Among Faulkner's best work, The Bear is more than a simple story of the hunt for an ellusive bear. Faulkner uses the backdrop of the hunt in 19th century Mississippi to show the progress his protagonist, Ike McCaslin, makes towards the unltimate achievement of man. Faulkner was convinced of the godd that man is capable of; Ike, the typical Faulkner youth seen in other works, shows this idea in full detail.
Ike begins his hunt as a young man, growing to accept the ways of nature as taught to him by a fallen Indian chief. The connotations of a fallen race abound in the story, yet they are no more obvious than in the detailed fourth chapter. Readers are advised not to merely skim this section; it remains one of the best testaments to Faulkner's ability to create some of the most complex material of the 20th century.

Three Famous Short Novels gathers together three long and diverse works by America's greatest writer (that's my opinion, others my contest it, I will only agree to disagree). Spotted Horses is a humorous tale culled from the pages of The Hamlet, the first novel in the famous Snopes Family Trilogy. The Bear is the expanded version of the somber and mythic hunting story about the killing a legendary bear that means so much more than just that. The final story is the exciting adventure yarn Old Man and was one half of the two conjoined novellas that made up The Wild Palms (aka If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem). Although each story has more power than many writers have in their entire output, they acheive even more when woven into the wide fabric of Faulkner's far reaching, generations spanning Jefferson, Mississippi. Required reading.

If you expected Faulkner's "The Bear" to be as difficult as "Pat the Bunny" you will be deeply disappointed. High school teachers may assign it in segments to English classes, but it is at heart an adult story, with deep seams of place and poetry. In this coming of age novella, the relationship between the boy Isaac and Old Ben the bear takes place against the backdrop of threatened forest land. Faulkner's passionate writing about the value of the woods rings true for nature conservationists today. The lengthy section on Civil War ghosts and the equivocality of inheritance, often considered an intrusion within the main narrative, also rewards careful reading. As for Faulkner's infamous run-on sentences -- well, here they are on full steam ahead, and even Faulkner's machismo is forgiveable in the context of his marvellous sentences.

J. Vernon McGee is the only radio Bible teacher that I know of who consistantly pointed his listeners/students to the greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ no matter which page of Scripture he was teaching from. The Lord Jesus Christ is always brought to the front and center of his teaching.

He was definitely gifted by God to teach from the Bible. He taught me how to interpret Scripture correctly by comparing Scripture with Scripture. The Spirit of God worked through J. Vernon McGee to lead me to saving faith in God our Saviour, and to turn me from the religion of Lutheranism (i.e., law and "gospel") that kept me from receiving God's GIFT of grace by faith alone, in Christ alone completely. Amen! Dr. McGee had a saying that went something like this: "Put the cookies on the lower shelf so that the kiddies can reach them." That was his approach to teaching the Word of God. He taught in a way that was able to be understood by every day common people. Adults, as well as children, can become strong in their knowledge of the Word of God through the systematic teaching of Dr. McGee.

The only thing that I disagree with him on is when he would stray from the Authorized King James Version in favor of the "better"/corrupt manuscripts. Overall, his teaching is mostly taught from the Authorized Version.

When either listening or reading his program/commentary it is as if you are one-on-one with him. You will also discover that he has great sense of humor.

I have the five volume set and recommend that if you are looking for good solid Bible teaching this is a good eternal investment.

If you are not familiar with J. Vernon McGee or his style, I would suggest that you try a single volume paperback commentary first to see if you like it. McGee reminds me of someone's grandfather...wise, opinionated, down-to-earth, and even gruff at times. If you have ever heard his radio broadcasts (from which these commentaries are derived), you know what I mean. McGee has a strong and distinct style, and he is always pressing us to seek God's will in our lives fervently. You can't fault the honesty of his vision or spirit!

These commentaries give you McGee's interpretation of each chapter of that particular book of the Bible. The thing I like best about his commentaries are that they are fresh and interesting. He rarely gets tied down in seemingly obscure details or debates. If he has an opinion, he'll tell you exactly what it is and why without beating around the bush like so many other bible commentaries. Although I don't agree with all of his opinions, I respect his perspective, and rarely do his works leave me without something to "chew on." This is also the only commentary that I have that can actually leave me laughing aloud at some point he's made. He had a great sense of humor!

I would recommend this series of five volumes to any student of the bible. They are a great commentary for the every day person, unintimidating and understandable.

DR McGee is without doubt one of the best present day commentators. Originaly this material appeared on his radio broadcast show Thru the Bible. It is with great pleasure that I recommend this study for anyone who is seeking either serious scripture study or sheer enjoyment of the word of God. DR McGee was definitely a teacher gifted by God and his humor and vision is most enjoyable.

Never before has a book so richly impacted my perspective. Suzanne Snyder Jacobson's collection of photographs accompanied by quotes from her senior subjects is a grand inspiration. It's impossible to put the book down and refrain from gifting it to others. The images and messages in this small hard cover gift book share incredible wisdom and insight in a way that only the elderly can, with lightness, wit and humor.

A wonderfully inspiring and delightful book. How rare it is that we think of the very elderly as being as alive and vital and passionate as the young. Full of wit and perspective and valuable advice on how to age with grace and approach death with wisdom. Recommended reading for everyone, from childhood up.

This beautiful, inspirational book of photographs of people 85 years and older is a treasure. Buy several to give as gifts.

I received this book as a gift, and I read every single word. It contained really good advice that helped me to get through 6th grade. Now I'm better prepared for the rest of my time in middle school. The quotes made this book so interesting, and they were fun too. I keep the book on my desk so I can go back to the sections I need whenever I want.

I thought this was a great book! It was written in language geared toward Middle School youth and for boys as well as girls. It's a book that makes talking about difficult and sometimes awkward topics fun for kids. It's a great group work tool also.

This book has everything - fun quizzes (I loved the mad lib in the chapter on body changes), great study tips, and even stuff about bullies.

This has to be one of the best written OT theology books written from a conservative and evangelical perspective. Trying to study OT theology from a conservative perspective without reading Kaiser's work is trying to study Calvinism without reading Calvin's "Institutes". This probably being Kaiser's "magnum opus" book should be read by all students of OT studies and theology. Kaiser writes from a "promise-fulfillment" perspective and avoids the excesses of both "replacement theology" and classical dispensationalism. One of his arguments being that the OT authors had multiple fulfillments in mind when writing about the realization of the promises in the future. Thus, though the great promise will be fulfilled in the Church age to a degree, it will be fulfilled in completeness at the Parousia. The book has a nice flow and organization to it. It goes over all the major periods of OT history (Chapters 5-15) and up to the NT (Chapter 16). The first section of the book (Chapters 1-4) deal with OT theological methodology. Many may find these first four chapters dry and technical, but it is a good introduction to get the reader started. It also includes a bibliography and a full index. The only complaint I have is that the pages are made of beige-coloured paper-back novel paper. I hope in a future edition the publishers will print this book with better quality paper. Overall, though, this book is highly recommended to all students of OT theology.

This is an incredibly insightful book, tracing and understanding the promise(s) of God down throughout history. He picks up where Willis Beecher left off in his "The Prophets and the Promise", which I also highly recommend if you can find it, and explains it in a more easy to understand manner. Not an easy read...but well worth the effort. It will insert a fresh view into the Old Testment the next time you read through it.

This book is a great resource for tying together the Old Testament. It is not, however, light reading. I tried just reading straight through it, but it just wasn't happening. I finally read it taking notes as I went. I ended up with about 40 pages of notes and a new appreciation for Old Testament Theology. (Don't get bogged down by the first few chapters. I think you could even skip them if you want to and either do or don't go back to them later. The only reason I continued after these two boring chapters was that I had to read the book for a class.) I thoroughly recommend that anyone who desires to understand the Old Testament take their time reading this excellent book.

This is the last book in Allan Eckert's Winning of America Series. "Twilight of Empire" chronicles the little-known but bloody Indian uprising in western Illinois in 1832 that became known as Black Hawk's War.

The war was named after the leader of the uprising, an old battle-hardened Sauk war chief named Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak...Black Hawk. In the years following the War of 1812, white settlers flooded into Sauk and Fox lands and the native tribes were forced into signing treaties that gave up their ancestral lands to the United States. In the spring of 1832, Black Hawk, in defiance of the United States and some of his own tribal leaders, led a large band of his starving people back across the Mississippi into northern Illinois to reclaim their stolen lands. This large movement of Indians was seen as hostile by the local white settlers and the militia was called out to subdue Black Hawk's band. The fatefull encounter at what would become the Battle of Stillman's Run would start off what would be the last major Indian war of the midwest. In the end, Black Hawk and his people would be decimated by pursuing American troops under General Atkinson at the Battle of Bad Axe, where hundreds of Indian women and children were shot or drowned while trying to escape back across the Mississippi River. This sad event marked the end of Indian wars east of the Mississippi and signaled the end of the way of life for the woodland Indians.

This story is deeply moving and involved and tells the history of a people and events not generally known today. Highly recommended.

Not only is Twilight of Empire a great book, but the whole winning of america series are, without a doubt, the best stories ever told. I would recommend them to anyone, even those not very interested in history. You have got to read these!

ALLAN ECKERT GOT ME FOREVER HOOKED ON THE FASINATING HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK AND THE BLACK HAWK WAR. HIS STORY TELLING STYLE AND ACCURATE ACCOUNTS OF THIS IMPORTANT PART OF THIS AREAS HISTORY MAKES IT A MUST READ.

What struck me most about this book is its down-to-earthness. Who of us doesn't have an old ugly wooden jewellery box lying around, ugly melamine cabinets or an old scratched up desk? As I flipped through the pages, I found inspiration in just about everything and found the projects to be something that I would actually do!

The first section of the book gives insight on how to source junk, how to decide whether or not a piece is salvageable and how to make simple repairs and prepare the surface for finishing. The 2nd section moves onto the various ways to tranform a piece through the use of moldings, mosaics, decoupage, decorative painting, faux finis, stencilling, stamping etc. The third section gives you ideas on sourcing inspiration but I found myself skipping this section altoghether as there are over 50 projects in the final section and I had no difficulty finding inspiration amongst them. The variety of projects is quite diverse, ranging from small projects like revamping your lamps, glassware, baskets, boxes etc to bigger projects like refinishing cabinets and furniture.

I am currently renovating my powder room from the inspiration I got from this book. My walls are painted with a gorgeous faux fini that was inspired from the kitchen table project and they are currently awaiting the 2nd step which is the stencilling. My ugly grey melamine cabinets are sporting a gorgeous wood frame and are waiting to be painted all white with an antiquing technique to be applied on the decorative molded frame. The ugly plastic handles have been thrown out (yes not everthing will you want to salvage), the remaining holes have been plugged and gorgeous pewter handles are wating to be installed. I have never done anything like this before and as I see the project unfold, I know that the end result will be beautiful and elegant. The book has been extremely instrumental in this project and will be for future projects I have in mind..so it goes without saying that his book is a keeper!

It's a down-to-earth book for those of us who want our homes to look personal and lived in.

If you have ever dreamed of tuning trash into treasure this book will show you just how to do it. A wide variety of creative effects will help you transform many useful and exciting pieces for your home.

Using old, cheap or run down furniture and decorative items as raw materials, the basics of repair and finish stripping are shown. Then the fun begins with refinishing techniques including painting, decoupage, stenciling, mosaic & gilding.

Many variations on the techniques are thoroughly described and illustrated. Over 50 step by step projects include a wide range of items and materials that will provide inspiration for whatever piece you are working on.

The book is fully illustrated with clear close up color photos. A series of templates for stenciling is a nice bonus. This book will be a valuable source of ideas for many years to come.

Uncle Sam and Old Glory is an invaluable resource for the classroom teacher who wants to turn her students on to American History. Each symbol is explained in detail in an easy to read and interesting manner. Likewise, each symbol is accompanied by beautifully detailed woodcut illustrations. Not only did my fifth graders find Uncle Sam and Old Glory to be informative and interesting; but, it served as a springboard to further reading and research. I highly recommend that Uncle Sam and Old Glory be included in every classroom library. I plan to use it year after year with my fifth grade students.
Donna,... Flagstaff, AZ

I am a 3rd grade teacher and I highly recommend this book. It is an excellent resource for teaching about the Symbols of America. Each page focuses on the origins and meanings of a particular symbol in concise, yet highly interesting text. The illustrations are full color and fabulous. My students love this book and practically fight to be able to read it during free time.

This is one of the most interesting books I have read to my 9-year-old son. He enjoyed the pictures and the stories tremendously. It was also interesting to me; I learned some interesting facts about our American history while reading this book to my son. I highly recommend it to any parent and to all teachers!

Editor Kristen Johnson has done an excellent job of pulling together many difficult-to-obtain source documents that are pertinent to the Donner Party. She enhances the reader's understanding by presenting detailed biographical information about each document's author, combined with copious footnotes, all of which are extremely helpful and unbiased. The tremendous amount of research required to synthesize the material is quite apparent. Johnson's volume of material helps to counterbalance some of the older, more biased works of Donner literature. This is a "must-read" for anyone interested in American history, the great western overland migration, or simply in tales of survival. Congratulations to Ms. Johnson upon compiling an interesting, eclectic mix of old and rare--some almost forgotten-documents which really improve our understanding of conflicting viewpoints of one of America's greatest mysteries. (This text refers to the hardbound edition of the book, c. 1996.)

Johnson's book is a great reference for anyone interested in the Donner Party. It is a compilation of written source materials, most contemporary to the Donner event. The book contains many personal accounts of the tragedy, given from widely diverse sources, from survivors and rescuers to "yellow journalists" of the time. Johnson's compilation is a testament to how the Donner Party story affected people of the time, and how their varying perspectives affected their opinions. Johnson avoids reader confusion with a complete set of footnotes, detailing where various writers were inaccurate or incomplete in their retelling of this amazing story of the West.

This book takes many early, hard to find, publications and compiles them into one comprehensive resource. The book has excellent annotations and summaries which place events into perspective and help give a fair, balanced view of the Donner Party tragedy. Highly recommended for anyone who has an interest in our western history and the early settlers who helped to form it. This is a great follow-up book to McGlashan and Stewart

Flavio F. Lima - ( livifla@bol.com.br ) - The only thing that I don't liked was the little words of the Old Testament in it. However, this famous Dictionary is my guide when I need to understand the true meaning of the greek words. Yes every Bible student must have it in your personal library. It is an excellent reference work !

An Excellent work which is if Aid to all Bible Students. The Paper is not of as nice quality as I would like, but Durable non the less. However the content and description should make this book one of the top of the list for any serious student.

Vine's Expository Dictionary gives excellent word pictures and meanings of the original languages found in the Word of God. It is a resource book that every preacher should have for preparing sermons for their local body of believers. Nothing helps make the Scripture come alive for listeners like a clearer understanding of what the writers of the books of the Bible were trying to present through their choice of certain words in the Greek and Hebrew languages. This book opens the door of understanding of the original languages of the Bible.