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A Life of Meaning, Embracing Reform Judaism’s Sacred Path edited by Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan, PH.D 70’s? Rabbi Kaplan has put together an impressive collection of essays by rabbis, cantors and scholars, exploring the wide spectrum of approaches to this religion for its participants and for anyone else who might want to see how religion can be meaningful in our largely secularized world. My father was a Lutheran minister and I ended up a Unitarian Universalist. I certainly noted many parallels between my journey and that of members of Reform Judaism. I learned a bit about the history of this branch of Judaism. It is quite a recent entry having been founded in the late 19th century by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise. Undogmatic, Reform Judaism is presented as open-ended quest for meaning, truth and the divine. In his introduction, Dana says, “Reinterpreting ancient religion can be both creative and spiritual, and human beings endow both creativity and spirituality with intrinsic worth.” These essays, while acknowledging the ethnic identity of Jews, see their religion much more as a spiritual path. Dana uses the term “progressive revelation.” There are 56 essays. Some do not shy away from issues relating to the Holocaust and the founding of Israel.They wrestle with how these events can figure in a faith-based life.Others speak more theologically or extol the role of community building.Dana wrote one of the essays himself, and it deals with conversion.He tells the biblical story of Ruth and Naomi.“Whither thou goest.” Ruth was the first convert.That story always reduces me to tears.Certainly Reform Judaism is not seeking converts, but converts are welcome and I can see how seekers of wisdom might find a place in Reform Judaism for their own journey.

Hardboiled America: Lurid Paperbacks and the Masters of Noir by Geoffrey O’Brien ’66. When Geoffrey looks behind those paperback covers of seductive dames (or maybe they’re dishes) in various stages of undress, sometimes terror-stricken and sometimes just plain dead, he finds a fresh way to look at the America of the forties and fifties; beneath the wartime patriotism and the rosy familial bliss on the TV shows of that era, dark currents are flowing. This complex book takes on the history of the paperback, the history of the hardboiled detective, the role of those covers, and a literary analysis of the works of such writers as Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, Ross MacDonald, and Jim Thompson (to name just a few). His study of Hammett reveals what is so compelling in this kind of fiction. He shows that Hammett’s writing is efficient and beautiful, but that what sets it apart is how fast it is. The reader is swept away by the action; there is no possibility of being sidetracked by description and detail. Geoffrey can be quite succinct himself. He says the vision of these works is demonic and that the publishers wished to entice the reader with images that were more “ribald and colorful” than the works themselves. “After all, the public wanted gunfights and Lana Turner, not existentialism and l’acte gratuite.” (All French teachers everywhere will adore that quote). After reading this book, I know I will have to encounter the books of Jim Thompson. What a case Geoffrey makes for this author! Is the hardboiled detective novel a good way to gain insight into American culture? You bet.There’s the lurid and then there’s the pushback.A House Select Committee on Pornography made it their business to take a critical look at these daring paperbacks.Here we see the culture of the fifties and, by the way, some hints about what is going on today.

The Moon Juice Cookbook, Cosmic Alchemy for a Thriving Body, Beauty, and Consciousness by Amanda Chantal Bacon 00’s? The Moon Juice Cookbook makes healthy eating mouthwatering and stunningly beautiful. Amanda explains that she got into the world of food preparation in an effort to maximize feelings of radiant, energetic good health. In doing so, she found a calling – her recipes have metaphysical overtones. Her enthusiasm. coupled with the gorgeous photographs by John Von Pamer, has made me consider investing in a few new kitchen appliances.