Japanese for Busy People I: Kana Version includes CD (Japanese for Busy People Series)
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Good book to start off your Nihongo studies!
  • Best of the Best for Beginners!
  • A bit repetitive, but a great book!
  • AJALT confusion!!
  • Kana version is the way to go
Japanese for Busy People I: Kana Version includes CD (Japanese for Busy People Series)
Association For Japanese-Language Teaching (Ajalt)
Manufacturer: Kodansha International
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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  1. Japanese for Busy People I: Workbook; includes CD (Japanese for Busy People) Japanese for Busy People I: Workbook; includes CD (Japanese for Busy People)
  2. Japanese for Busy People: Kana Workbook Incl. 1 CD Japanese for Busy People: Kana Workbook Incl. 1 CD
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ASIN: 4770030096

Book Description

THE REVISED 3RD EDITION OF JAPANESE FOR BUSY PEOPLE In the 22 years since its publication, Japanese for Busy People has won acclaim worldwide as an effective, easy-to-understand textbook, either for classroom use or for independent study. Now, in its first revision in more than a decade, the series is being redesigned, updated, and consolidated to meet the needs of today's students and businesspeople who want to learn natural, spoken Japanese as effectively as possible in a limited amount of time.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Good book to start off your Nihongo studies!.......2007-09-26

How to learn Japanese: First, get a book and master the Hiragana and Katakana syllabary. This is a must and it shouldn't take you more than a month to do that. Japanese for Busy People has a Kana workbook and that works very well with this first volume since it includes vocabulary from chapters 1 through 10. That way, by the time you immerse yourself with this book, you can start focusing more on sentence patterns. Once you've familiarized yourself with the Kana syllabary, work through the activities in this book. It will give you a solid foundation on two things - mastery of the kana (since everything is written in kana), and basic sentence patterns. If you still have the time, get a kanji book and start working on the first few hundred kanji. I highly recommend Basic Kanji Book. This way, you can correlate the kana spellings of the new vocabulary words with the actual kanji. However, your focus should be more on the correct kana spelling. I always get confused with the long vowel sounds.

About this book: real excellent introduction to Japanese vocabulary, culture, and grammar. The exercises can be repetitive and are mostly substitution exercises. However, this is a great way to master the sentence patterns. My suggestion is to do the exercises and then to create one or two other sentences of your own based on what you just did. This way, you can further apply what you have just learned.

Negative comment: I don't like how the book mixes hindu-arabic numerals with kana. I think this is very confusing especially for a beginner. Again, while the kanji can come later, mastering the kana spelling should take precedence over convenience. The book does tell you the correct spelling first but for the exercises, it asks you to use hindu-arabic numerals. For instance, instead of writing out (in kana) sanji (3 o'clock), it has 3ji.

Once you're done with this book, skip volumes II & III. Move on to either the Genki series or Minna no Nihongo series, although I'm somewhat partial to the Minna no Nihongo series because it's more comprehensive albeit more expensive. It covers reading, writing, listening, and composition. At the same time, keep chipping away at the 1945 Joyo Kanji. In time, you will have mastered enough Nihongo to either pass the JLPT or order your favorite sushi.

5 out of 5 stars Best of the Best for Beginners!.......2007-05-17

If you're looking for a good book to learn Japanese language, you probably have too many choices flooding your mind and have no idea which one is for you, because every one of them seems good. So, why this one?

This book is very well organized. It contains 11 units to cover the most practical topics surviving in Japan, such as meeting people, shopping, gettig around, dinning out, visiting a japanese home, responding inquiries at office, and socializing, etc. Each unit is consist of a culture note, a specific grammar syntax and usage, and a couple of lessons. Each lesson starts with a short dialogue to illustrate the common conversation of the unit's topic. It also provides a detail explanation on the sentence usage and the new vocabulary introduced in the dialogue. Few exercises are followed to help readers to get familiarized and practice what they have just learned. An audio CD is also accompanied with this book to demonstrate the conversation addressed in each dialogues. At the end of the book, it comes with the Appendixes, which provides a summary of all the particles, sentence patterns, adjectives, etc. in a list with examples and reference to the book's units & lessons. In addition, it has a mini-dictionary with english to japanese and japanese to english. This book also makes use of a lot of pictures to illustrate dialogues and exercises. It really helps the reader to have a more relax and interesting learning journey. After finishing this book, you should be able to have the following skills: (i) basic usage of nouns, verbs, adjectives, (b) basic conversation for essential everyday siturations, and (c) reading and writing hiragana & katakana.

Well, although there's a romanji version of this "Japanese for Busy People I (Revised 3rd Edition)", I would still recommend the readers to get this "Kana" version to learn the real Japanese in a Japanese character forms. If you do not know about the Japanese sound system, hiragana and katakana. You can pick up the "Japanese for Busy People I: Kana Workbook", which is an excellent book for starters. After that, go for this "Japanese for Busy People I: Kana Version". Indeed, this is the best!

(Reviewed by Otto Yuen, 17-May-2007)

4 out of 5 stars A bit repetitive, but a great book!.......2007-05-06

I've heard so many good reviews about this book, that I finally bought it. I've learned more with this book about making sentences, than I have with all my other books. My other books start off with "This is a pen. That over there is a pen." Yeah ok, how useful is that really?

This book tells about Mr. Smith, the lawyer from ABC Foods, and his adventures in Japan. A couple of useful items are Mr. Smith's schedule, and giving directions to a driver. Both of which are great lessons I wish I had known when talking to Japanese friends months ago!! Other relevant subjects are shopping, going out to dinner or a movie. Ordering food, tickets or getting your size clothing is not mentioned. Hopefully that will be covered in future books.

This book is well thought out, and gives the definitions of words when they first occur. English translations are only at the beginning of the next lesson. After that, they expect you to remember the words and be able to read Japanese. My only complaints about the book, is I wish they would start introducing kanji in each chapter, and give you more room to write.

3 out of 5 stars AJALT confusion!!.......2007-04-10

These books are actually very handy learning tools. What frustrates me is how many version there are!! I got the romaji verison of volume I a few years back, but I grew frustrated with all the English characters in it. After all, the only way to practice kana is by reading it. So I recently decided to order volume I in the Kana version, but it's not even remotely the same book. How often to they change this book, like every year? It's completely different material!! It's confusing to know which workbook goes with which volume and so on and so forth. I wish this company would be more clear about all the different verison available and what goes with each volume, b/c the exercises in them are really helpful.

5 out of 5 stars Kana version is the way to go.......2007-04-06

This series has been around for 10 years, and I'm glad to see a new version. I've been through the first kana edition, and own the Level II book as well (but stay away from that one). I've already leafed through this new edition at Borders but didn't want to pay the full comver price. It's a totally new format, and the CD is a nice bonus. Same for the workbook. I'm going to purchse this even though I already went through the old version Level I just for the additional practice. Genki is the other book you should have if interested in learning on your own or with a tutor.
Japanese for Busy People I: Kana Version
Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • Avoid this text if possible
  • Why does this book even exist?
  • Not effective
  • Not good at all!!
  • Useful, but not for a total beginner.
Japanese for Busy People I: Kana Version
AJALT -Assoc. Japanese Language Teaching
Manufacturer: Kodansha International, Ltd.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 4770019874

Book Description

Japanese for Busy People is, as the title suggests, a concise course for busy students who want to learn natural, spoken Japanese as effectively as possible in a limited amount of time. This new Kana Version has been adapted and redesigned to reflect current thinking on
Japanese-as-a-second-language education. Romanized Japanese, often criticized as being the main obstacle to accurate and fluent pronunciation of the spoken language, has been omitted in favor of native hiragana and katakana scripts. Learning kana from the very beginning will also facilitate a smooth
and fast transition to kanji study. Enough vocabulary and grammar have been provided to enable the learner to communicate in uncomplicated adult Japanese, without having to memorize excessive amounts of vocabulary and language patterns that are not immediately useful. Exercises and Quiz sections
also appear in kana to reinforce written and oral comprehension as well as production skills. Japanese for Busy People has been prepared under the guidance of a working group of experienced Japanese language instructors who reviewed and tested the material in an authentic classroom environment.

The Kana Version of Japanese for Busy People 1 is the ideal textbook for anyone who wishes to learn real, natural, conversational Japanese and actually communicate with native Japanese speakers. It also provides a solid foundation and a valuable resource for those who would like to go further with
their study of the Japanese language.

This new Kana Version includes:
* new introduction explaining how to use the text at home or school
* new, larger, and easier-to-read typography
* new, classroom-friendly, eye-catching page design
* clear, concise explanations of how the language works
* full English-Japanese/Japanese-English glossaries.

Customer Reviews:

2 out of 5 stars Avoid this text if possible.......2006-12-05

A lot of reviewers basically say to avoid this text, and I agree. However, if you are taking this course at a college or university, you probably can't change the text prescribed by the school or professor.

This text's first printing went with romaji (English letters for Japanese words), presumably under the assumption that kana and kanji are too complex for the average student studying Japanese. After many complaints, this version was released. However, instead of starting off with romaji (like the book "Yookoso") and gradually moving to hiragana,katakana, and kanji, there is no romaji whatsoever. Where will people learn their kana? I guess the authors assume you are either a prior student of Japanese, or that you will learn before you use this book?

I took Japanese for two semesters about six years ago, and stopped studying due to graduation and work. I started taking it again last September, and this is the book (well, they use the non-kana version) that the local graduate school uses. I can't use another text, so I have no choice but to use this book.

Going through the chapters, it seems that the lessons are not well structured. Instead of rules or tricks to learn conjugations, you are simply told to memorize lists. My previous experience in undergraduate was with a text called Yookoso, which offered a simple and systematic method to learn adjective and verb conjugations. For example, you would learn the "ta" form of verbs,which made learning the "te" form very easy. This book does not do that,and when you get to "te" form, you are simply told to memorize a list.

So, if you are self-studying, I would not recommend this text. Otherwise, if you are a student in school, you should obtain other texts to supplement your learning.

1 out of 5 stars Why does this book even exist?.......2006-04-07

The standard version of "Japanese for Busy People 1" has kana and romanization. This book just has the romanization removed. By adding "kana version" to the title they make sound as if the other version doesn't have kana. I say if you don't like the romanization then just don't use it. How is a beginner supposed to use this book? Especially a busy beginner.

1 out of 5 stars Not effective.......2006-02-25

Grammatical structure in this book is not addressed properly. Asking students to memorize numerous verb conjugations is difficult and tedious. It would be far more effective to have students learn the rule for verb conjugation. That way they can apply it to any verb. This book takes this approach to most other grammatical technicalities, making it difficult for a student to learn Japanese effectively.

2 out of 5 stars Not good at all!!.......2006-02-18

Just like the review below I didn't liked this book. Though the first lessons weren't too bad as they are easy to understand and helpfull to get you started in Japanese. But while getting further in the book it really gets bad ( actually it moves from a 3 star rating to a below 1 star , which explains the 2 stars that I gave).

Yeah, the memorizing by head is such a wrong way to learn a language. In my humble opinion I think that to learn a language you must know what you're doing (i.e. grammar). For example, I had to learn about five chapters simultanious, just to get a vague idea what the -te form was used for. But no, not a word about how to form it. At that time I started to use Genki next to it. Then I actually realized how bad the book was.

Another thing is that this book is a Kana version. It's a lot better than Romaji, but the way they present it, it is merely usefull to get fluent in Hiragana and Katakana (Oké, I know that's why it's called kana version!) It would be a lot better if some kanji were inserted in the text, together with furigana, just like the second and third books and other textbooks by the way.

My advice: if you really want to spend your money on this book, I suggest you to study the first part of it. It's not that bad, and it is a good introduction to Japanese. When you really start to like learning Japanese, stow this book somewhere where you can not see it and begin to use Genki or better 90 days of Japanese (see my list)(even better, use both) The first lessons of Japanese for Busy People are a certainly a good introduction to Genki as this book might be a little hard and therefore demotivating for complete beginners.

4 out of 5 stars Useful, but not for a total beginner........2006-02-12

I have spent almost a year studying Japanese, primarily with the Pimsleur tapes, but also with grammar books and a few private lessons with a native speaker. With that background I find this book very useful. It helps me review what I already know; it supplements my vocabulary; and it makes clear some grammatical issues that Pimsleur leaves murky. Pimsleur gets you speaking, but makes no comprehensive effort to teach grammar.

Having said that, I do not think I would find this book useful if I were a total beginner. I cannot agree with the reviewer who called it "garbage." It is more accurate to say that beginners should look elsewhere, but that the book is useful for students who have already struggled with Japanese for a while, as I have.

I recommend the kana version of the book. Anyone who has enought knowledge of Japanese to profit from this book will also profit from the opportunity to read Japanese in kana characters.

Elphame's Choice (Luna)
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • I love it!
  • Pagan Relaxation Reading
  • Excellent Novel
  • One of my favorite authors!
  • Good, but not as good as some of her others
Elphame's Choice (Luna)
P.C. Cast
Manufacturer: Luna
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0373802137

Book Description

I was marked from birth as belonging to the Goddess Epona--but that didn't make my life easy. Because of my "blessings," I was set apart, worshipped, unable to make real connections with others. Then came the Feeling, and with it a glimpse of my destiny. It led me to the MacCallen castle of legend, deserted since the terrible Fomorian war.

I followed the wordless call to breathe new life into a place long dead, but I didn't realize there were dark remnants of the war lingering in the nearby forest--victims and survivors who remained hidden. Others marked as different, powerful. Feared.

My choice was now twofold. I could keep to the happiness and safety of my newfound home, or I could choose a path that led to something more terrible, more dangerous, more thrilling than anything I'd ever expected.

And in that future I might never be alone again. . .

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars I love it!.......2005-10-14

I'm a big fan of the goddess series and this is my favorite since Goddess By Mistake.

1 out of 5 stars Pagan Relaxation Reading.......2005-08-20

Elpahme's Choice by PC Cast is an enjoyable Pagan novel with its characters of a Priestess of Epona (Epona was actually a Pagan Godess of Ireland) Shaman centaurs, and a Princess whose two legs are those of a centaur but whose figure is essentially that of a human woman. Spells, blessings, etc. are done in true Pagan style with reference to the four elements. The protagonist, Elphane, the woman whose two legs are centaur legs, is seen by the humans as a Goddess and not as a human being with emotional needs. Thus Elphane must find a way in life where she not only has a purpose but can have a happy emotional life. So, she goes to restore a ruined castle to be Clan Chief there, but she must convince her followers to love and obey her as an approachable woman. So Elephame's Choice becomes a romance as well as a magical adventure...

The language is simple and untaxing, so this makes a nice easy, entertaining read.

5 out of 5 stars Excellent Novel.......2005-08-17

I recently discovered P. C. Cast through Goddess of Spring. Over the course of nine days, I read Goddess of Spring, Goddess of Light, Goddess of the Sea, and Elphame's Choice (in that order). I could not put any of them down. I am eagerly anticipating Goddess by Mistake (yeah, I know I read them out of order). Her writing is amazing. The imagery is fantastic. I was sad to see the story come to an end, but I can't wait until Brighid's Quest comes out, and the story continues.

I honestly can not remember loving any author's work this much. I highly recommend all of her novels.

4 out of 5 stars One of my favorite authors!.......2005-08-12

Not only does Ms. Cast have creative story settings, and interesting characters, but she nicely ties in (without losing a new reader) to her previous novel in the same world, "Goddess by Mistake". Now, it's not a perfect novel by any means, but I like a book that keeps me up wanting to read it, makes me laugh, makes me cry, and makes me feel thrilled where the romantic characters are involved!
If you like a paranormal romance with adventure thrown in, and characters that make you luagh and cry..then Ms. Cast definitely will fit the bill.
With the huge amount of paranormal romances out lately, most are either vampires or werewolves, so the characters in these novels are a refreshing change!

4 out of 5 stars Good, but not as good as some of her others.......2005-05-03

I wished I'd read Goddess by Mistake when I read Elphame's choice. I enjoyed the novel, but it wasn't until I'd read Cast's first book that this one really made a lot more sense. The book stands alone just fine, but it's amplified by Goddess by Mistake.

Despite being a fantasy novel, this really fits in with Casts' other romance novels. Like them all, there's plenty of other things to keep you interested, a twisting plot, some action, a good dose of magic, all the things that make a romance novel so much more than heaving bosoms and tragic love, and mundane things.

Anyone who's ever been an outcast can sympathize with Elphame. Born half-human, half-centaur, she's obviously touched by the goddess Epona, and revered by the people of her lands. But being touched by a goddess and revered does not equate out to acceptance or friendship, and that's what she desires. Undertaking the restoration of McCallen Castle, her ancestral home, is how Elphame hopes to find her place in the world.

The supporting cast is an interesting lot, there's Lochlan, a half demon soul mate for Elphame, her strong willed brother Cuchulainn, who has Feelings about what going to happen, and the scarred Healer Brenna, who plays a bigger part in the novel then you'd originally think.

The only part of the book I disliked was Elphame's Feeling about her brother's relationship. I find Cast often uses tragedy to cause diversions in her book, and this is no exception. I really dislike killing off characters, and she killed one I really liked.

If you like PC Cast's boos, or like fantasy romance novels, this is a good choice to read. If you prefer your romance non paranormal, or your fantasy non romantic, then skip this one. I preferred Goddess of The Sea to this, but this is an enjoyable read.
Brazil since 1980 (The World Since 1980)
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Brazil since 1980 (The World Since 1980)
    Francisco Vidal Luna , and Herbert S. Klein
    Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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    ASIN: 0521527449

    Book Description

    This is a general survey of Brazilian society, economy, and political system since 1980. It describes the basic changes occurring as Brazil was transformed from a predominantly rural and closed economy under military rule into a modern democratic, industrial and urbanized society, with an extraordinary world class commercial agriculture in the past 60 years. In this period, Brazil passed from a pre-modern high fertility and mortality society to a modern low fertility and mortality one, the economy approached hyper inflation many times, and it abandoned a policy of protected industrialization to an economy opened to world trade. The advances and the failures of these changes are examined for the impact on questions of growth and equality. The book is designed as a basic introduction to contemporary Brazil from a recent historical perspective and is one of the first such comprehensive surveys of recent Brazilian history and development in any language.
    Pity the Drowned Horses (Andres Montoya Poetry Prize)
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • A Richly Textured Debut Collection
    Pity the Drowned Horses (Andres Montoya Poetry Prize)
    Sheryl Luna
    Manufacturer: University of Notre Dame Press
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    Book Description

    "Sheryl Luna's book PITY THE DROWNED HORSES bears witness not only to the poverty and wonder of the borderlands, to their dynamic and often tragic clash of cultural rivers, but also to an intense, tender, and unflinching sensibility refusing the easy distance of mere reportage. Rarely do we encounter a poet with such associative speed, such free access to her unconscious resources, who simultaneously reaches out with such heartbreaking clarity and sweep of vision. Here we see the moral imagination made both vulnerable and bold by its transfigurative investments, its impassioned music, its raw energy and recovering grace. A dazzling debut." —Bruce Bond

    "From Sylvia Plath to popsicle-sellers in Juarez, from Mozart to maquiladoras, this stunning debut collection charts "the way of borders . . . the way things thirst." Remarkable! —Lisa Chavez

    "In PITY THE DROWNED HORSES, Sheryl Luna carves out of the El Paso landscape the music of the borderlands where loss and acceptance converge. . . . Luna exquisitely captures—like no other poet before her—the `unsung positive capability/ of the desert'; her syntax—sometimes raw and edgy—creates a tableau where everything rushes toward `our wild need, all sweat, all shiver.' The overall effect is simply mesmerizing." —Robert Vasquez

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars A Richly Textured Debut Collection.......2005-06-07

    In one of the last poems of Pity the Drowned Horses, Sheryl Luna's richly textured debut collection, the narrator in "Las Alas" asks: "Can one return to a desolate / past, before one knew one was poor, / before the luxurious perfume?" This desperate query-which is never answered-is the fantasma that haunts every line of this book. Various identities grapple with each other seeking superiority and control: poor vs. middle class, Spanish vs. English, borderland vs. big city, atheist vs. believer, brown vs. white. In "Bullfight," this battle is a bewildering "river / that divides me, crosses me daily like the forgotten / history of my grandmother." The narrator has lost much of her ability to speak Spanish and "[e]ven the people I longed for, / la raza, forgot my face." Yet she knows that her mother, who is half Jewish, suffers this same rupture of identity: "Her own lost / heritage buried in a cemetery plot." But in "Learning to Speak," she admits that something must be done despite likely cultural humiliation: "I spoke / Spanish broken, tongue-heavy. I was once too proud / to speak Spanish in the barrio.... Quiero / aprender español, I whisper." And her would-be teacher responds without words: "He smiles." The risk is taken, and a reward received.

    Luna's poems have graced the pages of some of the most prestigious literary journals published today: Prairie Schooner, The Georgia Review, Puerto del Sol, Kalliope, and many others. A native of El Paso who now teaches in Denver, she was a finalist for the National Poetry Series book awards and the Perugia Press Intro Award for women poets. With this collection, Luna won the first Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize sponsored by the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame; she has set the bar high, indeed, for future prize candidates. [The full review first appeared in LatinoLA.]
    La luna e i falo (Italian Texts)
    Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    • Returning home
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    ASIN: 0719043832

    Book Description

    Written in 1949 and published shortly before his suicide, Cesare Pavese's last novel provides a strongly evocative, but detailed and concrete picture of life in the Piedmontese hills, seen through the eyes of a returned American immigrant. However, its main interest does not lie in its realism, a mode of writing which Pavese himself rejected. Instead, the novel's focus is on deeper levels of experience, the mysterious underlying continuities beneath the changing surface of life. In seeking to go beyond the limits set by the conventions of realism, the book combines an account of everyday life with a sense of its hidden dimensions. This edition contains a revised and expanded introduction to the novel, focusing particularly on the combination of realism and symbolism or myth that characterizes Pavese's writing. The edition also contains a bibliography, notes and vocabulary which should serve to make the text more readily accessible to students at both the high school and university level.

    Customer Reviews:

    4 out of 5 stars Returning home.......2000-11-30

    The masterpiece of one of the greater Italian writers of the twentieth century. The search of the own roots and the sense of the own life returning to the origin countryside after emigration in America. Also one meaningful testimony on Italy during and after the second world war (and on the point of view of an Italian on the U.S. in that time). Still today a book a lot being involved.
    Conversations with the High Priest of Coosa
    Average customer rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    • disappointing
    • You'd really expect more from someone like Hudson
    Conversations with the High Priest of Coosa
    Charles M. Hudson
    Manufacturer: The University of North Carolina Press
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

    GeneralGeneral | Native American | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
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    ASIN: 0807854212
    Release Date: 2007-01-17

    Book Description

    This book begins where the reach of archaeology and history ends, writes Charles Hudson. Grounded in careful research, this extraordinary work imaginatively brings to life the sixteenth-century world of the Coosa, a native people whose territory stretched across the Southeast, encompassing much of present-day Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama.

    Cast as a series of conversations between Domingo de la Anunciaciùn, a real-life Spanish priest who traveled to the Coosa chiefdom around 1559, and the Raven, a fictional tribal elder, Conversations with the High Priest of Coosa attempts to reconstruct the worldview of the Indians of the late prehistoric Southeast. Mediating the exchange between the two men is Teresa, a character modeled on a Coosa woman captured some twenty years earlier by the Hernando de Soto expedition and taken to Mexico, where she learned Spanish and became a Christian convert.

    Through story and legend, the Raven teaches Anunciaciùn about the rituals, traditions, and culture of the Coosa. He tells of how the Coosa world came to be and recounts tales of the birds and animals--real and mythical--that share that world. From these engaging conversations emerges a fascinating glimpse inside the Coosa belief system and an enhanced understanding of the native people who inhabited the ancient South.

    Customer Reviews:

    1 out of 5 stars disappointing.......2004-02-06

    Ditto what Michael Polich said. More Cherokee than Creek/Muskogee - so why not use a Cherokee town name and say it is Cherokee? Or use John Swanton's Creek Religion and Medicine or Bill Grantham's Creation myths and legends if it is Muskogee? Or just make up a place and say unknown SE American Indian tribe/group/town?
    I was just plain old disappointed with this effort by Dr. Hudson. He has done better (Southeastern Indians). This isn't much of a literary effort or "historical fiction."

    1 out of 5 stars You'd really expect more from someone like Hudson.......2003-12-27

    "Conversations with the High Priest of Coosa" is neither good fiction nor good ethnography. Charles Hudson's Coosa worldview is inexplicably almost totally Cherokee in outlook. Hudson says he relied on Cherokee folklore because it was more internally consistent than Muskogean folklore, and that Cherokee had some stories that Muskogean folklore didn't that he thought exemplified the Coosan worldview. Hudson seems to ignore the fact that the Cherokees were different from the Muskogeans for a reason- they were Iroquoian. The Cherokees were not moundbuilders, so why would you rely on the stories of a people that were not moundbuilders to explain the worldview of a moundbuilding people?
    Also, why would you totally make up stories? Hudson does just this, and some of the stories he makes up makes you wonder why he did so. For instance, why did he make up the Coosans celebrating a ceremony with dancers dressed up in a dragon costume, when there is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER THAT THE COOSANS OR ANY OTHER MOUNDBUILDING PEOPLE EVER DID ANYTHING REMOTELY LIKE THAT! Hudson's explanation for doing this are equally as mystifying- he says he was influenced in part by CHINESE CELEBRATIONS FEATURING DANCERS DRESSED LIKE DRAGONS. Does Hudson now believe that the Mississippians were influenced by the Chinese??
    Even looking at this book purely as fiction doesn't improve it any. The characters are totally one dimensional, there is no real plot, the narrative reads like a children's book of mostly Cherokee legends, and what little plot there is is boring.
    If you're an anthropologist or folklorist, this book will make you tear out your hair with its inaccuracies and badly rationalized extrapolations. Historians and archaeologists should equally avoid this book. This book is bad as either a fictionalized ethnography, fiction, or ethnography.
    Faith Formation and Popular Religion: Lessons from the Tejano Experience
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      Faith Formation and Popular Religion: Lessons from the Tejano Experience
      Anita de Luna MCDP
      Manufacturer: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

      GeneralGeneral | Theology | Reference | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
      Roman CatholicismRoman Catholicism | Catholicism | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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      ASIN: 0742513483

      Book Description

      This book places catechesis against the background of popular religion and makes a new connection among theology, spirituality, and catachesis. It examines six catechism formats, uncovering fascinating factors that made these faith formation texts effective or ineffective for Hispanics, from the inception of Hispanic Catholicism through the twentieth century.
      Luna Park: Short Plays and Monologues
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        Luna Park: Short Plays and Monologues
        Donald Margulies
        Manufacturer: Theatre Communications Group
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Paperback

        United StatesUnited States | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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        GeneralGeneral | Theater | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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        ASIN: 1559362065

        Book Description

        Drawing from his own, specific experience, Margulies has indeed created what he calls "a window to the world" at large. The bits and pieces and detritus of our culture have been used to construct a powerful drama about a new and devastating age of anxiety in the United States. July 7, 1994 ranks as an important work by a gifted and growing American playwright."-Chicago Tribune

        ??

        This new anthology by Donald Margulies collects his best short plays and monologues written over the past 24 years. Taken as a whole, the work is an extraordinary representation of a particularly American reality of the twentieth century. His language is exquisite and deceptive in its simplicity, wherein the larger questions of our daily existence emerge and are clarified. The volume contains three major one-act plays including July 7, 1994, the hit of the 1995 Humana Festival at the Actors Theatre of Louisville; Pitching to the Stars, a darkly comic look at the writers lot in Hollywood; and Luna Park, an elegiac look at the American past and the immigrant experience, based on a short story by Delmore Schwartz. The volume also includes fifteen other short plays and monologues.

        ??

        Donald Margulies is the author of numerous plays, including Dinner with Friends and Collected Stories, both being filmed for television by HBO and PBS. Mr. Margulies lives with his wife and son in New Haven, Connecticut, where he teaches playwriting at Yale University.

        ? ?

        Also available by Donald Margulies

        ??

        Dinner with Friends?

        PB $11.95 1-55936-194-8 • USA

        ??

        Collected Stories?

        PB $11.95 1-55936-152-2 • USA

        ??

        Sight Unseen and Other Plays?

        PB $16.95 1-55936-103-4 • USA

        Upholstery: Refinishing and Restyling
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          Upholstery: Refinishing and Restyling
          Benjamin C. Luna
          Manufacturer: Amer Technical Pub
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Hardcover
          ASIN: 0826945457
          Teodoro Luna's Two Kisses: Poems
          Average customer rating: Not rated
            Teodoro Luna's Two Kisses: Poems
            Alberto Rios
            Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Paperback

            GeneralGeneral | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
            Single AuthorsSingle Authors | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | British & Irish | Continental European | United States
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            ASIN: 039330809X
            Armil's Armor
            Average customer rating: Not rated
              Armil's Armor
              C. J. Luna
              Manufacturer: Vantage Press
              ProductGroup: Book
              Binding: Hardcover

              GeneralGeneral | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
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              ASIN: 0533080657

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