I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is seeking growth in their spiritual life. Father Haase has combined the best of St. Francis and Thomas Merton to produce a very helpful, thought-provoking book. Chapter One, "Abba!,Father" talks about God's unconditional love for us. Fr. Haase quotes Merton: "We need to see good in ourselves in order to love ourselves. He(God)does not. He loves us not because we are good, but because He is." This is just an awesome thought!!

Read this book slowly and then read it again. There is so much in this book that I want to remember, that I found myself making notes in my spiritual journal several times during my reading. I now have to find time to read several of Thomas Merton's books that are quoted in this book.

I would also recommend "The Gift of Peace" by Joseph Cardinal Bernardin and "The Practice of the Presence of God with Spiritual Maxims" by Brother Lawrence.

Father Haase uses his life experiences to allow the reader to touch Jesus' words. Profound insights, enlightening. Thank you Father Haase for sharing your life with us.

"Calling on the century-spanning kindred spirits of Francis of Assisi and Thomas Merton as interpreters of the familiar words of the Our Father, Albert Haase takes us home. SWIMMING IN THE SUN brings the warmth, the intimacy, the majesty of our loving God face-to-face with the reader in a wonderful and unforgettable way. Rarely have we judges experienced so much wisdom, beauty and inspiration presented in such a short delightful book. It's very satisfying to go swimming with St. Francis and Thomas Merton with Father Haase as lifeguard."....The Judges of the 1994 Catholic Press Association's Catholic Book Awards, First Place for a First Time Autho

This book and the 4 following volumes are a great addition to anyones library who is a collector, a historian, a reenactor (like myself) or just has a general intrest in the civil war. It has hundreds of items with photos and descriptions of items ranging from swords to sewing kits to pistols to uniforms. As a reenactor, it was very useful in finding modern items that can pass as civil war period.

Little Lord Fauntleroy is a story about a little American boy, Cedric who suddenly finds himself the heir-apparent to a title in England. His grandfather, the present Lord Fauntleroy, (who originally disowned the boy's now-dead father for marrying his American mother) sends for the boy to live with him. His faultless mother of course agrees to let him take this opportunity, while she goes to live in a nearby cottage.
Then a woman appears with a boy she claims to be the son of an older son, apparently displacing Cedric as heir. It is a testament to Little Lord Fauntleroy's sweetening effect that his grandfather unites with his mother to fight against this alternate claim (successfully, of course...this is no book for bittersweet endings--the good always triumph, the evil always meet they're downfall, and the good and the evil are always on opposite sides).
Enough sugar to gag a horse, but no story. From the start, the little boy is perfect...charitable, pretty, strong, and smart--but infinitely oblivious of others' defects. He does not grow or change. He does not wrestle with problems. He does not even realize there are problems. He is not a character--he's a pro-American fantasy.
The real protagonist is the present Lord, the boy's grandfather. His transition from conceited grump to true grandfather is mildly interesting. However, far too often Cedric's perfect little self takes center stage, constantly presenting himself to be admired by the other characters, who were not so fortunate as to be perfect or American.

I have also seen this version of the movie and it is the best version I have seen. We enjoyed it with our children years ago and were hoping to purchase it for them as a Christmas Present. If it becomes available or someone knows where it can be purchased let us know.

I have been looking everywhere for the Little Lord Fauntleroy vhs starring the late Sir Alec Guiness and Ricky Schoeder (late 1970's). This is by far the best version of the timeless classic. I would hope that in view of Alec Guiness' recent passing that whoever has rights to the movie will re-release it. Otherwise, if there is anyone out there who is willing to sell his or her copy, I would be most obliged if you emailed me: ussrainone@riconnect.com

Poetry is a means of understanding the human aspect of history. Pure history books do not illustrate the lives of the people. Great ballads are written in every culture to document the world that evolves around the common man. They also develop into tall tales which I feel is also valid on a cultural level. Contrary to the belief of many Americans, John Wayne was not the first folk hero in history. Francis James Child has collected a group of British ballads. These ballads give one an overview of British life through the ages. This is an abbreviated version of Childs collection. That is unfortunate since there is a wealth of great material that was cut from the ranks. Still ballads like Bonny Barbara Allen and The Unquiet Grave are glorious examples of folk poetry. I would reccommend this book as a beginner course. I hope to get my hands on a copy of the full collection. These ballads are classic components of English language literature.

The Dover Thrift edition of this book is a pretty good value. You get a handful of the great ballads Child gathered--like "Sir Patrick Spens", "The Unquiet Grave", "Lady Isabel ad the Elf-Knight", and "Bonny Barbara Allan"--without spending the fortune you would on the complete collection. It's a good introduction to the ballad, and these are some of the best written of the ancient British ballads.

Hmm, this is interesting. Despite the convoluted prose I was able to plow through this in a couple days (it's less than 50 pages long). The cover and all looks cheap on this edition but it's the content that counts, and the content is interesting. NEW ATLANTIS posits an alternate history for America and is intended to supply an example of a Utopian, scientifically overachieving society. It's an interesting look at the philosophy, symbolically expressed, of a man considered a great "rational" philosopher. Not bad.

The significance of this book speaks for itself to the knowledgeable reader. This edition , in hardcover, is the one I am glad I purchased. The Foreword is very informative and the appendix is useful with respect to an issue related to pagination in the contemporary edition. The typestyle which appears to be some sort of typewriter Courier font detracts and gives it a "term paper" feel. In this age of web publishing, there is no excuse for not using a more pleasant, and professional looking font. Nevertheless, overall an excellent version for the serious student.

I had to read this book as part of a theology course(St.Ignatius H.S. Cleveland. It was a valuable tool to relating to the course I took. While I didn't agree with everything in the book, I admired the strength of Doc Pennock's beliefs and I fully reccommend this book to any school with a Morality course. The book also has great debate questions that can give a teacher or other students valuable insights on how others think.

Not a story to which I would naturally gravitate, but I feel fortunate that I found this book. A wonderfully detailed account of a peculiar and interesting man and family. Free of the sordid tell-all, life-was-hell details of so much of what passes for memoir these days, but full of both love and unflinching insight.

"Lord Gnome's Literary Companion" is funny and terribly witty and maybe even serves a purpose though I'm not sure what. But after a few minutes of slogging through the huffy sarcasm and personal attacks against succesful authors, you do start to get the feeling that there's more going on here than the need to deflate egos. It's obvious that for the anonymous critics it's so much easier to be clever than to actually say something or even attempt to. In other words it's easier to write an anonymous personal attack, laid thick with cynicism, nihilism, jealousy, hostility and aggression than it is to attempt an actual meaningful work of art. So here the 'writers' of Lord Gnome's companion prove the point that it's not so easy this writing business, is it. If it was then that's what we'd be doing instead of slinging crud anonymously. Because you know what boys, a so-called critique is not really art.

Exuberantly caustic. To wit, from a review of Michael Jackson's book of poetry (!): "Poetry is sissy stuff that rhymes. Usually, you can't give it away. But this little bundle of bosh is riding high in the bestseller charts, up there with _Diana_ and the Michelin Guide to stuffing your face . . . . 'Course, it's not so easy, as a visit to the book section of any Virgin record shop soon shows. There you see them, the young, in all their glory, patiently holding books up to their ears, or doggedly trying to insert them into the slots of their CD-players . . .". If you've been howling over Joe Queenan's recent bit of bile, you don't know what you've been missing. Check it out.

This book is a witty, wide-screen picture of the back-scratching and log-rolling that infest the literary establishment. Since I edited it, and wrote quite a bit of it, I need hardly add that it's compulsive reading. -- Francis Wheen