Book Description
“Thousands of people have written to tell me that I am wrong not to believe in God. The most hostile of these communications have come from Christians. This is ironic, as Christians generally imagine that no faith imparts the virtues of love and forgiveness more effectively than their own. The truth is that many who claim to be transformed by Christ’s love are deeply, even murderously, intolerant of criticism. While we may want to ascribe this to human nature, it is clear that such hatred draws considerable support from the Bible. How do I know this? The most disturbed of my correspondents always cite chapter and verse.”
So begins Letter to a Christian Nation…
www.samharris.org
Customer Reviews:
Showed up on my recommendations-looks stupid.......2007-09-21
I'm judging this book by its title. It looks stupid, by some author trying to make a buck stirring the pot.
Interesting and invigorating.......2007-09-20
This book follows on the phenomenal success of the author's previous book 'The End of Faith'. Apparently, Mr. Harris got a lot of flak from the believers for his book, which helped him write this one. From this perspective, one can also understand his agonised and angry response.
This is a short book, as the title indicates. It is also bound very nicely, and you can easily carry it around, all great attributes from a practical point of view. The print is well-spread out, and easy to read, with sufficient space in the margins to argue it out with the author.
And if you are a believer, you will certainly end up with lot of arguing. Mr. Harris' thesis is essentially that only what we can see or feel with our senses should be part of our belief system. This is a skeptic's view, and valid in its own, limited way. However, it also restrains you from going beyond your senses, and thus becomes a constraint. This 'tyranny of knowable reality' may also hold us down to the earth, limited to what we can see, feel, smell. It will definitely prevent us from thinking of or acknowledging the divine.
And this is perfectly fine. People have a right to their views, and of course, one must admit that they may eventually turn out to be right. However, Mr. Harris denies this right to the believers. He gradually builds up to a position that religion is all wrong, and it must be eradicated not only from public life, but also from people's minds, for being a 'ludicrous obscenity' (p.88)! On p.51 he suggests that people should be 'obliged' to present evidence of God! He finds religion to be a pathological symptom (a sickness, p. 80), and the believers full of intellectual arrogance (p. 74). Unfortunately, Mr. Harris himself comes across as arrogant in his argumentativeness. I suspect that if he had the power he would pass a law banning all religions (my reading of his statements on p. 54).
On page 50, we are told that we must reject Deuteronomy (in Holy Bible) as containing uncivilized ideas. True, the practical suggestions, such as stoning, contained in Deuteronomy may not be relevant today. But this should not be taken to mean that people who believed in these were uncivilized (p. 50). We can't transpose today's ideas of civilization across the ages, and use them to evaluate ancient civilizations, which operated in a different context. In fact, turning the argument on its head, does Mr. Harris believe that bombing millions of Japanese at Hiroshima and Nagasaki to death (a purely non-religious action) was civilized?
He is often factually incorrect. For instance, Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh holy book) is not the word of the Creator (p.59)), it is a compilation of matter composed by Sikh holy Gurus. He then tells us that Gandhi ji got his doctrine of non-violence from the Jains. This is a big misrepresentation: many people believe that Hinduism received the doctrine of non-violence from Jainism, but if that happened, it happened a very long time ago. Mahabharat, a book about the Great Indian war, composed at least 2800 years ago, is itself full of references to Ahimsa, non-violence, and offers extensive treatment of the topic. To imply that Gandhi ji did not know about non-violence and learned it from the Jains, is either ignorance or plain dishonesty, as non-violence (which really means refraining from casual or non-essential violence) has been an essential part of Hindu lore and thought for ages. If he did learn it from the Jains, he never practiced it in the way they are supposed to do: covering their mouth with a cloth while speaking, or ensuring that they never step on an insect.
Mr. Harris is also under the impression that if even a single little girl is murdered, then a benevolent God can not exist (p.52). This is really very simplistic - he is obviously (and fortunately!) not aware of God's Vishwa Roop as presented in Shrimad Bhagwad Geeta or in Hindu philosophy where God simultaneously creates as also destroys.
The book does offer a good chance to think on this issue, and therefore one wishes that Mr. Harris had followed a more balanced approach or had shown some more respect for his opponents. As it is, the book is unlikely to generate a discussion between the two sides - it will merely push them deeper into their corners.
Do buy the book - it is quite interesting and invigorating. However, don't buy its ideas till you have evaluated them carefully.
Too Short and Polemical to be Useful.......2007-09-19
In this short book, Harris takes some of the more general criticisms of religious faith found in his first book (The End of Faith) and applies them to so-called fundamentalist Christians.
Unfortunately, Harris never deals with any of the evidence for Christianity provided by the very type of people he is criticizing. Indeed, Harris shows himself to be quite ignorant of such evidence when he states, "Consider: every devout Muslim has the same reasons for being a Muslim that you have for being a Christian." (6) Really? That seems surprising, given the fact that Christians believe that Jesus Christ physically rose from the dead, and Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammed received a special revelation from God. How could both groups possibly have the same reasons for believing? In actual fact, whether Harris is aware of it or not, Christians have advanced arguments for Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead, and a large chunk of dedicated Christians are at least somewhat aware of a few of the arguments. Harris probably thinks these arguments are bad, but that is a separate issue. By failing to even acknowledge the arguments given for Christ's resurrection and equating our reasons for believing with that of Muslims, Harris reveals himself to be one of the most unsophisticated critics of Christianity writing today (a difficult challenge by any measure).
Harris's critique of the Bible also lacks sophistication; in most places, he is content merely to quote a Bible verse and stand back appalled at the moral implications. There is no attempt, of course, to analyze these verses with respect to the context or background of the society. For example, Harris complains about the practice of slavery found in the Bible, but fails to realize that slavery in this culture was actually a form of indentured servitude usually entered willingly.
On the point of politics and ethics, Harris blames Christians for opposing embryonic stem cell research and abortion, even though not all Christians oppose it, and many non-Christians do. Despite this, Harris reveals himself as an uncritical ethical thinker-
"Let us look at the details. A three-day-old human embryo is a collection of 150 cells called a blastocyst. There are, for the sake of comparison, more than 100,000 cells in the brain of a fly. The human embryos that are destroyed in stem-cell research do not have brains, or even neurons. Consequently, there is no reason to believe they can suffer their destruction in any way at all." (29)
For some reason, Harris seems to believe that size or number of cells is relevant to a human beings worth. This is clearly nonsensical, and his comparison to a fly brain adds no additional relevance. A careful moral thinker recognizes that the real issue at hand is whether or not the three-day-old embryo is a human being.
Additionally, Harris seems to believe that the fact that human embryos cannot suffer thier own destruction is relevant to their worth. But since when has it become permissible to kill someone because they can't experience suffering? By this logic, it would be more morally acceptable to kill someone instantly while they sleep. What is the relevant difference? Harris is simply morally confused- he has not identified the main issue (is the embryo a human being or not) and has instead constructed several bad arguments for allowing their destruction. Notice that I have not, in this review, explicitly given my position on the embryonic stem cell research debate. One can (and should) recognize Harris's simplistic and irrelevant moral thinking even if they agree with his overall position.
Not that any of this has any relevance whatsoever to the truth of Christianity. In fact, most of this book is so irrelevant to whether or not Christianity is true that, despite its brevity, its not worth the read. "Letter to a Christian Nation" may be useful for atheists who want a pep talk, but it is not useful for the intelligent Christian who is interested in scholarship rather than soundbites, and who wants to engage cultural issues with reasoned thinking rather than emotion.
Good book!.......2007-09-19
His book, "The End of Faith" is much more in depth. But this little book does a great job at asking questions that need to be asked in this day and age when superstition and irrationality control such a great portion of the world.
Read this book. You won't be dissapointed. I wasn't, and I drink Blatz.
Read "The End of Faith" Instead.......2007-09-15
A fairly useless little fillip of a book, meant to capitalize on the commercial success of the author's first, longer, and better book, THE END OF FAITH.
The whole idea of writing a defense of atheism as a "letter to" Christians is disingenuous...at best. Christians don't read books like this except possibly to refute them. Maybe a literary device like this worked in Jonathan Swift's time, but now it just seems trite. At fewer than 100 pages this reads more like a padded-out magazine article.
THE END OF FAITH is a very important book, one of the best books I've read in the past five years (I read 50-60 books a year, not a huge amount but more than the average American), and a much better book than this one in nearly every conceivable way. Don't be distracted by this ultimately cynical, ultimately useless little tract--read THE END OF FAITH instead.
Book Description
Brigitte Gabriel lost her childhood to militant Islam. In 1975 she was ten years old and living in Southern Lebanon when militant Muslims from throughout the Middle East poured into her country and declared jihad against the Lebanese Christians. Lebanon was the only Christian influenced country in the Middle East, and the Lebanese Civil War was the first front in what has become the worldwide jihad of fundamentalist Islam against non-Muslim peoples. For seven years, Brigitte and her parents lived in an underground bomb shelter. They had no running water or electricity and very little food; at times they were reduced to boiling grass to survive.
Because They Hate is a political wake-up call told through a very personal memoir frame. Brigitte warns that the US is threatened by fundamentalist Islamic theology in the same way Lebanon was— radical Islam will stop at nothing short of domination of all non-Muslim countries. Gabriel saw this mission start in Lebanon, and she refuses to stand silently by while it happens here. Gabriel sees in the West a lack of understanding and a blatant ignorance of the ways and thinking of the Middle East. She also points out mistakes the West has made in consistently underestimating the single-mindedness with which fundamentalist Islam has pursued its goals over the past thirty years.
Fiercely articulate and passionately committed, Gabriel tells her own story as well as outlines the history, social movements, and religious divisions that have led to this critical historical conflict.
Customer Reviews:
A wonderful book that shows how radicals work........2007-10-03
This book is a wonderful account by Brigitte Gabriel, of what happened to her beloved homeland. She shows the way she remembered Lebanon before it became a bed of turmoil and death. She allows the reader to not only understand how radical Muslims and groups like the PLO, Islamic Brotherhood and Hamas operate but why they do so. She explains the tactics used by Muslims groups to use the freedoms of a society to begin a take over. She shows how they used the political system and the horrific tactics used to cause distrust and dislike among the Christians in Lebanon and the Jewish people. This is a wonderful book and a wise word of warning about the deception and lies that some will tell in order to gain control. All to force Islamic laws, and their way of life on a once free people. I think everyone should read this woman's story of courage, and understand why she fears that one day the same thing could happen here in America. This is one book that will teach you, entertain you, and even show you how the Muslims work through lies and murder and even a nations own legal system to gain sole power and control. I wish every American would read this book, there is some very useful knowledge that can be gained from this book.
An important perspective.......2007-10-03
I knew nothing of the destruction of Lebanon before I read Ms. Gabriel's book, after years of seeing news reports that were so "balanced" that they glossed over the widespread Arab (and Palestinian, and perhaps Persian) desire for the eradication of Israel. Call me an ignoramus, but mainstream media was the cause, not the cure, of my ignorance.
The so very human scenes in the hospital I think point to the core of the issue with radical Islam: compassion and cultural evolution, versus centuries-old resentment and inferiority and hate.
An important book, if a bit strident for well-fed suburban Americans (a category in which I include myself). That said, a truly moving and informative read.
Real, clear and without fear analysis of the historical, current and future directions of the effect of the Islamic religion .......2007-09-29
It is a "Must to read" book for everyone (all religions). This books not only tells the story of a young Christian girl that survived Lebanon civil war, but also layout a real, clear and without fear analysis of the historical, current and future directions of the effect of the Islamic religion on the world.
Further more, Brigitte Gabriel (the author) lists preventive and recovery actions that we, the western world can take and start doing to stand against this madness.
I personally share many of the ideas in the book and I see how some western courtiers in Europe, as France, already all into the Islamic spin and I hope that USA will take the right actions to stand against the Islamic evil and tactics and win this war.
Furthermore, it become clear to me that the current foundations of every democracy must be based on one religion (which can be separated from the state), but a democratic state must characterize itself by one religion by law.
It will prevent situations of takeover of France or England by the Muslims and set the expectations of new immigrants that do not share the major fate.
A Must Read!.......2007-09-26
A disturbing, but well documented, personal account of the danger facing Americans. It was well worth taking the time to read.
Every American should read this book.......2007-09-24
I had seen a video where Brigette Gabriel did a short interview. I could tell from the brief story she told, I needed to read this book. It only took me a few days to read this. I couldn't put the book down. It is so captivating and riveting. You feel as though you, too, spent those lonely days in a bomb shelter with Brigette. Her writing style is to be commended.
I now tell everyone I love and know that they, too, should read this book. This not just the story of Brigette Gabriel and her native Lebanon, this is a story foretelling what will happen to the United States of America if the people of this country don't wake up and pull the Political Correctness out of our bums. We are under attack by people who HATE us. To better understand where this HATE comes from, you must read this book. You will get a grasp on how deeply rooted this HATE is and you will have a deeper understanding of the danger we are all in, if we don't stop them. I thank Brigette Gabriel for giving me insight into this world of terror we are now living in. I have taken that knowledge and will now use it to spread the word of how Islmofasicism will destroy our country if we don't do something NOW!
Book Description
This beautiful four-color book opens the eyes of women to see themselves the way God sees them. Many don't even know that they are daughters of the King - chosen to be His Princess. Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, they trade in their fairy-tale dreams of being cherished for a tarnished identity fashioned by their own insecurities and the mixed-up messages of the media. Now, these tenderly adoring letters written from God's persepective demonstrate that every woman is beautiful just the way she is. Walking in confidence toward her God-given purpose, every woman can bless others - even future generations.
Customer Reviews:
Something everyone needs!.......2007-01-25
I enjoyed the passages from this book in my bible study class and I am so pleased now to own my own copy for enjoyment everyday. Very Beautifully written.
His Princess.......2007-01-12
This book is so touching. A friend gave me a copy and I loved it so much I ordered 7 more to give as Christmas gifts. I've read one or two letters every night before going to sleep. These letters are written as if God is writing to each woman personally, father to daughter. Each letter is based on a Bible verse that is included. The letters are so loving and personal. I will read this book over and over.
Pass it on!!.......2006-10-21
Within these pages you will truly find words of love and encouragement from your God and King. God sees us with such loving and forgiving eyes and He desires for us to see ourselves through His eyes. May each Princess find herself through this wonderful little book.
My good friend and mentor gave this book to me and it has been a great encouragement. I have since given this book as a gift to friends. It is a book you will not want to keep to yourself - Pass it on!
Awesome...definitely a blessing.......2006-07-17
This book has been a huge encouragement to me in times of trials. I would definitely recommend it. It would also be a great gift.
I Shared This Book before reading it.......2006-05-22
I read a few of the letters and then shared it with my aunt, who loved it. I so recommend this to every woman - I have hundreds and hundreds of books, and I think this is one I will buy for all my friends. There is only one "drawback" - it is so beautiful, so lovely that I don't want to underline or highlight the book. This makes a gorgeous gift!
Average customer rating:
- We need this today, more than ever before.
- like being one of his students at Cambridge
- Three kinds of love and how to sanctify them with a Fourth
- Listen to Lewis
- "For news of the fully waking world you must go to my betters": But Lewis is a Great Place to Start
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The Four Loves
C.S. Lewis
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ASIN: 0156329301 |
Amazon.com
The Four Loves summarizes four kinds of human love--affection, friendship, erotic love, and the love of God. Masterful without being magisterial, this book's wise, gentle, candid reflections on the virtues and dangers of love draw on sources from Jane Austen to St. Augustine. The chapter on charity (love of God) may be the best thing Lewis ever wrote about Christianity. Consider his reflection on Augustine's teaching that one must love only God, because only God is eternal, and all earthly love will someday pass away:
Who could conceivably begin to love God on such a prudential ground--because the security (so to speak) is better? Who could even include it among the grounds for loving? Would you choose a wife or a Friend--if it comes to that, would you choose a dog--in this spirit? One must be outside the world of love, of all loves, before one thus calculates.
His description of Christianity here is no less forceful and opinionated than in Mere Christianity or The Problem of Pain, but it is far less anxious about its reader's response--and therefore more persuasive than any of his apologetics. When he begins to describe the nature of faith, Lewis writes: "Take it as one man's reverie, almost one man's myth. If anything in it is useful to you, use it; if anything is not, never give it a second thought." --Michael Joseph Gross
Book Description
A candid, wise, and warmly personal book in which Lewis explores the possibilities and problems of the four basic kinds of human love- affection, friendship, erotic love, and the love of God. “Immensely worthwhile for its simplicity...a rare and memorable book” (Sydney J. Harris).
Customer Reviews:
We need this today, more than ever before........2007-08-23
Supposedly this is the only existing audio of the voice of C.S. Lewis. Originally, I was hoping to find audio of his famous radio talks which later became his book "Mere Christianity". Even though this wasn't exactly what I was looking for, it is phenomenal to hear the voice of C.S. Lewis. The Four Loves should be recommended reading/listening for every engaged couple. For those of us who have been married for some time, his book sheds beautiful light on what our relationships should look like.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
like being one of his students at Cambridge.......2007-07-22
One of the things I like most about college are the lectures of a really erudite professor. It's such a joy to hear someone with a dazzling array of experiences and insights speak on his subject of expertise. These 4 talks are the closest most of us will ever come to sitting in a Cambridge classroom and hearing the one and only C.S. Lewis talk and talk about a subject of intense and intimate interest to just about all of us: love. While perhaps of lesser aesthetic quality than Plato's "Symposium", it is, nonetheless, far more insightful and USEFUL (That's not to say Plato is not useful; far from it! It is precisely BECAUSE Plato is so eminently insightful and useful that I consider this to be just about the highest compliment one could pay Lewis's work, and a compliment which is richly deserved!). Lewis's unparalleled understanding of human nature; his ability to illustrate the true significance of often overlooked, seemingly trivial things; his use of disparate and always apt illustrations from literature, history, psychology, life, philosophy, and religion; the way in which the highest and the lowest are always placed in right relation in his account of things; all these hallmarks of Lewis's genius are on full display in these lectures on the four types of love: domestic affection, friendship, erotic love, and Christian charity.
In fact, Lewis's understanding that these various types of love differ not only in degree but in kind enable him to avoid many of the apparent problems of Plato's account. I would recommend that Lewis's "Four Loves" and Plato's "Symposium" be read back-to-back and then criticized in light of each other, and then reread back-to-back again. Listening to them both (there is an excellent line of dramatic readings of Plato's works by Naxos audio-books) is very helpful, for one gets something different from hearing a lecture than from just reading notes (even if they are an exact transcript of the lecture). Also, Lewis's talks differ slightly in content from the book, and the differences, while slight, are somewhat instructive.
One can truly listen with rapt interest and amazement to these talks over, and over, and over, and over, and...
Three kinds of love and how to sanctify them with a Fourth.......2007-06-24
In the introduction, Lewis discusses the differences between Gift-love and Need-love. He explains that although our Need-loves may be demanding and greedy, they are good and necessary because there is little danger that they can be made into gods. They are not near enough to God, by likeness, to be twisted like that. The highest does not exist without the lowest and a plant has roots below as well as sunlight above.
Chapter 2: Likings And Loves For The Sub-Human, is a discussion of Pleasures of Need versus Pleasures of Appreciation. The types of love explored here include patriotism and love of nature. The next chapter: Affection, deals with the humblest love as Lewis calls it. He refers to literary works like The Wind In The Willows, Tristram Shandy, Emma and others to demonstrate the good and the bad manifestations of this kind of love.
Friendship is explored in Chapter 4, again with reference to literature, including inter alia Ralph Waldo Emerson. This section includes an interesting discussion of the word "spiritual" - which is nowadays often used as substitute for "religious". Lewis reminds us that there is spiritual evil as well as spiritual good. The next chapter deals with Eros and he points out its aspects of glory and its playfullness, with reference to books like Anna Karenina and 1984, and certain passages from scripture.
The final chapter is titled Charity and includes an interesting view of a passage from the Confessions by St Augustine. Lewis notes that the Gift-loves are natural images of God whilst the Need-loves are correlatives (not opposites) of the love that God is. When God is admitted to the human heart, He transforms our Gift-love and our Need-love. Conversion is necessary for our natural loves to enter the heavenly life.
The main lesson of the book is the importance of Charity. Without it, all three of the aforementioned types of love may become distorted and even dangerous. Although this little book provides great insight, I have not found it to be as accessible as his masterpiece Mere Christianity or his comforting book titled The Problem of Pain.
Sometimes his arguments are hard to follow and his views and examples of certain types of love are coloured by the English culture of the period in which he lived, thus not always universally applicable. The book would also have been a better reference source if an index had been provided. Besides these minor comlaints, The Four Loves is still a great read that provides valuable insight into the human condition.
Listen to Lewis.......2007-06-06
If you have only read "The Four Loves," you haven't heard all that Lewis had to say on the subject. The audio version, read by Lewis himself is shorter than the print version of this book, but it includes material not in print. It takes a few minutes to get used to Lewis' voice, but soon you feel that you are sitting in a room with him as he tells stories and talks about what he has learned from his experiences of the four loves.
"For news of the fully waking world you must go to my betters": But Lewis is a Great Place to Start.......2007-05-29
C.S. Lewis's short _The Four Loves_, published near the end of the author's life in 1960, is worthy companion for a long afternoon or evening of reading and meditation. Lewis discusses in both an enlightening and light tone the four forms of love in ascending order: affection, friendship, eros, and charity. As a preliminary to this discussion, Lewis also describes likings and loves for "sub-human" (that is, loving a cup of tea or loving nature). The work is a philosophy of love that draws upon Lewis's own day-to-day observations, the writings of well-known and lesser known philosophers, and the works of artists. All of these types of love lead to an insight that these natural loves--that is, the loves that make up our daily lives--intimate a much large love, that of God for humankind. For Lewis, these natural loves are themselves not enough. Lewis describes a form of Christian love based on Jesus's own sacrifice and the unknowable mystery of God's love. This is the majesty of charity.
One basic principle of Lewis's work is the distinction between Need-love and Gift-love. The Need-love has to do, for Lewis, with "a craving to be loved," which is akin to a child's longing for the love of his parents'. Instead of disparaging this type of love as wholely selfish, Lewis describes how this type of love, while limited, is "the accurate reflection in consciousness of our actual nature." Lewis writes that "we need others physically, emotionally, intellectually; we need them if we are to know anything, even ourselves." Lewis acknowledges the human condition sympathetically. Gift-love, by contrast, has its ultimate expression in Christ's death on the cross. This is an active, selfless love. Lewis characterizes Gift-love in its ordinary expression as "that love which moves a man to work and plan and save for the future well-being of his family which he will die without sharing or seeing."
Lewis's book is filled with wise observations. The chapters on affection and friendship, which are the least religious in nature, are superb. The comments about divine love are engaging, as well. For example, in describing human beings' craving for God's help, he writes, "Man approaches God most nearly when he is in one sense least like God." Here, Lewis points out that often humans turn to God or spirituality in type of deepest despair or wretchedness. Later, he quotes a line of verse, "The Devil was sick, the Devil a monk would be" to highlight how in need people will search for god, not out of sincerity per se, but in a desperate longing to be saved. In chapter one, Lewis draws an analogy between a traveler's journey being not always straight in path and the journey toward God. For example, a traveler who is near to a village in physical proximity, say staring down on the rooftops from a mountain crag that he can almost touch with his hands, may need to follow a path that takes him much further from town before bringing him closer to it (for instance, as the path winds slowly down the hill).
Most of Lewis's observations about love speak to all religious traditions as does, arguably, the recognition that human love longs for more than its natural forms. The final chapter "Charity" is the most explicitly Christian in worldview, and it is the most difficult to grasp. Lewis admits the possible imperfection of his own knowledge and that what he writes about are imagined experiences rather than real ones. He reflects, "Those like myself whose imagination far exceeds their obedience are subject to a just penalty; we easily imagine conditions far higher than any we have actually reached."
Lewis's _Four Loves_ brims with human insights about love. This is a short work, written in the style of a kind, wise friend sharing his thoughts on a walk or over an evening.
Book Description
The beauty of the Arabic language, both spoken and written--and the richness of the Arabic-speaking world, its history and culture--has recently become of increasing importance and a matter of revelation for the English-speaking world. It is essential as this new century unfolds, that understanding develops between nations--and language is the magic key.
The Al-Kitaab Arabic language program is among the English-speaking world's most widely used Arabic language learning texts. Alif Baa with DVDs: Introduction to Arabic Letters and Sounds is the first part of the Al-Kitaab program. This revised, second edition contains updated readings, new and revised exercises, and completely new audio/video materials on two DVDs bound into each volume.
In teaching the sounds and letters of Arabic, Alif Baa provides a variety of exercises aimed at developing the crucial nascent skills of reading, listening, writing, speaking, and cultural understanding. In conjunction with learning how to read and write the alphabet, Alif Baa introduces about 150 basic vocabulary words, including conventional forms of politeness and social greetings.
Standard Arabic vocabulary is distributed throughout the book, enhanced by the visual and audio materials on the DVDs and implemented in practical exercises. It introduces a range of Arabic from colloquial to standard in authentic contexts, including social greetings in dialogues that take place in an Egyptian context, the most widely-used and understood Arabic dialect.
Finally, Alif Baa includes capsules on Arab culture as well as an English-Arabic glossary. Alif Baa provides the essential first twenty contact hours of instruction that are the foundation for the rest of the Al-Kitaab language program.
Customer Reviews:
excellent.......2007-09-26
I love the book, and the DVDs are incredibly helpful. An excellent buy for anyone who wants to learn Arabic.
~*~*Totally Awesome!!*~*~.......2007-09-24
The book I purchased was brand new so of course it was in perfect condition. The book also contained DVDs as part of the lesson. I would recommend this to anyone wanting to learn Arabic because it provides you with listening material for you to practice with and perfect your pronunciation.
Great starting point for students of Arabic.......2007-09-17
Alif Baa text and DVDs provide excellent written, visual and audio descriptions of all the letters, many of which are indistinguishable to the native English speaker. Limited vocabulary and dialogues are included to keep the focus on learning the letters as spoken and as written.
Excellent Introduction to the Alphabet. .......2007-09-13
To is by far the best package for learning the arabic script/alphabet. If you can only afford one thing, I would definitely buy this. You may find other books more helpful but the addition of the DVD makes this indispensable.
There are a few reasons why this book is superior to other Arabic books that attempt to teach the script. However there is one that stands out in my mind.
The teaching of arabic letters as unique sounds apart from the English alphabet and the exact position of the tongue in the mouth, throat constriction, level of aspiration, and great tips for practicing foreign sounds and exercises.
When speaking a language, I pride myself on the accurate pronunciation of it. Once past the conversation level, pronunciation of the language is my priority and I believe that Alif Baa does an excellent, superb job of this. Especially clearing up the tricky difference between Thaa and Dhaa. I knew of the difference, but could not separate it in speech. Now I do it with much greater accuracy.
I recommend this book whole heartedly.
Addendum: I was reading the reviews and someone said it assumed that you had a teacher. This is true and not true at the same time. MAKE SURE YOU BUY THE ANSWER KEY, WHICH IS ONLY $5 EVEN BEFORE YOU BUY THIS BOOK. When you buy this answer key, this becomes the best way to teaching yourself Arabic script.
Did it for me! ... From "romanization" to actual Arabic!.......2007-07-30
This work provided the structure in a comfortable format for me to make the difficult transition from Arabic, phonetically approximated in English letters, to sounding and writing actual Arabic. There are more concise statements of the rules, but this is an actual "work-book" with space to fill in exercises as you progress. Brustad sets a good pace - ten lessons each taking about 2 hours apiece to complete. Sprinkled throughout are elements of Arabic culture ~ and as a bonus you will learn 100+ real words in Arabic as you master the letters and sounds. The DVD's are helpful as you watch the physical act of forming the letters in script and training your speech muscles to make the 9 or 10 sounds Arabic uses that English does not. I did lessons 1-5 without the Answer Key: and there were just enough times I wondered "Have I got that right?" that I ordered it. If you do not have a teacher (I do not) I would suggest buying the Answer Key up front. Remember when you first discovered you could "read English"? I had the same experience - in Arabic - after finishing Alif Baa!
Book Description
Filled with headline-making revelations, this explosive account by two award-winning investigative reporters tracks the behind-the-scenes story of the forged intelligence document that the Bush administration used to push the nation into war with Iraq
Like Barbara Tuchman’s 1958 classic, The Zimmerman Telegram, about the decoded German wire that drew the United States into World War I, or the recent bestseller Cobra II, The Italian Letter traces the road to war by following the scandal surrounding the Italian Letter, a fraudulent intelligence document that cooked up proof that the African country of Niger was prepared to supply Saddam Hussein with uranium for nuclear weapons.
What is the real story that led to President Bush’s 16 famous words in his 2003 State of the Union address, "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."? In the first book to uncover the details of the scandal that has already led to the indictment of one administration official—a scandal bigger than the Iran-Contra affair—the authors have drawn on their unique access to a large group of CIA, FBI, and international sources as well as whistle-blowers.
As frustration over the increasing deaths in Iraq continues to mount, this timely, page-turning narrative provides fresh insights for a nation hungry for greater understanding of the Iraq War and the manipulated intelligence document that altered the course of contemporary history.
Customer Reviews:
In the lives of the American people it was the end of Innocence.......2007-08-31
1. The Italian letter indirectly supplied by Laura Montini to Rocco Martino and introduced to Elisabetta Burba was not concretely proven. Montini, an employee at Nigerian embassy, in Rome produced the excerpt from the Italian letter: "The government of the republic of Niger and The Govrnment of Iraq by their respective official delegated representatives. Said provision equaling 500 tons of pure uranium per year will be delivered in 2 phases."
2. Michael Ledeen, fellow of the American Enterprise Institute was thought to have had a hand in the Italian letter development from forgery to intelligence because his ties with Italian intelligence services. Ledeen alleged Iranian intelligence agents, and noted Iranian Intelligence fabricator, Manucher Ghorbanifar. AEI fellows include Cheney, Shultz, Kirkpatrick, and Ledeen.
3. Burba was convinced that Niger did not have the capability of shipping yellowcake to Iraq, secretly or openly. Yellowcake was store in 880 barrel filled half way, to control weight and safety. Burba estimated to ship the barrels would have required a 100 truck convey and tractor trailers were rarely seen in West Africa. Each truck would have to travel hundreds of miles from the mining sites in Niger to Cotonou, a major port city in neighboring Benin, where the uranium would be loaded on ships. The risk to sell uranium to Iraq would have been disasterous to Niger, if discovered, because the country receives financial aid from the US and Europe. It wouldn't make sense to make the deal.
4. Burba left copies of the Italian letter with US intelligence and inspired the Bush 16 words scenario. The intelligence community was stunned by the statement not knowing where the statement came from or the source of the information. The policy office was out of the loop and was unaware of a rogue operation in the African country. The intelligence community case was the Iraq was rearming with chemical and biological weapons and when the State department discounted the Niger claim, the director of WINPAC said it was possible. The difference of opinion had more to do with politics than analysis of intelligence.
5. Wolfowitz as his from Christopher DeMuth, president of the American Enterprise Institute, to put together a small team of scholars to assess the dynamics inside the Middle East that had produced the Sep 11 hijackers. The twelve man team concluded that Saadam Hussein had to be removed from power to transform the region into a stable and less threaten part of the world. Neoconservatives were also attracted to the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs with the advisory board consisting of Kirkpatrick, Ledeen, Perle, and Woolsey and Feith as chairman.
6. Wolfowitz hope that Ahmad Chalabi would preside over Iraq after the US invasion. Chalabi received $30 million by the Defense Department in the run-up to the Iraq invasion, payment inpart for providing intelligence, most turned out to be worthless. Chalabi "attempted to influence United States policy on Iraq by providing false information through defectors directed at convincing the United States that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and had links to terrorist." In Oct 2002, the Defense Intelligence Agency cautioned that the Iraq National Congress was pentrated by Iranian hostile intelligence services and would use the relationship to promote its agenda. A similar warning came from the CIA. Chalabi introduced Mohammed Harith, to the Pentagon and the DIA found much of the WMD reporting questionable and his descriptions of alleged nuclear facilities demonstrably incorrect.
7. Under the approval of Rumsfeld, Feith and Wolfowitz create a supersecret team called Team B. Team B provided Cheney and Rumsfeld the evidence that Saadam had created an unholy alliance with Osama Bin Laden. The CIA never said such a thing and did not believe it was true. Team B told Cheney, "Mohammed Atta had met with an Iraqi intelligence officer several months before 9/11 attacks" and Cheney repeated it to the public. As a result 70 percent of Americans polled said Hussein had something to do with the toppling of the Twin Towers.
8. The Office of Special Plans for the new Iraq initiative was a secret matter. The Joint Chief of Staff was not in the loop. Chalabi was a frequent visitor to the NESA and Special Plans office and often broth along Iraqi defectors. DIA reported the information Chalabi and his defectors provided was virtually worthless. "Chalabi stock fell after the invasion, when new accounts dislosed that his intelligence chief was a long time senior officer in Iran's espionage service. US authorities, meanwhile, investigated Chalabi for allegedly passing secrets to Iran.
A Thorough Examination.......2007-07-03
At the core of the disaster of the Bush presidency lies a fabricated "intelligence" document used to justify pre-emptive military invasion.
You wouldn't know it by watching the mainstream press.
This book fills an important role, similar to the 9/11 commission report or the Iraq Study Group. It fills in many of the details necessary to understand how and why such a colossal and embarrassing "intelligence failure" could find it's way into the most important State of the Union address in decades.
It doesn't answer every question, but it answers enough to make it a very worthwhile read, and it does so with just the right touch of humor and lighter prose.
Faked out?.......2007-07-03
Blow by blow account of how to construct a lie and get it delivered to the public by a president. Very well written account of the infamous `sixteen words' in Bush's 2003 state of the union address. This is the way the Mafia would use our intelligence agencies.
It also includes a quick reference time line of events for those amount us who do not posses great faculties of memory.
Fairly thin on the purported topic.......2007-06-14
I have read most of the books on how and why the US went into Iraq and how badly we botched it up once we got there. I found this book interesting and there was some valuable new information, but I came away knowing little about the Italian letter I hadn't already read elsewhere. The central question of who wrote it and why went unanswered, beyond the belief that it originated within SISMI. It's an interesting book if you don't know the story, but unsatisfying if you do and desire to know more.
Whoa...........2007-06-06
This book really opens your eyes to what exactly this administration has done to push the war in Iraq. It is very indepth and very accurate. While I was reading this book, at times, I would forget that I am reading about something that is going on right at this moment because the crap they have pulled sounded like something in a movie. It's frightening that this is real. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know what the hell is going on.
Book Description
Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace reflects the wisdom and clear authorial voice of Williams best-selling book, Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace, while streamlining every chapter to create a very brief, yet powerfully direct guide to writing with style. The brevity and clarity of this book make it a quick and ideal read for freshman composition courses, as well as for writing courses across the disciplines. Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace covers the elemental principles of writing that will help students diagnose their prose quickly and revise it effectively. The ten lessons feature principles of effective prose written in William's hallmark conversational style, offering reason-based approaches, rather than hard and fast rules, for successful, effective writing.
Customer Reviews:
very clear.......2006-08-14
I am a non native speaker, and even though my grammar is not too bad, my writing style has always been a source of frustration. At work, when comparing the texts I would write with the one of good native writers, I could see that theirs were better, but could not find why.
I bought this book based on the high reviews it got on amazon, and I was not disappointed. After reading a few pages, I scanned the research proposal I was writing at the time, and could already make significant improvements on it. The advices that the author give are sometimes quite simple, especially at the beginning of the book (for example : the main character should be the subjects of the verbs, which themselves should correspond to the main action). But surprisingly, I realized that I was rarely applying these simple rules of clarity. The author is never dogmatic, and insists that the only thing that matters is that the reader easily understands what we're writing. All throughout the book, numerous examples illustrate the concepts just introduced so that it is quite easy to test whether one has really got the point.
a gem.......2006-07-21
I found an used copy of " The Basics of Clarity and Grace" at bookstore. After reading 3/4 of the book I ordered two more copies. One copy for my son who is a journalist major and the other for my eldest son who writes good comedy. I liked its size and its no nonesense approach.
Better than Strunk & White, better than Turabian.......2005-12-19
The longer version of Joseph Williams "Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace" has been justly praised for many years. But as a director of writing programs at NYU, Princeton, and Yale, I never felt right adopting that text: it was too expensive, and more than the average student needed. This "Basics" Style is the perfect solution. All the brilliance of the longer book at 1/3 the price, "Style" perfectly balances explanations of style rules with practical examples. The rules that Strunk and White encourage are good ones, and American prose would be leaner if their precepts were universal. The problem with that book is that the advice is not explained systematically. You can use their suggestions when you face similar cases, but only Williams' text breaks down topics like elegance, coherence, and cohesion in ways that will let you carry the ideas into every text you write. I would not recommend this book for the casual 10th grader; although it's clearly written, its ideas are somewhat advanced. But for professionals, college writers, and any teenager who takes writing seriously, "Style" is an indispensable tool, a book you'll use for the rest of your life. For learning to write good college papers, I also highly recommend his "Craft of Research."
How Style Ought to Be Taught.......2005-07-13
Teaching style is not an easy task. Just look at the number of books on the market that portend to do this task, and it becomes obvious that not all authors succeed in their efforts. Some manuals attempt to teach by rules, others by persuasion, and still others by example. This book takes all three approaches and illustrates that the art of stylistic writing is a matter of know-how. Unlike most books in the field, I find this one generally successful.
The book's method is heuristic. It begins with causes of bad writing, and progresses to clarity, cohesion, emphasis, coherence, concision, length, and elegance. Each principle is given a bad examples compared to a good one. Direct, subject-verb-object writing is extolled, and certain anathemas of other texts are approved under the right circumstances. While I disagree with one its principles: That it is acceptable to begin a sentence with "There" and "It," these are minor quibbles in an otherwise strongly argued case.
Strunk & White's "Elements of Style" now has a major competitor, and this book is it. Whether one writes in fiction or non-fiction, the principles and examples given throughout this book are to be commended. I know of one author, a philosopher, who took these principles to heart. What once was ambiguous and contorted writing is now lucid, clear, and vivid. If this book can make this kind of progress, I certainly recommend it to all writers.
While on the subject of good writing, I also recommend Corbett's "Classical Rhetoric" for those authors who want to write convincing arguments. One on style, the other on substance. While William's book on style will make prose more readable, Corbett's book will make it more intelligible.
Truly great, smaller but updated version of his bigger book.......2004-01-24
This smallish book summarizes and updates "Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace (7th Edition)." I rank both books at least a "5 out of 5" ranking. I bought the "Style: Ten Lessons" book first and after reading his previous book, I wanted more from this author. This new book is a fitting treat; it is destined to be a classic in the field of writing.
This smaller 150 page book presents many easy-to-apply principles and, for me, were easier to understand.
The principles that I liked most were:
+ How nominalizations can be very good or very bad, depending on their purpose, or lack of it.
+ How to re-arrange sentences putting the new and most important ideas on the end; thus sometimes flipping the sentence around and making good use of the passive tense.
+ The importance of aligning the characters of your story with the subjects of your sentences, and using active verbs to make "interesting subjects do interesting things."
+ Why and how to keep the distance between subject, verb and object short.
There are many, many other writing principles that you will find very useful. Although this book is written for someone with writing experience, a beginner will also find it MOST helpful.
I recommend any budding writer to buy both books. The bigger, older book has more discussion. But I found this smaller, newer book easier to read and understand. I'm now reading his Craft of Research book, and it looks like a winner too.
This is an author whose books you should collect. He has become a highly recommended expert in the field of writing. Look at the reviews of the bigger book to see what others are saying. I am so happy that I found his books.
John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX
Book Description
Most people associate Hill Harper with Hollywood, as he's appeared in dozens of films and television shows. But he is just as comfortable in a school auditorium, rousing groups of students with his unique style of real-life wisdom. Having addressed thousands of high-school and middle- school students over the years, Hill is ready to take his message to an even wider audience. Letters to a Young Brother is drawn from the humbling life lessons he learned on the road to his Ivy League education and beyond. Inspired by the countless letters and e-mails he has received from teens, Hill Harper set out to write a series of letters to young people that would catch the attention of even the most reluctant readers.
The result is a motivational but approachable book full of encouragement on a wide array of hot topics, particularly among young African-American and Hispanic men. From the challenges of getting a good education and making it through college to the media's destructive emphasis on material wealth, Letters to a Young Brother delivers eye-opening answers. Reminiscent of Marian Wright Edelman's New York Times bestseller, The Measure of Our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours, Hill Harper's words will resonate for years to come.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Book.......2007-09-25
I bought this book for my daughter who works within the juvenile justice system in Australia. I read it before sending to her and thought it was really great and think she will fine very helpful within her work
Manifest Your Destiny.......2007-08-24
This book was an excellent, helpful and thought provoking guide to not just males but also females. Each chapter provided insight into an individual's life; with guidance regarding how to address each situation.
Kudos to the author: Hill Harper.
Excellent.......2007-08-07
This is a must read for every young black male, and even female. I loved it! I brought for my 16 year old nephew and his close friends. I also brought a copy for myself to read along and ensure they were reading too.
Letters To A Young Brother.......2007-08-07
This book addresses areas of concern to not only young black males, but all adolescent boys. For example, relationships with mothers, performance in school, gang affiliation, drugs and so on. The fact that it is written by a successful black man, in fact a movie star who draws on his celebrity connections frequently, should pull young readers in. Unfortunately the writer, in my opinion, is unable to sustain interest in the novel because he really has no "novel" insights. It is in the end a sermon by someone who was never really in the trenches, (though sometimes he implies he had a lot in common with his targeted audience) but a child brought up in a privileged family. There are too many overused cliches that sound good, but are difficult to implement. For example, "You never know when a miracle will happen." "Do the thing that frightens you." "Your best self will continually evolve."
OK, just what does that mean to a kid with serious drug, school suspensions, bad home life, missing parents and other issues. Hill's heart is in the right place, and the title is cleverly modeled on Rielke's work, Letters To A Young Poet, but as a teacher looking for some gems with which to inspire my sometimes troubled, insecure, unmotivated, searching, disillusioned, unloved adolescent students, I mined in vain.
A wonderful tool for young men.......2007-07-20
Having seen Hill Harper on the Oprah Show, I was anxious to read the book because I have a ministry that sends books to two prisons. I ordered two copies, read one and then sent both to one of the prisons. The librarian said she gave them to two men to read and that they are going to use the books for seminars for young inmates. Harper's incites are thoughtful and hard hitting. He stresses responsibility, integrity and honor.
Average customer rating:
- Great Book
- Great Graduation Gift
- How to say it
- Great Reference Book
- The best so far
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How to Say It: Choice Words, Phrases, Sentences, and Paragraphs for Every Situation, Revised Edition
Rosalie Maggio
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Similar Items:
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How to Say It At Work: Putting Yourself Across with Power Words, Phrases, Body Language, and Communication Secrets
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1001 Letters for All Occasions: The Best Models for Every Business and Personal Need
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How to Write It: A Complete Guide to Everything You'll Ever Write
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The Thank You Book: Hundreds of Clever, Meaningful, and Purposeful Ways to Say Thank You
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The Art of Talking to Anyone: Essential People Skills for Success in Any Situation
ASIN: 0735202346
Release Date: 2001-08-28 |
Book Description
The best-selling How to Say It® is now better than ever. The second edition of this one-of-a-kind book has been updated with ten new chapters-that's fifty chapters in all-offering readers even more material for quickly and effortlessly constructing original, effective letters.
How to Say It® provides short lists of what to say, and sometimes more importantly, what not to say when writing business or personal letters. It begins with examples of why and when certain letters are appropriate, tips on writing the letter, and advice for special situations. It then offers sample words and phases for each type of correspondence, as well as examples of sentences and paragraphs that are best suited for the task. Finally, it provides full sample letters giving readers a sense of what to look for in the final product. Includes appendices offering tips on etiquette, formatting, and grammar.
Customer Reviews:
Great Book.......2007-09-19
This is a pretty good book. It focuses on writings though. If you would like to have a book that speaks on communication in general, then I would suggest "How to Use Power Phrases" by Meryl Runion or optimally both books. The examples in "Power Phrases" are verbal examples, but can be used in both situations. "How to say it" should be titled "How to put it in writing"
Great Graduation Gift.......2007-06-22
I believe the ability to write a thoughtful and effective letter is an important skill to have, and one that many younger people today are not developing due to all of our electronic communications. I got this for a graduation gift and it has truly helped me become better at writing good letters for my new "adult" life, from thank you letters to job correspondence and more.
How to say it.......2007-05-12
This is a must have for anyone who writes, talks, or otherwise communicates with other people. I use it all the time for writing letters.
Great Reference Book.......2007-02-02
I draw a blank sometimes on what to say and when to say it. That's why I bought to book - to fill in the blanks !! Love it ! More than I expected.
The best so far.......2006-07-14
A lot has been written already about this book, so I would like to concentrate on one major feature of this manual.
I have several books about letter writing and this is the one I most often use and whoever I showed this book to wanted to buy it. Books of this kind fall into two broad categories: 1. short explanations and a lot of sample letters. 2. long explanations and a reasonable amount of sample letters. This book, however, shows that something more can be done. I usually have the problem with the first category that some authors tend to empty their Document folders from the work computers into a book and write some clever remarks as an introduction to them. Rosalie Maggio's book introduces methodology into the editing process: she gives you useful advice and also warning what not to do, but after that the topics are built up from word level gradually through phrases, sentences, paragraphs until you get to the actual sample letters. This way, you get much more useful material than you could get only with sample letters.
Average customer rating:
- Sowell fan
- A way with words!
- A treasure from a treasure
- A delight to read.
- A wonderful companion to Sowell's "A Personal Odyssey"
|
A Man of Letters
Thomas Sowell
Manufacturer: Encounter Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1594031967 |
Book Description
A Man of Letters traces the life, career, and commentaries on controversial issues of Thomas Sowell over a period of more than four decades through his letters to and from family, friends, and public figures ranging from Milton Friedman to Clarence Thomas, David Riesman, Arthur Ashe, William Proxmire, Vernon Jordan, Charles Murray, Shelby Steele, and Condoleezza Rice. These letters begin with Sowell as a graduate student at the University of Chicago in 1960 and conclude with a reflective letter to his fellow economist and longtime friend Walter Williams in 2005.
Customer Reviews:
Sowell fan.......2007-07-18
I am a long time T Sowell fan. My rating would no doubt be prejudiced. This book shows him to be a regular guy. His letters are straight forward. No big words, everything easy to grasp
A way with words!.......2007-07-05
Thomas Sowell is a really great writer. This "auto-biography" told by his correspondence over the years was most enjoyable.
A treasure from a treasure.......2007-07-03
Dr. Sowell continues his personal revelations through a series of letters sent and received. Because of Dr. Sowell's clear thinking and uncompromising honesty plus his sense of the ridiculous, these letters are a joy to read. However, they also offer a view of the evolvement of parts of society (i.e. the academic life) seldom examined so closely. Read this book! It will lead you to his other works which you will want to read. My favorites are "Conflict of Visions" and "Black Rednecks and White Liberals". I encourage everyone to read this book. It will awaken young people to new views and reassure the over 50 crowd that what they suspected was true.
A delight to read........2007-05-27
His letters of the past 40 years gives us a glimpse to one of the greatest modern thinker's life. I have read Mr. Sowell's editorials many times and always find his commonsense to be refreshing. This book takes us through history as he recounts the current events of the time, from his unique perspective, with colleagues, students and policy-makers.
A wonderful companion to Sowell's "A Personal Odyssey".......2007-05-24
I have admired Thomas Sowell since I first read his writings more that twenty years ago. When clerks at the local Ann Arbor Borders (in the original store on State St.) chided me for buying a book of his I asked them why they disliked him. They (and there was more than one) said that he had benefited from Affirmative Action and now wanted to keep anyone else from doing so. Knowing how wrong this idea was, I pointed out to them that he was born in 1930 and that his achievements were made long before anyone had dreamt up those crippling policies. For this they had no reply.
If you haven't read Thomas Sowell's memoir "A Personal Odyssey" (ISBN 0684864657), I encourage you to get a copy and read about his extraordinary life. It will certainly surprise you. His background was not only unlikely for someone who became a highly regarded economist and commentator; it was unlikely that he would even go to college. He certainly had no straight path to success, either. What he had was an intense focus on where he wanted to go (even though that changed in unexpected ways over the years), a core understanding of who he was, and a commitment to reason and truth. Still, he did not have an easy personal or professional life. You will learn more about that interesting and inspiring life by reading the memoir and this wonderful book.
This book is a collection of letters he wrote and received throughout his life. They are so valuable because they are contemporary to the man Sowell was at the time. As we look back on our lives it is quite easy to fall into the trap of making the path of our life too straight a path to where we are today. When Sowell first got to college he was a Marxist, if you can believe it. It is quite fascinating to watch his grappling with ideas that lead him to the University of Chicago, George Stigler, Milton Friedman, and the other greats in the freshwater school.
He provides us with some background for the letters and in a few places refers the reader to more extended commentary in the memoir (another reason I recommend it to you). Sowell is also a writer of wit. I laughed out loud several times. He is also writes concisely. No rambling or side journeys for him. The letters get to the point and say what they meant to say quite directly and clearly. He covers the issues of the relevant decades, what was happening in his life, and even provides us with a few of his favorite articles and columns when that became a bigger part of his life.
His work in late talking children that grew out of his own son's development is also quite inspiring and shows the background of what became a much bigger movement than he ever expected or desired.
This book is inspiring, informative, and I believe it is quite valuable. Get it, read it, learn from it, and enjoy it (along with the memoir).
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