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Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant and lucid poetic rendering; _not_ a "translation"
Review: Rabbi Rami Shapiro, liturgical poet extraordinaire, here provides a marvelously lucid poetic rendering of Pirke Avot in the style of, e.g., Stephen Mitchell's _Tao Te Ching_.I must disagree, however, with the reviewers who have called Rabbi Shapiro's work a _translation_. It is not, and he himself recommends (in the book's equally lucid preface) that it be read in conjunction with -- _not_ as a replacement for -- a more conventional translation. Like Mitchell's _Tao Te Ching_, this work is an interpretive rendering -- or, as its subtitle indicates, a "modern reading." And a very good one it is; Rabbi Shapiro is one of today's most responsible and insightful liberal-Jewish commentators on traditional Jewish texts. But _do not_ mistake this work for a "translation." If you're looking for one, try Rabbi Jacob Neusner's _Torah From Our Sages_.
Rating: 
Summary: Great bones, not enough flesh
Review: Shapiro's "interpretation" of Pirke Avot is really a translation -- a lovely one, perhaps, but unadorned with analysis or commentary beyond the poetry of the words. And truly, these words are meant to be more useful than poetic, so unless you're simply looking for a modern translation of this ancient text, you'd do best to find another edition.
Rating:
Summary: Spiritual without being religious
Review: This is wisdom that applies to each of us, no matter our background or beliefs. Rabbi Rami makes it clear and -- wisely -- allows us to see ourselves in this practical and pragmatic collection. I return to it often.
Rating:
Summary: Spiritual without being religious
Review: This is wisdom that applies to each of us, no matter our background or beliefs. Rabbi Rami makes it clear and -- wisely -- allows us to see ourselves in this practical and pragmatic collection. I return to it often.
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