Any true student of Western Civilization will delight in this incisive treatment of perhaps the most fundamental theme of Western culture, viz. the emergence of rationality as a methodology from within the context of social and political (Christian) mysticism and dogma. Although abundant and conspicuous in its scholarship, this work is energetic, clear, and easy in style, and White is sensitive and optimistic in his handling of what could easily have been a "bashing" session. The work is rich, thought-provoking, and fulfilling intellectually, and yet fun to read. It is one of those rare, mind-expanding experiences that true free thinkers relish.

I read this autobiography in college, and it took my breath away. White, who was executive secretary of the NAACP until his death in the mid 1950s, writes candidly of his work and life in the fight for civil rights. The book title is a play on his last name and the fact that his mixed ancestry left him with light skin, blonde hair and blue eyes. He used his appearance to help him get evidence in lynching investigations, and was successful because the lynchers thought he was white (being born and raised in Atlanta didn't hurt either!) The man was no saint (ditched his wife to marry another woman, a practice I don't endorse) but you cannot read this book without having some kind of change in your thinking on race relations--then or now.

In this, the second book of five about revolutionary Cuba, Arenas brings us into the city to continue on the life of Fortunato, the boy narrator introduced in Singing from the Well. Fortunato is older now, and the narrative reflects this maturity by following a more chronological format. But his torment, misery and anger is no less. Always in the background is the gunfire of the reveloution which captivates Fortunato and eventually ensnares him.

While less difficult than Singing from the Well, The Palace of the White Skunks is still no easy read. Yet both books are extraordinary. Anyone interested in reading Latin American authors must include Arenas.

This is a neat and smart piece of work on American film. The authors have done their homework, their discussions of seminal Sixties and Seventies films is outstanding. Once you've read about what they have to say about the "Lethal Weapon" series, you'll never look at it the same. Which is a good thing for modern film is a carrier of all kinds of ideas, some of them are obvious, some are subliminal and it helps to know how to recognize both. Obviously the authors have spent a lot of time thinking about certain kinds of films and their intellectual impact. Their style is accessible, and though the terms they tend to use come from the very specialized worlds of contemporary academia, one grows to understand not only why they are used, but what they really mean. I recommend this book for specialists who need to reify their own critical radar as well as for movie buffs anxious to broaden their understanding of the subtexts behind the films they have grown to love.

I have used and read many self-walking tour books and have taken walking tours in London. I found this book to be one of the best as usual with any Time Out Guide Book. The information in their books is not as detailed as some others, but they give a great overall view. The walks, on the other hand, go into very good detail. The maps are excellant and the information on how to get to the start of the walk is the best I've ever seen. I plan to use this book when I go to London next February (2001).

This book has helped myself, an interior designer with an interest in fiber arts, learn the fine art of the Japanese Textile. For the price you cannot find a better, crisper book in print!

Not everyone is going to agree with his politics but you've got to admire Bush's fitness program. For someone his age, he's in really good shape. This workout is pretty basic but it should help to get some of us couch potatoes in shape.

Childern of the Iquisition was a book that I had bought several years ago. It had wonderful art. I would love to purchase this book for the art alone in order to display on my walls at home. My boyfriend and I have a unique style of decorating our home. This book would be a great display. A freind had claimed this book and I've wondered whether I would ever come accross this book again. I am hoping....

This is perhaps the best novella ever written; everyone should read it. Dostoyevsky's writing is evocative and powerful, both in that it evokes feelings and in that these feelings are feelings that you will always find yourself sharing. You will shudder at the degree to which you resemble the petty, unhappy narrator of this little book--at the degree to which you are tortured by the everpresent gaze of popular culture and of yourself, and the degree to which to find that spite and irrationality pervade your everyday modes of thought.

What makes Dostoyevsky unique among 19th-century authors is his connection to philosophical debates; his critique of the Enlightenment is perhaps one of the most powerful expressions of what contemporary thinkers refer to as "the crisis of modernity."

But unlike the vast body of existentialist, marxist, and post-structuralist writing that has proliferated during this century, Notes from Underground's critique wields intense emotional power. Against the background of humanistic faith in progress and reason, the narrator finds himself mired in his own spite and squalidity, and in his own self-hatred he comes to view all humanity cynically.

Dostoyevsky's critique of the Enlightenment is devastating. The narrator stares at the statement "2+2=4" and then rejects it, questioning whether it really matters anyway. For Dostoyevsky, like Foucault, power is a productive relation--power always produces resistance. As such, all utopian schemas of rationalization are bound to carry the seeds of their own defeat. Humans, Dostoyevsky tells us, will always find new ways to express their stupidity and irrationality.

Central to this book is Dostoyevsky's explosion of the public/private dichotomy. The progress of Enlightenment humanism (represented by a reference to Kant's notion of 'the lofty and the beautiful') situates the individual as a cog in a rational social machinery, but this rationalization totally fails to extend into the private sphere--the Underground. The utter squalidity of the narrator's private life is horrifying because the reader always feels that she can relate to the narrator's tortured feelings. Here lies the disturbing power of Dostoyevsky's work.

On the other hand, from a philosophical point of view, Dostoyevsky's focus on the private sphere becomes a source of optimism. Dostoyevsky's politicization of the private opens up new spaces for political agonivity: the narrator uses the Underground as a space of spiteful critique, but the Underground can also enable personal emancipation from the contingent roles coerced by the technical imperatives of rationalized society.

When I read this book for the first time I read it in high school the first section was gibberish to me and in the second part I learned that dostoevsky's characters are mean to prostitutes.

The second, more carefull and guided tour through this book that I had through a philosophy class was much more enlightening - understanding the first section gives the reader a lot more insight to the underground man's motivations and actions in the second section.
To summarize the godforsakenly long paper that I had to write on this book, The underground man sees any limitations or rules as direct affronts to his freedom. He sees determinism, or the idea that all of our actions have prior causes, as depressing and that actions that are predetermined are necessarily unfree. Even Reason is a straightjacket, for a man who acts in all situations according to the dictates of Reason is a slave to the limitations of Reason nonetheless. The only way the Underground Man sees freedom as possible is by acting agaist one's own best wishes, or doing stupid things that are harmfull to oneself, just because one can and to express one's freedom. Either that, or acting in a purely spontaneous fashion. Of course, the Underground Man's days in the dusty cellar have addled his existential brain, because acting against one's own best wishes in the name of freedom is still acting for a cause, only one puts freedom this time as the highest of priorities. That and acting spontaneously for no reason whatsoever can't really be considered acting freely, because one has no personal control over said actions.
Well, that's still rather muddled, but hopefully slightly more palatable than our russian literary leftist's words.

Quick read? I finished Crime and Punishment and thought I'd zip through Notes like a snack before going on to the Brothers Karamozov, afterall, it's barely over 100 pages. Quick read? Think again.

Imagine being locked in a very small room with a verbose, insane, brilliant, jaded, before-his-times, clerk-come-philosopher....with a wicked sense of humor, and a toothache that's lasted a month. Pleasant company....are you searching for the door yet?

For the first hour, he's going to rant about his philosophy of revenge, the pointlessness of his life, his superiority, his failure, oh yeah, and his tooth. FOr the second half of the book, he's going to tell you a tale, with the title "Apropos of the Wet Snow". Because of course, there's wet snow outside on the ground.

I will leave you with this encouragement. If you can get through this book, you will appreciate Doestoevsky more, understand Crime and Punishment better, and probably enjoy a good laugh more than once.

Notes from the Underground is not light reading, but it is well worth the effort. And the translation by Pevear, including the translators notes at the back, is excellent.

The World of the Vampire is not complete without the unsung leaders of the Undead, the Nosferatu. Some say they are the only real Vampires left, other say they are nothing but Sewer Rats. With this book you'll get to know them inside, out, upside, down, and back to front. The Players Book gives you a brief overview of this clan, this book dives right in, and gives you the real scoop on playing a Nos. This book is a must for Table-Top Vampire Players & Mind's Eye Theater Live-Action Role Players. Everything from History of the Clan to new Merits & Flaws and more. Buy it, Read it, Play it.

What can I say, the Nosferatu clanbook is more detailed then any other book. Most clanbooks leave the reader with questions... not the Nos! Backgrounds, unique flaws, strange stories, all are there. Take that Toreador. I've read Toreador, Brujah, Malkavian, and Gangrel clanbooks, and these SEWER RATS were the most interesting of the bunch. To think one would WANT to live forever as a Nosferatu. After reading this book, who knows...

The Nosferatu, a clan of sewer-dwelling, self loathing vermin, right? I think not. This book was one of, if not THE, best clanbook I've read. This book had all the normal crap, i.e. merits and flaws, new discipline powers, et cetera. But what really makes this book worth buying is not all that crap, but the new and wonderful take on the Nosferatu mind-set. It was presented in a sort of comical manner, but still serious enough to make it worth reading. It had lots of information on "Nosferatu Kingdom" (the sewers) including their artwork contained therein, the different beasts that share their prefered dwellings, and a lot of other stuff you could never imagine. The book ends on a MAJOR plot twist, one that scared the living crap out of me, seriously. I wont spoil it or anything, but that alone made the book worth the price. If you EVER intend to play a Nosferatu, or just run a chronicle with a lot of Sewer Rats in it, you should get this book. I just have to say it again, I LOVE the new take on the Nosferatu-- I couldnt stand that self-loathing, feeling sorry for myself crap that is presented in all the other books; The cynicism cracked me up constantly.