My library didn't categorize this book as a young adult anthology, which it should have, because it's clearly intended for a YA audience.

Perhaps because of the audience, much of the material was naive in tone and less than dramatic in plotline. There were good stories by Tanith Lee, Patricia McKillip, Carol Emshwiller, Gregory Maguire, Emma Bull and Kathe Koja, but nothing earthshaking. I was disappointed that none of the stories really seemed to have anything incisive to say about environmental themes; they tended toward retold fairy tales and coming of age stories.

I wish that, in these folk/fairy tale-oriented anthologies, real scholars of folklore and mythology would be invited to write the introductions. It would be interesting to get an informed viewpoint on the themes as they have been expressed in real people's beliefs and practices.

At first, I did not realize that 'The Green Man' is a book for young adults. The give-away was when I realized that there was no sex or violence! The book is a fast read and I enjoyed the stories. Some are better than others as is true in most anthologies and a couple are truly inspired. The stories are a nice way to connect with the natural world.

Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling have paid true homage to the spirit of the Green Man in this anthology. Not only do the short stories collected in this hefty volume evoke a true sense of mystery in the wild, but artist Charles Vess -- who publishes much of his work via his own, well-respected Green Man Press -- has provided cover art and incidental illustrations to bring the concept alive.
From top to bottom, front to back, Tales from the Mythic Forest is an excellent collection of stories unearthing the heart of the woodlands, the spirit of the trees and the face of nature.

Peter Bowler presents a synopsis of Charles Darwin's contributions to science, history, and culture. This book tries to provide a quick summary of the important periods in Darwin's life, touching briefly on each significant aspect.

Much of the book is written in a somewhat technical way and is a bit too wordy. I had a difficult time maintaining my interest while I was reading some of the chapters. Certain areas deserved more coverage, like the reaction when Darwin went public with his theories.

On the positive side, this book does give some good insight on Darwin's relationships with the other prominent scientists of his time and there are some moments where the slowness of the book becomes more interesting, like the section that covers Darwin's voyage of discovery aboard the Beagle. Overall, however, Bowler does not really present anything new or profound that we haven't heard before.

While you may not come away from this book feeling you would've called him Charlie, you will have derived a more than nodding acquaintance with an exceptional person. In the beginning -of the book- there seems to be an overemphasis on theological & philosophical issues but that is a clever construction that skillfully leads you to a profound grasp of Darwin's iconoclastic interpretations of mundane phenomena from which his theories grew. In the end, you regret even more never having met the man.

In his biography of Charles Darwin, Peter Bowler dispels many of the misconceptions surrounding Darwin's immediate influence on the scientific world. Bowler argues that Darwin's theory did not spark a scientific revolution which caused a majority of scientists to abandon their former views on natural history. Bowler explains that Darwin was not the first naturalist to advance a theory of evolution. Most importantly, Bowler reveals that Darwin's theory was not accepted blindly by the scientific community. In fact, many of Darwin's most faithful supporters found scientific weaknesses in his theory. As Bowler states, "Darwin's gereatest achievement was to force the majority of his contemporaries to reconsider their attitudes towards the basic idea of evolution" (p. 128).

Bowler's book was the first biography I have read of Darwin, and I found it very enjoyable. It is one of the college books that I have kept. I definitely recommend it to any reader interested in Darwin's work and influence.

I am a big fan of Ray Charles Robinson. This felt like a character assination. It is no secret that he was not exactly the best husband. I am sure Charles was a tightwad, and ran a very tight ship. But, the book goes on and on and on about this in every chapter, ad nauseum.

The good parts about the book are the the exaustive research and the insight about the single minded drive Ray had to be the best at everythig he does. I agree with the above review that there was very little insight from Ray about what makes him tick. It seems obvious that Ray did not spend much time with the author. Perhaps read this and 'Brother Ray' to get his side of the Story.

Ray Charles is a legend, a genious of music and recording and a fine artist with extraordinary talent. But this book focused more on the times and people surrounding Ray Charles, than the actual man. I got lost in all the music jargin and mumbo jumbo-I wanted to know about this musician, his life, how he felt, what he did, how people felt about his music. But since I am not in the music business, nor do I understand most of the jargin, this book was lost on me. I skipped quite a few parts in the middle chapters because they just bored me and confused me. Not to say this was a bad book, but if you're like me when it comes to the language of music business, skip this one and buy the man's albums. His voice tells it all, you can just feel the emotions in his songs.

If you only reading this book because you want to know exactly how friendly Ray Charles is, you might end up disliking him. This book is a tell it like it is. After reading it, I developed mixed emotions towards Brother Ray, that I didn't have before reading it. However, this book is truly a musician's favorite.

As a long time fan of John Lee I really looked forward to reading this book. Unfortunately the writer spent more time editoralizing about the sins of America in general and the south in particular and very little time on the actual subject of the book. The writers bias against the U.S. came across very clearly.

There are sections in the book that go on for pages without even discussing John Lee or his music. If the author had stayed off his soapbox he could have covered the same material in 100 pages instead of the 480+ pages he required. All in all I found the book very boring and a chore to read. I was glad when it was over. I love John Lee but hated the book.

With the exception of B.B. King, this was one of our last links to the true Blues greats. This book really misses out on the opportunity to expound on all the pathes crossed and the people he met along the way. This book is written very eloquently and there is no sparing of words. John Lee Hooker was a grass roots person, and this book should have been written that way. I looked forward to reading this book, but I have to admit that it was a very boring read. Hard to believe a book about John Lee Hooker being boring. I hope someone else picks up the pieces and put's another book on the streets.

Murray did a lot of research, which is commendable-he tackeled a lot-but the truth was that John was not happy with it...he said that he did not authorize it-his manager did- and that there were a bunch a lies in it-to sell the book...

Although this book is advertised as a "paperback," the word "pamphlet" would be better. It looks like someone's self-published book of poetry -- it's barely 20 pages long and can be read in about 15 minutes. It's not a bad story line, but, unless you are very familiar with some of de Lint's earlier works, this is going to be confusing. The whole story would fit a lot better into an anthology of fiction. The illustrations are somewhat scary and didn't really fit the story that well. I frankly felt that this "book" did not live up to de Lint's normal standard.

Charles De Lint is my favorite author so I try to read all of his books that I can find. I ordered this one and was disappointed in how short it was. The story was only 32 pages which is really just a small taste of the banquet I'm accustomed to getting in a De Lint book. The Buffalo Man is an engaging little story that brings us back to some characters we've met in other De Lint fantasy. The Crow Girls are among these characters and act in their typical mischievous and mystifying way. I always welcome the opportunity to visit with De Lint's characters but was disappointed that this visit was so brief.

This is not a large book. It is a distillation of character and plot till both are the purest essence of a fine story. I found the characters to be fully "fleshed out"(as is usual for De Lint). De Lint can do in a few pages what other authors must take chapters to do. Love the Crow Girls. I greatly enjoyed this book and reccomend it to anyone who like their fantasy with great characters and wonderful storyline.

I am not neutral in reviewing this book as I was expecting a thorough treatment of the doctrine of Humanity. The book is instead, just like the rest in the series, an attempt to think beyond the already stated dogmas in major Systematic Theologies. He wants to grasp contemporary social issues and give a theological reflection upon them. But even with that in mind, Sherlocks book wasn't too good. It was a lot of abstract reflection, small thoughts here and there, and a few fragments of admonition to the church. He didn't prove his cases. Also he has a habit of stating the case of a paragraph in the second sentence, instead of the first, which confused me all the time.

Mark Mathur Sweden

Recent discussion of the topic including interaction with contemporary issues. Like the rest of the series, serious consideration is given to the place of practical theology. This is not just an abstract review of theology like so many titles in the past. Any of the books of this series are excellent.

As someone with a general scientific background, I found this book high on padding and relatively low on the content I wanted and was expecting - the author spends much time on the history of the subject and on the basic properties of air, leaving little space for details on the physiology and medical side of the subject. I have no medical education or qualifications, though I still found much of the actual medical text in the book over simplified and lacking in detail.

This is a revised and expanded version of "Going Higher". The author has added additional text and illustrations. It is now even better than previous editions. Like Dr. Houston, I carry my altimeter with me on airplane flights. His observations match mine. Little do most passengers realize that the atmospheric pressure in the cabin may be the equivalent of the atmosphere at 7000 to 9000 feet.

Dr. Houston has written an excellent book on the effects of altitude on people. He reviews the history of mountain exploration, explains the physiological effects of the reduction of atmospheric pressure, and presents a practical guide for acclimitization to altitude. Whether you are going to ski in the Rockies or climb in the Himilayas, this is a useful and entertaining book. I also recommend "Altitude Illness" by Bezruchka

I read this novel and i found it very interesting .Even from the title we feel the irony of the writer:there are "Great Expectations",but none of the heroes of the book can acomplish them . In fact irony in this novel may be considered a kind of intertext . The book presents a life turned upsidedown:Pip`s life changed completely from the moment he is held hills over head by the fugitive Magwitch . The main hero of the novel Pip,is a kind of prism :through his eyes we can see the action ,we see waht he sees , we understand what he understands ,from the point of view of a 5 years old boy .That is why the narrator is subjective ,as the central conscience of the novel is influenced by heroe`s emotions and opinions . The novel is also an irony of destiny : thus ,Mrs Havisham ,an excentric old woman ,half crazy , half excentric ,has a " broken heart " as she was left by her fiancee .Decided to revenge she finds herself guilty of agression against life as she uses the two childern ,Estella and Pip to acomplish her wild dark dreams .She teaches Estella to hate and hurt men ,first turning her into a frosty girl and later into an insensitive woman . The novel also presents the evolution of Pip.He is a poor boy ,but through hard work he becomes a rich man.In his evolution he was helped by his secret love for Estella ,but he is disappointed by her.In the end of the novel he prooves that he changed:when he meets Estella he doesn`t return to her .

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens is his gift to the world. This book is quite confusing at first but it all comes togethor in the end. Expectations is about a young boy named Pip who has been raised by his sister. By pure luck he is introduced to a rich elderly woman and a run away convict. You would never guess that these two people have anything to do with each other. The book is filled with many charectors and written in old english. If you like romance and mystery you'll love this book.

I heard for a long time that Great Expectations was a very dull book, so I didn't read it until now. When I began reading it, I thought, all those people were wrong about this book! It was so interesting and I could hardly put it down! I thought the entire story was absolutely fantastic. The book made you really get into the characters. The part that I also enjoyed about it was that it wasn't just a cheesy romance novel. It had other things in it besides those about Estella and Pip. I was also very impressed becuase it wasn't a book that I could read in a couple days with no trouble. I actually had to think about it while I read it! Needless to say, this book was one of, if not THE best book I've ever read. I would recommend it to anyone, as a matter of fact I've inspired not only some of my friends to read it, but also my favorite English teacher who has never had the joy of reading it.

required reading for those heading into Native American vs. US Government studies. Have a can of Red Bull though!

A gutsy, three-dimensional view of the Judge. Tuller's passion for the subject is evident throughout.

The first major biography of Judge Isaac Parker to be written since 1951, 'Let no guilty man escape' provides refreshing insight into the life and career of a man that western novelists and Hollywood have stereotyped as the "Hanging Judge." Since most of the standard works on Judge Parker were written a half century ago, the documents and resources used by Tuller help to paint a picture of the complex person that Isaac C. Parker really was. While minor factual errors and inconsistancies occur throughout, this book is a worthy replacement of 'Hanging Judge.'

Father Paul Blighton taught, and the Order transmitted "The Middle Path." Timeless, reaching from ancient wisdom into the coming age; universal and applicable to all.
An outside observer might conclude that the Order's teachings incorporated a combination of ideas, but this was not what Order students experienced in their training. We came into a most powerful, integrated experience of Christ in all facets of Being. No frills were added to entertain; only universal truth to transform.
The Light emphasized in all of the Order's teachings, is the Light of Illumination, the Christ Light. It can be seen by one who is being mystically transformed by it, and is not merely symbolic. The stated purpose of the Order was to reach as many souls as possible with the transforming Light of Christ.

Let us put this book into a proper persective. This is not _the_ definitive history of the Holy Oder of MANS, but one man's doctoral dissertation based on selective interviews, the author's gleanings of the interviewees' 15 to 40 year old memories. There is much that is inaccurate, coming from hearsay that someone recalled hearing.

The Order had/has a fascinating history and no one else has stepped up to tackle the massive task to document it in it's true fullness and richness. I was a member in multiple capacities from 1969 to 1975, with a brief stint in 1982. I know/knew a fair number of those who were interviewed and many that were not. It has been estimated that the Order touched 10,000 people, to one degree or another.

All in all, this is a book worth reading. Just keep in mind what this text is: the author's doctoral dissertation and an oral history with all the shortcomings thereof.

I was very impressed with this thorough and objective account of the journey of the Holy Order of MANS from its inception to its eventual conversion to Eastern Orthodoxy. I was a sister in the original Holy Order of MANS in the late seventies. My experiences, both inner and outer, were profound and still deeply shape my life today. The objective facts and subjective interviews so thoroughly and carefully documented in Lucas' book have helped me make sense of my feelings and experiences both during and after my time in and around this religion.

In addition, Lucas also draws many examples from other religious movements, illustrating the many and typical similarites between all new relligions of this type. For those studying the characteristics of new religions, I believe this descriptive journey through the experiences of one will help in understanding the many.

In addition, I found this book to be lively and intelligent, never dull. Although carefully footnoted and documented, it remains engaging from start to finish.