Collaboratively assembled and edited by Judith H. Banki (Director of Special Programs at the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding in New York City) and Eugene J. Fisher (Executive Secretary of the Secretariat for Catholic-Jewish Relations of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops), A Prophet For Our Time is an impressive anthology of writings by Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum, an activist and organizer who is well-known for his work in striving for religious understanding of human rights and the inter-faith promotion of tolerance over bigotry. Rabbi Tanenbaum's examinations of Christian-Jewish relations, Black-Jewish relations, the moral legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., how the traditional Catholic Passion Play has fostered anti-Semitism down through history, and much, much more are knowledgeably presented in this thought-provoking and highly accessible collection, filled from cover to cover with a wealth of wisdom recommended for readers of all faiths and denominational backgrounds.

I am an NLP Master Practitioner trained to the highest standards of NLP (as there are some quick and dirty NLP courses around). The science of NLP is to understand the way we think based on modelling other people. This is a method for replicating talent.

NLP, Ericksonian Hypnosis and Psychology are often used in conjunction, hence my interest in this work.

Having read many books in order to enhance my business skills, I must say that this is one of the best works I have read.

Jean-Michel has described something so simple, and yet so evasive to even the best of studies of human sciences. I find it surprising that nobody else has made a review of this outstanding work.

His theory is quite simple. That people mimic each other. His explanations are direct, simple to understand and the book is captivating from cover to cover. It is literally full of "aha" experiences from page to page.

For example, he describes the difference between suggestions and commands. Now that is something I have wanted to know for all of my career. I have written in my sales training manuals my own (what I think is obvious) theories such as "people mirror each other" and that it's a question of "who is mirroring who" and to "take the lead" in mirroring.

Jean-Michel describes the difference between suggestion and command by saying that once a suggestion is carried out, the initial instruction is 'as if it's' forgotten. I won't labour this point, because Jean-Michel has a far better explanation of this.

Jean-Michel concerns the reader by demonstrating that perhaps we aren't free willed, but very much subject to the desires of those that we have rapport with. This includes mass suggestion and mass hysteria, including war.

Jean-Michel describes the more traditional methods of hypnosis, but apparently unknowingly does an eloquent job of explaining the suggestive method of hypnosis popularised by Milton Erickson. He discusses how hypnosis consists of an interdividual relationship using rapport where the self's desire is copied from the others. The hypnotist establishes rapport by copying the hypnotised in this dance of rapport. I.e. influence is a two-way street.

He claims that in hypnosis there are three metaphorical parties involved. The "other self" within the person being hypnotised, the "other self" as the hypnotist and the "original" self that is temporarily put aside. The mimetic nature of the hypnotised integrates interpersonally with the hypnotist. This pattern of copying others is useful for explaining many phenomenon that are otherwise left to the "copied" explanations of priests, psychologists and practitioners of all kinds of phenomenon that society swallows largely unquestioned in the form of paradigm.

He describes the phenomena of post-hypnotic suggestion in reference to psychological time, which he says is the only time that exists for a person anyway. This is a useful metaphor. In this way he also describes suggestion. He links the amnesia with hypnosis with the amnesia of carrying out a suggestion.

He describes desire as something that is copied from other people. Such desire is even demonstrated when one copies a phantom "other" in the case of spirit possession or hysteria and even catatonia. I.e. Hysteria must be demon possession, so the hysteric blasphemes god. This desire is in the form of suggestion. I.e. the hysteric has been led to believe that society believes a good church going person wouldn't behave as such, it must be the devil possessing them. This suggestive ability is further detailed in the section on witchcraft.

Jean Michel discusses the original views of hysteria from Socrates to Freud. He discusses how Jean-Marin Charcot thought that hysteria was a conflict of opposing beliefs in the conscious mind. He then discusses how the demon theory of hysteria was surpassed by Freud's popularisation of the subconscious theory, thereby repressing the theory of hysteria once again to the unknown. He attempts to demystify the subconscious as more conscious than many psychologists care to admit. He discusses the myth that habit is potentially fearful. He demonstrates that rather than having the subconscious as the "other self" inside us, that the "other self" is largely society and/or those that influence us.

In a sense you could say that my opinions in this review are copied opinions of Jean-Michel.

I hope this gives you an idea of what you can look forward to reading in this brilliant book. If you would like to know more about influencing others, then this is the book for you. Another book I can recommend on understanding the unconscious mind is "The origin of consciousness in the breakdown of the bicameral mind". Another classic that gathers dust. I would also recommend books by Milton Erickson. If you are in sales you can't go better than Tom Hopkins classic "How to master the art of selling". I would suggest reading books on NLP, but I have found that NLP is truly an art that requires patience and a lot of training and practice to be practical to those of us who aren't therapists.

What a superb book about interesting subjects. If you want to do global business then you should read how these areas will and can impact upon your business and life. At the same time, if you are looking for a place to start to read how foreign policy is developed, this is the book.

This is a brilliant book. It's the first time I've read about the politics of Irish literature written in this way, and I've read a lot of books about Yeats and Joyce, as well as some theory. However, here, the fusion of both creates a work which is part of a new way of looking at Irishness along the lines of Gibbons, Kearney and Lloyd, though O'Brien would not be in complete agreement with some of their ideas. His discourse, however, is parallel to that of these writers. It's a different, more challenging, kind of Irish studies.
It's a difficult argument with a lot of complex theory coming at you from every angle. He makes use of Derrida, Levinas and Adorno to create the structure through which he views the writings of Yeats and Joyce, and their constructions of Irishness. In some ways, this is really two books, with an analysis of the theoretical difficulties of the creation of structures of identity as well as an application of this model to the work of Yeats and Joyce.

But, O'Brien writes clearly and some of the more arcane practitioners of critical and literary theory could take lessons from his style and argument. He discusses Joyce and Yeats in the context of their time, and then shows how they transcend that context through a placement of identity within an imaginary European context. He makes connections between Yeats and joyce (who are often seen as being at two different ends of the spectrum) and sees both as offering different but related perspectives on identity.
His close readings are acute and there is plenty of quotation.
It's a scholarly book, very good for postgraduates and people working in the field. perhaps only the brighter undergrads should attempt it.
Irish studies has needed this theoretical input for some time and it's good to see what we might call "high theory" being applied to such canonical figures.
It's a first book (I gather from the acknowledgments, and as such, is a stunning debut. I look forward to reading more, and from the Amazon search, it seems there are more on the way!

This is an excellent presentation on the life and thought of this pioneer of the ecumenical movement. The biography of Edmund Schlink from his early years through the church struggle under the Nazi regime in Germany, his contribution to the rebuilding of the Protestant church in Germany after the war, and especially his contributions to the ecumenical movement in the context of the WCC as well as with regard to Protestant-Roman Catholic relations are described on the basis of unpublished materials. Thus a fascinating report on the life and activities of one of the leading Lutheran theologians of our time emerges. The development of Schlink's theology is incorporated into this description. The book is a remarkable achievment and should be read by anyone interested in the ecumenical Christian movement of our century, but also as a paradigmatic biography of a life of Christian theologian from Germany under the impact of the difficult experiences of this century.

This book provides a wealth of information on alternatives to the long ages suggested by conventional isotopic dates. Much of the emphasis of this book is on the physics of radioactive decay, and how decay rates can be changed. There are also some geologically-based studies of isotopic dating techniques, and I would personally like to see more of these.

Ralph Meatyard is surely not one of the great names of photographic history, but he does deserve a place as far as originality is concerned. He is truly an American original, a poet, a visionary artist of the highest caliber. Using family and friends, Meatyard created a gothic world worthy of Poe and Faulkner. A modest man, rasing a family and working as an optometrist, Meatyard managed to create a world straddling dream and reality. He wasn't afraid to experiment and, using a minimum amount of equipment, but a maximum amount of creativity and experimentation, he snapped a record of both beauty and weirdness. It's surprising that he lived on the border of North and South, in that his work seems so southern in feeling. One has only to create a book of photos by Meatyard, coupled with the poetry of the Arkansas poet Frank Stanford, to create a true work of gothic beauty. All one can say is that he's a true original who deserves to be appreciated. James Hoffman

This book is the bible for vintage rayguns.

It was great to see the toys of my wonder years in full color. Inspires me to become a collector!

Lots of fun!

I had the privilege of taking several classes with Dr. Bales at Conception Seminary College during the 90-91 academic year, and there are not enough superlatives to describe the high quality of his teaching and scholarship. This book is one of the books I treasure most highly in my collection because it neatly summarizes every major philosopher, and yet is in language that is easily understood and even makes for pleasant reading in its own right. If you are looking for a handy reference guide to philosophy, you cannot do better than this. I highly recommend it, even at the inflated textbook price.