The four chapbooks collected in A Peculiar Feeling of Restlessness, three of them finalists and one of them the winner of the Rose Metal Press first... annual short short chapbook contest, all revel in the succinctness of their form, the underlying tension anchored beneath each story of 1,000 words or less. These stories are peculiar; they resonate with restlessness. They are deft, they are gritty, and they are lyrical. Laughter, Applause. Laughter, Music, Applause by Kathy Fish, Wanting by Amy L. Clark, Sixteen Miles Outside of Phoenix by Elizabeth Ellen, and The Sky Is a Well by Claudia Smith combine four multi-layered portrayals of beautiful uneasiness into a collection rich with wit, grace, and originality.

In the 1850s, as Minnesota Territory was reaching toward statehood, settlers from the eastern United States moved in, carrying rigid perceptions of race... and culture into a community built by people of many backgrounds who relied on each other for survival. History professor William Green unearths the untold stories of African Americans and contrasts their experiences with those of Indians, mixed bloods, and Irish Catholics. He demonstrates how a government built on the ideals of liberty and equality denied the rights to vote, run for office, and serve on a jury to free men fully engaged in the lives of their respective communities.

Voted one of 1997 Books of the Year! Christians feel increasingly useless, argues Rodney Clapp, not because we have nothing to offer a post-Christian... society, but because we are trying to serve as "sponsoring chaplains" to a civilization that no longer sees Christianity as necessary to its existence. In our individualistic, technologically oriented, consumer-based culture, Christianity has become largely irrelevant. The solution is not to sentimentally capitulate to the way things are. Nor is it to retrench in an effort to regain power and influence as the sponsor of Western civilization. What is needed is for Christians to reclaim our heritage as a peculiar people, as unapologetic followers of the Way. Within the larger pluralistic world, we need to become a sanctified, subversive culture that develops Christian community as a truly alternative way of life. Christians must learn to live the story and not just to restate it. Writing inclusively with considerable verve, Clapp offers a keen analysis of the church and its ministry as we face a new millennium.

… one of the most important books for American teachers. . . . If you teach, read it on one of the days when you want to quit. You'll either keep... teaching or quit with a clearer head. Democratic Schools Highly recommended. . . . Written in a rather interesting manner--primarily as a conversation--this book serves nicely as an informal yet rigorous treatment of critical pedagogy. There is a satisfactory blend of theoretical investigation and practical personal anecdote. . . . The text is well researched. Choice

In this state of the art study, Kenneth J. Archer provides the most detailed and comprehensive analysis of Pentecostal Hermeneutics to date. Archer... identifies the hermeneutical filter through which the Pentecostal story and identity is understood and meaning is made, with specific attention given to the Central Narrative Convictions of the Pentecostal Community. The model here proposed builds upon the tridactic negotiation for meaning that draws upon the biblical text, the Pentecostal community, and the role of the Holy Spirit. Archer offers a significant paradigm for all those interested in the topic of Pentecostal hermeneutics and its significance for contemporary belief and practice. 'Archer has provided . . . an insightful proposal for the kind of Pentecostal hermeneutic that is appropriate to our contemporary context.' (R. Bauckham, Prof of NT, Univ of St Andrew's, UK).

In this widely acclaimed book that will long remain an indispensable work on American religion and the Catholic Church, one of its most influential... laymen in the United States says that the Roman Catholic Church in America must either reform profoundly or lapse into irreversible decline. In addition to providing a spiritual identity for over 60 million Americans, the church is the nation's largest nongovernmental provider of education and social services, as well as the largest not-for-profit provider of health care. But even before the recent revelations about sex abuse by priests, American Catholicism was already heading for a major crisis, with its traditional leadership depleted by the decline in religious vocations and paralyzed by "theological gridlock." Catholicism in the United States confronts hard choices among contrasting visions for the future, choices with huge implications for American life. Analyzing these choices in ways that escape all the familiar labels of conservative or liberal, Steinfels points to the directions the church must take to survive.

A PEOPLE AND A NATION is a best-selling text offering a spirited narrative that tells the stories of all people in the United States. The authors'... attention to race and racial identity and their inclusion of everyday people and popular culture brings history to life, engaging readers and encouraging them to imagine what life was really like in the past.

The Brief Edition of A PEOPLE AND A NATION offers a succinct and spirited narrative that tells the stories of all people in the United States. The... authors' attention to race and racial identity and their inclusion of everyday people and popular culture brings history to life, engaging readers and encouraging them to imagine what life was really like in the past.

The Brief Edition of A PEOPLE AND A NATION offers a succinct and spirited narrative that tells the stories of all people in the United States. The... authors' attention to race and racial identity and their inclusion of everyday people and popular culture brings history to life, engaging readers and encouraging them to imagine what life was really like in the past.

The Brief Edition of A PEOPLE AND A NATION offers a succinct and spirited narrative that tells the stories of all people in the United States. The... authors' attention to race and racial identity and their inclusion of everyday people and popular culture brings history to life, engaging readers and encouraging them to imagine what life was really like in the past.