Walter > Recent Status Updates

If you're a Tibergien fan - as, in the spirit of full disclosure - I am - then this will feel both familiar and insightful, more of an evolution and distillation than a revolution in his thought (along with that of his co-author, Ms. DellaRocca. It's all good, astute and sensible stuff, the kind of wisdom that we all know but don't follow nearly enough. Perhaps this book will help us do so....

His pain palpable and compelling, Michael Eric Dyson plumbs the depths of America's Original Sin and the shared, horrific costs it continues to impose on us all. Styled after Baldwin's classic The Fire Next Time and thus technically addressed to our white brothers and sisters, the book is really a paean to the possibilities for recognition and reconciliation among us all. Raw and haunting, a true must-read....

This thoroughly researched, comprehensive analysis of the Black Panther Party's life and impact is both compelling and illuminating. Unfailingly even-handed, it's neutrality/objectivity lets the historical record speak for itself ... and what a powerful record it is! No, they weren't saints, but the Panthers did far more good than most realize in an amazingly brief time. Great book!

Wow! Just wow! Wesley Lowery's They Can't Kill Us All is both a testament and a revelation! It's powerful and a page-turner, even as its subject matter concerns some of the darkest times in recent memory. He's a gifted writer and prescient observer, so this book is worthy of your investment. In fact, it's not too far to say that were more of us to read it, our collective future would be better and brighter....

Whether or not you are entranced by the Disney magic, if you want to understand how to create it in your own relationships and organizations, grab a copy of this book and read it! Fascinating and practical/usable: a great combination!

Wow! This book is powerful, insightful and like drinking from a firehose. Yet it contains an explication of information and experience that we must know about how our society is being transformed by the relentless march of technology and by our own decisions about how our society/world is structured.

A souring compendium of some of the Rabbi's most piercing work, lovingly assembled by his daughter Susannah (who's a highly regarded scholar in her own right). One certainly feels the passion in these writings, especially for a focus not just on theology but for living this perceived belief in daily life, individually and communally. Deep, thought provoking and soul-stirring....

If a nearly 600-page book about a hideously tragic miscarriage of justice can be a page-turner, this book is it. It's hard to put down: the story is told so grippingly that I feel compelled to keep reading. It's a great book - an excellent and insightful exploration of this tragedy - and also hard to read: the injustice and inhumanity that Thompson chronicles so unflinchingly is disheartening but also uplifting.

Powerful. An instant modern classic. Required reading for those who want to understand the modern African-American (male) experience. Appropriately hailed as Baldwin-esque. Clearly has impacted/influenced the dialogue on race in this country at this moment and appropriately so....

This may be a case of being too thorough, but there's so much history and information in this book that its primary focus often seems obscured (or, at least, secondary). Fascinating stuff, though....

This is a very detailed, informative book ... but, to be honest, it hasn't yet grabbed me. While I appreciate the factual information and context behind the reality that we are being manipulated by food purveyors into an increasingly unhealthy lifestyle, it's conveyed in a less than compelling way, so the book is a bit of a tough slog to read. Good stuff, just uninspiringly conveyed....

Wow! This book is a revelation ... and alternately depressing and inspiring. In every chapter, there's a cardinal question and much insight.

Fascinating ... depressing ... inspiring ... troubling ... thought-provoking ... life vision-clarifying and, thankfully, humane. The author may be a highly accomplished and trained physician, but it's his humanity that makes this a meaningful book. His empathy and vulnerability are compelling, as are the stories that he shares, some of which will depress, others inspire, all make you think....

OK, now this book is a bit of a slog. It's almost too thorough: the details of the development of Aryan and other cultures, esp. their religious aspects, are abundant but not compelling. Sprinkled in are some fascinating insights, but I suspect that this portion of the book could have been condensed a bit without much negative impact. Still hopeful overall....

An intriguing read so far. One "a-ha!" moments is the author's finding that the very first 'civilization', Sumer in Mesopotamia over 5,000 years ago, came into being because its elite (2% of its population) exploited its peasants (the other 98%), thereby producing an economic surplus to invest in the creation of the arts and sciences. Don't know why I'm surprised that the 2% vs. the 98% battle is 5,000 years old....

This is tough going: Ms. Alexander is so detailed and thorough in her analysis and her subject matter is so troubling, that this book is, in effect, a hard-to-read must-read. I can't put it down but I also can't not be appalled by the realities that she so deftly exposes and analyzes. I've had so many "a-ha!" moments already and have had to examine so many things that I thought that I knew ... which is what's great

OMG, this is hard to read ... as the truth so often is.... This is a piercing and powerful book, and, because of this, it's a bit of a challenge to read. It reveals a reality much more easily and peaceably ignored, which is why it must be read. There is indeed a New Jim Crow and we ignore it at our peril....

This book is a page-turner, but a difficult one. Herbert is masterful and compelling in relaying the woes of 'regular folk' as he identifies how we have lost our way in this country. I ache to read of the horrific experiences of so many of our fellow citizens, mostly self-inflicted in the sense that they reflect policy choices that we've allowed on our watch. This book deserves to be read and reacted to....

This book is a page-turner, but a difficult one. Herbert is masterful and compelling in relaying the woes of 'regular folk' as he identifies how we have lost our way in this country. I ache to read of the horrific experiences of so many of our fellow citizens, mostly self-inflicted in the sense that they reflect policy choices that we've allowed on our watch. This book deserves to be read and reacted to....

Bob Herbert is at his best applying logic and facts to rhetoric, and this book is a reflection of this. He punctures many of our sacred cows and unquestioned assumptions, which is a very good thing. His progressive sentiments are also clearly on display ... and if I could offer one suggestion it would be to dial them back a bit. Sometimes his bleeding heart leads away from facts and logic and into his own rhetoric

An equally compelling and disheartening biography (and, in reality, sociological hagiography of a bygone time and place) and a veritable page-turner. It's as well- and lovingly written as it is heart-breaking, for this tale of promise realized too briefly and then forever lost is so well-told that it's hard not to continue reading it even as it wounds. Let's hope that its lessons are learned and other lives saved.

Wow! Niebuhr is one of my favorites (and heroes) and Lemert's assessment of him is both respectful and revealing ... and so well written! So far, 90% of it is great - the section on how preaching in the Protestant tradition is an impossible task to accomplish authentically is a bit perplexing and thus in virtually complete contrast to what precedes and follows it - so read this book and appreciate Niebuhr anew....

Wow! Niebuhr is one of my favorites (and heroes) and Lemert's assessment of his is both respectful and revealing ... and so well written! So far, 90% of it is great - the section on how preaching in the Protestant tradition is an impossible task to accomplish authentically is a bit perplexing and thus in virtually complete contrast to what precedes and follows it - so read this book and appreciate Niebuhr anew....

OK, so I started with the 'modern' (mid-19th to mid-20th century) theologians and am in effect reading this impressively broad and deep compendium of (a significant number of) the 'classics' of Christian theology through the ages backwards. Have to admit that I've enjoyed the challenge of Kierkegaard and Barth and am looking forward to re-engaging with titans like Bultmann, Bonhoeffer, Niebuhr and Tillich soon!

OMG, this book is equally insightful/valuable and hateful/irredeemable. The candid, research-based look at contemporary born again-evangelical Christianity is impressive and important. But this is outweighed by the incredibly sanctimonious, patronizing condescension and rationalization of its author/contributors. The chapter on an 'enlightened' approach to homosexuality is the most offensive thing I've ever read....

OK, I'll disclaim it up front: as much as I admire this earnest effort to understand what people really think of Christianity as practiced by the (self-described) born-again and evangelical and why, I'm having trouble getting beyond the author's acknowledged limits. For example, he describes the issue as one of Christianity having an "image problem" yet his research shows that the concerns are quite substantive....

Classic Spong, packed with enlightening insights into the Gospels and the stories that they were developed to represent.

Re-reading this classic for the 4th or 5th time and still discerning new insights as well as rediscovering old ones. A great book!

This book is a wonder: it handles the often challenging realities of human life so thoughtfully, logically and inspiringly. That is was written more than a quarter-century ago continues to amaze me. I think of our collective pain in wrestling with these issues during this time and am left to wish that we had listened more meaningfully to the Bishop long ago....

Just thought I'd pick up and breeze through another Bishop Spong classic: boy, how naïve of me (and I should know better because I've read so many of his books previously). Simply put, this is a great treatment of the oft-challenging issue of human sexuality and religious doctrine. It's at once penetratingly insightful, imminently readable, almost unfailingly logical and spirit-inducing. A truly inspiring treat!