Tambasco claims that we have misunderstood the atonement of Christ since Anselm. Tambasco claims that the Apostle Paul, for instance, maintained no concept of laying the sins of one (man) to the account of Another (Christ). Tambasco claims we have, for centuries, only "misunderstood" that Jesus died to pay for our sins as a reconciliation between God and man. Jesus Himself understood His atoning sacrifice as payment for our individual sins. Just for starters (and in addition to the Hebrew Scripture precendent of sacrifice), we have Isaiah 53:5, Matthew 20:28, Matthew 26:27-28, Mark 10:45, John 1:29, John 19:30 (wherein "tetelestai" mean that payment was rendered in full), Acts 20:28, Romans 3:23-25, Romans 5:9, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, I Corinthians 15:2-4, II Corinthians 5:14, II Corinthians 5:18-19, Galatians 3:13, Ephesians 1:7, Hebrews 9:11-15, Hebrews 9:26, Hebrews 10:10, 1 Timothy 2:5-6, 1 Peter 1:18-19, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 Peter 3:18, 1 John 4:10, and 1 John 2:2 speaking against Tambasco's attempt at theological sexiness. It is no wonder that he appears on reading lists with authors like Crossan, Borg, and Funk, all of the pseudo-academic, soundly discounted Jesus Seminar.

Anselm did not create the modern notion of atonement. Rather, he publicized biblical principle. Christ, the perfect expression of God's love for man, willingly died as payment for sins. He was and is the perfect reconciliation between God's justice and mercy.

in a brief book (114pp), anthony tambasco has taken another look at saint paul's concept of atonement. you may or may not agree with the conclusions that the author reaches (who ever agrees with everything in any book), but you gain from the author's insights. unless you force the bible to mean what your religion teaches, rather than humbly study the bible for what the bible has to say.

I've always been pretty interested in serial killers, and naturally came across Ed Gein's name in a few "collections" of serial killer biographies. Wandering through the bookstore oneday, I picked up "Ed Gein: Psycho." That's what it says on the cover. Inside, it's called "Ed Gein: Psycho!" The exclamation mark tells you all you probably need to know about the mentality of Paul Anthony Woods, the "author" of this self-loving piece of garbage.

Many, many reviewers already have pointed out the things that turn one's stomach about this book. The writing is sophomoric and ridiculous, and way, way, WAY too much liberty is taken with the story, which, ideally, is non-fiction. The imagined conversations, thoughts, and feelings of Ed that the author relays are ridiculous, and the tone of the book is really grating. I mean, Ed Gein was a really odd duck who did some really creepy and bad things, but he's a person of some note. To read Woods refer to him as "our boy" in certain passages makes me angry. The cavalier style with which it is written is really smarmy, and one can imagine Woods sitting at his typewriter, smiling at his own wit, patting himself on the back.

Beyond the incredibly obnoxious way in which the book is written (and trust me folks, the author's skills are far below that of the average writer who gets published) and the silly "conversations" between Ed and his fellow Wisconsonians (who, in the book, have a kind of...gulp...southern drawl?), there is the fact that no new information is presented, and I didn't learn anything I didn't already know from reading 10 or 15 pages in another book. And the last part, where the author "examines" the pop-culture that has been created around the Gein legend only confirmed my suspicions throughout the rest of the book...he's just a silly, pseudo-psychologist fan with no respect for his elders.

Pass!

Any book about Ed Gein, the infamous Wisconsin cannibal, is bound to contain some distasteful material. What is particularly galling about this book is the camp way that it is written. We get a retelling of Ed's exploits and then how Gein has influenced pop culture, with a cult of "Geinophiles" arising in books, comic books, music and movies.

The author takes great liberties in telling us Gein's story, inserting thoughts that no one could be sure were ever part of what happened. The list of what cops found when they went into Gein's farmhouse is truly nauseating, and there are some pretty sick pictures in the book as well, including one showing Gein's last victim, gutted and hanging from a hook.

This is not to say that there aren't some good factoids in the book. Who knew that Anton LeVay, the founder of the Church of Satan, actually helped interview Gein and supposedly could do a perfect impression of Gein? It's also neat to see Gein's death certificate, which is included in the book.

I think this book should have been marketed as more of a pop culture reference guide. As a true account of what really happened, look somewhere else.

First off, the story of Ed Gein, no matter who writes about it, is filled with abuse, insanity, graphic violence, and utter depravity. If you're offended or put off by any of the above, then this subject matter is not for you. But if you're into all sorts of weirdness and enjoy a cheap shlock, then pick up this book and I guarantee you will NOT be disappointed.

Born in rural Wisconsin during a squeaky clean generation, Eddie Gein was raised by his fanatically religious mother and physically abusive father. Isolated and alone, tormented at school and within his family, Gein eventually descended into the dementia that had been taunting him his whole life. His ma discouraged any sort of interaction with modern women -- she tagged their hometown as a modern day Babylon -- but dear old ma never said anything about dead ones. After her passing, her youngest boy took to robbing graves, creating masks out of dead human female flesh, and scattering rotting human organs throughout his filthy, Hellish homestead. He even managed to knock over a few himself, one victim was a hefty tavern owner, the other an adulterous hardware store clerk. Written without any sense of dignity or taste whatsoever, Paul Anthony Woods exposes this nightmarish story for what it really is: a lovely little trip through complete and total insanity. Be forewarned, the book holds back no details and even contains a photo of victim Bernice Warden, decapitated, gutted, and hanging from the rafters of Eddie's summer shed. Not for the squeamish.

If the authors decided to look at the sunsolve bugs online, may they might get the hint that the book is out of date.

If I had a choice of less than one star .....

Maybe it's because the book is 5 yrs old, but I have found it to be of little to no use. The std Sun books and the man pages are giving me far more info. I have been especially disappointed in the total lack of info on the sysidcfg file. This is an essential file, and the book doesn't even mention it.

Very well written but SERIOUSLY out of date. I gave it away a couple of weeks after buying it and reading Sun's Advanced Installation Guides

Tambasco is a name-caller. Everyone who isn't theologically liberal in an extreme fashion Tambasco refers to as a "fundamentalist". While I refer here partly to his lectures, his book reflects this bent. Tambasco often engages in pseudo-intellectual bullying. It is his common method. And what is this about Paul not believing in Jesus' sin-erasing sacrifice? In the context of the entire New Testament -- my goodness -- this is not scholarship, but intential obstinacy, methinks.