Sebastian's Arrows: Letters and Mementos of Salvador Dali and Federico Garcia Lorca

Book Description

“Let us agree,” Federico Garcia Lorca wrote, “that one of man’s most beautiful postures is that of St. Sebastian.”

“In my ‘Saint Sebastian’ I remember you,” Salvador Dali replied to Garcia Lorca, referring to the essay on aesthetics that Dali had just written, “. . . and sometimes I think he is you. Let’s see whether Saint Sebastian turns out to be you.”

This exchange is but a glimpse into the complex relationship between two renowned and highly influential twentieth-century artists. On the centennial of Dali's birth, Sebastian’s Arrows presents a never-before-published collection of their letters, lectures, and mementos.

Written between 1925 and 1936, the letters and lectures bring to life a passionate friendship marked by a thoughtful dialogue on aesthetics and the constant interaction between poetry and painting. From their student days in Madrid's Residencia de Estudiantes, where the two waged war against cultural “putrefaction” and mocked the sacred cows of Spanish art, Dali and Garcia Lorca exchanged thoughts on the act of creation, modernity, and the meaning of their art. The volume chronicles how in their poetic skirmishes they sharpened and shaped each other’s work--Garcia Lorca defending his verses of absence and elegy and his love of tradition while Dali argued for his theories of “Clarity” and “Holy Objectivity” and the unsettling logic of Surrealism.

Christopher Maurer’s masterful prologue and selection of letters, texts, and images (many generously provided by the Fundacion Gala-Salvador Dali and Fundacion Federico Garcia Lorca), offer compelling and intimate insights into the lives and work of two iconic artists. The two men had a “tragic, passionate relationship,” Dali once wrote—a friendship pierced by the arrows of Saint Sebastian.

Customer Reviews:

From CHOICE.......2005-09-16

"This volume gathers an assortment of letters, works, illustrations, and photographs--some previously unpublished. In his superb introduction, Maurer (Spanish, Boston Univ.) re-creates and probes this intense friendship, bringing the reader into the wondrous and exciting world of two extraordinary young men. Written between 1925 and 1936, the letters offer intimate glimpses of this friendship and of the artistic insights of two of the dominant artistic figures of the past century. [...] Thoughtfully and sensitively conceived, this is an intellectually sound and compelling volume." F. Colecchia, CHOICE 9/05

Book Description

After you've tried all the popular acrylic craft painting, and become bored with it all - this book takes you a bit further. Offers fun projects for your leftover paints, how to recycle your worst mistakes, as well as gives step-by-step instructions on how to create over a dozen of the most popular faux finishes, such as marbling, granite, concrete, and more. Includes color charts of faux finishes.

Running Press glossary of photography language
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Running Press glossary of photography language
Mary Harwood
Manufacturer: Running Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0894710249

Book Description

Your Friends & Neighbors is a searing display of the war between the sexes, delivered with the kind of wit used by the great Restoration playwrights to expose the hypocrisies in male/female relationships.

Neil Labute's debut feature, in the company of men, was described by Variety as "a dark, probing, truly disturbing exploration of yuppie angst and male anxieties". In Your Friends & Neighbors, male anxiety is again on show, but in a much wider context, revealing the rabid desire of people-regardless of sex- to serve their own interests at any cost.

Customer Reviews:

A funny, distubing look at relationships in the '90's........1998-10-10

Neil Labute, writer and director of last years In The Company of Men, succeeds again in capturing the sad and darkly funny depths of mental anguish and abuse of love and sex in the '90's. Here he brings us a tale of unhappy suburban couples searching in vein for satisfaction and destroying each other in the process. Labute crafts an air of dialog that makes you laugh and look on in disgust all at once-the equivilance of a literary car crash, so horrifying yet you slow down to watch anyway.

Extreme Pumpkins: Diabolical Do-It-Yourself Designs to Amuse Your Friends and Scare Your Neighbors

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dude....this book is totally freakin' awesome

Extreme Pumpkins: Diabolical Do-It-Yourself Designs to Amuse Your Friends and Scare Your Neighbors
Tom Nardone
Manufacturer: HP Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Halloween: The Best of Martha Stewart Living

ASIN: 1557885222

Book Description

Pumpkins are supposed to be scary!

Based on his popular and addictive website ExtremePumpkins.com, Tom Nardone has created a full-color guide to pumpkin carving that's truly frightening. Featuring the website's signature Puking Pumpkin, and spanning everything from Drowning Pumpkin, Crime Scene Pumpkin, and Cannibal Pumpkin to Electrocuted Pumpkin and other never-before-seen designs, this gleefully gory guide is nothing short of a manifesto to take back Halloween from the cheerful, the cutesy, and the parent-sanctioned. For the egg-throwing, toilet tissue-streaming, window-soaping teenager in all of us, finally- a whole new way to celebrate October 31.

Customer Reviews:

dude....this book is totally freakin' awesome.......2007-09-10

Not only has this book enabled me to hold onto my position as the neighborhood maniac, it has given me new insight on how to carve pumpkins more efficiently, spookily, and with greater ease. Mr. Nardone is quite the cut up, and this book made me chuckle unendingly. The directions are simple, the layout is handy, and I find the photographs both detailed and quite artistic.
p.s. This book is also quite inexpensive, so buying multiples of it doesn't pinch my pocketbook! Yowza!

Give the World a Smile (Remember Your Ole Friend and Neighbor, Frank H. Stamps)

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Give the World a Smile (Remember Your Ole Friend and Neighbor, Frank H. Stamps)
M. Lynwood Smith
Manufacturer: M. Lynwood Smith
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OED1XU

Hello, Neighbor ! A Warming Community Cookbook (A Gathering of Healthy Recipes From Your Friends and Neighbors in the Hispanic and African-american Communities)

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Hello, Neighbor ! A Warming Community Cookbook (A Gathering of Healthy Recipes From Your Friends and Neighbors in the Hispanic and African-american Communities)

Manufacturer: Buffalo Diabetes Coalition
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000U2YE9G

Product Description

89 page stapled booklet with diabetics in mind.

Sharing Your Faith with Friends, Relatives & Neighbors: Leader Guide

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Sharing Your Faith with Friends, Relatives & Neighbors: Leader Guide
Paul Sorenson
Manufacturer: Augsburg Fortress Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 080660039X

A Taste of the Good Life: From Your Friends and Neighbors of the Tennesse Division American Cancer Society

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A Taste of the Good Life: From Your Friends and Neighbors of the Tennesse Division American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society , and Angie Beaty
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound
ASIN: B000V7LYQ6

Amaze your friends and neighbors: make your own charcoal!: An article from: Countryside & Small Stock Journal

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Amaze your friends and neighbors: make your own charcoal!: An article from: Countryside & Small Stock Journal
Ken Scharabok
Manufacturer: Countryside Publications Ltd.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B00097LL1Q
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Countryside & Small Stock Journal, published by Countryside Publications Ltd. on May 1, 1997. The length of the article is 1006 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the supplier: Charcoal can be made from wood scraps and used hardwood pallets. A open ended drum is filled with wood scraps that are suspended a few inches from the bottom with wires. The drum is placed over a fire and smoke is allowed to come out a vent hole in the top. The process carbonizes the wood and makes charcoal.

Citation Details
Title: Amaze your friends and neighbors: make your own charcoal!
Author: Ken Scharabok
Publication: Countryside & Small Stock Journal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 1, 1997
Publisher: Countryside Publications Ltd.
Volume: v81 Issue: n3 Page: p27(2)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Witnessing to Your Friends and Neighbors (WorldChangers Radio)

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Witnessing to Your Friends and Neighbors (WorldChangers Radio)
Bill Bright
Manufacturer: New Life Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

General | Books on Cassette | Audiobooks | Formats | Books

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ASIN: 1563991128

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Give the World a Smile....Remember " Your Ole Friend and Neighbor"....Frank H. Stamps
M. Lynwood Smith
Manufacturer: M. Lynwood Smith Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OCRC3C

Product Description

A Compilation of songs by Frank H. Stamps with a story of his life by Mrs. Frank H. Stamps

How Your Friends & Neighbors Are Screwing You: Insurance Fraud in America A National Sport

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How Your Friends & Neighbors Are Screwing You: Insurance Fraud in America A National Sport
Barry Zalma
Manufacturer: ClaimSchool, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: 1884770037

From the Publisher

A collection of Barry Zalma's popular Insurance Journal columns about Insurance Fraud.

Classical Album of Early Grade Pieces: For Cello and Piano
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Classical Album of Early Grade Pieces: For Cello and Piano

Manufacturer: Boston Music
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 5550163012

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classical album of early grade pieces Arranged for Cello and Piano
Paul Herfurth
Manufacturer: Boston Music Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KTJ7M8

Jak II Official Strategy Guide
Average customer rating:

Very helpful

My Son Really Enjoyed

JAK

jak 2

this book is awesome

Jak II Official Strategy Guide
Greg Off
Manufacturer: BRADY GAMES
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Strategy Guides | Games & Strategy Guides | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
Video Games | Games & Strategy Guides | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Video & Electronic Games | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0744003016

Book Description

BradyGames' Jak II Official Strategy Guide features detailed maps, with call-outs for items. Strategies for completing every mission, plus every Precursor Orb is unearthed. Tactics to master every one of Jak's moves and attacks. Haven City and its surroundings are explored completely, plus all game secrets revealed!

This product is available for sale in North America only.

Customer Reviews:

Very helpful.......2007-01-12

Jak 2 is a great game and it helps to have a guide to make sure you are doing it right. This guide is very helpful and gives tons of helpful hints, a must buy right along with the game.

My Son Really Enjoyed .......2006-08-07

This was a gift for my son. When he read it, it really helped him with the strategies of the game that he has home. The book
does help the children get through the game itself. With the help of the book, my son has already finished the entire game. He is now helping his friend who just received the game as a gift.

JAK.......2005-10-20

I like the excitement of trying to get through each level. I have JAKandDaxter,JAKII,JAK3. I never owned a playstation before . I bought one this year. I like flying,racing,and driving.

jak 2.......2005-07-21

a must have if you have the game. its impossible to win the game and find everything without it.

this book is awesome.......2004-06-25

this book helped me out a bunch, I am a 16 year old game freak who started out with a super nintendo and beat every game in the first 3 weeks or so , but still couldn't beat some of the missions on jak 2 cause they were too damn hard. the book helped alot , it tells you were all of the precurser orbs are and give a detailed description of each and every mission(...) .

Average customer rating:

Love In Action

a spirit lifter

Together For Good: Lessons From Fifty-Five Years Of Marriage

Something Practical In Couple Enrichment ... Real SPICE !

An American Love Story

Together For Good: Lessons from Fifty-Five Years of Marriage
Ella P. Mitchell , and Henry H. Mitchell
Manufacturer: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

African-American & Black | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Religious | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0740700391

Book Description

"Friendship is far more important to love and marriage than we had any idea at the time we married. Friendship grows in the fertile soil of common values and interests. . . the place each of us grows as a person and a mate. We've grown far beyond anything either of us had in mind 55 years ago, and we know it's because God blessed our friendship with a spark that set it all aflame in joy and fruitfulness," writes Rev. Drs. Henry H. and Ella Pearson Mitchell, who share the secret to lasting love and friendship in Together for Good. This memoir chronicles the Mitchell's 55-year relationship, beginning with when they first met at Union Theological Seminary, and follows them throughout their lives. Filled with anecdotes and the couple's down-to-earth candor, Together for Good tells how the Mitchells coped with the first year of marriage, financial problems, the birth and adoption of their children, switching jobs, and moving. The Mitchells, who've served in various ministry capacities together, talk about their "golden" years and how staying together has been an endless source of strength and joy-even through losing a child and the long healing process afterward. Anyone who's endured a relationship-whether successful or not-will find encouragement and support from the Mitchell's "golden" insight.

Customer Reviews:

Love In Action.......2006-07-16

I "stumbled" across this book at the library. The title caught my attention--it captures my vision AND I was 55 years old at the time. I like another reviewer am taking my time reading/"listening" to Ella and Henry as they share what we get so little of in our culture: a real, deep and truely satisfying basis for marriage to another and to the world--true love.

As more of a taoist than a christian, my experience with Ella and Henry is a bright light as I continue to re-frame the "how and why" of connections with others, signals that have long term promise. They demonstrate how we can create love each day in our actions. Thank you for giving voice to my hopes for the future.

How refreshing in a culture that touts Gone With the Wind as a wonderful love story.

a spirit lifter.......2002-04-25

This book is absolutely wonderful. It is such a wonderful encourager for married couples. I 've been reading this book since September 2001 and have not finished it yet (now April 2002). This is by choice because I try to savor every bit. In addition to the bible, this book was the only book I was able to read as I was going through the loss of my unborn child. It lifted my spirits, comforted me and encouraged me oh so much as a wife and a mother. This will be the first book that my marriage group will read.

I recommend this book for both spouses to read and reflect.

Praying for a Part II.

Together For Good: Lessons From Fifty-Five Years Of Marriage.......2000-11-14

In a day when so many social institutions have lost their luster, "Together For Good" provides a sterling testament of the enduring virtue and value of a "vibrant" lifelong commitment. The Mitchell's unique recollection of their more than half century journey together holds forth a hopeful note amidst our hi-tech concerns of alienated households, fragmented families and ruptured relationships (in every regard). It is a highly recommended reading for those who would contemplate the gift of mutual companionship at it's very best!

Thank you Dr's. Ella & Henry Mitchell for this timeless treasure!

Something Practical In Couple Enrichment ... Real SPICE !.......2000-03-31

The Mitchells speak straight from their hearts to ours and provide practical help and open honest means for healing the hurts of those of us who are in new or long term relationships. The book is a tender dialogue between them spanning a half century of changes, crises and challenges; reminding us that all of life is indeed dialogue and that something mystical and magical happens in relationships when we truly see, hear and tenaciously embrace the other. Their story is a special gift.

An American Love Story.......1999-12-09

Henry and Ella Mitchell have given us a beautiful gift: their love story. This book, chronicling their fascinating lives in New York, California, and Atlanta, is a testament to their love of each other, their love of family and friends, and their love of God. It is a tribute to their talents and tenacity in the face of considerable challenges. The format of the book keeps the reader engaged by alternating perspectives from chapter to chapter. Henry and Ella take turns providing their unique perspectives on the adventures they experienced in fifty five years of marriage. Each voice provides a slightly different interpretation of events. Their personalities, different but complementary, are revealed through their words. If you relish love stories and biographies of living saints, this book will thrill you. It provides a testimony to the enduring potential of a relationship grounded in mutual respect, trust, affection, and spirituality.

Together For Good - Lessons From Fifty-five Years Of Marriage

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Together For Good - Lessons From Fifty-five Years Of Marriage
Ella P. and Henry H. Mitchell
Manufacturer: Andrews and Mcmeel
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IWG8UQ

Customer Reviews:

Remarkable Odyssey.......2005-11-19

A fascinating and inspirational account of Tsui Chi Hsii's (Charlie Two Shoe's) long-suffering odyssey to come to the United States with his family. It turns out to be a lot more complicated story than you might expect and has the potential for being a Hell of a movie, with lots of opportunities for scenery chewing, but that probably won't happen. In fact there probably won't even be any paperback updating of the still unfinished story at time of publication because one of the coauthors, Michael Peterson, is now a convicted murderer whose other books are long out of print.

Life is truly stranger than fiction.

On A More Personal Note.......2005-01-01

My boyfriend bought me this book for Christmas, and I was thrilled. Not only am I a social studies teacher and a history buff, but I am priviledged enough to know Charlie Two Shoes. He owns a business in the town where I live and is always there with a smile and a friendly word. He autographed my book with the inscription "May God bless you and yours with health and joy." When I went by today to thank him for the inscription, he told me that there is a lot of history in this book that is not often told. While I have not yet finished the book, I have enjoyed what I have read so far. No matter what crimes have been committed by one of the authors, you should take the time to buy this book and read the interesting true life story of a truly wonderful man.

Compelling story of friendship and perseverance.......1999-07-06

Charlie Two Shoes is a fascinating story of one man's friendship with a group of US Marines and his incredible perseverence in getting re-united with them. Peterson and Perlmutt tell the story through Charlie's eyes and those of his Marine pals. They give us an intriguing look at life behind the Bamboo Curtain. More amazing than Charlie's budding friendship -- he was around the Marines for about four years as a teenager -- is his enduring perseverance in keeping his dream of a reunion alive. The dream survived decades, including years in a Chinese prison and more under house arrest in his small village. After all that, his eventual reunion in the U.S. had drama of its own. One Marine buddy turned out to be more interested in his own fortunes than Charlie's,and Charlie's efforts to stay got mired as much in domestic politics as international. A good read by gifted writers.

An epic of faith, courage and loyalty set in war torn China........1999-02-01

Charlie Two Shoes and the Marines of Love Company is not only an inspiring story about friendships and loyalty, but also an excellent retelling of some little known American history. Set in Northern China starting at the end of World War II and continuing to recent times, the reader will learn about the atrocities visited upon the Chinese peasantry by the Japanese, the communist take over of China and America's futile efforts to stop it, the severe poverty and starvation the Chinese people endured, and the political repression and corruption that continued for years. Into the shadows of these desolate and hopeless conditions, the warmth and charity that the American Marines and missionaries brought with them to China and to a young boy, nick-named Charlie, shine brightly. The reader is invited on a journey through Charlie's life of joys and travails, but is pulled aside by the authors from time to time for some excellent and concise description of the historical context. Thus this true tale of friendship and suffering also enables the reader to also learn the larger story of the historical events which ultimately were its cause.

Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny (Issues of Our Time)
Average customer rating:

A prayer for freedom of identity

The Illusion of Great Intellect?

Identity and Violence

good ideas, clear thinking, but a bit repetitive

identity need not mean violent destiny

Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny (Issues of Our Time)
Amartya Sen
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Violence in Society | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0393329291

Book Description

"One of the few world intellectuals on whom we may rely to make sense out of our existential confusion."—Nadine Gordimer

In this sweeping philosophical work, Amartya Sen proposes that the murderous violence that has riven our society is driven as much by confusion as by inescapable hatred. Challenging the reductionist division of people by race, religion, and class, Sen presents an inspiring vision of a world that can be made to move toward peace as firmly as it has spiraled in recent years toward brutality and war.

Customer Reviews:

A prayer for freedom of identity.......2007-09-26

Sen is so eloquent it's overkill. To a global but divided world he speaks of identity as a multi-layered matter of personal choice: "The same person can, for example, be a British citizen, of Malaysian origen, with Chinese racial characteristics, a stock broker, a non-vegitarian, an asthmatic, a linguist, a bodybuilder, a poet, an opponent of abortion, a bird-watcher, an astrologer, and one who believes that God invented Darwin to test the gullible." (p. 24)

Sen notes several popular ways of dealing with identity. One he calls "identity disregard", and another is "singular affiliation".

In "identity disregard" we dismiss all shared identity, and treat each person as an economic self-interest group of one. As some proponents of this view argue, "If it's not in your interest, why have you chosen to do as you did?". Sen notes that this assumption, "makes huge idiots out of Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa and Nelson Mandela, and rather smaller idiots out of the rest of us." (p. 21)

"Singular affiliation" on the other hand, defines people by their membership in one (only one) of their many social circles. This can be an externally imposed label, as in stereotypes of what Westerners are, or in can be self-imposed general conformity -- as when Oscar Wilde said, "Most people are other people. ... Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation".

Feeling both social and an individual, Sen launches his excellent exporation of identity in the modern world. He visits the great "West VS Non-West" divide, where he dispenses with the usual hoopla:

"... in disputing the gross and natsy generalization that members of the Islamic civilization have a belligerant culture, it is common enough to argue that they actually share a culture of peace and goodwill. But this simply replaces one stereotype with another, and furthermore, it involves accepting an implicit presumption that people who happen to be Muslim by religion would be similar in other ways as well." (p. 42)

In many corners of the world Sen shows the subtle handicaps which delimited identy can impose. He mentions South African doctor and anti-apartheid activist Mamphela Ramphele, who describes the impact of polarized identity on the AIDS crisis: The "mistrust of science that has traditionally been controlled by white people" hampers medical efforts; open discussion of the problem is often suppressed by "the fear of acknowledging an epidemic that could easily be used to fan the worst racial stereotyping". (p. 92)

Always sounding magisterial, Sen wades into the home-town issues of British multiculturalism, political correctitude, and the struggles of "globalism vs anti-globalism". He distinguishes between the desire for ethnic groups to leave one another alone, and the desire for a freedom to choose among many cultural options. To those who urge funding schools for each religion he is blunt: "It is unfair to children who have not yet had much opportunity of reasoning and choice to be put into rigid boxes guided by one specific criterion of categorization, and to be told: 'That is your identity and this is all you are going to get'." (p. 118)

To people who believe their identity is more a fate than a choice, Sen affirms we can do better: "We have to make sure, above all, that our mind is not halved by a horizon". The book's opening dedication sounds almost like a Buddhist vow to seek enlightenment: "To Antara, Nandana, Indrani, and Kabir with the hope of a world less imprisoned by illusion".

The Illusion of Great Intellect?.......2007-07-06

Mr. Sen's great contribution to the ongoing debate about our response to terrorism is to add to the confusion.

This book makes a simple point: a cat is not a cat because it is also a mother/ father, a baby, a hunter, a prey, a mammal, a quadruped, and various other things. If we consider it only as a cat, we tend to oversimplify things, which is a great tragedy from an intellectual point of view.

Mr. Sen makes this point across many pages, using facts and information selectively, performing marvelous feats of intellectual contortion, and using his argumentative powers with terrific verbosity. Gradually you start getting tired of trying to understand the argument, and take refuge in his intellectual reputation. If Mr. Sen says so, then it must be so.

Unfortunately, it is not so. Mr. Sen himself has used categories and grouped identities repeatedly in his works. An identity is of course a construct, a definition, which helps us work with an idea. If we abandon these, it will become very difficult to handle complex ideas - we will be reduced to monkeys who are great at dealing with percepts, but not with concepts.

What is the point of this book, one may ask? The book may merely be an attempt to deflect attention from radical forms of Islam, which often lead to terrorism. In this apologist work, Mr. Sen does not bother to ask the Muslims as to how do they see themselves, what do they see as their defining identity.

However, Mr. Sen has no love lost for traditional forms of Islam, if practiced in the West, as he carefully spears the multi-culturalists to death with his eyes carefully trained on the Western audience. For instance, according to him, cultural diversity can be enhanced if individuals are 'encouraged' to live as they value living. It is clear to him, however, that young Muslim women are unlikely to value living behind a veil freely, as that would merely constitute 'an automatic endorsement of past traditions'. Mr. Sen fails to see that following traditions may itself be an implicit and integral value in a particular culture.

It is also difficult for Mr. Sen to see that what is considered 'sexual freedom' by a particular society, may be considered as 'sexual perversity' in another society. Indeed in the same society, people would have differing views. In such a situation, who are we to arbiter what is right for a group of people in their personal lives?

He also makes various vacuous arguments. For instance, both Aurangzeb and Dara Shikoh were Muslims. Aurangzeb was 'rather intolerant', whereas Dara Shikoh was interested in Hindu Upanishads. Aurangzeb killed Dara Shikoh (in a fight over the throne). Aurangzeb's great-grandfather was also a tolerant Muslim. Therefore, there is great diversity among Muslims. Therefore, it is wrong to treat all Muslims as belonging to the same mindset.

No one would argue against that. However, after making this kind of obvious arguments endlessly, Mr. Sen slyly insinuates that we should not link hundreds of terrorist incidents (where Muslims were directly involved) with radical Muslims, as Muslims have multiple identities, which he has already proved!

It is really quite a pity. One would wish that Mr. Sen could put his great intellect to more worthwhile use, such as helping us understand why people group together in monolithic blocks or get radicalized enough to want to kill others who do not subscribe to their views.

A hardcover edition of this book has also been published by Penguin India under the banner 'Allen Lane'. While the binding of the Penguin edition is good, the typeface is a little difficult to read. Also the paper is almost like newsprint, and tends to absorb ink (if you like making notes in the margins). The book is a slim volume, easy to carry.

Buy this book if you would like to argue it out with Mr. Sen. Or if you want to appear to be politically correct, never mind the cost to your intellect.

Identity and Violence.......2007-05-17

I felt this book was overly self aggrandizing in a way that academic writing often is. It takes the obvious, couches it in lofty rehtoric and tries to sell the ideas as original and pressing. They may be the latter, but are fairly self evident. I know this man is an intellectual who is well respected so it is surprising to me that in this book he kind of 'dumbs up' a set of premises that could be perhaps more influential were they 'dumbed down' for a different audience.

good ideas, clear thinking, but a bit repetitive.......2007-04-15

The book makes two main arguments. First it argues that identities are rational constructions where group allegiances of all sorts play a part. Second it argues that globalization, though an unqualified good in principle, is in practice often merely a way for some group in a globablizing nation to reap most of the benefits while others suffer most of ill consdquences. Both arguments work together in Sen's view of how one might best understand the phenomena of *opposition to the west*. We (G8 nations) have fallen into the habit of seeing nations as wholes characterized by specific identities. Sen suggests that we'd understand phenomena like saudi-born terror groups or mass disaffection with the G8 by the citizens of latin america, by learning to see the world in a less reductionist fashion: namely intersections of various groups overlapping in persons and populations.
Sen's prose is quite clear, and I find his claims rather convincing. The books style is a bit grating though. It's very repetitive. The same ideas resurface again and again along with the same examples. I suspect the book is really a compilation of speeches Sen has given. Repetition is necessary in speaking because the audience doesn't have time to step back and make the connections themselves. But in a book like this, already quite short, it's a waste of the reader's time.
Also Sen is not very careful with his historical examples. One recurring story he cites is how my Maimonides fled Christian Europe for Saladin's Egypt. Not true. Maimonides fled Almohad (and thus islamic) Andaluz for Saladin's Egypt. This was an easy fact to check, and you'd think an author of Sen's stature whould take the time to make sure an example he will use four or five times is correct.
The book is definitely worth reading. I only wish the author had spent just a bit more time tightening it up and doing a bit more fact checking.

identity need not mean violent destiny.......2007-01-18

Amartya Sen, Harvard professor and winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economics, still remembers the day sixty-three years ago when a Muslim day laborer named Kader Mia stumbled through the gate into his family's yard in Dhaka, bleeding from knife wounds and begging for help. His father rushed him to the hospital where he eventually died. Kader was a Muslim who was murdered by a Hindu thug, and was but one of the thousands of people who died in Muslim-Hindu riots that erupted in British India in the 1940's. Although most of the rioters shared an economic class identity as poor people, partisans demonized each other with a lethal, singularist "identity of violence," in this instance a diminution of their humanity to religious ethnicity: "The illusion of a uniquely confrontational reality had thoroughly reduced human beings and eclipsed the protagonists' freedom to think." Sen's book is an exploration of this memory of his as a bewildered eleven-year-old boy.

Far too much violence in the world today is fomented by the illusion that people are destined to a "sectarian singularity." Stereotyping people with a singular identity leads to fatalism, resignation, and a sense of inevitability about violence. It partitions people and civilizations into binary oppositions, it ignores the plural ways that people understand themselves, and obscures what Sen calls our "diverse diversities." In particular, he objects to the "clash of civilizations" thesis made popular by Samuel Huntington. Along the way he explores the implications of his thesis for multiculturalism, public policy, globalization, terrorism, anti-Western rage, democracy, and theories of culture.

Sen argues against identity violence caused by the illusion of destiny in three ways. First, he appeals to our common humanity; everyone laughs at weddings, cries at funerals, and worries about their children. More important than any of our external differences, even though these are powerful and important, is our shared humanity. Second, he makes the obvious point that all people enjoy plural identities. To understand a person one must consider factors of civilization, religion, nationality, class, community, culture, gender, profession, language, politics, morals, family of origin, skin color, and a multitude of other markers. Plus, these diverse differences within a single individual depend on one's social context, whether the trait is durable over time, relevant, a factor of constraint or free choice, and so on. Finally, Sen urges us to transcend the illusion of destiny and identity violence by what he calls "reasoned choice." Instead of living as if some irrational fate destines people to confrontation with others who are different, a person needs to make a rational choice about what relative importance to attach to any single trait. Although Sen never explains why rational people succumb to the irrational violence of identity instead of choosing enlightened self-interest, economic incentives, and geo-political peace, this readable book by one of our most brilliant thinkers conveys an important reminder: "We can do better."

Beyond the Melting Pot: two well-regarded liberals take on multiculturalism.(Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers)(Identity and Violence: The ... review): An article from: Education Next

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Beyond the Melting Pot: two well-regarded liberals take on multiculturalism.(Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers)(Identity and Violence: The ... review): An article from: Education Next
Nathan Glazer
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Education Next, published by Thomson Gale on September 22, 2006. The length of the article is 1608 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Beyond the Melting Pot: two well-regarded liberals take on multiculturalism.(Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers)(Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny)(Book review)
Author: Nathan Glazer
Publication: Education Next (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 22, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 6 Issue: 4 Page: 84(2)

Article Type: Book review

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Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny.(Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers)(Book review): An article from: Ethics & International Affairs

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Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny.(Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers)(Book review): An article from: Ethics & International Affairs
Michael Blake
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000WQ0P2U
Release Date: 2007-10-01

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Ethics & International Affairs, published by Thomson Gale on June 22, 2007. The length of the article is 1323 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny.(Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers)(Book review)
Author: Michael Blake
Publication: Ethics & International Affairs (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 22, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 21 Issue: 2 Page: 259(3)

Article Type: Book review

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Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny

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Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny
Amartya Sen
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000J3070Q

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The Australian Zebra Finch is widely used by researchers and teachers in many scientific disciplines where it is the preferred subject for investigations ranging from anatomy and physiology to behavioural development and evolutionary ecology. This monograph is the first to synthesize the information on this colourful species that has accumulated during the past thirty years. It summarizes and integrates much of the laboratory work and places it in the context of the biology of the animals in the wild, with an emphasis on behaviour and ecology. This leads to a detailed understanding of Zebra Finch adaptations and life history that will further enhance the value of the species for researchers and students in behaviour, ecology, and other fields. Aviculturists who keep these attractive birds will also find much of interest in this book.

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Gold mine for zebra finch fanatics.......1997-08-15

written by Richard A. Zann, School of Zoology, La Trobe University, Australia Zebra Finches are among the most studied birds. Scientists all over the world have been using zebra finches as subjects for laboratory research. Field biologists have also been studying the wild zebra finch in depth. Now, Richard A. Zann from La Trobe University in Australia has written a book compiling a veritable gold mine of this information about our favourite bird. Topics covered in the book include distribution and habitat, feeding, drinking, breeding behaviour, social behaviour, vocalisations, imprinting, etc. For instance, did you know that several studies into the water requirements of zebra finches have shown that under certain conditions zebra finches can survive for many months without access to water at all (don't try this at home!). Or did you know that although wild zebra finches pair for life, DNA fingerprinting of nestlings and their parents does not always show the expected relationship (which, of course, is why we bird keepers don't recommend colony breeding when accurate breeding records are essential). Sometimes just one of the parents are related to the nestling, and sometimes zebra finches will even go as far as to drop an egg in someone else's nest. This book is fascinating information like this, non-stop. The book is written mainly with other scientists in mind, but still in relatively easy to understand English (on some occasions, I could have used a glossary, but English is not my first language). Some behavioural aspects, such as courtship, are illustrated with expertly drawn line drawings and much of the statistical data is presented in very informative charts and maps. If you are only interested in breeding and showing your birds for the sport of it, then you don't need this book. The information about domesticated zebra finch varieties is somewhat limited. However, if you are at all interested in the behaviour of the wild ancestor of your zebra finches then this is a great book which you should consider getting. In fact, I can only see one reason why not all people would go out and buy this book: the price. Specifics: Title: Zebra Finches - A Synthesis of Field and Laboratory Studies (click here for more information) Author: Richard A. Zann Published by Oxford University Press 1996 335 pages, hard cover Black & white line drawings, maps and charts. (review also published at my homepage http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2187/index2.html

The Zebra Finch : A Synthesis of Field and Laboratory Studies (Oxford Ornithology Series)

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The Zebra Finch : A Synthesis of Field and Laboratory Studies (Oxford Ornithology Series)
Richard A. Zann
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKQMDU

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