In this beautiful and powerful little book Michael D. Aeschliman calls on a host of witnesses from throughout history and from various disciplines, including philosophers, poets, and scientists in order to build his case against scientism. Not to be confused with science, scientism is a philosophical belief system which claims that the material world is the only objective reality there is and that human beings are essentially nothing more than "machines made of meat." It claims that all values are ultimately subjective and denies that human beings are essentially rational. As the title denotes, the most prevalent of the witnesses Aeschliman calls on to support his case is C.S. Lewis, whom he sees as the foremost defender of the common sense tradition that has informed our view of ourselves as human for most of the history of western civilization. The book is beautifully written and easy to read, much like the writings of Lewis himself, and is full of wonderful, powerful quotes that you'll find yourself wanting to memorize. If you are interested in the writings and thought of C.S. Lewis you owe it to yourself to check out this book. I know of no better book written about Lewis and his thought. This book affected my intellectual life profoundly. This is not only a resource to be utilized for the information it contains, but a treasure to be cherished and returned to again and again.

This is not a book that's going to win awards for breathtaking artwork or page-turning plot--that's not what it's trying to do. This book is really just a collection of short-stories, not really linked to one another except for the cat, Michael. The artwork here does its job: it enables the author to have fun with people and cats and how they interact. I bought it as a gift, and it made both me and the recipient laugh out loud. That's why What's Michael would win awards and why, if you like cats, you should cough up the couple of bucks and get this book or one of the others in the series.

The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe is an adventure and mysterious book of four kids, and an unknown world beyond. Lucy, Edmund, Peter, and Susan get sent to live with a professor because of a war back in London. While the four explore the mysterious mansion and play games, Lucy finds a secret wardrobe with a country just beyond.
C.S. Lewis's story of, The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe is one of the greatest books and definitely one I loved to read!
Lucy was the first to go to the magical land beyond of snow, a place called Narnia. As soon as she finds her way out, tales are told to the others about all the different creatures and things inside of the wardrobe. But all they seem to think of her is that she is a crazy liar. But soon to find out Lucy wasn't lying at all, it was a magical place they saw for themselves. With an evil spell the White Witch made it always winter but never Christmas. Trouble begins when Edmund betrays the others (not knowing anything about her) and takes side with the Witch. Because of Edmund'Lucy, Peter, and Susan need to get Aslan (a lion) to change everything and defeat the White Witch himself to break the spell and get Edmund back with them.
This book's theme can let you learn that you should always think and know before you except upon others. Well at least that's what I learned.
I loved how C.S. Lewis made parts of the book where you thought one thing was going to happen, but then after you read on, you find out you were totally wrong. That was the best thing about this book!
I would let people of all ages read this adventures novel, no matter how old you are. It's a book that you wont be able to stop reading once you start! But what will happen to Edmund, and will Aslan make the Narnia change? Your going to have to read it to find out!

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is, of course, loved by millions as a classic, and it truly deserves its distinction. Rarely will any reader of any genre find a story so moving and entertaining and so enlightening. I can't recommend anything more highly than this little volume.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the story of Lucy, Edmund, Susan, and Peter who wander through an old wardrobe into the magical world of Narnia. What follows is their adventure as they team with a nation of talking animals and other magical creatures versus the evil powers in the kingdom. The novel climaxes with one extraordinary act of love which tears through the kingdom and changes everything and everyone after.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is such a successful novel. It does serve as a wonderfully powerful read. The book also enlightens the reader with its commentary Christian symbolism on the nature of love. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a classic, and I really think that it is just now coming into what may be its most popular period. The world is pleading for some type of meaning, and here, Lewis is willing to offer it.

This novel is a great book to read, especially for children who love fairy tales. Every once in a while I love to glance back at this book and read it for fun. This is my opinion about this book.
The book is about four children from England who are going to a wise grown-up's house to spend the summer at. During the time, they discover a magical wardrobe in the house that leads to a huge country called Narnia, in which they become Kings and Queens. The names of the children are Peter (the oldest), Susan (the 2nd oldest), Edmund (the third oldest), and Lucy (the youngest). One day it is raining outside and they decide to go explore through the house since they can't go outside. When they're exploring they decide to play hide-and-go-seek since the house is huge. Lucy, hides in a wardrobe and discovers there are fur coats that lead to the country Narnia. As she goes in, she discovers there is a center lightpost, where she meets a faun and goes off with him to eat. She was there for hours, then finally, (I don't want to give the secret of the fuan) she decides to go back to the house. When she gets back, she told the others about it and they did not believe her. She was in the country for hours, but then she found out that it had only been a few seconds. Narnia time is different from real time.
Next game, Edmund goes into the center lightpost and a witch on a sledge comes by. She offers him food and to tell the others to come (This witch is evil for real but lies to Edmund to get him to bring the others. I don't think I should tell why though, ruins story). When Edmund comes back, he lies to the others about the country and Lucy gets upset.
Later in the story, they all go in and find it. They find out that they have to save Narnia from the witch's evil spell (It's always Winter), so they meet a great lion named Aslan. Aslan helps him to kill the witch and the spell breaks. Then they become Kings and Queens of Narnia.
That is a brief description about this novel. I would love to write more but the maximum words are 1,000. I highly recommend this book for anyone, even adults. If you ever get the chance, go ahead and read.

To C.S. Lewis:
You are the greatest author I have ever known of. Thank you for making this book. I wish I could meet you someday.

Kellen Kornegay

The only negative review so far at this site seemed to confuse the author's craftmanship with his subject. This is a well-written, quick read, which, if you are any kind of baseball fan, will cause you to stop repeatedly and think about what you've just read.

Every baseball fan has asked themselves over and over, why are marginal players overpaid? Why are millions invested in ONE player to the detriment of the team? Why does ownership seem trapped in some preconceived notion of what a ballplayer should look like? This book seeks to answer those questions and present an alternative view of how to run a winning team. And here, in a nutshell is that answer:

Position players should be signed based on the On Base Percentage. Pitchers should be signed based on Strikeouts, Walks, Home runs allowed and groundballs.

There. That's it. Time to go home and enjoy your vast savings, Mr. Steinbrenner.

Of course it's more complex than that, but perversely, Major League Baseball seems to have based its criteria for quality on a completely subjective and error-prone system: Wins, earned run average, batting average, runs batted in.

The book does a wonderful job of demonstrating how a small germ of an idea took hold, slowly grew, and then became embraced by people with the position to do something about it. It's the Revenge of the Nerds and it's positively engaging.

Billy Beane comes off as some 21st Century tortured prince, except he's not Hamlet trying to avenge his father's death, he's every jerk high school jock you ever met who, as an adult, hates himself. Freud wouldn't even get out of bed for this one.

It's sad because he and his computer geeks could actually save baseball from itself. But there is not one incident of joy reported in this book. It would be nice to read that he turned down the Red Sox job because he wanted to stay close to his daughter, but she is never mentioned as a consideration. It's just a shame that someone whose eyes were opened to the real value of ballplayers doesn't carry the exhileration of someone lost, now found, but rather wields it like some terrible weapon.

And objectivity, statistics and mathematics notwithstanding, the fact is that nine Miggy Tejadas are preferable to nine Scott Heddeburg (sp?).

Michael Lewis's story about the Oakland A's contrarian, statistics driven approach to building a baseball team is outstanding. The book provides interesting detail and lessons to be learned in an engaging style that kept me turning the pages until I was finished. The story is about how Billy Beane and Paul DePodesta went about exploiting baseball's player market value inefficiencies to turn one of the lowest payroll teams in the league into a contender. Interesting stuff while a surprisingly light and entertaining read.

I am not a big baseball fan. I bought the book after hearing Mr. Lewis interviewed on the radio where he focused on the observations this book was making about the flaws inherent in subjective "that's how we have always done it" decision making. I thought the book might support my own thoughts on the subject and I was right...focus on process and outcomes usually take care of themselves.

I never really followed the game of baseball very closely, but you can bet that I will follow the second half Oakland's season like a life-long A's nut!

Michael Lewis's story about the Oakland A's contrarian, statistics driven approach to building a baseball team is outstanding. The book provides interesting detail and lessons to be learned in an engaging style that kept me turning the pages until I was finished. The story is about how Billy Beane and Paul DePodesta went about exploiting baseball's player market value inefficiencies to turn one of the lowest payroll teams in the league into a contender. Interesting stuff and a surprisingly light and entertaining read.

I am not a big baseball fan. I bought the book after hearing Mr. Lewis interviewed on the radio where he focused on the observations this book was making about the flaws inherent in subjective "that's how we have always done it" decision making. I thought the book might support my own thoughts on the subject and I was right i.e., focus on process and outcomes usually take care of themselves.

I never really followed the game of baseball very closely, but you can bet that I will follow the second half Oakland's season like a life-long A's nut!

I very much enjoyed this book because it was full of pure fun reading. Some books drag from the very beginning, but this children's story didn't. There were surprises from the start. This book is an all original example of using your imagination. Lewis Carrol was gifted enough to let his imagination go wild, and to write it down on paper. This book inspires me to write any sort of crazy thing that is worth writing. This book is about Alices adventures from the time she saw the peculiar White Rabbit with a waistcoat and watch. She meets thrilling but very arguementive creatures and charectors such as the caterpiller who smokes, the Duchess and her baby which turns into a pig, a Mock Turtle, a gryphon, and the most famous the Chesire cat and the Queen of Hearts. This book is a bit different than the Disney movie. There are other charecters in the book that are not mentioned in the animated movie. and I think the book is more bizarre.

'Alice in Wonderland', by Lewis Carroll, is an excellent book for both adults and children. It details a little girl's wild adventure through a make believe world. The writing was clever. And so were the characters and situations created by Carroll. Everyone is familiar with the principal idea of the book, but reading the book forces you to remember all the particulars. It it clear why children love this book, which it's fantastic situations.

Being a software developer and a computer science major, it was also interesting to pick up on concepts such as reasoning and logic skattered within the book (Carroll was a mathematician). Of course these concepts are skewed in Wonderland.

If you've never read this book before, put it on your "must read" list. It's a short book and a fast read. If you you're read it already, why not read it again?

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is one of the most clever and entertaining books yet written. The author's use of language is extremely appealing to the younger readers. These young readers are attracted to this book because of the author's use of many songs. For instance the lullaby sung by the duchess to her child. The Mock Turtle also sang to Alice and the Gryphon a song about the Lobster Quadrille. The author also uses poems that are entertaining and fun to listen to. "You are Old Father William" is one of the many poems. Not only does the author use poems but she also uses commonly known poems and changes the words to fit the character saying them. For instance the Mad-Hatter sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in different words saying "Up above the world you fly, Like a tea-tray in the sky." If this isn't a unique way of writing I dont know what is. Another style of her writingthat is appealing is when she creates a picture, using words in a poem, about the poem. Yhis is used on page 37. The words in the book are nbot hard so the book can be enjoyable when it is being read, not stressful. The author brings animals to life which is an interesting style of writing. This is Lewis Carroll's style of writing. The main character in this book is a little girl with blonde hair named Alice. This child is full of fantasies and dreams, which is what the book is about. Alice is very curious and likes to know every little detail. She thinks she is very smart. For example, when Alice is listening to the Dormouse's story she asks questions like "What did they live on," and makes smart comments such as "They could'nt have done that you know, they'd have been ill." She is also a little bit bratty, especially to the Dormouse when she says: "Nobody asked your opinion." These characteristics pull together to make an interesting main character and to create a fabulous story. The theme of the story is sometimes you need to take a break out of every day life and dream of fantasize. This makes your life more interesting even if you dream about things that will never come true. Alice does this when she dreams about changing sizes and listening to talking animals. Dreaming doesn't hurt anyone except the people who don't do it. If nobody ever had dreams life would be extremely stressful and boring. The plot of the story is all about Alice trying to find the white rabbit, which of course is in her dream. Following the white rabbit takes ALice to interesting places, such as the Courtroom filled with animals, and the Duchess' house, along with meeting interestingpeople such as the Cheshire-Cat and the Queen. This amazing cat hes the ability to disappear whenever it wants to and it always smiles. In the end Alice finds the white rabbit and then wakes up from her dream. This is the plot of the story. The story is effective to the reader. This is so because after listening to such acreative dream and fantasy, it inspires people to take a little time out of the day and be creative and dream once in a while. All the parts of this five star story; the writer's style, the main character, the theme, and the plot; come together to create the overall effectiveness of the story. This is why I rated this book five stars.

This book has good insights into the Wall Street of the 1960's. This was the period of time most similar to the present (not identical) regarding the boom in tech stocks and new issues. Brooks has some interesting insights into the players in that period of time and what went wrong.

OK, there can be some EXCELLENT ideas and analysis. But, he has some chapters that aren't interesting or very relevant (the book is originally from 1973). But, he gets inside the market. Also, the chapter on the back room operations of trading firms is fabulous, thinking about new firms like E-Trade, etc. (Make sure you track EVERY trade). A good read (but know how to skip).

Wiley Investment Classics typically fall into two categories, fascinating troves of banking wisdom that are well-written and insightful, and painful diatribes that while full of good intention are best put on the shelf for display. "The Go-Go Years" is definitely the former - this is an incredibly well written book about what has really become one of the forgotten times in American financial history. While the booom of the 1920's and resulting crash, as well as the excess of the 1980's are frequent subjects of many financial authors, Brooks has picked a relatively infrequently discussed portion of our financial history, the booming 1960's and the resulting crash of the early 1970's.

There are many outstanding sections of the book; the introduction to Ross Perot in the first chapter, the history of Gerald Tsai and Fidelity, the rise and fall of the conglomerates, the description of the back-office and its staff, and finally the description of Wall Street that begins Chapter 5, which is without question the best description of the area ever written. These few pages (104 - 111) are simply an outstanding piece of prose.

There are just too many good things about this book to fit into a 1,000 word review. Too many of the lessons from only 40 years ago are maddeningly similar to the lessons many dot-com and IPO investors are learning now, and the structure and actions of many Wall Street establishments are all too easily explained with this simple peace of previously "missing" history. If you are up to date on the current view of the 1929 collapse, and the bull market of the 1980's, then this is the book that goes a long way towards filling out the major events that shaped the markets in the interim.

Go read this book.

Favorite Excerpts:

"Goaded by stock underwriters eager for commissions or a piece of the action owners of family businesses from coast to coast - laundry chains, soap-dish manfacturers, anything - would sell stock in their enterprises on the strength of little but bad news and big promises." - Brooks (page 28)

"Some accused him of being a habitual liar; they forgave him because he seemed geniunely to believe his lies, especially those about himself and his past." - Brooks (page 63)

"In the nineteen twenties, Wall Street's last great era before the present one, it was a kind of super university as well as a marketplace." - Brooks (page 105)

"'We were all sheep,' one of them would admit, sheepishly, years later." - Brooks (page 120)

"A smooth operator with a streak of the gambler; a company more interested in attracting investors than in making real profits; the resort to tricky accounting; the eager complicity of long-established, supposedly conservative investing institutions; the desperation plunge in a gambling casino at the last minute; the need for massive central-banking action to localize the disaster; and finally, reform measures instituted too late - we will see all of these elements reproduced with uncanny faithfulness in United States financial scandals and mishaps later in the nineteen sixties." (page 125 - 126)

"Economics have never been my strongpoint" - Salinger (page 273)

Lewis, as always, writes extremely well in this book. He spends most of the book explaining the details of bond futures, whole mortgages and other esoteric financial terms, but manages to do it in a way that never bores you. The book is filled with a colorful cast of characters who are entertaining throughout (although they're more down to earth than those in Po Bronson's Baombardiers).

The book looses a star, however, for its somewhat impersonal and inconsitant nature in parts. It starts with an account of Lewis's own start in Salomon Brothers, but then drifts into a narrative about people he heard about, or who worked with his friends, etc. In the last chapters, Lewis struggles to relate the story back to himself. Unfortunately, the ending left me frustrated -- Lewis talks about all the people leaving the firm for various reasons (mostly for more money) and says he'd never leave for money; "I'd leave Salomon Brothers for other reaons, however. And I did." That's more or less the end of the book. A wandering eplilogue closes without telling you any more about his motivations.

Those criticisms apart, Liar's Poker is a great book for anyone who's interested in how Wall Street really works, and especially what happened during the 80s boom.

In Liar's Poker, Michael Lewis writes about his journey in becoming a bond salesman and his two years of work experiences at Salomon Brothers. While the book does offer some information about the finacial innovations driving the bond business in the 1980s, I think the principle thrust of the book is an examination of the culture and the personalities of Wall Street trading desks. The first chapter story, which is the basis for the title of the book, involving John Gutfreund and John Meriwether encapsulates the nature of this world.

This book is an important read for anyone who thinks they might want to become a trader/salesperson on Wall Street. If not, it is still a very interesting peek into a world that most people do not understand.

My last comment is a minor criticism of Michael Lewis. Lewis writes in the first person and is obviously a very self-involved individual with an extremely high opinion of himself. This is more evident in his later writings and columns for various periodicals (e.g. his NY Times article on Long-Term Capital was sickening). Despite this criticism the book is still very enjoyable.

Liars' Poker is the quintessential business novel. Everyone businessman I know has either read it or heard of it. So, I decided that I should check it out.

This book is an account of Michael Lewis' time at Salomon Smith Barney in the mid 80s, at the height of the junk bond craze. He perfectly describes the atmosphere of competitiveness and the vast rewards everyone was reaping as a result of the boom.

What came as a surprise to me is that Lewis describes the mortgage bond market, an obtuse and vague instrument, very clearly and in a way most non-business people could also understand. This explanation also serves to show why these junk bonds ultimately collapsed.

Then, of course, are his hilarious descriptions of his orientation, his bosses and coworkers. To read about these outlandish characters is worth the price of the book alone.

So, to close, this book is a classic for a reason. It is informative and well written, but manages to be hilarious at the same time, a feat few authors can achieve. Read this book at all costs.

The Pilgrim's Regress, Lewis's first book after his conversion to Christianity, is among his lesser known works. This in spite of the fact that it is highly readable and contains a good deal of insight into the problems of belief and unbelief. In short, it's the story of a boy (John) who searches for the answer to a longing he has had from his childhood, which leads him to (and past) many philosophies that were current in Lewis's time (and some of which still linger today). The allegory is thinly disguised - actually, it's not disguised at all. Characters like "Reason" and "Mr. Enlightenment" pop up all the time. Some of the references are a little out-of-date but generally the work is successful. This book is best read in conjunction with his other works, of course.

In this insightful volume, C.S. Lewis provides a semi-autobiographical chronicle of his conversion to Christianity, and the various philosophical or emotional obstacles that he faced (or thought others might face) in coming to believe in Christ. Lewis notes in the afterword of the book that he realizes in retrospect, that the path he followed was not necessarily as common as he originally thought. Also he makes it clear that every situation "John" (the main character, likened to Lewis) encounters is not a direct reflection of Lewis' own life, but may have been included to address various issues facing people in the searching stage.

For those who have not read any of Lewis' writings, this may not be the best place to start. For those who have, but aren't particularly adept at throughly analyzing and understanding allegory, like myself, it may be advantageous to read Lewis's afterword FIRST, and pay special attention to the editorial headlines across the tops of the pages. That would contribute to understanding the gist of the allegories, which in some places are clear enough of their own nature, but elsewhere are quite obscure (as Lewis notes in the afterword).

I found the sections in "Claptrap", at Wisdom's house, and the discussions with the cave-hermit particularly difficult, but elsewhere the writing is fascinating, and has brilliant insights into the problems with certain philosophies. The story itself is a little more colorful and humorous then the Pilgrims' Progress by Bunyan, which is a very clear allegory that instead follows the walk of a Christian after conversion. This is a book that could easily be read multiple times to discover more and more depth to the story.

C. S. Lewis says more with one letter than some people say their entire lives!

This book requires two pre-requisites: "Pilgrims Progress" by Bunyan, and "Surprised by Joy," by Lewis. You will be lost with out this background. It also helps to be a genius, but I don't believe I can be of much help in that area.

This is an allegory of Lewis eventual conversion to Anglican Christianity. It presents Lewis's own story in the story of a young boy John and his struggles with religion, and how he wanders here and there trying to find God and what He is about.

The chapters are usually short, but in typical Lewis fashion, he packs a lot of thought in a small sentence. And the surprising thing is that he is so readable. There is no academic or philosophical mumbo-jumbo. It is all to rare straight talk!

This book is not just a journey to Christianity and to Christ, but also a vary biting commentary on the worldly and secular philosophies current in the world. Pay close attention, and see how many of the pundants and professors you see pasted in the story!

This is Lewis's first book, and it his his "Q" document--the source for much of his corpulent corpus of writing. It is is a good overview to Clivian thought!

Admittedly, I knew very little about the Middle Column of the Wall Street Journal before reading this book. Now, I might just have to get a subscription to WSJ! The stories unfold as if they are the creation of some short story writer. Would you ever think that getting a hole-in-one in golf could be a bad thing? Well, in Japan, it is....in a way. And if you think that Stephen King writes a lot of books, wait until you hear about the man who holds the world record. A lot of the stuff you will learn from this book is mainly to entertain friends, but it's just as entertaining as reading a novel. Plus, you will get a perspective of how people thought 25 years ago and just how right they were. The only thing preventing the book from getting 5 stars is that it might be a tad bit on the "long" side and the editor attempts to group the stories by content. Personally, I would have rather had it completely mixed up because one of the chapters is a bit "dry." All in all, a great read that will have you smiling quite a bit.

Like many readers checking out this book, I've read the "middle column" for years. I'm bemused to learn everyone else calls it the same thing. What else could it be called? "That funky human interest article in the WSJ that has no direct relationship to anything else in the paper"? Maybe, but that would take too long to say.

"Floating off the Page: The Best Stories from The Wall Street Journal's "Middle Column"" covers all those stories you missed. On one hand, it is just a collection of articles from a well-read newspaper column. On the other, it is a peek into the unusual world we live in. As bizarre as some of these stories are, as much as you'll look and tell the other person with you, "listen to this, there's this guy in New York who...", these are real life.

It isn't all humor, but you'll find many a chuckle in the book. You'll wonder where and how they found these people, but you'll be drawn into every page. The middle column isn't one of those selection of odd newswire stories, but a fully-researched look into one story, and all its oddities. They are written with as much erudite literary prowess as the rest of the WSJ, but without the MBA-level knowledge required.

Coffeehouses should stock this one, as well as waiting rooms at dentists' office everywhere.

I fully recommend "Floating off the Page: The Best Stories from The Wall Street Journal's "Middle Column""

Anthony Trendl

This collection of mostly humorous, occasionally tragic, but always clever stories is a pleasure to read and to consider stealing from. The "middle column" of the Wall Street Journal is where you'll find all kinds of quirky, off-beat pieces on people or issues you thought you might not care about. But the writing draws you in and makes you care about the eccentric Englishman who's built a medieval siege engine, or the doomsday group, or the guy who tests aircraft viability by hurling dead chickens through the air, or the Laotian navy, and the more than 60 other characters presented in this book. While the quirkiness of finding these stories surrounded by the much more serious reporting of financial stories might catch your eye, the content of the material will hold it.
This is a great book for people looking for another view of the world and what's important. And journalists take note: there's a goldmine of story possibilities in this book.

Judging from earlier reviews, you'll either love this one or you'll hate it. A quick scan of the ratings reveals that Christians love it while agnostics and atheists pan it. From 129 ratings out there, only four readers provided on-the-fence "3 star" reviews. By joining this lonely (objective?) crowd, I'm hoping to convince myself that writing review number 130 is not purely an exercise in conceit but can provide a different perspective on the work.

First, let's recognize that this book is really a combination of three prior, separate essays comprising two distinct topics. These topics are an apologetic of the Christian faith and a high-level review of fundamental Christian beliefs held across denominations. Those who offer blanket criticism appear to miss this distinction and view the entire work as an apologetic. In my view, these distinct components differ sharply in intent and quality and therefore deserve separate reviews.

As to the common threads throughout the work, they are largely positive. Readers of other Lewis works will be familiar with his wonderful ability to write in clear, concise, conversational prose and these gifts are on display throughout the book. His capacity for using metaphors and analogies if rightfully renowned and is particularly helpful in explaining complex beliefs and doctrine.

Unfortunately, the pure apologetic section of the work falls far short of it's target of providing a rational justification for the faith. Lewis attempts to structure logical deductive and inductive reasoning arguments to support his conclusion that there is a single God and that Jesus was his only Son. Surprisingly for one of Lewis' obvious intellect, his logic if rife with serious flaws. Two quick examples are symptomatic. First, Lewis states that "Reality is something you could not have guessed. This is one of the reason's I believe in Christianity. It is a religion you could not have guessed." What he means is that the world is complex and therefore a religion that accurately explains the world must be complex. Thus, because Christianity is complex, it accurately explains the world. This logic leaves seekers of religion free to accept any "complicated" belief system (in fact, the more complicated the better). Second, Lewis argues that Jesus must be the Son of God because the Bible makes it clear that he was "neither a lunatic nor a fiend" and that he must be either a lunatic/fiend or the Son of God. In addition to several deductive logic holes, the argument faces an obvious circularity problem (i.e. one believes what the New Testament says because Jesus is the Son of God and one believes He is the Son of God because of the Bible's description of his life). These and other similar examples of poor logic lead me to give a "2 star" rating to this section of the work.

For all the issues with Lewis' apologetic efforts, his attempt to provide an easily understandable, concise summary of the major cross-denominational Christian beliefs is outstanding. One can take issue with the lack of depth and breadth of coverage, but only if one does not clearly understand Lewis' objectives. His discussion of the cardinal virtues, the sin of pride and the trinity are among the most clearly articulated explanations I have seen. While the passage of time has exposed several of his points (e.g. the Christian wife's obligation to "obey" her husband) as no longer falling within the common Christian belief set, on the whole he clearly succeeds in his goals. Thus, I give a "4 star" rating to this section of the work.

The 2 and 4 stars equate to an overall 3 star rating. C.S. Lewis fans should read the book for an interesting perspective on his personal beliefs. Those looking for a clear explanation of those common beliefs that Christians hold dear would get great value from the work. Those looking for a compelling, rational defense of the faith would be better served looking elsewhere.

After reading several books on a similar topic that did nothing but confuse me, I was glad that I came upon C.S. Lewis's work. All of the other books about the existence of God are way off in their own world, and discourage anyone who feels lost in their ideas about God. This book really explained the reasons that God must exist, and then moved on to easily describe the major beliefs of Christians, without leaving anyone out in the cold on what the key issues actually are. This book is perfect for the agnostic, the atheist, and even the Christian that wants to know the logical and simple reasons that C.S. Lewis came to be a Christian. Over and over, his words made me see even the simplest concepts of religion in a completely new light. I was greatly impressed and have already read this book multiple times.

A logical and incremental method to "prove" to his fellow humans the existance, not just of a higher entity, but of the specific God of The Holy Bible. C.S. Lewis uses wit, logic and analogies throughout this book which will give comfort to even the most militant of agnostics. Lewis' original intent of this book was to, once and for all, prove that there was/is NO God. After completing less than half of his research, he became one of the great defenders of the Christian Faith in the 20th century. This converted atheist and most intelligent scholar from Oxford University of England has found his place as a true guide to help others discover that divinity in Christ exists and all one has to do is read. Another claim I will make, is that this piece appeals to most of the spectrum of intelligence in society from a sophomore in high school to a theological philosopher..enjoy!!