Book Description
In this dazzling and critically acclaimed debut collection, Mary Yukari Waters provides a rare glimpse into the heart and humanity of a society in the midst of immense change. These graceful, expertly crafted stories, set in Japan, explore the gray areas between the long shadow of World War II and the rapid advance of Westernization. The women and children who inhabit this terrain have lost husbands and fathers to the war, and ancient traditions to American pop culture. Parents are mystified by the future of forks and knives, hairspray and hip-hop; children embrace it.
With these stories of upheaval and renewal, estrangement and reconciliation, Waters provides keen insight into the experience and sensibility of different generations as they confront an altered world. A virtuoso collection infused with warmth, The Laws of Evening announces a stunning new voice in fiction.
Download Description
"In this dazzling debut collection, Mary Yukari Waters, a remarkably gifted, award-winning Japanese-American writer, opens a window onto a foreign culture as she reveals the universal humanity of her characters. These uncommonly elegant and assured stories explore Japanese society caught between the long shadow of World War II and the rapid advance of Westernization. The women and children who inhabit these crystalline tales have lost husbands and fathers in the war and now face a world dramatically altered by Western influence. In ""Aftermath,"" a mother watches her son play American dodgeball and eat Western food as she desperately tries to keep alive the memory of his father, who was killed in the war. ""Since My House Burned Down"" depicts a Japanese widow, permanently displaced from her kitchen by her daughter-in-law, reflecting on the deprivations of wartime as the acidic, foreign smell of tomato sauce wafts upstairs. In ""Egg-Face,"" latent hope kindles for thirty-year-old, jobless Ritsuko when a matchmaker arranges for her to meet a handsome young man. And ""The Way Love Works""explores favoritism in three generations of women when a Japanese American teenager returns to Japan with her mother. These finely etched portraits of upheaval and renewal, estrangement and reconciliation, provide keen insight into the Japanese experience and sensibility. A virtuoso collection infused with a warmth that invites readers to feel at home in a world that might otherwise seem alien, The Laws of Evening will undoubtedly place Mary Yukari Waters in the company of our most revered writers. "
Customer Reviews:
About time and relationships........2006-10-20
The short stories deal with the vague passing of time and how things change. Set in Japan after World War Two the stories seem to be trapped between the trappings of the past and the changing landscape of the coming future. It focuses on the changing relationships between mother and children, between people and places, and between their minds and their own bodies.
Beautiful Language.......2006-03-01
I enjoyed the stories in this book and loved learning about the Japanese-American experience. I especially loved "The Way Love Works."
Breathtaking.......2005-09-29
This collection of short stories is poignant, delicate, breathtaking. I can never come up with exactly the right words to describe it, but the stories make my heart ache, they are so tremblingly, delicately beautiful.
Startlingly memorable .......2005-02-12
The Laws of Evening is a memorable collection of poignant and moving stories. Set in Japan, they provide a compelling perspective on the experiences of different generations during World War II and its aftermath. Viewed through the eyes of grandparents, parents and children, the author explores themes of loss and separation, not only between generations, but also between those who fared differently in the war.
Out of a typically edgy landscape, rife with divisions and disconnections, both big and small, the author conjures recurring instances of the painful, hesitant acknowledgment of a changed reality ("The Laws of Evening are not the Laws of Afternoon"). From this acceptance ensues a transformation of the present and a renewed, broader connection to life.
My personal favorites in the collection are Seed, Shibusa and Rationing, each of which is associated with astonishing images of pain and growth that have a heart-breaking intensity to them.
The writing is careful, poised and conveys with precision the nuances of feeling of the protagonists. The author skillfully creates a backdrop to the stories that is cool and restrained (sometimes to the point of eerieness) prior to the reader being swept into the visceral resonance of experience that is profound and deeply moving. This, in my opinion, is writing at its best.
Short Stories as Engaging as Novels.......2004-07-06
Other reviewers understandably and accurately comment on the way the author informs the reader on cultural and historical issues, but I believe this most remarkable masterpiece works because of the depth of its sensitivity to private human experience and its rare literary style. Not a word should be added, not a word removed.
Most of the stories speak of women who have confronted loss, but this is in no way a "woman's book." I have purchased a half dozen copies to share with friends here and overseas, and several of those have subsequently purchased more copies to send to their friends. All have loved it, both men and women. My only complaint about the work is that it ended too soon.
(While I myself generally prefer novels, in contrast to another reviewer I am not certain this author should be encouraged to write novels: she has developed too well the capacity to carve small fine gems.)
You will be glad to have read this rarely engaging and uncommonly touching short book.
Customer Reviews:
delicious reprint of a 2000 anthology.......2006-12-28
"Sweet Sin" by Nina Bangs. Matt Davis persuades his partner Ann Hawkins to make a statue out of chocolate of a naked man for a bachelorette party they cater. Ann agrees only if Matt is the subject.
"Eliza's Gateau" by Lisa Cach. In Brussels, sophisticated restaurateur Sebastian St. Germain notices the pretty naive American female traveling by herself with too much baggage. Eliza Mandish on a European trip sees the stylish Sebastian and knows he is out of her league.
"Meltdown" by Thea Devine. Event planners Donna Cavalero and Jessica Demont work extra hard to insure that the political fundraiser for Matt Greer is a success. However, both females learn that measuring success may not be in the amount of money raised, but in the respective hunk they desire.
"Seducing Sydnee" by Penelope Neri. Agricultural engineer Sydnee Frost travels to Costa Rica to help Cord Westridge save what is left of his cocoa plants. Upon meeting Cord, Sydnee wonders who can save her heart.
These four tales of SEDUCTION BY CHOCOLATE are delicious reprint of a 2000 anthology starring likable lead characters who understand death by sex and chocolate (you will not believe some of the applications that sound sinfully sweet and salty).
Harriet Klausner
Ahhh!!!!!!.......2005-03-25
What is up with all the hype behind this book? It was mediocre at best. Too much talking, not enough action. I expected more from these writers. It's chocolate, people! There was so much potential. Save yourself the money and go to the library.
Seduction By Chocolate.......2005-02-01
Back cover reads:
Sweet Anticipation...
More alluring than Aphrodite, more irresistible than Romeo, the power of this sensuous seductress is renowned. It teases the senses, tempting even the most staid; it inspres wantonness, demanding surrender. Whether savored or devoured, one languishes under its tantalizing spell. To sample it is to crave it. To taste it is to yearn for it. Habit-forming, mouth-watering, sinfully decadent, what promises to sate the hungers of the flesh more? Four couples whet their appetites to discover that seduction by chocolate leads to only one conclusion:
Nothing is more delectable than love.
Fun Story!.......2004-03-25
I had a lot of fun with this series! The action is hot and fast, yum!
pretty good.......2003-08-25
Lisa Cach's "Eliza's Gateau" and Penelope Neri's "Seducing Syndee" were 2 of the best of the 4 (IMHO). Eliza's Gateau was hilarious, sensual, and very romantic... I absolutely LOVED this one. "Seducing Syndee" has its funny moments (her drunken episode) and it was pretty enjoyable.
Customer Reviews:
My truffles are "all the rave".......2001-07-13
The author goes into a lot of detail on how and why to use certain ingredients, and what conditions call for certain measures to be taken during the process. For the experienced cook, with little experience making candy, I found the little treasure of a book very helpful - much more so than many other recipes from books dedicated to candy-making. I tried several truffle recipes prior to those in Ms. Welch's book and her's made the absolute best truffles I've ever tasted!! I made 125 of them for my wedding, and was told afterward that I should go into the chocolate business! No kidding!
Average customer rating:
- Tasty Treats
- (RAW Rating: 3.5) - The decadence of chocolate...
- Great minds think alike
- A Real Treat
|
A Chocolate Seduction
HAROLD TURLEY ,
TL GARDNER , and
TINA, MCKINNEY BROOKS
Manufacturer: Reality Press LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Anthologies | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Erotica | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Anthologies | Erotica | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Romance | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0977098966 |
Book Description
The taboo of sexual indulgence is unleashed in this collection of erotic stories designed to awaken your sweet tooth and leave you throbbing with desire. Can you taste it? The smooth, delicate flavor of the cocoa bean as it melts on your tongue? The swirling sensation in the pit of your stomach as your nipples harden? Can you smell it? The sweet aroma emanating from the sugary substance? The intoxicating scent of arousal on moistened, pulsating lips? Can you feel it? Soft, velvety, creamed to perfection. The gift of orgasm whether swallowed or licked upon expulsion. A collection of fiction's hottest African-American authors team up for this insatiable compilation!
Download Description
The taboo of sexual indulgence is unleashed in this collection of erotic stories designed to awaken your sweet tooth and leave you throbbing with desire. Can you taste it? The smooth, delicate flavor of the cocoa bean as it melts on your tongue? The swirling sensation in the pit of your stomach as your nipples harden? Can you smell it? The sweet aroma emanating from the sugary substance? The intoxicating scent of arousal on moistened, pulsating lips? Can you feel it? Soft, velvety, creamed to perfection. The gift of orgasm whether swallowed or licked upon expulsion. A collection of fiction's hottest African-American authors team up for this insatiable compilation!
Customer Reviews:
Tasty Treats.......2006-06-25
I like short story collections and each story in this collection was tasty and fully satisfying. I have read Tina Mckinney's book Mo Drama and enjoyed it very much, and so reading her story, and seeing this side of her writing was exciting and interesting. Not being a writer I always figured that authors would only write one way, but now I'm seeing things differently. it's hard to write a recap on erotica as you don't want to give it away, yet, everyone kind of knows what it's about. But these story's had more than just sex, they were captivating. TL Gardner's story was written very well, along with the other's stories, like Lena Scott, and Camille Prioleau, neither of who I have heard of before this. Both of their stories stood out. I hope to read something else from these two authors as well as from all the authors in this anthology soon.
(RAW Rating: 3.5) - The decadence of chocolate..........2006-06-02
With its rich taste and silky smoothness, it is widely known that chocolate is considered an aphrodisiac. And for some, as shown in the pages of A CHOCOLATE SEDUCTION, it has many uses in how we express our love to another person. Reality Press presents its first collection of short stories by an eclectic cast of authors on a quest to showcase an insatiably decadent erotic piece of work. We all have our own thoughts on what erotica is, and this collection is sure to have something for everyone.
I liked the concept of this anthology, specifically that authors from various genres teamed up to produce it. Additionally, I'd love to see some of the stories expanded into full length novels. Of them was the delightful writing of T.L. Gardner, in his story "Price of Passion," about a delivery truck driver and the mysterious lady who is the recipient of a package of chocolate he's delivering. I connected not only with the words, but with the characters and the sensuality in his writing. I also enjoyed Camille Prioleau's story "The Emperor of Chocolate" in which a wealthy man decides to serve up his own brand of finding Mrs. Right, reality show style. He's in for a bit of a surprise when he meets Charlotte who dares to stand firm to her morals when faced with possibly losing the contest. Shelley Hallima's "The Icing on the Cake" was an enjoyable piece on ménage a trois, with an unexpected twist.
Additional pieces in the collection were Janet "Jaize" Brown's "Truffles, Anyone," "The Chocolate Factory" by T. Blackmon Jr., "Fingers of Dawn" by Raylene A. McVeigh and Lena Scott's "Chocolate Dream," in which satisfaction was only a dream away. Tina McKinney offered up her own brand of sauce in "What Chocolate Was Made For" and Harold L. Turley made me look at Snickers in a whole new light in his story titled "Chocolate Cravings."
While I appreciated the theme of A CHOCOLATE SEDUCTION, my only wish is that some of the stories had been fleshed out and focused on the actual showing versus telling. Additionally, a final proofreading would've caught glaring mistakes that took away from some of the stories. In spite of these things, I do look forward to reading some of the individual works of the authors involved.
Reviewed by Tee C. Royal
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
Great minds think alike.......2006-04-07
Erotica is changing and so are those who write it. Once, only found covered in brown paper wrapping, erotica now appears everywhere, and in all forms, from the graphic to the subtle. Chocolate Seduction is one of those books that take you from one extreme to the other and you'll enjoy the ride to either end of your trip. Writers from across the genre spectrum team up in this book, bringing their specialties together to make each erotic story unique and fascinating as well as sexually lingering on the mind. The publisher had a great idea with this compilation of talent. I hope there will be more anthologies from this group of hot author because together they are on fire.
A Real Treat.......2006-03-19
Black erotica is finding a larger audience every day and this collection of short stories will certainly enhance that trend. Unlike similar anthologies, A Chocolate Seduction is not just vignettes of couples hooking up for hot, smutty sex. Most of the stories are actually just that - a complete story with a plot, conflict, and resolution.
TL Gardner reels you in with his signature, sexy vampiress, and Lena Scott makes you look at your yard man in a totally different way. T. Blackmon, Jr.'s reverse spin on the edible version of Pygmalion's Galatea will have you examining sculpture in a more tactile fashion, while newcomer Camille Prioleau's cross of Donald Trump's The Apprentice and Flavor Flav's Flavor of Love will definitely bring the drama. And Shelley Hallima's chocolate menage a trois - well, enough said - read it yourself.
All in all, an enjoyable collection by some exciting authors.
Book Description
Chocolate Cookies is the sight of you wrapped in garments of silk, and surrounded by the smell of fragrant Rose Petals. It is the quiet hum of a cello in song. It is the wave of warmth that causes pieces of soft-colored undergarments to melt slowly from the curves of your hips. It is the aftertaste of the sweet dessert that remains on your lover's lips. It is the thrill of a mental slide that awakens your uninhibited side. It is the thought of you carelessly releasing yourself in the midst of the slow joyride.
It is the words that you rarely hear him speak, and the way that he moves that makes your mind, body, and spirit sing. It is the sudden thrill in the feel of his touch that sends tingles spreading throughout your body; from the wet tip of your tongue, to the curl of your toes.
It is the wine, music, hot oil massages, back rubs, and that winter breeze that blows on you at night when the ceiling fan is doing nothing but keeping the hot air pounding. It is the soothing cool.
It is The Taste of Sweet Seduction.
Customer Reviews:
Adding to the Mix.......2003-10-05
I am one of the ladies who was anxiously awaiting the release of this book. When I came to the end of I Thought About You Today, I knew that Tyler had me hooked. Chocolate Cookies shows the variety of Tyler's expertise. He had already given us a preview of his talents - writing sensual and sexual poetry. So this time, he added some short stories. Just adding a little more to the mix. Giving a bit more of himself. Making a woman think about the things that she should or could be experiencing. Educating some men to what they should be doing and how they should be doing it. Words are powerful. With his written voice, Vincent can make a woman feel more than she may have felt when she was actually with someone. So please keep on writing and adding more to your mixture. I am greedy. I want more!!!
I Thought About You Today.......2001-11-15
If you are a reader you already have Vincent Tyler's books-
If you are not a reader, you should be and have Vincent Tyler's books. Both books, I Thought About You Today and Chocolate Cookies are books to be on the shelves of everyone's personal library. Both books stand for good romance, good reading and good references. Mr. Chocolate Cookies, I salute you!!! Your writings indicate to all- I'm Not Scared to Feel, I'm Not Scared to Write, and I'm Not Scared to Experience the Unknown-
All I can say is, "What A Man". You did great!!! I'm looking forward to your upcoming books.
Congratulations -
Babycakes
Sweet and Seductive.......2001-11-01
This book is written from the heart of a man and the words are well crafted so that you're left mentally, if not physically stimulated. It's hard not to get caught up in the sweet allure of his seductive style.
After reading this book, you can't help but want "Sum More" from Mr. Vincent Tyler.
Que Sabrosa.......2001-07-29
With "Chocolate Cookies", Vincent Tyler follows in the footsteps of his first collection of seductive poems, "I Thought About You Today". Once again this smooth brother takes us on a ride through the annals of sensuality with his imaginatively scripted prose. I cannot say enough about the tasteful, yet tantalizing style of Mr. Tyler. I had the pleasure of seeing him perform the poem "Chocolate Cookies" live a year ago in Chicago at the launch party for my website, ...His impromptu performance had pulses racing and I have been hooked on his poetry since. "Chocolate Cookies" will definitely satiate your erotic senses.
Keep 'em coming.......2001-07-19
Vincent Tyler has done it again. He has taken your imagination and truly put it to the test. This book is not for the squimish. This is a MUST have for couples. To get the full effect of this book, light some candles, put on some soft music, read.........and get ready for the explosion. Mr Tyler will take you places you have never been before. I have his first book and I can't wait for the next.
Customer Reviews:
Sweets for the sweet.......2005-03-13
Sisters Sabrina and Mackenzie Bliss make a unique pact when their parents reconcile and re-marry. Though each has their own unique emotional scar from the wounds of their parents divorce, the two figure that if their parents can start over anew, then so can they. Mackenzie wagers their mother's first wedding ring - she will quit her job and start the candy store that she always wanted to run and, at her wild sister's urging, dump her boring boyfried. Sabrina, who never stays in one place, or with one man, for any length of time, has to settle down and not sleep with a man unless she truly loves him. Sabrina thinks a celibate year is asking a bit much, but Mackenzie urges her to satisfy her lusts with chocolate. Feeling the desire for something more down to Earth than the life she has been living, Sabrina agrees and settles down in New York City, getting a job at Decadence, an upscale restaurant. What Sabrina did not forsee was Decadence's hunk of a dessert chef, Kristoffer Rex. The chef has an eye on Sabrina, who plans on eating a lot of chocolate to control her own cravings for Rex. I hope she has a supply in insulin handy as well! This was a nice change of pace from the paranormals, futurists and romantic suspense novels I have been reading recently. I am sure fans of this line of books will enjoy it. Recommended.
fun contemporary romance.......2003-06-15
When their divorced parents remarry one another, sisters MacKenzie and Sabrina Bliss react differently. Mackenzie feels this will last forever while the cynical Bliss expects a second divorce within six months. The siblings agree to "change" lives. Mackenzie must drop "Mr. Dull" to seek exciting romance and quit her secure job to begin her dream of her own candy business. Sabrina must settle in one city with one job with no sex for one year except if she falls in love.
Mackenzie feels good about opening up her own candy store and figures she will win the wager as sweetening up her love life should be as easy to do as making some of her sugary concoctions. However, at night she knows whom she wants: bad boy Devlin Brandt has always been her fantasy. When the former cop turns to her for help, Mackenzie thinks fate has interceded, but though he always wanted her, Devlin feels too jaded to taste the SINFULLY SWEET offering of love.
After gaining a few unwanted pounds while reading the delightful THE CHOCOLATE SEDUCTION, this reviewer decided to go all the way with the sequel (I'll lose weight with my husband next week). The story line once again is a fun contemporary romance starring two warm lead protagonists as the syrupy yet luscious Mackenzie's SINFULLY SWEET seduction of Devlin is amusing yet sexy. Carrie Alexander completes her humorous duo with a winning sweetener, but now readers it is diet time in the city once I finish this cream filled chocolate bell.
Harriet Klausner
Good enough to eat *grin*.......2003-06-06
As Harriet did such a fine job syponsizing this story, I'll just add that this is yet another fine example of Carrie Alexander's talent, and I can't wait to read MacKenzie's story!
Keep on writin', Carrie! : )
amusing sugary yet sexy romance.......2003-05-14
When their divorced parents remarry one another, sisters MacKenzie and Sabrina Bliss react differently. Mackenzie feels this will last forever while the cynical Bliss expects a second divorce within six months. The siblings agree to "change" lives. Mackenzie must drop "Mr. Dull" to seek exciting romance and quit her secure job to begin her dream of her own candy business. Sabrina must settle in one city with one job with no sex for one year except if she falls in love.
Six weeks later, Sabrina has become a chocolate addict convinced that the rush is as good as that from sex. However, working as a lunch manager at the same place as Dessert Chef Kit Rex has caused Sabrina to geometrically increase her intake of chocolate. Kit wants Sabrina and decides the way to her heart is sinfully through sweets as every time he sees her she grabs chocolate.
Fans will find sweet pleasure with this amusing sugary yet sexy romance. The story line is played for fun as Sabrina struggles with her desires for Kit who concocts a plan to make him her diet substitute. Readers will enjoy this tale and look forward to Mackenzie's story due next month.
Harriet Klausner
Book Description
She¹s done it again! K.A. Applegate, best-selling author of author of the ANIMORPHS and EVERWORLD series, presents a fresh, exciting, and gritty new science-fiction series that combines a little 2001, a little Survivor and Armageddon, for a whole lot of action! Where would the Rock hit? Would it hit far out in the ocean and send a wave to wash this idyllic place into the sea like a sandcastle with the tide coming in? Would the Rock hit far across the planet and break the world apart? There¹ll be so much left to do. So much to say. But what do you say at the end of the world?
Customer Reviews:
A book for a young teen..........2007-02-07
I bought this for my son...and it was impossible to find at a local retailer. My son enjoyed it, but said that it was a bit depressing.
Part of an excellent series, apparently.
A Great Continuation.......2002-12-01
After reading the first Remnant book, I didn't think there would be any better books. I was definitely wrong. This book introduced most of the Wakers of the Mayflower. The ones who survived. The first species of Aliens were discovered. There was a lot of action. After reading this, I couldn't wait to see what happened in the next book.
The Awakening.......2002-08-12
In the first book, we left off where the Eighty humans chosen to survive an asteroid (nicknamed The Rock)when it made impact started to hibernate, and we pick up 500 years later, and they are on this strange new "planet". Most of the Eighty are dead, and there are not many essential supplies on board the ship, then on top of that, these aliens are after the Eighty.(which is more like The Twenty) Will the human race become a thing of the past?
Great 2nd book to the Remnants series.......2002-06-19
When the world ended, "The Mayflower Project" gave eighty people the chance for survival. Shot blindly into space the eighty Remnants of the human race have now landed 500 years after the end of the world. Jobs, 2Face, Mo'Steel, Yago, and some others have survived, but many weren't so lucky. Tamara, the pregnant marine sergant, has given birth to a baby mutant. Billy, the kid who stayed awake for all 500 years of their journey is in a coma and insane. Emotions are on high and the remaning people still have no clue where they've landed on. All they know is that the conflicting landscapes can't be true. Can they survive on this strange, new world all alone? This was my favorite Remnants book out of the seven I have read so far. Kept you guessing what was gonna happen next all the time. Some parts were kinda gross but that was just how the author imagined the planet to be. Can't wait to read further installments of Remnants!
AMAZING!.......2002-05-15
The Remnants wake up from their hibernation, and find out they've taken a 500 year "nap". More than half the Remnants are dead. They are on a bizzare planet, where nothing is realistic. There are strange aliens, nicknamed "Riders", who seem to want nothing but to ...[destroy] the Remnants. And pretty soon they find out they are not on a planet, but a ship...
Book Description
No woman alive today has inspired so many with her simplicity of faith and compassion so all-encompassing. As she daily embraces the "least of the least" in her arms, Mother Theresa challenges the whole world to greater acts of service and understanding in the name of love.
First published in 1971, this classic work introduced Mother Theresa to the Western World. As timely now as it was then, Something Beautiful for God interprets her life through the eyes of a modern-day skeptic who became literally transformed within her presence, describing her as "a light which could never be extinguised."
Customer Reviews:
malcolm on mother.......2007-01-18
Late in his adult life the renowned agnostic Malcolm Muggeridge converted to Christianity through the influence of Mother Teresa (1910-1997). In 1959 he interviewed Mother Teresa, and then ten years later made a television documentary of her life for the BBC. To honor her beatification in October 2003, Harper reissued the book version of these two efforts as a short, popular biography. Muggeridge reviews how Mother Teresa left her very satisfying call as a high school teacher and followed her "call within a call" to love the poorest of the poor in Calcutta. Under her direction, and convinced that every person should be able to die within sight of a loving face, no person was ever refused. Today, the Missionaries of Charity which she founded have houses in almost every country of the world. Evocative black and white photos accompany Muggeridge's powerful story-telling.
This book is truly beautiful.......2004-07-13
This book is expressly concerned with the work Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity do together in Calcutta and elsewhere for the poorest of the poor, written by a man who worked for many years in the same city and who much admired her work. It is full of anecdotes about her life and work and provides a pretty good summary of the major events. We know Mother Teresa for the great love that she poured out on the poor but at the very heart of all she did was her great love for God. "Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" was one of her favorite sayings. Yet Muggeridge had never met anyone less sentimental, less scatty, more down-to-earth. Mother Teresa took a very practical view of money as her needs grew. When the Pope visited India he presented her with his white ceremonial motor car but she never so much as took a ride in it, organizing a raffle and raising enough money to start her leper colony.
The author tells us that while teaching Mother Teresa received her call within a call - to work with the poorest of the poor rather than in her Loreto school convent with its pleasant garden, eager schoolgirls, congenial colleagues and rewarding work. When her release came, she stepped out with a few rupees in her pocket, made her way to the poorest, wretchedest part of the city, found a lodging there, gathered together a few abandoned children and began her ministry of love. To choose, as Mother Teresa did, to live in the slums of Calcutta, amidst all the dirt, disease and misery, signified a spirit so indomitable, a faith so intractable, a love so abounding, that the writer felt abashed.
Following the instructions of her Lord, Mother Teresa regarded every derelict left to die in the streets as Him; she heard every cry of abandoned children, even the tiny squeak of the discarded foetus, as the cry of the Bethlehem child; she recognized in every Leper's stumps the hands which once touched sightless eyes and made them see. What the poor needed, Mother Teresa was fond of saying, even more than food and clothing and shelter (though they need these, too, and desperately) is to be wanted. It is the outcast state their poverty imposes upon them that is the most agonizing. She had a place in her heart for them all. To her, they were all children of God, for whom Christ died. The author never experienced so perfect a sense of human equality as with Mother Teresa among her poor. Her love for them made them equal, as brothers and sisters within a family are equal. This is the only equality there is on earth, and it cannot be embodied in laws, enforced by coercion, or promoted by protest and upheaval, deriving, as it does, from God's love, which, like the rain from heaven, falls on the just and the unjust, on the rich and poor, alike. The nuns all eat the same food, wear the same clothes, and possess as little as their clients - the poorest of the poor. The nuns are not permitted to have a fan or any other mitigations of life in Bengal's sweltering heat. Even at prayers, the clamor and discordance of the street outside intrude, lest they should forget why they are there and where they belong.
Critics point out that statistically speaking Mother Teresa and the sisters achieved little but in Muggeridge's view Christianity is not a statistical view of life. Welfare is for a purpose while love is for a person. The one is about numbers while the other is about a person who is also God. The God Mother Teresa worships cannot see a sparrow fall to the ground without concern.
I found Malcom Muggeridge's portrayal of Mother Teresa penetrating, very helpful and in a small volume you receive a good idea of the woman who may well be recognized as a saint during our lifetime. Sadly, some of our churches appeal to only a small congregation; for someone concerned with why their message is not getting over as effectively as they might wish, there could be no better way than studying this book and learning more about Mother Teresa's way of expressing love.
This book is truly something beautiful
The Beauty of God in a Nun.......2004-05-15
Among the hundreds of books written on Mother Teresa and her ministry, this is one of the earliest and the best. It has the very words of Mother Teresa with regard to her life, vocation and apostolate. The photographs and interviews included in the book make the portrayal of this nun and her work almost complete. Making a TV program about her and writing this book, were life-changing experiences for Malcolm Muggeridge. For someone planning to learn about Mother Teresa this may be the book to begin with.
Muggeridge's Mother Teresa: real or myth?.......2004-02-14
Malcolm Muggeridge did indeed introduce Mother Teresa to the Western World as the book description said. Subsequently her name recognition is greater than Muggeridge's nowadays. Thus people might not have an idea of what a nasty person Muggeridge was. This makes people who know Muggeridge obviously skeptical of people he presents as saintly. Christopher Hitchens book about Mother Teresa, "The Missionary Position" gives you another view of Mother Teresa.
If you want to read about a truly holy Catholic who cared for the poor, read the book "Oscar Romero", about Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was made a martyr at the altar while saying mass in El Salvador.
Truly Beautiful.......2002-05-11
This really isn't a biography of Mother Teresa so much as it is a document in reflection on one man's encounters with her. Mother Teresa is such a dynamic and profound personality, indeed so much a reflection of her Savior, that just meeting her has inspired much reflection, conviction, and devotion in the mind and heart of Malcolm Muggeridge. She is that rare persona who somehow ascends past celebrity status. Celebrities, in the end, are entertainment. Mother Teresa's presence and personality are much more than entertainment: with hardly a word she challenges and changes people. The best parts of this book have more to do with Muggeridge's inner searching than with Teresa's life and work.
I'm sure that she would shy away from all this praise. Yet truly she is a reflection of her Savior, which is her heart's desire. This strange and unearthly power she has to affect lives with nothing more than her presence perhaps can help us understand how an illiterate carpenter from the backwaters of the world managed to split history in half and utterly turn the world upside down. When you draw near to God, even just a reflection of Him, you cannot help but be changed.
What I love most about Mother Teresa, what inspires and challenges me the most, is her ability, maybe even insistence, in seeing Christ in the poor and destitute that she cared for. He said `whatsoever you do unto the least of these, you do unto me' and she takes it seriously -- and the result is beautiful beyond comparison. It makes my heart leap.
Thank you, Lord, for sending us a woman like your servant Teresa to remind us of your face, your call, and your love. We are eternally grateful.
Customer Reviews:
Inspirational Poetry.......2006-03-19
Graphics by Dearl Abbott
2003, 165 pages.
The Abbotts worked as a Chaplain and a nurse at the V.A. Medical Center in Lexington, KY until they retired in 1983, then started doing voluntary missionary work overseas.
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God Made Something Beautiful (Find the Animals)
Reeve, Penny
Manufacturer: Christian Focus
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Something Beautiful for God
Malcolm Muggeridge
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ASIN: 0006224431 |
Books:
- The Lion and the Throne: Stories from the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi, Vol. 1
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- The Power of Form: African Art From the Horstmann Collection
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- The Tastemakers: The Shaping of American Popular Taste
- The Terrible Hours : The Man Behind the Greatest Submarine Rescue in History
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