A STAIRCASE VIEW: FAITH IN AMERICA is a collection of essays in culture criticism, centering on the need for a rebirth of faith in our nation, belief in America itself, its essentially Judeo-Christian and republican heritage. There is also the sense of an objective look back, from the perspective of older years, at the status of faith and/or culture in -within-our country in the modern era.

This book is an attempt to present a new, integral approach to French literature. Acknowledging his debts to numerous post-Hegelian philosophers or psychologists and modern critics, Professor Cohn offers a lucid and swift-paced account of an original view of literature which bears particular kinship to the artistic visions of Joyce, Mallarme, and Proust.In Part I the creative temperament is defined in terms of a subtly recognizable rhythm of human nature which appears in varying forms or "syncopations." In Part II the evolution of the rhythm is followed through changing themes, images, styles, and genres from the earliest known native origins to the crowning work of the Symbolists.Parts I and II together constitute a method, the purpose of which is to maintain, as tactfully as possible, a sense of direction as we move through the complexities of lively art. The method is brought to bear on extensive texts in Part III, with closely detailed studies of Rimbaud and Proust. These individual studies are offered' as examples; more are promised in subsequent volumes.In addition, the present state of criticism is discussed in an Introduction; lengthy appendices are devoted to some important modes of lyric poetry and the author's "precritical," or epistemological, concepts; and a briefer appendix takes up the idea of Progress in Art. The Writer's Way in France is a work of unusual perception, of great importance to all students of literature who are interested in fresh ideas and methods.

THE SECRETS TO CAPITALIZING ON THE COMMODITIES BOOM

In the mid-1970s, when Bob Greer scrolled through miles of microfilm in the basement of a public library in order to record commodity prices in his yellow legal pad, the idea of commodities being an investable asset class was way outside the mainstream. Now, it's a multibilliondollar vehicle for achieving portfolio diversification and inflation hedging--and he and his colleagues have written the book on earning better returns than the indexes themselves

In "Intelligent Commodity Indexing," Bob joins his fellow leaders of PIMCO's Commodity Practice, Nic Johnson and Mihir Worah, in opening up commodity indexes. Never before has there been a more thorough explanation of how a commodity index works coupled with a powerful set of strategies for making it work for you. Inside, you'll find the most up-to-date tools and time-proven best practices for earning "structural alpha" by capitalizing on recurring risk and liquidity premiums in the commodities markets. It offers the right amount of history and theory to reinforce cuttingedge techniques for: Interpreting how seasonal effects change risk premia Choosing the most profitable market for specific commodity exposure Using intelligent commodity indexing to collect risk premiums in the options market Maximizing roll yield in order to increase long-term returns Managing risk, including specific frameworks and systems

Investors gain a superior advantage with this book's coverage of the nuts-and-bolts workings of various markets.

Praise for "Intelligent Commodity Indexing"

""A seminal work on an asset class that has grown in importance within institutional portfolios. The authors offer considerable insight to this complex asset class and provide investors with a thorough examination of the drivers of risk and return."" -- Julia K. Bonafede, CFA, President of Wilshire Consulting

""This is an excellent guide for professional investors to successful investing in commodity indexes."" -- Blythe Masters, Head of Global Commodities, JP Morgan

""A manual written by successful practitioners for intelligent commodity investors. An excellent guide which explains how this asset class complements and interacts with other investments."" -- Alan H. Van Noord, CFA, Chief Investment Officer, Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System

""Commodities are invaluable tools for investors wishing to benefit from diversification and inflation hedging. For such an investor, this is the authoritative source to all you need to know about commodity indexing."" -- Mark Makepeace, Chief Executive, FTSE Group

""Greer, Johnson, and Worah simply explain the critical drivers to commodity index returns that have provided the main historical benefits of diversification and inflation protection. Every commodity index investor, or hopeful investor, should read this book and use it as a guide for evaluating the relevant index characteristics for benchmarking and investing, especially given recent industry innovations."" -- Jodie Gunzberg, CFA, Director-Commodities, S&P Indexes

The standard work on Rimbaud returns to print In this proven study on Arthur Rimbaud, the world's leading authority on Stephane Mallarme provides a guide to the understanding and appreciation of Rimbaud's entire poetic oeuvre. Robert Greer Cohn begins with an outline of the poet's life, focusing particularly on a childhood and adolescence that produced astoundingly original and frequently exquisite works, the whole body of poetry by a writer who ended his literary creation in his twentieth year. Cohn's analysis, combined with a substantial introduction, weaves together the known biographical facts with major clues from the poems to present a coherent portrait of the inner and outwardly imaged world of the young poet. Cohn draws on nondoctrinaire and open-minded approaches of modern depth psychology and philosophy and, most particularly, on the dazzlingly integral cosmic vision of Mallarme. The resulting unified view affords insights into the meaning of many difficult passages, especially in the most hermetic and resistant of the Illuminations. Cohn also reveals the early poems, which heretofore received little attention, to be rich in poetic humanity. He suggests that the seeds of Rimbaud's later development lie in these early poems, which provide convincing paths into subsequent complexities.