I haven't read Quicksand so I can't review it, but, as one other reviewer noted, it is really a shame Larsen isn't taught more often. Even uprooting the story (I hesitate to call it a novel) from its African-American/Feminist/Harlem Renaissance context, Passing is simply an important piece of American literature. In the span of 100 pages it competently grapples with some hefty themes - repression, oppression, homosexuality, hybridity, the 'technique' of racism (in the sense that it's a mutual act between the discrimator and the discriminated) and domesticity to name a few. 'Discovering' stories like this, you can't help becoming critical of the literary canon. In a course that deals with class issues or cultural studies (I'm thinking of Bordieu's 'distinction' as well) this would be a very complementary choice.

Quicksand was an overlooked treasure during Renaissance. Pay close attention to the detail, the surroundings, and the inner thoughts of the main character.... simply marvelous.

It may seem fantastical that a Black woman is involved with Scandanavia but that is her heritage. Reading Passing made me wish that I had lived in Harlem in that era so I went back to the library and read as much as I could on Black America in that area at that time. It made me do research on the Dunbar Hotel here in Los Angeles. The scene on the rooftop restaurant was riveting and even I grew uncomfortable with the staring scene. Quicksand was a totally different tragedy and just as compelling. Imagine having that much uncertainty in your life, educated or not. I can see that if the time period had been different and the book was turned into a movie by Tarentino, the main character would have surely turned to hard drugs and some form of retaliation by murder.

This book is written on many levels, ranging from one man's efforts to understand the source of his own personality to the conflicts on a global basis surrounding the building of a generation starship.

The book is entertaining on the superficial level and rewarding at the deeper, personal level. Within a believable framework, it matches the thrust and parry of Jeremiah - speaking for the Homeworld vs. the head of security of the starship project. In addition, any adult reader will be stimulated to recall memories of their own childhood and the pains of growing up.

I recommend it as both fun and time well spent.

This is a work to be proud of. Just the right combination of action and character development, with a believable setting at the beginning of the 22nd century. Kube-McDowell chronicles the end of the Diaspora project - an ambitious program to send humanity to nearby star systems. The first ship has already left, and a second of five total is about to leave.

But wait! There's more here than meets the eye. Diaspora project geneticists have discovered that there's a genetic sequence in life that actually calls us to the stars. We no more have choice in the matter than the salmon moving upstream to spawn. The web of human activity unfolding in this engrossing tale is overprinted by a genetic pre-destiny, which drives some to the skies, and others to oppose any such venture.

Ultimately the opposers, lead by the shadowy Jeremiah, succeed in halting the project, but not before the second ship leaves. And behind the backdrop of the personal dramas, earth quietly goes to seed, casting its precious packages to the cosmic winds.

An engrossing tale. Compare this to my review of Hogan's "Cradle of Saturn".

the subtle but powerful theme of this book goes to the heart of of the eternal issue of the best of mankind's nature versus the worst...

Too many Christians "feel" that the exercise of the mind is not important when it comes to the Christian faith. How wrong these believers are! In this day of easy-believism, where the intellect is forsaken for a spiritual diet of cotton candy and bon bons, it is refreshing to know that there are important Christian apologists who make it a point to write thinking pieces such as "Why I Am a Christian." Indeed, Jesus Himself said that we are to worship God with our whole heart, soul, MIND, and strength.

Although I don't remember seeing if the editors, Geisler and Hoffman, were attempting to respond to Russell's "Why I Am Not A Christian," this book certainly serves as a lob back to the atheist's court. Included in the book are essays on truth, God, miracles, the Bible, Jesus, and evil and suffering. Taking some of the better apologists who have already written on the topic at hand, the book's top two strengths were:

* William Lane Craig's chapter 4 entitled "Why I believe God exists." Using the same arguments that he used in a Willow Creek debate against an atheist in the early 1990s--Kalam, Design, and the Moral arguments--Craig's chapter is solid and is a good reference to utilize when determining strong rational arguments for the Christian faith. I think the following chapter by Geisler was very redundant and not as clear as Craig's. It would have been good had the editor perhaps narrowed his chapter since he commissioned Craig to work with the cosmological and teleological arguments.

* Although he offered very little new material, Barry Leventhal's chapter on Jesus as the Messiah was enjoyable to read. The chapter was well-laid out, fully supported, and summarized its points better than perhaps any other chapter in the book.

The book's top two weaknesses were:

* Beckwith's look at moral relativism. He tries to pack too much into too short of a chapter, and though I admire the man for his brilliant mind, I think he needed more room to complete his thoughts. Geisler does an admirable job with the next chapter (Why I believe Truth is Real and Knowable), but I don't think this issue is still fully resolved with these two chapters. Rather, I would recommend Beckwith and Greg Koukl's book entitled Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air to get a better look at this important issue.

* Chapter 7 regarding the miracles of Jesus was pretty dull and was written with little life. It seemed like Habermas could have simplified his approach with this chapter. The next chapter on divine creation by Hugh Ross had some excellent tables incorporated in it, but truly it just seemed dry. Also, not everyone will agree with Ross' view of the age of the earth--nor with Walter Bradley, a Progressive Creationist who in chapter 10 says on page 168 that the earth is at least 4 billion years old--Ross' ideas about the world being designed would not be quibbled with by the theistic thinker. However, I could see some of the Young Earth folks become offended with these chapters, and I'm wondering if perhaps the other side should have also been represented with an issue that, while important, is peripheral to the essential Christian faith.

Overall, I would say that the book as a collection of essays is worthwhile for readers who like to think, but the average lay reader would probably be best served in looking for other avenues, including Handbook of Christian Apologetics (Kreeft) or When Skeptics Ask (Geisler).

This is a collection of articles (or chapters) from the top contemporary Christian apologists. The book is divided into 6 parts. Each 'part' deals with an issue such as Truth, God, Miracles, the Bible, Jesus, and Following Christ. Within each part is a chapter written by well known scholars/apologists such as William Lane Craig, Norman Geisler, J. P. Moreland, Ravi Zacharias, Peter Kreeft, Winfried Corduan, Gary Habermas, Doug Geivett, Francis Beckwith, and the renown Law Professor at the University of Texas, J. Budziszewski (a professor of law who at one time used to be an atheist).

The chapters are detailed, highly referenced, well researched, and well written. Of course, this book is a basic apologetics tool/reference but is quite compatible to those who might already have this knowledge (due to the articles and the caliber of scholars writing) since it is always nice to refresh your data base on these issues. I would recommend this book to anyone who is searching for solid answers to objections or issues which have been raised in witnessing to non-believers or in discussions about the essential tenets of the Christian faith.

The book is 318 pages long and is a nice companion to works such as J.P. Moreland's "Scaling the Secular City," or William Lane Craig's "Reasonable Faith," or Norman Geisler's "Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics." I recommend this book whole heartily.

This collection represents the best essays on apologetics, a must read for any person serious on Christian faith. If one thinks that there are no new ideas from these essays, he/she might have overlooked that these essays are deep rooted in the rich apologetics tradition and built on previous scholarly research, so any reader can get a quick overview on what arguments have been put forth for the topic discussed. Having said that, the overviews are not overly simplified. They are really high quality review essays and intellectually stimulating. This book is a must unless you have read all the literature on apologetics written over the entire course human history.

The Love Killer realisticaly portrays the struggle of one teenage girl looking for the love she's never had. From one failed relationship to another, Krystal finally finds what she's looking for but it isn't in the arms of any boyfriend.

I really loved this book. Not only does it deliver a solid message, but it shows how the forces and heaven and hell are in constant battle, and earth is the field. Plus it features a great LD debate (I'm a debater). And I also like the chapter summeries where you can get the author's feelings and statistics. Overall- I would recommend this to any teen!

This is a difficult, but well written text of a series of lectures given by McDowell. Frankly, it required a lot of concentration on my part, but the effort was worth it. McDowell makes good sense of the problems of empiricism. He is also a good stylist.

This text with its new Introduction clearly demonstrates McDowell's prominence in American philosophy. McDowell is certainly one of the most important, careful, and creative minds in the field. Mind and World is crucial reading material on perceptual content, judgment, and experience.

Inspired by Sellars's Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind, McDowell interrogates the notion of a 'logical space of reasons' as having location in the natural world. At times adopting an obscure and abstract prose style, McDowell nevertheless identifies specific anxieties concerning the realtion between mind and world: tensions between a Kantian sensible intuition (or 'minimal empiricism')--how our thoughts are answerable to and directed at the world--and the idea of receiving an impression (or Kantian humility) as a transaction with the world, placing it in a 'logical space of reasons.' So there is a tension between a normative context, that is, how the world 'impinges' on us, which is within the logical space of reasons, and empirical concepts that are supposed to be within the logical space of nature. But if we take Sellars seriously, identifying something as an impression--an economy of logical space of nature 'giving' or 'impinging' on the mind, then we are responsible to characterize just how an 'impinging world' is different from justifying or placing a verdict on empirical descriptions. McDowell's tension is between a 'minimal empiricism'--thought is answerable to a tribunal of experience--and how experience is indeed a tribunal, which attributes verdicts on thoughts.

Along the way, McDowell critiques the Myth of the Given, Davidson's coherentism, and argues for 'direct realism.'
McDowell has a flair for characterizing and 'exorcising' philosophical anxieties between empiricism and naturalism, and he employs creative metaphors that are extremely helpful, such as the 'seesaw' and a 'sideways on view.'

The first three lectures are most important, wherein he discusses conceptual and non-conceptual content. Here he engages the views of Sellars, Quine, Davidson, Evans, and Peacocke.

Mind and World is a masterful example of careful and thorough-going philosophy--at its best.

I am a history buff and my ancestors arrived in New Orleans as early as 1831. This book helped me to make sense of the social-religious stratification of New Orleans. Jews,protestants, Slaves, freemen, firemen, police etc all buried in separate areas if not separate cemetaries. I hope the city keeps up these important parts of their history for future generations. Ny dad was at one time the chauffeur for William Helis who had his tomb made like the acropolis and imported soil from Greece to rest on. Very well done and informaive book.

An excellent, detailed documentation of this very important part of New Orleans, past and present.

A very well written story of a definitely demented man. The story goes deep into the mind (deeper than anyone should like to go) of a man living in his own twisted world. An excellent book.

First off, this book comes with pictures. Looking at them first will give you an idea of the highly disturbed world you are about to enter. The book is told in first person and you will quickly find that you are inside a truly damaged mind. But not in the way you might think. Not a sociopath or psychopath but someone whose mind is--askew--a bit off. This is probably THE creepiest book I have ever read. Kathe Koja is the only other person I know of that can write in this vein. This, by the way, is the author of the Blackwater series which Stephen King so backhandedly mentions in the intro to The Green Mile. I highly recommend the Blackwater series also but unfortunately it is as difficult to find as this title.

...you may want to check out this obscure little gem, if you can find it. Toplin is told from the perspective of a rather peculiar and unnamed gentleman who lives in a Kafka-esque city. This gentleman, let's just say, has a few odd personality traits. He has several identical suits in his closet that are numbered. He only reads cookbooks (nothing wrong with that really). When he cleans house, it is an exercise of intricacy and thoroughness that borders on obsessive-compulsiveness. Even his sex life is structured and monotonous with no wasted movements or wasted time. And adding to all that, he was rendered colorblind at a young age from an attack by seagulls while he worked one summer at a beach. But the story's just beginning.

The real story starts when he visits a particular diner for the first time ever and sees a waitress so hideously deformed, he believes with every fiber in his being that he has to end her life somehow. Along the way, he runs into people like an insane delivery boy who resents the fact the Army won't let him enlist and the "Tempus Fugit" street gang.

Toplin is the first of two books I've read by Michael Mcdowell, the other being the incredible historical revenge thriller Gilded Needles. Even though two may not seem like much, it was enough to convince me that McDowell is every bit as good as Stephen King or Clive Barker (two writers I greatly respect) and far better than so called horror masters like Little, Laymon, or Koontz. Toplin is not a book for all tastes with its extremely dark tone and uncovential plot, but I highly recommend it for horror fans seeking something original.

Good read. Reminds me of Ken Follet. Kind of thriller they don't write any more, particularly with the end of the cold war.

Just a great thriller of the kind Ken Follett used to write in his early days, or Clive Cussler (actually better than Cussler). I like international tales of intrigue, but only if they are well-paced like this one, with strong interesting characters and equal parts gunplay and foreplay. This guy can write!

Has a lot of action and good characters. Author clearly knows the tennis and spy worlds. You won't be disappointed since this is really exciting.

If you are trying to find a simple, easy to read case for the claims of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, Josh McDowell's "More Than A Carpenter" is what you've been looking for. It is not a powerful apologetic or a theological masterpiece but it is a great introduction into the study of who Jesus Christ really is. The foundation of the book is based on the three primary possibilities for who Christ is; Lord, liar or lunatic. This is backed up with a defense of the reliability of the Scriptures, an argument from changed lives over history and an argument for Christ's resurrection. I highly recommend the book to those wanting an introduction to who Jesus really is. The book will probably not convinced the hardened skeptic, but for many, it will be an opportunity for God to open their hearts and minds to the truth, that when received by faith, can transform their lives. If you are looking for apologetics, I recommend Ravi Zacharias, J.P Moreland or Norman Geisler. For a deeper examination of the claims of Christ from another skeptic turned Christian, you may want to check "The Case for Christ," by Lee Stroble.

Is this book an exhaustive defense of the Christian faith? NO! At 128 pages it is a clear and concise argument dealing with many areas where people have doubts. It is an extremely easy read and McDowell is a compelling storyteller. It is a great first step for those who are searching.

Yes, the sources sighted are all somewhat old but the truth of those sources has not changed. Some reviewers have attacked their truthfulness of these sources based on the arguments of the Jesus Seminar. It needs to be remembered though that the Jesus seminar is on the Margins of Scholarship and in NO way reflects the views of most the scholarly world.

Also, the Lord, Liar or Lunatic argument needs to be understood in its proper context. As McDowell states at the beginning of that chapter "...skeptics who regard Jesus as just a good moral man or prophet who said a lot of profound things." Of course there are more than 3 options. One can deny that Jesus ever lived or claim that the things written about him are just myths. But, that is not what most people do. They claim that he was just a good person. The Lord, Liar or Lunatic argument is directed towards those people. It is impossible to look at the teachings of Christ and conclude that he is anything other than the Lord, a Liar or a Lunatic. For those who deny the historicity of Jesus there are other chapters. :)

This is a great starting place for people who are searching for the truth with an open mind and for those who need to strengthen their intellectual understanding of their faith. But, for those who are looking for deep arguments look else where since that was not the purpose of this booklet.

Using basic human logic McDowell is able to paint a very compelling portrait of the truth of Christianity. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone. It has certainly strengthened my faith. And as MCDowell points out, the gospels have FAR greater evidence for their accuracy than any other piece of historical literature.
For the people who are criticizing this book, it is obvious that they either haven't really read it, or they just don't like Christianity and won't let themselves believe even if they come across logical arguements for it.
I noticed people criticizing the "Liar, Lunatic, or Lord" portion of the book saying that McDowell falsely gives only 3 alternatives for a result. THERE CAN ONLY BE THESE THREE! If Jesus claimed to be the son of God, then either he was lying about it, he was nuts (meaning he only thought he was the son of God), or he was telling the truth! Tell me now folks.... what other "alternative" can there be?

I am generally sceptical when I see a book deals with spiritual warfare. So much has been written on the topic that is unbiblical. Anderson's book, however is balanced; it is not a demon under every rock. The intention of the book is not to focus on Satan to satisfy occultic curiousity. Rather it is a practical way of opening your eyes to the causes and cures of real problems you face in your daily life. Your position and identity in Christ is crucial to your success, rather than some ritual or formula. Excellent!

Neil Anderson's "matter of fact" approach is wonderful. I'm so impressed that the focus is on the use of TRUTH rather than POWER to fight the enemy. It is the truth that sets us free, and Anderson does a fantastic job of making sure biblical truth is emphasized rather than experiencial gimmicks.

The spiritual battle we face is a battle for our mind. Bondage Breaker exposes Satan's tactics of using temptation, accusation and deception by equipping us with the truth that identifies those tactics-- rendering them ineffective.

It is most important that Christians understand their identity in Christ; and the power, authority and freedom we have in knowing God's truth. "The Bondage Breaker" exposes subtle lies, and helps clarify what our focus should be.

This book is especially good for those who are struggling with negative or sinful thoughts; addictive behavior; issues of guilt or unforgivness and intense spiritual attacks.

Every Christian should get "The Bondage Breaker"!

Neil Anderson's "matter of fact" approach is wonderful. I'm so impressed that the focus is on the use of TRUTH rather than POWER to fight the enemy. It is the truth that sets us free, and Anderson does a fantastic job of making sure biblical truth is emphasized rather than experiencial gimmicks.

The spiritual battle we face is a battle for our mind. Bondage Breaker exposes Satan's tactics of using temptation, accusation and deception by equipping us with the truth that identifies those tactics-- rendering them ineffective.

It is most important that Christians understand their identity in Christ; and the power, authority and freedom we have in knowing God's truth. "The Bondage Breaker" exposes subtle lies, and helps clarify what our focus should be.

This book is especially good for those who are struggling with negative or sinful thoughts; addictive behavior; issues of guilt or unforgivness and intense spiritual attacks.

Every Christian should get "The Bondage Breaker"!