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Robert VanderMolen is a born storyteller. In his narrative poems, it is not uncommon for someone to lose a thread or to lose direction entirely: I lost the progression / Of his tale in the heat, / Watching the dangling / Growth on the tip of his tongue, / Something out of a Hawthorne / Story, a slight worm / As in a mouth of an angler fish. Through his verse, we often seem to enter in the middle of a story and we always want to know more: A man and a woman in a rowboat / On a hazy day, drifting out where the island used to be, / Who would have guessed he would have snapped like that. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

"Water" by VanderMolen
Robert VanderMolen is a regionalist who transcends regionalism because the region he reaches is that of his comprehensive and expansive mind.His method is simple:he writes in free verse, but controls the tools of his craft, e.g., the lovely assonance we find in the phrase, "the lost soft/ colors of youth" ("A Snowy Evening," first published in POETRY).His themes are those that resonate with all of us:human interactions with other human beings, with nature, and with the universe.He watches nature closely as "the V of geese alter into a W" and writes that men "make such projects/ "With mystery and conspiracy,/ When in general there isn't much there" ("Bug Bites," first published in SAINT ANNE'S REVIEW).The world he describes, like ours, is both simpler and more complex than we know.

poetry capturing the breath of Asian spirituality
VanderMolen's technique is like that of panning in movies. Except it is not so noticeable because in the poetry it seems so natural. One might not pick it up at first because lots of poetry is not readily apprehensible to begin with. But one could glide over the poet's technique because it resembles thinking or looking at--taking in--the world; which seems so natural. The words and lines resembling thinking is like remembering; the looking, like curiosity or more substantively, like becoming situated.

Despite the panning--conscious technique or natural reflex--the impression is not one of fracturing or fragmenting. It's more a circling of something, like a group of birds circling tree branches for the best place to alight; although in the poems, the landing spot, the subject sometimes does not come into view. The reward of the poem is following or finding something coming into focus. It's the process, like the flow of water, that's the sensation--nothing mental particularly.
... Read more

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Control and Order: French Colonial Louisbourg, 1713-1758 is the culmination of nearly a quarter century of research and writing on 18th-century Louisbourg by A. J. B. Johnston.The author uses a multitude of primary archival sources-official correspondence, court records, parish registries, military records, and hundreds of maps and plans-to put together a detailed analysis of a distinctive colonial society.Located on Cape Breton Island (then known as Île Royale), the seaport and stronghold of Louisbourg emerged as one of the most populous and important settlements in all of New France.Its economy was based on fishing and trade, and the society that developed there had little or nothing to do with the fur trade, or the seigneurial regime that characterized the Canadian interior.Johnston traces the evolution of a broad range of controlling measures that were introduced and adapted to achieve an ordered civil and military society at Louisbourg.Town planning, public celebrations, diversity in the population, use of punishments, excessive alcohol consumption, the criminal justice system, and sexual abuse are some of the windows that reveal attempts to control and regulate society.A. J. B. Johnston's Control and Order in French Colonial Louisbourg offers both a broad overview of the colony's evolution across its half-century of existence, and insightful analyses of the ways in which control was integrated into the mechanisms of everyday life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Was a requested gift, they are pleased with it.
This was a requested gift they are pleased with it. What more is there to say or ask for? ... Read more

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A multifaceted cultural study of suburbanization in the United States, and Detroit in particular, during the postwar suburban boom. ... Read more

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The tragedy of Troilus and Criseyde is one of the greatest narrative poems in English literature. Set during the siege of Troy, it tells how the young knight Troilus, son of King Priam, falls in love with Criseyde, a beautiful widow. Brought together by Criseyde s uncle, Pandarus, the lovers are then forced apart by the events of war, which test their oaths of fidelity and trust to the limits. Described by editor Barry Windeatt as Chaucer's most ambitious single achievement, his masterpiece; Troilus and Criseyde is the first work in English to depict human passion with such sympathy and understanding.

CONTAINS: Marginal glosses, extensive annotations, a brief glossary of frequently occurring difficult words, and an introduction that sets the literary and historical context ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Subtle tragedy of love (and life)
Chaucer's narrative mastery is more subtlely envidenced here than in theCanterbury Tales, but mastery it is.This poem is a wry but kindlyperspective on the vigor and impetuosity of young love.The closestanalogy is Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. A singular work.Well worthyour time ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (42)

Courtesy of US History from 1877
"Arc of Justice:A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age" depicts the life of one Ossian Sweet from his childhood in the Jim Crow South to his endeavors in the city of Detroit where racial tensions were at a peak in the 1920s.The story begins by keeping you on the edge of your seat as Sweet moved into his new home with his wife and child, accompanied by a band of friends whom open fire onto an angry mob.Excitement and suspense quell as the story continues and ultimately ends in the upmost tragedy when Sweet unexpectedly takes his life during the 1960s Civil Rights movement.Author Kevin Boyle accurately portrays the hardship of African Americans during the Jazz Age, though the manner in which he does so does not keep the attention of the reader throughout the duration of the novel.Court proceedings and other events are drawn out much longer than necessary with more background information than anything else.The facts and main points of the book are valid which makes "Arc of Justice..." a valuable source for an inside look at an era marked by the contrasting factors of hope and opportunity versus fear and violence.

A must read!
Not often you read a non-fiction that is so wonderfully researched and that reads like an interesting and intriguing novel - with repercussions that are still germane today - I loved it and recommend it to everyone!

well-researched bit of history
I finished this book on MLK Day. How appropriate. This book is written by a historian and gives great details about 11 blacks charged with killing a white manwhile defending their home from an angry white mob. The whites were enraged because the blacks moved into "their" neighborhood. I thought it was interesting, and learned a great deal about Jim Crow in the North even in the 1920's. Justice wins out, though it took a while.

Arc of Justice
Arc of Justice a great book if you are looking for the truth. Kevin Boyle holds no puches, insightful, honest and brutal. Realistic and a page turner.

Justice is Done
Writing with a novelist's flair, the author expertly assembled a story about Dr. Ossian Sweet who just wants to live in a modest bungalow home in 1925 in an area of Detroit where blacks do not live.Dr. Sweet overcame great odds (he was urged to leave home at 13-years-old because his parents had to continue to feed a growing brood of children) to become a physician.The story is full in historical nuggets about which I loved learning.It's full of drama and suspense, and you will not want to put down the book.

It's an excellent read that you will likely enjoy. ... Read more

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Over six months on the New York Times bestseller list, Barbarians at the Gate is the definitive account of the largest takeover in Wall Street history. Bryan Burrough and John Helyar's gripping record of the frenzy that overtook Wall Street in October and November of 1988 is the story of deal makers and pulicity flaks, of strategy meetings and society dinners, of boardrooms and bedrooms, giving us not only an unprecedentedly detailed look at how financial operations at the highest levels are conducted but also a richly textured social history of wealth at the twilight of the Reagan era. As compelling as a novel, Barbarians at the Gate is must reading for everyone interested in the way today's world really works.

Customer Reviews (95)

Great Story
For a true story, it has all the ups and downs and excitement of a John Grisham novel.

Informative and thoroughly entertaining.
The book is a very good behind the scenes look at our capital markets.
Good look at how corporate greed rules--and thoroughly entertaining.

Great book - but it feels like a FR Johnson defense by the end of it
The book itself is a real page turner. Thoroughly entertaining even if you already knew the outcome of the story, when people say this book sets the benchmark of all Wall Street related books they are not too wide off the mark.

Although I disagree with the sympathetic undertone the authors have for the villains - for example by the end was almost as if Ross Johnson was not driven by greed but merely a bumbling clown, a man who did know best how to run a successful business(right at the end when everyone else failed to make RJR work in the post LBO era) but I guess one simply can't go round bashing people who consented their appearance and gave time for your interviews.

It is astonishing how exhaustive the authors have researched into the subject and how much information was available to them, even in the minute details such as the decor of the offices, (the comments of the lavish designs of the offices were most amusing, if not infuriating for the mere mortal like me)

Overall it was a pleasure to read and an amazing journey right through to the end.

Interesting Details Fly by at Lightning Speed
This review is specific to the audio book (CD).The history is fascinating.I have always enjoyed these "behind the scenes" looks at the inner workings of modern business.The challenge with listening to this type of book is there is so many names and details to keep straight.It is easy to do when reading at your own pace and being able to refer back.But it is much harder with an audio book.This challenge is exacerbated with this audio book because the two readers read the book at a much-to-intense pace.This is one that I wold have rather read then listened to on CD.

disappointment
i bought this book thinking it was something informal

turns out its more like a movie

like a soap opera you might say


disappointed ... Read more

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The acclaimed spiritual memoir from the author of The Secret Life of Bees

I was amazed to find that I had no idea how to unfold my spiritual life in a feminine way. I was surprised and, in fact, a little terrified when I found myself in the middle of a feminist spiritual reawakening.

Sue Monk was a "conventionally religious, churchgoing woman, a traditional wife and mother" with a thriving career as a Christian writer until she began to question her role as a woman in her culture, her family, and her church. From a jarring encounter with sexism in a suburban drugstore to monastery retreats and rituals in the caves of Crete, Kidd takes readers through the fear, anger, healing, and transformation of her awakening. Retaining a meaningful connection "with the deep song of Christianity," she opens the door for traditional Christian women to discover a spirituality that speaks directly to them and provides inspiring wisdom for all who struggle to embrace their full humanity.

Customer Reviews (93)

Great response
The response was excellent for this order and the books were in excellent condition.Thank you.

An excellent example of Snake medicine.
Snake medicine is the power of transmutation. It is the energy of wholeness, cosmic consciousness, and the ability to experience anything willingly and without resistance.This willingness to experience is extremely courageous, as it brings into question many if not all of the "things that we know".
It is the knowledge that all things are equal in creation, and that those things which might be experienced or regarded as poison (both physicaly and spititualy) can be integrated and transmuted if one has the proper state of mind.
This medicine teaches you on a personal level that you are a universal being.Through accepting all aspects of your life, you can bring about the transmutation of the fire medicine.This fire energy, when functioning on the material plane, creates passion, desire, procreation, and physical vitality.On the emotional plane, it becomes ambition, creation, resolution, and dreams.On the mental plane, it becomes intellect, power, charisma, and leadership.When Snake energy reaches the spiritual plane, it becomes wisdom, understandig, wholeness, and connection to the Divine.
This is heavy magic, but remember, magic is no more than a change in consciousness.
Sue Monk Kidd appears to be well on her way to acheiving her personal goal of becoming a whole and healthy being. What astounds me is that she put it down in writing for the whole world to see and let the change in the course of her life happen both privately and publicly.
We should all have such courage.

Thouight Provoking Excellent Read!
This book has been the most thought inducing I've read in many years! An amazing read!

The Dance of the Dissident Daughter
Amazing book; one of the five books that most changed my life.Great spiritual guidebook, great resources for us women in recovery from broken patriarchal systems.

Past the beginning it's boring
The Dance of the Dissident Daughter, by Sue Monk Kidd, tells about a conventional Christian woman nearing her forties who is suddenly at odds with the religion she has followed her entire life. Kidd's "awakening" was fueled by an event involving her fourteen year-old daughter. The author picked up daughter from her job at a drugstore, and saw her daughter on her knees stocking shelves. Two middle-aged men walked by her and one man said, "Now that's how I like to see a woman--on her knees" (Kidd 7). This statement forces Kidd to think about the ways many Christian religions place women beneath men, or on their knees. She explores what it means to be spiritual woman free of the insubordination of men. Her purpose for writing the book is for women to reexamine their spiritual life and realize that they have been searching for the Sacred Feminine all their life, even if they hadn't realized it (Kidd 3). To Kidd, the Sacred Feminine involves seeing God as a woman, feeling empowered as a women, and being in tune with the world around you.
I found the first 35 pages of the book to be eye opening, but in the end I didn't feel the need to seek the Sacred Feminine. Kidd researches how other women found the Sacred Feminine and includes this in her book. I think Kidd does this because her goal in this book is to convince women, especially traditional Christian women, that they should find the Sacred Feminine. However, I feel that the route Kidd takes to find the Sacred Feminine, exploring Greek Goddesses and nature, would not be taken by most Christian women. While Kidd has a strong message in this book, that message is mostly developed in the beginning of the book. After that it is easy for the reader to lose interest.
Throughout the book Kidd never explicitly defines what the Sacred Feminine means. I think she does this on purpose because she believes the journey to the Sacred Feminine is different for everyone. For her, the Sacred Feminine means being in tune with herself and everything else in the world, such as nature and other people. It means not being ashamed of being a woman and instead feeling empowered. Kidd finds the Sacred Feminine in Goddesses of ancient Greek mythology, nature, and in the Bible.
I find the beginning of Kidd's book to be enlightening. She examines the ways that traditional Christian religions suppress women. I find many of these to be true in the church that I attend. She also discusses how the church uses a language that leads people to believe God is a man, when actually, God is genderless. This point is further developed later in the book when Kidd shares a story about a little girl who kept referring to God as "he". When her mother asked why she thought God was a man, the girl replied, "I guess because God thought that was the best thing to be" (Kidd 138). Kidd says "there is something infinitely sad about little girls who grow up understanding (usually unconsciously) that if God is male, it's because male is the most valuable thing to be" (Kidd 138). I agree with this statement. Kidd says to solve this problem we need refer to God in feminine terms just as frequently as we use masculine terms.
Referring to God in feminine terms is one way to empower women. The way Kidd came to empowerment involved abandoning the beliefs of Christianity, and I believe that there are ways to empower women within Christianity. Kidd says she finds a way to balance the two (Christianity and the Sacred Feminine) in the end, but I don't believe this happened. In Christianity, idolatry is not acceptable. This is stated in two of the Ten Commandments: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" and "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images (Exodus 20:2-3). She travels to places that worship Goddesses, and sets up an altar in her back yard where she often presents gifts and performs rituals to honor Mother Nature.
Although I found a couple good points in the book later on, it was hard because the book became hard to follow after the first 35 pages.I thought this was in part because of the excessive number of quotes Kidd included in her writing. I felt Kidds' journey was interrupted by other writers. The first section of the book consists of 64 pages. Of those pages there are 63 references to different people, some of which she references twice. I felt most of these quotes were completely unnecessary. Kidd also spent a large part of the book recounting Greek myths of Goddesses. She related the myths to her own journey, but again I found these myths to be more of an interruption to the author's personal story than a valuable addition.
Another reason I feel the book is slow after the beginning was because it is mostly Kidd's thought process. I think Kidd does this to show her readers this is not a change she entered into lightly. She completely strips away what she had thought about herself as a wife, a mother, and a Christian. She wants the readers to know that her change did not occur overnight, but was at times painstakingly slow. Unfortunately I think this part of the book is painfully slow for the audience to read as well.I found myself waiting to hear less about her thought process, and more about how her new spirituality influenced her life.
I had thought that the end of the book would show how Kidd's life changed as a result of her new spirituality, but it didn't.This book is subtitled A Woman's Journey from Christian Tradition to the Sacred Feminine and that is all you get from Kidd -- a journey. Kidd does not give much information on how her life changed as a result of her journey. She briefly says that she decided to leave her successful career as a Christian writer and begin writing fiction (which led to her write The Secret Life of Bees, a New York Times best seller). However, little else of her life after her journey was explained.
I would recommend the first 35 pages of the book to all Christian women. However, I would only recommend the remainder of the book to women who are already search for the Sacred Feminine. And even then unless readers are interested in Greek mythology and nature, I would not recommend this book to them. I believe most readers would only find this book frustrating and it would not have an impact on their spiritual life. ... Read more