rilke immediately became my favorite poet. Even when I don't understand what he is saying his poems carry an immediacy and a power which bring me close to tears. I have not read any other translations of his work so I am not qualified to comment on the quality of this translation, but if you like poetry I would definately suggest getting your hands on some Rilke!

This is a luminous and remarkable book--it brings Rilke alive with integrity and poetic clarity to those of us who don't know German, and had previously lost what is most magical and fresh about this unusual, raw, Romantic poet. I am a poet and poetry professor at a San Francisco area college, which doesn't suggest I know everything but it hints that I've read a few other poetry books--and this is my very favorite one. Thank you Stephen Mitchell.

Over the years I have owned and read a number of translations of Rilke's verse. I find this superb volume translated by Stephen Mitchell to be both the best selection of his poetry and the finest translation. Take nearly any of the poems in this volume and set it beside a competing translation, and the Mitchell version is both more poetic and more in keeping with the spirit of Rilke.

This volume collections all of the Duino Elegies, and generous portions of the various collections, including a fair number of the Sonnets to Orpheus. For most, this will be the only edition of Rilke's verse that they will need.

These are some great, great poems. Apart from the Duino Elegies, I believe my favorites would include the amazing "Archaic Torso of Apollo," in which the poet becomes so entranced studying the statue that it proclaims to him in closing, "You must change your life." "The Panther" is without any question one of the most haunting poems of the twentieth century, with its building sense of some great revelation, only to end with the expected image plunging into the heart and disappearing. My favorite poem in the collection, however, may be one from the UNCOLLECTED POEMS, the amazing "You Who Never Arrived," in which the poet muses on all the occasions upon which he and his beloved never met (Rilke's belief was that we are destined never to meet our true love), but nevertheless perhaps came tantalizing close. For instance, he walks into a shop from which she has just left, where the "mirrors are still dizzy with your presence." He ends his musings, "Who knows? perhaps the same/bird echoed through both of us/yesterday, separate, in the evening . . . "

This is an essential volume for any lover of great poetry. I can't recommend this highly enough.