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Book reviews for "Murphy,_Francis" sorted by average review score:

Walt Whitman: The Complete Poems
Published in Paperback by Viking Press (1990)
Authors: Francis Murphy and Walt Whitman
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A beautiful intoduction to Whitman
This collection of Whitman's poetry has the ulitimate selection for any reader, whether one is experienced in the composition and analyzation of Whitman or simply reading for pleasure. The book contains every known work by the author, as well as numerous editions of poems such as "Song of Myself" which was revised and reprinted by the author several times. If one is a fan of Walt Whitman, this is an excellent source of all his poetry compact into one book. If a person is just begining to experience the poet, everyting someone would want to read is at his or her fingertips.

Beautiful
The poems in this book are un-explainable by words. It dosn't matter if you don't understand it all, The poems touch you just the same. I definatley Recommend this book to poetry lovers!


On the Moral Nature of the Universe: Theology, Cosmology & Ethics (Theology and the Sciences)
Published in Paperback by Fortress Press (1996)
Authors: Nancey C. Murphy, George Francis Rayner Ellis, and Nancy Murphy
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A happy marriage of science and religion.
I was astonished by this book's ability to analyze and typologize scientific activity within a framework of religious wisdom. It not only generates a field of relative connectivity between scientific disciplines, but places them as a whole within the spiritual and mythological activities of the human psyche. It reassures me regarding the fate of humanity that there are educated, well-trained and perceptive individuals who can see the connection between the imagination and human knowledge, and who in turn recognize human moral responsibility for an authentic embodiment of religious teaching through the renunciation of violence. Einstein is quoted as having said, "Religion without science is blind; science without religion is lame." This work has both vision and movement, both clarity and feeling. It provides a perennial balm in an age where specialization brings its own forms of nihilism, and where human violence is too often normalized with the most egregious and potentially catastrophic of consequences. It both clears the mind and calls to the soul. It seemed, to me, to awaken hope for the future of our species.


There's Hair Out There: A Chubby's World Adventure
Published in Hardcover by Fxm Publishing (1998)
Authors: Francis X. Murphy and Ted Robidas
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There's Hair Out There
An imaginative, interesting story about hair. There's more there than you would think. The grandchildren love it; I have to read it to them over and over.


The Body Silent
Published in Hardcover by Henry Holt & Company, Inc. (1987)
Author: Robert F. Murphy
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Disibility means reliance on others
Ten years ago since the American Disabilities Act went into effect, the disabled still feel that they are isolated from the real world. Former professor of anthropology at Columbia University Robert F. Murphy examines from his personal perspective the life of a disabled person in a world where he was independent and zealous of life. The reader will discover what it is like for a disabled person to battle besides the inability to carry out everyday function we take for granted. The Body Silent is unlike other books written by the disable. The Body Silent is an excellent book full of prose and not journal entries of how fortunate the non-disabled really are. This book (recommended to me by anthropologist Dr. James Trostle) will change your perspective and outlook on how it is like to grow up again and learning how to walk, one step at a time.

Hearing the Body
Bob became paraplegiac at a late age, after having enjoyed a long, brilliant career as a professor at Columbia and an anthropologist who, with his anthropologist wife Yolanda, lived among Amazonian Indians and Saharan camel nomads. He was too clever to be overwhelmed with self-pity. This book was written from the perspective that he loved most: what you'd think is true is probably just the opposite. We expect paralyzed people to get better, like other "sick" patients, but the problem is, they don't: they're damaged selves. Hey--just like everybody else. We all have to come to terms with life's damages and our isolation and loneliness as we attempt to cope with it. Who would ever have thought it possible--we can all learn something compelling about our normal selves, viewing life from the wheelchair! Ironically (and this is the kind of twist that styles Murphy's ideas) the disabled are a mirror for the rest of us: "The paralytic is, quite literally, a prisoner of the flesh, but most humans are convicts of sorts. We live within walls of our own making, staring out at life through bars thrown up by culture and annealed by our fears. . . .[that] induces a mental paralysis, a stilling of thought." Murphy has never sold his soul to an illusion: he speaks candidly as a participant observer of his own encounter with symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and transformation. Always the fox, he transcends the smoke screen that our cultural prejudices force upon us, and hears his own body and its message with astounding clarity and patience. This is a book that students read eagerly, in both anthropology and sociology classes, because its message is provocative, and its ethnography is true. It teaches us all to listen to the sound of our own struggles with personal identity and mortality, and to smile with the knowledge that we are not alone.

a celebration of life worth living
As a graduate student in anthropology, I came to know and respect Bob Murphy more than any other scholar. Of the texts he wrote, The Body Silent, stands apart in that it says much about the man, anthropology, disability in American society, and life itself. It will deeply touch a wide variety of readers, and for those that knew him, will bring tears to their eyes. As to its impact on what is now known as disability studies, it put the discipline on the academic agenda. As such, it is a seminal text and is a must for anyone thinking of entering the field.


Norton Anthology of American Literature
Published in Paperback by W W Norton & Co. (1998)
Authors: Nina Baym, Wayne Franklin, Francis Murphy, and Hershel Parker
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The Norton Anthology Review
The Norton Anthology of American literature is a great collection of the most prominent and prolific authors in this young nation's history. The Anthology covers the development of authors in the new world, from the early native American folk tales to the works of Toni Morrison and Allen Ginsberg. The anthology spans poetry and prose and gives the reader a great cross sectional view of American society and its problems. The presence of Native American, Black and Hispanic authors presents a complete line up of works of literature, presented in a pleasant chronological order and introduced by a brief and interesting description of the author's life and works. The introductory description of each author facilitates the contextual placement of the text and its comprehension. The anthology contains several novels such as "Howl", "Sula" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". The presence of these complete works makes the anthology more complete, as they are an important part of the American literary tradition. The selection of authors and of their works is a good one, but presents some flaws. Obviously not being able to include all relevant authors in the American literary tradition, the editors selected a large number of authors, and their most important works. Nonetheless several important texts seem to be missing. Texts by less prolific authors, such as the great new classic "To kill a mockingbird" are missing. Although the anthology gives the reader an introduction on the author and his works it does not stimulate sufficiently through interesting points to be discussed and questions which shed light on hidden or obscure aspects of the texts. The anthology is a great tool for any class, or for the passionate reader. It is ideal if accompanied by a class or group/club in which the texts are discussed.

An amazing survey of literature that defines America
The Norton anthology is the definitive collection of American literature. Its selections range from the letters of Christopher Columbus to quintessential American works like Whitman's "Song of Myself" and inherently American movements such as beat poetry. The collection offers a wide spread selection of works, some of which fall outside of your typical definition of "literature." All, however, have been important parts of our artistic tradition and provide literary examples of the coming of age of America. Literature has truly helped to define the American identity. This book is a history lesson, a journey through some of the most beautiful poetry and prose ever written and a testament to the kind of intelligent, passionate people that have formed our country.

A Seminal Survey of American Literature
To anyone seeking an encompassing overview of American literature, here is your book. This, the latest edition of the Norton Anthology, not only makes for months of good reading but also acts as a good primer for further pursuits in American letters (academic and otherwise.) Besides the countless number of excellent selections, eleven works appear in their entirety. Among them, Twain's Huckleberry Finn, Whitman's "Song of Myself," and Ginsburg's "Howl."

The anthology also contains several new additions - most notably an intriguing section of Native American trickster tales that provides an interesting counter to Chris Columbus' over-zealous ramblings. As for more contemporary writing, I was pleasantly surprised at the number of deserving writers and poets newly anthologized in this revision: Toni Morrison, Raymond Carver, and Sandra Cisneros just to name a few.

Yet what makes this anthology truly successful is the breadth and depth of the text as a whole. The selections, the organization, the well-written bits of biographical information... IT ALL FITS PERFECTLY! No doubt other readers will find this anthology as informative, provocative and enjoyable as I do. A definite keeper for my permanent collection.


Professional Active Server Pages 2.0
Published in Paperback by Wrox Press Inc (22 March, 1998)
Authors: Brian Francis, Richard Harrison, David Sussman, Shawn Murphy, Robert Smith, Alex Fedorov, Alex Homer, and Stephen Wood
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Technically excellent, poorly written and edited
This is the handbook to have for writing ASP applications. The first six chapters cover everything you need to write basic applications that dynamically generate web pages. The following chapters cover specific areas such as database access, site personalization, optimizations, and interacting with other applications. If you want to build web-enabled distributed applications on a Microsoft NT platform, you will need more than this book, but this book is essential. From a technical standpoint, I would give the book 5 stars. However, apparantly WROX forgot to edit it. It is certainly understandable that authors selected for their technical knowledge may require a little help in grammar, syntax, sentence structure, and writing style. It is unfortunate that WROX chooses not to provide this help, but rather to ship the books as soon as they are complete. WROX has an outstanding group of authors who cover every essential NT technology as well as many cross-platform technologies. I hope that WROX will take a closer look at the quality of the final product.

Well done, in Plain English
Want to learn to build your own amazon.com? It's in this book. You'll have to be proficient with ansi-SQL and/or ADO 2.0 in order to really take advantage of the information presented here. But overall it's a well presented book on ASP. If you plan to buy this and want to build true interactive sites with full database integration, pick up ADO 2.0 Programmer's Reference and Instant SQL Programming also from WROX Press, then you'll have a strong book base to build powerful web sites such as amazon.com. The only drawback is its concentration on VBScript rather than ECMAscript (aka JavaScript). Try and stay away from the VBScript presented in this book and use ECMAScript for the examples instead. The reason is because Microsoft and Netscape are finally agreeing on ECMAScript standards that will be much easier to translate into Client-side Cross-browser code if you use it for Server-side code now. As ECMAscript matures it will present a much more flexible environment to work in than VBScript will (much the same way that C compared to Visual Basic does now). I don't have a book recommendation for ECMAscript, I haven't found a good reference yet, the info on the web has been my resource. But if you're desparate for a reference, WROX Press also has a handbook called Instant JavaScript that isn't too bad, but has lots of room more improvement. Happy Building! Ciao -C

As good as ASP gets
If you have read the first edition of this book, this second edition may look familiar. However, the book has more pages - about 1000 (edition 1 had about 600). There are several additions, especially topics on MTS and Message Queue, which are very good in themselves. "A case study in compatibility" is excellent guide for all, to develop for a varied set of browsers. A whole chapter is dedicated to transactions, a prelude to the chapters on E-Commerce case study and MTS.

The best part is an extended reference at the end of the book, and this time JScript is also covered.

I have a few comments about this book
1. The book should have been thinner, with some chapters on CD-ROM
2. You must be at intermediate level to use this book, else you could get lost easily. Beginners, don't yet touch this unless you know VBScript

In short, without a doubt, the best book ever written on ASP.


Pere Jacques: Resplendent in Victory
Published in Paperback by Ics Pubns (1998)
Author: Francis J. Murphy
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PERE JACQUES: DOING THE RIGHT THING
At one time or another, most people have been deeply touched by a remarkable teacher. At times people may wish to give a fitting tribute to that teacher, sharing with others the goodness they have experienced. Few people, however, can do what Louis Malle did in his 1987 film AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS (GOOD-BYE CHILDREN)and few people have experienced as remarkable a teacher as his.

AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS recounts how Father Jasques Bunel sheltered three Jewish students in his boarding school during the Nazi occupation of France where Louis Malle was also a student. In January 1944 the Gestapo suddenly arrived at the school and arrested the three Jewish students, a Jewish faculty member and Pere Jacques. The film, however, only covers the most famous incident in the life of Pere Jacques. Francis J. Murphy's book reveals this as one remarkable event in the life of a remarkable man.

A native of Northern France, Lucien-Louis Bunel was born in 1900 into a devout working class family. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Rouen in 1925. His first assignment was to a school where he quickly proved to be not only a talented teacher but a preacher much in demand throughout the diocese; a friend of youth, the sick and workers. Despite being an apostolic dynamo, or perhaps on account of it, Father Lucien maintained a strong and intense prayer life--so strong that both prior to and after ordination, he seriously considered joining a Trappist monastery. Eventually he realized that his pastoral abilities would not be utilized in the cloistered life and instead joined the Discaled Carmelites in 1930, taking the name, Jacques de Jesus. While still in simple vows his superiors directed him to found, with only six months preparation, a prepatory high school. Here Pere Jacques fully exploited his gifts as a holistic and progressive educator.

As France fell to Nazi occupation Pere Jacques, ever the French patriot, supported the resistance movement. He chafed against Nazxi anti-semitic policies and hired a distinguished university professor who had been dismissed because he was Jewish. In 1943 Pere Jacques took in three Jewish boys and gave them false identites. His religious superior approved and supported his work. He ominously told Pere Jacques, "Do what you must; come what may." A year later the Gestapo raided the school. The Jewish students and teacher were taken to Auschwitz and immediately killed. Pere Jacques approached his own Calvary in prison and concentration camps. Even here he displayed his strong leadership and pastoral skills. He would rise early each morning and visit the sick sharing with them what became his starvation rations. He even learned Polish so as to minister to the many Polish prisoners. Those he continued to serve and love included atheists and Communists. He lived to see the liberation of his camp in May 1945, but less than a month later died as a result of his cruel treatment while imprisoned.

In addition to the film by Louis Malle, Pere Jacques has been posthumously honored by the State of Israel and the United States Holocaust Memorial Musuem. His cause for beatification was introduced in 1990.

Francis Murphy's book is clear and moves at a good pace. In addition to telling the story of Pere Jacques, he offers selections of his writings. He admirably situates the events of Pere Jacques' life into the broader historical context of that time.

Pere Jacques represents not so much the triumph of the human spirit but rather the triumph of the Holy Spirit through the human spirit. His intense prayer and intense pastoral activity, even in the most dehumanizing of circumstances, makes him a model of Christian courage. May we all show simliar courage following the counsel give to Pere Jacques of by his superior, "Do what you must; come what may."

Interesting bio of a priest in German concentration camps.
This engaging biography presents the life of Lucien Bunel (1900-1945), also known as the Carmelite priest, Pere Jacques. Louis Malle's film AU REVOIR, LES ENFANTS details an episode in his own life when he saw Pere Jacques as headmaster shelter three Jewish boys in his boarding school. Imprisoned by the Nazis, Pere Bunel used his prayerful interior strength to endure hardships at the same time that he helped other prisoners. Tubercular, he died only three weeks after liberation from Mauthausen. The author wisely appends to his clear narrative some writings by Bunel, a testimonial from a fellow prisoner, notes, and a bibliography that summons the reader to learn more. The references to Carmelite spirituality, contemplation, and French devotionalism ought not put the reader off. They are necessary to comprehend the man and his motivation. This reviewer reminds readers that diverse spiritualities exist among Christians.


Professional IE4 Programming
Published in Paperback by Wrox Press Inc (1997)
Authors: Andrew Enfield, Brian Francis, Richard Harrison, Alex Homer, Stephen Jakab, Chris Ullman, Sing Li, Mike Barta, Shawn Murphy, and Dino Esposito
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VB Scripting - say goodbye to cross browser compatability!
A fine book for Intranet development - a seriously flawed effort for Internet work. All material is covered using VB script, which is utterly worthless if your trying to develop a site that works with both Navigator and MSIE. Though you can complete every task discussed in this book with either VB or JavaScript, the authors summarily dismiss JavaScript. Don't purchase this book if you plan to develop sites that work across the browser divide!

Decent IE4 book
The reader from Raleigh, NC obviously didn't read the title of the book before purchasing. This is an "IE4" book, not a Netscape, or any other third-rate browser book. If you want cross-browser support, than DON'T buy a book that is named "IE4 Programming".

I though that this book gave decent coverage and was worth the $.

Simply written, generous references in table format
I appreciate the authors' simple style--direct-to-the-point in simple English (unlike the abstract prose used by experienced programmers who lack the gift of of sharing information in simple terms). The book has lots of examples and screen shots, and with generous lists of properties, methods and events. The indices at the back of the book serves as a reference when done with the entire book. This book is a must in every Web programmer's library.


Women of the Forest
Published in Paperback by Columbia University Press (15 April, 1985)
Authors: Yolanda Murphy and Robert Francis Murphy
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How Typical and Dry Can They Get?
This is the traditional anthropology book written during the women's lib movement. Certainly, women's issues are important to understanding a culture, but they are not the only part of the culture that one should focus on.

First, as mentioned earlier, they seem to only focus on the women's lives of the community. They may mention men here and there, but only in relevance to women. Are men unimportant without women? Do they not have a separate life? Perhaps if the men's lives had been discussed even a bit, I would have learned something about their culture.

Secondly, Yolanda seems to be the main author of this book. Her husband has done all of his publishing from their excursion, so he seems to have little influence over the content. Perhaps he should because then the reader might get a fuller picture of their lives.

Finally, they focus on the traditional and boring aspects of female lives. Perhaps that is great for a thesis, but not for the average reader. The details given are less interesting than a cold, gray day in London.

Perhaps this book was a great introduction into how not to write a book for anthropology, but it certainly would not be of any use for other purposes.

Women of the Forest
I found this book to be a rather insiteful and refreshing look at a culture from a woman's standpoint. Another reviewer of this book complained that the details of the women's daily life was dull and that the lack of the man's viewpoint left little to learn of the culture. I completely disagree. Traditionally, anthropology focuses on the lives of men when studying any culture leaving women to automatically seem umimportant and mundane. In studying the Mundurucu, the Murphey's realized that the women of the village were the real backbone. Yes, men provided the most coveted village luxury of meat, but little else. The women provided the staple of village nutrition, almost singlehandedly raised children, and furthermore, the Murphey's detected that the women of the village understood the importance of their role while allowing the men to believe themsevles in control. This idea gives the reader a much deeper understanding of the culture rather than just from the point of view of the male sex. The above mentioned reviewer also complained that Yolanda Murphey seems to have written the majority of the book: while this opinion cannot be proved of disproved here, I would refer this reviwer to the section of the book where the Murphey's discuss the overall advantage any female anthropologist has in the field. They found that Yolanda was readily accepted by the women of the village simply because she wasn't a man, furthermore, Yolanda was more accepted by the men in the village than her husband because she was seen as an outsider rather than as a woman whereas her husband was a man to them who did not have the hunting skills needed to be accepted by them. No wonder then, that Yolanda would be able to provide a more insightful outlook on the Mundurucu cluture! Overall, the book was anything but mundane and gave a refreshing view of anthropolocigal research. The tactic of viewing the culture from a woman's point of view gave a new meaning to the ideas that fuel the culture.

Classic Study of Brazil's Mundurucu' Indians
"In the morning we sat behind our house drinking coffee and watching the mists rising from the hillside in thin tendrils that were said by the Indians (who knew that it was really mist) to be the campfire of a mythical inambu bird. And the evenings often closed in brilliant, iridescent sunsets, kaleidoscopes of shifting colors. It was an enchanted land existing in a distant place and peopled by descendants of a remote age. To enter it was to step through the looking glass."

What would it be like to be a woman living in the Brazilian Amazon Basin? What if you lived in the moment, survival being a daily challenge? How would you set up your life so you had the support you needed when a man walked out of your life leaving you to care for his children? The women in the Amazon have it all figured out. In the first four pages you see the exotic beauty and undeniable reality of life.

The authors were a newly married couple when they first walked into a Mundurucu village in 1952. This book was written in the 70s and explains life from the perspective of a female anthropologist. Yolanda spent time with the women who accepted her as a friend and sister. Robert spent time with the men and learned about the ways they felt towards the women and how seriously they took their religious beliefs. This book really does include both sides, but has a definite focus on women.

This is a fascinating study of how the Mundurucu women humor the "mythically dominant" males, how they care for their men and how they survive when their marriages don't work out. It is a story about how women have found a way to survive by bonding with other women and sticking together through life.

When you read this book you realize how universal women really are. They all seem to basically want the same thing. You have to laugh when you read how the women encourage their husbands to work harder so they can buy new clothes and are even quite willing to do the work themselves. In fact, from this book, it does appear both sexes are working rather hard all day long just to survive. Afternoon naps are however a necessity because of the heat.

This story is also a beautiful look at survival. Of how men and women depend on one another to meet their basic needs. In the Mundurucu society, women and men took on various roles and responsibilities although the women tended to do most of the menial tasks and raised the children. Sound familiar? Well life is changing all over the world and by the end of this book, you can see how the Mundurucu Indians have already adapted to change.

Contents:

Woman's Day
The Land and the People
Munmdurucu Culture
Women in Myth and Symbol
The Woman's World
Women and Married Life
Women and Social Change
Women and Men

The work of Yolanda and Robert Murphy encourages an understanding of women's lives in the non-Western world. It focuses on gender relations and the social roles women play in the Amazon forest. Yolanda explains how the women rear their children, take care of their husbands, form groups to complete tasks and keep control of their lives even in difficult situations. There are descriptions of bathing in rivers, preparing foods, gardening, feasts, childcare, rubber collection and all sorts of interesting facts about the lives of the Mundurucu people.

While I thought this book would be only focusing on the women, the second chapter surprised me with information about the land and there are a few maps. There is also plenty of information about the men and what they desire, miss about the older cultures and how they even laugh and say that the homes really do belong to the women and in some areas the men live in a "men's house." There is information about hunting trips and the crafts the men work on in their spare time.

The processing of the manioc plant will interest anyone who has ever cooked tapioca. The myths are entertaining and it was interesting to read their version of the Adam and Eve story.

A widely read and beautifully written classic study of Brazil's Mundurucu Indians.


Washington Representatives 2001 (Washington Representatives, 2001)
Published in Paperback by Columbia Books Inc. (2001)
Authors: Mark Francis, Valerie S. Sheridan, Natacha Leonard, and Diane R. Murphy
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