out that we must be careful not to think that mysticism explains the significance of the rebirth of spring. Instead, the reality of the earth's awakening as an expression of the divine. The second chapter, The Cordovan Woman, describes the virtues, mundane and spiritual, of the women of Andalusia. In a humorous style, Valera details the characteristics of vigilance, tidiness, care, painstaking economy, delicate spiritualism, and devotion to family of this regional character. In the third article, A Bit of Chrematistics, Valera's purpose is to discuss the influence that money exercises over the individual soul and the collective culture. His subject is not political economy, but rather moral philosophy. Valera discusses Women Writers in Spain and Praise of Saint Theresa in the fourth presentation. He argues that women writers naturally have different perspectives from male writers. However, as with Saint Theresa, they are as capable as men in explaining the enduring human mind's connection with the divine, a realm more immense than the infinite ether. My favorite article is, On Goethe's Faust, a scholarly treatise on the great poetic work. Valera shows us that the mind's artistic/scientific reason precedes action and endures even after moral transgressions. It makes human beings superior to the powers of the devil and is essential to approaching the divine. Faust's pact with Mephistopheles is only the first step in the character's enlightenment that leads to his ultimate understanding of the divine. Valera's last presentation in the collection, On Shakespeare, examines the translation of the poet's