alter

The Art Of Biblical Narrative
$16.50
Simply put, Robert Alter is the master when it comes to Biblical Narrative. I've read material related to the Biblical text extensively and broadly over the past 30 years and Alter has to be in the top five. His insights in this book will rock your world and bring you great joy in reading the Biblical text.

Xenosaga Kos Mos 1/8 PVC Statue Figure by Alter
$109.95
A great item! The shipping was fast and the Kos-mos figure was just amazing. Looks great!!

The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary
$19.95
I will not repeat the many praises for Alter's work in general and for this book. Clearly, he excels and has led us for the last 30 years towards a better understanding and appreciation of Israelite literature. In his translation of Psalms it is the immediacy of the language, as opposed to the overlay of traditional theologic jargon of so many translations, that strikes me as its major advantage. However, the major drawback, is that Alter continues to use the highly tradition-saturated theological expression "the LORD" for YHWH, and he continues to capitalize pronouns when they refer to Israel's God. If one is attempting to represent the ancient poetry as originally written, there is no good reason to follow these later traditions. Removing the personal name of the Deity (YHWH) and substituting the title LORD, and then adding the definite article "the" makes the text so much LESS immediate and personal and removes the modern reader from the original impact. Why could not translators follow the lead of medieval Hebrew manuscripts and leave the personal name YHWH in the written text? Those who choose to set the name apart by not pronouncing it are still free to do so in their reading.

The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope
$16.00
Don't buy this book if you are looking for a good biography on FDR. Don't buy this book if you are looking for a detailed anaysis of FDR's achievements in his first 100 days. This basically is a puff piece. It starts out with a very superficial biography of FDR. A biography which was unnecessary since this book is supposed to be about the first hundred days. So why include a cursory, badly done biography? Ok. Whatever. Let's get to the 100 days. But no! You have to wait until almost the end of the book before you finally get to day one in office. I think it's chapter 34 or 35! This is totally ridiculous. My expectations were that he would devote a few pages per each 100 day. Going over all the staffing, legislation, and other accomplishements. Instead we get pages and pages of how Mrs Roosevelt was a lesbian. Then we spend more time on useless stuff like how beautiful FDR's voice was. Finally at the very end we get some mention of social security. That's it! This book is totally and fundamentally filler. Does not contain any scholarily gravitas and does not even try to live up to it's title. What a waste of time!