The Schooling of Claybird Catts : A Novel

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Janis Owens Rocks

Janis Owens' Homerun

The Schooling of Claybird Catts

A HECK OF A READ

EXCELLENT READING --- LOVED IT!!

The Schooling of Claybird Catts : A Novel
Janis Owens
Manufacturer: Amazon Remainders Account
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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My Brother Michael

Myra Sims

The Bookseller of Kabul

ASIN: B000ENBSLS

Book Description

When his beloved father, Michael, dies, Claybird Catts finds solace in the company of his close-knit family -- his mysterious and beautiful mother, Myra; his lovable, know-it-all sister, Missy; his newly grown-up brother, Simon; and his devoted grandmother, Cissie -- whose warmth and caring prove the only true constants in Clay's disrupted life. Devastated by his loss, but secure in their love, Claybird feels as though life could almost go on as usual in their small, sleepy, Southern hometown. Until his uncle Gabe comes back.

A stranger to Claybird, Uncle Gabe is a brilliant academic who went north twenty years ago and then all but disappeared. Despite the deep mystery that surrounds him, Gabe's humor and intellect shine, and he quickly positions himself in the role of the Catts family's savior. Soon he seems to fit right into the place left vacant by the death of Claybird's father. Gabe and Claybird become co-conspirators and best friends, until a slip of the tongue unveils the real history of their relationship, a heart-wrenching revelation that turns Claybird's world upside down.

The Schooling of Claybird Catts offers a rare wisdom about life, about the frail yet unbreakable bonds that form among family, and about the beauty and sorrow of everyday lives. A beguiling story told in the rich, Southern storytelling tradition, in an irresistible voice that sweeps the reader up from the first page and doesn't let go, this is the kind of novel to read again and again and to treasure forever.

Customer Reviews:

Janis Owens Rocks.......2005-03-05

I was knocked out by My Brother Michael and immediately turned to The Schooling of Claybird Catts for more of Janis Owens' literary enchantment. I wasn't disappointed. Like Faulkner revealing life's complexity through multiple viewpoints in The Sound and the Fury, this book returns to the mesmerizing events of her first novel, only this time as seen through the eyes of young Claybird. The reader comes away from this story again as if emerging from a dream or spell, with a deep feeling for the humanity of these characters and something of the tragedy, the comedy, the sheer mind-boggling dimensionality and the bittersweet mystery and wonder of human experience. Claybird Catts is a revelation and a delight. While so much literature coming out of the South these days seems self-indulgent, self-parodying, as memorable as a trip to Walmart, Janis Owens is the most engaging and deeply satisfying writer of Southern fiction I have come across in decades. Every word she writes rings true, including "a", "an" and "the."

Janis Owens' Homerun.......2003-10-20

Janis Owens goes to the heart of teenage vulnerabilities and self doubts in telling the Catts-Sims story from a young boy's point of view. That she does this is admirable, that she does it so well is truly miraculous. Claybird's painful, self-imposed estrangement from his family eventually heals, through their loving patience and his bittersweet maturation. More than just a coming of age tale, the gentle, honest portrayal of the heartaches and wonders of a dyslexic child provide insight and encouragement of this little understood reading difficulty. Ms. Owens' writing style is enchanted and her characters are so real the reader will know them personally, but perhaps that insight and encouragement is the ultimate compliment of this story.

The Schooling of Claybird Catts.......2003-09-29

Had no idea what to expect when I picked up this novel - and was hooked by the end of the first chapter. A marvelous tale, and told so well - Janis Owens is a wonderful fresh voice, another great Southern writer who has the kind of story-telling ability that draws the reader in without guile or the predictable plot twists and turns that have become the norm these days. Such a satisfying read, one that left me wanting more. A great book. Looking forward to reading her other books, and the next one she comes out with.

A HECK OF A READ.......2003-09-28

Our club found this on our library booksite and fell in love. It's about Clayton Catts who is a young man who is dealing with his father's death and his unknown uncle. Book book is not tragic but funny,southern but not too southern, and most of all just touching. Men even liked this book and we never agree on that!!

EXCELLENT READING --- LOVED IT!!.......2003-07-18

I've read all of this author's books and her writing has matured with this latest. It's my favorite of all three. Highly recommended. I loved it.

Amazon.com

Brightly Burning marks Mercedes Lackey's return to the kingdom of Valdemar, and introduces us to a portion of the otherwise unchronicled reign of King Theran. The book's principle figure is Valdemar's most powerful herald, Laven Firestorm, who comes of age during Valdemar's war with its long-time enemy, the kingdom of Karse.

Sixteen-year-old Laven Chitward's world is turned upside down when his mother is selected as a textile guild representative in the small rural community where he was raised. Moving to the capital city of Haven rips him away from his friends and boyhood pleasures, and nothing in Haven seems to fill that void. Unable to fit into the nouveau riche society, and unwilling to follow his parents into the textile guild, he finds himself adrift and depressed. His father enrolls him in a special school that will allow him to choose a trade that interests him, rather than be apprenticed against his will. There he finds himself terrorized and tortured by the boys in the sixth form until, with an awful roar, the gift of fire awakens deep within him and extracts revenge for his sadistic treatment.

With the help of a unique herald, an empathetic healer and a special companion, Laven soon learns to keep his gift under control and eventually, to direct his awful firestorm as far as he can see. When the kingdom of Karse attacks, Laven is hurried to the border to assist his king and country by repelling the invasion. During the final battle Laven earns the name Firestorm and becomes one of the most famous heralds in the history of Valdemar.

Brightly Burning is a distinct and unforgettable coming-of-age story. With a compelling cast of characters and lively dialog, Mercedes Lackey once again demonstrates her adroit mastery of fantasy fiction. --Robert Gately

Book Description

Brightly Burning is the most highly anticipated hardcover novel of Mercedes Lackey's amazing career. A glorious return to her bestselling Valdemar series, it tells the tragic tale of one of Valemar's most legendary characters...

His name is Lavan Firestorm, a young man blessed--and cursed--with a special talent for firestarting. Here, at last, is his story.Praise for the Valdemar novels:

"Affecting and compulsive reading."--Locus

"Lackey's Valdemar series is already a fantasy classic."--Romantic Times

"Spellbinding...she spins intricate webs of magical adventure."--Rave Reviews"Strong, suspenseful... will satisfy the most avid fantasy fan."--VOYA

Customer Reviews:

Thoroughly enjoyable.......2007-08-22

I suppose that, not having read the other books in the series, maybe I have a greater appreciation for it as a standalone novel. I love Lackey's power of description, and her characters always seem a little more real to me than most fantasy characters do. This book in particular, I really got into. I identified with the main character (and no I'm not a teenaged boy) and could empathize with his conflicts.

The world Lackey has created in this series is a wonderful, if sometimes terrifying, place. I can't wait to read the other books, and I recommend this one to any Misty fan.

One of my all-time favorite books.......2007-05-18

This just seems to be one of those books that people either really hate or really love. I, as you can tell, fall in the latter- this was the first book of Misty's that I found, and it completely captivated me. I'm in the middle of re-reading it for the 2nd or 3rd time, and it still amazes me. I agree that it probably appeals more to a younger audience- I first read this when I was 15, and having been bullied and even beaten up twice in my childhood, and being very sensitive, I can really identify with Lan even as an adult (I'm 20 now). And this isn't the whole focus of the book, but if you just don't think a book about a struggling emotional teenager would appeal to you, then you may want to pass this up.

This book truly touched and moved me, however, and I hope it does the same to anyone else who knows what feels like to be an outsider.

Ultimately Empty.......2007-05-08

I'm not sure if this was just a bad novel, or if I just didnt enjoy it because I read immediately after blowing through the much more epic Mage Winds and Mage Storms books.
In the end though, there's close to no real character development leaving them all flat and fairly uninteresting. Lavan never once really faces his own problems, everyone from heralds to the king himself fix everything for him. The story drags on until almost the very end, where things rush to a rather cliched end. Lackey did a much better job describing the effects of war in The Black Gryphon. Several plot strings go absolutely nowhere. Finally, the relationship between Lavan and his companion is more then a little weird, even learning the true nature of companions from from the Storms books.

A Story Reaching Through the Total Range of Emotions.......2006-05-10

This book is filled with lots of emotion. Enough to get any of us involved and thinking. My emotions went through the whole range, from being angry about his treatment by others, to the joy of his finally finding someone who loves him, and he loves totally, to all the sadness of what happens in the end. This is one of the most touching novels Mercedes Lackey has ever written.

Probably the best book I have EVER read!!!.......2006-03-19

Brightly Burning was the first Mercedes Lackey book I have ever read and ever since I have been an avid fan...It lead me to have more Mercedes Lackey books than any other author!
This is (to me) a FANTASTIC book that truly touches you...I could scarcely put it down and when i did all I thought about was picking it back up again :). Reading this book is like...like being there yourself. You can really FEEL the emotions through Misty's well chosen words, I have never cried so much over a book! Beside the tears this book brought me an undeniable warmth and comfort, I will always treasure the experience that reading this book brought me. I admit that i found the lifebonding of Lavan to his companion rather strange but other than that the story, characters and general execution of this book were all...perfect.

I am forever in Mercedes Lackey's debt for the wonderful experience that I was given through reading this book!

Burn Brightly Without Burning Out: Balancing Your Career with the Rest of Your Life

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Leadership Text/
Totally Life Changing
A BOOK FOR LIFE
"Burning Brightly without Burning Out"
Awesome!

Burn Brightly Without Burning Out: Balancing Your Career with the Rest of Your Life
Richard K. Biggs
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Motivational | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Money & Values | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Stress Management | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Personality Plus: How to Understand Others by Understanding Yourself

ASIN: 0785265139

Book Description

Are you burning brightly-or burning out-in your spiritual, mental, physical, and emotional life? Do you find yourself being torn between work and family? Between what you have to do and what you want to do? In Burn Brightly Without Burning Out, Richard K. Biggs examines twenty delicate contrasts we all face and urges readers to gradually improve the balance between work and the other aspects of life. Filled with examples and exercises, each brief chapter reveals timeless truths, offers practical application tips, and issues a call to action."I love the big message of this small book," writes John Maxwell in the foreword. "Whether you're struggling to find work/life balance, or seeking to better the quality of life you now enjoy, Richard can help."

Customer Reviews:

Leadership Text/.......2003-10-08

Dick Biggs' book has something for all of us, from leaders in our military, to industry, and our society. Every parent should have this book because it lays out what is important in life, read relationships, and how to achieve same. We are the leaders of our children, and Dick makes very stronge leadership points. This book is divided into twenty contrasts of life, twenty short chapters loaded with idea, thoughts, and recomendations that we need to study and commit upon. The first chapter, Image and Integrity, is the perfect start. Without integrity we don't amount to much, but too many of us today are only concerned with image. In this chapter, "grit" is found in the word integrity. This book is small, 5 X 7.5 inches, and the chapters are 4 to six pages that makes for handy reading. Read a chapter with your morning coffee, while waiting for the rest of the members to arrive at a meeting, and at other times when you have ten minutes for good thoughs about where you are going. Most importantly, if you take this work seriously, you can determine who you really are and how others know you. We all need to think about Richard Biggs' words, they will help us and our society. This is a great gift for those people you love.

Totally Life Changing.......2003-07-02

A friend chose this book and left it at my house. I ran out of books for the moment and picked it up thinking it was another one of those...
How absolutely overwhelmed I was at my age (73) to learn so much in so few pages. Much of what he has said to help guide people to a fuller, richer life, I had already learned and applied, but none of us have ever reached the point we can't learn or see something a bit differently.

My life changed drastically when health dictated this master workaholic was ordered to shut down her thriving business overnight or else...For 2 years I have been under recontruction to learn to be at peace in every situation. I can see, however, how to start over again now that my health is back and the doors are slowly opening to be useful again to myself and the Lord but this time I am going to keep this book right along with my Bible so I will put into practice the principles Richard K. Biggs has put forth. For whatever years I have left I intend to do it right and be a blessing to all I meet because of these excellent guidelines.

A BOOK FOR LIFE.......2003-04-15

They say in five years, you will become the average of the books you have read and the people you have associated with. For two-and-a-half years, I've had the privelege of associating with Dick Biggs as a professional speaker--and now I've been able to read his book. Both have become indispensible resources for me.

Dick is respected among professional speakers for being a man who walks his talk. Reading his latest book, BURN BRIGHTLY WITHOUT BURNING OUT, is almost as good as knowing the man--it will provide very practical assistance if you want to achieve great things in your professional life while building balance into your personal life.

Are you a reader? Then you'll really enjoy this book. Are you working on developing the reading habit? Then this book will get you hooked. If Amazon allowed a SIX-star review, this one would get SEVEN!

"Burning Brightly without Burning Out".......2003-02-26

"Burning Brightly without Burning Out" is a breath of fresh air to those pressed by the demands of life. Besides being easy to read, the content is straightforward and potent. With so many voices calling for our attention, it's wonderful to have some basic principles by which to evaluate our commitments. Bigg's solid foundation gives his life direction and purpose. Instead of trying to do it "all" half-heartedly, Biggs has discovered the secret of doing a few priorities well. Thanks for the lessons well-learned!

Awesome!.......2003-02-25

Outstanding book that'll nurture your heart and nourish your mind. A must read! It's an awesome book, and I highly recommend it.

Average customer rating:

Outstanding!

Malcolm X: A Fire Burning Brightly
Walter Dean Myers
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0060277076

Amazon.com

"I am for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it is for or against."

These words were spoken by the controversial civil rights activist Malcolm X in 1965, the same year he was assassinated in Harlem, New York. Born Malcolm Little, Malcolm X spent much of his life speaking out for the equality of black people and the need for individuals to take personal responsibility for their own success in America.

Originally from in Nebraska and raised in Michigan, Maalcolm moved to Boston when he was 14 years old. Boston and New York represented a whole new world to him, a world where black people seemed sharp, cool, and slick. The newly zoot-suited, snappy hat-wearing Malcolm also fell into a Boston gang, and when he was 21 years old, was imprisoned for robbery. Once in prison, he became an avid reader and letter writer. His brother Reginald told him about the Nation of Islam, a political and religious organization dedicated to the betterment of black people, and he became a correspondent of the group's leader, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Upon his release in 1952 he became Malcolm X, as many black Muslims dropped their family names for "X," which represented a lost African name.

As Malcolm X, he preached equality, and much to the dismay of many, separatism of blacks and whites. He felt strongly that a revolution was in order, that black people shouldn't rule out violence as an option to effect change. "You don't have a peaceful revolution," he said. "You don't have a turn the cheek revolution. There's no such thing as a nonviolent revolution!" In 1964, he broke with the Nation of Islam and went to Mecca. And it wasn't until 1965 that he came to a gentler, less divisive approach to justice: "I believe in recognizing every human being as a human being--neither white, black, brown, or red."

Walter Dean Myers is an award-winning writer of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for young people, and has penned a masterful, even-handed biography of Malcolm X for young readers. Leonard Jenkins, illustrator of Sunflower Island by Carol Greene, brings his bold, beautiful, collage-style paintings to the life of a man whose fire burned brightly and went out too quickly. A chronology in the back of the book marks the important dates in the life of Malcolm X; quotations trace his spiritual and philosophical development. (Ages 8 and older) --Karin Snelson

Book Description

"We never can win freedom and justice and equality until we are doing something for ourselves!"

Malcolm X learned from his father that black people should demand equality by taking their lives and futures into their own hands. Malcolm believed in this idea. It was one he lived by.

Though Malcolm faced hard times growing up and even went to jail, he turned his life around. He read books and combined lessons he'd learned from his father and from the religious leader Elijah Muhammad. Soon Malcolm would become a powerful leader in the struggle for blacks to achieve equality.

Malcolm died tragically when he was only thirty-nine, but his beliefs live on today. Walter Dean Myers's evenhanded narrative and Leonard Jenkins's striking paintings celebrate the man and the fiery message he brought to all people of color.

Customer Reviews:

Outstanding!.......2000-07-10

This book really captures the heart, the mind, and the troubles of Malcolm X and society in the 1960's. The beautiful illustrations are wonderful at expressing complex emotions and complement the words of Walter Dean Myers extemely well. This book is fabulous as children seek to understand the complexities of those turbulent times.

Burn brightly without burning out: Balancing your career with the rest of your life (Successories library)

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Burn brightly without burning out: Balancing your career with the rest of your life (Successories library)
Dick Biggs
Manufacturer: Successories, Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Happiness | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Success | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 188046148X

Product Description

Don't let the urgent matters of work sap your energy for the few important matters of a lifetime. Develop a keen sense of urgency to free up more time to plan and act upon the important matters that shape the rest of your life.

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Brightly Burning

ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000H0T7UW

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Brightly Burning
Mercedes Lackey
Manufacturer: DAW Books, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RLBEXY

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Burn Brightly Without Burning Out
Richard K. Biggs
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Motivational | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Stress Management | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Inspirational | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0785288171

Burning brightly: John Steinbeck on stage

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Burning brightly: John Steinbeck on stage
Orval Bronson
Manufacturer: Bronson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0933994249

Burning Brightly: New Light on Old Tales Told Today

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Burning Brightly
Oral Storytelling -- Canadian tellers, tales and contexts

Burning Brightly: New Light on Old Tales Told Today
Kay Stone
Manufacturer: Broadview Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Folklore & Mythology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Rhetoric | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1551111675

Book Description

'Burning Brightly' is the first full-length book treatment of professional storytelling in North America today. For some years there has been a major storytelling revival throughout the continent, with hundreds of local groups and centres springing up, and with storytelling becoming an important part of professional training for librarians.

In the book, Stone explores storytelling through the storytellers themselves, while providing enlightening commentary from her own background as a storyteller. Included in her analysis are informative discussions of organized storytelling communities, individual tellers, and tales. Issues such as the modern recontexualization of old tales and the role of women in folktales are linked to individual storytelling accounts. Texts of eight stories that exemplify the approaches of the various storytellers are also included.

'Burning Brightly will be compelling reading for storytellers-and for everyone who loves storytelling.

Customer Reviews:

Burning Brightly.......2000-08-18

This book has given me much to think about and provided much comfort. The "much to think about" comes from Part One where Stone looked at storytelling communities. Her analysis of them helped me see more clearly what's here in Kentucky and how those communities function as well as what might be missing and how those could come about and could function. Part Two provided "much comfort." Here Stone looked at individual tellers as they talked about the development of the telling of a specific tale. She also included a transcript of the tale as the teller told it to her. This was fascinating since I love telling fairy and folk tales (wondertales, Stone calls them) and am not that interested in creating parodies or spicing them up in ways that call attention to the teller's cleverness instead of to the story. To read about how storytellers have worked on the telling of a story and about how the story has worked on the teller was like looking in a mirror at my ways of working and seeing that I truly am not alone. Although my comments touch on only a fraction of the subject matter in Kay Stone's book, those two aspects are what burns brightest for me now. To read it was a fine and wonderful experience with thoughts and images "burning brightly" to illuminate my path. Thank you, Kay Stone.

Oral Storytelling -- Canadian tellers, tales and contexts.......1998-11-12

In Burning Brightly: New light on old tales told today, Kay Stone tracks the revival of oral storytelling in Canada. Since the dawn of human history storytellers have entertained, educated and inspired members of their communities, but in the age of books and television their art almost died out, relegated to story hours for children. Early chapters of Burning Brightly explore the many adult storytelling communities which have arisen in cities and rural areas over the last twenty years, including four streams: "traditional", library/educational, theatrical, and spiritual/therapeutic. The book shows how these communities fulfill the human need for meaning and connection. Traditional tales, including many from the Grimm collections, retain their relevance in today's world. Stone explores the reasons tellers choose these old tales and the ways they rework them. In the second half of her book, Kay Stone explores in depth the life stories, thoughts and repertoires of eight contemporary tellers, including herself. Texts of their stories are included. Her own tale, that of a curious girl who meets a dangerous crone and finds her own storytelling voice, acts as a metaphor for the revival of oral storytelling as a performance art. Kay Stone offers rare insights based on her dual career as a popular Winnipeg storyteller and an internationally recognized folklorist. Her book shows the depth and breadth of today's storytelling as does no other book I have seen, and is a valuable resource for storytellers, folklorists and anyone interested in oral tradition and community building.

SHIPBUILDING - New SF from Scotland: Junk; Things to Come; The Software Ripper; Body Politics; A Basket of Stones; Touched by an Angel; Lava Dick Has the Blues; Replicator; Burning Brightly; Corrosion; Viral Programme

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SHIPBUILDING - New SF from Scotland: Junk; Things to Come; The Software Ripper; Body Politics; A Basket of Stones; Touched by an Angel; Lava Dick Has the Blues; Replicator; Burning Brightly; Corrosion; Viral Programme
Anonymous (editor) (Neil Williamson; Paul F. Cockburn; Angus McAllsiter; Harvey Welles; Philip Raines; Veronica Colin; Gary M. Gibson; Richard Hammersley; Andrew C. Ferguson; Fergus Bannon; Michael Cobley; Andrew J. Wilson)
Manufacturer: Taverna Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000VEBJYG

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Some books alter the reality of the reader

I'm not sure what to think. And I don't mean that in a good way.

Waking from the Meme Dream

The sufi warrior beside me thinks this one is pretty far out

When only the best will do

Poker Without Cards: A Consciousness Thriller
Ben Mack
Manufacturer: Lulu.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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Think Two Products Ahead: Secrets the Big Advertising Agencies Don't Want You to Know and How to Use Them for Bigger Profits

Simpleology: The Simple Science of Getting What You Want

What Would Bill Hicks Say?

The Great Formula: for Creating Maximum Profit with Minimal Effort

Hypnotic Writing: How to Seduce and Persuade Customers with Only Your Words

ASIN: 1411627679

Book Description

As a result of this book, Ben will never work in advertising again. If you read it, neither will you. May this clever virus infect the mediaspace before it's too late. -Douglas Rushkoff Author of Coercion; Cyberia; Media Virus

Customer Reviews:

Some books alter the reality of the reader.......2007-07-09

Every artist secretly wants to change the world.

Books like this just might do so.

If you like it, read the books referrenced in it -- it's a wild ride.

In fact, if anyone likes MY book (Chunnel Surfer II), I just might recommend Poker Without Cards to them. Actually, any of the novels I've reviewed here (ie The Illuminatus! Trilogy: The Eye in the Pyramid, The Golden Apple, Leviathan, Vellum: The Book of All Hours, House of Leaves and others)would be good company for Poker without Cards.

I'm not sure what to think. And I don't mean that in a good way........2007-03-14

There's a couple layers here. There's interesting material (a lot cribbed from other sources, but still interesting). There's an extraordinarily self-conscious branding attempt. There are a couple different pseudonyms such that the author's identity is pretty confused. There's an effort to get readers to think about a lot of things that are worth thinking about.

It's a fun read. Just don't take it as seriously as it wants you to. And if you've read a lot of Robert Anton Wilson or Buckminster Fuller, it's probably not worth your time. Basically, I'm not sure to what extent this is an attempt to capitalize on the work of authors writing in a certain niche and build a brand around it, and to what extent this is interesting, original material.

Waking from the Meme Dream.......2006-03-18

"Poker Without Cards" kicks like a jackass to Willie's left shinbone!

I was safe... as long as I was asleep. Now I'm f**king awake. After the first read it dawned on me that I'm an addict... addicted to higher authorities... addicted to those who know.

Ben Mack released my chains.

Reading "Poker Without Cards" I learned about:

1. The Voight Comm Test.

2. When God speaks to preachers, nobody ever really freaks out and questions their sanity. Shouldn't the fact that God spoke to them be on CNN? Either God is speaking to them and we have a modern day prophet and the newfound words of God should be published everywhere, or they are criminals for swindling their donations. Or, are they insane?

3. Relying too heavily on intelligence is a sign of immaturity. Young people are eager to show off. They flaunt what they know and what they think. They can't resist. Character is the greater part of knowledge. Knowledge is the application of character and intelligence.

4. Consenus breeds reality. Garnering and stewarding consenus is powerful. The Catholic Church was the first organization to recognize that garnering consensus was an effective path to ruling people.

5. Poker is an inquiry into the structure of power. The goal of poker is sustainable increases in money. Money is power. The structure of poker is betting with incomplete information. Poker includes playing on emotions and social motivators usually discounted in other inquiries into power or disciplines.

6. IQ tests have been revealed to test acclimation to dominant white culture.

7. The Finnegans are waking.

I'm now fighting for my mind. Praying that I won't fall prey... again. Fighting for my freedom... ending my hunt for subservient slaves to bring to my elite master. They may hold and control the empire... but not the empire of my mind.

"Poker Without Cards" is the handle of a multipurpose tool... buy it... read it... free yourself... free others. Whether you are willing to follow my advice or not...

Big brother is watching. Bow to the one you serve.

The sufi warrior beside me thinks this one is pretty far out.......2006-03-15

I first read this book at a time in my life (a year ago, ha) when I would spend hours at a time talking to some very intelligent and very alive friends of mine--and we would talk about the beautiful structure of language (see Richard Bandler, et al), trance within trance, this thing called "magick," and all sorts of other crazy stuff that driven, creative, imaginitive kids come up with. We would go on hypnotizing each other just for fun, like we were playing a high level game of word chess. Was going into a deep trance now the prize or the penalty? We're just regular kids though, in our 20s. Our minds hadn't and (haven't) been beaten down yet with the necessity to be right all the time.

My revelation point came the night after my friend reccomended the book and I read the first 20 pages or so. I went to talk to him and asked, "Is this real or fiction???" and he just grinned at me, like I had made him proud of how easily I was getting into the whole thing.

Any true intellectual explorer, including those who like Robert Anton Wilson, or Christopher Hyatt, or Buckminster Fuller ... should enjoy this book immensely. In fact I think R.A.W. gave an awesome review of this. It's one of the many books that I reccomend to people who are being changed into something ALIVE. It's a keeper.

Stay up late at night, bypass your critical factor, and read this text. You too will become a Ben Mack fan.

When only the best will do.......2006-02-01

This was without a doubt one of the best books purchased in a very long time. Concise and to the point. I reccommend this to everyone.

Book Description

Presents twelve topics that provide guidance and growth in the Christian life from one of the greatest devotional writers.

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