This Jazz Man

Book Description

In this toe-tapping jazz tribute, the traditional "This Old Man" gets a swinging makeover, and some of the era's best musicians take center stage. The tuneful text and vibrant illustrations bop, slide, and shimmy across the page as Satchmo plays one, Bojangles plays two . . . right on down the line to Charles Mingus, who plays nine, plucking strings that sound "divine."

Easy on the ear and the eye, this playful introduction to nine jazz giants will teach children to count--and will give them every reason to get up and dance!

Includes a brief biography of each musician.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Just Needs A Musical CD !!!!.......2007-04-23

I love this book! My son is 20 months and loves this book the rhythm of the words, the numbers, the clapping the sounds of the instruments. What would be excellent if there was an auditory accompaniment to the book. A taping of someone reading the book who can demonstrate the sounds or even better a taping that included musical instruments playing.
I know a lot of people would LOVE to hear it as well and it would be an excellent teaching tool. Please forward this to the appropriate individuals and if possible keep me updated on the release date of the cd. Thank YOU for writing such an awesome, entertaining and needed book!

Encore! We want more!.......2007-03-22

Oooh, this book made me what to rap and tap and beedle-di-bop! Which is quite somethin', since I don't have a musical bone in my body!
This is a great book-the text jives off the page and the illustrations thimp dumple thump right along. What a great way to teach kids about jazz legends!
Hats off to Ehrdhardt and Roth for a beautiful book!
Encore!

A great read aloud for kids!.......2007-03-07

I am an elementary school media specialist for grades 1 - 5. I read this book to my first and second graders. By the third jazz man they were chanting along with me. By the fifth man we were all singing along with the familiar song tune. They loved the scat phrases and repeated them over and over. What a bonus that these men are actual jazz legends. I highly recommend this book for a great musical read.

Jude's Review of Jazz Man.......2007-01-21

I'm 3 and my Grandmother Helene reads this book to me. She said that my Doctor Beth gave it to me and my sister Scarlett and the author signed it. That made me smile.

I really like this book. My grandmother sings me it and i like music and instruments and can name the saxophone and trumpet and drums.I like the pictures of the conga drums.

I usually say, " read it again" when she's done and I can almost pick out all the numbers now too. Jude Stulb, Pueblo Colorado

This Great Book! (More and More Honors!) .......2006-10-05

Note: Since writing the review below, I've discovered that "This Jazz Man" has received three (and counting) prestigious honors in the last month or so: A Nick Jr. Book of the Year for Children, one of the N.Y. Public Libraries Top 100 books to Read to Kids, and one of a very few named by National Public Radio as a best children's book of the year!

February 2007 Update: This Jazz Man is on the cover of the February "Crickets" magazine! In addition, it was shortlisted as a top book by the Cooperative Children's Book Center, and is being used as a teaching tool for a Smithsonian Museum (yes, that Smithsonian!) exhibit.

If you've bought this book, you and I share a certain nose for kids' books; if you haven't, you'll discover a book that's snappy and swinging, fun and informative. My original review follows.

"Doodly-doodly-Doot-doot! Toot-Toot!"

That's Karen Ehrhardt's delightful take on a Dizzy Gillespie trumpet line, and like the rest of this sparkling first book, every note rings joyous and true. In a somewhat daring move, Ms. Ehrhardt airs out the musty English poem, "This Old Man," with jazz-infused lyrics, and distills the essence of nine jazz giants: Louis Armstrong, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Chano Pozo, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Art Blakey, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Charles Mingus.

The improvisations in "This Jazz Man" are authentic and fun--the text is made for reading out loud! Listen to this evocation of Charlie Parker, for example:

This jazz man, he plays five,
He plays bebop, he plays jive,
With a Deedle-di-bop! Bebop!
Give the man a hand,
This jazz man blows with the band.

Within the 5-line format of the original song, the author conveys the sound and spirit of these artists, while keeping the tone light and understandable for her young, perhaps jazz-naive audience (about 3 to 7 years-old). Along with each Jazz Man's stanza are the sounds and rhythms of his performance -- depicted in text incorporated with each illustration. When drummer Art Blakey "plays solos with his sticks" and "beats with the band," the percussive sounds "Chikka-chee! Chikka-chee! Bubbuda-bubbuda-bubbuda-BOMP!" pulse over his vibrating cymbals. Following the `performance,' older readers (and adults) can learn more about Blakey -- his innovation of the "press roll" and his role in nurturing new talent -- in the book's afterward. Riffing on the customary introductions of band members at jazz gigs ("Playing 4, form Washington, D.C... Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington"), the book briefly spotlights the life of each Jazz Man.

Illustrator R. G. Roth complements Ehrhardt's narrative pictures with multi-media illustrations that are playfully retro yet fresh and child-friendly. Airy compositions help children see the relaxed, expansive pose of the smiling Louis Armstrong, the verve and rhythmic creativity of "Chano" Pozo (how many times have you seen him in a jazz book for kids?), the playful attack of Fats Waller, and the stature and majesty of Charles Mingus. Roth displays a repertoire of textures and soft, engaging colors, and makes subtle references to Birdland, the Newport Jazz Festival, and other venues along the edges of book's `stage. For the small fry, a cute and playfully elusive mouse plays hide and seek throughout the book. "This Jazz Man" has an exhilarating finale -- after each man plays (1 through 9), all of the jazz icons appear on stage together:

This jazz band, they play ten,
We beg them to play again,
With an "Encore, we want more!"
Give them all a hand"
These jazz men make one great band!

"This Jazz Man" gets it right, rhymes it tight, and entertains without misrepresenting. (To put this achievement in context, too many kids' "jazz" books really focus on the blues--usually the rural blues, seen through an awkward sentimentalism--or solely on dance. Sometimes they confuse eras, portraying any jazz singer as a combination of Bessie Smith, post-WWII hep cats, and 1950's beats, with a dash of oddly misplaced 1970's styles.)

"This Jazz Man" is a natural for school or library audiences, rambunctious group singing, the first efforts of beginning readers, or as a bedtime treat for toddlers. One doesn't need to know one lick about jazz to enjoy the musicality of the rhymes and the understated but compelling jazz portraits: They stand on their own. In addition, teachers can easily adapt "This Jazz Man" to language units, numbers and counting, music appreciation, art, solo and group singing. Older students may delve further into the lives and times of the musicians through Ehrhardt's rich yet compact biographical sketches in the afterward. (Offhand, I can't think of any book--for kids or adults--that so succinctly and eloquently describes each musician's significance.) For readers who'd like to sample the actual music, Ehrhardt recommends recorded works for each Jazz Man: a couple tracks for each musician, and even two feature films (available on video) that display Bojangles' tapping talents. (Perhaps in future editions of this book, the publishers could include a companion CD/DVD.)

With apologies to the author--though inspired by her:

This jazz fan, I count one,
"This Jazz Man" is lots of fun!
With a smile and a nod and an "ain't that grand!"
Let's give Ehrhardt a great big hand!

Saint Morrissey: A Portrait of This Charming Man by an Alarming Fan

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My review
Still Ill
Easy, breezy, pleased me.
A Morrissey book that made me want to be sociable!
3 and 1/2 stars..

Saint Morrissey: A Portrait of This Charming Man by an Alarming Fan
Mark Simpson
Manufacturer: Touchstone
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 074328481X

Book Description

There is no other contemporary artist who is so famously difficult, so seemingly enigmatic, and so passionately loved by his fans as Morrissey. From the moment he caught the public's eye in the early 1980s as the iconic front man of the Smiths, and through his subsequent solo career, the patron saint of misfits has fascinated and baffled in equal measure.

Yet, as Mark Simpson argues in this wickedly funny and deeply sacrilegious "psycho-bio" -- told through the lens of his own obsession as a lifelong fan -- Morrissey isn't quite so enigmatic as he might appear. To understand this most private (and sexually ambivalent) of stars, one need only uncover the countless clues to his personality in his startlingly candid song lyrics and his innumerable provocative interviews.

Simpson deftly explores why Morrissey bewitched a generation -- and why he remains as intriguing as ever. Both an insightful look at the singer's career and a personal story of a boy's first love for his music idol, Saint Morrissey is, like its subject, shrewd, sharp-witted, charming, and utterly original.

Customer Reviews:

My review.......2007-08-09

This book is a lot of fun. I read it while sitting infront of my computer to access youtube.com, dictionary.com, and wikipedia.com to learn about all the references. What can I say I was a business major. It made me laugh frequently. I especially loved the description of Morrissey's androgenous appearance as:"looking like a lesbian attempting a half-hearted gesture at femininity for her visiting parents". The author of course loves Morrissey as do I and it was nice to celebrate this great artist with someone.

Still Ill.......2006-08-17

I've finally finished reading Saint Morrissey after picking it up and putting it down for months and wincing in pain.
Written in some painfull form of Brittish splashy rag Daily Mirror type styling, the book offers no further insight into Morrissey's world as the Mirror might, without even bothering to make anything interesting up!
Using cookie-cut lines from Morrissey's few and formidably vague interviews throughout, Mark Simpson takes thimble sized dives into Morrissey's secret world.
What Simpson is very very good at is stylishly spewing tidbits of Morrissey's prose into Simpson's own context, which only adds to the feeling that one's reading the back of a box of something mediocre, desperately trying to sound tasty.
Simpson spends no less than three chapters lost in wonder about what Stephen Morrissey did in his bedroom for eighteen years. As much as I'd liked to have been there myself, I felt a nagging fear that Simpson was going to follow him to the loo.
Had this been a gorgeous picture book with Mark's borrowed interviews strewn about this book might have stayed in my collection.

Easy, breezy, pleased me........2006-05-11

Through the first twenty or so pages, Simpson's apparent attempt to appropriate and emulate Morrissey's wit/sense of humor sort of turned me off. But while I would've enjoyed a slightly less precious delivery, Simpson does turn out to have a reasonable amount of original observations on Morrissey's career.

Promoted as a "psychobio," Saint Morrissey is more about the man than the music - you may be surprised how little Simpson has to say about the actual albums through 250 pages (though this may be down to the fact that Morrissey offers much more opportunity for intellectual tangents than the average artist). You might call it a Unified Theory of Morrisseyism: it's less about "he did this, then he recorded this, then this happened" (which is what a lot of otherwise fine bios, like Complicated Shadows, devolve into) than it is about what it all means. It's an emotional response instead of a historical exercise, and that really appealed to me. It's also less...invasive, I guess?...than, say, Heavier Than Heaven, which took disgusting license in trying to get into its subject's head. Saint Morrissey isn't about exposing its subject's secrets, because Simpson understands Morrissey's career well enough to realize that his secrets are a massive element of his appeal. That understanding and respect is the key appeal here. Of course, it's written by a fan, and an alarming one at that, so Saint Morrissey is never critical in any serious sense, but it never panders the way Landscapes of the Mind does, either.

In the end, it's a quick, cute read designed for those who already know all the significant dates and chart placements and catalogue numbers. Why don't you find out for yourself?

A Morrissey book that made me want to be sociable!.......2006-02-07

Simpson takes as his source material only that which Morrissey has written in his lyrics or spoken in interview, and thus claims no special privilege to know him, any more than any other fan knows him - (i.e. intimately). As such, it may or may not bear any relationship to the truth as Morrissey himself sees it, for Simpson acknowledges the self-defeating nature of trying to interpret those enigmatic lyrics. But that's irrelevant. I have never read a book before like this: every page or two, I wanted to stop and talk about what Simpson had written with someone else - I wanted to discuss, argue, complain, gasp, share the experience. Mostly, I wanted to laugh. Considering that this is a book about a man whose isolation, morbidity and alienation is legendary, this book made me want to be sociable.

3 and 1/2 stars.........2006-01-06

i've read over 10 books in the smiths/morrissey vein and this one's good. the author's also a fan. very insightful.

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This Man and Music
Anthony Burgess
Manufacturer: Applause Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

Anthony Burgess was the author of over 50 books, including his best known novel, "A Clockwork Orange." But Burgess always emphasized music as the ruling passion in his creative life. Largely self-taught in music, Burgess composed his first symphony before he was twenty, many years before his first novel, and he was the composer of over 65 musical works. In these deeply insightful meditations, the renowned writer explores the meaning of music, the intention of the composer and the process of composition, and the seemingly elusive relationships between literature and music. Burgess shows how "the process of literary composition are revealed by the writers themselves" and then gathers evidence to understand the "inexplicable magic" of the details of the operation of music - what is music's "intelligibility"? From Shakespeare to the lyric verse of Gerard Manley Hopkins, from the modernists T.S. Eliot and James Joyce to the modern lyricists Lorenz Hart and Stephen Sondheim, Burgess reveals how prose writers have struggled to tap the inherent musicality of their material. This treasured classic, at last back in print, provides a fascinating perspective on the mutually enriching relationship of these two creative arts by a man who mastered them both.

Average customer rating:

Best book on the music biz i ever read
I Love This Book
If stardom is your goal, then skip this book
This book is completely amazing for all free-thinkers.
Oh, so that's how it works...

I Hate the Man Who Runs This Bar!
Eugene Chadbourne
Manufacturer: MixBooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Amazon.com

Eugene Chadbourne will always be remembered for his sonic jazz experiments on stringed instruments (mainly electric guitar, sometimes banjo), that trademark electric rake of his, and his campy humor. (He's also the only musician playing today able to cover Nick Drake's melancholic "The Thoughts of Mary Jane" and turn it into an extended improvisation that borders on humorous.) I Hate the Man Who Runs This Bar!, Chadbourne's guidebook for fellow musicians, is nearly as funny, eccentric, and effective as the artist's vast musical output. Chadbourne describes his follies with various labels; offers inspirational advice on packaging, publishing, and getting gigs; and tries to shatter the myths of working for a major record label. Common sense reigns supreme, as does a DIY sensibility. Subtitled "The Survival Guide for Real Musicians," the book offers great insight into one of modern music's best minds and should provide plenty to think about for anyone serious about his or her music. Chadbourne's suggestions may not make your band famous, but they may make it infamous--a career choice that's worked for Chadbourne since the mid '70s. --Jason Verlinde

Book Description

In I Hate the Man Who Runs This Bar, Eugene Chadbourne discusses his experiences in his 20+ year career as an independent musician. No hype, no fluff, this essential guide is for real musicians who have decided to make a living out of doing what they love: playing music!

Customer Reviews:

Best book on the music biz i ever read.......2005-08-13

If you think there's actually a book that tells you how to be a star, you're a fool. if you think reading some book will tell you how to write hit songs, get your hair to look good and how to get an honest manager, you're a bigger fool. Homer Simpson said to his daughter "Here's the first rule about the music business. Don't trust anyone in the music business" and Hunter Thompson said (this is pretty close)'the music business is a long plastic hallway populated by pimps and thieves where good men die. there's also a downside.' AM I BEING TOO CYNICAL FOR YOU? This is a GREAT book. For those of us who have lived/live this life, it's hilarious. Should be mandatory reading for all 18 year olds who think their band is going to hit it big. no matter whether you make it to the top or stay at the bottom you WILL encounter the situations and people described in this book. Lively, good writing style. THANKS EUGENE

I Love This Book.......2005-06-06

I am a professional musician (note that I did not say "full time"), and this is my very favorite of all the books I own about the music business. This book inspires me when I'm happy to be a musician, encourages me when I feel like quitting music forever, makes me want to be a better musician, and makes me feel like I'm just as good as I need to be to just get out there and PLAY, already.

In short, I love this book. I would recommend it not just for musicians but for anyone who is engaged in a creative pursuit, knowing full well that it will never make him or her rich and famous - and that that's a GOOD thing.

If stardom is your goal, then skip this book.......1999-03-22

If you're seeking tips to become a commercial success in the music business, keep looking. You won't find anything like that here. If you want to read a clever, witty book that helps you cope with the pitfalls, look no further.

This book is completely amazing for all free-thinkers........1998-10-21

Mr. Chadbourne's book will scare many young musicians into to becoming record producers and it will inspire heartier souls into pursuing the career they have always wanted, that is, being a musician. This book contains stories of both fact and fiction that deal with different types of musicians in the wierd kinds of situations that musicians find themselves in. Especially insightful are the chapters that deal with the regular folk: Understanding the Non-Creative Mind, Chicken Public vs. the Avant-Garde, and True Happiness: The Flawed System That Destroys Weaker Minds. Mr. Chadbourne's insight on how to make a living playing music that nobody wants to hear is invaluble to musicians of all persuasions. This book should be in every gig bag of every music student in every school!

Oh, so that's how it works..........1998-08-11

You are not alone (sitting there in the darkness ... by yourself ... without anybody else ... misunderstood and maligned and malingering... not knowing where to turn or who to turn to ...) because Mr. Eugene Chadbourne is right there with you to show you the way!

No, he won't help you make a living by making music - but he'll explain why you aren't making a living. He won't stop you from being double-booked and left with no money in Our Town, Earth, Universe - but he'll help you deal with it (and ensure you turn it into a good road warrior story for your friends).

This is not the music publishing/A&R bible that will list every exec's name and phone number - those are out of date before they're printed. It's more like a fake book actually comprised of songs you would want to fake.

Book Description

The die-cutting in this title reveals numbers, and number sentences, as the song develops.

Customer Reviews:

This is a great teaching tool.......2000-07-19

This is a terriffic book for use in the music classroom, and at home. As a book that can be either sung or read, it is versatile. It's large size and colorful illustrations draw kids attention. I have personally found it to be very effective with my kindergarten through third grade students. I highly reccommend it to anyone looking for a good book for younger kids that can be sung or read! I highly suggest Pam Adams books.

My 2-year-year old learned how to count to 10 reading this!.......2000-04-04

My 2-year-old loves to sing the song along with me, and loves to hold this sturdy book. The illustrations are eye-catching and hold his interest until we finish the song. The rhythm of the tune helped him learn more complex word patters like "came rolling home." It is printed in bright colors, on thick paper, and can withstand some toddler handling. This book is similar to the other books illustrating children's folk tunes, but this is by far my son's favorite!

Knick Knack Paddy Whack (This Old Man) SATB Choir Vocal Music Score A Cappella

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Knick Knack Paddy Whack (This Old Man) SATB Choir Vocal Music Score A Cappella
Walter (Edited & Arranged) Ehret
Manufacturer: Plymouth Music Co. Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K36DVC

A steadfast philosophy,: A selection of papers written by Will Earhart dating from 1914, including his last writings, hitherto unpublished, with some personal ... pupils of this great man of music education

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A steadfast philosophy,: A selection of papers written by Will Earhart dating from 1914, including his last writings, hitherto unpublished, with some personal ... pupils of this great man of music education
Will Earhart
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: B0007DNIX6

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This Man Leidzen
Leslie Fossey
Manufacturer: Salvation Army
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0854120882

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This Man Music
Anthony Burgess
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HFNFTG

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This Man of Sorrows
Deborah Craig-Claar , and Robert Sterling
Manufacturer: Word Music
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Sheet music
ASIN: B000NQI242

Product Description

SATB: From the musical entitled "One Voice".

Book Description

An old joke tells of a Jewish woman who treks to the Himalayas to seek an audience with a guru sitting in seclusion on a mountaintop. When at last she comes before him, she implores: "Sheldon, come home!" Rosie Rosenzweig became that Jewish mother—but in real life, the story has a different ending. Instead of asking her Buddhist son, Ben, to come home, Rosie accepts his invitation to find out about Buddhism firsthand. Together they visit retreat centers in Europe and Asia and meet leading meditation masters who are Ben's gurus: Vietnamese teacher Thich Nhat Hanh and Tibetan lamas Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. While struggling to come to terms with Ben's choice of a spiritual path so different from everything that she cherishes, Rosie finds that she is learning more about herself than she anticipated. The adventures of Rosie recounts take her from her Boston suburb to a Zen hermitage in France, an enclave of Tibetan Buddhists in Nepal, and finally to her own spiritual home in Jerusalem. Whether she is practicing mindfulness meditation, sharing a cup of tea with a Zen master, or worrying about bowing down to idols, Rosie is intent in her quest to find common ground between two ancient traditions, to deepen her understanding of her son, and to find a way to her own authentic experience of truth. Hers is a mission of peace that seeks to build a bridge of understanding between cultures and faiths while remaining true to her own Jewish identity.

Customer Reviews:

Let it Go Through You.......2006-09-21

It is a difficult experience for a parent when a child reaches adulthood and makes a fundamental life decision different from the parent's own. Possibly the most trying of such situations involves religion -- not simply lapsing from practice but rather choosing a different religion from one's parents and embracing it fully and wholeheartedly.

Rosie Resenzweig's book "A Jewish Mother in Shangri-la" (1998) tells the story of her to response to the decision of her son Ben to follow the path of Tibetan Buddhism. Her book, as it develops, is much more about her own spiritual search than that of her son. Rosenzweig and her therapist husband, Sandy, had themselves had a difficult and varied time in matters of religion, having participated themselves in various New Age and Eastern groups in the 1960s and 70s. They had disagreements in their marriage and Rosie Rosenzweig faced issues with her career and with the death, over a brief time period, of several close members of her family. The family situation improved with time and both Rosie and Sandy found their way to an increasingly observant Orthodox Judaism.

Ben Rosenzweig, from this account, was a quiet, studious child who became seriously interested in Buddhism during a college year in Nepal. Following study, and several further trips to the East, he formally took refuge (in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha) but did not renounce his Jewish faith. Rosie Rosenzweig was hearbroken.

The story of Rosie and Ben begins in earnest when Ben takes and completes a three-year meditation retreat in upstate New York during which time mother and son correspond. Following the retreat Rosie accepts Ben's invitation to accompany him on a five-week trip to Europe and Asia to learn about Buddhism. They spend two weeks in France in the Plum Village Center of the Vietnamese Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh and have an audience with him. They spend three weeks in Nepal and meet Ben's chief guru, an aging Tibetan monk named Tulu Urgyen Rinpoche, and Rosie receives a rare wisdom transmission from him.

The Buddhists that Rosie meets are impressed with her openness, joie de vivre and willingness to learn. Rosie is increasingly impressed with the Buddhist path and search for wisdom as she tries to find parallels in it to her Jewish experience and teachings. She struggles to maintain her Jewish practices during the trip, including observing the Sabbath and avoiding unkosher food, and, in following the Jewish prohibition against image-worship, Rosie carefully avoids bowing to idols or persons. She gives the gurus she meets copies of the "Tanya" a Jewish mystical book by the founder of Lubavitcher Hasidism. Rosie learns to respect, if not share, her son's chosen religious path and reconciliation and love come to the fore between mother and son.

But Rosie's own story and interest in Buddhism go further. When she returns from her trip (Ben stays in Nepal) she continues to study Buddhism while reflecting upon her own Jewish practice. During a pilgrimage to Israel she becomes increasingly drawn to Jewish mysticism, seeing in it parallels to what she found in Buddhism but with a Jewish content. On a bus trip through a desert (p. 156), Rosie has a dream -- she has several during the course of the book -- during which a voice tells her to "let it go through you" -- a difficult and obscure teaching that could be delivered by many religious or mystical traditions. Rosie learns to develop a deeply personalized approach to her Jewishness through a study of Jewish mysticism -- a part of Judaism that still is too little explored. She tells the reader that "[m]y belief system has been expanded to include the possiblity of many approaches to Divinity" (p. 167) as she strives to accomodate what she has learned from Buddhist meditation practice and Buddhist texts (including a text called the Dantabhuni Sutta, no 126 from the mid-length discourses -- Mahjima Nikya of the Pali canons on the importance of taming the mind) with Jewish teachings and with her developing interest in Jewish mysticism. She is able to lose the guilt that she carried with her -- the feeling that the problems with her marriage and the difficulties of raising children were responsbible for Ben's turn to Buddhism -- in finding and expanding her own path which includes substantial Buddhist learning.

This is a short, engagingly written book that will be of interest to those who have made a change in their own spiritual direction or who have loved ones who have made such a change.

Robin Friedman

A wry and warm story of connection and meditation........1999-02-13

This is a book of many layers. It begins with a dilemma common to religious parents -- what to do when a child leaves the faith -- moves through a journey of understanding -- and winds up as a commentary on the practice of meditation within Judaism. The last of these layers moves towards spiritualism, but it is saved from fuzziness by Rosenzweig's careful working out of her own boundaries in regards to Judaism. And we've seen how she works out these boundaries in her trip to Nepal. Her son, whom like every Jewish mother she thought would grow up to be a brilliant rabbi, becomes a devout Buddhist. He asks her to come with him to Nepal to meet his "root guru." There, in the Buddhist monastary, Rosenzweig makes connections between Buddhism and Judaism -- finding stone carvings in the shape of the Star of David, discovering some of the patterns of Orthodoxy in the daily lives of the monastary -- and she discovers where she cannot go -- she must refuse to bow to Buddha or take the vows of Buddhist teaching. It's this combination of connection and limits that makes the book an honest one. It is the honesty of the language here, the way we get to watch the author struggle in her understanding and her own spirituality, that makes this a book worth reading -- no matter what our religion.

Unexpectedly Genuine.......1998-11-19

New Age spirituality--with its dilettantist approach and breathless testimonials that bleach all the colour out of religion in an attempt to prove its basic unity--makes me queasy. The current fascination the mass media have with Tibetan Buddhism is sadly degrading to those who practice it. These are the things that sprang to mind when I saw the title of this book, "A Jewish Mother in Shangri-la."

Still I read it, and I'm glad I did, for I was shown how wrong my initial prejudice had been. This is a tightly-bound story of a very personal journey, and although personal there is much that I could identify with. Ostensibly it is about a woman's attempt to understand her son's spiritual path, and although mother and son are portrayed together on the cover in grisly colour this narrative has little to do with the son at all; he merely provides a foil or backdrop for the main subject, the author's path, which is dealt with quietly but persistently, without sensationalism, and without digression from the key questions she seeks answers to: Wherein lies the profundity of Buddhist insight? Did Judaism ever have an equally profound lineage of wisdom transmission? Does it still? Does Buddhist practice *really* contradict Mosaic law? If it does, then why do they both seem authentic?

The author does not presume to answer these questions with simple platitudes. Instead she faces them, time and again, with honest uncertainty. She leaves us feeling that this story has no end, and this, considering her subject, is appropriate.

The main target audience for this book would seem to be Jewish, for her references are primarily to the Bible, the Talmud, and Jewish history. But anyone with an interest in these subjects, not just Jews, would benefit from reading it. It is also something of a primer on Jewish mysticism, and even some Jews may be surprised to find such depth of meditation practice in their own tradition as the author describes. As for Buddhism, details are scant, and it is mainly a _flavour_ of the Dharma that is conveyed: we get a taste of Thich Nhat Hanh's style of Vietnamese Zen teaching on the one hand, and Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche's Tibetan style on the other. This lack of philosophical detail is not a fault, though, for neither Buddhism nor Judaism are the book's real focus. One woman's relentless prodding of the truth is the focus, and she plainly considers the important point for maintaining the vitality of a spiritual path to be relentless questioning and not giving in to the impulse to accept an easy answer to anything.

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