Book Reviews 269 In addition to his valuing of play in itself, Rahner makes several passing remarks concerning the creative facets of games in particular and leisure in general. Through an interesting use of the biblical exhortation to "become as a little child" he illustrates the creative nature of the child while "playing house" or "playing paper dolls." Rahner underscores the value of this sort of creativity, a fact which is echoed by Betty Yorburg in The Changing Family and Arlene Jerome Skolnick in The Family in Transition. A final point of interest is Rahner's discussion of play as a window on the true nature of reality. His discussion recalls Nietzsche especially in the use of such terms as "joyful philosophy" and "the spirit of gravity." Most intriguing is Rahner's construction of the "grave-merry man" as the ideal and his observation that only the playful can truly be serious about life. Man at Play is , as Rahner notes, essentially a theologica ludens. Despite the difficulties which his Catholic perspective present to the sociological reader, Rahner's efforts to establish play as an entity in itself rather than a residual category defined by work are important. Without this kind of philosophical groundwork, any real theoretical work in leisure is impossible CALVIN B. PETERS, Department of Sociology, Gordon College. Philadelphia: Lea and Febiger, 1973.333 pp. "Urban recreation planning is a process that relates people to leisure time and space." Professor Gold's introductory sentence also serves as an apt introduction to this review,...