As a distant relative of Oliver, I was surprised that I had never heard his story. What amazes me more is the fact that countless people like Ras never recieved recognition. All in all, however, the story is one of the best I've ever read in my life.

When I was a little boy, I grew up hearing about my Uncle Oliver's story and some of the wondrous adventures he had and shared with us. Finally I am able to read a accurate accounting and in-depth look at my family's history and its impact on my life.

When Oz's brother, Danwood, (my father), died, Oz became my father and mentor. Over the years, I would talk to him and feel his story come alive.

Before I took my turn as a warrior protecting my people, as a young Marine, I went to see Oz in California to talk about my turn in combat. His words to me gave me strength during my time in hell. Bakite ishin, "hit me if you dare," was his gift to me that protected me along with my heritage and my father's spirit.

Oz's spirit live on within these pages. His gift of life for his children, wife, and his relatives is one of struggle, within his own roots, happiness, and glory. To many in the Native American community, his life is one of the Ogitchidaa, (warrior): one who defends, protects, serves his family, community and their way of life. Now in this time of mourning over the World Trade Center disaster, his story can provide a special insight into a way of strength and overcoming the hardships of life.

My uncle's gift to me lies within those simple words,Bakite Ishin. They continue to give me the strength and insight to survive in today's world. I sit here now putting a Native American publishing house together with my wife. We suffer and endure for the people of our lives and heritage. Our first book, "Freddie Came Home & Other Coyote Tales," reflects the courage of my uncle's spirit and life. Our struggle with life, whether it be in business, traditions, family or community is supported by my Uncle Oliver's legacy. He truly gives hope to the world and to the people.

Bakite Ishin. Hit me if you dare. Words of the old ones in our proud heritage. Words for people to stand up to, to be proud of, and to stay strong. Che-Miigwech, Uncle, Che-Miigwech

This is a gripping tale of a real American hero surviving behind enemy lines in WWII. It is a definite must-read. Kudos to the author for bringing this story to print!

I was glad to find this volume, which offers different versions of popular fairy tales and shows their cultural variation. Commentary is helpful and to the point, with good bibliographical resources. I needed to find a guide to Cinderella stories and this gave me just what I needed and more. A good antidote to Bettelheim's overly Freudian interpretations of fairy tales.

A good mixture of browsability and serious reading. For the storyteller this book is a godsend - several variants of each story compiled for easy comparison, with an authoritative commentary for background research. And the variants are often not obvious or well-known, so giving real discoveries and delights. The scholarly essays cover a fair range of subjects, but for those just interested in the stories there is plenty in the rest of the book to satisfy. If this book interests you, try 'The Classic Fairy Tales', by Iona and Peter Opie - same title, similar approach, except that variants are only discussed rather than given in full.

An excellent collection which highlights the grislier, taboo aspects of fairy tales that are often sanitised for today's consumption. As well as traditional versions of the most popular fairy stories, editor Maria Tatar has also included feminist re-tellings of "Bluebeard" and "Beauty and the Beast" by Margaret Atwood and Angela Carter. This fascinating anthology helps to deepen our understanding of the cultural implications of the fairy tale form, and includes essays from important contributors to the field such as Vladmir Propp, Bruno Bettelheim and Marina Warner. If you thought that fairy tales were just for children, then you'll find this collection an eye opening experience.

Concise, easy to read, easy to understand. A good read for any pastor or church leader who wants to get some clarity on the strengths and uniqueness of his or her congregation. The REALLY good news is that this is NOT another "How I Did It" book. To be sure, "How I Did It" books are inspiring, and you can pick up a lot of good tips and tricks. The trouble is that most of them probably won't work in YOUR situation! What Southern & Norton have done is given us a method which will help us understand and analyze our own unique settings - to discover our own congregation's values and unique giftedness - so that we can focus on doing the things that are right for us, not for somebody else! Share this one with key leaders in your congregation!

My congregation worked with Southern and Norton over the course of several months. We found their strategy for church growth and renewal to be easy to follow, highly participatory, and full of wisdom. It has totally transformed our congregation and organizational systems!

"Cracking Your Congregation's Code" is a great contribution to the church growth movement! It not only offers a theoretical framework for congregational health and vitality, but provides easy to use surveys and inventories. Their recommendations for church growth and renewal are not "one size fits all" but are easily tailored for each congregation's unique "DNA". The end result is the development of a "strategic map" that will guide one's congregation to a new place of enthusiasm and growth!

I've been implementing some of the procedures in Cracking Your Congregation's Code, and I've found it answers many basic needs of busy pastors and lay leaders. I know it helps answer mine. It's a practical book, that's easy to read, and easy to use. It describes how a church can transform itself. The surveys the authors provide for the four congregational systems give a church a way to quickly evaluate and strengthen their work. From my standpoint, as someone looking for how-to's, I'd say the information in chapter seven on how to create a strategic map is worth the price of the book alone.

I cannot emphasise enough just how wonderful this book is. Dostoevsky introduces a set of characters which we all in a way know, and through their completely believable and realistic interactions, expresses powerful, mystical messages. In essence, the story is about a young, intelligent former student, Raskolnikov (similar to Raskol, schism), who by cold, unemotional thought arrives at a sort of nihilism, and even goes so far as to thinking that an "extraordinary person" is justified in taking away a useless, harmful life for the greater good, and then, partially out of an effort to prove that he is such as person, commits a murder which he feels fits this program. At the same time, there is seething conflict inside him; the compassionate, loving side of his personality is revolting against these horrible thoughts. As Razumihin remarks, Raskolnikov is two people living in the same body. In a sense, Raskolnikov's original idea is correct; there is no harm done in removing pure, harmful evil, but one of Dostoevsky's principal messages in this novel is that there is no such thing as a purely harmful individual; Dostoevsky accomplishes this goal by presenting the character of an old pawn broker and her half-sister, Lizaveta. Through Raskolnikov's eyes, all good characteristics are placed in Lizaveta, and all that is evil is placed in the pawn broker; hence Raskolnikov feels justified in killing the pawn broker, but really it should come as no surprise that he ends up killing Lizaveta as well, that is, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO ELIMINATE PURE EVIL, one inevitably takes some good away with it too. THIS is Raskolnikov's crime, the taking away of good in the form of Lizaveta. (Incidentally, Lizaveta Ivanovna's name is meant to bring up reminisces of the character of the same name in Pushkin's Queen of Spades; Dostoevsky was a great admirer of Pushkin.) After this crime, Raskolnikov loses sanity (it seems to me that Dostoevsky is trying to say that insanity cannot be held off by reason alone; one need loving belief as well), and eventually, although he does not know it at the time, confesses out of love for the Christ-like character of Sonia (short for Sofia, which is wisdom in Greek), and eventually, in one of the most beautiful and touching endings of ANY novels, his soul is redeemed by faith and love; even though he is sentenced to seven years in a Siberian prison camp, he and Sonia look on it as if it were seven days, and eagerly anticipate their freedom together. Although much of the novel is set in depressing circumstances, for me there is no other novel (even perhaps the great and still more philosophical Brothers Karamazov) which is as much sheer fun to read. As if this were not enough, this edition is absolutely first rate; the notes are very helpful and Dostoevsky's letters regarding this work together with the critical appraisals of Crime and Punishment (I LOVE Tolstoy's essay; it rings so true) particularly illuminating. I feel it is the duty of any educated person to read this book intelligently; I guarantee you, you will get new meaning out of this compact masterpiece every time you do so.

This is an excellent novel that delves into themes of crime, guilt, madness, and cosmic. It is not a hopeless tale, though. For Dostoevsky seems to say that our salvation lies in love and faith.

Crime and Punishment is arguably the greatest novel ever written. Using the novel form Dostoevsky has entered into a debate about the nature of good and evil and the national character of his Russian homeland. In order to fully appreciate Crime and Punishment it may be necessary to understand Cherneshevsky's What is to Be Done. Crime and Punishment is a response to this novel and the rejection of traditional Russian Orthodox values it espouses. Through Raskolnikov FD is arguing that salvation can only come through submitting to the proper authorities in the form of the Russian state as well as the traditional wisdom of the Russian Orthodox Church as manifested in the book by Sofia (Greek for wisdom). She at last is the guiding light in Raskolnikov's life. Once he recognizes and accepts wisdom he is forever bound to her. This novel is brilliant on so many levels. It is quite good on the surface as the struggle of a criminal attempting to evade justice but of course it goes much deeper than that. FD is doing nothing less than atoning for his own sins against the Russian monarchy which led to his imprisonment in a Siberian camp. I highly recommend this book. You will be hard pressed to find a deeper more meaningful piece of literature in any language.

As a writter this book opens up many diffrent forms of writting styles to experiment with. This is my favortie poetry book and it is filled with poems for what ever mood you may be in. Anyone that loves poetry or loves to read should own a copy of this book.

A deeply informative and devoted anthology, containing some of the best poetry written in America. The detailed author biographies and extensive sections on poetics are a delight, such a rarity! The rich and powerful voices of postmodern American poets -- be they from any cultural background -- can be found here. An anthology that has become my inspiration in many ways -- to read it is to feel inspired to write, as well. Paul Hoover's selection is impeccable, and uplifting.

To date the best anthology I have on the subject.

For anyone interested in postmodern poetry or for those who want to learn what postmodern poetry is, this is the anthology to have. It's loaded with some of the best poets: the gifted Robert Duncan, Ferlinghettis (one of the best of the beat poets), Bukowski (my first intro to him, and not a dissapointment), Levertov, Kenneth Koch (not his best poems, but still a good selection), the wonderful poetry of Frank O'Hara, Ginsberg, Robert Creely (and excellent selection), a selection from Ashbery so huge that i almost forgot i wasn't reading one of his books, the awesome Gary Snyder, Rothernberg's "Cokboy", Dave Trinidad, Paul Hoover, Wanda Coleman, Charles Olson, Kerouac, Philip Whalen, Corso, Amiri Baraka, Diane di Prima, Anne Waldman, and many others, including a very strong Chicago appearance towards the end.

The anthology starts with an essay by Hoover, which helps to clear up many questions about what postmodern poetry is and what many of the schools are. He concludes the anthology with a selection of essays on poetry.

Good mix of stories. Some funny, sad, enchanting. I didn't care for TEEL RULES/Mark Krieghbaum or ETERNITY'S GATE/Gary A. Braunbeck, but that's just me. Try it, it's nice to find a fantasy collection where just about all the stories are fine and readable.

Great idea to combine Fantasy & Romance! This is my favorite anthology for either genre to date. Every story is a gem, not one single story could have been omitted. They were all the best I've read since Mercedes Lackey stopped writing about Diana Tregarde Investigations, and Silhouette decided to end the Shadows line of books. I already crave a Dangerous Magic II anthology. Yvonne Jock's story is my favorite, I can certainly identify with a TV junkie with an active imagination! Enough said, this is a must-have for any fantasy or romance fan (or both).

I'm a guy and I wouldn't be caught dead reading a romance novel. But I do like fantasy so I picked this up for that reason. Surprised me that I enjoyed the stories by the romance writers just as much as from the fantasy writers. I figured maybe these were unusual stories, selected because they weren't typical for romance stories, but my girlfriend says no, that this is why she's been trying to get me to read romance stuff for the past couple of years. If the novels are anything like the stories in this anthology, then I'm going to have to start reading romance novels (with a book jacket on them of course.) My favorites in the collection are "Man of her Dreams" (T.Waggoner) and "Nine Tenths" (L.Hayden). How about a "DM2"?

This is a mid-point Gould. As his essay style progressed, his essays lengthened, his topics widened and the books kept selling more and more. This is a collection of beautifully written essays, which even with the passage of time lose none of their freshness - the eight little piggies of the title are even more important now with all the recent research on early tetrapods. A good place to start for anyone who's not read Gould before

Eight Little Piggies: Reflections in Natural History by Stephan Jay Gould is pure Gold or is that Gould. This is the sixth in a series of books on Gould's essays found in "Natural History."

We find Gould in a more contemplative mood within these pages, being reflective and personal as he speaks about the importance within our lives of the connections to our past and ancestral generations. But as Gould would put it, " a theme of supreme importance to evolutionists who study a world in which extinction is the ultimate fate of all and prolonged persistence the only meaningful measure of success."

There are essays on extenction, fishtails and frog calls, the coloration of pigeons, the eyes of mole rats, and an in depth personal essay about his maternal grandfather. This last essay brought some fond memories back to me, as I was growing up... yet time waits for no man.

For variety, range, depth and a refinement in writing style, this tome is one of Gould's best, as you read, Gould hits his stride and leads you toward his conclusions, just like my grandfather taught me to be observent and not take things for granted. But to question, the way things are as they seem, just like Gould does to his readers, bringing information to them and through observation and a brilliant mind making things clear.

This is an eductional book, as well, as you read, Gould makes the reader learn painlessly... a good storyteller of thirty-one essays that are truly fascinating.

Read and enjoy this well thought out collection of essays.

I admit im not the most interested in some of Gould's subjects (evolution and biology) but he is a great storyteller. He sometimes attacks, sometimes defends some of histories greatest thinkers. I think i'll probably read most of his books (so far 3) in the next few years simply because I like his style and diverse content.

The Scarlet Letter puts even the most morally secure people's beliefs to the test. The line between what is really sin and what is "different" in this novel is one that most cannot define at the end of finishing this book. It makes the reader think about the choices in their own life, and the choices they would make in situations such as those of Hester Prynne, Dimmsdale, and little Pearl. The Scarlet Letter has a wonderful way of depicting the exclusiveness of the early Puritans that is not outwardly horrible, but chips away at the patience of the reader until their feelings towards the Puritans are nothing but distain. The novel uses light and dark in ways that subconsciously show what is Godly and reverent and what is evil and sin. So many elements in The Scarlet Letter just capture the reader into wanting more, and I recommend this book to anyone who wants to challenge their beliefs.

I first read this book in high school, and i didn't like it much, which was surprising because i really enjoy Hawthorne's short fiction. i again picked it up recently, and found that loved it. There no doubt that it is a difficult book to read, Hawthorne requires the reader to think as he reads. everything is symbolic of something in this book. Hawthorne has a mastery of the language that you just don't see anymore. think this is one we should re-read every few years, as we mature. I got the Norton edition, which helps a little with understanding the story, but most of the articles were not that helpful.

This was an interesting book. I liked the plot, but the author really needed to wrap up those words that I didn't understand. I mean, I can define any one of the words in the book, save few, but using about 5 of them in one sentence just makes me too confused to try to get into the story like I normally do.

I was reading this book for an assignment in English, and the images that it left in my mind will remain there for a long time. The story of Tess, a truly Pure woman, facing adversities that scare the soul out of me, is a thoughtful and saddening one.

The Norton Critical edition is particularily good, containing reviews and poems of and about Thomas Hardy, a major advantage when trying to understand the atmosphere that produced this novel.

Though the novel is heavy in description, the description is not out of place. In fact, it is essential to the storyline.

All in all, I enjoyed this book, and it made me think and reflect on the values that I believe are truly important.

Morality is subject to some rolling blackouts in this book. At the end, the law stepped in and made sure that the destruction was mutual. Law seems to be particularly inept in situations where a book is this hard on the reader, and those critics in the Norton Critical Edition who consider this novel almost a crime against literature have a point. If all the characters were being put on trial, instead of merely trying to live, the law would allow each of them to be tried separately because of the doctrine of mutually antagonistic defenses. There were parts of this book I enjoyed: Angel Clare sorting the cows for milking made a lovely theme. Hardy kept referring to the barnyard as a "barton," but I'm sure he wasn't directing that jibe at me, personally, because this book was written long before I was born. I've been to barnyards that were as full of "mulch" as the "barton" described in this book, and Hardy is putting things mildly. I liked the part when Alec had been reformed and Tess discovered him preaching to the Methodists without thinking that he was any better for all the things he was trying to say. Somehow Alec getting on the other side of things was still Alec, and he would have preferred to be happy than to preach all the time. For me, the plot revolved around Angel Clare's need to find a place where he could get money without shame. Alec had as much money as Tess would ever need, and he wanted to give it to her in his own way. There is an early baby problem that Tess didn't tell Alec about until they had more problems than any novelist could make disappear. D. H. Lawrence tried to understand this book in unfulfilled male and female principles, and aristocratic principles which isolated Tess and Alec d'Uberville. I'm glad this book has been appreciated so long that I finally read it. It was an involvement that went further than just feeling like a barnyard.

Thomas Hardy's novel makes a heroine out of a simple girl. Tess Durbeyfield, the daughter of a nearly extinct noble line, leads a life of heavy responsibility where her impoverished family is concerned. At the behest of her parents, she seeks assistance from the D'Urbervilles who are, supposedly, relatives. This assistance yields disastrous results and Tess feels compelled to find work as a milkmaid where she meets Angel Clare, the son of an evangelical pastor, who is gathering experience in order to become a farmer.

Hardy does a splendid job of illustrating Tess's strength as she goes from innocent girl to pure woman. Though she is not as educated as Angel, in terms of theory, her experience with Alec Stokes D'Urberville has given her a deeper knowledge of life and acceptance. Ironically, it is this experience which captivates and, predictably enough, repulses Angel.

Hardy's narrative is a powerful one in this particular tale. It is clear that this is Tess's story and we, as readers, witness her painful journey. Through his subtle and understated use of irony, we come to realize the hypocrisy of Angel and wonder about the diabolical nature of Alec.

What Hardy does emphasize in this novel is the unwavering hand of Justice which allows the novel to come to a bittersweet end and lets no one escape its strong, yet objective, sense of judgement.

This is a pretty good book to start with for new Witch World people ,except that some parts will be confusing ,as they were for me,but that wouldn't have been so if I'd read all of the previous books.This book is very intrugueing ,and very mysterious .I can see why Witch World is considered her best .Norton continues her depth in magic ,which is one of the reasons I adore her work.This book gives a little prologue on what has happened previously ,so readers may understand .I highly reccomend this book!

"'Ware Hawk" weaves a very dark tapestry of Witch World, where Evil comes closer to victory than in any of Norton's other WW novels. It begins several years after the Turning, when the Witches of Estcarp reshaped the mountains between themselves and their enemies. Those who did not flee from the heights when the mountains surged and foamed and changed shape like waves in the ocean, were destroyed. This book is the story of Tirtha, a woman of part-witch blood who hires a Falconer, a soldier whose home was destroyed by the Turning, to guide her over the mountains. She is under a geas to return to her deserted ancestral hold and recover a treasure that was hidden when her family was slain by the enemies of Estcarp. Her journey over-mountain is made even more perilous by a Dark One who is determined to foil Tirtha's quest.

"'Ware Hawk" is a classical Norton confrontation between a determined and seemingly powerless heroine and a sophisticated, all-powerful Dark magician. If you are already a Witch World fan, this book is a 'must read'.

Great story. The character are compelling. A must read. Who said: (Get a copy if you can). I can't say it better.