I was looking for a historical account of the US Constitution and picked this up from the library. This book chronoligically follows the events leading up to the writing of the Constitution (from 1776), the Articles of Confederation, the meetings of the Continental Congress, and the months of debate that lead to the creation of one of the greatest documents in the world. All amendments are discussed and summarized (even some that never made it). The major players (Madison, Washington, etc.) are mentioned and the parts they played are described in good detail. I highly recommend this book to all who want to learn a little bit more about the most important time in this nation's history.

This book made me a Edmond Jabes fan - I doubt that any other of his books would have for this is by far the most accessible. Jabes is an Egyptian Jew in exile in France writing primarily after the Holocaust. His writing style is a series of snippets - fiction, poetry, aphorisms - that explore the limits of language and the role of the blank, the silence, the desert, the unwritten. In The Books of Shares each of these snippets stands on its own - that is not true, for example, of the multi-volume Book of Questions. The result is a truly post-modern reflection on theology and philosophy - and post-modern without pretention.

When I read this book on a silent retreat, I found passage after passage that I wanted to hear, to memorize, to enter into my journal.

An example: "Out of the words of his language, a writer forges new words, not neologisms, but words irrigated with his blood. He founds a second language which, to be sure, is rooted in the first with all its fibers, but which henceforth, being his own - O paradox - is nobody's. Because the writer's language wants to be only of the book, of the instant and duration of a liberated word."

If you enjoy the Books of Shares, there are many wonderful volumes of Jabes to follow. If you do not enjoy this, you may safely assume that Jabes is not your reading choice.

The scrolls of the Essenes and history of this Jewish sect intrigued Wilson and in 1954 he journeyed to Israel to study the scrolls. His research first appeared in the New Yorker and was revised just before his death this returns his out of print classic to new audiences.

The title of this Gervase Fen mystery is dredged from English folklore: "Buried on Monday, buried for health, /Buried on Tuesday, buried for wealth; /Buried on Wednesday, buried at leisure, /Buried on Thursday, buried for pleasure; /Buried on Friday, buried for fun, /Buried on Saturday, buried at one; /Buried on Sunday after eleven, /You get the priest and you go to heaven."

A more macabre folk jingle than, say "Monday's child is fair of face..." but appropriate for a murder mystery that our detective-don solves while standing for Parliament in rural England.

Along with the eccentric detective Gervase Fen, Professor of English Language and Literature in the University of Oxford, Edmund Crispin also features one of his eccentric animals in "Buried for Pleasure." This time it is a 'non-doing' pig that falls in love with the village's pub manager.

The plot also works in that most obvious of red herrings: an escaped lunatic who believes himself to be President Woodrow Wilson. His normal mode of dress is a pince nez, and he must be the only lunatic in literature who declares, as he is captured and led away, "I warn you that if my Fourteen Points are not adopted, Western Europe will be at war again within a decade." Since "Buried for Pleasure" takes place in 1949, his prophecy was correct, although tardy.

We never do find out exactly why Fen is standing for Parliament. One of the other characters challenges him to explain his motives:

"'Well, what on earth...I mean, why are you standing for Parliament? What put the idea into your head?'

"Even to himself Fen's actions were sometimes unaccountable, and he could think of no very convincing reply.

"'It is my wish,' he said sanctimoniously, 'to serve the community.'

"The girl eyed him dubiously.

"'Or at least," he amended, 'that is one of my motives. Besides, I felt I was getting far too restricted in my interests. Have you ever produced a definitive edition of Langland?'

"'Of course not,' she said crossly.

"'I have. I've just finished producing one. It has queer psychological effects. You begin to wonder if you're mad. And the only remedy for that is a complete change of occupation.'"

Read this book not so much for the mystery, but for Fen's final campaign speech when he decides that he doesn't want to get elected after all.

As for the mystery, Crispin ties all of his loose ends together in a climactic automobile chase that involves the lunatic who thinks he's President Wilson, the Cockney pub manager and her non-doing pig, the murderer, a candidate for Parliament, and the rector who is plagued by a poltergeist.

And the poltergeist.

"Buried for Pleasure" is vintage Crispin.

From all the books I've picked out of a bookshelf either on random or after having had them recomender to me, this is one of the best. This book was so inspiring. It outlined in a simple way the life and trials of blessed Mary MacKillop, and this Norwegian fell in love at once. If you want to learn more about this wonderful Aussie rolemodel, this is a great book to start with.

I am an M.D. but not a cardiologist. I looked at this book for a very specific purpose. I wanted to learn about nutrients as adjunctive therapies in heart disease. My interest in this topic arose because a family member, who has CHF, is not getting adequate relief from his medical regimen. This text is clearly not a nutritional or alternative work; it is very mainstream and the vast majority of the text is devoted to usual pharmacotherapeutic topics. But unlike almost any other book I saw, this one devoted short, hightly focused, and serious review coverage to cardioactive nutrients like L-carnitine, fish oils, taurine, and coenzyme Q-10.

The parts I read were well written and well thought out. I also glanced through the rest of the book and it appears to be a text that the authors worked dilligently to make into something truly exceptional--not just a bunch of review articles thrown together. The entire book seemed to be nicely conceptualized and nicely laid out.

The truth is, I almost bought the book just out of interest, even though I do not practice and therefore had no direct need for it. My guess is that clinicians and fellows, especially cardiologists but probably also internists, and perhaps critical care specialists and some others as well, might find this a very interesting and helpful addition to their personal reference library.

As for the nutrients discussed in the book, I had previously done extensive literature searches in MEDLINE and came away impressed by the body of evidence suggesting that these may be helpful in many cases and harmful in practically none. After exploring the issue, I was frankly amazed that some of these nutrients are not more widely used as adjunctive therapies in many cardiovascular conditions. The evidence for efficacy is in many cases not yet unequivocal, but the safety is generally so high, and the cost so low, and the evidence for efficacy is in many cases quite suggestive and impressive. Given this, I suspect that a reasonable analysis of potential costs, risk, and benefits would, in many cases, come down in favor of supplementing traditional therapies with nutritional therapeutic agents.

But I digress. I certainly don't want to leave readers of this review with the impression that this is a flakey or lightweight book; it is not. The coverage devoted to the topics I mention is impressive but short, and the main focus is elsewhere.

The McGurk Detective Organization - consisting of ten-year-olds McGurk, Willie, Wanda, and Joey - are on a tough case! There has been a murder in their neighborhood; one of the Overshaw's doves has been killed. Ray Williams's cat, Whiskers, stands accused with evidence piled up against him. Unless Whiskers is cleared, he will be sent to the pound to almost certain death. It's up to McGurk and his partners to find the real killer... before the cat runs out of time!

I have two of the McGurk mysteries, both of which I enjoy reading immensely! Though it is said to be for readers around 8 years old, I totally disagree. I'm 14 years old and I still love reading McGurk books I have! If you have a chance, don't miss up on the McGurk books, especially "The Case of the Slingshot Sniper" which is pretty great!

Very entertaining and interesting, I could recommend "The Case of the Condemned Cat" to any of my friends. Measures up to the Encyclopedia Brown mysteries!

The book is enjoyable and keeps you hooked on to it . If you like mystery stories and love old fashioned books it's for you . Iknow children mystery stories and I think this one is one of the best.

What a terrific book. It concerns the exploits of the world-renowned (surely, by now?) McGurk Organization, as they attempt to foil the nefarious Four Flying Fingers (and Thumb). The youthful gang of detectives consists of:
Jack P. McGurk - fast-talking leader and scheme-dreamer extrordinaire
Joey Rockaway - studious notetaker and narrator of the stories
Wanda Grieg - resident tomboy and Women's Libber
Brains Bellingham - mad scientst in training
Willie Sandowsky - boy bloodhound and comic relief on-demand

The aforementiontioned Fingers, also known as the Galloping Garbage Gang, have been making a mess of the neghborhood, and McGurk wants to know why. As the case unravels, the young detectives find themselves up against one of the deadliest foes they have ecountered (far worse than Mr. Big or the Secret Scribbler). These books are well written, action-packed and filled with humor (much of it with tongue planted firmly in cheek). An ideal read for boys or girls, age 8-11. This was the 12th entry in the series, and while they seemed to run out of steam a few books later (around the time of the Vanishing Ventriloquist), this is one of the best (or perhaps I was beginning to run out of imagination at that point).
Fans will also want to check out Mr. Hildick's "Ghost Squad" series, written at a slightly higher age level.

Edmund Crispin (pseudonym for Bruce Montgomery) wrote "The Case of the Gilded Fly" in 1944 while he was still an undergraduate at St. John's College, Oxford. It features the advent of Gervase Fen, Professor of English Language and Literature, and amateur detective extraordinaire. Another of my favorite characters, the deaf and possibly senile Professor Wilkes also appears for the first time and tells a ghost story right before the first murder occurs. A story within a story. A mystery within a mystery.

Fen solves both the mystery of the Gilded Fly, and the mystery within the ghost story.

Crispin specialized in creating 'impossible' murders for his Oxford don to investigate. A murder usually acquires the label 'impossible' at the death scene, when someone blurts out, "No one could have gotten past the gate keeper (or into the locked room or through the sky light). This is impossible!"

In "The Case of the Gilded Fly," we have:

"...Accident practically impossible. And murder, apparently, quite impossible. So the only conclusion is---

"The only conclusion is," put in the Inspector, "that the thing never happened at all."

Now Fen is off and running! A whole troupe of actors and actresses had motives for killing their colleague, and all of them (of course) have alibis.

The story begins when playwright Robert Warner mounts his latest experimental drama at the Oxford Repertory Theatre. His previous play bombed in London and he wants to try out "Metromania" in the provinces before opening it on the West End. His current mistress accompanies him to Oxford, and he unwisely gives his former mistress a role in his new play. Both ladies have other admirers. Their admirers have admirers. In fact, it's hard to keep track of who loves whom without a score card---or in this case, a playbill.

Although its characters sometimes sound frivolous and superficial (and very funny), 'Gilded Fly' also concerns itself with the gap between outward, conventional appearances and the inner turmoil that triggered a murder. All of the suspects have valid, psychological reasons for wanting the victim to die, but Fen is skeptical about crimes committed for hate or love:

"I don't believe in the 'crime passionel,' particularly when the passion appears, as in this case, to be chiefly frustration. Money, vengeance, security: there are your plausible motives, and I shall look for one of them."

If you agree with Fen, then you will be able to eliminate ninety percent of the suspects. If you're like me, you'll keep blundering off after red herrings until All is Explained at novel's end. The author doesn't cheat---you'll get all of the clues ahead of the final denouement.

'Gilded Fly' is both a tightly constructed mystery and a literate, witty, British comedy of manners.

NOTE: "The Case of the Gilded Fly" was also published under the title, "Obsequies at Oxford."