Average customer rating:
- Dull, Dull and Dreadful
- Much Ado about Nothing
- By no means a serious study of GayHollywood, but a good read
- Beef Jerky for the Brain
- Deeper analysis of being gay in Hollywood
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Open Secret: Gay Hollywood 1928-1998
David Ehrenstein
Manufacturer: William Morrow & Company
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0688153178 |
Amazon.com
If David Ehrenstein's Open Secret says that somebody is gay, you can safely assume that he or she is (which is why the chapter on Tom Cruise reveals nothing more than reasons why people believe--or want to believe--he might be gay). Interviews with contemporary "out" stars, writers, and studio execs are balanced against the reminiscences of those who spent Tinseltown's golden age in the closet. This reveals how open Hollywood's tolerance of its gay and lesbian members has become, but it also shows the lack of similar progress in how the press deals with potential celebrity queerness. There isn't much difference, for example, between the scandal sheet Confidential's 1955 exposé of Tab Hunter's bust at a "pajama party ... for the boys" and the 1997 "Kevin Spacey Has a Secret" cover story in the ostensibly more respectable Esquire.
Open Secret flits from a visit to the set of the Ian McKellen-Brendan Fraser film Father of Frankenstein (based on the novel by Christopher Bram) to an analysis of Ellen DeGeneres's protracted coming-out process, from an overview of the impact of AIDS on the entertainment industry to the story of how Gus Van Sant almost made a movie of Randy Shilts's The Mayor of Castro Street. But the intersection of queer sexuality and Hollywood admittedly covers a lot of territory, and Ehrenstein does an admirable job of providing an overview. One bit of advice: skip over the very brief prologue, which tries a bit too hard to convince readers of the book's seriousness, and allow the informative and entertaining stories here to speak for themselves. --Ron Hogan
Book Description
Hollywood isn't just a place or an industry -- it's a fantasy that unfolds in the minds of moviegoers the world over. And talking about "who's gay in Hollywood" has always been the most socially acceptable way of talking about homosexuality period.But times have changed for gays and lesbians inside Hollywood and in the culture at large. Ellen DeGeneres "came out" to a world quite different from the one that allowed Marlene Dietrich to "stay in." And while Rupert Everett may be called "the gay Cary Grant," the real Cary Grant would never have described himself as gay -- even though he was.So what has it meant to be gay in Hollywood, not just as a star but behind the scenes as well? How homosexual actors and actresses came to define straight America's sexual self-image is only one of the paradoxical and provocative questions explored in Open Secret, a revealing cultural chronicle of gay Hollywood. From the silent era to the age of the multiplex and beyond, homosexuality has been a fact of life in the film industry, and scores of important personalities -- stars, writers, directors, producers -- have enjoyed long and spectacular careers on both sides of the camera, despite mainstream America's professed bias against gays.
Part social history and part Tinseltown expose, this entertaining book spans seventy years, painting knowing and vivid portraits of many of Hollywood's foremost gays and lesbians, often in the words of eyewitnesses or the principals themselves. Veteran entertainment journalist David Ehrenstein traces the gradual transformation from an era when gays and lesbians had no public profile in "polite" society to the modern era when many top entertainment figures are not merely comfortable with their sexuality but actually celebrate it -- and are in turn celebrated for it. In the process, he presents a unique reflection of American society as a whole and its ever-changing attitudes and values.
Customer Reviews:
Dull, Dull and Dreadful.......2005-11-12
This book has no life to it---I mean the writing--it is redundant, heavy, lackluster. Reads like a boring college research textbook. The author repeats and repeats and is consumed and obsessed with Ellen Degeneres over and over again. It is not like a book, but an overblown article. There is nothing new in the book--it is a historical account of gay and lesbians in Hollywood and boring as can be. Sorry I bought it but am thankful I got a used copy and did not pay much. I could hardly wait to finish it to throw it out as I did not even want to keep it. Forget this dull and dreadful book!
Much Ado about Nothing.......2003-03-05
It seems odd that this book, with its good intentions, would just be so unsatisfying as a read. You almost get the feeling that the author is on the outside of Hollywood looking in. He seems to be obsessed with Ellen. The book has a certain bitterness to it that doesn't play well.
I couldn't in all honesty recommend purchasing this book. Though if you find it at a public library, might be worth flipping through- but not checking out.
By no means a serious study of GayHollywood, but a good read.......2000-03-25
...nonetheless. This book is not a distasteful one unlike a vast majority of books about gays in Hollywood. It is also quite entertaining and should be regarded only as such: an entertaining book on a summer's day... In this case it does not really matter, whether the material is credible or not. If you do not take what you read TOO SERIOUSLY, then you will enjoy this book. If you want some serious study about gay actors, then look some place else for it.
Beef Jerky for the Brain.......1999-07-13
As one reader comments, this book is "a must for any serious Hollywood History library." Yes--in the same sense that the complete works of Ed Wood belong in every comprehensive home video collection.
Deeper analysis of being gay in Hollywood.......1999-06-18
If you want gossip, get a tabloid. If you'd rather read a thoughtful analysis of "gay Hollywood" in a social/historical context, get this book. This is not a list of who's gay and who isn't; Ehrenstein has chosen to write about what happened (and happens) to gays who are part of the Hollywood machine. He demonstrates, through first-person interviews and anecdotal accounts, in what ways Hollywood--the studios, the executives, the media, the audience--is and is not accepting of homosexuals. Not everyone in his book is famous, or a big time movie star, but they all have something to say or show about the difference between the gay Hollywood of the Cary Grant and Rock Hudson era and the gay Hollywood of the Ellen Degeneres and Tom Cruise era.
Ehrenstein's skill is in keeping the history together, so that James Whale's story is appropriately connected to the "Gods and Monsters" story, but each stands on its own as well. He has also taken care in choosing what to cover in this book. It would be impossible to write the entire history of Gay Hollywood in one book; and Ehrenstein has selected only certain aspects of that history and examined them in depth rather than touch only the surface of too many things.
Product Description
The original Master Key System writings, available only through referrals from one person to another, were a closely guarded secret in Europe for decades. They were considered essentially secret wisdom teachings amongst primarily only the very wealthy. In 1912, Charles F. Haanel published this body of knowledge as a work which he presented as The Master Key System. This material was distributed as a weekly correspondence course in Twenty-Four parts, including a transmittal letter and questions and answers. In addition to the complete 24 part Master Key System Donald Gordon Carty has added sections like; Reflection (which will serve as time markers), Hourly Helps(which will instruct you on how to handle the things which wear soul, spirit, and body almost to the snapping point), a section entitled Interpreting the Word and an explanation of The 12 Universal Laws. This book contains the secret to all you need and want out of life; Health, Wealth, and Love.
Customer Reviews:
The Master Key System: Open the Secret to Health, Wealth and Love.......2007-08-03
This is an amazing book that teaches you the keys to connecting with your inner spirit, controlling what goes in and comes out of your subconscious, and ultimately opening the door to unlimited abundance
This system works!.......2007-06-08
I have read many books on secrets to success, etc. This book actually has a daily reading and meditation that does not take much time and it truly has helped me to stay more focused and relaxed in my life so that I can receive health, wealth and love. This book contains a storehouse of valuable information that is easy to understand and well explained. I highly recommend this book to anyone who truly desires to learn, grow and expand their life.
Are you ready to Open The Secret to Health, Wealth and Love.......2006-10-13
With this 328 page Workbook edition of "The Master Key System", you don't have to read hundreds of books... just one! Now, for the first time since Charles Haanel first introduced this enlightening home study course material, you can now study it the way it was originally intended and distributed.
In addition to the complete 24 part Master Key System you will have sections like; "Reflection" (which will serve as time markers), "Hourly Helps"(which will instruct you on how to handle the things which wear soul, spirit, and body almost to the snapping point), a section entitled "Interpreting the Word" (Glossary of certain terms) and an explanation of "The 12 Universal Laws" (as described today).
The secret to all you need to get what you want out of life; Health, Wealth, and Love, is already within you.
Now is time to open It!
Customer Reviews:
Fascinating Trinitarian Missiology.......2004-08-14
Issues of mission(s) and how the church is to be as a missional body have become more important than ever in the last century or so, given the massive changes that have taken place in the west. Newbigin is a profound voice, speaking cogently and helpfuly to the church, giving her lots of resources to recover a propely understood missional identity. This "introduction to the theology of mission" sketches the countours of what a missiology that is informed theologically by the biblical narrative and conversant with culture might look like.
The results are fascinating and engaging. One of the central emphases that Newbigin communicates is the idea of a "trinitarian model" for missions. Thus he speaks of mission in a way that takes not of the different and harmonious roles that the different persons of the Trinity play in the economy of salvation. He speak of mission as proclaiming the kingdom of the Father, sharing the life of the Son and bearing the Witness of the Spirit. He sees these three emphases more basically as mission being Faith, Love and Hope in action in the world.
Newbigin is also careful to situate a discussion of mission within the context of the kingdom of God, understood trinitarianly. Thus he speaks of mission as the proclamation of the kingdom of the Father, the presence of the kingdom through the work of the Son and the prevenience of the kingdom through the Spirit's work of leading the church into areas where he is sovereignly extending the kingdom.
In addition to his constructive work, Newbigin also masterully critiques the church growth missiology of Donald McGavaran, showing how it flattens and neuters central elements of the gospel. An example of this is McGavaran's belief that Indian Christians should remain in their caste systems and not attempt to break down those barriers in the church. I find this to be nothing short of idolatry as it not only capitulates to the principalities and powers, but also denies the unity that the church is called to in Christ. Newbigin is right to critique this popular movement and I hope that his critique recieves a wide reading.
There is much more in this book. Newbigin engages with liberation theology and focuses on how the church should be engaged in the casue of justice in the wider world. One of the things that I particularly appreciated about this discussion was the way that Newbigin situated his discussion of justice within an understanding of justice as defined by God, rather than false secular conceptions of justice (such as those embodied in, say the United States).
All in all, this book is an excellent introduction, both to theology of mission and to the thought of Newbigin. I highly recommend it.
The Open Secret: mission in a pluralist society.......2000-11-28
Is there still a place for mission in the late twentieth century? By what authority can we speak about God and the Christian message in our pluralist world? Newbigin brings his original and thoroughly biblical thoughts to these questions. He places missions in a Trinitarian context: Mission is the proclamation of the Kingdom of the Father, sharing in the life of Jesus, doing the work of the Spirit. He discusses the ideas of the school of Church Growth, of liberation theology and John Hicks (from "the myth of Christianity"), and develops his theology of mission in discussion with these voices. I have one reservation, and that is his discussion of election. Election, in Newbigin's view, is - and is being limited to - being called to witness. I cannot see how with this limitation he can avoid the danger of Pelagianism, which he rejects earlier on in the book. (This topic, however, is developed more extensively in "The Gospel in a Pluralist World"). Overall, though, an excellent read.
Book Description
The holistic paradigm, Gaia, deep ecology, new alchemy, all have a hidden ancestor: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832). At the young age of twenty-one, Rudolf Steiner was chosen to edit Goethe's scientific writings for a new collection of Goethe's complete works. Goethe's literary genius was already universally acknowledged; it was Steiner's task to understand and comment on Goethe's unique scientific achievement. Rudolf Steiner recognized the compelling power of Goethe's work with nature and developed Goethe's theory of knowledge in remarkable and far-reaching ways. Here, in fact, began Steiner's own training in epistemology and spiritual science.
Natural science had created a powerful tool for understanding the inorganic world, but failed to comprehend the phenomenon of life. Goethe discovered how thinking could be applied to organic nature, and he understood that this experience requires not just rational concepts but a whole new way of perceiving. This volume, Steiner's introduction to Goethe, is nothing less than a re-visioning of what it means to know the world.
In an age when science and technology have been linked to great catastrophes, many are seeking a different way to address nature. With a fundamental declaration of the interpenetration of our consciousness and the world, Rudolf Steiner shows in Nature's Open Secret how Goethe's approach points the way to a more compassionate, intimate involvement with nature.
Customer Reviews:
Get to know your neighborhood.......2007-02-20
Read with slow intent, Nature's Open Secret leads the reader into the world with the sincere reverence of a poet's gaze. What is openned up to the reader is the living ideas, the source of one's joy in the beauty, behind what the senses tell one of nature. One can begin to approach plants, animals and other phenomena of nature personally, with the entire self, rather than by the detatched way of a disective thinking.
Customer Reviews:
WAKE UP!.......2007-02-10
Tony Parsons was seemingly the most unlikely candidate for spontaneous awakening. He tells his story of awakening with great humility. Reading the ever modest Parsons actually takes you into the state of the Self--your actual 'true' identity. Once you awaken to the Self, that is when the mystery REALLY begins to unfold--and it is the ideal place to begin meditation. Although the 'knowing' that you are the Self is not the end of the road, reading Parsons will surely be a catalyst to awakening, and starting you on your final journey towards liberation: the destruction of duality, once and for all!!!!
The Kingdom of Heaven.......2007-01-10
As It Is: The Open Secret to an Awakened Life is a slim volume written in a modest voice that gently and insistently reminds us that the kingdom of heaven lies within each of us. Beneath all our dramas is an awake presence that is not affected by anything we do or anything that happens to us. We don't need to do anything. It just is. This is a wonderful little book.
AS It IS.......2006-03-23
A friend came to visit from the East Coast and the moment I saw this book in her hand I knew I needed to read it. So did my 17 year old son who is an old soul, his comment when I tried to get it back from him was, "don't loose my place."
I had every question answered by the time I was 1/2 way through the book--it penetrated to the deepest levels of my Being.
Thank you Tony.
Ann Christi
Oneness likes to play duality??.......2006-03-18
The book is well-written. Most parts of it I can agree with. But there is a crucial mistake in Parson's message --- oneness likes to play separation. I can say clearly that oneness does not play separation. Duality/ego is simply a mistake/illusion caused by mind-evolution. Saying that oneness plays separation is giving reality to this illusion. Also, his message that we can not do anything still gives one a feeling that one is under the "mercy" of something, and this is clearly very dualistic. Without ego, both doing and not doing are actions of oneness, to intentionally emphasizing not doing is a mistake. There are many illuminating sentenses in this book, but be aware of the neo-advaitan trap. In my life, it was understanding, especially of the process of ego-illusion-image helped me to come to oneness. The one who is doing the understanding is still oneness. There is no duality in doing and not doing. At right this moment, you can chose to continue to read this review or to stop. Of courses, you make choices in daily life. If you really understand what is meant by "nond-duality", you will not make such statements such as "there is no choice".
Direct without irrelevant concepts.......2006-02-25
Tony Parsons speaks directly and clearly. There is no need to rely on concepts. I have read many "Advaita" books and listened to many teachers but Tony Parsons stands out as the most lucid and direct of them all.
Average customer rating:
- Talk about the secret that hides itself!
- Excellent, articulate instruction with lots of photo references.
- Back Pain and Spinal Alignment
- ahhhhh
- Good book, good information, worth the price
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Ageless Spine, Lasting Health: The Open Secret to Pain-Free Living and Comfortable Aging
Kathleen Porter
Manufacturer: Synergy Books
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ASIN: 1933538406 |
Product Description
Ageless Spine, Lasting Health presents information about natural skeletal alignment that may be the most overlooked factor affecting long-term health, genuine fitness and aging. Included are simple guidelines for how to return our bones to an aligned relationship that provides for far greater ease of movement, fewer aches and pains and a process of aging that is more easefull.
Customer Reviews:
Talk about the secret that hides itself!.......2007-08-04
Kathleen Porter has written the seminal book about the most disregarded aspect of health/wellness/fitness of our times. Most of us, and by that I mean about 95% of human populations in technologically advanced countries (TACs), are simply unaware of this issue. Hence, her little pebble, thrown into a very big pond of ignorance . . . Its ripples are circling out, washing up against the amazing disregard with which we live in our bodies. Oh, many of us exercise like mad, driving ourselves to the edge of endurance, even participating in ancient modalities of spiritual physicality like Hatha Yoga (the physical expression of the broad study of the Mind which is yoga) or t'ai chi chuan (Why is t'ai chi chuan done slowly? So you can get a look at yourself.) in increasingly competitive fashions. Yet, we're missing the point entirely. And we're hurting ourselves in the process.
To what is Ms. Porter attesting? Simply that we are no longer natural in our bodies. She mentions that other animals move as their bodies' designs dictate: tigers move like tigers, giraffes, like giraffes, hawks, like hawks. Only humans move in our oddly disparate, sometimes personality-driven manners, each of us, whether striding or hobbling or waddling, moving in anomalous ways, counter to our body's basic design. You'd need to go to Bali or Myanmar or India or even Portugal to find adults who have remained naturally aligned in their bodies since childhood. Almost all of the rest of us went out of natural skeletal alignment in our fairly early youth. Ms. Porter's book helps you recognize what constitutes natural posture and offers concrete advice about how to rediscover it in your own body. This primer is a revelation. As more of us become aware of its "open secret", shared, the more likely that we will create increasing improvements in our physical wellbeing. It's such a remarkable study. Please do yourself, and everyone you love, a favor and read this one! There isn't an issue in our overstimulated, over-the-top, self-absorbed, ignorance-driven times that is of greater import to our physicality.
There are still individuals, to be found largely in parts of Asia, especially India and Southeast Asia, also in Africa and South America, and corners of the Middle East, who have remained naturally aligned in their bodies into adulthood (one good example, in the U.S., is Yao Ming, the NBA player from China). They, however, are not aware of that as a fact separate from their being. They just are aligned, that's all. A very intriguing possibility is, if enough modern humans become aware of this remarkable situation, that almost all of us (in TACs) have lost that innate naturalness of posture which we found as toddlers, that we are out of alignment but have the opportunity to learn to be self-correcting and can work at becoming aligned in our own bodies again, that perhaps we can evolve spiritually, mentally, emotionally, in ways that wouldn't have been possible if we hadn't gone out of skeletal alignment in the first place and on such a huge scale and had then, through the observation of a very few, Ms. Porter among them, been made aware of this. It may be a evolutionary step on the spiraling ladder of our psycho-physio-spiritual awakening.
Ageless Spine, Lasting Health: The Open Secret to Pain-Free Living and Comfortable Aging
Excellent, articulate instruction with lots of photo references........2007-07-12
This is a great book which broke me out of the muscle-bound-fitness mindset, which actually can cause more problems by creating tight joints, inflexibility, tension, disc damage, and poor posture. Kathleen Porter's writing and examples are very convincing. I recommend checking out Stuart McGill's (The leading PhD back specialist) books on low back disorders for a very scientific perspective on back health, which supports Ms. Porter's book. These two authors' books have made me much healthier and have saved me a lot of (damaging) exercise time.
Back Pain and Spinal Alignment.......2007-05-24
Kathleen Porter's book is must reading for anyone suffering from spinal disorders including disk degeneration, disk herniation, or back pain. The book presents a well reasoned, practical approach to an area of fundamental importance that probably does not receive enough attention in research and in treatment of spinal disorders. She provides an approach to reducing stress on the inter-vertebral disks and muscles through alignment of the bones by adopting a natural posture. While there is little scientific data to provide an evidence base for the importance of the approaches that she advocates, the anecdotal evidence and theoretical analysis that Ms. Porter provides with the use of photographs and schematic drawings makes for fascinating reading, and seems sensible and plausible. As a physician working on development of new non-operative treatments for spinal disorders such as disk herniation and low back pain, I would recommend the book to anyone interested in assessing different non-operative approaches to the achievement of improved spine health.
ahhhhh.......2007-05-21
Kathleen Porter has created a highly informative as well as beautiful book about an important health issue....one that has been overlooked and sorely neglected (pun intended). Her simple yet powerful discoveries, innovative techniques, clear writing, and aesthetically superb layout make her book exciting, fun, and easily approachable. Anyone with a whisper of body pain....and who doesn't?...or anyone with a pinch of curiosity about health and well being will greatly benefit from the knowledge collected in this book. Finally, someone has revealed a concept so simple, yet so powerful. It's about time.
Good book, good information, worth the price.......2007-05-01
Are you plagued by aches and pains on a regular basis? Have you come to accept them as a normal part of everyday life? If so then this book may interest you very much. If not then the book may still interest you before you have those problems. Author Kathleen Porter examines how the spine should be aligned for continuing health and to prevent problems. This natural alignment creates a natural balance and comfort that makes the muscles of the body relaxed and comfortable because the spine correctly supports the body instead of the muscles trying to hold it up. She does an excellent job of describing exactly how the body was meant to work and how to return it to normal. The basic premise of this book is that with regular practice and awareness you can return your body structure to how it was meant to work. Ageless Spine, Lasting Health is a recommended read.
Book Description
On a fall afternoon in 1983, in an upscale Dallas suburb, Rozanne Gailiunas was found stripped, bound to her bed, and shot through the skull. Her four-year-old son had been napping peacefully in the next room when she was killed. Rozanne's husband, Dr. Peter Gailiunas-and her lover, Larry Aylor-immediately fell under suspicion. Until a surprise informant identified the mastermind behind the murder as Aylor's own wife, Joy-a woman so driven by jealousy and greed that she put out a contract on both Rozanne and later her own husband. On the run and managing to elude investigators for eight years, the two-year search for the socialite would eventually end in the south of France. There, authorities found the elusive femme fatale, living as comfortably among the world's elite as she was among hired killers. At last, the authorities' questions would be answered to reveal a shocking insight into the heart of an unlikely killer, and a small-town Texas crime that made international headlines.AUTHORBIO: CARLTON STOWERS is the author of more than two dozen nonfiction books, including To The Last Breath and Careless Whispers, which both won the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for best true crime book of the year.
Customer Reviews:
Everything Is Big In Texas...........2007-08-11
...including your murder-for-hire defendant list!
Carlton Stowers does an excellent job of relaying the story of Joy Aylor, a Texas socialite sociopath, who has her husband's lover, Rozanne, murdered (and the REAL reason for the hit is only disclosed late in the story).
Though it takes almost a decade to solve the case of Rozanne Gailiunas' murder, readers are taken on a interesting trip with police detectives as the conspiracy ring keeps growing and growing; until it comes full circle with the capture of Joy Aylor in the south of France.
This is an absolute MUST read for any true crime fan. As an avid reader of this genre, I would rate this riveting story in my top 20 favorites!
Extremely detailed true crime .......2007-07-03
This is the second book I have read by Carlton Stowers and I must say, this author leaves nothing out. I don't think I have ever read a more detailed account of a true crime nor have I ever read one with such a huge cast of charecters! There are so many people involved in this case!
Joy Ayler is the hub of the wheel and is the one who the book is really all about. She is your typical sociopath, using and hurting people right and left with no remorse. It is very interesting to see how this book unfolds. For me, it really got going about half way through and then I found it hard to put down.
The writing style is excellent, although some people may become annoyed with all the details.
A MUST READ!!.......2006-06-03
I saw the movie before I read the book and the book of course tells so much more then the movie. Many things in the movie are put in there for glamor. This case is baffling with so many characters the list never stops growing. So many lives ruined from just one evil manipulating woman. I don't know what she did to lure these men in to her web or should I say bed first. Even when she looked her best she was not that attractive. Well looks like manipulation was a deadly art that came easy for this woman and so many people fell victim to her evil web.
Great read hard to put down
Full of twists & turns & unsavory characters.......2006-03-26
This is a fantastic book on a par with Tom Henderson's "Blood Justice". What a great writer! The relationship between Mike Wilson and Joy could be a book in itself. You will sympathize with the investigators, you'll get to know them and the families involved...I wish there was a book about the trial...the more you know, the more you want to know thanks to Carlton Stowers.
A fantastically detailed read.......2005-06-28
Carlton Stowers has always been one of my favorite true crime writers, and he really delivers with this book. This book and "Careless Whispers" by him are some of my favorite true crime books (and as you can tell by my other reviews I have quite a few favorites). Joy Aylor is a very sick woman who always had to have her way. I do not want to give out too many plot details, you really have to read this book.
Book Description
An essential work by the mysterious Wei Wu Wei.
Customer Reviews:
better choices than this.......2007-06-14
If you are drawn to cleverness, intellectual excessiveness, and a confounding ability to make the simple seem hopelessly complicated, then this book is for you!!!
Otherwise try "I Am That" or "The Science of Enlightenment", both of which will take you down the rabbit hole of non-duality/Advaita with grace, charm and simplicity.
I'm a bit disappointed.......2007-04-10
I bought this after hearing that Wei Wu Wei gave the clearest description of Non Duality. This book is way too complex to be any fun to read. I have loved Nathan Gill and Tony Parsons etc, but this one is an excercise
in little used language by folks that consider themselves "the intelligencia" of spiritual madness. Even after 30 years of spiritual study, I found it frustrating. After reading two chapters, it is on a shelf waiting to be donated to good will.
Got questions ? You will never ask them again........2006-04-22
Wei Wu Wei is one the true zen masters so I think, read his books and know for your self, as other reviewer wrote,truth is not for everyone, you have to be strong mentally to know it. All his books say it lucidly (pun intended). Just read the book, if you are searching for answers about god, about your self, this book will end your search.
Many books no matter are written on Advaita or Buddhism for that matter. Please go ahead and read them, then take this book and read it. You will see a difference, the difference is that,this author makes an effort in making you understand something so profound.
Some concepts are easy to understand, some aren't, this book is meant for those who are are looking for answers and who can think. If you are in the lookout for a bed time story book, better stay away from it else, you will be writing a review that this book is a disappointment.
If you are a beginner in eastern philosophy look else where.
HEAVY!.......2005-03-19
WOW! This slim volume is very heavy(!), did I say heavy? This work is phenomenal(!) but(whoa unto you)VERY abstract...trust me when I say this. It must be read very, very slowly and each paragraph must be contemplated upon for quite sometime. Wei is not for the faint-hearted and not a starting point for the beginner of non-dualistic thought. Please read elsewhere gentle reader, and when you are ready - really ready for truth spoken at the most inclusive and abstruse level then - and only then - prepare yourself for a feast which will de-cloak all that you have held near and dear about what you erroneously have concluded about "reality".
Blowing apart the concepts.......2004-10-11
This book deconstructs the subject-object relationship and puts into question the reality of either of these. It also focuses the reader back into the concept of his or her own individuality and what its true nature is.
Average customer rating:
- Whole Lives Packed into 30-50 Pages
- A Couple of Clever Letter Writing Stories
- If you want a story spoon fed to you, go see a movie!
- I've read this at least three times.
- Found treasure
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Open Secrets: Stories
Alice Munro
Manufacturer: Vintage
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0679755624
Release Date: 1995-11-07 |
Book Description
In these eight tales, Munro evokes the devastating power of old love suddenly recollected. She tells of vanished schoolgirls and indentured frontier brides and an eccentric recluse who, in the course of one surpassingly odd dinner party, inadvertently lands herself a wealthy suitor from exotic Australia. And Munro shows us how one woman's romantic tale of capture and escape in the high Balkans may end up inspiring another woman who is fleeing a husband and lover in present-day Canada.
"
Open Secrets is a book that dazzles with its faith in language and in life."--New York Times Book Review
Customer Reviews:
Whole Lives Packed into 30-50 Pages.......2006-07-03
The best story in this collection is "Carried Away," and it, like many of the others, jumps around in time, and from character to character, revealing slowly what exactly it might be about, and then about-facing and revealing that it is about something else entirely, and then about-facing again, then again, until, finally, on the last page, one realizes that the story itself has been modeled after the very complexity of any group of lives as they move among one another, never quite knowing one another's whole story, or their own.
I've never read another writer quite like Alice Munro, and I don't expect I will anytime soon. This book is so its own that it resists the capsule review entirely, and must be experienced on its own terms, story by story.
A Couple of Clever Letter Writing Stories.......2005-02-08
This book contains eight short stories written by Alice Munro, a gifted short story writer. I read them all and was sadly disappointed that they did not capture me as much as I'd hoped. My favorite stories were CARRIED AWAY and A WILDERNESS STATION. I really liked her clever usage of 'letter writing' as letters were intertwined into the stories. I also found some great lines in her stories, but it wasn't one of those "I can't put this book down" books. To use one of the phrases in her book she is 'a cut above the ordinary' and so I would recommend the book for those in the mood for short stories. You'll take away a little something from the story called OPEN SECRETS, too. I think amazon.com recommended this book for me. It's probably because I read 'Interpreter of Maladies'--a much better collection of nine short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri.
As Alice wrote in the short story, THE REAL LIFE: '...torn between pleasure and agony, hope and suspense. The things that could go wrong multiplied'. And that is how it was when I only found pleasure in three of her stories.
If you want a story spoon fed to you, go see a movie!.......2002-07-27
If you want to know exactly what's going on, if you want to get all the nuances the first time around, if you want to be fed a simple little story, go see a movie. Don't read this book.
If, however, you enjoy reading, if you like puzzling over plots and taking notes, if you like realistic characters with realistic problems, if you like words and sentences, if you like books...read "Open Secrets."
Munro is "great literature." I suspect that in a few hundred years, Hemingway stories will have withered away under scrutiny and our past century will belong to names like Tobias Wolff, Grace Paley, and Alice Munro. She really is that good. And I think it points to something problematic about the quality of primary education Americans receive that a college student would find Munro's stories too complicated for an undergraduate literature class.
And while I'm ranting...
What is it with disparaging a book - comparing it to a talk-show - because it's written by a woman, with women characters doing womanly things? If a book is about women, does that disqualify it from being great lit? Does there have to be a war complete with trenches before it wins accolades? I also shy away from the term, "women's literature." Why categorize it so? Some people create a new category of literature to put their women into, so that they don't have to defend them from the pinheads who mindlessly laud the "classics" tooth and nail. Forget it! Viriginia Woolf, Toni Morrison, and Alice Monro are great authors and compete against any male writer...
Anyway...
"Open Secrets" is an amazing book. Right off the top, she hits us with "Carried Away," where a small-town librarian falls in love with an unseen correspondent, only to have him die in a factory accident before she ever meets him. Of course, that's where the story really starts. Plagued by longing, the librarian marries another man. Years later, she runs into her deceased lover who introduces himself to her for the first time...or is it really him?
It's a complex story, peopled with multi-dimensional characters. Love is at the heart of the story, and "Carried Away" manages to both disparage and glorify the strength of that peculiar emotion.
I'd go on, but suffice to say, the stories in "Open Secrets" are engaging, complex, interesting, and great.
I've read this at least three times........2001-10-24
It astounds me that some people find Munro's prose boring; hypnotic is the word I'd use. These stories aren't talk shows or soap operas or "Oprah stories" with heartwarming messages at the end. What they're about, in my view, is the strange and slippery role that time and memory play in our lives, and in that sense they join the tradition of Proust and Wordsworth. Munro is fascinated by experiences of disorientation or dislocation in which one no longer knows quite who one is, and by our stubborn attempts to make those moments fit into the narratives of our lives. But she also knows that those are the experiences that allow us to change, to get somewhere: the moments when we risk all because we have nothing to lose. Her small towns are about as folksy and harmless as Twin Peaks, because gaps keep opening in the dull fabric of their inhabitants' existence. Read beneath the surface, don't be fooled by the prosy, matter-of-fact tone, and you'll find that these are some weird and compelling stories indeed.
Found treasure.......2000-03-04
I don't recognize Munro's work in the reviews (editorial and customer) I've read here. Are these stories about women? Are they heavy and soporific? Not in my view. For the most part, I see loving, humorous looks at a piece of geography and its inhabitants, stories which are beautifully written, tightly woven, relaxed, and full of delicious discoveries about people and places. Lots of short stories end with a bang and then they are... over. Not Munro's. Hers never glib, never lazy. They are daring, warming, readable and re-rereadable.
Amazon.com
At the age of 28, Richard Lischer, a smart, ambitious Lutheran pastor with a freshly minted Ph.D. in theology, was sent to his first parish, in the small town of New Cana, Illinois, where he would serve for almost three years. Open Secrets is Lischer's memoir of that time, and it opens with a sharply detailed evocation of New Cana as he first saw it:
It lacked the traditional accessories that make a town picturesque--no courthouse, town square, or ivy-covered cottages. The few white picket fences I saw were in disrepair and were obviously placed to keep the chickens in the yard ... Nothing was awakened in me when I saw the place for the first time. No Grovers Corners in Our Town or folksy Mayberry beckoned to me. My first look at the town reminded me that I was from a city and probably belonged in a city.
As this passage indicates, Open Secrets demystifies the often-idealized experience of small-town ministry. Lischer (now a professor at Duke University's divinity school) was often disappointed by his parish, and by his own resentment of his calling: the town never quite warmed to him, and he never quite cottoned to the town. But he did pay close attention to everything he experienced, and his anecdotes (what happens when, taking communion to a sick man, you forget to bring the Host to the hospital?) and observations (75 percent of his congregation had the same last name) are occasionally reminiscent of Garrison Keillor's stories of Lake Wobegone, or J.F. Powers's more astringent comedies of priestly life. --Michael Joseph Gross
Book Description
Open Secrets is Richard Lischer's story of his early career as a Lutheran minister. Fresh out of divinity school and full of enthusiasm, Lischer found himself assigned to a small conservative church in an economically depressed town in southern Illinois. This was far from what this overly enthusiastic and optimistic young man expected. The town was bleak, poor, and clearly not a step on his path to a brilliant career.
It's an awkward marriage at best, a young man with a Ph.D. in theology, full of ideas and ambitions, determined to improve his parish and bring them into the twenty-first century, and a community that is "as tightly sealed as a jar of home-canned pickles." In their own way, they welcome him and his family, even though they think he's "got bigger fish to fry." Thus begins Richard Lischer's first year as a pastor: bringing communion to the sick (but forgetting to bring the wafers); marrying two unlikely couples--a pregnant teenager and her boyfriend, and two people who can't stop fighting.
Often he doesn't understand his congregation, and sometimes they don't understand him; for instance, why does his wife hire a baby-sitter and instead of leaving, put on her bathing suit, grab a stack of novels, and hide from the kids? Or why can't Pastor Lischer see how important it is for a woman with little money to buy an elaborate coffin to bury her husband in?
There are also the moments of grace, when pastor and parishioner unite for a common goal: when he asks for prayers for his infant son, and can feel everyone in the congregation ministering to him; when old hurts are put aside to help a desperate young woman finish college and raise her baby; or when he helps save a woman from dying of a drug overdose.
In
Open Secrets Lischer tells not only his own story but also the story of New Cana and all of its inhabitants--lovable, deeply flawed, imperfect people that stick together. With his sharp eye and keen wit, Lischer perfectly captures the comedy of small town life with all of its feuds, rumors, scandals, and friendships. In the end he learns to appreciate not only the life New Cana has to offer, but also the people who have accepted him, at last, as part of themselves.
Customer Reviews:
Where Theology Meets Life.......2006-01-09
Looking at a church from the outside can leave an interesting first impression. Seeing a church up close (especially the microscopic upcloseness of those who have been leaders in ministry) can be downright ugly. Richard Lischer in his book, Open Secrets: A Spiritual Journey Through a Country Church, shows us the microscopic ugly side and then helps us see that ugliness from a totally different - I believe a more God-ward - perspective.
The book is the true story about his first pastorate in a small country church in Illinois. As he shares the three years he spent at this church, he discloses both the dirty glory of people that at times shine the love of Christ as well as the mixture of immature and inexperienced mistakes he made as a young senior pastor. Without glossing over reality, he tells a touching, subtly humorous story about how God works in marvelous ways through His body, the church.
Overall, I found this book a very enjoyable book - the kind that you can just sit in front of a fire and read from beginning to end. It reminds us (and this is a necessary reminder especially for those of us who enjoy theology) that when the theology is all hashed out and we know we're right, that it then needs to be applied to real life - unfortunately, the two don't always meet well and it is then that we must rely on God to give us direction - whether to capitulate the theology for the sake of a person's life or stand firm for the sake of a person's soul. The answer is not as black and white as one might think and this book makes that clear. Finally, from a ministry perspective, it captures the heart of anyone that has done any leadership in ministry. I highly recommend it.
For a more detailed review, go to the blog in my nickname and click on the Readings category.
Enjoyable.......2003-03-28
This book is good for a laid back look at a small country church in the "sticks". The reading is easy, entertaining and informative.
Although the author's religious background (Lutheran) is different from mine (Reformed, Christian Reformed Church), I never felt slighted (well, except for the one time he referred to us "Calvinists").
I was a little nervous about the lack of his references to God and God's leading. However, I gave the benefit of the doubt that it was the intent of the author to not throw "religion" in the face of the reader. That has pros and cons. I would have liked to have read more about his personal religious journey with God, not just with other people.
Overall, an enjoyable book, especially for someone like me who is usually more heavily into non-fiction.
Interesting book, but tends to be too opinionated.......2002-06-19
This was another one of those books that I really couldn't put down. I'm about to enter the seminary and a pastor loaned this book to me because it accurately reflected the life of a minister--especially a minister in a small town. It was fascinating to say the least. One aspect of this book which I found particularly interesing was the bredth of the problems that Rev. Lischer had to deal with: a teenager who is pregnant and fears telling her father because he'll beat her; a seventeen-year-old girl who's having an affair with a thirty-five-year-old man and doesn't understand why people are against it; advice to the man who is considering quitting his job at a factory to concentrate on farming full time; should contemporary songs be introduced to an extremely traditional congregation?; a young, frightened woman who is about to undergo emergency surgeory and her husband. I found myself asking myself what I would say in these situations as I may very well be facing them some day soon.
One piece of advice that Lischer points out once, but occurs more that he realizes is that reflecting the love and compassion that God has for you in your dealing with others tends to work. When Lischer treated people with respect and love, as God would have us treat others, things turned out pretty good for him; when he attempted to impose his own personal political feelings, things tended not to work out as well. Lischer does attempt to impose his own views quite often in the book--from the time he tried to have the American flag removed from the sanctuary of the church to his own biases concerning against "restrictive" tradition in the modern Lutheran church.
In sum, this has been an incredibly helpful book for me as I went about making my decision to enter the ministry. Although this book is well worth the read, I did have problems as an ordained minister tended to write against traditional religion and I was disappointed to find that Lischer wrote little about the domestic ups and downs of pastoral work (he briefly mentions a fight he and his wife had concerning the amount of time spent working versus the amount of time spend with his family). Recommended.
A Journey In the Wrong Direction.......2002-03-16
This is a well written chronicle of a young pastor's first call to a rural congregation in East Illinois.
First, the admirable points of this work. He is a good writer, able to express himself imaginatively and with a nice, tight style. Evidence in support of his current call to preaching professorship at Duke. This chronicle provides compassionate journey to loving the people and the realization that many seminarians have unrealistic expectations of themselves, their first call, and what it means to be an undershepherd of The Good Shepherd. I especially am fond and can relate to his sayings some small churches of the Lutheran fellowship, the chain saw massacre of his parsonage trees and the saying: "country people never pay a professional to do expertly what they can do recklessly for nothing." (I believe this applies to certain congregational leaders irrespective of confessional assoication or congregational size) The heart the Lord gives him for hurting, needy people is well documented and important component of a servant of the Lord.
However, now for the negative spiritual direction of Lisher which is severe to this reviewer. Having read his excellent work on MLK Jr.'s preaching, I was drawn to this work to sense Lisher's theology, since he doesn't really critique MLK Jr. in the way that any Lutheran would. He gives quick evidence in this work that he either never truly believed as a Lutheran, or that he became frustrated with the true, narrow way and fell away. One can understand this mainly because of his theological pedigree. He was at the sem when he became purposeively infiltrated by "pseudo-Lutherans" who had a game plan to take over the church and take it into the modern era. Cheap shots in my opinion are shot about the Sem walkout, when there is absolutely no proof that it concerned what Lischer argued with his cong. pres, "women's ordination." Further against all Lutheran theology is his blatant admission that he really didn't cling to faith in the gospel, but in some sociological community idea. What a shambles these frustrated Lutherans try and make of incarnational, sacramental theology. Luther clearly sides on doctrine over life, but not Lisher, who at this time in his ministry claimed to be Lutheran. It's a sham and a shame!
One must appreciate the delightful writing style and remicising with a new pastor, accompanying him on calls and counseling and interaction with layleaders and leaving for a new call. This was all the stuff for which this book is for this reviewer the reason why one should read and enjoy. However, the theology is fluff and chaff and won't bear a Scrtptural/Lutheran Confessional examination.
A Good Read but More About the Congregation than the Pastor.......2002-02-18
Richard Lischer's "Open Secrets" is a charming book detailing his three years as a pastor of a small Lutheran church in New Cana, Illinois. This was Lischer's first assignment as a pastor fresh from divinity school (he's now a teacher at Duke's Divinity School) and contains many candid, poignant looks at his experience.
Lischer writes eloquently and honestly about his experiences in divinity school (very little of the book is spent on those experiences, and this is unfortunate because what glimpses we do get are both humorous and insightful) and his time learning how to be an effective pastor at a small church in a rural midwest town. He's honest in his approach as he portrays his feelings of nervousness, disappointment in his assignment, and his occasionally blunt/occasionally amusing opinions of those who make up this congregation. He discusses baptisms, visits to hospitals, talks with confused church members, wooing new potential members, funerals, and the interesting interpersonal relationships that develop between a pastor's family and the congregation.
Overall this is an enjoyable, quick read, but I feel it could have been far more interesting if the author had spent some more time discussing his ministry (and his approach to it) and less time on the personal stories of those in the congregation. Nevertheless, a worthwhile read if not a typical glimpse into beginning life as a pastor in a small midwestern town. Recommended.
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