Books

Average customer rating:

Great read and reference guide when you lose your way...
Thoughts on Grace (Eventually)
Lamott Just Gets Better
Where's the Grace and the Faith?
I always love her books but............

Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith
Anne Lamott
Manufacturer: Riverhead Hardcover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Authors | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Religious | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Personal Transformation | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Health Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Fiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Religion & Spirituality Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith
Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith
Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

ASIN: 1594489424
Release Date: 2007-03-20

Amazon.com

Through Anne Lamott's many books (including six novels, her bestselling parenting memoir, Operating Instructions, and her popular guide to writing, Bird by Bird) the subject she keeps returning to is her faith, her deeply personal--"erratic," she says--journey in Christianity. Her latest book, Grace (Eventually), is her third collection of her "thoughts on faith," and she took the time to answer a few of our questions.

Questions for Anne Lamott

Amazon.com: This is your third book on faith. How has your perspective changed since you wrote your first one?

Lamott: I wrote my first book on faith when Bill Clinton was president, and I was in a much better mood. I wrote Plan B during the run-up to war in Iraq, and the ensuing catastrophe, so I was very angry, but trying to reconcile that pain and hostility to Jesus's insistence that we are made of love, to love, and be loved, to forgive and be forgiven. Some days went better than others. Also, my son Sam was in his early teens, and that was a LOT easier than when he turned 16 and 17, his ages when I was writing the pieces in Grace (Eventually).

In general, I think Grace (Eventually) is a less angry book. I like how I'm aging, except that my back hurts more often, my knees crack like twigs when I squat, and my memory fails more frequently, in more public and therefore humiliating ways. But I think I complain less. As my best friend said when she was dying, and I was obsessing about my butt, "You just don't have that kind of time."

Amazon.com: What does grace mean for you? How can we better communicate it to each other?

Lamott: Grace is that extra bit of help when you think you are really doomed; also, not coincidentally, when you have finally run out of good ideas on how to proceed, and on how better to control the people or circumstances that are frustrating or defeating you. I experience Grace as a cool ribbon of fresh air when I feel spiritually claustrophobic. Sometimes I experience it as water-wings, something holding me up when I am afraid that I'm going down, or the tide is carrying me away. I know that Grace meets us whereever we are, but does not leave us where it found us. Sometimes it is so small--a couple of seconds relief here, several extra inches there. I wish it were big and obvious, like sky-writing. Oh, well. Grace is not something I DO, or can chase down; but it is something I can receive, when I stop trying to be in charge.

We communicate grace to one another by holding space for people when they are hurt or terrified, instead of trying to fix them, or manage their emotions for them. We offer ourselves as silent companionship, or gentle listening when someone feels very alone. We get people glasses of water when they are thirsty.

Amazon.com: Many of the essays in Grace (Eventually) first appeared in Salon, the online magazine, and that's the way that many readers first found you. How do you see the Internet changing the way people read and write?

Lamott: The Internet makes everything so immediate and spontaneous, which I totally love--UNLESS it has to do with the immediacy of people's negative response to me. Several of the Salon pieces in Grace--for instance, the story about the horrible fight with my son, and the piece about turning the other cheek while being ripped off by The Carpet Guy--generated a couple hundred letters, many of them extremely hostile. Perhaps "spewy" would be a better description. I also sometimes get knee-jerk responses to my mentions of Jesus in my Salon pieces that seem to lump me in the same tradition as Jerry Falwell. But for the most part, I love the populism and egalitarian nature of the Internet: everyone counts the same.

Amazon.com: What stories do people tell you, when they've read your books or know you are a writer?

Lamott: People tell me how relieved they are that I try to tell the truth about how hard it can be to be a mother, or a daughter, or an American in these times. They tell me stories about how awful their own teenagers can be, or how awful they themselves behaved towards their kids or parents; how hard it was to finally be able to adore their mothers, or to forgive their fathers. They tell me their sobriety dates. They whisper to me that they are Christians, too.

Also, they ask if I am able to read their manuscripts, and the name of my agent, and my e-mail address. They ask if we are going to survive the current political difficulties--and I promise them we are. They ask how old my son is now--17 and a half--and how he is doing, which is fantastically, after some of the hard months I wrote about in Grace.

Amazon.com:What lessons do you think you can pass on to others: to your readers, to your son? What lessons does it seem like people have to learn for themselves?

Lamott: All I have to offer is my own truth, my own experience, strength and hope. I can pass on the tool of a God Box, and how for 20 years I have been putting tiny notes in mine and promising God I will keep my sticky fingers off the controls until I hear God's wisdom: sometimes I get an answer because the phone rings, or the mail comes, but at any rate, during every single terrible problem and tragedy, I have been given enough guidance and stamina and even humor to bear up, and be transformed, for the good. I always tell Sam that if you want to make God laugh, tell Her your plans. I tell Sam that if he listens to his best thinking, he will suffer: and to listen to his heart instead, to listen in the silence, and to seek wise counsel.

Amazon.com: You've written nearly a dozen books (including an incredibly popular guide to writing): does writing get any easier? Does it get harder?

Lamott: In a very important way, writing gets easier, because I've been doing it full time now for thirty-plus years, and just as you would get better and better if you practiced your scales on a piano, I've gotten better, and can try harder and harder pieces. But writing is always hard. It does not come naturally to me at all. I sit down at the same time every day, which lets my subconscious realize it's time to get to work. I give myself very short assignments, and let myself write really terrible first drafts. But I grapple with the exact same problems every writer does, which is having equal proportions of self-loathing and grandiosity. I sort of live by the Nike ads: Just Do It. So I sit down. I show up. I do it by pre-arrangement with myself, because I know I'll feel sad and terrible if I shirk on that days writing. I do it as a debt of honor, to myself, and to whatever it is that has given me this gift of being able to tell stories, and to make people laugh. Laughter is carbonated holiness. Other people's good writing is medicine for me, and I hope mine is too, for my readers.

Book Description

The sharp, funny, and heartfelt follow-up to her bestselling Plan B, Anne Lamott's newest collection is a personal exploration of the faith and grace all around us.

In Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith, Lamott examines the ways we're caught in life's most daunting predicaments: love, mothering, work, politics, and maybe toughest of all, evolving from who we are to who we were meant to be. This is a complicated process for most of us, and Lamott turns her wit and honesty inward to describe her own intimate, bumpy, and unconventional road to grace and faith.

"I wish grace and healing were more abracadabra kinds of things," she writes in one of her essays, "that delicate silver bells would ring to announce grace's arrival. But no, it's clog and slog and scootch, on the floor, in silence, in the dark."

Whether she's writing about her unsuccessful efforts to get her money back from an obstinate carpet salesman, grappling with the tectonic shifts in her relationship with her son as he matures, trying to maintain her faith and humor during politically challenging times, or helping a close friend die with dignity, Lamott seeks out both the divinity and the humanity in herself and everything around her. Throughout these essays, she writes of her struggle to find the essence of her faith, which she uncovers in the unlikeliest places. By turns insightful and hilarious, pointed and poignant, Grace (Eventually) is Anne Lamott at her perceptive and irreverent best.

Customer Reviews:

Great read and reference guide when you lose your way..........2007-06-30

I truly loved this book! I read with a pencil in hand underlining different passages that spoke to me. Also a great reference guide when you catch yourself moving off course. I have already gone back to this book several times.

Thoughts on Grace (Eventually).......2007-06-27

This is the third book by Anne Lamott that I've read. She confesses parts of her life that most of us want to keep secret. She does this with frankness and humility. And as always, she makes me laugh. We can travel with her on her spiritual quest and appreciate her insights.
An enjoyable read.

Lamott Just Gets Better.......2007-06-27

I have read everything Anne Lamott has written. Grace (Eventually) is a splendid group of mature, thoughtful essays on life and faith. She is accessible and often perplexing. Yet she is nearly always delightful. Lamott just gets better and better.

Where's the Grace and the Faith?.......2007-06-26

I really don't understand Anne Lamott's appeal. I'll grant that she is a talented writer but clearly this, in an of itself, cannot explain it. I suppose a good bit of her appeal probably stems from her gut-honest authenticity, her willingness to say exactly what she's thinking all the time. She's profound, she's profane, she's shocking and people seem to love her for it.

Her latest nonfiction book (she has also authored several novels) is entitled Grace (Eventually) and it is a series of essays. As such it is somewhat disjointed with incomprehensible section names and odd chapter titles. There is little cohesion. If there are common themes they revolve around some kind of faith in Jesus, the trials of being a single parent, the difficulties that come with life, and an overwhelming hatred of George W. Bush (along with various members of his administration) and everything he has done as President. I haven't done a word count, but I suspect the name Bush appears significantly more times than the name God (unless, perhaps, we also count the times she uses God's name in a profane way; that would even things up some.). The essays recount episode after episode where Lamott was depressed or angry or belligerent or foul-mouthed or, in many cases, all of the above. It's exactly as depressing as it sounds.

This excerpt, drawn from the beginning of a chapter, is quite typical of the book's content:

I woke up in a bleak place on Sunday. It was not the place of ashes, like the morning after the 2004 Presidential election, but there was no comfort anywhere. It was miserably hot, and the news couldn't be worse--a new crop of mutilations in Iraq, with 2,500 U.S. soldiers now dead, and a North Korean ICBM apparently pointed at the West Coast. Two of my dearest friends had terrible diseases. There was a nasty separation going on in our family, and a small distraught child. Also, my son had not obeyed his curfew and we had had words at two a.m.

...

In the face of all this, I did the most astonishing thing a person can do: I got out of bed. At least I could still walk. A better person would think, Thank you, Jesus. But I thought, God do my feet hurt. God, am I getting old. Then I had some coffee, to level the playing field of me and my mind, as it had had several cups while I slept, and now if felt like talking.

Then I headed to church.

And it was not good.

Lamott has proven to have wide appeal, writing for Salon, the Los Angeles Times and a variety of other periodicals. It should be exciting to see a professed Christian writing for what is clearly a largely secular audience. Sadly, though, the spiritual insights shared by Lamott are more shocking or embarrassing than exciting and inspiring. Here is a smattering of what the reader will discover:

* On Jesus: "You've got to wonder what Jesus was live at seventeen. They don't even talk about it in the Bible, he was apparently so awful."
* On abortion: "I wanted to express calmly and eloquently, that people who are pro-choice understand that there are two lives involved in an abortion--one born (the pregnant woman) and one not (the fetus)--and that the born person must be allowed to decide what is right: whether or not to bring a pregnancy to term and launch another life into circulation." "Then I said that a woman's right to choose was nobody else's goddamn business. That got their attention." "We must not inflict life on children who will be resented; we must not inflict unwanted children on society."
* On euthanasia: "Mel was somewhat surprised that as a Christian I so staunchly agreed with him about assisted suicide: I believe that life is a kind of Earth School, so even though assisted suicide means you're getting out early, before the term ends, you're going to be leaving anyway, so who says it isn't okay to take an incomplete in the course?" In the chapter "At Death's Window" she eloquently describes assisting her friend in taking his own life by overdosing on barbiturates.

As we've come to expect from Lamott, there is a handful (or two) of uses of profanity spread throughout the book (using the name of God casually, several uses of language of the four-letter variety, and so on). Of course the book is not without its interesting insights. Readers will be able to identify with many of the difficulties Lamott has faced. They will laugh at some of her reactions to the situations she has encountered; they will roll their eyes at the same things that frustrate her. There are some notable quotes like this one: "A good marriage is supposed to be one where each spouse secretly thinks he or she got the better deal." But when it comes to spiritual content that is distinctly biblical and profoundly Christian, well, there is not much at all. Lamott seems to embrace a very wide faith that extends far beyond the bounds of Scripture. She celebrates things the Bible forbids and hates things the Bible commands us to love. Her self-loathing is so prominent it is easy to wonder if it isn't simply narcissism weakly disguised. In fact, with a fair bit of faith talk, but very little that is distinctly Christian, I suppose it is not difficult to understand why this book has wide appeal outside the church. I hope Christian readers are discerning enough to ensure it has little appeal within.

I always love her books but...................2007-06-21

I always enjoy reading Anne Lamott and this book was going along swell. She has an easy, casual manner that makes it feel like you're having a best-friend discussion sitting at the kitchen counter. But in this book I got SO tired of her blaming EVERYTHING that's wrong in the world on George Bush. It's like we were all basking around here on Heaven-On-Earth until Mr. Meanie screwed it all up. Her writing seems so smart and sensitive yet her political comments were so stupid. Not the most enjoyable read for me.

Facing Your Giants: The God Who Made a Miracle Out of David Stands Ready to Make One Out of You

Average customer rating:

Facing Your Giants
Awesome book, wonderful life application
Don't miss this one!
Who in the Hell is Max Lucado?
Facing Giants

Facing Your Giants: The God Who Made a Miracle Out of David Stands Ready to Make One Out of You
Max Lucado
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Religion & Spirituality Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Facing Your Giants Study Guide
For These Tough Times: Reaching Toward Heaven for Hope and Healing
Cure for the Common Life: Living in Your Sweet Spot
Get Out of That Pit: Straight Talk about God's Deliverance
Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Intended to Bear

ASIN: 0849901812
Release Date: 2006-11-21

Book Description

Giants. We must face them. Yet, we need not face them alone.

This profound look at the life of David digs deeply into the defeats he suffered, and the victories he won, as he faced the giants in his life. When David focused on God, giants tumbled. But when David focused on giants… he stumbled.

Goliaths still roam in our world. Debt. Disaster. Dialysis. Divorce. Deceit. Disease. Depression. These super-sized challenges swagger and strut into our lives, pilfering our sleep, embezzling our peace and robbing us of our joy. And while these giants try to dominate our lives, we know what to do! We've learned what David learned, and we do what David did. We become God focused. We pick up five stones. We make five decisions. And we take a swing.

Customer Reviews:

Facing Your Giants.......2007-06-22

This is an amazing book. It takes the life of David and relates it to life now. Read it and learn how to face your giants by "running" to them as David did!

Awesome book, wonderful life application.......2007-06-13

I read this book and I thought it was fabulous. I am a HUGE Max Lucado fan and he never seems to disappoint. This book gives a dynamic parallel of King Davids life and what we may face (life challenges) in this day and age. I read this book along with my bible to get the story from the Word and what Mr. Lucado has written in his book. He does a fantastic job of keeping the scriptures straight and makes this book highly credible. Mr. Lucado gets to the bottom line well, God loves us for who we are, sins and all. Buy this book, you won't regret it!

Don't miss this one!.......2007-06-06

Perhaps it's because he's a pastor. Or maybe because he's "been there, done that." New York Times bestselling author Max Lucado has a knack for figuring out what readers are grappling with in their lives and addressing their needs in a way that engages and entertains while not sacrificing spiritual content. In FACING YOUR GIANTS, Lucado is at his best: witty, yet serious where it's important; spinning yarns while pounding home scripture and retelling biblical anecdotes. Like any good pastor, he knows how to use a catchy phrase to make a moral lesson stick. "Focus on giants --- you stumble. Focus on God --- your giants tumble."

Lucado wraps his book around the life stories of David, a deeply flawed man but one of the most beloved of the Bible. No one is immune to "giants" or challenges, and Lucado seems to have his finger on the pulse of the most common ones. Deep hurts from our past that threaten to embitter our future. Lies we tell others. Lies we tell ourselves. Grief. Losing our position of influence. Debt. Divorce. Our need to forgive the seemingly unforgivable. Shattered dreams. Alcohol. Pornography. A career that screeches to a halt.

Weaving together anecdotes and the biblical narrative, he shows how David slew his "giants" --- and how we can slay our own. Lucado equates the five stones David used in slaying his giant to five decisions we must make when facing a challenge. There's the stone of the past ("Remember His marvelous works which He has done."). The stone of prayer ("When David soaked his mind in God, he stood. When he didn't, he flopped."). Think of your priorities (your highest, Lucado says, should be God's reputation. Let God showcase his power and grace through your failings.). Have passion ("David runs, not away from, but toward his giant."). And lastly, the stone of persistence ("One prayer might not be enough. One apology might not do it. One day or month of resolve might not suffice....").

His legendary wrong sense of direction and forgetfulness makes for some lighthearted anecdotes. Lucado relates how he once boarded a flight and awoke in the wrong city. Another time while in a hotel, he went for a jog, then returned and had two portions of the free buffet before he realized he was in a different hotel. After engaging our interest (in the best pastoral tradition), he segues into finding our own right direction. How do we know what God wants us to do? "David makes a habit of running his options past God," he reminds us.

Some of his content is straightforwardly motivational. "Two types of thoughts continually vie for your attention. One says, 'yes you can.' The other says, 'No, you can't.' ... One longs to build you up, the other seeks to tear you down... Do what David did. Turn a deaf ear to old voices. And, as you do, open your eyes to new choices." His prose is always fresh and vibrant. ("We spelunk life's deepest issues in the cave of sorrow.") ("Life blisters by at mach speed.")

As we read about David's failures, we can come to believe in God's forgiveness. If the man whose Psalms still resonate with us today could be forgiven for his many egregious sins, will not God forgive us as well? Lucado makes it seem possible that we too might be used for God's glory despite our failings. There is hope here, and the promise of grace. A substantial study guide will double the appeal of FACING YOUR GIANTS and widen its readership. Don't miss this one!

--- Reviewed by Cindy Crosby

Who in the Hell is Max Lucado?.......2007-06-04

This book came to my attention as a book recommended to me by Amazon based on my browsing. I'd never before heard of Max Lucado. If the reviews here are any indication of what he's about, I never needed to. This book sounds like complete trash, a load of twaddle. Thanks, Amazon, for nothing!

Facing Giants.......2007-05-22

This is a good book. Not one of the best Lucado books I've read but well worth buying and reading.

Saving Graces: Finding Solace and Strength from Friends and Strangers

Average customer rating:

Intriguing
compelling emotion
No One is Exempt from Tragedy
Good!
Difficult, but worthwhile read

Saving Graces: Finding Solace and Strength from Friends and Strangers
Elizabeth Edwards
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Political | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Biographies | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

In an Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing
Inside My Heart: Choosing to Live with Passion and Purpose
Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives
State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III
I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman

ASIN: 0767925378
Release Date: 2006-09-26

Book Description

She charmed America with her smart, likable, down-to-earth personality as she campaigned for her husband, then vice-presidential candidate John Edwards. She inspired millions as she valiantly fought advanced breast cancer after being diagnosed only days before the 2004 election. She touched hundreds of similarly grieving families when her own son, Wade, died tragically at age sixteen in 1996. Now she shares her experiences in Saving Graces, an incandescent memoir of Edwards’ trials, tragedies, and triumphs, and of how various communities celebrated her joys and lent her steady strength and quiet hope in darker times.

Edwards writes about growing up in a military family, where she learned how to make friends easily in dozens of new schools and neighborhoods around the world and came to appreciate the unstinting help and comfort naval families shared. Edwards’ reminiscences of her years as a mother focus on the support she and other parents offered one another, from everyday favors to the ultimate test of her own community’s strength—their compassionate response to the death of the Edwards’ teenage son, Wade, in 1996. Her descriptions of her husband’s campaigns for Senate, president, and vice president offer a fascinating perspective on the groups, great and small, that sustain our democracy. Her fight with breast cancer, which stirred an outpouring of support from women across the country, has once again affirmed Edwards’ belief in the power of community to make our lives better and richer.

Customer Reviews:

Intriguing.......2007-06-20

The book was quite intriguing as Edwards takes the reader through her incredible journey of pain and loss. The woman has definitely been through a great deal. HOwever, one thing that disturbed me was hot it seemed that poor Cate, her daughter, was completely overshadowed by the loss of Wade and by the birth of the new children. Perhaps I am overly sensitive.

compelling emotion.......2007-05-19

To lose a child is a parent's worst fear. Elizabeth and John lost a son and the book exemplifies what emotions occur then and later, 10 years after the tragic event. She holds nothing back in how her feelings have impacted her life. She is a strong woman who will never let a day pass without the thoughts of her son. Fortunately her husband and her other children carry her forward each day providing joy and a future for the potential first lady of the US in January 2009. Knowing her personally through a NH connection, I can admire no woman more than her. Cancer will not beat her. She will beat any medical issues dealt her, especially after what she has experienced thus far in her life. Every mother and father should read this book.

No One is Exempt from Tragedy.......2007-05-14

I knew I had good vibes about Elizabeth Edwards as she campaigned for her husband but reading this book gave me a new appreciation for her as a person. I appreciated "getting to know her" as a child & seeing how her ability to adapt & cope deveoped as part of growing up. I was touched by her willingness to relate to people at an intimate level as she traveled throughout the country. She took the time for those people & they responded to her as she faced her diagnosis & treatment of cancer. She was very honest in sharing all of her emotions, weaknesses, vulnerabilities, etc., that I finished the book feeling like I know this woman & would like to be her friend. I highly recommend the book.

Good!.......2007-05-14

I have not had a chance to read the whole book yet but it seems pretty good! I personally thought it would be more of a Christian book but it's not! I am not into politics and it seems that what it is a lot of!

Difficult, but worthwhile read.......2007-04-16

Elizabeth Edwards has been in the news lately and frankly I knew nothing about her except her cancer diagnosis. I checked the book out from the library expecting the book to be mostly about her battle with cancer, but it's not. I really enjoyed reading about her family history - she has strong parents who produced this very strong (and very strong-willed) daughter. It was difficult to read about her grief after losing her dear son, Wade. She visited his grave every day for many months and read to him from the Bible and all of the books on his school reading list. Her memories are very tender and her dealings with others on the grief forums on the internet are compassionate and supportive. Perhaps the portrait she paints of Wade is a little too perfect, but certainly forgivable.

Elizabeth and John are immensely wealthy - a fact she certainly doesn't play up in her book. When you learn that 800 people come to their annual Christmas party at their home, you get the idea it's not a small house they live in! I only mention this because it struck me that no one is immune to tragedy. Money cannot buy health or immunity from pain. It can help one build memorials, create foundations, and memorial scholarships in loved ones names, but it cannot bring a loved one back. Rich and poor are alike in this regard.

I got a little bogged down in all of the names, too, but I think she just wanted to include as many people as possible in her book. I hope the pharmaceutical companies will discover some new drugs to help her in her battle with cancer so that she can raise her two beautiful young children. I do support pharmaceutical companies (sorry for being a little bit political), because they help people like Elizabeth.

Average customer rating:

Saved by grace, filled with grace, overflowing grace into others
God's grace
A True Gift!
Amazing book
A Remarkable and Thorough Classic on Grace

What's So Amazing About Grace?
Philip Yancey
Manufacturer: Zondervan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Religion & Spirituality Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Jesus I Never Knew, The
What's So Amazing About Grace? Study Guide
Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?
What's So Amazing About Grace? Participant's Guide
Where Is God When It Hurts?

ASIN: 0310245656

Amazon.com

Mention the word "grace" and what immediately comes to mind for most of us is a bagpipe wailing the solemn notes of "Amazing Grace."

The grace of which Philip Yancey writes is the freely given and unmerited favor and love of God. This grace seems a remote, almost sentimental concept, without a place in our lives or our society. It is a vague, slippery thing to us, probably because we seem to experience grace so rarely and have managed to leech the word of meaning. But Philip Yancey has set about to rescue grace in his book What's So Amazing About Grace?

This grace is the true message of Jesus. All faiths have virtues and creeds and justice and truth, but Jesus speaks merely of receiving the love that God has for us. Accepting it, not earning it or making ourselves worthy of it. And frankly, accepting something we have not earned or are not worthy of is not an easy thing for most of us.

In truth, grace is both utterly simple and utterly confounding. Little by little, Yancey guides us into a clearer understanding of grace by using stories, in much the same way Jesus did. We read stories of both grace and ungrace at work in people's lives. Sadly, it is stories of ungrace that are more prevalent today, the current culture wars painful acknowledgments of ungrace in our lives as Christians in this country. Yancey helps us understand that ungrace is that state of being in which self-righteousness and pride are a result of thinking that we have somehow earned God's approval and may now stand in judgment in his behalf.

Philip Yancey was awarded the Gold Medallion Christian Book of the Year award for this book in 1998 by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. Readers concurred with this decision, making this book an immediate bestseller. Believers and nonbelievers alike should accept Yancey's challenge to become agents of grace rather than agents of vengeance or judgment or anger. In truth, we are each starving for grace, ready to grasp it tightly. And it is through grace that all other hungers--for justice, for righteousness, for love--are satisfied. Yancey opens his book by telling us that "grace" is the last best word, and in What's So Amazing About Grace?, he proves that he's right. --Patricia Klein

Book Description

In 1987, an IRA bomb buried Gordon Wilson and his twenty-year-old daughter beneath five feet of rubble. Gordon alone survived. And forgave. He said of the bombers, "I have lost my daughter, but I bear no grudge. . . . I shall pray, tonight and every night, that God will forgive them."

His words caught the media’s ear--and out of one man’s grief, the world got a glimpse of grace.

Grace is the church’s great distinctive. It’s the one thing the world cannot duplicate, and the one thing it craves above all else--for only grace can bring hope and transformation to a jaded world.

In What’s So Amazing About Grace? award-winning author Philip Yancey explores grace at street level. If grace is God’s love for the undeserving, he asks, then what does it look like in action? And if Christians are its sole dispensers, then how are we doing at lavishing grace on a world that knows far more of cruelty and unforgiveness than it does of mercy?

Yancey sets grace in the midst of life’s stark images, tests its mettle against horrific "ungrace." Can grace survive in the midst of such atrocities as the Nazi holocaust? Can it triumph over the brutality of the Ku Klux Klan? Should any grace at all be shown to the likes of Jeffrey Dahmer, who killed and cannibalized seventeen young men?

Grace does not excuse sin, says Yancey, but it treasures the sinner. True grace is shocking, scandalous. It shakes our conventions with its insistence on getting close to sinners and touching them with mercy and hope. It forgives the unfaithful spouse, the racist, the child abuser. It loves today’s AIDS-ridden addict as much as the tax collector of Jesus’ day.

In his most personal and provocative book ever, Yancey offers compelling, true portraits of grace’s life-changing power. He searches for its presence in his own life and in the church. He asks, How can Christians contend graciously with moral issues that threaten all they hold dear?

And he challenges us to become living answers to a world that desperately wants to know, What’s So Amazing About Grace?

Customer Reviews:

Saved by grace, filled with grace, overflowing grace into others.......2007-06-26

Yancey is an incredible author...not so much for the quality of his writing, but more for the fact that his writing seems to hit the reader right between the eyes! When I read What's So Amazing About Grace?, it was as if Yancey had been reading my mail; so many of his stories and examples where far too familiar in my own personal walk - and that is definitely not a compliment! The crux of Yancey's book is that this world needs grace - but not just any grace, redemptive grace that reflects the grace that our Lord and Savior gave to us, grace that costs, grace that is motivated by love for others, grace that is extended to the undeserved...just like Christ did for us!

In Yancey's opinion, there just isn't enough grace, especially from those who have received grace! That's what really hurt. Yancey cites example after example of Christians acting in an ungraceful manner to other believers as well as to the lost and dying - what a disgrace! Yancey talks about the power of grace, the power of forgiveness, the power of love - in stark contrast to the spiritual impotence which results from living defeated by the grip of hatred, unwillingness to forgive or envy of others.

What's So Amazing About Grace? is a must read for every believer - especially those who were saved at an early age and struggle with a judgmental spirit of others. You may not want to read it, but you need to!

God's grace.......2007-04-15

This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. Phillip Yancy is a gifted writer and this book spoke to my heart.

A True Gift!.......2007-01-23

This book is a true gift of joy and confirmation to believers in the grace of Christ. Philip Yancey has an elegance about his writting that fits the topic of grace perfectly. I came away changed and grateful.

Amazing book.......2007-01-11

My bible study group decided to do the "What's so amazing about Grace" bible study after one of the members had read the book. This is a study that every church should look at doing no matter what the denomination. Phillip Yancey gives incredible insights into a facet of Christian religion that is too often overlooked. It brings up hard questions and generates great discussion. It will truly change the way most people view the world.

A Remarkable and Thorough Classic on Grace.......2007-01-10

Grace is what sets Christianity about from other religions--but is that the message that the unbelieving world hears? Or are they often subjected to our systems of rules and morality? Phillip Yancey deftly chronicles his own "ungraceful" upbringing in a very strict church of the 60's as a backdrop toward his journey to grace.

What I particularly enjoy about Yancey's work is that besides being an expert wordsmith and master communicator, is that he weaves in real-lifes stories that make you think deeply about issues of faith. He asks questions that most Christians are afraid to ask.

I can't say that I agree with all of his conclusions. I probably have a half-dozen theological differences with Yancey, but on the most important subject of our faith: grace, I believe Yancey is right on the money. Grace is not fair. Grace is almost a scandal in our minds. Grace doesn't really make logical sense.

Read this book, it will challenge your view of grace.

Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery

Average customer rating:

Is sure to inspire readers to ponder how they can make a difference in their spheres of influence today
Wilberforce for the 21st Century!
The Way We Were
Global Paradygm Change is Possible
A truly amazing man

Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery
Eric Metaxas
Manufacturer: HarperSanFrancisco
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

African-American & Black | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Historical | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Political | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Biographies | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside History Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce
Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade--and How We Can Fight It
Real Christianity
Out of the Depths
William Wilberforce: A Hero for Humanity

ASIN: 0061173002
Release Date: 2007-02-06

Book Description

Amazing Grace tells the story of the remarkable life of the British abolitionist William Wilberforce (1759-1833). This accessible biography chronicles Wilberforce's extraordinary role as a human rights activist, cultural reformer, and member of Parliament.

At the center of this heroic life was a passionate twenty-year fight to abolish the British slave trade, a battle Wilberforce won in 1807, as well as efforts to abolish slavery itself in the British colonies, a victory achieved just three days before his death in 1833.

Metaxas discovers in this unsung hero a man of whom it can truly be said: he changed the world. Before Wilberforce, few thought slavery was wrong. After Wilberforce, most societies in the world came to see it as a great moral wrong.

To mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the British slave trade, HarperSanFrancisco and Bristol Bay Productions have joined together to commemorate the life of William Wilberforce with the feature-length film Amazing Grace and this companion biography, which provides a fuller account of the amazing life of this great man than can be captured on film.

This account of Wilberforce's life will help many become acquainted with an exceptional man who was a hero to Abraham Lincoln and an inspiration to the anti-slavery movement in America.

Customer Reviews:

Is sure to inspire readers to ponder how they can make a difference in their spheres of influence today.......2007-06-06

Just in time for the cinematic release of the same name, Eric Metaxas brings the dynamic but little-known story of British slave trade reformer William Wilberforce to life in this engrossing inspirational biography, AMAZING GRACE.

Metaxas's chronological narrative begins with Wilberforce's childhood, showing how the death of an older sister and Wilberforce's father, followed by the illness of his mother, put Wilberforce into the care of a wealthy aunt and uncle who were at the center of England's spiritual renaissance, "a glowing hotbed of Methodism." One of the aunt and uncle's close friends was John Newton, a former slave-ship captain who wrote the hymn "Amazing Grace" and who would profoundly influence Wilberforce's life.

Metaxas excels at showing the grief Wilberforce feels when his mother, fearful of the religious influence Wilberforce encounters, forcibly removes him from the aunt and uncle's home and forbids him to attend church. By the time 16-year-old Wilberforce goes to Cambridge, he is, as Metaxas writes, "vain and full of fun.... his manners and social graces had been buffed to a high sheen...." Metaxas carefully unfolds how the diminutive Wilberforce moved from being a young, privileged, wealthy politician who spent his evenings gambling and playing cards to an eloquent orator who suffered from a digestive disorder and poor eyesight but became convinced he could make a difference in politics as a devout Christian.

The difference would come on two fronts: "manners" and the slave trade. The author's details about the desperate conditions in which slaves were transported have been written about elsewhere, but will nevertheless shock most readers (especially the "Zong" slave ship case, in which sick slaves were "legally" thrown overboard in order to save money). Metaxas's own outrage comes through in passages such as when he examines a diagram of where the slaves are placed on a ship, and notes: "To look at the image is to crawl to the edge of the abyss, and to stare, agape, at the horror."

Wilberforce also worked to "reform manners," which sounds hopelessly prudish to modern ears, but Metaxas helps readers understand this in light of the ugly, violent and often cruel times in which Wilberforce lived. ("Manners" refers to "attitudes" rather than etiquette). Among the attitudes Wilberforce sought to change was society's view of the poor from that of being ignored or judged to shouldering a responsibility to help the poor better their situations.

The narrative borders on hagiography, from Wilberforce's childhood (in which Metaxas describes him as a "glorious little child, a veritable cherub of twinkling luminosity" or "...brilliantly witty, indefatigably effervescent, and brightly cheerful, not to mention generous") to his legacy ("...it's nearly impossible to do justice to the enormity of his accomplishment: it was nothing less than a fundamental and important shift in human consciousness"). Occasionally, Metaxas gets carried away with wordy prose, as when he describes Wilberforce as "...the sort of boy who could lead even the most jaded misanthropes to think that perhaps the supremely cracked-up race of bipeds of which they were a member was not entirely, not hopelessly, unredeemable."

Metaxas has a wonderful sense of humor, however, that comes through in subtle ways, whether he's punning on someone's name or noting when Wilberforce accidentally shoots the future prime minister William Pitt the Younger while hunting: "Perhaps most scandalous of all, they waited many years before informing the press."

Wilberforce's greatest achievement was indisputably the 1807 landmark victory to abolish the slave trade, which was the work of two decades. (Emancipation in Britain came in 1833, when Wilberforce was on his deathbed.) Metaxas laudably puts this into context for us in his introduction, which reminds us that we can no longer even imagine the society Wilberforce lived in --- a society in which slavery is taken for granted and the idea that slavery was good. "Wilberforce murdered that old way of seeing things.... The entire mind-set that supported it is gone."

Metaxas is a veteran author who has written for The New York Times and The Atlantic and has penned several books (EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT GOD). He does a fine job fleshing out the spiritual and moral times Wilberforce lived in, so the reader has some idea of the tremendous uphill battle Wilberforce faced. His background information on the politics of the time period (elections, such as the one that sent Wilberforce to Parliament, were usually purchased with bribe money) will be invaluable to modern readers without a lot of knowledge of this aspect of English government in the late 1700s to early 1800s.

Metaxas's story of Wilberforce's driving passions, which changed the world, is sure to inspire readers to ponder how they can make a difference in their spheres of influence today.

--- Reviewed by Cindy Crosby

Wilberforce for the 21st Century!.......2007-05-26

Metaxas brings the inspiring life of William Wilberforce to the 21st century in a readable, heart-stirring fashion. The author takes the reader on an intimate journey in getting to know the man behind the abolition of the slave trade and the ending of slavery itself in Great Britain. Wilberforce is a true Christian statesman, whose untiring faith and unwavering conviction is used by God to change the world. This title is one of the best biographies I have read in a long time. I recommend it highly.

The Way We Were.......2007-05-15

This is a marvelous book which introduces us to history I suspect most of us were unaware of. Who ended slavery ? Why, Lincoln of course ! Lincoln standing on the frail shoulders of William Wilberforce, that is. The most striking material in the book for me is the portrait painted of the pale ghost that passed for Christianity in England at the end of the 18th century and the fear and revulsion that was inspired among nominal "Christians" when the genuine article reappeared and became active.

Global Paradygm Change is Possible.......2007-05-12

After reading this book, I believed that ONE person can make a difference. One person can affect others.

I learned this. It is most important to change the beliefs in order to change the wrongs you see. William Willberforce did just this.

A wonderful biography. It is easy to see why Abraham Lincoln called William Willberforce one of his heroes. And, now he is one of mine.

A truly amazing man.......2007-05-04

A friend recently saw the movie "Amazing Grace" and said it was the inspiring story of a man named William Wilberforce who led the drive to abolish slavery in the British colonies. Generally preferring to read a book instead of seeing a movie, I bought the book, which was a good decision.

The author, Eric Metaxas, does a great job of telling the story in less than 300 pages. The long battle that Wilberforce fought to abolish first the slave trade, then slavery itself, involved many other characters, who are included in the book, but the book focuses on Wilberforce, who was clearly the driving force behind the abolitionist movement.

Wilberforce was an amazing person. Never very healthy and often suffering from one ailment or the other, he began the abolitionist battle as a young man and finally saw victory only just before he died. His impact on England was far more than the abolition of slavery, the huge moral evil. In the bigger picture, he helped to bring about a kinder, gentler England, with his ideas of social equality and charity that transformed nineteenth century England into a far different place than it had been.

Most of all, Wilberforce was a genuine devout Christian who led by example. And he never seemed to fail, he was always steadfast in his beliefs and faith, despite losing so many rounds in the long struggle. In every way, he was a true leader who reshaped not only the people around him, but also his country and even the world. Although slavery would not be abolished in many other countries until well after his death, Wilberforce's ideas eventually won out.

The story is played out against the backdrop of major historical events - the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and the Napoleonic Wars being the major ones. Through all of this, Wilberforce persevered until the goal was reached.

Truly an amazing story about an amazing man. In "Amazing Grace," William Wilberforce is brought to life by the author. The author acknowledges that he did not break new ground in this biography - there are longer, more definitive biographies of Wilberforce - but he certainly succeeded in making the story very readable and inspiring.

The book includes reproductions of paintings and drawings of many of the key persons involved in the fight for abolition, which helps to make the characters real.

Highly recommended reading.

Apparel Manufacturing: Sewn Product Analysis (4th Edition)

Average customer rating:

Apparel Manufacturing: Sewn Product Analysis (4th Edition)
Grace I. Kunz , and Ruth E. Glock
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Decorating | Interior Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Art Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Home & Garden Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Qualifying Textbooks - Spring 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Apparel Product Development (2nd Edition)
Fashion Forecasting
The Business of Fashion: Designing, Manufacturing, and Marketing
Fabric Science
Fashion: From Concept to Consumer (8th Edition)

ASIN: 0131119826

Book Description

This comprehensive text provides in-depth coverage of all facets of the apparel manufacturing process in the global industry. The coverage considers product development from the analysis phase through product standards, specifications and design phases. The primary focus is on inter-related decision-making required for apparel product development. Includes sections on the dimensions of apparel management, quality management, materials selection, production planning, and the complete financial portion of the business. Emphasis is placed on the integrated roles of merchandising, sourcing, and marketing. Covers apparel engineering, preproduction operations, and a pertinent discussion of technology and equipment. For anyone interested in fashion, apparel, or retailing.

In Vogue: The Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Fashion Magazine

Average customer rating:

Just OK.
Magnificient overview of an iconic magazine
A travel through time by book
InVogue: The Illustrated History of the World's most famous fashion magazine
In Vogue: The illustrated history

In Vogue: The Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Fashion Magazine
Alberto Oliva , and Norberto Angeletti
Manufacturer: Rizzoli
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Fashion | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Fashion | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Publishing & Books | Reference | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Art Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Entertainment Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Reference Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Qualifying Textbooks - Spring 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

A Photographer's Life: 1990-2005
The Beautiful Fall: Lagerfeld, Saint Laurent, and Glorious Excess in 1970s Paris
Balenciaga Paris
Jacques Helleu and Chanel
Gucci by Gucci

ASIN: 0847828646
Release Date: 2006-09-22

Book Description

In Vogue is a fascinating look at the history of the world's most influential magazine. The complete compendium is illustrated with hundreds of covers and archival interiors of past Vogue editions, featuring the work of some of the twentieth century's most respected artists, cover illustrators, and photographers—from Edward Steichen, Toni Frissell, and Erwin Blumenfeld to Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, David Bailey, Helmut Newton, Annie Leibovitz, Mario Testino, Steven Klein, Bruce Webber, and Herb Ritts. In 1909, an entrepreneurial New Yorker named Condé Nast took charge of a struggling society journal and transformed it into the most glamorous fashion magazine of the twentieth century. In Vogue traces the history, development and influence of this media colossus—from its beginning as a social gazette in the late nineteenth century, to the exploration of modern fashion photography and new visuals in the mid-twentieth century, to its status as the top style magazine today. The book explains the makings of the magazine—from runways, to editorial meetings, to the pages of Vogue.The thoroughly researched story incorporates first-person accounts, interviews with editors and photographers, and excerpts from stories written in the magazine by many world-renowned writers, including Truman Capote, Aldous Huxley, Richard Burton, Federico Fellini, and Marcello Mastroianni. Unparalleled in its scope and exceptionally illustrated, In Vogue is sure to be among the most important publications on the subjects of culture, art, fashion, photography, and media.

Customer Reviews:

Just OK........2007-06-28

I liked the information and photos about the early Vogue, and wish there was more of it. I was not so interested in the later stuff, as it seemed overly self-important. Instead of presenting fashion, the current Vogue seems to commision special clothes for its photo shoots. What's the point if you can't buy that? Plus the photos don't even show what the clothes look like. I have better books on fashion, but this really was about the history of the magazine, and as such it succeeds. I just don't happen to like the magazine as it never shows anything I'd want to wear.

Magnificient overview of an iconic magazine.......2007-06-22

Ten gets you one that when you ask someone to name a fashion magazine, the first answer you get will be, "Vogue". That's how much of an institution the magazine has become. While "Elle" and "Women's Wear Daily" might dispute the contention, "Vogue" seems to have become the periodical of record for worldwide haute couture. As such, as the authors note in their introduction, a basic history is past due. With a great deal of help from the Vogue staff itself - Anna Wintour, the magazine's longtime editor (and so prominent a figure in her own right that Meryl Streep's spoof of her in last year's movie "The Devil Wears Prada" was instantly recognizable), is prominent in the list of contributors - Angeletti and Oliva, magazine historians both, have assembled an informative text and a gorgeous array of imagery which effectively covers the century-plus history of Vogue, from the cover of the very first magazine to the latest photos of Nicole Kidman. The book is certainly a highly display-worthy item, as another reviewer has suggested, but more than that, it's meant to be leafed through and read. You can find it brand-new at a wide variety of prices, but even if all the Amazon Marketplace sellers were somehow sold out of their copies, it'd still be worth the list price!

A travel through time by book.......2007-05-14

The authors of In Vogue composed a diversified chronicle of the appearance and the development of Vogue from 1892 until today. The photographs chosen portray the history of fashion photography wonderfully, each of them either a ravishing new sight or a spectacular recognition. The structuring by Decade, introduction of publishers, contributing editors, photographers, etc interposed by special contributions and excerpts of resumes offers the reader a diverting journey trough publishing history in general and the publishing of fashion in particular.

InVogue: The Illustrated History of the World's most famous fashion magazine.......2007-03-28

great extensive fashion history on Vogue magazine: superb pictures, designers, models....

In Vogue: The illustrated history.......2007-03-22

This wonderful history of pages of the fashion magazine provides a document of the tastes, styles and socio-political conditions of over a century. The first class photographs from the lenses of prime photographers, palettes and studios of some of the most famous artists of the period, supplemented with informative text, reflect times of elegance and decadence.

Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace (2nd Edition)

Average customer rating:

very clear
a gem
Better than Strunk & White, better than Turabian
How Style Ought to Be Taught
Truly great, smaller but updated version of his bigger book

Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace (2nd Edition)
Joseph M. Williams
Manufacturer: Longman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Essays | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Linguistics | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books

Rhetoric | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books

Journalism | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Art Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Fiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Reference Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Qualifying Textbooks - Spring 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Style: Toward Clarity and Grace (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing)
Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace (9th Edition)
The Craft of Research, 2nd edition (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing)
Line by Line: How to Improve Your Own Writing
On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction (On Writing Well)

ASIN: 0321330854

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

The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out

Average customer rating:

Loved it
This book acts as a bounty on self-righteousness and anal-Christianity.
Awesome gift book
Be warned - get the original
A Must-Have book

The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out
Brennan Manning
Manufacturer: Multnomah
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Inspirational | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Religion & Spirituality Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Ruthless Trust : The Ragamuffin's Path to God
Abba's Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging
Reflections for Ragamuffins: Daily Devotions from the Writings of Brennan Manning
The Importance of Being Foolish: How to Think Like Jesus
Posers, Fakers, and Wannabes: Unmasking the Real You (TH1NK)

ASIN: 1576737160
Release Date: 2000-06-08

Amazon.com

Brennan Manning wrote The Ragamuffin Gospel "for the bedraggled, beat-up, and burnt-out," the marginalized folks to whom Jesus ministered: the children, the ill, the tax collectors, the women. In other words, the ragamuffins. Manning understands better than most that behind our facades of order and self-assurance are inadequacies that can find healing only in Jesus. While the powerful and religious elite challenged him, Jesus embraced and healed and fed the needs of the ragamuffins. Jesus delivered love, healing, and, most of all, grace.

Grace is defined as "the freely given and unmerited favor and love of God." But, as Manning points out, we have "twisted the gospel of grace into religious bondage and distorted the image of God into an eternal, small-minded bookkeeper." In reality, God offers us grace immeasurable. Brennan Manning gently encourages us to embrace that grace in the face of our greatest needs. And Manning certainly knows whereof he speaks, having taken a journey from priesthood and academic achievement through a collapse into alcoholism. Manning came face to face with his need, finally abandoning himself to grace. And he invites us now to join him in a life of grace.

Manning is without doubt one of the most eloquent writers on the subject of grace because he openly shares his own pain and struggle to help readers deal with failure and inadequacy. And he sweetly challenges them to do the same. --Patricia Klein

Book Description

Many believers feel stunted in their Christian growth. We beat ourselves up over our failures and, in the process, pull away from God because we subconsciously believe He tallies our defects and hangs His head in disappointment. In this repackaged

Customer Reviews:

Loved it.......2007-06-30

I absolutely loved this book. It's true that he says a lot of controversial things, but it's very thought-provoking. It caused me to take a long hard look at my spirituality. For a long time I felt like I didn't measure up to God's expectations and I was constantly frustrated because I never felt like I was good enough. Now I know I'm not good enough -- and it's okay! I am loved anyway. :) Brennan Manning does a beautiful job illuminating God's love.

This book acts as a bounty on self-righteousness and anal-Christianity. .......2007-06-08

Let's clear a few things up before I proceed with a review:

* Brennan Manning is not a universalist.
* Brennan Manning believes in hell and believes that those who reject God's grace will invariably go there.

Are we okay now? Everyone feeling better about their day? Great, let's move on. In 'The Ragamuffin Gospel' Manning tackles the issue of grace for what it is and describes it as something both infathomable and tangible. He acutely attacks the smug idea of grace through works - which many may condemn verbally but practice physically or intellectually. He makes great points, and while some may attack his stance as watered-down or too easy, Manning backs his points with scripture, wit, and common-sense.

He also states...

* God is not a score keeper on good works.
* God's love for the broken is not predicated upon our reciprocation.
* Repentance as a believer doesn't come from wanting to be forgiven, but from already being forgien and understanding that we are already healed.
* God's love is not dignified, and His love breaks our worldly rules of what can and should be.
* How trusting God is essential to Christ-like living.
* How understanding the necessity for grace will change our world view.

At the end of the day, your God-view and world-view will determine whether you enjoy this book or not. If God, to you, is someone Who keeps score and checklists of rights and wrongs, you will hate this book. If you are someone seeking grace and mercy from God and would like to change your view on those around you, Manning's book is just what you need.

This is not Manning's "take" on the Goodnews. It is Manning showing us what the Goodnews was intended to be from the beginning - as other writers and pastors have seldom done before; and that - go figure - is that grace is good news for any who are willing to stand beneath it and open their eyes to it.

To all of those out there who hate the idea of God giving grace to us without condition when we fall at His feet - please get a life and wake up to the fact that your world of "theology" is smaller than God's attributes of grace giving.

Awesome gift book.......2007-06-02

We gave this as a graduation gift at our church. Kids loved it. It is not the entire text of the original book but it is so beautfully done and Brennan's writing pulls people in.

Be warned - get the original.......2007-05-17

I was very disappointed when this book arrived and I learned that it only had 15% of the orginal text. Very edgy, for a target audience. But I strongly reccommend you get the full version of the book. It is wonderful.

A Must-Have book.......2007-02-16

All Ragamuffins will find their place here, at the Master's table, no pretentions needed. We ragamuffins know that we need grace to get through every day, we are poor in spirit, but rich in love for Jesus who is our ALL. Strip yourself bare of legalism and churchiosity and come drink deeply from Brennan's masterpiece of love.

Unbinding the Gospel: Real Life Evangelism

Average customer rating:

For any Christian struggling for a new perspective of evangelism
Sharing Our Stories
When all else fails, try Jesus....
solid, well written, actually usable!
I couldn't put the book down!

Unbinding the Gospel: Real Life Evangelism
Martha Grace Reese
Manufacturer: Chalice Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Religion & Spirituality Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church Is Transforming the Faith
More Ready Than You Realize
The Gospel According to Starbucks: Living with a Grande Passion
The Practicing Congregation: Imagining a New Old Church
The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church

ASIN: 0827238045

Book Description

Unbinding the Gospel: Real Life Evangelism is a book for church groups to study. It's a book for pastors who want the truth about the state of our churches. It presents a clear-spoken, hopeful vision for a future of sharing our faith in Christ. It gives us a way to get there--without formulas, but hand-in-hand with God!

Easy to read, witty, thoughtful and genuinely spiritual, Unbinding the Gospel is based on a four-year research project on superb evangelism. Author, pastor, and lawyer Martha Grace Reese interviewed more than 1,000 people in some of the most successful evangelistic congregations in the country.

Grounded in thorough research, the book sparkles with practicality. It is enthusiastically endorsed by Brian McLaren, John Thomas, George Hunter, Todd Hunter, Sharon Watkins, Wes Granberg-Michaelson and Cliff Kirkpatrick. Richard Peace, professor of evangelism at Fuller Theological Seminary says, "This should be required reading in all mainline churches. Our continued existence may depend upon it!"

Customer Reviews:

For any Christian struggling for a new perspective of evangelism.......2007-03-29

Excellent review and study tool for the Mainline Evangelism Project. Reese challenges those Christians and churches that have underplayed the role of evangelism in their congregations to look at the call of the gospel anew. There are questions at the end of each chapter that make this an excellent study for Sunday School classes or any church leadership group.

Sharing Our Stories.......2007-03-08

If anyone had tried to tell me we could get 80 church members to come to a Saturday retreat to talk about Evangelism, I would have told them they were crazy... We're a mainline church - and Evangelism just isn't something we are comfortable with..

But Unbinding the Gospel motivated my church to move in ways I couldn't imagine.. As the book suggested, we prayed - not just once, but faithfully... and 80 people read the book and showed up on a Saturday.. And they joined in groups to pray for each other... for the church.. and for all those who needed to hear the story..

I have been an active layperson in my church for a decade.. We've tried many things along the way.. This book challenged us to be more faithful - and to share our faith more faithfully. I'm convinced it has planted mustard seeds that will bloom in ways only God can imagine.

When all else fails, try Jesus...........2007-03-08

Gay's message is simply this, after the grim analysis of where we are and how we got here.

Jesus.

Put Jesus front and center, and remarkable things happen. No Jesus, and all the programs and initiatives and capital campaigns just hiss away like a red hot needle dropped in the Baltic Sea.

Jesus at the center, and even old (years since establishment of the congregation) churches can show growth and vitality. Keep Jesus in the china cupboard, and even a new start in a cool `burb with lots of drums and praise choruses can go bust.

You really oughta check this one out. Full disclosure: i'm a friend of hers, and read drafts, and she put the best of her gifts to work assembling this; it isn't just a grant-fulfillment obligation or quick review of data. It's a message to the churches, to those who have ears to hear.

Lenten blessings,
Jeff

solid, well written, actually usable!.......2007-02-07

Reese has done her homework! Our leadership team is using this book as a small group study. It's well laid out, well thought out, and well set up to take out and use! I bought one to check it out and then got seven more for our team.

I couldn't put the book down!.......2007-01-26

A friend sent me this book and I sat down and literally couldn't put the book down. I finished it in one read and found it spellbinding. The author's writing style just pulls you in and allows you to see and feel things in a whole new way. She opens a window and her readers just come leaping through and then her spirit charms you with her anecdotes and amazing wit. I have just purchased three more copies to send to friends as I want to share her gift with them.

Books:

Books