An illuminating miniature on a legendary house that was almost destroyed by the New England hurricane of 1938 and succumbed to fire in 1973. It was NeutraÕs grandestÑand most unlikelyÑcommission: a summer house for a famous Rhode Island family on Fishers Island. John Nicholas Brown picked Neutra after seeing the MoMA exhibition on modern architecture that included the Lovell Health House. Neumann, a professor of architecture at Brown University, recently curated an exhibition on the house that may eventually be shown in LA. Meanwhile we can enjoy his entertaining account of how the patrician client and progressive architect corresponded and faced off, and the camel that resulted from the collaboration of this odd couple. (Michael Webb is the book reviewer for LA Architect magazine.)

This is the first major comedy by Sheridan, a radical Irish actor and politician in George III's England. Not quite as complex and astute as his later She Stoops to Conquer, the Rivals remains a warm, unforgettable, and very, very funny play.

Here we meet the chatty Mrs. Malaprop, who proudly tells us "if I reprehend anything in this world, it is the use of my oracular tongue, and a nice derangement of epitaphs"; her niece Lydia, lost in the world of lurid half-bound romantic novels; Sir Anthony Absolute, often wrong but never in doubt; Sir Lucious O'Trigger, of BlunderBuss Hall; and the rest. The dialogue and plot devices are well-crafted and funny; the social commentary is perceptive and satisfyingly naughty; but what stays with you is the humanity of each of the characters. These are not the charicatures of Restoration comedy, but personalties the reader will remember; ridiculous like all humans, but engendering empathy as well as laughter.

If you enjoyed watching The Walton's on TV, you will probably enjoy Spencer's Mountain, since apparently the show was based-on this book. The names are different, and you get a greater sense of the financial and social challenges facing the family, and there is no radio for the family to gather around after dinner, but it is very much the same story. If you can get past the differences in the names, you will be rewarded with a pleasant read, especially if read just before you drift off to sleep at night. Good night, John-boy.

This latest "Thomistic bibliography" is as complete as its two predecessors. However, unlike the 1920-1940 and 1940-1978 editions, this one is organized by language (English, Spanish, German, French, etc.) rather than by subject area (metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, anthropology, theology, etc.). This is not to disparage the work done in assembling this latest reference collection specifically devoted to Aquinas. Some researchers may find the organization by language to be most helpful to them. I, though, found it easier to manipulate the previous volumes in my own research.

Very readable book on this interesting subject. The author beautifully illuminates both personalities and those around them. He does not hesitate to throw in a little sly humor such as when he refers to the king's "sidekicks" which he then translates into latin in parenthesis: (stipatores lateres). Scholarly and entertaining.

Berry may be the only "geologian" - Earth scholar. As an 11 year old he had an epiphanal experience in a meadow that gave him a new sense of reality. Later as a priest of the Passionist order, he took the name Thomas after Thomas Aquinas, and is influenced by Aquinas' rediscovery of the universe and quotes from Summa Theologica. The first two essays introduce his cosmology under the broad topics "Economics" and "The earth: a new context for religious unity".

The remaining seven essays present a critique of Berry. Almost all are appreciative of Berry's view point even if differing. There are different perspectives offered on how strongly the Bible and the Redemption story should fit in to this evolving earth story. Physicist Brian Swimme offers a scientific perspective, of "science as a partner", on both the role of science in providing the story but also on the role of Berry in teaching to science. Additionally Berry is critiqued from a feminist standpoint. The book concludes with Berry's 12 principles for understanding the universe.

This book offers an introduction to Berry, and through the critiques and "Questions for discussion" after each chapter provides a useful whetstone for thinking about his new cosmology.

Sylvester's and Martz' 1969 facsimile edition of St. Thomas More's Prayerbook is a genuine find. It opens a unique window into the mind and spirituality of a remarkable man. The pages are crisply rendered in two colors, allowing readers a genuine feel for a sixteenth-century prayerbook. More important in this case, Thomas More's handwritten "Goodly Meditation" appears, line by line in the margins. The editors generously supply a full introduction and a modern English rendering of More's original meditation. The impact of the entire production is compelling: the reader can read a great saint's personal prayer -- in his own handwriting -- and read it as if over his shoulder in the Tower as he awaits execution. As an artifact, this book is a great testimony to the development of personal spirituality in the English Renaissance.

Thomas Szasz is a champion of individual autonomy and personal responsibility. This is his primary value.

Szasz is also regarded by some as "the most controversial psychiatrist in the world." He displays the fearless courage to question the most fundamental tenets of the entire "profession" of psychiatry.

Because of the volume of Szasz's writings - some 20 books and over 400 published articles - authors Richard Vatz (professor of rhetoric) and Lee Weinberg (professor of legal studies) have done us a great service by including Sasz's main ideas in one volume. Furthermore, to achieve balance, they've included some important critiques of Szasz's work.

Szasz's first major contention is that "mental illness" is a myth. Szasz does not deny the occurrence of unusual, unconventional, and destructive thought, communication, and behavior - and the resulting suffering - generally included under the "mental illness" umbrella. He does take issue with the semantics: the definitions, who gains from the definitions, and who loses as a result of them.

According to the authors, "To Szasz, the use of strategic metaphors - especially the camouflaged use of such metaphors - deprives humankind of its greatest freedom: autonomy. Unlike religious and democratic political persuaders who claim no false identity and implicitly recognize man's autonomy, psychiatrists present themselves as scientists and explicitly deny the right of autonomy to those whom they choose to define and control."

Szasz claims that as a result of psychiatric definitions, psychiatrits - as well as the political system through them - gain the power to effectively "convict" people, incarcerate them, and subject them to involuntary "drug treatment" and other forms of dehumanization, without trial, judge, or jury.

Another of Szasz's major contentions is that "deviant behavior is freedom of choice." To Szasz, autonomy implies that individuals own their own bodies and should be free to do with them whatever they like, provided they don't harm others. This includes taking drugs and comitting suicide.

In my opinion, one of Szasz's geatest contributions to humanity is his revelation of how words and definitions are used to gain power over others and effectively enslave them. Authors Vatz and Weinberg were remiss in that they did not include a chapter on this topic, particularly seeing that Szasz wrote two books on it: 'The Second Sin' and 'Heresies.'

Also, in my opinion, Vatz and Weinberg are mistaken in the above quote where they say, "Unlike religious and democratic political persuaders who claim no false identity and implicitly recognize man's autonomy..." Many religious leaders demand all kinds of obedience which deny man's autonomy. Some claim special identities with characteristics like "papal infallibility."

Similarly, most political leaders operate in the name of government with the special identity of having the power to solve all kinds of problems mere mortals can't handle. Most political persuaders explicitly deny man's autonomy: "You may not commit suicide"; "You may only put into your body what we permit."

In 'Heresies' Szasz wrote: "This is what poets and politicians, psychotics and psychiatrists, therapists and theologians have in common: they all deal with metaphors that sustain the dignity and lives of some and destroy those of others; and they all deal with metaphors mendaciously..."

Despite this one shortcoming, authors Vatz and Weinberg have done an excellent job in encapsulating Szasz's central ideas in one volume. They handle the closely related issues of personal autonomy and individual responsibility particularly well.

I highly recommend this book, particularly for anyone interested in freedom and its destruction.

Frederick Mann

I like this book alot and the guys who wrote it are super knowledgable. There is a fluorescent Mineral Museum on the net at Wordcraft.net. It mentions this book.

The eighteen original stories here represent a decent cross-section of youngish, hip writers from England, Ireland, the U.S., Scotland, and Canada. Although the title suggests that the stories are thematically linked to music, it is actually the name of a literary night held several times a week at Filthy McNasty's pub in North London since 1996. The idea is that authors alternate 10 minutes of reading their work with 10 minutes of music they select, to make it a little more homey and personal than your average reading. These stories haven't been published elsewhere, and are intended to be representative of what you might find at one of the "Vox n' Roll" nights. Of the eighteen writers, I've read books by seven, and heard of all except four, so I knew what I was getting. The stories by Nick Blincoe, Paul Charles, Patrick McCabe, Ben Richards, Kevin Sampson, Irvine Welsh, and John Williams, were all more or less in keeping with the novels of theirs I've read, bearing the same signature flourishes.

Welsh, Williams, and Sampson all deliver solid stories per usual. Welsh's is an increasingly uncomfortable story about an angry man at his family Christmas dinner. Williams provides another Cardiff tale, this one about a loser trying to create a new Spice Girls clone. Sampson's is a nice riff on a sex-obsessed youth making his first date. Richards, Blincoe and McCabe's are all fine, if not as interesting to me. Charles provides a "Detective Christy Kennedy" story that is the only true throwaway story of the bunch, it's clear from the beginning what happened and how. Will Self, I keep trying to get into, but his story did nothing to encourage me to try any harder, although the premise is kind of neat. As for writers I'd not yet dipped into, the stories by Sparkle Hayter, Tanya Glide, Lynn Tillman, Selena Saliva Godden, Jim Dodge, and Stella Duffy didn't do anything to encourage me to pick up their work. On the plus side, Matt Thorne intrigued me with his delicate, almost old-fashioned, touch in "Bridge Class," a story about marriage. Lana Citron's "Changing" is a simple, but charmingly effective tale of hitting puberty. Vicki Hendricks caught my attention with "Rebecca," a bizarre story about siamese twins with a happy ending. And finally, Christopher Fowler takes the prize for best story with the creepy "At Home in the Pubs of Old London." All in all, a fairly satisfying sampler of writers and stories. If you like this, check out the Disco Biscuits, Disco 2000, or Shenanigans collections, all edited by Sarah Champion.