Westerns Books

For anyone curious about Taoism or even for the person who has followed the way for many years, this is an excellent, well-written book that clearly illustrates the important philosophies of Taoism. There's nothing preachy or pretentious about The Tao of Daily Life. It's more like talking with an old friend - simply the best modern Taoist book I've read and is a more-than-worthy supplement to the original Tao Te Ching.

Derek Lin does an exceptional job at interpreting and discussing Taoist thoughts and parables that can guide you in thought and action. I came by Taoism through the course of academia but now find the Tao to be an active part of my life. This book reflects how Taoism is applied in such a manner. Each chapter leaves a great deal of room for personal interpretation and introspection. Simply from a philosophical point of view, this book can lead to great discussions.

I bought this book after being introduced to taoism on the author's website half a year ago. The book is a collection of parables (short stories) followed by a longer explanation by Derek Lin for each.

The parables have themes on loving others, dealing with our ego, why unfortunate events can be a blessing in disguise, handling negative people, and finding joy in simple things, for example. The parables are often funny, extremely insightful, and easy to remember for when you actually need the insight in real life situations.

This book has given me a large amount of understanding and inspiration in my own life. It is well written so that those of any religion (or lack of) can greatly benefit from its wisdom. The author even states this in the book.

I would put this book at the top of the list for anyone wanting to help move past the daily trivialities and frustrations that can inhibit our lives. This is also a perfect companion to applying the Tao Te Ching to the daily life.

The book contains enjoyable stories and comments which are enlightening yet easy to understand. Great book if you want to put the time proven wisdom to practice.

Based upon the stories of sages from days long past, The Tao of Daily Life, offers practical and thought provoking lessons on topics ranging from spiritual journeys to work and our families. It is through the retelling of simple short stories that Derek Lin imparts wisdom in this accessible work.



This book has 34 chapters, each beginning with a story. The story illustrates in just a few pages the topic. Lin then expounds upon the story to bring a deeper understanding of these principals into our present day context. In some chapters the connection with the Tao Te Ching is explored, however, this book is primarily a guide to living fully and deeply offering teachings that can be employed by anyone.



"Cultivating the Tao isn't all about solitary meditations and mountain retreats. It is also about community. It's about interacting with people, sending out oneness with them, and feeling the invigorating energy that results from personal interaction. The more we do for others, the more blissful contentment we experience; the more we give to others, the more joyous satisfaction we receive."

The editors and publishers at SRF have once again put together a masterpiece of spiritual wisdom harvested from the vast teachings - both spoken and written, of that great yogi Paramahansa Yogananda. It is almost like SRF has cloned the very creative and enlightened well of love that was Yogananda - and pulled out his teachings on the Bhagavad Gita from the astral world itself. This is a fresh and new approach to explaining the science of yoga - if that can be said about teachings and ideas that are thousands of years old.

The editors were very careful to keep true to Yogananda's teachings and his words. It has all his energy and thoughts carefully edited and threaded together in a very readable and enlightening format. The book will delight old SRF devotees and inspire new believers. The book delivers at all levels and one will find reading this book a real gift to their spirit.

I highly recommend this book to those who have an open mind and who want to spiritualize their life's journey. For those not familiar with the life of Yogananda I would strongly suggest the reading the spiritual classic "An Autobiography of a Yogi". This is destined to become another spiritual classic as well. It will never go out of date.

After Studying numerous English language translations of the Bhagavad Gita for over 50 years, Yoganandas rendition of this inspiring scripture and life guide must be one of the most readable and accurate.

This book also serves as an introduction to the larger work "God Talks With Arjuna," Paramahansa Yogananda's Gita commentary. Published by Self-Realization Fellowship, LA USA in 1994.

It is wonderful to see the publisher come out with this smaller and more portable edition which I now carry with me everywhere when I travel.

This translation of the Bhagavad Gita clarifies and exposes more of the real meanings intended by the Gitas original author. Revealing more of the Gitas spiritual insights on Raja Yoga, True spirituality and psychology.
One of the worlds greatest aids to Self-Realization.

It provides a more enriched read in English language.

Yogananda is easy to understand and is a great teacher. The Gita is a book which can enhance the spiritual quests of all seekers, regardless of religion. Though the setting is in ancient India, it can be easily translated into the symbology for every day life here in the West in the new millenium. The focus is on winning the battle within, letting the higher parts of ourselves be victorious and conquering those parts which sabotage and create pain for ourselves and others. Best of all, it can assist in deepening a real connection to that Higher Power, however we experience That. This book is definitely a book to take slowly, savoring each part and then applying it to one's daily life.

This book is full of information to make RVing more convenient and hopefully a little less expensive.

This guide provided me with valuable info from the first use. The campground detail is quite thin, but it gives me a great starting place to locate potential inexpensive camping spots. From there it is usually easy to get more detail using other resources. To be clear, this book is not a good single source but a valuable component and the data is well organized.

We have had Don Wrights Guides to Campgrounds before, this being the newest edition. The Western edition covers all the areas that we are currently interested in with many many listings and choices for people that like to Boondock. A great resource!
The only reason I did not give this a 5 star rating is that it is a little hard to read the numbers on the maps and then relate them to "state" or "county" roads. The maps of each state only show the main roads, not the links from those main roads to the camping areas. You have to refer to an addition map to get more of the location of camping areas.

We never travel without one of these editions.....not only because we find low priced campgrounds, but because we find quiet "out-of-the-way" campgrounds.

See also my review on NW rv destinations. I know the NW pretty well but am always looking for better and cheaper ways to travel around, hide out, and explore. For ecomony camping and rv'ing this is the book. A little cheaply done (newsprint type paper) this 440 pp reference guide is full of all the little hidey holes and cheaper places to hang out. Much more fine detail for this geographical area than say Trailer Life's RV Directory. Has complete information and prices on all the out of the way and mainline economical places to stay. Does not include commercial places like Wal-Mart, Cracker Barrel, etc. Very broad coverage (Entire Western US). While on you way to a destination park you can explore these out of the way and local money savers. Such camps usually don't have full hooks ups, but for ~ $12 or less who cares, you can boondock for a a night can't you -- maybe even a whole weekend!

Please clean up after your pets and keep them controlled. An increasing number of camps are not allowing pets due to owners' abuse of this privilege. Its not the dog's fault. Our Miniature Schauzer loves to RV and we love taking him, but are often dismayed by the number of parks that will not allow pets anymore.

I bought this for my son. He now tells me that it has only 1/3 of the original work. The cover nowhere states that this has been abridged, edited or selected. My son says it is like abridging Herodotus - not a good idea, and best left to the original reader to decide what is interesting and what isn't.

A great book, and invaluale source for not only the Hundred Years War, but: Spain, Flanders, Medieval life ....

BUT ! Some of the best chapters from Frossiart's work have been left out of this edition. Admitedly, the orginal work is to long for a penguin classic, but leaving out the chapters on the Turks, Moors, Muslim pirates, Spain.....

It left me annoyed at the editing rather than Frossiart.

As for Frossiart, a Chronicler of the finest calibre.

The Chronicles is an excellent and fun read. The 14th Century is the most amazing century for medieval Western European history. The plague, the hundred years war, the free companies, the papal schism, wow! If you aren't familiar with the century, I would suggest you first read Barbara Tuchmans "A Distant Mirror", as she gives a really fun overview of the century. Then what Froissart wrote has much more meaning.

To me, history is not just about places, dates and names, but rather is about how those who lived past events, are just like us. The more human they are, the more valuable the history (to me). If we can connect to those in the past, in this emotional way, the past has more meaning, and actually in a way, can become (in your mind) your own past.

What I most enjoyed about Froissart was the personal element that he interjected, telling about conversations he had, personal impressions, and his own moral judgements of events. It made the history seem more connected to our own era, as you see the characters are just people like us.

What I really did not like is that these guys who edit and translate decide for us what is interesting and what is not. As a result, much interesting material (at least to me) was summarized rather than presented. If you are reading Froissart, in my opinion, you are not an ordinary reader who needs it "short and interesting". I read Froissart to see what someone who has been there has to say about events.

So now, I have to go and find a translation that was not abridged. I don't like this. If there is such a translation, I suggest you read that one instead of this one.

Froissart's Chronicles is probably one of the best works of medieval literature available to the reading public. He recounts numerous events, some of which he witnessed firsthand. Also in his chronicles are stories and legends that he learned of in his many travels through Europe. His writing style is concise and clear, although historians have found that his sources of information are not always the most accurate. Nevertheless, his stories are engaging and insightful and more or less true (he got a lot of information from knights and other people who were eager to be recorded in his chronicles as heroes, and thus gave him bias information). His works include eyewitness information on medieval towns, battle tactics, arms, castles, dress, food, social activities, customs, geography, languages, and science. For anyone who wants to know what the Middle Ages were really like, this book is absolutely necessary to have!

Jean Froissart (1337-1410) was a contemporary of Chaucer's (it is likely that they met on several occasions, but there is no evidence they were friends. Chaucer is often cited as the leading poet of the 14th Century and Froissart its ranking historian. Geoffry Brereton does an excellent job of rendering an abridged translation of Froissart's multi-volume work. Using the same method employed in the one-volume Penguin edition of Gibbon , many sections of the original text, covering relatively minor events and battles, are rendered in precis form. What we get therefor, is essentially "the best" of Froissart. Brereton also does a good job of providing just the right amount of footnotes and warns the reader when Froissart's account veers from more reliable sources. Froissart was gathering most of his information second-hand, primarily from noblemen of the era who were witnesses to the events, but whose viewpoints may have been colored to some degree by natural biases, and were sometimes themselves reporting information from what they had heard, not necessarily what they had seen.

Froissart delivers a marvelous panorama of a fascinating era. He tells his story from the perspective of the nobility, to whose households he attached himself. He traveled from castle to castle, through several regions of France, Flanders and England, adding to his chronicles as he went. This was a turbulent period, covering a large stretch of the Hundred Year War (between France and England primarily). It begins with the deposition of Edward the II (unforgettably dramatized by Marlowe) and ends with the deposition of Richard II (likewise, by Shakespeare). Sandwiched between these bookends are some of the most unforgettable scenes in written history. Froissart infuses his descriptions of major battles (Poitiers, Roosebeke, Otterburn, etc), great tournaments (Saint-Inglevert) and feasts (the entry of Queen Isabella into Paris) with great color and panache. What makes the Chronicles so moving, however, is his treatment of incidents in which humanity is limned in a much dimmer light. The siege of Calais, for instance, is rendered quite graphically and one can readily see how the event inspired Rodin's monumental bronze, "The Burghers of Calais," depicting the town fathers being led out of the gates with iron collars fastened around their necks. Edward III, whom Froissart generally reveres, is cast in a none-too-heroic mold, both during and immediately after the siege. The Black Prince's desire for revenge is seen as undeservedly implacable. Finally he is brought around to reason by the supplications of his Queen.

Equally moving is Froissart's account of the Count of Foix' ill-fated relationship with his son and sole heir.

The trouble starts when the King of Navarre, brother-in-law to the Count of Foix, renigs on a ransom promise. The Count sends his wife (the King's sister)to Navarre to collect his money. The King refuses and she is afraid to return home without it, so she stays on at her brother's court for several years. When the Count's son, Gaston, is about 15, he decides to visit his mother. He asks her to return home, but when Gaston tells her it's his request, not the Count's, she remains where she is, still earful of her husband . Gaston, before returning home, stops to pay his respects to the King of Navarre. Before Gaston leaves, the King gives him several gifts to take home with him, the last of which turns out to be a locket containing poison. After Gaston returns home, the locket is eventually discovered around his neck and the Count imagines that Gaston meant to poison him. He has him imprisoned in a tower, where Gaston wastes away and dies. The story is rendered quite simply and movingly and comes as close to Greek Tragedy as any account in medieval literature, calling to mind the curse upon the House of Atreus.

Also noteworthy are Froissart's depictions of the two great Peasant Revolts of the era, that of the Jacquerie, in France and "Wat Tyler's" in England. Of the two, the Jacquerie created a great deal more damage and put the gentry in mortal fear of their lives. The English revolt is the result of a much more spontaneous event, a sudden conflagration ignited by the proletarian preaching of "a crack-brained priest of Kent, John Ball. Ball was a firebrand who liked to end his sermons by exhorting the commons to take what was rightfully theirs. Eventually, the peasants do haphazardly organize and march into London, where they make demands on Richard II. They cause a degree of mayhem, but eventually reach a settlement with Richard, where after they disperse to their homes and their leaders, John Ball, Jack Straw and Wat Tyler end up with their heads displayed atop pikes on London Bridge.

Froissart covers a great deal of ground in his Chronicles, and again, the Penguin edition offers a fine sampling of the much larger work. If you are at all interested in medieval literature or history, this is a "must" read. One cautionary note. Froissart does go on at some length when it comes to lists of personages who were at a particular event. It's apparent he doesn't want to offend anyone by leaving them out (not forgetting that many of the people he was writing about were still alive at the time). The roll-calls themselves, however, have a certain charm and poetic quality to them. All in all, there's very little in this book not to recommend. Besides being colorful and informative, it's a grand read.

Without previewing this book, I ordered it as the primary textbook for a graduate level course I was teaching in International HR Management. The table of contents looked comprehensive and since it was written by a couple of Australians, I thought it had to be good. Not so. Although the field of international human resource management is interesting and exciting, this book was not. Excessively wordy and academic, it was excruciatingly boring to read. My students unanimously gave it a thumbs-down.

I concur with many of the 1 star reviewers. I do not care for this book or Mr. Reimer's writing style. While there are some decent points, the book is not an easy or interesting read.

Some of Bennett Reimer's writings are very inspiring. I am so thankful that my college professor used this particular book for our required reading.

The man has interesting viewpoints, but these are all overshadowed by the overwhelming verbage. He can explain these principles in fewer paragraphs without missing out on anything. Instead, he opts to confuse readers by using too many words and by beating around the bush. I'd rather read something else if this weren't a required text.

Reimer wants his readers to think he's done something important by putting his tired, old ideas into new words (here and there) and using a new cover. Only his rabid followers will agree. This is the same old stuff that Reimer has always tried to sell and it fails for the same basic reasons: Reimer does not have -- Reimer never had -- a plausible explanation of the nature and value of music. Reimer is obvioulsy desperate -- he's running very hard -- to save his legacy in this "third" book (the same book x 3!). But he cannot. He fails, again, because a new generation of music education philosophers -- Bowman, Jorgensen, Elliott, Regelski -- has already exposed Reimer's poor thinking, weak scholarship, and faulty logic in the past. This "third" edition is full of the same old problems.

This book is poor. It 's not "philosophical" in any sense because it's not logical and it's not supported by the majority of music scholars today. Reimer contradicts himself at every turn; he doesn't understand what Langer is really saying; and. his absolutist notion of music is completely out of synch with what most scholars argue about music today. Reimer just mouths a lot of fluffy, feel-good nonsense.