The book 'The Intimate Merton', edited by Brother Patrick Hart and Jonathan Montaldo, is a great encapsulation of the journals which Thomas Merton, monk, writer, activist and spiritual guide (I believe he would eschew the word leader, kept from the time he began considering a vocation (both as a monk and as a writer) to the time of his death nearly thirty years later.

The book is broken into sections reflective of Merton's monastic life. Each section is composed of selections, representative and/or significant, from his regular daily journals. Merton actually kept voluminous journals (published in seven thick volumes), much of which served as a basis and self-reflective sounding board for his other writings. This book is a user-friendly spiritual autobiography, distilled from the wisdom gained over twenty-nine years of teaching, prayer, reflection, prayer, writing, prayer, activity, and yet more prayer.

Merton was not (and still is not) universally loved, even by the church and monastic hierarchies who claim him as a shining example of one of their own. Merton's life is a quest for meaning, and quest for unity before God of all peoples, and a quest for love. These were not always in keeping with the practices of the church, which found itself more often than Merton cared for embroiled in political action in support of the state, or at least the status quo.

Merton was a Trappist monk. The Trappists derive their name from la Trappe, the sole survivor of a reformed Cistercian order in France about the time of the Revolution. This order of Cistercians (white-robed monks) had fairly strict observances which included the usual monastic trappings of vows of chastity, stability, obedience, poverty -- and a regime of prayer and psalm recitals coupled with daily work and study that is not at all for the faint-hearted (or faint-spirited). It was to this order that Merton pledged himself, in his beginning search for meaning and fulfillment.

'The great work of sunrise again today.
The awful solemnity of it. The sacredness. Unbearable without prayer and worship. I mean unbearable if you really put everything aside and see what is happening! Many, no doubt, are vaguely aware that it is dawn, but they are protected from the solemnity of it by the neutralising worship of their own society, their own world, in which the sun no longer rises and sets.'

Poetry in prose -- this passage, from the section on The Pivotal Years, reflects a searching nearing a conclusion, but still far from grasping, and far from complete. It also reflects the need for sharing, the drive toward caring, the simplest of things in the world, available to all, free of charge -- and most will never take possession.

God is calling in the sunrise. Merton recognises the call. He wants to deliver this sunrise in a package to the world. But he cannot. This is Merton's endless frustration, and the drive to do more, while yet being, as he would say himself, selfish in wanting to grasp it for himself, too. His time in the Hermitage, a time during which he was removed even from the company of fellow monks -- reflects this duality of vocation in Merton. He recognises that in some ways, it is an escape, but other ways, a fulfillment.

Even late in his life, after he was called away from his solitude at the Hermitage, because the world needed him, he was still humble and seeking. After nearly three decades of monastic practice and reflection on the level that Merton had done, one would expect a certain 'expertise' to have permeated his thinking. And yet, he would write:

'I have to change the superficial ideas and judgments I have made about the contemplative religious life, the contemplative orders. They were silly and arbitrary and without faith.'

This, on the basis of one retreat in December of 1967, with laypersons and clerics and monastics outside his Trappist order -- this is his conclusion, his resolute determination to not be boxed in, even by his own thinking. The true search can lead anywhere, even to the conclusion that one has been wrong all along.

And yet, Merton was not wrong. There was value in each of his spiritual discoveries as he discovered them. They still resonate for all of us today.

'Since Hayden Carruth's reprimand I have had more esteem for the crows around here, and I find, in fact, that we seem to get on much more peacefully. Two sat high in an oak beyond my gate as I walked on the brow of the hill at sunrise saying the Little Hours. They listened without protest to my singing of the antiphons. We are part of a menage, a liturgy, a fellowship of sorts.'

Near the end of his life, Merton was becoming more and more one with all around him, with all of God's creation, with nature, with people, with friends and strangers. And yet, he missed his privacy, his time for personal reflection and solitude.

'Everyone now knows where the hermitage is, and in May I am going to the convent of the Redwoods in California. Once I start traveling around, what hope will there be?'

Merton had premonitions that 1968 was a year 'that things are finally and inexorably spelling themselves out', prophetic indeed, for in the same year the world lost Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy, and Brother Thomas Merton. He never was able to reclaim the solitude, pouring himself out for his friends ('what greater love hath anyone...'), who he counted as the entire world.

May Brother Thomas' journey enlighten your own.

One may wonder why another book on Thomas Merton, one of the most self-chronicled lives of the twentieth century, is needed, but The Intimate Merton serves a valuable purpose. Only academics and fanatical devotees of the famous writer and monk will have the time and interest to read all seven volumes of his personal journals. And yet, as this selection of entries from them demonstrates, Merton's journals are a treasury of autobiographical revelation, psychological honesty, and spiritual insight.

Just a few of the more memorable entries justify the book. These include an hilarious account of Merton the non-driver taking a jeep for a spin, a beautiful description of a night watch as a dark night of the soul, and Merton's sober yet grateful meditations on his 50th birthday.

Nevertheless, it is the sweep of years, the chronicle of a soul, that make these meditations most interesting. The Intimate Merton wisely focuses on the journal entries from the 1960s, material not covered by The Seven Storey Mountain and other earlier works. Thus we see a self-portrait of the older Merton wrestling with his need to be an individual versus his need to love and be loved, fitfully learning to accept his failures and to appreciate the gifts of others, and searching for his home in this world and beyond.

Thomas Merton was a complicated, Thoreauvian figure who considered himself to be, among other things, an "amateur theologian." Yet an amateur is essentially a lover, and Merton, for all his faults and doubts, was certainly a lover of God. Other lovers of God will enjoy tracing his spiritual journey through these pages.

I've been amazed over the years at how many people see themselves when they read something by Thomas Merton. What was it about this man? Women, Protestants, the unchurched, all sorts of people who are outwardly nothing like him, yet feel a strange, strong kinship. People have even told me what Merton would be doing if he were alive right now, as if they could know!
Reading this volume I understood anew how this is so. Merton wrote his soul, he wrote his life. We ARE THERE as we read it. I actually find answers to some of my life questions as I share the life of this Trappist monk. Many other people do, too.
This book is helpful because it puts so much of Thomas Merton's life between its covers. And, easy as he is to befriend, he is endlessly mysterious, perhaps just because he reveals so much. So many threads - what a complex and endearing man.

review by Janet Knori, author of Awakening in God

If you need to know urology, then you need this set of book. This edition is set up very well. The 4 books make it easier to look up info. It covers all the major topics in urology and is as up to date as any book can be.

This is indeed the best urological textbook, or better to call it the bible of urology , I can not wait for the next edition

This is a thourough urology review, meanwhile contains contraversial aspects in your front.

Ignoring the typo's and the reminders of dad's knee replacements, this is a fun way to explore some of Europe and learn about WWII from an aging veteran as he passes his legacy on to his talented, albeit delightfully juvenile, sons. One can relate to many of the author's memories of his youthful pranks and escapades, appreciate the beautiful sketches and oil paintings included by his famous brother, Thomas Kinkade, and appreciate and admire his father's service to his country. The misadventures of these 3 on their trek through Europe had me laughing out loud while also encouraging me to "go off the beaten path" that tourists normally take, appreciate the stories of the locals, and experience what's down the alley and over the wall.

I read MANY books in a year and so many of those miss the mark of giving me exactly what I want from a story. This book simply and sweetly went straight to my heart! It was a pure joy to read and was made so much better in that it was REAL! I not only envy the Kinkades for the depth of talent that runs in that family (Patrick is an exceptional writer!) but their closeness and love as a family is very inspiring. Everyone should read this book!

A mini, armchair vacation by Thomas Kinkade, the painter and sketch artist,and his brother Patrick, the writer and professor, recounting the travels with their father through the England, Ireland, France, Belgium, and Germany. This literary trip traces many of the sites their father saw during his World War II tour of duty. Each chapter is short and perfect for a brief, relaxing, and often humerous escape to another part of the world. This is one of those rare books that one will want to keep in his library for future re-readings.

Mr. Patrick sets out to write a "new story for a new age" and accomplishes that and more. Mr. Patrick's work and his life sing out in strange voices never heard before. His mind focuses the light from a million stars and spills it in warm radiant rainbows on the page. The words and the book themselves are less important than what they represent: a wonderful fanciful impossible quixotic dream made real. Thomas Patrick is not a myth. He is a legend of the road, a true rambler, and what a long strange trip it's been!

Mr. Patrick turns a critical eye toward the US while offering educated and insightful recommendations on how to keep us all safe from ourselves. Tackling issues of economics, religion and politics, he asks the question as to whether we can find a path lit with hope for our future. This no-holds-barred, straight shooting, fact-laden essay is presented with wit and insight resulting in a composition that is sure to raise the hackles of fundamentalists, conservatives, and isolationists alike. Thoroughly enjoyable and right on the money. READ THIS BOOK!!!

I enjoyed this book and felt Patrick has a strong command of connectiviety. By this I mean building logical bridge between multiple thought disiplines which creates greater meaning than the individual componest by themselves.

Malone & Malone have written an excellent exploration of intimacy and its dynamics. As a therapist, I have recommended this book year after year for those who can benefit from a higher level of reading than most self-help or consumer-focused books. I recommend to both clients and therapists without reservation!

My therapist recommended this as a "step above" many self-help books. I have not read it yet because it appears to be out of print, however I am hoping it will become available soon. My therapist thinks highly enough of this book that she volunteered to go shopping for it in some used bookstores on my behalf!

At the end of The Seven Story Mountain, Merton records his understanding of what God was
telling him as he continued as a young monk. The final passage in the book reads, in part, "But
you shall taste the true solitude of My anguish and My poverty and I shall lead you into the high
places of my joy and you shall die in Me and find all things in My mercy which has created you
for this end. . . That you may become the brother of God and learn to know the Christ of the
burnt men." And that is how Merton died, a burnt man in a monastic habit on a bathroom floor in
Thailand, electrocuted by a faulty fan switch as he stepped out of the shower. Eerie how things
work out sometimes. The Asian Journals record the end--spiritual as well as temporal--of
Merton's journey, and I tend to think that he found what he was looking for. I like to think he did,
and when I visited Gethsemani myself, it was the Asian Journal, even more than Thoughts in
Solitude, that convinced me of this. Of course, Merton had all but left Gethsemani behind when
he took down the Journals; there is speculation that he was at some point going to ask his abbot
to approve him staying in Asia as a hermit of some sort, and the fruits of that adventure in
following God are lost to us, among so much else that was lost when we lost Fr. Louis, our
Thomas Merton.

The Asian Journal is many things. It is both a travelogue and a tribute to place, strangely
comparable to Matthiessen's Snow Leopard or Merwin's Lost Upland. It is a record left by one of
the greatest Christian spiritual mentors of the 20th century of visits with two of the most
important Buddhist spiritual mentors of the 20th century, the current Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat
Hanh. It is a sustained rhapsody on both Hinduism and Theravada Buddhism by a Christian
monastic most influenced in his "Eastern path" by Rinzai Zen and Confucianism. It is a fairly
good work of Buddhist art criticism, particularly if you are interested in comparative
iconography. But more than all this, it is just Merton, plain and simple. It is unvarnished, the man
knew he was no saint, though he also knew he was looked upon as such by an increasing number
of people. This from a man who wrote on the back of his ordination card the passage from
Genesis referring to Enoch, "He walked with God and was seen no more, for God took him"!
Merton wanted a deeper solitude. He found it, and eventually found it in death, in Asia. All this,
and more, is recorded in Merton's Asian Journal. His account of his final enlightenment
experience at Polonnaruwa, when he writes "I mean, I know and have seen what I was obscurely
looking for," is alone worth the price of the book. It is easily Merton's most personal work,
though much unlike the multi-volume set of journals published after the restrictions in Merton's
will ran out. Seven Story Mountain was also personal, but was written by a precociously brilliant
young writer still in the somewhat triumphalistic flush of his conversion to Roman Catholicism.
The Asian Journals are, quite literally, the last things Merton ever wrote, and in them he is at the
height of his powers, and he is deep into the divine mystery of God when he writes these
journals, even when he is joking about parrots or Indian food. Throw in all the photos taken by
Merton himself (the man experiences dai kensho and still has the presence of mind to take
pictures of the reclining Buddhas!?) and the documents relating to his death, and there is no
excuse for a lover of Merton's life and teachings not to own this book.

One simply never tires of reading Thomas Merton. The Asian Journal provides a remarkably poignant and tireless encampment with one of the remarkable men of letters of the 20th century. The text is colored throughout with Merton's search for a place of greater solitude (his dissatisfaction on many levels with the cheese factory his beloved Gethsemani abbey had become being well known for some time before his death) -the redwoods of California, possibly Alaska- and as the journal progresses one begins to feel in his words a kind of prescient kinship with his own accidental death, occurring, of course, in Bangkok before he had completed his Asian pilgrimage. The appendices are priceless - the characteristic sweetness of his informal talk on monasticism given at Calcutta, and the remarkable lecture on Marxism and Monastic Perspectives with its prophetic last sentence "So I will disappear". Free of polemics, so giving in its human searching, this is, once again, essential Merton.

In Deja 'Nam Lee Henschel Jr writing is crisp - he details his main character's struggle with dealing with the after effects of Vietnam, and trying to teach his son about his time there.

Henschel gives the reader the knowledge of the difficulty of not just living through a war, but living through a life after surviving a war.

An engrossing read.

I really enjoyed this book. Not only is it a glimpse into a world I know nothing of (war, particularly the Vietnam War and all its oddities) but the story flows and the characters are believeable -- even loveable. The relationships between the main character and those around him are excellently drawn and described, making this a "hard to put down" novel!

Tom Crane's The Heart of Coaching provides easy to read and even easier to apply principles of coaching and leadership. The integration of logical and heartfelt approaches assures successful implementation. It is a great example of how to treat people with care and respect while getting results.

I found each chapter to be full of useful and thought provoking material for the coach and manager alike. The distinctions between a boss and a coach on page 121 are excellent. In fact, I've posted them in my office to remind me daily.

Every time I pick up this book I find pearls of wisdom, what makes the book unique is how the author presents them in such a user-friendly manner. I found reading this book easy and informative. I find applying what I learned profound.

The quotes sprinkled throughout the book are an added bonus.

This is a must read for anyone who wants to be more effective interacting with others!

If you are looking for an excellent training tool on coaching (and in today's business climate, we all probably should be), you definitely should consider Tom Crane's book The Heart of Coaching. The book is excellent in both style and substance. As for style, the book is written in plain English, with an "easy to read" visual format. As to substance, the book has chapter after chapter of useable and substantive information. Further, the book has both process (the central feature of the book is not just coaching, but "transformational coaching as a process") and practicality (as just one example, you will get genuine assistance from the insightful list of differences between "bosses" on the one hand and "coaches" on the other).

Finally, don't skip over the section of the book dealing with the personal side of coaching, the "heart" of the transformational coach. In this section, you will find the "Transformational Coach's Credo". The credo may not state anything which is revolutionarily new but, if followed consistently, the credo would certainly help the typical department workplace to exude greater enthusiasm, productivity and camaraderie (come to think of it, maybe such results could be considered revolutionary!).

I was in the middle of reading Dan Goleman's book, WORKING WITH EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE. I kept thinking, "This is great, but how does one apply the concepts?" Then one of my colleagues gave me a copy of THE HEART OF COACHING. It answered my question. Tom Crane has written a clear and concise book. His ideas on "transformational" coaching as an ongoing cycle of creating a solid "foundation", developing a "learning loop", and "forwarding the action" is a practical description of how to create empowerment and high performance in any organization. I am recommending this highly readable and extremely useful guide to all who are interested in putting the"heart" back into the work we all do.

As the cover of this book says: Liquidity! Accessibility! Transparency!

The authors take a European perspective to challenge the traditional way that financial markets have operated in the United States and elsewhere. They point out, correctly I think, that the revolution is here. Fully automated markets now do the bulk of the worldwide futures trading. For example the Chicago Board of Trade was overtaken in futures volume by the fully automated German-Swiss EUREX in Frankfurt in 1998. London was charging from behind to take a big piece of the automated futures business as well. Automated trading experiments are going on in a number of other places, as well.

The vision the authors have is captured by a quote from Ludwig von Mises: "Economic history is the story of the gradual extension of the economic community beyond its original limits of the single household to embrace the nation and the world."

This vision is essentially of convergence into one global market, with one clearinghouse, and one regulator to do everything. The need to get costs down will require that convergence as the ultimate solution. How imminent this vision is has to be a guess (the authors convey the vision in the form of a dream), but the stories in the book show how often the complacent, traditional view has been wrong. The authors are good at pointing out the speed bumps that will delay progress, and outline good ideas for better and faster implementation.

But they are definitely tolling the bell in the near future for face-to-face selling. "In the future there will only be electronic traders." They also see a rise of small traders, small banks (doing direct placements of IPOs over the Internet with traders without underwriting syndicates), and greatly squeezed paychecks for traditional investment banking and trading activities.

I found the book to be consistent with my own vision. I was still left with the question of why the transition has not been a faster one. Financial markets should be converging at a much faster rate, if one looks only at the technology and the use of the Internet. Which aspects of human stalls are the worst delayers? Probably the tradition and bureaucratic stalls, because the existing markets and regulators are very slow to see new opportunity. Consider how recently fixed trading commissions disappeared. Those should have been gone in the Roaring Twenties.

If you want good detailed information on the state of the electronic market revolution, this book is essential reading. If you own a seat on an exchange, your pocketbook requires immediate attention.

There is an excellent section on how to prepare for the transition, and another one on the dangers to be cautious of.

Good look in building your wealth faster through more efficient markets!

In reading the book, there are many things that would scare traditionalists in our business. The rules are changing, and unless we adapt as traders and exchanges, we will be doomed. As I have discussions with other board members, and other floor traders, some intuitively understand the coming electronic age. Others pass it off as a purely European phenomena. "It won't happpen here.", is a phrase I hear every day. Brokers and traders see that the computerized competitors are having a tough time gaining a foothold in the American futures market. They rest thinking that their future is secure, and that maybe their margins will be squeezed a little. The revolution has only begun. While some of the positions the book posits seem outlandish, Columbus was seen as outlandish in 1492 too. This is a must read for any person associated with floor trading or an exchange. This also makes good reading for anyone involved in government regulation. Barriers are being broken down. Borders set by politics are not relevant to the sea change taking place in the financial marketplace. The U.S. is the titan of investment capital today, but a government that shackles the growth of the marketplace due to over regulation, is doomed to see all that capital leave for less regulated environs. I am on the Board of Directors at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, so I speak from experience. The revolution has begun, and we are trying to embrace it.

Building on the monthly news and insight from Patrick Young's ADTrading.com newsletter, Patrick Young and Thomas Theys have put together a concise history of recent developments in capital markets, especially the futures markets, and the steady advance of electronic trading. As a longtime reader of the newsletter I have been exposed to most of these ideas on a monthly basis; as an industry executive I have watched the events unfold day by day. Nevertheless, this compilation provides fresh insight into Capital Markets trends.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in an overview of the recent history of the futures, equity and FX markets and a plausible view where the markets are heading.

I would also recommend Capital Markets Revolution to industry insiders who are well aware of the events and ideas discussed, as they can benefit from the framework and view of the future into which current events are placed.

Author is an egomaniac typical of most orthopods. He uses outdated technology and advice given for foot deformities is definetly questionable. Better to read a book by a real foot specialist- Podiatrist.

This is a fantastic, easy-to-understand book for anyone who has foot or ankle problem and wants to learn more about their condition. I have various foot ailments, including on and off again plantar fascitis and club feet. This book, given to me by my physician, has greatly forwarded my understanding of both diseases. I highly recommend this book!

Amazon Book review

RE: Footworks II, The Patient's Guide to the Foot and Ankle

Footworks II is a welcome addition to my medical library. As a family practitioner for nearly 30 years, I regret not learning and applying the principles in Dr.'s O'Connor and Schaller's book earlier in my career. I highly recommend this wonderfully clear, practical work on the foot and ankle that is appropriate not only for patients and physicians, but also for parents, teachers, and athletes.