Neil Mercer

Merton' autobiography of faith is a good story but it is really slow for the first half of the book. It begins getting interesting once Merton enters graduate school and he has his first encounter with pre WWII communism. When communism and graduate school does not satisfy Merton's spiritual/intellectual quest he begins to look towards the Catholic Church. An intriguing section towards the end of the book has to do with Merton's involvement with the friendship club in Harlem before America joins WWII.

This is a fun book to read but overall it could use a fair amount of work. The action sequences are fun and the character development is decent. The area's that need the most improvement are the motivations of the characters and the movement of the plot.

During this horrendous election cycle I have become angry, depressed, and struggled with the racism in this country. In my despair I sought out a teacher who knew what it meant to suffer and respond to a horrible situation in a honorable way. After reading this book I have learned more about MLK Jr. than any history class. MLK Jr. had an abundance of grace and truly walked the talk. This book should be read by everyone to showcase the life of a true Christian.

This is a great introduction to using the BUGS software with a plethora of examples but only does ok as an introduction to Bayesian Analysis. I would recommend picking up an introduction to Bayes, if you are not a Bayesian, to read along with this book.

I learned SAS from this book when I got my first SAS programming job. By using this book I quickly became a quality Data Analyst that was contributing to the company. Skim, study, read and practice the skills in this book and you will have very strong SAS skills.