1 comments about Lights of Madness: In Search of Joan of Arc.

1. Joan of Arc has been a hero of mine for more than fifty years. Over those years I have read every book on her I could find. Many of these carry with them, naturally enough, the point of view of the author(s). Joan is one of those very rare personalities in history who seem to arrive out of thin air and turn the times on their head. Her short life is one of the most documented of her age, yet for many she remains an enigma. If one accepts the Roman Catholic view, there is a faith-based explanation. Other approaches to come to grips with this all too human teenage woman may reflect a gamut of ideas that cover the entire human experience, from romance to science.
   
   Doctor Russell's thoroughness in exploring the various possibilites take on an intriguing trek. He first recounts Joan's life as it is documented, without dwelling on any certain aspect, such as military. His purpose seems to be "let's agree on what is undisputed" as we begin to search for any non faith-based explanation as to how a previously unknown teenage woman, who had no education, could motivate first a knight, then a baron, then the French prince and most remarkedly, his dismal army and it's commanders. I believe it is a fair statement that without Joan, France as we know it today, would not exist.
   
   Modern researchers have a new arena to debate Joan's behavior, that of medical science. This is where Dr. Russell's work has it's greatest strength. He probes all of the modern theories that medical science has provided yet makes it understanble to the non-medical mind (like mine). I found the book a real page-turner, as if I was on a road to uncover a mystery, which I was. It has opened up some new possibilites I had not really considered. What better success can an author seek other than he made his readers think?
   
   Joan is still a hero of mine. Dr. Russell has not tarnished her memory, but revived it in a modern light. Make sure your personal library contains Dr. Russell's book. Mine does.

No comments about The Faith of FDR -from President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Public Papers 1933-1945.

5 comments about Adventures of a Church Historian.

1. Definitely a unique person and a unique story. And there are a couple of chapters that are real page-turners.

   Arrington addresses some of the difficulties of writing religious history, while maintaining historical integrity. Although the book is more of an autobiography than a focus on writing religious history.

   There are many sidebars. Meaning, when he introduces new people, he devotes 2-3 pages addressing their personal history. This got monotonous, especially considering the volume of new people who were not important to the story. Possibly only 1/3 of the book is really about the complexities of writing religious history and dealing with religious authority figures.
   Nevertheless, those portions are interesting.

   Arrington was obviously devoted both to his faith and to his profession. He constantly addresses that he never saw a conflict with the two. An interesting perspective.




2. I am glad Leonard Arrington shared his life with us in this very informative book. It helped me understand the reality behind many of the rumors that have grown up around books like "The Story of the Latter-day Saints", "The Mormon Experience", and "Brigham Young: American Moses". I am also glad to know about the other wonderful books and articles he and his team put together over the years.

   He had a difficult assignment in being directly affiliated with the Church and yet being tasked with producing professional history. For the Church, the hand of God is a reality in all things. But that kind of explanation doesn't hold any water in the halls of academe. This required a special person to be able to walk that very thin line (since it was indeed the Church Leaders who gave him this almost self-contradictory assignment).

   It was inevitable that there would be some who would take exception to this or that and at times there was more than exception taken. Arrington put it well on page 144 "... trying to do a job under conflicting instructions or pressures, was like a mouse crossing the floor where elephants are dancing." I love this image and understand exactly what he means.

   And there is a glorious chapter giving the background on the 1978 revelation on the priesthood. Just terrific insights and enriching information.

   I do wish, however, he had taken a few pages showing examples of historical writing that did go beyond fair professionalism and into being against the Church. Clearly this writing does exist and probably did at least as much to undermine the purposes for which his office was originally set up as the complaints of the literalists.

   This was a very enjoyable read and the background it provides makes it very worthwhile.




3. Summary:
   The book is an autobiography of Leonard Arrington who was primarily a historian, but also an economist.  Along with serving as Church Historian during the mid 1970s, Arrington was also highly influential in the creation and perpetuation of several early organizations interested in the scholarly study of Mormonism, including Dialogue and the Mormon History Association.
    
   The book focuses on Arrington's scholarly work and his time spent as Church Historian, but also incorporates brief sketches of his family life and some of the things he did outside of work - though they are mostly Church related.
    
   Comments:
   This book is a fascinating look inside the Mormon Church, specifically its Salt Lake based hierarchy and their policies concerning history and scholarly analysis of Mormonism.  For the most part the book is well-written.  The biggest problem on this front is that the book could have used at least one more editorial pass as there are numerous typos and even one section where Arrington describes an event in almost identical fashion within three paragraphs (p. 87 "After the session where we were sustained, many friends and former associates came up to congratulate us and shake our hands..." repeated on p. 88).
    
   There are only two other critiques I would level at the book.  First, the book jumps around quite a bit, from his academics to his family and back again, sometimes from paragraph to paragraph.  I understand the difficulty in trying to report both dimensions of one's life in a coherent picture, but it made for difficult reading at times.  Second, there are several points when the normally lucid writing turns into a bibliography.  This probably would have been better presented as a chronological bibliography in the back of the book to which the author could have periodically referred as he covered that period.  Though these things are a bit distracting and can even make for dissonant and boring reading at times, the majority of the book is not in this vein.
    
   As for positive elements of the book, there are three quick ones that should be noted.  First, the book can serve as a primer for a novice of Mormon history.  There are numerous allusions to fascinating periods in Mormon history, but they are brief.  It will whet the appetite, but does not satisfy; for that you need to read the author's other books (and those of D. Michael Quinn, among others).  Also, Arrington has a sense of humor.  Though it is a bit spread out, he can be very funny and even a bit satirical.  You may have to look closely if you are not familiar with Mormon intellectuals and the `New Mormon History', but the humor is there nonetheless.  Finally, there are pictures!  I love pictures.  They help the people come to life.  There aren't many and they aren't in color, but there are a few.
    
   There were several other things that I really liked about this book.  First, it shows that you can intellectually and intelligently examine Mormonism and remain a Mormon (even though I didn't choose that route).  I think a lot of people are afraid to do this because of the fear of apostasy (my route), but I don't claim to know even a hundredth of what Arrington learned during the course of his life about Mormonism and he remained a faithful member.  I would think this book could function to encourage more Mormons to seriously study their religious history and beliefs so as to be more tolerant of differences of opinion and other religions.  This is part of the reason why I would recommend this book for every Mormon.
    
   I also found Arrington's subtle critiques of the Mormon hierarchy to be about as kind as you can possibly be while still recognizing the rampant anti-scientism many of them espouse.  Arrington does his best to justify the behaviors of some of the leaders of the Church and is very fair in balancing the ignorance of some (Packer), with the enlightened thinking of others (Kimball).  One point I found particularly interesting here was the positive depiction of Bruce R. McConkie, who is rather notorious for encouraging orthodox Mormon views, but apparently was wholly accepting of the work Arrington was trying to do.  Point for McConkie!
    
   Overall, as noted before, I think every Mormon and scholar of Mormonism should read this book.  It is a marvelous contrast of two opposing forces: (1) the faith-affirming approach of Mormonism in particular and religion in general that does not always advocate fair and objective scholarship, and (2) the attempt at objective and unbiased scholarship of the modern secular academy.  Leonard Arrington apparently found a way to walk a very fine line between the two and, frankly, I applaud his success.  However, I recognize that the line is very fine and can understand why more people don't walk it (myself included).  Nevertheless, this book can serve as a model for how that line can be negotiated and I would highly recommend it.



4. That is a question that has many people puzzled in the first part of the twenty-first century. Leonard J. Arrington sought to walk a tightrope between his personal faith and his commitment to the discipline of history throughout his life, and did so with style and grace and verve and served as a model for all to follow. His autobiography, "Adventures of a Church Historian," is a careful, powerful statement of both his personal faith in the God of the Mormon Church that he served his entire life and his commitment to intellectual honesty about the church's past. It is a welcome addition to the literature of Mormonism and an object lesson in the difficulties inherent in being faithful both to God and to scholarship.
   
   This book is first an explanation and defense of the "new Mormon History." Unfortunately, there is no real consensus on what this term means. Arrington believed that it represented a fundamental shift away from the use of history for polemical purposes, in either attacks on or defenses of the Mormon movement, something that had dominated historical writing in earlier generations. He sought to move beyond the assumptions of faith to embrace a larger understanding and in the process a larger faith. In so doing, he believed, historians could do their work fully aware that their faith was personal rather than historical.
   
   This approach has created problems for historians who are seeking to discover the church's past, and Arrington came to fully appreciate it. From almost the beginning of what has been called the "new Mormon history." of which Arrington was one of the founders and intellectual leaders, a debate has been raging in Mormon intellectual (and in some not so intellectual) circles about the nature of Mormon history. Richard L. Bushman's 1969 article, "Faithful History," represents one position in this debate, arguing the necessity of viewing the history of Mormonism through the lens of faith. On another side is the position of D. Michael Quinn, who argues for a more secular and critical approach to Mormon historical inquiry. Arrington took a middle ground. He asserted throughout a lifetime that there was essentially no reason why a believing Latter-day Saint could not undertake historical study that sought functional objectivity. He made it his life's work, and that is the story that he tells in "Adventures of a Church Historian."
   
   I would assert that the tensions inherent in this history essentially revolve around Mormonism's longstanding merger of history and theology and the inevitable problem of historical interpretation not always matching previous faith perceptions. When historians have found that Mormon historical evolution has not been nearly so cut and dried as the faith story suggests, it has the potential of creating a theological crisis of conscience in thinking Mormons.
   
   Arrington sought to hold the tension in creative balance and was a superb practitioner of a middle ground in historical inquiry. He wrote many books and articles and will be especially remembered for two pioneering books. The first is "Great Basin Kingdom: An Economic History of Latter-Day Saints, 1830-1900" (University of North Carolina Press, 1958, and many reprints to the present), his dissertation and a major benchmark in the historiography of Mormonism. The second is his massive "Brigham Young: American Moses" (hardcover from Alfred A. Knopf, 1985; paperback from University of Illinois Press, 1986). In between these two important books, he published much, and his overarching history of the church, "The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latter-day Saints" (Alfred A. Knopf, 1979), written with Davis Bitton, is just about as path-breaking as these two other works.
   
   But scholarship was far from the only thing that set Arrington apart from his colleagues. He was an organizer, mentor, entrepreneur, and ringmaster for a renaissance in Mormon historical studies during the 1960s and 1970s. He was a chief instigator and first president of the Mormon Historian Association when it was founded in 1966, and LDS Church Historian between 1972 and 1982. During that period, Arrington opened the LDS archives, built relations with professional and other religious historical groups, sponsored myriad research projects, and welcomed into a community of scholars a diverse array of people interested in the history of the Latter-day Saint faith community. Many people have commented on the "esprit de corps" and common purpose that Arrington helped to forge at gatherings of organizations oriented toward Mormon history that was refreshing. Davis Bitton, one of Arrington's associates in the LDS Historical Department, designated the decade between 1972 and 1982 when Arrington led the Mormon historical world a golden age, "a brief period of excitement and optimism--that someone has likened to Camelot" (Davis Bitton, "Ten Years in Camelot: A Personal Memoir," "Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought" 16 (Autumn 1983): 9-20, quote from p. 9). I agree!
   
   Everyone who has worked in Mormon history for any length of time has many Leonard Arrington stories. I first met him when he visited my undergraduate school, Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa, to give a lecture in the mid-1970s. I later got to know him better when I visited the LDS Historical Department to undertake research for my M.A. thesis in the spring of 1977. He was helpful and jovial and collegial and encouraging of a young scholar not of his religious tradition. We constantly renewed our friendship until his death in 1998. I would see him periodically and he always reminded my of a happy elf; he was short and stocky and always had a smile on his face and an encouraging word. And I wasn't special; he treated everyone the same way! I truly miss Leonard Arrington's dynamic and positive presence in Mormon history circles.
   
   "Adventures of a Church Historian" captures the essence of this great man's unique warmth and style. It highlights his quest for truth and understanding and his fostering of a truly remarkable historical effort among Mormon historians in the heyday of the "new Mormon history." But like all climactic experiences, this one did not last, and Arrington traces the problems and demise of his brand of historical inquiry as well. He describes problems internal to the Mormon hierarchy over the work of his Historical Department, telling of people who questioned an approach that did not explicitly seek to defend the faith, and the numerous instances in which he or his colleagues found themselves in trouble over some historical interpretation.
   
   A very public statement of these tensions came in 1981 when LDS Apostle Boyd K. Packer even invoked an espousal of the progress of Mormonism as a religion as the primary purpose of historical investigation, telling church educators that "Your objective should be that they [those who study Mormon history] will see the hand of the Lord in every hour and every moment of the Church from its beginning till now" (Boyd K. Packer, "`The Mantle is Far, Far Greater than the Intellect'," "Brigham Young University Studies" 21 Summer 1981): 261-78, quote from p. 262). With such a perspective, church-mandated progressive interpretations of the Mormon past could not be easily overcome and Arrington soon found himself ousted as Church Historian and he and his associates were shipped off to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Arrington tells this story with dignity and grace, still supportive of the church's leadership despites their heavy-handed actions. Later, some historians and other scholars would be excommunicated, including such Arrington colleagues as D. Michael Quinn, who has done path-breaking work in several areas of church history. It is a sad tale that Arrington puts the best possible face on in this autobiography, but it is clear he resents at least some of what happened to him and the cause of Mormon history.
   
   There is no question that I also resent it, and wish it had been otherwise. Like Arrington, I believe the church and its membership has nothing to fear from the honest exploration of its past. Indeed, I believe the membership would benefit from an understanding that not all issues in the past were black and white, that every one from the founding prophet to the rank and file membership struggled with their faith and sometimes made poor decisions, and that on occasion some people acted inappropriately. Overall, however, I think most individuals associated with Mormonism throughout its history are a lot like Arrington, honest and forthright and trying to live their lives in the best possible way within the context of their faith, struggling and sometimes failing but overall offering a positive force for good in the world. More than anything else taught me in this wonderful book, and by the life of Leonard Arrington, I take this lesson to heart.



5. Here is an honest appraisal of some difficult situations faced by a hard-working scholar whose motives and work product were not always correctly perceived and appropriately recognized. This is not a true biography but is more of an examination of Arrington's experiences as the Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which to any student of Church History are fascinating in their own right--the historian himself became part of Church history.
   
   The task of updating the approach of an organization that is purposely designed to remain immune to short-term change (indeed, to this reviewer, divinely designed to that purpose...) is by definition impossible for any one man who does not have direct and recognized executive authority. Nevertheless, such was the task appointed to Leonard Arrington. By all appearances, he did a wonderful job and his example of dedication and fidelity should serve as a lesson to those who cannot understand the worthiness of a personal sacrifice to a greater goal when efforts are not immediately rewarded, indeed, often opposed--whether rightly or wrongfully so. Though one can sense his bewilderment regarding certain decisions, Dr. Arrington never doubts the ability and right of the decision makers to act as they did and takes pains to demonstrate the validity of opposing views.
   
   Sure, Dr. Arrington encountered more than his fair share of needless difficulty from the very organization to which he devoted his life, but what I chose to take from this work was how in the end, everything worked out--not in the way that Dr. Arrington had originally hoped, but in a way that he came to recognize was appropriate and right.
   
   Full disclosure: I obtained both my undergraduate and graduate degrees from BYU and am well aware of the continuous debates regarding academic freedom. I recognize and appreciate that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its leaders have not only an interest but a responsibility for the manner whereby the story of the Church is told. No Church Leader should ever be faulted for the manner in which they strive to protect the faith of members, for they understand quite well that opposing points of view exist--they just don't feel the need to give those views "equal time."
   
   Yet, I remain fascinated by the manner in which even the most intractable policy debates ultimately find resolution, a process that can take years and the efforts of many. Dr. Arrington's book provides necessary and valuable evidence that a complex problem will be resolved at the appropriate time. Retrospective analysis shows the perfect timing of President Kimball's revelation on the Priesthood; likewise, Dr. Arrington's life and work demonstrate that the "problem" of the various approaches to LDS Church History will likewise be shown to be merely a temporary result of an imperfect understanding. Dr. Arrington's life and this book show that the Church and its members have a continually evolving ability to produce valuable and important scholarship. As the members of the Church mature and become increasingly educated their faith in the Church and its history becomes stronger; the world should ask why. Dr. Arrington's life and work provides an excellent example that the truth can withstand (and will reward) all inquiry.

1 comments about Finis Jennings Dake: His Life and Ministry.

1. I've been waiting for years to learn more about Dake's personal journey and ministry, and this is the best so far. Downside is that much of this book is taken from Dake's writings [that are already available and known to most of us] so the book is interspersed with entire chapters that are lifted from Dake's writings while other chapters give history of Dake's ministry (including his wife's ministry which was new material for me). I was disappointed with the paper thickness and binding of the book as it was hard to keep open while reading. But all in all, this is as good as it gets to learning more about Dake, even if it is a patchwork approach in some ways that may disappoint you. But for the price the information is worth the cost, as some of it can be found nowhere else that I am aware of.

No comments about Works of Brooks (6-volume set).

3 comments about Yom Kippur a Go-Go: A Memoir.

1. In Yom Kipppur a go go, the author revels in difference, like so many of us who live here in the San Francisco area. He moves between several sub-cultures and gives plenty of yummy details from both an outsider and a newish insider perspective. This slice-of-life engaged me, made me laugh and made me ponder the integration (or lack of) varying parts of my own life.



2. Compelling book by a great author. Found another of his books, Nevermind the Goldbergs and fell in love with it. Read this one in a day, and it's a compelling and funny story that I couldn't put down. Defintely recommend it!



3. 
   Matthue Roth's autobiography is the story of a young man who has decided to become an Orthodox Jew in the way punk rock kids go straight-edge. Like, you're born one way, but then it gets serious.
   
   What's more he decided to move to San Francisco and hang out with a ragtag bunch of, I don't know, San Francisco people that I can only assume would have knocked his rabbi's socks off. Which I don't know much about. I came to this book as a Christian-raised East coaster who lacks a big picture in most of the matters described herein.
   
   Simply put, I was blown away.
   
   Whether these memoirs are half-remembered or utterly fabricated is impossible for me to say - for all I know every word of the novel could be direct from a diary and true as gospel - but I have never encountered such a touching and fascinating insight into the process of being a twenty whatever year old kid and moving somewhere looking for something and finding what might have possibly been what you were looking for, and maybe not.
   
   Fascinating because of the detail. When sometimes, after a few too many drinks, I might think to myself how interesting my life has been and, if events were laid in the proper order, it might actually be interesting, could actually feel like a book. Roth seems to have drunk just enough to remember it all perfectly and beautifully. His descriptions of ennui and hopelessness read like boredom preening its fur with waves of electricity rippling down the novel's spine.
   
   Many could easily compare this to Dave Eggar's blockbuster knock 'em sock 'em of young man memoir a few years back. And the comparison isn't too off; these are two stories of two men moving to SAN FRANCISCO, a city that effectively doesn't exist as there is no place in the world that could independantly serve their very different needs. And yet, while in neither of these tales the city provided the satisfaction which the authors originally saught, both have their endings. And as a reader, it was I that was satisfied.
   
   Matthue Roth is a generational misfit, a man who looks to tradition while riding the waves of the Pacific future. His story is a story of shock, awe and exposure that while different than my own is a part of my generational history. Read this book.

4 comments about C. S. Lewis: Images of His World.

1. It is most unfortunate that this superb book has gone out of print. It is a pictorial tour of the places and people familiar to C.S. Lewis. Next to each picture or illustration is a caption explaining the relation to Lewis, with most of the country scenes having vivid, picturesque quotes from Lewis himself. This book can be read in one sitting or slowly digested over several days. If you ever find a copy, hang on to it. It's a lovely book.



2. If you love C.S. Lewis as much as I do, then you will find this book captivating, transporting you into the world of Jack as a boy and as a man, as a pagan and as a Christian. Hopefully it will be back in print soon. Every page is lavishly illustrated with photos and artwork of people and places that were dear to Lewis. What makes it even more special are the descriptions of each place or person by lewis himself, taken from his letters and books. IT is the best gift a Lewis fan could receive, too, so look for a friend!



3. If C.S. LEWIS: IMAGES OF HIS WORLD sounds familiar to avid scholars of Lewis, it's because this is a reissue of a classic which probes the people and places which inspired the religious author. Photos and text - much of which are Lewis's own words - survey his friendships, beloved places, friends, family and colleagues in a fine survey of his life and faith. Lewis was captivated by the myths and legends of the North as a young child: his interest served as both a starting point for his involvement in religion and as a starting point for his literary creations. Any who would understand Lewis will find this a visual treat and a powerful starting point for understanding his vast wellspring.



4. This reissue of the out of print C.S. Lewis: Images of His World puts together a fine collection of photos depicting the places Lewis lived and visited as well as the people he knew. It does a good job of filling in the imagination for the reader of C.S. Lewis. The photos are accompanied by subtexts explaining each picture's content and in many cases they are accompanied by a quotation from one of Lewis's works. An introduction, chronology of Lewis's life, and brief biographical sketch complete the work.
   
   Although this is a reissue of the original book that came out in 1973, there has been a major overhaul to the layout, yielding both positive and negative results. First, the new edition is slightly smaller in size. Second, the orientation has been changed: the original book was 9 inches high and 11 inches wide, whereas the new book is just the opposite orientation of 10 1/2 inches high and 8 inches wide; (imagine a regular magazine and you have the layout for the new edition; turn the magazine on its side and put the binding on the left and you have the layout of the old edition.) These changes unfortunately have resulted in some photos that were formerly seen in their entirety on one page now being split over two pages. Result: artistically inferior.
   
   The third change, is that the order of the photos has undergone a major reshuffling, as has the texts that accompany them. Most of the material in the first book still appears in the second, but the order is different. (A couple of C.S. Lewis drawings in letters to Owen Barfield that appeared in the first edition of this book have been dropped from the new edition.)
   
   The fourth change is quite positive. It is amazing to see what a difference a mere three decades can make in photo reproductive technology. The book has a mixture of black & white and color photos, and while the black & white photos don't change much between the first and second edition of this book, the color photos are FAR better in the new edition. The subjects depicted have had their color restored and no longer appear to be so drab: one is reminded of what the Sistine Chapel looked like before and after the late 20th century restoration. Photos of such things as Tintern Abbey or Beaumaris Castle are brought to life by the new technology and are much more pleasing to the eye.
   
   To sum, many overall changes have been made to the quality of the photos as well as the layout of their presentation. I think the net effect is zero: two steps forward and two steps backwards. It's a pity, really, because the old layout could have been kept while using new photo reproductive technology to enhance the photos. Oh well, the bottom line is that if you don't have a copy of this book, by all means buy it - you'll be pleased with the purchase. If you have the original book, you still might want to purchase the new edition as many of the photos have been vividly enhanced. (Conversely, if you have the new edition and run across a copy of the old, this, too, is worth obtaining for the better layout of some of the photos.)

5 comments about L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman.

1. If you don't have a basic familiarity with Scientology this should NOT be the first book you read, but the second. First should be Jon Atack's A Piece of Blue Sky, which gives a compelling chronology of Hubbard and Scientology. You won't be able to put the book down. Nor this one, if you know the history. Corydon's book is essential supplementary material - disorganized, true, as some reviewers accurately note - but gives in-depth information on aspects Atack only alludes to, such as Hubbard's belief in black magic and how it influenced his supposedly "positive" religion. Also includes some frightening depositions from ex-Scientologists - the description of Hubbard's sexual "assault" on one victim (he lay upon her for an hour, motionless, limp, smothering, while she felt she was going crazy) is something you wont learn about from Tom Cruise and his ilk - the celebrities are feted by Scientology, and kept far away from the dark underbelly that powers the cult of Scientology.



2. Don't waste your money on the ranting and raving of Mr. Corydon. I think he is just mad that he didn't come up with the ideas Mr. Hubbard did.
   
   Instead, read what Hubbard wrote, and make your own decision of his ideas and decide if these can help you in your own life.



3. I know Bent Corydon. He is not a liar. I have seen the proof. Read his book. Learn the truth about Scientology. Then stay far away. My family also had similar experiences with Scientology and they do not know Bent. A self help book and tax exempt status does not make you a religion. Kidnaping and racketeering does make you mafia.



4. I was into the Church of Scientology stuff. I had read a couple of books and was asking them for more information when I came across this book in a used book store. I read it and had serious second thoughts.
   
   Some of the information in this book seems far fetched, but some of it seems dead on. I used this book as one of many sources to form my own opinion and I suggest others to do the same.



5. Madman, yes!!! After reading this you will come to the same conclusion. I just cant believe that people fall for this con!

5 comments about Brother Tony's Boys: The Largest Case of Child Prostitution in U.S. History: The True Story.

1. The subject of Mike Echols' book, Pentecostal evangelist Brother Tony Leyva, is to get out of prison this fall unless the U.S. Parole Commission decides to keep him in prison to serve his full prison term (he has now served 10 years out of the 20 years to which he was sentenced).

   Mike Echols is trying to get people to write letters to stop Tony Leyva's parole.




2. Good book I guess but you can not truelly investigate Namblaa until you have made a list of alll government members all the way up to the whitehouse who are actual members of nambla until you expose them you will never be able to truelly battle Nambla



3. Mike Echols does an outstanding job of chronicling the history of abuse "Brother" Tony, an evangelical itinerant preacher, inflicts upon the children of families who came to look up to him and trust him with their sons. Brother Tony is clearly a psychopathic predator who took advantage of hundreds and hundreds of boys during his roving ministry. Echols well illustrates that pederasty has not just been a problem in the Catholic Clery but in the fabric of many who betrayed the sacredness of the trust that was bestowed upon them in a number of arenas. While Brother Tony eventually gets jailed, it's fairly clear that it's far too little, too late. Brother Tony will be back in action within the next few years and parents need to look out for their kids.

   Brother Tony's Boys illustrates again the importance of parents talking forthrightly to their children about potential predators who might be as close as relatives or as trusted as men of God. A sad story which chronicles a tremendous betrayal and the damage that these young people will need to come to grips with as their lives progress. An excellent edition to books dealing with similar issues in differing settings: "Scouts Honor" chronicling the sad story of abuse in the boy scouts, Jason Berry's outstanding book on Catholic Clergy, "Lead Us Not Into Temptation" Parents might read these along with some of the books on averting and treating some of these issues, i.e., author Mic Hunter is among the treatment pioneers in this field and his books are available on Amazon.com. A frightening subject -- yet not one to simply be ignored. Parents and educators need to be proactive about these kinds of predators! Highly Recommended! Daniel J. Maloney




4. I am a survivor of Tony Leyva's crimes and was not mentioned in the book. My experience with him was in the early 70's. I have first hand knowledge of how he operated and can truly say Mr. Echols' report on Leyva is completely thorough and accurate. Relatively few people will work to expose this type of behavior. Echols is to be congratulated. A must-read for parents.



5. I read this book as a recommendation for parents to be aware of pediophiles and how to spot them. Having children, I was compelled to know how to protect them. Here is a story I will never forget - part of that is indespensible. Worse, I cry for the countless victims of sexual abuse. When you see ( very thoroughly ) in this detailed account, just how far reaching the devistation is, you can only pray for such victims and strive to protect the ones you love and educate every one else!
   
   I couldn't put it down, as the story grew more horrifyingly unbelievable, I kept thinking it couldn't get worse, but it did - for everyone involved.
   
   In the end, I had to search the internet to see where Tony Leyva was today -- and found that he'd died in prison in 2003. I couldn't help but wonder if his victims rejoiced at the news? Yet a man's fate was hopelessly and finally sealed with the more infinite punishment I am sure awaits him.
   
   As for author Mike Echols, that internet search was even more disturbing. He, too, died in 2003. But I won't tell you how, or where, or other circumstances. You can look that up for yourself after you finish the book. See for yourself what his searching, his quest for justice finally led him to.
   
   You'll realize that you can't go anywhere near any and all things pornographic without being affected by it.

1 comments about St. Teresa of Avila.

1. We had a tattered, much-read copy of this is our Ashram library with the book held together with a rubber band. So when we found that our favorite biography of St. Teresa had been published anew, we were delighted. This edition is a larger paperback and has, in addition, photos of the convent where she lived and even the room where she dwelt and wrote her books! If you've never read a saint's life, you'll be absorbed into this one quickly. The author, Marcelle Auclair, lived in a convent founded by St. Teresa as she collected stories and wrote of the saint's life. Having read a dozen biographies on this saint, this one still stands high above all others. Don't miss it!