Land of Ice, A Velvet Knife is the second volume of The Pulsifer Saga, by Wm. Michael Mott, and the sequel to Pulsifer: A Fable. Calim Pulsifer, the ultimate rogue and adventurer, is back with a vengeanceprimarily fleeing vengeance, seeking vengeance, and repeatedly bungling, bamboozling, and bluffing his way from one outrageous situation to another. As in the first novel, Pulsifer: A Fable, in spite of having earned the enmity of wizards, warriors, and women, Pulsifer is once again his own worst enemy. Fighting, scrabbling, and conniving in his quest for vengeance and survival, the outcast Calim Pulsifer leaves a trail of mayhem and mirth across and beneath a frozen, monster-haunted world, delving into the bizarre depths of a subterranean realm like no other. Adversaries and lovers, unhuman and sorcerous creations of an ancient wizardry, and innocent bystanders alikeall are touched by the wake he leaves, and only the force known as Equilibrium knows how things will finally balance out, for even multiple hells hath no fury like several women scorned.... Once more, political correctness goes out the window, as the ultimate trickster and adventurer takes the stage. Fantasy-fiction readers and role-playing fans alike will find these novels provide a thrilling, belly-laughing reading experience.
In Mystics, William Harmless, S.J., introduces readers to the scholarly study of mysticism. He explores both mystics' extraordinary lives and their no-less-extraordinary writings using a unique case-study method centered on detailed examinations of six major Christian mystics: Thomas Merton, Bernard of Clairvaux, Hildegard of Bingen, Bonaventure, Meister Eckhart, and Evagrius Ponticus. Rather than presenting mysticism as a subtle web of psychological or theological abstractions, Harless's case-study approach brings things down to earth, restoring mystics to their historical context.
William L. Holladay offers an illuminating and informative overview of the Psalms, chanted, sung, and recited by so great a cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1) through the past three thousand years.
This is the first book written about John Paul Merton, Thomas Merton’s younger brother. Neither scholar nor saint, the life of John Paul Merton illustrates there is more than one way to live a meaningful and holy life. His was a quietly incubating spirituality guided by his law of love. He began life singing in a crib and ended his life praying as he lay dying in a dinghy in the English Channel during World War II. This book examines the relationship he had with his famous brother, Thomas, especially in the years before Tom became a monk. It examines, among other topics, the relationship between Thomas, the intellectual, and John Paul, the action-oriented younger brother. As a teenager, John Paul earned the nickname “Wildman,” and as an adult he learned to live life to the fullest on his own terms. The bumps and bruises of his life—orphaned at twelve years of age, dismissed from Cornell without his degree, and frustrated in his effort to serve in World War II as a fighter pilot—were faced head on. He lived life as an optimist without losing sight of the reality of his world. Most importantly, John Paul’s “journey of hidden holiness” can inspire each of us as we, too, journey onward.
Centering around the life and times of the revered American sportswriter Grantland Rice (1880-1954), How You Played the Game takes us back to those magical days of sporting tales and mythic heroes. Through Rice's eyes we behold such sports as bicycle racing, boxing, golf, baseball, football, and tennis as they were played before 1950. We witness ups and downs in the careers of such legendary figures as Christy Mathewson, Jack Dempsey, Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Jim Thorpe, Red Grange, Bobby Jones, Bill Tilden, Notre Dame's Four Horsemen, Gene Tunney, and Babe Didrikson--all of whom Rice helped become household names. Grantland Rice was a remarkably gifted and honorable sportswriter. From his early days in Nashville and Atlanta, to his famed years in New York, Rice was acknowledged by all for his uncanny grasp of the ins and outs of a dozen sports, as well as his personal friendship with hundreds of sportsmen and sportswomen. As a pioneer in American sportswriting, Rice helped establish and dignify the profession, sitting shoulder to shoulder in press boxes around the nation with the likes of Ring Lardner, Damon Runyon, Heywood Broun, and Red Smith. Besides being a first-rate reporter, Rice was also a columnist, poet, magazine and book writer, film producer, family man, war veteran, fund-raiser, and skillful golfer. His personal accomplishments over a half century as an advocate for sports and good sportsmanship are astounding by any standard. What truly set Rice apart from so many of his peers, however, was the idea behind his sports reporting and writing. He believed that good sportsmanship was capable of lifting individuals, societies, and even nations to remarkable heights of moral and social action. More than just a biography of Grantland Rice, How You Played the Game is about the rise of American sports and the early days of those who created the art and craft of sportswriting. Exploring the life of a man who perfectly blended journalism and sporting culture, this book is sure to appeal to all, sports lovers or not.
This unique addition to Civil War literature examines the extensive influence Quaker belief and practice had on Lincoln's decisions relative to slavery, including his choice to emancipate the slaves. An important contribution to Lincoln scholarship, this thought-provoking work argues that Abraham Lincoln and the Religious Society of Friends faced a similar dilemma: how to achieve emancipation without extending the bloodshed and hardship of war. Organized chronologically so readers can see changes in Lincoln's thinking over time, the book explores the congruence of the 16th president's relationship with Quaker belief and his political and religious thought on three specific issues: emancipation, conscientious objection, and the relief and education of freedmen. Distinguishing between the reality of Lincoln's relationship with the Quakers and the mythology that has emerged over time, the book differs significantly from previous works in at least two ways. It shows how Lincoln skillfully navigated a relationship with one of the most vocal and politically active religious groups of the 19th century, and it documents the practical ways in which a shared belief in the "Doctrine of Necessity" affected the president's decisions. In addition to gaining new insights about Lincoln, readers will also come away from this book with a better understanding of Quaker positions on abolition and pacifism and a new appreciation for the Quaker contributions to the Union cause.
This volume presents a network of social power, indicating that theories inspired by C.Wright Mills are far more accurate views about power in America than those of Mills's opponents.Dr. Domhoff shows how and why coalitions within the power elite have involved themselves in such policy issues as the Social Security Act (1935) and the Employment Act (1946), and how the National Labor Relations Act (1935) could pass against the opposition of every major corporation. The book descri bes how experts worked closely with the power elite in shaping the plansfor a post-World War II world economic order, in good part realized during the past 30 years. Arguments are advanced that the fat cats who support the Democrats cannot be understood in terms of narrow self-interest, and that moderate conservatives dominated policy-making under Reagan.
Using a world systems approach this book examines how globalization is experienced around the world and compares its intensity and impact in industrialized countries and developing countries, focusing on economic growth, technological diffusion, debt, North-South conflict, democratisation and globalization,
During the last decade of his life, Thomas Merton corresponded with numerous people around the globe about world religions and the need for interfaith understanding. Initiating contact with figures like Zen scholar D.T. Suzuki, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Rabbi Abraham Heschel, he sought not only to expand his understanding of other faiths, but to find like-minded friends who might share his dream of a global community of the spirit. Such people, whom he called living "sacraments" or signs of peace, were those "able to unite in themselves and experience in their own lives all that is best and most true in the numerous spiritual traditions.
Official statistics about ethnicity in advanced societies are no better than those in less developed countries. An open industrial society is inherently fluid, and it is as hard to interpret social class and ethnic groups there as in a nearly static community. In consequence, the collection and interpretation of ethnic statistics is frequently a battleground where the groups being counted contest each element of every enumeration. William Petersen describes how ethnic identity is determined and how ethnic or racial units are counted by official statistical agencies in the United States and elsewhere. The chapters in this book cover such topics as: "Identification of Americans of European Descent," "Differentiation among Blacks," "Ethnic Relations in the Netherlands," "Two Case Studies: Japan and Switzerland," and "Who is a Jew?" Petersen argues that the general public is overly impressed by assertions about ethnicity, particularly if they are supported by numbers and graphs. The flood of American writings about race and ethnicity gives no sign of abatement. Ethnicity Counts offers an indispensible background to meaningful interpretation of statistics on ethnicity, and will be important to sociologists, historians, policymakers, and government officials.
In this probing, thoroughly researched book, respected business writer William G. Flanagan goes beyond the headlines to examine the factors that led to one of the biggest economic fallouts in history. Here is a fascinating account of financial malfeasance at the highest level, of telecom cowboys and corrupt lobbyists, multi- millionaire businessmen cashing in their stock options without risking a dime of their own money. Behind-the-scenes looks into AOL Time Warner, WorldCom and others reveal the machinations behind the collapse of giant corporations.
This third edition of a classic urban sociology text examines critical but often-neglected aspects of urban life from a social-psychological theoretical perspective. Symbolic interaction is among the most central theoretical paradigms in sociology and the theory that most thoroughly attends to how individuals give meaning to their world—in this case, how city dwellers interpret and respond to their daily experiences as urbanites. This thoroughly updated edition of Being Urban: A Sociology of City Life remains true to this particular theoretical angle of vision—the symbolic interactionist approach—focusing on specific topics that are relatively neglected in other urban sociology texts, and that lend themselves to the kind of social-psychological analyses that define the distinctive conceptual core of the authors' efforts. After the first two chapters supply readers with theoretical foundations of urban sociology, the next four chapters describe the various ways that individuals experience and make sense of key aspects of urban life. The final section—also composed of four chapters—addresses strategically chosen urban institutions and related processes of social change. Specific subject areas covered include sports, everyday public life, tolerance for diversity, women in cities, urban politics, and the arts. Readers will learn about how order is maintained in public urban places, understand why cities naturally breed a tolerance for diversity that may not be so easily achieved in less urban settings, and appreciate the delicate political and economic tensions between cities and their surrounding suburbs.
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