Books with author Will James

Loping through a book by Will James is the next best thing to being there. Born in a covered wagon near Great Falls, Montana, and an orphan at the age of three, James was adopted by a French Canadian trapper and prospector. With no formal schooling or lessons in drawing, "he was a cowboy until a bucking horse threw him into writing," as Time magazine once said of him. He looked more like an Irish scholar than a cowpuncher, but he wrote as he talked...in a natural, easy-going way. This book contains 15 memorable stories.

Several of William James' finest essays are brought together in this edition, including his spiritual masterwork The Will to Believe, and a famous lecture concerning immortality. The Will to Believe was first delivered as a lengthy lecture by William James in 1896. Following a strong reception, it was later published as a distinct book in its own right. Setting out to defend the right of individuals to be religious irrespective of pure logic and reason, the lecture highlights many of the proven advantages conferred by the belief in a guiding divine force. The benefits of belief to the believer are thus noted. James deftly cites many real life examples to prove his points - noting that many tasks or duties require confidence, he notes how individuals can perform and surmount difficulties if they believe in the divine. For such persons to abandon faith would therefore be irrational, as their religious beliefs have helped them in life. This argument is closely aligned with James' personal philosophical alignment with pragmatism. The Will to Believe also contains arguments in favor of persons having their own free will. James contested simply that as he believed in his own free will, he had it. As well as this, we hear several philosophical arguments in which James discusses the merits of empiricism versus absolutism. Other essays in this compendium include 'Is Life Worth Living?' and 'The Dilemma of Determinism'. In these and other writings, James demonstrates a superb command of philosophical principles and theoretical daring, at various times explaining and refuting established discussions on the subjects. The final essay in this edition, Human Immortality, sees James object to the notion that humans cannot be immortal if their bodies and minds are separated due to death. He objects to the assertion that human thought is concluded if the brain ceases to function, noting that human consciousness exists with the world and may philosophically have a life of its own. Notable for both his psychological and philosophical ideas, William James would author numerous lectures and books surrounding both subjects. The importance of spiritualism to the human being, the permanence of the spirit, and its effects on the thought processes, is but one area in which James distinguished himself.

Three years ago Jack Campbell separated from his wife. His daughter, Maggie, wrote him a letter expressing her anger and disappointment. She was 27 then, a finance professional, and maybe should have known better than to take sides in such a private matter, maybe not. Either way, they hadn’t spoken since, and her letter lay there beneath their relationship.Now, three years later, with the stress of work and difficulties in her personal relationships, Maggie Campbell goes in search of her father, a search that takes her to Positano on the romantic Italian Amalfi Coast, a picturesque town where anything can happen. What she finds in Positano might just change her life if she doesn’t leave it all behind to return to the comfortable safety of the life she already knows, fearful of the changes that can come from chance decisions. Finding Positano is a charming story of love, reconciliation and possibility.