Well worth the time. I highly recommend this book

A well written and provocative collection of poetry. The writer combines the grit of the urban experience with the sublime serenity of the Caribbean. Well worth the money and more. The next Counte Cullen has arrived.

This is not easy going: a colection of 17 reprinted articles (plus a helpful new introduction) which explore the philosophical and theological side of narrative and seek to show how it can be a useful tool for thinking about the meaning of life. Everyone's into 'story' these days and how important it is, but few can agree on exactly what a 'story' enables us to say or to know about anything. This book is a tremendous step in that direction. A particular highlight is David Ford's 'System, Story, Performance'.

It's hard going but if you persevere it will refresh and reform your ways of thinking.

This is a really great book for kids who love horses - and our kids do! Now, our kids want to save all the wild horses in the world. They've read this book over and over.

Willie's Game chronicles the life of Willie Mosconi, one of the greatest pool players in the history of the game. That in itself makes it a necessary edition to a billiard enthusiast's bookcase, but those interested in sports, competition, and prodigies will enjoy it too.

From learning to play by hitting potatoes around on the pool table, to winning tournaments for big money, to setting the world record for the most balls run (526), Mosconi did it all. He talks a lot in his autobiography what makes a good player, and about the difference between an apt technician and a champion.

As you'd expect, the personalities are colorful, especially when set against the background of early twentieth century America. Mosconi doesn't mince words about his impressions of and experiences with other pool notables. There's a lot of valuable pool history and anecdotes here.

If you want to learn the general law about Wills and Trusts, this is the book. There are other supplements you can buy that can introduce you to the subject, but no other book comes close to going to the depth that this book does. It is helpful to have taken a course in Property before reading this book, so that you will have experience in dealing with the Rule Against Perpetuities.

Ever since G.W. Bush passed the largest tax cut in history, many people think the rich should not be able to endow their children with a large inheritance as it destroys the democratic system we have where everyone has a equal chance at succeeding.
This book has given me another perspective about the issue of inheritance. Suppose for a moment we weren't allowed to transfer anything to our children. If that were to become law, do you really think people would work as hard as they do now, knowing that everything that they have reverts back to the State once they die? Do we want to take away that incentive to work hard?
I don't think so.

Another aspect of this book that I particular enjoy is the way that it is organized. If you ever wanted to know all the different types of trusts there are, this book covers it. It also does a good job of introducing you to tax planning during wealth transfers.

This book also does a good job of making you think. Do you know what happens when two people who are married die at the same time or when it is unclear which one died first? It seems insignificant, but suppose A and B, married, both die in a car crash. A initially willed that everything go to B and C. B willed everything to go to her children. If B died first, A's wealth should go to C. If A died first, B's children and C should get something. What if it's unclear who died first? This book deals with that issue and much more.

Another way that it makes you think is that it offers alternative solutions to the same problems. Did you ever consider other ways the law could be re-written to avoid probate? Every good lawyer knows the traditional ways of avoiding probate - joint tenancy property, life insurance, Iras, pension plans, and trusts. But why do not just re-write the law in probate? What not have universal succession like they do in France? This book covers all of that.

Did you ever want to know the difference between an administrator and executor? What happens if the executor drags his feet during the probate process? What can the beneficiaries do? This book has the answers.

In sum, this is a great book for learning about Wills & Trusts. I highly recommend it.

The publication of Stanley Hauerwas' Gifford lectures (2000-2001) is an account of what went wrong with theology in the nineteenth century and how to set it back on the right course. The author exemplifies the former with an examination of William James and Reinhold Neibuhr and presents them as "disguised forms of humanism." The right course for our particular circumstance is a recovery of Karl Barth's christological natural theology.

I have little quarrel with Hauerwas' picture of James but I am troubled by his treatment of Niebuhr. The difficulty begins with the author's opening statement about Niebuhr: "Sin! Not just sin, but original sin, is taken to be what distinguishes Niebuhr from Protestant liberalism." In a way that is unthinkable for James, Niebuhr has a theology and it is driven by the reality of sin. In spite of some broad similarities between James and Niebuhr, their pragmatism for example, Niebuhr lived an authentic form of Christian witness. One does not even have to go beyond what the author writes about Niebuhr to see that Niebuhr's theology is thoroughly "against the grain" in a way that James' spiritualism is fashionable.

It is peculiar, to say the least, that Barth is presented as an example of natural theology because of his adamant "no" to any form of natural theology. In order to make his argument, Hauerwas has to redefine what is meant by natural theology. It has nothing to do with the natural world and everything to do with Barth's "ability to tell us the way the world is." Immediately, some will be dissatisfied with the Barthian divorce between natural science and theology. It is unfortunate that Hauerwas flows with the grain and turns Christian faith further inward without regard to a Christian witness over against the dominant and reductive scientific description of the way the universe is.

The vitality and relevance of "With the Grain of the Universe" is the question about whether it should be James, Niebuhr, or Barth who inform our theology. I do not like the forced choice between Niebuhr's inclusive form of witnessing (social justice, building coalitions, changing laws, siding with the poor) and Barth's witness to the crucified and risen Lord. If Christian theology is going to embrace natural theology, then let it be as Hauerwas says, a confident and unapologetic proclamation of the way things, but as a witness broad enough to include the created order as well as the human soul. As usual, Stanley Hauerwas has provided a theological framework for a lively and meaningful conversation.

My favorite Christmas gift -- the cover is Red, the stock feels great to the touch, and there's plenty of white space. It's a book and an exhibition in one. It's filled with people who love their work. Work, Life, Tools qualifies as great design. (Hats off Milton Glaser, and to Steelecase for being enlightened enough to fund the exhibition.) This book cum exhibition guide ranks high on the visual, aesthetic and conceptual pleasure scale. My favorite aspect: the way the bios portray the multiple talents and the "I don't just do one thing" truth about their subjects. It's filled with lots of practical ah-has. You get to peek into people's work spaces. It represents a fascinating spectrum of thinking about work. And, it's amazing to me how loyal people are to their fountain pens (as one who's committed to Deluxe Uni-balls.) I loved it!

At first I found the voice Lombardo uses for "Works and Days" a little off-putting. I mean, you don't expect an ancient Greek poet to come off like one of Huck Finn's more literate relatives. But as I continued reading, and, indeed, I had a hard time stopping, I was convinced this really was Hesiod's voice, at least for this group of poems and proverbs. He's a rustic, cranky know-it-all who's also quite entertaining. "Theogony" is more formal and stately, but as with Lomboardo's recent "Iliad" and "Odyssey", compulsively readable. In this volume, Hesiod is more pleasurable to read than I had imagined possible. Bravo!