Winner of the 2002 Morse Poetry Prize, All The Blood Tethers is a collection of intense and powerful images crafted by the award-winning poet Catherine Sasanov illustrating and evoking the severe side of Roman Catholicism, life in the brutal city, wandering past veils of death, and so much more. "Walk into the patio. / Look up at the stars. / No one's left / to decipher God's language / held just out of reach. / The royal cosmographers / died centuries ago."

There are few books of poetry that so directly speak to the reader as the poems in "All the Blood Tethers" do. This book is the much deserving winner of the prestigious Samuel French Morse Poetry Prize. However, this book deserves more then prizes. Ms. Sasanov has created a world so personal that it transcends many poets' attempts at communicating inner soul. This book allows the reader to feel these poems inside their own bodies. Ms. Sasanov's voice is strong and beautiful. The poems are at once real and tied to the earth as they are soaring to the heaven. This book deserves to be widely studied and discussed. It deserves to be taught and pondered. It deserves to be read.

This is a great introduction to the ideas of Gregory Bateson, one of the most important thinkers of our times. He is able to bridge the gap between our ideas about a materialistic world and concepts of mind. He said that Western science did not explain mind, it explained mind away.

Anyone who feels that there is more to life than logic and science, but who doesn't feel comfortable with every new age quack idea, should read this book. Bateson's thesis is that aesthetics, beauty, and the sacred are as valid as ways of knowing as logic and science are, and he can back that up with real ideas about the real world.

Gregory Bateson is well known, among those with the perseverance to wrestle through his very compact prose, for his highly original synthesis of cybernetics, biology, anthropology and -- above all -- epistemology. Near the end of his one book written with a general audience in mind (Mind and Nature), he mentions his intention to continue his explorations into the realms of the sacred and the aesthetic. By the time of his death in 1980 he had written several drafts and discussed the project in depth with his daughter Mary Catherine Bateson, an investigator of great insight in her own right and a better writer than Gregory's devotion to formal rigor allowed him to be. This book is the end result of that collaboration, which Mary completed in 1986. Those familiar with Gregory's work will find some of his familiar themes explored in somewhat more accessible terms, along with some unexpected new ideas. As with his earlier works, Bateson often has to redefine some familiar words, and introduce new usages for others, which makes reading him a struggle, but a rewarding struggle in the long run. Those familiar with Mary Catherine's work will not be disappointed either. Her summarizing chapter which pulls together the various strands of the book and of her father's thought is a masterpiece of synthesis in its own right. And this book, which is above all about *relationships* at every level from the cellular to the cultural to the religious, is a fascinating record of the very human relationship between father and daughter. Like all of the elder Bateson's work, this one will take some time to digest. How much have I learned from it about "the epistemology of the sacred"? I expect it will take years to find out, and that I'll be revisiting this book many times while its implications work themselves out. As G.B. said, Life is a game whose purpose is discovering the rules. This volume is a voyage of discovery.

This is a wonderful story! And, the tone is perfect: instructive and lyric, but never pedantic. It has many layers and a wonderful irony that will not be too elusive for children and will delight adults. I think that is what I like best -- the irony and the detailed factually-correct description of life in a cathedral. It even has the cathedral floorplan on the back inside cover of the book!

This book is the book for all children and adults that want "more" than they get with a typical fairy tale.

For those of you who loved the Narnia Chronicles, this book is for you. The best parts of Tim Burton's Gothic taste, mixed in with Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods". This story avoids many mistakes Fairy Tales do. It balances on the line between the adult and child audience and never seems to insult the reader's intelligence.

I cannot remember the last time I was so taken in with a book so simple. And that is why the tale is told so well. It never strays from its path, and gently takes the reader along.

"At the Top of the Cathedral" holds all the magic of those bed time stories we loved when we were little, but now cannot remember.

And best of all the Gargoyles are not cute, nor silly, nor over-the-top ferocious. They're just gargoyles. Like God wanted them to be.

I was sad to see this book was out of print. It was given to me when I was just learning to windsurf as a teen, and I read it cover to cover back then. The humorous yet informative illustrations provide a good review of the basic windsurfing principles.

This is the classic instructional book for windsurfing. Its excellent (and humorous) cartoons and text desribe both the correct and incorrect versions (just as useful) of the basic maneuvers. The discussions are well suited and motivating for someone new to the sport. As an experienced windsurfer I still refer to the book when teaching. It also contains more advanced skills (harness use, fancier jibes ... etc). Due to its age the equipment discussion is a little dated but still useful.

I absolutely loved this beautifully-written, touching book. The "story within a story" is expertly handled, and all the characters are brilliantly drawn. Real issues of faith in the divine and sexual love are explored without heavy-handedness. A friend brought this book back from England for me, and I have since ordered several more copies to give to other friends. I do wish Catherine Fox's books could be published in the U.S. She would find a huge readership, I believe.

This is a really lovely book. It's got just about the lot- humour, fascinating characters with depth to them, a cracking story and a number of triggers to deep thought- as well as the moments that make you laugh out loud- do not read this in public unless you are happy with people giving you funny looks! It's a hilarious, profound read, and anyone who tastes it will also want to track down Catherine Fox's other books.

I read this book in 4th grade. The reading level is about 5-7th grade, not for babies or toddlers. The plot of the book is based on a number of items in the Metropolitan Museum of Art which all hale from a town in Vermont called Castleton. One of them is hand-woven carpet with a blue cat depicted on it. Another is a pewter teapot. Around these artifacts and the small amounts of information that could be gleaned on their history, the author has built a charming tale of a blue kitten in search of a home. Since he was born under a blue moon, the kitten can only find a home and a hearth in the house of a human who knows (or can be taught) the River's Song. The River's Song is the Song of Creation, of the making of beautiful things. The kitten encounters many inhabitants of Castletown in his quest and finds them falling under the dark spell of Arunah Hyde, whose whole interest is speed and wealth. The kitten himself nearly falls under the same spell, but escapes at the last minute. His quest seems doomed to fail, however, until he crosses the path of a lonely, ugly girl. This is a book that does not deserve to be out of print. It could easily be used in the classroom as a lesson in early American culture and history, but is also a just a very enjoyable and moving read.

This book made me laugh and made me cry. It also did something that very few books have done before, it gave me hope. The book demonstrates how a love of honesty and beauty affect the lives of different people in different ways. It never falters or leaves the reader hanging. The best read in a long time!

The title is a misnomer: Although the authors do indeed suggest how to "break through the chains of organizational structure", they provide an enlightening explanation of four different types of boundaries (vertical, horizontal, external, and geographic) which give definition to any organization. They do not advocate the total elimination of these boundaries (which is impossible, anyway); rather, they suggest how to rearrange them so that an organization can thrive. For the authors, there is what they call "A New World Order":

"In living organisms, membranes exist to give the organization shape and definition. They have sufficient structural strengthto prevent the organism from dissolving into an amorphous mess....Like a living organism, the boundaryless organization also evolves and grows, and the placement of boundaries may shift....Because the boundaryless organization is a living continuum, not a fixed state, the ongoing management challenge is to find the right balance of boundaryless behavior, to determine how permeableto make boundaries, and where to place them."

This brief excerpt from the first chapter correctly suggests the purpose of this remarkable book: To explain HOW to meet that challenge. The material is presented within four parts plus a conclusion. The first explains how to achieve "free movement up and down" by crossing vertical boundaries; the second explains how to achieve "free movement side to side" by crossing horizontal boundaries; the third explains how to achieve "free movement along the value chain" by crossing external boundaries; and in the fourth part, they explain how to achieve "free global movement" by crossing geographic boundaries." Then in the Conclusion, the authors discuss "Making It Happen: Leading Toward the Boundaryless Organization." The authors also include a series of six questionnaires. By completing each in sequence, the reader is able to determine (a) where her or his organization is now located relative to "the boundaryless paradigm", and (b), what is needed to eliminate the "gap" between where it is now and where it should be.

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to read The Boundaryless Organization Field Guide. It contains a wealth of hands-on set of diagnostic instruments, exercises, and tools as well as a disk with presentation slides in Powerpoint format.

The fieldbook is written in a very user friendly way. It provides information that can be used in various ways - presentation slides, workshops, surveys and inteviews. Each tool is explained in great detail - how to use it and the intended purpose. I borrowed a copy from our corporate libary and liked it so much I will order my own personal copy!

Book Review:

Capital Campaigns: Strategies That Work
By: Andrea Kihlstedt and Catherine P. Schwartz
Edited by: James P. Gelatt
Aspen Publishers, Inc. Gaithersburg, Maryland 1997

Reviewed by: Norman Olshansky: President
NFP Consulting Resources, Inc.
...

What a surprise! With over 30 years of non profit fundraising, leadership and capital campaign consulting experience, I expected to gain little from this "how to" book which I was given to review. Boy, was I wrong.

Step by step, the authors outline and expand upon the key elements of a capital campaign; from determining whether or not your organization is ready for a campaign, to the best ways to celebrate and evaluate its conclusion.

I appreciated the amount of detail the authors included and their emphasis on organization, planning, leadership involvement and communications. They explore the basic process and then give in depth coverage of each step. In addition to sharing their own personal knowledge and expertise, they gathered much of their material by interviewing friends and clients who also had extensive capital campaign experience. They made the book more interesting, and dramatized the points they wanted to make, by the inclusion of short vignettes and quotes by volunteer and professionals, from actual campaign experiences.

Among the important subjects covered by the book are: how to select and use consultants, building the case for support, conducting a feasibility study, creating a campaign management plan, prospecting and prospect research, team building and leadership development, techniques of solicitation, campaign materials and public relations, events, thank yous, recognition, and much more. They even have a trouble shooting guide which focuses on what to do when things go wrong.

I highly recommend this handbook for volunteer leadership and staff alike (whatever their level of previous experience) who are considering a capital campaign. It is a book that should also be part of the libraries of campaign consultants. I have to admit that I picked up several great new ideas and techniques from reading the book.

Keep in mind that this is a "how to" book and will continue to be of value as a reference tool. The table of contents and index are complete and excellent in their detail.

I felt the authors could have put more emphasis on and expand the section on feasibility studies, or as I like to call them, pre-campaign assessments. Too many organizations try to avoid this important process thinking that they already know they need to know. They feel the pre-campaign study will take unnecessary time and resources. A good study not only sets the stage for a successful capital campaign and determines a realistic goal, but also provides invaluable information about the way the organization is perceived in the community, potential for major support, and extent to which leadership and staff are ready or capable to do what is necessary for success.

Organizational culture, leadership styles, personality management and what is often referred to as organizational politics are other areas which I felt deserved expanded coverage by the authors. Human factors, organizational history, and communication styles are all addressed in the book but are not given as extensive or in depth presentation as is warranted.

In summary, this book not only meets, but exceeds its very appropriate title: Capital Campaigns-Strategies that Work.

What a surprise! With over 30 years of non profit fundraising, leadership and capital campaign consulting experience, I expected to gain little from this how to book which I was given to review. Boy, was I wrong.

Step by step, the authors outline and expand upon the key elements of a capital campaign; from determining whether or not your organization is ready for a campaign, to the best ways to celebrate and evaluate its conclusion.

I appreciated the amount of detail the authors included and their emphasis on organization, planning, leadership involvement and communications. They explore the basic process and then give in depth coverage of each step. In addition to sharing their own personal knowledge and expertise, they gathered much of their material by interviewing friends and clients who also had extensive capital campaign experience. They made the book more interesting, and dramatized the points they wanted to make, by the inclusion of short vignettes and quotes by volunteer and professionals, from actual campaign experiences.

Among the important subjects covered by the book are: how to select and use consultants, building the case for support, conducting a feasibility study, creating a campaign management plan, prospecting and prospect research, team building and leadership development, techniques of solicitation, campaign materials and public relations, events, thank yous, recognition, and much more. They even have a trouble shooting guide which focuses on what to do when things go wrong.

I highly recommend this handbook for volunteer leadership and staff alike (whatever their level of previous experience) who are considering a capital campaign. It is a book that should also be part of the libraries of campaign consultants. I have to admit that I picked up several great new ideas and techniques from reading the book.

Keep in mind that this is a how to book and will continue to be of value as a reference tool. The table of contents and index are complete and excellent in their detail.

I felt the authors could have put more emphasis on and expand the section on feasibility studies, or as I like to call them, pre-campaign assessments. Too many organizations try to avoid this important process thinking that they already know they need to know. They feel the pre-campaign study will take unnecessary time and resources. A good study not only sets the stage for a successful capital campaign and determines a realistic goal, but also provides invaluable information about the way the organization is perceived in the community, potential for major support, and extent to which leadership and staff are ready or capable to do what is necessary for success.

Organizational culture, leadership styles, personality management and what is often referred to as organizational politics are other areas which I felt deserved expanded coverage by the authors. Human factors, organizational history, and communication styles are all addressed in the book but are not given as extensive or in depth presentation as is warranted.

In summary, this book not only meets, but exceeds its very appropriate title: Capital Campaigns-Strategies that Work.

Catherine of Siena: Passion for the Truth Compassion for Humanity: Selected Spiritual Writings

Catherine Benincasa, named the "Doctor of the Church," lived during the fourteenth century in Italy. She was born in 1347 and grew up during a period almost identical to ours: one of war, famine, homelessness, confusion, social upheaval, crisis in the church, and a plague of unknown origin and having no known cure. Her theological writings applied to her own time, but also apply to our modern situation. We should be especially attentive to her role as a peacemaker and her writings that pertain to the subject of peace.

Catherine dedicated her life to becoming a "Mantellata" with the Dominican Order. Although she declined to move into the monastery near the church of St. Dominic in Siena, she dressed in their white tunic with a black mantle and followed the rules of the Dominican Order. Upon joining the order, she went home and confined herself to solitary prayer for a period of three years. She only ventured back into the world upon a command from God that to love him, she must love her neighbor. If she truly loved her neighbor, she must put forth an effort to help relieve their suffering.

This woman saw her role in life to be one of messenger to the people. She maintained that love of God and love of neighbor were synonymous and that you could not have one without the other. Likewise, they increased and decreased in equal increments. This was the basis for all her testimonials and teachings. She spent many years of her life as a peacemaker and tried to teach people that Jesus was the greatest proponent of peace through all history. To live a good Christian and walk in His footsteps, we must seek peace!

The writings in this book clearly demonstrate Catherine's intense love and passion for the Lord. Her words are exuberant and her writings intensely ecstatic, filled with passionate cries of servitude, friendship, and love. As you read them, you will become caught up in the spirit of worship. You will become engulfed in the flames of her passion for all things right and just. There are so many strong messages and lessons in this book. For example, Catherine explains how to love your neighbor, have charity, and be an obedient servant to the Lord.

These writings are equally as applicable today as they were during the fourteenth century. In our time of confusion, this is a book filled with logical answers that are simple to understand. It should be of great benefit to every reader.

This small book is an excellent introduction to St. Catherine of Siena and her writings. The letters she wrote contain practicle advice for anyone in any era. In the "Dialogue", Catherine asked questions of God and His answers and are truly profound! St. Catherine was uneducated so her words are simple and easy to understand. It is as if God is sitting down at the kitchen table and answering universal questions about why we were created and why we suffer so much. The "Dialogue" makes sense of so many seemingly unaswerable questions, that it can help anyone of any religion in their spiritual understanding of creation. I was so deeply affected by this book, that I had to read the "Dialogue" in it's entirety. A must for all spiritual seekers!

The book is about a lamb who's adopted by the farmer and the farmer's sheepdog and ends up picking up the sheepdog's shepherding habits. My young kids (2.5 and 4.5) love it. They love to hear it over and over again and we've had our copy for a year now--they're still dragging it out. I almost have it memorized, but not quite, so I have to get a hardcover version since our softcover copy is now worn out. I recommend it to anyone with young kids. The illustrations are very nice also.

I bought this book for my friend's children, and they loved it. They read it over and over at bedtime. I would recommend it to anyone.