One of my most favorite albums that I have ever listened to is Mickey Hart's CD entitled "Spirit into Sound", with its collection of nature-evoking drum and woodwind music. So when I saw that this book was available, too, I was expecting something about the music on the album and the ideas that went behind its creation. Instead I was disappointed to find instead a set of quotes about music that don't relate to the album. It is, however, a really good source of quotes about music, including some really surprising ones. If you want inspirational words concerning music, this is the place to find them.

For those of us who have often contemplated the meaning and magic called "music", Mick's book will certainly unlock the mysteries and shed light on this universal power that has permeated all cultures since time began. This is an incredible compilation of insights spoken by the masters and common man who have lived, loved and graced the world with music over the centuries. A great read; simple, humorous, reflective and motivating. I recommend this book to people of all ages -- musicians and non-musicians alike. And particularly children who in their youth will benefit from understanding that music is the pulse of life, critical to the soul, and as necessary as food, water and air.

It is hard to put into words how deeply music affects our spirit... and long documentary books on music don't seem to cut it, at a feeling level. This book is a choice collection of various quotes and "takes" on music and the music experience. As someone for whom playing music (and listening to others play music) is a profound part of my life.....giving me joy, keeping my energy stress-free, sharing with friends...this book is a huge validation of all the beautiful things music does for us! It's one of those books you can flip to any part of, and lift your day just by reading a page or two. Leave it out for your visiting friends! It's a great gift idea for any music lover.

This was a very popular novel of 1896, and is considered by many to be a literary classic. Theron Ware enters the scene as a small town Methodist Minister. He and his wife seem to be humble folk and settle into a small house near his church. Soon he meets a Catholic priest, an atheist physician, and a beautiful Irish lass. They make quite an impression on him. They are sophisticated, well educated, and quite worldly. Alas, they are such a strong influence on him that he starts playing the worldly role, and begins to look down on his job and his religion. He also finds himself strongly attracted to the lovely Celia Madden. I should mention that in those days the Irish were assigned to the caste of untouchables.

Theron acts as if he is now a man of the world, although he knows nothing of the literature, music, and philosophy discussed by others. He becomes a boring, mean minded buffoon. The book continues with his steady degradation, a preacher who has become a victim of that secular humanism that our current day fundamentalists complain so much about.

The novel provides an interesting view of religion and culture of the late 1800s. It was somewhat difficult for me to understand how such a seemingly pious man could turn into such a churlish fellow. Perhaps his upbringing was quite religiously strict, and he developed a strong reaction formation to it all.

I found this book on my father's bookshelf and brought it home to read. I'm not sure why I picked it--nothing about the title or description excited me too much, so it sat on my own bookshelf forgotten for several months. Finally, hurriedly getting ready for a vacation I needed a book to read and found Theron Ware. I loved it so much that I went right out and bought my own copy. I recommended it to my 21 year old son and he loved it too. One caution though, do NOT read the introduction first--it gives the entire plot away. Save it for after when you can savor the analysis.

IMHO, this novel can and should be included with the other American novels that we cram down the throats of high-schoolers: Moby Dick, Scarlet Letter, Huckleberry Finn, etc. This is the almost painfully realistic story of a preacher who discovers that there is another world outside his previously sheltered existence. For many of us, this sort of discovery is a happy and broadening experience. But in Ware's case, his new discoveries cause him to reject all the good things about his old life, and to build fantasy castles in the air of his imagination. In his increasingly desperate attempt to escape into a fantasy life, he leaves behind many of his values and ethical standards - not least his responsibilities to those he loves.

This book will hit a nerve for many readers - it did for me. It is easy for the reader to identify with Ware and realize only too late, as Ware did, that he is embarking on an illusory and self-destructive quest. Frederick constructed both the plot and the character of Ware perfectly, and this novel is worth everyone's time to read. You will keep thinking about it long after you have closed the book for the last time.

This is very informative and contains a serious warning that every parent needs to read. It sheds light on the "seduction" of young minds by businesses through comic books for profit. Unfortunately, this problem still exists and has bleeded over to video games, movies, and just about anything else a young child can purchase for a few dollars. Nevertheless, I strongly recommend it.

This book is great to read but not for the reasons Mr. Wertham would like. In the 1950's, Wertham undertook a crusade to rid the world of comic books (yes, you read correctly) and chronicled his effort in this book. Wertham decided that comics (ALL comics) were destroyers of youth. To him, no comic book was benign. Superhero comics like Wonder Woman and Superman promoted white supremacy and homosexuality, Crime and Horror comics made kids into sadistic outlaws, etc. As a result of his book and efforts, comics were effectively neutered through the comics code. Granted some of the points Wertham made about the effects of graphic horror had on youngsters had merit, but most were far off the mark. This book is a must-read for anyone who loves comics and their history. It's also a great reference to find the most interesting comics of the 1950's.

Fredric Wertham illustrates and interesting (and laughable) perspective to the ideal of comic books from the perpective of a 1950's child pyschologist (that being Wertham himself). Wertham's absolutly skewed view of the secret and sudective world of comics brought the comics industry to its knees, when he published his atrosity that was meant to see the fall of the comic book industry only to see it grow and prosper after the repercussions of his book falter. The book represents the ludicurous veiws of a shallow man who wished to place the current childhood delinquincy of the times in relation to comics. Hilarious outtake on the perspective thinking of 1950's.

What can I say! This is a book about one of the times biggest geniuses. I knew about Rockwell, but little about Leyendecker. This book gives you a small insight about leyendecker`s life and art. You have a few amazing scetches, and selected illustrations. And a small bibliografy of the artist, family and friends. Although there is much information you don`t get, and you may find it dissappointing It`s lacking in indepth research. Or maybe an possible edit from the publisher of the book!

You might not know his name but if you've ever seen the cover of The Saturday Evening Post, then you've probably seen at least on of his unforgettable images. Back in the hey day of commercial illustration Leyendecker was a celebrity. He practically created the look so associated with such publications. His dapper, muscular men and angelic women graced magazine covers and countless advertisements. His Arrow shirt man, based on the likeness of his live-in lover, was a star all his own. Whether it was his annual New years babies, homoerotic portryals of masculinity, or Norman Rockwellian vignettes Leyendecker made his art look easy. Unfortunately, there is little available on his interesting life and artistry. This book is a wonderful showcase of his work, featuring oversized prints all ready for framing. He is an artist that should be known, remembered and honored. And if you're really a fan, keep your eye out for a very rare book on Leyendecker that I have only seen in auction.

This book establishes J. C. Leyendecker as one of the great & important, but now often overlooked, illustrators of the early 20th century. He was one of the most popular magazine & advertising artists of his time.

Leyendecker's subjects are people, all with strong character & expression, painted in exquisite detail. There are ancient warriors, magnificent football players & businessmen in fine suits portrayed as modern heroes of the 1920's.

The authors do an excellent job of profiling this very private man, explaining the development of his style and career. His working technique using many preliminary studies leading to a perfect finished painting is shown.

There are 16 full-page single sided plates showcasing a wide variety of Leyendeckers's finest work. They are printed in beautiful color on heavy stock and would look great framed. I really enjoyed learning about this great artist.

A solid translation of the fascinating and passionate story of Dionysus in Thebes, although it lacks the lyricism of other translations. Woodruff's version is meant to be performed aloud, and so it has more of the feel of a play to it. Students of literature and classics might want a different version; students of drama and theatre would be interested in this translation.

If, like me, you had Greek Tragedy down as an austere thing, full of parched plains, unswerving Fate and dour verse, then 'The Bacchae' might come as a pleasant surprise. It has these things of course, but the first quality that shocks is the vibrant, fervid excess of the language. The story concerns Dionysus, the God of wine, the Life Force, the Chaos of the Irrational etc., who inspires a possessed devotion in his acolytes, as they express themselves in high-flown, ecstatic rhapsodies. Not every one takes this proto-hippie's divinity seriously, in particular the family of his mortal mother, led by the impetuous teenage king Pentheus, who sees all this Bacchanalia in the woods and mountains in loose robes as so much lechery. Dionysus exacts such terrible revenge on these unbelievers that 'Bacchae' makes Shakespeare's 'Titus Andronicus' look like a Julie Andrews vehicle.
If Sophocles' 'Oedipus the King' is the first detective story, than 'Bacchae' might be the first police procedural - a central sequence sees Pentheus arrest Dionysus and interrogate him, a scene as tightly written and suspenseful as any thriller. But detection and policing, embodying the forces of reason and the Law, have no power against the Irrational or Unknowable, and Pentheus is soon made mad, his order and sense of self in tatters. The terrible grip of irony familiar from Greek Tragedy gives the play a violent momentum, but the most extraordinary scenes take place offstage, related in vivid and tumultuous monolgues by messengers - the whirlwind revenge of Dionysus' female followers on the forces of surveilling civilisation, and the cruel enactment of the God's revenge. This idea of hearing about improbable catastrophes but not being able to see them adds ot the supernatural terror that is the play's fevered life-blood.

I am a classical history major with a focus on poetry and drama. I have actually read Bacchae in Attic Greek and I have to say that I find this translation to be one of the most fluid and natural of any that I have ever read. I would highky recommend this to anyone looking for a well-written, very gory introduction to Greek theatre. This edition is also great for using as a script, wheras many translations are good only for reading. I just put up a production using this translation and my actors were very comfortable with the wonderful language Woodruff uses.

Do dolphins dive bottomward to find the light? Is there someplace within us all that is deep and dark and waiting to be discovered by chance? Or is there nothing left worth waiting for, nothing left worth fighting for, nothing left worth living for? These are the questions that Spiritual Literacy challenges us with. As I read on, taking a long, hard trip upriver towards my own Heart of Darkness, I thought often of a solitary tree, a tree that had once belonged to a vast, glorious forest but now stood alone. Trees can come and go but forests, like our spiritual essence, can only exist if we nurture them and let their beauty strenghten us. Read this book and save a tree: the tree that is growing within you. It may one day turn into a forest and bring with it the happiness and joy that life is supposed to be.

This book is arranged in a series of topics, covering the gamut from the simple (the spirituality of the things in our life, ordinary objects we take for granted), to the most complex (the spirituality of community) and all the steps in between. What is especially marvellous about this book is the way that it doesn't merely state a concept or a lesson. It deomstrates it, via the several quotes and story-lets per topic taken from all spiritual traditions and ways. If it were possible to rate a book with six stars, I would rate this book that high.

Oprah said, "I keep Spiritual Literacy right on my bedside table. I love this book!" when she introduced the segment devoted to it on her show last year.

Well, I beat her to it. I fell in love with the uncorrected advance proof which landed on my editor's desk because the Brussats are regular columnists for the magazine I work for, The Lutheran. It wonderfully teaches the reader how to see the spirituality already present in each of our daily lives--if only we know what to look for. That's given in a primer of spiritual literacy, from A for attention, B for beauty and C for connections straight through to X for the mystery, Y for yearning and Z for zeal. You don't have to retreat from the mundane to find spiritual truth. You have, rather, to plumb it.

My copy of Spiritual Literacy still sits on my bookshelf headboard. This is a book to last a lifetime.

And a marvelous bonus: Among the 600 some excerpts and passages you find authors that are old friends and are introduced to others destined to become new teachers.

writing from his experiance as well as his heart fred seaman brings to life in this book tons of personal information about john lennon and yoko ono.having to keep a very heavy load taking care of johns every need,studio one office duties and yokos wild request,seaman is able to capture life at lennono at its best and worst.fred tells of johns wierd obsessions with cults,clothes,fear of fans,and even death.this book also tells of john lennons comeback,the writing of new songs in bermuda,recording double fantasy,how the album got its name,problems in the studio with yoko,on and on,all the way up to johns death.the last days of john lennon is worth every penny.i read it from cover to cover,it was hard to lay it down.i have always been a beatles fan.i have always been a john lennon fan.now i can say that i am a true fredric seaman fan.fantastic job fred! buzz sawyer

No matter what slander has been hurled against Fred Seaman, I refuse to believe that he would be lying about so many of the intricate details of John Lennon's life. When I read this book, my eyes were opened to the human being that John really was. As much as I would ever hate to offend anyone in John's family I can't help but be overwhelmed by how believeable this book really is. I'm just glad to see that there are other people out there that didn't listen to all the scrutiny pertaing to Fred Seaman. I'm glad they gave the book a chance like I did. And in so doing I discovered how believeable it really was. Some people don't realize how much heat and scrutiny that Fred is up against. In reading his book I felt that a terrible injustice had come upon him for a small mistake he had made with his heart. It was unfortunate how it turned out for him. This book is the most believeable account of the last two years of John's life that I've ever read. I've never put stock in any Beatle or John Lennon Book until now and I have just about read them all. But because of Seaman's private memoirs I no longer want to read another book about John Lennon. Freds book said it all. I wish the best for you, Fred. Remember Bermuda? It was a peaceful time? sincerely Isis & MeganJaye

I've read many Lennon bios, from Goldman to Coleman...John has been my favorite Beatle, and human being, since I was about 15 (I'm now 29)...and I feel sorry for Yoko that she has to stifle this book. This is an entirely human account of the life John and Yoko led in the last year or two of John's life...written by the guy who was a staple in their everyday living, ordering the groceries, setting up flights, witnessing his own Aunt Helen trying to control the young Sean, as his nanny...There is no vindictiveness in this book...it's a loving account of John as a real man. I never, ever, in reading this got the feeling that Seaman was some kind of pariah bent on reaping the profits of a world famous man...Just a mere recording of daily events...with John a central presence....one sequence that stood out was John hearing Paul's song "Coming Up"....and remarking that it was a song he could not get out of his head..he asked Seaman to get hold of the latest McCartney album..."McCartney II'...
a riveting account of a man we all admire, but whose faults are there, in full display.....still feeling for his past, wanting more...this book is a display of passion, a true gem....

Durbin evokes elements of classic horror and weird tales while using a prose style reminiscent of Ray Bradbury.

The protagonist is an 11-year-old girl who descends into a nightmare world beneath her home. The underworld that she encounters is every bit as weird and unsettling as Lovecraft's Dreamlands.

While sometimes billed as a children's book, I feel that the work is too disturbing for someone the age of the protagonist. And the prose, while beautiful may prove cumbersome to younger readers.

Once you get into the second chapter or so, the plot is compelling. The only reason that I did not give this book its fifth star is because the first chapter did not pull me in. I had purchased the book from the SFBC (apologies to Amazon) and I had picked it up two or three times only to put it back down after reading the first chapter. But now that I have finished it, I highly recommend it to anyone in their late teens and older.

I also have a personal bias for Durbin's work because he and I happen share the same literary neighborhood of contemporary fantasy, a subgenre of fantasy too often eschewed by publishers in exchange for yet another mindless Tolkein-derivative "trilogy" of 16 books.

I was a bit hesitant to plunge into this book, fearing yet another child-enters-into-a-faerie-land-and-saves-the-day scenario. But, hey, I'm a print junkie, so that hesitation was extremely brief. But even that slight pause was too long. This book is great. Unlike other mystical realms, the world our heroine Bridget Anne (or Dragonfly, as she's called) enters is dark and dangerous. As the tale progressed, I realized that Mr. Durbin might not be above killing off the good guys. But if the story wasn't a squeaky-clean fairy tale, it wasn't a dismal, souless slaughter-fest, either. There is love and hope and faith amidst the suffering and death. In the battle between good and evil, both sides take some hits.

In addition to an interesting plot, the reader is also treated to a number of fine touches. Mr. Durbin's description of October in the first chapter resonated so well with me, I had to wonder if he had read my mind. (Probably not. I can't write that good.) I loved the characters, as well. They weren't your stereotypical fantasy folk, but seemed like real down-to-earth folk facing a fantastic and dangerous new world. The appearance of a couple of Dragonfly's relatives at the climax was a special treat.

All in all, I was left wondering if Mr. Durbin has written anything else. If not, I guess I'll just have to settle for rereading this one again.

I recieved an autographed copy of Dragonfly by Frederic S. Durbin for my 13th birthday from an aunt. I have read it many times since. This book is awesome for anyone who enjoys an adventure with a twist of fantasy. There is the usual plot: Girl trying to save world, then the love story, heroes, adventure, friends, enemies, strangers, mysterious gypsies and more.... I totally advise anyone to read this great book!

The author is very good in leading the reader through how money and its avaliability play an important role in determining the economy of any country.
The banking industry and its role are covered as well - starting from a historical perspective to the present day. Our class was doing a chapter on the various reforms in the banking industry when the Enron-Anderson scandal happened. We had some very though-provoking discussions in the class based on the material in the text.
While I am not a complete stranger to economics, I took home a lot of valuable information by the time I was done with this course and this text book. I only wish the publishers had included a CD ROM of real-world exercises / problems that stimulate thought on issues to consider when determining monetary policy.

Highly recommended for both dummies and people familiar with economics. The author presents an unbiased, unpartisan, clear introduction to numerous aspects of monetary policy, financial institutions, and financial markets. Along with factual material the author presents important and profound generalizations and principles.

For once, there is an economist with a passion to teach and communicate well. Although it is supposed to be an introductory text in monetary economics, I return to it again and again to check my basic understanding of this subject.

Bob Gore loaned this book to us in response to our plea for information about Austria and Switzerland. I was unsure of its interest for me at first, fearing that it might be little more than a condensed version of the scholarly work that kept popping up on all my book searches called The History of the Hapsburgs from way too long ago until 1918 (I paraphrase from memory). On the other hand, I had to admire an historian who limited himself not only to one city, but to a nine month time period. That's like having a jazz musician limit herself to a ten-second solo.

The limitations paid off, however, mainly because Morton's selection of those few months enable him to cover a highly significant moment of Austrian history, but also to bring in a cast of characters that would normally have been only peripheral to the usual story of history. The reader, thus, gets a sense of not only the political tenor of the times, but also an insight into the medical (through the description of a young Sigmund Freud), the literary (Theodor Herzl and Arthur Schnitzler), the musical (Johannes Brahams and Anton Bruckner), the artistry (Gustav Klimt), and the everyday (a street-player known as the King of Birds). History is not a novel, so these lives do not intertwine as they would in a fiction, but each does bring an expanded understanding of what Vienna was like.

The central "story" to the book is Crown Prince Rudolf and his frustration with being heir to the Austrian empire with nothing to do except ceremonial duties. Morton depicts Rudolf as a freethinker who might have changed the course of history had it not been for Emperor Franz Joseph's wonderful health. Instead, Rudolf, in the course of nine months, goes from being a revolutionary who must have his writing published under someone else's name to a drug-addled conspirator, who, with his nubile, fashion-setting mistress, decides to commit double-suicide. The tragedy is heir-apparent (pause for groans to subside), as Rudolf would have likely been much more palatable to the subjects of Sarajevo than Franz Ferdinand.

I must admit to being fairly ignorant of European history (okay, I was schooled in America--I'm pretty ignorant of history, per se), so when Morton drops the fact halfway through A Nervous Splendor that Rudolf commits suicide, I was surprised. But such is the difference between history and fiction. Morton expects the reader to already be aware of the high points in his narrative, and seeks to illustrate the base of those icebergs (this is also why I don't feel guilty for discussing the suicide myself). He succeeds, and I now am quite interested in his follow-up to this book, a volume called Thunder at Twilight which depicts Austria right before World War I.

With the use of a wide range of source materials, including newspapers, periodicals, memoirs, and unpublished diaries, Frederic Morton presents an intriguing account of a short, yet important, period in Vienna's history. Morton chooses July 1888 through April 1889 as a watershed period because these years marked the time when "the western dream started to go wrong." Morton paints the Austrian Empire of the late 1880s as backward (many still used gas lanterns) and stagnant, still obsessed with protocol, tradition, and keeping up appearances. The Habsburgs still hung on to their monarchy and modern classes like the industrialists had little to no access to the court. Morton looks at the elite of society in a number of areas like science (Freud), music (Brahams, Strauss, Buckner), and theatre (Herzl, Schnitzler). As another reviewer noted, it is a very "gossipy" history written with a novelists' flair. Through private diary entries, Morton is able to keep a running total of how many times Author Schnitzler (who inspired the Kubrik film Eyes Wide Shut) and his girlfriend "commit acts of love." The rise in prophylactic sales during carnival season is described as is the pursuit of the Crown Prince's affections by the girls of the fashion crowd.

What I found to be the most interesting is the chapters on the Crown Prince Rudolf-the liberal-minded heir to the Austrian throne. The progressive Crown Prince was stifled by the traditions of the court. He was forced to entertain guests he did not like (such as Kaiser Wilhelm II) and was only able to voice his ideas through unsigned articles in a newspaper. His choice of the Mayerling incident to solve his problems still seems odd for an intelligent, 30 year-old prince. His choice of taking Mary Vetsera with him seems more for convenience than for some love tragedy as she was willing to go along with his plan whereas his regular mistress laughed it off. Morton's account of the aftermath of Mayerling was very interesting (the rise in the stock market and the foreign gossip pages lent out by cab drivers). The real impact of Mayerling may not have had as much impact on history as one might expect, especially since Franz Joseph lived until the midpoint of World War I. Considering the years and the nation covered, the ending is very predictable (I guessed it before I started reading the book).

Morton finds the earliest cultural roots of twentieth century "angst" in early Fin-de-Siecle Vienna. He transects a single 9 month period which offers a cross sectional view of the nascent stems of an organism which will grow into liberalism & communism and which will leaf out as the artistic "revolutions" of german expressionim, atonal music (the "second" Vienesse school), the architectural theories of Loos and the Bauhaus, the theater of Beckett & Brecht, and the philosophy of Wittgenstein and Mach.

Morton focuses his analysis around the death by suicide pact of Kronprinz Rudolph, heir to the Hapsburg empire. The event is intrinsically intriging; Rudolph's suicide and it's aftermath cover an emotional landscape that ranges from the tragic to the bizarre and goulish.

Vignettes in the life of important cultural figures, including Freud, Herzl, Klimt, Brahms, Bruckner, Schnitzler and Mahler, dramatize the trend toward the dissolution of conservatism and the collapse of upper classs domination.

A NERVOUS SPLENDOR is entertaining, informative and well written. Morton's style of writting is sophisticated, elegant and, yet, in a sense that is hard to define, unusual and piquant.