4 comments about Smuggler's Blues: The Saga of a Marijuana Importer.

1. SB is an excellent fast paced read-unusual in that it was not written from a jail cell like so many books of this genre. I found the author to be credible in his story and insightful in his views. Highly recommended.



2. Lance says: exciting - great customs scam - interesting characters - thought provoking [the horrors of prison life - would you loose your soul to kill someone?]- tells you what it was like to be young, wealthy and exploring the drug scene in a tropical paradise. I couldn't put it down! Hope you write more!



3. Yes, when a book cover has a dark shadowy picture of palm leaves and an old plane anchored in a lagoon you just know you're in for a real thriller. Not in this case.
   This may not be the worst book I've ever "almost" read (half way through I skipped to the last chapter to see if it had a decent ending - it didn't) but it's way up near the top.
   Poorly written drivel about the author's "buddies" but very little about the smuggling business. No excitement, no French Connection, nothing but blah, blah, and more blah.
   This dolt makes the most aggregeous error any author can make. He wrote a book that is just plain DULL.
   Please don't waste your money on this one. Let it rest in peace. It deserves a decent burial, but that's all.



4. When I read the only review this book got, I tend to wonder if it wasn't written by the author of the other book with the same title. Personaly,I enjoyed this book. I found it well written and a page turner.Don't hesitate to buy this book. You won't regret it!

5 comments about If I Knew Then.

1. Haven't bought this book and I'm so glad. After seeing the video interview of her and her video with her husband. This makes me sick. To think that she's all in it for money is it. I recommend you don't spend a dime on her.



2. I know, this book had trash written all over it, and, it was.
   Amy is not an author.
   Her story, however, reinforced my beliefs about men being liars.



3. I really wanted to like this book. After reading it, all I feel is ripped off.
   
   I actually thought there would be some introspection from Amy now that she's passed the 30-years-old mark, but in reading this I got the distinct impression that she still wants us to picture her as a little-girl victim, because she still sees herself that way, as evidenced in this lazy, sloppily written book.
   
   She pays lip service to the "horrible" thing she did when she shot someone in cold blood, but it just sounds like lip service. She'd never be a "journalist" today if not for her notoriety.
   
   I take no sides in the Fisher/Buttafuoco affair, but I wish Fisher had given us something with a little more substance. I wonder whether she's capable of that. If this book is any indication, she has a long way to go.
   
   But I did come away with renewed admiration for her mother and for Mary Jo Buttafuoco.



4. Not that well written. Some of it was more than a little hard to believe.
   Would not have bought for myself.



5. I never got this item because it turned out to be out of stock. I did get a very prompt refund from the seller, and am still shopping for the item.

5 comments about Oswald's Tale: An American Mystery.

1. At almost 800 pages, Tale is weighed down with endless detail. Still much of the detail is fascinating in itself, such as the KGB's procedure in following Oswald in Russia. Mailer actually got the reports of KGB agents following Oswald. Mailer put incredible effort into retracing Oswald's travels in Russia, New Orleans, Mexico and Texas and speaking to dozens of people who had contact with him. Mailer quotes numerous other writers. Only the last hundred pages got down to the action. His account of whodunit and why is necessarily speculative, but I don't know of a more credible one.



2. Long as it was I regretted reaching the end of this book. Oswald's Tale purports to be a work of fiction. In fact, it impossible not to appreciate the wealth of research and analysis that informs the pages of this dense text. It becomes increasingly clear that Oswald very likely acted alone. Indeed, this is only a question because of the tributaries of zealots that seemed to work on the fringes of formal organizations, including the FBI and the MAFIA and so on. Yet, Oswald very likely acted independently; it would have been practically impossible for any one organization to control him. The novel Libra had it very nearly correct with its assessment that, had Oswald be chosen, it would very likely have been because he could have been depended upon to miss his target, or otherwise bungle the job. No one but Oswald propeled himself onto to the stage of Cold War history. In Oswald's world, his sense of destiny was confirmed by the chance occurrence of being employed in the Texas Book Depository in Dallas, stationed along the very route that President Kennedy's motorcade took that day in November. In addition to the quality of the writing and analysis, the book is to be commended for focusing so intently on Oswald's marriage to Marina, and the relationship he had with his mother, Margueritte. Like so many tragedies, one is all too easily reminded of Shakespeare's Richard, "my kingdom for a horse." Had Cuba provided Oswad a visa enabling him, ultimately to return to the Soviet Union he had already abandoned, history might well have taken a different course. Instead, Oswald's dyslexia, his sense of greatness, his determination and his lack of abilities in so many areas coupled with his gifts in others: all conspired, with chance playing its part, to place Oswald in the book depository from which he assasinated President Kennedy and subsequently murdered Dallas PD Officer Tippit.



3. Although an earlier reviewer gave OSWALD'S TALE a withering assessment, I couldn't possibly be quite that uncivil myself, as aggravated as I am. For, the book does serve history by providing much new background information on Lee Harvey Oswald. But I must agree with that reviewer in principal. I have not seen a book that more personifies the classic "2 plus 2 equals 7" logic warp. OSWALD'S TALE seems to set forth most of the facts, repeatedly flirt with and caress the truth, then suddenly to disregard it in favor of twaddle. A good example is Mr. Mailer's omission of the dictation belt discovered in the 1970s in Dallas. The belt contained a sound recording of the assassination recorded over the air as a result of a jammed "transmit" button on a police motorcycle radio. Analysis of the recording by the House Select Committee on Assassinations in 1978-9 revealed that two shots were fired almost simultaneously. An obvious impossibility with a bolt action rifle, this shattered forever the fairytale of a lone assassin. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle coined a phrase many years ago, "profound and ineffable twaddle", which well sums up the illogic of OSWALD'S TALE. Brimming with massive and impressive information, but arriving at conclusions that are an utter nonsequitor, OSWALD'S TALE is very reminiscent of the original Warren Commission Report. Unfortunately for Mr. Mailer, the Warren Commission's thesis has long been discredited and relegated to the category of claptrap. Amazingly, so many reviewers have been overwhelmed by the quantity of information in OSWALD'S TALE, but are oblivious to the book's total failure to make anything of the information. It looks very much as if Mr. Mailer is either daft or has quixotically written yet another book to try to prop up the long-collapsed thesis of the Warren Commission, and in the process comes across as having compromised himself totally. Such a book seems particularly strange coming from someone who used to seem like such a radical and champion of the truth in the 60s. Mr. Mailer remarked in the book that "Jack Ruby buggers reasonable comprehension". However in the end, OSWALD'S TALE itself buggers the truth...



4. Norman Mailer's book does not resolve the question of the existence of a conspiracy in JFK's assassination (for that see The Man Who Knew Too Much by Dick Russell), but it does provide critical pieces of information about Oswald's psyche that help us assess the liklihood that Oswald was involved in the assassination. For that reason I highly recommend this book.
   
   Mailer provides interesting and frequently relevant detail about Oswald's life with Marina in Russia and their lives back in the US after they moved from Russia. The portrait that emerges of Oswald is one that is crucial to understanding what happened to JFK. Mailer provides convincing evidence that Oswald's activities were largely, if not completely, based on his own agenda and psychological makeup. It is highly unlikely that he was anyone's agent while living in Russia.
   
   Most important is the information about Oswald's desire to live in Cuba after his return to the US from Russia--this was his personal agenda in mid-1963. Mailer takes us that far. Dick Russell's The Man Who Knew Too Much fills in the missing pieces. Russell's book shows that this agenda of Oswald made him vulnerable to a ploy to enlist him in the conspiracy.
   
   Mailer's book on the psychological makeup of Oswald combined with Russell's book on how that makeup was manipulated solves the case.



5. This book is a piece of defecation.
   
   It is difficult to believe this long piece of bad luck came from the same mind that brought us "The Executioner's Song". Clearly those with a vested interest in hiding the truth have bought off Mailer, and he has been entrusted with the mission of creating an exhausting work of fiction.
   
   After drudging my way through this unfortunate slime I have lost all respect for Norman Mailer, and will never read another word he has written. The only thing that would be longer than this utterly pointless rant is the enormous mountain of known facts he must ignore to come to these delusional conclusions.
   
   Out of a possible 5 stars, this book owes the scale 3. Wretched.

5 comments about The Holy Thief: A Con Man's Journey from Darkness to Light.

1. This book is amazing. The story told is absolutely incredible, but not nearly as amazing as the man who's life is being told. He truly is The Holy Thief and I am blessed to be able to call him my Daddy! He is living proof that miracles do happen!!!!



2. One of the most remarkable stories I have read, as the other reviewers have noted, it is truly inspirational.
   Borovitz grew up in a warm family, but when his Dad died, his world fell apart. Unfortunately, he was also somewhat influenced by an Uncle who was, in reality, a Jewish mobster. Rootless, Borovitz quickly gravitated to a criminal lifestyle, undertaking increasingly more serious criminal acts. Eventually, he is forced to move from Cleveland, his birthplace, to Los Angeles. Once there, he continues his cons, and eventually lands in prison.
   This memoir is well-written. In particular, it describes that one important constant that Borovitz had in his life while growing up was Judaism. His going to Synagogue, the family holiday gatherings - all are described so that the reader feels the deep reverance that Borovitz had, despite his criminal life, for his religion.
   He also writes so well concerning his Change - when he began to turn away from his life of crime, and toward something far more worthy of his abilities - that of Jewish spirituality. I especially commend his description of how this took place; other authors who have undergone similar "revelations" often depict it as sudden and earth-shaking, and that from that 'moment on' each was immediately transfored from a
   low-life loser to a 'saint'! Thankfully, and far more realistically, in my opinion, Borovitz explains that he was changing, but that it was gradual.
   After his transformation, Borovitz completed college and then Rabbinical School. Realistically he hesitated even applying, declaring that they would not accept an ex-con gonif (thief) into their program. However, with the support of his friends, and the fact that G-d often works in mysterious ways, he was accepted with open arms.
   Today he is a Rabbi for a community of people who were like him once, but also like him, are committing to changing their lives.
   If you ever feel like cons, addicts, etc., can't transform their lives - just pick up this book. You will be amazed.



3. Next to the word inspiration in the dictionary should be a picture of Rabbi Mark Borovitz. This is the story of a man whom God chose to send to the deep valley of dispair and addiction so that he would have the experience and wisdom to encourage others to turn their lives around.
   Anyone in trouble or who knows someone in trouble should read(no-devour) this book.



4. Like another reviewer, I don't typically take the time to write a review of books I read. As the wife of an inmate who is changing his life for the better while incarcerated, I seek out inspirational stories of people who have hit rock bottom and have used that experience to reach out to others. I read a short review of this story in Reader's Digest and decided to seek it out.
   I read it cover to cover in a Saturday afternoon. The author is so frank, honest, and REAL. His story gives me hope for my husband's future, and proves that good can come after a life of mistakes.



5. I never take time to post reviews about books, but I had to comment on this one. I couldn't put this book down. I was especially moved by Rabbi Borovitz's definition of love, which you'll have to wait until near the end to discover. But it's so worth the wait. What an amazing story!

1 comments about Motorcycle Mania 3: Jesse James Rides.

1. In this hardcover picture book Jesse James goes somewhere to perfect his skills with copper, then he gets back to work on his Copper Chopper. Kid Rock gets his own softail WCC bike built at about the same time at Jesse's place and the two set off on a road trip to Mexico. That's about it. Lots of cool pictures which you'll like if you're into choppers and the whole Jesse James/WCC thing. Only problem with this book is that it has ALL the text right at the beginning followed by ALL the pics. A little frustrating having to read and then flip forward to look at the pics which were referred to in the text earlier. Other than that it's not really as interesting to read as "I am Jesse James", IMHO. Still, worth checking out if you're a fan.

5 comments about Sins and Needles: A Story of Spiritual Mending.

1. I enjoyed this book because it is a story about real life. It is an unexpected and very atypical story about a person whose life is, for some time, dictated by the disease of addiction. It was a difficult book to put down because the story is compelling and so human.
   
   It is likely that the negative reviews of this book stem from an inability of the reviewer to appreciate the struggle of addicts and the people in their lives and/or an intolerance for folks who write that aren't "writers". Materson is an outsider artist and this book, like his art, lack pretense. It's a great story.



2. Ray Materson was born with the gift of being an artist- a person highly sensitive to pain and to pleasure who could convey these feelings to others. Even when locked up in a jail cell, with nothing to work with, he created his own materials- ironically one of them being a needle (a paraphernalia of the drug trade) and sock threads to create incredible stunning detailed works of depth and beauty of a definite style, snapshots of memory overflowing with feeling. Fortunately an appreciator, who was to become his soulmate and wife, came along and tells his life story with its suffering and its pleasures.
   The glossy pages show the embroideries at their very best. This book is a MUST read for all interested in art as a whole, particularly in embroidery, "Outsider Art", "Raw Art", in teaching, and in realizing how important artistic expression is and how important it is to be there for others as an Appreciator.



3. My good sense tells me that writing this book made the Matersons feel better about themselves. My mind tells me to thank God I never went the way of abuse or criminal activity. My experience tells me we all have a life story to tell. Reading this book showed me most of us do not tell our story to make money or a movie. If the Matersons want money and fame here's some advice: try fiction or learn how to write without being so self-serving.



4. I thought that this book was very well written and quite captivating in that I never put it down until all was read. A peek into a personal life can be very educational and enlightening and I truly believe that this book has helped me to better understand lifes many possible ups and downs and just how important both freedom and love are in a persons life. I very much look forward to the next book by the Matersons and hope that it is soon! I wish them the best in their new life and a hearty pat on the back is in order!



5. The book and the art pictured in the book are overpriced. It's a good thing the Matersons can sell this art because their first attempt at book writing is disappointing. The moral of this story is that while it's good to save oneself from being a criminal others are just not that interested. I suppose the poor sales of the book are due to the fact that either a bad reputation will come back to haunt you or your karma will. Now, that's a high price to pay.

2 comments about The Thin Green Line: Outwitting Poachers, Smugglers, And Market Hunters.

1. This book is for anyone that enjoyes and cares about our American Wildlife. With little support from the government and even less cash,Terry Grosz and his officers performed miracles to catch all sorts of bad guys. Just how this was accomplished is what makes it so interesting. This book will leave you laughing, crying and angry enough to write to every official you can reach. Terry loved what he did and it shows in every paragraph.



2. Terry Grosz is my instructor, mentor and a dear Friend. "The Thin Green Line" is a "real life" book detailing the author's dedication to protecting our natural resources and his dedication to conservation agencies in general. Everyone of his books are a collection of an incredible man's service to fauna, flora and mankind. Do not miss a single one of his books!
   K. McCloud

5 comments about LETTERS FROM TEL MOND PRISON: An Israeli Settler Defends His Act of Terror.

1. The four published reviews of this book are rather biased and show that the reviewers did not internalize what the author wrote. They stand in stark contrast to the 7 personal reviews. I couldn't put this book down. In a very personal way the author and his real experiences embody the reality of the co-existence, or lack thereof, in judea and samaria today. Stangely enough, shortly after a friend insisted I read this book I have shared tea with Era in his home and with his neighbors in Turmis Aya that he descibes in the book and to independently hear them tell the same stories he tells in the book.
   This book should be required reading for anyone that wants to offer an opinion about the future of Samaria.



2. this book is intriging. it makes you wonder about the other side of the media. letters from tel mond prison is a book written by a man who lives his life with such pupose, meaning and honesty you wonder some times who you feel bad for - the "terrorist" or the "victim"



3. Era Rapaport effectively communicates the highs and lowes of being a settler in the land of Israel today. He is a modern day Zionist who gave up a life of comfort to face ridicule, persecution and imprisonment to stay true to his faith in the resettlement of Eretz Israel. I highly recommend this book to all who love Zion and believe in the restoration of Israel.



4. This book takes what has become a controvertial impersonal topic and turns it into a tale of the human spirit. Era was an the average American. He had the normal life, but he choose to follow the path G-d choose for him. His acts of desperation would be called terrorism by the media, but it is only after reading this book that one understands he was an everday guy defending his family. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in gaining a true first hand perspective of life in the West Bank.



5. Mr. Rapaport's book is one of the few honest accounts of life in Israel today. Unlike reporters who have very little understanding of the complexities of life in Israel, Mr. Rapaport lives in the heart of Israel, and has a great understanding of the problems his country encounters daily. You can't go wrong reading this book.

No comments about The First Vice Lord: Big Jim Colosimo and the Ladies of the Levee.

4 comments about Crossing Hoffa: A Teamster's Story.

1. A very riveting book that drips with a son's respect and admiration for his father's crusade for reform in a notorious and corrupt Teamster chapter. The author's father stands toe-to-toe with Hoffa and risks all.



2. Great reading as the author, with his litigation experience, puts the pieces togethet of the story so that all the facts are represented and the story flows. Even though I knew the outcome, I was still pulling for the dad to muscle out and be the victor against Mr. Hoffa. Besides the story about his father, what a wonderful way to remember your childhood thru the eyes of your father.



3. This is an extremely well-written book that will appeal to all! Harper's story of one man (the author's father) reminds us of what really matters in one's life - being true to who you are. In the telling of his father's intriguing story, the author illustrates to us that we need not be afraid of life's setbacks and obstacles for they can be used to build personal strength, character,and wisdom, and expand our empathy, acceptance and love of others. Harper's exceptional writing style results in one of those rare books that leaves you feeling like you were there -- "But by the grace of God go I...." And regardless of the dark places our life's journey might take us, it is never too late to leave our legacy --especially when it is built on on love and honor. A fascinating and moving true story --a must-read.



4. This is a very well written book that tells a compelling story of two men's lives and how they intersect. It has the feel of a good mystery novel and, even though the phrase is trite, really is hard to put down. The reader gets drawn into the story immediately and is carried along from page to page in anticipation of what will happen next. If you enjoy reading any subject matter at all, you'll enjoy this book.