5 comments about A Place to Stand: The Making of a Poet.

1. This book is Great. A must read true story--Great writing. You must buy this book, if you don't--your missing out on something Great!



2. Excellent service. This is avery haunting book. I attended one of his workshops in San Antonio. He is an outstanding poet. I am glad to have the opportunity to read this book.



3. I discovered JSBs work on the Modern American Poetry website. I loved the imagery and passion and redemption in his poem 'El Gato.' I cried. I have read a few of his collections and they are to poetry what Cormac McCarthy's works are to literature. I can't wait to get this book.



4. A Place To Stand, magnificent novel about the author, Jimmy Santiago Baca, and his career selling drugs, and prison. He talks about how he had to fight for his privileges to read. Then to write, all with the help of a nice old man named Harry. He also writes poems for other inmates for books. He tries to keep his rights and keep his life on track in prison.
   
   He talks about his mother dieing, which just thinking about telling strangers about that happening to my mother would kill me. He also has to deal with a lot of racism through the whole thing, from his mom, to the present day. This book will show you that no matter who you come from, or what, you can always know the best for your life, and do the best for your life.



5. I'm giving this book five stars, not because it is a literary masterpiece, but because it is a compelling memoir that I can't forget. I felt a gamut of emotions while reading this book, but for the most part I ached for Mr. Baca and the pain and anguish he suffered. I thank him for writing about his life so eloquently.

5 comments about Confessions of a Dope Dealer.

1. Kids will do these things. I did some, but as my dad said, "You had at least half the sense god gave celery." so I stopped when it got stupid and bizarre. Just kicked it. That whole Deadhead scene, all the concert thing - wasn't real. Bunch of people going nowhere, amusing themselves to death too literally. Oh, I liked the music, some of it.

   Thing is, that 15-21 are crucial years for forming character, patterns of action, belief systems and personality for most. Adolescence is hard enough. Taking massive amounts of hallucinogenic drugs during that time is going to have serious effects.

   Psychedelics can be useful. It's true what Norberg says about them at the end. But they can really weird people into orbit too. That includes some of those who researched them. Check out John Lilly, Mr. "Center of the Cyclone" did he turn into a blastoff boy or what? I've met and known well some of those Grof worked with or taught at some point. They vary a lot.

   Anyway - I know that kids will always be kids and do stupid things. It's their nature. This book is pretty accurate about what to expect.

   Me? Strangest thing for me was to love Mozart when I listened to it on LSD. Just wonderful.




2. Really great book, which made me laugh, cringe and think. It has been many years since my year of living dangerously at 17. I was less into mellowing agents than he, never liked pot or hash which dulled my mind too much. But I loved LSD, peyote and psylocibin. Yes, I did. Had some wonderful experiences from dying and becoming one with the light being-ness to seriously spicing up dinner and Christmas with my family. Quite a thing to see my heavy-duty dad get up from the table, hop and scream for joy at the ceiling from a pure contact high. I never dared to suggest we do it together, but we probably could have.

   I also had some stellar bad times that seared my soul, never to return to what I was before. I too wonder what I might have been. But I don't regret. No, I don't.

   Altogether it left me aching for the perfection of the wonder at the peak. The myth of Tantalus speaks fairly well for me. My life since has always been colored by the knowing that I can never slake that thirst, nor can I ever feel I may not drown someday should I try to drink of that spring or that I might not drown if I do not. As Maharaj Ji (Ram Dass' guru) said, LSD can take you to the room with god for a short time, but then you must leave.

   Reading his book, it is hard to imagine someone intentionally returning to the level of paranoia which he did, and which it seems so many others did also. My lord what dedication! That's one thing that got me. After my first 6 months, things got tres` weird and I didn't like that anxious feeling at all. I kept at it through habit, and because it can be so goddam FUN and profound, then just stopped when I left home on my motorcycle and never did it again.

   Psychedelics often massively inflate ones sense of self importance in a peculiar way, which Sheldon is honest enough to speak of in his book. Few former heads do. Most simply animate their inflation instead, making those around them subtly or not so subtly uneasy with them, particularly when they combine it with addle-pated notions. I have known, since my teens, quite a few who blew out on that course. I won't bore you with those I have known who didn't make it so well, some dead, some flipped, but they are there. I will say though, that far more people went down from unsafe sex, or stupid violence untouched by drugs, or from alcohol than from LSD or pot.

   I still meet people, 28 years later who want to trip with me. People still know, after all these years. They can sense it if they get close to me. I consider it once in a great while.

   Most of those I deal with now never have used such things and never will. They are, many of them, stellar people whom I respect greatly. But it is hard to never speak about such things, and I cannot do so with them usually.

   Good book, and an unusual one in this time. So, thanks to Mr. Norberg for writing it. A surprise, really worth reading.




3. Confessions is a worthwhile read for anyone interested themes of spiritual awareness, social acceptance, dysfunctional families, and the process of becoming a self-supporting adult. In 352 entertaining yet sometimes repetitive pages, Norberg describes in detail his journey from a gifted yet angry young man to a full-time drug dealer to a substance-free meditation practitioner. He loosely ties the phases of his life, beginning with early childhood, to seven principles of Chinese philosophy and medicine (wood, fire, earth, metal, water, and yin and yang). The autobiography then concludes with two short chapters written from the perspective of someone who has tested the limits of society and themselves and wishes to share their wisdom

   Confessions of a Dope Dealer is as much of a cautionary tale as it is a drug user's manual. The moral of this tale is that drugs are a seductive yet short-lived and harmful path to self-awareness. A great summer read for anyone with an open or curious mind.




4. This isn't normally the type of book that I choose to read, but after seeing the author's one-man theatrical performance of this autobiographical piece I decided to check it out. The book tells the story of a young man coming of age in the drug-culture of the late 70's and early 80's. The story is fun, engaging, and at times ultimately disturbing. At the end of the book the author reflects on his experiences, choices, and [mess] ups, and how they affected his life. It is not until the end that you get the impression that this book is meant to be a jumping-off point for discussion of our current drug-policy, and how it affects society as a whole. The author makes some keen observations, and I appreciate his approach to this discussion by bringing the subject matter into literary and theatrical formats. The one-man show is followed by a brief question and answer period which is a great way to spark a dialogue on this subject matter. Although some might perceive this book as a glorification of drug-dealing, it is ultimately an honest look at one man's experiences, one which left me with no illusions about the realities of this illicit profession.



5. I really enjoyed reading Confessions of a Dope Dealer. I picked it up and finished it in only two days. I had been looking for a good memoir about growing up as a drug dealer, and with a title like this, how could I go wrong? What I found was a curiously honest book about a young man growing up in the aftermath of the sixties, under the shadow of Raygunomics. A wonderfull read for anyone interested in dope, dealing, the Dead, or the eighties.

1 comments about THE GOTTI TAPES (Sammy the Bull Gravano).

1. This has been an excited experience by reading such great book. I concider there should be more books like that which inform and let people know about the truth involved in these events such as Gotti and Gravano connections.

5 comments about The Rose Man of Sing Sing: A True Tale of Life, Murder, and Redemption in the Age of Yellow Journalism.

1. Author James Morris has done his research well on his subject, newspaperman Charles Chapin. Chapin was a stern taskmaster with his employees in running the New York World. Chapin probably picked up on this attitude from an early editor named Fred Hall of the Chicago Tribune. Some called Hall a "slave driver" who was, as Chapin related, "a demon for hard work and a slave to his profession and intolerant toward shirkers." Author Morris follows Chapin's career through the years in detail. An interesting anecdote is related when Chapin was firing a reporter because he was, as Chapin said, "too sentimental for your own good." The reorter shot back at Chapin with, "True for you, Chapin! But when I die, there'll be a hell of a lot of people who will come to the funeral." Chapin winced at the verbal retort and turned white and spent considerable time contemplating the remark. Later in life when Chapin was in debt he felt it necessary to kill his wife to spare her of any future difficulties. Chapin felt he would receive the electric chair for his dastardly dark deed. Having been sentenced to Sing Sing prison he found himself the editor of the prison newspaper. It is finally on page 302 that we get to what the title of the book is all about, namely Chapin and his flower gardens on the prison grounds. I found the book to be interesting, but more time could have been spent on what the title of the book leads us to believe it is about.



2. The book is very well researched, and it does give you a history of journalism in NY at the last turn of the century. However, I found it really lacking in suspense. It was easy to put the book down! In fact, I read up to p. 150 a year ago, and decided to have another go at it recently. The author failed to detail the actual relationship between Mr. Chapin and his wife. Besides the fact that they went on a lot of vacations together, what was their emotional life like together? What were her hopes and dreams? How did she spend her days? Why didn't they have any children? Was she intelligent, funny, warm, outgoing, etc.? Did they fight often; what were her hobbies? Also, when it comes to the actual killing of Mrs. Chapin, it was actually very boring. I thought this would be the climax of the book. For example, Ann Rule would have attempted to bring some drama into this scene, and would have given more details of the actual room in which it took place, and would have gotten into the emotional aspect of this crime. It was a very dry and dull account of what I thought would be a page-turner of true crime. I mean, for God's sake, the man killed his wife! The writer seems like an historian but does seem to have taken all the life out of this true-life story. A sharper editor would have made him condense the newsroom stuff and moved it along at a faster pace. All in all, he's a good writer, but it lacked drama and suspense. Recommended only for history buffs as a history of yellow journalism in NY.



3. For those who loved the novel Ragtime or Caleb Carr's potraits of New York at the turn of the 19th century, The Rose Man of Sing Sing is a real treat: a behind-the-scenes peek at murder and mayhem in the Gilded Age. The detail is extraordinary, the writing fluid and engaging, and the psychological portrait of Charles Chapin acute. A book that is very hard to put down.



4. If you looked at the January 1925 issue of that arbiter of domestic taste, _House and Garden_, you would have seen a photo layout of a rose garden that would have been the envy of any socialite or country club. The garden was tasteful, with fountains, a pool of water lilies, and blue spruce trees in addition to thousands of roses. Besides the obvious beauty of the garden, there was one other thing that made it unique. At one end of the garden was an old execution chamber. The garden was in the middle of the infamous prison, Sing Sing, in New York. It was the creation of a prisoner who, before he murdered his wife, was a legendary newsman who worked directly for Joseph Pulitzer, and often himself handled coverage of society murders. The term of Charles Chapin as city editor of the _New York Evening World_ was full of spectacular tabloid stories, and James McGrath Morris, himself a former journalist, has brought back Chapin's forgotten story and explained how the press worked in the early parts of the twentieth century in the astonishing book, _The Rose Man of Sing Sing: A True Tale of Life, Murder, and Redemption in the Age of Yellow Journalism_ (Fordham University Press). It is a story at times as lurid, melodramatic, and spectacular as any of the stories Chapin himself published.

   Chapin started delivering the local paper at age fourteen. He was determined to get himself an education, and although he could not attend school, he read ravenously and well. A kindly editor selected books for the boy, classics that Chapin drew upon all his life. He was thrilled to become a reporter in Chicago, but eventually made his lasting mark in New York, where at the _Evening World_, he presided over a technological revolution. The new telephone allowed Chapin to give orders to reporters in the field, and to shape the stories. Field reporters would call in the details of a story, and the new "rewrite reporters" would write it up for the paper. As a result, Chapin gave the _World_ unrivaled immediacy in reporting New York's news. Especially fascinating is the story of how Chapin got the news about the sinking of the _Titanic_. Chapin was recognized as the best of city editors, but he was not easy to work for. He was merciless on himself, and extended this treatment to his reporters. His abilities made them tolerate working for him. He was devoted to his wife, and seems sincerely to have wanted to put her out of prospective misery when his investments failed; he had planned a murder suicide, but only killed her, and turned himself in. He was convicted of murder in 1919 and given twenty years to life. In Sing Sing, the warden took particular interest in him, which is not surprising given how different Chapin must have been from the usual criminals there. Chapin had never been a gardener, but began to cultivate a small plot; he became obsessed with his plants, solicited donations from those he knew in the business world, and commanded inmate assistants with the same fervor he had used on reporters. Ladies clubs came to take the tour of the grounds, as did celebrities like Booth Tarkington and Houdini.

   Chapin thus proved to be a model prisoner, and applied for pardon, but no pardon ever came. He was involved in two mostly postal romances with women on the outside, neither of which ended well, mostly because of his lifelong inability to see or accept ambiguity; it was as if he expected a well-chosen headline to cover all the underlying details. He died a convict in 1930, and was buried, according to his wishes, with the wife he had murdered twelve years before. This story, never told before in full, is full of engrossing detail about the competitive working press of the time. Chapin's life, that of a brilliant and limited man who eventually found horticultural redemption, is almost operatic in its sweep, and makes an unforgettable story.




5. "Morris, a former journalist, a historian and teacher, has done fine work recovering the melodramatic story from a variety of contemporary sources. . . Morris foreshadows Chapin's tragedy skillfully in the first chapter, then drops back and sticks to chronology. He keeps the narrative crisp with telling bits from the journals of the day and Chapin's own writing. . .
   James McGrath Morris has done journalism -- and armchair psychiatry -- a fine service by rescuing this melodramatic tale."

3 comments about Stop the Ride, I Want Off.

1. Great book. It had me on the edge of seat at times at others I just laughed and laughed. read about Dave driving a Taxi for cover and how an old lady climbed in the back while it was full of nicked gear !

   Well worth reading




2. This was a real fun book, written by a guy who's lived the kind of life us normal every day joes only wish we could have. A lot of really funny lines and stories. This is Arnold Swarzenegger in real life. A man's man. I'd really like to sit down and have a beer with this dude. Hopefully it's all true.



3. Buy this book!!!! Don't hesitate, I had my copy shipped from the UK and that took weeks not to mention $$$$ Keep your eye open for "Hell To Pay" Dave's new movie due out soon.
   If you like Guy Ritchie you'll love Dave Courtney!!!!
   By the way this book gets three thumbs up!!!! Awesome!

4 comments about Paper Fan: The Hunt for Triad Gangster Steven Wong.

1. This book needed a strong editor. We get too much of the writer's thoughts, his interaction with people, and his supposedly brilliant investigative work. Information that should be summarized in a paragraph become pages long. Cut the fat and stick to the story: why is Steven so dangerous, what crimes did he commit, how did he escape, where is he now?
   
   If you need to know more about Asian crime, I guess you should buy this. Otherwise, there are much better books.



2. While I found the subject matter of this book fascinating, I was disgusted with the man who wrote it. Written with cockiness, subtle racist ovetones and overall bad attitude, he made the book almost unreadable. He is constantly building himself up as some kind of tough guy who is smarter than the criminals who he bashes in this book. If he's so smart how come he still hasn't found Steven Wong? It is clear that deep down he wants desperatly to be like these gangsters, he just doesn't have the guts. He acts like he launched this whole campaign on a moral level, but really it's all about a story and fame for Terry Gould. He is a coward. What I found especially offensive was his depiction of Asian women. My wife is Asian so I was personally offended. He constantly feeds into the stereotype that all Asian women are prostitutes, referring to the gangsters' girls as "tarts" and describing the poor Filipino girls who approached him as "a plague". Clearly this guy has no concept of what it's like to grow up with nothing, having to do things you'd rather not do to survive. He tells his pathetic sob story of how he got beat up once, his mother's friend was raped and he was a witness to violence as a kid. Boo hoo. I used to get beat up every day until I decided to start fighting back like a man. I know plenty of people who've been through all those terrible things and more. Terry Gould is a typical cocky New Yorker who thinks he's better than everyone. In reality, he is a scared, cowardly wannabe-gangster, wannabe-cop and worst of all a wannabe-snitch. I hope he never finds Steven Wong, rather I hope Wong and his friends find him.



3. Terry Gould came to my school and discuss his book and the gave us in insight of the Triads and Kwan Kung. Just as he did when he came to the school, his book gives great information of how the Triads were created and why they chose the God Kwan Kung. Many more intresting facts he provides in his book. It is intresting and difficult to put down.



4. While Steven Wong the Triad Gangster rose through the ranks in Vancouver's Gangland, I was a Vancouver cop who had many dealings with him. I probably knew Wong, and of his activities, more so than anyone in the Vancouver Police Department, other than a handfull of other cops who might be inclined to say the same thing. I was a cop who used Wong to my own end, while Wong used me to his. I still don't know who, if anyone, came out on top.
   Due to my personal knowledge of Wong and his Red Eagles, his rivals the Viet Ching, Jung Ching and Lotus Gangs, plus their victims etc., I feel competant to say, "In writing Paper Fan, Terry Gould did an excellent job describing Wong and the events of the day." Terry knows his stuff, and he tells his story extremely well. It is not often one can learn such an immense amount of true information while at the same time be entertained. The book reads like a novel.

1 comments about South Street.

1. Profusely illustrated with illustrative photos, "South Street" by Barbara G. Mensch is a history of New York City's famous Fullerton Fish Market. Barbara's photography combines nicely with her lively and informative stories of a colorful community of fishmongers who worked together, resisted outside influences of government and corporations, and basically policed themselves. "South Street" concludes with the closure of the docks and the opening of the Seaport mall which was viewed at the time as the result of the expulsion of control by organized crime and the emergence of domination by corporations. A work of impressive scholarship combined with talented narration, "South Street" is enthusiastically recommended for academic and community library American History reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

No comments about Men of Dishonor: Inside the Sicilian Mafia : An Account of Antonino Calderone.

5 comments about Butch Cassidy: A Biography (Bison Book).

1. Butch Cassidy: a Biography is a well-researched and readable account of the life of the famous outlaw. Thoroughly annotated and drawn from nearly every work on the subject, Patterson's book presents the tale in an exceptionally balanced and inclusive way. Patterson is no apologist, nor does he appear to be a critic. While he points out that Butch Cassidy may have held social and political opinions that might fit the social bandit model, the author does not attempt to portray the outlaw as the Western version of Robin Hood and accomplishes the task of telling the tale using as many facts as are available, including contradictory as well as corroborative accounts.
   It is not hard to understand the appeal of the Robin Hood myth of the western outlaw. The West was a place of vast geographic expanse that did not easily lend itself to rapid and efficient law enforcement. Massive corporations, particularly mining interests, railroads, and cattle companies often used vigilantism to punish thieves and to drive minor competitors out of business. The social bandit, stealing from the rich and the powerful, drew tremendous loyalty and admiration from the average citizen, even if he did not share the wealth.
   Butch Cassidy is best known as a bank and train robber. He also was a cattle rustler, horse thief, and, in spite of his extensive criminal history, a very well liked man. That fact along with the fact that he apparently never killed anyone might justify his status as an American Robin Hood. Richard Patterson, however, is less than convinced and provides detailed accounts of Cassidy's exploits that lead the reader to the conclusion that while Cassidy did indeed share some of the social and political opinions of the typical social bandit, he was primarily motivated by a quest for excitement and easy money.
   The first recorded criminal act committed by Cassidy, at the time still going by his real name, Robert Leroy Parker, involved his breaking into a general store near his home of Circle Valley Utah and taking a new pair of overalls. Cassidy left a note promising to return to pay for the clothing. In spite of Parkers apparent honesty, the proprietor filed a complaint with the authorities. The matter was eventually settled but it caused considerable embarrassment for the Cassidy family.
   The second incident involved the alleged theft of a saddle for which young Butch Cassidy was arrested between 1879 and 1884, in Garfield county Utah. There is no record of the arrest and Patterson offers the testimony of only one person as evidence. Apparently during his time behind bars for this incident Cassidy was "mistreated by the authorities." (5) Other than these two incidents, Patterson offers no other early evidence that Cassidy was pushed into a life of crime out of resentment against the law or corporate greed.
   Drawing his details mostly from secondary sources and interviews conducted by other historians with people who may have known Butch Cassidy, Patterson provides a gripping narrative account of the life and times of the famous outlaw. Sorting out all of these tales and taking into account the motives of those telling them is the strength of Patterson's book. Repeatedly using phrases like "according to" and "may have been" Patterson never makes a firm claim to have discovered the truth. He simply tells the tale.
   In reading Patterson's account, it is hard not to like Butch Cassidy. While Patterson does not seem intent on portraying Cassidy in a positive light, it becomes clear that most, if not all of his sources were possessed of a certain fondness and respect for Cassidy. Patterson suggests early on that Cassidy may have had at least some measure of Robin Hood hidden in his motivations. Patterson points out that Cassidy's partner, Matt Warner, thought "Butch was angry over the big cattle barons waging war against hungry cowboys... and struggling homesteaders" (53). Patterson hedges this supposition with a qualifying statement that Matt Warner had always justified his criminal conduct with some lofty social purpose. Warner's assertions aside, it is impossible to determine if Butch Cassidy actually held those beliefs.
   Adding to the Robin Hood quality of the Butch Cassidy legend is Cassidy's reputation for helping his friends and not allowing unnecessary abuse of his victims. Patterson points out that one of Cassidy's friends, an African-American ferry operator who claimed to be a regular visitor to Brown's Park, one of Cassidy's hideouts, stated that none of the whites who frequented the Park were allowed to mistreat him when Butch was around (123). Yet another story involving the generosity of Butch Cassidy involved Vic Button, then 9-years-old, who lived on a ranch where Cassidy once worked. Button related that one day he told Cassidy how much he admired Cassidy's horse and Cassidy responded with "Someday he will be yours" (166). Later while running from a posse, as he exchanged the admired horse for a fresh one at a pre-arranged relay Cassidy instructed a nearby ranch hand to see to it that the horse was delivered to "the kid at CS ranch" (168). Vic Button got his horse, and Butch Cassidy got an unapologetic admirer.
   While Patterson's book does not contain many undeniable facts, it is compelling and seems to be a reasonably accurate account of the life of Butch Cassidy. It does make clear the fact that the myth of the "social bandit" or Robin Hood of the West has its roots in the minds of the small farmers, ranchers and other members of the less wealthy classes. The existence of a class struggle in the West, and the fact that the robbers stole from those who had, rather than those who had not, is not proof that the robber possessed some sort of social agenda. It proves that the robber was smart enough to know that a railroad express car would likely contain more money than the passenger car. Indeed, for the western outlaw, cultivating a pleasant and mutually beneficial relationship with normal people would have its practical value as well, especially when one was hiding from the law.
   Even he was a very likeable, generous and pleasant person who never harmed any of his victims Butch Cassidy was no Robin Hood. He clearly was a criminal who kept or spent most of the money that he stole, and was motivated by misguided sense of adventure the lure of an easy dollar.



2. Well researched yes! Boring - yes! What can be more frustrating than reading a book which is so obsessed with minor, irrelevant details as to render the readability an incredible chore. Surely there must be a better, more accessible and entertaining detailed account of the lives of Butch and Sundance than this!!!



3. Not so good for telling an interesting story in an interesting way. The author gives a tremendous amount of information on the life of Butch Cassidy, as well as on his sources for that information, and does an admirable job of admitting that we really don't know how that life ended; he gives a detailed account of the standard version of Butch & Sundance's deaths (shot in Bolivia) as well as detailed accounts of the various alleged sightings of Butch after that, and the pros and cons of those alleged sightings. He admits that he just isn't sure what the truth is, and leaves it at that. But if you expect a biography of as exciting a person as Butch Cassidy to be itself exciting, this book will be a disappointment; it is not told in a narrative style, but in the style of a researcher, and very little of the character of Butch comes through. It teaches facts, but does not really give much of a feel for the person it is about.



4. If you are interested in the life of Butch Cassidy, this is the book to buy. Patterson has successfully written an objective book trying to sort out the myths from the truth. He writes about all the different rumours and documented materials that exists, thus allowing you to draw your own conclusions. Intriguing as well as funny!



5. This is the most thoroughly researched biography of Butch Cassidy ever written. If you're looking for the facts, this is the place to find them. Patterson's experience as a lawyer has made him admirably skeptical, and he does his best to sort through the many conflicting accounts of Cassidy's life and death.

2 comments about Forgetta "Bout It / From Mafia to Ministry.

1. This is a great testimony book on how Jesus Christ can totally change a person's life. It is a good tool to use to give to someone in prison or a young person who needs direction in life.



2. Rocco might not be a New York Times best selling author, but his story is powerful. From a button man in the Mafia to a minster in prison---very intersting journey. If you don't see God's hand here, I don't know where you'll ever see it.