This is a great book for businesses looking for unique opportunities to both make a difference and raise their community standing. It is comprised of real, powerful examples of how these partnerships can and do work. This book should be read along with Bill Shore's, "The Cathedral Within."

Every company I know is interested in getting and providing a great deal. Every nonprofit I know is committed to the greater welfare of the society. But almost no companies and nonprofits know how to link together to multiply their effectiveness in achieving their purposes.

This book provides outstanding examples and a superb template for creating partnerships of great value for all involved: companies, their employees, nonprofits, and the communities that everyone serves. Based on the examples in this book, it looks like the benefits can easily be 20 to 1 in the near term from the time and money invested. That kind of return is hard to find in business, philanthropy, or social entrepreneurship. The reason it happens is that the company can add value that the nonprofit cannot, and vice versa. The strategic partnership is not unlike the strategic alliances that companies create all the time with comapnies that offer unique strategic capabilities.

The reason these benefit are so large (and growing) is because customers and employees are ever more responsive to promoting a social cause, companies are getting better at partnering with outside organizations, and the expertise of nonprofits is growing.

Businesses can gain by getting low-cost recognition from customers that will increase sales, obtaining low-cost resources, making work more meaningful to employees (helping to retain them), attracting employees more easily, and learning how cause-based leadership can transform an organization. When you look at it from a dollar and cents point of view, these partnerships would pass any accounting test you want to use. Not to seek out these partnerships is to waste potential for growth and profits in your company. Corporate boards should be asking company CEOs to develop these partnerships!

Nonprofits can gain by learning how to increase outcomes they care about, gaining access to resources that would otherwise be unavailable, getting more exposure, and finding improved ways of meeting their missions.

Communities will gain by getting more resources, expertise, and attention from social entrepreneurs in companies and nonprofits.

So this is a win-win-win world, but somebody has to get it going. Chapter ten is excellent on that subject: It proposes a 5 step model for the nonprofit -- self assess, identify a partner, connect to that partner, test the relationship idea, and grow the relationship.

Although the initiative can come from the company, it usually won't. The executives already have other agendas, are receiving hundreds of requests for assistance, and don't know what many nonprofits can do for them. You can add some corporate executives to your nonprofit board who will understand companies to help you make these connections. The biggest hurdle will be the lack of corporate experience of your nonprofit's staff. Nonprofits are used to looking for a check, not a partnership. But that reliance on gifts alone is stalled thinking that will hold back the development of the public good.

The case histories include Home Depot and KaBOOM! (building playgrounds), Microsoft and the American Library Association (adding computers and Internet services to libraries in low-income areas), Denny's and Save the Children (raising money for poor children), BankBoston and City Year (sponsoring volunteers in community work), Ridgeview, Inc. and Newton-Conover Public Schools (creating better public schools and better parent involvement from employees with children), and Boeing and Pioneer Human Services (creating airplane parts by employing those with disadvantaged backgrounds). I found all of them to be interesting and well analyzed. Each one gave me ideas for how to pursue opportunties like these for the nonprofit on whose board I serve.

I especially recommend this book to company leaders, human resource executives, purchasing managers, and marketing planners. On the nonprofit side, this book will be a revelation to staffs and board members.

After you have read this book, please join the board of a nonprofit (if you are not already on one). Then, please use the processes in this book to create a strategic partnership with your company or another one in your community. You will gain strategic partnering skills and a sense of a job well done. The others will gain the benefits described above. If we each did this, our communities would soon be far more wonderful places to live and work.

Common Interest, Common Good represents powerful thinking that has already withstood many challenges and overcome many barriers. Corporate executives will benefit greatly from the book's clear and cogent lessons on the benefits of corporate/social sector partnership. This book is proof that goodness can endure.

Grey Matter, Firecracker, & Cameleon are all a must read! Don't miss the 4th in the series written under the name Avery Morgan titled Act of Betrayal -- I'm reading it now! Also, check out Shirley Kennett's Web site!

I just discovered Shirley Kennett's story-telling, and all I can say is, "Can't you write them faster?!"

In FIRE CRACKER, PJ Gray (plus son, Thomas, and wonder cat, Megabite) and Leo Schultz appear again to take on Will "Cracker" Carpenter--a computer geek who is bent on revenge on Mom Elly--his evil stepmother (in his mind).

Since PJ is also very knowledgeable with computers, it may seem surprising that Cracker knows even more--and is NOT bashful in letting her know.

I really like the characters PJ, Thomas, Leo, & yes, the wonder cat, Megabite. They are REAL people--almost unheard of in today's fiction. Yeah, they get put in very unreal situations--it wouldn't be fiction & a thriller if it wasn't. I e-mailed Shirley and told her how much I enjoyed her stories; she told me that she has 7 cats; I can see that since Megabite has many qualities that my own share!

The story itself has several interesting points of interest--among them, Cracker's ability to thwart PJ; when PJ steps into the virtual world & confronts Cracker's Grim Reaper (had me squirming!); and hints that maybe Cracker ISN'T the machine he wants to be.

Mostly, though, I really love the characters in Shirley's world. PJ, Thomas, Leo, & Megabite; Dave (who gets queasy at the thought of blood & guts); Anita--the steady, up & coming detective wannabe; PJ's bosses; Millie's diner & Millie (makes me wish we had a Millie's here in Danville). The whole package.

I'm sure this author is headed for the big time in the suspense field. Fascinating story. The villain here is a little like Darth Vader, because there is some good buried beneath the surface. Way beneath the surface. The character PJ Gray is something different in the overabundance of female leads these days. She comes across like a real person, with problems at work and at home that others can relate to. Her partner Schultz is a detective who doesn't have some flaw, the kind I'm tired of, like being drunk all the time or practically suicidal. He's just a guy with a lot of dedication who thinks he's doing some good. This book isn't a piece of fluff like many of the books with female leads, and I rate it one of the best I've read in a loooong time.

I bought this book along with AP Calculus Princeton Commenting on the content of this book, I would agree that the questions are tougher. They are even tougher than the Princeton Review Problem Sets. My advice is that to use both books. The Princeton book is good for explaination and basic calculus Q's. The Barronn's is good for harder Q's and additional explaination to the (BC) parts of the book.

This book is great for calculus, whether you're taking the AP calc test or not. It has many of the basic tricky questions that teacher my try to give you on tests and also shows you how to solve them so that when you see the AP test, you'll know what to do. It's also in a very easy to understand format and tons of practice questions. I got a 5 on the AP Calc. AB exam, so I think it helped.

I strongly recommend this book. It's not only good for test preparation, but also good for learning Single Variable Calculus. I'm sure that if you do all stuff in problem sets, you will score 5 on the actual test.
In Korea, differentiation and integration are required for all students, but textbooks that Korean students use omit some very important concepts(for instance, differential equations, L'Hopital's rule). Using concise explanations, this book helps me to understand calculus throughfully.

I love to read and i am always looking for more. The Ivory Lyre, the second of a captivating series, was just the thing i was looking for. The book is about a prince fighting for his kingdom, a league of dragons, and freedom. The thing about books is that you pretty much always know what will happen. You always know that the person has to win, and you know the ending will be happy. That's what it was like for this book. I knew what would happen afterwards in the third book, but i only knew the last chapter. Murphy puts such a twist in the story that you have to continue reading it, and it's hard to put the book down. Still, now, i am looking for another book to read; something that will catch my interest just as this book (and her others) did.

This is a wonderful book. Although the first and third books (Nightpool and Dragonbards)are also excellent, I think this is the best by far. It's about a young dethroned prince (Tebriel) who has discovered he has the power to contact dragons and help free the captive world from the tyrrany of the Unmen. It is a terrific book for young and old alike. I would recommend it to anyone who loves fanasty or a good adventure. I hope that soon this trilogy will be rereleased.

I have to admit, I loved these books, and I wish they would do a reprint. I own The Ivory Lyre, but I was interested in finding the other two. Oh, and I had a huge crush on Kiri as a youngster.

SPIDER MOON by John Shirley is the tragic tale of Slim Purdoux, an ex-con who served a year-and-a-half in a Texas state penitentiary and who's now working as a book editor for a publishing firm in San Francisco. Slim's world begins to fall apart one morning when he's informed by his new boss that he can either accept a transfer to New York City-away from his ex-wife and son-or lose his job because of cutbacks within the company. Then, within the next hour, Slim discovers to his dismay that the child he loves so much has just died from drug poisoning. He naturally blames himself for the unexpected tragedy, but most of all he blames the people who sold his son, Frankie, the bad drugs. When Slim returns to work from the hospital to hand in his resignation, he's shocked to discover that another employee has gone on a wild shooting spree, killing several co-workers. One unfortunate event swiftly leads to another and the police suddenly think that it was our Texas cowboy doing the actual killing in the office building. Barely escaping with his life, Slim decides that he now has nothing to lose by going after the drug dealers who killed his boy, and he's prepared to do whatever it takes to collect some sweet revenge. Before the week is over San Francisco is going to find itself in the middle of a bloodbath that will make the shootout at the OK corral look like a beach picnic. SPIDER MOON is one of those pleasant little surprises that every reader hopes for when discovering a new author. Though short in length (170pp), it's a whirlwind of a novel that delivers with in-your-face intensity. I could feel the anger and frustration boiling beneath the surface as Slim Purdoux tries to keep himself from going ballistic at the drop of a hat. He has to force himself to pull it together just long enough so that his mission of revenge can be accomplished with deadly accuracy. To the author's credit, he knows how to keep the tension building within the story and the pace moving quickly toward its exploding climax. I couldn't help but find myself getting caught up in Slim's emotional anguish, and this led to me care about him. Also, I was amazed at the degree of sympathy that evolves for the street people that Slim gets involved with while hunting down the individuals who were responsible for Frankie's death. The character of Wendell clearly stands out. Even with Wendell's violent temper, crudeness, and street savvy, it doesn't take long for the reader to start liking him. All in all, SPIDER MOON proved to be one of those wonderful experiences that catch you off guard and causes you to anxiously search for other books by the same author.

Another great outre' outing by one of today's foremost Masters of the Macabre. Recommended for those who like their fiction daring and edgy. See also his short story collection, "Black Butterflies."

This slim little book packs a whallop. The First Part alone has plenty enough memorable turns of phrase to please the Shirlian reader, or any other reader, for that matter. I was so caught up in Slim's odyssey of vengeance that I felt as if I were in the same state of mind he is. When everthing just stops mattering, and something primal awakens within you, and you are carried along with it, your former personality suddenly taking a back seat to this new, more focused you. I found myself relishing every page even as the dismay mounted as the remaining pages diminished by the minute. It's as if I was trapped in a locked vehicle skidding out of control and my seat belt was stuck: I could see the crash-test-dummy brick wall straight ahead of me and a part of my mind knew the collision was inevitable so the other part just resigned itself to the adrenalized thrill of the ride.
Whatever you wanna label this genre, "streetwise" or whatnot, let me just say that in my opinion, the author is in his element here. SPIDER MOON is the gritty, street-level, real deal. It is trim, wound tight, and written as if the author were dipping a scalpel into his own blood. John's book is decidedly 21st-century, written from a viewpoint that places the reader's perspective in the cradle of the bullet itself. It's as if upon reading this novella, I have been carefully picked up, loaded into Slim's .44 chamber, and thoughtfully fired down the barrel along w/the story, to become imbedded into the heart of all that has awakened Slim's sense of injustice in this world.
This book is a one-sit read at a fast-paced 170 pages. And one of the best things about it is, what a goddamned satisfying resolution! All I can say is "Thanks, John Shirley!" for providing such a necessary tale of redemption and oulaw justice. I am not kidding when I say that the whole story is effective enough to produce real tears in the reader...and I'm not talking about those old snuffly "sad" tears: I'm talking about that one droplet of saline squeezed out of a duct that has everything to do with "Right On!" and little to do w/the tearjerker mentality of artificially induced sorrow.
SPIDER MOON, despite it's straightforwardness & brevity (or because of it-?), will from now on sit on the highest shelf of my collection for me, because it says something so damn many of us have wanted to hear, have needed to hear, for a long time now. It's a crash course in poetic justice, and why the hell Quentin Tarantino doesn't collaborate with John Shirley, I'll never figure out.

this review is about the english version, though relevant to the spanish as well. we finally remembered to donate it to the salvation army so we would no longer have to read it to our child. pure sap. c'mon, the elderly mother drives to her grown son's house, scales a ladder to his room and rocks him back and forth, back and forth...touching? creepy! read it at the library before spending the cash!

The book is so touching that makes you cry. It goes so deep into details, in exactly how many good mothers feel about their sons. I recommend this book to all mothers and sons because their life will change once they read this work of art. I've read many books but this one is special. I read it to my son who is 10 years old since he was 6 years old very often.

when i was a little boy my mom used to read this tome and it allways made me cry because the mom was sick and to this day it still makes me cry and now im 15. so this is one of my favorite books and i will read it to mi child and he/she will read it to there child. it makes me think about the way i treat my mother. well all i have to say is "i'll love you for ever, i'll like you for alway, as long as i'm living my mommy you'll be" i love you mom

While I liked what this book offered, it did not offer enough. I wanted something that gave me a great deal more information and insight and not just a few basics and exercises. What the authors do, however, they do well. I like how they write. After I read this book I read Diagonally Parked in a Parallel Universe which I found much more enlightening, insightful, personal and useful.

Although this book provides useful information about cognitive (thought) and relaxation strategies that help reduce anxiety, it is not the best available. A better self-help book is THE ANXIETY & PHOBIA WORKBOOK (3rd. Ed.) by Edmund Bourne. Bourne provides more detailed information about and a wider variety of relaxation techniques as well as more information about the rationale behind and research support for the techniques.

Lee J. Markowitz, Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada)

This is a small book but it has all the essentials one needs to address anxiety and phobias. Babior and Goldman have done a fine job condensing necessary strategies and providing examples.

A friend recommended this to me after she'd read it. Now, normally, if this friend recommends something, I'll hate it. So I went into this prepared to read a few pages out of courtesy and and hope she wouldn't ask me any detailed questions. I was caught like a fish on a hook, though. I went for the futuristic tweaks, just enough to lift the story out of current time and into a near future inhabited by some of the wildest characters you're ever going to run across. You got to wonder how the author could come up with these characters - I mean, there's some vivid dudes and dudettes here, but in the context of the book they all seem to fit. I won't give away too much, but my favorite was Reggie, a tough-guy bodyguard who knows he has faults and doesn't worry much about them. A journalist named Casey is a good mix of idealism, spunk, and arrogance, and she needs all of those characteristics as things heat up in a story she's working on. She gets caught up in a high stakes adventure that's fresh and thought-provoking. The time slipped by while I was reading because the author pulls you into the world she's created, gives you a push at the small of your back, and away you go until the last page. Highly imaginative and entertaining. Take a big breath before you dive into this book, because you won't have time to come up for air.

Shirley Kennett is the highly successful author of four intricate murder mystery books featuring computer-savvy P.J. Gray, her young son, and her partner Leo Schultz. The manner of this series is highly intelligent, serious and intricate. This book I have just read, BURNING ROSE, is delightfully different. It is as if Ms. Kennett let her hair down and wrote for the sheer joy of writing. The whole concept is novel, exotic and delivered with extreme style and enthusiasm. The writing is informal, not studied like Dr. P.J. Gray, and contrary to the series which is set mainly in the St. Louis area, BURNING ROSE takes place all over the globe. The ideas expressed are in-your-face and the pace is consistently exciting. If you would like to read a totally innovative eco-thriller, this is the book to get!

This book has vivid imagery and imagination, but along with it a coherent plot and a lot of interesting character development. True, some of the characters - the villains - seem to have stepped out of the pages of a comic book, but they have fully developed life stories, like Spider-man does, and they all fit together like some kind of human jigsaw puzzle. A reporter gets snubbed, and that sets everything off and running. She's determined to uncover by stealth and sneakiness what she couldn't get up front, namely that a celebrity-style CEO is really a creep deep down. Digging into his life, she loses perspective. I smelled a bit of Obsession, and I'm not talking about Calvin Klein. Swirling around her are those delectable villains, who of course have an agenda of their own. A James Bond type story in terms of high stakes, great locations, action, gadgets, and bad guys who stretch the boundaries. When this comes to the big screen, I'll be right there in the front row, popcorn in hand, ready for a thrill ride.

The subtle things in this book are suspected of being capable of doing serious damage to the idea of consensus. Still, this is mainly a book for serious readers who seek ideas in previous centuries. It is unlikely to provide much material to songwriters and comedians who long for sustained fame in the 21st century, and who might benefit by providing the kind of depth contained in the title of Chapter XIII, "It is Shown That Scripture Teaches Only Very Simple Doctrines, Such as Suffice for Right Conduct." (p. 175). This unabridged Elwes translation, available from Dover Publications since 1951, was originally published in 1883. According to the Introduction, the second work included here on pages 279 to 387 (where this unfinished work reaches a lack of conclusiveness with, "we shall easily see that men and women cannot rule alike without great hurt to peace. But of this enough.") A POLITICAL TREATISE was translated by A. H. Gosset, "who has also, in my absence from England, kindly seen the work through the press." (pp. xxxii - xxxiii). The lofty thoughts presented in the main work here are primarily theological in nature. There is no index, and the Notes on pages 267-278 are those of the author on the primary work, A THEOLOGICO-POLITICAL TREATISE. Chapter I, "Of Prophecy," on "sure knowledge revealed by God to man," (p. 13) as distinct from ordinary knowledge which all share, and Moses is considered first, as unique in the sense expressed by Deut. xxiv. 10: "And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses whom the Lord knew face to face." (p. 18). Furthermore, Spinoza wrote, "that if Moses spoke with God face to face as a man speaks with his friend (i.e. by means of their two bodies) Christ communed with God mind to mind." (p. 19). There is a return to the earlier view of Moses on pages 123-4 in Chapter VIII on "The Authorship of the Pentateuch." After an examination of the early books of the Bible, and especially Deuteronomy, it was the opinion of Spinoza, "I cannot find anyone, save Ezra, to whom to attribute the sacred books." (p. 130).

The Introduction by R. H. M. Elwes provides a few facts about Spinoza's life on pages x-xx and a brief summary of his writings, primarily the Ethics from pages xxiii to xxxi. The description of appetite, desire, pleasure, and pain on page xxvii as a basis from which "Spinoza deduces the entire list of human emotions" is thought to be the best of Spinoza, but that isn't what this book is about. As the Ethics developed, "The doctrine that rational emotion, rather than pure reason, is necessary for subduing evil passions, is entirely his own." (p. xxviii). Tobacco is not mentioned often in this book, but it is reported that one of Spinoza's amusements was "smoking now and again a pipe of tobacco." (p. xix). Also on Saturday, February 20, 1677, Spinoza spent some time with the landlord and his wife "in conversation, and smoked a pipe of tobacco, but went to bed early." (p. xx). His friend and physician, Lewis Meyer, came to see him the next day, the 21st, and Spinoza expired at about three o'clock on that Sunday afternoon, while the landlord and his wife were at church. The malady from which Spinoza suffered was called phthisis, and it seems as unlikely that any pain that he might have suffered will be conclusively linked to the habit which he enjoyed by doctors who currently do research on heart and lung problems for the leading companies in the tobacco industry, but there may be some basis here for finding a link between philosophy and what they call "junk science."

Those who seek commentaries might find a number to choose from. Spinoza's works were targets of opportunity for philosophers who were concerned about freedom of religion. The final mention of Spinoza in the text of THE SOCIOLOGY OF PHILOSOPHIES by Randall Collins (Harvard University Press, 1998, paperback, 2000) is in a section called Deep Troubles: Free Will and Determinism, Substance and Plurality. As simply summarized there, "Spinoza avoided two-substance dilemmas by positing a single substance with mental and material aspects" (p. 843). The conclusion of that section of Collins's Chapter 15, "Sequence and Branch in the Social Production of Ideas" is "No doubt future philosophies will be created upon this long-standing deep trouble." (p. 845). That seems far more likely than that anyone will explain why Spinoza died of phthisis.

The life of Benedict Spinoza is unique in itself and is the coherent background to everything he wrote, which contradisdicted his family origin. First of all, his name was not originally Benedict but Baruch, which is Hebrew for Benedict("the blessed one").
Second, he was the son of a well-to-do Spanish or Portuguese family who had to imigrate to the then United States of the Netherlands to escape the persecution of the Catholic Holy Inquisition, which was at its heyday in Spain and Portugal. It was in the famous tradition of Holland's liberal thinking that he grew up and began his philosophical studies, which were latter to be the foudation for great philosophers like Hegel. Third, as soon as he could, he abrogated the Jewish religion and his Jewish origins and was then anathemized ever since by the Jewish community and by his own family, to the point of being barred to share his fathers' inheritance. He appealed to court, won the case, and voluntarily did not take possession of the money. Fourth, in the tradition of a few great philosophers (Rousseau among them), he disdained all the luxuries and prestige his intellect could bring him and prefered to work as a shoemaker , devoting much of his time to his philosophical thinking, particularly targeted to some tenets of the Jewish and Catholic religions. Sure, there is many more to tell from this unique philosopher, but the reader can be sure that this is the very appeal of the book and is mirrored all the time in his reflexions. His lack of a superior knowledge of Latin, the language in which the text was originally written in the very tradition of the time, allows the reader an easy understanding of the content Spinoza tries to convey, whithout in any way jeopardizing the strenght of the philosopher's arguments.

In the book, which was never his intention to be published in his lifetime, he addresses many religious and philosophical questions and one is appaled by the apparent easiness with which the philosophers runs down a lot of religious dogmas, both Jewish and Catholic, whithout any possiblity of being considered heretic. Take, for instance, the logic with which he approaches miracles, and the reader will be astounded by the clearness of his arguments, originally developed in Latin (one of the more than 8 languages he was able to read or read/write). Also of importance is the characterization of the differences between apostles and prophets, and many more. His vision of the best way politics should be conducted - he favored his concept of democracy - is less strong but none the less interesting.

This is a seminal book for everyone interested in the foundations of the modern philosophical thinking where Spinoza occupies a very important place.

I am the author of the May 1999 review that faults the typsetting of the Hebrew in Spinoza's notes.

You have attached my review to the wrong translation.

The review applies to the Samuel Shirley translation reprinted in 1998 by Hackett Publishing Company, ISBN 0-87220-398-0.

You originally had it attached to the correct edition. How did it get here?

Please fix it. I don't want to libel Mr Ewes.

The book was an engaging read, and one i would recommend, but I was floored by how depressing Shirley Jackson's life was.

I suppose my mistake was reading "Life Among the Savages" and "Raising Demons" before reading the true story behind the funny, anecdotal, pleasant life the other "non-fiction" books presented. I admire her work, and I was saddened to discover the pain in her life - a pain soothed and heightened by alchohol, barbituates, and sleeping pills. An abusive mother (hers, Jackson comes off as a warm loving mother with her moments just like the rest of us), a philandering husband (who saw her genius, and loved her, but still couldn't keep his pants on), and the sad legacy she left behind for her children to cope with. Oppenheimer follows up on their lives, and they appear pretty reclusive and strange (strange can be good, but their brand of strange read as sad).

So, although the book left me saddened, I think it was a fine read- a real page turner at that, and will add new insights into the books of hers I haven't read as well as the ones I have.

Ms. Jackson was a singular writer in 20th century America. However, much of her work is not known outside of literary circles and (before this book) less was known about her life. Ms. Oppenheimer's biography sheds considerable light on the latter subject.

Ms. Oppenheimer's biography is competent because she interviews several primary resources (notably, Shirley's children) and because it is well-written. This material yields several insights into the life and work of a very good writer and a fascinating human being. While Ms. Jackson might not have appreciated this book, I believe she would have respected the workmanship involved. Writers, readers and researchers everywhere should be grateful.

Just discovered the works of Shirley Jackson, although I'd been familiar with The Lottery since high school. Awesome, totally original writer. I will never tire of reading the first paragraph of "The Haunting of Hill House." The sheer skillful power of her writing ... as Stephen King wrote, she never had to raise her voice. Dug out a short, unsatisfying bio of Ms. Jackson by some German academic, then discovered Ms. Oppenheimer's work. A terrific biography, reads like a great story should. I can empathize somewhat with the Jackson offspring, since I, too, had a mother who was a writer and a giant personality and an overindulger in food and drink. But my mother cleaned up her health and lived till age 77 while Ms. Jackson's overworked heart gave out at age 49, truly a shame.