For the Love of My Country: Desert Storm

Average customer rating:

Book is excellent; reproduction is not

hagiography, but of historical importance

Edison's Best Years

Menlo Park reminiscences
Francis Jehl
Manufacturer: Edison Institute
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B00087FUGY

Book Description

Volume one of a three volume set. (This description is for all volumes.) No more important contribution to the story of pioneer electrical develoment could have been made than the intimate day-by-day details that Mr. Jehl set down in book form, at the suggestion of Mr. Henry Ford. Edison referred to Jehl as "one of my old associates and fellow-workers." "With the restoration of the original Menlo Park laboratory in Greenfield Village, Dearborn, the memories of those Menlo Park days have been recalled and placed on record in these 'Reminiscences.' These books complete Mr. Jehl's intimate and true story of Edison at the greatest period of his career, those years at Menlo Park whose brilliant exploits gave to the world the Edison universally honored today. The 'Reminiscences' also include a list of the men who assisted in that great work at Menlo Park. With hundreds of rare photographs, this 3 volume set is historically fascinating, scientifically stimulating, and metaphysically enlightening as you read how Edison conceived the idea of inventions and how he brought them into material existence.

Customer Reviews:

Book is excellent; reproduction is not.......2006-08-29

Do yourself a favor and get the original version of this book. The reprint looks like a low-quality photocopy, with small areas of text on huge pages; and the excellent photography all disappears into a badly bitmapped mess.

hagiography, but of historical importance.......2004-01-28

This is a massive memoire by one of Edison's "boys," that is, one of the elite experimenters that America's greatest inventor included at the center of his creative teams. Jehl is totally admiring of the man, indeed loves him as a father and remains as awestruck as the day he met "the inventor of the phonograph."

At its best, the book makes the period come alive with personal details of Edison's greatest achievements and a sense of how he did what he did. (It was largely through outstanding teams, an uncanny sense of intuition in technological questions, and harder work than anyone dared imagine.) In addition, the reader gets to know the characters who worked in the Menlo Park facility, which was the prototype of all modern industrial research labs and phenomenally productive. You get technical details as well, which underline the achievements in all their complexity and audacity.

However, there is no doubt that this is an authorised version: Jehl wrote it as a living exhibit in the reconstructed Menlo lab that Henry Ford financed. As such, it is totally fawning over Edison and glosses over or entirely ignores anything unpleasant about him, which severely restricts its accuracy and usefulness to the casual reader. FOr a blanced view, the reader must seek the excellent bios that regularly appear.

This book is for scholars - a must as all the bios I know are based in large part on it - but also for history buffs and Edison lovers. (I read it for a writing project and found many details that I will use.) It is also splendidly written. Warmly recommended with these caveats in mind.

Edison's Best Years.......1997-10-01

This is the one volume of the three by Francis Jehl that describes the most important historical events in Edison'sareer.

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Menlo Park Reminiscences Volume 1
Francis Jehl
Manufacturer: WORLD SCIENTIFIC+PUBLISHING
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000SMYUK6

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MENLO PARK REMINISCENCES, 3 VOLUMES
Francis JEHL
Manufacturer: Edison Institute, Dearborn, Mich.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000L6PEK4

Average customer rating:

Menlo Park Reminiscences, Volume One
Thomas Alva] Jehl, Francis [Edison
Manufacturer: Edison Institute
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KT2LFS

Average customer rating:

Menlo Park Reminiscences, Volume Three
Thomas Alva] Jehl, Francis [Edison
Manufacturer: Edison Institute
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000TBTEW0

Menlo Park Reminiscences: Written in Edison's restored Menlo Park laboratory

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Menlo Park Reminiscences: Written in Edison's restored Menlo Park laboratory
Francis Jehl
Manufacturer: The Edison Institute
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B0007E72HS

Menlo Park: Reminiscences (Volume Two) written in Edison's resotred Menlo Park laboratory

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Menlo Park: Reminiscences (Volume Two) written in Edison's resotred Menlo Park laboratory
Francis(staff laboratory assistant of thomas Alva Edison at Menlo Park) Jehl
Manufacturer: Edison Institute / MI
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000QFOFKU

Average customer rating:

Menlo Park Reminiscences

Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1564592227

Average customer rating:

Menlo Park Reminiscences 3 Volumes

Manufacturer: The Edison Institute
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000ID0EVO

Average customer rating:

Menlo Park Reminiscences, Volume One
Thomas Alva] Jehl, Francis [Edison
Manufacturer: Edison Institute
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000TBPT3S

Customer Reviews:

Thought provoking information.......2007-03-25

I'm interested in unusual therapies, and know someone who has a child with multiple disabilities including a seizure disorder. I found a videotape about this diet at a rummage sale a few years ago, and while it makes the diet sound relatively simple, this book says otherwise and goes into detail about people who are good candidates for the diet and those who are not. Many testimonials and case studies are presented as well.

The woman I know was given this option and said, "We don't want to starve our child." After reading this book, I can see where she was coming from. The restricted calories don't concern me as much as the fluid restriction, which could potentially be very dangerous and the book addresses this problem as well.

For the proper person, this diet could potentially be a lifesaver and it's worth trying if all factors are appropriate.

The Ketogenic Diet 4th Edition 2007.......2007-03-20

This book contains up to date information in relation to the ketogenic diet and other seizure control options that is also easy to read and understand by non professional people.

Very highly recommended as a top alternative to medication for kids with epilepsy........2007-02-08

If you have or know a child with epilepsy, THE KETOGENIC DIET: A TREATMENT FOR CHILDREN AND OTHERS WITH EPILEPSY is a 'must' for your consideration: it offers a solution beyond medication which provides a doctor-supervised diet high in fat and low in carbs and proteins, which limits calories - and is proven to control seizures. There've been many advances in the field, so this updated 4th edition is essential even for library holdings with prior editions. Besides the latest research, this book includes a new section on the Atkins diet and other alternative nutritional therapies. Very highly recommended as a top alternative to medication for kids with epilepsy.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

The Ketogenic Diet: A Treatment for Children and Others with Epilepsy.......2007-01-09

I bought this book for my daughter who has a child with epilepsy. It was very imformative and helpful. Reading the case histories and the mistakes that were inadvertently made, diet-wise, helped us lookout for the same pitfalls. I would highly recommend this book.

The Ketogenic Diet: A Treatment for Epilepsy, 3rd Edition .......2005-10-05

A great book for healthcare professionals and parents who are planning to use this diet for epilepsy treatment.

Average customer rating:

A gem, identical recipes for a lot less money than Sahni's Introduction...

another sahni success

Indian Regional Classics: Fast, Fresh, and Healthy Home Cooking
Julie Sahni
Manufacturer: Ten Speed Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Indian | Asian | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Classic Indian Cooking

Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking

Savoring Spices and Herbs: Recipe Secrets of Flavor, Aroma, and Color

Julie Sahni's Introduction to Indian Cooking

1,000 Indian Recipes

ASIN: 1580083455

Book Description

When it comes to Indian cuisine, few, if any, chefs are as talented, celebrated, and adept as the versatile Ms. Sahni. Now revised and repackaged to focus on the distinctiveness of India's regional cuisines, her INDIAN REGIONAL CLASSICS demystifies the tantalizing world of Indian cuisine, with clearly explained recipes suitable for cooks of all levels. Indian cooking need not be heavy and overly complex. Indeed, in INDIAN REGIONAL CLASSICS, you'll find light, but robustly flavored fare such as Curry-Scented Mushrooms and quick dishes such as Malabar Coconut Shrimp. And throughout the book you'll savor the classic recipes from each of India's diverse regions, from the tandoori chicken of the north to the curried stews of the south. A simple, straightforward cookbook, INDIAN REGIONAL CLASSICS features Julie Sahni at her best.

Customer Reviews:

A gem, identical recipes for a lot less money than Sahni's Introduction..........2007-02-02

This book makes cooking wonderful Indian treasures do-able on weeknights. There are a wide-assortment of dishes to try and so far, the ones I've tried have worked beautifully. For those of you in search of Sahni's Introduction to Indian Cooking, no longer in print and fetching prices in the $100 category--this book has the identical text and recipes for $10-$20. Don't let those used book dealers fool you. Namaste.

another sahni success.......2003-08-31

i have and use all of sahni's cookbooks. this one is particularly good in that it includes many recipes that are not quite as labor- and time-intensive as many indian recipes can be--there are dishes that can be made for dinner on a weekday, after work. there are also recipes that do not resemble those in other indian cookbooks i have.

since its a much smaller book than her others, it does not contain as much background information--it would be a good idea to have a 'basic' indian cookbook to refer to for information about spices, paneer, etc. but, if you already have a good, basic indian cookbook, you will enjoy this one for the added facets of indian cooking.

Average customer rating:
Indian Regional Classics: Fast, Fresh, and Healthy Home Cooking
Julie Sahni
Manufacturer: Ten Speed Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PSDYP0

Customer Reviews:

Has both invaluable and crackpot advice.......2006-04-03

This book has value for one reason that should be heeded: for lessening the painful LIVING lives of animals through factory farms, laboratories, private ownership.

On the other hand, this book makes it sound as though it is immoral to practically have anything to do with animals or pets, or worse, to eat animals. The book places vegetarianism on some lofty level: vegetarians think themselves morally superior. Does that mean that Indians, who hunted, killed, and worshipped animals, were immoral? How does she, the oh-so politically correct, explain how, genetically, humans are omnivores? Achor's pitiful explanation that our teeth are not equipped for tearing meat is laughable. It is scientifically unsound: the human stomach has something called hydrochloric acid, which is THERE for digesting meat. For a thorough look at the issues, myths and truths of vegetarianism, see www.westonaprice.org -
you will see that animal meats and fats are in fact a part of our genetic requirements. Achor should hasten and read Weston A Price's "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration," to discover that traditional, ancient cultures' main diets are all animals based.
Achor's statistics on the allegedly superior vegetarian health have no real foundation. She fails to mention things like leaky gut syndrome, vegans' sickly pallor, severe vitamin deficiencies, and poor health for those who cannot tolerate a diet without animal foods. Achor also does not have a clue that many health problems are caused by processed food, altered lipids and proteins, chemically processed soybeans (see Kaayla Daniel's THE WHOLE SOY STORY), trans fatty acids, and on and on. Her crackpot theories are so off base, so unhistorical, and so lacking in simple science (see Sally Fallon's book NOURISHING TRADITIONS), she comes off as nothing more than a vegetarian fanatic, as bad as a religious one. Achor IGNORES the fact that vegetable and fruit agriculture cause soil erosion, soil sterility, pollution - which guess what - harms wildlife. And that harvesting machines for grains, etc. often chop up animals on the fields. Vegetarians will go on about factory farms, but fail to disclose there are family farms and organic meats and dairy that offer humanely treated animals. That they have to be killed? OK - if a tiger, shark or bear kills a human, what reasoning do humans have to offer an animal? That we're thinking beings does not remove the fact of our needing animal foods in some form.
Animal activists are right to want to improve the lives of our fellow creatures: their LIVES, not their deaths. Animals have NO conception of oblivion, only protracted, drawn out pain and suffering. Most farmers end animals' lives within a matter of seconds.
I keep this book because of it's horrifying accounts of animals who suffer, and how to be an activist; but I resent it greatly when these same activists tell us what or what not to eat.

Great book!.......2002-01-03

Animal Rights - A Beginner's Guide is a great book for everyone from vegetarians to vegans to environmentalists and even to skeptics! Chapters cover:
1. animal rights (why do animals have rights? What animal rights is not, etc...)
2. Violence towards animals (speciesism, selective compassion, the foundations of cruelty, etc..)
3. Companion animals (attitudes towards them, puppy mills, trapping animals, being a responsible caretaker, etc...)
4. Vegetarianism (what is it? why is it important to animal rights? Health factors, etc...)
5. Factory Farms (what are they? the cost to family farms, environment, consumers, and animals)
6. Research, Education, and Testing (vivisection, animals in classrooms, military research, product testing...)
7. Wildlife in crisis
8. Animals in entertainment (circuses, zoos, TV, etc..)
9. Taking action (steps)
10. Animal Advocacy Organizations
11. Vegetarian organizations
12. Products and services
13. Further reading
I found that ALL the chapters had helpful details to spread the word to other people. It's not just a book for vegetarians, it's a book for everyone; so that everyone can see how we exploit animals, the environment, cover it up in the name of science, and what we can do to stop it. A GREAT resource book for beginners and non-beginners.

A must have for anyone who wants to know the truth!.......1999-12-20

This book is an amazing copulation of the many current and pressing issues in animal welfare and rights today. It is easy to read yet packed with information regarding almost every area of animal welfare. It presents the issues and exposes some of the aweful truths behind the topics discussed. In addition, each chapter has information on what you can do to make a difference. Whether you're a beginner or a long time activist this book is a must have. The resource listings alone are more valuable than the cost of the book!

Amy Blount-Achor knows her stuff!!.......1999-11-01

I had to do a research paper during my freshman year of college and her book helped me out immensely along with educating, and entertaining me. She really puts the issue of animals rights in resarch out in the front. She is a wonderful advocate and author.

A flawless book!.......1999-04-19

This book is exellent. It talks about numerous animal rights issues covering many aspects of them. You can read it from cover-to-cover or jump to a section that you're interested in. It is really wonderful as a guide for beginners and experienced alike. It has resources of organizations and stores. I have nothing negative to say about it! It's GREAT!!!

Average customer rating:

Animal Rights: A Beginner's Guide
Amy Blount Achor
Manufacturer: Writeware
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0963186507

Average customer rating:

This is not a technique book, but the charts are wonderful.

nice illustrations, good text

Book No Where To Be Seen

Shipping time a lie

Latvian Mittens

Latvian Mittens: Traditional Designs & Techniques
Lizbeth Upitis
Manufacturer: Schoolhouse Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Folk Mittens: Techniques and Patterns for Handknitted Mittens (Folk Knitting series)

Traditional Scandinavian Knitting

Folk Socks: The History & Techniques of Handknitted Footwear

LATVIAN DREAMS, Knitting From Weaving Charts

Traditional Fair Isle Knitting

ASIN: 0942018141

Customer Reviews:

This is not a technique book, but the charts are wonderful........2007-10-04

I just wanted to leave a review on behalf of those knitters who are new to colorwork mittens. I was lucky enough to have found a copy while the book was going through it's second printing, mesmerized by the cover photo, I hadn't carefully looked through the insides, took my lucky discovery happily home and then it hit me, the directions inside are in need of some usability testing for the uninitiated. Its unfortunate since I don't think the skill required to make these is beyond a new knitter's reach if you have the ability to do stranded knitting. Off on a quest to find a book that decodes some of the finer points of learning how to make these, I found a fabulous book that teaches all the steps in great detail from A-Z by Nancy Bush, Folk Knitting in Estonia. Amazon does not sell the book but you can purchase a copy through Interweave Knit's website. There is a pattern in this book called "Meida's Mittens" which is perfect for making your first pair. Once you've mastered the basics from Nancy's book, the patterns found in Latvian Mittens will be within your reach.

nice illustrations, good text.......2007-06-14

This is a pleasure - great pictures, and lots of charts, and good stories about the patterns. I have read it several times since receiving my copy a few weeks ago. If you are interested in knitting, knitting charts, traditional knitting, gloves and mittens, or Latvia, you'll find this a fun book.

Book No Where To Be Seen.......2007-02-28

I also have been waiting for my Latvian Mittens book since Nov. 19 /06. There is a delay now until April I am told. What gives? I have never had this problem with Amazon before amd have ordered lots of books in the past five years. But I really want this book...maybe I will start looking elsewhere.

Shipping time a lie.......2007-02-04

Whatever shipping time they post is a lie. I ordered in November, said it would be here for Xmas, extended shipping to January, then early February, and now just exteneded it again until the end of Feb, be ware of ordering this book, you may never get it even though it appears available.

Latvian Mittens.......2006-11-04

I just received this book in the mail. I love it. It has a great overview of the history and importance of handknit mittens in Latvian history. It also includes several Latvian poems about mitten knitting, which I thought was fantastic.

There are several full length patterns in the book that explain the different techniques used to create the mittens in the book, but then there are many, many more charts in the back of the book, as well as color photographs of finished mittens corresponding to the charts. I don't think this is a great book if you are a very beginning knitter, but I do think that if you've learned how to knit, purl, increase and decrease and done a stranded color project, you should do fine with this book. As another reviewer said, you have to piece together the techniques from other sections of the book to make any of the charts in the back, but really, it's not that hard, and the instructions are clear.

My only criticism of the book is that the charts themselves are in black and white and a little crowded together. Otherwise, I found this book to be well worth the money I spent, and I plan to make lots of the mittens found in it, as well as probably mixing and matching to make my own, unique, mittens.

Latvian Mittens: Traditional Designs and Techniques

Average customer rating:

Colorful patterns and going back into print!

Latvian Mittens: Traditional Designs and Techniques
Lizbeth Upitis
Manufacturer: Adventure Pubns
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Knitting | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0932394043

Customer Reviews:

Colorful patterns and going back into print!.......2001-04-08

Latvian mittens are colorful and have patterns a bit like Fairisle or Norwegian style color knitting. They often have fringed or scalloped edges.

This book has many color photos of amazing patterns to knit. This edition is out of print and a new one is being published, with an expanded set of patterns and photos.

Average customer rating:

Excellent summary of Jekyll's work on gardens

The Gardener's Essential Gertrude Jekyll (Godine Country Classic)
Gertrude Jekyll
Manufacturer: David R. Godine Publisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Essays | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Landscape | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Gardens of Gertrude Jekyll

Gertrude Jekyll's Colour Schemes for Flower Garden

Gertrude Jekyll: The Making of a Garden--Gertrude Jekyll - An Anthology

The English Flower Garden

Gardening at Sissinghurst

ASIN: 0879235993

Customer Reviews:

Excellent summary of Jekyll's work on gardens.......1997-08-15

This book has become my bedtime reading material. It offers an excellent summary of Jekyll's views on color, plant selection, the layout of beds and the philosophy of the garden. While I would have liked detailed drawings or layouts of the various gardens discussed, her written descriptions feed the imagination. I've already laid out a new garden border as a result of the insights gained, and I am inspired to read other works by Jekyll and others

Book Description

At a time when family literacy policies and practices are confusingly fragmented and often deficit driven, Many Families, Many Literacies provides much-needed guidance on developing policies and practices that build on the strengths that families bring to any learning situation: their diverse languages, literacies, and complex problem-solving capabilities.

Many Families, Many Literacies reclaims family literacy from the family literacy movement and asserts that society constructs the conditions of poverty in which many minority families are forced to live. It represents the opinions of forty-nine leading education experts and family literacy practitioners, including Lucille Fandel, Ken Goodman, Yetta Goodman, David Barton, Audrey N. Grant, Klaudia Rivera, Judith Kalman, Letta Matsiepe Mashishi, and many others.

This edited collection is essential reading for any educator, researcher, or community-based practitioner concerned about the political implications of the family literacy movement.

Book Description

A beautifully personal and engaging story of the wonders and struggles of life as a "newly" Jewish wife and mother.

She grew up in an upper-middle-class Protestant family in New England. She can trace her father's family back to the Mayflower. Yet, "Judaism was to be my bashert, my destiny," claims Linda Shires-wife, mother, professor, and author. For almost twenty years, she lived the life of a Jewish wife, passing as a Jew when it was most important to her Jewish husband and his family. When she wanted to be, she was Christian. But after years of questioning, raising her husband's three children as Jews, and finally trying to ground her child in one religious tradition, Shires discovered her own. Coming Home tells the story of why Shires traded a central cultural position-WASP Debutante-for a position at the margins: a Jew-by-Choice. She became committed to a life of religious rebirth and observance. Her book is a quietly passionate and spiritual one, leading the reader from the privileged halls of Princeton to the Holocaust camps of Germany and back again. This richly felt story of conversion to Judaism expands the reader's idea of what constitutes a spiritual journey and a religious practice.

Customer Reviews:

Thinking of Conversion.......2006-03-21

I've been thinking about converting for two years. I read Kukoff's book and Embracing the Convenant for the same reasons but was looking for a single person's journey in depth rather than a bunch of quotes or a series of stories by others. Shires doesn't speak just for herself, though, but for many who are wondering about taking such a huge step. Judaism is a different world view. Even making a meal involves questions and decisions. She talks about moments like that. This is not a how-to book but it treats the steps that someone takes who has to go slow towards life change. Courses, rituals at home, going to synagogue, coming to terms with family and the past. The parts on Torah didn't bother me. I read them as another aspect of Jewish life that a convert deals with. There is a section early in the book where she stands up for Judaism before she knows she will convert that I found convincing as part of the process of deciding. Plus she's not afraid of being wrong or appearing stupid. Shires even laughs at herself now and then which is good in a book like this. Two of the interesting women she met on the journey were the artist Helene Aylon and the author Blu Greenberg. I believe the chapter on women and Judaism brought together well a lot of ideas that I've read about here and there but hadn't put together before. I found the book helpful and will go back to it.

Fumbled focus.......2006-03-04

I agree with the reviewer who felt that Ms. Shires's textual analysis didn't flow well. I found the majority of this book to be rather dull, tedious, slow-going, and uninvolving. It was an original idea to tell the story of her conversion by relating issues she had difficulty with or areas she found inspiration in to certain passages of Torah and the similar writings of others, but it just didn't seem executed well. If this is supposed to be a conversion memoir, why does so little of the book actually concern her conversion or even her herself? The sections when Ms. Shires is writing about herself, such as in the beginning section, the ending chapter about her visit to her husband's native Germany, and the middle chapter about the mikvah, are quite good and interesting, because they're actually related to her life and to her conversion and not just tediously rambling on about certain Torah passages.

From reading this, it seems as though she were the classic child who does not know enough to ask. She says she did a lot of reading prior to her conversion because she really wanted to know the religion and to approach it from a variety of disciplines, but in many sections she admits that she didn't know about some pretty important things or issues till after she converted. For example, she says that she hadn't had a lot of education about the mikveh and had been too embarrassed to ask her converting rabbi, and therefore went into her conversion day feeling she had to immerse herself because she was thought to be "contaminated" and "dirty" as a non-Jew and had to cleanse herself before being admitted to the tribe. How could anyone in any denomination, particularly if she's had such a long process of education and learning as Ms. Shires evidentally had, reach conversion day thinking such a thing and not having learnt more about the custom of mikveh? (I was also annoyed that her chapter on the mikveh used the dated and inaccurate translations "contaminated" and "unclean" for the Hebrew words "tumah" and "tamei." That continues to give the completely false impression that menstruating women are thought to be dirty and unclean, when in actual fact the words surrounding this state of being are translated more like "ritually impure," and the impurity refers to a spiritual, not a physical, state of being.)

I was also left wondering why she converted under the auspices of the Conservative Movement when she so clearly feels ill at ease with many of their official positions, or at least the positions her own community seems to take. She really seems like she'd feel more at home in a Reform, Reconstructionist, or Renewal community. I'm also baffled as to why she frequently says that the Conservative Movement hasn't done enough for the inclusion of gays and women, unless her community isn't as liberal as many other Conservative communities are. Or are the changes of the past few decades not radical and sweeping enough for her? I also share her belief that women, gays, the disabled, and other groups that traditionally haven't always been included fully in Jewish life need to be completely integrated and granted full equality and participation in the community, but at times her call for this reads more like a political polemic and speaking from personal experience as opposed to really representing the great strides the Conservative Movement has made in these areas in the past few decades. I'm not doubting her personal experiences with people she's known and what she's dealt with in her own community, but it just seems baffling if she's trying to say the entire Conservative Movement takes those positions as well.

A couple of interesting chapters do not a very recommendable book make. Most of this was just very slow going for me, and the divrei Torah weren't that novel or insightful either. I've heard most of these interpretations and analyses before, only not in such dull language. I'm actually disappointed I bought this book, though at least I got a cheap used copy. I'd looked forward to reading a conversion memoir, but instead got a tedious exercise in boredom that had almost nothing to do with the author's life, either before, during, or after her conversion.

Moving and smart.......2005-11-12

Some books make you think and this is one of them. She engages with the traditions in different ways than most. It challenged me to think about Jewish life and Torah freshly. I found the beginning and the last section about going to Germany most moving.

A difficult read.......2005-05-31

I have read many individual conversion stories to Judaism. The majority are remarkable and beautiful as they highlight the personal transformation of an individual's path to conversion. That said, I found this book to be very tedious. The textual analysis did not flow well and it did not keep my attention.

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