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Anna in Chains
by Merrill Joan GerberAnna in Chains is a collection of stories about the reality of being an elderly woman in the modern world and all the struggles that go with it. Anna Goldman, nearly eighty years old, widowed and living on her own in the Fairfax Area of Los Angeles, struggles to remain independent as she moves through the modern world. Jewish, but disenchanted with religion in any guise, Anna eats bacon to dare God's wrath. Living in a mixed ethnic neighborhood, Anna pronounces her prejudices against all foreigners wondering where the values of the world she remembers have gone.PRAISE "Gerber has created a colorful and memorable character. Her prose is richly detailed, and along the way we learn much about the nature of loneliness and aging. The title story, set in a nursing home is truly moving... Happily, Gerber has dramatized Anna in these stories..." -Hadassah Magazine "Widowed Anna, with her short skirts, her tart tongue, her two pianos (Mozart is her 'religion') and her practiced cynicism about men, moves from her apartment in Los Angeles' Fairfax District to a retirement home, fully aware that it's her next-to-last stop. She stares Death in the face, and he almost seems to wink...There are funny stories that nonetheless bear our Anna's belief that 'we live on the verge of catastrophe, and the natural state of life should reasonably be terror.'" -Los Angeles Times "Prolific Gerber creates... a character who rages eloquently against the coming of the night... Full of antic, bittersweet detail." -Kirkus Reviews "Merrill Joan Gerber's work is distinguished by the precision of its insights and the elegance of her deceptively forthright style. No one is better at rendering the complications and frustrations of ordinary lives. Her touch is light, but her work is powerful." -Robert Stone "Merrill is, above all and underneath all, a crucially honest writer... She is one of those writers who discover us to ourselves, and move us almost more than we can bear." -Cynthia Ozick
Anna in the Afterlife
by Merrill Joan Gerber"Once her dying got underway, Anna could not really complain about the way the process moved along." So begins this deftly amusing, wryly perceptive look at the dying of a feisty, funny ninety-year old woman. During the four days between her death and her burial --and with the unique perception she is allowed prior to her funeral--Anna discovers certain secrets her daughters have hidden from her. She is deeply shocked by the revelation of an act that must have transpired between herself as a child and her much older brother. In her final moments of consciousness, Anna makes the last commentaries on her own secrets and crimes before stepping into eternity.PRAISE "Merrill Joan Gerber is not only one of our most underrated contemporary writers, she also may well be our least pretentious. Her utter lack of pretence is a major source of her raw power as a writer... Like Saul Bellow and Philip Roth, and some of the great Jewish comedians, Gerber extracts wry humor from embarrassing, awkward and desperate situations, even in illness and death... Like Bellow, Gerber has a genius for the irritable, the acrid and the embittered. The visitor from another planet who doesn't know what it means to kvetch would need to look no further than Gerber's fiction for superb illustration of the phenomenon... Her eyes are trained on the quotidian, but the acuity and intensity of her vision are not less extraordinary." -Merle Rubin, Los Angeles Times "Award winning writer Merrill Joan Gerber's mini-novel chronicles the unlikely but oddly believable tale of 90-year-old Anna-"dead but not buried"-during the four day interval between her passing (a word that Anna would have hated) and her burial... Readers of Gerber's previous novels and stories will recognize the characters... but that familiarity will serve to enhance the curious charm of his curious book." -Gloria Goldreich, Hadassah Magazine "Gerber is a careful observer of those thousands of details that forge family dynamics and skillfully transforms life's ordinary and gut-wrenching moments into compelling prose." -Judy Bart Kancigor, The Jewish Journal of Los Angeles
The Kingdom of Brooklyn
by Merrill Joan GerberWinner of the Ribalow Prize from Hadassah Magazine, Merrill Joan Gerber superbly evokes an anguished child's faltering steps toward consciousness... Gerber has written often-and grippingly-of tormented families... but never as daringly as here."In this brutally candid, semiautobiographical novel, Gerber again (as in King of the World) corrosively delineates the heinous abuses inflicted in the name of love, and a victim's ambivalence toward her abuser... Her wry purity of style packs psychological dynamite." -Publishers Weekly"The Kingdom of Brooklyn offers a rare look into a unique time, place, and culture." -Belles Lettres"Merrill Joan Gerber's superb evocation of an anguished child's faltering steps toward consciousness... Gerber has written often-and grippingly-of tormented families... but never as daringly as here: Issa is just 3 years old, 'hardly a person yet,' when she begins her 10 year chronicle of violent conflicts and crises. The passions propelling this compact, eloquent novel are virulent, reaching back into the past and shadowing the future." -Los Angeles Times"Merrill Joan Gerber... demonstrates a remarkable talent for delineating personality, not only of Issa but of all others who interact with her. Her characters have definitive qualities that make them credible, a tribute to her capacity to present the people of her creation, undoubtedly using elements from her own life experiences." -The Jewish Week
Miracle Girls
by Mb CaschettaWhen Cee-Cee closes her eyes, she can suddenly see all the missing girls in the Mohawk Valley. It's part of the message: they are buried in wheat fields and stashed behind train tracks, or sprawled at the bottom of the canal. Could have been you, one dead girl says, smart-mouthed. But instead it was me! A live one tied up somewhere in a basement cocks her head: But, guess what--you're next!Cee-Cee tries to focus, but a terrible headache rises from the back of her neck, as if someone has struck her there. She should take her medicine, but Mrs. Patrick took away the pink bottles. In the thicket overhead, the branches are picked clean as bones, no longer swaying. Now she steps back until her heels butt up against the fat oak tree. In the woods, everything is silent. Even the trees stand still.It's 1973 in the Mohawk Valley, and children are disappearing. Cee-Cee Bianco is visited by the Virgin Mary, but her brothers see a much darker vision. When the youngest Bianco falls into a coma after witnessing a brutal crime in the woods and Cee-Cee performs a miracle, she is guarded by war-protesting Sisters whose order is not the benign sanctuary it seems.MB Caschetta is the author of Lucy on the West Coast (Alyson), which Ms. Magazine called "a spectacular collection." Her essays have appeared in the New York Times, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and Body & Soul. She lives in Massachusetts.
Madagascar: New and Selected Stories
by Steven SchwartzFrom the winner of the Nelson Algren Award for Short Fiction comes this indispensable collection spanning nearly four decades of artistic mastery. In these compelling, deftly crafted narratives about fathers and sons, loss and separation, sorrow, comic happenstance, and the vagaries of romantic and familial love, Steven Schwartz offers a resonating testament to the depth and promise of human connection.
Holy Communion in the Piety of the Reformed Church
by Hughes Oliphant OldAll across the United States, Protestant churches have forgotten their sacramental roots. The Lord's Supper has often been reduced to an empty memorial if it is even celebrated at all, and the contemporary Protestant church suffers greatly from this lapse. In Holy Communion in the Piety of the Reformed Church, Hughes Oliphant Old uncovers the central importance of Holy Communion in the Reformed tradition. Beginning with Calvin and moving into modern times, Old pinpoints and explains the most pivotal developments in Reformed eucharistic theology--from the true nature of the communion elements to preparatory services and seasons. Along the way, he shows that our doctrine of the Lord's Supper is not merely an intellectual exercise; it has the profound influence on the church's life and operations--on her piety. This volume is both a scholarly exploration of Reformed tradition and a pastoral call to the contemporary church to rediscover the most potent truths and edifying practices of our Christian forefathers. In our day of debilitating liturgical innovations, Holy Communion proves yet again that God's truth on any subject is timeless and evergreen. Before we can display Christ fully in our day, we must recover a full commitment to biblical worship--in the Word preached as well as the Word made visible in the Lord's Supper.
The Oasis of Now
by Kazim Ali Sohrab Sepehri Mohammad Jafar MahallatiSohrab Sepehri (1928-1980) is one of the major Iranian poets of the 20th century. His verses are often-recited in public gatherings and lines from them were used as slogans by protesters in 2009. A painter, wood-worker, and poet, Sepehri wrote these poems after journeys through Japan, China, and India, where he was exposed to various cultural arts and spiritual disciplines.
The Oasis of Now: Selected Poems (Lannan Translations Selection Series)
by Sohrab SepehriSohrab Sepehri (1928-1980) is one of the major Iranian poets of the 20th century. His verses are often-recited in public gatherings and lines from them were used as slogans by protesters in 2009. A painter, wood-worker, and poet, Sepehri wrote these poems after journeys through Japan, China, and India, where he was exposed to various cultural arts and spiritual disciplines.
The Chair
by Richard GarciaOne of America's foremost prose poets, Richard Garcia's The Chair simultaneously takes place in the natural world and a speculative world rich in the fabulist tradition: historical figures roam like ghosts, time is pulled and twisted, and narrative spins effortlessly out of language. A core of autobiography grounds these poems that are rife with surprises uniting the mythic and the everyday.Richard Garcia's awards include an NEA, a Pushcart Prize, and the American Poetry Journal Book Prize. He teaches creative writing in the Antioch University Los Angeles Low-Residency MFA program and lives on James Island, South Carolina.
Copia
by Erika Meitner"The poems in Copia are about what is and what is almost-gone, what is in limbo and what won't give way, what is almost at rock bottom but still and always brimming with the possibility of miracle."—Rachel ZuckerErika Meitner's fourth book takes cues from the Land Artists of the 1960s who created work based on landscapes of urban peripheries and structures in various states of disintegration. The collection also includes a section of documentary poems about Detroit that were commissioned for Virginia Quarterly Review.Because it is an uninhabited place, because itmakes me hollow, I pried open the pages ofDetroit: the houses blanked out, factoriesabsorbed back into ghetto palms and scrub-oak, piles of tires, heaps of cement block.Vines knock and enter through shattereddrop-ceilings, glassless windows. Ragwortcracks the street's asphalt to unsolvablepuzzles.Meitner also probes the hulking ruins of office buildings, tract housing, superstores, construction sites, and freeways, and doesn't shy from the interactions that occur in Walmart and supermarket parking lots.It is nearly Halloween, which meanswrong sizes on Wal-Mart racks, variety bags ofpumpkins extinguishing themselves on the stoopchildren from the trailer park trawling our identical lawns soonso we can give away nickels, light, sandpaper, raisins, cement.Erika Meitner was a 2009 National Poetry Series winner. Her work has appeared in American Poetry Review, Ploughshares, Tin House, The Best American Poetry 2011, Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. She is associate professor of English at Virginia Tech.
Rose
by Li-Young Lee Gerald SternTable of ContentsI.EpistleThe GiftPersimmonsThe Weight Of SweetnessFrom BlossomsDreaming Of HairEarly In The MorningWaterFalling: The CodeNocturneMy IndigoIrisesEating AloneII.Always A RoseIII.Eating TogetherI Ask My Mother To SingAsh, Snow, Or MoonlightThe LifeThe WeepersBraidingRain DiaryMy Sleeping Loved OnesMnemonicBetween SeasonsVisions And Interpretations
Rose (New Poets of America)
by Li-Young LeeTable of ContentsI.EpistleThe GiftPersimmonsThe Weight Of SweetnessFrom BlossomsDreaming Of HairEarly In The MorningWaterFalling: The CodeNocturneMy IndigoIrisesEating AloneII.Always A RoseIII.Eating TogetherI Ask My Mother To SingAsh, Snow, Or MoonlightThe LifeThe WeepersBraidingRain DiaryMy Sleeping Loved OnesMnemonicBetween SeasonsVisions And Interpretations
Testament
by G.C. WaldrepIn this book-length poem, G.C. Waldrep addresses matters as diverse as Mormonism, cymatics, race, Dolly the cloned sheep, and his own life and faith. Drafted over twelve trance-like days while in residence at Hawthornden Castle, Waldrep responds to such poets as Alice Notley, Lisa Robertson, and Carla Harryman, and tackles the question of whether gender can be a lyric form.G.C. Waldrep's books include Disclamor (BOA Editions Ltd., 2007) and Your Father on the Train of Ghosts (BOA Editions, Ltd., 2011). He lives in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, where he teaches at Bucknell University, edits West Branch, and serves as editor-at-large for the Kenyon Review.
Darling Vulgarity (American Poets Continuum)
by Michael WatersWith both ardor and sensuality, Darling Vulgarity challenges us to embrace humanity&’s imperfections while urging us toward new spiritual realities. And then, sometimes, the poems are just plain sexy. Or, as Nat Hardy wrote, &“Waters&’ meditative and confessional forays into the sexual sublime are both disturbing and artfully passionate.&”Darling Vulgarity also includes poems based on Waters&’ true literary experiences with such notables as Raymond Carver, Allen Ginsberg, and Robert Lowell.
The Fortieth Day (American Poets Continuum)
by Kazim AliFrom the Bible to the Quaraan, the fortieth day symbolizes the last moment before deliverance, a moment in time when a supplicant or prophet or stormbeaten passenger knows there is no state &“after,&” but finally accepts the present state as a permanent one.In The Fortieth Day, Kazim Ali follows the fractured narratives and moving lyrics of his debut collection, The Far Mosque, with a deeply spiritual and meditative book exploring the rhetoric of prayer.Kazim Ali was born in the United Kingdom and raised in an Islamic household. He holds degrees from the University at Albany and New York University. He lives in Oberlin, Ohio.
The Fire in Moonlight: Stories from the Radical Faeries 1975-2010
by Mark Thompson Bo Young Richard NeelyAn anthology of essays by gay men who identify as Radical Faeries talking about the history of the movement and the personal influence it has had in their lives.
The Buddha in Your Mirror: Practical buddhism and the Search for Self
by Greg Martin Woody Hochswender Ted MorinoWhile the notion that "happiness can found within oneself" has recently become popular, Buddhism has taught for thousands of years that every person is a Buddha, or enlightened being, and has the potential for true and lasting happiness. Through real-life examples, the authors explain how adopting this outlook has positive effects on one’s health, relationships, and career, and gives new insights into world environmental concerns, peace issues, and other major social problems.
The Way of Youth: Buddhist Common Sense for Handling Life's Questions
by Daisaku IkedaDaisaku Ikeda, who offers spiritual leadership to 12 million Soka Gakkai Buddhists throughout the world, responds to the complicated issues facing American young people in a straightforward question-and-answer format. He addresses topics that include building individual character, the purpose of hard work and perseverance, family and relationships, tolerance, and preservation of the environment. Written from a Buddhist perspective, this collection of answers to life’s questions offers timeless wisdom to people of all faiths.
Unlocking the Mysteries of Birth & Death: . . . And Everything in Between, A Buddhist View Life
by Daisaku IkedaThis introduction to Nichiren Buddhism explores the philosophical intricacies of life and reveals the wonder inherent in the phases of birth, aging, and death. Core concepts of Nichiren Buddhism, such as the 10 worlds and the nine consciousnesses, illustrate the profundity of human existence. This book provides Buddhists with the tools they need to fully appreciate the connectedness of all beings and to revolutionize their spiritual lives based on this insight. Also explored are how suffering can be transformed to contribute to personal fulfillment and the well-being of others and how modern scientific research accords with ancient Buddhist views. Ultimately, this is both a work of popular philosophy and a book of compelling, compassionate inspiration for Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike that fosters a greater understanding of Nichiren Buddhism. This replaces 0751513741.
The Living Buddha: An Interpretive Biography (Soka Gakkai History of Buddhism)
by Burton Watson Daisaku IkedaAn intimate portrayal of one of history’s most important and obscure figures, the Buddha, this chronicle reveals him not as a mystic, but a warm and engaged human being that was very much the product of his turbulent times. This biographical account traces the path of Siddhartha Gautama as he walked away from the pleasure palace that had been his home and joined a growing force of wandering monks, ultimately making his way towards enlightenment beneath the bodhi tree, and spending the next 45 years sharing his insights along the banks of the Ganges. The Buddhist canon is expertly harvested to provide insight into the Buddha’s inner life and to grant a better understanding of how he came to play his pivotal role as founder of one of the world’s largest religions.
Buddhism: The First Millennium (Soka Gakkai History of Buddhism)
by Burton Watson Daisaku IkedaBeginning with the events immediately following the dark days after the death of Shakyamuni and continuing over a period of 1,000 years, this dynamic tome covers a vast and complex series of events and developments in the history of Buddhism. Through a thorough examination of its early development in India, a new light is cast on little-known aspects of Buddhist history and its relevance to the understanding of Buddhism today. Topics include the formation of the Buddhist canon, the cultural exchange between the East and West, and the spirit of the Lotus Sutra.
The Flower of Chinese Buddhism (Soka Gakkai History of Buddhism)
by Burton Watson Daisaku IkedaBeginning with the introduction of the religion into China, this chronicle depicts the evolution of Buddhism. The career and achievements of the great Kumarajiva are investigated, exploring the famed philosophical treatises that form the core of East Asian Buddhist literature. Providing a useful and accessible introduction to the influential Tien-t’ai school of Buddhism in Japan as well as the teachings of the 13th-century monk Nichiren, this examination places special emphasis on the faith of the Lotus Sutra and the major works of masters such as Hui-su, Chih-i, and Chanjan. From the early translations of the Buddhist scriptures to the persecution of the T'ang dynasty, this exploration illuminates the role of Buddhism in Chinese society, and by extension, in humanity in general.
Soka Education: For the Happiness of the Individual
by Daisaku Ikeda Victor KazanjianFrom the Japanese word meaning "to create value," this book presents a fresh perspective on the question of the ultimate purpose of education. Mixing American pragmatism and the Buddhist philosophy of respect for all life, the goal of Soka education is the lifelong happiness of the learner. Rather than offering practical classroom techniques, this book speaks to the emotional heart of both the teacher and the student. With input from philosophers and activists from several cultures, it advances the conviction that the true purpose of education is to create a peaceful world and to develop the individual character of each student in order to achieve that goal. This revised edition contains four new chapters that further elaborate on how to unlock self-motivated learning and how to empower the learner to make a difference in their communities and the world.
The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life: Commentaries on the Writings of Nichiren (SGI President Ikeda's Lecture Series)
by Daisaku IkedaWhere have we come from and where do we go? Why are human beings born? Are our lives just random events or do they have some greater purpose? What is the meaning of death? Nichiren Buddhism, based on the Lotus Sutra, is a teaching of hope that provides answers to these and other important questions for modern life. Ranked among the most important works in Mahayana Buddhism, Nichiren’s 13th-century writings were revolutionary. They sought to give people a deep sense of confidence and self-reliance in this lifetime by exploring the topics of death and eternal life. In his The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life, Nichiren explains the ultimate Buddhist view, which frees people from both their fear of death and their unhealthy attachment to self. Daisaku Ikeda’s simple and straightforward commentary brings alive this important writing for the modern world. Thoughtful people of all faiths will resonate with his compassionate insights on the universal teaching of happiness that is Nichiren Buddhism.
On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime: Commentaries on the Writings of Nichiren
by Daisaku IkedaWhat constitutes a meaningful life? What is true happiness? Nichiren Buddhism, based on the Lotus Sutra, is a teaching of hope that provides answers to these and other important questions for modern life. Ranked among the most important works in Mahayana Buddhism, Nichiren's 13th-century writings were revolutionary. In On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime, Nichiren turned prevailing Buddhist thought on its head. Attaining Buddhahood, or enlightenment, he argues, does not require embarking on some inconceivably long journey toward becoming some resplendent godlike Buddha, but rather it means accomplishing a transformation in the depths of one's being and revealing one's ultimate potential within. And Nichiren dedicated his life—braving all manner of persecution—to giving people a practical means for doing so. Daisaku Ikeda's simple and straightforward commentary brings alive this important writing for the modern world. Thoughtful people of all faiths will resonate with his compassionate insights on the universal teaching of happiness that is Nichiren Buddhism.