Book Description
She charmed America with her smart, likable, down-to-earth personality as she campaigned for her husband, then vice-presidential candidate John Edwards. She inspired millions as she valiantly fought advanced breast cancer after being diagnosed only days before the 2004 election. She touched hundreds of similarly grieving families when her own son, Wade, died tragically at age sixteen in 1996. Now she shares her experiences in Saving Graces, an incandescent memoir of Edwards’ trials, tragedies, and triumphs, and of how various communities celebrated her joys and lent her steady strength and quiet hope in darker times.
Edwards writes about growing up in a military family, where she learned how to make friends easily in dozens of new schools and neighborhoods around the world and came to appreciate the unstinting help and comfort naval families shared. Edwards’ reminiscences of her years as a mother focus on the support she and other parents offered one another, from everyday favors to the ultimate test of her own community’s strength—their compassionate response to the death of the Edwards’ teenage son, Wade, in 1996. Her descriptions of her husband’s campaigns for Senate, president, and vice president offer a fascinating perspective on the groups, great and small, that sustain our democracy. Her fight with breast cancer, which stirred an outpouring of support from women across the country, has once again affirmed Edwards’ belief in the power of community to make our lives better and richer.
Customer Reviews:
saving graces.......2007-09-24
Felt this book artfully expressed loss. It included the gammet of feelings and expressions one might endure while experiencing loss of any type. Hopefully she also found solace in teaching us as well as finding herself. Would recommend to anyone because at some point, we all experience loss. Hopefully not as Elizabeth Edwards did.
My honor to read this life journey of E. Edwards.......2007-09-19
The book is a gift of her use of the English language. The use of words, the integrity of the writer shines through. She uses her gift to share her pain, pain many of us have felt but could not have put into words with the artistry that is just part of her. It is rare for a person to be able to put their soul in paper, but she has. Thank you, Elizabeth. Saving Graces: Finding Solace and Strength from Friends and Strangers
Saving Graces.......2007-09-17
Great book, well written. It makes you realize you can overcome any obstacle in life with family and support from friends.
Excellent........2007-09-14
Eliabeth Edwards writes with painful honesty and hope. She is an extrordinary woman and this glimpse into her soul is a wonderful read.
Wonderful book!.......2007-09-13
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I got a whole new insight into the Edwards family. Elizabeth didn't shy away from the pain caused by the untimely death of their wonderful son, Wade, or her initial experience of her breast cancer treatment. There is also an additional chapter in this paperback book regarding the return of her cancer. Her humor cracked me up several times, and I was so inspired by the whole family. They are certainly a strong family, both Elizabeth and John come from strong stock, and it shows. I for one, given the chance, will vote for John Edwards for President. I think he's the one we need to lead this country ahead and away from our current administration's boggling.
Amazon.com
In Dinner With a Perfect Stranger, David Gregory relates the story of two men sharing a meal. The point of interest is knowing that one man believes he is Jesus. What will the other man think by the time the evening is through? The conversation begins, as one could imagine, scratching the dry hard surface of skepticism and doubt, but gently and persistently goes deeper and deeper, spiraling in from that starting point until they are eventually talking about the true stuff of life; the career drifting off-track, the marriage experiencing its own kind of strain, the life being lived where the philosophical questions of youth have given way to simply coping with modern day-to-day living.
Gregory's book is a refreshing reminder of what evangelical Christianity is at its very best -- a faith enlivened by the personal relationship between the Creator and the created. In the end, evangelical Christians are focused on who Jesus Christ is, and more specifically, who He is to them. Doctrinal stances, theological conundrums, questions about literal or non-literal Biblical interpretation, these are all beside the point for the certain type of Christian whose central focus is the life and person of Jesus.
In the Narnia series, C.S. Lewis touched on some of the core questions of religion, from the Christian viewpoint (is there a hell? What is heaven like, really? How can other religions be wrong, and just one be right?) Taking his cue from Lewis, Gregory does the same, realizing that questions like these come alive when they're in the context of a story, and we can be the third party, watching with interest while they are put on the table and considered. In the end, Gregory's book succeeds because of his willingness to approach interesting, hard questions like these. He is always, undoubtedly, aiming for the heart, but he realizes that to win the heart one must never forget that the mind has to come along for the ride. --Ed Dobeas
Book Description
You are Invited to a Dinner with Jesus of Nazareth
The mysterious envelope arrives on Nick Cominsky’s desk amid a stack of credit card applications and business-related junk mail. Although his seventy-hour workweek has already eaten into his limited family time, Nick can’t pass up the opportunity to see what kind of plot his colleagues have hatched.
The normally confident, cynical Nick soon finds himself thrown off-balance, drawn into an intriguing conversation with a baffling man who appears to be more than comfortable discussing everything from world religions to the existence of heaven and hell. And this man who calls himself Jesus also seems to know a disturbing amount about Nick’s personal life.
…………..
"You’re bored, Nick. You were made for more than this. You’re worried about God stealing your fun, but you’ve got it backwards.… There’s no adventure like being joined to the Creator of the universe." He leaned back off the table. "And your first mission would be to let him guide you out of the mess you’re in at work."
………….
As the evening progresses, their conversation touches on life, God, meaning, pain, faith, and doubt–and it seems that having Dinner with a Perfect Stranger may change Nick’s life forever.
Customer Reviews:
A Perfect Book.......2007-09-17
I received this book as a gift and enjoyed it so much that I bought it to give to my daughter-in-law. What would it be like to have dinner with Jesus? This book answers that question in a way that includes humor and an inside look at witnessing as Jesus might do it if he invited an unbeliever struggling with life's problems to dinner. A thought-provoking book beautifully written.
A wonderful book.........2007-09-07
An excellent book. Perfect for the whole family to listen to. It is funny at times and then brings the right amount of drama at the right time. It makes you think things through and to a higher level.
kateinkalifornia.......2007-08-29
A quick read, I actually read it twice. I will keep it and lend it out, but I want it back. It's one for my permanent collection.
Reads like a religious brochure.......2007-08-24
My mom gave me this book to read as, one would guess, a last minute ditch effort to get me back into religion. Flipping through the book and seeing that it was only around 100 pages, and was printed in nice big "kid's book" letters, I figured, hey, what's a couple hours? I'm certainly willing to hear other viewpoints, and weigh them accordingly.
My first complaint is that if this is how religious people think that non-religious people think, feel, and act, then they are sorely mistaken. It's as if everyone that isn't Christian is empty, sad, and just sort of generally depressed. I guess using logic and consistency in your life makes you depressed? I guess not accepting whim-based rules about how to live life because "this book said so" and instead working rigorously to come up with a consistent set of morals and values makes you feel empty?
Anyways, the author attempts to make logical proofs, and in doing so, shows that he has no clue what a logical proof is. His undeniable, irrefutable proof that god exists is that an earlier part of the bible predicts a later part of the bible. Seriously. Nevermind that the later part of the bible was written a couple centuries after the fact, and by monks who were fully aware of the prophecies in Daniel, etc.
He also makes the claim that either Buddhism, or Hinduism, (i forget which, and i don't have the book in front of me) can't be true because it says that the universe is eternal. "How does that stack up against what your scientists have recently discovered?" alluding to the idea that we now *think* that the universe had a starting point. Regardless of the fact that we don't KNOW that it had a starting point, using science to dethrone one religion after another but not applying it to your own is a methodology only useful to those completely wrapped up in their own beliefs. One wishes the guy having dinner with Jesus would have responded with "well... that's funny... what does our science say about the idea of consciousness without matter? Or simultaneously being all-knowing and all-powerful? Or energy without any means to measure it? I guess that means your dad doesn't exist... which in turn means you don't exist, because you're one with your dad or whatever... so I guess I'm talking to myself... which would explain why the waiter has been looking at me strangely all night."
There was also a fantastic bit at the end about how if Jesus was in this guy's heart, he (Jesus) could love the guy's wife when he (the guy) couldn't anymore. Or something to that effect. I'd talk more about that, but I don't want to misquote it and have someone negate the whole review based on it, so I'll let it go.
I could go on for pages about the rediculous assumptions this book makes about how life should be lived, and the causes of evil in the world, etc. But I won't. Suffice it to say that this book is patently ridiculous, and actually rather offensive to truly free-thinking, open and honest people.
Then again, the author believes in a god that said "Thou Shall Not Kill" and then went on to murder millions and millions of people, as well as an entire planet's worth of animals that are completely amoral. So I guess anything goes, and he's as capable as anyone else to cherry-pick the parts that he does and doesn't support out of the bible.
Profoundly entertaining........2007-08-04
This little book is captivating. It answered many questions that often come up about who God is. It was so interesting I couldn't put it down. I found it profoundly entertaining and historically accurate.
Customer Reviews:
School book.......2007-09-04
Book required for my course, ordered it was delivered the day classes started, I'm a happy man
Quality.......2005-09-06
This book was received quickly and was in perfect shape. I appreciate the promptness.
Excellent introductory text!.......2002-10-29
Parrillo's text is a helpful overview of the sociology of race and ethnicity in the United States taken from a group-to-group approach. Major sociological contributions on these matters are covered through the lens of particular groups that are most affected (e.g. LA riots are covered under black Americans but not under Korean Americans). The most recent edition is especially helpful as comments are made in conjunction with post-September 11th consequences on race and ethnic issues. The role of religion in racial dynamics and the continuing changes in immigration is a helpful addition as well as it is a rising area of study with race and ethnicity.
The book if it suffers in any direction is the judgment call of organizing the text by ethnic group. As suggested earlier, some issues like the LA riots deal with multiple groups and yet this text places such a topic under only one group.
As an undergraduate text, it also has an added bonus of photographs which may make the material seem less abstract and more accessible. Additionally its use of the basic "functionalist" "conflict" and "interactionist" perspectives allows students who have taken an introductory class in sociology to have a language from which to bridge between a general study of sociology and a more specific look at one area within sociology.
Overall this is an excellent textbook and I highly recommend it for classroom use and for use in scholarly research to gain access to the complex field of race and ethnicity.
From the Foreword author:.......1999-02-27
Strangers to These Shores is a comprehensive examination of the sharpest edges and more nuanced qualities of American pluralism. In its 14 chapters, Professor Parrillo provides students/readers--and those for whom it is not assigned--with a well conceived, carefully constructed, and highly readable introduction to a very complex subject. -- Peter I. Rose, Smith College
Average customer rating:
- HOR-RI-BLE!!!
- NEEDED COFFEE
- Walking with Enemies
- Penthouse personals
- Loved it!!
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Sleeping with Strangers
Eric Jerome Dickey
Manufacturer: Dutton Adult
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ASIN: 0525949992
Release Date: 2007-04-10 |
Book Description
From Thieves' Paradise to Drive Me Crazy to Chasing Destiny (which reached #6 on the New York Times list—his eighth bestseller), Eric Jerome Dickey has captivated audiences with his edgy, steamy books.
Dickey's fans will be delighted by this fast-paced, deadly, and sensual read that gives them the chance to catch up with some of their favorite characters while introducing a great new bad-boy narrator: a hit man who goes by the name of Gideon. He's a man who lives off the grid, drifting along while making love on the run as he works as a hit man—enacting the revenge of the broken-hearted . . . for a price.
With a supporting cast of grifters and killers, broken-hearted squares and streetwalkers, and three very different women who each want to become Gideon's leading lady, this is a world that thrives on the darker passions of revenge and desire.
Get ready for another scorching hot read full of twists and surprises from an author who keeps climbing higher on the bestseller lists with each new book.
Customer Reviews:
HOR-RI-BLE!!! .......2007-09-26
I was misled by the reviews of this book. I am mad I bought it. This book is horrible! Too much unneeded information. I had to skip to the end I was sick of hearing about British people and how they live and what they're saying who cares! Stick to the story! Not a good one Eric, very disappointed.
NEEDED COFFEE.......2007-09-24
I love EJD, but this was not his best. This book bored the living daylights out of me. It took forever for it to get going? The plane ride was too long. I'm glad that a friend let me borrow this book(she didn't like it either!!!! Won't read or buy the 2nd one.
Walking with Enemies.......2007-09-21
This book is hot, hot, hot. Very unpredictable and fascinating, I give it 2 thumbs up!!!!!!! Mr. Dickey you are the best.
Penthouse personals.......2007-09-17
Apparently I was supposed to guess that SLEEPING WITH ENEMIES was the first of two novels along with WAKING WITH ENEMIES and that if I wanted to know the ending of the first I had to read the second. I don't see any reason why a resolution would take more than a hundred pages. The book is rather short as is.
Unfortunately, that's not the only thing wrong with the book. Most authors skirt the issue when dealing with sex scenes, or come at them from a different angle. Not so with Eric Jerome Dickey. His rival those in the Penthouse personals. By the time we get to the third one, they've lost all the luster they might have once had.
Otherwise, this is not a bad novel. Dickey tries to show us why his contract killer is the way he is. His mother was a prostitute for one thing, and she was the one who started him on the road to perdition. She also sexually abused him, and he wants to see her dead. There are also some likable characters, especially Lola, the motormouth woman he meets on the plane to London and Mrs. Jones, who just won't stop crying. Of course, he beds both of them.
The other plot line is that Gideon (He got the name from a hotel Bible) is himself being hunted by another hit man as part of a clean-up operation from Gideon's involvement in the murder of The Big Bad Wolf, a rapper at war with another hiphop artist named Sledgehammer. There is an especially gruesome flashback, where we see Gideon dispose of The Big Bad Wolf and his posse with a sledgehammer.
Dickey is also adept at describing London. For one thing, I had no idea there were still red light districts in the city. It sounds a lot like Amsterdam, another city Dickey takes us to in flashback.
Perhaps it's my own fault for not reading the Amazon synopses, but I don't plan on ordering the second book. By the time I'd get around to reading it, I would've forgotten about the first one.
Loved it!!.......2007-09-06
This book was excellent. Intrigue, mystery, sex, lost love, etc. It has a fast pace and I couldn't stop listening (had it in the audio version). I can hardly wait for the sequel. It's already ordered.
Amazon.com
The Stranger is not merely one of the most widely read novels of the 20th century, but one of the books likely to outlive it. Written in 1946, Camus's compelling and troubling tale of a disaffected, apparently amoral young man has earned a durable popularity (and remains a staple of U.S. high school literature courses) in part because it reveals so vividly the anxieties of its time. Alienation, the fear of anonymity, spiritual doubt--all could have been given a purely modern inflection in the hands of a lesser talent than Camus, who won the Nobel Prize in 1957 and was noted for his existentialist aesthetic. The remarkable trick of The Stranger, however, is that it's not mired in period philosophy.
The plot is simple. A young Algerian, Meursault, afflicted with a sort of aimless inertia, becomes embroiled in the petty intrigues of a local pimp and, somewhat inexplicably, ends up killing a man. Once he's imprisoned and eventually brought to trial, his crime, it becomes apparent, is not so much the arguably defensible murder he has committed as it is his deficient character. The trial's proceedings are absurd, a parsing of incidental trivialities--that Meursault, for instance, seemed unmoved by his own mother's death and then attended a comic movie the evening after her funeral are two ostensibly damning facts--so that the eventual sentence the jury issues is both ridiculous and inevitable.
Meursault remains a cipher nearly to the story's end--dispassionate, clinical, disengaged from his own emotions. "She wanted to know if I loved her," he says of his girlfriend. "I answered the same way I had the last time, that it didn't mean anything but that I probably didn't." There's a latent ominousness in such observations, a sense that devotion is nothing more than self-delusion. It's undoubtedly true that Meursault exhibits an extreme of resignation; however, his confrontation with "the gentle indifference of the world" remains as compelling as it was when Camus first recounted it. --Ben Guterson
Book Description
Through the story of an ordinary man unwittingly drawn into a senseless murder on an Algerian beach, Camus explored what he termed "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd." First published in 1946; now in a new translation by Matthew Ward.
Customer Reviews:
The Emperor Has No Clothes.......2007-10-07
In summary . . . this automaton-like self-absorbed jerk shoots a guy to death, and the jury correctly finds that it is not self-defense (you read me correctly fellow reviewers. It is NOT self defense to shoot someone laying on the ground that possibly possesses a knife with evil intent. You should simply step back. Society accepts use of deadly force as justified in order to "stop", not recreationally "kill". That is referred to as murder, not self-defense). So, the jury found Msr. Meursault guilty of taking another man's life, unjustifiably, and with intent. I agree. (Do you?)
So anyway, this thick jerk is sent to prison awaiting execution. He doesn't seem to mind very much. His long term future certainly looks bleak since he has decided that there is no God, and he is scoring near zero on the repentence meter. Yes, he is an existentialist and a nihilist.
So much for the renowned Albert Camus. Technically, this book is well written. However, I found it rather boring, only marginally believable, and generally depressing. For me, it was no more "thought-provoking" than observing someone in a cycle of picking and regrowing a scab (inexplicable, but not interesting). There is NO REASON for the acclaim that this novel has garnered (except perhaps that there are academics out there that wish us to believe that this philosophical tripe is truth).
This is an unlikable story about a small unlikable man. Not recommended, but I understand that your teacher may be forcing you to read it. Fear not, it is short. It's a little above average as literature, but written about a fool by a fool.
I Got an A+ On My Paper - But I Hated It.......2007-10-06
I read this book in High School and I hated it. Even to my young 17 year old brain, the concepts of philosophy seemed ludicrous. I guess I must have understood them on some basic level, because like I said, I got an A. But it was a shock to me as well! I understand why a book like this is in an Honors English class. It may be more interesting in the original French.
Made me squirm..........2007-10-01
Nihilism...existentialism...theory of the absurd...I don't which category this book technically falls into, all I can say is that it made me squirm. The protagonist of the novel was a very calm person, quite detached in fact, but ironically it is his calmness which unsettled me.
Is this what life really is all about? Does it have no meaning, no purpose? Are there no morals? No God? I don't know...I'll the philosophers and thinkers argue that. I can't alter my beliefs now, but the book provided me a window into all the things which I don't believe in.
I would certainly recommend it to anyone and everyone.
SO overrated.......2007-09-26
This is a top contender for the worst book ever written. I thought about giving it a tied position with Pamela Anderson's _Star_, but upon reflection I have decided that I would rather read _Star_ again than read _The Stranger_ again, although I would rather be eaten alive by rabid wolverines than do either. This book is so bad that it is painful for me to read it. If I had a time machine, I would pay to have Camus beaten to death on a deserted beach, ultimately preventing this disaster from ever coming into existence.
He Dies For The Truth ?.......2007-08-18
Camus claimed in an interview that the main character who is "the stranger" died for the truth. The reader can make their own judgement. I thought it was more complicated than that.
Albert Camus (1913 - 1960) was a French writer and philosopher. He is often associated with existentialism, but Camus rejected any ideological classification. Camus was a young recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature when he became the first African-born writer to receive the award in 1957. He died in a car crash only three years after receiving the award. He was a social activist and Communist, and fought with the French resistance in WWII. Later he rejected Communism.
I like his work because he combines realism with the rational versus the irrational. He creates an interesting combination of intense and compelling plot along with political and moral ideas. His trademark contribution was his idea of the absurd, "the result of our desire for clarity and meaning within a world and condition that offers neither, which he explained in The Myth of Sisyphus and incorporated into many of his other works, such as The Stranger and The Plague."
The Stranger is short, just over 100 pages. It is about a North African man probably in his late twenties or thirties, called Meursault, and his girl friend Marie, and a neighbor Raymond.
Without giving away the plot, the story follows the reactions of Meursault to the death and the funeral of his mother. He puts on no airs or false fronts, and acts in a way he thinks is honest. Others interpret his emotions as being deeply flawed.
The reader can judge if Meursault is honest or flawed.
I liked the short novel. It has a certain bite to it and it grabs the reader and holds the reader through the whole novel, right to the last page. The story is both unusual and plausible. Camus makes his philosophical point in the 120 pages.
It is an outstanding piece of writing, and it is far less complex and easier to understand than some of his other works.
Customer Reviews:
Welcome to the Caribbean.......2007-09-08
Did you like the Pirates of the Caribbean movies? How about the Monkey Island computer games? Then you will LOVE this book.
John Chandagnac has come all the way from Europe to finish some family business. Little did he know he would fall in love, get kidnapped by pirates, fight off the Royal Navy, zombies, voodoo magic and end up trying to find the Fountain of Youth.
The best part of the book is that most of the characters have their own goals in mind and, while sometimes they are helping John, most of the time they are looking out for themselves. The mixture of history and fiction makes it great book for, well, anybody! Myth, magic, history and legends all in one story.
On Stranger Tides.......2007-02-28
Powers is an exceptioanllu imaginatiove writer. If you've heard of voodoo, read this for a well thought-out piece on how it might work in an alternative place.
A really fantastic view.......2007-01-18
Let's begin with the Fact that Powers is an exceptional writer. More than his books "Anubi's Gates", "Dinner" or "The Force in its Look", has been capable to speed the narrative style.
I never imagined that was possible to transfer the pirate ambient into a genuine fantasy novel. I mean, there's no a "dragon's opera", but a terrific approach to the pirates mythology. Of course, all in between a novel with interesting characters and a really good story.
Mildly entertaining, definitely well-written.......2007-01-03
I have read other books by Tim Powers, so I understand the way in which he blends several genres. I did not think that this book was as successful as some of the others that I have read, although it was definitely well-written and mildly entertaining. It might be frustrating to invest as much time as this book demands (because it is rather long) for some readers, only to end up feeling that the book really does not merit the effort. For me, it was a pleasant summer read.
Zombies and Sorcerers and Pirates, O My!.......2006-10-28
Tim Powers works a wondrous alchemy through his stories. He takes the familiar, known world, applies to it the philosopher's stone of his unique vision, and returns it to us utterly transformed - fascinating and fresh. In `On Stranger Tides', he has taken the familiar story of Blackbeard and his pirates and reshaped it into a compelling tale of eldritch magick. Blackbeard as a fierce warrior may be a tired tale often told, but Blackbeard as a fierce warrior and powerful voodoo sorcerer reshapes the familiar story into something new and strange, and impossible to put down.
Puppeteer turned pirate, Jack Shandy is a likable and fairly standard protagonist who, though down on his luck, is less flawed than the average Power's hero. While taking passage to the West Indies to try and claim a stolen birthright, he meets a charming young woman, his ship is attacked by pirates, and he is shanghaied into their ranks. He is drawn into a bizarre occult plot involving an obsessed and unbalanced Oxford don (the girl's father), and Captain Edward Thatch (Blackbeard), who we find is a powerful Voodoo shaman as well as a formidable pirate. As is usually the case with Power's plots, the history and the unique twists that he gives to it blend seamlessly into a thrilling tale.
I would rate `On Stranger Tides' right behind `Last Call' as one of Power's best works. The plot is fascinating and fast moving, the characters compelling, and the sense of an eerie otherness that is one of Power's trademarks is spot on. Trust me; you won't be able to put this one down until you finish the last sentence - highly recommended.
Theo Logos
Average customer rating:
- Some stories are slow, but overall worth it.
- chuck feeling lazy
- Chuck as we haven't seen him
- A good book
- boring and lazy
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Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories
Chuck Palahniuk
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0385722222
Release Date: 2005-05-10 |
Book Description
Chuck Palahniuk’s world has always been, well, different from yours and mine. In his first collection of nonfiction, Chuck Palahniuk brings us into this world, and gives us a glimpse of what inspires his fiction.
At the Rock Creek Lodge Testicle Festival in Missoula, Montana, average people perform public sex acts on an outdoor stage. In a mansion once occupied by The Rolling Stones, Marilyn Manson reads his own Tarot cards and talks sweetly to his beautiful actress girlfriend. Across the country, men build their own full-size castles and rocketships that will send them into space. Palahniuk himself experiments with steroids, works on an assembly line by day and as a hospice volunteer by night, and experiences the brutal murder of his father by a white supremacist. With this new direction, Chuck Palahniuk has proven he can do anything.
Customer Reviews:
Some stories are slow, but overall worth it........2007-09-09
Many other reviewers have noted that some of the stories in this book are slow and dry. The drawn out descriptions of the castle builders immediately comes to mind, as does the personal story of Juliette Lewis. But overall this is a worthwhile look into the mind and life of one of the best authors of our time. I feel like I know Chuck Palahniuk on a more personal level now, and that's what I was hoping for. I find him a fascinating man, someone I would love to sit down for coffee with. With that desire in mind, I am very happy I waded through this book.
chuck feeling lazy.......2007-08-03
this is by far the worst book he has written, and i'm actually glad that he apologized for its lack of creativity and thrown-togetherness in the actual book.
Chuck as we haven't seen him.......2007-07-27
The title of this book is very accurate. a lot of it seems as though it must be fictional.
I am an avid reader of all of Palahniuk's novels, so not only was the subject matter a bit different, but the format (short story) was also a change - he pulls it off effortlessly, though.
A good book.......2007-05-15
A composite of real world odditities, experiences and interviews. Different than his novels, but interesting.
boring and lazy.......2007-04-26
I became a fan of Palahniuk when I read, Choke, one of the funniest books I've ever come across. Then reading "Survivor" furthered my affection for this author, however after reading the synopsis' of most of his other works I just couldn't find myself willing or interested enough to pick up said other works.
Stranger than Fiction did spark my interested and I was dupped into reading the majority of this trash, oddly enough, none of which is stranger than fiction.
Book Description
Leading a meeting? giving a presentation? Heading a workshop? Icebreakers are great for lightening up the atmosphere at the beginning of a meeting or event, and encouraging everyone to participate fully. This collection of 50 icebreakers is organized around common business situations and is designed to help leaders start every session, meeting, presentation, or workshop with a burst of energy and fun. Includes icebreakers for sales meetings, team building, complete strangers, introducing a topic, staff meetings, groups over 20, outdoor settings, and more. this latest book in the popular Big Book of Business Games series is the most fun yet!
Customer Reviews:
Did not buy this item.......2007-05-03
Don't know why this is here as I never purchased this item.
Inventive but is it practical?.......2003-07-21
My first observation on this book is that it is focused on the large group not the small group. However, the rationale for some of the large group focus seems to flow entirely from a preoccupation with dividing large groups into smaller groups and then applying tasks or games to these subgroups. If you have never thought about working with groups this book may be of some use, but by and large I judged many of the examples were impractical in terms of the time and resources needed to get deploy them.
My key reservation about these icebreaker books is that they are written more to help the presenter break the ice rather than any presumed intra-audience barriers.
reveiw by hands-on trainer.......2000-09-09
This book is packed with icebreakers, but I personally wouldn't use most of them. They border on the "touchy-feely" side, and will only work if your audience is open to that type of activity.
Hot Icebreakers.......2000-03-30
There are so many great ways to get a group started with this book. It's perfect for the people who are inactive and very active. From get-to-know-games to every-day-fun. This book covers business meetings, weekly meetings, workshops, and almost every other type of get-together. The groups sizes go from small to huge. I would definitly recommend this book for any coordinator or leader. Enjoy and have fun!
Book Description
Meredith, Lady Devingham prefers her country home where she can happily arrange the marriages of her three sisters, rather than the frivolous life of London society. So what if her husband married her for her money, then disappeared to London as soon as their vows were spoken. If he wanted was a wife in name only, then he shall have it. But when rumor reaches her ears that Simon has recently been seen in the company of an alluring mystery woman, pride wars with jealousy, and Merry decides it's time her husband remembers he has a wife.
Simon, Lord Devingham wished he could reside at his country estate with his sweet demure wife and perhaps an heir underfoot. But duty calls and he is on the verge of uncovering a plot against the Crown...when Merry suddenly appears in Town. Gone is the quiet shy woman he remembers on their wedding day. In her place is a fiery woman who tempts Simon as no other woman ever has before. Now as duty wars with desire, will Simon realize his marriage is worth fighting for?
Customer Reviews:
Sweet.......2007-10-10
I thought the story was very sweet but did need a little something. I do disagree with the harshness of some of the other reviewers. As far as romance novels go this book was definitely not as bad as portrayed. This is the first book I've read of this author and was pleasantly suprised by the story as well as her writing. I plan on purchasing other books from this author.
Disspointing book - for such a talented writer...........2007-07-05
I was very disappointed in this latest installment by Ms. Mullins. I have been a tried and true fan of all her previous books and I must say that I really found this lacking, even though I persevered in finishing it to see if there were any redeeming qualities. Unfortunately, I will have to agree with what some of the other reviewers have mentioned. The book stared well and it fizzled out.
Lucy was somewhat of a whiner and some of her actions were rather idiotic. Simon is a hero character and you almost sympathize on him having to put up with her demeanor. I love Ms. Mullins books and am not deterred by this one, even though I was rather second-rate.
Not bad.......2007-06-27
To me, this was a little slow moving. There was so much plot and not enough of how they fell in love and the relationship developing between them. It was a decent read with a little mystery, but I ended up wanting to know more about the interesting side characters than the main couple.
Great!.......2007-05-28
Two Weeks with a Stranger. I'll try to be direct and to the point. Since, most reviewers have outlined some of the book. I really liked the story line. Simon was a spy for England. Lucy and Simon were absolute great couple. Simon loved Lucy unconditionally, even if she was a little plump. Although, most books the heroine she's perfect. I liked the secondary characters. I am hoping Gin an American and Foxworth have a chance with their story as well. Debra Mullins she is one of my best authors. I have liked all of her books the ones I can find. I recommend Two Weeks with a Stranger. I felt it was a fun read. You be the judge if you want to purchase the book or not. We all have our own opinion about books sometimes you have to go by our own gut feeling. If you haven't seek her other books give it a try. I've read just about all of them. The Best I think is Three Nights!! Oh, I almost forgot explicit sex ill-suited for some.(Adults)
strong premise, weak delivery.......2007-04-13
I'm not going to summarize the novel since many other reviewers have already done so. I also haven't reviewed on Amazon for a while, but I had to come give this book a review since I bought it based on all the great reviews...and was very disappointed.
*Might contain spoilers*
I felt that the heroine is highly inconsiderate of the hero and the requirements of his job. In my opinion, it would be very dangerous to tell your new wife that you're an English spy as they still knew next to nothing about each other. No one can predict how the marriage would turn out, so why risk telling Lucy that? I think it's a practical and logical decision on Simon's part. However, ever since she discovers the true reasons behind his flirtations with another woman, Lucy declares that she can no longer trust Simon since he did not share every single detail of himself with her. I hardly think anyone in his position would.
And although he explained everything, gave her his private journal to read, and professed his love, she is still unable to get past the fact that he lied...in order to protect himself, her, and England mind you! I think that's not only childish but also irrational behavior on her part.
In addition, when she still thought he was courting another woman (not only did he leave Lucy to follow the other lady out into the garden, he employed his friend to distract Lucy), the best idea to pop into her head was to seduce her husband back...
All the while though, Lucy claims that the marriage cannot survive on only sexual passion, yet she cannot be strong enough to refuse him her bed. If she is always willing, then why would Simon be the one to refuse? However, she continually makes him feel guilty about sharing sexual relations with her.
Finally, some of the heroine's actions in general are idiotic. During the climax at the end, Lucy "bravely" runs into a room where an enemy is pointing a gun at her husband so she can reveal the enemy's secret identity to him. Simon is clearly already in a dire situation and him knowing would not have changed anything. Secondly, it is kind of ridiculous to simply run into a room unarmed. Granted, it gave Simon the opportunity to make a move while the enemy's attention was diverted. However, the enemy could've easily killed Lucy...and frankly, part of me wished that was what happened.
I adored Simon and that is the only reason this book was given more than 1 star. Lucy is selfish, inconsiderate, and a hypocrite. Overall, I enjoyed the secondary romance MUCH MORE than that between the main characters. Fox and Gin's interactions are a lot more electric and attention-grabbing; I wish they were the main characters instead
Note: As reference, I love novels by Julia Quinn, Lisa Kleypas, Laura Lee Guhrke, and Sabrina Jeffries among others.
Book Description
"A brilliant and humane philosophy for our confused age."—Samantha Power, author of A Problem from Hell
Kwame Anthony Appiah's landmark new work, featured on the cover of the New York Times Magazine, challenges the separatist doctrines espoused in books like Samuel Huntington's The Clash of Civilizations. Reviving the ancient philosophy of "cosmopolitanism," a school of thought that dates to the Cynics of the fourth century BC, Appiah traces its influence on the ethical legacies of the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, and the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Raised in Ghana, educated in England, and now a distinguished professor in the United States, Appiah promises to create a new era in which warring factions will finally put aside their supposed ideological differences and will recognize that the fundamental values held by all human beings will usher in a new era of global understanding.
Customer Reviews:
Essays by Appiah.......2007-06-27
This book is a collection of essays around a common theme; each is extremely well written, reflective and accessible to the non-specialist.
Anthony Appiah is surely one of our most important thinkers about ethical issues that arise in common life. He brings unusual color and verve to
his subjects, reflecting a childhood in Ghana and an adult life spent as a true citizen of the world in one of the world's great universities.
An importance exploration of what it means to be a responsible part of today's world.......2007-02-10
There are few individuals more qualified to write a book on the idea of cosmopolitanism than Kwame Anthony Appiah. Biracial, raised in both Ghana and England, multicultural, multilingual, educated at Cambridge but teaching at Princeton, Appiah has an inside familiarity with larger world that few can rival. It is tremendously encouraging to me, a WASP who has been unable to engage in any real travel, that we both seem to share precisely the same ideals. My experience of the world counts for little; his a great deal. Yet it shows that people with extremely different backgrounds can embrace the same ideals.
Appiah is a philosopher, but though he has clearly been raised in the Anglo-American linguistic philosophical tradition, he has not found himself restricted by it. From the various philosophers he quotes, I'm sure that he and had had similar philosophical training. I envy the way that he can make what I learned as logical positivism (Appiah lops off the "logical") and make it relevant in a discussion of wider cultural issues. Though he obviously was trained in the tradition honed by Russell, Carnap, Frege, Ryle, Austin, Anscombe, Dummett, and the large contingent of American and British logicians and philosophers of language, none of them have informed his literary style. In fact, the two writers Appiah reminds me of most are Herodotus and Montaigne. Like them, he feels a license to bring into his discussion almost anything. If he is cosmopolitan on a moral and social level, he is also as a multidisciplinarian. Nor does he hesitate at mixing cultures. Many of the most compelling passages in the book detail incidents from his experience in Ghana.
The point of the book is to discuss many of the problems that arise if one attempts to embrace--as Appiah clearly feels we all should--cosmopolitan ideals. He deals interestingly with a host of issues, from the idea of who owns the products of a culture to the incommensurability of values from one culture to another (or their possible commensurability) to whether it is problematic when there are conflicts on fundamental issues. As a person he seems to have been deeply molded by all of the cultural influences in which he grew up, but as a philosopher he is exceptionally British. Over the decades there have been a number of British thinkers who have been able to cut through a thick wad of nonsense and discuss issues in a balanced, commonsensical manner. Gilbert Ryle had this capacity, as did (sometimes) G. E. Moore, and so also Mary Midgley. While his views are unquestionably progressive, Appiah always seems to avoid extremes to arrive at conclusions that are, above all else, balanced and reasonable. He is a master at making sense. So when philosopher Peter Unger argues that we all have a moral obligation to give every penny that we do not need for our own sustenance to organizations like UNICEF and OXFAM so that food and medicine can be purchased for the desperately poor in the Third World. Appiah, on the other hand, believes that a world in which no one bought a ticket to the opera would be flat and uninteresting. Besides, what really matters is reforming local governments in order to provide long-term transformation of the socioeconomic structures in the areas most afflicted by poverty, something that giving exclusively to UNICEF and OXFAM will not accomplish (though for the record, Appiah thinks both organizations are very important and he does not discourage contributing to them). Though he does not state it as a principle, he constantly employs something akin to Aristotle's golden mean.
I especially enjoyed his chapter on The Counter-Cosmopolitans. He places many of today's Islamic extremists in this category, though he also very correctly places many Christian fundamentalists here as well. I have long fantasized about writing a book about contemporary proponents of Counter-Enlightenment ideas (a book I will never write because I haven't mastered the range of disciplines such a project would require). Isaiah Berlin wrote frequently about various Counter-Enlightenment thinkers such as Hamaan, but I believe it can be extended into the present for such mass movements as various religious fundamentalisms (Christian, Islamic, as well as Jewish), the New Age movement, contemporary astrology, right wing political movements, and free market capitalism. Obviously I can't make my claim here, but I found Appiah's discussion of the counter-cosmopolitans to overlap entirely with counter-enlightenment ideals.
I value this book not only for its ideals and the intelligent discussion of a host of thorny issues, but for Appiah's warm humanity and wonderful literary style. It is not merely an intelligent book but a well-written one as well.
Becoming Cosmopolitan.......2007-02-05
One of the most pernicious ideas has spung from the myth that we are necessarily separated and segregated into groups that are defined by criteria like gender, language, race, religion or some other kind of boundary. And it is easy to see that these boundaries are a major cause of conflict.
The author of this enthralling book - Kwame Anthony Appiah - challenges this kind of separative thinking by resurrecting the ancient philosophy of "cosmopolitanism." This school of thought that dates back almost 2500 years to the Cynics of Ancient Greece. They first articulated the cosmopolitan ideal that all human beings were citizens of the world. Later on, these ideas were elaborated by another group of philosophers: the Stoics.
According to Appiah, the influence of cosmopolitanism has stretched down the ages and through to the Enlightenment. He takes Immanuel Kant's notion of a League of Nations and the Declaration of the Rights of Man to be two manifestations of this ancient idea.
Appiah sees cosmopolitanism as a dynamic concept based on two fundamental ideas. First is the idea that we have responsibilities to others that are beyond those based on kinship or citizenship. Second is something often forgotten: just because other people have different customs and beliefs from ours, they will likely still have meaning and value. We may not agree with someone else, but mutual understanding should be a first goal.
The book is full of personal experiences. I doubt that anyone else could have written it: His mother was an English author and daughter of the statesman Sir Stafford Cripps, and his father a Ghanaian barrister and politician, who reminded his children to remember that they were "citizens of the world."
Appiah was educated in Ghana and England and has taught in both countries. He now holds a chair of Philosophy at Princeton. He is no starry eyed idealist, and he knows that differences between groups and nations cannot be wished away or ignored. But he contends, rightly, I think, that differences can be accepted without being allowed to become barriers.
As he says, "Cosmopolitans suppose that all cultures have enough overlap in their vocabulary of values to begin a conversation. But they don't suppose, like some Universalists, that we could all come to agreement if only we had the same vocabulary." The reason is simply this: most of us arrive at our values not on the basis of careful reasoning, but by lifelong conditioning and subjective beliefs and attitudes.
In parts of Europe, there have recently been misgivings about the growing diversity and multiculturalism of countries like the United Kingdom, with people asking whether it is doing no more than fracturing society. Appiah tackles this question head on. He has this to say, "If we want to preserve a wide range of human conditions because it allows free people the best chance to make their own lives, there is no place for the enforcement of diversity by trapping people within a kind of difference that they long to escape. There simply is no decent way to sustain those communities of difference that will not survive without the free allegiance of their members."
Cosmopolitanism, balances our "obligations to others" with the "value not just of human life but of particular human lives," what Appiah calls "universality plus difference." He remains skeptical about simple maxims for ethical behavior such as the Golden Rule. He swiftly demonstrates its failings as a moral precept. He argues that cosmopolitanism is the name not "of the solution but of the challenge."
This is an important book that will inevitably be controversial. In a world that is becoming more interconnected and shrinking by the day, and where the "clash of cultures" threatens our existence, Appiah has many new perspectives as he articulates a precise yet flexible ethical manifesto. He does not claim to have all the answers, but this book should be of interest to all of us as we try to make sense of the turmoil, challenges and opportunities of our globalizing world.
Current and relevant.......2007-01-05
Very insightful. Draws on past scholarship to apply to our world today.
Brilliant.......2006-08-31
Excellent, Brilliant and full of wisdom. This is from a philosopher who has the ability to see things from more perspectives than black and white. His book is concise and not too academic. He makes philosophy trendy. He is a new generation of thinkers that will reshape our thoughts. He tackles sensitive issues with respect for all parties. One cannot tell his sentiments due to his fairness and objectivity. The first book I will read a second time.
Books:
- Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth (Penguin Classics)
- Shopaholic & Baby (Shopaholic)
- StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup's Now, Discover Your Strengths
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: A Kaplan Vocabulary-Building Classic for Young Readers
- The Analects (Penguin Classics)
- The Anglo-Saxon World: An Anthology (Oxford World's Classics)
- The Annotated Dracula
- The Apocalypse Reader
- The Boleyn Inheritance
- The Comedy of Errors (Folger Shakespeare Library)
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