A pointless parable whose message is, Everything you need to know, you can learn in the rose garden. John Blake, age 32, is an ostensibly brilliant ad copywriter who has lost his way in the world. Afraid of ``los[ing] the power to dream,'' he quits his job. His lofty dream? To run his own ad agency. He meets a reclusive millionaire, who utters sub-par bon mots such as ``Don't forget, you can do anything you really believe you can do'' and ``Once you start something you have to work hard.'' The millionaire (who made his debut in Fisher's first book, The Instant Millionaire, not reviewed) is a tender of roses and shows John how to look—really look—at a rose and emphasizes the importance of having faith. The mentor then imparts a mysterious box, just so John can also become rich—not just in spirit, but in cash. John starts his own ad firm and falls in love with his gorgeous assistant, Rachel. But the young disciple must undergo trials: The agency fails, his legs become paralyzed, he loses Rachel. But he starts getting the millionaire's message; he realizes his true goal is to write a screenplay and earn $250,000. (The millionaire aims a bit higher: His script must ``show that God rests in each and every one of us''—no doubt, a big seller in Hollywood.) With a bit of lying and manipulation (after all, John reasons, everyone does it), he sells his screenplay for . . . $400,000. And he reunites with Rachel, too, just in time to prevent her marriage to another man and to watch her give birth to his child. Inspiration confused with motivation, New Age spirituality mixed with old-fashioned ambition and greed. If this is the spirit of the '90s, one can only be grateful that the millennium is upon us.
Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-684-80281-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1996
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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