Just read this book if you are really interested where it started and how it started! I am very happy and honored to have this book as my desk book! It has all the info about the emergence of American colleges and universities! Some dramatic events occured therein! Thanks to the author of the book! he deserves special recognition!

Frederick Rudolph is a master of graceful historical narrative, and this classic account of the development of American higher education should be on the shelf of everyone who teaches in a college or university. From heart-breaking stories of college buildings that burned down before they were completed, to the history of liberal education, to arguments over importance of the extracurriculum, to anecdotes of nineteenth-century professors imported from Germany who found themselves chasing after students with stolen turkeys ("Ach, all dis for two tousand dollars!"), Rudolph will delight you and educate you all at the same time. This is a volume not to be missed.

Rudolph's study of the history of American higher education is considered a premier work in this body of knowledge. It traces the development of the American college and university from the pre-revolution seminary through today's large, multi-line land grant and private instituions and provides insight into the people and events which shaped these institutions and our country. A must for any historian or education scholar.

I really enjoyed reading this. Fred Lieb does a remarkable job covering the major events that occured in baseball during his career in baseball as a writer(1911-1975). It begins with him as a young sports writer covering the 1911-1912 World Series witnessing players like Christy Mathewson, Homerun Baker and Fred Snodgrass. He then dedicates individual chapters talking about his relationship with Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Lou Gherig, Pete Alexander and Christy Mathewson and his opinion on their place in baseball history. He talks about the effect the 1919 World Series fix had on baseball and how Landis was the games savior as he calls him. He also has chapters on some of his favorite mangers that he covered including Connie Mack, Casey Stengel and Joe McCarthy. He concludes this excellent book by comparing and contrasting how the game has changed since his youth(1890s to early 1900s) to today(mid 1970s at time of writing) then picking his all-time teams in 25 year spans from 1876-1975. Any baseball fan with an interest in the games history should definately pick this book up.

Fred Lieb knew the players he talks about personally. Anything written by Fred Lieb about baseball is coming from a true authority on the subject. Baseball has a history unlike any other sport. No other sport can touch it, and in reading about it from Fred Lieb you are getting it from a true master. Do yourself a favor. Buy the book.

Because Fred Lieb saw so many old time players and told about them in such an interesting way. I also thould he was very fair in his comparing of the players abilities.

My husband and I have read this book numerous times to our 7 month old son and for our own pleasure. What a wonderful gift we received. Thank you. Outstanding story about work, wisdom and the future. Very inspirational for all ages. Artwork/illustrations are fabulous. Author and Illustrator harmonize beautifully.

This book is for all ages- beautiful words, message and illustrations. The book takes place in Cambodia and opens us to the universal human themes of hope, love and dreams in the midst of despair and treachery. Read it and share it with others and "Fly with wishes on your wings."

I bought this story for my girls aged 3 and 6. They were moved by Ari's struggle and I found myself in tears by the joyful ending. I even hear them playing out the roles of Ari and the birdlady.The rich language and quiet beauty of the illustrations makes The Caged Birds a pleasure to read. Then it got even better. If you think Frederick Lipp is a good writer, he's an amazing speaker. He now lives in Portland, Maine and accepted an invitation to come speak to my Artists Books class about writing cultural children's stories. When he read his story the highschool group of 40 were completely silent. Then he engaged them in an amazing reflection on the importance of sharing the stories which move us. His presentation was honest, dynamic and he totally connected with even the most disconnected students in the class. The Cambodian student in my class was especially excited to connect with someone who had written about his homeland and walked the same streets as he did in Phnom Penh.

Get the book for your classroom and then see if you can't get him to come speak. Few kids books carry with them such richness of experience. This one is not to be missed.

Previous: Jeeves and the Tie that Binds (Much Obliged, Jeeves)

This book, like Thank You, Jeeves, appears to be out of print, though I can't fathom why it should be. A bit shorter than the rest, and with a different setting, it is still much of the fare we are used to-Bertie's Aunt Dahlia has gotten herself into the soup with an ill-judged wager, and it falls to Bertie and Jeeves to get her out. Meanwhile, Bertie runs into a former flame named Vanessa (Florence Craye on steroids), whose rocky relationship with her revolutionary boyfriend spells trouble for Bertram. Add to this a cat that shows up at the most inopportune moments and a certain Captain Plank, who is still under the misapprehension that Bertie is Alpine Joe, and you have a hilarious little tale that fully lives up to the Jeeves and Bertie standard. A far cry better than Jeeves and the Tie that Binds, it is a worthy way to end a wonderful series, and one of the best of the lot.

My first Wodehouse read, and I was not let down. This tightly written novel, unlike so many others, manages to put comedy on virtually every page. With plenty of dry-humor, and many funny turns-of-phrases, the well-drawn characters and playful dialogue steal the show. I strongly recommend looking for this slim volume and then enjoying the escapades of Jeeves and Bertie.

This is the very best of the Jeeves series, warm and laugh-out-loud funny. Bertie is completely irrepressable, as always, and Jeeves is ever-faithful and supportive of him, no matter what situation they find themselves in. In this tale, Bertie and Jeeves find themselves in the countryside under doctor's orders. The two are staying at a cottage of a friend of Aunt Dahlia's, and in the thick of trouble between rival horse owners. This book is worth the search; go to your library and borrow it, then try to add it to your collection (if you can find it!)

The experiments in this book are very basic and simple fun activities that are easy to follow and which children -even adults- will enjoy. The book simplifies and explains many fundamental scientific concepts that we encounter daily. The scope of these experiments is very wide , from daily science to weather, chemistry,... which are all implemented with very readily available items. This is a book that will keep inquisitive children motivated and busy for hours, they will especially love the science tricks. The second book : "365 More Science Experiments with Everyday Materials" complements this book. One should get them both!

I purchased this book for the science division of our home schooling studies. It is laid out very well and it's easy to understand.

Using materials most people have around the house you can simply flip to the beginning and follow the headings for ideas.

What can you use straws for? Try out the section on "Clutching at Straws", make an Oboe, balance scale, spear a potato, etc.

Would you like to know other uses for lemon juice? Start on page 36. Keep going- check out soap suds, strings, paper cups, experiments with temperature, etc.

Basically you get it, you could spend many great minutes or hours teaching your kids through hands on learning.

Many of these can be done by an older child with very little help- a perfect solution to the "I'm bored" problem.

Please- turn of the TV, electronic games. etc. and let them use their brains- actively.

This is a wonderful book, one that every household would benefit from.

I've picked up many books which claim to demonstrate science with "everyday materials." Most times the "everyday materials" are not something I keep on hand. Like cheesecloth. Who keeps cheesecloth on hand? But the demonstrations in this book really are simple and really do include basic household supplies. I've used the book with my five year old and have found the demonstrations and explanations to be thorough enough to engage his interest. And I've enjoyed myself too!

"Ralph the Duck", the second item in ABSENT FRIENDS, is my favorite short story. This first-person account by a Vietnam veteran hooks the reader with a funny golden retriever who loves what makes him sick (Think about it). The narrator is a part-time college student, taking one free class a session in partial payment for his job as a security guard. He figures it'll take him sixteen years to graduate.
The story is heavily laced with irony in that the student tests the teacher. The narrator (I couldn't find a name) turns in a paper entitled "Ralph the Duck", which seems entirely inappropriate for an assignment in rhetoric and persuasion (You'll need to read the story several times before you figure out why he felt it met the assignment).
We've all met teachers like the professor. He never wears a suit. He sports khakis and sweaters, loafers or sneakers. Ironed dungarees.
There's lots of sardonic humor. The narrator says, "Slick characters like my professor like it if you're a killer or at least a onetime middleweight fighter."
The story picks up pace when a red-headed co-ed takes some pills during a snowstorm and disappears, and our hero is off to the rescue. The redhead is the professor's "advisee".
Although the story is twenty pages long, it is very sparely written. As I was reading it, I thought to myself, "This would make a really good novel." Apparently Busch did, too. It's called GIRLS. If you can't figure out "Ralph the Duck", read the novel.

RALPH THE DUCK is simply one of the best short stories I've ever read. It is absolute MUST reading for the developing writer, though it may make you feel miserable, as its level of mastery is intimidating. It is simple and unforgettable.

I'm actually sorry Frederick expanded the story into "GIRLS". It works far better as the punch to the stomach it is in short-story form.

This collection of stories will whet your appetite for more from this fine, fine upstate New York writer.

In "From the New World," the first of the fourteen stories in this collection by Frederick Busch, a producer with a liking for Melville encourages a writer to develop a script where people learn things without overhearing them. Busch follows his character's advice: these stories are about loss -- the loss, by sympathetic, everyday people, of a parent, spouse, sibling, or child -- and yet the dimensions of their loss, sometimes even the fact of the loss itself, are only hinted at. The stories are remarkably affecting, the characters are credible and interesting, and the dialogue is right on.

Professors, even visiting ones, have one rare luxury. They live and work in a place where everyone stops and listens to their opinions. Did P.F. forget to mention all the fawning adoration that was his lot in tiny Gambier? Tough life. This book was accurate in what it did record (I was there too, after all), but by synecdoche presented a part to be taken for the whole. An easy for example; it's convenient to present anecdotal evidence that the entire student body was lazy and spoiled, since this excuses the professor(s) from having to pay attention to or bother about the ones who are not either of those things. And it gives an old fellow something to gripe about and be nostalgic for. There's excellent mileage in such an opinion, without a doubt. Maybe even a book. And, after all, Alma Mater is on my bookshelf, reminding me of my undergraduate days and of the coot on Middle Path who used to reply to my passing "good morning" with outraged glares and once a tirade about perfectly decent looking young women who chose to dress like hoboes. Ah, nostalgia. Who gets that much bang for the buck in a big city? Such thoughts are a comfort while paying student loans. If you are connected with Kenyon, this is an amusing read which raises corollary questions about the relative laziness or degree of spoilation found in the professors at a small, expensive liberal arts college.

As a professor at a small college (Muhlenberg, in Allentown, PA), I found these descriptions of Kenyon to be instantly transferrable. When Alma Mater was sweeping Muhlenberg a few years ago, my faculty colleagues swore that Kluge must have been hiding behind the drapes, so perfectly did he capture the scene here. Of course, friends on other campuses said the same. Kluge has hit upon something universal about what it means to be a faculty member at a liberal arts college in a book that is at once funny, moving, and spot-on accurate.

Every autumn, I make a point of pulling Alma Mater off the shelf to recharge my professorial batteries. In so doing, I remind myself of both the peculiarities and the nobility of this profession. And I remind myself, as well, of what excellent writing sounds like.

Liberal arts colleges evoke a certain image in the American imagination: ivy-laced little cities on a thousand different hills; places rich in tradition, where teachers teach, students learn, and smallness encourages community and accountability. As compared to big research universities, their professors are less likely to be distracted by big-city pretensions and obsequious grad students. The small-college ideal is what much of America likes to think higher education once was and should be again.

Kluge, in this touching, sardonic reconsideration of his own alma mater, Kenyon College (the book is essentially a diary of the year he spent back in Gambier, Ohio, as a visiting professor), shows us that the reality of a real liberal arts college -- its ghosts, aspirations, conceits, compromises -- is far more complicated. Its history and traditions are as much a curse as a blessing. The dignified, self-knowing exterior it presents to prospective students and the public may mask self-doubts, intrigues, identity crises. For faculty as well as students, small size and intimacy means academic and cultural debates are more difficult to avoid, the stakes higher, the joys and sorrows more intensely personal.

Though not the author's primary purpose, Alma Mater provides a rich and interpretive portrait of contemporary American academic culture. Today a college like Kenyon, isolated though it may be by geography, is awash in the same turmoils as the biggest and most unwieldy Research I institution: race, gender, fraternities, curriculum, faculty roles and rewards, and, as always, money. Just as TV and computers have virtually wiped out traditional regional cultures, so journals, conferences, and faculty mobility assure that professors in vastly different settings will be wrestling with the same ideas, controversies, and alienations.

Kluge's vivid, indeed exquisite, writing draws out larger truths behind quotidian events and observations. Office corridors strangely dark and deserted in the middle of a weekday become a metaphor for faculty overspecialization (increasingly treated like free agents, professors ply their little projects in solitude from home) and the consequent loss of campus collegiality and sense of community. Figures at a faculty meeting seem to come from some central casting of academic types and images. And anyone who has taught a college course would empathize with Kluge's take on grading: "Splattering comments on papers, you sense you are working harder on grading than they ever did on writing, that you are obliged to take seriously what they took casually."

To his bemusement, Kluge, ultimately discovers he can't go home again. But he gives us a loving and richly detailed portrait of the inner life of a college he still loves, a "good place," and we understand why.

The overviews represented above are fantastic, well-written and thorough. I enjoyed this book about St. Brendan despite the choice of narrator. I liked Buechner's evocation of the humanness of Brendan through the eyes of Finn, his loyal friend and companion. However, what I did not care for is the curiously flat quality of the book: a complete lack of understanding on Finn's part about spirituality and mysticism.

Perhaps this is where I am coming from (as one who likes mysticism) but I'd have been much more excited to see a book written from a mystic's point of view, with a mystical evocation and understanding of the world. Finn's point of view is unfailingly, extremely physical, and any thoughts about the spiritual world are tentative at best. The character of Finn struck me as spiritually childlike; this is not a criticism, just an observation.

In many ways, Finn is the perfect companion for Brendan, because he is low-maintenance, curious but not nosy, and he has a rather live-and-let-live attitude, which Brendan being Brendan needs. The writing in Mr. Buechner's book is first rate and the tie-ins with Gildas, Arthur, and Brigit were amazing, even if they were seen from such a prosaic everyman.

This is the third of Buechner's works I have read, and I have loved and devoured them all. The author takes us breathtakingly into the life and times of Brendan, a 6th century Irish saint -- Brendan the Navigator, as he is known by many. The language, imagery and power of this novel is astonishing.

Brendan's story is related here by his long-time friend and travelling companion Finn -- excepting for a section of the book that deals with Brendan's first voyage, from whom Finn is excluded by the mishap of falling overboard as the ship leaves Ireland. This part of the story is related through Brendan's written accounts of that time.

Taken from his parents soon after he was born by Bishop Erc, a relation, and placed into the hands of the Abbess Ita for the purposes of his education and upbringing, Brendan seems destined for a rich spiritual life from an early age. Forever seeking to grow closer to God, he takes as a quest the search for the earthly Paradise -- Tir na nOg (The land of the Young) of Irish legend. He makes two sea voyages in search of this blessed land -- his adventures are many, as are the epiphanies experienced by him along the way. On his second voyage, legend has it that he may have reached as far west as Florida -- predating even Lief Ericsson's discovery of America by 400 years or so.

Brendan's spiritual struggles are even more arduous than his seafaring ones. An earth-bound human being, he is frought with contradictions -- as are we all -- and his battle to rationalize them with his deep-seeded faith is not one without its casualties, both within him and among his earthly companions. He is wracked by guilt and sorrow as a result of the choices he makes in his life -- and his search for meaning, and for ways to serve God, continue until his death.

On page 216-17 of the novel he comes to a seemingly simple thought -- but one that is deceiving in its simplicity, an all-encompassing flame burning at the spiritual heart of our life's purpose. He is in a conversation with a Welsh monk who is obsessed with transcribing the sins of the world to paper. Gildas, the monk, says 'When the Day of Judging comes, there'll be so many sinners running about some may escape the flames altogether. My work is to set their names down here with all their sins written after them so the angels don't let a single solitary one slip through their fingers.' Brendan is saddened by this focus on man's evil -- his work, as he sees it, is more to help the poor folk, to offer aid and succor where he can. The following portions of his conversation with Gildas is moving and poignant: '(God) wants each of us to have a loving heart. When all's said and done, perhaps that's the length and breadth of it...To lend each other a hand when we're falling. Perhaps that's the only work that matters in the end.'

Brendan passes through -- and witnesses -- much suffering, as well as joy, in his life. He has come to be honored and revered as a saint for the works he did, for the life he lived. He would have ridiculed this elevation, most assuredly -- to his final breath, he considered himself a 'black-hearted sinner' -- but his example is one that can be followed...not one of a perfect man (for none of us can claim that), but of one who reached beyond his imperfections to embrace those around him with the love that dwells within us.

Buechner's novel is a joy to read and experience -- uplifting and entertaining at the same time, full of spirituality, humanity and adventure.

Brendan is the story of a sixth-century Irish monk's quest for "the land of the blessed" the terrestrial Paradise known in Celtic lore as "Tir-na-n-og". Buechner skillfully takes us to the doorstep of many rich and vibrant lands via Brendan's journeys... and lets us meet with a many-splendored cast of characters, none of which are superfluous. All of these places, and all of the characters play a vital role in both the building up and the tearing down of Brendan. Aside from the sheer beauty of this story, laced as it is with Buechner's unrivalled metaphors (all writers bow)... I feel there are many lessons in the book that further commend it to the realm of worthy reading.

It is a book which in the end asks us to come to terms with our own questions we would address to God. Whatever they may be. In the process, we may find that many of those questions have already been answered. Others (perhaps the greater part) never will be. This is normal. Life is mystery. From the book I think I've learned that our inner search for God can be as much selfishness and pride if it does not work itself out in a love for others and a willingness to extend our "selves" for the purpose of nurturing enlightenment in others.

For Brendan, this is a lesson learned in retrospect. And for all of us, I think there is an implication here that theoretical and practical spiritual truth is the fruit of a journey. Bitter if plucked too early; sweet if dropped when ripe. Towards the end of his life Brendan says (refering to God) "Perhaps we've given all but what he truly wants." And further "He wants us each one to have a loving heart."

It seems that after a life of privation, striving, abstinence, and self-inflicted penance, Brendan finds his greatest spiritual fulfillment comes through his simple practical interactions with common folk (regenerate and unregenerate). The narrator Finn tells us, "Every day and every weather he'd go tramping off in search of them he thought needed succor most." And further, "Then the same Brendan that once was wont to blather for hours on end of the wonders he'd seen would for a wonder sit silent as a stick while some poor soul spun out his own drab story."

At any rate, through Brendan's life we are afforded a glimpse of the truth that it is not primarily through our good works that we attain peace or favor with ouselves or with God. The life-long friend and narrator, Finn, concludes by saying that if he were Brendan's ultimate judge, "I'd sentence him to have mercy on himself. I'd sentence him less to strive for the glory of God than just to let it swell his sails if it can." Brendan is the story of a cold soul's migration to warmer climes. And back again. The confusion of the religious genius.

If I were some sort of ultimate judge, I'd sentence everyone to a reading of Buechner's book.

For those who are familiar with the diet literature this book does not give model recipes or nutritional guidance on the proper balance between carbs v. protein but is a more comprehensive treatment of the major factors which contribute to over eating. Burggraf provides the reader with a clear, common sense blue print for understanding what forces drove him and most of us to over eat and then presents a concise yet comprehensive approach to making fundamental changes in how we deal with food. For anyone who has tried to diet and failed this may be the book that provides the guidance they need - if they're willing to give it a serious shot.

As a psychologist, I have seen scores of clients struggle with weight control. Although fad diets and strict calorie restriction may work in the short run, excess weight almost inevitably creeps back on. Worse, dieting is the first step in the development of many eating disorders. Frederick Burggraf's CAMP system is not a diet and does not leave its followers feeling deprived. Instead, the CAMP system is a new approach to food itself. Using Burggraf's techniques, one learns to appreciate and savor what he or she is eating. Food takes on a deeper, richer taste. In conventional diets, food is viewed as an enemy; in the CAMP system, it is seen as a blessing. Yet almost paradoxically, this approach allows one to lose weight by savoring and enjoying each bite rather than eating mindlessly. It is truly an approach to food that one can live with--in gratitude and appreciation. I recommend it highly.

This is a small gem of a book for those folks who've tried everything and did not keep that weight off, long term. (Everything, that is, but the CAMP Program.)

I referred one of my counseling clients to attend one of Fred Burggraf's series of four CAMP sessions after we had been working on her weight difficulties for quite a while. She had all the intellectual understanding but the principles outlined in this book helped her to begin to really practice mindfulness in eating -- plus the other parts of the program -- and she says, "that has made all the difference" -- her pounds are coming off and she knows this time, they will stay off since this is definitely not a diet program but a "quality of life for a lifetime program."

So much of this practical, easily understood book is directly related to learning to think about and experience food in a new way and to eat differently.

I also see this approach as a metaphor for a mindful and certainly spiritual approach to living each day to the fullest. Yes, it is primarily about achieving balance and harmony in the eating arena but if one follows the authors suggestions, it will lead to balance and harmony as a way of life.

Lastly, the author serves as a role model in the best sense of that term. He depicts his own struggles with his weight and the illness that was made worse by the weight. The "participatory" development of his method is truly his special gift to the world -- by transforming his own pain, mental and physical, into health and creativity, by changing his attitudes and habits, he invites others to follow in his footsteps. Bravo!

Addendum: The CAMP of the title is an acronym representing the four primary hubs of Mr. Burggraf's method. It is only an interesting synchronicity that I share the name of this book.

Frederick Dellaenbaugh was a young man when John Wesley Powell tapped him to participate in Powell's second trip down the Colorado River. Powell had made the journey already a few years before, so the second voyage was less pure exploration and more science; the crew included Almon Harris Thompson (called affectionately "Prof." throughout), a professional geographer who also happened to be Powell's brother-in-law. With several boats and men of widely varying experience, the expedition sailed the Green river (thought at that time to be the upper Colorado) to its junction with the Colorado, and the Colorado itself as far as the middle of the Grand Canyon. Swirling rapids, maggotty food, blistering heat, sudden blizzards beset the adventurers, who still though it all made their geographical, geological, and ethnographical observations which resulted in (among other things) the first maps of the four corners region and the Grand Canyon (reproduced in the book).
While wild adventure, humor, and a real sense of the Old West permeate the book, there is a certain sadness, too. The Native Americans whom Dellenbaugh encounters are people clearly already defeated -- fearful, distrusting, sad. We catch glimpses of the Navaho trying to accommodate themselves to the new reality of white (especially Mormon) settlement, creating new networks of trade focused on growing frontier towns. But the seeds of the end are planted already in the irrigated fields of the Mormon settlers, and sometimes it seems as if the natives knew this too. Also, the topography through which the explorers travelled has now partly vanished behind the dams that have ruined Glen Canyon and other stretches of white water and canyon scenery. No one can now do what Dellenbaugh and his companions did; the sense of loss hovers unintentionally about every page.
Dellenbaugh was a keen observer (though perhaps a bit naive) with a talent for making even the monotony of running rapid after rapid spellbinding. One does feel that he may have veiled some of the conflicts that must have arisen in two (non-continuous) years of isolation, though if so this trait is refreshing in a world where we now expect everyone to tattle on everyone else. Every now and then just a shimmer of impatience with one of the crew seeps through. But the real hero who emerges from this book, somewhat surprisingly, is not the leader Powell -- the young Dellenbaugh seems never to have gotten close to him -- but rather the Prof., who rises to every challenge with decency and humaneness, and of whom Dellenbaugh seems to have been genuinely, and for good reason, in awe. Like Powell he is buried in Arlington Cemetery. He deserved that honor, but where he lives is in the pages of this book.

Love and respect for the Green and Colorado Rivers is greatly enhanced by Dellenbaugh's narritive of the 2nd Powell expadition. Well written, accurate history, and spell binding from start to finish. An adventure that can only be partially accomplished today is TOTALLY available in "A Canyon Voyage!"

At the time of the 2nd voyage down the Colorado, Dellenbaugh was on about 19 years old. He didn't write the book until many years later. What a wonderful/spellbinding look at the most beautiful place in North America (The Colorado Plateau). Not only that but I found it extremely hunorous as well. Great Great book!!!