Phil Gordon's Poker Box Set: Phil Gordon's Little Black Book, Phil Gordon's Little Green Book, Phil Gordon's Little Blue Book

Phil Gordon's Poker Box Set: Phil Gordon's Little Black Book, Phil Gordon's Little Green Book, Phil Gordon's Little Blue Book
Average customer rating:

Great Gift for Poker Lover

they look great, fun and easy to read

Good Easy Reading

Great poker books!

EXCELLENT

Phil Gordon's Poker Box Set: Phil Gordon's Little Black Book, Phil Gordon's Little Green Book, Phil Gordon's Little Blue Book
Phil Gordon
Manufacturer: Simon Spotlight Entertainment
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Card Games | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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No Limit Hold 'em: Theory and Practice

ASIN: 1416936424

Customer Reviews:

Great Gift for Poker Lover.......2007-09-20

I got this for my husband and he hasn't stopped reading it. He will only pause to tell me something he thinks I might want to hear. 8-) I'm not a poker person, but with all the Poker on TV that I've seen (because of my husband) and listening to him endlessly talk about it, I think if these books have kept his attention the way they have, they must be good.

I don't know if that helps you but knowing my hubby, anything that pulls him away from playing poker must be good.

they look great, fun and easy to read.......2007-09-18

As I said, this set looks great on my "poker books shelf" :) But aside that, it's a great read. Even the black book with many interesting details about poker. Green book is well written but my favorite is the blue book. It was so valuable to me to have a free ride threw profesional's poker mind. Highly recommend it.

Good Easy Reading.......2007-09-06

Have read 1st two books, and took a 3rd & 5th in tournments, can't wait to finish last book!!

Great poker books!.......2007-07-24

I have read 15-20 poker booksa and these are among the best I have read in a long time. Phil's dedication to the game and his committment to keep learning is well communicated in an easy to read style. It keeps you entertained and makes you feel ready to be more aggressive with a better understanding of what winning poker is about.

EXCELLENT.......2007-05-07

EXCELLENT trio of books for novice to expert. Phil does a great job of explaining as well as challanging you to think. your game will definately improve after this book. Put it together with Dan Harringtons 3 books and you can't find a better poker combo period. 2 contrasting style of players but overall the same message. Just a great trio of books.

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Average customer rating:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Pants on fire?
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
History: Fiction or Science? Astronomical methods as applied to chronology. Ptolemy's Almagest. Chronology III
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Before the Pharaohs: Egypt's Mysterious Prehistory
They Cast No Shadows: A Collection of Essays on the Illuminati, Revisionist History, and Suppressed Technologies

ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

The Message//Remix: The Bible in Contemporary Language Blue Black Edition

Average customer rating:

Exactly what I was looking for...
stylish
Very good bible!!!
The kids love it!
Beautiful little Bible

The Message//Remix: The Bible in Contemporary Language Blue Black Edition
Eugene H. Peterson
Manufacturer: Navpress Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Leather Bound

General | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1600060226

Customer Reviews:

Exactly what I was looking for..........2007-08-08

I have been using the Message version for about two years. It has really opened the scriptures up to me in new and fresh ways. To be able to read the Bible as it was intended to be read, in common conversational language, is a great blessing. My favorite para-phrase!
I love the size and style of this one. It easy to carry around and to work without looking like you are a bible-thumper carrying some huge black KJV Bible. The remix version is great as it gives more detailed verse number descriptions for when you want to refer to other versions and compare.
A great daily reader!!!

stylish.......2007-06-14

THIS IS NOT A GOOD BIBLE TO HAVE AS YOUR ONLY RESOURCE. I LIKE THE WORDING ON THE VERSES ABOUT GODS LOVE AND GRACE. BUT THE WORDING ABOUT GODS JUDGEMENTS ARE SEVEARLY DOWN PLAYED TO THE POINT WHERE YOU DONT GET AN ACCURATE VIEW OF GODS WORD. I RECOMMEND NASV, NIV, NKJ.

Very good bible!!!.......2007-05-26

It is a really nice bible for the price. It doesn't have religious look with gold pages. It also have life time warranty on its binding and cover by just mailing it back to company.

The kids love it!.......2007-05-07

I bought this bible as an extra because you can never have too many bibles. That sounds nuts, huh? Turns out a girl in our Youth Group didn't have a bible, and she loves it. The message is a great translation for kids to read the word of God and digest it.

Beautiful little Bible.......2007-05-05

The two-tone {blue/black}leather cover is beautiful. If one needs/wants a small sized Bible, this reflects a well thought out compromise.

The off-white paper is easy on the eyes, and seems to make the 'bleed-through' more tolerable.

The font size is small - but when coupled with the dark print and off-white paper, it's acceptable.

I do wish for thicker {or less transparent paper} - but I certainly have no buyer's regrets. I recommend it.

Average customer rating:

Running Scared... Running Out of Time
A better treatment would have been to present the batterer's interior experience as well
An okay book, but not brilliant
Not a satisfying read for such a sensitive subject
Not bad...

Black and Blue (Oprah's Book Club)
Anna Quindlen
Manufacturer: Delta
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Psychological & Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0385333137
Release Date: 2000-02-08

Amazon.com

Oprah Book Club® Selection, April 1998: "The first time my husband hit me I was nineteen years old," begins Fran Benedetto, the broken heroine of Anna Quindlen's Black and Blue. With one sweeping sentence, the door to an abused and tortured world is swung wide open and the psyche of a crushed and tattered self-image exposed. "Frannie, Frannie, Fran"--as Bobby Benedetto liked to call her before smashing her into kitchen appliances--was a young, energetic nursing student when she met her husband-to-be at a local Brooklyn bar. She was instantly captivated by his dark, brooding looks and magnetic personality, but her fascination soon solidified into a marital prison sentence of incessant abuse and the destruction of her own identity. After an especially horrific beating and rape, Fran realizes that the next attack could be the last. Fearing her son would be left alone with Bobby, she escapes one morning with her child. Fran's salvation comes in the form of Patty Bancroft and Co., a relocation agency for abused women that touts better service than the witness protection program. Armed only with a phone number, a few hundred dollars, and the help of several anonymous volunteers, Fran begins a new life. The agency relocates her to Florida, where she becomes Beth Crenshaw, a recently divorced home-care assistant from Delaware. Fran and her son adapt, meeting challenges with unexpected resilience and resolve until their past returns to haunt them. Quindlen renders the intricacies of spousal abuse with eerie accuracy, taking the reader deep within the realm of dysfunctional human ties. However, her vivid descriptions of abuse, emotional disintegration, and acute loneliness at times numb the reader with their realism.

Book Description

With daring and compassion, Anna Quindlen weaves a forceful, harrowing portrait of a woman and a marriage, capturing the profound intricacies of love and rage, passion and violence. At once heartbreaking and utterly riveting, BLACK AND BLUE is an extraordinary work of fiction and a brilliant achievement.

For eighteen years, Fran Benedetto kept her secret, hid her bruises, and stayed with Bobby because she wanted her son to have a father and because, in spite of everything, she loved him. Then one night, when she saw the look on her ten-year-old son's face, Fran finally made a choice--and ran for both their lives.

With the repackaging of BLACK AND BLUE and One True Thing, Anna Quindlen takes her place alongside Dell's Alice McDermott and Rosellen Brown bringing their beloved, acclaimed contemporary classics to a whole new audience of trade paperback readers in Delta editions.

Customer Reviews:

Running Scared... Running Out of Time.......2007-09-30

BLACK AND BLUE is a well written, perfectly paced story with characters a reader cannot help but fall in love with, and yes, hate. It is told from the point of view of Fran, a wife and a mother who struggles between the fine lines of love, loyalty, hatred, and fear. Abused and battered by her husband she struggles with how best to protect herself and most importantly to her, her child.

She finds herself on the run with her son, but always looking around her shoulder, knowing that for now, she may be one step ahead of her abusive husband, but constantly fearful that it cannot last, that he will find them if not today, then maybe tomorrow. And all the while as she finds herself constantly scanning the crowds around her, looking for that one familiar face that would have the power to doom her, she struggles with her son and his confusion over his new life without his beloved father.

A stunning tale that is sure to captivate you. A must read for everyone.

Thank you Anna for such a great read.

A better treatment would have been to present the batterer's interior experience as well.......2007-09-23

Spousal abuse is such a tough topic and this book is a sincere (I think) attempt to make the problem better known and better understood. The most realistic character in the book is the son, who loves both parents so much and lives in the shadow of their awful relationship. The victim's sister is also well drawn. But the victim herself, as narrator as well as protagonist, is still not fully sketched. And everything that happens to her in her new life is a bit too ideal. Then the batterer cop husband is really just a stereotype -- the nasty, hard drinkin', hard lovin' guy who treats his family as possessions. Someone else mentioned that it read like a Lifetime made-for-tv drama, and I would have to agree. That said, the topic is important enough that the book has likely done some good in reaching a broad audience and raising awareness of the issue. It just fails to explain it very well or to offer much insight on how to rectify the matter.

An okay book, but not brilliant.......2007-09-04

This book reflects the sad reality of one of the many plagues affecting this world: domestic abuse. Whilst fully sympathising with Frannie, the main character, and abhorring the psychological and physical tortures she went through by the hands of her husband Bobby -including the pain reflected by their son Robert, physically untouched but emotionally damaged- I found the construction of the narrative a bit boring. There's no nicer way to say it, I just didn't think this book was a page-turner.

The issue of domestic violence, however, is dealt with realistically and I believe that some parts of this book could be of help for the many ladies out there who suffer every day.

Not a satisfying read for such a sensitive subject .......2007-08-28

I thought that this book was well written on a compelling subject. I did think that Anna Quindlen dwelled on Frannie being an abused woman a bit too much. It seemed to me that I was reminded of this fact at just about every 20 pages or so. I wouldn't say it was truly satisfying reading experience. It wasn't a terrible book, but not a super read. Now, I think that her other novel "One True Thing" was a top-notched book and heads above this one. Sorry. I'm still a fan of Ms. Quindlen and I will continue to read all her books.

Not bad..........2007-08-11

It wasn't my favorite book of the year, but it was interesting enough to keep me up till 2:30 in the morning. A plus for me was definitely the characters. They were fleshed out enough to seem so real at times, I was afraid of Bobby Benedetto myself half the time. I liked how she took her time with the story, developing the character, and making Bobby seem more than the typical abuser and Fran more than the typical victim.

That being said, my two biggest issues were that there were some scenes that didn't need to be here. I'd finish one or two and ask myself what it had to do with the story. The other problem was that I could smell the ending a mile away. I won't give it away, but those who read it might know what I'm talking about.

Otherwise, it was a good novel. Not the best written in the world, but it was enough to keep me engaged. I'll look for other works by this author in the future.

Devil in a Blue Dress (Easy Rawlins Mysteries)

Average customer rating:

Not Free SF Reader
Wonderfully Atmospheric Writing
substantially overrated
good story
Distinctive Character

Devil in a Blue Dress (Easy Rawlins Mysteries)
Walter Mosley
Manufacturer: Washington Square Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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Little Scarlet

ASIN: 0743451791

Amazon.com

Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins has few illusions about the world--at least not about the world of a young black veteran in the late 1940s in Southern California. His stint in the Army didn't do anything to dissuade him from his belief that justice doesn't come cheap, especially for men like him. "I thought there might be some justice for a black man if he had money to grease it," Easy says. Fired from his job on the line at an aircraft plant, he's in danger of losing his home, symbol of his tenuous hold on middle class status. That's a good enough reason to accept a white man's offer to pay him for finding a beautiful, mysterious Frenchwoman named Daphne Monet, last seen in the company of a well-known gangster. Easy's search takes the reader to an L.A. few writers have shown us before--the mean streets of South Central, the after-hours joints in dirty basement clubs, the cheap hotels and furnished rooms, the places people go when they don't want to be found. Evocative of a past time, and told in a style that's reminiscent of Hammet and Chandler, yet uniquely his own, Mosley's depiction of an inherently decent man in a violent world of intrigue and corruption rang up big sales when it was published in 1990 (although the movie version, with Denzel Washington as Easy, never found the audience it deserved). The minor characters are deftly and brilliantly developed, especially Mouse, who saves Easy's life even as he draws him deeper into the mystery of Daphne Monet. Like many of Mosley's characters, Mouse makes a return appearance in the succeeding Easy Rawlins mysteries, such as A Red Death, Black Betty, and White Butterfly, every one of which is as good as Devil in a Blue Dress, his first. --Jane Adams

Book Description

Los Angeles, 1948: Easy Rawlins is a black war veteran just fired from his job at a defense plant. Easy is drinking in a friend's bar, wondering how he'll meet his mortgage, when a white man in a linen suit walks in, offering good money if Easy will simply locate Miss Daphne Money, a blonde beauty known to frequent black jazz clubs....

Customer Reviews:

Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-04

Easy Rawlins is an ex-military man looking to get by after the war. He loses his job, and is looking to do something else to pay the bills. He falls into a private investigator type of job, being asked to track down a white woman that likes to hang out in black clubs.

It is all not quite as simple as that of course. Time for some music, violence, and the other usual bits and pieces.

Wonderfully Atmospheric Writing.......2007-06-01

DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS is the first in Walter Mosley's "Easy Rawlins" mysteries, featuring a black private detective in 1940s Los Angeles.

I enjoyed this novel quite a bit. DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS is incredibly well written for a first novel, and features some of the best dialogue I've ever read in a book of this type. Mosley does a great job of portraying the atmosphere of the 1940s, and how the races related to one another during that time period. In many ways, this is what great fiction is about -- transporting the reader to a completely different time and place. Mosley succeeds admirably in doing exactly this.

Unfortunately, Mosley stumbles a bit with his incredibly convoluted plot. DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS is a relatively short novel, but it's overstuffed with a series of minor characters who all have complex interrelationships with one another. Toward the end, when Mosley begins explaining these relationships, the plot gets incredibly confusing. As a result, I felt the ending lacked punch.

Still, this book is superb in many ways. I was enormously impressed with Mosley's skill with language, characterization and dialogue. I will definitely be purchasing some of his other books.

substantially overrated.......2007-03-11

'Devil in a Blue Dress' has a oodles of atmosphere and quirky characters but the plot is so convoluted that this reader was bored with it all half way through. Kudos to the author for capturing the feel of 1940s Los Angeles. But I think he went a bit haywire in trying to stitch together a story with too many odd characters and mini plot twists,

Bottom line: rather disappointing after a promising start. 'Devil in a Blue Dress' does not inspire me to read anything else by this author.

good story.......2006-11-10

Not sure why but I wasn't as taken with this novel as I have been with the other of his books. Don't get me wrong, this was a good book but it's wasn't up to his usual standards.

Distinctive Character.......2006-09-16

I read Devil in a Blue Dress in one sitting. Obviously, writer Jonathan Kellerman did too, because he later wrote, "I read Devil in a Blue Dress in one sitting and didn't want it to end. An astonishing first novel." Fortunately for Mosley fans, there are more Easy Rawlins mysteries. Devil in a Blue Dress remains my favorite. It's set in 1948 in Los Angeles. Easy Rawlins is a war veteran just fired from his job at a defense plant. (This is the role Denzel Washington plays in the movie.) Devil is much more than a hard-boiled mystery. The book left me wanting to read more about Easy Rawlins whereas many of the Hammett/Chandler/Cain novels are so formulaic that I have trouble remembering which ones I've read. Not a problem with Devil in a Blue Dress.

Average customer rating:

A SOULFUL STORY HUMMING WITH BLUES, ROOTS & LOVE
Magic with every passing word
This is a wonderful book!
Flowers Reigns *****

Another Good Loving Blues
Arthur Flowers
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

De Mojo Blues

ASIN: 0670848212

Book Description

"A charming, provocative novel in which Mr. Flowers seamlessly blends the rich rythms of the blues and a Deep South patois in a lyrical, literate style."
- THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
It's Beale Street in Memphis in the age when jazz was spelled "jass" and ragtime was just a glint in Scott Joplin's eye. Lucas Bodeen is the bluesman, and Melvira Dupree is the conjure woman he loves. But pitted against them are all the forces of nature, the clashing of their own stubborn wills, and a society mired in the laws of Jim Crow and the mob. Combining the ancient African storytelling art of the griot with the American offshoots of blues and hoodoo, Arthur Flowers sings us a story that makes us smile - a story of life, and how love and happiness really happen.

Customer Reviews:

A SOULFUL STORY HUMMING WITH BLUES, ROOTS & LOVE.......2002-10-22

Talk about how (as a character suggests in the movie "Hurricane") "sometimes a book chooses you"... Was it quirky intuition or some funky higher power that moved me when, as I was about to leave the library, a sudden urge made me turn around and, overlooking all the other fictions on the shelves, with unknown purpose shuffle aside the books in a bin until my hand lit on this one. Had never heard of the author or the book (although the title was appealing), but something inside of me whispered "Read this!"

Whatever the spell, subconscious or spooky, I'm glad I did. This was a book that started out good and only got better; read it practically overnight. In the end, it was Arthur Flowers' vibrant storytelling, so warm and alive with understanding of human frailty and fullness of spirit--like a downhome, latter-day incarnation of the oldtime poet who said, "I am human, therefore nothing human is alien to me"--that spoke to me, made me smile and ache and glow.

"I am hoodoo, I am griot, I am a man of power," he trumpets at the opening in a verbal fanfare, a narrative device echoing and acknowledging ancient oral tradition; there is power in the word and magic in the story. "My story is a true story, my words are true words, my lie is a true lie--a fine old delta tale about a mad blues piano player and a Arkansas conjure woman on a hoodoo mission.... Plan to show you how they found the good thing. True love. That once-in-a-lifetime love.... because when you find true love my friend its strictly do or die."

Set in the Mississippi River delta country in and around Memphis, Tennessee, at the dawn of the Jazz Age, ANOTHER GOOD LOVING BLUES tracks the sweet & sour course of the relationship between bluesman Luke Bodeen--peacock proud, stylish and sure--and alluring, stiff-necked hoodoo woman Melvira Dupree, who's haunted by her past and future. Yet other rivers run through it: memories of arcane gods and religious rites variously practiced by descendants of African slaves throughout the Americas; the trickle, then stream, of Southern blacks fleeing impoverished indenture in the fields for the promise of Northern urban opportunity post-World War I. Race-conscious workingclass intellectuals gather with college-trained professionals to debate Garvey vs. Dubois, the church vs. traditional African religion. The periodic floods of "The Great Muddy," the mighty Mississippi itself, become legend in song and story.

It's territory that Zora Neale Hurston (who makes a "guest appearance," as does W. C. Handy) plumbed and celebrated, and more recently Ishmael Reed: the nexus of history and folklore, literal and visceral, sanctified and streetwise.

But, aah, the core of the story, that man-woman thing! Heart of the blues. "You don't know what love is until you know the meaning of the blues," goes the famous song. Flowers, a veteran bluesman himself, is especially deft, and searingly compassionate, showing "how to go down like a natural man" after Luke breaks off with Melvira:

"Lucas Bodeen let the music say all the things he wanted to say to her. O baby, I love you so. I don't understand why or nothing, I just love you. Lucas Bodeen played his heart out, another man hurting cause my baby's gone and o the loving sure was good blues.

"O God baby, how could you really leave me?

"Tears.

"...After awhile the music start getting good to him, and ol Bodeen, he forgot all about how bad he felt. Got into the music, made that piano stand up and do tricks. No matter how much trouble you got in mind, the blues tend to remind you that the sun is going to shine in your back door someday. For all the pain it cost him, he had to say he was glad she had come into his life. Don't do for a man to live and die without having known at least one great love in his life. He would have hated to have died without having ever felt like she made him feel."

Flowers, besides his talent, experience and skill, obviously has considerable affection for all his characters; all the people of this book live and breathe. What's more, he tells a plethora of stories and all of them involve you. And his triumphant narrative voice is the finest, most lyrical and comprehensible use of Southern black vernacular I've ever read. I love this book: It's a work of enormous heart, healing and redemption. Told plain and simple, touching and to the point. ("Literature and hoodoo," says one character, "both are tools for shaping the soul." "Spiritwork," says another. "Sacred literature... Rootwork.") Let this nexus of love, blues and hoodoo work its magic on you.

Magic with every passing word.......2001-08-17

I read this book a couple of years ago... It was not a book I normally would have read, but I picked it up and was quickly drawn into it. The voice of the narrator is very powerful and persuasive, convincing you that the characters are real--the emotions behind each of the words certainly are! The story is very believable. It seems simple, but it is more. You can actually hear someone telling you this story and it almost doesn't feel as if you're reading. In the end, you definitely feel a deep appreciation towards the writer and his gift.

This is a wonderful book!.......1999-10-09

Need something to cozy up to and sweep you away on a mighty good time? Get this book. The writing is lush, beautiful, yet concise. It's a good read. Thank you Mr. Flowers! And keep on writing. I, for one, want more.

Flowers Reigns *****.......1999-05-25

Arthur Flowers has created the most beautiful love story to come out in years.I was drawn into the world of Melvira, Luke, and the Delta's conjure women. I gained a deeper appreciation for the blues, (that I could hear gliding across the pages)as I savored the flavor of this magnificent work.

Black Cherry Blues: A Dave Robicheaux Novel

Average customer rating:

Decent reading
The South, Love it or leave it!
Cajun in Big Sky Country
Excellent Robicheaux Mystery!!!!
Robicheauax travels west

Black Cherry Blues: A Dave Robicheaux Novel
James Lee Burke
Manufacturer: Avon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Hard-Boiled | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
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ASIN: 0380712040

Amazon.com

In this winner of the 1990 Edgar Award for best mystery novel, Dave Robicheaux, a former New Orleans policeman, is pursued by a psychopath and flees his home on the Bayou Teche, in the heart of Louisiana, to find a new life in Montana. After settling near the Blackfoot River Canyon, Robicheaux finds himself smack dab in the middle of an illegal Mafia takeover of Indian lands. As he struggles to expose the truth, he must face some hard facts about himself, especially after the appearance of an old Cajun friend, Dixie Lee Pughe.

Book Description

Ex-cop Dave Robicheaux: His wife had been murdered ... Now they're after his little girl...

From the Louisiana bayou to Montana's tribal lands,he's running front the bottle, a homicide rap, aprofessional killer ... and the demons of his past.

Customer Reviews:

Decent reading.......2007-06-17

My first book by this author, and definitely not the last. There is quite decent plot in it, even though sometimes one asks oneself, is the main character masochist or what? Some outcomes are predictable, but generally a good mystery book. I also like the description of Montana.

The South, Love it or leave it!.......2006-11-10

James Lee Burke has a way with words that captivate you from the first sentence. The first page of this book will have your heart racing towards the end! Will Patton has to be from Louisiana.He has a natural southern draw I have been hearing all my life. Very good Book!!

Cajun in Big Sky Country.......2006-06-24

This is the most intricate story in the series so far. Once again a friend of Dave's comes into his life and makes a disaster of it. Once a well known rock 'n hilbilly blues player, Dixie Lee, has fell on hard times. He had to leave the business and is now buying oil drilling leases in Montana, for the same company that Dave's father worked for when he was killed on an exploding oil rig.

Dave is implicated in a murder, which of course he didn't committ, and has to head up to Montana to find the one man who can prove his innocence (the real murderer). So he packs up Alafair (after a strange interlude where he takes her to Texas and buys her a horse) and they head up to Big Sky country. When he gets up there he finds that he old New Orleans PD partner, Cletus is working for a 'made-man' named Sal 'The Duck'.

Quick summary: Dave doesn't get along with Sal, Sal puts a contract out on Dave, Dave beats him up, Contract killer tries to kill Dave, Cletus saves Dave and kills contact killer, Dave finds killer from Louisiana, proves he killed two indians, bad guy goes to jail, Dave cleared in LA, Dave and Alafair go back to LA. It's actually very well done.

An aside: it seems that every woman who hangs around with Dave is asking to be raped and murdered, except for Alafair's teacher, who is smart enough not to have sex with him (and we all know that virgins are never killed by the murdering crazies).

Looking foreward to the next installment.

Excellent Robicheaux Mystery!!!!.......2006-02-28

Dave Robicheauxis one Cajun who subscribes to the philosophy: "hit first, before they hit you." When Dave's old college roommate, Dixie Lee, comes into town, he asks Dave to look into the possibility that his coworkers may have killed two guys in Montana. Robicheaux gets pulled back to his old ways, and sure enough, he gets letters that threaten Alafair's life. So Dave beats the crap out of them, only to find out that he's now being charged with murdering one of them. He follows the clues to Montana, where he hopes to solve the crime before he goes to jail. There he gets involved with the mob, an illegal land scheme, two missing Native Americans, his old partner, Clete Purcel, and a beautiful Native American named Darlene. The plot is much better than the two previous novels. I enjoyed the ending and Burke's exceptional writing. This one deserved to win the Edgar Award!

Robicheauax travels west.......2006-01-18

With 7 or 8 (New Orleans settings) JLB novels under my belt I feel that I can speak with some expertise.
Burke has a very interesting lead with Dave Robicheauax. An on again-off again policeman who seems to have a very good sense of police work and bringing justice to the bad guys, he has a lot of help from his green eyed friend Cletus (most of his characters have green eyes !!) and with a touch of vodoo here and there. He really needs a glossary in the back to interpret the police/prison/cajun/black phrases and words he uses.
His discriptions of the South Lousiana area are without equal. In this one he goes to Montana which is the setting for another series of his novels.

In a Shade of Blue: Pragmatism and the Politics of Black America

Average customer rating:

Pragamtism is useful for African Americans
"Know it, but go on out the yard. Go on."

In a Shade of Blue: Pragmatism and the Politics of Black America
Eddie S. Glaude
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

African American | Other Practices | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0226298248

Book Description

In this timely book, Eddie S. Glaude Jr., one of our nation’s rising young African American intellectuals, makes an impassioned plea for black America to address its social problems by recourse to experience and with an eye set on the promise and potential of the future, rather than the fixed ideas and categories of the past. Central to Glaude’s mission is a rehabilitation of philosopher John Dewey, whose ideas, he argues, can be fruitfully applied to a renewal of African American politics.

According to Glaude, Dewey’s pragmatism, when attentive to the darker dimensions of life—or what we often speak of as the blues—can address many of the conceptual problems that plague contemporary African American discourse. How blacks think about themselves, how they imagine their own history, and how they conceive of their own actions can be rendered in ways that escape bad ways of thinking that assume a tendentious political unity among African Americans simply because they are black, or that short-circuit imaginative responses to problems confronting actual black people. Drawing deeply on black religious thought and literature, In a Shade of Blue seeks to dislodge such crude and simplistic thinking, and replace it with a deeper understanding of and appreciation for black life in all its variety and intricacy. Only when black political leaders acknowledge such complexity, Glaude argues, can the real-life sufferings of many African Americans be remedied.

Heady, inspirational, and brimming with practical wisdom, In a Shade of Blue is a remarkable work of political commentary on a scale rarely seen today. To follow its trajectory is to learn how African Americans arrived at this critical moment in their history and to envision where they might head in the twenty-first century.

Customer Reviews:

Pragamtism is useful for African Americans.......2007-06-27

The need for political options is huge. The use of an American Philosophical idea to solve some America's problems sounds like a very important and possible solutions. African Americans using our experience to shape are our future is not new but the course of pragamtism may be a help example of how we are to do that. I truely enjoyed the meaningful references to African American life and cultural. Glaude's use of the researched and relevant African American scholars help shape the arugment. His concern for our quality of life and the passion for us to work toward positive meaningful change in the troubled time is something to admire and be grateful when you come across it in book or hearing his interviews.

"Know it, but go on out the yard. Go on.".......2007-05-03

"Know it, but go on out the yard. Go on." --Baby Suggs, in Toni Morrison's Beloved

Glaude synthesizes his reading of John Dewey's version of pragmatism, U.S. Black history, U.S. Black religious thought, U.S. Black political thought, and the literature of genius U.S. Black writers, such as James Baldwin and Toni Morrison, in order to provide us with a new philosophical framework that should help guide our 21st Century political thought, political organization, and political action. He warns against popular oversimplified silver-bullet political thinking that assumes ideological, social, or cultural homogeneity among U.S. Blacks and that assumes the world is simpler than it actually is. He encourages us to be brave and wise politically, by facing the complexity and ambiguity of our challenges, while using all our intellectual resources and experiences.

In my opinion, this work is Glaude's strongest to date. Indeed, I rank it as the strongest work of Black-focused social and political philosophy in this early 21st Century. After the first chapter, in which Glaude displays substantial erudition and synthesizes several esoteric concepts, the work becomes more accessible to people who have not studied philosophy or Black literature. Invest in this book, and have a conversation with Glaude. You will profit from his practical wisdom.

Average customer rating:

Good Book
Brian C
An insight and education you won't find in any school
Only God Can Judge..
Lets get a few things straight....

Blue Rage, Black Redemption: A Memoir
Stanley Tookie Williams
Manufacturer: Damamli Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0975358405

Customer Reviews:

Good Book.......2006-12-09

tookie lets you know a lot in this book on how it all got started. i always wondered how in LA it was many gangs but mostly bloods and crips. this book lets you know about the crips. but, then you can pretty much figure things out with the bloods. this is a good book to read to me. he started it him and some other guys. then new comers take it to another level. usually how it always go.

Brian C.......2006-06-04

The other reviews are correct in that you have to read this book with an open mind. It appears all the reviews for this book were written by followers and friends of Tookie. Like I said, you have to really keep an open mind when reading it, knowing that it was written by a murderer who claims redemption but doesn't admit to his crime. Even the things he does admit, and profit from, lilke forming the Crips, he never fully achieves redemption. If so, then he would have cooperated with law enforcement to help dismantle the very gangs he preaches to children about not joining. He has not even so much as given up any other gang-bangers that he witnessed committing crimes. Its clear to see where his loyalties still lie. If I had to do it again, I would borrow the book to read so I wouldn't have to spend my money on it.

An insight and education you won't find in any school.......2006-02-26

This book is seperated into two sections. The first half being, Blue Rage and the second, Black redemption. Their's different titled chapters compiled into each section. The first half of the book is about Stan's life from being a child in Lousiana until he gets arrested in South Central Los Angeles in 1979 for the four murders he was convicted of commiting. The second half is about his educational and spiritual transition in prison along with certain events and situations.

Stanley's views are extremly intresting and worth thinking about with an open mind. Things like his views about what "dys-education" is, religeon, brotherhood, spirituality, drugs, cultural education and it's importance.

His thoughts about his friend's Buddah, Evil and Treach are sad, and even uplifting at times. His educational studies on death row with Treach and Evil along with his exercising disiplines are very thought provoking also.

We outside of prison seem to be getting a school-based education for the sake of financial success. Stan can't do that. His transition is based on studies we need to perform here in our daily lives along with our children.

This book is not your typical urban-entertainment about being a gangster or a rap song compiled into book-form. This is a very articulated insight into the cycle of poverty, racism, violence, redemption, edification, transition and enlightenment.

A must read for everyone.

Rest in peace Stan. I miss you.

Only God Can Judge.........2006-02-10

If you read this book with an open mind, you would learn that the Crips gang started out as just uniting other gangs around South Central. Stan was a mischivous little boy who I believe had potiental to do great things if only he was given the opprutunity. He says that living in South Central you had to have the mentality of "Survial of the fittest". And that's where the fights with other males really began, I believe. Much of the information about his case is left out but there are clues that connect someone else to the crimes. Hint: The people who let him keep his weights at their house after not having a permenant place to stay. Right before his grandmother died she said she had a feeling that Stan needed to get outta LA because something bad was going to happen.
I'm going to stop there and hopefully this information has interested you enough to read this wonderful book that will hopefully open your eyes to a positive light.

Lets get a few things straight...........2005-12-19

Many people have a tendency to speak about things that they have no prior info about the subject. I see that is the case here. here are the facts.

-For over 25 years, even to is death, Tookie denies killing those 4 people.

-Tookie has apologiezed for creating the crips.

-He has tried to undo what he helped create by writing books.

[Why he should have been saved]

Tookie didn't want clemecy because he thought it was a better punishment for him. He wanted it so he couls continue his work. I am a "At-Risk" teenager, and I personally would listen to the creator of the crips about gangs, rather than listen to some white guy in a tie. Even if he did do the crimes that he was charged with, who are we to say he deserves to die? Last time I checked, someone named God makes those decisions.

Reconciliation Blues: A Black Evangelical's Inside View of White Christianity

Average customer rating:

Priceless and Powerful
A Helpful Perspective
Very Good, but not quite a Homerun
Challenging Book
Excellent Work

Reconciliation Blues: A Black Evangelical's Inside View of White Christianity
Edward Gilbreath
Manufacturer: IVP Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Discrimination & Racism | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0830833676

Book Description

In Reconciliation Blues journalist Edward Gilbreath gives an insightful, honest picture of both the history and the present state of racial reconciliation in evangelical churches. He looks at a wide range of figures, such as Howard O. Jones, Tom Skinner, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Jesse Jackson and John Perkins. Charting progress as well as setbacks, his words offer encouragement for black evangelicals feeling alone, clarity for white evangelicals who want to understand more deeply, and fresh vision for all who want to move forward toward Christ's prayer "that all of them may be one."

Market/Audience

African Americans
Multiethnic churches, ministries and networks
People involved in racial reconciliation

Endorsements

"Edward Gilbreath is one of the nation's foremost journalists on Christianity and race. Reconciliation Blues is a spellbinding first-person look into his world as he has navigated white evangelicalism. In the process, we are provided with both a powerful teaching tool and an eye-opening journey into what is white about American Christianity." Michael O. Emerson, Cline Professor of Sociology and founding director of the Center on Race, Religion, and Urban Life, Rice University

"Edward Gilbreath is a gentle prophet. He forces us to take another look at an issue that many wish would go away, but he does so in a way that encourages us to live up to what we believe. This book both prods us to racial reconciliation and models how to get there." Philip Yancey, author of Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?

Features and Benefits

Offers insights from the author's interviews with leading black evangelicals.
Engaging narrative style.
Offers historical insights.

Customer Reviews:

Priceless and Powerful.......2007-07-09

Edward Gilbreath, in the spirit of David Anderson, has written a powerful and priceless book on reconciliation in Evangelical circles--or the sad, disappointing lack thereof. Writing with openness and candor, Gilbreath shares his own experiences in Evangelicalism and the process and progress of his journey. He then narrates the wider Evangelical scene historically and today, especially in para-church and church life. His book combines hope and realism, human action and trust in God's direction. The practical examples of churches that do it and barriers that hinder reconciliation are worth the price of the book.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction, Soul Physicians, and Spiritual Friends.

A Helpful Perspective.......2007-06-19

I often wonder if my Canadian perspective keeps me from really understanding race relationships as they exist in the United States. Things are different here. I live in a city where over half of the population was born outside of this nation. A trip to any public location (or even a walk around the average neighborhood) will show an incredible variety of races and backgrounds and this seems to have been Canada's historical pattern. To be Canadian is to be diverse. Canada never embraced slavery and never had shockingly unjust Jim Crow laws to overcome. We had no Martin Luther King Jr. and, in a sense, never had as great a need for one. Racism was never systematized here as it was just a few miles south. So when I read about racial issues I read about something that comes from outside of the context I know best.

Reconciliation Blues is, according to the subtitle, "A Black Evangelicl's Inside View of White Christianity." The author, Edward Gilbreath, editor at large for Christianity Today, has written this book to give a glimpse of what it means to be both black and evangelical. "My hope," he writes, "is that this inside perspective on what I regrettably call 'white Christianity' can help both blacks and whites get a better sense of the condition of our racial reconciliation and the distance we need to travel to make it something more authentic and true."

This book weaves together several elements: Gilbreath's memoir, particularly as it pertains to his race, biographies of prominent black reconcilers such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Jesse Jackson, philosophical musings on what reconciliation means to the church and whether it is even still necessary, and discussions of elements as diverse as music, politics, and the "whiteness" of evangelical institutions. It is, in a sense, a series of essays in which the author wrestles with the desire to embrace both his race and his evangelical beliefs. It is a book that celebrates the successes that have come, but laments the fact that much work remains.

And that, in essence, is what this book is about--the loneliness of being "the only black," and the frustration of being expected to represent your race but still being stifled when you try, the hidden pain of being invited to the table but shut out from meaningful decisions about that table's future. These "reconciliation blues" are about the despair of knowing that it's still business as usual, even in the friendly context of Christian fellowship and ministry.

I found Reconciliation Blues most valuable as a perspective on the experience of one man as he comes to terms with both his race and his religion--what it is like to be a black evangelical in the church today and to want to embrace both of those aspects of his identity. It surprises me to hear that this is more difficult than it may appear. The book gave me much to think about, and especially how about I, as a white Christian, may well not even realize how much my "whiteness" affects my faith. It is interesting food for thought to consider how much of the white evangelical experience is a product of being white and how much is directly biblical. Take this quote, for example:

The first thing I learned in Sunday school was that black is the color of our hearts without Jesus, red is the color of Jesus' redeeming blood, and white is the color of our cleansed hearts after we accept Jesus as our "Lord and Savior." There were even visual aids, construction paper cut-outs, that demonstrated the red blood washing away the black sin to reveal a brand-new white heart.

Have we ever considered the potential ramifications of portraying black as evil and white as pure and good? Is this portrayal a cultural preference or divine fiat? Is there a better or more sensitive way of expressing good theology but in using word pictures that do not offend as this one might? And if the evangelical outworking of the Christian faith really is to at least some extent a product of our "whiteness," what do we stand to gain by embracing more diversity?

The book can be provocative at times. For example, speaking of Jesse Jackson (and man who, according to Gilbreath, captures both the good and bad aspects of racial reconciliation in America) he writes, "In general, the African American Christian community has been more forgiving of its fallen members. Though few whites will admit it aloud, this is one of the things that sustains the fissures between black and white believers--the impression that blacks are lax morally, that they too easily excuse sin or fail to take responsibility for their behavior." This is more food for thought, an example of where white Christians may harbor subtle beliefs that influence the way they think of their black brothers and sisters in Christ.

Reconciliation Blues is a book that deals more with questions than answers, more with describing the current state than providing concrete suggestions for the way forward. Gilbreath is clear in stating that he believes racial reconciliation needs to remain a priority for the church. I trust that this book will at least cause people to think and to consider how they may have, however inadvertently, contributed to the problem and how they can now work towards a solution.

Very Good, but not quite a Homerun.......2007-05-31

It is hard for the reader not to appreciate Gilbreath's burden in this book, and to feel an urge to adopt the ministry of reconciliation in their own sphere of Christian influence. The fact that Gilbreath achieves this goal makes the book worthy of purchase and serious reflection. But I have one major regret about the book that forces me to give it a 4 star rating instead of 5 stars.

Gilbreath is at his most effective when citing real life examples of how racial sensitivities are too often neglected or minimized, and too little change and progress becomes the accepted standard operating procedure within evangelicalism. The hurt, disappointment, and disillusionment that Gilbreath regularly illustrates is real and authentic. As a Caucasian evangelical who thinks racial diversity is an absolutely essential ingredient in all of us becoming more faithful followers of Christ, I lament the kind of barriers and stiffness that provoke the frustration we read about in this book. Like Gilbreath, I can see intellectually the reasons why evangelical institutions too often resist broad-based change and openness on matters that touch on race. But like Gilbreath, I also found myself reflexively saying, 'Stop making excuses and live out the reconciliation mandate! If people get ticked off in the process and funds start to get scarce, that's unfortunate. But there are more important things to worry about, like the condition of the Church." What this book clearly shows is that it's very dangerous and often unrealistic to embrace the ministry of reconciliation thinking it will be easy. To the contrary, the work of reconciliation is heavy lifting, and as Gilbreath shows, many of the best workers who have been at this ministry for years often get weary from it. It's difficult work even on the good days. Gilbreath brings this reality home in ways that are instructive and sobering, while also being appropriately encouraging.

I was very happy to see Gilbreath devote a chapter to Tom Skinner. Skinner's work with the HEA was breathtaking not only in its immediate impact, but also in the generation of prominent reconciliation leaders that followed Skinner and were heavily influenced by him. By focusing on Skinner, Gilbreath, perhaps unknowingly, drives home the reality that many seminaries are Eurocentric in their focus. Very few seminary courses in evangelism and parachurch ministry ever make any mention of Tom Skinner, and this is a profound oversight. It is unnerving to contemplate how a titanic figure in African American evangelicalism in our own time is someone most white evangelicals have never heard of. If anyone needed an object lesson on how our blindspots impact the way we think about the power of faith to bring cohesion to the body of believers, one need look no further than this disconnect. Such disconnects are entirely too common, and even worse, most of us are completely unaware that such disconnects even exist, not to mention how prevalent they are. It's scary to think how much of the surface hasn't yet been scratched, much less explored in-depth.

But as much as I liked the book, I can't quite give it 5 stars for one main reason that might admittedly be a selfish reason. Most of Gilbreath's emphasis in discussing the difficulties of race in evangelicalism focus on the parachurch level, rather than the state of things on the ground in the churches themselves. Churches are not ignored in the book, as chapters 11 and 12 can attest. But at least to me, if someone is looking for some sage and concrete suggestions for how to cultivate reconciliation in the local church, Gilbreath comes up a bit short here. I am of the view that as a rule, churches have no idea how inhospitable they are being to folks who don't 'fit the profile' of their average congregant, even though their church doors are wide open. Many churches are not opposed to racial diversity in the pews, and many endorse the idea in principle. But too often, churches are not intentional about tangibly living out the principle, and often it's because they're not sure how. Gilbreath's book does not tackle this dilemma consistently, and certainly not comprehensively. More than once, Gilbreath tells us that multiracial evangelical churches are on the rise, and he cites this as an example of progress on the reconciliation front. But for some reason, Gilbreath spends relatively little time exploring exactly what these churches are doing to enact their vision of diversity and to create a hospitable environment where folks of varying ethnicities are getting fed spiritually. Chapter 11 offers us one example of one church's approach to worship, but the whole topic deserves a much more extensive treatment than the reader will find here. In the end, I felt like the book was a lot like an almost-great sermon that gives the reader a lot of good information and a great perspective, but doesn't advise the reader on how to apply this great knowledge to their local church situation. It could be argued that it's not Gilbreath's job to hold our hands so pedagogically. But if the ministry of reconciliation is as daunting yet vital a mission as this book rightly contends, it is a disservice not to focus extensively on the varying approaches successful churches have taken to guide evangelicalism to a better place on this issue.

This is an important book for white evangelicals to read. It provides an often unpleasant glimpse into the black evangelical experience, and it is mandatory for us to get in touch with this experience if we have any hope of forging lasting reconciliation and authentic spiritual kinsmanship between the races. But if a reader purchases this book hoping that it will help address the question of 'how can my white evangelical church be more hospitable to non-whites and seriously incorporate reconciliation into its distinctively evangelical mission', the book offers only a cursory treatment, in my view. Ominously, one wonders if this cursory treatment means that we're still way too short on ideas in dealing with this dynamic.

Challenging Book.......2007-02-25

Every now and then someone asks, "Aren't we through with the issue of racial reconciliation yet?" Ed Gilbreath gives a comprehensive response to that question with the insight of a journalist who's been covering the topic throughout his career. This book is written in a very personal, and approachable tone, yet doesn't pull any punches in dealing out the truth. My black friends are responding that this book says exactly how they feel toward the white evangelical church. My white friends are starting to get why this is still an issue. This book is a must-read for people on both sides of the equation who care about making the Church truly reconciled.

Excellent Work.......2007-02-19

This book has helped me tremendously to understand the state and problem of racism in the American Evangelical Church. It is indeed a sad story.Frankly, after I read several chapters and stories from the book about those who have been victimized and belittled because of their race, I asked: Is there hope for racial reconciliation and unity in the church today in America? The church has failed to embrace and celebrate biblical diversity in her midst.

Gilbreath has done a great service to the church, walking her through the pain and suffering of racial division and segregation in Christian institutions. The author presents a careful, well-written expose of the current state of the subject-matter. The most comfortable thing is Gilbreath still believes change is not the last thing to hope for; racial harmony can happen between different racial and ethnic groups when each learn to hear each other's experience, concern, hope and support the differences. Such a goal is not easy to attain, it will require hard and persisent effort on the part of both groups and individuals (e.g. whites, blacks, hispanics, asians, etc)

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