Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904) is generally known for his groundbreaking work on the culture and folklore of Japan.

Less well known, despite the fact that it has been just as influential in its way, is the body of Hearn's Louisiana work. "Inventing New Orleans" -edited by S. Frederick Starr and published by University Press of Mississippi - is an admirable collection of Hearn's writings from the decade he spent in New Orleans prior to leaving the U.S. - first for Martinique and then, ultimately, Japan. From 1878 until 1888 Hearn lived in The Crescent City, and through a series of news articles, editorials, reviews, literary sketches (most published in the New Orleans "Daily City Item" and the New Orleans "Times-Democrat") and two studies of Creole culture, fashioned the romantic idea of New Orleans as a city of mystery, magic and wantonness that has endured to the present day. Nothing short of prolific, Hearn also translated books from the French and penned stories, poems, belles letters and a novel while in New Orleans.

"Inventing New Orleans" includes a small (considering Hearn's output) but thoroughly enjoyable selection of this material. The book is comprised of four sections as follows:

I.The Outsider as Insider: Impressions
II.From the Land of Dreams: Sketches
III.Of Vices and Virtues: Editorials
IV.Reports from the Field: Longer Studies

Sections I and II, each very similar in style and subject matter, are my personal favorites. Here, Hearn describes and discourses upon a variety of subjects pertaining to the City Care Forgot in a slice-of-life literary manner. Hearn's first impressions of New Orleans, famous residents of the city (the most well known of which is no doubt Marie Laveau), legends, traditions and myriad topical observations will be found in these pages.

Section III consists of a selection of editorials written for the "Daily City Item" and the "Times-Democrat". It is here that we see Hearn exercising his judgmental pen against political agendas to which he did not subscribe and social ills which he felt to be harming the city. He could not have been popular with the New Orleans police, for instance, judging from the scathing indictments against their alleged corruption to be found in this section.

Section IV includes selections from Hearn's two studies of Creole Culture: "La Cuisine Creole" and "Gombo Zhebes: Little Dictionary of Creole Proverbs. . .". I personally found the former, essentially a cookbook, to be rather dry reading. Those interested in culinary arts will no doubt find much of interest here. The latter is a collection of Creole proverbs, as the title implies, and is a joy to read for those interested in language and a glimpse into the social mind of the lost Creole culture.

All of this is preceded by an erudite introduction (written by the editor) which provides an overview and definition of Southern writing as well as an excellent thumbnail biography of Lafcadio Hearn.

If you are an admirer of Lafcadio Hearn or simply one who has known the haunting charms of The Crescent City, "Inventing New Orleans" will provide you with pages and pages of reading delight.

Frederick Lynch has done an excellent job of exposing the US Democratic party's betrayal of its's white electorate in enforcing Affirmative Discrimination without a mandate.
The lives of an entire generation of white American males were severly damaged by this evil and unjustified racial engineering program.Lynch goes on to ponder the seeming conspiracy of silence among the mass media and their refusal to highlight the plight of white male victims, even though there was no dearth of evidence.

However, as insidious as the the application of Affirmative Discrimination was in the US, it pales in comparison to what is currently being perpetrated in South Africa.For every white male job applicant in South Africa there are approximately twenty to fifty black applicants, yet it is the minority which legislation enforces discrimination against.The silence of the Western media on this matter(particularly the BBC)borders on the criminal.(The ANC controlled media does not deserve mention as it is merely a propaganda engine.)
Lynch details how American organisations applied an AA selection criteria which resulted in many meritous white applicants being arbritarily rejected.Instead of ensuring that all meritous applicants, regardless of race, be allowed an equal chance to compete, non-meritous black applicants were given preference over skilled white applicants - pure racial engineering. In South Africa the ANC uses demographic and occupational statistics in an attempt to justify its' heinous racial engineering agenda - this is not too different from the Nazis philosophy as expoused by Goebbels.During the Nazis invasion of Eastern Europe they were quick to identify those strategic political and economic positions which were held by Jews and to demand their removal and replacement with Nazis.This is the very same strategy being pursued by the racist ANC regime which demands that the majority of skilled positions available in the economy be occupied by blacks, and imposes substantial financial penalties, and refuses lucrative government tenders, to those organisations who fail to comply speedily enough.This effectively dooms an entire generation of young, white South African males to a future of poverty, regardless of their educational level.This is tantamount to ethnic cleansing and ethnic cleansing is Genocide. This, not crime, is the primary reason for the brain drain from South Africa as many white males would otherwise be reduced to the level of beggars.

While it is unlikely that any of the US Deomcratic party perpetrators will be brought to book, it is a neverending source of puzzlement to me that many white Americans continue to vote for a party which so blatantly sold them out.
Affirmative Action is a Gross Human Rights Violation and must be declared a Crime Against Humanity.
It goes without saying that its' victims should be paid substantial reparations for the economic, psychological and emotional trauma they suffered by having their basic human rights violated by Nazis style social engineering.

This book gives the reader an excellent picture of Israel today including previous wars (except over the past year). It is written relatively simply so intermediate children can understand. Also included are a few important people with a paragraph or two about them. Excellent photos enhance the book. It is a great book to have in home, school and synagogue libraries. I plan to use it in the coming year teaching 4th-6th graders a unit on Israel in Hebrew school.

Israel & The Nations packs an incredible level of detail into a well flowing and very readable history. I highly recommend it for the Bible student or teacher who is seeking to have a clear chronological context for the events in the Scriptures. The authors' accounts are concise and fact-laden. The account of Nebuchadnezzar's defeat of Pharaoh Necho, the subsequent deportations of Israelis to Babylon, and Zedekiah's revolt is better told than all other the other reference books in my bookcase combined (and I have a lot of books). This is the overview history that I wish I had twenty years ago.

Japan At The Dawn Of The Modern Age is a specialty item which is recommended for any collection concentrating on Japanese art. Woodblock prints from the Meiji era are presented in a series of over 90 color illustrations which go beyond the traditional perception of Japanese subjects as gardens and geishas. These prints depicted current events and were painted in vivid colors, and Japan At The Dawn Of The Modern Age captures their vibrant spirit, along with history essential to understanding their meaning.

I wept when I read this book as a child. The book was a gift to me from my father twenty years ago, and I recently passed it to my best friend's daughter. It is the story of a young girl's love of the deer in the woods around her house, and of the community's love for this child and her family. It is a beautiful story, with beautiful, spare illustrations and I hope it will remain available to many generations.

A tour de force. Corrigan manages to provide literary, historical, mythological themes and contexts that illuminate current practice and belief.I found the details of this book enlarged my understanding of why and how these religions have many common strains and where they depart from one another.It also explains how the traditions of each,along with the practice,ethics and politics keep each vital enough in different countries and changing times to keep them going. A very weighty and multidimensional subject written with much grace. It's not only excellent as a reference book, it also holds up as a fascinating read.

John the Baptist. Although his career was short was far from a shooting star. His light was not repressed in the dusky dungeon of Herods courtyard, but on the contrary he shone with more brillance and excellency than than the morning sun. JESUS said " Among those born of women none is greater than John the Baptist, save he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he". As always F.B. Meyer and his goldtipped pen retell the story with the beauty and majesty that it deserves. Mr. Meyer sets the backdrop of his early life, the solitary years, the ministry of John, the friendship with CHRIST and finally the demise of this man. He unveils the dusty pathway traveled by John and clearly lightens the interstate for young pilgrims to travel. A delightful book and a must for all readers young and old.

Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski
lived as a child amongst revolutionaries in Poland,
but read about the sea and dreamt of wild adventures.
He watched his mother die in exile in Siberia
and his father follow her to the grave soon thereafter.

Seasons of the mind can be taught to rule the heart.

Joseph Conrad survived a life of tedium and hair breadth escapes at sea,
but dreamt of understanding what drives and saddles men's souls.
He is rumored to have killed a man in a barroom brawl

and then escaped to England to take on a new identity.

There is very little time for true understanding.

Father and author Conrad lived quietly in a London suburb
and wrote in epic stretches that left him sleeping on the floor.
One day he emerged from his writing studio
and did not recognize his own son in the hallway.

Life stumbles on through fields of crowded emotion.
There is no loss of honor in fearing life's many deaths.

The best word to describe this book: excellent. It is informative narrative coupled with humor. It depicts the life of the times in relation to different ethic enclaves and commmentaries regarding each area. The narrative is written in a smooth -flowing style that makes for easy reading on what might have otherwise been a potentially boring topic. Young Olmstead's ability to provide such a mature and perceptive perspective on his topics of choice allows us to see how this famous visionary could have envisioned and thereby formulated the most famous landscapes of the USA in later years.