5 comments about James Madison: (The American Presidents Series).

1. Garry Wills, eminent author on the American mind, writes a literate and compelling political biography of James Madison, "Jemmy" as he was called earlier in his life. Here was someone whose resume seems made to become president. Yet this man, "the Father of the Constitution," was not near the success that one might have guessed from his background.
   
   His pedigree includes: key figure in the Constitutional Convention--from getting George Washington to attend (a coup) to helping structure the agenda (from amending the Articles of Confederation to trashing the extant constitution and replacing it with something very different); to serving as a major figure in the early Congress (including helping to produce a Bill of Rights), to organizing the first political party (along with Thomas Jefferson, although it took Martin Van Buren and his circle to perfect the arrangement).
   
   Wills begins by observing that there is consensus that (Page 1) ". . .Madison, though one of the nation's greatest founders, is not one of its greatest presidents." Wills suggests that one can account for this by (a) bad luck falling Madison's way (which Wills discounts); (b) his temperament (he had more legislative than executive talent--more apt an explanation in Wills' view); (c) errors (a very poor reading of the British Empire, leading to foolish foreign policy and the War of 1812).
   
   As with other in "The American Presidents" series, this begins with a brief sketch of the future president's youth, his early career, and his rise to the presidency (from the Constitutional Convention to Congress to Jefferson's Secretary of State). Trivia is included: Madison was the shortest American President ever.
   
   This represents a standard, literate Wills' work. His literary approach is as expected (what a wonderful command of the language!). The work nicely lays out why Madison was not as good a President as one might have guessed--as well as his later life.
   
   All in all, an estimable addition to this valuable series.



2. Garry Wills is an exceptional documentarian, and this effort is a fine example. A very comprehensive review of the formative years of this Founding Father is provided, those years that helped define the political system and policy of early America. Madison's contribution to the constitutional constructs of Virginia and the U.S. are well-woven, even if his presidency is less a focus of Wills energies. Portrayal is of a deeply insightful humanist who performed best as a thinker than an administrator, WIlls has captured the essence of the man himself.



3. As stated in the Editor's Note, the American President series, of which this book is a part, aims to ".... present the grand panorama of our chief executive in volumes compact enough for the busy reader, lucid enough for the student, authoritative enough for the scholar." At 164 pages of text, this book is certainly compact. It is quite lucid and it is surly authoritative. The book is not, however, an analysis of the life of James Madison, or even a comprehensive presentation of his whole life. It discusses the many facets of his life in terms of his contribution to the United States. As the man considered to be the "Father of the Constitution", a co-author of The Federalist (the series of essays that were instrumental in getting the Constitution ratified), as a leader in the first Congress, Secretary of State (under Thomas Jefferson) and then as a two term President, Madison made immense contributions to the founding and early government of the Untied States. All these facets of his career are discussed, but given the compactness of the book they are only discussed briefly.
   
   The primary thing that I came away with was the feeling that Madison was an enigma. I guess that this just shows my ignorance of the finer points of American history, as historians have been trying, largely unsuccessfully, for the last two hundred years to explain the enigma that was James Madison. Indeed, Madison was also vexed with the difficulty of trying to explain his many contradictory actions. In working on the Constitution he unsuccessfully tried to give the federal government the power to veto state laws. Yet he later was secretly the author of the Virginia Resolutions that promulgated the idea that the states had the right to nullify federal law. He opposed Hamilton's Bank of the US, but then tried to renew the charter and when this failed he supported the formation of the second Bank of the US. He opposed war, yet he led the US into a war with Britain for which it was completely unprepared. Garry Wills tries to come to grips with these, and other contradictions, but I do not think that he was completely successful, but then again neither has anyone else. For me, just realizing that this conundrum exits was worth the price of the book.



4. Garry Wills is fast becoming a favorite Historian and Author to me.
   
   As is his habit, he brings his pithy and rich style to an examination of Madison's Presidency which in many ways was decidedly less successful than his stellar legislative and constitutional achievements. Rather than stating surprise at this, as many historians do, Wills outlines why this outcome was somewhat predictable when the skills of Madison early on are examined dispassionately. Madison was a superb legislator and a thorough academic well equipped to study and digest history and come to a reasonable conclusion. These skills made him indispensible in the work done upon the American Constitution. As an administrator, however, he lacked the drive and focus that others brought.
   
   Make no mistake, Wills does not fail to give credit where credit is due and as an 8 year president who left office more popular than he came in, there is much to say positively.
   
   There are good biographies that go into far greater detail in many areas. However, if you want a short overview which will leave you with a good understanding of the Madison presidency and how it ties into the themes of the day, you will be hard pressed to find a better one than this.
   
   Well worth the read.
   
   5 stars.
   
   Bart Breen



5. Garry Willis's biography is a short, brilliant biography of a short and brilliant man. It covers the breadth of his career and conveys a great sense of the man's personality and his place in American history, and at the same time avoids the pitfall of hagiography; it does not hesitate to point out Madison's flaws, and one can read it and come away with a sense of having learned something new, even if one is already familiar with the era. Any reader of early American history will find his time well-spent with Willis's biography.

5 comments about The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red.

1. The book is much more intimate details of Ellen's personal life especially with her husband. I read the book first then watched the movie. A good choice on my part since it made watching the movie much more exciting.



2. The book was well written in the style of a diary. The authors chosen profession leads one to believe the facts are real. One can enjoy the book as authentic or imaginary based on the author's experiences. It is an intriguing mystery and a great followup after I saw the movie "Rose Red" written by Steven King. I found both very entertaining.



3. I just finished this book and did find it hard to put down. No great masterpiece of course but clever. Written as a diary in first person I think made it a breeze for someone like King. It took me a little while but it became very apparent that a man not a woman wrote this diary (book). Every woman should know what I mean. And of course it is a brilliant accompaniment to the movie. Oh...and the website thrown in as a little added publicity was a cute idea. The only question is (like the egg) which came first, the book or the movie?? I'd love to know how that man's mind works. lol



4. Built on a Native American burial ground in Seattle in the early 20th century, Rose Red was to be a Queen among houses. Built as a wedding gift by John Rimbauer for his wife Ellen, Rose Red claims a victim even before the foundations are laid. A foreman is shot to death; his death would only be the first, however and would be far from the last.
   
   People begin to disappear. First a maid, then another woman. Ellen knows there is something wrong within the walls of Rose Red. Sukeena, Ellen's maid, knows there is evil within the walls too. She is an African witch woman and knows the face of evil. Ellen keeps a diary to document the events surrounding Rose Red. It becomes her confidant and the stuff of nightmares.
   
   Wanting to find answers for the strange goings on in her house, Ellen hires a medium to hold a séance. John Rimbauer scorns this event, but it changes Ellen's life forever. The medium receives a message from the house, from Rose Red. She tells Ellen that as long as the house continues to be built, Ellen will never die.
   
   Preparations begin the next day for new wings to be added to Rose Red. Strange things begin to happen in Rose Red. There are noises at night time; rooms exist where no room existed before. As more people continue to disappear, Ellen can't quite get over the idea that the house seems to be building itself.
   
   Then someone is found dead. More dead bodies follow, always men. Women only disappear in Rose Red. Men are killed savagely. With each new death and disappearance, Ellen's world is plunged into turmoil. She knows she must stop the force within the house before something else happens. She is too late; Rose Red has taken her daughter.
   
   For those of you who don't already know, "The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer" was actually written by Ridley Pearson as a movie tie in for Stephen King's three part, six hour miniseries "Stephen King's Rose Red" that aired in 2002. Stephen King has this to say on his web site:
   
   Now it can be told--the actual author of The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer is suspense novelist (and Rock Bottom Remainder bass guitarist) Ridley Pearson. Ridley did a great job--I couldn't have done better myself..."
   
   If you haven't seen "Stephen King's Rose Red," I urge you to do so as it is the epitome of the modern haunted house movie. One would think a movie tie in novel would be an awful rewrite of the story with no depth behind it or anything worth reading. I held back on picking up the book for so long as I was afraid that the novel would be found lacking when compared to the movie. I was happily surprised to find that I was very wrong indeed.
   
   The novel was written as a companion to the movie. In fact, it explains more within its pages than the movie does. Several things in the movie are left without an explanation. There are explanations a plenty of the haunting at Rose Red within the diaries pages. There is even a web site that relates to the diary and the miniseries. There are pages of the diary that are only published on the web.
   
   Apart from being part of a brilliant multi-media advertising campaign, "My Life at Rose Red - The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer" is an incredible, beautiful work. It examines the power of fear and what happens when someone is pushed to far. It takes a chilling look at the human condition and the stresses of the unknown.
   
   What was surprising were the subplots of the novel. Ellen is a young woman in a terrible marriage. There is also the issue of lesbianism between Ellen and her maid Sukeena; Ellen examines her budding sexuality and tries to find herself, even while she is struggling with the evil that is going on around her.
   
   The novel is more about personal discovery than anything else. It takes a look at what scares us, what torments our dreams. It is a beautiful, darkly gorgeous novel and can be read on its own apart from "Stephen King's Rose Red." Even if you don't watch the movie, read "My Life at Rose Red-The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer."
   
   It will leave you breathless and in awe of the beauty found in the dark. Just make sure you always bring someone with you into the darkness...you may be liable to disappear.



5. This book is really interesting if you
   like ghost stories....
   well it talks a little about ghosts and things
   like that.
   good reading

5 comments about Playing with the Enemy: A Baseball Prodigy, World War II, and the Long Journey Home.

1. Playing With The Enemy is a beautifully written account of a man's dream, never fully realized, and the benefits which were achieved as a result. It captures the "sports" interest, essential history of World War II, the choices that shaped one individual and his whole family. It is dialogue at its best, a statement of a son's gratitude to his father and a tremendously interesting story that might never have been revealed had not Gene Moore's final hours been a time of sharing with his son, Gary. The writing in this book is superb, and, being from a small town in Illinois myself, makes me proud that the story has been told. No one should miss this account because it is entertaining and it teaches. I encourage its reading with willingness to see one's self and to recognize that our dreams, though worthy, can be redirected to even greater attainment than we might have imagined. Thank you, Gary Moore, for a true story excellently presented for us all!
   
   Dr. David Lawson
   Retired Church of God National Executive
   Church of God, Anderson, Indiana



2. I loved this book!! It's a true story of Gene Moore who was a super baseball player and a super person. It shows how he cared about other people. Hard to put this one down. Can't wait to see the movie. A must read for anyone who enjoys a good book, this is it!!



3. Gary Moore's book is a gripping story that takes hold of any history or baseball fan. Even if you're not a fan of either one, it's still a great read. The way he tells the story makes you forget that it's a true story, and the way he blends the facts together into a brilliantly crafted story that will be loved for generations to come. Mr. Moore's wonderfully crafted novel made me want to learn more about the U-boats, and some day I'll make the trip to Chicago to see the real thing.
   
   To my friend: Wonderful job! Can't wait to read your next masterpiece!



4. This book is such a wonderful reflection of Sesser and the southern Illinois area. The hopelessness of the situation during those depression years but the constant strength and hope of the people who kept life from being hopeless is so evident and well described. As a native of the area, the joy and celebration when anyone makes it big or even almost makes it big is a truth that resonates with this writing. What a great task Gary Moore has completed in forcing his father to talk. What a wonderful job of writing this great book of memories, pain, joy and victory.



5. I read Playing With the Enemy after meeting the author at a bookstore. I was intrigued by the subject matter of the story as my father, like the author's, had been scouted and signed by the Dodgers and was ultimately 'unsigned' due to an injury, at about the same time in history that Gene Moore was. While the surface similarities of our fathers' stories introduced me to the book, I found much more between the lines. The story of Gene Moore's experiences is indeed heartwarming and poignant. The mood of the story stayed with me and I found myself pondering two sub-themes. The first is the relative ease with which two seriously opposing teams could "level the playing field" (pardon the pun) and find, through compromise and acceptance a commonality agreeable to all. This wasn't just an Army/Navy rivalry, but Navy/Nazi. In spite of opposition from the powers that be, one young man's dream and drive accomplished on a small scale that which would heal the world if the idea caught on! Imagine looking at the enemy and instead of seeing only ideologies and hatred, seeing another human being with basic human characteristics, fears, families etc. and building on those similarities. What a concept! The other theme that I felt as a subcurrent running through the story is the sadness of the silence of the father. What Gene Moore perceived in his own history as reason for shame, pain, and self doubt, his son Gary saw as inspiration for telling a story too big for him to keep inside. What if Gary had never heard it? Their story has inspired me to be more open with my own children about who I am and the events that helped to form me. Turns out...they really want to know. Playing With the Enemy is a little gem of a book. If you read it solely for the baseball and WWII stories you'll love it. But I would also suggest that you read it for the bigger lessons within. There can be extraordinary power in the commission of ordinary acts.

5 comments about Too Close to the Sun: The Audacious Life and Times of Denys Finch Hatton.

1. Sara Wheeler's "Too Close to the Sun" is as much a biography of a place and of an era as it is of a man. The author went looking for Denys Finch Hatton and found East Africa as well as her elusive subject.
   
   The man, himself, was once a nearly mythical East African figure. Finch Hatton is best known today as Karen Blixen's long-time inamorata in the film version of her book "Out of Africa." In life, he was a privileged Englishman who often worked as an African guide and professional hunter and who flourished and died during Kenya's colonial period. He was also a reluctant soldier, a glad aviator and a man who loved theatre, photography, dance, books and women.
   
   Ms. Wheeler says that her aims in writing the biography were: "to depict a figure in the landscape, to explore the universal themes threaded through his story, and to find out why he was an engine of myth." Other than a few personal letters and some newspaper articles, he wrote little. Because of this, and because she writes so many years after his death, Ms. Wheeler is left with little more than trace evidence and the words of others with which to develop her theme and achieve those goals. Fortunately, she's an able writer and tenacious researcher. She also uses the words of Teddy Roosevelt, H. Rider Haggard, Ernest Hemingway, Siegfried Sassoon, Elspeth Huxley, W.B. Yeats and Evelyn Waugh, among others, as sources to help her develop her African story.
   
   Karen Blixen is, perhaps, her most famous source for direct Denys Finch Hatton information. Karen Blixen (aka Isak Dinesen) wrote about Finch Hatton as her lover and used her version of him as an element to drive her own story. Sara Wheeler, on the other hand, is a graduate of the same Oxford college as Finch Hatton and seems more in sympathy with him as a human being.
   
   Beryl Markham, an aviatrix, writer and renowned wild child, is another useful source. Martha Gellhorn (Hemingway's third wife) described her as, "Not your ordinary Circe." Beryl says of Denys, "As for charm, I suspect that Denys invented it." Those may be the final words on Denys Finch Hatton. In two-hundred-fifty-two pages of text, author Wheeler can't find anyone to say a bad word about him.
   
   Sara Wheeler certainly charmed this reviewer when she quoted Anthony Blanche, a character in Evelyn Waugh's "Brideshead Revisited." Antoine, as he's known, warns another character about the danger of English charm, stating that it blights anything it touches. Ms. Wheeler believes that Finch Hatton's own charm nearly destroyed his ambition.
   
   Ms. Wheeler's writing skills are (to say the least) fully developed. She calls the disastrous British 1916 offensive in France the "Apocalypse on the Somme." In one chapter, she describes the deteriorating relationship between Finch Hatton and Karen Blixen by saying, "They were living in different mental worlds...coexisting like the twin beaters of a rotary whisk." In passing, Ms. Wheeler notes what she calls "the spiritual journey at the heart of all great literature."
   
   She's made some interesting choices in her own life, both as an author and as a person. By her own reckoning, she spent three years researching and writing "Too Close to the Sun." She also traveled to three continents (Europe, Africa and America) doing research. She's also written "Terra Incognita: Travels in Antarctica," and "Cherry: a Life of Apsley Cherry Garrard." She spent six months in Antarctica paying part of the personal tariff for creating these two works. She paid another similar price to research her South American book, "Travels in a Thin Country."
   
   There's a theme here: Much time and energy spent on projects with a limited market potential. That may be crass, and those of us who are interested in any of her subjects do have reason to be glad that she invested the time as she has. Considering her enormous writing ability, however, had she devoted the same amount of skill and effort in another direction, she might well have become the new James Michener or the next Donna Tartt or A.S. Byatt. Instead, she's chosen to forgo the probability of huge literary or popular success and with such success, big bucks and big acclaim. Perhaps this is too American a perspective about writing or living, but Ms. Wheeler's choices do remain interesting questions. In his day, Denys Finch Hatton was already becoming an anachronism. Sara Wheeler, who refers to modern-day Istanbul as Constantinople may also fit into that category. Bless them both.
   
   The bottom line on the book is that for anyone with even a drop of Walter Mitty blood, "Too Close to the Sun" is a splendid read. James Joyce has given Daedalus his modern day due. Let's hear it for the new Icarus.



2. So this book is definitely not for everyone. There has been a lot of criticism regarding the content and whether the author provides any novel insight into the life and times of Denys Finch Hatton. On a personal level though, I found the book intriguing from multiple standpoints. For those of us who seem to be eternal wanderers this book provides valuable insight into the perils and rewards of pursuing your own dreams and wandering off the beaten path. Success is defined differently by each individual and while Denys may have appeared to lack direction, his constant quest for knowledge and experiences were the driving force for the many and varied initiatives and ventures he took up in his lifetime. He was a romantic and was perhaps better suited to an earlier time. His non-conformity and unwillingness to change with the times may have lead some to perceive him as being unsuccessful, but in reality he marched to the beat of his own drum. In the final analysis the only definition of success that matters is an individual's own.



3. Too Close to the Sun, The Audacious Life and Times of Denys Finch Hatton is as much a detailed history of British East Africa--the country known today as Kenya--as it is the story of Denys Finch Hatton's life. In other words, the focus is keener on the times than on the life.
   
   Finch Hatton, a notorious and romantic character portrayed in Out of Africa (Modern Library), the book of stories by Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen) and the in the film played by Robert Redford, didn't keep a journal or, for that matter, write many letters. As a result, a great deal of the exhaustive research on him compiled by dedicated author, Sara Wheeler, is derived from Dinesen's fiction and other contemporary, Beryl Markham's autobiography, West With the Night. Generally well written, a bit on the formal side, the prose wavers between colorful and descriptive and textbook laborious. (Have your dictionary nearby!) The subject, Finch Hatton, might have been better left to the material written by his former lovers than the subject of an entire biography.
   
   What I enjoyed most about this book was the trip to Kenya and the stunning visuals it provided. Having spent time there, including a visit to the town now known as "Karen," and a tour of Blixen's house, the pages of this book gave it a living history quality. Wheeler also clarifies Finch Hatton's character as more than the uncommitted lover of Karen Blixen ("Tania")--"They were living in different mental worlds, as unhappy lovers do, coexisting like the twin beaters of a rotary whisk, spinning in time by never touching"-- but also notes he was one of the first to point out the dangers of uncontrolled hunting on safari endangering Africa's wildlife. "For the first time in his life, he had found something he believed in, a cause that was worth commitment." Hence, his legacy as "an eternal wanderer on a perpetual quest for knowledge and experience," which is the main thrust of this dissertation.
   
   From the author of I'm Living Your Dream Life: The Story of a Northwoods Resort Owner, McKenna Publishing Group.



4. I picked up this book after finishing Isak Dinesen/Karen Blixen's OUT OF AFRICA and Beryl Markham's WEST WITH THE NIGHT. When I found out that a biography about Denys Finch-Hatton had just been published, I thought it was too good to be true - he is so fascinating, and so mysterious, in Blixen and Markham's memoirs that it's hard to read them without wanting to learn more.
   
   It turns out it WAS too good to be true.
   
   Finch-Hatton left little to no record of his own life. There are no diaries and very, very few letters. My burning questions were: What is the interior world of a charming, dashing adventurer like? What is he thinking while he's busy making life brighter, sweeter, and more exciting for others? Wheeler has no more idea than anyone else. Finch-Hatton has left no record of what his life was like, from his own point of view.
   
   Aside from Blixen and Markham, whose portraits of Finch-Hatton are already well known, his nearest and dearest didn't sit down to describe his character, his thoughts or hidden sides. I recognized huge sections of OUT OF AFRICA and WEST WITH THE NIGHT rephrased here, with additional comments pulled from research into Blixen or Markham's life, plumped up with (generally fascinating) cultural and historical context and (generally very clever) anecdotes and asides. But this was an enhanced reading of Blixen or Markham's life, nothing new, and at a real distance from the actual subject of this biography.
   
   I learned a lot about a particular moment in the history of British East Africa. I learned some things that I didn't know about Blixen and Markham and, yes, even a few things that I didn't know about Denys Finch-Hatton - a bit about his family history, where he went to school, where he was during the war and how he became involved in big game hunting and conservation.
   
   Wheeler writes beautifully; she has an exquisite style. She clearly hopes that if she can plump up her scanty material with lots of dazzling imagery, we won't notice that this lengthy description of the English countryside or that lengthy description of the Serengeti actually isn't telling us anything at all about Denys Finch-Hatton. This felt like sleight of hand to me, like a trick, and I resented her for it. I want to see gorgeous style used to make good, solid research come to life. I don't want to see it poorly masking the author's failure to gather enough material to justify a book.
   
   In short, even though I generally enjoyed reading TOO CLOSE TO THE SUN, I disliked it.



5. I visited East Africa and while in and around Nairobi took a chance on visiting the public museum that is now entrusted in preserving Karen Blixen's original home and a few acres that remain the last remnant of the Karen Coffee Plantation. On the tour I came to learn of Denis Fitch Hatton, the early days of colonization of British East Africa
   ( World War I in East Africa) and the likes of Lord Delamere, Count Blixen, Beryl Markham, Kermit Roosevelt and Prince Edward. Although much has been written by and /or about Isak Dinesen, Beryl Markham, Blix (and the others) so very little was available to learn more of the elusive Finch Hatton as early flyer, big game hunter, East African land speculator, conservationist, herdsman, nature photographer...and here again the author admits that accurate personal historical information remains sparse. Nevertheless the author is to be commended and this book can be highly recommended as a worthy presentation of an unusual life "well lived" in the context of his time and place. Admittedly it is not all "easy reading" and the author does perhaps over indulge in the "who's who" and "who's title is the umpteenth earl of somewhere....but I can accept all of that as necessary and essential to that time and place in history.
   The book especially captures the land,it's colonists, it's native people, the animals and Denis Finch Hatton's place within East African history. Thoroughly enjoyable and informative reading.

5 comments about Worth the Fighting For: The Education of an American Maverick, and the Heroes Who Inspired Him.

1. This is a great book by a great man. John McCain's humor, style, and love of life are inspiring in this read. His honor, patriotism, and his words of those who have inspired him, make him one of the most inspiring public figures of his generation. He has a loving awe of what is best in America, and in ourselves.



2. When the 2008 GOP primary began, I was not a fan of McCain. I didn't dislike him. I just had a different preference. I'd always wanted to read Faith of My Fathers and read that one first. It took the reader from McCain's grandfather, to his father, and finally to McCain himself and his experience in Vietnam, where it concluded with his homecoming.
   
   This book picks up with John McCain's return home. He is atypically candid for a politician and presidential candidate. He admits faults where necessary. He takes responsibility when demanded. He defers credit where due. He takes the reader into his personal struggles, in particular the Keating 5 affair. He touches on his failed first marriage -- and takes full responsibility. The reader has the privilege of being a "fly on the wall" as McCain learns from his mentors and teachers. I can't imagine an author being much more transparent. The reader does not come away with a messianic vision of John McCain. Rather, one develops an understanding of whom he is and what influenced him. There is also much history to be learned as he explains how historical figures have influenced him in his career. I was a bit surprised by the profanity used in the book, but it's a part of who he is -- part sailor, part rebel, part patriot, part leader, part humble student, part aspiring executive, part competitor -- and full time, 100% himself.
   
   If you have an interest in politics and/or history, and want a better understanding of who this potential President of the United States is and may be as president then this is THE book. Straight from his own mouth -- warts and all -- leaving it to the reader to make their own educated decision regarding McCain's worthiness for the most powerful job in the world. You may not finish the book as a supporter -- and you may go from pro to con -- but you will have a greater respect for the man.
   
   Highly recommended.



3. "Worth The Fighting For" is John McCain's political biography. In it he briefly discusses his naval heritage and the acquaintances he made through his father, an admiral in the U.S. Navy. He mentions his time as a POW, but most of the references to his naval career involve his service as the naval representative to the U.S. Senate.
   
   McCain does a good job at weaving tales about his heroes into his own story. Generally the book involves a section about a friend whom he admired or an historical figure on whose example he modeled his life, alternating with sections pertaining to political challenges which he has faced. Among the friends whom he discusses are Scoop Jackson, John Tower, Moe Udall, Barry Goldwater and Ted Williams. Among the historical figures he emulates are Billie Mitchell and Theodore Roosevelt and a character in the movie "Zapata."
   
   In the sections relating to his career, McCain talks about issues with which he has struggled, including the Senate Select Committee on POW-MIAs. There he became a friend and admirer of John Kerry, with whom he worked to clear the record on missing POW-MIAs and to normalize relations with Vietnam. Perhaps this was the origin of the proposed Kerry-McCain ticket. He also defended his positions on Social Security, Campaign Finance reform and the Marine deployment to Lebanon. The insight into his 2000 presidential campaign makes for interesting reading.
   
   McCain does not shirk the hard times, providing detailed explanations of the John Tower confirmation hearings and his own involvement in the Keating 5 investigation.
   
   McCain does not mince words in expressing his opinions on people with whom he comes in contact, be they other Senators, witnesses or lobbyists. He is open in discussing his own failings. In this he demonstrates a refreshing approach rarely seen in autobiographies.
   
   Through much of this work, McCain is defending and explaining his own actions. At times he seems to be more overtly self defensive than is found in many autobiographies. Is this a continuation of the "Straight Talk Express" on which he campaigned, or just another campaign biography? I will let each reader decide that for himself. I will say that it makes an interesting read of a type rarely found from active politicians. I am glad that I picked it up. I am confident that you will also.



4. As a long time admirer of John McCain, I wanted to read further about his life after having read "Faith of My Fathers". His first memoir chronicled the military experiences of both his father and grandfather, and the time that McCain spent in Vietnam as a prisoner of war. While that status has helped him in his political career, McCain has never used the term 'hero' to define who he is. In "Worth the Fighting For" he chronicles his career in politics, interspersing his recollections with portraits of men he has admired and whom he considers heroes.
   
   After ending his Navy career, John McCain moved to Arizona and began his assent in the political arena. He moved up the ranks to state senator and has served in that capacity for twenty plus years. His writing is candid and often almost too honest for a man still practicing politics as he recounts fights over legislation and his run for the presidential nomination. But John McCain is about laying every card on the table. He doesn't hide anything and he never shirks from anything - even if it means fighting for an issue that goes against the Republican party politics. McCain seems to be one of the rare politicians who can put partisianship aside and truly work for what is best for America and the American people. He acknowledges his triumphs, as well as his failures, painting a portrait of a man who has spent his life in service to the country he loves.
   
   An interesting blend of memoir and political science, McCain has crafted a read that extends beyond party lines. Whatever your political preference, you can admire John McCain for what he has achieved throughout his life. The title "Worth the Fighting For" is an apt description of McCain's naval and political career, but it more importantly applies to what is at stake in American politics today. For the government to truly serve the nation, there needs to be less fighting between the two main parties. And for Americans not in government to make a difference, they need to be active citizens who realize that democracy and freedom are things that are worth fighting for, (even when they come at a high price).



5. John McCain is a Republican Senator of Arizona - he is currently serving his third term as Senator. This book was written in 2002. It documents his life: during the Vietnam war, after the war, and during his terms as Senator, also his 2000 bid for the Presidency. McCain offers a lot of introspect into his life and his decisions. I sometimes get upset when I see the decisions Senators and other politicians make but after reading this book I see that there are so many different types of people and special interests that politicians have to please. They are constantly walking on a thin line.
   
   McCain's father and grandfather were both members of the military. His ancestors also fought in the civil war. McCain's family has a rich history. After reading this book, I can see McCain has a deep love for this country. I liked how McCain takes accountability for his decisions and tries his best to be honest.
   
   I liked McCain's feelings about how he feels poor people fought in the Vietnam war while rich privileged kids got to stay home safe. McCain feels that this country belongs to the poor people - because they have fought all of our wars.
   
   I'm by no stretch a Republican (I am conservative though), however, if McCain was President right now - I would feel this country has an honest, patriotic American as the President. This is an inspiring book and is also well written.

5 comments about The Orientalist: Solving the Mystery of a Strange and Dangerous Life.

1. Tom Reiss: `The Orientalist'
   
   I am not in the habit of leaving on-line feedback about my reading, but this book, `The Orientalist', is so exceptional, so original, so brilliantly conceived and so splendidly executed, that - given the chance to leave some comments - it seems almost mean-spirited not to take up the opportunity.
   
   In fact, I've already provided some `feedback' about this book, recommending it (via email) to others. This in itself, on reflection, seems to me to be unusual behaviour. Normally I let others make their own discoveries, finding for themselves what to read that may be interesting, informative or enjoyable. In this sense, therefore, as well as others, this book, `The Orientalist', took me out of my accustomed ways of looking at things.
   
   Everyone to whom I've recommended this book has purchased it and told me how remarkable it is. One reader, in France, wrote back to say that she'd read it twice! In some ways I can understand that, as, while reading it, more than once I returned to earlier chapters to re-read certain passages, to acquaint myself again with some of the personalities and events with which the book is occupied, and with the well-crafted prose of the author.
   
   What is `The Orientalist' `about'? In some ways this is a non-fiction detective story, with the author investigating a kind of literary mystery. There is, for a start, a book, a novel, `Ali and Nino'. But who wrote it? About this, the authorship of what appears to be the pre-eminent national work of Azerbaijan, a romantic, compelling novel, there is, or has been, considerable controversy. In a sense, as in any mystery, in any detective story, there is a `crime' - in this case, the crime being the theft, from an author (now deceased), of credit for his work.
   
   But in investigating this question, Tom Reiss uncovers layer after layer of lost fragments of history, and politics, and culture. The deeper he explores this question of authorship, the greater the breadth (historical, political and cultural) of the book. In the end, this is a wonderful journey that Tom Reiss takes his readers on, travelling back in time and across borders, into and out of nations and empires whose eventful lives and often dismal fortunes correspond to that of `the Orientalist' himself.
   
   For the title of the book refers not to a `type' of person, but rather to a specific individual, and, as a result, this book rescues that person - born Lev Nussimbaum, and subsequently known both as Essad Bey and as Kurban Said - from literary obscurity. It is a rescue entirely deserved. Tom Reiss was drawn into the life of Lev Nussimbaum as a result of being captivated by one of his books, Ali and Nino, and, in a somewhat comparable fashion, though at the same time a bit topsy-turvy, I was drawn to read Lev Nussimbaum's `Ali and Nino' as a result of reading Tom Reiss's `The Orientalist'.
   
   This on-line comment about `The Orientalist' is not intended to be a full-length review of the book; it is `feedback' and, at the same time, a warm invitation to experience a truly unique piece of work. Of course, one of the characters in the book is Tom Reiss himself, travelling about, meeting people, coming across manuscripts. Some of those he meets are to be found in castles, in Europe; others are down the street, if not down the hall, in New York City apartments. The logic of his book is compelling, as he discovers, and uncovers, the life that Lev and his father led - the life of refugees, fleeing from revolutionary violence, falling from a dreamy and dream-like existence in Baku to the desperate straits of exile, in `the East', through Turkestan and Persia, to Constantinople, and then on to Paris and Berlin.
   
   For me, this is an account, as well, of the devotion of two people, father and son, to one another's well-being. The father, once wealthy (on Baku oil), strives to lead his son towards peace and security; the history of the 20th century, filled with war and revolution, characterised by cruelty rather than compassion, makes these goals all too elusive. Still, in reduced and hazardous circumstances, they try to look after one another, and it is their relationship - their concern for one another - and the life-and-death predicaments in which they continue to find themselves, that provides a deeply touching motif to the work.
   
   But for the most part this is an exciting, even thrilling, fast-paced real-life thriller. In order for us to understand what is going on - and how Lev Nussimbaum is going to turn into Kurban Said - Tom Reiss has to explain the politics - the revolutions, the wars, the personalities - pivotal to the story of Lev and his father Abraham. Here is a book in which the main character, Lev Nussimbaum - born in 1905 on a train, with an oil magnate for a father and a radical revolutionary for a mother - arrives, in Baku, on the day of his birth, to a city in turmoil, a forerunner of a life shaped by politics and upheaval. In later years he will personally blame Stalin (who seems to have been a friend of his mother's and may have stayed in the family home) for much of his life's turbulence and misfortunes. In this respect a depiction of Lev Nussimbaum's life seems to me to validate the writer Arthur Koestler's observation in the first volume of his autobiography, `Arrow in the Blue', that a `secular horoscope', noting the political events on earth at the time of a person's birth and their subsequent influence over a person's life - `the constellation of earthly events' - may well provide a useful perspective on a person's subsequent fate.
   
   One consequence of reading the book - and becoming caught up in the lives of its protagonists - is to regard one's own life, at least for a time, somewhat differently. That surely is a mark of an outstanding book - to cause oneself to look at one's life in a new light. This moment occurred most dramatically when I had just finished reading about Lev, as a young boy, disobeying orders, and looking out a window, to see bodies in the street, and carts coming by, gathering up the dead - as the shooting between different revolutionary factions continued. Thinking of what I'd read, and of his plight, while walking through the streets where I live, I suddenly saw those streets, and the buildings adjacent to them, in a different way, observing their tranquility - noticing what was absent: no bodies; no gunshots; no armed men - in contrast with what was `normal' in the life of this young man, not even 100 years ago.
   
   Tom Reiss's `The Orientalist' is a magnificent achievement, a stunning, brilliantly researched and absorbingly written publication. This on-line comment, already far too long, can only hint at the extraordinary array of topics traversed in the narrative. Indeed, I can scarcely recall a book any way like it, so wide-ranging, fascinating, original and informative - and, as noted, quite moving as well. The book is an adventure and it will lead readers to discover places, people, events, incidents and lives they scarcely could have dreamed existed. And it may also lead some readers to find their way to `Ali and Nino', a lovely jewel of a novel, dream-like and wonderful; and for making that journey possible Tom Reiss is also warmly to be thanked.
   
   



2. I read this book for my Book Club.
   I read The Orientalist last summer ('07) and now the book seems to fade into obscurity.
   I don't remember a whole lot, but I do remember not really coming to care a whole lot about Kurban Said.
   Very forgetable to me although there is a bit of history that is interesting.



3. I was a bit dissapointed in this book. I had read Ali and Nino and, of course, the reviews for this book. I was prepared for adventure in the form of a historical novel. I wonder if the reviewers cited in the front and back of the book only read the introduction, which gives away the story, including the 'ending.' The rest of the book provides historical context to the story told in the introduction. There are relatively long (20-30 pages?) digressions on the history of (for example) the Ottoman Empire, German culture during the rise of the Nazis, etc. Very interesting and worthwhile stuff to be sure and I am very glad that I read this book. However, readers need to be prepared for this type of text. The read was quite a bit slower than I expected. The 'story' in my opinion, is much more interesting than the book itself. The 'story' here, includes the efforts of the author, which were certainly inspiring.



4. I wanted to read this autobiography for two reasons: 1)I very much enjoyed the novel, 'Ali and Nino' by Essad Bey; and 2) I am fascinated with the history of the Caucuses and Central Asia.
   
   Tom Reiss thoroughly explores Bey's life from his childhood in Azerbaijan during the most turbulent times of the early 20th century, but Mr. Reiss goes beyond that, and depicts the times and events. The accounts of Russian history and the Bolshevik revolution are fascinating. Later on, when Bey lives in Berlin, the book tends to slow a bit. Overall, 'The Orientalist' is a fascinating account of European history during the rise of Bolshevism and fascism.Taxi to Tashkent: Two Years with the Peace Corps in Uzbekistan



5. The book feels a bit like watching 'Pop up video'. The tale is of a man trying to shed his identity in a world that hates who he is. The story is interspersed with a secret history of the early 20th century. About half the book has little to do with the central character. Its more a history of the time in which he lives.
   What's appealing about the book is that there is a lot of history that I had no clue about. Jewish Orientalist history, about Stalin, Germany etc but the story about Leo Nussimbaum feels to me flawed. I don't understand why he deceided to be a writer. I don't understand what made him tick. He makes all sorts of strange decisions that the author cannot unravel.
   An intersting book in bits but doesn't hold together as a biography.

5 comments about My Dog Skip.

1. This book is the story of Willie Morris' childhood companion, a dog named Skip. Willie recounts his adolescent years and all the fond memories of his dog and friends as they grew up together in small town Mississippi. The story is heartwarming and the author paints a very clear picture of all the shenanigans, good times and bad that he and his dog had together over the years. I liked this book; but I think a male reader would appreciate the bond between a boy and his dog more than I can.



2. This is a wonderful and touching story. It is a good read, and I recommend it to anyone who has ever had a pet. I especially like that it has a jack russell in the story.



3. This was a great book! It was so touching and heartfelt. I love dogs and this book is an example of someone who loves dogs like me so I can connect! Greatly recomended!



4. Willie Morris was a truly great author! This story of his childhood with his dog was really heartwarming. It is so simple and warm and humorous, you will just love it. Warning: you will cry your eyes out at the end, but it's worth the pain. One of the best animal stories ever, I hope many kids read this in school. If you loved the movie "A Christmas Story" you will love this book. The movie version of "My Dog Skip" is also quite good, though it is kind of upsetting that in order to create drama the wonderful father of the book is kind of nasty in the movie. Willie Morris was a great author who also wrote a cat book entitled "My Cat Spit McGee" and several books about his life that remind me a little of Russel Baker's memoirs. One is entitled "North Toward Home", another "Good Old Boy" and one is about life in New York City.



5. Willie Morris has recounted the life of not just a boyhood pet, but a dear and close friend.
   The Story of Skip's life as told by his owner is full of mythic adventures of childhood. Where every new day was full of joy and wonder. Morris' storytelling brings the dog, his family and the lush southern landscape into full and brilliant view.
   When you read My Dog Skip you can just feel how much this young man loved and revered his dog.
   Any of us who have had a much loved pet know that the bond between animal and human can reach so much further than just "pet and owner". Willie Morris makes the statement that Skip wasn't just his dog, but his brother... that is a beautiful thing. Morris grew up an only child but did not feel alone by any stretch of the imagination. He was loved deeply by and deeply loved his dog Skip.
   Another great point made in this book is how Willie Morris learned so much from his dog Skip. He clearly states that the most lasting lessons he has learned about love and loyalty came from knowing his dog.
   This book captures so well the love a boy or any human being can have for a pet... I loved the story and highly recommend it!

5 comments about The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism.

1. The author attempts to run the three biographies in parallel but what really happens is that she jumps from one place to the other, so none of the biographies unfold properly. I found it utterly unreadable. On top of it to add to my frustration, there are generalities, like Elizabeth fought with her mother "like all adolescent girls do" or romantic creations "like on this day if you didn't watch out a dog might have showered you with water". I wanted to read a proper biography and not a society novel. I had read "Eden's Outcasts" by John Matteson before and came away with a more lively picture of Elizabeth Peabody and her involvment in the Temple School then from this book. If you are interested in the transcendentalist movement, the time, or women I highly recommend "Eden's Outcasts: The story of Louisa May Alcott and her father".



2. The Peabody Sisters is a wonderful book. It was so interesting and fast-paced, it reads like a novel. The women of the Transcendentalist Movement have been so poorly remembered it is possible to learn something new on every page. Megan Marshall's writing style is relaxed and conversational, a good balance to the 19th century melodrama, angst, sentimentality, and lofty philosophies of the sisters and their circle. Although Marshall quotes letters, sermons, poetry, reviews, journals, reports, and literature from many sources, it is done sparingly and logically integrated.
   
   The Peabody sisters were extraordinary women living in extraordinary times. A case can be made that Elizabeth Peabody, the oldest sister, is one of the most important figures in Transcendentalism. Barred from college and commerce by poverty and sex, she still managed to be more educated than many of the men she befriended and promoted. Many of the relationships we take for granted in Boston and Concord of the era can be directly linked to Elizabeth Peabody's tireless efforts to intellectually support interesting, creative individuals, make introductions, even find people jobs and students, housing, mentors - all while she is shut out and struggling to support her parents and five younger siblings while teaching herself Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Italian, Spanish. Also: teaching children and adults, writing articles, editing and publishing, and keeping up a lively correspondence with teachers, philosophers, artists, poets of the era. Her sisters Sophia and Mary are hardly less accomplished.
   
   And yet Megan Marshall always keeps things grounded. The sisters are always real people who display very normal sibling rivalries manifested in jealousy, competition, ambition, despair, frustration and anger. There was also commitment, love, affection, support, delight and generosity.
   
   What is most amazing is the strength of the women in this group. They are creative, adaptable, intelligent, extraordinary in many ways. They are continually held back by the convention of the time that women were somehow frail and that ambition and accomplishment were unseemly in the "fairer sex." Considering what hothouse flowers many of the men in this group proved to be, it's all the more unreasonable that the inequality of the sexes persisted.
   
   Megan Marshall never harangues - the rant is purely my own. Marshall simply gives us the benefit of her prodigious research in the most straightforward and appealing manner. Don't be scared off by the length of the book: the last 100 pages or so are notes and index. The book itself speeds by and the reader is left at the point when the sisters are taking up their own separate lives.



3. Somehow I overlooked this book when it was released, but thank goodness I discovered it later. The author takes readers back in time to share the amazing lives of these sisters. In the process, acquaintances of the Peabody family, that readers already know as historical figures, are brought to life as real, flawed but remarkable people. Readers will identify with these women as they strive to achieve and practice their own talents in a society that shares possibilities and limitations not so different from our own.



4. I only get to read on the train to and from work. This book makes my daily trip a real treat. I'm only half through, but hooked from page one. Not only does Marshall make a fascinating biographical and historical account of the Peabody sisters, but she provides answers as to why strong, ambitious, smart women have been so frustrated for so long. Society supressed gifted women in the 1800's so much so that women either became outcasts because they had to find expression, which in itself was restricted to motherhood, housewife or teacher, or they retreated into themselves in the form of illness or depression. Indeed, the contributions to romanticism by the Peabody sisters came at a very high cost to them. And now I can read about them and think "How strange that society was so close-minded back then!"



5. Megan Marshall has done superb work in this carefully researched account of the amazing Peabody sisters.

No comments about American Priestess: The Extraordinary Story of Anna Spafford and the American Colony in Jerusalem.

5 comments about John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace.

1. This is one of the best books I have read in the past 12 months. It is tightly written, full of insightful anecdotes, and paints the life of an ordinary man that God used to make an extraordinary impact on the world in which Newton lived...and beyond. Even if you are not a regular reader of christian biographies (like me) this one is worth picking up.



2. Mr. Aitken's book takes us through John Newton's amazing life, and I found myself very pleased to read the story of Newton's role in the abolition of the slave trade through his influence on his friend Wilberforce (who served in Parliament devoting his life to abolition) as well as his own testimonies to the British authorities. Further, his Christian devotion to William Cowper helped that troubled man get through many dark periods -- even suicide attempts -- and he, Cowper, became one of the leading lights of 18th century English literature.
   Also, his devotion to and love for his wife, Polly, is also heavily accented in this work. It was a 43 year love affair, despite the fact that many found her to be unattractice and somewhat deficient between the ears. Also, they never had children. Nonetheless from the day he first set eyes upon her until the day of her death, she was his one and only.
   Rev. Newton also demonstrated singular devotion to hymnody in worship services which was suspect in high Church of England circles at that time. He showed a sympathy for and interest in some of the religious enthusiasts of the day that rankled some of his Church of England contemporaries, but his charitable attitudes seemed to win over those who needed to be won over, and the cause of Christ was served mightily by the man until he was in his eighties (he was exceedingly long-lived for a person in that century).
   The author is thorough in his treatment of the above themes, but the work is a little too cooly detached for my taste which is why I have given it a four rather than a five. It's filled with facts, yet the texture of the man doesn't really come across. I would have liked a chapter on Newton's theology, a chapter discussing the themes and lyrics of his hymns, his role as a preacher other than his impact on the famous individuals Wilberforce and Cowper, and some more personal touches that one usually finds in good biographies, whether one learns his favorite food, his reaction to issues of the day (other than slavery), and some critique of his writings. He was a pastor for so many years, but one comes away with scant sense of the man.
   Despite these shortcomings, I highly recommend this volume. It's worth every cent. As one reviewer notes, it shows that there is definitely room for Christian involvement in politics that one sees clearly after reading this volume. Christian statesmen are still needed.
   Likewise, I was pleased at his caring and patience for his desperate and suicidal friend Wm. Cowper. He did not assume that because Mr. Cowper was not walking around cheery and seemingly joyful all the time that he was not saved. Too often today Christians are ashamed to say they are sad,and many are disconsolate, yet are made to feel guilty about this. Christ told his disciples to "be of good cheer," but we are not rejected by Him if we are not.
   Read this book and learn from it, but don't expect literary flair or an analytic treatment.



3. What I Enjoyed:
   
   Aitken does a wonderful job of putting together the life of Newton into a beautifully weaved story. One of the literary features that makes this work shine is the inclusion of Newton's letters. Sometimes it feels as if Newton is writing his own biography. One of the temptations in writing a biography is to portray the subject without many flaws and often times almost above human status. Part of the beauty of Newton's story is that he was such a great sinner. The more that we can see Newton as a great sinner the more it points to Christ as a great Savior. Aitken keeps Newton human.
   
   What I Disliked:
   
   In as much as Aitken shines on displaying Newton as a great sinner, I felt that in expressing latter half of Newton's statement ("...Christ is a great Savior") Aitken dropped the ball. Newton would be disappointed to find that a biography on himself did not have at its center the magnificent work of Jesus Christ. One standard I apply in reading biographies is this: after reading the biography, do I want to learn more about the man or am I driven to know Christ more. After reading this, I want to know more about John Newton. That is not altogether bad but a very important part of the story played a flat role. Newton was the main character when it should have been Jesus. Because of this we miss discovering what it was that made Newton tick.
   
   Should You But It:
   
   Nonetheless, it is a great work on John Newton and will serve the reader well. My hope is that it only introduces the reader to Newton and inspires you to pursue more of his work, because therein one might see and savor Jesus Christ. Should you buy it? Yes. Should it be the only Newton book in your collection? No.



4. Jonathan Aitken has written an excellent biography, one of the best Christian biographies I have read. Newton is a great subject for a biography for he had a long and amazing life. Aitken is well qualified to write about "From Disgrace to Amazing Grace". He writes with style. His chapters are refeshingly short and to the point. The story is thrilling with "many dangers, toils and snare". One looses counts of the dangers from which the young Newton escapes. It is the story of a great sinner who was found by a great Saviour. Aitken tells the tale with real spiritual as well as historical undrstanding of his subject so that in concluion he can point the reader to spiritual lessons to be learned from Newton's life. For example. God's timing is not ours. Newton had to wait six years from applying, to be finally ordained as an Anglican minister. His marriage is an exemplary and touching story. Newtons spitiuality and prayer life are a real challenge. Aitken shows how faithful and inovatory Newton was as a pastor and how he helped many, especially his best friend William Cowper. Without Newton there would have neem no great poet only a forgotten suicide. Similarly, without Newton we would probably not have has Wilberforce, politician and reformer. Aitken also tells the story of Newton's famous hymn, its composition and rise to fame. Aitken faithfully relates Newton's faults too. His support of the American rebels had to be withdrawn but one is led to understand why many in England, especailly non-conformists, were suppporters of the rebels. Newton was an eirenic man who eschewed party labels and associated with Christian irrespective of denominational labels. This is a great biography and I hope we will have more from this fine Christian author.



5. The story of John Newton's life is one of my personal favorites. Like most of us, Newton's journey to his destiny was filled with false starts, obstacles, and a good deal of regret. Perhaps of all the biographies that I have read, the story of this man's life resonates most with me as genuinely truthful and truly inspiring.
   
   Most people may not initially recognize the name of John Newton, that is until it is noted that he wrote the hymn Amazing Grace. Despite that it was written over 200 years ago, Amazing Grace is the most sung, most recorded, most played song ever. Not bad for a creation that was meant only to serve as a simplistic way to teach scripture to Newton's congregation in Olney.
   
   Perhaps this song resonates so deeply with so many people because the words reflect John Newton's own extremely troubled life journey. Newton spent many years of his young adulthood completely lost. Career wise, he had no idea what he wanted to do and seemed bent on rebelling against everything that was given to him. The only thing he seemed to excel at was creating havoc. His greed and resentment led him to do horrible things including becoming a slaver.
   
   After a series of what Newton perceived as divine interventions, the man slowly began realizing that he needed to change his life. After a lot of false starts, Newton turned his life around and dedicated himself to God's word. In his lifetime, he became a bestselling author bringing religious material to the masses. His frank testimony about his actions in the slave trade was also significant in the abolishment of slavery in Britain.