After reading the wonderful book, The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony, I was expecting great things from The Ruin of Kasch. Unfortunately this disjointed, disorganized, collection of odds and ends never seems to pull together into any cohesive whole. The tid-bits about the life of Talleyrand were not substantial enough to maintain a narrative thread throughout the entire book. There wasn't enough cohesion around the Talleyrand sections to begin to say this was really commentary on this fascinating personality. Read The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony twice rather than read this book once.

Very odd book. Full of nostalgia for the aristocracy of France, not unlike Nietzsche's nostalgia for the aristocracy of Rome and Greece. It is highly disjointed, indeed ofter incoherent relying upon dense references to obscure figures in the 18th Century. There is a thread of Rimbaud running through the text There are brilliant moments and insights, but no follow through or exposition. It is fragmata, obscurata, anecdotes, quotes from belles letres and diaries. Its central theme is musings on the loss of aristocratic legitimacy and the rise of the democratic mob. Worth reading if the French revolutionary period interests you and you are familiar with European culture of that period.

Since I much admired Calasso's first book, The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony, I looked forward to reading this one. Unfortunately, it is a mess. Although full of interesting bits, the pieces fail to add up to a satisfying whole. The author is never able to define what he means by "modern" except to provide ever more anecdotes about Talleyrand. These are intriguing but unsatisfying. Calasso seems nostalgic for an old world when myths, customs, magic were taken seriously. But it is hard to be sure if even this nostalgia is the point of the book. Still one can't help but admire the wide ranging knowledge of this author and his sometimes eloquent writing

This book nearly incomprehensible. The author fails to define terms. The insider chatty style makes it appear he is writing journal entries for other specialists.

The index includes only names of persons, fails to list subjects. Some of the index enties (see, e.g., Booth, Stephen) miscite pages.

I have purchased many university press texts. This is the first disappointment I've experienced.

Incidentally, Amazon's "review" was from the books own jacket.

Bretzius' book is entertaining and insightful on Shakespeare's work and on the dynamics of Shakespearean criticism. The section on the Beatles and Shakespeare rejuvenated my interest in both. The book's overall vision of the contemporary academy as state-driven theater seems timely and (not politically) correct. I give it a fab four stars and would throw in another for more on the Beatles and the Bard. Highly recommended. --M. Oliver, Orlando.

I expect to see more information, reference rather than the history of US universities. First half are spent for the history and history. Even though I like the history, the author should put more effort in making comparison than fact.

how could something as interesting as african mythology become this boring? it's a mistery to me.
i grew up with african mythology, with the stories, the jungle, the witch-doctors, the animals...all i got here was endless rhymes that might sound great if the story-teller were in front of me but was sleep inducing on paper.
so why a 2 star you ask, instead of only one star? for the effort...this book was written based on days/years of hard work...i have to respect that.

I'm not a chiropractor nor have I seen one, but read this book to gain some insight into this profession. Unfortunately I had to close it before I had read half as it is so obviously propaganda. This man wants to hurt an entire profession. Next time he writes, he should try to hide his personal feelings a bit better so as to appear a bit more unbiased.

I need to strongly tell everyone chiropractic is a science with proved treatment result. I was a chiropractic patient before with chronic low back pain caused by sciatica. My doctor-chiropractor helped me to relieved my pain and treated me right. Now my pain is gone. Who said chiropractic not work ? All kind of scientific chiropractic jounals are available. Those treatment had been proved for treating low back pain. It is a scientific fact ! Chiropractic is a science with philosophy, just same as conventional Medicine. I am very happy after chiropractic treatment. GOOD DOCTOR OF CHIROPRACTIC !

A very silly book, obvious propaganda, Manger certainly has an agenda. I'm very aware that medicine has a dismal record when it comes to back problems (I know..I'm an Internist). I've referred many to chiropractors and have received marvelous feedback. Pain which had been present for years had resolved in a relatively short time. This is after the patient (or insurance) spent countless thousands on PT, MRI's, Cat Scans etc. If this book keeps potential patients away from a very probable method to relieve symptoms, then Manger is "Doing Harm" Isn't the patients welfare the primary concern? Not with Manger, and his buddies..especially Barrett and Hamola. Lastly..a suggestion to these "quackwatch" people: Learn to write intellegently, the public are not fools!.

This book was ordered for a class and was needed asap but it appears that the people didn't care and therefore created a hardship on me in my class. Other than that I have no problem for I recieved the other book in plenty of time.

I thought the general consensus of opinion was that Shakespeare didn't write "..a Shrew" since it is so different & inferior to "..the Shrew".
Perhaps I should actually buy this book and see huh?

I bought this because I thought it was a copy of Wordsworth's "Prelude"; instead, it's a STUDY GUIDE to the Prelude. Caveat emptor!!