In this presentation the Continuum Shell Model (CSM) approach is advertised as a powerful theoretical tool for studying physics of unstable nuclei. The approach is illustrated using 17 O as an example, which is followed by a brief presentation of the general CSM formalism. The successes of the CSM are highlighted and references are provided throughout the text. As an example, the CSM is applied perturbatively to 20 O allowing one to explore the effects of continuum on positions of weakly bound states and low-lying resonances, as well as to discern some effects of threshold discontinuity. An isolated quantum system is a convenient theoretical idealization, but with limited validity. In nuclear physics, recent observations of loosely bound nuclei, questions of stability of nuclear matter, and interest in the evolution of elements in the universe -all need this convenient idealization to be abandoned. Building a new theory that seamlessly spans form reaction physics to the idealized limit of closed systems is a theoretical challenge. Our goal in this presentation is to highlight a Continuum Shell Model approach [1] which is one among many theoretical strategies confronting this challenge. The method takes its roots from the Feshbach projection formalism [2, 3] and allows one to express the exact dynamics in the full Hilbert space with the one provided by an effective Hamiltonian in the intrinsic subspace of interest, Q :Here, threshold energy E thr. = 0 is the lower bound of the continuum spectrum. If E > E thr. then integral (2) has a pole that has to be avoided in the complex energy plane by separating the principal 1