My humble thoughts about this book, if you would allow me. RAP POETRY, "the next level" is a bold, exciting, fun to read fiction book. Saying that, I must add that this book is based on my life, my deeds, my thoughts, and most of all, the experience life has given me; so to say it is all fiction would be very far from the truth. I can probably pinpoint a situation in my life for every poem in this book and I believe my readers will also be able to, but this is not my intention for writing this letter. Traditionally poetry has not been the most successful form of writing when it comes to a healthy income, at least this is what I have been told, hopefully I'm wrong and you the publisher will prove there is no truth in this theory. I think this book Rap poetry "the next level" can be a great success, it's a bold, exciting and fun book to read, but what is even more important is that it will appeal to both young and old, something that most poets have not been able to do, and if they have I personally haven't seen their work. I have read poetry throughout my life and I have enjoyed it, at least sometimes, but to be quite honest if I was a teenager and entered a book store and happened to pick up a book with poems it would not keep my interest for more than two minutes. I only make this comment because I myself went searching for poetry simply to get some idea of how youths today respond to, or more so, what appeals to youths today in poetry. Not only was I un-captivated by any present material but I could not find one young person that had any interest in poetry, maybe I did not search far enough, personally I think this is sad. Rap poetry "the next level" is a bold step, but I believe itis as it says, The Next Level in rap and it dares any one who reads it too make it their own. I could have gone to a studio, put music to my lyrics, make them into songs as I have been advised to do on more than one occasion and who knows, maybe it will turn out that this is what I should have done. You see my goal, my aim, is to prove that people of all ages still do contrary to popular belief can see the beauty in lyrics of a poem before it becomes a hit song, that they do have an imagination and some sort or vision. The truth of it is, a song, and even more so a good song is one where music complements good lyrics to create something beautiful, but unfortunately writers are straying away from good lyrics to simply good rhythms and beats. I guess to each his own. Thank you in advance for taking time to read my book and my comments.

This fifth and final volume in an award-winning series charts the remarkable inner history of our times from the tumult of World War I to the present day, when personal identity was released from its moorings in gender, family, social class, religion, politics, and nationality. Nine brilliant and bold historians present a dynamic picture of cultures in transition and in the process scrutinize a myriad of subjects-the sacrament of confession, volunteer hotlines, Nazi policies toward the family, the baby boom, evolving sexuality, the history of contraception, and ever-changing dress codes. They draw upon many unexpected sources, including divorce hearing transcripts, personal ads, and little-known demographic and consumer data. Perhaps the most notable pattern to emerge is a polarizing of public and private realms. Productive labor shifts from the home to an impersonal public setting. Salaried or corporate employment replaces many independent, entrepreneurial jobs, and workers of all kinds aggressively pursue their leisure time-coffee and lunch breaks, weekends, vacations. Zoning laws segregate industrial and commercial areas from residential neighborhoods, which are no longer a supportive "theater" of benign surveillance, gossip, and mutual concern, but an assemblage of aloof and anonymous individuals or families. Scattered with personal possessions and appliances, homes grow large by yesterday's standards and are marked by elaborate spatial subdivisions; privacy is now possible even among one's own family. Men and women are obsessed with health, fitness, diet, and appearance as the body becomes the focal point of personal identity. Mirrors, once a rarity, are ubiquitous. In the search for sexual and individualistic fulfillment, romantic love becomes the foundation of marriage. Couples marry at an older age; families are smaller. The divorce rate rises, and with it the number of single-parent households. Women, entering the workforce in unprecedented numbers, frequently function as both breadwinner and homemaker. The authors interrelate these dramatic patterns with the changing roles of state and religion in family matters, the socialization of education and elder care, the growth of feminism, the impact of media on private life, and the nature of secrecy. Comprehensive and astute, Riddles of Identity in Modern Times chronicles a period when the differentiation of life into public and private realms, once a luxury of the wealthy, gradually spread throughout the population. For better or worse, people can now be alone. This fifth volume, differing significantly from the French edition, portrays Italian, German, and American family life in the twentieth century. The authors of these additional chapters-Chiara Saraceno, Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann, and Elaine Tyler May-enlarge and enhance the already broad European and Atlantic canvas that depicts the modern identity.