This wonderful book tells the story of where the James family and its money came from, how Henry Sr. almost lost his inheritance for the frivolity of buying too many books, then reclaimed it and used it to raise the most remarkable intellectual family yet in American history. The book is big, which gives it enough space to delve into the tragedy of the two younger James brothers, the maturation of William and Henry Jr., and the closeted life of Alice.

I came away with a new respect for the somewhat eccentric Henry Sr., with his diverse interests in educational philosophy, Swedenborg, and Emerson. He is the under-sung hero of this narrative and its true author.

Perhaps I enjoyed the book most of all because it allowed me to feel almost a part of the family, to live what to me is a fantasy. If you feel yourself a kindred spirit to William, Henry, Jr., or Sr., or Alice, I would heartily recommend this book.

I read "Jazz" by Lewis Porter for a class book review and found that if one is interested in knowing more about Jazz, its history, and those who perform jazz, this is a great book. It would be a difficult read if one was not already familiar with Jazz musicians and their popular works, as well as general music terminology. But, for an interesting read on the antics and opinions of jazz, this book is great. In doing research on the author, I have found that he has studied extensively Jazz musicians and teaches jazz history at Tufts Univeristy. Also, this book is used for mandatory text readings in many colleges and Universities across the US, which adds to the reliability and information that is found in Porter's book. Definately worth reading!

With all the other things on his plate--his charitable endeavors, stage performances--Jerry Lewis' impressive film career is often overlooked. The authors, with Mr. Lewis' cooperation, have done a commendable job putting this baby together. Jerry's comments at the end of each movie synopis/review are invaluable to admirers of this comic genius. Even Jerry Lewis' cinematic "failures" are infinitely more interesting than most actor/director's "successes." I value this book.

This book is Jerry Lewis in his own words. It is interesting, because more than two decades of his life have passed since penning this autobiography. This was him before his success in "Damn Yankees", and before his film with Johnny Depp or the 1995 film "Funny Bones". He gives a personal account of a man, not a Hollywood mogul or American Icon, as he is, and this is why the book is amazing.

Starting in 1976, Edward Said has argued that Western scholars of the Middle East are continuing "an unbroken tradition in European thought of profound hostility, even hatred, toward Islam," and he singles out Bernard Lewis as their de facto leader. Strangely, when Lewis in turn argued in favor of the Orientalist tradition - that unique effort by members of one civilization to understand the outside world in depth - his colleagues with near-unanimity abandoned him. Still, the battle is not entirely over. While Lewis himself retired from the fray, his highly talented ex-student, Martin Kramer continues the not-entirely-lonely effort to defend several centuries of Western scholarship on the Middle East.

In The Jewish Discovery of Islam, Kramer takes as his starting point several comments by Lewis about the important role of Jews in developing nineteenth-century European attitudes toward the Middle East and Islam, then asks: Did Jews actually made a distinct contribution to the Western discovery of Islam? His reply - and that of his nine contributing authors - is a resounding yes. He and they argue that nineteenth-century Jews found in the Muslim world a model directly relevant to their current situation. Looking about for arguments to bolster their case to join the mainstream of European life, they pointed to Islamic civilization at its height as to show the benefits of integrating Jewry. This in turn meant they had to prove that Baghdad and Cordoba represented peaks of human achievement.

These "pro-Islamic Jews" routed the opposition and their empathetic, sympathetic approach rules the roost today. Kramer's book has many implications: By showing that the main Orientalist tradition derived far more from sympathetic Jewish approach than from the hostile Christian one, it devastates Said's grand theory of Orientalism. It establishes that recent Western attitudes to the outside world - such as the Third-Worldism of the 1960s and the multiculturalism of today - owe their existence in good part to the success of the pro-Islamic Jews' long-ago efforts of humanize Islam. Muslims eventually also picked up on the romantic Jewish myths about Islam and made these a standard part of their own self-image. Finally, Muslims now living in the West owe much to the Jewish scholars who laid the groundwork for their finding an at least partially hospitable reception.

Middle East Quarterly, December 1999

Originally published in Mannheim in 1891, Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's Jewish Life: Tales from Nineteenth-Century Europe is an impressive and compelling anthology of twenty-six stories which present a vivid picture of Jewish life and culture in Europe before the twentieth century. From the Chasidic movement to cabalism, Judaic holiday celebrations, cultural life, and much, much more, Jewish Life encompasses humor, sentiment, abiding faith, and a rich legacy of tradition and is a welcome and highly recommended addition to personal and academic Judaic Studies collections and reading lists.

The Jewish Tradition, Sexuality And Procreation by Judaic Studies scholar Lewis D. Solomon is an extensive, erudite, and meticulous survey and analysis of Jewish traditions throughout the centuries and how they apply to such issues as human sexuality, marriage, love, homosexuality, procreation, as well as the latest advances in human cloning and genetic selection in offspring. A work of impressive scholarship combining and contrasting secular sciences with Jewish history and cannon, The Jewish Tradition, Sexuality And Procreation offers solid, well-researched, highly recommended grounds for thought-provoking discussions and enlightening contemplations.

My daughter loved this book and finished the book in 4 days. She could not put the book down and immediately asked for the next book in the series. The language is grammatically correct(not based on slang) and age appropriate.

This is an excellent translation, very well researched and footnoted, with an extensive bibliography. The editing work is flawless. Every detail is well done, including good paragraph breaks for easy flow, good fonting, and quality binding. It makes the full depth of these important sermons available in a very readable format.

This is not a conventional narrative of Coltrane's life, or even his recordings. Rather, it is a detailed discography both of released albums and of the many many unreleased recordings that circulate among collectors, and of a large number of recordings that sit in vaults around the world, largely inaccessible to anyone outside the recording industry.

Much of the information corrects the liner notes on releases from various labels, and, in fact, many record companies use the information in this volume when trying to figure out what they have in their vaults. The results are not always perfect: The new Coltrane 7CD box set from Fantasy of live recordings contains several errors in the liner notes. Without this book, you wouldn't know they were there.

The author is part of the Coltrane Syndicate, a group of Coltrane scholars including Wolf Schmaler and Michael Delorme, as well as David Wild (who has also published work on Coltrane's recordings). They are in fact authorized by the Coltrane Family to acquire and document recordings that cannot be released for various legal reasons, so this book is just about the only way to learn about recordings and recording dates (especially live dates) that help patch together Coltrane's works and times.

In addition to all the objective information, there is also a hefty selection of photos, and, even more so, album covers and posters for events, that really serve as a kind of giant scrap-book for the late master.

There is -- and there is unlikely to be -- a better book published on the subject.