Books of this quality are rare. For anyone interested in the underlying patterns which orchestrate existence, this book superbly details, describes, compares and analyzes major cosmological concepts and ideas. I heartfelt wish the author, drawing upon 25 years of living these ideas, would write a sequel discussing what he has learned through his sojourn in Indonesia.

A must read for those interested in seeing the connection of mysticism and our natural world.

This book will stand the test of time. Published in 1975 at the height of the "consciousness movement" of the 60's & 70's this book blends myths, magic and religion to modern natural science and leaves the reader wanting more. Author Blair takes the reader on a step by step journey through the transformation of consciousness from the past to the present supported from the microcosm to macrocosm.

This book is a comfortable read though in its simplicity it evokes the reader's own sense of wonderment about the world around him/her.

I picked this up in Louisiana, to dull the 6 hours of fly time back home to Wasington DC. Wow! Frankly, I read it twice, and have passed it on to a friend, and he'd better take good care of it. A great story, with details, intriguing situations, and thorough emotional context. A really great book. I highly recommend it.

It could have happened. Edwin Rommel meets William Faulkner for a pre - WWII romp through North Mississippi in search of Nathan Bedford Forrest's war waging strategy. What fun and what a great means of absorbing history in this delighful work of fiction...or did it happen?

This is a book that can be read over and over. Both my 3 and 6 year olds fell in love with the superbly imaginative and textured illustrations and the fun tabs to pull and make things move. It's a book which leads to discussions, art projects and giggles. It's also so interactive that it feels like more than a book. It makes a great gift for all the birthdays you have this year.

(...) For anyone that doesn't know, Timothy Basil Ering has a wonderful range of techniques,solutions and styles!
The color, the energy, the movement of the paint, the textures and the expressions of these two characters are just amazing.
What a fantastic story about what this adorable boy creates for his sad dog in hopes to make him happy. The ending is heart warming!

This is a fabulous book for the novice researcher and an excellent resource/refresher for the experienced. Everything is laid out so clearly it is a pleasure to read--a no nonsense approach. I highly recommend it!

Well it is only for my course called fundamnetals of socýal research but its very expensive indeed. Just wanted the first to make a comment thats all.

This book is a masterpiece. A must read for anyone interested in the stock market, investing or picking the right stock UNDERVALUED. The book helped me pick and investment which made a 400 percent return on my money. Any investor interested in making BIG money in the stock market should buy this book TODAY.

this is a must read for all people interested in investing in the stock market

This is a poignant, often sad fantasy about the life of a girl who considers herself a failure, leading a fairly miserable life even with her skills and a decent job. It truly lives up to its moniker of fairy tale, for it is as all good lore: Gritty, supernatural, with a few morals to impart and a decidedly imperfect ending.

It begins by introducing the characters, the young woman Jo, her drugged-up mother, her domineering cop father, her coworkers at the shop. She is an ace at fixing cars, but very depressed because of her family life and nonexistant social life. Staying late one night, she decides to build a humanoid out of spare parts, simply as a lark; but when lightning hits it, it comes to life. After understandable fright, she takes it home and installs it in a room on the roof of her tenament, and starts trying to teach it language and knowledge. He eventually picks up a name from the neighbor, who loves to play as King Arthur: Galahad. Jo slowly makes progress on teaching him, with the help of a spell-n-speak to give him voice, through flash cards and later many books from the library, particularly about astronomy.

At the same time she's trying to find her way around a social life with a few other young women, visiting clubs and going on double-dates. Each seems to become one disappointment and disaster after another; even an enjoyable and relaxed evening with a local magnate that leads to a night of passion, is a misunderstanding. Here and there, however, her very imperfect friends and even family reveal sides of themselves she never knew, giving her a glimpse into who they are deep inside. But all of that comes to an abrupt end when Galahad saves her from her father's drunken abuse one night, and they have to flee. The end is triumphant, passionate, and heartbreaking, and to say more would be to ruin the conclusion of a very fine story.

This is one of the few books that have truly affected me on a deep emotional level recently. It's drawn in a style very similar to PvP (pvponline.com), enough so that I was drawn to it and picked it up for that reason alone. But it's really a very melancholy story, full of sadness and pain and decadence, with threads of wonder and hope running through it, like any true fairy tale. The characters are all fully-realized, each looking almost like cut-outs only to expose their dreams and fears and become more real. The way that we do view people, simply as "others" that we pigeonhole, until we get a glimpse of who they really are, and then they suddenly become as human to us as to Jo. It is the story of one girl growing up, trying to come to grips with her past and her future. The inspiration may be fantastic, but the feelings are entirely real. We see her starting to live life again for the first time in years, her many disappointments and failures, and slowly discovering who she is in the world. And it is all done very finely, death and pain and escape and joy mixed in with such respect that you never feel this is anything but real. As a fairy tale should be, one written for our age.

The dialogue is also well-used, and feels very realistic. We never see into anyone's thoughts; we never need to, because our view is of Jo, though her thoughts are often written down in a journal or opened up to Galahad. The narration is very low-key, preferring to let the story tell itself once it's under way. The art, of course, is stunning, easily conveying emotions, clear events, and important details. Obviously a quite solid work that can bring new insights and hope to anyone struggling with their own future.

This book will definitely appeal to anyone who has ever been in this position, especially those in it right now. There is some violence and suggestive sex, but the emotional pain and turmoil far outweighs that. But the end offers a mixed hope, that life can go on.

A surface skim of this book might suggest that this book is simply a female urban version to The Iron Giant. Well, this book is far more than that. It is a glorious coming of age tale about a young woman and a strange being who manages to open her eyes to the true glory of herself.

The girl, Josephine, is a wondeful lass who can find neither happiness nor peace outside of her job at a small auto garage as a good mechanic. Her home life is hellish with a fat bullying thug of a father and a doped up broken zombie of a mother in a spiteful neighbourhood that sees her as a freak. All of this takes their toll on her self esteem as she looks on enviously at the social life that other women seem to take on at ease.

It all culminates with a flight of fancy as she builds a construction of a idealed perfect man from spare auto parts. That little indulgence takes on a wonderous tone when a freak bolt of lightning strikes the construct and brings him to life. Eventually, the mechanical man and Josephine meet and the girl gains a companion she never anticipated.

In the story that follows, Jo struggles to teach the Robot, who soon dubs himself as Galahad from Arthurian legend, how to communicate and the complexities of life and existence. In return, Galahad helps make her see the true beauty of her nature that the world of fools around her cannot perceive even as she strives to fit in a square peg in a round hole kind of world. However, events take a terrible course of their own that will forever change the lives of the characters.

This book is American sequential art at its finest with a story that speaks to the human spirit while giving voice to those whom the world has kept silent for so long. It's quiet, funny and yet poignant in the beginning until the narrative builds to a shatteringly tragic but triumphant climax that will touch your soul. The truths expressed are age old and universal, but the telling will give them an immediacy and power that stay with you.

If you like comics, or want to see what the medium can be like in fiction, then you owe it to yourself to read this book.

I think it goes without saying by this point, but this is by far the best book you could buy about travel in Ethiopia, I've read it about 3 times over now and I still really enjoy it. Theres not much out there about travel to Ethiopia, but even if there was, this book would stand head and shoulders above the rest

Guide books to Ethiopia are few and far between. However, the Spectrum Guide is all you will need to get an accurate glimpse into this far-away and often misunderstood land just now beginning to be touristed by the outside world.

There are section that cover almost every aspect of Ethiopian life: places, history, geography, food, art, religion, visitors' needs, wildlife, are just a few. The book is profusely illustrated with 200 gorgeous full-color photos abounding from practically every page.

If you are planning a trip to Ethiopia or just interested in learning about the culturally-3000 year old part of our world, once known as Abyssinia, then do pick up the Spectrum Guide to Ethiopia and get carried away to the exotic!

This is a charming book that is extremely valuable for gardeners in Zone 7. The copy in my local library has delicate color illustrations that added a lot to my enjoyment of the book, but the paperback I ordered new from Amazon.com had muddy black-and white versions of the original illustrations. (I don't know if the hardcover pictures are in color.) I've managed to find used copies with color illustrations.

In the fifties, when I was growing up in North Carolina, Miss Lawrence was known in garden circles all over the state as she had been an active gardener and writer for a number of years. I am pleased to see "A Southern Garden" which she wrote in 1942 back in print. RE-reading her words is like listening to an old friend.

She lived and gardened first in Raleigh, then in Charlotte (both Zone 8). The winters in Zone 7 were a bit colder, but many of the plants she recommended for Zone 8, survived in Zone 7 where my family lived and gardened. Given global warming, I think much of Zone 7, which extends right up the East Coast--almost to New England (?)--is now verging on becoming Zone 8 -- at least the part that lies east of the "fall line" on the coastal plain.

I have lived in Arlington, Virginia for a number of years, and have seen a decided shift in the climate in my area. Crepe Myrtles that used to live no futher north than Fredericksburg and die back to the ground in Arlington don't. And Catbirds, a real southerner are nesting in my yard. Both of these are Zone 8 transplants.

Even though I am technicaly in the lower edge of Zone 7, I can grow almost anything Miss Lawrence discusses in her book "A Southern Garden" in my garden. My house is on the "fall line" however, and just west of me the winters are a tad too cold for some things. But if you live in Zone 7, and like a plant try it. If it lives great, if not you've gained some wonderful experience.

Most importantly, pay attention to Miss Lawrence when she describes the 'old timey gardens' -- some say there is nothing new under the sun, and though that might not be entirely correct, many of the old plant forms she discusses are still extant.

This book is a window into the way our Grandmother's gardened. Miss Lawrence describes in her own wonderful and modest style where she purchased plants and how plants she admired performed either in her garden or in the garden's of her friend's. Her descriptions are informative and often humorous. Anyone serious about gardening in the South should own this book as a reference guide. Even a non-gardener would enjoy this lovely book.