This miscellany(Musillany)--of prose poems, personal and analytical essays, and one story-- actually contains some of the author's best writing. I suspect this is because he's having more fun here than in other works, particulary MWQ. His imagination, invention, intellect and wit are all bristling. His brilliance is obvious. The prose poem "Fly Paper" is a microscopic epic, and the final piece, "The Blackbird", an amazingly rigorous examination of the ineffable. I think if you like Calvino or Nabokov, you'll like this.

Thrangu Rinpoche, who is one of the most outstanding living teachers of the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, elaborate here on a text on basic meditation by Jamgon Kongtrul the Great. The book gives a detailed explanation on tranquility meditation (shamatha) and insight meditation (vipasyana). The book is very detailed and accesible, and is useful for all meditators, no matter what level they are on, as it deals with all levels in meditation and also on how to deal with different experiences that may arise. I can't recommend it enough!

This is basically a cookbook for doing all kinds of neat things with your computer. Has code snippets in c, basic, asm, and pascal.

I love this book!

Protecting The American Homeland: A Preliminary Analysis is a methodical and highly serious account, collaboratively written by a team of Brooking scholars (Michael E. O'Hanlon; Peter R. Orszag; Ivo H. Daalder; I. M. Destler; David L. Gunter; Robert E. Litan; James B. Steinberg), laying out a four-tiered plan to support the efforts of the Bush administration and Congress to ensure America's security from terrorists... Offering suggestions such as increasing federal spending on homeland security to ... and then upgrading the authority of the director of the Office of Homeland Security rather than create a new superagency, Protecting The American Homeland is a well-thought out and welcome contribution to the current national dialogue as it offers an important perspective for our post-911 national security needs.

The Puritan Bookshelf CDs is a wonderful collection of rare, out-of-print books written by the best preachers and theologians of the First and Second Reformations. This is a great way to get an extensive library of reformed books, lectures and sermons, for very little expense. All 32 CDs are packed with a wealth of wisdom and biblical instruction we don't often see today.

This ninth CD contains nine books by 16th and 17th century Reformers, and is the first in the series to include, along with the five books by contemporary covenanters, James Douglas' classic, "Strictures on Occasional Hearing: An Inquiry Into Song 1:7."

As I consider the many different denominations and variations on denominations in the church today, I wonder... is it biblically permissible for a Christian to visit and worship in any Christian church he chooses, regardless of its doctrine? Or are there stipulations in Scripture as to where he can worship? This book answers these questions and many more, with ample proof from the Scriptures and historical testimony. It is good, straightforward teaching of a long-forgotten truth.

"The Works of Robert Harris" is a collection of twenty-four sermons on the "Way to True Happiness" taken from Matt 5:1-12, and twenty-one other sermons on various texts. Some of these include "Of Newness of Heart" and "The Softness of Heart," both from Ezek. 11:19, and "A Remedy Against Covetousness," from Heb. 13:5. The sermons are well presented, setting forth clearly the truths contained in them. I really appreciate these sermons, preached so long ago, yet so relevant and convicting even today.

William Perkins' "The Foundation of Christian Religion," is an excellent primer for those who need to learn the basics. It is a brief book, very simply laid out in the question-and-answer format of a catechism. It expands on the six most important, basic principles needed to equip the reader to hear sermons profitably, and to know he is partaking of the Lord's Supper with a clear conscience.

"An Exposition of the Symbol or Creed of the Apostles," also by William Perkins, is a much more detailed work, where he expounds on the Apostles' Creed. His extensive treatment leaves no stone unturned as he studies every phrase of this beloved Creed, examining each word under the spotlight of God's Word.

What a precious legacy has been left to us by these godly men of the Reformation! How privileged we are to be able to sit at their feet and learn from their vast stores of knowledge and wisdom, the like of which is so scarce today.

This is only a small sampling of what's available on these CDs. If you would like to see the full listing for this individual CD (or all 32 CDs in this set) you may view the complete set of Puritan Bookshelf CDs in one place online, at Still Waters Revival Books. SWRB also lists a similar set of 30 CDs in their Reformation Bookshelf CD series.

Excellent book. Easy to read. Helped my husband and me to have a starting point to discuss our intimacy issues. Also, it gave us hope that we can work through the physical and emotional problems surrounding impotence. I highly recommend this book.

"Since neither a newborn human infant nor a fish is a person, the wrongness of killing such beings is not as great as the wrongness of killing a person."

"...regarding a newborn infant as not having the same right to life as a person, the cultures that practiced infanticide were on solid ground."

These are two of four quotes from philosopher Peter Singer that were featured in a quarter-page ad in the Australian newspaper during the 1996 federal election. The Australian Family Association took out the ad because Peter Singer was running as a Green Senate candidate. Fortunately for the unborn, the newborn, the elderly and many other "non-persons", Singer received only a tiny fraction of the vote.

He now teaches at Princeton University, after a long career at Melbourne's Monash University. He has written over twenty books, and is regarded as a leading contemporary philosopher and bioethicist. He is famous for his advocacy of animal liberation, as well as for his callous view of human life.

This new book, edited by an ethicist at Melbourne's Ridley College, contains five important articles offering a critical assessment of Singer's philosophy and writings.

After an incisive introduction, Preece offers a close look at the man and his work in chapter one. While recognising the relative consistency throughout his writings, he points out the well-known inconsistency of his regard for his mother has she wrestled with Alzheimer's disease. He rightly notes that on the basis of Singer's utilitarian and consequentialist outlook, he should have bumped off his own mother. But fortunately for his mother, "Singer is a better son and person than ethicist".

He shows how his univeralised utility calculations are really a secualrised version of the parable of the good Samaritan. But without the moral and theological framework which underlies the parable of Jesus, his system is not sustainable. Indeed, because Singer makes personhood a "special prize, not a humanly universal gift," he is unable to properly enact the parable, which recognises that every person is my neighbor.

Andrew Sloane's article looks at one especially nasty aspect of Singer's philosophy - his support of infanticide. Sloane argues that his case for infanticide is only successful if his ethical theory (preference utilitarianism) is successful. But he argues that it is not, but is in fact incoherent and inconsistent. It is "an impoverished, reductionistic theory" which denies any "ultimate meaning to the universe and human life".

In such a cold world, the argument for infanticide may make sense. After all, the newborn do not contribute anything to society, and are therefore expendable. The newborn may not have any utilitarian value, according to his own theory, but he has not successfully argued that his theory should be accepted and others rejected.

Graham Cole argues that Singer's critiques of Christianity are misguided, as they are based on caricature and straw men. He picks and chooses those portions of the biblical account that he finds offensive, but does not appeal to other passages which may act as a corrective or balance.

In a chapter on personhood and Singer's view on animals, Lindsay Wilson argues that Singer, while offering some helpful contributions to the debate, in fact can not compete with the biblical picture of animals and their worth. Singer's critique of "speciesism" - the idea that humans wrongly (in his view) consider themselves better than animals - is based on the idea that sentience (the ability to feel pleasure and pain) is what unites humans and animals. Because both humans and animals suffer, Singer says we should treat both respectfully, and not give special preference to humans, based on outdated concepts of personhood and human dignity.

Wilson argues that Singer's views on animals have major philosophical shortcomings, and that the biblical picture, rightly understood, offers a better framework in which to respect (but not worship) the rest of the created order.

Preece then offers a concluding chapter on Singer's view on life and death issues, especially that of euthanasia. Singer has long argued that sanctity of life ethics should be replaced with quality of life ethics. The former, Singer rightly recognises, is bound up with the Judeo-Christian worldview, while the other is not. As an atheist, Singer prefers the latter viewpoint, arguing that the former can no longer stand up in a scientific age.

Two consequences flow from this. First, the biblical concept of responsibility is replaced with the secular concept of autonomy. That is, instead of seeing life as a gift, which we are entrusted with and expected to be good stewards of, life is seen as something people earn and can forfeit. Secondly, instead of seeing humans as ends in themselves, they are treated as means to an end. Instead of having inherent dignity and worth, we acquire this by our social utility and functionality.

Thus instead of considering all lives as worthwhile and important, Singer considers many to be worthless and expendable, based upon his own criteria of what it means to be a person. In the end his views of personhood are reductionistic and demeaning. Which is why disabled groups usually protest when he speaks, or why German audiences are less than thrilled when he shows up. They have been there and done that.

While all the chapters of this book are quite helpful, those by Preece and Sloane are especially strong. But every author (each one associated with Ridley College) helps to build an impressive case against Singer. This is an excellent collection of essays offering a biblical and philosophical assessment of one of our most noted and notorious thinkers.

Book Review By Joel C. Epstein Associate Director & Senior Attorney

Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention

The Rights and Responsibilities of the Modern University: Who Assumes the Risks of College Life? By Robert D. Bickel and Peter F. Lake (Carolina Academic Press, 1999).

There is an important new book out by Robert Bickel and Peter Lake, law professors at the Stetson University College of Law. The book, The Rights and Responsibilities of the Modern University: Who Assumes the Risks of College Life?, considers the evolving legal nature of the American university in the final decade of the 20th Century.

In the book, based on a detailed analysis of legal decisions from dozens of tort cases involving colleges and universities, Professors Bickel and Lake describe the emerging judicial view of "university as facilitator," where higher education officials help students navigate their way toward full independence and individual responsibility. The doctrine of in loco parentis is dead, but the alternative of being a passive bystander as students die or do themselves and others serious harm through unchecked [and often illegal] behavior is equally untenable. Bickel and Lakes' work describes the evolution of the university/student relationship in a style that is scholarly yet easily understood by lay readers.

Thanks to their thoughtful law review articles over the years in the Journal of College and University Law, Bickel and Lake are already household names among college and university attorneys. With this compelling book their names and work are sure to become just as well known among non-lawyer college presidents, deans, directors of student health services, parents, and others professionally or personally interested in the way the courts have tended to treat institutions of higher education in cases involving tortious and sometimes criminal behavior. The authors' lively writing style and useful case illustrations have made accessible what through no fault of the subject has too often been seen as material fit only for lawyers.

In particular, Bickel and Lake are to be credited for taking on the all too common misperception that college student drinking is uncontrollable. Their strategy: address the problems of alcohol danger and disorder directly; anticipate displacement to the surrounding community following a campus clamp down on underage and problem drinking and work with the community to minimize the effects. To quote Bickel and Lake, "Strict community enforcement of underage drinking standards, with college involvement, can facilitate reducing the problem. And, the college is in the position to assess and discipline its problem drinkers, even those who drink off campus." At the same time however, the university should avoid dictating policy or restrictions to students. "Students," explain the authors, "will need to be involved in solutions to alcohol risks and in discussions and policy making with regard to the problems."

Bickel and Lake's fresh discussion of the challenge of balancing rights and responsibilities on campus is a welcome departure from the way the writing of too many legal scholars confounds lay readers with the use of inadequately explained legal jargon and concepts. Given the many ways in which the legal environment impacts the relationship between students and schools and town and gown the reader comes away from the book better informed and ready to more fully participate in the discussion over what a school's drug and alcohol policy should look like; how schools should respond to underage drinking; what schools and communities can and are legally required to do to address campus crime and disorder; and, how schools can protect themselves from liability for injuries occasioned by fraternity hazing activities and underage drinking an drug use.

Indeed the authors present a model closely wedded to the U.S. Department of Education's Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention's environmental management approach. As such, the book is a must read for every college and university administrator struggling with how to tackle the problems of high-risk student drinking and the disorder it creates. University legal counsel, deans of students, campus police, residence hall advisors, policy scholars, parents, and law students as well will find the book a refreshing, informative, and provocative view of the university/student relationship.

With the high-profile deaths of students at Louisiana State University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and many other schools, the field of higher education is mobilized as never before to address the problem of student drinking and other drug use. This book offers a timely and viable guide for positive action that can change the environment in which students make decisions about their alcohol and other drug use. Bickel and Lake's facilitator model is both an adaptable social vision for modern universities and a legal model for the courts and college administrators to work with. For the non-attorney or campus administrator, the book offers something just as valuable, a clear lens through which to view the sometimes murky issue of university/student relations.

Bob Stern is probably America's greatest living architect, and this book covers his best projects yet. If you're sick of modernist boredom and post-modern silliness, this neotraditionalist architect is a breath of fresh air. Of course, he also proves he can do modern styles better than most modernists. He did a building in my neighborhood and everyone loves it. This book is beautifully photographed and has useful text.

Robert Taylor: Air Combat Paintings Volume II is a dazzling spectacle of an artbook, filled with black-and-white as well as full color images of aerial combat paintings, especially those related to World War II air battles. An extensive, in-depth commentaries and history adds a special depth to the origin and moment captured in these heart-stopping works of art. Robert Taylor: Air Combat Paintings, Volume II is a recommended treasure trove of great air combat illustrations for aviation and military history buffs. Also highly recommended is the companion compilation, The Air Combat Paintings of Robert Taylor: Volume 1 (0715314300, £20.00).