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Masters has written not fables, but the essence of American life. He hasn't captured the life and times of 1915, but has instead recorded in 1915 the life and times of our present day America.
The same reason the paintings of Norman Rockwell makes sense is why Edgar Lee Masters poetry makes sense. To read the quick messages on the gravestone of one man, learning a little bit him, and something about a neighbor or two, we can learn a little about how we live in communities today.
Our lives, like Jimmy Stewart's character in "It's a Wonderful Life" found out, interact and impact everyone we meet. Who we love, who we should love and who we reject. And when we die, others feel the loss. Masters has aptly put this in a humorous, yet insightful way into short verses.
The poems don't rhyme. The meter is not solid, and the poetics aren't intricate. They aren't poems like Poe's or Dickinson, not in the way they wrote American poems. Don't expect iambic pentameter-based sonnets or villanelles. Expect a conversation, and listen in.
The poetry here is in the subtle use of social nuance. In the nuances are his insight and wit. Two readings will bring to light what you miss in the first.
Buy this book, read it slow. It reads faster than most poetry book, but don't get caught in the temptation to zoom through each poem just because you can.
After you read it, see the play if it happens to be performed in your town.
I fully recommend it.
Anthony Trendl
This book has moved me more than anything else I've read in recent years, and I highly recommend that othes read this outstanding work of art.
After I read "Wooden" by John Wooden and Steve Jamison, I bought and read this book. I was initially disappointed with Hill's less-than-stellar, yet brutally honest, portrayal of a man for whom I have the deepest respect. I even thought about throwing the book away in disgust. I am glad I decided to keep it and read it all the way. I would have missed out on a truly fascinating and entertaining opportunity to learn many things that are helping me be a better person. I believe the same opportunity exists for anyone who reads this book.
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"John Lennon, the guiding spirit of The Beatles, dead tonight at 40."
Those immortal words at the end of the movie bring tears to everyone who was a fan of John Lennon. I remember hearing and seeing that news report from a hospital bed at 6 years old. It was and always will be a tragic memory. The man who resurfaced after a 5 year absence with a powerhouse of music destined for new life had been cut short just a few hours after an interview where he said:
"My work won't be finished until I'm dead and buried. And I hope that's a long, long time."
The long time was 2-3 hours.
The movie is an intimate portrait of Lennon's life and legacy. It exposes the chaos behind the myth, as well as the genius behind the man. With all the tales from friends, associates, Paul, George, Ringo, and George Martin on "The Beatles Anthology," this one focuses on Lennon's life in his own words and home videos. Taken directly from the archives of the man himself, there has never been a better documentary on Lennon. From Liverpool beginnings to the end in New York City, watch the boy become a superstar, the superstar into a man, and the man become a legend.
Remember John Lennon 1940 - 1980
Robert Eldridge (...)
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Believe me they just keep getting better.
This is a lovely book to read aloud to children of all ages. I highly reccomend all of the Oz books for their amusing, imaginitve characters(in this book, The Wheelings and Billinia are introduced) , their fantastical situations (trees with lunch boxes full of food, talking chickens, a shipwreak, all in this one), sweet plot and storylines. These books still stand the test of time (written over 100 years ago!)for good reason.
This book really sets the tone for the rest of the books to follow and in my opinion the best. A must read for every family.
Dorothy, who was not in the last book, again comes into this story. After being shipwrecked, she and Billina, a yellow hen, arrive on land. They wander around to see where they are and discover a new friend, Tik-Tok, a wind-up, mechanical man. They also find a castle. Inside, lives the family of Ev, who have been captured by the evil Nome king. Only a princess who can change her heads lives inside. Dorothy, Billina, and Tik-Tok decide to rescue the Ev family with the help of Ozma. --I won't mention who Ozma is because you may not have read The Land of Oz. You will find out in a later review.--
I would highly suggest this book, along with The Land of Oz because of the adventures and fun.
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Getting through the book takes some work, less because of the story and more because of the depth of the allegory. Also, the dialogues between characters regarding salvation and righteousness often require a careful read. However, the story is exceptionally creative and thought-provoking, and the lessons that can be gleaned from it are timeless and worth the effort that needs to be expended. I recommend reading this one at least twice.
I urge you tolook at a remarkable book by the English Puritain John Bunyan(1628-1688), "The Pilgrim's Progress", which is one of the great evangelical Christian classics, though clearly that is not why it interests me and should interest you (although I AM interested in the puzzle that is the religious sense, which even the irreligious feel, and this book can give remarkable insight into that as well).
Rather its fascination lies in the pilgrimage it depicts, or in the fact that human traits, vices, virtues, &c are PERSONIFIED as particular individuals who are their living and speaking epitome, and who are encountered along the way in revealing situations.
Bunyan's hero is appropriately named Christian. Someone once wrote that "Christian's journey is timeless as he travels from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City, meeting such characters as Pliable, Talkative, Giant Despair, Evangelist, Worldly-Wiseman, Faithful, Ignorance and Hopeful."
At first this personification is merely amusing, even a bit annoying (as caricatures or truly stereotypical people can be); but after a while I found myself enthralled because I realized that the effect of this odd literary device was to give unmatched insight into the nature of such traits. The force of the whole thing comes from the fact that one journeys about in - literally INSIDE of - what is both a comprehensive and finite moral and psychological landscape (a "psycho-topography"), very much as though one were INSIDE the human mind and your "Society of the Mind" was embodied in the set of actors. This is more or less the opposite or an inversion of the 'real world' of real people, who merely SHARE those attributes or of whom the attributes are merely PIECES; in "Pilgrim's Progress", by contrast, the attributes are confined in their occurrence to the actors who are their entire, unique, pure, and active embodiment, and humanness, to be recognized at all, has to be rederived or mentally reconstructed from the essential types.
The effect, for me, was something like experiencing a multidimensional scaling map that depicts the space of the set of human personality types, by being injected directly - mentally and bodily - into it by means of virtual reality technology.
So Bunyan's book has something of the interest to a psychologist, neuroscientist, or philosopher that Edwin Abbot's "Flatland" has to a mathematician.
I don't mean to overpraise "Pilgrim's Progress", of course; it was written for theological rather than scientific purposes, and has conspicuous limitations for that reason. But its interest to a student of the mind who looks at it at from the right point of view can be profound.
- Patrick Gunkel
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Reeves' looks at the Berlin Wall and Cuban Missile Crises take advantage of recent disclosures from US, Soviet and other sources to show how close we came to World War III in both of those situations.
The book's description of the start of the US commitment in Vietnam under JFK allowed me to gain a better understanding of how Kennedy's prior failure to stand up to the Soviet Union and Krushchev in Laos and Cuba "forced" JFK to stand firmly behind the unsupportable South Vietnamese government.
Other topics addressed by the book include JFK's tepid support of civil rights and his rampant promiscuity.
I had to rate this book a 9 (I've yet to read a 10), but this book has to be one of the best out of the almost unlimited supply of JFK biographies
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Wilkerson describes in his book how essential it is to meet the unloved where they are, rather than waiting for them to show up in church all dressed up and ready to worship within the ranks of the clean and respectable. He also rightly emphasizes the importance of follow up, how one can't just expect to go out and distribute tracts or preach from street corners without also developing real, loving relationships with people and ministering to their needs, both spiritually and physically.
Now that Teen Challenge International has grown to over 200 centers around the world, it is interesting to note that the struggle in recovery ministry continues to be much the same: It's extremely difficult to get people to reach out in love to those who have never been loved, and it's nearly impossible to get church members to venture outside their doors to love their neighbors as they love themselves.
I praise God for Rev. Wilkerson and the way that he listened to God and ventured out in faith. I thank him for sharing the story of his work.
These days, so much has changed. A local pentecostal preacher once told me that he went to Leeds one Saturday; that he was so disgusted by the beggars, and used to see the same ones all the time, how awful that they should always be there; and once he got real close up to one, who was (from what he told me) probably very weak, maybe even dying, lying on the ground, got about six inches away from their ear, and shouted at the top of his voice, "GET A JOB!!!"
Stand this in contrast with the Wilkerson man. This guy, realizing that the zonkos and beggars know that they're sinners, possibly scarcely realizing anything else at all, goes and gives them a bed for the night - feeds them - gives them a bath and warm clothes. The tells them that God knows them and has already fixed up a plan for them - that to the God who made the sun and the outer planets, THEY matter - "whosoever will" can come and drink from the waters of life, that they can repent, and be made blameless before the king of kings.
[Life isn't cheap to this man.]
Then the guy fixes up this organisation called "teen challenge", held together by almost no money at all, but lots of prayer, who pulls loads of dropouts and folks who are very nearly dead from all over the place and stands them on the the higher ground...
Man, this book is so good. I know that these days, many of the big churches... (I used to be in Perth, Western Australia) and there was this huge church near to the Casino. The car park was full of BMWs, and all the evidence was that the church was really inwards looking, far too concerned with "signs and wonders" to remember about the plan of Salvation at all. So much for the lost, no place for them. When I went to Yorkshire, I was amazed how the church had similarly split along these lines - those who preached the gospel, the same one as David Wilkerson preached - to the lost sheep - (go and READ this, will you) and those who prayed for (and maybe got) bigger houses, fatter share options, sports cars, foreign holidays, etc. The contrast is huge.
Read this book and find out what the cost of discipleship to Christ really means - how many days and nights of prayer it really takes to move those mountains - and what faith is REALLY about. And the failures, when Sonny does not come back, and all the disappointments when it doesn't seem to go to plan and they're just about to get kicked out of the building...
I was brought up with this book, and as far as I can remember, I have worn out probably six copies. Time I got myself a new one....
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Another nitpick: Scoblete's intro further states, "There is information in [the book] that has never appeared in print in a mainstream book and there is some information that has never appeared anywhere except in the secret world inhabited by a handful of elite professional blackjack players." Well, I'm flattered. While none of the material may have ever appeared in a paper and ink book before, blackjack aficionados who have visited the Green Baize Vampire (May's alter ego) website and/or May's Card Counter Cafe may find that much of it has a familiar ring. This is not inherently a bad thing - after all, much of Don Schlesinger's "Blackjack Attack" was previously published in issues of Arnold Snyder's "Blackjack Forum" magazine. Still, I certainly have never considered myself an "elite professional blackjack player."
Oddly, (considering that this is supposed to be a collection of advanced techniques) the book starts with a brief summary of the rules of blackjack, followed by a recap of basic strategy. Next is an introduction to card counting, including a brief description of the Hi-Lo count.
Then we have a system comparison chart that is sure to spark some controversy. It shows both the Knockout count and Arnold Snyder's Red 7 count as being marginally superior to the time-honored Hi-Lo in all three areas: betting correlation, playing efficiency, and insurance correlation. To further complicate things, May provides no information as to how he arrived at these figures (what game, rules, etc.).
The first section of the book is concluded with a brief discussion of multi-parameter counts, and May's thoughts on cover and camouflage. I like this quote: "While the expert card counter plays blackjack against the dealer, he plays poker against the pit; that is, his play is geared toward the intelligence of the pit personnel." Indeed.
By this point the veteran player is likely chomping at the bit: "When do we get to the good stuff?" Part II carries the enticing title: "Advantage-Play Techniques - How to Become a Casino's Worst Nightmare!"
What follows is indeed "good stuff." Card Steering, Card Sequencing, and Shadow Play are described in detail. How much to bet when your first card is known (as a result of these techniques) is discussed. This has already caused some controversy on blackjack websites, as May recommends betting 40% of one's entire bankroll if it is known that one's first card will be an ace.
Oddly, we get get a couple of anecdotes regarding blackjack legend Lawrence Revere, author of "Playing Blackjack as a Business." While Revere was a colorful character, and these are most interesting, they seem a bit out of place.
Other advanced techniques covered include Hole Card Play, Glim Play, and Stacker Play.
The much-hyped section on beating continuous shuffle machines is more a series of suggestions than a tried and proven method. The problem is that more needs to be known about the inner workings of these infernal contraptions. However, it is reassuring to know that someone is working on ways to beat these things.
There is a description of a betting progression, of sorts, that sims indicate is effective. It's not what you think.
Many of these techniques may be of little use to the casual player. Some require extensive practice, and several require team play in order to really be effective. Others require situations (sloppy dealer, etc) that rarely occur.
However, any military expert will agree that merely because a particular weapon is not used very often does not mean that it should not be carried. The blackjack pro or serious part-timer needs to have a variety of "weapons" at his/her disposal. You may not know that you're going to be dealt an ace very often, but when it happens, you'd better be ready.
The book concludes with a chapter on Internet casinos. At first I questioned the inclusion of this, but found it to be an interesting summary. I have no interest in exploiting this form of blackjack, but if I ever change my mind, the basics are here.
Bottom line: Definitely not for the beginner, and of limited usefulness to the recreational player, Get the Edge at Blackjack is nonetheless a worthy addition to my blackjack library. I would recommend it to anyone serious about making money at blackjack.
I would say that some of the techniques written about in this book would be very tough for players to use in a casino without a great deal of practice. However, some card cutting techniques I have already used and they do work!
Blackjack players who are looking to add to their bag of tricks some really great maneuvers will want to have this book in their libraries.