yes the DBI as it is called in the Wilhoit house is the bestest book ever (after the Bible of coarse!). i have been meandering arround his office and old students have come in and told him what a great book this was!!! Buy it!! I come in like a billion languages (Korean, Chinese, and English)
~Juliana Wilhoit

This is a very extensive, yet concise topical dictionary that explores the countless metaphors and images so prevelant in the Bible. It is amazing how much God used symbolism to represent Himself or His promises, and most people (including the OT Jews) never caught it.

One point of interest to me was the meaning behind the lampstand God had Moses contruct. Most people overlook the details God gave concerning it's construction and what it referred to, but not this book...

If you are a fan of the IVP series that includes such volumes as "Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels," "Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments," "Dictionary of Paul and His Letters," you will thoroughly enjoy this reference book.

I really had no clue as to how important biblical imagery was before i read many parts of this dictionary. Biblical imagery isn't just for Catholics anymore! Biblical imagery is so important to the bible because the bible is wrapped up in imagery.

Why does God refer to His followers as sheep? What was the significance of the prodigal son getting a robe, ring and sandals when he returned home? How are various metaphors used in scriptures? How does Old Testament imagery relate to New Testament writings? All these are questions that many of us have entertained and are answered in great depth in this dictionary. I don't remember what course this book was necessary for in bible school, but I am sure glad that I got my hands on it.

If you are a preacher, pastor or a leader in the church you need to get your hands on this book too. Biblical imagery is too important for us to be ignorant of. God uses imagery to emphasize points or principles and we need to know what He is saying instead of being confused at why such a figure would be used to tell a parable or story.

LIBRO SI TIENE HIJAS !
Porque este libro nos da las primeras señales de la ANNOREXIA PARA ATACARLA Y DETENERLA A TIEMPO...
YA A DESTIEMPO, CUANDO ES UN MÉDICO QUIEN LA DESCUBRE...LO QUE USUALMENTE SIGUE ES LA MUERTE DE LA CHICA !

PARA CUALQUIER FAMILIA DONDE HAYA UNA CHICA ADOLESCENTE !

MI MEJOR AMIGO..¡QUE ESPANTO !
La chica adelgazaba ( mintiendo a sus padres con que estaba a dieta )
Era una niña buena, pero esta horrible enfermedad se convierte en una obsesion tan seria que las hace mentir para que no las obliguen a comer..
Por desgracia, cuando mi amigo Michael se dio cuenta, ya era demasiado tarde !
SEPULTAMOS A MAGGIE LA SEMANA PASADA, LUEGO DE UNA LUCHA DE TRES AÑOS !
ES VITAL INFORMARNOS Y ESTE LIBRO LO HACE... ¡A TIEMPO !

Ooh, this book made me cringe. I recognized myself more times than I cared to. I bought this book for the specific reason to help me curb my cursing and not only did it curb it, it has pretty much eliminated it.

Mr. O'Connor does an excellent job keeping the reader's attention. I appreciated his explanation of the two types of cursing: causal and casual. I have been able to eliminate casual cursing from my vocabulary and for the most part do very well with causal cursing even to the point of hopping around shouting 'shoot, shoot, shoot' when I stumped my toe recently.

I wish this book were required reading in public schools. My son's junior high is rife with colorful language. I know his language must have been just as bad as everyone elses. I had him and his buddy read through the book, and even through faked shocked giggles at the list of 'dirty' words the book got the point across to them and I've noticed that their language has cleaned up. I've even seen a dramatic decreases in the "Oh Gods" and "Gods" they say. They both said the book made a point of letting them know how ignorant they looked when their language was peppered with foul words. No, I didn't get them to read all the book but enough to make a difference.

Who am I? Well, suprisingly enough, a middle class college educated housewife with a strong religious backing who had found her language filled with the 'f' word and the cursing habit seemed ingrained and hard to break. Until I read Mr. O'Connor's book. Cringe, cringe, cringe....but it was worth the squirming hard look at myself to break this habit. I have been relatively curse free now for three months. The lessons learned in this book are not easily forgotten!

I first learned about this book when I saw the author (and two imposters) on the game show "To Tell the Truth". One of the panelists, comedienne Paula Poundstone (besides picking the wrong guy as the REAL James V. O'Connor), seemed to have a problem with the very idea of people encouraging others and themselves to clean up their language. After all, she curses and even allows her children to curse. Well, Paula, I think even you might enjoy this book if you actually read it. Far from advocating censorship, this book can be a valuable help to those who want to curb something that is as much a bad habit as smoking. Plus it is very entertaining, even hilarious in some places.

O'Connor is assuredly no stick-in-the-mud. There are probably more bad words used in this book than in 95% of the books out there, but they are there to make a point. When you read how these words are used, you can see how ridiculous they really sound. Plus, he gives many ideas for word substitutes, but he goes beyond that. Differentiating between "casual" and "causal" cursing, he suggests that it is easier to get rid of casual swearing. As for the causal, he attempts to attack it at the root, which is often anger and frustration, and points out that an attitude change is what is needed. If nothing else, this book makes you more aware of your use of language and how it affects you at work, at home, and, yes, in traffic. I know a guy who read this book and his cursing was curbed almost immediately because he was more aware and alert to it. (What, do you think I'm talking about myself? Hey, someone who knows me might be reading this right now, so keep your doggoned mouth shut!)

I bought this book because it received high ratings in one of my magazines: sort of half as a joke and half because I did feel like I was cussing too much.

This book was hilarious and not at all preachy. He used humor very effectively for deterring cussing. He's right, when you think about what you are ACTUALLY, literally saying...a lot of cuss phrases sound really stupid.

The personal narratives were also really effective. Not only did you see how this kind of negativity hurt others but sometimes...when you actually see the cussing in print it's embarrassing. What I am saying is, when you read it you realize that you may be being a little irrational.

A great book...a humorous look at working towards a behavior change. Good fun.

I felt the book was well written, but, I have always wondered why some relevant information was left out. I only hope that Mr. Tobin and his editor will contact me. My Grandfather was Captain Myron T. Hess one of the officers Mr. pyle was with that day he was killed. My Grandfather and his 1st Sargeant were responsible for killing the Sniper which took Mr. Pyle's life. I have for years had the literature which substantiates this claim. As a proud Grandson, I have always wished that My Grandfather and his 1st Sargeant were given some text. But I have yet to find it in published books or film.

The author, James Tobin, recounts Ernie Pyle's life from his childhood in Indiana to his 1945 death in the Pacific Theatre. The text notes "Sadness verging on bitterness always colored Ernie Pyle's memories of his early years," and relates that his adult personal life also was basically unhappy. In 1928 while working for the Washington Daily News, Pyle began writing an aviation column that ultimately was carried by all Scripps-Howard newspapers. Foreshadowing his WWII reporting style, Pyle' favorite subjects were the anonymous airmail pilots telling "tales of the pilot's feats of bravery and improvisation."

From 1935 to 1942 he roamed the western hemisphere where he wrote a column on his wanderings for the News and developed into a consummate craftsman of short prose and as Tobin noted "...in the process created "Ernie Pyle." Reflecting what would be his wartime style the author notes, "...he studied unknown people doing extraordinary things." The text relates Pyle's activities as a war correspondence in Tunsia where he shared the dangers and discomforts of the infantrymen at the front, and developed a bond with the American infantryman where his "writing transcended propaganda; it was richer, more heartfelt." At home Pyle's editors were delighted with the rapid growth of his popular column. After Tunisia, he followed the troops in the invasion of Sicily and later into Italy.

In Italy, he completed construction of his mythical hero, the long-suffering G.I. The text notes that the "inescapable force of Pyle's war writings is to establish an unwritten covenant between the soldier at the front and the civilian back home." Tobin also notes "Soldiers could see an image of themselves that they liked in his heroic depiction of the war...The G.I. myth worked for them too." However, as Pyle was becoming the "Number-One Correspondent" he became troubled because he had been "credited with having written the truth...He had told as much of what he saw as people could read without vomiting. It was the part that would make them vomit that bothered him..."

Pyle covered the Normandy landing in June 1944. In contrast to today's instant TV battlefront coverage, Pyle admitted to readers "Indeed it will be some time before we have a really clear picture of what has happened or what is happening at the moment." Pyle followed the infantry into France. The book notes, "The hedgerow country of Normandy was a killing field such as Ernie had never seen, and as the weeks passed, the constant presence of 'too much death' whittled down his will to persist." Once again the G.I.'s affection for him had risen after they saw Pyle force himself to share their dangers, which sometime made him, scream in his sleep. Those with today's anti-French attitude would agree with Pyle when he wrote that in Paris he felt as "though I were living in a whorehouse-not physically but spiritually."

Ernie Pyle returned to the United States in mid-September 1944. After a much needed rest, in January 1945 Pyle left for the Pacific Theatre. Here Pyle was in a different environment. He couldn't relate to the hot food and warm beds aboard Navy ships, the comfortable living conditions of airmen stationed on Pacific islands and the generally pleasant environment on Pacific islands. He wrote, "It was such a contrast to what I'd known for so long in Europe that I felt almost ashamed.... They're...safe and living like kings and don't know it." Even when relaxing with an aunt's grandson, a B-29 pilot who tried to relate the real combat conditions in the Pacific, Ernie just didn't understand the Pacific Theatre.

With the Army's 77th Division, "He went ashore" on a small island north of Okinawa "on the 17th of April 1945, talked with infantrymen during the afternoon and spent the night near the beach in a Japanese ammunition-storage bunker." The next morning he hitched a ride when at ten o'clock the jeep he was riding in came under Japanese machine gun fire. After jumping into a ditch with the jeep's other riders, Pyle raised his head and was killed instantly. Far from home, Ernie Pyle died among his beloved infantrymen.

In closing James Tobin writes "Ernie and his G.I.'s made America look good. The Common Man Triumphant, the warrior-with-a-heart-of-gold-this was the self-image America carried into the post-war era."

While the technology of war reporting has changed greatly since WWII, the author is correct when he observes, "As a practitioner of the craft of journalism, Pyle was perhaps without peer. After him, no war correspondent could pretend to have gotten the real story without having moved extensively among the front-line soldiers who actually fought."

The book ends with a nice touch, an Appendix that contains a potpourri of Pyle's articles.

I first became aware of Ernie Pyle as a young lad when I ran across a dusty old paperback in my grandparents attic. I voraciously devoured each page only to be saddened when I realized he never made it home from the war.

Here is a wonderful tribute to Ernie and his easy going manner mirrored with his elequent style of writing. From the absense of life, back through his lifes struggles, this work is a journey into Ernie's life. It will bring back floods of memories from older readers and give new readers insight into a great journalist who was taken from us in the prime of his career.

Ernie's manner of writing was a joy to read and Tobin has done a superb job in relaying his stories in regards to the common man, and the private soldier.

This is another good book in the dragon series. If you liked the first you will surely like this one. The one disappointment I had with this book was that it leads you to believe there is much magic involved with the plot. However, in the final grudge there is really no magic but more strategy and war than any magic battle. The final ending does bring you back up to speed with an unsusspected surprise. Once again the mid-evil thriiler will grab you in the end and bring you back to the next book in the series.

This book is very exciting and does a good job how life was probably like in the middle ages, but it also has alot of suspence and action, and alot of times when you can't help to wonder how Jim(aka the Dragon Knight) can get out of his situation. It also has the interesing twist of comedy that makes you laugh every once and a while. This was a very good book but, I still like The Dragon and the George, better then this one, but they are both pretty simular. Never the less, this is a great book and I recomend it

This incredible book takes the best characteristics of a fantasy book and mixes them with a very particular way of seing every-day life during the Middle Ages. The author narrates the story with the fine humour that we see in all his work, capturing the reader with the crazy situations in which Jim and Brian are involved and trying to show us how beautiful and horrible can a life surrounded by magic and by unusual things can be. An excellent book full of magic, fantasy and optimism that any reader will enjoy a great deal!!!

James Thornton mixes an environmental awareness with the deep human need for meaning to craft a guide to living with spirit. His activism reminds me of "Earth in the Balance" by (then Senator) Al Gore, his teachings, of "Path of the Heart" by Jack Kornfield, his spirituality of "The Direct Path" by Andrew Harvey, and his science of "The Ages of Gaia" by James Lovelock. This is a well written book, by a very deep soul, and we can all learn a great deal from him. Fine work.

I read this book because I strongly believe in reading opinions I disagree with. And in the end, I do disagree with some of Thornton's conclusions. However, I have to admit that this is one of the most insightful New Age texts I have ever read. It was very challenging on a personal level, and I learned a lot about myself while reading it. Thornton is certainly thought-provoking, intelligent, and a capable writer. If you enjoy New Age books, you should definitely read this one. If you do not, you should give this one a try. Few books about spirituality get better than this.

Not long ago, after having read many books on Buddism and meditation, I began to think that maybe the whole idea of a personal, loving God or Father was a myth of my own making... Our making... A fabrication we needed to survive... An opium of the masses. Although I gained much from reading on Buddism and meditation, I found I just didn't want to let go of the idea of a personal, loving Father with a plan for my life. If this is your hope too, read this book. His encounter with God is honest, unpretentious, and truly mystical. I no longer have any doubt.

This book was a good book for children to read and enjoy. It was not to long and was easy for me to understand. In the story, a Princess named Lenore was sick. Her dad told her that anything she wanted, he would get her. She told him that if she could have the moon, she would be better. Her dad, the King, told his wise men what she wanted. They didn't know how to get it or even if they could get it for him. If you read this story, you will find out exactly what happened.
Brandon M.

This delightful Caldecott Medal winner is classic James Thurber and as such is filled with sweet humorous prose with a witty little message. Louis Slobodkin's simple yet evocative ink and water color illustrations help bring the story to life. When a little princess is ill her father, the king, is worried and is willing to get her anything her heart desires if only she will get well. When the princess decides she wants the moon she sets off a chain reaction of worries for the wisemen of the court as well as for the king. All of the best minds of the kingdom are dismayed when they cannot come up with a way to get the moon for the princess. Their final analysis: IMPOSSIBLE! The court Jester gets to the heart of the problem and with the help of the princess and the wisdom of childhood, not only presents the princess with her heart's desire but can explain why the moon still appears up in the sky. Don't miss this lovely book. It's a great tucker-inner and is as fun to read aloud as it is to hear it read.

The story with a surfeit of delectable images and colorful characters is every child's delight. What adds to the reading pleasure is the curiosity generated by the improbable demand of the young Princess. The young reader is captivated with mounting anticipation as the Court Jester works out the solutions to the problems-twice in the story, while the wise men of the court eat humble pie.

While amusing the grown-ups for the same reasons the story also throws up many interesting points for them to mull over. Here are some of them:

To start with, young children will always come up with unattainable demands, and the parents-doting or otherwise-would do well not to dismiss them offhand. The King chased the impossible dream of his ailing daughter and came out successful.

Next, the story shows that people in power are often prisoners of their own rigid patterns of thinking and doing things. If they must come anything near to solving problems they have to break the shackles of convention. The Lord High Chamberlain was trapped in the web of his bureaucratic achievements and the Royal Mathematician could not think beyond his complex rules of calculation. They, unlike the Jester, did not leave any space in their minds for new ideas to sneak in.

The story tells us to use the perspective of a child, at times, for a change. Innocent and uncluttered minds may throw up fresh ideas, which are often blocked by our mindsets and in-depth knowledge. Only when the Jester decided to look at the problem with the eyes of the Princess did he find that the answers lay in the child herself. Creativity must be nurtured in a mind that is a fresh green pasture. This story has a very good lesson in divergent thinking and would make great reading in the creativity and problem solving courses.

It has a great stress-busting lesson too. We worry most of the time for causes, which do not exist. The King fretted about the unpleasant consequences when the Princess would look at the sky, but did the real moon bother the Princess at all?

There are eight translations in this book; KJV, NASB, New Century, Contemporary English Version, NIV, New Living Translation, New King James and The Message. There are 4 translations to a page so you can see all translations for the same passage at the same time. The open book shows you all eight at once. There is a 2 page preface for each version in the front of the book. It gives a brief summary of how we got that version. This book is easy to read. The format is great. It doesnt have any frills though, no concordance etc. Great book for the price. Makes comparisons simple and easy.

I am extremely pleased with this "parallel" New Testament. My biggest (pleasant) surprise was the fact that this collection is actually quite compact in size and weight. (I was expecting the book to be much wider and heavier.) It is easy to carry around (unlike most hardcover books of this type).

Aside from that, it's great to have these particular translations "side by side," as it were. With the notable exception of the King James Version, each of these translations is written in modern (American) English; they are a joy to read and make studying the scriptures a meaningful experience.

I would recommend this volume to anyone who enjoys comparing (or who has an analytical mind).

I use this parallel NT each time I am preparing a sermon or
Bible study on a passage in the NT. It is very good, the
translation choices are from the wide spectrum of English
translations, literal to paraphrase. I wish the publisher
had placed the NKJV next to the KJV and the NASB next to
the NIV. It would have made this resource even more useful.
But this deserves a place on every pastor's study desk.
Highly recommended.

Written by America's most inventive poet, "The Enormous Room" is a book of prose set in a French detention camp during World War One. It is a coming-of-age story in which events happen, not always to the narrator (E.E. Cummings), but to the inhabitants of a place that serves as a microcosm for all the folly and brutality of war itself. As a war narrative it is unique -- unlike Hemingway's "Farewell to Arms" or Remarque's "All Quiet on the Western Front," the central story doesn't take place on the front lines. The plot of the book is basically non-linear, with the exception of the first three or four chapters, and several passages are written in French (thankfully a glossary of foreign terms is printed at the back of the book). I would describe Cummings' story as a stream-of-consciousness dialogue with himself, written in the language of a talented budding poet. Most memorable are the wonderful characters Cummings encountered during his short stay at La Ferte Mace, the name of the camp in which he was interned. They are objects of torn humanity and how terrible it must have been for him to leave them, knowing that upon his release many would languish in prison for the rest of their lives. "The Enormous Room" is a unique historical fiction. It is not an easy read, but it is one of those books that is even more difficult to put down. I have never read another book quite like it. [P.S.: There are two editions of the book, one published by Boni & Liveright and the other by Penquin Classics. The Liveright edition is the better one (and naturally harder to locate online or in book stores), and includes samples of drawings that Cummings made during his confinement.]

Some works of literature that I have read in the past required several scans of certain passages due to their thick and wholly unconsumable nature. While reading E. E. Cummings' The Enormous Room, I found myself skimming back over entire paragraphs simply for the sheer joy of reading them again. Cummings' ability to turn a phrase is astonishing. It's not hard to glean from reading only this work that the author has a poetic nature.

The personal journey recounted here amounts to a fantastic tale that happens to be (for the most part) completely true. By turns, bleak and hopeless - then joyous and brimming with a kind of spiritual joy, The Enormous Room takes the reader to extremities of all sorts in its relatively short span of chapters.

Though it takes place during a three month stint in a French concentration camp during the latter parts of World War One, it could just as well be set on another planet, for all of its fantastic characters, settings and behavioral interactions that never cease to alternately amaze and confound the reader.

Even if it seems a cruel statement to make, after having the pleasure of experiencing this world through the prose of E. E. Cummings you will be thankful that he found himself in this squalid and vile place so that we now have the honor of sharing in it.

Reading Cumming's poetry was never a priority in my school days, except such excerpts as appeared in my far from comprehensive American Lit book. After reading this, I wish I'd paid more attention to this truly gifted writer.

The Enormous Room is the story of Cumming's three month incarceration at La Ferte Mace, a squalid French prison camp. Cummings is locked up as accessory to exercise of free speech, his friend B. (William Brown) having written a letter with some pro German sentiments. What Cummings experienced in those three months and the stories of the men and women he met are, despite the straits of the polyglot texture of the book, never other than fascinating. At moments touching (the stories of the Surplice and The Wanderer's family), hilarious (the description of the Man In the Orange Cap is hysterical), and maddening (the smoking of the four les putains), this is a brilliant weft of memorable characters and not a little invective for the slipshod French goverment.

Something I noticed. Though the book claims as its primary influence Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, I noticed a similarity with Thoreau's Walden. In both books, there is the idea of self-abnegation breeding liberty and peace of mind. The idea is to shear away all luxuries, all privileges. But Thoreau had one very important luxury to his credit: Free will. Whereas Thoreau chose his isolated and straitened existence near Walden Pond, Cummings' was involuntary. So, if the touchstone of freedom both men share is valid, is not Cummings, by virtue of the unrequested nature of his imprisonment, the freer of the two men?

This is a fascinating, thought provoking, ribald and intelligent book. I only regret that the Fighting Sheeney was never given commupance...

I'm a Russian Language and Literature major in Yonsei Univ. in Korea. Having lived in Moscow for around 3 years, I'd heard there a lot about Pushkin and read many of his famous works. The most prestigious of his, however, must be "Onegin." It's a great mixture of verse and prose in its form. If possible, try to read this in Russian, as well. This long poetical prose was written for 8 years and the ending rhyme perfectly matches for the entire line until the very end. Compared to others, it is definitely a conspicuous and brilliant one. "Onegin" can be the author himself or yourself. The love between Onegin and TaTyana is neither the cheap kind of love that often appears in any books nor the tragic one that is intended to squeze your tears. As a literature, this book covers not only love between passionate youth, but also a large range of literary works in it, which can tell us about the contemporary literature current and its atmosphere. Calling Onegin "My friend", Pushkin, the author, shows the probability and likelihood of the work. Finally, I'm just sorry that the title has been changed into English. The original name must be "Yevgeni Onegin(¬¦¬Ó¬Ô¬Ö¬ß¬Ú¬Û ¬°¬ß¬Ö¬Ô¬Ú¬ß)." If you are a literature major or intersted in it, I'd like to recommand you read this. You can't help but loving the two lovers and may reread it, especially the two correspondences through a long period of time. Only with readng this book, you'll also learn a huge area of the contemporary literature of the 19th century from the books mentioned in "Onegin" that take part as its subtext. Enjoy yourself!

I think this book/poem should be made manditory in every institution worldwide. I told everyone who was willing to listen and the rest that this was fantastic. I rang people while reading it to quote lines. It made me laugh and cry and was continuously brilliant. My every praise goes out to the translator.
When i had finished (by the way i read the whole thing in two sittings)i started flipping to random pages and found myself practically reading the whole thing all over again.
I do not speak Russian but have read many Russian books and this really does stand out as being amazing.

If you are thinking of reading this book you needn't think twice about it.

I have read four translations of this novel and James Falen's is my favorite one. He has translated Pushkin's classic in a fun, witty way which doesn't take too much away from the original Russian version (which I have also read). Granted, something is always lost in a translation, but it certainly doesn't take away from the humor and wit of this translation. If you are interested in a literal, as-close-to-the-original-as-possible translation, then I highly suggest Nabokov's translation, which (in my opinion) is somewhat dry and boring, but extremely accurate. It is all a matter of taste...what the reader wants. If you want accuracy, you will have to sacrifice some of the fun. If you want the fun, you will have to sacrifice some of the accuracy. I prefer the fun, therefore I preferred this version of Onegin.