This delightful book, for which Oliver took the time to paginate references to the more generally accessible Library of America two-volume set of WJ's work, reaches out to a broad audience in the early 21st century. He touches on a number of interesting topics, including computers and Internet usage, TV shows like Beavis and Butthead and Star Trek, Richard Rorty's readings of WJ, work by Daniel Dennett, F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, and why George Santayana once called WJ a "barbarian."

This short, though concise and informed critical biography of William James is a good introduction to his life and thought. The text predominately is a historical analysis concerning the era in which he lived, providing us with the necessary social influences that shaped the man's philosophy. One of the arguments in this text is that all philosophy is a biographical expression of the philosopher. And James wanted to express philosophy in the most accessible terms possible. As Cotkin suggests, James was a public philosopher, he wanted '...philosophy to be a conversation, a playful yet serious and enlightening confrontation with philosophical and cultural issues.'(14) He brought philosophy into the public arena and made it his life's mission to combat systematisation and abstraction, the "abstract rigmarole" that can riddle this subject. The subject of philosophy has been exiled to the academy - a specialized technical area of learning designed for the insecure elite. James wanted philosophy to be a 'passionate vision', not a complex array of problematic terms and ideas. He believed professional academics and their writings "obscured the truth". As Cotkin writes, 'Through his public philosophy James codified his revolt - and enlisted himself among those who practiced philosophy as edification - against the pretensions of professional philosophy.'(15)

This text presents us with a man who is the expression of a generation. He was a man of the times. Cotkin then moves on to James' family influences, his brilliant and eccentric father as well as the intellectual relationship with his brother, Henry. What begins to unfold is an individual who achieved the ability '...to universalise his private universe into public discourse, as well as the reality that his turmoil was the common cultural property of other Americans.' This convergence of public and private indivudual, Cotkin suggests, defined or translated into what became James' philosophical doctrine.

The most interesting chapter is 'The Discourse of Heroism'. Here Cotkin explores the philosopher's value on maintaining an on going 'passionate engagement' with life. In this chapter the author takes the reader through the many arguments concerning James' call for excitement and strenuosity in one's approach to existence, but with a warning: one must also remain committed to "courage weighted with responsibility."

~William James Public Philosopher~ is well researched and well written, presenting us with the man, the times in which he lived and his refreshing view of philosophy which continues to be important and relevant in the 21st century.

This is a stunning book, The photographs and details of these amazing pieces By Big Bill Morris and his incredibly talented team are breathtaking. As a glassblower myself, I can only imagine the degree of skill to fashion these pieces, let alone the colours that the team is able to achieve. (they're good!)
I found myself unable to put this book down, I have been looking at it every day now for the last two weeks.
It is a MUST have for anyone interested in Glass or fine Contemporary Art/Sculpture.

I understand that Morris is onto an entirely new series of work, I can hardly wait to see it.

Order this book Now!

I'm the author of the book, not sure where to advise you of the following blurbs, which appear on the book's jacket:

"Goodman is a very acute and sensitive reader of both James and Wittgenstein, and his book will be of great help to students of both philosophers." Richard Rorty

"It is an absolutely fascinating piece of philosophy, intellectual history, and detective work that establishes categorically the influence of William James on Wittgenstein's work. Goodman's prose is lucid and the overall thrust of the argument is entirely plausible. What is perhaps most powerful is that Goodman puts the two protagonists' stories in a sort of conversation which seems perfectly self evident...but is nonetheless quite original."
Simon Critchley, University of Essex

Now in its sixth edition, updated to include how the world news media responded to the September 11th attack on America, The World News Prism: Global Media In An Era Of Terrorism by William A. Hachten (Professor Emeritus Of Journalism And Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin - Madison) and James F. Scotton (Associate Professor of Journalism, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an informative and analytical survey of a wide variety of media and its influences within the context of the twenty-first century, including the Internet, modern public diplomacy and political warfare, globalization of the information distribution, and much, much more. The World News Prism is a fascinating and eruditely presented study which is especially recommended for Journalism, Media Studies, Political Science, and International Studies reference collections and reading lists.

With all the books published on the Civil War, it's hard to
find something NEW, but this book brings to light a collection of soldiers' letters unpublished since the Civil War. Not only are the letters themselves new and fresh to
Civil War scholars and enthusiasts, but Bill Styple has done
an excellent job of editing them. The Civil War is presented
in a new light. One of the best Civil War books in many years; if you like to read about the Civil War, buy this book!

This book is a great addition to the serious Civil War reader's library. Being able to read the battle descriptions, thoughts and feelings of those who actually participated in the war is always enlightening, bringing the reader a different reality than that of the historian who writes about the Civil War with the benefit of hindsight and without the benefit of personal experience. The compilation of letters in this book - in chronological and logical order - brings alive the crucial battles in the Eastern theatre of the Civil War. The only slight deficiency is that very few letters from the Eastern soldiers fighting in Western armies are included. My suggestion: have this book at hand and read what the soldiers had to say about a specific event or battle immediately after reading narrative descriptions of the same event or battle by today's leading historians, for a complete view. Overall, a wonderful book and highly recommendable to the "advanced" Civil War reader.

The title is accurate: this is certainly a comprehensive edition of the work of William James. Included are several hundred pages of essays that lay out in complete detail the psychological and philosophical ideology of William James. You can not buy a better James work, and especially not for $25 or less.

Since the age of 12 (I'm in my 30's now), I have tried to absorb everything Shakespeare. Even though I have trepidations about film adaptations of the Bard's work, I had to see this film based on the prodigious talent of Emma Thompson. I'm glad I gave into my gut instinct, for her portrayal of Beatrice is so natural and glorious, you will actually get swept away with her performance and believe that she actually IS Beatrice!

Most of the supporting cast is also wonderful. Hats off to the performances by Denzel Washington (Don Pedro), Richard Briers (Seigneur Leonato), Brian Blessed (Seigneur Antonio), Michael Keaton (Constable Dogberry), and a absolutely stunning performance by Kate Beckinsale (Hero). The exceptions in the casting are Keanu Reeves (Don John), Robert Sean Leonard (Claudio) and...yes...Kenneth Brannagh (Benedick). Fortunately Reeves' role is small. Leonard's performance seems too contrived, to the point of distraction. And even though this is Brannagh's baby, Brannagh himself portrays the role of Benedick with a smugness that is a bit nauseating. If you read the play, Benedick is not smug at all. Though I enjoy Brannagh's other work, he seems to use Shakespeare as a way to show superiority. I have seen this in other actors, and find such action reprehensible. Shakespeare wrote plays for people to enjoy and to indugle in escapism...not to give people an excuse to be a snob.

Having said that, this film is very enjoyable, and I've actually had friends become Shakespeare addicts after seeing this particular film. I, personally, particularly love the Tuscan locations, and the costuming is wonderful! No over-the-top lacey outfits in this film, but rather those that would be suited to the climate. This adds another depth of reality that pulls you into the story.

If you are a fan of Shakespeare, or any of the aforementioned actors, this movie is a must-see. It's actually one of the very few film versions of a Shakespeare play that I own. This particular interpretation allows the viewer to become comfortable with Shakespeare's style, thus creating an interest in his other work. Well worth the purchase. And yes, it's VERY funny!

"Much Ado About Nothing" is a beautifully made, performed, and directed film by the incomparable Kenneth Branaugh. This film includes an all-star cast that give wonderful performances and draw you into the lives of the characters. The plot is somewhat complicated, so I'll give a general version. The film is basically about love, misunderstanding, scandal, revenge, virtue, and bravery. That's a lot for one film, but believe me, it's all in there!

Kenneth Branaugh, Emma Thompson, Denzel Washington, Keanu Reeves, and Michael Keaton give excellent performances in this film that you wouldn't want to miss. Although the film is a period piece and the Shakespearean language is used, you will have no difficulty understanding it perfectly.

The scenery and landscape in this film are exquisite as well. I never thought there could be such a beautiful, untouched place like that on earth. I would suggest watching the film just for the beautiful landscape, but it's the performances and the story that you should really pay attention to.

Anyone who loves Shakespeare would absolutely love this film! Anyone who loves Kenneth Branaugh and what he has done for Shakespeare in the past 10 or 15 years will appreciate this film as well! There isn't one bad thing I can say about this film. Definitely watch it, you won't be disappointed!!!

One of the problems with Shakespeare's comedies, an English professor once told me, is that they are not funny. Now, this is not to say that Shakespeare was a bad comedy writer, or that this professor had no sense of humour. In fact, quite the opposite--he had turned his sense of humour and love of humour into an academic career in pursuit of humour.

What he meant by the comment was, humour is most often a culture-specific thing. It is of a time, place, people, and situation--there is very little by way of universal humour in any language construction. Perhaps a pie in the face (or some variant thereof) does have some degree of cross-cultural appeal, but even that has less universality than we would often suppose.

Thus, when I suggested to him that we go see this film when it came out, he was not enthusiastic. He confessed to me afterward that he only did it because he had picked the last film, and intended to require the next two selections when this film turned out to be a bore. He also then confessed that he was wrong.

Brannagh managed in his way to carry much of the humour of this play into the twentieth century in an accessible way -- true, the audience was often silent at word-plays that might have had the Elizabethan audiences roaring, but there was enough in the action, the acting, the nuance and building up of situations to convey the same amount of humour to today's audience that Shakespeare most likely intended for his groups in the balconies and the pit.

The film stars Kenneth Brannagh (who also adapted the play for screen) and Emma Thompson as Benedict and Beatrice, the two central characters. They did their usual good job, with occasional flashes of excellence. Alas, I'll never see Michael Keaton as a Shakespearean actor, but he did a servicable job in the role of the constable (and I shall always remember that 'he is an ass') -- the use of his sidekick as the 'horse' who clomps around has to be a recollection of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, where their 'horses' are sidekicks clapping coconut shells together.

I'll also not see Keanu Reeves as a Shakespearean, yet he was perhaps too well known (type-cast, perhaps) in other ways to pull off the brief-appearing villian in this film.

Lavish sets and costumes accentuate the Italianate-yet-very-English feel of this play. This film succeeds in presenting an excellent but lesser-known Shakespeare work to the public in a way that the public can enjoy.

With all the publicity William Shatner has had about his STAR TREK career, namely a Prima-Donna attitude towards his role and importance to the legend of ST, I find this book a breath of fresh air into a business that was going stale. William Shatner built a great beginning into this work. Imagine Spock, himself a resurrection alumi, seeing Jim's lighted-from-within grave collapse. That bee-buzz of transporter-effect must have paralyzed even his Vulcan mind as he tried to pull a logical 'what the hell is going on' from the scene. The last we saw of James T. Kirk was as a dead hero with Jean Luc Picard In GENERATIONS. But remember, Kirk's own prediction- "I'll die alone"- was not fulfilled. We cannot imagine such a forecast as this going unheeded by the STAR TREK guardians. The body of this offering is an insightful look into a part of JTK's personal legend as well as an introduction to a driven side of the character only glimpsed before. There is more to come. Any reader of mine knows I leave the details to you but love to cut to the purpose. No different here . Read THE RETURN and following books by Willim Shatner. After all, he IS Kirk.

The second in William Shatner's Star Trek: Odyssey trilogy, The Return is Star Trek at its most action/adventure. No deep Roddenberry philosophy here: we're talking Borg, Romulans, revenge, Picard and Kirk, the Borg homeworld - something which the series has yet to dare to try - and a new Enterprise which crosses the boundaries into DS9 territory.

Once again, one is forced to wonder just how much of the story Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens have come up with (Shatner's acknowledgement: 'What would I do without them?') and the nature of the collaboration. I believe, however, that such a question is irrelevant: this is simply good (if a little mindless) Trek, and let's face it, it's good to see some energy being injected into the franchise after some recent flagging in both novel and TV form.

Kirk is back, then, and having been resurrected by the Borg after the events of Star Trek Generations, he's brainwashed into a plan to kill Captain Picard of The Next Generation, as he presents the greatest threat to the Borg attempt to destroy the Federation. There's another twist here, however: the Borg have formed an alliance with the Romulans (or, to be more accurate, a splinter faction of the Romulan military), as there's a particular Romulan commander who wants revenge for the death of her ancestor who Kirk was indirectly responsible for the death of. Kirk sets off on his task, taking out the members of the TNG crew one by one (including two priceless scenes where he attacks Worf on the Klingon homeworld and Data and La Forge on an ice planet), until he meets his match in Commander Riker on Deep Space Nine. As Kirk is operated on by Doctor Bashir (yes, it's crossovers left right and centre), Spock (yes, Spock) is captured by the Borg and would be assimilated if it wasn't for the fact that he melded with V'Ger in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which was actually a Borg ship...

If you can keep up with the cross-continuity, then The Return is a fantastic read. Whether it's Shatner or the Reeves-Stevens who are coming up with this stuff is irrelevant: it's fast-paced, cool and the climax is breath-taking. The Borg homeworld is portrayed brilliantly and Picard's facing of his fears is balanced by Kirk's hit-first-ask-questions-later attitude.

There are problems - the whole business with V'Ger is a trifle convinient, and Picard resists the Collective he so feared rather easily, defeating a whole planet of Borg single handedly! - but they are largely smoothed over by the handling of all of the ideas thrown together. Somehow, they've come out of the other end of the tunnel with a great adventure novel - God knows how it happened, but the Great Bird of the Galaxy bless them for it.

William Shatner is a power-tripping, egotistical, buffoon. He's a terrible actor, director, producer, and writer. Don't get me wrong--he's also one of the most purely entertaining minds in Hollywood today. And this is clearly the funniest book in the entirety of human history.

"The Return" is classic Trek. It has a melodramatic plot literally covered stem to stern with plot holes that you could drive whole stars through. The entire premise itself is terribly flawed. What possible tactical advantage could ressurecting a 70 year dead minor footnote in history have? The book is clearly about what Shatner can get away with.

That's why its the funniest book in all history. Shatner thumbs his nose at Star Trek fans accross the board--while at the same time creating the ultimate mold no other Star Trek writer can ever aspire to. With this book Shatner has created the ultimate self-insertion fan-fiction. Kirk comes back from the dead then proceeds to show the entire galaxy who's boss, despite the fact that he's been dead for the majority of the past 60 or so years.

The plot is rediculous, the story is seamlessly integrated into the known Trek mythos, Kirk conquers the universe and Picard dressed up like a ninja. What more could you possibly want out of literature!?

Shakespeare's shortest and bloodiest tragedy, MACBETH is also possibly the most serious. Macbeth is a warrior who has just had his greatest victory, but his own "vaulting ambition," the spectral promises of the three weird sisters, and the spurring on of his wife drive him to a treason and miserable destruction for which he himself is completely responsible. The ominous imagery of the fog that hovers over the first scene of the play symbolizes the entire setting of the play. Shakespeare's repeated contrasts of such concepts as fair and foul, light and darkness, bravery and cowardice, cut us to the quick at every turn. MACBETH forces us to question "what is natural?" "what is honor?" and "Is life really 'a tale/ Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury/ Signifying nothing?'" Few plays have ever illustrated the torments of Guilt (especially how it deprives one of Sleep) so vividly and stirringly.

I have read this play curiously as a child, excitedly as a teenager, passionately as a college student, and lovingly as a graduate student and adult. Like all of Shakespeare's writing, it is still as fresh, and foreboding, and marvelous as ever. As a play it is first meant to be heard (cf. Hamlet says "we shall hear a play"), secondarily to be seen (which it must be), but, ah, the rich rewards of reading it at one's own pace are hard to surpass. Shakespeare is far more than just an entertainer: he is the supreme artist of the English language. The Arden edition of MACBETH is an excellent scholarly presentation, offering a bounty of helpful notes and information for both the serious and casual reader.

"Macbeth" is one of Shakespeare's most powerful plays. Without doubt, audiences always remain guessing as they read the powerful speeches of Macbeth and his wife, who change dramatically during the story. The plot is not Shakespeare's most clever or most genius, but beautiful nonetheless!! And the best part is, thru this play, Shakespeare shows us that people are good at heart, even if corrupted within their lives.

Which version of "Macbeth" to buy? Definitely this one. The right pages provide the original play, while the left page provides definitions for old or hard vocabulary. There are also plot summaries before each scene. In addition to page numbers, each page also indicates act and scene, making the search for certain passages extremely easy. The lines are, of course, numbered, for easy reference (if you're reading this as a school assignment.) And of course, the stage directions are included too. A very helpful edition of Shakespeare's work.

William Shakespeare's tragedies are universal. We know that the tragedy will be chalk-full of blood, murder, vengeance, madness and human frailty. It is, in fact, the uncorrectable flaws of the hero that bring his death or demise. Usually, the hero's better nature is wickedly corrupted. That was the case in Hamlet, whose desire to avenge his father's death consumed him to the point of no return and ended disastrously in the deaths of nearly all the main characters. At the end of Richard III, all the characters are lying dead on the stage. In King Lear, the once wise, effective ruler goes insane through the manipulations of his younger family members. But there is something deeply dark and disturbing about Shakespeare's darkest drama- Macbeth. It is, without a question, Gothic drama. The supernatural mingles as if everyday occurence with the lives of the people, the weather is foul, the landscape is eerie and haunting, the castles are cold and the dungeons pitch-black. And then there are the three witches, who are always by a cauldron and worship the nocturnal goddess Hecate. It is these three witches who prophetize a crown on the head of Macbeth. Driven by the prophecy, and spurred on by the ambitious, egotistic and Machiavellian Lady Macbeth (Shakespeare's strongest female character), Macbeth murders the king Duncan and assumes the throne of Scotland. The roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are tour de force performances for virtuosic actors. A wicked couple, a power-hungry couple, albeit a regal, intellectual pair, who can be taken into any form- Mafia lord and Mafia princess, for example, as in the case of a recent movie with a modern re-telling of Macbeth.

Nothing and no one intimidates Macbeth. He murders all who oppose him, including Banquo, who had been a close friend. But the witches predict doom, for Macbeth, there will be no heirs and his authority over Scotland will come to an end. Slowly as the play progresses, we discover that Macbeth's time is running up. True to the classic stylings of Shakespeare tragedy, Lady Macbeth goes insane, sleepwalking at night and ranting about bloodstained hands. For Macbeth, the honor of being a king comes with a price for his murder. He sees Banquo's ghost at a dinner and breaks down in hysteria in front of his guests, he associates with three witches who broil "eye of newt and tongue of worm", and who conjure ghotsly images among them of a bloody child. Macbeth is Shakespeare's darkest drama, tinged with foreboding, mystery and Gothic suspense. But, nevertheless, it is full of great lines, among them the soliloquy of Macbeth, "Out, out, brief candle" in which he contemplates the brevity of human life, confronting his own mortality. Macbeth has been made into films, the most striking being Roman Polansky's horrific, gruesome, R-rated movie in which Lady Macbeth sleepwalks in the nude and the three witches are dried-up, grey-haired naked women, and Macbeth's head is devilishly beheaded and stuck at the end of a pole. But even more striking in the film is that at the end, the victor, Malcolm, who has defeated Macbeth, sees the witches for advise. This says something: the cycle of murder and violenc will begin again, which is what Macbeth's grim drama seems to be saying about powerhungry men who stop at nothing to get what they want.