Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith

Amazon.com

Through Anne Lamott's many books (including six novels, her bestselling parenting memoir, Operating Instructions, and her popular guide to writing, Bird by Bird) the subject she keeps returning to is her faith, her deeply personal--"erratic," she says--journey in Christianity. Her latest book, Grace (Eventually), is her third collection of her "thoughts on faith," and she took the time to answer a few of our questions.

Questions for Anne Lamott

Amazon.com: This is your third book on faith. How has your perspective changed since you wrote your first one?

Lamott: I wrote my first book on faith when Bill Clinton was president, and I was in a much better mood. I wrote Plan B during the run-up to war in Iraq, and the ensuing catastrophe, so I was very angry, but trying to reconcile that pain and hostility to Jesus's insistence that we are made of love, to love, and be loved, to forgive and be forgiven. Some days went better than others. Also, my son Sam was in his early teens, and that was a LOT easier than when he turned 16 and 17, his ages when I was writing the pieces in Grace (Eventually).

In general, I think Grace (Eventually) is a less angry book. I like how I'm aging, except that my back hurts more often, my knees crack like twigs when I squat, and my memory fails more frequently, in more public and therefore humiliating ways. But I think I complain less. As my best friend said when she was dying, and I was obsessing about my butt, "You just don't have that kind of time."

Amazon.com: What does grace mean for you? How can we better communicate it to each other?

Lamott: Grace is that extra bit of help when you think you are really doomed; also, not coincidentally, when you have finally run out of good ideas on how to proceed, and on how better to control the people or circumstances that are frustrating or defeating you. I experience Grace as a cool ribbon of fresh air when I feel spiritually claustrophobic. Sometimes I experience it as water-wings, something holding me up when I am afraid that I'm going down, or the tide is carrying me away. I know that Grace meets us whereever we are, but does not leave us where it found us. Sometimes it is so small--a couple of seconds relief here, several extra inches there. I wish it were big and obvious, like sky-writing. Oh, well. Grace is not something I DO, or can chase down; but it is something I can receive, when I stop trying to be in charge.

We communicate grace to one another by holding space for people when they are hurt or terrified, instead of trying to fix them, or manage their emotions for them. We offer ourselves as silent companionship, or gentle listening when someone feels very alone. We get people glasses of water when they are thirsty.

Amazon.com: Many of the essays in Grace (Eventually) first appeared in Salon, the online magazine, and that's the way that many readers first found you. How do you see the Internet changing the way people read and write?

Lamott: The Internet makes everything so immediate and spontaneous, which I totally love--UNLESS it has to do with the immediacy of people's negative response to me. Several of the Salon pieces in Grace--for instance, the story about the horrible fight with my son, and the piece about turning the other cheek while being ripped off by The Carpet Guy--generated a couple hundred letters, many of them extremely hostile. Perhaps "spewy" would be a better description. I also sometimes get knee-jerk responses to my mentions of Jesus in my Salon pieces that seem to lump me in the same tradition as Jerry Falwell. But for the most part, I love the populism and egalitarian nature of the Internet: everyone counts the same.

Amazon.com: What stories do people tell you, when they've read your books or know you are a writer?

Lamott: People tell me how relieved they are that I try to tell the truth about how hard it can be to be a mother, or a daughter, or an American in these times. They tell me stories about how awful their own teenagers can be, or how awful they themselves behaved towards their kids or parents; how hard it was to finally be able to adore their mothers, or to forgive their fathers. They tell me their sobriety dates. They whisper to me that they are Christians, too.

Also, they ask if I am able to read their manuscripts, and the name of my agent, and my e-mail address. They ask if we are going to survive the current political difficulties--and I promise them we are. They ask how old my son is now--17 and a half--and how he is doing, which is fantastically, after some of the hard months I wrote about in Grace.

Amazon.com:What lessons do you think you can pass on to others: to your readers, to your son? What lessons does it seem like people have to learn for themselves?

Lamott: All I have to offer is my own truth, my own experience, strength and hope. I can pass on the tool of a God Box, and how for 20 years I have been putting tiny notes in mine and promising God I will keep my sticky fingers off the controls until I hear God's wisdom: sometimes I get an answer because the phone rings, or the mail comes, but at any rate, during every single terrible problem and tragedy, I have been given enough guidance and stamina and even humor to bear up, and be transformed, for the good. I always tell Sam that if you want to make God laugh, tell Her your plans. I tell Sam that if he listens to his best thinking, he will suffer: and to listen to his heart instead, to listen in the silence, and to seek wise counsel.

Amazon.com: You've written nearly a dozen books (including an incredibly popular guide to writing): does writing get any easier? Does it get harder?

Lamott: In a very important way, writing gets easier, because I've been doing it full time now for thirty-plus years, and just as you would get better and better if you practiced your scales on a piano, I've gotten better, and can try harder and harder pieces. But writing is always hard. It does not come naturally to me at all. I sit down at the same time every day, which lets my subconscious realize it's time to get to work. I give myself very short assignments, and let myself write really terrible first drafts. But I grapple with the exact same problems every writer does, which is having equal proportions of self-loathing and grandiosity. I sort of live by the Nike ads: Just Do It. So I sit down. I show up. I do it by pre-arrangement with myself, because I know I'll feel sad and terrible if I shirk on that days writing. I do it as a debt of honor, to myself, and to whatever it is that has given me this gift of being able to tell stories, and to make people laugh. Laughter is carbonated holiness. Other people's good writing is medicine for me, and I hope mine is too, for my readers.

Book Description

The sharp, funny, and heartfelt follow-up to her bestselling Plan B, Anne Lamott's newest collection is a personal exploration of the faith and grace all around us.

In Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith, Lamott examines the ways we're caught in life's most daunting predicaments: love, mothering, work, politics, and maybe toughest of all, evolving from who we are to who we were meant to be. This is a complicated process for most of us, and Lamott turns her wit and honesty inward to describe her own intimate, bumpy, and unconventional road to grace and faith.

"I wish grace and healing were more abracadabra kinds of things," she writes in one of her essays, "that delicate silver bells would ring to announce grace's arrival. But no, it's clog and slog and scootch, on the floor, in silence, in the dark."

Whether she's writing about her unsuccessful efforts to get her money back from an obstinate carpet salesman, grappling with the tectonic shifts in her relationship with her son as he matures, trying to maintain her faith and humor during politically challenging times, or helping a close friend die with dignity, Lamott seeks out both the divinity and the humanity in herself and everything around her. Throughout these essays, she writes of her struggle to find the essence of her faith, which she uncovers in the unlikeliest places. By turns insightful and hilarious, pointed and poignant, Grace (Eventually) is Anne Lamott at her perceptive and irreverent best.

Customer Reviews:

Funny and profound.......2007-08-12

Anne Lamott is honest and engaging. This book is a beautiful testament to a real life lived in faith and hope in the midst of inevitable disappointments and hardships.

Grace (Eventually) thoughts on Faith.......2007-08-08

I bought this book thinking I would get an inspiritial read. Instead I found that the title totally misrepresented the book. This is nothing but a self-centered, self-indulgent, whiny bunch of writings from a drug user/alcoholic, over age hippy, feeling (what?). Certainaly not faith!
Title should read "Poor Me, I can't Think Straight"

Not her best, but still brilliant.......2007-08-01

One of the most popular voices in contemporary spirituality, Anne Lamott has a remarkable gift at handling serious and unfunny topics - religion, motherhood, eating disorders, death - in a witty and disarming way.

Lamott's new book, "Grace Eventually: Further Thoughts On Faith," is a collection of essays, many of which Lamott wrote as a columnist for Salon.com. If you haven't read anything by Lamott before, the best places to start would be "Traveling Mercies" (her bestselling memoir), and "Bird by Bird," (one of the best guide to writing anywhere, another bestseller). But the two things you should know before reading Anne Lamott is that 1) she is an incredible prose artist, quirky and profound, with a style that seems all her own. And 2) she is almost completely neurotic.

"Grace Eventually," is a special book in that Lamott's description of ordinary events make them feel sacred. She is a writer with an ability to make the reader pay attention, feel present, and tune in to the story taking place around them. Although she refers to Jesus consistently, there is little that seems orthodox about Lamott's spiritual journey, and perhaps that is one of the reasons she has such a wide readership.

You'd have to be made out of granite not to find something that moves you in this unique collection of essays. You would also need to adhere to Lamott's precise and strident political positions not to find at least one portion of this book infuriating. Either way, "Grace Eventually" is a provocative and unique read, and any avid reader owes it to themselves to become familiar with one of the country's top writers.

No thank you, no good........2007-07-25

I read another one of Anne's books. The first one I did not like much, and really did not want to read this one, but when you already own it, you feel you must with 16 dollars into the book. It was some repeating of stories I really did not like in the first place, there were a few highlights or good moments, but not enough. I still feel bad for her, but most times I was like "get over it." Now I loved Donald Miller's book, which was along the same mindset, but he seemed deep or maybe just a man. Sorry Anne, you are twice if not more the writer that I am, but I was just not into the book.

She's the Best.......2007-07-25

Her words are equivalent to the phrase "A sight for sore eyes." My copy now has so many underlines and dog ears that I just don't know where to start with quotable quotes--

"IT FEELS AS IF SOMEONE FINALLY CRACKED OPEN A WINDOW THAT HAD BEEN JAMMED."
"...taught me a willingness to help clean up the mess we've made is a crucial part of adult living; that our scary, selfish, damging behavior litters the planet."
"...we get mad at each other, over and over, then we apologize, become friends again: I see how each time this is redemption. How amazing it is to share that."
"Joy is the best makeup."
"Prayer is not asking for what you think you want, but asking to be changed in ways you can't imagine."

I use this like a Bible when I need to be called to a higher place. It soothes me, calms me down, and calls me to a (much) higher place. Buy this, Bird By Bird, and the other two from this series. They are GIFTS.

Facing Your Giants: The God Who Made a Miracle Out of David Stands Ready to Make One Out of You

Average customer rating:

Overcoming circumstances
Learning from David's Triumphs and Mistakes
Max's Best
Like all Lucado books, awesome
Wonderful book!

Facing Your Giants: The God Who Made a Miracle Out of David Stands Ready to Make One Out of You
Max Lucado
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0849901812
Release Date: 2006-11-21

Book Description

Giants. We must face them. Yet, we need not face them alone.

This profound look at the life of David digs deeply into the defeats he suffered, and the victories he won, as he faced the giants in his life. When David focused on God, giants tumbled. But when David focused on giants… he stumbled.

Goliaths still roam in our world. Debt. Disaster. Dialysis. Divorce. Deceit. Disease. Depression. These super-sized challenges swagger and strut into our lives, pilfering our sleep, embezzling our peace and robbing us of our joy. And while these giants try to dominate our lives, we know what to do! We've learned what David learned, and we do what David did. We become God focused. We pick up five stones. We make five decisions. And we take a swing.

Customer Reviews:

Overcoming circumstances.......2007-09-29

I was given this book, it was a good read, but the information wasn't anything new, nor was it very impressive. It was a smooth reader, but almost to the point of beating a dead horse. Now, I am not putting down the work of the Cross or Jesus or the Holy Spirit or even King David. It's just the same ole story with a different author. I did find some of Max's antedotes and case histories of his own family interesting and the view of the Rainbow, that was most interesting.

Would I buy the book, no. Would I recommend someone else to buy the book? Not really. There are better books for the money.

Here are some examples: They Smell Like Sheep by Dr. Lynn Anderson
True Discipleship by Kossler, The Holiest of All by Andrew Murray, Power Filled Living by R.A. Torrey. These are just a few.

I've found when we are facing the giants, if we focus on God, Center ourself on Him, in Him and then look outside the box, so-to-speak and allow the Spirit of God to lead us to someone else that is hurting more than ourselves, God will work out our problems usually by the interaction of our neighbors.

In Christ we pray. Amen.

Learning from David's Triumphs and Mistakes.......2007-09-21

Max Lucado is known for his encouraging books, and this book is no exception. Here, he studies King David, both the good and the bad, to show us how to face the giants in our lives.

The ultimate lesson is simple, when your focus is on God, giants fall. Yet he uses stories from first and second Samuel, both the good and the bad, to show us how this played out in David's life.

The book works as a biography, showing us the events in David's life as they happened. While most chapters are a self contained lesson, it does allow us to see how one event often led to another.

Obviously, we see David fighting Goliath. But we also see him hiding from Saul, his friendship with Jonathan, hiding with the enemy, keeping his promises, falling into adultery and murder with Bathsheba, and watching his own children spin out of control. From this we learn the importance of friends and family, but ultimately the importance of putting our focus on God.

Max Lucado very rarely brings anything new to the table. That's certainly the case here. There is very little I haven't heard before. But he always puts such a fresh, encouraging spin on things, I always see things in a new light. And even when admonishing us, he still does it gently.

I set this book down reluctantly when I finished. My heart was encouraged, and my focus was where it needed to be, God. If you need some help remembering where your focus needs to be, this book is for you.

Max's Best .......2007-09-17

This is absolutely the most enlightening and funny book I've ever read from a Christian author.
This wonderful book is deep enough for an elephant to swim in, yet shallow enough for a child to wade in.
That describes Facing Your Giants to a T.

Like all Lucado books, awesome.......2007-09-06

An insightful tie to old testament events around Davids life and life for us today.

Wonderful book!.......2007-08-26

Story of King David's successes and failures confronting the giants in his life, and how we can learn from them. Many challenging question in study guide at the end of book.

Saving Graces: Finding Solace and Strength from Friends and Strangers

Average customer rating:

saving graces
My honor to read this life journey of E. Edwards
Saving Graces
Excellent.
Wonderful book!

Saving Graces: Finding Solace and Strength from Friends and Strangers
Elizabeth Edwards
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Political | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0767925378
Release Date: 2006-09-26

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.

Average customer rating:

What's so Amazing About Grace
A must for all pastors
Feel Good Religion
Philip Yancey Does It Again!
Want to be stretched? Read this book.

What's So Amazing About Grace?
Philip Yancey
Manufacturer: Zondervan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0310245656

Amazon.com

Mention the word "grace" and what immediately comes to mind for most of us is a bagpipe wailing the solemn notes of "Amazing Grace."

The grace of which Philip Yancey writes is the freely given and unmerited favor and love of God. This grace seems a remote, almost sentimental concept, without a place in our lives or our society. It is a vague, slippery thing to us, probably because we seem to experience grace so rarely and have managed to leech the word of meaning. But Philip Yancey has set about to rescue grace in his book What's So Amazing About Grace?

This grace is the true message of Jesus. All faiths have virtues and creeds and justice and truth, but Jesus speaks merely of receiving the love that God has for us. Accepting it, not earning it or making ourselves worthy of it. And frankly, accepting something we have not earned or are not worthy of is not an easy thing for most of us.

In truth, grace is both utterly simple and utterly confounding. Little by little, Yancey guides us into a clearer understanding of grace by using stories, in much the same way Jesus did. We read stories of both grace and ungrace at work in people's lives. Sadly, it is stories of ungrace that are more prevalent today, the current culture wars painful acknowledgments of ungrace in our lives as Christians in this country. Yancey helps us understand that ungrace is that state of being in which self-righteousness and pride are a result of thinking that we have somehow earned God's approval and may now stand in judgment in his behalf.

Philip Yancey was awarded the Gold Medallion Christian Book of the Year award for this book in 1998 by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. Readers concurred with this decision, making this book an immediate bestseller. Believers and nonbelievers alike should accept Yancey's challenge to become agents of grace rather than agents of vengeance or judgment or anger. In truth, we are each starving for grace, ready to grasp it tightly. And it is through grace that all other hungers--for justice, for righteousness, for love--are satisfied. Yancey opens his book by telling us that "grace" is the last best word, and in What's So Amazing About Grace?, he proves that he's right. --Patricia Klein

Book Description

In 1987, an IRA bomb buried Gordon Wilson and his twenty-year-old daughter beneath five feet of rubble. Gordon alone survived. And forgave. He said of the bombers, "I have lost my daughter, but I bear no grudge. . . . I shall pray, tonight and every night, that God will forgive them."

His words caught the media’s ear--and out of one man’s grief, the world got a glimpse of grace.

Grace is the church’s great distinctive. It’s the one thing the world cannot duplicate, and the one thing it craves above all else--for only grace can bring hope and transformation to a jaded world.

In What’s So Amazing About Grace? award-winning author Philip Yancey explores grace at street level. If grace is God’s love for the undeserving, he asks, then what does it look like in action? And if Christians are its sole dispensers, then how are we doing at lavishing grace on a world that knows far more of cruelty and unforgiveness than it does of mercy?

Yancey sets grace in the midst of life’s stark images, tests its mettle against horrific "ungrace." Can grace survive in the midst of such atrocities as the Nazi holocaust? Can it triumph over the brutality of the Ku Klux Klan? Should any grace at all be shown to the likes of Jeffrey Dahmer, who killed and cannibalized seventeen young men?

Grace does not excuse sin, says Yancey, but it treasures the sinner. True grace is shocking, scandalous. It shakes our conventions with its insistence on getting close to sinners and touching them with mercy and hope. It forgives the unfaithful spouse, the racist, the child abuser. It loves today’s AIDS-ridden addict as much as the tax collector of Jesus’ day.

In his most personal and provocative book ever, Yancey offers compelling, true portraits of grace’s life-changing power. He searches for its presence in his own life and in the church. He asks, How can Christians contend graciously with moral issues that threaten all they hold dear?

And he challenges us to become living answers to a world that desperately wants to know, What’s So Amazing About Grace?

Customer Reviews:

What's so Amazing About Grace.......2007-08-27

This is one of the best books I have ever read. Philip Yancey has it right. At a time when some Christians alienate people with their right wing political issues and high and mighty attitudes, Yancey has brought to light through the Bible that it is better to effect change by showing grace. Yancey gives me reason to make make a difference. I am ashamed of not showing more grace to people in my sphere of influence. Thank you Philip Yancey for your honesty concerning your own life and for giving us a book that as Chuck Colson said, "makes everybody mad".

A must for all pastors.......2007-08-13

I did not know what to expect of Yancey, I had not red any of his book prior to this one. I got hoocked after the first page.
I believe that every christian and defenetly every pastors should read this book.
We serve a God of love and as Jesus says: I will know my followers by their fruith, and the fruith is that you love one another.
As Christians we say a lot of right morally speeking, but we need to be sure we say and preach that truth in love. So many times we come across as condaming. Paul talks about that in 1. Kor 13. We can speek with human or angles language, we can know all the secretes of the world, we can have profetic gifts, we can even give our own bodies as a giving, but if we have not love....

Take your time and read this book. Use it as a thremometer to find out how warm your love is.

Frode Schanke Eikum

Feel Good Religion.......2007-07-27

One can easily see why this book has received such praise. It is full of good news, amazing stories and exposes the positive aspects of Grace in its full depth. However, I found as I was reading this book, the author drifted from the scriptural view of Grace by selectively focussing on the "good feeling" of God's Grace and avoiding the sinners state of depravity, evil and death.

Preaching only about Grace, apart from preaching the depths of sin is preaching half a Gospel. The contents of this book are great for regenerate sinners who have been through the crisis experience or people who are under conviction and have turned to the Lord. When read by someone who is not regenerate, has not had that crisis of inner conviction, who has not cried out with Paul "who shall save me from the body of death?"; this book does a grave injustice.

Sinners must become convicted of their sin. Conviction is a far different thing than "I'm sorry." Without knowledge of the depth of sin and where the sinner stands before the Lord, he cannot appreciate the full depth of Grace. It is like singing the old hymn "He took me out of the mirely clay, He put my soul on the rock to stay" and only singing the second part of the lyric. Without conviction leading to repentance the sinner will not experience salvation and God's saving Grace.

This is the trend of the "feel good religion" that may be giving false hope to sinners who have not truly repented. What is so amazing about Grace is found in the old Hymn "that saved a wretch like me." Half a gospel, like half a hymn is no gospel at all.

The author also misinterprets the interaction between Simon Weisenthal and the Nazi SS man who wanted a Jew's forgiveness. The SS man was seeking forgiveness in the world where his forgiveness needed to come from God. However, his confession before Mr. Weisenthal is part of that repentance. Grace was active and evident both ways here. Although Mr. Weisenthal, young and under extreme circumstances, left without forgiving, he evidently was touched by this incident such that it lit a spark within his soul that set him on a mission to understand Grace and find healing and resolution of his own wounds. A good scriptural interpretation of these events comes from Isaiah "A broken reed he shall not break; "A smoking flax He shall not quench." The SS man was a broken reed and Weisenthal the smoking flax. Forgiveness by Weisenthal would come in God's own time and tied in with the Grace of the healing of his own wounds. This often takes a lifetime.

Philip Yancey Does It Again!.......2007-07-22

Philip Yancy hits the nail on the head once again! Easy reading and wonderfully inspiring! Makes you feel so blessed and so full of grace! I loved every word!

Want to be stretched? Read this book........2007-07-16

Grace is such a common aspect of the Christian experience that we might gloss over a book with this title. But Philip Yancey offers an uncommon take.

If you've ever wondered why some people are turned off by the church, read this book. Yancey may echo your gut feelings. The church in the world is not about following a set of rules; it's a relationship--a grace-full relationship that God extends to us and we in turn extend to others. "Grace alone melts ungrace," Yancey writes. I think he's onto something.

Yancey reminds us of who we are as Christians: Sinners saved by (there's that word) grace. He points out that when Jesus got involved with some of the wrong people (the Gentiles, the "unclean"), he was tearing down an Old Testament principle that said, "No Oddballs allowed." And Yancey points out, Jesus replaced that principle with "We're all Oddballs, but God loves us anyhow." Therefore since God extends such grace to us, we can afford to be gracious and forgiving to others.

Yancey challenges the Christian's thinking about the relationship between politics and religion. And unafraid to broach forbidden subjects, he offers frank discussions on how his own thinking about issues in today's news has been challenged and stretched. Read this book and your ears will perk up at how often grace is mentioned in the Bible and sung about in the church--and how often we miss a chance to pass it on.
Sisterhood of Faith: 365 Life-Changing Stories about Women Who Made a Difference

Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery

Average customer rating:

An outstanding person that we desperately need more of...
Amazing
A small man with a great impact
Yes he ended slavery
Amazing book!

Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery
Eric Metaxas
Manufacturer: HarperOne
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

African-American & Black | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Historical | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Political | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0061173002
Release Date: 2007-02-06

Book Description

Amazing Grace tells the story of the remarkable life of the British abolitionist William Wilberforce (1759-1833). This accessible biography chronicles Wilberforce's extraordinary role as a human rights activist, cultural reformer, and member of Parliament.

At the center of this heroic life was a passionate twenty-year fight to abolish the British slave trade, a battle Wilberforce won in 1807, as well as efforts to abolish slavery itself in the British colonies, a victory achieved just three days before his death in 1833.

Metaxas discovers in this unsung hero a man of whom it can truly be said: he changed the world. Before Wilberforce, few thought slavery was wrong. After Wilberforce, most societies in the world came to see it as a great moral wrong.

To mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the British slave trade, HarperSanFrancisco and Bristol Bay Productions have joined together to commemorate the life of William Wilberforce with the feature-length film Amazing Grace and this companion biography, which provides a fuller account of the amazing life of this great man than can be captured on film.

This account of Wilberforce's life will help many become acquainted with an exceptional man who was a hero to Abraham Lincoln and an inspiration to the anti-slavery movement in America.

Customer Reviews:

An outstanding person that we desperately need more of..........2007-09-27

When I first started reading this book, the way the author wrote was so different from so many of the science and histories that I usually read, I was prepared to give the book four stars. It seemed like such a serious topic about the efforts made by English gentlemen to curtail the slavery trade, that Metaxas (author) seemed to be almost flippant. But as I read further in the book, and realized what a good, humorous, and loveable person that Wilberforce was, I could understand why the author chose to write in this vein.

I have yet to see the movie, but from reading the book it definitely aroused my interest in the movements of that time period and the people involved. Wilberforce could not have picked a harder social ill to try to bring to the right conclusion, that of stopping the slave trade with the eventual goal which he did not live to see, of freeing the slaves in the Americas. That he worked on this tirelessly for 40 years, through own personal trials and illness, and saw it to its conclusion is a testimony to the strength of his character. Where are those men and women today? Did they all come during that time period from 1750 through the early 1800s? Like our own American heroes from the Revolutionary War and men like LIncoln, who though fallible, did the very best they could to alleviate the sufferings of others? I wish we could clone a few of these people now to fix the many wrongs of our society, including the ongoing pestilence of slavery.

I eventually learned to enjoy Metaxas writing. It's different to be sure, but a nice relief from the overly serious tomes that I usually read.

Karen SAdler

Amazing.......2007-09-21

A highly readable book about an amazing man who optimisitically believed he could make a difference, and did! Like Frank Capra's Mr. Smith, William Wilberforce was a politician who stuck to his ideals. He was very conscientious about living out his faith and seeking God's will. He believed in the humanity of others and the responsibility to better society and help the less fortunate. Highly recommended!

A small man with a great impact.......2007-09-06

Though the name "William Wilberforce" is hardly at the tips of our collective tongues anymore, author Eric Metaxas thinks it should be. In "Amazing Grace," Metaxas relates the story of Wilberforce -- a slight, stooped and sickly man -- whose physical frailty disguised a great strength of character and soul. Wilberforce, as a member of the British Parliament, was (at least according to Metaxas's telling) the driving force behind both the end of the slave trade in the British colonies in 1807 as well as the abolition of British slavery itself in 1833.
The book covers all of Wilberforce's life, from the controversies between Anglicanism and Methodism of his boyhood, through his indolent college days, to his conversion in 1785 at age 24, to his parliamentary career and his death in 1833. Metaxas tells a rousing story of a young man in search for meaning and relevance, in an age of barbarity toward animals, criminals and "lower" races that is shocking to the modern ear. Metaxas sets the stage by discussing animal cruelty -- bull, horse and bear-beating -- that were popular pastimes of the era. His catalog of the evil done to black slaves is chronicled by those who had first-hand familiarity with the infamous Middle Passage or the treatment of slaves on the sugar plantations of the West Indies. Wilberforce's voice is heard through excerpts from his personal diaries, bringing this now-obscure person to life.

I truly enjoyed the book, though with a few reservations. Metaxas's Wilberforce is a man whose worldview would be recognizable to moderns. As a man born of a racist and vicious era, he used his religious views in ways that ran counter to his society. He took seriously the scriptural dictum that humanity is created in God's image, resulting in the inevitable conclusion that people of color deserved the same treatment as whites. A sickly man, he showed great compassion for the poor and the weak, even extending this soft heartedness to animals. Among many other works, Wilberforce was a founding member of the then-named Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The reservations. Metaxas's style is usually staid, punctuated with the occassional tic -- he suddenly gets overly-cute or uses faux-Elizabethan anachronistic turns of phrase. He also tends to give Wilberforce solitary credit for opposing slavery, when this work started long before he appeared on the scene and ended after he left it. Metaxas's evidently sympathetic view of Wilberforce's spiritual life was another problem. In many passages, Metaxas presumes a conservative Christian worldview, lauding Wilberforce for making decisions that are in line with God's will, as though this was self-evident to the reader. Metaxas clearly roots for young Wilberforce to find God, and he speaks from with seeming familiarity with a convert's stages of maturation through during his conversion experience. There's nothing wrong with religious experience, but I found this overt tilt surprising and a bit troubling in a biography. Appallingly, Metaxas describes Anglicanism as a religion practiced in name only by bishops and clergy who no longer believed in its tenets. Metaxas even notes which bishops of the period are "orthodox," as though the reader understands and agrees to his meaning of the word. Metaxas may also be guilty of painting Wilberforce in too-bright colors. His subject's distrust of Roman Catholicism is minimized and his opposition to the right of labor to organize is left unmentioned. Wilberforce is sometimes portrayed as the most eloquent of speakers and other times as having a rather rambling and disconnected style. These inconsistencies and biases diminished the book's impact.

Nevertheless, I do recommend "Amazing Grace". In an age in which the wounds of racism and cruelty are still borne by too many, it is encouraging to read of a man who, though borne to wealth and privilege, put his faith into practice in a way that benefited so many and is still admirable today. "Amazing Grace" makes the strong case that William Wilberforce ought to merit at least a mention when the roll of the history's great humanitarians is read.

Yes he ended slavery.......2007-08-08

William Wilberforce did more than end slavery, he changed Western Civilization. He created the campaign button, used today to elect mere politicians, but he did it to end slavery and bring Christianity to India. He also helped recreate non-governmental organizations for schools, and widows and orphans of war and poverty. He helped change the penal code of Great Britain and bring back the use of morality to effect change for how small crimes corrupted society. (Note, this was the same tactics used by Giuliani to change the crime rate in New York.) Wilber ( his nickname among friends) was a short sickly man, gifted with a a superb speaking voice, great charisma, and the ability to be a great Christian leader without looking like a "stick in the mud" Puritan. He also had a strong backbone that allowed him to let insults, death threats, and 40 years of frustration slide by the way side. One day I hope to read his sons' 3 volume biography of his life, but in the mean time, you can't go wrong reading this well written and entertaining biography of his life.

Amazing book!.......2007-07-25

This book should have been called The Amazing Book. This is really an uplifting book and a must read. We all should have William Wilberforce as our role model.

William Wilberforce was the man to end slavery. More importantly, he is the man who made slavery unacceptable in our minds. Who today can honestly tell you that slavery is not evil or indeed needed for a country's economy? Merely two centuries ago, slavery was not only accepted but deemed necessary. William Wilberforce was the man who extinguished this belief forever! As a side note, I find it interesting that no prophet of any religion has ever succeeded or even tried to end slavery. A mere mortal by the name of Wilberforce not only succeeded in ending slavery, but succeeded into changing our minds into completely rejecting slavery as immoral. As the author says, Wilberforce truly changed the world! An amazing feat, and truly an amazing grace to befall upon us!

Wilberforce was a religious man, but at no time did he claim that he was chosen by God or claimed of ever receiving a vision or message from God. He was a simple good-hearted person who cared about the well-being of others, especially the less fortunate ones. He was kind and generous, and gave a lot of his wealth to the poor throughout his life. Even though at the start of his life he was indeed very rich, he died poor, and not even owning his own house. He lived the rest of his life living in the homes of his children. Yet he never felt cheated by life. He accomplished something that no one has ever achieved. He is indeed fortunate to be receiving prayers from so many till this day!

The book will expose the horrors of slavery, and how at the time the British (and the Europeans, but emphasize was on the British) viewed the African blacks as inferior beings, if beings at all. At the time, killing a black person, whether child or adult, was no different to the British as killing a rodent. Slaves were viewed as a material object to own and to discard of at any time as fit (usually by murdering and torturing the slave).

After reading this book, you will wonder how it was ever possible to accept the concept of owning slaves. What went through the minds of the Europeans at the time to accept such an abhorrent practice as the ownership and trade of slaves? And why do we think differently about this subject today than we did for the past thousands of years? What suddenly changed in our minds? Read the book, and find out how Wilberforce was able to change our minds on slavery. Don't be surprised if you shed a few too many tears.

However, Wilberforce, a member of the British parliament, had to endure many insults and opposition to finally pass the bill to end slavery. In fact, it was a twenty-year fight just to abolish the British slave trade, a battle Wilberforce won in 1807, and a fierce battle in parliament to abolish slavery itself in the British colonies, a victory achieved just three days before his death in 1833.

Wilberforce was hated by many and often called a hypocrite for caring more for the slaves and less for the poor working class. But as the author says, this accusation against Wilberforce was like saying that Christopher Columbus was a hypocrite for not discovering Australia as well. No one man or woman can ever end all the ills of man and woman, but together we can! If each man and woman today accomplishes just one great humane achievement, that's 5 billion humane achievements during our lifetime! If Wilberforce can do so much for so many millions, why can't we?

The author, Eric Mataxas, did an excellent job bringing to life a man who is truly immortal. Throughout the narrative of this book you will feel as if William Wilberforce is right there besides you. No other author could have written about Wilberforce as beautifully as Metaxas. This book is a real piece of art to be treasured in your library for the next generation, and makes an excellent bedtime story for our children.

Apparel Manufacturing: Sewn Product Analysis (4th Edition)

Average customer rating:

Apparel Manufacturing: Sewn Product Analysis (4th Edition)
Grace I. Kunz , and Ruth E. Glock
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0131119826

Book Description

This comprehensive text provides in-depth coverage of all facets of the apparel manufacturing process in the global industry. The coverage considers product development from the analysis phase through product standards, specifications and design phases. The primary focus is on inter-related decision-making required for apparel product development. Includes sections on the dimensions of apparel management, quality management, materials selection, production planning, and the complete financial portion of the business. Emphasis is placed on the integrated roles of merchandising, sourcing, and marketing. Covers apparel engineering, preproduction operations, and a pertinent discussion of technology and equipment. For anyone interested in fashion, apparel, or retailing.

In Vogue: The Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Fashion Magazine

Average customer rating:

A Taste of Owners' Plans, Editorial Direction, Style, Fashion, Great Photography, and Memorable Models
Just OK.
Magnificient overview of an iconic magazine
A travel through time by book
InVogue: The Illustrated History of the World's most famous fashion magazine

In Vogue: The Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Fashion Magazine
Alberto Oliva , and Norberto Angeletti
Manufacturer: Rizzoli
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0847828646
Release Date: 2006-09-22

Book Description

In Vogue is a fascinating look at the history of the world's most influential magazine. The complete compendium is illustrated with hundreds of covers and archival interiors of past Vogue editions, featuring the work of some of the twentieth century's most respected artists, cover illustrators, and photographers—from Edward Steichen, Toni Frissell, and Erwin Blumenfeld to Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, David Bailey, Helmut Newton, Annie Leibovitz, Mario Testino, Steven Klein, Bruce Webber, and Herb Ritts. In 1909, an entrepreneurial New Yorker named Condé Nast took charge of a struggling society journal and transformed it into the most glamorous fashion magazine of the twentieth century. In Vogue traces the history, development and influence of this media colossus—from its beginning as a social gazette in the late nineteenth century, to the exploration of modern fashion photography and new visuals in the mid-twentieth century, to its status as the top style magazine today. The book explains the makings of the magazine—from runways, to editorial meetings, to the pages of Vogue.The thoroughly researched story incorporates first-person accounts, interviews with editors and photographers, and excerpts from stories written in the magazine by many world-renowned writers, including Truman Capote, Aldous Huxley, Richard Burton, Federico Fellini, and Marcello Mastroianni. Unparalleled in its scope and exceptionally illustrated, In Vogue is sure to be among the most important publications on the subjects of culture, art, fashion, photography, and media.

Customer Reviews:

A Taste of Owners' Plans, Editorial Direction, Style, Fashion, Great Photography, and Memorable Models.......2007-07-16

What attracts you to Vogue? Chances are that element is represented someplace within the pages of In Vogue.

To me, the photographs are the main appeal of Vogue. Since its founding on December 17, 1892, Vogue has attempted to capture current and future fashion through its images. The magazine has been blessed by talented work done by most of the world's best fashion photographers since then who brought us the most interesting society women, celebrities, cultural icons, and, of course, fashion models. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the book contained at least a few works by each of the greatest photographers to appear in Vogue. Most of the images were known to me, but a number were new. My main disappointment was that the photographers I like the most didn't have more photographs in the book. But the book is very bulky and heavy as it is.

To my interest in the photographs came many essays about why the photographers were selected and what the editors asked them to accomplish. The interaction of the art directors and the photographers was particularly noteworthy in regard to covers.

I have also spent many years as a management consultant in the magazine industry. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there's a pretty complete overview of the management thinking and decisions that led to Vogue becoming so successful.

But the most interesting surprise came in the extended views into the editorial philosophies and working styles of the magazine's editors. Creating a fashion magazine is very demanding, and Vogue has been fortunate in its editors both for their energy and their vision for the reader.

If neither business nor editing interest you, you'll still find lots of marvelous images to help you trace the development of fashion and style in the United States over the last 100 plus years.

Here are a few of my favorite photographs in the book:

Helen Lee Worthing by Baron Adolphe de Meyer, September 1, 1920 (p. 61)

White by Edward Steichen, January 1, 1936 (p. 67)

Mademoiselle Koopman by George Hoyningen-Huene, September 15, 1933 (p. 69)

Mary Taylor by Cecil Beaton, May 15, 1935 (p. 73)

Lisa Fonssagrives by Horst P. Horst, August 1, 1938 (p. 76)

Decor by Horst P. Horst, March 15, 1938 (p. 77)

Corset by Horst P. Horst, September 15, 1939 (p. 78)

Coco Chanel by Horst P. Horst, February 15, 1954 (p. 79)

Cover by Horst P. Horst, September 15, 1940 (p. 89)

Loretta Young by John Rawlings (p. 111)

Twelve Beauties by Irving Penn, 1947 (pp. 116-117)

Cover by Horst P. Horst, May 15, 1941 (p. 131)

Cafe Society by Cecil Beaton, 1948 (pp. 136-137)

Concentration Camp by Lee Miller, June 1945 (p. 143)

Jean Pachett by Irving Penn, February 15, 1949 (p. 144)

Atelier of Pablo Picasso, November 1, 1956 (pp. 156-157)

Twiggy by Richard Avedon, July 1967 cover (p. 172)

Marisa Berenson by Berry Berenson, 1969 (p. 179)

Marisa Berenson by Irving Penn, April 1970 (pp. 186-187)

Lauren Hutton by Richard Avedon, January 1, 1969 (pp. 198-199)

Celebrity covers, 1965-1971 (p. 202)

Cheryl Tiegs and Rene Russo by Helmut Newton, 1974 (p. 215)

Cybill Shepherd by Helmut Newton, 1973 cover, (p. 216)

Kim Basinger by Irving Penn, September 1978 (p. 217)

Beverly Johnson by Albert Watson, October 1977 (pp. 218-219)

Charlotte Rampling by Helmut Newton, 1974 (p. 221)

Eveningwear by Arthur Elgort, 1978 (p. 222-223)

Lisa Taylor by Arthur Elgort, October 1976 (pp. 228-229)

The Right Moment by Arthur Elgort (p. 230)

Lisa Taylor by Helmut Newton, May 1975 (p. 233)

Winnie by Helmut Newton, 1976 (p. 234)

Daryl Hannah by Helmut Newton, 1984 (p. 235)

Bathhouse by Deborah Turbeville, May 1975 (pp. 236-237)

Satin and Leather by Peter Lindbergh, September 1991 (pp. 252-253)

Color and Opulence by Peter Lindbergh, October 1997 (pp. 254-255)

Tribute by Annie Leibovitz, November 1999 Cover (pp. 272-273)

Linda Evangelista by Steven Meisel, September 2001 (p. 274)

Shape by Annie Leibovitz and Patrick Demarchelier, April 2002 (p. 278)

Lisa Cant by Irving Penn, September 2005 (p. 283)

Cindy Crawford by Helmut Newton, December 1991 (p. 287)

Haute Couture by Irving Penn, December 1995 (p. 292-293)

Epic Proportions by Irving Penn, April 2004 (p. 297)

Swimsuits by Mario Testino, May 2000 (pp. 298-299)

Portrait of a Lady by Steven Meisel, March 1995 (p. 307)

Mad About You by Steven Meisel, October 2003 (p. 313)

Naomi Campbell by Herb Ritts, May 1996 (pp. 314-315)

Barbarian Chic by Arthur Elgort (p. 325)

Near Bora Bora by Patrick Demarchelier, December 2004 (p. 330)

Golden Girl by Annie Leibovitz, April 2006 (pp. 345-346)

Condoleeza Rice by Annie Leibovitz, December 2001 (pp. 358-359)

Kate Moss by Irving Penn, September 1996 (pp. 368-369)

Hillary Clinton by Annie Leibovitz, December 1998 (p. 372)

Nicole Kidman by various photographers, September 2003 (pp. 378-379)

Models and Supermodels by Steven Meisel, September 2004 (pp. 380-381)

Ben Stiller and Stella Tennant by Annie Leibovitz, October 2001 (pp. 388-389)

Mario Testino, April 2006 (pp. 392-393)

Take a close look!

Just OK........2007-06-28

I liked the information and photos about the early Vogue, and wish there was more of it. I was not so interested in the later stuff, as it seemed overly self-important. Instead of presenting fashion, the current Vogue seems to commision special clothes for its photo shoots. What's the point if you can't buy that? Plus the photos don't even show what the clothes look like. I have better books on fashion, but this really was about the history of the magazine, and as such it succeeds. I just don't happen to like the magazine as it never shows anything I'd want to wear.

Magnificient overview of an iconic magazine.......2007-06-22

Ten gets you one that when you ask someone to name a fashion magazine, the first answer you get will be, "Vogue". That's how much of an institution the magazine has become. While "Elle" and "Women's Wear Daily" might dispute the contention, "Vogue" seems to have become the periodical of record for worldwide haute couture. As such, as the authors note in their introduction, a basic history is past due. With a great deal of help from the Vogue staff itself - Anna Wintour, the magazine's longtime editor (and so prominent a figure in her own right that Meryl Streep's spoof of her in last year's movie "The Devil Wears Prada" was instantly recognizable), is prominent in the list of contributors - Angeletti and Oliva, magazine historians both, have assembled an informative text and a gorgeous array of imagery which effectively covers the century-plus history of Vogue, from the cover of the very first magazine to the latest photos of Nicole Kidman. The book is certainly a highly display-worthy item, as another reviewer has suggested, but more than that, it's meant to be leafed through and read. You can find it brand-new at a wide variety of prices, but even if all the Amazon Marketplace sellers were somehow sold out of their copies, it'd still be worth the list price!

A travel through time by book.......2007-05-14

The authors of In Vogue composed a diversified chronicle of the appearance and the development of Vogue from 1892 until today. The photographs chosen portray the history of fashion photography wonderfully, each of them either a ravishing new sight or a spectacular recognition. The structuring by Decade, introduction of publishers, contributing editors, photographers, etc interposed by special contributions and excerpts of resumes offers the reader a diverting journey trough publishing history in general and the publishing of fashion in particular.

InVogue: The Illustrated History of the World's most famous fashion magazine.......2007-03-28

great extensive fashion history on Vogue magazine: superb pictures, designers, models....

Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace (2nd Edition)

Average customer rating:

very clear
a gem
Better than Strunk & White, better than Turabian
How Style Ought to Be Taught
Truly great, smaller but updated version of his bigger book

Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace (2nd Edition)
Joseph M. Williams
Manufacturer: Longman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0321330854

Book Description

Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace reflects the wisdom and clear authorial voice of Williams best-selling book, Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace, while streamlining every chapter to create a very brief, yet powerfully direct guide to writing with style. The brevity and clarity of this book make it a quick and ideal read for freshman composition courses, as well as for writing courses across the disciplines. Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace covers the elemental principles of writing that will help students diagnose their prose quickly and revise it effectively. The ten lessons feature principles of effective prose written in William's hallmark conversational style, offering reason-based approaches, rather than hard and fast rules, for successful, effective writing.

Customer Reviews:

very clear.......2006-08-14

I am a non native speaker, and even though my grammar is not too bad, my writing style has always been a source of frustration. At work, when comparing the texts I would write with the one of good native writers, I could see that theirs were better, but could not find why.
I bought this book based on the high reviews it got on amazon, and I was not disappointed. After reading a few pages, I scanned the research proposal I was writing at the time, and could already make significant improvements on it. The advices that the author give are sometimes quite simple, especially at the beginning of the book (for example : the main character should be the subjects of the verbs, which themselves should correspond to the main action). But surprisingly, I realized that I was rarely applying these simple rules of clarity. The author is never dogmatic, and insists that the only thing that matters is that the reader easily understands what we're writing. All throughout the book, numerous examples illustrate the concepts just introduced so that it is quite easy to test whether one has really got the point.

a gem.......2006-07-21

I found an used copy of " The Basics of Clarity and Grace" at bookstore. After reading 3/4 of the book I ordered two more copies. One copy for my son who is a journalist major and the other for my eldest son who writes good comedy. I liked its size and its no nonesense approach.

Better than Strunk & White, better than Turabian.......2005-12-19

The longer version of Joseph Williams "Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace" has been justly praised for many years. But as a director of writing programs at NYU, Princeton, and Yale, I never felt right adopting that text: it was too expensive, and more than the average student needed. This "Basics" Style is the perfect solution. All the brilliance of the longer book at 1/3 the price, "Style" perfectly balances explanations of style rules with practical examples. The rules that Strunk and White encourage are good ones, and American prose would be leaner if their precepts were universal. The problem with that book is that the advice is not explained systematically. You can use their suggestions when you face similar cases, but only Williams' text breaks down topics like elegance, coherence, and cohesion in ways that will let you carry the ideas into every text you write. I would not recommend this book for the casual 10th grader; although it's clearly written, its ideas are somewhat advanced. But for professionals, college writers, and any teenager who takes writing seriously, "Style" is an indispensable tool, a book you'll use for the rest of your life. For learning to write good college papers, I also highly recommend his "Craft of Research."

How Style Ought to Be Taught.......2005-07-13

Teaching style is not an easy task. Just look at the number of books on the market that portend to do this task, and it becomes obvious that not all authors succeed in their efforts. Some manuals attempt to teach by rules, others by persuasion, and still others by example. This book takes all three approaches and illustrates that the art of stylistic writing is a matter of know-how. Unlike most books in the field, I find this one generally successful.

The book's method is heuristic. It begins with causes of bad writing, and progresses to clarity, cohesion, emphasis, coherence, concision, length, and elegance. Each principle is given a bad examples compared to a good one. Direct, subject-verb-object writing is extolled, and certain anathemas of other texts are approved under the right circumstances. While I disagree with one its principles: That it is acceptable to begin a sentence with "There" and "It," these are minor quibbles in an otherwise strongly argued case.

Strunk & White's "Elements of Style" now has a major competitor, and this book is it. Whether one writes in fiction or non-fiction, the principles and examples given throughout this book are to be commended. I know of one author, a philosopher, who took these principles to heart. What once was ambiguous and contorted writing is now lucid, clear, and vivid. If this book can make this kind of progress, I certainly recommend it to all writers.

While on the subject of good writing, I also recommend Corbett's "Classical Rhetoric" for those authors who want to write convincing arguments. One on style, the other on substance. While William's book on style will make prose more readable, Corbett's book will make it more intelligible.

Truly great, smaller but updated version of his bigger book.......2004-01-24

This smallish book summarizes and updates "Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace (7th Edition)." I rank both books at least a "5 out of 5" ranking. I bought the "Style: Ten Lessons" book first and after reading his previous book, I wanted more from this author. This new book is a fitting treat; it is destined to be a classic in the field of writing.

This smaller 150 page book presents many easy-to-apply principles and, for me, were easier to understand.

The principles that I liked most were:

+ How nominalizations can be very good or very bad, depending on their purpose, or lack of it.
+ How to re-arrange sentences putting the new and most important ideas on the end; thus sometimes flipping the sentence around and making good use of the passive tense.
+ The importance of aligning the characters of your story with the subjects of your sentences, and using active verbs to make "interesting subjects do interesting things."
+ Why and how to keep the distance between subject, verb and object short.

There are many, many other writing principles that you will find very useful. Although this book is written for someone with writing experience, a beginner will also find it MOST helpful.

I recommend any budding writer to buy both books. The bigger, older book has more discussion. But I found this smaller, newer book easier to read and understand. I'm now reading his Craft of Research book, and it looks like a winner too.

This is an author whose books you should collect. He has become a highly recommended expert in the field of writing. Look at the reviews of the bigger book to see what others are saying. I am so happy that I found his books.

Amazon.com

Brennan Manning wrote The Ragamuffin Gospel "for the bedraggled, beat-up, and burnt-out," the marginalized folks to whom Jesus ministered: the children, the ill, the tax collectors, the women. In other words, the ragamuffins. Manning understands better than most that behind our facades of order and self-assurance are inadequacies that can find healing only in Jesus. While the powerful and religious elite challenged him, Jesus embraced and healed and fed the needs of the ragamuffins. Jesus delivered love, healing, and, most of all, grace.

Grace is defined as "the freely given and unmerited favor and love of God." But, as Manning points out, we have "twisted the gospel of grace into religious bondage and distorted the image of God into an eternal, small-minded bookkeeper." In reality, God offers us grace immeasurable. Brennan Manning gently encourages us to embrace that grace in the face of our greatest needs. And Manning certainly knows whereof he speaks, having taken a journey from priesthood and academic achievement through a collapse into alcoholism. Manning came face to face with his need, finally abandoning himself to grace. And he invites us now to join him in a life of grace.

Manning is without doubt one of the most eloquent writers on the subject of grace because he openly shares his own pain and struggle to help readers deal with failure and inadequacy. And he sweetly challenges them to do the same. --Patricia Klein

Book Description

A Furious Love Is Hot on Your Trail!

Many believers feel stunted in their Christian growth. We beat ourselves up over our failures and, in the process, pull away from God because we subconsciously believe He tallies our defects and hangs His head in disappointment. In this newly repackaged edition—now with full appendix, study questions, and the author’s own epilogue, “Ragamuffin Ten Years Later,” Brennan Manning reminds us that nothing could be further from the truth. The Father beckons us to Himself with a “furious love” that burns brightly and constantly. Only when we truly embrace God’s grace can we bask in the joy of a gospel that enfolds the most needy of His flock—the “ragamuffins.”

Are you bedraggled, beat-up, burnt-out?

Most of us believe in God’s grace—in theory. But somehow we can’t seem to apply it in our daily lives. We continue to see Him as a small-minded bookkeeper, tallying our failures and successes on a score sheet.

Yet God gives us His grace, willingly, no matter what we’ve done. We come to Him as ragamuffins—dirty, bedraggled, and beat-up. And when we sit at His feet, He smiles upon us, the chosen objects of His “furious love.”

Brennan Manning ’s now-classic meditation on grace and what it takes to access it—simple honesty—has changed thousands of lives. Now with a Ragamuffin’s thirty-day spiritual journey guide, it will change yours, too.

Starburst:

Includes New 30-Day

Spiritual Journey Guide

****

“ Brennan Manning does a masterful job of blowing the dust off of shop-worn theology and allowing God’s grace to do what only God’s grace can do—amaze.”

Max Lucado

Bestselling author of The Gift for All People

“I found deep comfort in realizing that Jesus loves even me, a ragamuffin, just as I am.”

Michael Card

Musician, recording artist, and author of A Violent Grace

“This is a zestful and accurate portrayal that tells us unmistakably that the gospel is good, dazzlingly good.”

Eugene Peterson

Author of The Message

Story Behind the Book

The world assigns value to people using measurable standards. Someone is a successful student if she receives As. Someone is a strong athlete if he runs five miles a day. The Lord, however, knows nothing of standards. The Ragamuffin Gospel was inspired by Brennan Manning after he discovered firsthand what it means to live by grace instead of performance. His words bring new life and sweet refreshment to Christians who are tired of never measuring up.

Customer Reviews:

Amazing, Grace defined!.......2007-09-23

Manning simply and eloquently defines and describes the Amazing Grace of God's salavation that is available to all of humanity...

Amazing Grace.......2007-07-23

So often Christianity is viewed as judgmental and legalistic and the heart of Christianity is lost. Jesus was the friend of sinners and accepted and encouraged the downtrodden and those rejected by the religious elite. Manning so eloquently brings to life the meaning of Grace. He paints numerous word pictures to help illustrate what Grace really means.

Reading this book was like taking a fresh breath of air. I would recommend it to anyone, especially anyone struggling with believing that God truly loves them just as they are, in spite of all their terrible sins.

Always Good News.......2007-07-08

Brennan Manning does an excellent job of reaching out to those of us who feel we have so miserably failed to live up to our calling. He vividly demonstrates the good news once again that Jesus came to save sinners and reflects the incredible, unconditional love of his Father. For anyone who needs to hear the good news again, this is the book.

Re-Luthering.......2007-07-04

In the epilogue to Ragamuffin Gospel, "The Scandal of Grace," Manning informs the reader that one of his Roman Catholic critics told him that he "had out Luthered Luther." I don't know that you can "out-Luther" Luther --- but Manning is at least close here.

If you let it, this book will take you through a path that not many people go on. You'll go to Spiritual AA.

Manning, a recovering alcoholic himself, describes the faith life of a Christian as really only a recovering sinner ever could. He is upfront about his disease. He knows that he isn't God. He knows that He doesn't even deserve to sneeze in God's direction. He shows the most comfortable Christian that they are still a sinner even though they have a nice family and go to church every Sunday. He goes even farther. He makes sure that you know that if you're not actively involved in being empty, in being a ragamuffin, that you're not living the Christian life as it was intended to be lived.

In short, he tells you what a Ragamuffin is - it's a sinner-saint. It is someone who has no right, no claim, and no worth who is passionately and wildly embraced by a savior.

The book is a great choice for a devotional read. It will bring not only a new perspective on your current place before God, but it will show you that your ultimate place is with God, singing in the joy of His free grace.

It is a message of grace for anyone brave enough to consider themselves one of God's ragamuffins.

Loved it.......2007-06-30

I absolutely loved this book. It's true that he says a lot of controversial things, but it's very thought-provoking. It caused me to take a long hard look at my spirituality. For a long time I felt like I didn't measure up to God's expectations and I was constantly frustrated because I never felt like I was good enough. Now I know I'm not good enough -- and it's okay! I am loved anyway. :) Brennan Manning does a beautiful job illuminating God's love.

Unbinding the Gospel: Real Life Evangelism (Real Life Evangelism Series)

Average customer rating:

Unbinding The Gospels - easy to read
Useful Work
A helpful guide to Evangelism
Readable, practical, grounded in facts
Review from Congregations Magazine - Summer, 2007

Unbinding the Gospel: Real Life Evangelism (Real Life Evangelism Series)
Martha Grace Reese
Manufacturer: Chalice Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0827238045

Book Description

Unbinding the Gospel: Real Life Evangelism is a book for church groups to study. It's a book for pastors who want the truth about the state of our churches. It presents a clear-spoken, hopeful vision for a future of sharing our faith in Christ. It gives us a way to get there--without formulas, but hand-in-hand with God!

Easy to read, witty, thoughtful and genuinely spiritual, Unbinding the Gospel is based on a four-year research project on superb evangelism. Author, pastor, and lawyer Martha Grace Reese interviewed more than 1,000 people in some of the most successful evangelistic congregations in the country.

Grounded in thorough research, the book sparkles with practicality. It is enthusiastically endorsed by Brian McLaren, John Thomas, George Hunter, Todd Hunter, Sharon Watkins, Wes Granberg-Michaelson and Cliff Kirkpatrick. Richard Peace, professor of evangelism at Fuller Theological Seminary says, "This should be required reading in all mainline churches. Our continued existence may depend upon it!"

Customer Reviews:

Unbinding The Gospels - easy to read.......2007-09-17

Our Regional Office for Oregon (Christian Church-Disciples of Christ) recommended this book for Pastors, Elders and Congregational study for 2007-2008. It is simply an easy guide to the Gospels and well worth a read for anyone!

Useful Work.......2007-08-23

Unbinding the Gospel is a very useful book in a field overfull with relatively theoretical books. It is fact filled, starting with a base in a solid survey of growing churches. But it gets to real issues of parish ministry and outreach. The survey asked the right questions about how to engineer any kind of growth in a more main-line culture and theology, in which, specifically, it is NOT asumed that eternal damnation is at stake.

Ms. Reese and her associates designed a telling survey. They discovered that only a small percentage of churches "so conceived and so dedicated" have experienced significant growth. That is the bad news. But then they delved into the culture, leadership, spirituality and experience of those churches. Very good news here!

Conclusions? The book is designed primarily to be read with a group in a parish. The conclusions reached are best implemented in small goups. Simply stated, the growth of these more open churches was related in each case to a sincere spirituality. The experience of God is paramount, and crosses theological and cultural boundaries. While it may be too simplistic to say that where there is real prayer, churches will grow, it is a clear conclusion that where there is no prayer -- where there is no experience of a living God, churches will wither. And virtually each of the interviewed leaders, while diverse in ministry style and tradition, rooted their ministires in prayer and spirituality.

These are stories of churches doing the possible: of committing to six months of prayer before launching any outreach program, of reaching out to a small rural and demographically static community, of actually growing a congregation!

Very encouraging and helpful work.

A helpful guide to Evangelism .......2007-08-05

This book is especially helpful for those who have been life-long members of the church and who don't realize how different life is for those who have no relationship with God.

Readable, practical, grounded in facts.......2007-07-29

"One hundred years ago you would have had to search hard to find someone who didn't know the Christmas story. Today all we have to do is walk into the local high school."

This book is a very readable, practical, grounded-in-facts report of what Ms. Reese learned from a 4-year study of Evangelism in mainline American churches. This book looks at the realities and offers an analysis of what works and what falls short.

It's a very good book that I would recommend to anyone interested in where churches will be in America in just 20 or 30 years.

Review from Congregations Magazine - Summer, 2007.......2007-07-25

Unbinding the Gospel
REAL LIFE EVANGELISM
Martha Grace Reese
St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2006

"For the purpose of this book," writes Martha Grace Reese, "evangelism is anything you do to help another person move closer to a relationship with God, or into Christian community." With those freeing words, the Gospel already feels a little more unbound, and likely so will anyone who reads Unbinding the Gospel. Throughout this engaging book, the author relies on a combination of creativity, humor, straight talk, keen organization, and most importantly, the power of prayer to help us reframe what it means to be faithful disciples through evangelism. She reveals the heart of what it means to share good news with others.
Based on a four-year evangelism research project that included 150 churches and more than 1,000 interviews, the book is written in three parts. The first examines the state of evangelism in mainline churches today, the second provides examples of "great churches sharing their faith," and the third explores what Reese describes as "the possibilities God has in mind for you." Each part carries a helpful reminder of where one is in the "map" of the book, imparting Reese's clear sense of direction and purpose in writing the book in the first place.
Though an excellent and practical study book for an evangelism team, it would be a shame if this volume gets pigeonholed as one more book about technique. In the end, Reese helps us take a long, hard look at what it really means to be church--to be the living, breathing, effective body of Christ in the midst of a world so desperately in need of the kind of peace Christ gives.
The overall feeling one gets from reading Unbinding the Gospel is that of having a real heart to heart conversation with the author, one that is long overdue. Her delightfully conversational style is so punctuated with exclamation points that from time to time I had the feeling I was reading Mark's gospel. But her sense of urgency is well-founded, as she illustrates. Citing sobering statistics, such as the fact that "in 2000 there were only half as many mainline Protestants as there were 40 years before," Reese prepares us for a hard landing by putting the numerical losses in human terms. In the next decades, she says, millions more will join the ranks of those who have never attended a church. "They won't have memories of a Christian grandmother, father, or next-door neighbor. The thought of `going back to church' when they're in trouble will never occur to them, because they have never been inside a church building in the first place. For them, a church is an alien, possibly intimidating place--not a cradle of comfort and hope."
But if you think this is another shrill warning of the ecclesial sky falling, it's anything but. With a great deal of optimism, hope, and honesty, Reese helps us sort through the tangle of issues surrounding evangelism and distills one poignant question for us to ponder: What difference does it make in your own life that you are a Christian? Reese believes this is the pivotal question for those who follow the Risen Christ and is the foundation on which any evangelistic efforts must stand. For, if we don't know or can't articulate what is profound and transformational about Jesus in our own lives, how and, more crucially, why would we tell others?
Reese has written a deeply insightful book that isn't simply another set of pages to chew on and place on one's bookshelf with the afterthought, "Well, now, that was interesting." Instead, what one finds in Unbinding the Gospel is a spiritual workbook, a comprehensive manual for those wanting to begin or jump-start the intentional work of equipping people to tell the gospel news in word and in deed.
Evaluative criteria, practical measuring sticks, and provocative questions at the end of each chapter draw us deeper into the serious consideration of becoming bold witnesses. With clarity and sound theological grounding, we are invited into a grand adventure, one in which, Reese promises, the Spirit will be faithful.
Reese has called upon her parish ministry experience as well as her work as a lawyer, consultant, and coach to produce what very well could be a watershed book for mainline Protestantism. "The holy is encased in the pragmatic," she writes, regarding strategies for evangelism. It's not a bad description of her wonderful book, either. Readers will come away feeling nourished and inspired.

Rev. Rebecca Gummere
Grace Lutheran Church
Boone, North Carolina

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