Tempting Faith DiNapoli : A Novel

Average customer rating:

I was a teenager again!

Boring bildungsroman...

loved this---despite

An original

A beautiful book

Tempting Faith DiNapoli : A Novel
Lisa Gabriele
Manufacturer: Amazon Remainders Account
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Canadian | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000C4SNTO

Book Description

“Our house, in Little Italy, shared a wall with the Rossis’ next door, and our clothesline connected with the Pilettis’ behind us. My mother used to say that if one of the neighbours’ houses was swallowed up by hell, we would all be pulled down with them.”

Smart, witty, and emotionally generous, Tempting Faith DiNapoli is first-time novelist Lisa Gabriele’s alternately wrenching and funny coming-of-age story about a girl who is born with a powerful faith — a faith that is sorely tested across the difficult years of her childhood and adolescence.

Bewildered by her lot as the daughter in a fundamentally and often hilariously dysfunctional family, Faith genuinely wants to be a good Catholic girl. And she’s pretty sure Jesus loves her. Trouble is, she’s angry. Angry with her father for leaving, her mom for never going anywhere, and her siblings — just because they’re around. So Faith lies. She cheats and she steals. In fact, she breaks every commandment on the list, mostly by accident. And in the process, Faith finds herself increasingly torn between the girl she and Jesus want her to be, and the girl she just plain happens to be.

Lisa Gabriele writes with rare confidence and insight. Her sure-handed narrative hums along on the charged rhythms of Faith’s poignant quest for her own private happy ending. Charming, fresh, and big-hearted, Tempting Faith DiNapoli is a novel that will stay with readers long after the last page has been turned.

Customer Reviews:

I was a teenager again!.......2006-11-06

I wanted to give this book, say, 3.8 stars, but it wouldn't let me. I considered what a 5 star book would be (a classic, maybe?) and judged from there.

I really enjoyed this book. Not only was it a fresh breeze from all the more modern written material that leaves so much to be desired, but it brought me back to the past in such a good way. Faith is a full character; I could relate to so much of what she goes through while growing up in the 70s and 80s... so many little things I'd forgotten about. Sometimes I felt I was reading some of the very same things I felt and thought and experienced growing up, and other times I felt that I was reading the journal of a friend.

I'm excited for the release of Gabriele's next novel, due soon!!!

Boring bildungsroman..........2005-01-29

I usually like coming of age tales, but this one didn't do much for me. Faith DiNapoli is the second child of four and the daughter of a father who speaks heavily accented English and a mother who chain-smokes, both of whom can not get along with each other. The inside of the book flap said we were supposed to be able to follow Faith's life from eight to eighteen, but most of the time I couldn't tell what age she was supposed to be. I think this was a combination of lots of flashbacks and the fact Faith never seemed to really grow up. Lots of secondary characters were thrown in who we were supposed to care about, while little was said about her actual family. I got bored. A lot.

loved this---despite.......2002-12-19

I usually don't go for "coming of age" books, but this one had a kind of nerve. I don't know how to describe it but it felt "new". I have reviewed books on this site, but none like this which is a good thing, I think. So I give it full stars because it reminded me of me, sure, most coming of ages books do that well. But why this book soars is the weird energy of the thing. It's frankly different, that's all I can say. It made me laugh out loud in surprising places. When Faith's losing her virginity, accidentally, to a middle aged black woman, I had to remind myself what I was reading, and then laugh, which, really, was something I had never read before. I'm still astonished. What a writer!! I need more. Another new thing. I'm from Brandon. I missed the line to tell you that, so that's where I'm from, a teacher. Anyway. I want my student to read this. It's wonderful.
Hope this helps.
Marianna.

An original.......2002-10-27

This book is quite enjoyable, especially for the Christian (not just Catholic) females out there. Faith is constantly guilt-ridden, not that it stops her from "busting all 10 Commandments". She tries to be godly and consistently fails, but it is her conscience and guilt that endear her to the reader. This book is definitely an original, and you will not want to put it down until you find out how Faith and her family end up.

A beautiful book.......2002-09-01

This was one of the best books I have ever read. Equally heartbreaking, and hilarious. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to feel what it is like to be in a REAL family, with real dilemmas, and real love. This family, as disfunctional as they were, really loved eachother, were truly close in every way. I adored each and every one of them. This was a wonderful book, it will make you laugh and cry, and the characters remain in my heart long after the last page is turned. I loved it!!!

Average customer rating:

Tempting Faith DiNapoli: A Novel
Lisa Gabriele
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1416578366

Book Description

At heart, Faith DiNapoli is a good Catholic girl. She's memorized all the prayers and hymns. She daydreams about her First Communion. She's pretty sure Jesus loves her. But she's angry. Angry with her father for leaving, her mother for never going anywhere, and her dysfunctional siblings -- just because they're around. And though she knows the Bible says the meek are blessed, Faith can't help but covet beautiful things and try to obtain them in any way possible. So Faith lies, cheats, and steals. In fact, she breaks almost every one of the Commandments, mostly by accident. At the same time, she grapples with the girl she thinks she should be, the family she's supposed to be a part of, and the imaginary life she may never live.

In Tempting Faith DiNapoli, Faith does more than grow from innocent eight to headstrong eighteen. Faith struggles with her new bad habits, fends off bad boys who want more than she should give, and contemplates a future that looks worse than her mother's past and present.

The DiNapolis are mismatched, broke, and dysfunctional, but they fight with and love one another with equal parts ferocity and devotion, laughter and tears. All the while, Faith prays for a happy ending. Or at least for something not too, too bad.

One part Beverly Donofrio, one part Frank McCourt, Tempting Faith DiNapoli is a charming, fresh, bighearted debut.

Amazon.com

Tapping the Dream Tree collects 18 stories by bestselling contemporary fantasy master Charles de Lint. One story, "The Witching Hour," is original to this volume, with a few others taken from limited-edition chapbooks; the remaining tales have been drawn from an impressive diversity of magazines and anthologies. The stories are set in and around de Lint's mythic, haunted American city of Newford, and fans will recognize several characters from de Lint's popular series.

The powerful story "Ten for The Devil" is a superb choice for an opener: it showcases de Lint's literary strengths and treats of his recurring themes of magic, music, creativity, and human worth. Musician Staley Cross's grandmother has always warned her to be careful when she plays her blue fiddle. But Staley never quite believed that her music could rouse dangerous magic... until one night, playing in a faraway field, she discovers the Devil doesn't only go down to Georgia. First published before the filming of O Brother, Where Art Thou?, "Ten for the Devil" draws upon the same crossroads myth as does the movie, but takes a very different road as it follows Staley's search for her only hope of soul survival: a mysterious bluesman known as Robert. --Cynthia Ward

Book Description

Charles de Lints urban fantasies, including Moonheart, Forests of the Heart, and The Onion Girl, have earned him a devoted following and critical acclaim as a master of contemporary magical fiction. At the heart of his work is the ongoing Newford series, of which this is the latest volume.The city of Newford could be any contemporary North American city . . . except that magic lurks in its music, in its art, in the shadows of its grittiest streets where mythic beings walk disguised. And its people are like you and me, each looking for a bit of magic to shape their lives and transform their fate.Now, in this latest volume, we meet a bluesman hiding from the devil; a Buffalo Man at the edge of death; a murderous ghost looking for revenge; a wolf man on his first blind date; and many more. Were reunited with Jilly, Geordie, Sophie, the Crow Girls, and other characters whose lives have become part of the great Newford myth. And de Lint takes us beyond Newfords streets to the pastoral hills north of the city, where magic and music have a flavor different but powerful still.

Customer Reviews:

Dreams Are Important.......2005-08-28

"Tapping the Dream Tree" is a weighty collection of Newford stories by Charles De Lint, revisiting some of his favoriate characters such as Jilly, Sophie and the Crow Girls. It does include a novelette --'Seven Wild Sisters'. For those of us who have had to search for vanished magazine copies of the stories, this anthology is a wonderful find. His characters are real, in some universe, and it's great to know more about them and their lives. Any De Lint reader needs to have this volume in their collection.

A Former Non-Fan of De Lint .......2005-02-15

After reading the reviews posted here I realize that I have missed out on quite a lot of excellent reading material over the years. The only three de Lint books I have ever come into contact with are The Onion Girl, Tapping the Dream Tree, and Spirits in the Wires. Some die-hard fans will therefore, I am sure, immediately discount my disagreement with the seemingly negative opinion of this book shown by the majority of the reviewers here. In particular, I strongly disagree with the review that states, "This one is for the fans... only" because this is the first De Lint book I ever read.

I will freely admit that I am a sucker for a good short story. I must also say that, if the first de Lint I had read was a continuous novel, I might not have gone around town recommending it to everyone I knew, as I did with Tapping the Dream Tree. This might not be as deep or as emotional or as detailed as some of de Lint's other work, but, from my reading of the stories, de Lint writes into these stories as much detail and emotional description as a short story can possibly contain.

As a short-story writer, one of the most difficult things to do well is to leave out parts that you could write in. If you choose well, these left out pieces add to your characters and stories more effectively than their inclusion. de Lint is excellent in this respect. Some of these characters are so well written that you want to step into their world and find out what they are like on a normal day and if they've ever had a normal day and what they like in their coffee or if they like coffee at all. They are characters that have deep wells of untouchably fascinating personality.

In summary... I loved this book. I loved these characters. This is the first De Lint book I ever read. This is still my favorite De Lint book. If you have never read de Lint, and if you like short stories from Bradbury (all of his shorts, not just his Martian Chronicles), and you would like to find a book of fantasy that captures the same feelings of making all things strange and, in strangeness, strangely beautiful, read de Lint's Tapping the Dream Tree. It is good enough to be worth reading.

People don't understand these stories are not new............2004-04-17

All of these stories are from previous rare Chap books and other small press printings from many many years of Mr. De Lint's body of work.
So some of the stories aren't as well told because well they were written 10-15 years ago.....also this clearly states it is full of SHORT stories..short stories can't go into the kind of detail several folks seem to be demanding from De Lint. If you want more details of some of these characters by the OTHER anthologies of Newford as well as the full length novels. Don't whine and complain because you feel like you got dropped into the middle when the books clearly says it is MORE tales from Newford..not ALL the tales from Newford....sigh.
Beautiful collection lovely lyrical quality and and engaging characters. I have only a few De lints I have not enjoyed and this certianly not one of them.

Sadly, de Lint and Newford stumble -.......2004-03-10

I'm a fan of Charles de Lint, and I love Newford, the city he's created and in which he's set so many good tales. I was eager to get to this fourth volume of Newford stories.

I confess that I'm one of a billion fans silently pressuring de Lint to tell me more about all my favorite characters, and here they are - the Riddels, the Kelledys, the crow girls. Well, mother always said to be careful what you wish for.

These stories are just so disappointing. The characters you love... just coasting, covering no new ground, sad shadows of themselves. Here, for example, is Jilly Coppercorn - mouthing catchphrases and jerking around like an automaton. Christy Riddel meats a ghost - who has a hell of a lot more life than he does. Suddenly the conflicted, intelligent writer is a cardboard cut-out, as deep and nuanced as a french fry. And here's Sophie, on another magical adventure - having the same tired argument with herself about whether the magic is real.

Yes, there are new characters. In one excruciatingly badly written tale, told entirely in dialogue, two young men discover magic power and Learn About Themselves. Bleh. A man and woman save a stranger from getting killed and discover he was being hunted by fallen angels. How to keep the "freaks" (a word he uses WAY too often, here and elsewhere) from coming for revenge?

"Live a good life. Be good people. Keep hateful thoughts out of your heart and mind." This theme is repeated throughout the anthology, over and over and over, just this clumsily. Every tale a morality tale, everywhere a Message.

Really, some of these stories are so bad, one wonders why people published them in their anthologies and magazines and such. I guess because they say "Charles de Lint" on them. Maybe nobody wants to hurt his feelings. And maybe that's a problem. The Onion Girl, and now Tapping the Dream Tree, suggest that maybe de Lint doesn't have anything more to say about our beloved characters, or even magical Newford. Somebody, something, needs to push him to use his powerful, wonderful imagination again. Hey, I know, nobody's perfect. But the time period covered by these stories... that's a long time stumbling.

Fans may want to grit through this collection, despite the flaws and disappointments. "Ten for the Devil," "Pixel Pixies," and "Big City Littles" are worth reading, and harken back to the GOOD collections of Newford tales, in spirit.

Honestly, though, it's a waste of time, money, and hope. And a sorry waste of Charles de Lint.

Charming modern folk tales--convincing and emotional.......2003-06-28

A killer who reads minds, a group of young women who find pixies coming from their computers, hobs in their bookstores, and lovers in their dreams, people who sell their souls to the devil, and seven red-haired sisters who live in the forest and discover the war between the sang fairies and the bee fairies. Author Charles de Lint provides a delightful assortment of modern fairy tales. De Lint's stories are charming and fresh, dealing with authentic people rather than shallow fairy-tale heros--and with real magic.

TAPPING THE DREAM TREE is a wonderful collection of stand-alone stories, connected stories about the dream tree and a dream city, and a short novel of the seven sisters. This isn't a dark cyber-punk return-of-magic story, but a modern version of folk stories where fairie creatures may be powerful and beautiful, but are frequently indifferent to humans. Most of the stories are set in the countryside rather than in the city and reflect a peaceful pacing.

De Lint's writing paints pictures for his stories, compelling the reader without any sense of hurry. I found myself savoring the stories even though a part of me wanted to plunge on and find out what happens next. If you've read de Lint before, you know what to expect and you'll be delighted to find it. If you haven't, you're in for a treat. De Lint is a winner and TAPPING THE DREAM TREE is a powerful collection of stories that needs to be added to your must-read pile.

Average customer rating:
Tapping the Dream Tree
Charles DeLint
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000QHRASC

Average customer rating:
Tapping the Dream Tree
Charles DE LINT
Manufacturer: Tor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OPECXW

Average customer rating:
Tapping the Dream Tree,
Charles de Lint
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTL32G

Average customer rating:
Tapping the Dream Tree,
Charles de Lint
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTPNSQ

Customer Reviews:

A Great Book Well Read.......2005-06-30

Miles Vorkosigan (The Vor at the beginning of his name means something like the German von, i.e. Count or other member of the nobility) has been a staple character of Ms. Bujold's for several years. In the Vor Game, told here on nine CD's, he has finally been allowed to complete training at his planet's Military Academy and gets his first assignment.

As you would expect he gets involved in a nefarious plot, barely escapes but solves the situation. From there he goes on to investigate a suspicious military build up that might mean their enemies are up to something, then the emperor disappears. All kinds of sub-plots tell many conflicting stories, but good has to triumph in the end so that Miles can go on to the next book.

This sounds worse than I intend, but explaining the plot in only a few words is difficult. I think Ms Bujold's books are among the best sci fi written in recent years, and those about Miles are among the best of recent science fiction. As soon as I see one on the shelf at the local store, I pick it up, almost as a reflex action.

This particular version has been recorded by Grover Gardner, one of the 'Best Voices of the Century.' It is unabridged and lasts for about eleven hours on nine CD's.

Average customer rating:

Not Free SF Reader
More twists and turns that a runaway eel!
Miles on the loose, everyone take cover!!
how can you not like bujold?
Excellent reading of a terrific book

The Vor Game: Library Edition
Lois McMaster Bujold
Manufacturer: Blackstone Audiobooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: MP3 CD

Adventure | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

Science Fiction & Fantasy | MP3 CD | Audiobooks | Formats | Books
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ASIN: 0786180218

Amazon.com

Miles manages to graduate from the Academy. His reward? A first post on Kyril Island, predicting and combating the local weather and his commanding officer's homicidal moods. His reputation and stunted form further battered by both, Illyan finds a way to combine (sort of) Miles's two lives as Lord Vorkosigan and Admiral Naismith--great for Miles, but a little hard on his commanding officers.

Book Description

Miles Vorkosigan graduates from the Barrayaran Military Academy with high expectations of ship command but is disappointed with an assignment as meteorologist to an arctic training camp. There he narrowly averts a massacre between the trigger-happy base commander and mutinous recruits. Reassigned to investigate a suspicious military buildup near a wormhole nexus, he revives his undercover persona as mercenary Admiral Miles Naismith to negotiate between competing powers for control of the wormhole, to rescue the Emperor of Barrayar, and to watch his back for the arctic base commander seeking bloody vengeance.

Download Description

[Sequel to "The Warrior's Apprentice"] Miles Vorkosigan graduates from the Barrayaran Military Academy with high expectations of ship command, but is disappointed with an assignment as meteorologist to Lazkowski Base, an arctic training camp. His tenure in the windy, snow-covered north is cut short when Miles narrowly averts a massacre between the trigger-happy base commander and mutinous recruits. After a brief stay under 'house arrest', Miles is re-assigned to investigate a suspicious military build-up near a wormhole nexus. Reviving his undercover persona as mercenary Admiral Miles Naismith, his routine information-gathering duty expands to a rescue mission when the Emperor of Barrayar disappears during a political conference on a nearby space station. Miles must use his considerable negotiating skills to avoid a showdown between competing powers for control of the wormhole, find the Emperor ... and watch his back for the arctic base commander seeking bloody vengeance. HOMer Award Nominee, Hugo Award Winner, Locus Poll Award Nominee, Seiun Award Nominee, SF Chronicle Poll Nominee

Customer Reviews:

Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03

Graduation is a cold experience.

Just out of the academy, and not the most popular preson with the conservative types, Miles get a crappy job in a remote polar location. He very soon gets into trouble via a murder, which he is accused of. Also, the young emperor has bailed in space. Miles has to get himself out of trouble and also do something about the missing royalty, with the odd dangerous woman and space war thrown in just to keep him on his toes.

More twists and turns that a runaway eel!.......2006-06-21

This is a fantastic book! Reading this one has made me want to read the rest of the series. Great writing, it appears I've come in somewhere after the beginning, but the book stands on it's own. The story... great plot twists, about every 15 pages. I guess it's only sci-fi because of it's setting, it's really an action/adventure book. That would be the only thing I would think anyone would find objectionable about it, where it's shelved. Just read it, you'll be glad you did.

Miles on the loose, everyone take cover!!.......2006-06-04

Being Aral and Cordelia's son Miles can't help but be honorable to self-destruction. After being put on trial for the six months that may take him to the bridge of the newest Barrayaran ship - the papers almost in his pocket - he has to throw all his hard-won military future for the sake of a bunch of techs and soldiers that refused to obey a criminal order and would've been destroyed but for Miles' unaknowledged sacrifice. Adrift again, Miles gets pinned in Illyan's chain of command, much to the grief of the later.

Miles' first mission is pretty simple: Keep eyes open and observe. Learn!

And he does that. In process of keeping his eyes open, he notices young Emperor Gregor in dire need of help after skipping his high duties. But Miles - being Miles - does everything with a florish... and recognized as the Betan-made Admiral Naismith by friendlies and foes alike, betrayed over and over again, he loses the Emperor, finds the Dendarii merc fleet again - and Elena - gets it back from the hands of his treacherous captains, dashes to the rescue and finds the whole Barrayaran army hot on his tale for the safety of the runaway Emperor.

This book reads itself! It left me breathless, wanting for more...

The addiction is set... To late now to do but keep the book :)

how can you not like bujold?.......2005-12-28

Although the Vor Game is second in the Miles series, it was originally written as two seperate stories. One for Analog, (weatherman) and the other to tie it into the series (gregors escape)Yes, it is lite reading(or listening) in that you don't have to think too much, but the days of hurting your brain ala Asimov have morphed into a sub-genre known as hard sci-fi. If you read hard sci-fi you won't like this book. It is character driven. If you like a good story, well told, with characters that linger to the point they've become a nerd category (like people who can quote the Princess Bride) read this. You'll like it. All Bujolds books are part of a story arc. ALL of them. (except the Chalion books and the spirit ring) You might not like it at first but you'll find yourself going back to it again and again because like a real person, Miles grows up, learns and gets better. And no. It's not a kiddie book. It's got no swearing and sex and gratuitous violence, but that doesn't make it a book for children. It makes it a rarity.

Excellent reading of a terrific book.......2005-12-19

If you know Bujold's Vor series, you know what great action/adventure books these are. If not, you're in for a treat--and this book happens to be a great place to get into the series, being the start of the Miles Adventures. If you've read it visually, trust me, listening only makes it better. This is unabridged--very important, for Bujold is an excellent writer who makes every word count. You'll love the characters (well, I do!). Definitely pick up a copy.

Average customer rating:

Beautiful book

Outstanding Visuals and Inspiring Quotes

Beautiful photos, great quotes

Beautiful and poetic ... and that's just the pictures

Beautiful pictures, lovely words, but . . .

Inside The Mind Of God: Images And Words Of Inner Space

Manufacturer: Templeton Foundation Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Theology | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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Science & Religion | Religious Studies | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
General | Biology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
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The Hand of God: Thoughts and Images Reflecting the Spirit of the Universe

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Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: How a New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform Ourselves

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ASIN: 1932031901

Book Description

Who seeing the stunning order in networks linking tens upon tens of thousands of variables can fail to entertain a central thought: if ever we are to attain a final theory in biology, we will surely have to see that we are the natural expressions of a deeper order. Ultimately, we will discover in our creation myth that we were expected after all. —Stuart Kauffman

Exhilarating photographs and inspiring words take us on a microscopic tour of a miraculous phenomenon—the human body—leading to a sense that our existence is no accident. This photographic journey into inner space utilizes microscopic imagery to document the beautiful and mysterious realm of the tiniest components of human life—brain waves, nerve endings, cell structures, acid crystals—revealing a symmetry, a perfection, and, ultimately, a revelation.

Illuminating quotes from the finest literary and scientific minds—Pasteur, Tolstoy, Einstein, St. Augustine, Thoreau, Darwin, just to name a few—support the idea that science may prove to be a path to God and that the human brain itself, through what researchers are now calling its "spirituality circuit," is wired to lead us to that path.

With an introduction by Wall Street Journal science editor Sharon Begley, Inside the Mind of God promises to provide further insight into the abiding question: why is there something, rather than nothing?

Three years ago Michael Reagan's best-selling book The Hand of God juxtaposed photographs of spiraling galaxies, shimmering nebulae, and luminous stars with the words of great scientists and philosophers to suggest the profound link between the scientific and the spiritual. Inside the Mind of God, continues this journey, now into inner space. The stunning photographs and inspiring quotes create a sense of wonder and awe in the miraculous evidence of God's hand in the smallest details of our existence.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful book.......2007-06-27

This book has beautiful pictures of various kinds of cells. I only wish that I had known that some of the pictures are of life threatening diseases.

Outstanding Visuals and Inspiring Quotes.......2005-02-24

Upon seeing the title and cover of this book, I picked it up from the bookstore. It is lovely eye-candy! It has a colorful picture of a human brain on the front cover. Always curious as to what is in the mind of God, it was a have-to-have it book.

It combines for the most part beautiful images (and some stunningly beautiful) of the inner body processes blown up to mega-size and, in some cases, resembling a kind of impressionistic art. Even cancer cells have a certain beauty blown up many times their actual size.

Among the many images, with carefully chosen quotations that match each picture so well, are adrenaline crystals; synaptic connections between neurons (brain cells), the flu virus, normal white blood cells, and so much more!

What this kind of compilation does is to bring home the resounding truth that we are a living universe---each of us. We are not so different than the grand Hubble shots of deep space that have become so sought after. While we metaphysicians "knew" this truth intuitively, it is now verifiable by photography. It is a bit like when aura photography came into vogue and made the electromagnetic field accessible visually to the masses.

This is a book of inspiration, and it succeeds grandly in its intent. I highly recommend it to those of you who can be fascinated by your inner workings and inspired by the wonderful quotes which accompany each picture.

Beautiful photos, great quotes.......2004-11-01

Beautiful photographs of brain cells, brain imaging, molecules of neurotransmitters and much more, with exquisitely chosen quotes of scientists who sit on both sides of the divided opinions about whether the brain is the source of mind, or whether spirit embodies itself in the brain (mostly emphasizing the latter).

Here are a few:

There are a limitless number of different sciences, but without one basic science, that is, what is the meaning of life and what is good for the people, all other forms of knowledge and art become idle and harmful entertainment." --Leo Tolstoy (p. 33)

Science can purify religion from error and superstition. Religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes.
--Pope John Paul II (p. 84)

I know God won't give me anything I can't handle. I just wish He didn't trust me so much. --Mother Teresa (p. 95)

In the final analysis, the question of why bad things happen to good people transmutes itself into some very different questions, no longer asking why something happened, but asking how we will respond, what we intend to do now that it happened.
--Rabbi Harold S. Kushner (p. 124)

An excellent holiday gift.

Beautiful and poetic ... and that's just the pictures.......2003-01-09

Pairing startlingly beautiful photographs of the most minute aspects of life -- neurons, cancer cells, adrenaline, anthrax bacillus, embryonic stem cells, sperm and egg, DNA and more -- with great thoughts of scientists, clergy, philosophers, writers, political leaders and artists is utterly ingenious in this book.

For example, a gentle blue photograph of a breast cancer cell appears beside a quote from Mother Teresa: "I know God won't give me anything I can't handle. I just wish He didn't trust me so much."

This book not only offers a glimpse inside the human body and related "landscapes," but also a glimpse of great thinking. I found myself marveling at the photographs and mulling the ideas that appear with them.

Beautiful pictures, lovely words, but . . ........2002-12-14

The idea of this book, if I understand it, is "to suggest the profound link between the scientific and the spiritual" through the juxtaposition of beautiful pictures of "inner space"--in this case of cells, organs, and crystals--with quotes about faith, mystery and belief.

The book starts with a fine essay by Sharon Begley, science editor of the Wall Street Journal. She discusses the thesis that God must exist because of the perfection of the workings of nature--the famous argument from design. She presents some of the arguments for and against it with considerable balance. She also writes about the concept of "biological evil"--the implications of the existence of "evil" things such as disease-causing organisms and cancer cells. She goes on to describe brain-scanning experiments that may help explain how the brain of a meditator or Sufi dancer might create a sense of loss of self and unity with the universe. She concludes by inviting the reader to "see the sacred in the science of life," hoping that the book's microphotographs will bring life's "sacred depths ... to the surface for everyone to appreciate."

The photographs, of neurons and sperm cells, DNA molecules and chromosmes, stem cells and embryos, are remarkable and beautiful. To me they made many of the scientific findings I read about far more real. And the quotes, from spiritually minded scientists like Einstein, poets, philosophers, writers and mystics, were also beautiful. I particularly liked one from Annie Dillard. "The extravagent gesture is the very stuff of creation... The whole show has been on fire since the word go!"

I consider myself to be fascinated with science, and more than casually interested in the great questions that religion addresses as well. I'm as prone to feeling awe at the night sky, the grandeur of the Sierra Nevada or the inner workings of a cell as the next person. Still, for reasons I can't quite figure out, this book didn't bring those two areas any closer for me. I almost feel apologetic, as if I should have felt the awe and mystery that Begley and editor Michael Reagan set out to evoke. In the end, I found the book more puzzling than enlightening, more frustrating than inspiring.

It seems like such a good idea, however, that I hope it will work better for other readers than it did for me.

Robert Adler, author of Science Firsts: From the Creation of Science to the Science of Creation (Wiley, 2002).

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