Book Description
As he is driving home from a minister's conference, Baptist minister Don Piper collides with a semi-truck that crosses into his lane. He is pronounced dead at the scene. For the next 90 minutes, Piper experiences heaven where he is greeted by those who had influenced him spiritually. He hears beautiful music and feels true peace. Back on earth, a passing minister who had also been at the conference is led to pray for Don even though he knows the man is dead. Piper miraculously comes back to life and the bliss of heaven is replaced by a long and painful recovery. For years Piper kept his heavenly experience to himself. Finally, however, friends and family convinced him to share his remarkable story.
Customer Reviews:
Good Book, Title Misleading.......2007-10-09
First I want to qualify this review by saying that this was a good book, a book that I enjoyed and learned from, however it wasnt really what the title made it seem that it was, a book on heaven. Sure Mr. Piper explains his experiance in heaven, well at least at the gates of heaven, in the first chapter and it does paint a picture of heaven that I cant wait to experiance, but there are maybe 2 chapters on heaven in this 17 chapter book. The rest of the story is about how Don Piper came back to life from a terrible auto accident and how he was able to find passion again and regain a sense of Gods Purpose in his life, which is a great read, not just what the Title premises.
That being said. I did enjoy the book and the story, it is uplifting and enspiring for anyone who has gone through illness or any tragedy in their life for that matter and I would recommend it to anyone needing new perspective. I just would have titled it "Back from the Dead" or Glimpses of Heaven: One Mans Journey to Heaven, Back Through Hell and on to Purpose" or something of that like.
A disappointment!.......2007-10-05
Truly a disappointment. I should have known better than to purchase this book. How can an entire book be written about a 90 minute experience? However, I did not expect a blow by blow of medical treatments and his healing process.
90 MINUTES IN HEAVEN.......2007-10-05
I found it believable and an amazing description of his experience of seeing heaven's gates,etc., but after that, the long drug-out story of the author's recovery was somewhat tedious.
Book title is misleading.......2007-10-03
After the 90 second replay of Heaven, the rest of the book was just reading about his stay in the hospital and his slow recovery. I was disappointed.
Heavenly Inspiration.......2007-09-26
This book isn't for everyone. It's a heartfelt tale with many great lessons. Don's experiences demonstrate the most valuable lessons in life:
- trust that God has a purpose for each of us;
- often the best way to help others is to let them help you;
- everything leads to good if we let it;
- often the smallest gestures can have the most impact;
- even the worst experiences have silver linings;
- heaven is real and waiting for us.
Book Description
* Exclusive Poster - A large poster with exclusive Pokémon art.
*
Full Walkthrough with Maps - Each area of the new Sinnoh region will be comprehensively covered so players will be able to find all the new Pokémon.
Customer Reviews:
Great book.......2007-08-05
This book gave me great tips and had a lot of good info about contest items. Overall full of great info about my Pearl And Diamond game.
Useful.......2007-07-29
This book was easy to follow and was very useful for solving the initial game. However, if you are only going to buy one book or you are trying to catch all the pokemon, the volume 2 pokedex is even more useful.
Not a Pokedex.......2007-07-13
I bought this guide thinking it was a PokeDex. Had I known it was just a walkthrough I wouldn't have bought it.
However, for a walkthrough it is alright. It is a little jumbled and disorganized, but it has lots of information.
My Comment To Confusion.......2007-07-12
Many of your Reviews about this guide say that after the League, it ditches you. Or, that there is not a full pokedex. Well, do any of you see the big VOL 1 on the right hand corner of your books? That means Volume 1. Which means, there is a Volume 2. I have volume 2, and says nothing about the pokemon league or gym leaders, etc, But it does talk about everything you can do AFTER beating the pokemon league. And there is a Pokedex which lists ALL 490 Pokemon. So Buy that Book Instead.This book though, I Have Never Read. So Based on Your Reviews, This Is What I give It.
Great addition to my son's Pokemon collection........2007-07-04
Great guide for my son's evergrowing Pokemon collection. It helped him a lot to beat the game.
Book Description
From the best-selling author of At Knit's End and Knitting Rules! comes yet another hilarious book of tongue-in-cheek observations on the world of knitting. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off invites knitters of all ages, levels, and persuasions to embark with her on a journey deep into the land populated by those who are obsessed with yarn, needles, and what’s on their needles now.
Using a travel guide format as her launching pad, Pearl-McPhee acts as tour guide extraordinaire, displaying her trademark razor-sharp wit as she describes and critiques every aspect of this land she knows so well — its people, native language, familiar phrases, strange beliefs, etiquette, and cultural customs. Readers will love her timeline of notable dates in knitting history and rarely celebrated knitting heroes, from the samurai warriors of Japan to the "Ter-rible Knitters of Dent." And, while the land of knitting is a peaceful place, it does have its political arguments, such as the acrylic versus natural fi bers and circular versus straight needles debates.
As she's toured (and knit) her way across North America during the past two years, Pearl-McPhee's smart, perfectly timed banter has captured the hearts, minds, and funny bones of thousands of knitters far and wide. No fan is going to want to be left behind as Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off on her latest yarn-bound expedition.
Customer Reviews:
Can knit ... and be funny........2007-10-10
Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is the Jon Stewart of the knitting world. She skewers us with our own needles, unravels our obsession for the uninitiated and helps us learn to laugh at ourselves. Her fresh, tongue-in-cheek observations about the crazy world of knitting have become wildly popular on her blog, her speaking tours (accompanied by her trademark socks-in-progress) and in her three previous books.
In her newest book Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: the Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting, the author looks at knitting as a journey and sets off on a whirlwind tour of the land of knitting. Whether a newly arrived visitor, a long-time resident or a tourist seeking understanding of a loved one; Casts Off is an essential guide to the people, customs, tourist attractions and common ailments of this fascinating land.
Divided into the areas of reference commonly expected in a travel guide, the author investigates packing tips (just how much yarn does one need to take on a trip), consulates and embassies (local yarn stores), politics (the great "acrylic versus natural fibers" debate) and common ailments (the dreaded "Yarnesia" or the debilitating Viral Second Sock Syndrome), treatment and prognosis.
Knitters who have caught the "Harlot" bug will find themselves laughing uncontrollably through Casts Off and most will remain convinced that the author knows them better than their closest friend. Whether she is commenting on the "four ways knitting is like playing the violin" (both are worked from a chart) or how to cope when bad knits happen to good knitters, knitters respond to Pearl-McPhee because she understands us. She knows our foibles because she shares them and like all good enablers, she helps us explain ourselves the skeptics around us. After all, as she reminds us, "We know it looks like yarn, but it's love...and for this it's worth giving up all your closet space."
This knitter recommends regular doses of the Harlot, along with infusions of social knitting and stash diving, to ensure a pleasant and healthy stay in the land of knitting.
Armchair Interviews says: For every knitter needing a knitting soulmate
LOVED IT!.......2007-10-09
This book is the perfect example of technology giving two very old art forms -reading and knitting--a boost. I "read" this book via audio book. Which I think is brilliant... my husband finds it scary. He thinks it's a very bad idea for someone to enable me to enjoy my two passions together... especially knitting. Because then I can do MORE, MORE of both!!
SPM Casts off is a travel book about knitting. It looks at Knitting as a destination. As a country of sorts. With its own citizenry, customs, language, superstitions, history and so forth. I know, I couldn't imagine it either. But Stephanie Pearl-McPhee has pulled it off. She had me cackling happily as my needles clicked. And I learned quite a bit about the history of knitting (samurais used to knit!) and about what's possible (would you believe a knitted grandfather clock and a floating knitted boat?)
Pearl-McPhee's writing and work is best known through her blog. She's done a lot to create an international community of knitters. In 2004, she founded Tricoteuses sans Frontières (Knitters without Borders), a group dedicated to raising money for the non-profit Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders). As of September, 2007, they have raised over $368,000. In 2006 she started the 2006 Knitting Olympics, a competition for knitters to start and finish one project during the timeframe of the 2006 Winter Olympics. Over 4,000 knitters worldwide participated.
I found her voice and style really grew on me. She's funny and charming and it's so comforting to know that I'm not alone in my eccentric, yarn and pattern book hoarding behaviour... and perhaps that's what my husband finds so threatening about this. That there are other women (and men) out there like me. And it's all perfectly normal.
One note.. I found particularly with the her other audio book "At Knit's End", but a little less with this one, that Pearl-Mcphee drops the last word when she reads. So you'll have to rewind occasionally to figure out what she says at the end of a track or paragraph.
But on the whole, very entertaining. Certainly one that I enjoy listening to again and again.
Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Cast Off.......2007-09-21
I enjoy reading Stephanie Pearl McPhee's books, it gives a lot of good information in a fun way
Eat, Sleep, Knit!.......2007-09-15
This book is hilarious! I laughed from cover to cover and have learned new places to store my stash! Thanks for the laughs!
I also had a hard time getting through this. .......2007-09-13
Every five pages or so, I couldn't stand it any longer. I had to go knit. (I haven't yet worked out how to knit and read at the same time, sadly.)
Seriously, I've been away from knitting for the last three years going to law school. I feared I had forgotten how to knit. And then I picked up this book, and suddenly it all came back. Since I bought it two weeks ago, there have been three mad trips for yarn, and I've become the kind of person who gets stared at for knitting in restaurants. I am all-but-finished with a project that I'd been barely picking at for the last six months when I had thirty seconds to rub together, I've started a new pair of socks, and I'm looking for the yarn that will become that legendary wonderful/awful first sweater.
Depending on how you look at it, I've finally gone off the deep end, or my sanity is finally returning. And this book, which I finished somewhere between one project and the next, is what sent me on the trip.
Stephanie, thank you. This was exactly the right book at the right moment for me. Your travel book helped bring part of me back home.
Book Description
You're invited to the most whacked-out party of the year. Bring your togas, your appetite, and your attitude to the first-ever fraternity "zee-ba-cue" by the Da Brudderhood of Zeeba Zeeba Eata. A small cover charge is required, but zebras always get in free. Getting out is a different story. . .
In this, the fifth collection of the wildly popular Pearls Before Swine comic strip, Stephan Pastis's original creations Rat, Pig, Goat, and Zebra join the sophomoric cast of crocodilian cutthroats in Pastis's funniest work yet.
Customer Reviews:
Delighfully Twisted.......2007-10-07
Love the strip-love the book. Pearls appeals to my slightly acidic sense of humor.
Fun.......2007-09-28
The book was a wonderful collection. and I had many laughs from it. I have ordered other Pearls before Swine books as a result.
Dis iss hystiracall , Brudder!!!!.......2007-08-29
If you are a fan of Stephan Pastis' twisted humor, you will love this book! If you never heard of him and are slightly "bent", you'll soon be a fan.
I purchased two previous books and gave them away as gifts (after reading them first, of course) and the party turned into a "listen to this one" and "where did you get these?" event.
I love the crocodiles and their phonetic accent and their struggles with the wary zebra who is too smart for them....because EVERYONE is too smart for them.
The other characters are great too, but this one is the best of the three I've read. Do yourself a favor and order this book. Laughter is the best medicine and Stephan Pastis makes a great doctor!
Great for the Reading Room.......2007-07-03
Irreverant, silly, dumb, twisted......
I LOVE IT.... God forgive me, I love it.
The Zeeba/Ally-gaters are the best characters yet.
Fun for everyone.......2007-06-14
Hated to read the last page of this book. It's such a delight. My whole family loved it. In fact, we kept swiping it from each other.
We're now hooked on Zeebas.
Average customer rating:
- Courtesy of Teens Read Too
- Lasting Impression
- Book Review: The Pearl, by John Steinbeck
- A Story to make you think!
- ~The Pearl~
|
The Pearl
John Steinbeck
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Steinbeck, John
| Classics
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Classics
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Literary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Criticism & Theory
| History & Criticism
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Steinbeck, John
| ( S )
| Authors, A-Z
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Paperback
| Steinbeck, John
| ( S )
| Authors, A-Z
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
( S )
| Authors, A-Z
| Literature & Fiction
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
| Shakespeare, William
| Shaw, George Bernard
| Stevenson, Robert Louis
| Stoker, Bram
Classics
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Literary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Criticism & Theory
| History & Criticism
| Literature & Fiction
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Classics
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
| Cather, Willa
| General
| Hawthorne, Nathaniel
| Irving, Washington
| Melville, Herman
| Poe, Edgar Allen
| Twain, Mark
| Wharton, Edith
| Whitman, Walt
All 4-for-3 Deals
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck Centennial Edition)
-
The Old Man and The Sea
-
Animal Farm (Signet Classics)
-
Lord of the Flies (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century)
-
Cannery Row: (Centennial Edition)
ASIN: 014017737X |
Book Description
Today, nearly forty years after his death, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck remains one of America's greatest writers and cultural figures. Over the next year, his many works published as black-spine Penguin Classics for the first time and will feature eye-catching, newly commissioned art.
Penguin Classics is proud to present these seminal works to a new generation of readers—and to the many who revisit them again and again.
Customer Reviews:
Courtesy of Teens Read Too.......2007-09-07
Kino and his wife, Juana, have a beautiful baby boy, but one morning he gets stung by a scorpion. He is rushed to the doctor, who will not treat him because they have no form of payment.
The parents get in their boat to look for a pearl to use as payment, and, amazingly, find one that is referred to as the "moon" -- and is about the size of a goose egg.
What happens when they go to the dealers to collect their money? You'll have to read this classic novel to find out.
THE PEARL is a very short book that, honestly, I wouldn't have chosen to read except that it's for school. It's a very basic story, but everything in the book also has a double meaning, which is thought-provoking.
Reviewed by: Taylor Rector
Lasting Impression.......2007-09-06
In 1978-79 while in High School in Jamaica, was the first time I read this book. It is an amazing story but not a story. Facts on how our lives can be changed because of need. Facts on how we can lose sight of what is most valuable to us because of "luck". I am impressed with the the author's presentation of details throughout the book...I felt like I was watching the entire story unfold before my eyes. I think it was well written. For that reason I had to purchase a copy for my step-daughter and of course another for myself in 2007. Awesome book!!
Book Review: The Pearl, by John Steinbeck.......2007-08-26
Even though John Steinbeck's The Pearl is less than one hundred pages, it is still a great piece of American literature. The Pearl is an extremely interesting and compelling parable about a family living in an impoverished Mexican Village called La Paz. The exact time period of the story is not specified. However, judging by the generation in which Steinbeck lived and the era of many of his other works, The Pearl probably takes place in the early 1900s. Originally, the work was planned to hit the theaters before becoming a piece of literature. The film version would have worked out nicely because throughout the tale, Steinbeck describes separate songs and tunes that are associated for different items, events, and character feelings. The major theme Steinbeck implements into the novel is that becoming wealthy can warp one's mind, causing he or she to perform tasks that would be out of the ordinary.
The novella's main character, Kino, is a Mexican and Indian father living with his wife, Juana and newborn son, Coyotito in a small Mexican village. The family is extremely poor and does not have any luxuries in life. One day, Coyotito is stung by a scorpion and is in need of medical attention. When Kino and Juana take their son to a doctor, he turns them away because he is aware that the family has no way to pay him. Immediately, Kino and Juana begin to search for valuable pearls in the sea, hoping to find something to earn enough money for the doctor's attention. Sure enough, Kino finds the largest pearl anyone has ever seen. It is declared "The Pearl of the World." Coyotito receives the doctor's help, but Kino and Juana are extremely suspicious of him. Later, Kino attempts to sell his pearl but he is offered much less than he expects and refuses the best offer. He plans to travel to the capital the next day to try and sell his pearl again. Juana warns Kino that the pearl is bad luck and she fails in attempting to throw the pearl back into the sea. When Kino is attacked by a group of people attempting to steal the pearl, he promptly kills them off. Realizing the grave danger he put his entire family in, Kino takes Juana, Coyotito, and the pearl and they escape to the mountains. In order to conceal the rest of the story, I will not tell any more plot information.
Using a simple, straightforward storytelling method, Steinbeck effectively illustrates the events in his parable. He uses a tremendous amount of foreshadowing throughout the story. However, I will not give any examples as I promised not to reveal any more plot information. Steinbeck emphasizes the importance of certain events by having them recur at the beginning of the chapters. In the second, third, and fourth chapters, a description of the town is present. These few paragraphs remind the reader of the reality of the situation. He compares a town to "a colonial animal...a town has a whole emotion" (21). In the first and fifth chapters, Steinbeck describes Kino's awakening before and after he discovers the pearl. In the first chapter, Kino is at complete peace with the world, observing his surroundings and listening to the waves splashing on the beach. However, his attitude changes drastically in the fifth chapter. Discovering that Juana has left to throw the pearl back into the sea, "rage surged in Kino...quietly he tracked her, and his brain was red with anger" (58). Steinbeck emphasizes how the pearl and the thoughts of wealth and luxury have altered Kino's mind, causing him to act differently.
Overall, John Steinbeck's The Pearl is a simple story with an important lesson to the reader. I believe that it is well worth a few hours of reading. Steinbeck uses a great writing style and emphasizes key events and ideas to get his purpose across to his readers. He intends for the reader to value his or her emotional and spiritual wealth rather than material wealth.
A Story to make you think!.......2007-07-03
I am not exactly sure as to the moral of this story. Kino is a dirt poor pearl diver who suddenly finds the golden egg; the largest pearl found by any of his villages inhabitants, that is. Kino, his wife Juana, and infant son have known nothing but poverty. This discovery offers them a chance to elude their current existance with the potential of good meals, a bed, and the opportunity to send their kid to school so he may learn to read and write. I find nothing gluttonous with this family's simple objective. What alarms me are the swine that jump out of the darkness to strip them of their chance at a new life.
Written in 1947, this novella is a not so unique illustration of society's willingness and cunning in stripping others' of what is rigtfully theirs. This is a good family read from which dialog may ensue between parent and child
~The Pearl~.......2007-07-02
The book was in terrific shape when I got it! No problems at all! Brand new! Although, I haven't started it yet...
Amazon.com
Fourteen years after it was first issued, C++ expert Jon Bentley reinvents a true classic with the second edition of his Programming Pearls. Completely revised and brought up to date with all new code examples in C and C++, this book remains an exceptional tutorial for learning to think like a programmer.
The "pearls" in question center not only on choosing the right algorithms (like binary searches, sorting techniques, or sparse arrays) but also on showing how to solve problems effectively. Each chapter frames a particular programming task--such as sorting numbers, creating anagrams, or counting the words in a block of text--many drawn from Bentley's experiences in his long career as a developer. The book traces the process of arriving at a fast, efficient, and accurate solution, along with code profiling to discover what works best. After refining the correct answer, each chapter enumerates programming principles that you can use on your own.
The author also challenges you to think like an engineer, and each chapter ends with about a dozen problems to get you thinking creatively about design issues. (Sidebars on such historical topics as the first computer solutions to computer chess, spell-checking, and even architectural design help create a perspective on successful problem solving and make for a truly educational and enjoyable tour of how to become a better programmer.) Bentley also asks the reader to think analytically about the world with "back of the envelope" estimation techniques drawn from engineering. Appendices list the algorithms and code rules covered in the book, plus some sample solutions.
Fans of the first edition of this title will be pleased to see this favorite computer text brought up to date for today's faster hardware. Whether you want to improve your command of algorithms or test your problem-solving skills, the new version of Programming Pearl is a challenging, instructive, and thoroughly entertaining resource. --Richard Dragan
Topics covered: Programming and problem-solving tutorial, sorting algorithms, merge sort, bit vectors, binary searches, program correctness and testing, improving performance, engineering and problem-solving techniques, performance estimates, designing for safety, divide-and-conquer and scanning algorithms, tuning code, tips for more efficient memory usage, insertion sort, quicksort algorithms, sparse arrays, searching algorithms, binary search trees, heaps, priority queues, searching text, and generating random text.
Book Description
The first edition of Programming Pearls was one of the most influential books I read early in my career, and many of the insights I first encountered in that book stayed with me long after I read it. Jon has done a wonderful job of updating the material. I am very impressed at how fresh the new examples seem." -Steve McConnell
When programmers list their favorite books, Jon Bentley's collection of programming pearls is commonly included among the classics. Just as natural pearls grow from grains of sand that irritate oysters, programming pearls have grown from real problems that have irritated real programmers. With origins beyond solid engineering, in the realm of insight and creativity, Bentley's pearls offer unique and clever solutions to those nagging problems. Illustrated by programs designed as much for fun as for instruction, the book is filled with lucid and witty descriptions of practical programming techniques and fundamental design principles. It is not at all surprising that Programming Pearls has been so highly valued by programmers at every level of experience.
In this revision, the first in 14 years, Bentley has substantially updated his essays to reflect current programming methods and environments. In addition, there are three new essays on * testing, debugging, and timing * set representations * string problems All the original programs have been rewritten, and an equal amount of new code has been generated. Implementations of all the programs, in C or C++, are now available on the Web.
What remains the same in this new edition is Bentley's focus on the hard core of programming problems and his delivery of workable solutions to those problems. Whether you are new to Bentley's classic or are revisiting his work for some fresh insight, the book is sure to make your own list of favorites.
Customer Reviews:
A must for everyone serious about software engineering.......2006-11-04
great book. guaranteed to transform you into a better and more professional software engineer
a must.......2006-09-09
Read this book, the sooner the better! This IS the Computer Science as it's supposed to be in the same row with Knuth and Sedgewick.
Programming insight.......2006-03-18
Derived from a popular series of columns from the ACM flagship magazine (Communications of the ACM), this book takes you as near as possible to a professional programmer's way of thinking.
Each chapter walks through the internal process a programmer follows to solve particular problems (and teaches newcomers how some techniques should be used in practice).
If you read only one book on computer programming apart from your language handbook (something I would never recommend), this should be the one.
PS: Plauger's "Programming on Purpose: Essays on Software Design" would probably be my second choice.
Great book for some programmers.......2006-01-05
I liked this book, but it is somewhat limited in its scope. I'm a software engineer, and this book doesn't offer tips on designing software. However, it is phenomenal for code tuning and improving programming style and logic. The experienced coder will not be disappointed with this book in his/her library. Even the new coder can learn valuable tips from this.
Not For Beginners..........2005-12-29
- Bentley's 'Programming Pearls' offers many programming techniques and design principles.
- But the text assumes that the reader is *extremely* familiar with C-style syntax and many advanced computer science concepts.
While Bentley emphasizes important fundamentals, his language is rather esoteric.
I bought this book because Steve McConnell ('Code Complete' author) recommends it for 'beginner' developers at his company (Construx Software); but I encourage 'beginner' developers (and even senior developers) to look elsewhere.
This book is meant for computer science graduate students. It incorporates more advanced math and more advanced computer science techniques than the average software developer will ever encounter.
Most of 'Programming Pearls' was penned before the widespread use of object-oriented programming; so Bentley heavily emphasizes code tuning. In today's world, most .NET and J2EE developers are likely to find greater efficiencies within their architectural design.
- Developers who need to either learn or revisit important fundamentals should read Steve McConnell's 'Code Complete'.
Product Description
Somewhere over the passing years and changing culture, women have lost their way. This book was written to lead them bck home. Regardless of how you began your marriage or how dark and lonely the path that has brought you to where you are now.
Customer Reviews:
This book made me sick.......2007-10-09
There are only a few good points Debi Pearl shared in this book. But as I read, I realized why they had to publish it themselves. No one else would touch this book.
Many of the reviewers have already written how I feel (the ones who thought this book was dangerous and written for wives to be doormats to their husbands).
But there is one section of the book I MUST write about. It is on page 163 and it gives wives a sample dialog that she suggests:
WIFE: "What can I do to help you, Adam?"
HUSBAND: "Pick up the other end of that log, and help me move it over here."
W: "What should my next project be, Adam?"
H: "Have my dinner ready every evening, and take good care of my little ones."
W: "That is a very strong fence you are building, and the gate looks nice. I am so proud of you, Adam. What would you like now?"
H: "Take your clothes off real slow so I can watch...Yeah, you're a fine help meet."
I was so grossed out when I read that. And she calls herself a Christian? This woman and her husband are sick. This degrades women and our role in marriage. Please do not buy this book. I threw it right out as if it were crawling with maggots.
What an AMAZING book!.......2007-10-07
A friend of mine leant me this book....which turned into a "can I PLEASE keep this book!"
Thank you to the Pearls for this true "marriage changer".
It does not matter whose fault the marriage problems are.... SOMEONE has to take the step to make the change. The Lord will bless anyone who seeks to be like Him....
Thanks to the Pearls SO much....
Claire
EVERY MARRIED WOMAN NEEDS TO READ THIS BOOK!!!.......2007-10-02
When the woman in leadership at my church first discovered this book, I was turned off by it becasue they were acting like it was the Bible. I wasn't married at the time anyways so it didn't matter. I do not recommend this book for a woman till she is with in a week of getting married. One God laid it on my heart to read it my whole attitude changed towards my man. I had found what my heart had been longing for, God's way. I am not saying use it like a Bible, yes there is tons of scripture in it and you feel full after reading it. I am saying use this book to get your mind going, put your personality into it. I know when I read it I use it to get my mind flowing and put my own personal touches to what she suggests. All you need to focus on is God's design for a marriage. I truly believe Debi did not mean for it to get church woman to worship this book...even though some seem to. She meant it to tell young woman (even old woman if they will listen) how to be a wife and follow God's design. I am refreshed and the feeling it gives me to be my husband's help meet is out of this world!!! My husband, trust me I reap MANY benefits from it!!! As for me and my house we will serve the Lord!!!
Do not buy this book!.......2007-09-29
We received this book as a wedding present some time ago. I read it during the first few months of our marriage and was completely appalled by its contents.
Before posting a review, I wanted to read it ALL THE WAY THROUGH to be sure that Debi Pearl's propensity to MISINTERPRET Scripture was not just an occasional error, and I found that, from cover to cover, her MISUSE and ABUSE of Scripture was ubiquitous throughout. According to her words, there is a hierarchy: God => man => woman => children. Listening to a marriage lecture by her husband (Michael Pearl) confirmed this unbiblical belief. They really do believe that God talks to the man, the man talks to the woman. The woman ought to submit to her husband's will as if his will and thoughts were God's will and thoughts. She is to submit to him as if he were her Savior. This is what they teach and THIS IS a LIE. Scripture does not say this! If it did, then Christianity would no longer be a monotheistic but polytheistic -- and Christ's mission on earth failed. He came so that there would no longer need to be any mediators between God and people (no more high priests), but according to Pearl theology, the man needs to be a 'high priest' on behalf of the woman. This is highlighted in Debi Pearl's encouragement to wives (in this book) to give up their 'quiet time' with the Lord in order to ensure time to serve their husbands. In essence, a woman needs to give up her relationship with God because her priority is husband, children and THEN God. This is heretical!!! God desires a deep and personal relationship with both men AND women. Every woman's first priority is God -- NOT her husband's.
And just to substantiate some of my statements, here are some quotes from the book:
You are created to be "a helper suited to the needs of a man. This is how God created you and it is your purpose for existing....You are created to make him complete, not to seek personal fulfillment parallel to him." p. 21.
No, this is not Biblical. The Bible does not teach this. God made both Adam & Eve in His own image (so they are therefore EQUAL), and He called both Adam & Eve to rule over all the creatures (see Gen 1:26 - says "so that THEY may rule over..." it doesn't say "him" because where it says "man", God meant 'human beings' - both men and women.) A woman was created to follow God's will, not her husband's. Her purpose in existing is to fulfill God's will, not her husband's. And YES she is to seek personal fulfillment parallel to her husband -- because both men and women ARE EQUAL!
Here's an example of one of the many ridiculous stories from her book:
"As a general rule, my husband just doesn't take the trash out....One day recently my husband saw me struggling out the door with a huge sack of trash in one hand and several empty boxes in the other. Since he was headed in that direction, he volunteered to carry the heavy sack. He walked about ten feet ahead of me, holding the sack out from his body with one hand. I knew he was just showing me how strong he was. I was amused, as usual, by his display of manhood. After nearly 35 years of having me appreciate his muscles, you would htink he would tire of showing off, but he knows I have never tired of watching him perform. When he got near the lare trash trailer, he was really getting into his macho thing. With great fanfare, he flung the large trash bag as if it were a cement block instead of a thin plastic bag too loaded down for his own strength. Of course, the string broke, allowing the bag to hit the side of the trailer, bursting open and dumping trash all over the ground. I could tell he was a little embarrassed as I rushed over to clean up his mess, but he continued on his merry way."
She goes on to say that she used to get irritated and annoyed and made a big deal about things like this but has decided that it isn't worth it to make such a big deal about trash. She understands the male psyche - the male EGO and how hard it is for them to get over their PRIDE, so instead of making a fuss, she cleaned up his mess. Instead of holding him accountable for his pride and mistakes, she excuses and cleans up his mess for him. This is not biblical love. This is unbiblical indulgence.
Later, she goes on to say that if your husband comes home late for dinner without telling you, don't get mad, just wait for him to come home and heat up his food with a smile -- as if you hadn't been waiting for hours and hours. Again, no accountability.
Essentially, the message of this book is this: Let the husband do what he wants. You must be obedient to his every wish - no complaining or you will lose him and your life will be a horror of horrors (you will have to live in a "dumpy duplex" and worse yet, your children will be forced to go to public school), because you are not fulfilling God's purpose for your life of being one man's slave (or, as Debi Pearl puts it, "failed the very purpose to which you were created, to be a suitable helper to a man" p. 58). Every problem in a marriage goes back to the woman; it is always the wife's fault somehow.
I believe the Pearls would preach that a wife should submit to her husband even if he beat her. They would say, If he beats you, you're doing something wrong. Go back and pray and submit until you do things right.
My sisters, this is NOT God's will for our lives.
No one who reads the Bible and knows Jesus should believe a word of this book.
Amazon, please take this book off your catalog!
I've enjoyed this book..however...........2007-09-27
...I do not consider it my Bible....allow me to explain!
It appears, in my opinion, that several reviewers are throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
NO! I certainly do not agree with the total 'Pearl Package' as it's being presented in this book, however, there are many, many good points and I am keeping those & ignoring the rest.
There is no such thing as a 'one size fits all' book that interprets a 'heavenly marriage' --- that being such, I will continue reading other books as well as my Bible & stay in prayer that my marriage continues to be blissful as it has been for years --- well before this book!
We are all adults --- use your best judgment & if you are able, take to heart those parts that pertain to you & toss those that do not! FWIW!
Book Description
Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, the best-selling author of At Knit’s End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much and celebrated blogger and humorist of the knitting world, is back! Funnier than ever, Pearl-McPhee continues her running dialogue with her knitting compatriots — cheering them on to ever-greater heights in the climb to make knitting universally recognized as THE peak life experience.
Both a celebration of knitting and a sourcebook for practical information, this book is a collection of useful advice and emotional support for the knitter. Pearl-McPhee examines essential truisms of knitting, side by side with tongue in-cheek warnings, realities, and fantasies about the act of knitting and the people who do it.
In chapters on everything from yarn needles, gauge, and knitting bag essentials to hats, socks, shawls, and sweaters, Pearl-McPhee unravels the mysteries of what it is that makes knitting click, from the inside out. She dares to question longstanding rules and uncover the true essence of what makes a hat a hat, a sock a sock, and so on. Insights into why certain techniques work encourage knitters to take control and knit in the way that works best for them. As she says, “There are no knitting police.”
The result is an illuminating, liberating (and hilarious!) look at knitting that will comfort the experienced knitter, surprise the mainstream one, and entice the beginner.
Customer Reviews:
Stephanie Pearl McPhee's Knitting Rules.......2007-09-21
I love this book and I have learned several things. I enjoy reading Stephanie Pearl McPhee's book and love her "low" key views.
My Husband Loved It!.......2007-09-12
While I was meandering through the local yarn shop checking out the yarn, my husband found himself in the book section. He started reading this book and eventually bought it for me. It's great (and so is he)! I thought I was the only one with a stash. Her section on gauge is priceless --- and true!
Knitting.......2007-07-29
I love this book. Each time I feel as if I'm about to go 'round the bend in knitting or buying knitting supplies, or hating to swatch, or hating a particular project, I read sections of the book that apply, and I'm back to feeling completely normal. It reminds the knitter that we knit because we enjoy it, so we need to stop treating it like a bad job when we get frustrated. Or just stop knitting for awhile!
Must have for any knitter.......2007-07-25
BUY THIS BOOK! It's awesome! I learned so much from reading it and it was entertaining bathtub reading to boot.
Delightful!.......2007-07-23
While not exactly a 'how-to', this funny and light-hearted advice is well-taken. I've just found Stephanie's blog and the more I read of her, the more I want to knit!
Amazon.com
With precisely 35 canvases to his credit, the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer represents one of the great enigmas of 17th-century art. The meager facts of his biography have been gleaned from a handful of legal documents. Yet Vermeer's extraordinary paintings of domestic life, with their subtle play of light and texture, have come to define the Dutch golden age. His portrait of the anonymous Girl with a Pearl Earring has exerted a particular fascination for centuries--and it is this magnetic painting that lies at the heart of Tracy Chevalier's second novel of the same title.
Girl with a Pearl Earring centers on Vermeer's prosperous Delft household during the 1660s. When Griet, the novel's quietly perceptive heroine, is hired as a servant, turmoil follows. First, the 16-year-old narrator becomes increasingly intimate with her master. Then Vermeer employs her as his assistant--and ultimately has Griet sit for him as a model. Chevalier vividly evokes the complex domestic tensions of the household, ruled over by the painter's jealous, eternally pregnant wife and his taciturn mother-in-law. At times the relationship between servant and master seems a little anachronistic. Still, Girl with a Pearl Earring does contain a final delicious twist.
Throughout, Chevalier cultivates a limpid, painstakingly observed style, whose exactitude is an effective homage to the painter himself. Even Griet's most humdrum duties take on a high if unobtrusive gloss:
I came to love grinding the things he brought from the apothecary--bones, white lead, madder, massicot--to see how bright and pure I could get the colors. I learned that the finer the materials were ground, the deeper the color. From rough, dull grains madder became a fine bright red powder and, mixed with linseed oil, a sparkling paint. Making it and the other colors was magical.
In assembling such quotidian particulars, the author acknowledges her debt to Simon Schama's classic study The Embarrassment of Riches. Her novel also joins a crop of recent, painterly fictions, including Deborah Moggach's Tulip Fever and Susan Vreeland's Girl in Hyacinth Blue. Can novelists extract much more from the Dutch golden age? The question is an open one--but in the meantime, Girl with a Pearl Earring remains a fascinating piece of speculative historical fiction, and an appealingly new take on an old master. --Jerry Brotton
Book Description
History and fiction merge seamlessly in this luminous novel about artistic vision and sensual awakening. Girl with a Pearl Earring tells the story of sixteen-year-old Griet, whose life is transformed by her brief encounter with genius ... even as she herself is immortalized in canvas and oil.
Download Description
Chevalier transports readers to a bygone time and place in this richly imagined portrait of the young woman who inspired one of Vermeer's most celebrated paintings. "Girl with a Pearl Earring" is the story of 16-year-old Griet, whose life is transformed by her brief encounter with genius, even as she herself is immortalized in canvas and oil.
Customer Reviews:
A work of art.......2007-09-09
After watching the movie a couple of months ago, I decided to read the novel on which it was based. I'm a big fan of visual arts and I couldn't wait to read it. Tracy Chevalier's subjective descriptive style really kept my attention. Elegant, clear, detailed... I could see, hear, feel and smell as Griet did.
The book is about Griet, a girl from a poor family in Delft, Netherlands, and the changes that take place in her. After living all of her life with her family, she's sent to work as a maid in the house of a famous painter to help support her family. At the same time she begins to realize (as others already had) that she's turning into a woman and struggles to deal with it.
At her new home, she has to learn how to deal with each of its inhabitants and still be herself. She finds relief when assisting her master with ink and the paintings, even though it endangers her position in the house. I did like the end of the book, although its resolution felt rushed.
Chevalier's details on light and shadow and color and shape are delightful.
4.5 stars.
Skillful fiction.......2007-08-28
If you have ever seen "the Dutch Mona Lisa", or the "girl with the pearl earring", by Vermeer you will have been struck by it's tenderness. Maybe it is misplaced to say so about a naturalist like Vermeer, but you get the feeling he must have liked this girl. However, nobody knows who she was or why he painted her in such an un-Vermeer-like pose.
Perfect fiction material then, and Chevalier has not wasted the opportunity. The book tells the story of a 16 year old girl in the 17th century Dutch town of Delft who becomes a maid in the Vermeer family. We follow her struggle to keep her dignity in a house full of strife, culminating in the event of her being painted (she, a maid!). I usually like first person narratives, but this is one of the best I know. The historical setting is (to me, a non-historian, but Dutch and knowing Delft) completely convincing. The story is plausible, satisfying and well composed, and the prose has a soft touch that somehow accords very well with painting itself.
The one flaw, for which I deduct a star, is that the protagonist is implausibly mature and confident for her age and social status. Another reviewer on this page remarked that the book reads better when you the girl looking back after the facts on her younger self. This is true, but a writer should not have to rely on goodwill like that.
The book reminded me of "Memoirs of a Geisha", in storyline (although it is less brutal), the ease with which the writer makes fiction feel like reality, and the way in which it makes you wish things will turn out well for a small girl in a big world.
Chevalier is wonderful.......2007-08-23
Tracy Chavalier is a master at having art history come alive and incorporate within it a beautiful story.
Words of Art.......2007-08-10
I think what makes this book so appealing to me is the fact that I was able to see a rare Vermeer collection a few years before I read this book and studied art in college, to really make me appreciate the story. One does not have to have any background in art (it simply enhanced the read), but if you're looking for beautiful words, an unconventional love story, and historical fiction --- I think this just might be the book for you. It's not a nail biter, but you certainly absorb each word and paint a picture of the story in your mind as you read. THe movie is quite good as well, but I'm always a fan of a book before the movie. Enjoy!
Stunning.......2007-07-19
This book is absolutely gorgeous. Chevalier paints with words as Vermeer painted with paint. Her prose and descriptions actually take on the same quality as Vermeer's paintings, luminous, quiet, and very strikingly beautiful. The character Griet is complex and interesting. The descriptions in this book are breath taking. Read this!!! Oh, and I am a teenager. Teenagers will love it too.
Book Description
The Pearls Before Swine crew are at it again in their new book, Lions and Tigers and Crocs, Oh My! But even the wonderful Wizard of Oz couldn't help this bunch of merry misfits. Collecting strips from his last two books, Nighthogs and The Ratvolution Will Not Be Televised, cartoonist Stephan Pastis takes you on a magically malicious journey over the rainbow and into the rat trap of Lions and Tigers and Crocs, Oh My! As in the previous Pearls treasury collection, Sgt. Piggy's Lonely Hearts Club Comic, the comic strips are annotated, as only the smart-alecky, misanthropic-but-lovable Pastis can do. Following his yellow brick road of notes, readers gain great insights into the making of such classic Pearls bits as Rat's stint as a New York Times reporter, Angry Bob, Pig's plastic surgery, the Mallet o' Understanding, Mrs. Bootyworth, and the fraternal order of the Zeeba Zeeba Eetas.
A special bonus feature included in Lions and Tigers and Crocs is "The Good, the Banned, and the Ugly," a section of never-before-published and unedited Pearls strips.
So go, as fast as lightning, to the Emerald City¿or the cash register¿and buy this book, before a twister drops a Box o' Stupid People on you!
Customer Reviews:
Brillant!!.......2007-07-03
Pearls Before Swine is the best comic strip since Bloom County in its prime 15 years ago!
Pastis is a mad genious.......2007-05-09
I am fifty Years Old, and have been reading the daily comics in newspapers since the age of seven. Pearls Before Swine is without a doubt one of the most entertaining strips of all time. Stephen Pastis' wit is razor sharp, I look forward to reading Perls every day, and my of my best friends at work calls me every day and we laugh like all get out. I am glad he left the legal profession, and hope he never stops doing Pearls.
humor for the open mind.......2007-04-12
This book is very good. However it is one that some people need to take with a grain of salt. Stephen Pastis is a very gifted comic strip writer for the fact that he knows the English vocabulary very well and knows how to play with it. Also Pastis likes to venture on some of the territory that other comic strip writers would find taboo which in turn makes him highly controversial which is strange for the fact that he doesn't step to far over lines like most of the comedians now days that don't believe a joke is worthy unless he/she sees someone gag. When it comes the art, I at first was naive enough to take his simple drawings as bad or unpolished drawings when fact most of his strips would be ruined if the drawings were not simple and to the point.
Overall I think this is a book well worth owning and the author might not have the artistic flare as the author from "get fuzzy" or have the same view of comics as Bill Watterson where bigger is better or isn't as warm and fuzzy as "Mutts" and "Family Circus" but he is definitely a gifted writer and I believe and hope will go on for many more years.
I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Pig.......2007-04-04
It's fun to know what's going on in Pastis' mind when he writes. I have all of his books and also cut out his strips from the Norman Transcript.
Laughs For All Ages.......2007-01-21
My fifteen year old son laughed and laughed while reading this book. We all need more laughter and Stephan Pastis' humor reaches a broad audiance.
Books:
- A Raisin in the Sun
- A Streetcar Named Desire
- A Summer of Faulkner: As I Lay Dying/The Sound and the Fury/Light in August (Oprah's Book Club)
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (Signet Classics)
- Anthem
- As I Lay Dying
- Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant
- Cannery Row
- Charles Dickens Four Complete Novels (Great Expectations, Hard Times, A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities)
- Chosen Soldier: The Making of a Special Forces Warrior
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Cape Wind: Money, Celebrity, Class, Politics, and the Battle for Our Energy Future on Nantucket Soun
- Zen Shorts
- The Left-Handed Designer
- The Resurgence of Anti-Semitism: Jews, Israel, and Liberal Opinion
- The Secret
- West Side Story
- Where Willows Grow
- Cool Careers Without College for People Who Love Movement
- The Roots of Success: Why Children Follow in their Parents' Career Footsteps
- The Prosperous Retirement: Guide to the New Reality
23 Minutes in Hell
Daily Devotions Inspired by 90 Minutes in Heaven: 90 Readings for Hope and Healing
Heaven Is Real: Lessons on Earthly Joy--From The Man Who Spent 90 Minutes In Heaven
The Birth Called Death: The Remarkable Story of One Woman's Journey to the Other Side of Life
Heaven
