Inspiration Books

I would like to inspire all those who are looking for new ideas, and a new way of life. The Grace Cards have opened up new avenues for one to look forward to different insights of all possibilities. If you, or anyone, is truly interested in seeing all avenues of life, I truly suggest that you consider using the Grace cards on a daily basis. You will TRULY, TRULY, be blessed.

these are so uplifting everyday - i choose one daily and use it as my meditative reflection for the day.... grace is everywhere if we chose to look for it! This is for everyone who believes in the Lord's Grace!

These cards are beautifully illustrated and hold up well to constant shuffling. There is a gloss coat that helps them slide out well. It was the perfect gift for a friend that is spiritually minded and each of the quotes are very thoughtful and fulfilling. It a is well put together package and I highly recommend it.

I ordered Cheryl's Grace Cards set pretty much on the basis of her Self-Care Cards set. I like the original set for my own use and have given them as gifts as well.

After visiting Cheryl's web site and clicking on her Touch of Grace feature a couple of times (which shows a card after one clicks on a particular star) I decided to order the Grace Cards set. When they arrived today I opened the box expecting quality comparable to the first set. But, found them much less satisying than the Self-Care set.

The images are not as appealing, or clear, the over all design of the cards not as high in quality, expressions on the subjects' faces not as pleasant.

One of the things that struck me throughout the deck was that the women are pretty much universally presented in a passive mode. This may have been purposeful, as in, representing the person using the cards as someone feeling 'stuck' and in need of waiting for 'grace' (whatever that actually is, which certainly wasn't clear to me from the cards themselves).

I did appreciate that the artists used models representing several ethnic groups.

The messages on the cards were not as satisfying or useful to me as on the first set either. They also presented contradictory messages. The Chance card has an image of a silouetted figure on a strangely shaped cliff. The message on the back reads, "Take the leap. Divine protection is always by our side." The Choice card's message is, "For every action there is a reaction. Choose wisely."

I suppose the deck is intended to be some sort of Tarot of action, representing a mixture of many religious and spiritual beliefs. The user picks a card which may then prompt some inner recognition of a personal need. For me, it was, however, a disappointment. I'm trying to decide whether to throw away all the cards I don't care for, keeping only the few I like, or give the whole boxful to someone who does like them--who, I don't know.

I find one card offensive above all the others. It's the Love card, with an image of a huge charred heart with what appears to be a consuming fire within, suspended above a craig, with a waterfall as a backdrop and beyond that a fiery sunset. I have no idea what it is supposed to represent or what it is intended to accomplish for the user. But, I find it really repellent, just want it to not be in the set.Self Care Cards (Large Card Decks)

Never before has a set of affirmations coupled with beautiful artwork resonated with me so. The soothing affirmations serve to center you with gentle guidance. The stunning artwork invites you to use all of your senses in experiencing it. Together, they create gentle but powerful messages for the soul.

The theme of each card is printed on the front over what strikes me as a fresh, new "horizon," beginning with a circling spiral which encourages an outward awareness, and offering the chance to enrich and expand the scope of your own personal vista.

Step into this stunning collection and embrace the wisdom imparted. Physically experience the sensual imagery of the paintings . . . .
SEE the angelic light of self.
TOUCH the soft silk of rest.
SMELL the dewy forest of illumination.
TASTE the salty air of patience.
LISTEN to the roar of a seashell.

I prefer to randomly pick a card at the beginning of each week, then pay special attention to the message. Choose your card, step back, and look for the lesson - watch your opportunity to learn manifest! Most of all, remember your own divinity and trust in the grace available to you. You will find much here to help guide your path. Take advantage of it.

Shirley second book that literally dropped into my lap, her first one was "The Camino", I got them for $2 at library sale. A version of her 'fall from heaven story' is on p.13:

"Just before (my) seminars began, my father passed on. He had been a teacher all his life. I considered cancelling the first few dates but I knew he would have wanted me to carry on.
So I found myself, by no small coincidence, in Virginia Beach, staying in the same hotel in which my father had brought us on vacation during a summer that provided a self-conscious twelve-year-old with a traumatic experience. It had to do with public humiliation.
I was swimming in the Atlantic, having developed a crush on the lifeguard, when a surging wave knocked me over and the top of my two-piece bathing suit came apart and was washed away. I climbed to my knees sputtering but glad to be alive, until I looked dawn and saw that I was exposed to the lifeguard in all my teenage splendor. I was so embarrassed I wanted to die. He smiled, which made it even worse. I ran back to the hotel. For years, Virginia Beach and a pounding surf were a combination that made me inwardly cringe.
As I stood looking out at the same beach, the same surf, from the same hotel, I realized I would, as an adult, be dealing with the same issue - potential public humiliation."

Her "higher-self seminar" and this book all happened in the 1980's. Shirley was resurrecting her seminar in August 2000, when she was 66, according to her interview by Rochelle. In answer to Rochelle's question "Are there subjects that you won't discuss?" Shirley answered:

"Oh, sure. I don't talk about the personal relations of my family or my love life. People think I'm wearing my heart on my sleeve and I'm basically just an open book. No, I have my limits that I don't think I should share because it would be exposing the people who are closest to me to the kind of exposure they probably don't want."

Fabricating excuses is lying to the soul or higher-self and not be one's authentic self. Shirley didn't make that excuse when she dealt with Neale Walsch in his "Friendship with God" pp.340-341:

"'So,' she said as I slid into the booth next to her, `did you really talk to God?'
`I think so,' I replied modestly.
`You think so?' She was incredulous, `You think so?'
`Well', I stammered, `that was my experience.'
`Then don't you think you should say that? Isn't that what happened?'
`That is what happened. It's just that some people have a hard time accepting that if I just pop right out with it.'
`Oh, you care what other people think?' Shirley probed, her face now very close, her eyes searching mine. "Why?'"

In Neale's FwG and Conversation with God 2, the 5 levels of truth telling were mentioned, the 5th or last level is "tell the truth to everyone about everything".

So I will again lead by example and demonstrate what that 'last level of truth telling' means. All the authors in `all my reviews' chose so far to hide behind the mask of not hurting their `close relationships or relatives'. As the word `close' means `not open', thus not free from fear. The only truth worth presenting to others is one's own experience with nothing hidden. To limit the transparency of one's experience is to lie about who one is. BTW Bush will pass away by March 7 2006 of a stroke & something bad will happen on China's second manned space mission.

I nurtured Kite & Happy for 2 years together with up to 35 other people in our unconditional environment, where I spent $500k of my stock profit for three and half-year from Shanghai to Beijing. It was an environment where I even provided a self-trained young chief to cook wonderful meal. 2 examples of unconditional love:

On our move from Shanghai to Beijing, 4 young guys chose to move. Once in Beijing I asked if there is any problem? A fellow answered that washing the dishes is now a problem. They had a schedule of who is going to do the dishes in-turn over the kitchen sink. Things happen and they can't stick to it and can't keep track of who owed whom. A fellow volunteered to wash all the dishes from now on. I left it at that. I later found on the next day the other 3 didn't feel good letting one person do all the dishes. From then on dish washing became voluntary with no schedule. They all realized that in order to eat, dishes have to be washed. It's Zen or natural common sense.

Some weeks later, I asked the same question. 2 fellows declared that they want regular working hours instead of unconditional hours. I asked the other 2 what they felt. They said unconditional is fine. This time I brought my feet down and said: "You 2 that want regular hours please choose your hours. The other 2 please continue with your undefined hours."

15 were college graduates and around 18 ranged from elementary school graduates to high school graduates. I had a Professor for PhD from the Chinese Academy of Science and his favorite post-graduate student and a Chief Engineer of a major corporation to help them self-train in either Computer Programming or English, or both.

The post-college elders were paid 5000rmb per month. The college graduates were paid 2500rmb and the others 500rmb, including the chief, which I called living stipend. Once the college graduates self-declared that they passed the self-training and can start design and coding, they immediately self-promote to founder instead of trainee. I gave them 60,000rmb or a full year salary, unconditionally. When I first proposed it, the Chief Engineer asked what will I do if they take the money and left. I said let them follow their own conscience or good heart. Just 2 college graduates took it with their own consequence and ran away with the money. Most of the others asked for an additional 100,000rmb loan which they lend to others to pursue their dreams. I unconditionally gave them that too. From unconditional love, I don't give loans, I only give away money unconditionally. In the end when I was running low on money and decided to close shop, they couldn't return the 100,000rmb. All who left earlier for other opportunity returned part of their yearly salary.

The exception is one fellow, who was attending college part-time, took upon himself to take the 100,000rmb & the yearly salary & chose not to depart but to live with his girl-friend in the dorm, which were 3 bedroom apts., so was our central computer office. His `fall from heaven story' was he refused to go to kindergarten and cried his way out and when he finally went he found that kindergarten was fun. His self-definition is `stubborn'. I would say he did work hard and played a hard game with me. I simply put my feet down and told him to leave our shore with the money which he had no intention to return. I told every one I will not sue them for the money and I will at most tell their parents what they have done, which I never did either. The reason is that unconditional love does not choose to bring human law into matter of relationships or any matter.

I was gratified that almost all the college graduates fellow got their next job paying more than my stipend of 5000rmb. Which in Beijing put them at the 1% income level while the median is around 2000rmb now.

To be continued in `all my reviews' of Shirley's "The Camino".

This sixth entry into the collection of Shirley MacLaine's spiritual odyssey, strays from the roots of the rest of the books. This guide is a guide to be in tune and in harmony with your self. Let me tell you, it helped me. She discusses the Chakras, Chanting, Sexuality, and the New Age Movement in general. An insightful and very informative read!!!

After reading this book and listening to the audio tape as well...I must say I was transformed. I used her tape to guide my meditations, during which I had a vision of my sister in the hospital. I called home and found out my sister was in emergency surgery and had almost died. If we just open our mind, it's amazing what we can see.

I have enjoyed all of the books by Shirley MacLaine, but these tapes have touched me and assisted me in so many ways. I recommend them to everyone in my metaphysical group who asks for a nice guided-meditation tape. The meditations are superb! I use the meditation that helps you find and balance your chakras all the time! In fact, I just had to order a new one because my old one finally wore out from such frequent use! These are great tapes for both beginners and long-time meditators.

The title of the book, which became Mr. Sayers' credo throughout life, comes from a quote he saw on the desk of one of his coaches: "My God is first, my friends and family are second, I am third." Mr. Sayers tells the story of a man who lifted himself out of the ghetto with such a love for football, his friendship with Brian Piccolo (one of the very first pairings of a black player and a white player in the NFL) and his near-career ending injury. It is an inspirational story that does not get preachy. He tells of his friendship with Brian Piccolo without getting maudlin (Mr. Sayers and Mr. Piccolo were loyal friends and deeply respectful of each other.) He relates his triumphant return to the Chicago Bears after a knee injury that had almost everyone writing him off (except Mr. Piccolo, who urged him on during rehabilitation.) It almost seems as if Al Silverman turned on a tape recorder and let Mr. Sayers talk. Rather than being pretentious, the way a lot of sports biographies are one gets the feeling that Mr. Sayers is sitting down in an easy chair and is talking directly to each reader. The book, however, was written more than thirty-five years ago and ends before Mr. Sayers' final two (albeit disappointing) seasons. My hope is that Mr. Sayers will either update this book or write a sequel to tell us of his successes after football.

Bought this as gift for my husband. His reveiw: It was okay, interesting about Gayle Sayer's life but not extremely well written. It had little to say about his relationship with Brian Piccolo.

I am third
By Gale Sayers

Devon Hurley

My book is called I am third and itýs written by Gale Sayers. The price of the book is $...and u can find this book in any book store.
I am third is about the football player gale Sayers .He plays football with his friends every day. He grew up in a poor house with barely any food. That didnýt stop him from playing football though. He played no matter what. One time he tried to tackle some one and he got kicked in the mouth and he was spiting out blood his brother played football too. He was older then Gale. Gale was a starter on the high school football team with his brother he only got to play with his brother one season because he was a senior when Gale was a freshman. Gale was a good player. He was like1st or 2nd best in the country. He wanted to go to a four year college to play football. Mississippi State was in other sports besides football like track and basketball. He broke the long jump record for track. His mom and dad were always working on something. Galeýs dad was tall and had long legs. His dad worked hard every day and only got 40 dollars a day. His mom was at home watching all the kids. All the kids in the neighbor hood were on the football team. After gale went to college he was going to go to the pros either the chiefs or the bears. on draft day the Chicago bears picked Gale Sayers the first day of summer training he met Brian piccolo. Brian was a white person and Gale was a black person they didnýt really get along at first of race but after they started playing together. The coach put them in the same room partner. When gale was voted rookie of the year Brian starts to get sick and has to go to the hospital and he finds out he has cancer and has to stay in the hospital for the rest of the season. Later he goes home and is recovering but he gets cancer again a in his chest and dies from cancer. later gale plays the best game of his career he scores 6 touchdowns.

This review is on the book called "I Am Third". In this book it tells mostly about Gale Sayers' football career and some of Brian Piccolo's or Pic. The reason this book is called "I Am Third" is because he says that "God is 1st,my friends are 2nd,and I am 3rd". To understand this book you might have to know a little about football. If you like football stories I would reccomend you read "I Am Third".

I really never liked sports, but this book really moved me because it was a story of two men very different yet very alike. They were both very talented, over the past few months i've been doing so much research and Gale and Brian. I also am planning to do a important report on them, the frienship that they had was great. BUY THIS BOOK!! and the movie Brians song!I loved both. I love Ya Gale and Brian GOD BLESS!

We humans are staring extinction in the face. Unless we discover consciousness in its cosmic depth there may be no tomorrow for us. But that stark reality, as O'Murchu lays it out clearly and courageously, can wake us up to new ways of thinking and living that will open for us a future beyond our imagination.

This book is a fast read yet so full of fertile insights-- such as the "embodiment" and the Holy Spirit's being God's all-pervasive presence and energy within the universe -- that I found myself going back to section after section to dig deeper, linger longer,and truly savour the rich feast that Diarmuid O'Murchu has set before us in The Transformation of Desire.

I only wish he had expanded a bit on sexuality as "the desiring energy of all creation," and drawn links between sexual desire and hunger-and-thirst for justice, in the manner of Walter Bruggeman or Wendell Berry.

Después de leer "El poder del ahora" este libro son una serie de ejercicios para poner en práctica el poder de estar en el ahora. Con ejercicios prácticos nos ayuda a comprender nuestro papel en el ámbito de la enfermedad y nuestra relación con los otros; entre otros temas, creando así un ambiente libre de sufrimiento.

"El poder del ahora" ha sido uno de los libros mas esclarecedores respecto al conocimiento de mi mismo que haya leido jamas. "Practicando el poder del ahora" es un complemento que sirve para continuar ahondando en ese esclarecimiento. Es importante releer un mismo concepto expresado de otro modo, diferentes palabras que no son mas que "señales", como dice Eckhart Tolle, y nunca el conocimiento mismo. Sirven para guiarnos, pero no nos pueden llevar al final del camino, la mente no puede hacerlo, no esta capacitada para ello, hay que ir mas alla del pensamiento, y de eso se tratan estos libros: sumergirnos en un mundo "mas alla de la mente", donde el espiritu reina, y la comprension florece.

No me considero un experto en el tema, pero si puedo decir de mi que he sido un lector avido de este tipo de libros, casi desde que tengo memoria y si de algo sirve mi consejo, de acuerdo con mi experiencia, que bien puede ser diferente de la tuya, amigo lector, es necesario complementar la lectura de Tolle con otros topicos mas "terrenales", si cabe el termino.

Que no se malentienda, creo que leer a Tolle, es fundamental para todo aquel que desea profundizar en el conocimiento de la vida y de si mismo, y que desea comprender ademas los fundamentos de las diferentes tecnicas de meditacion. Ocurre que aunque Tolle insista en que no es lo mismo "aceptacion de la realidad" que "resignacion ante lo que ocurre en nuestras vidas", lo primero es deseable, no lo segundo, no es sencillo a veces emprender la accion desde la "aceptacion", pues estamos acostumbrados y vivimos en una sociedad que nos dice que "debemos sentirnos mal" primero para emprender una accion dirigida a corregir la situacion que nos "molesta" (En realidad, no es "la sociedad" sino nuestra mente la que nos empuja a actuar de ese modo).

Por todo ello, es que creo necesario complementar a Tolle con un autor que admiro profundamente, y que a lo largo de los años ha abrazado con mas fuerza la espiritualidad alejandose de su terreno profesional, la psicologia, con gran elegancia, precision, entusiasmo y profundidad, se trata de Wayne W. Dyer.

Aunque hace ya muchos años, se hiciera mundialmente conocido por "Tus Zonas Erroneas", son sus libros mas recientes, entre ellos, "El poder de la Intencion" y "Los 10 Secretos para conseguir el exito y la paz interior", los que muestran al compararlo con Tolle, como dos pensadores, transitando caminos muy diversos, con experiencias e historias de vida diferentes, se acercan a las mismas conclusiones.

Ambos recorren su propia senda, como cada uno de nosotros, y lo hace tropezando con diferentes piedras, saboreando frutos distintos y hallando respuestas a sus propias preguntas. La lectura de ambos autores es enriquecedora. Cual leer primero, y cual despues? Eso no importa, cualquier eleccion que hagas, sera la correcta... correcta para ti.

"The Secret: Unlocking the Source of Joy and Fulfillment" by Michael Berg is an excellent book! The true origins of this book are ancient, based on the wisdom of Kabbalah. Michael Berg explores such fascinating concepts as transformative sharing, and how to apply Jewish mysticism in day to day life.

The central teaching is that "The only way to achieve true joy and fulfillment is by becoming a being of sharing" and includes meditations on living a life of generosity.

This book truly reveals the essence of LIFE and thereby enables you to set yourself free from sorrow in order to manifest greater joy and success in your life and the lives of others.

I found "The Secret: Unlocking the Source of Joy and Fulfillment" to be even better when read in conjunction with NEXUS by Deborah Morrison and Arvind Singh. NEXUS is a fascinating NEW AGE novel that works with some of the concepts found in Michael Berg's "The Secret" and demonstrates how this transformative life adventure unfolds in the lives of the main character Logan along with the other unusual & colourful characters in the book who are faced with life challenges. Definitely cutting-edge material that will make a difference in your life.

Highly recommended as a quality book filled with transformative wisdom along with:

Nexus: A Neo Novel

Though this is an inspirational and simple read, it is not what I was hoping for.

Probably good for someone who has never read a word on anything Metephysical. I read it, sold it, didn't miss it. Nothing but rehashed info.

The book is very good. I purchased it in hardback for my wife. I believe the purchase price was $12.95. However the Shipping was nearly $18.00. This book is approximately 4"X6" and weighs maybe a couple of ounces. Unbelievable! What a RIP-OFF! I sent an e-mail to Amazon to complain, but as of today (10/03/07) I have not received a response, nor do I expect one. Needless to say this is my last purchase from Amazon. I employ over 400 workers for my company, and I made certain that they were ALL aware of this unethical business practice.
John Gremillion

Share this!, Mr. Berg. I read it in an hour, glanced back through to see if I missed something so perhaps spent an hour and fifteen or twenty minutes on drivel, ancients and wisdom, my eye. There's more philosophy in anything by Carlos Castenada on peyote. There's a saying that everytime you open a book you learn something, this is an exception to that, although I did learn for the thousandth time, Buyer Beware.

I must admit that I was pleasantly suprised with this book. The Golden Dawn is covered within all sorts of legitimacy of lineage issues. All this seems to produce a degredation to the movement from my point of view. In any case the book does present core type information and is easily readable. Recommended for those who just simply cannot stand to read through the ealry 1900s style of writing. That is to say, bringing modern style to the dusty old way of presenting material.

Firstly, I will explain why this book only received four stars from myself. This text opens under the assumption that you are a practicing magician, and that you are well versed in basic rituals such as the LBRP, the Middle Pillar Vibratory Technique (I don't know how else you would intend to create the astral shells for the initiations), and that you own Secrets of a Golden Dawn Temple and are skilled with your hands. It also assumes that you are a true occultist and that you are seeking more than launching some sigils to make manifest your "will."
However, this book is a great piece of work that stands on it's own as does Regardie's Golden Dawn, Crowley's Liber ABA, and to a much lesser degree Peter Carroll's Liber Null and Psychonaut. In fact, all of these books are must haves by serious students. I would not know how someone could study Crowley's system of magick without being well grounded in the magick and rituals of the Golden Dawn (Crowley places great emphasis on the Neophyte Ritual and refers to the Z-documents about five times in his book). So, my fellow thelemites stop bashing the GD please! You make us all sound like fools!
Moving on. The information contained within this text is absolutely indispensable, not to mention the chapter that deals with astrology! The Cicero's put a great deal of care in compiling a text book, for those magicians who really want to bring their understanding above par. The pace of the book is a little slow, but we tend to fall down when we run to quickly.
If you are looking for a book that will initiate your level of understanding of your magical-self and your magical-universe, then this is the book for you. However, if you are on the fast track to enlightenment, (which is oftentimes the fast track to failure) then by all means move on don't waste your money and continue delude yourself. Remember: it is our understanding that provides the mortar for the building blocks of experience

This book offers more information than most will want to deal with, yet it is a great place to get familiar with the teachings of the Golden Dawn. One will probably seek initiation into the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn to get clarification on the rituals and knowledge presented in this book, though.

Those who wish not to expend serious time and effort into their conscious spiritual awakening need not waste their money on this book. This book is for the serious seekers with an interest in ritual and who feel that "pull" into the GD current. The important factors in a valid initiation are intent and the activation of relevant symbolism within the initiate's sphere. This book supplies the knowledge to utilize the latter - the former is entirely up to the student.
This book contains such a wealth of information on many aspects of the Western Esoteric Tradition. My gripes however are two in number: 1. Towards the back of the book spelling and grammatical errors become increasingly common-not a huge deal (as none of them occur during the rituals) but it's just something that a literally-anal person like myself catches notice of; and 2. Lack of completeness in regards to having everything basic that the student needs (i.e. ritual implements)-they should really have devoted a section in each grade to construction of implements. I understand that they want the seeker to get in the habit of consulting other sources, which is good, but completeness in the basics should be mandatory.
All in all an awesome and wonderful opus by 2 superb writers -- maybe I should take back my first sentence of this review, for even those who are not willing to seriously work themselves into the GD current can benefit greatly from reading the Knowledge Lectures and contemplating the words and readings from the grade initiations. 5 stars was an easy decision for me on this one.

I saw this book when it first came out in 1995 and was thrilled with it. At the time however, I was attempting to go down the road of Wicca. So, I did not pick it up. Eventually, I realized that the path I was better suited for was that of the Golden Dawn and I wanted to buy this book to supplement my studies. One of the things I remembered vividly were the color plates near the middle of the book. I loved them because they were so much brighter and evoked much more emotion to me than the plates in Regardie's Golden Dawn book. So, I ordered the book but it was the 2002 edition and suddenly the color plates were in gray scale?!?! I found the 1998 edition and they too were in gray scale. The current edition 2006/07 does not even include the plates at all, even though the book refers you to them at various points.

To get full use of the book the color plates as they originally were in the 1995 edition I feel are needed. Thankfully you can see these pictures scaled down on the author's website, but they do not hold the same magic to me on a computer screen.

Overall the material is a great reference and I recommend it to anyone. I just don't like the changes that the company has implemented.

ELEMENTS OF ARGUMENT was selected as a textbook for a second-semester English composition course that I instructed for our local state university in the waning days of 2006. More or less the first half of the 866-page book is an instructional textbook and the second half is a collection of essays from a wide variety of authors from classical to contemporary.

Generally speaking, I found the textbook portion to be clearly and logically written, presenting in ten chapters most of the considerations involved in writing persuasive essays. These chapters include annotated essays that illustrate the processes of presenting a claim, supporting it, and being aware of the assumptions--the warrants--that affect both writer and reader. Additional short essays at the conclusion of each chapter are accompanied with generally good writing prompts for practice in writing short papers in response to the readings. Following these chapters are sections dealing with the writing of research papers and with citation formatting in both MLA and APA styles.

The numerous essays that are anthologized in the second half of the book vary greatly in length, topic and style. Throughout the entire book, contemporary essays tend to address topics of importance and interest to today's audience: racial categorizations, cloning, church-state separation, terrorism, rising college costs, torture, divorce, and so forth. The editors do not shy away from contentious subjects, and for that they deserve applause.

Let us look at the value of the book from two perspectives, first as it may be used in a controlled classroom environment and then as it may benefit an independent, nontraditional learner who is engaged in self-improvement.

As a textbook for a course in general composition, the book's focus on argumentation, or persuasive, writing obviously limits the focus of the course itself. Perhaps what is needed is a whole series of composition courses, each focusing on a different aspect of writing, of which persuasion is one valid type. In such an environment, ELEMENTS OF ARGUMENT would be, I feel, a fine textbook for the persuasive writing course. Alas, today we are lucky to get university students through no more than two semesters of composition, and much of that time must be spent in remedial grammar study. In this situation, I think our students would be better served by textbooks that combine composition instruction with a variety of literature types so that students can practice emulating more than just persuasive writing. Furthermore, it has been my experience that many schools change textbooks between the first semester's instruction and the second, even though most of the textbooks are entirely adequate in their scope and length to be used for both semesters. This means that fully half of each textbook goes unread, a terrible waste considering the cost of these texts. Under these practices, cutting the book in half so that students purchase only the instructional part, i.e., the 465 pages of the first ten chapters, would be a vast improvement and a benefit to students faced with increasingly insurmountable textbook and tuition costs.

Now, addressing the independent, self-motivated learner, I suggest that if one wishes to improve one's skill in persuasive writing, this is not a bad book with which to do it, although a skill such as writing effectively requires practice in doing, not simply reading about how to do it. The book is not designed as a self-help text, but reading the first ten chapters closely would certainly do no harm. As for the additional essays in the second 400+ pages, if one enjoys reading essay-style writing, this collection is sufficiently varied so that one can surely find quite a few essays to one's liking. Personally, I find that essay-reading becomes tedious after a while, and I long for at least a good short story if not a book-length work, fiction or otherwise-and I do believe that continual reading of a variety of literary styles does indeed help one improve one's writing, merely by exposure to interesting, well-constructed sentences. I doubt that I would find the motivation to read ELEMENTS OF ARGUMENT from cover to cover just for pleasure.

On an ending note, I found the associated CD, "I-Claim: Visualizing Argument," as well as the instructor's notes in the back of the textbook to be of very limited usefulness. I cannot truthfully say that inclusion of the CD enhances the value of the book to any appreciable extent. In short, if one is particularly interested in studying persuasive-style writing, at least half of the book may be of value; otherwise, I would invest my reading dollars elsewhere.

I have never read something that is so boring. It is somewhat hard to understand also. The writer uses many difficult words in the text. I still can't believe how boring this book is.

I found this book to be very help full for not only it's content but it's language and focus. Even though it could but you to sleep. I learned a lot about how to analize arguments not only oraly but on paper over all it's a great book and I would recommed it for any learning envirnmont.

Excellent book that provides an excellent guide on how to present, state and support ones argument. Highly recommended.

This book introduces the important elements of writing and/or reading an arguement. However, I found while reading it I was in danger of falling asleep only to be awakened by its occasional sample arguement and sample advertisements that are intresting. I am unsure if this is just a difficult subject to write about, or what.