If this book of short stories does not make a former Tar Heel homesick, then I have not a clue as to what would... it made me want to go home immediately. The stories are funny, sad, and range in levels from wonderful to great. A librarian friend gave me this book and it is one of the best gifts I have ever received. I plan to purchase several to give as gifts. My home is now in California, but my heart will always be down home in North Carolina.

I'm ordering what must be my fourth or fifth copy of this terrific little book. It's a comforting, warm, fuzzy, and sometimes funny set of recollections sure to regenerate the reader's own rememberances of home. I try to keep a copy beside the bed in my guest room, but alas, my guests are always so taken with what they've read before turning out the light that I always have to say "Just take my copy along with you. I'll get another." I've also given it to friends in the process of fighting terrible illnesses. They find peace in the authors' accounts, conjuring up their own memories of home.

As a former North Carolina resident, our secret's out. "Coasting the
Mountains" depicts Western North Carolina as a magical place full of the
finest arts and crafts, antiques and an abundance of natural beauty and
outdoor activities. And it is! This guidebook covers a 200 mile
stretch from Murphy to Boone and uncovers lots of hidden treasures along
the way. It's a fun read too, with unusual facts and recipes. My
personal favorite: Kudzu Jelly!

Editorial Review

Call dibs on the shotgun seat as four enthusiastic travelers take you on a lively ride through western North Carolina in "Coasting the Mountains". The authors are friends...whose love of discovery shines through.

Their personal insights validate our enthusiasm for places we've visited and whet our appetites for those we haven't. Scattered throughout the book are recipes gathered during their rambles as well as boxes with notes of interest, little-known facts and insider tips. Plus they steer travelers to the best shopping and antiquing.

"Coasting the Moutains" is thorough and a lot more fun than most guidebooks.
Excerpted from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
September 16, 2001

I got a chance to see Andre on Sally. After hearing his story my heart went out to him but I was angry with his mother. I changed my mind when I read the book and heard the whole story. Congratulations to your Mom on her recovery. I'm glad you two stuck together.It really makes us stop and think about the decisions we make in life. Someone else is always affected by them. It is hard to belive that children can be so heartless. Andre you need to take your story to every city, school and jail in the country. I hope you recieve the funding to do it. This is a project many as well as myself would have no problem helping to support.
I am sorry for your tragedy but please do not blame yourself. I pray that the peace of God will rest upon you and your family. And I pray that you live a joyful and fulfilled life until time to meet your loved ones again in a better place. Thank you for sharing your story and I'm sorry for your pain.

This book is so great. I just couldn't put it down. I took it to work with me and read it every chance I got. Those poor kids, it was so heartbreaking but yet it was a in your face drama that was so moving.

This book is too much to explain in a short review. Here is a start: Wilber is best known for his evolutionary model, in which he explains what phases a person goes through during one's life. One can stay stuck somewhere on these evolutionary scales. Most therapeutic appraoches don't have this evolutionary vision. Wilber explains how to make the match: what kind of psychological model will help to solve problems at which evolutionary level?

(a longer review can be found at http://users.pandora.be/merlevede/eqnl0302.htm#BOOKREVIEW)

Volume four of the Collected Works is critical reading material for any serious Ken Wilber student. It contains his contributions to the _Transformations of Consciousness_ book, his introduction to _The Holographic Paradigm_ (but not the ReVision interview found in that book), as well as a new book, _Integral Psychology_, which will be released individually in April 2000. The real meat of the book, however, lies in the voluminous collection of essays, interviews, and book forewords that Wilber has written over the years.

Of special importance is the essay titled "Death, Rebirth, and Meditation," in which Wilber, following the Tibetan Buddhist data, details the process of dying and death in intricate detail. He also clearly defines his use of the word "soul" and shows how even Buddhism is not exempt from the doctrine of an eternal and indestructible soul, despite popular notions to the contrary. He explains how certain Advaita teachers who insist that the Absolute is the only transmigrate are somewhat mistaken, and he also mentions the work of Dr. Ian Stevenson, and says that while some persons _may_ be able to remember past lives, most memories are strictly mental, and therefore they dissolve completely once the present-life mind disappears into the soul during the dying process.

Also important is Chapter 14 of _Integral Psychology_. Here Wilber gives, for the first time, a truly thorough analysis of the mind-body problem (much more than he did in SES or TEOS). The chapter is expanded upon in an endnote that is particularly illuminating, discussing everything from the naivete of most forms of "panpsychism," to the extremely low level of consciousness possessed by quantum particles, to the necessity of all exteriors (matter) as having interiors (consciousness), since, as Wilber explains, "To say that the physical universe is a universe of all exteriors and no interiors is like saying the world has all ups and no downs--it makes no sense at all. Inside and outside arise together wherever they arise. . . ." He insists, however, that the real solution to the mind-body problem is not solved through mental understanding of dualistic interrelations, but rather through the radical transcendence of all dualism in nondual awareness, "whereupon the problem is radically (dis)solved."

Anyway, I highly recommend it to Wilber students, as well as to anyone with a serious interest in psychology, philosophy, or spirituality who finds something profoundly lacking in the position of scientific materialism and seeks a saner, more comprehensive approach to matter, life, mind, soul, and the infinite reality that contains the entire display.

As another reviewer suggests, this is indeed an extremely ambitious work. Wilber's life's work is exceedingly ambitious, and this volume is the most comprehensive and the most demanding single volume he has yet published

First, I will say to the KW book shopper, this is not the best of his works to start with, in my opinion. Even for the serious reader, I would recommend "ramping up" to this book by reading some of his other work first. You'll get more out of this one if you do. At least read "A Brief History of Everything" first, which KW wrote as a more accessible summary of the thought presented in SES. Because KW's work draws on thinkers from so many disparate fields, the terminology alone can be daunting in SES, unless you are already conversant in the languages of developmental psychology, linguistic analysis, sociology, metaphysics, epistemology, eastern religions and so on. Reading ABHE first will at least give you a good overview of the territory before plunging into SES. I had read eight other KW works before I took on this one, and I think my understanding of SES benefitted from that.

That said, this is a stunning work, and if any one volume of KW's work can be said to lay out the core of his thinking, this would be it. The book begins by outlining what KW calls the "Twenty Tenets," which are, as he calls them, "orienting generalizations" that place in context all that comes after. Here he explains his holarchical model, the "spectrum of consciousness," the basic characteristics of the evolution of consciousness, and his Four Quadrants model of wisdom traditions, or approaches to understanding the universe, which may be his most unique contribution to philosophical thought. From there he proceeds to flesh out his integral theory of knowledge, which seeks to establish a way for us to reconcile (and integrate) the valuable contributions of approaches as disparate as neuroscience and mysticism, Freudian analysis and systems theory. And he shows how this affects our approaches to, yes, sex (gender identity, roles of the sexes, feminism, the mens' movements, et al), ecology (what do various worldviews, belief systems, and perpectives along the spectrum of consciousness mean for our approach to ecological issues, and what are their prospects?) and spirituality (what place does spirituality still have in the story of humankind, and how do we make sense of the seemingly limitless and contradictory number of approaches to this oldest and most important of questions?)

The most unique contribution KW has made to world thought is to begin the integration of the many wisdom traditions and modes of inquiry--to set out a methodology for doing so and to begin to do it. Am I having a mystical experience, is God speaking to me, or is it just something my brain chemistry is doing? Or is it just a culturally-conditioned response? Or regression to a prerational state? Any one approach has its answer, but who is right? And what place does each kind of answer have have in an integrated approach to understanding? Wilber says each of the many modes of serious inquiry has part of the truth, but not all of it. He asks how we honor the valuable contributions from each such partial view to begin to develop a comprehensive view of the whole. SES is Wilber's most all-inclusive single attempt to address these questions. His work is essential to any serious thinker or seeker of the truth today. And for any remotely serious student of Ken Wilber's work, you must read this book.

I believe SES is so valuable not only because Ken Wilber has taken the time to master the essential findings of a dozen different academic disciplines, but because he then combines this brilliant scholarship with the insight of a meditation master. In India these rare individuals are called "Pandits" - scholars who have fully opened "the eye of contemplation." Mystics usually do not even attempt to bring the "ineffable" truths they discover in transverbal states of consciousness into the world of conceptual discourse and sensory evidence. Scientists almost always assume that rationality is the highest faculty we have available to understand our world, and ignore the vast areas of human experience that cannot be easily weighed or measured.

Because Wilber is attempting the extraordinarily difficult feat of integrating these two paths, I think we should keep this "degree of difficulty" in mind as we evaluate his work. He may not always keep his toes perfectly pointed as he enters the water, but how many other theoreticians currently working could include anywhere NEAR this many moves (truths) in a single dive (system of thought?) SES (and Integral Theory as a whole) is far from perfect, and Wilber himself certainly is far from perfect (whatever "perfect" might mean)- but if you care about developing a more compassionate, courageous and effective approach to the daunting challenges facing humanity in the coming decades, you will not want to ignore the tremendous intellectual goldmine he offers in SES.

I don't intend to go to college again--I much prefer to teach. But if I ever decide to take the plunge, this is the Bible I'll be carrying around. Where was this book when I was starting college? If it had been around, I probably would have ignored it, but I'd like to think that somebody who really cared about me would have hogtied me, duct-taped my mouth, and read this book to me page by page. COLLEGE PLANNING IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY by Chris Lee is a subversive book: it tells you the right things any college guidebook should tell you, but it sneaks in a whole host of wonderful bits of additional helpful information, plus easy-to-digest doses of wisdom. Author Lee throws in all those things you really need to know--such as how to survive politically around snooty faculty advisors and noisy dorm-mates, how to minimize your after-college debt load, how to deal with text anxiety, how to keep studying in the midst of personal crises. In other words, Chris Lee is telling you things your parents don't have time to tell you, or things they don't even know themselves. He's kind of acting like a Father figure for you--and believe me, that's what you need in college--someone who'll advise you without judging or criticizing you. He even tells you how to survive in a potential barroom brawl--and come out cool and collected, and in one piece! A nicely done book that gives you exactly what you need--and more--just when you need it the most! --Jim Reed, author of DAD'S TWEED COAT: SMALL WISDOMS HIDDEN COMFORTS UNEXPECTED JOYS ...

I wish that I had this book years ago. Chris Lee's book is a must have for any college bound student. This book provides information for the commuter student as well as campus life. Lee explains college planning in a humorous manner. It is a very light and easy read. Every high school senior needs a copy of this book.

We've been to Colorado a number of times but had no idea most of the sites described ever existed. I guess that's because most guidebooks don't include things accessable only by dirt roads. If you have or can rent a four wheel drive, this is a must.

Gregory knows Colorado and has written the best travel companion for Southern Colorado. Like Scenic Colorado - Northern Region, this volume is tighly constructed to offer the traveler the best, in-depth information for enjoying the region. Included are very detailed directions to breathtaking sights that most would miss without Gregory's assistance. Also included are very accurate suggestion on how long you'll want to plan to visit a site, best times of day to take photos at the site and many other helpful tips. Knowing Colorado as he does, Gregory shares both his knowledge, and passion, for the region with his readers in a well prepared text that allows the traveler to discover and enjoy the state in a way usually reserved for the natives.

these series of books are always goodin my opinion. this one took the often tedious confusing facts and presented everything in an easy format to read

with all the IDIOTS guides easy to read format, this book provides an in depth look at 401K issues that may have otherwise been much drier if not done in this fun format. when i finished thebook, i lent it to my staff, who are first time 401K investors. i would say that this is a must buy for anyone who feels they are intimidated with 'what to do?' or 'what does this mean?' type of questions.

Completely up-to-date in order to prepare the reader for the 2003 car market, The Complete Internet Car Buying Guide is a solid, easy to follow, consumer friendly, step-by-step guide to the advantages of buying a car over the internet. Offering invaluable tips, tricks, and techniques to save money, time, and countless hassles, The Complete Internet Car Buying Guide is a superbly organized and presented resource filled cover to cover with website resources, useful caveats for navigating the net, advice on what to watch out for when buying a used car, "lemon" laws, automobile warranties, and much, much more. The Complete Internet Car Buying Guide is a very strongly recommended, money saving resource for anyone interested in a car and in taking advantage of the Internet for cost-effective price comparisons.

I bought the book, looking for new dealer tricks. What I found was a thorough process for REALLY understanding the car buying process and researching EVERYTHING before I walked out the door. The best part was actually following her recommendations and seeing that it really worked. Especially what to do and who to talk to at the dealership. No salesguy running back and forth to the manager! This book made me feel confident that I had choosen the right car for me and my family. I have bought 10+ cars in my life and I figure this book saved me more than a few hundred bucks, at least a week of wasted time! I even saved money on insurance! Next i am going back to check for "hidden warranties" on my other car. The best part was hearing friends tell horror stories about car shopping and finding the answers in the book. Do your friends a favor, give them the book and you won't have to go car shopping with them!

I haven't read many of the Conard County series, but these two books were wonderful. Just wonderful.

Miss Emmaline and the Archangel started off with a bang. 5 stars all the way. Ms. Lee created two deeply sympathic characters in Gage and Emmaline. A couple who, on the outside, don't seem to belong together, but their hearts understood each other's pain long before they recognized it for themselves. I couldn't put this story down, I wanted to know if Ms. Lee would settle for the same old ending and the same old resolution. She didn't. I was entranced.

The second story, Ironheart, took longer to get into. It was a four and a half star story because the development of the relationship between beautiful Mouse and fantastic Gideon took a while before I felt a real connection. Once there though, Gideon proved himself to be a true ero; not by solving Sara's problems or killing the bad guy, but by understanding her and bettering himself for her. The dramatic tension in this one wasn't as high, but the intimacy Ms. Lee used to build the emotional tension was compelling. Ironheart was a very satisfying read.

If you haven't read Rachael Lee's Conard County books this is a great way to introduce yourself to one of the best romantic series available. In this reissue "Homecoming", you have "Miss Emmaline and the Archangel," as well as "Ironheart." You need to read them in order and be introduced to the characters of the area. I've always thought the story between Emmaline Conard and Gabe Dalton was one of Ms. Lee's best. The brooding hero is the soul of Gabe and Emmaline's love. While in "Ironhart" Sara Yates and Gideon have a strong relationship based on a past secret. Both are great reads for anyone who hasn't yet been introduced to this series. You'll have to find the rest and indulge your romantic soul in the life and loves of the people who live in Conard County. Then you'll say you want more!!!