"The Infinite concerns me and encircles me, speaking to me through my own mouth. And there is no pure witnessing except of the Infinite. This is not a psychological wonder, but the modality according to which the Infinite comes to pass, signifying through him to whom it signifies, understood insofar as, before any engagement, I respond for the other (p.75)" Thus spoke Emmanuel Levinas. Provocative, illuminating, largely inaccessible as only Levinas can be, this text considers the relationship of the self to the other through the epistemological lens of the a priori existence of a God to whom we respond before understanding the nature of the order. Levinas asserts that, in responding for the other - in taking our neighbor as our brother - we become, in fact, his hostage. For Levinas, this is the necessary trauma of awakening. Some portions of the text are totally incomprehensible, but this is to be expected, and is part of the labor of understanding his philosophy. If you want an easy read, this is not it - hence, don't take it on the train to work!

For over ten years I had been reading this book--attempting to grasp the vocabulary which is sometimes in French, (with no page of definitions) and sometimes in English. One's task is to first keep track of ideas presented in the first chapter, then with your deep and profound pre-knowledge of Levinas, Blanchot, and Bataille, you can try to ferret out what is the strange, echoing discussion all three of them had amongst and between their works. The premise is that they DID read each other and responded in their own works to each other, but only Libertson gained some intuition of what these correlations might be. An excellent effort, hard to understand, must love exotic French theory and Martinus Nijhoff books. European all the way.

If you're ever going to buy a book just for the pictures, look no further. Not only does "The Sexual Perspective" provide an open and thorough history of homoerotic art of the last few centuries, but it continues to fascinate the reader with alternative views of conventional and popular art. As for the pictures, it's certainly not porn, but I'd advise you to keep it on the top shelf of the bookcase. This is not for grade-school eyes. As far as textbook-style reads go, it's definitely a keeper.

This book is an account of Archbishop Milingo, a faith healer who was expelled from Zambia and who now works in Vatican City. The author, a Religious Studies Lecturer, lets the whole story unfold within the social and political context of a country ruled by President Kenneth Kaunda, comparing the two men, who had each reached positions of power through charisma. The author's basic premise is that Kaunda, although personally believing in Milingo's powers, felt he had to distance himself from the Archbishop in order to fulfil the role of a "modern" state leader. Ter Haar suggests that Kaunda equated political modernity with secularity. She suggests that Kaunda considered religion, healing and witchcraft to be antithetic to modern statecraft and national progress. Finally, Ter Haar asserts that, despite this attempt at western-style progress, divorcing the church from religion, African states are still fundamentally religious. She also clearly believes the Milingo's "miracles" really work.

This book was extremely helpful to me considering I had never been taught how to make a budget for myself. Plus I also learned a lot about what types of stocks I should invest in and when I should do it. I would recommend this to anyone who is up to learn a little more about investing.

This book has been reviewed by R.C. Preston in "Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology" 25:487-488; 1999. His recommendation is:

"This is an essential book for engineers and physicists who want to know and understand how ultrasound has been applied in medical imaging, NDT and industrial process control."

I think it could have been better prepared. I thought it could have been better edtied

Emmanuel Cooper in FULLY EXPOSED succeeds in presenting a history, a fine argument for photography as a Fine Art form, and then proceeds to take us on a picaresque journey through the various aspects of photography of the male nude. There is much more here than meets the perusing eye. Cooper includes the anthropologic studies made by investigating photographers, takes the lid off the cauldron of the controversy of "documenting" maleness and of medical oddities (which in other hands could be voyeuristic), and then proceeds to fill his meaty document with generous illustrations. Cooper's writing style, while very informed, is casual and reader friendly. A good addition to the photography lovers' library.

For those of you who are true connoisseurs of male nude photography, this book is indispensible. I guarantee you will find pictures you have never seen before, as author Cooper had access to the Kinsey Vaults to prepare this book. The text is fascinating, but complex. The range of the sources of the photos (from medical files, to glossy beefcake, to news photos of streakers, to war photos, to personal photo collections, etc.) is staggering. You will be both aroused and appalled by the photos you see. All photos are in black & white. Frontal nudity, erections, and photos of sex action are shown. In spite of the titilation factor, this book is a serious treatise on the history and psychology of male nude photography and of society's reaction to it. This book is an incredible achievement.

This book is too long and too old. It goes though tto much unnecessary math. It spends a lot of time on minor details, while avoiding some of the real issues - how to design a modern EDFA. Im mathematically inclined, so the math was not bad, but if you're pictorially inclined this is not the book for you.

**Good** news for engineers and physicists : Volume II of "The EDFA book" is in progress, and will be released soon. The first volume, published in 1994, still provides unmatched reference for serious understanding of the complex EDFA physics. However, for causality reasons, it does not cover industrial developments that will appear only years later. Such developments have been sketched by more recent, wide-audience and shorter introductory books, but of limited use to the true specialists. Volume II will bridge such a gap and will provide the first XXIst century update in this field.

**Bad** news for some 'millioneers' in quest of quick-and-dirty EDFA expertise : Volume II will be as involved as volume I on the physics and mathematics side, while it will cover in depth the most recent industrial developments, with detailed contributions from corporate- and internationally-recognized developers. Definitely not to put in any hands or recommend to people who don't need to "know".

Emmanuel Desurvire

Yes, there are some easier books, in terms of reading and understanding. Yes, there are books more colorful than this one. Yes, there are some books with less formulas than this one. Yes, there are some errors in this book.

However, if you really need to study and understand EDFA, read this book. If somebody releases a book more complete and more detailed, than I will rate Desurvire's book with less stars.

Derrida, the renowned French postmodernist and author of, among other things, "Writing and Difference", is at it again in his latest effort, "Adieu to Emmanuel Levinas." His work is designed to cast great doubt on the classical notions of truth, reality, meaning, and knowledge. The goal is reprehensible, but Derrida can usually pull it off. "Adieu to Emmanuel Levinas" is thus a major disappointment to all those fans of outmoded deconstructionist French philosophers. The book suffers from being far too personal, and lacks detail. Anecdotes abound, but they are, in toto, not particularly interesting or helpful ones, mostly along the lines of childhood vacations to the beach and the like. As for the few attempts Derrida makes to actually deal with PHILOSOPHY, detail is sorely lacking. When a reader comes upon phrases like "the hermeneutics of orangutans," he/she really deserves to have some idea what the author is talking about. Sometimes you just want to read about eschatalogical polemics or signifier/signified interrelations, but you won't find that here. Seen in this, or any other light, "Adieu to Emmanuel Levinas" falls pancake-flat. Spend your money on something that makes sense to somebody other than the author. I am sad now and it is Jaques Derrida's fault.

Contrary to an above reviewer of this book, Derrida's project is not "designed to cast great doubt on the classical notions of truth, reality, meaning, and knowledge." Especially not in Derrida's writings of the last 15 years, following his so-called "ethical" or "religious" turn. This volume includes two essays, "Adieu to Emmanuel Levinas" and "A Word of Welcome." The former is the eulogy Derrida gave at Levinas's burial, and the latter is an excellent analaysis of Levinas's ethics in the terms of "hospitality." Valuable for anyone interested in Levinas, recent developments in ethics, or Derrida's later philosophy.

Although there are interesting facts about life in the Sixteenth Century, they are few and far between in this book. Probably a good doctorial thesis, this is a tedious, at times redundant, read

Readers should understand that this is not a historical novel, but a detailed narrative about Europe during a period of great religious, political, social and cultural upheaval. Tracing the lives of the Platter men, Thomas and his two sons, Felix and Thomas, Jr., the author reveals a society often overlooked by modern readers. While most historians deal with the political side only, LaDurie focuses on the religious turbulence that ultimately resulted in a new Europe. The fact that Thomas Platter, Sr., an illiterate peasant, was able to rise to a position of respected teacher and publisher, one who was a contemporary of Calvin, and published his Institutes, tells us much about the opportunities for social advancement during the period. Felix's experiences in southern France and his relationships with Spanish Jews sheds a great deal of light on another portion of "hidden history." The influence of the "New World" is also beginning to be felt across! the continent at this time. For any student of social geography or religious history, this book is an absolute treasure chest.