5 comments about Jesus of Nazareth.

1. As a main-stream Protestant I approached this book with trepidation; I was amazed by the depth of scholarship and intellect readily on display. Pope Benedict's deep analysis of Biblical passages and ready command of literary sources is only rivalled by his clear prose and caring approach. I have purchased multiple copies for my friends; I recommend this book as 'required reading' for all Christians and virtually everyone else who has ever wondered about the central figure of Christianity.



2. It took me several months to read this book so at least for me it was not a quick read. However just like you don't gulp don't filet mignon, this book is substantial and thought provoking that should not be breezed through but meditated on. Pope Benedict writes in almost a conversational style that is easily digestible (sorry about all the references about eating!). The Pope's argument that the gospels are the most plausible presentation of the historical Jesus, provides an effective counter to all the recent Gnostic writing (e.g. DaVanci Code) and the theologians that have gone off the deep end with an extreme historical-critical view (e.g. Jesus Seminar).



3. Nazareth was not around in the time frame that Jesus supposedly existed, therefore this book's title and everything in it is null and void.



4. This book addressed the subject in an academic manner. There were references to other lofty thinkers, whose works I am not familiar with. It is just not an easy read, nor is it "light" reading. In many instances, the revelations were not significant enough to me to make me continue on. A good book on this subject matter is Harrington's "History of Jesus". Easier to read and a good companion to this book.



5. Folks, I finally finished reading Jesus of Nazareth, by Pope Benedict XVI. I am not qualified to judge the substance of it because I recognized the mastery that Ratzinger the Theologian had over the subject matter. As a theology student myself, who likes to challenge my teachers to see things in new ways, would have found it very difficult to do so had the Pope been my teacher.
   
   Ratzinger the Teacher and Theologian come through in this book. His style is very conversational and his method elegant in its simplicity. First, the Pope talked about three or four parallel ideas and he developed them at length to the point I had to ask "where is he going with this"? Then, suddenly, he would bring a new thought that unified all parallel tracks and in the process, brought new light to the subject matter.
   
   Pope Benedict didn't discriminate against any scholar who had something to contribute, whether Catholic, Protestant, or Jewish, liberal or conservative. If that scholar had achieved a unique insight that the Pope thought was true and valuable, he brought it to bear. The final product was not obfuscated, but clarity itself.
   
   Jesus of Nazareth is a thoroughly biblical book. It breathes and lives the Holy Scriptures. The Pope took the Bible seriously as the principal source of Christology - of information about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth and the appraisal given to him by his disciples, his contemporaries, and other scholars. From the Pope's analysis arises afresh the historical figure of Jesus as Son of God, Son of Man and mighty "I am," in all its originality.
   
   The Pope's work proves that theologians can avail themselves of every tool provided by modern biblical criticism, as well as all the insights provided by the Church Fathers, and still yield a Christology that is orthodox, concrete, unique, saving and life-giving.
   
   Jesus of Nazareth is a work that actualizes the apostolic kerygma or proclamation regarding the words and deeds of the Savior. The Pope succeeded in telling us that Jesus' message and example are intelligible for us living in this day and age.
   
   I think you should seriously consider adding this work to your personal library. With it, you will learn to theologize with the Pope as your teacher.

4 comments about The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective.

1. This is a wonderfully done true crime story of a murder in England in 1860. If that were all, we'd have an eminently enjoyable book. But this is also a social commentary and a history of the early detective story: you'll learn how and when the words "clueless" and "sleuth" entered the language, for example. You have a horrible murder of a 3-year-old boy in a manor house in the country. The outside doors, windows, and gates are all locked--and also, unusual for us nowadays, many of the interior doors were locked as well--preventing access to the larder, cellar, drawing-room, etc. So suspicion perforce falls upon the family and servants. This is before the days of forensic science--so it isn't even clear whether the child was killed by stabbing, throat-cutting, suffocation, or drowning. The local constabulary in this west England area are inadequate to the task in what very quickly becomes a sensationalist case, and so a detective from London is called in to investigate.
   
   Detectives are new, only a couple of decades old, as are detective stories. Detective-Inspector Jonathan Whicher is Scotland Yard's best investigator (at the time, there weren't all that many). The child's family is not very well liked in the area, and the family itself has many unsavory secrets--including insanity. Summerscale relates Whicher's detective work and his growing fixation upon a 16-year-old sister. But what makes all of this particularly enjoyable is how Summerscale relates the sensationalism in the press, the plethora of theories as to the murder, the coming-forth of outsiders to confess, the initial belief in Whicher's abilities (followed by growing disbelief). There are wonderful descriptions of the detective novels of the time--including ones with female detectives--the public appetite for these stories, and the additions to the language (you'll see where clue/clew comes from). The child's nanny slept in the room with the child, who was taken during the night. Charles Dickens was one of the numerous people who put forth the theory that the child had discovered his father in bed with the nanny and had been killed to prevent him telling Mama. Actual solutions, however, were not readily forthcoming.
   
   Whicher fell out of favor in the public eye--but he did pop up again in the other sensational case of the era--the Tichborne Claimant. (Hopefully, Summerscale will turn her prodigious talents to that case next). So what you get here is a fascinating view of the early days of detectivedom (if that's a word), the detective in fact and fiction, and the public's taste in literature. The book reads like a good detective novel, with well-portrayed characters: there are arrests, trials, maps, drawings, and photographs. A great book indeed!



2. We always think of detectives and crime-solving as things that have gone on for centuries. In actual fact, Edgar Alan Poe invented the detective story in 1841, and the next year the British set up their first detective police to solve crimes where the criminal wasn't immediately apparent. For much of the 19th century these individuals were essentially making it up as they went along, and dealing with a variety of public prejudices (bobbies originally had to wear their uniforms all the time, to avoid corruption and the possibility of them sneaking up on someone) and strange practices to invent, as they went along, the craft of crime-solving.
   
   In 1860, 18 years after the detective department was founded (they had offices in a square in downtown London known as Scotland Yard, hence the name) a young boy was killed in rural England. His throat was cut rather viciously, and he was thrown into a privy. The house in which he lived with his family was very large, and since the doors were locked, it seemed inevitable that the killer must be either a family member or a servant. After two weeks of inexpert investigation, which solved nothing, the local police petitioned London to send a Scotland Yard detective. The one they got was one of four Detective Inspectors, Jack Whicher, who according to the author was one of the original detectives who essentially invented his craft. His assistant, "Dolly" Williamson, went on to be superintendent of Scotland Yard during the `70s and `80s.
   
   Whicher settled pretty quickly on who he believed was the culprit, but he was unable to obtain a confession and had scant physical evidence. He made an arrest, but the family closed ranks, and ultimately there was no immediate conclusion to the killing. This destroyed Whicher's career. He wound up retiring from the police a few years later, and worked intermittently as a private detective in later years. Eventually he was vindicated, and the case wrapped up, but he was never reinstated.
   
   I enjoyed this book immensely. So much of what the author recounts found its way into detective novels of later years that it's amusing, to say the least. The characters are interesting, and so are their fates. I enjoyed this book immensely, and would recommend it to anyone interested in true crime.



3. Not only is the murder itself a fascinating puzzle but the author weaves into it the history of Victorian detective fiction and the ways in which reality and fiction interacted to create the figure of the modern 'detective'. Ms. Summerscale seems to have read everything and marshals all her scholarship in very readable form.



4. I first heard about the Francis Saville Kent murder from a segment in the 1940s movie Dead of Night. I didn't know it was grounded in reality until I read Victorian Murderesses by Mary Hartman (which I also recommend). The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher is well-written, all-encompassing--you get a great feel for the time period, literature, social mores, lifestyles, households, and other crimes--and at some point nail-bite inducing. I highly recommend the book.

5 comments about I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell.

1. I got alcohol poisoning and 3 STD's just from reading this book.
   
   And I mean that as a compliment.



2. Along with God Is a Woman: Dating Disasters this the funniest book I've ever read.



3. When you were young you used to get red bed time stories. If you have a teenage son . Read this book to him at night . This book was excellent and extremely funny . It could have been the funniest book I have ever red. I would fear having a daughter, but other than that it was hilarious and very educational . I could not stop laughing . The author actually received a blumpkin!!! Would you believe that , A real Blumpkin!!! not many people have done that. Other people claim that if the author slept with their girlfriend that they would actually love them more. This book was a man's holly grail . AWESOME!!!!



4. This book is filled with laughs and reads like a night hanging out with the guys. Totally screwed up stories about drinking and sex fill this book and I found myself laughing out loud till it hurt. Great fun- if you like twisted stories of sex and booze.



5. I laughed so hard, I cried while reading this book.
   
   if you like the tv show 'it is always sunny in Philadelphia, you will love this book.

No comments about Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History.

5 comments about Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance.

1. This is an extremely timely book for anyone who wants to know Barack Obama--who he is, where he came from, the forces that shaped him--all the things the Smear Machine doesn't want you to know at this time. Very readable & intriguing. Wonderfully well-written. Basically tells his life story from birth to the Illinois Senate race. Tells you where his head, heart, and passions lie.



2. It seemed to be in my best interest to find out something more than that Oprah seemed to think Senator Obama was a man of great importance. I found this book fascinating; a sensitive account of his tremendous drive to help people rather than sit behind a high paying desk job and living the life as such. Obama and Hillary seemed driven to help our country as youngsters. Open your mind and heart to Obama and read this book as well as others about our candidates.



3. A different view of the black experience. The story of a 'black' boy who is the exact opposite of OJ. This will be the culmination of the civil rights movement no matter how the election turns out.
   Another chapter of "Roots". Another page in Black History.
   An example of what can happen when a black child lives in a liberal atmosphere and when his father is wealthy.



4. enjoyed reading this first book by Obama. Moving story. Well written and gives further insight on an inspirational leader.



5. Obama's book is a must-read for those who want to know the Barack Obama, the man, his character and principles before he becomes our president!

2 comments about The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music.

1. Let me say up front that I normally avoid books like the Soloist. When I picked it up, however, and started glancing through it I became hooked and couldn't really put it down. Is it a page turner? Not really. For me I became entangled with Steve Lopez, the author, and Nathaniel Ayers the focus of the book and simply had to see how the book ended.
   
   Steve Lopez, a reporter for the LA Times, accidently hears violin music coming, apparently from nowhere. When he investigates he finds Nathaniel, an obviously down and out and homeless individual playing what is essentially a broken instrument. Intrigued, Steve Lopez becomes wrapped up in a mission to lift Nathaniel out of his obvious difficulties. Steve learns that Nathaniel was a former Juilliard student and a gifted musician. He was also suffering from mental illness (schizophrenia) leaving him basically disfunctional.
   
   Throughout The Soloist the reader rides heavy seas with highs full of hope and then lows filled with disappointment and dispare. Through Nathaniel's story we see the value of the human spirit. Through the actions of Steve Lopez we see that a simple act of kindness and humanity is never wasted, regardless of our motives.
   
   Steve Lopez is a wonderful writer and his story is worth your time to read.



2. In a neglected corner of L.A.'s Pershing Park stands a statue of Beethoven, hat and cane clasped behind his back. The minute Nathaniel Anthony Ayers laid eyes on it, he knew he'd landed in the right city. Los Angeles. The City of Beethoven.
   
   Ayers, in his mid-50s, is a Julliard-trained bass player whose future as a musician crashed and burned when he suffered a psychotic breakdown midway through his studies in the early 1970s. The crack-up was probably prompted by the intensely competitive Julliard atmosphere, but also by the stressful fact that Ayers was a black student on a nearly all-white campus. His professors thought him brilliant. But with the onset of mental illness (later diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenia), Ayers dropped out of sight. Years later, he wound up in Los Angeles, discovered the statue of Beethoven (his musical hero), and settled down to a life in the streets where he serenaded passing traffic on a battered, two-stringed violin. Music was the abiding passion that kept him grounded. Music was the catalyst that brought beauty and peace to his frequently confused and always fragile world.
   
   One day Steve Lopez, columnist for the "L.A. Times" and an engaging, insightful author, heard Ayers playing. Sensing a column topic, he struck up an acquaintance. The acquaintance unexpectedly blossomed into a friendship, and The Soloist is the story of that friendship. Lopez's sensitive memoir spotlights the disorientation of schizophrenia, the perils of living on the streets, and the difficulty in achieving recovery. But in telling Ayers' story, Lopez also reminds us that the mentally ill and the homeless possess dignity, a fierce need for autonomy, and a hunger for meaning and beauty in their lives. In the process, Lopez also has some telling things to say about the scandalous fact that most major U.S. cities contain Skid Rows in which the most vulnerable of our citizens are segregated; some much-needed observations, given our pharmaceutical-crazy, quick-cure ethos, about patience, respect, and compassion when it comes to therapy (his mentor in this regard is Dr. Mark Ragins, a genuine pioneer in recovery therapy); and some extraordinarily important things to say about the redemptive power of music.
   
   Lopez's memoir of his friendship with Ayers never falls into a feel-good sentimentality. Ayers may heal to a certain extent, but it's unlikely that he'll ever recover and he certainly has his bad, disoriented, full-of-rage days. As Lopez learned, progress in treating mental illness is never linear. But Ayers now lives in an apartment instead of on the street; he's happily making music on a variety of instruments in his own studio; and he knows that he's loved. Lopez, in turn, confesses that he frequently felt burdened, helpless, frustrated, and on one occasion when Ayers melted down, betrayed. But he also discovered that his friendship with Ayers enriched him: "I know that through [Ayers'] courage and humility and faith in the power of art--through his very ability to find happiness and purpose--he has awakened something in me...it's not a stretch to say that this man I hoped to save has done as much for me as I have for him" (p. 268).
   
   A magnificent story about two really quite extraordinary men. Highly, unreservedly, recommended.

5 comments about Infidel.

1. I found this book to be spell binding. It is the best explanation of Islam and it's role in society today that I've ever read. I think it should be required reading in high schools and universities all over American.



2. If you're interested in an inside look at the way Muslim women are viewed and treated, this is a book you need to read. Ayaan Ali's writing is engaging from the first sentence. Although many of her experiences were shocking and sad, she doesn't wallow in self pity. She's a woman to be admired for telling the truth about a controversial subject.



3. I found Infidel absolutely riveting! The early mapping of clans, and their names was somewhat difficult to follow, but necessary to the story line. This woman speaks the unspeakable which nearly cost her her life and still may. She makes us realize that just the ability to think and have opinions is not a right, it's a privlege we westerners take for granted. She is an inspiration in honesty and courage that sets the bar very high for the rest of us.



4. Ms. Hirsi Ali is an amazing woman and at the top of my list of heroes. She struggled against religious oppression and sexism by leaving her home, her family, her community, her country. Having developed an exemplary life and career in the Netherlands, She learned English, became a member of the Dutch parliament, yet she didn't sit back and enjoy her new life of freedom, which she had worked so hard and risked her life to attain. Instead, she became an articulate writer speaking out against Islam, making her a target for murder by radical Islamists and causing her to have to leave the Netherlands and live her life under armed guard. She did this in an attempt to educate others about the reality of Islam and to speak out on behalf of women, who are enslaved within Islamic countries because of religious beliefs. Ms. Hirsi Ali is a hero for sacrificing her own freedom in an effort to end the enslavement of others. The book is a real eye opener and a must read if one wishes insight into the Middle East.



5. A revealing and insightful book by a courageous woman. I wrote in my novel Standup Comedian: The Secret and Beyond "Believing God condones inhumanity is foolish. Believing God needs a man's help to run the world is vanity."
   
   Sadly, in the West such thinking still exists, but sadder still is how deeply such rot permeates thinking, or should I say, lack of thinking, in other areas. Show me a third world country and I will show you a country that doesn't educate their women. Half the mind power of such nations is wasted.
   
   Fortunately for mankind Ayaan Hirsi Ali escaped and is free to speak out against discrimination; sexual, religious, political,and racial. Everyone should read this book.
   
   Kenneth Ray Taylor author of Beyond the Shadow of Death: Book One of the Adam Eden Series

5 comments about Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (P.S.).

1. If I had never read another work of Kingsolver's, this one alone would have turned me into an instant fan, though the truth is I already love her fiction. I found this book funny and warm, if read as a "country adventures" sort of book and not as a bible to living right. I especially loved the recipes, and the "turkey sex" section is hilarious (BTW, artifically inseminating poultry is no big deal. Takes only minutes to learn, as birds aren't too fussy).
   
   The dry and / or preachy parts were mostly her husband's writing, and I found myself skipping over a lot of that, as it was way too much preaching to the choir. Being already involved in many of the cooking and cultivation aspects mentioned in this book, and I found a wealth of inspiration and new ideas here. I envy their complete immersion in a lifestyle that I can only partially indulge in due to career and location issues. I think the message here is that one does what one can under their life circumstances.
   
   That being said, I found that many of the "facts" listed to be of questionable accuracy, in need of further explanation, casualties of faulty logic, or just plain strange, such as the statement that "no part of a corn plant is a natural food for cattle". By that logic, tomatoes, potatoes, and chocolate are not natural foods for people either. This is not a criticism of the book but normal scientific process: no two experts in any field will agree on everything.
   
   I also think there is a bit too much pie-in-the-sky idealism here. Raising so-called 'organic' food takes a huge amount of time, space, and physical effort, especially if livestock are involved. The nastier aspects of pests and diseases are skimmed over far too lightly: free-range poultry are far more likely to pick up internal parasites by eating earthworms, snails and other invertebrates than your confined chicken, and the parasite egg and larva burden of your average cow pasture would boggle your mind. This does not make 'organic' (a poorly defined term) a bad thing, just don't be surprised if you find a worm larva in the freshly laid egg from your free range chicken. It's rare, but it happens.
   
   My own feeling is that we'd be far closer to saving the environment by not using any form of plastics, not owning or driving cars, and not having more than one child than worrying about eating locally, but those issues aren't even mentioned; no doubt the author felt they were beyond the scope of her intended message. You pays your money and you takes your choice. Take this book for its terrific entertainment value, and enjoy it hugely. I know I did.



2. This book starts out sooooo pedentic... then picks up some. I loved many of her other books, but this one is almost a chore to finish. In this genre, I highly recommend 'The Omnivore's Dilemma', which traces meals from the farm to the table.



3. Let me start off with full disclosure: I am a huge Barbara Kingsolver fan. I've read most of what she's written and loved all of that. Except this.
   
   She just can't quit lecturing throughout the entire thing. She can't even finish a small story without interspersing it intolerable amounts of pedagogy. It's really just one lecture after another. Perhaps if I were interested in, but not knowledgeable about, the subject matter I would be more forgiving. But I have to think that folks who are reading this book are already at least baseline knowledgeable. So why is she lecturing us all? We're the good guys. We already agree. Enough, already. We really want to hear how you did it, what you thought about it, the ups, the downs, the turkeys.
   
   So, those looking for another tremendous Kingsolver story: Be Warned.



4. If you expect a typical Kingsolver book, you will be disappointed. But if you put that aside, this is a fabulous book! She catches the current movement towards sustainable living and shows us the practicalities as well as what it means for farmers around the country. I love the familial collaboration with her husband providing more scientific information and her eldest daughter providing recipes (which are delicious, by the way). I really think this is an important book because it makes this lifestyle accessible for people who are not environmental extremists (or who grew up on farms where this information would be 'old hat') but who want to do what they can to make a difference: not only to the environment but also for the nation's farmers, who lead a very difficult life. And as a bonus, the food is fresher (=tastier).



5. I cannot get enough of this book. It has completely changed the way that I look at food. I work in food policy, but this book taught me a lot of things I didn't know and inspired me to shop locally more often. I've even started a small vegetable garden!
   
   Many of the reviewers seem not to have gotten the point of this book. We are slowly killing ourselves and our culture with our reliance on industrialized foods. Current skyrocketing prices are one proof. We use up so many resources to get our food from point A to point B when we should be eating within our environment as much as possible. Food travels from country to country, and losing the depth and variety we could be having locally.
   
   Barbara Kingsolver is a gifted writer and this memoir about HER experience is beautiful. It's not a treatise on "live my exact life;" it's about making changes that can have worldwide implications.

5 comments about Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines.

1. I read David Sheff's "Beautiful Boy" a couple of weeks ago, and I couldn't wait to read this companion book, written by David's son Nic, to see what Nic's take was on the whole thing.
   
   "Tweak: Growing Up On Methamphetamines" (325 pages) brings the memoir of Nic Sheff, on what it was (is?) like growing up being a drug addict. The book is not written in a straight chronological order. Instead, it jumps in at a point where Nick gets kicked out of his family's home and the first third or so of the book retells the next two weeks as Nic descends into deeper and deeper hell and drug addiction. Nic spares no details, and this is not for the faint of hearts. The rest of the book chronicles the following 2 years or so, and it is an endless up and down. When you read it, you simply wonder why anyone would want to go or live through this, again and again? Nic expresses remorse and sorrow, and towards the end of the book it appears that he has finally turned the corner. I was almost going to say "turned the corner, once and for all". But that surely would be an exaggeration. One simply can't ever know. For all we know, Nic has fallen off the band wagon again as I write this (although I can only pray for Nic and for his family and loved ones that this is not the case).
   
   "Tweak" is not the first book that dives into the genre of drug-addiction survivor memoir, but it is well written, and a page-turner. Quite frankly, I couldn't put the book down, even thougb I've never been in that kind of situation (or maybe because of it). The amount of details that Nic is able to recall and describe on what he went through, despite his addictions, is simply amazing. And "Tweak" definitely does a tremendous job as a warning for anyone who even might be tempted in the slightest. In all, both David Sheff's "Beautiful Boy" and Nic Sheff's "Tweak" are highly recommended, and if possible should both be read.



2. This is a great book for anyone battling addictions or methamphetamines. It is a sad but compelling book about the downward spiral about methamphetamines use at an early age and the consequences of heavy use up until adulthood. I can't argue with the author's point at all.



3. The book helped me to learn more about the thinking of a hardcore addict. I learned a couple of things that my son hadn't already taught me -- the hard way. I liked Nic's open, honest, and direct style. What also makes for interesting reading is that Nic has identified some of his demons. The reader can identify a few more.



4. I enjoyed this book. At times I was reading in horror at the devistation that was happening to this young man. i am a mother who lost her son to drugs and I felt that this book really gave me another view of the disease. Thank you Nick for this insite into what was going on in my sons life. I now have a better understanding.



5. My ex was addicted to Meth, and always said, "You'll never understand until you try it". This book allows me so see life through an addicts eyes, but not having to use the drug myself.

5 comments about John Adams.

1. This is an excellent book about a man that I previously knew very little about. Very interesting and flows well. It gave me a new perspective on some other historical figures as well, including Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. I highly recommend this book.



2. I can't put the book down. It's a well written story, very entertaining and educational. I'm learning so much about our founding fathers and the birth of this nation that I didn't learn in school.



3. Of course it is only a metaphorical question, but if there were more politicians around who adored their wife and their country, America would be a pretty different place. He said what he thought and he thought deeply. He had a strict moral obligation to his God, country and his family and would never consider going against any of these things. This book reveals all these things about a complicated man. It is not a dry academic novel but a fascinating story. You cannot find too many of these out there and I have had to read many of those to get through bachelors degree and halfway through my masters. One of the things that impressed me the most was the level with which he treated his wife. In the time that he lived this was phenomenal.



4. There are many more erudite descriptions of John Adams. I decided to write a review because it is my favorite non-fiction book and I felt that the HBO series took the wind out of Adams' sails in so many ways. The HBO miniseries, which I long awaited, bored me to tears. There was none of the excitement in the series that I read in the book. Paul Giamatti's Adams could not speak above a whisper and did not convey, at least to me, the spirit of John Adams, which I read in 2001 and still remember vividly. John Adams had such an interesting and varied life, that to distill it as it was done in the HBO series leaves the viewer questioning how this complex man was anything more than a bombastic autocrat.
   
   David McCullough's use of primary sites and his use of the many letters written to his wife Abigail makes this book one of the most memorable and romantic of all the founding fathers. He clearly writes about his personal life - his treatment of his children, the favoritism of John Quincy, his life-long love affair with his wife and their juxtaposition with his duty to his fledgling country as well as his interest in his own epitaph. He brings to life a human who was so multi-faceted and brings most of those facets to life.
   
   I am not an historian, so I realize there are many things missing knowledge of John Adams. However, that which was included was readable, interesting and kept me turning those many pages with ease.



5. David McCullough is to history was John Grisham is to literature: he's lite fare, easily digestable but not particulary nourishing. To me, the book seemed like a watered-down and streamlined portrayal of an important historical figure. It's reasonable well-written and moves along at a good clip; it just seems superficial. I guess that's o.k. if your target audience is people who don't normally read history. If you fall into that category, the JA is probably the book for you. Personally, however, I usually like to read "serious" works of history. History-lite just doesn't seem worth my time....
   
   Not terrible but not recommended.