This collection of essays really gives some insight into Hauerwas' thought. Always provocative, Hauerwas expands on themes that he has touched on before, such as how Capitalism and the privatization of American life affect issues such as homosexuality (he deals with privatization and its affects on the Abortion debate in his essay ABORTION, THEOLOGICALLY UNDERSTOOD available in the Hauerwas Reader). Not content to rest on his laurels, Hauerwas dispenses irritation to anyone who us unwilling to think through the problems confronting the Church and society today, revealing that what we thought were the problems are merely symptoms and the solutions are both much more complicated than we can grasp and as simple as trusting in Jesus Christ.

This collection of essays offers a great introduction to the thought of Stanley Hauerwas. The essays cover a variety of issues facing the Church today some of which are recognized by the wider Christian community and others that are not. Even those that are (i.e. the Church's response to homosexuality) Hauerwas offers a unique perspective that challenges the zealots in all camps. On the whole Hauerwas confronts the presupositious held by those of us in the West (in general) and in America (in particular) with typical ferocity and intellectual integrity.

I have never read a book like this one before.
So well written and illustrated. It is forwarded
by Vladimir Ashkenazy. The book starts with a section
about music in non-western civilizations, there it
explains the role of music in early cultures of the world,
From Ancient Egypt, to China; from the Ancient American
cultures, to Africa; and from Oceania to the near east to
the Holy Roman Empire, this section of the book has it all.
Then the book is divided in by order of musical periods
thru the ages. Starting with the medieval era, it lists
key events of this period, starting in the 800's. It mentions
and tells about the great names of the era in music,
including de Vitry(1291-1361) and Machaut(1300-1377).
It also explains such teaching devices as the 'Guidonian Hand'.
Then comes the Renaissance, here, it explains the rise
of humanism, it speaks also of major events of the time.
It also tells a bit about the Reinassance courts of Europe
and the composers of the time:Cristobal de Morales(1500-53)
Thomas Morley(1557-1602), Orlande de Lasuss(1532-94). This
section also speaks of the rise of instruments.
One to the Baroque where the where we are start seeing the
the start of new musical forms and procedures, sucha as the
masque, the music drama, the French grand motet.Also music in tenary form etc. The section on the classical period again famous
composers and musicians, explinations of classicism, rococco, and the instruments of the time.More on composers, specially Mozart and Beethoven.On to the the romantic period where we start
to see development in musical instruments, and styles, we also
see how the orchestra gets bigger. Finally, the book comes to
the early and late 20th century. The book does a wonderful job, pictures and tales of 20th century composers. This is the first
book that I have where I find a picture of John Adams and Sofia Gubaidulina in in the same book, in this book, for the first time also, our contemporary composers are treated with great respect, and as equal to their counterparts of the bygone ages. I picture that I like very much is in PG.324 where Cage, and Boulez shake hands in fron of Massien. The art work is of the best quality.This is indeed a good book that I recomend to every classical music lover, and friend. The amazon.com price is so
affordable, and competitive.

A team of writers and scholars compiled the Encyclopedia Of Classical Music, an in-depth encyclopedia of classical music which packs in over 900 color illustrations to accompany a thorough history and survey which extends from ancient through modern times. Introductions for each major period includes surveys of key composers, changes in musical styles, forms, and analysis of instruments. Recommended CD listings, a glossary and extensive discography and bibliography, and subject and name indexes make this valuable both as a reference and for browsing.

The Case of the Angry Mourner is one of Earl Stanley Gardener's best works in his Perry Mason series. The premise of the book is very simple, the action is straightforward and suspenseful, and plot keeps you guessing until the very end. The book is a real piece of classic detective fiction because the reader is never lied to and is given all the evidence so that a cunning reader could potentially solve crime before Perry Mason. In fact, Gardener repeatedly gives clues to the ending, but uses his literary genius to present them in such a way that the reader jumps to a false conclusion. In The Case of the Angry Mourner, Perry Mason finds himself on vacation when his rest is suddenly disrupted by a murder. The millionaire Arthur Cushing, who was an infamous playboy, was murdered in his own home. A woman from a neighboring cottage, Belle Adrian, calls upon Mason to defend her daughter Carlotta, who she believes shot Cushing after he became too insistent during an intimate dinner. Carlotta believes that her mother killed him in a vindictive fury and police agree with her conclusion. Its is up to Perry Mason to sort of the clues and determine which woman, if either, killed Arthur Cushing. This book is a great murder mystery because of its presentation of the evidence. Unlike many Agatha Christie and Murder, She Wrote mysteries, the reader does not have to spot a single line of dialogue where the killer slips up and reveals himself or herself. Instead, The Case of the Angry Mourner depends heavily on circumstantial evidence. Gardner laying out a set of clues that can be interpreted in numerous ways and quickly deflates the "experts" who narrowly interpret the evidence against his client.

Background: The stylistic heritage of the Perry Mason mysteries is the American pulp magazines of the 1920s. In the early Mason mysteries, Perry - a good-looking, broad-shouldered, two-fisted, man of action - is constantly stiff-arming sultry beauties on his way to an explosive encounter that precipitates the book's climactic action sequence. In the opening chapters of these stories, Gardner subjects the reader to assertive passages that Mason is a crusader for justice, a man so action-oriented he is constitutionally incapable of sitting in his office and waiting for a case to come to him or to develop on its own once it has - he has to be out on the street, in the midst of the action, making things happen, always on the offensive, never standing pat or accepting being put on the defensive. These narrative passages - naïve, embarrassingly crude "character" development - pop up throughout the early books, stopping the narrative dead in its tracks, and putting on full display a non-writer's worst characteristic: telling the reader a character's traits instead of showing them through action, dialogue, and use of other of the writer's tools.

Rating "Ground Rules": These flaws, and others so staggeringly obvious that enumerating them is akin to using cannons to take out a flea, occur throughout the Gardner books, and can easily be used (with justification) to trash his work. But for this reader they are a "given", part of the literary terrain, and are not relevant to my assessment of the Gardner books. In other words, my assessments of the Perry Mason mysteries turn a blind eye to Erle Stanley Gardner's wooden, style-less writing, inept descriptive passages, unrealistic dialogue, and weak characterizations. As I've just noted, as examples of literary style all of Gardner's books, including the Perry Mason series, are all pretty bad. Nonetheless, the Mason stories are a lot of fun, offering intriguing puzzles, nifty legal gymnastics, courtroom pyrotechnics, and lots of action and close calls for Perry and crew. Basically, you have to turn off the literary sensibilities and enjoy the "guilty" pleasure of a fun read of bad writing. So, my 1-5 star ratings (A, B, C, D, and F) are relative to other books in the Gardner canon, not to other mysteries, and certainly not to literature or general fiction.

"The Case of the Angry Mourner": A+

"The Case of the Angry Mourner" is Gardner's masterpiece, one of the two or three best pure detective story he ever wrote. He is at his deftest in presenting the actual murderer's motive and opportunity in such a way that the reader is looking the other direction for the villain. Against the rural setting of this story, he plays by all the "rules" of detective fiction, never lying to the reader, and above all never hiding evidence that is crucial to the solution of the puzzle. He even one-ups us by repeatedly returning to important clues to the solution, but returning to them in such cunning ways that we constantly misinterpret them to arrive at the wrong conclusion.

The story is straightforward enough. Perry is on vacation at a cottage in the woods when a woman from a neighboring cottage calls upon him to defend her daughter against the charge of murdering a playboy who had become a bit too insistent after an intimate dinner at his rural retreat on the other side of the lake. The scene of the crime is positively cluttered with clues suggesting how the wheelchair-bound bounder met his end. Gardner uses one of his favorite detective story devices: a forensic "expert" who reads the clues and weaves them into a net that snares Perry's client. In this case the expert has two stages on which to strut his stuff: the interior of the murder cottage, and the back-road where the snow around the automobile abandoned by Perry's client tells the expert who came and went on the fateful night. Gardner truly enjoys laying out a set of clues that can plausibly be interpreted in a number of different ways, and his own guilty pleasure is in gently making fun of these experts and deflating the pomposity and closed-mindedness with which they typically deliver their chiseled-stone-tablet conclusions.

Fine stuff all around, with the only letdown being minor: the courtroom scenes are quite good in their own right, but they don't pack quite the punch of some of Perry's urban encounters.

Very well plotted mystery entangled with discord among heirs, missing property, suspicious death of the millionaire, two murders and the caretaker's cat. Mason often uses unconventional tricks to make a cat's-paw of authorities, and the trick he uses in this book is extremely superb.

Della and Drake try to stop Mason from skating on thin ice. Mason retorts "What a hell can a man lose? He only has a lease on life. All that really counts is a man's ability to live, to get the most out of it as he goes through it, and he gets the most kick out of it by playing a no-limit game." Anyway, Perry Mason gets a lot out of life; he lives a full life and he really enjoys it. How I envy him!

Once again, the lawyer-detective solves the mystery. This is a classic with a slightly unusual ending for a Perry Mason novel. I cannot say more without ruining the mystery. David Stern

Typical Perry Mason mystery with the speedy and thrilling development and the superb revelation of the real murderer at the trial. And Mason's character as "a cross between a saint and a devil" is well described in this book. He does everything he can to save the poor redhead girl who can't pay the fee at all. On the other hand, he uses a devilish tactics and stirs up the trial into a complete mess. D.A. Burger get furious as always. Even the judge loses his temper and they accuse each other. That's unusual and very amusing.

This book is exciting. It was just as exciting as tha tv show. Evelyn Bagby is accused of killing Harry Marow. She asks Perry Mason to defend her. I would recommend this book.

or so he thought. Burger's legal aruguement was sound, but then he got the shock of his life, when Mason turned it against him. With Burger pleading to get a look at documents Mason produced, he put Mason on the stand against his own client. However, Mason was both clever enough to avoid a criminal charge... and use his own testimony to get his client aquitted...

Typical Perry Mason mystery with the eccentric opening, the thrilling development and the pleasant victory. Mason is severely cornered; the circumstantial evidence shows that the murderer is either Mason himself or his client, the sunbathing girl. D.A. Hamilton Burger cannot restrain himself from laughing triumphantly. Although I know it is Mason who laughs last, I enjoy the thrillingness very much.

My son borrowed this book from the school library and loved it so much we're buying it.

The authors brought out a different side to Cleopatra and portrayed her as the brilliant, intelligent and beautiful women she was. With the use of her power she planned on joining the world under her Egyptian rule. It is full of information, yet it has a natural flow and easy to follow. It has a number of stories within the story telling her enjoyful, tragic life. It starts off with giving some information on her family background and slowing moving into her reighning years as Queen of Egypt. It also mentions her personal love life as well as family members, but not too in detail just enough to give you some kind of idea on her values and strength as a women. There are beautiful illustrations on each page that show you her lifestyle and her riches as a powerful Queen who was loved by many people. The language usage is easily understood and one doesn't seem to get lost in the text. It also has plenty of other useful information on other historical people and events that occured during her life time. This biography of Cleopatra is full of life and is sure to educate children. It is great for readers who are first learning of Cleopatra and the Egyptian form of ruling. Finally there is a great bibliography which could also be very helpful when researching a little bit further on this courageous and charmful ruler.

Homer's The Odyessey is a drudgery to read not to mention understand. This book took the pain and bordom of that and shortned it to a 1 hour (45 if your a fast reader) book that keeps all the details (for your reading pleasure) and explains the importance of each section in relations to High School which actually helps a ton. (pulled my grade on this from the usual B to A thanks to this book).

This is a great way to help you better understand the book. While it does not take the place of the book it is a really good learning tool,

Goldberg has a brilliant approach to speech-language pathology: since there is so little (and I mean very little) clinical research to support what we speech therapists do, why not utilize research from other fields that is very closely related to the clinical skills performed in speech therapy? This will reveal to us what works and what does not. This book is one of the most important which I have purchased. Goldberg's approach is so obvious once you read it-so why hasn't anyone else thought of this before? It helps if you also have degrees in other fields as Goldberg has (philosophy, political theory)-you are more likely to be able to think in novel ways than if you have confined yourself to the literature of only one field. Bravo to the author! If you want to improve your clinical skills, learn new ones, etc., get this book. It is well worth the purchase price. This is a book not just to read but to study in depth. One of the ten most important books on speech therapy which I have bought-and I have bought hundreds!

Clinical methods has been a "gray" area for most graduating master's students in speech-language pathology. It is often taught via the "memorize and regurgitate" method. Dr. Goldberg, however, gives a readable, practical guideline that is useful for training new clinicians, as well as for helping practicing clinician's answer the "why's" of what they are doing, an area that has desperately needed to be addressed in our profession. The content is applicable to all clinical settings, and draws heavily on related discipline's research to augment our practice patterns. Also helpful is a bibliography to guide those wishing to pursue research in the area of clinical methods. This book is truly a godsend to speech pathology!!

This book will help you who want to study physics by yourselves so much. You can be familiar with physics as you answer many questions in the book. As the author said, to understand physics well, you should not just read the book but use it(that is, answer questions many times!).

I found the methods of explaining problems in this book to be clear, concise and very helpful. Though this is more or less the basics of physics, it would be useful to any senior in an advanced level physics class.