Teaching Books

Professor Kronman's book fills a lamentable gap in the literature pertaining to higher education, to the extent that most of what is written on higher education today is rather empty. This is the kind of book that a thoughtful person, having finished college, would come across and after having read it would realize that they were utterly misguided in their undergraduate caree. That being said, I feel the book should be required reading for anyone considering graduate school regardless of the field of study. His analysis of the "modern research ideal" seems to me right on. I would, however, agree with some previous reviewers that the book could have been shorter, and at times I found myself painfully aware that he was making a point he had aready sufficiently made. Nonetheless, the final chapter is quite profound and alone worth the cost of the book.

Yet, as a side note I find it striking that no mention of St. John's College in Sante Fe and Anapolis was made in the book. The "great books" programs at Yale, Columbia, etc simply cannot begin to compare with that of St. John's College. This omission is difficult to reconcile considering that the author sees the "great books" tradition and its secular humanism as the best way out of the current education crisis, and no other college or university better represents secular humanism than St. John's.

This is an important and carefully thought-out book. It's not for the faint of heart, or for anyone looking for a quick, punchy exposé of the current college scene. Rather, it is a deeply reflective and philosophical exploration of the differences in the intellectual objects of the sciences (both social and hard) and of the humanities. By appropriating the "research ideal" of the sciences, one that makes knowledge instrumental to a measurable goal, the humanities have lost sight of their traditional and more important aims, ones that are intrinsic rather than instrumental, that involve learning for its own sake and that bring meaning to life. The substitution of cultural relativism (called here "political correctness") for the pursuit of truth is a second siren's song that has distracted the humanities from its honorable mission. Both these points are important and well made. The book reads like a man's intellectual life's work. His heart is in it.

Kronman's study, however, is limited by the narrowness with which he defines the humanities. A law professor and Philosophy BA from WIlliams College, he seems chiefly to be talking about his own undergraduate major, Philosophy (see the appendix where he offers a sample curriculum), which has as one of its clear aims the understanding of "what living is for." That formulation of the central question of the humanities -- and it repeats throughout the book until it becomes almost grating -- is finally a limited (and I might add instrumental) one, that applies less to those branches of the humanities that encompass the arts than it does to Philosophy (or Theology). Much study within the humanities, rather than asking and answering quasi-ecclesiastical questions, offers the pure pleasure of satisfying intellectual curiosity, preserving culture, or simply engaging individual creativity. These also very important functions fall outside of Kronman's analysis, which is therefore not as comprehensive as it might be.

The narrowing of the humanities to the navel-gazing suggested by the book's subtitle "Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life" is thus unfortunate. The humanities (and even Kronman's analysis of them) are larger than this question implies. That might sound funny since what larger question is there than "What is living for"? But since it is a question so large as finally to be unanswerable -- and not finally the only concern of the humanities or only the concern of the humanities -- Kronman risks making a serious inquiry feel trivial.

I will get to the point: this writer needs an editor. The flood of words that make the same point over and over should have been halted by someone who recognizes when ego overwhelms good sense. There is much in this book to like and appreciate, but approximately 3x too many words expressing it.

Review:

Kronman is an intensely literate & learned Yale law professor (who also has a philosophy degree); he's also a political liberal (who worked for the SDS in the sixties & who currently supports Obama). This work, however, is a work of cultural conservatism.

Few will argue with Kronman's critique of higher learning. Both cultural progressives & cultural conservatives in the humanities will concede that college & university culture has one goal in mind: to train young minds to think professionally--that is to master a set of competencies (lexical & methodological norms) that will allow them to succeed in their chosen fields. That sounds rational enough, but the problem with this is that the professionalization of the humanities has also meant the mechanization of the humanities into a set of procedural norms that are no longer spiritually nourishing.

Kronman, who has also written a book about Max Weber, argues that the university's current predicament is the result of a long process of secularization. Kronman claims that there is a resurgent need for spirituality at the present time & that the humanities once again need to provide not just professional but spiritual guidance.

Kronman is not suggesting a return to any specific religion, what he is suggesting is a return to basic questions & concerns ( ie what is the meaning of life ?, what is the best way to live?) that he (somewhat arbitrarily) calls "spiritual" into the matrix of higher learning. This is his suggested cure not just for what ails higher learning, but for what ails humanity.

A return to basic questions & concerns sounds like a fine idea, but Kronman opens himself up to a number of problems when he equates globalization with westernization & a return to basic questions with a return to the canonical texts of western civilization (Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Mill). Kronman is not exactly dismissive of multiculturalism for he believes that students should learn about other cultures, but he believes that ones primary loyalty should be to one's home culture. In other words, Kronman believes that students will not find fulfillment in "superficial multiculturalism" but by immersing themselves in strictly western ways of being/knowing/valuing/believing.

Kronman obviously means well, but he simply doesn't account for the fact that the modern classroom is full of students & teachers with roots in many different cultures & traditions. To be fair to Kronman, he does respect other cultures & traditions, and he thinks that we need to learn about them, but what he fails to acknowledge is the possibility that we may learn something from them as well. As smart as he is, Kronman's anglocentric bias prevents him from seeing the world (or the classroom) as it is: a multicultural contact zone. And he fails to see that contact with cultures & histories & traditions other than western ones does not entail a loss to the existing tradition but an addition to it.

I think Kronman, and those cultural conservatives like him, believe that their way of life, the western way of life, is threatened by multiculturalism & globalization. So Kronman reacts by writing a book that suggests we institutionally defend the west against encroachments from the nonwestern world. But the best of what has been thought in the west is not in any danger when we amend or compare & contrast those thoughts with the best that has been thought outside of the west. In fact, studying other traditions simply adds to the number of ways we can ask & answer the basic questions that concern all of humanity (and not just that portion of it that we call western).

The best possible future will be fashioned not by those who formulate east/west or west/other relations as a contest for superiority between separate worlds, but by those who have the imagination to build upon the best of what has been thought regardless of that thoughts national or hemispheric origin.

Many cultural progressives & conservatives agree that the idea of the university is in trouble. Kronman's book is valuable for diagnosing what ails the modern university and the modern world, but his prescription is overly conservative, short-sighted, and does not engage the imagination in the way that a much more comprehensive and much more far-sighted (and much less anglocentric) set of higher learning reforms would.

Editorial:

I think the idea of a return to basic questions & concerns is a good idea, but I think that the problem with education today is even more basic than that. Kronman is a lawyer & an academic who is enlivened by argument & thus he no doubt enjoyed producing this text which is an intervention into a lively debate with a long history. The problem with Kronman is that he assumes that others will be enlivened by the same things that enliven him. The problem with academia is that too many academics assume that what interests them will & should interest 18-22 year olds. Very few academics really make an attempt to understand what interests & enlivens young people & why, and so many well-intentioned academics fail to recognize that the classroom is a stifling place for many creative-minded students who are not spiritually enlivened nor fulfilled by this or that academic's version of educational life. I'm guessing that a concentration on western texts will alienate more students than it will assist or spiritually nourish. I think I am safe in saying that most students who read Kant do not find themselves to be having anything like a religious experience while doing so. What makes most people feel spiritually enlivened, I'm guessing, are things like love & hope & possibility, and not Plato & Kant & Mill.

Academics will better serve their students when they better understand student needs. And the quickest way to do this is to pay attention to what they spend their time doing: constructing & editing their MySpace & Facebook pages. MySpace or Facebook might seem like a foreign & irrelevant universe to academics but if they take the time to understand why these sites are so appealing to students they might better understand their students. MySpace & Facebook allow students a rare opportunity to express themselves; and to connect with distant and not so distant others; and they provide a unique way for students to produce & manage their private & social selves & worlds. If academics understood this then they might find better ways to understand & connect with students and, more generally, understand how contemporary individuals cope with contemporary realities. Discussions of common fears, hopes, & desires as well as discussions of contemporary ways of expressing & coping with common fears, hopes, & desires might prove more interesting & useful & satisfying than a seminar on The Republic, Critique of Pure Reason, or On Liberty (though these texts, of course, have their place as well). But if the university truly concentrated on basic real-world questions & how real people answered them then a university would cease to be a place that accredited people according to professional ability and instead a place that accredited people according to their value to each other and their community. And that, sadly, isn't a reality. The reality is that real life & real people simply do not get the respect that Plato & Kant & Mill do and that is why professors value & teach Plato & Kant & Mill and that students share not their own selves & thoughts but their critique of the great thinkers (whose realities & concerns may or may not coincide with their own). This overvaluing & overpraising classic texts & undervaluing & underpraising self can be dehumanizing. Status at the university level is conferred upon those who publish books & not upon those individuals who connect with students. The university used to attract an attractive type: the gentleman scholar with one foot in the library & one foot in the street. Nowadays most professors are seasoned professionals more attuned to the realities of their profession (which means the realities of publishing) than the realities of living & functioning in the world that most of us live & function in. To rehaul the university and make it a more inviting & enriching place to spend four or more years will take more than a return to basic questions, it will take a reconsideration of what it is we truly value about the humanities, how best to teach them, and what kind of people are best suited to take on this invaluable role.

Kronman points to a very real and important trend in modern higher education. He gives a very cogent half-diagnosis of the source as well - that of the urge within humanities disciplines to ape the research methods of the natural sciences and thus exclude any sort of prescriptive 'values' from the research paradigm. However, Kronman underplays an even more important part of the source of the problem - the fact that a socially all-pervasive 'free market' mentality subtley and overtly pushes all that cannot be assigned a quantified ('bottom line') demarcation to the periphery of what is viewed as important, and finally legitimate, in human life. This is much more broadly manifested than in academia (witness how completely political legitimacy and fund-raising totals are equated in the current election cycle) but it is certainly also manifest in the concerns toward which Kronman points. Interesting is the fact that just as many in the 'hard' sciences, confronting the connections between their research and such realities as our genetic future, global warming, radical consumption inequality between and within societies, our continuing addiction to war and militarism, and so on, are beginning to recognize that the 'value-free' research model has always been more ideal than real, the humanities folks now jump on the same paradigmatic bandwagon. Kronman puts his finger on a real issue, but his analysis is arguably more focused on a case in point symptom than on the real source of the problem itself.

The book is just awsome. It answered many of my questions! I highly recomend it to all!

I bought this book for a class that I am taking as part of my Master's Degree in Education. The book is well written and easy to understand. The best part of the book is that it is rife with examples and real world classroom experiences to illustrate the chapters. I definitely recommend this book.

This book is full of valuable information, concise, and easy to read.

This was a required book for a graduate course I'm taking. It helps you understand the purpose of research, and how to do your own research for various purposes. The book is very easy to read, and I like the way the book delivers the information.

This book is FILLED with wonderful information about our brains. It is required reading for my graduate class,and I know it will be one I pull off the shelf to use again and again. Fascinating stuff that can be useful for teachers.

This book was required reading for a seminar. It is very easy to read, but it also contains a lot of good information. I was particularly taken with the Practitioner's Corner at the end of each chapter with suggestions for using the information provided within the chapter inside the classroom.

Excellent resource for lay person. Written in a very understandable, practical style with good illustrations and examples. Great aide for educators who want to better understand how their students learn. Also teaches you something about yourself!

Dr. Sousa has an unbelievable way in teaching us about the brain ;the learning brain! His book is very user friendly with instant applications available after each chapter. This is his 3rd Ed. so you know he keeps on top of the everchanging findings in brain research and learning. I highly recommend that this book be in every house. Don't wait for teachers and college professors to introduce the way your brain learns...get going yourself! Teach others how the brain learns best!
Barbara McKenna, MEd.
Private Educational Consultant, VA

good book, i pass ATSW in one try after i study this book, provide almost everything you need for the ATSW.

This book is awesome. The authors explain different issues that could occur in the classroom (bullying, substance abuse, etc.). They give plenty of internet resouces and ideas for classroom activities. All teachers, no matter what they teach, can learn a lot of this book.
I highly recommend it.

Some books speak so deep to our soul that they help facilitate some type of life-change. We will always cherish these books for their ability to speak directly to us, no matter our life stage, for they carry in them principles that transcendent time. As if magical, each time we re-read these books they renew a fire within us or produce new truths that we missed in our first encounter. Some of have said Deitrich Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship and Augustine's Confessions are an example of these type of books. In my opinion, this book, The Courage to Teach, is one of them for me. Palmer's emphasis upon the inner life of the teacher is refreshing and enlightening. Palmer explicitly acknowledges that his book builds on the simple premise that states, "good teaching cannot be reduced to technique; good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher" (p. 10).

Without giving a full summary of the book I found chapters 4-5 the most meaningful. His discussion about "the community of truth" and "subject-centered teaching" greatly impacted my ongoing understanding of teaching and education psychology. His words are sure to continue their impact for many years to come, particularly in my development as a thinker, minister and teacher.

As an intellectual extra, I thoroughly enjoyed his analysis of "movements" in chapter 7.

The book was new and was in very good condition. I am happy about the purchase.

Palmer's writing evokes the inner being. He offers a lot of humility and personal experience which calls a person to respond from the inside. I was stirred in numerous ways by his writing and applaud this one like I applaud many of his books. Its a necessary additon to the library of anyone serious about their teaching or in the business of teacher training.

An excellent book on what it takes to really connect with students.
Deals with unusual topics like vulnerabilities, openness, and subject oriented teaching versus student or teacher oriented teaching. Celebrates the inherent wisdom within people, even those who are callous and cynical on the surface.
An important contribution to the field

I read this book with a group of teachers as part of our book club. I had high hopes that it would provide some great discussion. After the first few chapters nobody liked it. Out of the 8 of us that read it, not one of us actually enjoyed the book. There were some good points, but too philisophical for our taste.

this was a required book for my master's program and let me say this is a HARD book to read. The language is difficult to understand and it is just plain drab to read. It lacks creative examples and activites. The information is good, just not presented in an interesting manner.

This book is not very user friendly, a very tough read!

This book has some interesting and useful information. On the downside-it is very dry reading and can be quite boring. I found some of the information to be over my head.

This book is required reading in a graduate class I am taking and is an excellent resource. It gives a comprehensive look at Bilingual Education. It begins with an overview of bilingual education, then moves into specific programs and policies which include important court cases that shaped the face of education today. The historical view was particularly interesting! After chapters on language and culture, Ovando does a great job of explaining how to teach in different content areas. Anyone in the field of education will benefit from reading this book. It is well researched and written by someone with a deep understanding of bilingual education.

The authors emphasize relevent material and content towards the importance of "teaching in multicultural contexts". The excepts from teachers and students provide a personal connection. This book addresses issues of cultural diversity, Bilingual/ESL strategies, and provides a reference on laws and policies that have evolved to focus on today's changing educational settings.

I am what I would call an 'advanced beginner'. I have taken several 3 month trips to Japan and even more two week vacations and speak enough to get around. Depsite this, there are gaps in my learning since I have not studied any one book on my own all the way through. A friend and I decided to study together once a week using this book (at his recommendation). It is the best book I have ever worked with. One of the things that makes this such a great series - on top of the structure - is that there are a reasonable amount of writing exercises. They break out the conversations and vary them for different ways to practice the material. With this kind of practice I really feel that I am gaining proficiency. Since I plan to study to a fluent level, I really enjoy this kind of practice even though I know 95% or more of the vocabulary in the first few chapters. My friend and I then meet once a week after doing the 'homework' on our own and practice the vocabulary by reading through the exercises. This also gives us a chance to have someone check our spelling by circling the mistakes that we make. (We both already know some Japanese and still make mistakes, it's part of learning) ;)

We also really like that there are three levels to the series for the obvious reason that we both want to study until we are fluent.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone that wants to study on their own or as a small group.

I have to add that we also use Remebering the Kanji 1 and 2 by James W. Heisig (also purchased through Amazon). By going through one chapter a week of both materials (For Busy People 1-3 and Rememering the Kanji 1 & 2) in about 2 years we will have Japanese proficiency FAR above what could be learned in two years by going to college (I would guess about double and more Kanji than a college undergraduate) for under $150 dollars.

When you begin learning Japanese, you'll hear the "Japanese for Busy People" book series mentioned quite a bit. It is hailed by many as the best learning tool for learning Japanese, and more specifically for JLPT.

Though I have been studying Japanese for a few months, I decided to pick up this and volume II at a Barnes and Nobles a week ago.

First of all, I love that this version is all kana. Kana need to be learned and used as early as possible in your Japanese learning experience. I like that they also have a Romanized version, for people who may be using "Japanese for Busy People" as their first tool. I do wish that they would include a better description of Kana and Romanji in the description though. I can see how it would be easy for someone to purchase this version online without knowing that they needed to be able to read kana.

The book first introduces a series of nine characters, all of which are somehow connected to the fictional "ABC Foods" store. These characters are rather pointless however, as there really seems to be no ongoing story or any reason why the reader needs to know about these nine characters. It's just a little thing that bugged me.

The twenty-five lessons span across eleven units, each unit sort of piecing together similar grammatical ideas. Each lesson contains a script of a short conversation between two people and a translation at the bottom. This is followed by a series of notes that explain certain concepts in the conversation. After this, the book delves into some vocab terms and finally it tests your knowledge by asking for you to write example sentences. Each unit is ended by taking a test, the answers to which are in the back of the book. The overall layout is good, but I was excited to hear about the "Culture notes" at the beginning of each unit. I was disappointed to see that the notes are about two paragraphs describing VERY basic information (Talks about bowing in one unit, another describes Sushi and Tenpura). If you want an idea of Japanese culture, you will need to get a book specifically aimed at that.

Let me say this: If you hate taking classes and reading textbooks then this book is NOT for you. This is basically a watered downed school textbook, in fact I understand it is often used as a textbook for Japanese classes.

But if you a truly committed to learning the Japanese language, then this textbook is a great way to do it. If you pull your hair out at the thought of taking a Japanese class to do it, you should probably find another method of learning :).

Positives:
-Twenty-five lessons that cover nearly all the needed grammatical information.

-Example sentences and tests that help the reader test their abilities to write and speak Japanese.

-Glossary, index of particles, and sentence structures make it easy to find exactly what you're looking for.

Negatives:
-Reads like a textbook. Not for users who are looking to learn Japanese but hesitant to go to a classroom.

-So-called "Culture notes" are really just a few paragraphs that talk about very basic info that most people probably already know.

-The blank spaces they give you to write example sentences are often much to short to fit the whole sentence in. At least for me.

How to learn Japanese: First, get a book and master the Hiragana and Katakana syllabary. This is a must and it shouldn't take you more than a month to do that. Japanese for Busy People has a Kana workbook and that works very well with this first volume since it includes vocabulary from chapters 1 through 10. That way, by the time you immerse yourself with this book, you can start focusing more on sentence patterns. Once you've familiarized yourself with the Kana syllabary, work through the activities in this book. It will give you a solid foundation on two things - mastery of the kana (since everything is written in kana), and basic sentence patterns. If you still have the time, get a kanji book and start working on the first few hundred kanji. I highly recommend Basic Kanji Book. This way, you can correlate the kana spellings of the new vocabulary words with the actual kanji. However, your focus should be more on the correct kana spelling. I always get confused with the long vowel sounds.

About this book: real excellent introduction to Japanese vocabulary, culture, and grammar. The exercises can be repetitive and are mostly substitution exercises. However, this is a great way to master the sentence patterns. My suggestion is to do the exercises and then to create one or two other sentences of your own based on what you just did. This way, you can further apply what you have just learned.

Negative comment: I don't like how the book mixes hindu-arabic numerals with kana. I think this is very confusing especially for a beginner. Again, while the kanji can come later, mastering the kana spelling should take precedence over convenience. The book does tell you the correct spelling first but for the exercises, it asks you to use hindu-arabic numerals. For instance, instead of writing out (in kana) sanji (3 o'clock), it has 3ji.

Once you're done with this book, skip volumes II & III. Move on to either the Genki series or Minna no Nihongo series, although I'm somewhat partial to the Minna no Nihongo series because it's more comprehensive albeit more expensive. It covers reading, writing, listening, and composition. At the same time, keep chipping away at the 1945 Joyo Kanji. In time, you will have mastered enough Nihongo to either pass the JLPT or order your favorite sushi.

I've heard so many good reviews about this book, that I finally bought it. I've learned more with this book about making sentences, than I have with all my other books. My other books start off with "This is a pen. That over there is a pen." Yeah ok, how useful is that really?

This book tells about Mr. Smith, the lawyer from ABC Foods, and his adventures in Japan. A couple of useful items are Mr. Smith's schedule, and giving directions to a driver. Both of which are great lessons I wish I had known when talking to Japanese friends months ago!! Other relevant subjects are shopping, going out to dinner or a movie. Ordering food, tickets or getting your size clothing is not mentioned. Hopefully that will be covered in future books.

This book is well thought out, and gives the definitions of words when they first occur. English translations are only at the beginning of the next lesson. After that, they expect you to remember the words and be able to read Japanese. My only complaints about the book, is I wish they would start introducing kanji in each chapter, and give you more room to write.

If you're looking for a good book to learn Japanese language, you probably have too many choices flooding your mind and have no idea which one is for you, because every one of them seems good. So, why this one?

This book is very well organized. It contains 11 units to cover the most practical topics surviving in Japan, such as meeting people, shopping, gettig around, dinning out, visiting a japanese home, responding inquiries at office, and socializing, etc. Each unit is consist of a culture note, a specific grammar syntax and usage, and a couple of lessons. Each lesson starts with a short dialogue to illustrate the common conversation of the unit's topic. It also provides a detail explanation on the sentence usage and the new vocabulary introduced in the dialogue. Few exercises are followed to help readers to get familiarized and practice what they have just learned. An audio CD is also accompanied with this book to demonstrate the conversation addressed in each dialogues. At the end of the book, it comes with the Appendixes, which provides a summary of all the particles, sentence patterns, adjectives, etc. in a list with examples and reference to the book's units & lessons. In addition, it has a mini-dictionary with english to japanese and japanese to english. This book also makes use of a lot of pictures to illustrate dialogues and exercises. It really helps the reader to have a more relax and interesting learning journey. After finishing this book, you should be able to have the following skills: (i) basic usage of nouns, verbs, adjectives, (b) basic conversation for essential everyday siturations, and (c) reading and writing hiragana & katakana.

Well, although there's a romanji version of this "Japanese for Busy People I (Revised 3rd Edition)", I would still recommend the readers to get this "Kana" version to learn the real Japanese in a Japanese character forms. If you do not know about the Japanese sound system, hiragana and katakana. You can pick up the "Japanese for Busy People I: Kana Workbook", which is an excellent book for starters. After that, go for this "Japanese for Busy People I: Kana Version". Indeed, this is the best!

(Reviewed by Otto Yuen, 17-May-2007)

I am most familiar with the Garry Wills who writes scholarly historical treatises on the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, even Henry Adams (Henry Adams and the Making of America). Lately, he's been busy writing essays on spiritual issues as a devout Catholic, and as I always liked and respected historical work, I took this slim volume for a spin . . .

. . . And a worthwhile use of time it was. Wills explicates the difficulty we sinful humans have in dealing with Jesus as he was, not what we want him to be. With the lone exception of justifying homosexuality as natural and not sinful, through a rather self-consciously torturous argument, Wills makes cogent and though-provoking points. He relies on ideas from masters of the faith such as Augustine, St. Francis, and Chesterton, and his own translations of the "marketplace Greek" of the New testament.

A couple of interesting points. In the Garden, as Jesus returns to where he left Peter and a small set of the disciples with the admonition to stay awake while he prayed, Wills translates the aphorism "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" as a complete sentence that may have applied to Jesus, not Peter as the semi-colon in the NASB translation implies. And indeed, as the God-Man prayed prostrate on the ground and sweat blood in his anguish, His flesh was weak even as His spirit said "Not My will but Thine."

At another spot, discussing the Last Supper and the meaning of the breaking of bread, Wills refers to the "Our Father" and points out the difficulty of translating "daily" bread, as the word rendered "daily" means roughly "approaching" in English, and more literally can be rendered "to come", " or "to be". The "to be" sense is captured in "daily", but Wills links the prayer for the bread "To come" to the Lord's offering of the bread, representing His body, at the Last Supper! Intriguing, and spiritually powerful.

And not very Catholic! His ideas about the Last Supper seem decidedly non-transsubstantiational, if that's a word.

What Jesus Meant began in a promising manner; however, by the time I finished I couldn't help wondering if I had just finished a more modern and cleverly disguised manifesto of liberation theology. If Wills isn't truly embracing liberation theology, then he's certainly giving it a nod, wink, smile and pat on the back. He is also quick to point out that Jesus spent the majority of his time with "sinners" but he forgets to point out that Jesus would heal these people, instructing them to "sin no more" Jesus is reduced to an anti-religious, open minded and liberal hippie. I would recommend spending your money elsewhere.

Garry has showed us his Jesus--a gigantic nursery school nanny.

"Now, children, be nice! Share with your friends; and remember, we are ALL friends! And if you get mad at someone, give them a BIG HUG, and think nice thoughts! Because, remember, God loves you!"

So spake Garry's Nanny-Jesus, traveling throughout Palestine.

Garry is the latest of the Annointed, telling us what Jesus REALLY meant.

Thanks, Garry. But, I ain't buyin' it.

As several reviewers have said, your Jesus is astonishingly modern. Quite a Liberal; did he not mention global warming and "liberation theology"?

Garry's interpretation of Jesus leaves me feeling like a powerless toddler. He takes away our drives, our aspirations, our desires, and puts us in the nursery, where we are all friends, we are all the same, and we are all at the mercy of our caring, superior teachers. And is this not what the Annointed want? For us to be ignorant children, sitting at their feet, getting bite-sized portions of their benevolent wisdom? I think so, because, to me, this book dripped with arrogance. Not honest, Nietzschean arrogance, but some other kind--subtle, hiding in the shadows and in the squirrelly, slightly-condescending language.

Why should I believe Garry's interpretation of an interpretation? The gospels are interpretations of Palestinians about Jesus, assuming he really existed. Even more--they are the interpretations of the recollections of those who interpreted Jesus!

Some of Garry's nonsense: "Miracles, as it were, work themselves around such men (reviewer's note: Garry is talking about St. Francis and 'the Baal Shem Tov.' Who?! Never heard of BS Tov. Why not Paramahansa Yogananda or Sai Baba? But continuing:) Jesus is the preeminent example of this. The fact that he seems like other wonder-working holy men--Appollonius of Tyana, for instance--does not mean that he is an imitation of them. Rather, they are a reaching out toward him. They are a hunger and he the food. They are an ache, he the easement. As Chesterton said, his story resembles the great myths of mankind because he is the fulfillment of the myths." (What Jesus Meant, 2006, p. xxvii)

Cheap C.S. Lewis imitation, Garry; it is also total nonsense. Just read what you wrote--total blather. Besides, Jesus is an imitation of them, and they an imitation of him, because they all imitate the myths.

As a 26 year old Catholic I love Reading this guys work. It is so comical. He is a poster boy of the old guard still trying to reinterpret Christianity to serve their tired old hippie agenda. Thank God young Catholics and most of all young Priests don't fall for this hogwash. Of all this clowns books this is the worst(well Papal Sin was pretty darn dumb). In it he actualy deigns to tell us what Jesus realy meant. Because you know, two thousand years of scholarship not to mention the gospels have been wrong. The ego mania on this man knows no end. Apparently he fancies himself a lone prophet telling us the truth. Go Gary!!

Mr. Wills, you're no Chesterton (who he claims to be emulating).

This book was written with an agenda. The agenda was NOT to make readers holy or bring others to the faith. It was NOT to give an honest examination of Jesus' words. It WAS a book written with utter self-righteousness filled with subtle and not-so-subtle potshots at various denominational approaches to the Bible. I came away with the impression that Wills thinks he's the only true Christian.

In the foreword, Wills goes out of his way to say that Jesus was not a mere man. But in the chapters that follow, Jesus is humanized in a way I've never seen, in the discussions on wealth, power, and egalitarianism. Basically, it's Jesus the philosopher. Very little talk about salvation or purpose.

Wills jumps from fundamentalism to meditation. In that I mean his material (proof) comes straight from the New Testament and then he adds his own meaning. As a Catholic, Wills arguing from the position of sola scriptura is odd. I have not read his book Why I Am a Catholic, but I don't understand how he can be after reading this book and seeing the numerous criticisms of his Church.

Mr. Wills, you're the sole deposit of the Faith (note the sarcasm, please).

I have always thought that there is a piece of ADHD in everyone. Some people has a bigger piece, some people has a tiny piece. How can anyone be so "perfect"? My children are not "scientifically" diagnosed to be ADHD. But there are times when they can be showing bits of "symtoms" of ADHD.
I was in tears when I read about what happened to young Jonathan and young David. It must have been hard for them and their parents.
Everyone should read this book.
Parts of this book are going to help you with raising your own child since, like I said, everyone has bits of ADHD, and you just never know when anything in this book would come in handy.
Plus, we should also try to UNDERSTAND why some other children are doing what they have done. They are not ill and they are not stupid. It is just that they cannot walk within the lines like everyone else. Yet they CAN still learn and bloom, only that, just like the title of the book, they need to do it "outside the lines".

Anybody can use the great tips and techniques in this book from students who procrastinate on studying to people with ADD or ADHD that have a hard time focusing on studying and preparing for projects and tests. I highly recommend this to anyone who has difficulty with school regardless if you have ADD or ADHD or not.

I purchased this book because I have ADHD, I am in college and I am struggling some with test performance and grades (GPA is 3.65 but I want to increase it). I found *nothing* about what I was searching for in this book, and here's why.

For one, the first part "deviant minds", the one telling the school story of the two authors, is no use whatsoever, because it constantly blames the system (which doesn't work for ADHDers, true, but DOES work for 85% of people --- and they omit reporting this essential data). On top of it, the two stories are about how the entire world should be preoccupied with accommodating LD/ADHD kids as if nothing else mattered. Furthermore, the whole take on non-LD/ADHD people's feelings and behaviours (especially teachers) is *very* confrontational and displays an overall (and well-known) lack of empathy that many ADHDers have toward whoever doesn't have either LD or ADHD. As I also am a significant other of people with ADHD (my mom, a coworker, some other friends), I found it *appalling* to see how the strains that ADHD puts on relationships are completely overlooked when not entirely blamed on others, abuse included.

A second reason I don't suggest this book is, it's full of useless advices, such as "when the teacher says the word example it means he is about to give you an example" (I have ADHD, I'm not *dumb*!!!), "make summaries" (I know I'm supposed to summarize but the ADHD-related difficulties with summarizing are *precisely* linked to the fact that we see ALL the endless ways to do it... how about providing strategies to sort out which way works best in a specific contest???), "structure your answer" (yeah, how clever! That's what I've been told since grammar school... care to provide a template or at least explain *how* to do it??). When conflicting advices are given (like in the case of multiple ways of taking notes), there is no explanation on how to figure out which way might work best for the individual and/or the specific situation. They only say "do what's best for you", again, yeah right I've been trying to figure that one out for my whole life -- care to help some for 15 dollars?

A third reason I found this book useless is that it gives you no strategy for memorization... so if you are in medical school (like me), law school, are becoming a pharmacist or a vet or simply are facing an exam that isn't some dumb English Literature or Writing class, you can safely skip this book and buy *any* other available one.

Finally, having ADHD is about overcoming one's shortcomings, whereas the authors try to teach you how to cheat the system. In the specific, they teach you several tricks to pretend that you've studied something well enough that you manage to get higher grades. However, what I was trying to do was, getting higher grades as a consequence of having *really* learnt something!!!

In other words, unless all you are a victim and all you're interested into is cheating the system and never *really* face the challenges that comes with ADHD, run away, it's not for you.

I had leafed through this book one day in the library and it looked interesting. So, I bought one and I keep it with me always! I use it like a reference book. I found the chapters on reading and writing for people with learning disabilities the best. Once I started using the techniques, I saved my semester and my Grad School career! I was on academic probation and had to pass all classes (I'd gotten an "F") before. When I came back to try Grad school again, I had two "D's" at mid terms my first semester back! I read the book from cover to cover and kept it with me after that. I went from two "D's", a "B", and an "A" to two "A's", a "A-", and a "B" over the next six weeks. By the time finals came I was in the clear. The next semester I got straight "A's" for the first time in my life! All using techniques from this book! You have to get it. If you have ADHD or another learning disability like I do, it will help for sure!

I haven't read this book, I was thinking about buying it and read the excerpt online. It might be great, but I wouldn't want my kid reading any book with the "F" word on every page. I think it's unfortunate. Just my opinion.