What the World Needs Now is a Book ofbn.com Poems awakening us to the need for God's companionship through a heightened awareness of his divine reality.

Great learning tool for amateurs and pros alik

Kimmelman's use of an overall presentation of Bronk's "World" in peregrinations both biographical and literary, serves both contemporary theory and literary history in this very readable survey of one of this century's most influential poets and thinkers. I found myself finally liberated, along with Bronk, from the yoke of Stevens' mind-bending alteration of the american poetic topos, free to investigate the strands and filaments of this poet's lexical world with new license. A rewarding journey, despite the fact that the poet's own work might sometimes make us react quite the contrary.

This book is a wonderful collection of information about women's health. It is readable, comprehensive, and understandable. The editors have done an excellent job of bringing together information ranging from minorities to issues about violence to the research agenda for women's health. This book is recommended for anyone interested in women's health.

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Richard Burt's Unspeakable Shakexxxxpeares is a wise and witty, incredibly knowledgeable overview of some of the more intriguing, unexpected, and at times bizarre uses of Shakespeare in popular culture, especially in the movies. But Burt's book, written with panache and wit, does much more than bring to light some of the hidden corners of Shakespeareana: he offers a trenchant critique of the dumbing down of Shakespeare in popular culture and he takes to task those academics who are only too willing to substitute a trivialized Shaxxxspeare for the more difficult challenges offered by the genuine article. Burt's discussion of pornographic Shakespeare gives new meaning to the phrase "Shakespeare in Love." Employing Queer theory and what he terms "loser criticism," among other approaches, Burt demonstrates how sophisticated critical concepts can be discussed in an accessible, non-intimidating style. Strongly recommended to anyone with an interest in Shakespeare and/or popular culture, or anyone who just wants to read a fun book.

Richard Burt has managed to write an academic text which is at once thorough and a pleasure to read. Dr. Burt's style is easily accessible while still offering an intellectual's view of all things Shakespearean. This book's vision of modern Shakesperiotics demonstrates just how far reaching "the Bard" can be. The depth of Burt's considerations of Queer Theory and adult films is impressive and well documented, but his real strength is the breadth of his scholarship, as he lists and discusses allusions, citations, and spinoffs found throughout American culture. This volume should not be missed by casual viewers of popular culture or interested academic followers of Shakespeare.

Shakespeare is constantly present in all our lives, in films, books and songs. However, Shakespeare is more omnipresent than you first thought, as Richard Burt's book proves. By first examining direct representations of the great Bard, such as the most recent Romeo and Juliet, he then takes us on a literary journey through Hollywood and American popular culture via Shakespeare. In the last decade Shakespeare has not only become accepted, he has almost become cool, as we have seen in the wide variety of spin-offs and adaptations. Burt examines what this not only means to our culture but what it represents about our culture. From the more obvious queering of Shakespeare (indeed his sexuality has been studied , as long as literature has been studied),to his representation in pornography, and finally to the way in which he has been bastardized (bardized) in the current spate of "teen" movies. Not only do we see what this means to the youth of today, we also see how much impact Shakespeare has on our generation. All literary scholars should agree that literature relies on re-interpretation and re-examing the work which we study. Burt brings a new and refreshing light to a subject that could well have become irrelevant to American culture. This book is both fascinating and insightful, how else would I have learnt of films such as Tromeo and Juliet, which make Shakespeare what he should be, new and exciting. So to all those who doubt the validity of such a quest, i.e. redefining Shakespeare in terms of kiddie culture or queer theory, go back to you're stuffy old librarys and let the dust settle upon you. Shakespeare is back, this is the sequel, and its better than ever.

While I eagerly awaited Bosch's return in Angels Flight I was somewhat disappointed in what I found between the covers. I hate to have to give this book a mediocre review.

Where did the Harry that I had grown to love go? It seemed as though his gritty, hard edged character has softened and in doing so become a bit bland.

I honestly, had to skim through several parts of this book because I just couldn't get into it. I am a huge fan of Connelly's and I just hope that Void Moon will take us back to the Connelly we know and love - hey, everyone is allowed to make a mistake, right?

If you are a Bosch fan then you should read Angels Flight but if not go back a read some of Connelly's older books first.

I read this book in 24 hours. The book grabbed me in the 1st 2 pages. I loved this book because it has everything I think makes a good mystery. A character one can care about in Harry Bosch, a good story, and a mystery which is not what it seems. The book is a page turner. You may not be able to put it down because Connelly keeps the action moving. The story takes place over 48 hours which increases the already heightened tension. I was waiting for Connelly's new book because he always writes a good story. For those who are Harry Bosch fans, Connelly does not disappoint. If you are not a Connelly fan, after this book you will be.

This is my fourth Connelly book, and it's another winner. He writes mystery novels different than the rest of them, because there are no easy answers, and no cop is a superman. Detective Heironymus Bosch has been in many of Connelly's previous books, and this time he's investigating the murder of a high-profile black lawyer named Howard Elias, who was in the middle of a lawsuit against the LAPD. Needless to say, there are many people who would want Elias dead, several of them cops.

But for Michael Connelly, there are no easy answers. Red herrings abound in this story, and Bosch is further distracted by his relationship with his estranged wife. Add to that a murder case steeped in pedophilia, powers-that-be in the LAPD who want the case solved as quickly as possible, high-price internet callgirls, dirty cops...and you've got a complicated case that could spark inner-city riots if it's not solved to everyone's satisfaction.

If you like this book, I recommend the other Connelly books I've read..."Blood Work," "A Darkness More Than Night" and "Trunk Music." Connelly's work is gritty, realistic, and sometimes very funny. A fantastic writer.

this is a pretty funny book about an errant-knight and his many misadventures. only problem is, there's really only one joke in this massive (1000+ page) book, namely, what a fool and madman this gallant knight is. after a while, the joke begins to wear thin. i don't think this is the greatest novel ever written. it's too poorly stuctured and one-dimensional for that grand distinction. i think the reason this book IS so famous is because of the character of don quixote himself. the image of the mad don charging giant windmills is one of the most colorful and memorable in all fiction. don quixote is one of the few examples of a character who transcends the book that created him. hamlet and falstaff are two other examples.

a good read, but doesn't live up to the hype.

I read this book in its original language, spanish (since it is my first language too), and I found Don Quijote's adventures fascinating, comical, and sometimes even slightly pathetic.
"El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha" is about a man, Alonso Quijana, who reads so many books of knights from the middle ages (this was written in the baroque times, NOT the renaissance or the enlightement as other reviews say) that he loses his mind and decides to become a knight as well. This anacronysm is the first clue of the comic life Don Quijote leads from then on.
The whole novel is a mockery of other books about knights (although not about the knights themselves), as Don Quijote continually struggles to do justice and to right wrongs, but is met with nothing but sad defeats.
Overall, although it is very long and uses somewhat complicated language (it is written in spanish from the 1600s, although I suppose that the translation makes it simpler as it is to modern day words), Don Quijote and his adventures are something that I'd reccomend to anyone with the patience to read it.

I took the time to read both volumes of Don Quixote, starting at the end of this past summer, and just finishing up in mid-November, and even better, in the New Century Library version, lovely old leather bound books with gold ribbons for markers. I didn't read it straight; it was interspersed with many other books on my stack.

Oh my. What a satisfying read. Of course you are familiar with the basic premise of this book, the mad Don Quixote tilting after windmills, his faithful squire Sancho Panza at his side and always on the lookout for a good meal. What I was not prepared for, and was totally delighted by, were the many and varied side stories, the topsy turvy relationship between madness and sanity (and who is which, anyway?), the wisdom of Sancho Panza as Governor (at long last!) of his very own island, and the surreal relationship between the narrator, the author, and the narrated.

This is a complex work, and could be discussed with many different themes in mind--idealism vs. pragmatism, honesty vs. duplicity, madness vs. sanity, the follies of the rich vs. the follies of the poor. Chivalry. Romantic love. Storytelling. Renunciation. The Quest. Devotion. Class structure. Religious persecution.

The only thing that bothered me about this book was that everybody was endlessly enchanted and ready to give the benefit of the doubt to beautiful young men and women, that beauty in this book equaled virtue and a kind heart, a small complaint indeed regarding this masterpiece.

If you've already read this book, this is just preaching to the choir. But if you're trying to decide whether or not to take the time, the answer is yes, yes and yes! You won't regret it, and your heart and soul will thank you.

"Pastime" reintroduces a character first glimpsed in the book "Early Autumn" ,the dancer Paul Giacomo .In the early novel he had been taken in hand by Spenser and turned from an unprepossessing and gangly 15 year old slacker into an achiever .Now he re-enters Spensers life and asks for help in finding his mother who has gone missing.
Unfortunately she has absconded with a man named Beaumont who just happens to have fleeced the local mob and is being hunted down by Gerry ,the no good incompetent son of the local mob chief.There is every chance that Paul's mother is in harms way by virtue of her association with Beaumont
During the course of the book Spenser battles mobsters ,is sseriously wounded and eventually comes to an understanding with the mob.
There is a great deal too much back story in the book for my taste -the ever over inquisitive Susan probes Spenser for details of his past and his relationship with his sidekick Hawk while the conversation of Paul is saturated with psycobabble to a teeth clenchingly irritating extent
What has knocked the series off the rails for me has been the increasing space given to Spencers relationship with the shrink Susan -it has transformed what were sharp and almost over readable crime stories into "touchy-feely "exercises redolent of the self absorbtion I see as the ultimate sin of psychoanalysis
The action when it comes is crisp and sharp but there is too little of it and until Parker dumps Susan and the damnable dog they share this series will continue to be seen as the irrelevance it at present is
What a waste.

You will find this Spenser novel more entertaining if you read "Early Autumn" first since two of the characters are introduced in the earlier book.

Parent-son relationships are an important theme here. Paul's mother has come up missing and the youth contacts Spenser who in many ways has acted like a father to Paul in earlier books. In following her trail, Spenser again faces mobster Joe Broz and his son, Jerry. You get to know and understand the gangster a bit better here. That father-son relationship is also well explored.

Parker uses another element to add suspense. Susan has ended up with ex-husband's dog Pearl who accompanies Spenser and Paul. Well, we all know how high the animal mortality rate is in crime and suspense fiction, so dog lovers will be holding their breath everytime the dog goes out with Spenser.

All in all, a good and satisfying read.

This book provides closure to the door left open by Early Autumn. Paul returns to the forefront as he and Spenser seek his wayward mother. The theme of this novel is parenthood...Paul and Spenser...the Brozs...Spenser and his father (and the uncles)...even Spenser and Susan and their "baby" Pearl. The underlying quest/adventure is good but the real draw for Spenser fans is a look back into the detective's youth. The story of the young Spenser's encounter with the bear alone is worth the price of the book. My second favorite Spenser novel; I'll let the readers of this review guess what the first is.

- It wasn't until I started reading "Small Vices" that I realized how much I'd missed Robert Parker and his Spenser series. During an 18-month period about two years ago I read all of Parker's books. I haven't read any of his books since. And then recently I picked up this new book and, although I was having a bad day, I was soon smiling and laughing. Spenser was back and I was sure enjoying his company. I've tried before to determine exactly why I love this series so much, since the basic concept is so cliched: Spenser is a tough, strong private eye, but with a heart of gold, who usually gets the bad guy. He's very ethical and serious at times, like Lawrence Block's Matthew Scudder character, but he is also quite funny at times, a la Donald Westlake. Mostly, though, he is witty, sharp and smart. I suspect that part of me thinks that I could be Spenser if I buffed up and learned how to throw a punch. The writing is always tight in his books. During one conversation, for example, Spenser tells the reader simply, "I had nothing to add to that," whereas other writers would elaborate on that thought. There is also a racial element to the series, with Spenser's buddy, Hawk, a black tough guy who acts dumber than he is and plays to the racial stereotype but is actually quite intelligent and uses people's expectation of him to his advantage. All of this results in great dialogue. At one point in this book, for example, Spenser is injured. "I don't need that much help," Spenser said. "He ain't heavy," Hawk said. "He's my brother." In this book, Spenser is hired by a law firm concerned that a black man convicted of murdering a white girl in an almost all-white college may actually be innocent of that crime. The suspect is guilty, though, of raping other women so few go out of their way to help Spenser unravel the truth. Spenser also encounters great deal of racism. Soon some tough guys tell Spenser to quit his investigation and throw him some muscle. He pretty much ignores the threats until he starts getting followed by a guy who prefers to let his bullets do the talking. And then things get really interesting. Meanwhile, Spenser's long-time girlfriend, Susan, wants to adopt a child but Spenser is against the idea but doesn't want to make her mad either. This is certainly not Parker's best book, but even a weak Parker book is better than much of the novels currently available. Part of the problem may be that Parker has been writing this series for too long, more than 20 years now, so it will be interesting to see how a new non-Spenser book he has out compares. And when I read that one, I'll tell you my conclusion.

After more than 20 crime novels, Robert Parker can still pique my interest. And twenty of almost anything usually equates to a snore. Not so here.

In "Small Vices", we revisit one of the best known ensembles of the genre; sexy invincible Spenser, seductively naive Susan, and without a doubt, the intimidating irrepressible Hawk. We also meet "The Gray Man", who wishes to put Spenser into an earlier grave than anyone, including the self-effacing Spenser, desires.

Add a friend asking for Spensers help in his framing of a murder of a young female college student, the search of suspects through Boston to the elite Manhattan crowd, and voila, another gritty up front Parker crime action in full motion.

The dialouge snaps, the plot crackles, and the .22 pops.

Thank you for your interest & comments--CDS

Small Vices just an excellent novel. It displays Spenser very well, both with his funny observations on life and his moral rigidity. I think that had Atticus Finch become a P.I., he would be quite a lot like Spenser. Seeing Spenser in a vulnerable position for the first real time was very interesting, though I wish they wouldn't have put it on all the summaries of the book. It would have been much better as a surprise. Also, I believe that the Gray Man is the best villian Parker has created, and one of the better I've encountered in fiction. He goes right up there with Koontz's Egler Vess, King's Randall Flagg, and Martin Fletcher from The Last Family. Finally, I highly recommend this novel. It's perfect for all Spenser fans, and it will be sure to snag some new ones.