Word: devil
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...real problem is simply that Nichols seems confused about his own goals. He wants to examine the many major issues facing the church, and how it must react, but he seems reluctant to provide the sort of tough devil's advocacy that such an investigation demands. The result is a book of pulled punches. The book's title comes from Stalin's famous reply, when told of the pope's likely opposition to a Soviet move: "How many divisions has the pope?" With a bit of clever wordplay, Nichols seems intent on making it mean not only the pope...
...10th century, cats were established as mousers. The Welsh defined the legal worth of cats: a seasoned mouser, astonishingly enough, brought four pennies, about the worth of a lamb. By the 17th century, however, the devil, unwelcome and omnipresent, had been doing his worst through the feline. In 1699, for instance, at the Swedish town of Mora, 300 children were accused of employing demon cats to steal butter, cheese and bacon. Fifteen of the children were killed, and every Sunday for a year, 36 were whipped before the church doors. By the mid-18th century, the cat was back...
...such strained spots fade from importance next to the sensitive insight Domini nurtures in this impossible landscape. The devil narrator's most telling lines hide in throwaways, with the pretended unconsciousness increasing their force. "The one concrete proof of our changed relationship," he offers timidly, "...if indeed it is concrete proof, if indeed it was a changed relationship--is that Miplip and I became lovers." And when the "relationship" turns painful, "every single time I wondered if I could possibly survive (though how I got the idea that there is anything besides survival, I cannot imagine...
Like many other dealers, Steinberg started as a pot smoker in his home town (Carpentersville, Ill., pop. 23,000), trying to finance his recreational use. The business seemed so easy that it just grew. Throughout their perilous escapades, Stein berg and friends remained calm, peaceful, fun-loving, devil-may-care. They never used force. If an aide was kidnaped, they paid the ransom. If a distributor burned them on a payoff, they simply did not deal with him again. Their mothers, aunts, wives, girlfriends were recruited to rent safe houses in Miami suburbs for storing drugs or to ride along...
What insane lawyer would take such a devil of a case? The sisters find him in an Ole Miss grad (Peter MacNicol) who was smitten with Babe when she once served him pound cake at a church bazaar. Besides, he relishes "personal vendettas...