Judy Moody Declares Independence (Judy Moody)

Book Description

"This delightful book will inspire children to write their own declarations of independence complete with ‘alien’ rights and the ‘purse’ of happiness." -- SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
Hear ye! Hear ye! Everyone knows that Judy Moody has a mood for every occasion, and now a visit to Boston has put her in a revolutionary frame of mind! Unfortunately, a protest for more allowance in the form of a Boston Tub Party only has her dad reading the riot act. But luckily a crisis involving her brother, Stink, allows Judy to show her courageous quick thinking -- and prove her independence after all!

Customer Reviews:

Great book for kids who struggle with their reading........2007-04-08

My kids have all Judy Moody and Stink books. They love them, and I know for the fact that they help kids who struggle with reading in 3rd grade. They are easy to read and have a good story, are funny and appealing to that age group. A must have!

Judy's Freedom Fight.......2007-02-14

This book is about how Judy wants independence and her mom and dad keep on saying "we'll think about it." Judy thinks that means no. This book includes learning abut Paul Revere and Sybil Ludington and a lot more about British Stuff. To find out if Judy gets her independence read this book now! If you like Franny K. Stein, Captain Underpants or other learning books you'll like this book a lot. These books mix because they all have a little bit of danger, learning, and a bunch of humor. I liked this book because in one part Judy makes her own freedom trail in her own house. Find out more details in Judy Moody Declares Independence.

Great reading for young girls.......2006-02-25

These are great books for the 8-10 year old girl. My daughter does not like to read and yet this series has captured her imagination and kept her engrossed for long periods. Well meaning topics and fun reading for kids.

A heroine rebelling against parental restrictions and a pesky little brother.......2005-09-12

Megan McDonald's Judy Moody Declares Independence tells of a heroine rebelling against parental restrictions and a pesky little brother. Her plain to declare independence with all the pomp of patriotism brings her special challenges. More fun stories of the zany Judy emerge.

THERE'S MERRIMENT IN JUDY'S PURSUIT OF FREEDOM.......2005-08-07

As legions of young readers have happily learned there's nobody, absolutely nobody like Judy Moody. She's fun, feisty and, yes, at times incorrigible. She doesn't much care for school or spending too much time with her pesky kid brother, Stink (her aversions are not necessarily stated by order of importance to her).

What she does like at the moment is being in the Cradle of Liberty, Boston Massachusetts. She likes the bean city for several reasons - she's missing two days of school, she's no longer riding in the car next to Stink, and she doesn't have to brush her hair every day. The more Judy thinks about it the more this whole independence idea appeals to her.

With Mom and Dad leading the way, readers are treated to a tour of historic sites in Boston as well as concise explanations of what each one means. Of course, in Stink's opinion what they're seeing is about "a bunch of dead guys and some old stuff that isn't even there anymore."

However, Judy sees their trip quite differently. She sees it as an opportunity to declare her independence from Stink by always running ahead of him. She meets a new friend from England, Tori, and the two promise to be penpals.

Now, the one thing Judy may be missing is that along with her beloved independence comes responsibility - that's with a capital R. Wonder if that's something our favorite girl can learn.

Lighthearted illustrations by Peter H. Reynolds lend merriment to Judy's pursuit of freedom.

- Gail Cooke

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Not Free SF Reader
A stunning novel
Best book
The Secret At The Heart Of The World
A great introduction to Powers' work.

Declare
Tim Powers
Manufacturer: HarperTorch
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0380798360

Amazon.com

This supernatural suspense thriller crosses several genres--espionage, geopolitics, religion, fantasy. But like the chicken crossing the road, it takes quite a while to get to the other side. En route, Tim Powers covers a lot of territory: Turkey, Armenia, the Saudi Arabian desert, Beirut, London, Paris, Berlin, and Moscow. Andrew Hale, an Oxford lecturer who first entered Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service as an 18-year-old schoolboy, is called back to finish a job that culminated in a deadly mission on Mount Ararat after the end of World War II. Now it's 1963, and cold war politics are behind the decision to activate Hale for another attempt to complete Operation Declare and bring down the Communist government before Moscow can harness the powerful, other-worldly forces concentrated on the summit of the mountain, supposed site of the landing of Noah's ark. James Theodora is the über-spymaster whose internecine rivalry with other branches of the Secret Intelligence Service traps Hale between a rock and a hard place, literally and figuratively. There's plenty of mountain and desert survival stuff here, a plethora of geopolitical and theological history, and a big serving of A Thousand and One Nights, which is Hale's guide to the meteorites, drogue stones, and amonon plant, which figure in this complicated tale. There's a love story, too, and a bizarre twist on the Kim Philby legend that posits both Philby and Hale as the only humans who can tame the powers of the djinns who populate Mount Ararat.

This is an easy book to get lost in, and Powers's many fans will have a field day with it. The rest of us may have a harder time. --Jane Adams

Book Description

As a young double agent infiltrating the Soviet spy network in Nazi-occupied Paris, Andrew Hale finds himself caught up in a secret, even more ruthless war. Two decades later, in 1963, he will be forced to confront again the nightmarethat has haunted his adult life: a lethal unfinished operation code-named Declare. From the corridors of Whitehall to the Arabian desert, from post-war Berlin to the streets of Cold War Moscow, Hale's desperate quest draws him into international politics and gritty espionage tradecraft -- and inexorably drives Hale, the fiery and beautiful Communist agent Elena Teresa Ceniza-Bendiga, and Kim Philby, mysterious traitor to the British cause, to a deadly confrontation on the high glaciers of Mount Ararat, in the very shadow of the fabulous and perilous Ark.

Customer Reviews:

Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03

Other things exist on Mount Ararat than the possibility of some rotting old boat. A complex web of spy organisations and agents have to work out what to do about the world's largest colony of djinn.

Mother Russia has a supernatural guardian that is holding the state together. Kim Philby, and our protagonist, Andrew Hale, are involved in both of these events, as is another agent, a woman named Elena, that both of them fancy, and have fancied.

The spycraft predominates.

A stunning novel.......2007-02-25

DECLARE immerses the reader in a mid-twentieth century spy world where a greater, miasmic cause eclipses the Cold War between communism and capitalism. Kim Philby, the real life British turncoat, plays a fascinating and fatalistic role in Tim Powers' globe-trotting adventure aimed at the destruction of an eerie, supernatural foe only a tiny number of human beings know to exist. Philby gets caught in a strange triangle with the complicated Soviet-turned-French spy Elena and the Crown's Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent Andrew Hale whose mysterious parentage, links to the Middle East, and psychic endowments destined him from birth to be an operative. It is Hale, ten years younger than Philby, whose story is told most of the time, although Philby, Elena, and cunning old spymaster Theodora also get their opportunities to fill in crucial blanks.

If the main goal of a novel is to draw the reader inexorably into the world it creates, DECLARE is a smashing success. Hale is a man as frail as the rest of us in many respects, yet one who perseveres with bulldog determination to have another go at the Enemy years after his first attempt failed in a frenzy of mind-blowing atrocity. Also a man who loves only one woman despite all odds, Hale doggedly risks everything to reunite with her when the time is ripe. The Philby persona is more difficult to sympathize with. He's a weak, opportunistic man with many a ghost of his own. But he plays an absolutely necessary part in all that unfolds, although some of his vital actions are unwitting ones. Elena, debuting as a tough, atheistic spy in Paris in 1941, later embraces Catholicism (the religion of Hale's youth also) after discovering, in the bowels of the notorious Lubyanka prison, a shocking truth about Russia's "guardian angel." She switches her allegiance away from communism and works with postwar French intelligence, attempting to turn Philby again. Powers' complex and very deliberately structured plot (that jumps backward and forward in time and place) slowly unveils these entangled characters, their histories, their drives, their development. And although the darkly spectral premise underlying DECLARE does boggle the imagination, the story is told so compellingly that one is swept along willingly, even happily.

Many have heaped praise on this unconventional thriller. I can only agree. DECLARE is a richly conceived tale of beliefs, honor, odds, espionage, true love, family, mystery, and suspenseful adventure. Don't let it pass you by.

Best book.......2006-02-23

This book is without doubt the best book I have ever read, no contest, whatsoever.

The Secret At The Heart Of The World.......2006-01-30

"Declare" is one of the greatest espionage novels in the latter half of the twentieth century - the American century, the only American century there will ever be. It is disguised as a horror novel or a dark fantasy but every word in it is true. Mr. Powers transcends mere art in his depiction of two souls caught up in events to powerful for them. Its a book about how love endures all things, how our puny human choices matter even in the face of total darkness, and how (as T. S. Eliot put it) human beings can bear very little reality.

A keen and intelligent spirituality flickers like swamp fires through out "Declare". Mr. Powers says much and he knows far more than he's saying. There were moments when I read this little masterpiece and chills ran up and down my spine. Powers unveils the subterfuges of the human heart as it encounters sheer human malice and stupidity and beyond all of that something quintessentially non-human and terrifying because that something choses not to emphathize with us.

Perceptive readers will see into the heart of what Tim Powers is really getting at and it will give them shivers as they struggle through the meaningful but compensatory action sequences.

A great introduction to Powers' work........2005-12-28

This book requires some dedication on the reader's part, at 500+ pages, but the payoff is worth it.

Not only does Powers weave an unusual story of supernatural powers and cold-war-era spyfaring, but he makes it all the more compelling by using real locations, historical events, and even personas.

The main character, Hale, is a British spy whose lineage brings him into the fold of an ultra-secret spy organization within the British government whose directive is to counter the supernatural machinations of the enemies of the crown. The story begins when Hale is recalled to service in order to rectify a botched operation following WWII.

To that end, the story alternates between different timelines, explaining his original introduction to the service and leading to the doomed operation on Mount Ararat, in addition to his resumption of the operation years later. The reader is at first given only a cursory idea of what the service entails, but then is later treated to some very compelling and convincing events that bring this strange and frightening world into focus.

The author really shines in his attention to historical, geographic, and geopolitical detail as the story unfolds. Actual historical events and persons are used to great effect to build the story's foundation of spies and intrigue in Europe and the Middle East. From there, the author convincingly adds the menacing and fascinating aspect of the supernatural, while deftly maintaining the mystique by refusing to focus on it more than is necessary.

Just to underscore his hard work and love for the craft, the author appends some notes at the end of the story revealing quite a bit of the facts and characters behind the story, which is in itself a fun read.

I finished reading this story wondering if, in fact, the events of the story may have actually happened. That should say quite enough.

Nothing to Declare: Memoirs of a Woman Traveling Alone

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Ho hum...
Nothing to care about
Mediocre Travel Writing
Mediocre Travel Writing
A Womans tale

Nothing to Declare: Memoirs of a Woman Traveling Alone
Mary Morris
Manufacturer: Picador
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0312199414

Amazon.com

Great travel writing has always been about the person making the trip as well as the things he or she encounters, and Mary Morris's category-defying 1988 memoir was an instant classic as much for its candid revelation of the author's turbulent emotions as for its sensitive, unglamorous portrait of a Latin America most tourists never see. Living in a poor neighborhood of the small Mexican town San Miguel de Allende, Morris befriends a neighbor, Lupe, who is struggling to support her many children (fathered by three different men) and to cope with her current, openly unfaithful partner. Scenes of life in San Miguel alternate with Morris's voyages around Central America, from the historic ruins of Teotihuacán to the contemporary turmoil of Nicaragua under the Sandinistas. Memories of her past crowd in: her parents' tense marriage, which sparked the restlessness that keeps their daughter on the road; her difficult relationships with often cruel men; the desolation of the years prior to her departure for San Miguel. Neither her affection for Lupe nor her love affair with a Mexico City man can prevent Morris's eventual return to the U.S., but her eloquent, elegant prose makes it clear that the grim, grand landscape and its tenacious inhabitants have left an indelible imprint on her soul. --Wendy Smith

Book Description

Traveling from the highland desert of northern Mexico to the steaming jungles of Honduras, from the seashore of the Caribbean to the exquisite highlands of Guatemala, Mary Morris, a celebrated writer of both fiction and nonfiction, confronts the realities of place, poverty, machismo, and selfhood. As she experiences the rawness and precariousness of life in another culture, Morris begins to hear echoes of her own life and her own sense of deprivation. And she begins, too, to overcome the struggles of the past that have held her back personally; as in the very best travel writing, Morris effectively explores her own soul while exploring new terrain and new experience. By crossing such boundaries throughout the pages of Nothing to Declare, she sets new frontiers for herself as a woman-and as a writer.

Customer Reviews:

Ho hum..........2005-11-28

Although Morris would (and does) believe that she is a natural and effortless traveller, this text attests otherwise. Morris spends the majority of the work lamenting the inefficencies of Mexico and reminding us how bold she is for taking the journey. The other portion consists of her waxing lyrical about her indifference to love or how generous she is as the privileged and revered American. She continously struck me as bitter and egocentrical.

Similarly, I think she adheres to the stereotypes she seemingly casts away. I particularly loved when she decided that she felt more like a 'man than a woman' in her relationship with the pampering/cleaning Mexican man. I also shuddered when she declared that her aforementioned Mexican love was like an 'Indian' when drunk.

As others have suggest, the cast that populates the background are more interesting than Morris herself. Beautiful writing and landscape, but intensely annoying subject.

Nothing to care about.......2005-11-15

A better title of this book might be "Nothing Interesting to Write About". This book was a total disappointment. All the people the author meets and writes about are oafish, selfish and/or unlikeable, including the man she takes as a lover, as well as being thoroughly boring. The one exception is her neighbor Lupe, however her sad and hopeless situation is common refrain in any poor area of any country. Too many children, not enough money. I will say that her descriptions of travel, food and medical care in Mexico have convinced me it is not someplace I ever care to travel to.

Mediocre Travel Writing.......2004-05-17

I was not so impressed with this novel and felt that the author was too caught up in her own drama to take the reader on an interesting voyage with her. It was a decent read, but I can't say that I would highly recommend it. To read a great book about a woman traveling, check out Rita Goldman Gelman.

Mediocre Travel Writing.......2004-01-15

A Womans tale.......2003-05-21

I really enjoyed this book. The story is definetly written from a womans point of view and I was able to relate quite well. I highly recomend this story as the tale of a moment in time as seen through a womans eyes in Central America.

Average customer rating:

beautiful and inspiring.....
At last! Nonfiction from Alvarez!
Take time to visit with Alvarez
Great straight thoughts about the bi-cultural experience
A marvelous chat with a fantastic author.

Something to Declare
Julia Alvarez
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0452280672

Book Description

The first nonfiction work by acclaimed novelist Julia Alvarez--twenty-four personal essays on the experience of immigration and the writing life

The rich and revealing essays in Something to Declare offer Julia Alvarez's dual meditations on coming to America and becoming a writer. In the first section, "Customs," Alvarez relates how she and her family fled the Dominican Republic and its oppressive dictator, Rafael Trujillo, settling in New York City in the 1960s. Here Julia begins a love affair with the English language under the tutelage of the aptly named Sister Maria Generosa. Part Two--"Declarations"--celebrates Alvarez's enduring passion for the writing life. From the valentine to mythic storyteller Scheherazade that is "First Muse," to a description of Alvarez's itinerant life as a struggling poet, teacher, and writer in "Have Typewriter, Will Travel," to the sage and witty advice of "Ten of My Writing Commandments," Alvarez generously shares her influences and inspirations with aspiring writers everywhere.

"Reading Julia Alvarez's new collection of essays is like curling up with a glass of wine in one hand and the phone in the other, listening to a big-hearted, wisecracking friend share hard-earned wisdom about family, identity, and the art of writing."--People

Customer Reviews:

beautiful and inspiring............2005-07-24

I am a great fan of Julia Alvarez's writing, and am also greatly appreciative of her strength of character as an inspirational Latina writer. Many of you may be familiar with her books "In the Time of Butterflies" and "How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents." In this book, we get a better sense of Julia Alvarez, the woman, the writer, the artist and (in her words) a "hyphenated American." (i.e, Dominican-American) These twenty-four essays offer a glimpse into her life, and what inspired her to persue writing. Alvarez had a lot of great material from her childhood, growing up the daughter of a revolutionary who was part of the opposition against Trujillo, the former dictator of the Dominican Republic. Julia also possessed a great wit and imagination, throughout her academic and personal life.

We are so honored that this great woman decided to convey her thoughts and stories through writing. This is definitely her true talent. What a true inspiration for all aspiring writers (Latina and otherwise). This book is engaging, warmly accessible and insightful. Highly reccomended!

At last! Nonfiction from Alvarez!.......2003-08-18

Alvarez has mined deeply into her childhood in Dominican Republic and her family's flight from Trujillo to Queens, NY, as sources for her lyrical fiction and poetry. At last she launches herself into nonfiction, and the result is Something to Declare. The book is a collection of 24 autobiographical essays focused on her life and her personal writing process. The first part chronicles her girlhood in DR, surrounded with a rich and varied cast of characters comprised of her huge family, the servants, her classmates and nursemaids. It ends with her family's escape to America and documents the beginning of the difficult assimilation process.
In the second part of Something to Declare, Alvarez talks about her writing process, the difficulty balancing a writing life with teaching and her "real life," and concludes with her Ten Commandments for writing, a poster of which hangs above my computer.
This book is a gift from Julia Alvarez to her many fans, and we thank her for it.

Take time to visit with Alvarez.......2001-02-26

Ever since reading In the Time of the Butterflies, I have been convinced that Julia Alvarez was a gifted writer. This collection of her essays was purchased for our library to add to our creative writing teacher's curricular tools. I couldn't resist being the first to sample same. Alvarez has a way of talking to the reader that makes her essays ever so readable. I especially love the personal illuminations of her family in the Dominican Republic and in the states. What a fascinating immigrant story! One of my favorite essays is "Chasing the Butterfies" which put chills on me as I recalled the power in her novel that made me into her fan. I am not surprised that she is connected to the Bread Loaf writers. What quality comes from that group! I was a late-in-life discoverer of writers outside of the CANON, but I never again shall believe that only the canon has quality. The multicultural writers that I have discovered since 1992 as a member of the NEH sponsored Common Ground at the University of Houston, have enriched my life and the lives of my students. Any would be writer should read these Alvarez revelations. Being able to come and go from the entries makes the work so very user friendly. Brava, Julia!

Great straight thoughts about the bi-cultural experience.......1999-09-18

In Something to Declare Julia Alvarez give us rich insights into the process of being a writer and living the full but difficult life of a bi-cultural citizen. Her book helped me a lot to understand my dual citizenship, but also it helped me to deal with the voices that fill my mind in at least two languages. A must for anyone who enjoys ethnic literature, or emmigrant fiction.

A marvelous chat with a fantastic author........1999-06-28

Julia Alvarez lets readers into her thoughts and imagination with a wonderfully readable collection of essays in "Something to Declare".

Did You Declare the Corpse?: A Thoroughly Southern Mystery (Thoroughly Southern Mysteries)

Average customer rating:

Did You Declare the Corpse?
Old South
A good who-dun-it in the Christie style
ok, but story and characters are not that interesting
terrific mystery

Did You Declare the Corpse?: A Thoroughly Southern Mystery (Thoroughly Southern Mysteries)
Patricia Sprinkle
Manufacturer: Signet
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0451217802

Book Description

Georgia magistrate MacLaren Yarbrough is bound for Scotland to explore her genealogical roots along with her friend Laura, not to mention a tour group full of unusual travel mates. But when two empty coffins mysteriously appear in the church in the small town where the group is staying-though none of the locals have died-things take a turn for the macabre. And when the bodies of two Americans are discovered occupying the coffins, MacLaren finds herself back on the job. Can she tie it all together, before she winds up in a coffin of her own?

Customer Reviews:

Did You Declare the Corpse?.......2007-10-05

This is not the author's best work. It plods on and on, this way and that way. The characters seem to overlap and get confused. Two couples especially get confused with each other at times. Then, as it races to conclude, some characters change identity.

Old South.......2007-05-14

Patricia Sprinkle makes a southerner feel at home. From the nicknames for loved ones to the use of southern idioms, Sprinkle lets you know that she is at home in the south. Her characters are the characters of small town America, alive and practically walking off the page to sit with you and enjoy a southern mystery. Being (well) over the age of fifty, I appreciate an older woman who is not seen as senile, incapable or over the hill. MacLaren Yarbrough is a delight. Her marriage that has lasted for years, her children who are not perfect, her grandchildren she loves, a town full of people that know each other and can live with that knowledge, all make this series fun to read. Hopefully, MacLaren will continue to solve mysteries for many more years.

A good who-dun-it in the Christie style.......2007-05-07

Patricia Sprinkle give us all the clues, and if you pay attention, there are no surprises. Her characters are multi-dimensional--having flaws and a conscience. Mac and Joe Riddley are like people I have met while in the south. Some of the one-time characters are a bit dramatic, but this is their chance to shine. The underlying theme of home and family, coupled with respect and love, give the characters more depth and dimension than Christie gave hers. I enjoy all her novels. Sometimes I'm with her all the way (like in this one), and sometimes I am surprised.

ok, but story and characters are not that interesting.......2007-02-03

I hate to disagree with Amazon's #1 reviewer and her five stars, but I must. The mystery simply fell short of the mark for me. After a promising opening that reveals an unnamed person has been found unexpectedly in a coffin at a Scottish church, the story returns to the characters gathering for their trip to Scotland. The plot then unfolds as the group makes its way on tour, until they return to the time and place where the deed was done.

The murder occurs past the half-way point, with time spent in various Scottish locales developing the characters and sprinkling clues for the eventual events and motives. Unfortunately, the tourists are largely annoying or uninteresting, with some exceptions. Whiners and jerks don't do much for me, and I recall little humor along the way. You may not be disappointed no matter who was killed, because of course it won't be our heroine.

The pace picks up after the murder, as our narrator MacLaren takes advantage of being one of the first people to know of the murder, and overhearing some timely arguments earlier, to begin her casual snooping. Someone actually calls her out as a Jessica Fletcher type and clumsily warns her not to get involved. Hmm, why not?

The truth of the first murder is mostly revealed not through any real insightful detective work, but through a witness who speaks up and cannot be denied. The resolution of both murders occurs quickly, and the justification is a bit blah. An unexpected criminal subplot pops up late and then just disappears near the end. Several people will turn out not to be what or whom they seem to be, and the reader will sense that as the key lurking element of surprise as the tour moves on and reaches the fateful town, where additional relationships develop.

You can decide whether the colloquial Scottish ("Fit ye deein'?", et al) is effective or insulting. Oh, and don't forget the Canadian's occasional "eh?". I kind of expected some y'alls in return, given that these were Georgians on tour, after all.

This was my first mystery by Patricia Sprinkle, so I cannot place it relative to her other works.

terrific mystery.......2006-02-08

Georgia Magistrate MacLaren Yarbrough is visiting the Scottish Highlands for two weeks but her companion is not her beloved husband Joe Riddley but her friend Laura MacDonald. Joe thinks it is safe to take a fishing vacation with his son and two grandsons because Mac won't have any mysteries to solve or trip over dead bodies. Little does he knows that his worst fears will be realized when a heartless killer tries to murder Mac.

The mystery begins when Mac overhears a person on their tour arguing with the brother-in-law of the laird of Auchnager about a business deal. Before that incident that argumentative individual acted like he was another tourist on a holiday jaunt. While visiting a local church one of the tourists is found lying in a coffin inside the holy facility, the victim of murder.. Mac immediately assumes the laird's brother-in-law did the deed until that poor soul winds up in a second coffin. Without meaning to, Mac observes her fellow tourists and asks questions to try to bring the culprits to justice though she ends up feeling sorry for them even though they killed somebody.

Patricia Sprinkle's latest Thoroughly Southern mystery, although placed in the Scottish Highlands, is still a down home, at times hilarious cozy. This is a mystery Agatha Christie would be proud to claim as her own. The intricate plotting and the eccentric cast of characters are just two of the reasons that DID YOU DELIVER THE CORPSE? is a one sitting reading experience. The heroine is eminently likeable and her homespun wisdom instantly endears her to the audience who will want this grandmotherly person to adopt them.

Harriet Klausner

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A brave man's awakening against all fascisms
Pereira, an eternal character in fiction
From an Italian author with a uniquely effective style
A great book in a first-rate translation
the heart of man

Pereira Declares: A Testimony
Antonio Tabucchi
Manufacturer: New Directions Publishing Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0811213587

Amazon.com

Antonio Tabucchi has accomplished a rare feat: a socio-political novel with a decided left-wing slant that succeeds as a thriller. It is told through the voice of an aging editor at a Portuguese newspaper in 1938 during fascist rule. A murder inspires the editor out of acquiescence, and an underground movement ensues. The book rose to immediate success in Italy in 1994, a time when Italian fascism resurfaced, and Tabucchi's timely antidote to that movement was no doubt a factor in the novel's popularity. But widespread appeal of the book had as much to do with the page-turning nature of the work as its politics--a testament to Tabucchi's ability on both fronts.

Customer Reviews:

A brave man's awakening against all fascisms.......2006-12-18

Antonio Tabucchi (1943) is the most European and international of modern Italian writers, comparable only to Umberto Eco, with whom he has an ongoing literary discussion on the intellectual's role in society. Eco is convinced that the artist/intellectual should only organize knowledge, while Tabucchi stands up for the right of the artist, in presence of preoccupying political evolutions, to ring the warning bell when necessary. This ringing of the bell is only one of the many keys to use when reading Tabucchi's 1994 novel "Pereira declares".
This lyrical short book, probably inspired by the life of a true Portuguese journalist, narrates in an unusual testimonial third person style (maybe a police officer?), an apparently insignificant (?) episode that happened in Lisbon in the summer of 1938. Pereira, the editor of the cultural page of an afternoon newspaper, meets and befriends a young anti-regime political activist Monteiro Rossi that is willing to do anything (also write beforehand necrologies of famous authors) for a little bit of money. Monteiro Rossi, naturally gets into trouble dragging with him the at first reluctant and then convinced Pereira. The book's plot, that is the true driving force because of its fast and at the same time deep pace, is only the excuse to face the real topic. This is Pereira, his personality, his times, freedom of press, the author's love of Lisbon (where he lives for half of the year, being a professor of Portuguese literature in an Italian University), Portuguese history during the last years under the Salazar regimen, Europe's plight when dealing with fascism then and now.
All these themes are precisely the reason that determined the selection of this book of Antonio Tabucchi, among his many other beautiful works, as the intellectual flag of political opposition in 1994, against the press tycoon Silvio Berlusconi's entry in the political arena.
However, even if this made the book famous twelve years ago, and history has gone overrunning its the apparent actuality, as all works of art this novel is still enchanting to read and its subtler merits constantly emerge.
First of all we must consider modern Italian literature, greatly unknown or not translated for the English speaking public, that has most of the characteristics of postmodernism. Italy is a country culturally and sociologically removed (that considers itself as backwards) from the rest of Europe and the U.S. Italian literature reflects this belief and Italian authors think that all has been already written, so they privilege citations, irony, satire, mingling of literary types, "pastiches" and they reach their best satisfaction when "found out" or "discovered" by their cult readers that appreciate their citation abilities. "Pereira declares" is full of these citations, beginning with the authors Monteiro Rossi writes obituaries for (in Italian these are called "crocodiles", like crocodile tears) like for example Garcia Lorca, who at the time of the novel hadn't yet been killed, but would be soon, up to the French novelists of the Nineteenth Century Pereira loves and translates picking out their present meaning. The short story of Daudet's "Contes du lundì" on the Franco-Prussian War is the emblem of political frontiers and intestinal war in Europe and retains its actuality for Pereira at the moment he is speaking (1938), for the Author (1944), and for us reading now in 2006. All the Authors Tabucchi cites, Balzac, Bernanos (now long forgotten for many), Maupassant have some eternally true intuitions, but we must know them well to fully appreciate what Tabucchi wants to convey. The same must be said for Pessoa (1888-1935), the great Portuguese poet, studied by Tabucchi, which introduced the great season of poetical "avanguard" and sang of the all Portuguese sentiment of "Saudade" a yearning or nostalgia made up of suffering and sweatness, a longing for the past and the future together, a category of the spirit "that is at the same time a form of suicide" (Tabucchi). Pereira longs for and constantly relives his love for his wife and his youth in Coimbra and finds them again in Monteiro Rossi and Marta, his girlfriend.
Tabucchi, like in other novels of his, utilizes a journalist, police like approach and with this literary technique he remembers Leonardo Sciascia and Frederich Durrenmatt, that have explored this literary stile before him with great results.
If you can find it watch the 1995 movie "Sostiene Pereira" directed by Roberto Faenza with Marcello Mastroianni as Pereira and Daniel Auteuil as Doctor Cardoso, that faithfully follows the book and helps to visualize Tabucchi's poetry.
Read this book to have an idea of the best of modern Italian literature and to taste some of the greater European problems of yesterday and today.

Pereira, an eternal character in fiction.......2006-09-11

Tabucchi has created a monumental work: how conscious are we of our actions and our motives, how do we experience our everyday life and what awareness do we have of it versus the inner sense of ourselves.It measures up to Anna Karenina.
Tabucchi deserves the Nobel prize.

From an Italian author with a uniquely effective style .......2006-02-28

This tale, told as though it were a documented testimony resulting from some unidentified investigative process, is a complete and believable characterisation of a very dull but gentle man, Dr. Pereira. While an editor of a no-hum local newspaper in 1938 Lisbon, he struggles to maintain his invisible and intentionally unexpressive life by ignoring the political repression and censorship mounting around him. He takes pride in the fact that his paper is apolitical.

Through the subtlest of facts and inferences, all easily grasped, this book enables readers to feel that they're discovering Pereira all by themselves, with almost no assistance from the unseen narrator or author. It's as though Tabucchi has the map but you're the driver. This style is delicate and unobtusive yet it delivers a sense of realness and a rich atmosphere unexpected in a story of just 136 pages. You feel the breeze rolling in off the Atlantic and along those streets. To the same degree, something so trivial as the presence of sugar in lemonade informs us exactly of the level of frustration Pereira experiences vis-a-vis his own new and atypical responses to people and events. He can't comprehend a rationale for his behaviour but he's painfully aware of the danger he's posing to the safe life he's made for himself.

This is Tabucchi's most famous book. I was introduced to it by a friend in northern Italy who's read every book he's written, including his later 2001 book, "Si Sta Facendo Sempre piu Tardi" ("It's Getting Later all the Time"). This hasn't yet been released in North America but Amazon lists it as orderable.

A great book in a first-rate translation.......2006-02-21

Pereira is a reluctant hero of our time: an inadequate, faintly absurd man who tries to live a decent personal life in a political setting that allows little room for such illusions. Fascist Portugal in 1938, like some other "civilized" nations closer to our own day, is poisoned by false certainties and the corrupt exercise of vindictive power. Only proclamations of pious conformity are allowed. Pereira, himself a pious and harmless man, finds himself gradually forced, through circumstances beyond his control, to assume the role of a full human being, and to stand up, however briefly, for what is right. Pereira's moral resurrection is handled with great delicacy by Tabucchi. The English translation is another plus: Patrick Creagh is one of the finest translators working today, and here does full justice to Tabucchi's restrained and thoughtful prose. The cumulative effect is remarkable. If they read English over in Stockholm, this book could put its author in contention for the Nobel Prize.

the heart of man.......2005-08-09

What was going on in Tabucchi's mind while writing this gem of a novel? Pereira won't say, but certainly he was trying to investigate the deepest feelings of a man traveling to his freedom, he declares. A tiny book with great implications.

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Personal Francophilia
Not What the Title Promises, and Often Excruciating
Not What I Expected but Brilliant
A wonderful collection of pieces
It's not about France

Something to Declare: Essays on France
Julian Barnes
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Essays | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Essays & Travelogues | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0375415130
Release Date: 2002-10-01

Book Description

Julian Barnes's long and passionate relationship with la belle France began more than forty years ago, and in these essays on the country and the culture he combines a keen appreciation, a seemingly infinite sphere of reference, and prose as stylish as classic haute couture.

Barnes's vision of France-"The Land Without Brussels Sprouts"-embraces its vanishing peasantry; its vanished hyper-literate pop singers, Georges Brassens, Boris Vian, and Jacques Brel ("[he] sang at the world as if it… could be saved from its follies and brutalities by his vocal embrace"); and the gleeful iconoclasm of its nouvelle vague cinema ("'The Underpass in Modern French Film' is a thesis waiting to be written").

He describes the elegant tour of France that Henry James and Edith Wharton made in 1907, and the orgy of drugs and suffering of the Tour de France in our own time. An unparalleled connoisseur of French writing and writers, Barnes gives us his thoughts on the prolific and priapic Simenon, on Sand, Baudelaire, and Mallarmé ("If literature is a spectrum, and Hugo hogs the rainbow, then Mallarmé is working in ultra-violet").

In several dazzling excursions into the prickly genius of Flaubert, Barnes discusses his letters; his lover Louise Colet; and his biographers (Sartre's The Family Idiot, "an intense, unfinished, three-volume growl at Flaubert, is mad, of course"). He delves into Flaubert's friendship with Turgenev; looks at the "faithful betrayal" of Claude Chabrol's film version of Madame Bovary; and reveals the importance of the pharmacist's assistant, the most major minor character in Flaubert's great novel: "if Madame Bovary were a mansion, Justin would be the handle to the back door; but great architects have the design of door-furniture in mind even as they lay out the west wing."

For lovers of France and all things French-and of Julian Barnes's singular wit and intelligence-Something to Declare is an unadulterated joy to read.

Customer Reviews:

Personal Francophilia.......2006-05-22

Julian Barnes is probably the British writer most associated with French influence over his literature. Most of his novels are influenced by France in one way or another, especially his acclaimed 1984 masterpiece, Flaubert's Parrot.

In the introduction to these essays, Barnes traces his personal affiliation with France. From nervous childhood holidays with his parents, to his immersion in French language and culture while studying Languages at Oxford, ending with a 1997 trip across the Channel to deliver the ashes of his parents. He cheerfully admits a bias towards French culture over his native Anglo-Saxon and this fact permeates the essays here.

The first part of the book features a range of essays on obscure French singers, the film director Francois Truffaut, Elizabeth David's cookery writing and, best of all, a lenghty piece on drug taking in the Tour de France.

In the second half of the book, the emphasis shifts to Flaubert, Barnes's self professed literary idol. The essays span the full range of Flaubert's life and his associations: his biographers, his mistresses, his relationship with other writers and film versions of Madame Bovary. Flaubert was given extensive fictional treatment in 'Flaubert's Parrot' and these pieces perhaps read like a reworking of the research notes for that novel.

Unlike most wannabe British continentals who think that to become au fait with European Culture one just has to eat at The River Cafe and take the occasional jaunt to Paris or Rome, Barnes has clearly read many pages of French literature and watched many metres of film. His depth and range of knowledge is impressive and the style is (as with all Barnes's writings) erudite, crisp and piercingly intelligent.

Not What the Title Promises, and Often Excruciating.......2004-08-10

The title of this book, as you can see, is "Something To Declare: Essays on France and French Culture." The blurbs on the back of my trade paperback version enthusiastically support this title. However, only a quarter of the pages of this book are devoted to a discussion of "France and French culture." The rest are spent on the very specific topics of particular French artists and authors, most particularly Flaubert and things related to Flaubert. Given that artists and authors often make a point of setting themselves apart from their cultural milieu (especially most if not all of the ones Barnes writes about) and are often, at a minimum, a bit out of touch with the reality of the world around them, writings on these folks can hardly be deemed to reflect "French culture," as promised by the title. Barnes is, of course, perfectly entitled to publish a book composed of these elements; however, it would be nice if the title and blurbs made it clearer that that is what he is doing, for those of us poor unenlightened souls who do not go into a swoon every time we see or hear the name Flaubert -- for those of us who, in fact, would be perfectly happy for the rest of our lives if we could avoid anything more than infrequent passing references to Flaubert. Simply put, the title does not fairly represent the major part of what is in the book. If you are looking for a book on France and French culture, you can do much, much better with your reading time and money. Moreover, the essays that are not general in nature assume an intimate, detailed knowledge of Flaubert and his writing. If you do not have such an intimate, ready-at-your-fingertips, working knowledge, you will often not know what Barnes is referring to and will consequently have no hope of understanding the point he is trying to make, even if you hang in there and read the whole thing, as I did. These essays are intended for an audience of initiates; reading them in a book like this that purports to address a much more general topic will just leave you feeling like an outsider to the club. Oh, and it will be even worse for you if you fail to hold the belief that "Madame Bovary" is worth intense worship as one of the greatest things to ever have come along, both before and after the advent of sliced bread.

Not What I Expected but Brilliant.......2003-01-29

Firstly, I did not gather all this book had to offer, as I do not have the knowledge that Mr. Barnes requires regarding French popular music of decades ago, including Georges Brassens, Boris Vian and Jacques Brel, and other topics that can only be fully appreciated if you have previous knowledge of them. Another example is his detailed discussion of French Cinema, again, hard to appreciate fully without prior and extensive knowledge. As a testament to his writing skill and style, these barriers did not keep me from reading every bit of this book. Unfortunately I had to read many parts as a novice, but his talent as a writer makes that effort an easy one to make.

There are many essays that will appeal to a wide audience, Edith Wharton, the Tour de France, Henry James, and his discourses on the writers George Sand, Victor Hugo, Stephane Mallarme, and Ivan Turgenev. No book such as this by Mr. Barnes would even be contemplated without a large portion being devoted to Gustave Flaubert, his friends, his actions, and the world he lived in and created. Flaubert is the basis for Mr. Barnes to explore the role of biography, the selective use of historical fact, personal papers, and the revisionist methods that can be employed when even identical source material is used to document the same individual. When Mr. Barnes makes an appearance in the book it is a picture of him standing by the final resting place of his much loved topic, the final resting place of Flaubert.

The topics I mention are not even close to an exhaustive list of the material that is covered. I have read virtually all of the books and essays that Mr. Barnes has published, and this book is decidedly unique. The book falls short of 300 pages only because the author chose to keep it dense. A slightly more verbose pen could easily have doubled the size of the book. You will likely spend more time on these 279 pages than you generally do, whether with Mr. Barnes or another author.

A very different book from a brilliant mind and very talented observer and writer, just be prepared for a very new experience from him this time around. He has not taken his readers on a trip like this before.

A wonderful collection of pieces.......2003-01-24

Barnes's collection falls into two halves. The first is a collection of pieces that might be said to have a French theme: a review and appreciation of Edith Wharton's account of a car journey taken through France, a piece of French songsters of the sixties, a very entertaining look at the perils of the Tour de France. The second half is nearly all given over to Flaubert, Barnes's obsession. The essays on the great writer are fascinating, especially those centered around his correspondence. Barnes's love for the writer and the man is contagious. I had no great enthusiasm for Flaubert, despite having loved Barnes's 'Flaubert's Parrot', but since reading this book I have read 'Madame Bovary' with a great deal of pleasure and have begun looking into the correspondence. All the essays are scrupulously and stylishly written and are worth reading for the prose alone.

It's not about France.......2002-12-28

"Something to Declare" is a clever title for a book about travel abroad; but, beyond its opening pages, that's not what this book is about. "Essays on France" is an equally misleading subtitle, for the book's erudite essays (beyond the opening chapter) are not on France but on a narrow selection of French writers and related movers and shakers, and one fictional character: Madame Bovary. After a fast-paced, dazzling opening sequence, hilariously describing the teen-aged Barnes' first encounters across the English Channel, we slow down to pick through some highlights in the lives of some of the top French authors, poets, filmmakers and other cultural icons, eventually easing to a crawl through exhaustive detail regarding the author's main interest, Flaubert and his world. If Madame Bovary is your cup of tea, you may enjoy steeping yourself further in Barnes. For me it was just too much.

Your Management Sucks: Why You Have to Declare War on Yourself . . . and Your Business

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A Brutal "Look In The Mirror"
Finally, a Biz Book That Doesn't Suck!

Your Management Sucks: Why You Have to Declare War on Yourself . . . and Your Business
Mark Stevens
Manufacturer: Crown Business
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Leadership | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1400054931
Release Date: 2006-05-09

Book Description

Like a mirror, Your Management Sucks reveals important truths that you may deal with . . . or choose to ignore or put on the back burner.

Everyone manages someone or something . . . your own life and career, an administrative assistant, hundreds or thousands of people. How well or poorly you manage has a profound impact on your personal success.

Mark Stevens makes the compelling point that at any given time everyone’s management sucks. It can, however, be improved and rethought so you can move away from patterns and habits that you can easily fall victim to.

Start by declaring constructive war on yourself. Look in the mirror and identify those invisible traps and barriers. Then leave the land of business-as-usual with the seven-point plan Stevens has used to build both his own extraordinary career and his marketing and strategy consulting firm. You’ll soon find that you’re in the fast lane, easily outpacing your passive peers who rarely, if ever, challenge the how and why of what they do.

Mark Stevens—a street-smart kid from Queens, New York, who has gone on to phenomenal success—not only gives advice to Fortune 500 companies and entrepreneurial start-ups, he takes his own. Concerned that his business, MSCO, would continue its steady but limited growth, he announced one morning during breakfast with his wife, “Honey, I’m going to fire everyone.” That intention, while actually carried out over a lengthy period of time, was based on one simple insight—that his team of good people wouldn’t be able to put MSCO over the top to make it the best. From that episode came the ideas that form the core of Your Management Sucks:

• Developing your own personal killer app—the “differentiator” that will make you more than the sum of your parts

• Unleashing your virtual Manhattan Project: the plan that will change your life, your business, and the world

• Challenging the oxymoron of conventional wisdom

• Applying C+A+M: The universal equation for perpetual growth

In the same straight-talking, no-BS style of his last book, Your Marketing Sucks, Stevens offers brass-tacks examples of management approaches that do—and don’t—work and inspires people to ask themselves the tough questions they need to answer in order to become true leaders.

Your Seven-Point Declaration of War on Management That Sucks

1. Unleash the Power of a Personal Philosophy: Don’t just rock the boat of your business, be prepared to capsize it.

2. Challenge the Oxymoron of Conventional Wisdom: The so-called smart thing is all too often stale thinking masquerading as truth.

3. Take a Good Look in the Mirror . . . Do You See a Leader? The worst damn thing in the world you can do is copy success. Be an original.

4. Develop Your Personal Killer App: Become greater than the sum of your parts.

5. Unleash Your Manhattan Project: Implement the plan that will change your world and your life.

6. Capture Ideas with a Butterfly Net: Seek out what you need to know and use it for personal growth.

7. Apply C+A+M, the Universal Equation for Perpetual Growth: Win customers and make them deliriously happy.

Also available as an eBook

Customer Reviews:

A Brutal "Look In The Mirror".......2006-07-17

The title's quite blunt--and so are the messages. I found that page after page contains extremely accurate assessments and advice of the business, management, leadership, and people situations I face in my organization. It's a brutal "look in the mirror" as to what we need to start doing, stop doing, and continue doing.

Finally, a Biz Book That Doesn't Suck!.......2006-06-30

Wanting to keep ahead of the curve in my career, it seems I'm always reading a business book or two. This one didn't waste my time, try too hard to impress me with MBA-speak, or tell me what I already know. What I liked most about Your Management Sucks is that the author tells it like it is. If I had a mentor, one that told me what I really needed to hear to get ahead, one that would kick my [...] to take next steps when I needed confirmation or direction, then I found one in this author. I think I will re-read many sections of this book as a refresher when I ask for a raise, take on a conference room of naysayers or need to push myself to take a few risks at the office.

If you are uncertain what your next steps should be with your boss, concerned that voicing your opinion will make your colleagues think less of you, or want to know how to improve your own management skills and techniques, then this should be the next book you read. It's practical, full of "ah-ha" insights, and really gets your adrenaline pumping.

Annulment: The Wedding That Was : How the Church Can Declare a Marriage Null

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To be first and only ... for marriage is a bounded eternal state
A Helpful Guide For Those in the Annulment Process
This book is user-friendly, rich in concept and practicality

Annulment: The Wedding That Was : How the Church Can Declare a Marriage Null
Michael Smith Foster
Manufacturer: Paulist Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Divorce & Separation | Family & Health Law | Law | Subjects | Books

Canon | Legal History | Law | Subjects | Books

Divorce | Family Relationships | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Ritual | Other Practices | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0809138441

Customer Reviews:

To be first and only ... for marriage is a bounded eternal state.......2006-09-26

What is a Catholic annulment & why do I need one?
Written by Jacqueline Rapp, JD, JCL, MCL Rapp Canonical Consulting Louisville, KY

As a judge on a marriage nullity tribunal, I run into people, on a daily basis, who do not understand the declaration of nullity (or annulment) process and they do not understand why they need an annulment to begin with. It's been my understanding that this is because there are some misconceptions as to what the Catholic Church teaches about marriage, and therefore what the Catholic Church teaches about relationship that are not marriage (therefore needing an annulment). I hope to clarify some of this for those who may need this information.

What is an annulment?

A Catholic annulment, or a declaration of nullity or invalidity, is a statement of fact, by the Catholic Church, that a valid marriage (as defined by the Catholic Church) never existed. Therefore, it is not a Catholic divorce, since divorce looks at the moment that the relationship broke down and says, "there was something and now we are ending it." The annulment process says, "from the very beginning, there wasn't what was necessary for this relationship to be called a marriage." The annulment process is definitely NOT saying that there was no love involved and there wasn't some form of relationship there. It is also not saying that there wasn't a valid civil contract (thus, all children born of this valid civil contract are legitimate). This process looks at an entirely different realm - the spiritual one - as this is the Catholic Church's domain.

Why is an annulment necessary?

The Catholic Church teaches that marriage (as created by God for all people), if created, is permanent, exclusive, fruitful and ordered to the good of the spouses. This means that marriage is until death parts them - and not divorce (permanent); it is between one man and one woman (exclusive); it is open to the procreation and education of children (fruitful); and creates a relationship that is an equal partnership of the whole of life that strives to the growth of the two people involved (ordered to the good of the spouses).

Because the Catholic Church teaches that marriage is permanent, and that IF it was created that no human power can separate what God has joined together (not even the civil government who has the power to end the civil contract that they call marriage), then once two people stand in front of God and everybody and IF they create what the Catholic Church defines as marriage, then it cannot be dissolved. That marriage bond is in place until death.

So, no new marriage covenant can be created with someone else, because the party who has been married before still is bound to that first person, since the bond, if formed, cannot be ended with a civil divorce.

Therefore, the Catholic Church investigates, through the annulment process, whether an actual marriage, as defined by the Church, came into being. If they determine, by examining the facts presented to the Tribunal, that no "marriage" came into being, then the parties are free to contract marriage with someone else.

Why do I need one if I'm not Catholic?

If you are not Catholic and you are planning on marrying a Catholic, then you may be asked to go through the annulment process. This may seem odd, given that both people from the first union are not Catholic and it doesn't make sense that the Catholic Church should investigate this marriage.

The Catholic Church recognizes, as a valid marriage, any marriage between two people who were free to marry (no previous marriages between them). Basically, if the non-Catholic church of either party recognized the marriage as valid, so does the Catholic Church, and since marriage, as God created it, is permanent, then these marriages also need to be investigated.

And, anyone who is wanting to marry a Catholic, has to "play by our rules," so to speak, since the Catholic whom they are marrying must abide by these laws of the Church.

The Catholic Church believes that the teachings on what marriage is binds all people whether they are Catholic or not, given that it is part of God's Divine Law.

Options other than an annulment?

Are there other options for working with previous marriages other than the annulment process? Yes, indeed there are.

If a person was either Catholic or married to a Catholic and they did not get married according to the canonical form of marriage (in front of a Catholic priest/deacon with two witnesses), and there was no Church permission to do that (called a dispensation from form), then this would be called a Lack of Form case and can be dealt with by proving that one of the parties was Catholic (with their baptismal record) and that they did not get married according to Catholic form (with the marriage license) and that they are now civilly divorced (with the divorce decree).

If one of the parties to the first marriage was not baptized, and that non-baptism can be proven, and the person who is applying for this process was not the cause of the breakdown of the marriage, then a Privilege of the Faith case or Petrine Privilege case, can be sent to Rome and the non-sacramental marriage can be dissolved, leaving those parties free to remarry.

If both of the parties were non-baptised throughout the course of the marriage, and now the party applying wants to become baptized and marry a Catholic, and the non-baptism of both parties can be proven, then a Pauline Privilege case can be done and the non-sacramental marriage can be dissolved, leaving those parties free to remarry (after the one who desired baptism has received it).

Conclusion:

A basic rule of thumb to follow is that if there was a previous marriage contracted by either you or your fiance, be sure to tell your priest. That marriage will have to be addressed in some form or another, either by a documentary case, a privilege case or a formal annulment process.

A Helpful Guide For Those in the Annulment Process.......2003-11-02

Annulling a marriage is one of the thorniest practices of the Roman Catholic Church. People who are granted annulments are given a whole new lease on life, but for those who are denied an annulment, the news can be devastating. For Catholics, an annulment means that a sacramental marriage never took place. The most common reaction to this is "I went to the wedding, what do you mean a marriage never took place?" People begin to wonder if an annulment means that children from such unions are illegitimate (no). Others wonder what right the Church has to declare a marriage null, and see the process as judgmental and vindictive. Others believe that annulments are only granted to those willing to pay a hefty price tag. With so much negative press, it is no wonder why so many people find the annulment process intimidating and decide not to pursue having a marriage annulled.

Michael Smith Foster, a Catholic priest and canon lawyer who works at the Marriage Tribunal for the Archdiocese of Boston has written a clear, easy to understand book answering the many questions of what an annulment is, and what an annulment is not. The book is published by Paulist Press, and is set up in a question and answer format, like many book released by this publisher. In discussing the annulment process, the author also explains what a Catholic marriage is supposed to be. His style is pastoral and non-threatening. The book is compassionate and hopeful for people who have been hurt by a marriage coming apart.

While this book will be most helpful to people going through the annulment process and those who are ministering to them, it will be of interest to any Catholics who want to understand more about this procedure and what the Church truly teaches about marriage.

This book is user-friendly, rich in concept and practicality.......1999-05-23

This book is a user-friendly one. The question and answer format is used to its highest possiblity. It deals with all of those questions we never bothered to ask our high school religion nun or college theologian, and now wish we had. As both a civil and a canon lawyer dealing in divorce and annulments, I cannot think of one question not asked asked and answered here. The index makes it even easier to navigate the concepts explored. The result is a book that explains the concepts but also tells you how to deal practically with them in the context of the Church's laws and canons. This book takes the whole package of married life and puts it into Catholic perspective. This start to finish result, especially starting at the time of the marriage, is the crux of what so many do not understand about the Catholic Church and marriage. Foster's approach is totally successful just because of its simplicity. The book should be read by those thinking of marriage and not just those far down the road. It's assistance to both is what makes this book so important.

The Good Fight: Declare Your Independence and Close the Democracy Gap

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"The Good Fight" that I wish we weren't losing!
Thousands Dead in Iraq -- Meet An Acomplice
Four stars for the book, minus four for handing the White House to George W. Bush
A champion of the people !
Zero Stars

The Good Fight: Declare Your Independence and Close the Democracy Gap
Ralph Nader
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Civil Rights & Liberties | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Human Rights | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0060779551
Release Date: 2005-07-05

Amazon.com

The old analogy of apples and oranges, long used to describe things that are completely different, has been rejected by some due to the fact that apples and oranges are, scientifically speaking, extremely similar. For longtime activist, author, and occasional political candidate Ralph Nader, the Democratic and Republican parties, like apples and oranges, may offer different packaging, but are the same on the inside. In The Good Fight, Nader attacks both for their complicity in corporate America's attempts to solidify their power and wealth at the expense of the average citizen's health, job, food, environment and economic future. Still, Nader says, the biggest threat facing regular people comes from inside. "Our lack of civic motivation," he writes, "is the biggest problem facing our country today." And with that in mind, he offers a guide to the powerful institutions at work in the world as well as some advice on how to affect change. Having worked as a civic crusader for so long, Nader is able to present his indictments clearly and is especially compelling when telling the stories of common people who lose their livelihoods and sometimes their lives to corporate profiteering and who then often lose again when they or their families seek redress from a corrupt system where the politicians are in bed with the executives. Some Democrats have accused Nader of taking votes away from their candidates and handing the 2000 election to George W. Bush. Political junkies looking for counter-arguments are mostly out of luck here (John Kerry is mentioned once, Al Gore not at all, and no mention is made of any ambition to elected office) but it becomes clear in reading The Good Fight that Ralph Nader's political career is all about clearly communicating his message. And on that front, he is highly successful. --John Moe

Book Description

Straight talk about George W. Bush,corporate government, and the whole charade of presidential campaigning -- from the last honest man in American politics

Ralph Nader -- brilliant visionary, relentless activist -- may be the most honest man left in politics. And yet his presidential campaigns have faced consistent opposition -- mainly from Democrats afraid that competition from an inspiring independent could dent their voting block.

Now, in The Good Fight, Nader swings back harder than ever at those who "want to block the American people from having more voices and choices" and have lost touch with the concept that votes must be earned, not inherited or entitled. While taking on corporate-occupied Washington and the government's daily abuse of ordinary citizens, he urges a speedy return to stronger civic motivation. If fed-up citizens don't actively join the fight for better leadership, then ultimately we have no one to blame but ourselves for the inadequate checks on the erosion of our civil liberties.

In an era when politicians sell us rhetoric and then sell out our principles, Nader stands as a crucial voice of candor. The Good Fight is a stirring response to politics as usual, one that will captivate readers of all political stripes and help us define what we must do to shape the brightest future for our nation.

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The man who shook up American politics in 2000 -- and is doingso again in 2004 -- returns to hold both parties' feet to the fire with his straight talk about Bush, corporate government, and the whole political charade.

Ralph Nader -- relentless activist, brilliant visionary -- may also be the most honest man we've got left in politics. And yet from the moment Nader declared his presidential candidacy on Meet the Press, he's faced relentless opposition, mainly from Democrats fearing that competition from an inspiring independent could dent their voting block ""as it did in 2000."" Even his old pals at The Nation joined in the party panic. Now, in The Good Fight, Nader swings back harder than ever at those who ""want to block the American people from having more voices and choices"" and have lost touch with the concept that votes must be earned, not inherited or entitled. He takes on corporate-occupied Washington and the government's daily abuse against ordinary citizens: ""Corporations are saying no to the necessities of the American people. They're saying no to health insurance for everyone, no to a living wage, no to tax reform, no to straightening out the defense budget, which is bloated and redundant, no to access to our courts."" And most of all, he urges a speedy return to stronger civic motivation. If fed-up citizens don't actively join the fight for improvement, then ultimately we have no one to blame but ourselves for the inadequate checks on the erosion of our civil liberties. In an era when politicians sell us rhetoric and then sell out our principles, Nader stands as a crucial voice of candor. The Good Fight is a call to awareness and action that will captivate readers of all political stripes and help us define what we must do to shape the brightest future for our nation.

Customer Reviews:

"The Good Fight" that I wish we weren't losing!.......2006-11-22

Many people have mixed emotions when it comes to the tenacious Ralph Nader, but truth be told, Ralph Nader proves time and time again what an amazing intellect he really is. After reading this book I'm thoroughly convinced that this man should be president of the United States, and that we should start considering third party alternatives. I've come to the conclusion that the Republicans and the Democrats don't have our best interest at heart and they can't be trusted with our well-being. With that said, most Americans feel the same way since many of us don't participate in these farcical elections.
If we had a real democracy we'd be exposed to many alternative viewpoints, and candidates such as Nader would have been permitted to participate in the presidential debates. Many Green Party candidates weren't allowed to debate in the 2006 elections. Michael Berg (who ran for congress in Delaware) wasn't allowed to debate; when he tried he was escorted off of the stage. Senator Hillary Clinton refused to debate Howie Hawkins in New York, and in Seattle Washington Aaron Dixon was arrested for trying to participate in the senatorial debate. For this reason alone this book is an important read. We as Americans need to ascertain that our constitutional rights are in jeopardy.
The "Good Fight" is a true magnum opus of bona fide leftwing opinion backed up with facts, facts that should scare the heck out of us.
Fact 1: HIV/AIDS infects forty million people worldwide and life-sustaining drugs are not available to a large majority of people because these drugs cost more than $10,000 a year in the U.S. and other first world countries. Nader said that the drugs are extremely expensive "because the brand-name companies have patent monopolies that prevent price-lowing competition. And our government (under the Clinton administration) was acquiescing with The World Trade Organization (WTO) over these patents. Countries such as India began manufacturing generic medicine, but the larger drug companies still hold the patents to the original medications and sell them for quadruple the price of what they are really worth. Meanwhile, "countries in the WTO will not be allowed to exercise their own safety standards. In addition, drug companies themselves lobby and threaten governments in developing countries. Often such countries suppress the generic cheaper competition that could save millions of dollars and help control HIV/AIDS," said Nader. When governments and corporations interfere with peoples' right to live, it's not only unethical, but it can be construed as murder. Think about it: Nader is not saying that pharmaceutical companies don't have a right to make a profit; they just shouldn't have the right to make it at the expense of peoples' lives when a pandemic such as AIDS threatens the entire world.
Fact 2: Both "political parties received $9.3 million from convicted criminals during the 2002 elections," according to the "Corporate Crime Reporter." Corporations such as Pfizer and Chevron were part of the scandal. Pfizer contributed $1.1 million to the Democrats and Republicans and Chevron gave $875,400 to both parties. So, what the American people really need to inquire is; do our votes or opinions really count when powerful companies can purchase politicians at a whim? When democracy is for sale to the highest bidder then it's an oligarchy.
Fact 3: "The foreign policy and intelligence agencies operate in secrecy and rarely have to explain themselves, even to each other. (The 9/11 Commission provides a welcome exception, but received a chilly reception from the Bush Administration)," said Nader. The truth is the 9/11 Commission report is a fraud but Nader did say that, "the U.S. Constitution requires publication of the governments budget, but when an American citizen challenged the secrecy of the CIA's budget in federal court, the case was dismissed." Nader didn't name the citizen in question but Article I of the Bill of Rights does guaranty "a redress of grievances."
Nader's book covers the issues of corporate fraud, Bush and Cheney's obliquity over 9/11, globalization, decimating of the world, plus environmental issues.
I don't agree with everything Nader has to say and you won't either, but that isn't the point. The point is he was a presidential candidate that should have been heard in 2004 and had the right to run on equal terms against Bush and Kerry. And we should be mighty angry that he wasn't given the opportunity to do so.
And as much as people would like to believe that if Nader didn't run for president, 9/11 would not have occurred. I'm afraid to inform those people that 9/11 was in the works all along. Just ask yourself how the USA Patriot Act became law so quickly and ponder on the fact that John Kerry wrote the money laundering provisions in the act. And according to Alex Jones, John Kerry and Bush are distant cousins. Think about it? Our last presidential election was bogus! We need to take our country back and the only way to accomplish it is by voting for alternative candidates.
Excellent Read!

Thousands Dead in Iraq -- Meet An Acomplice.......2006-04-21

Nader is nothing more than a sanctimonious accomplice fore everything that has happened over the past five years. The blood of nearly 2,500 American soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians is on his hands. This cannot be ignored when discussing this book. A book that will get absolutely no attention from the goons he actively helped put in the White House.

Four stars for the book, minus four for handing the White House to George W. Bush.......2006-03-23

What to make of Ralph Nader?

For the record, his main arguments - that on non-hot button issues, the two parties are so close together as to be inseparable, that corporations are subtly perverting every facet of our lives, and that civic apathy is the main problem our country faces politically - are absolutely on target.

I might not agree with some of his ideas on reforming government - a 100% tax on incomes over $100,000 is a ludicrous idea, for example - but I have no argument with his fervent wish to see it reformed.

Therefore, in an abstract sense, this is a useful book, even if you don't agree with Nader's ideas. But the problem with Nader is that his ideas and actions have not been abstract; indeed, they've caused our government to be taken over by ideologues who line their pockets, and say "liberal" ten times a sentence to excuse their actions. Worse yet, these ideologues have made the problems Nader mentions far more serious.

Any thoughtful discussion of Nader and his ideas has to take this into account.

There is an argument that in order to truly reform government, it has to crash and burn first. By running in 2000, Nader ensured just that. Whether that was his intent or not is unclear (I suspect it might have been), but the outcome was not in question. Putting Bush in the White House and the GOP in charge of Congress has been an unabashed disaster for this country, in ways obvious and subtle...and worse yet, in ways that we probably won't really understand for another 20 years.

One can't judge this book, and Nader, without giving thought to the consequences of his actions. That is why I give it one star...and if I could, I'd give it zero stars. There is a better way to improve our government than to have George W. Bush and the GOP take it over and destroy it, and whether this is what Nader intended or not, that's what happened.

That is why I give this book zero stars...not for Nader's ideas, but the unforgivable consequences of his actions.

A champion of the people !.......2005-05-27

Another marvelous book by a great author and a warrior of the truth !
Nader as always is brilliant, decent, and incorruptible.
Nader's high ethical standards and great ideas should be a guiding torch to our government.
Thanks to him, there is some accountability in Washington. His persistence to fight for the public stands strong in defiance of the black out by the media and the dirty smear campaigns by the politicians. If Nader was corrupt he would've been recruited by the elites and could've occupied the White House or other high positions in government and top corporations.
Nader is never for sale and will continue to stand for the little people as an icon of truth and integrity.
I would highly recommend his book for every citizen that has concerns for his country, and for every person that values ethics in business, government, and life in general....

Zero Stars.......2005-04-13

I just saw Al Gore give a truly remarkable and inspiring talk on the realities of Global Warming, and couldn't help thinking what a great, green (though not Green Party) President he would've been.

So, I re-read sections of this book to see if I could yet understand Nader's rationale for running in two super-tight (537-votes in 2000) presidential races, knowing he'd likely hand the election to GW Bush. And, once again, I can't see it.

How cool would it have been if Nader had joined Gore (or Kerry) in return for a top post at the EPA, Agriculture, or other consumer-related federal post? Then, he'd really be making progress.

As it stands, the world is going in the exact opposite direction of Nader's proclaimed platform, and his book doesn't make a strong argument for running. Not to mention, the rambling semi-coherent nature of this book makes it a tedious read.

This book is conceptually and stylistically flawed.

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