A good, but less than earthshaking, discussion of biblical women, designed for study, reflection, and inspiration. Freelance writer Kam believes that by questioning the social and cultural biases of the writers of the Bible, women can find new interpretations and insights in their own struggles against what is still a male-dominated society. She envisions this book as an aid in that quest. Following an introduction on how to use her volume and a prologue that describes the life situation of women during biblical times and the multiplicity of deities (male and female) worshiped then, Kam presents the stories of most of the women of both the Old and New Testaments. Each chapter, devoted to a woman or group of related women, follows a similar format. A background section provides the context of the story both in the text itself and in its historical setting. This is followed by a retelling of the story, paraphrased in order to avoid the allegedly sexist language of the original material. For each section, Kam then provides a homiletical meditation, followed by a prayer, a series of ``connections'' (questions for discussion and further reflection), and a bibliography for further reading. Of particular interest is her discussion of the prophet Huldah, who is sought out by the priest Hilkiah, on behalf of King Josiah, to judge the authenticity of a newly found book of the Law; Kam portrays Huldah as the founder of biblical criticism. Kam disputes that Rahab (the Canaanite woman who aided the Israelite occupation of her homeland) was a prostitute, even though she is so identified in the biblical text. Rebekah, Isaac's wife, is vividly depicted as a powerful woman and a manipulative matriarch for Israel. Absent are Zelophehad's five daughters, whose actions changed Israelite inheritance laws, and Orpah, who is seen as a mere foil in the story of Ruth and Naomi. Based almost entirely on the work of white feminists, the volume could have benefitted by more attention to scholarship by women of color. Best suited to a women's study group or Sunday school setting, the volume may be used as well for personal daily devotions.
Pub Date: March 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-8264-0804-4
Page Count: 284
Publisher: Continuum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1995
If the authors are serious, this is a silly, distasteful book. If they are not, it’s a brilliant satire.
The authors have created a sort of anti-Book of Virtues in this encyclopedic compendium of the ways and means of power.
Everyone wants power and everyone is in a constant duplicitous game to gain more power at the expense of others, according to Greene, a screenwriter and former editor at Esquire (Elffers, a book packager, designed the volume, with its attractive marginalia). We live today as courtiers once did in royal courts: we must appear civil while attempting to crush all those around us. This power game can be played well or poorly, and in these 48 laws culled from the history and wisdom of the world’s greatest power players are the rules that must be followed to win. These laws boil down to being as ruthless, selfish, manipulative, and deceitful as possible. Each law, however, gets its own chapter: “Conceal Your Intentions,” “Always Say Less Than Necessary,” “Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy,” and so on. Each chapter is conveniently broken down into sections on what happened to those who transgressed or observed the particular law, the key elements in this law, and ways to defensively reverse this law when it’s used against you. Quotations in the margins amplify the lesson being taught. While compelling in the way an auto accident might be, the book is simply nonsense. Rules often contradict each other. We are told, for instance, to “be conspicuous at all cost,” then told to “behave like others.” More seriously, Greene never really defines “power,” and he merely asserts, rather than offers evidence for, the Hobbesian world of all against all in which he insists we live. The world may be like this at times, but often it isn’t. To ask why this is so would be a far more useful project.
If the authors are serious, this is a silly, distasteful book. If they are not, it’s a brilliant satire.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-670-88146-5
Page Count: 430
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
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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