5 comments about Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation.

1. Beautiful and eloquent words crafted by Juan Santos in a wonderful memoir: "...he Anglicising of Texas..." is a polite term when murder and theft would be a better description. Killing of innocent Mexicans merely for being on a White's land and the indenturement (or limited slavery) of those seeking a better life, I was shocked, but not surprised, by the evil of the white Texans.
   
   The beautiful Mexican people should and will inherit the Patria.



2. Mr. Santos' lyrical and thoughtful storytelling provides welcome insight into the history and culture of south Texas. The book provided a window into parts of San Antonio about which I have been both ignorant and curious. This is a smart selection as the first read for the 1 Book 1 San Antonio program.



3. This book has been selected for the 2006 "One Book - One San Antonio" event, during which every reader in San Antonio will be encouraged to read and discuss this novel.



4. Santos' writing style is as enthralling as it is articulate, a language so alive that it immediately befriends the reader. At times this autobiography is more of a prose poem than a narrative: "On those chilly nights he slept in the open country, having heard stories of Texas ranchers shooting Mexicans they found on their property. To him, it all looked like high Coahuila desert land. There weren't many fences then, so you could walk long flat stretches of the parched land with only bird shadows for shade...it looked like home, only, he pointed out, there were more stones on the Texas side" (50).
   
   Such lines are not surprising since Santos is also a poet, and we see this style reiterated throughout as he delves deeply into the family histories of his father and mother. Some of us may think we know old Southwestern cities like San Antonio, but Santos' takes us into a hinterland of Texas, and Coahuila, Mexico, that we have never seen, one where the strength of memory endures amid a pervading and eloquent tone of pastoral loneliness. At times Santos is hauntingly prescient, as when he speaks of viewing New York City's Twin Towers as dolmens -- upright tombs from prehistoric times.



5. So often the essence of Hispanic culture, especially when addressing Mexico, Central and South America, is referred to as "Magical Realism". Whether referring to the literature of Marquez, Allende, Arenas, the paintings of Kahlo, Rivera, Bravo, Marquez, Borges, or the music of Ginestera, et al - the unifying element usually refers to this genre. Few authors have been successful in describing the origins or even the meaning of the term...that is, until John Phillip Santos elegantly warm memoir PLACES LEFT UNFINISHED AT THE TIME OF CREATION. Santos revisits his history through the immediacy of immigrant (yet unaltered) Old Ladies, creating from their tales a lush, incendiary canvas of passion, faith, commitment, hardship, and resilience. He adroitly mixes the two languages (Spanish and English) with finesse, at times translating for the non-Spanish reader, and at times allowing the beauty of his Spanish phrases to sing for themselves. This book is a paean to the sanctity of the souls of the immigrants who have endured the agony of expatriation, who have entered El Norte to find, if not their fortunes, then their integrity as human beings. This beautifully written book should be on the shelves of the libraries of schools throughout the USA...but it should also be in the library of everyone who wonders about the beauty of the Hispanic heritage - which for lack of a better name we call Magical Realism.

5 comments about Hit Me, Fred: Recollections of a Sideman.

1. This book has clearly been dictated rather than written, but it makes for an engaging, fun, and interesting read. As if you were sitting in a room with Mr. Wesley while he told you tales of working for Ike Turner, James Brown, P-Funk and the like. He's brutally honest at times, but also fair, and makes an effort to praise as well as criticize. Most of all, it makes me realize the importance of his contribution to the artists above, particularly Brown, who is barely a musician, and without his crack bands to interpret, would certainly not be recognized as the innovator that he was.
   
   Thanks to Mr. Wesley for sharing so candidly what the life of a working musician is actually like.



2. I've always wondered about the day-to-day lives of musicians, especially about those who are not regular members of a band. I now know that these musicians are called "sidemen." Fred Wesley is an extraordinary trombone player and a candid writer. I didn't know James Brown was such a jerk to work for. You can listen to (and watch) some of the performances Fred talks about on utube.



3. I am a 57 year old Washington, DC trombonist with many years of "chittlin circuit" experience. Reading Fred Wesley's account of his life as a sideman really hit home with me. So far, I have purchased (at last count) twelve copies of this fascinating book and distributed them to fellow musician friends who I know would also appreciate it. This really feels good and also therapeutic that our story is being told and documented. Older musicians always used to talk about paying dues. Well it seems that we never stop paying them, and Fred really spells it out in a clear, brutally honest, and what I find to be a very humorous and entertaining fashion. I would highly recommend this book to musicians young and old and to anyone else interested in learning what it is really like for the majority of us in this bizarre and crazy business.
   
   Lincoln Ross
   [...]



4. Fred wesley's book takes you on a Journey of the Music industry that you seldom every get on the whole un-cut real. this Man is responsible for some of the Baddest Jams known to the Human Ear Drum. He is a Multi Talented Instrumentalist, Producer&Arranger. He Grew up Down south&dealt with so much,but that was just the start upon entering the Army, then His Exposure to the Music Business under the Controls of Ike Turner. back when Ike&Tina Turner were together. then Fred going over to James Brown's camp which alone makes this Book a Must have. He doesn't pull no punches about JB's Camp&How He ran&did things. then fast forward to George Clinton and the Whole P-Funk Mob&operation. you move on to Count Basie. this Book deals with Inflated Ego, Sex,Drugs,Music, Race, Politics of the Industry&so many other details that you just can't even imagine sometimes that go on behind the curtains. very detailed&a Must read.



5. Fred Wesley is "THE MAN". Here is a musical funk legend who has really paid his dues. He was the glue that kept the Funk going strong despite of James's legendary self-righteous super-ego and his harsh tyranny ways that interferred with the creative freedom and progressive potential of the most talented musicians that God has ever put on earth. James invented Funk which I will give him the credit he rightfully and respectfully deserves, but he definitely didn't do it on his own (thanks to the talented musicians of Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker, Alfred 'Pee Wee" Ellis, St Clair Pinckney, Waymon Reed, Richard 'Kush' Griffin, Jimmy Nolen, Al 'Country' Kellum, Clyde Stubblefield, John 'Jabo' Starks, Melvin Parker, Fillyau Clayton, Bootsy and Phelp Collins, Bernard Odum, Sweet Charles Sherrell, Johnny Griggs; the talented singers of Marva Whitney, Vicki Anderson, and the late great Lyn Collins; last but definitely not the least, I can't forget Bobby Byrd because if not for him, James life would have taking a bleaker turn since Byrd and his family not only helped James get out of prison and on parole, but got James into his gospel group which James would later become the frontman of and, with his ambition and talent, would take the group further than they had ever imagine. There are other James Brown musicians names that I can't remember but had a major influential impact on builting the structural foundation on the sound we now know as 'Funk'. This book honestly puts everything on the table with his experiences as a professional musician as well as how shady the music industry really is.

5 comments about Heat: My Life on and Off the Diamond.

1. wow,
   what a book!
   i love doc, growing up i coppied him,i will admit it.
   my problem was i had a 84 mile per hr fastball that in canada was not good enouph to even get a look.
   i was fortunate,in that i found fame in another sport called curling.i am a huge drinker but have never tried drugs,i do have money but the thought of drugs never interested me,thank god!0n the world curling tour i have had plenty of oppertunity to go astray and have,with booze on many occasion.i often wonder what could have became of me if a scout by the name of itchy jones (cin reds)said at 16 yrs your fastball isnt good enouph,can you backcatch. i guess what i am trying to say that doc is a study of too much too young just as i was.my curling fame came at 16 and 17,then again when i was 28-29.this story does hit home and i would reccomend it completely to young and old alike.nice job bob,look forward to reading your next. please excuse the grammar ha ha i wrote this late.



2. I PICKED UP THE BOOK ON FRIDAY AND FINISHED IT SUNDAY. THE BOOK WAS AN EASY READ. I, LIKE SO MANY OTHERS, WAS IN PURE AWE OF THE POWER AN POTENTIAL DWIGHT GOODEN HAD. I WATCHED HIM IN MY LATTER TEENAGE YEARS AND WANTED TO THROW JUST LIKE HIM. I HAD NO IDEA THE YOUNG MAN FACED SO MANY DEMONS. UNFORTUANATELY, DRUG ABUSE IS PREVAILENT IN OUR SOCIETY AND THE SPORTS WE ADMIRE ARE NOT SACRED. CONGRATUATIONS TO GOODEN FOR DEALING WITH HIS ADDICTION IN SUCH AN OPEN MANNER AS HE SHARED IT WITH US IN HIS BOOK, "HEAT."
   
   "HEAT" WAS AN EYE OPENER AND HOPEFULLY WILL HELP OTHER PEOPLE STRUGGLING WITH THEIR DEMONS. "HEAT" ALSO SHOWED THE EFFECTS DURG ABUSE PLACED ON GOODEN'S LOVED ONES AND HIS CAREER. MOST IMPORTANTLY, "HEAT" SHOWS THE DAMAGES AN ADDICT PLACES ON HIS OR HER SELF AS THEY ENTANGLE THEMSELVES WITH LIES AS GOODEN DID.



3. HEAT, by Dwight Gooden, has the feel of a between-seasons quickie book. It's still worth picking up, especially if you read between the lines.

   Released the winter of 1999, HEAT came out just before Gooden's baseball pitching career went downhill. The previous season at Cleveland had been Gooden's best since 1990. But injuries ruined his 1999 performance and the Indians released him.

   In 2000 Houston and Tampa Bay dismissed Doc after he struggled with each team. Later that season Gooden managed to join the Yankees and actually pitched very well, including an incredible July start against the Mets at Shea Stadium.

   But age marched ahead and Dwight Gooden did not make the 2001 Yankees. He retired just before the start of the 2001 season.

   Covering the Gooden retirement story, the New York papers barely mentioned the pitcher's alcholism, only stressing his cocaine addiction. They should have read HEAT.

   Like I said, it's overall a quickie book, not to dismiss its many interesting stories. But what makes HEAT truly worth reading is Dwight Gooden's drinking stories. Cocaine only came into play when he was drinking. The coke is what cost him close to two years' worth of playing time. But alcohol, which Major League Baseball and the newspapers gladly advertise, was the root cause of Gooden's troubles.




4. This book has it all! It made me laugh it made me cry. Dwight Gooden was honest and he showed how human he really is. Being one of Doc's biggest fans it was a very easy read, the thing that surprised me is that is wasn't really about baseball. It was about family, struggle and overcoming a horrible illness, drug abuse. He was recently released from Tampa Bay and I am hoping he signs with another team soon. He has nothing left to prove I just enjoy watching him pitch.



5. In 1995 baseball pitcher Dwight Gooden's no-hit game put himback on top of the baseball world when, just earlier that same season,he looked washed up. A biographical picture was supposed to be made but, as I write this, it has yet to materialize.

   HEAT: MY LIFE ON AND OFF THE DIAMOND, Doc's 1998 autobiography, vividly tells about his numerous highs and lows, professional and personal. He skims over the spring training and cab driver controversies that long-time fans will remember but otherwise proves admirably honest about the troubles he brought on himself. The lost opportunities depicted in HEAT saddened me. But Gooden's determination to redeem himself defines the difference between losing and quitting.

   And HEAT is not without its share of funny moments and bet-you-didn't-know-that anecdotes. Among the best stories is a prank Doc played on one of the premier sluggers of the game.

   While Gooden admits the fears that cost him so much, he is not afraid to name names in HEAT. If Doc finds himself alone in an elevator with ex-manager Dallas Green or ex-teammate Kevin Mitchell, I don't want to be there when the doors open.

   It is interesting to note that Gooden does not hold Major League Baseball and his union accountable for helping out-of-control players before they hurt either someone or themselves.

   Today (Nov. '99) Dwight Gooden's without a team, having been released after an injury-filled season with the Cleveland Indians. His will to prove himself could land him a chance elsewhere - and with the pathetic state of major league pitching, he could make it to another club and even win some games for them. He's come back from the edge before.

   Anyway, a movie of Dwight Gooden's life, should it match the drama conveyed in HEAT, would be as gripping as a no-hitter. For now, read HEAT.

5 comments about Barbara Jordan: American Hero.

1. I'm glad that Jordan is not hear to see how the gov't of the people, for the people, by the people has been so completely perverted by special interests and neo patriots, such as George W. Bush and John Ashcroft. I was only a boy, when like many, I was captivated by this incredible person. She gave me hope that govt could actually serve the people. This book does a great job to capture her spirit and remind us that govt was once a tool and not force for opression.



2. This was a very inspirational book. Barbara Jordan's life was really incredible and the reason she accomplished as much as she did had to do with her innate abilities as well as her willingness to deal with the enemy. She kept her overriding goal utmost - the welfare of the people of East Texas.

   Lots of what she experienced and spoke out against we see today. We could really use her moral voice of authority. She is missed.




3. This is a well written and effective biography of one of America's most amazing personalities. Mary Beth Rodgers tells Jordan's story with the advantage of being an insider; her access to those who knew Jordan well shows in her insightful and complete telling of Jordan's life.

   Jordan is widely remembered by her public persona, the booming orator from Texas - the intellectual constitutional scholar who presided over Nixon's impeachment. But element that makes this biography compelling is Rodgers' depiction of the wheeling and dealing that allowed Jordan to cross barriers and operate effectively in the good-old-boy white male backrooms of the Texas Senate. We get to see Jordan the idealist armed with the constitution in our nation's capital, but we also get to see Jordan the pragmatist cutting deals over a scotch in Austin Texas.

   An effective biography of an amazing American figure.




4. Too often the reviews of biographies and history books end up reviewing the actual person or subject rather than the book. Barbara Jordan was a great, great woman. There's no doubt about that. Of all history's politicans, religious leaders, civil rights advocates, political figures and intellectuals, she is the one person who truly shows us all how we should handle the issue of race in this country.

   This book honored her. It was truly a great read. Descriptive, informative and thought provoking. Whenever I ask someone about Barbara Jordan, they always respond with something like, "Wow, have you ever heard her speak?" I was born too late to hear her more popular speeches. But, the author's effective use of excerpts from Jordan's speeches makes me feel like I was right there watching her. This well researched book gave me a deeper understanding of the events of the Nixon impeachment process, the Carter Administration, politics in itself and the plight of both African Americans and women in government. I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it.




5. IT IS THE BEST BOOK EVER!

1 comments about If I Am Not For Myself: Journey of an Anti-Zionist Jew.

1. As any anti-Zionist knows, raising opposition to Israel and Zionism immediately draws accusations of anti-Semitism, or if the dissenter is Jewish, accusations of self-hatred.
   
   It is precisely these attempts by Zionism to squash all criticism of Israel -- especially criticism by Jews -- that Mike Marqusee takes head on in his latest book, If I Am Not For Myself: Journey of an Anti-Zionist Jew. Starting with the papers of his late grandfather and Marqusee's own personal experiences being raised as a Jew in post-war America, the book beautifully weaves together a broad, yet intimately personal, history of anti-Zionism and radicalism in Judaism. Equal parts biography, autobiography, history, and commentary, Marqusee powerfully strips Zionism of its fundamental claim to represent and speak for all of world Jewry.
   
   Central to Marqusee's task is the re-appropriation of Jewish, anti-Zionist, and leftist history -- a history that is consciously buried by the Zionist establishment. In this process, he shows the strong connections between history, how we understand the present, and the frameworks we can utilize in determining the future.
   
   Marqusee weighs in on an impressively diverse and rich array of subjects including (but far from limited to) the Jewish workers' Bund, Jewish Enlightenment philosophy, political struggles within the New Deal coalition, the parallels between Zionism and right-wing Hindu nationalism, "left-wing anti-Semitism," discussions with Muslims about Zionism, Jews in the Middle East, and the parallels between anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
   
   These discussions and explorations all radiate out from Marqusee's narrative center: the life of his maternal grandfather -- Edward V. Morand (aka EVM) -- a Jewish leftist active in New York politics in the 1930s and 1940s.
   
   Despite being involved in virtually every left-wing cause of his time, EVM increasingly became an ardent Zionist -- forcing him to unconsciously sacrifice many of his radical principles. Marqusee is particularly horrified by EVM's political positions in 1948 -- the year of Israeli "independence", or al-Nakba (the catastrophe), as it's known to Palestinians. Marqusee writes: "In the midst of [Israel's] one-way process of destruction, displacement and plunder, EVM's constant cry is 'no retreat.' He seems to have entirely lost his former distaste for war and militarism...In this war, there seems to be only one kind of victim, Jewish."
   
   Marqusee attributes EVM's political twists and turns, in part, to "[a] failure to imagine the people on the receiving end of your dreams. It's a failure rooted in Western and white supremacy, a network of unexamined assumptions that has proved much more ineradicable and insidious than anti-semitism. EVM's writings of 1948 resound with it, and offer inadvertent testimony to the racist character of the Nakba and Nakba denial."
   
   These political contradictions and hypocrisies are exactly what led Marqusee himself out of the Zionist trap.
   
   In a very candid section, Marqusee relates an experience that is no doubt familiar to many Jewish anti-Zionists: the first time he was accused of self-hatred. He describes hearing an Israeli soldier speak to his Sunday school class just after the 1967 Israeli war that began the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. The soldier was going on about how "the Arabs are better off now, under Israeli rule. You have to understand these are ignorant people. They go to the toilet in the street." Marqusee responds: "Now something akin to this I had heard before. I had heard it from the white Southerners I'd been taught to look down upon. I had heard it from people my parents and my teachers described as prejudiced and bigoted. So I raised my hand and when called upon I expressed my opinion, as I'd been taught to do. It seemed to me that what our visitor had said was, well, racist." The young Marqusee was immediately denounced. Angrily, he went home to share this experience with his normally supportive parents. At the dinner table, he added to the story, putting forward his opinion, heavily influenced by the anti-Vietnam War movement, that, "'It was wrong for one country to take over another, or part of another, by military force'...Suddenly [my dad] barked, 'Enough already!'...Like my Sunday school teacher, he made me feel that I'd said something obscene...'I think you need to look at why you're saying what you're saying,' he said...'There's some Jewish self-hatred there.'"
   
   In the end, Marqusee answers the question set out by the title, "'If I am not for myself...', then others will claim to be 'for me'...[I]n defining myself as an anti-Zionist Jew, I am for myself, and at the same time and without contradiction for others...I find in anti-Zionism emancipation both as a Jew and as a human being...Jews today can no more escape the question of Zionism than they could the question of anti-semitism in earlier eras. The problem today isn't that Jews are in denial of their Jewishness or of the threat of anti-semitism, but that Jews are in denial about Israel, Zionism, the Nakba, the occupation, the wall...The people who call us self-haters want to steal our selves from us -- appropriate our selves for their cause -- and speaking as a self, I'm damned if I'm going to let them get away with it."
   
   The task of anti-Zionists is to explain the role that Zionism serves in the US imperial project while also breaking the notion that Zionism has anything to do with Jewishness. As Marqusee puts it: "[T]he Zionist dominance of the diaspora, and especially the diaspora in America, is a mutable, historical phenomenon -- not the inevitable expression of 'Jewish self-interest' -- and the continuation of that dominance is by no means guaranteed."
   
   Easier said than done, right? In addition to reclaiming history, we have to understand that Israeli war crimes and the logic of Zionism itself can shake even the most veteran of Zionists. Just look at Marqusee's dad's own development -- the same dad that first called him a self-hater: "[I]n the end, the Zionists tested his humanity beyond endurance. After the news broke about the Sabra and Shatila massacre in 1982, he phoned me from New York. 'Ok,' he said, 'you were right. They're bastards.' He started to make contributions to Palestinian causes and to raise the issue among his friends."
   
   The struggle against Zionism's dominance over Jews and Palestinians won't be easy, but Marqusee has made an important and captivating contribution to that fight. If you've ever had trouble arguing that anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism or if you just want to get a sense of the rich diversity of Jewish history and its relationship to radicalism, then you should pick up this book. I just bought a copy for my dad -- the first person to call me a self-hater. If Marqusee can convince his dad, then I guess I'll hold out hope for mine as well.

1 comments about My One Good Nerve.

1. I read this book after reading "In The Life Together," the book that Dee and her (late) husband, Ossie Davis, wrote together. Most people know Ruby Dee as a beautiful, beautiful actress in films like "A Raisin in the Sun." She is also a funny, touching and very compelling wriiter. "My One Good Nerve" is a collection of short stories, poems and reflections, ranging in subject matter from racism to love. Dee also writes tributes to late, great legends like Marvin Gaye and Diana Sand (an actress who starred with her in "A Raisin in the Sun").
   
   This book made me laugh, cry and really think. Ruby Dee's writing style is incomparable to any I have ever read. She is, both, whimsical and insightful. Ruby isn't afraid to frankly speak about racial violence, lust and family dynamics. I really think that more people should become more familiar with her as a writer, if they haven't already. I was really surprised that there weren't other reviews of this marvelous book. It is a quick read and very engaging. Read it today......

3 comments about George Washington Carver: In His Own Words.

1. Having read other books on George Washington Carver's life I was very impressed with his faith in God, humility and refusal to accept promotion and monetary gain. Not to mention his incredible scientific contributions to all races. I bought this book thinking it would include a collections of his own writings (which it does) to get a more personal view of the man. Instead it seemed to be a book about George Washington Carver in the author's words. The letters are obviously edited and I found myself at variance with the author on his interpretations of them. Carvers human traits are magnified until he is often portrayed as a egomaniac who continually sought the praise of others and was unsure of his accomplishments. Tuskagee is even portrayed as a plantation! (Chapter 4 is entitled "The Tuskagee Plantation"). The other books I have read certainly did not hide his flaws (which all of us as humans share) but I came away with a desire to read more about a man who I came to admire and desire to emulate in many ways. His humility and sense of God's purpose in his life have been an inspiration to myself and my family. My opinion of Carver remains the same. This book will not remain in our library.



2. A good introduction to Carver, who was a man of charm and impracticality, intensity and feminine tenderness, humility and immense ego, and who was simultaneously devoted to Christian orthodoxy and an ideosyncratic strain of nature mysticism. Kremer's introduction is nicely written and strikes a proper balance between hero-worship and debunking. Despite the black scientist's unusual combination of personality traits, his virtues and faults remained largely constant throughout his career, so some of Kremer's examples seem repetitious. That's no problem. In books like this one, you can skip and skim in good conscience.



3. George Washington Carver is a pioneer.his accomplishments are the foundations of this Country.a must read for all people who want to know about people that have made contributions to Society&the World at large.

2 comments about Leaving Leningrad: The True Adventures of a Soviet Emigre (Brandeis Series on Jewish Women).

1. This was neither a great or terrible book. The author deals with the oppressions of living under the Soviet regime light-heartedly. This is a new angle compared to other books I have read on the subject. It is not particularly well written. I had to go back and reread certain parts to figure out what she was talking about. Also, I thought I was buying a book on a Jewish topic, and in fact the author is not Jewish, her husband is.



2. I enjoyed this book greatly. Not so much an autobiography as a series of vignettes, Leaving Leningrad is very easy and entertaining reading. The witty personality of the author shines through every page so that by the end of the book you feel you know her well. You also feel you have seen what it must have been like to live in the Soviet Union in the 60's and 70's - not from the commonly available perspective of an academic or a dissident, but from the point of view of the ordinary everyday working stiff. That's what makes the book not only light and fun, but also enlightening. Read it in an evening (that's all it takes) and I'm sure you'll be glad you did. I was.

2 comments about King: A Comics Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. (The Complete Edition).

1. Anderson's style is so impressionistic that you would have to know the basic facts of King's life and career to get much out of it. That being said, this book is not another hagiography of King as a non-threatening figure whose message was that we should all be polite to each other.
   
   Anderson's King gets angry, gets hungry, gets horny, has periods of crippling despair; in other words, he was a human being. But he also stubbornly held onto what he felt was right, often in the face of powerful opposition. And make no mistake about it: charlatans and dolts like Bush II may invoke his name now, but Anderson makes clear that when he was alive, not everyone was standing around applauding.
   
   The King we see here is almost as polarizing a figure as, well, Jesus. After reading it, I understand anew why M.L. King was a great, if not a perfect, man.



2. The starkness of Ho Che Andersen's artwork is fitting in that it serves to heighten the mythological feel of King's life, which contrasts with the intimate portrait we get of the man and his daily struggles. The mixture of photography montage, black and white sketch work and the occassional, startling splash of color is mezmerizing.
   
   I don't know enough to comment on the historical accuracy of Andersen's work; the first volume of King was released in 1993 and it took the author a decade more to finish. This is a labor of love foremost, and the author's passion manages to leap off the page at you. That Andersen has avoided the pettiness of humanizing King is no small miracle - the biography genre routinely suffers from trivializing those it portrays in an effort to make them seem more familiar.
   
   My only complaint is the paraphrasing of much of King's "mountaintop speech" given the night before his death in Memphis. The speech is too long to be included in its entirety, but having listened to the audio clips of that speech too many times to recall I found Andersen's version lacking. I suppose this is only to be expected, but nonetheless I would have loved to have seen a few more pages devoted to what I consider a rhetorical masterpiece, and easily one of the greatest speeches ever given in America. If you've never heard it before, do your best to download it or otherwise listen to King at the height of his power; it is a speech much informed by the gift of sight and of prescience, and is all the more moving and remarkable for the last stanzas.
   
   If you are as fascinated with Martin Luther King as I am, I cannot recommend this work enough. Go out and buy it, and marvel, and remember one of the most pivotal figures of the twentieth century whose message should be heeded no matter the era.

5 comments about A Choice of Weapons (Borealis Books).

1. "A Choice of Weapons" is one of my favorite books. The compelling autobiographical story captures for us the experience of one of America's greatest treasures, Gordon Parks. His path from poverty and isolation to riches and notoriety is much more than just a story, it's an accounting of his life as an African American with rural roots in an America that was not welcoming nor supportive-- despite his amazing talent. He overcame that to become one of the world's best-known photographers, filmmakers, poets, and musicians. A fine person, strong with his mother's teaching, he brought his spirit to the world.
   
   Mr. Parks was recently buried in his hometown (Fort Scott, KS), not long after coming home to a wonderful celebration of his life and work-- a celebration that is an annual affair as part of the Gordon Parks Center for Culture and Diversity that has been founded there. I met him during the first celebration in 2004, going into the old Liberty Theatre to view a retrospective of his films. He was charming and personable, and his eyes sparkled with happiness; the peace of forgiveness and homecoming emanated from him. He had struggled and triumphed, and the prairie wind was still fresh within him.
   
   I encourage everyone to read this book and to explore the huge body of Gordon's work. You will be moved. You will be spurred to find the best of yourself...



2. I write this after hearing the news of his passing. This book gave hope to another youth who had lost his parents and was looking for a reason to become a man. The effect this book had on me cannot be overestimated. It was to set me on the path to becoming a photographer, and to pursue writing among other things. It was required reading for me when I was in High School, and the only book I read all the way through.



3. The book is interesting reading eventhough the narrator sounds a bit self-righteous to me. Too much of "I always knew best" for my taste. This is only referencing the personal remarks in the book; the description of the grinding poverty in the big cities and what the Depression years did to the people is really well written. All in all, I'd wish that especially young people read this book.



4. I absolutely love this book.
   I am an avid reader but reserve my recommendations for very few books and authors. I hold dear a carefully chosen list of books that receive unjustly low profiles and recommend them to always-thankful friends. This book, by Gordon Parks, (as well as Manchild in the Promised Land, by Claude Brown) rank high on my list. Gordon Parks is an amazingly gifted human being.



5. .... In my opinion,its imagery and descriptive scenarios will have you imagining as if it were you in the midst of the Great Migration. Concluding that "youth as it should be at seventeen was not for me, and that full manhood must come quickly if I was going to make it", Parks describes the journey in which he endures in order to make it through various seasons in the year. In trying to conquer the obstacles that each season brings, Parks learns to rely on his "choice of weapons" which allow him to see different walks of life. If you do choose to read Parks' autobiography, please don't forget to reflect upon what choice of weapons you have chosen in coping with life.