5 comments about The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty.

1. I'll admit that I did not know what to expect when I encountered this book by Kitty Kelley. I only knew her works by reputation, and her previous subject matter - the Royals, Jackie Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor and Frank Sinatra - struck me as lightweight and gossipy. But I found myself unexpectedly with a few hours to kill and few titles from which to choose. So, I picked up "The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Family," which tells the history of three generations of Bush politicians, Senator Prescott Bush and Bush 41 and Bush 43.
   
   First, let me say that the book is very readable. The only thing that might be a bit difficult is keeping track of the different names, as there are, for example, so many Georges and Prescotts. Kelley does what she can to assist by employing the nicknames used by Bush family itself. Some of them are actually endearing, such as "Poppy." Her prose carries the reader along easily.
   
   Second, let me say that the book was far more substantial than I expected. There was plenty, yes plenty, of politics in it. Kelley brings information together to show coherent patterns, exposing contradictions and lies.
   
   Third, I want to say that the book is, for the most part, fair. Kelley sometimes steps back to admire or acknowledge a deed or two. Prescott is admired for voting to censure Joe McCarthy (an act of political courage, as his constituents may have been pro-Joe). Bush 41 is admired for enlisting on his 18th birthday to fight in World War II (even though his parents were against his fighting in "Rockefeller's War"). Kelley also acknowledges that Bush 41's increase of taxes - and this hurt him badly in the re-election - put the economy in better shape for when Clinton entered office. Bush 43 is acknowledged to believe that he is a sincere Christian (although he rarely attends church). Kelley describes a charming incident, too, when Bush returns some money to a poor woman who contributed to his campaign.
   
   (A parenthetical note: how often do you hear the right-wing media positively acknowledge any deed of those whom they deem liberal? It's very, very rare, and very frustrating.)
   
   Despite these gleams of good, most of the book is negative with respect to the three men. Their talents can be described as mediocre at best, and pitiful at worst. They rarely have empathy for anyone but the Bushes. The lies that they tell - "Pernicious foolery" - expand from one generation to the next. They lie glibly about themselves; they lie viciously about their opponents. They pander to those who will vote for them or contribute to their campaigns. Many of the events have popped up in the media before; it's clear they are not invention. (I admit I was too young for the Prescott incidents.)
   
   A big question is: Why have the Bushes done what they have done? They seem to have mistaken a plaque on the wall for the satisfaction of genuine accomplishment. But they are desperate, almost slavering, to get that plaque on the wall. They lie and pander (to the NRA, for example) in order to get that plaque.
   
   And what's all this about poodles? The poodles are the media (see Kelley's Afterword) admitted to the White House - the poodles who have not done their work and informed the nation. The poodles who, hoping for another doggy biscuit or a chance to sit on the inner sofa, have let so many items go unchallenged. The poodles have hurt the Americans, who, thinking they were being informed appropriately, voted in the Bush-men
   
   Thanks Kelley - for not being a poodle!



2. For those of us who detest the Bushes, there is really no need to look for new reasons to hate. Having said that, I'm glad I read this book because it was enjoyable and cathartic while also serving as food for thought.
   
   It's really an anatomy of the mindset behind conservatism, as the Bushes come across not as instigators of the ugly sort of "conservatism" that now holds sway, but rather as a symptom. The current brand of conservatism that has plunged the USA into such a miserable state is based on the idea of life as a zero-sum game: an unending series of battles that necessarily require a winner and a loser. In this world view, there is no such thing as compromise for the greater good, so it is essential that one be on the winning side.
   
   Consistently throughout "The Family" we see the Bushes taking this stance as a means of becoming and remaining the ultimate victors. From the senior Bush's radical stand against the Civil Rights Act as a means of catapulting himself into the redneck center of Texas politics to his son's co-opting of the religious right to win backing among those he would be leaving economically disadvantaged, the naked cynicism of Bush maneuvering is masterful in that it is completely detached from any sort of a moral compass and instead driven by a keen understanding of people's fears of The Other.
   
   One amazing thing about "The Family" is that it comes across not only as an expose of the Bushes' ugliness but also as an convincing analysis of how they utilized the power of myths and images that easily resonate with Americans. We see exactly how truly despicable people are no more than a crystalization of all that is wrong with America.



3. There's not one nice thing said of any member of the Bush family here. Nope, not ONE nice thing. Across eighty-plus years and a couple dozen Bush figures, Kelley can't uncover a single deed by any of them that in her view merits her penning a single gracious compliment. No mention with any flattery (is there or did I miss something?) of former President Bush's service during World War Two, when the man might easily have stayed in college, no reference to how the current President's grandfather (eventually) opposed McCarthyism, no note conceded to the first President Bush's position among the top five Presidents of last century when it came to foreign policy, not EVEN a kind word for the charms of Millie, the White House Dog!
   
   But...I can't help but come back to one thing about this insomnia-curing exercise in gossip, and that is IF these things are true, then no matter how rude it might be to say all this, isn't it a valid exercise in journalism (stretching the word a bit) to print this?
   
   True tales or outright lies, I cannot like Kitty Kelley. She strikes me as one who glees in other people's troubles and mongers their problems and less flattering moments before all the world. She reminds me a lot of the sort Theodore Roosevelt was talking about a hundred years ago when he cited those types who do nothing on their own but are the first to sit back and criticise and mock those who do make an attempt at something.
   
   Bottom line is this. Most Bush foes will like this book, and most Bush fans will be outraged. Even I, who have little love for our current President, think this is trashy tabloid reporting at its most mercenary. Yet...I also suspect there's more truth here in Kelley's character-bashing than the sometimes ruthless Bush family would like to admit.



4. Imagine someone wrote a book about you, and after talking to everyone who hates you, compiled a list of every flaw and every mistake, intermingled with rumor and gossip presented as fact. This is the approach that Kelley takes, and while it does make for an entertaining book that's hard to put down, one feels a need to take a shower after reading it.
   
   A lot of Kelley's dirt is material of which even loyal Republicans were aware: We all accept that George W. is inarticulate, stubborn, and although he might have a high IQ, he's not an intellectual. Everyone knows about his history with alcohol and his checkered past as a businessman - points Kelley pounds at viciously and incessantly. More damning is her accusation that George W. had been cheating on his wife with a Midland prostitute who was threatened by CIA agents, and that he has a history of using cocaine. Is this true? Who knows? Kelley seems very thorough in her sourcing, but one gets the sense that she'd say it even if the source lacked credibility. Even when Bush does something positive, Kelley tweaks her wording to put the worst possible spin on the event, not realizing her book would have more credibility if she showed more evenhandedness.
   
   Prescott Bush, George Sr., and George W. each get roughly a third of the book. (Does anyone really care about Prescott?) As well, the women of the Bush family receive the Kelley treatment - Barbara, Laura, and the twins are all presented in a very negative light.
   
   I bought the 2005 Anchor paperback (although not from Amazon), and the binding fell apart despite gentle handling. I bought a replacement copy, and once again, the binding fell apart and chunks of pages fell into my lap.



5. I'm not American, so had never even heard of Prescott Bush, let alone many of the other characters in this book. And yeah it's pretty gossipy and Kitty Kelley is obviously no fan, but if (like me) you just want an easy to read overview of the Bush family that doesnt get too bogged down in American politics, I say this is for you. I read every word and came out knowing far more about right wing American politics than I knew before. Let me tell you, it wasnt the Bushes that shocked me, (scratch the surface of any family and you're bound to find pay dirt) it was the ratbag right wing fundamentalists that really gave me the creeps.
   Oooooh, scary.

5 comments about Daniel Boone: The Life and Legend of an American Pioneer (An Owl Book).

1. What do most of us know about Daniel Boone? Boonesborough? Cumberland Gap? Maybe even the Wilderness Road? Then there are the trumped up tales for which the most part, are fictitious.
   Dr. Faragher does justice to this American frontiersman. He digs, rummages and investigates into the volumes written about Boone and turns this into a respectable, readable biography.
   
   Settling Kentucky was a decade's long gruesome endeavor. Many lives were lost. The English, French, Indians and soon to be Americans engaged in numerous grisly battles to claim this region. Boone was involved in many of these bloody clashes and maintained till his closing days that he only killed three Indians in his life.
   Even after being held prisoner for four months by the Shawnees, the man respected the Native Americans more so than the land hungry speculators who came in shortly after he opened these same territories.
   
   He was a man of the woods, always living on the edge of society. A restless individual, who as the years went by, despised many components of civilization due to the ramifications thereof.
   Insightful.



2. 
   Daniel Boone lived from 1734 to 1820.
   
   I knew almost nothing about Boone before reading this biography, and so cannot critique the book on its historical or biographical accuracy. My only complaint is that it is not longer. This seems an excellent book to begin a study of Daniel Boone. It has gotten me curious to read more.
   
   And yes, I am one of those who grew up watching Fess Parker's TV show Daniel Boone.



3. The style of this work reminded somewhat of McCullough's (writer of a biography of John Adams)in that the writer seeks to understand Boone's motivations within the context of the times he lived in. Unlike Adams however much less in definitely known about Boone and the writer is forced to include many stories and legends that are needed to embelish the biography but also pose the risk of pulling Boone's image and reputation in undesirable or unfair directions. The problem of course is that there are hundreds of legends and hundreds of variations on those legends and the writer must pick and chose how much weight to give the views of his different sources. Overall he has done a good job and the reader is treated to a realistic view of life in Kentucky when buffaloes roamed, the plight of the Indians etc... Recommended



4. Daniel Boone was a long hunter and it brought him to the hunting ground of Kentucky. He hunted the land several times before he brought his family to Boonesborough a fort on the Kentucky River. Faragher shows that Boone was a man of character. He loved the frontier and wanted to be a part of it. Boone wanted to live in peace with the Indians but at times he found them to be his enemy. The people he encouraged to come west began to crowd him and he began to look for a new frontier farther west. The Author was very factual about the man, Daniel Boone. By Ruth Thompson author of "The Bluegrass Dream" and "Natchez Above The River"



5. This book provided very detailed information regarding Daniel Boone and his relatives. He's a legend worth learning about. You'll be able to separate the myths about him from the truth, according to the best available data.
   Be ready for a long read.

2 comments about Theodore Roosevelt: Letters and Speeches (Library of America).

1. Most living today do not know the art of letter writing. Our lives are all phone calls and emails. We live in the instant and do not know the pleasures and benefits of taking time to form thoughts and writing in complete and coherent sentences let alone taking the time to construct paragraphs or a complete and persuasive argument. Another problem is that our communications today are perishable. There are fewer personal documents left for study and almost no drafts to give us insight into the process of composition. Sure, presidential libraries contain mountains of paper, but so much of it is from staff, is impersonal bureaucrat speak, and lacks the wit, sparkle, and insight of a practiced and skilled writer such as Theodore Roosevelt.
   
   TR published forty books, wrote more than 100,000 letters, and his collected speeches fill twenty volumes. All this in a too short sixty year life (Oct 1858 - Jan 1919). I find this productivity staggering, especially when one considers how actively he lived his life. He traveled, he climbed the Matterhorn, he ranched, went to war, fulfilled many public offices including Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Governor of New York, Vice-President, and President of the United States.
   
   We all owe a note of thanks to Louis Auchincloss for editing this volume and providing us with 367 of his letters, every one of them one kind of gem or another. We get observations of TR the Naturalist, the diplomat, the Rough Rider, Governor, President, Ex-President, and the private man. Actually, we get more sides of him than those, but those are the biggest and most notable gems. Four of his greatest and most noted speeches are also included. They all deserve to be read today and should be read by all students of American History.
   
   In my view, the greatest of them is his 1910 speech at the Sorbonne on "Citizenship in a Republic". "The Strenuous Life" is also a wonderful speech to read and contemplate. Both are calls to a responsible and fully lived life of duties and responsibilities to earn the rewards of freedom and wealth. He has no use for the empty life living off the sweat and blood of others. Magnificent sentiments that should inspire us today and will actually have the beneficial effect of making all, and I mean all, of our present leaders seem small in comparison let alone the indictment it makes on each one of us. If you do not want to hear a clear call to action, avoid these speeches. But you will avoid them to your own loss.
   
   This book deserves to be read and read more than once. It is that wonderful kind of book you can dip into for a short read over and over again. Each time you will come away feeling energized and inspired to do more and to do better.
   
   Hugely recommended. Thanks to the Library of America for producing this magnificent and beautifully done volume.
   
   Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI
   
   You might also want to consider:
   
   Theodore Roosevelt: The Rough Riders/An Autobiography (Library of America)



2. Theodore Roosevelt was among the most literary men ever to occupy the White House. The author of over 40 books, he was also a prolific letter-writer and in the pre-"West Wing" age prepared his own speeches as well. Numerous collections of his writings have been published, with this volume being the latest of them. Edited by the author and Roosevelt biographer Louis Auchinloss, it offers a selection of some of the most illustrative writings from throughout Roosevelt's life and career.
   
   The result is somewhat disappointing. Though advertised as "Letters and Speeches," the volume is mostly comprised of the former rather than the latter; there are only four speeches tacked on at the end, almost as an afterthought. Nor do the letters published here offer anything new - all of them, in fact, are from the superb eight-volume collection edited by Elting Morison in the early 1950s, only with the excellent footnotes that provided the context relegated to the back of the book.
   
   These criticisms aside, the Library of America has produced a book of merit. Auchinloss has selected letters which offer a helpful peek into Roosevelt's life, providing almost an autobiographical presentation of Roosevelt's ideas and opinions. For readers interested in particular subjects, Auchinloss provides in the table of contents a brief subject line under each letter, which adds to the book's utility. The result is a nice, durable volume offering a useful sampling of some of Roosevelt's most important letters. While diehard fans of TR will probably prefer Morison's hard-to-find collection, for readers seeking a handy edition of his correspondence this is the book to own.

1 comments about Their Fifteen Minutes: Biographical Sketches of the Lindbergh Case.

1. There are so many books written on the Lindbergh kidnapping that one would think there is nothing new left to write about. Yet Mark Falzini has done just that. Their Fifteen Minutes manages to convey an intimate portrait of those characters in this crime drama who, though often mentioned in other works, are never quite given the depth they rightfully deserve.
   This is definitely a must have book for anyone interested in the crime of the century.
   I have but one criticism for Mark Falzini; the title is misleading. The characters of his book will have much more than fifteen minutes thanks to Mark's careful and humanistic rendition. They now have eternity.

5 comments about The Young Hitler I Knew.

1. This is a unique first-hand account of the young life of Adolf Hitler.Hitler,for better or worse,changed global politics forever.Time magazine ,out of concern of mass cancelation,named Albert Einstein over Hitler,as the most important figure of the 20th century.The US did not have a nuclear weapons program,in development,until after World War 2 started.The Soviets were already pursuing a nuclear defense program against Hitler's Germany.Yet,this is all much later.This book covers the care-free days of Hitler's youth in Vienna.The growing political and economic troubles is what fostered the atmosphere of fear and extremism.And it was the hard times,that young Hitler suffered that pushed him into nationalist politics.Had the times been happier,Hitler may have turned into a qualified architect of repute or bloomed into a serious kunstler artist.Years later,Hitler saw Albert Speer,as the budding architect he once was and wanted to patronize him into cultivation.Hitler may have even been labeled a 'socialist' or 'liberal', before the outbreak of World War One.His war experience forever changed his views about the outside world and how he felt they disregarded Germanic cultural values.Sadly,Hitler had no regard himself for other cultures and their values.I guess when the Bavarian brown-shirts favored Hitler to be the Furher for the Nazi party,they were thinking of 'Empire' and not of isolationist seclusion.The Nazi party has its roots in the pagan-occult and the runes. Yet,the nazi ideology was and is a muddled credo of christianized paganism.And Hitler was the ideal leader for this modern form of christianized 'VooDoo' political movement.Hitler had rejected the catholic church and the protestant church,as well.Yet,he did marry Eva Braun,fearing that there may be a christian after-life to face for eternity indeed.That's VooDooo christian thinking.After reading these book,i was amazed at how the opera scene really affected his social values.Hitler's favorite was Richard Wagner.His favorites 'the Flight of the Valkries' and 'the Twilight of the Gods',both based on pagan mythos.So,if you want to see the development of the young Adolf Hitler,this book paints a rather interesting early portrait of the most enigmatic figure of all time.



2. This book is not for the uninterested nor the passing historian. It is important to bear in mind that this perspective on Hitler is for a particular period of time, from a particular person. And lacking a relatively thorough understanding of Hitler, one may be compelled to think that the "Young Hitler" was completely different, as if possessed by demons later in life (as some biographers suggest) than the "Fuehrer Hitler".
   
   The Young Hitler, however, is really the only decent, detailed recollection of Hitler before he became active in the Nazi party after World War 1. And the reader will be astounded at the twists and turns in the fortunes of the young Hitler. Indeed, if one wasn't aware that it was Hitler, they might feel some sympathy for the struggling young artist. Surely more than Hitler have struggled to find their way and place in the world, resisting tedious daily work and eduction. And if Hitler had never become someone, this biography might still be an interesting story of growing up in the terbulant years of 1900-1921, with the fall of the Austro-Hungrian Empire and WW1. And it is also an intersting tale of a struggling artist. What aspiring actor in Los Angeles today doesn't struggle to make ends meet, dream of great fame as an actor, but not necessarily work hard?
   
   As Kershaw says in the introduction, there are some half-truths and unique spins from Kubizek, but the essense of his story is true. It is astounding to learn about how a young, teenage Hitler designed bridges and monuments and cities with the conviction that he would one day realize these dreams - and that he eventually did. Or to learn about Hitler's enormous capacity to read and remember.
   
   In this book, one does not really see a maniacal leader determined to conquer Europe and enslave its population. Rather, as it ends, one is left with the impression that Hitler was an old childhood friend who remembered his one friend, and invited him to be a guest of honor at Wagner's Bayreuth festival.
   
   Kubizek had little to do with the Nazi party, politics, or the war, so these issues are largely ignored or simply have no relevance. It is hard to imagine a Hitler book without these things... but here it is.



3. Written by Hitler's closest ever friend, what he tells us rings true. By the end of the book you have a pretty good idea of how his mind works and what ideas are important to him. Later when he had the power, he put these early ideas into effect . This book is recommended to understand Hitler's development.



4. This book is one of those resources that is in nearly every history of Hitler and stands as a sole personal reference to Hitler's early years.
   August Kubizek through this work is able to fill in the gaps the public records, scant as they are, provide about Hitler's life as a boy and an artsy vagabond on the streets of Vienna. I found the author's approach to this book straightforward and written in the way that someone wishing to study the personality of an individual. He segments his chapters looking the town the mother and the father and Hitler's social life among other things. While the delivery is somewhat simplistic it is what would be expected of an average person who knew Hitler as a youth.
   
   While the book is somewhat contradictory in that it says that Hitler's mother wasn't nearly a smothering as often said and interestingly Kubisek says that Hitler always had the gift for compelling oratory which seems odd seeing that he was a social misfit at the same time. It is interesting too because it seems even in trying to writing objectively the author has some strange affection or admiration for Hitler. No matter what it's a quick and interesting read that any historian studying Hitler should not pass up.



5. This is one of the most important books ever written on Hitler. It is an honest memoir of Hitler's best childhood friends. There is no book that even comes close to the coverage this book provides of Hitler's early years. Perhaps, the most important section of the book is the chapter where Hitler sees Wagner's opera Rienzi for the first time and sees a larger vision for his own life. Indeed, one aspect of the book is the huge influence of Richard Wagner on both Hitler and a generation of Germans. Check my German history book list on Amazon for more interesting books including a book on Wagner's influence on Hitler.

5 comments about Because of Romek: A Holocaust Survivor's Memoir, Second Edition.

1. For holocaust survivor to endure the evils of concentration camps and not become bitter towards life and humanity in general is an accomplishment in itself. The book is well written. I can't say I enjoyed reading about the inhumanity that can be directed towards humanity, but it is a necessary book that needed to be written for future generations to learn from. I am glad the book was written for that reason alone. I wanted to add my aggreement with all the other good reveiws here.



2. This book is one that anyone can and should read. There are so many books out there about the Holocaust, but this is straight from the survivors mouth. You won't get a more vivid or perfect picture of what really happened those fateful days in the concentration and death camps set in motion by Adolf Hitler. Take the time to read this rendition. You won't forget what it was about after you put it down.



3. The author of this book actually came and spoke to my 8th grade class a few years back, and he had told us in great detail of everything that had happened to him. What he said in person and in the manner that he said it made me by his book. This book is possibly one of the best books about one's personal experience during the holocaust i have ever read. I ended up reading it in about a day and a half. This book is very good but quite graphic and may not be for the younger ones, but being able to hear this poor man speak about his life, and then be able to a copy of his book autographed by him just really makes it special.
   
   This is deffinetly a must buy.



4. Mr. Faber came to speak at my school and I was absolutely blown away. For a man to go through all of this and still be able to talk about it is just amazing. Thank you for making such a difference in my life Mr. Faber.



5. If you get through this book without shedding a tear, you are not human! POWERFUL and PAINFUL

5 comments about Kafka Was the Rage: A Greenwich Village Memoir.

1. This is one of the best memoirs I've read. Broyard is brilliant, an elegant writer, and his story is interesting. Anyone in love with New York, or just in love with good memoirs, should read it.



2. My first reaction was, I wish I had been there too. As he said, the public was visually hungry at that time. Now the public is pretty much jaded in mho, but also, there are probably many more visual artists per capita than in 1947.
   Other quotes I liked: pp129 On Delmore Schwartz, he was like the grammar-school bully who rips open your fly buttons. It was Delmore who helped me to understand what I came to think of as the malice of modern art.
   pp134 The social history of the world is, in some ways, a history of censorship.



3. Returning from World War II, Anatole Broyard, a young man of New Orleans Creole stock who had grown up Brooklyn working class, took advantage of the GI Bill to jumpstart his fortunes. Manhattan beckoned across the river, and upon enrolling in The New School, he fell down the rabbit hole and into the Wonderland that was Greenwich Village. At The New School, he sat in the classes of the major intellectuals of the era, many of them from Europe. He had only just begun when he met artist Sheri Donatti, a protégé of Anais Nin, who instantly provided him with a place to live and a relationship that would come to define the entire mad scene, where everyone read Kafka and modern art was It. The old rules, whatever they were, were out the window and where Sheri was in command, the rules changed daily. Broyard, who paints himself as an outsider has enough access to the epicenter of the action and thinking of the place in this time frame to be its ideal interpreter.
   
   This memoir covers just a couple of years, but that's enough to get down the Bohemian culture of Greenwich Village a few years before Keroauc appeared on the scene and nearly a couple of decades before the sixties would recast their own version. Broyard went on to become for 3 decades an admirable book critic for The New York Times and to live a happy, domesticated family life in the suburbs. His lucid, literate and witty style shines in KAFKA WAS THE RAGE. He was working on this memoir when he died of cancer in 1993.



4. If you're expecting an overview of the 1940s Greenwich Village scene, adjust your expectations. This is for the most part an account of Anatole Broyard's life, as he lived in Greenwich Village in the 1940s. The focus is on Broyard's concerns of the time and his particular perceptions. It is a distinct difference.

   That acknowledged, I'd like to say that I recommend the book anyway. Broyard's account is valuable for its loving criticism of the 1940s art world, for its honest recognition of the stupidity of youth, and for its meandering remembrances, repleat with similes and earnest attempts to find meaning in the past. The book is valuable because of its examination of life, an examination that is all the more interesting for the time period and the location of the subject.

   I said that Broyard's account was more an account of his own life than of the times. But it is also an opinion of mine that one life tells a lot about a time period. The setting for the memoir is New York just after WWII--the whole city is glad to be alive and glad to be carefree for the first time since the beginning of the war. And Broyard's account of himself and others in the period is fascinating for that reason, for the way this made people act. Need another reason? Broyard's memoir is peppered with chance meetings with prestigious artists and writers of the time. He exposes the mentality they all lived with--the way they lived with art the way other young people live with football or pop music. He exposes the advantages and disadvantages that that presented. Most of all, he exposes your youth--your own youthful pretensions, and stupidity, and wisdom. It's the account you would write if you had the time... And the insight.




5. One brilliantly sunny day in July, I decided to head out to the lake to bask in the sun and read. Unforuntately, I realized halfway there that I hadn't bought anything to read. So, I trotted over to my local used bookstore and began browsing their recent acquisition table. This little volume immediately gained my attention. It looked like fun, it looked like it would be a quick read, and it was short enough that it wouldn't keep me from continuing in any of the other books that I was already reading. So, off to the lake with this book in hand I went.

   KAFKA WAS THE RAGE was quite a nifty little read. I had read a fair amount about the Beats at one point, so this had some of the same post-WW II Manhattan atmosphere, but that was set more in the area of Columbia University, so this shifted the scene further south. There is no real story to tell here. Broyard merely recounts in a more or less anecdotal form a number of events and individuals from a particular moment in time. He has a gift for summoning up particular moments in vivid detail, and a talent for the brilliant line. An example of the former is his recounting of an adventure in which he took Delmore Schwartz, Clement Greenberg, and Dwight MacDonald to a Spanish Harlem nightclub. Another is his description of his art professor Meyer Schapiro.

   Some great lines:

   "I thought that being a Communist was a penalty you had to pay for being interested in politics."

   [on Dylan Thomas] "To him, an American party was like being in a bad pub with the wrong people."

   [on Delmore Schwartz] "Like Samuel Johnson, whom he resembled in many ways, Delmore was not interested in prospects, views, or landscape. He had looked at the city when he was young, and saw no need to do it again."

   [on a painter friend] "His voice was soft, deep, and cultivated and his manners were a history of civilization."

   As one might expect (and hope for) in a memoir set in such a vibrant era, the book is marvelous for its incessant name-dropping of famous individuals who pop up briefly as characters: figures as diverse as Erich Fromm, Maya Deren, Anais Nin, Caitlin and Dylan Thomas, W. H. Auden, Gregory Bateson, as well as the previously mentioned Schwartz, Greenberg, MacDonald, and Shapiro.

4 comments about Blood, Tears, & Glory: How Ohioans Won the Civil War.

1. This is an excellent Civil War book from a narrative standpoint. It is one of the best and most compelling I have read. It digs out great story nuggets about Ohioans in the Civil War, and admirably presents the thesis that the war was first one in the West. Recommended to anyone.



2. I'm not much of a Civil War buff, but I got a copy of this book as a gift right before Thanksgiving and it was a quick, wonderful experience. General Sherman was right . . . WAR IS HELL! The details on how bloody this Civil War was and what led up to this dramatic cross-roads in our nation's history makes it very valuable reading. Ohioans and those from the midwest (called the West then) played the pivotal roles in this war. Being the "smartest" wasn't always the best when it came to picking the right Generals and planning a good strategy. Sounds like some recent history in America! Lincoln had his struggles in this war. There are lots of good details on the personalities and styles to make things very interesting as well as informative. Suggest it highly if you like American history.



3. I have at least four ancestors who fought in Ohio regiments, so I was excited to pick up this book. It provides a wonderful overview of the people (military, civilian, politician) and places that became important before, during, and after the Civil War. The book covers a lot of ground so there are no in-depth descriptions, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. It has many citatations from newspapers, diaries, first-person accounts, and other original sources. I appreciate the Web page references that end chapters. It has lots of illustrations and an easy-reading style. It's 600 pages but the text is large and widely-spaced.
   
   It suffers problems that I'll attribute to lackluster editing from the small publisher. I found some page numbers missing... not the text, just the page numbers (page 90 has no number, and there are no pages marked 91 and 92). An island in the Mississippi is called "Island Number Tenth" and then later "Island Number Ten," and isn't listed in the index at all. The brief phrases used to tag various people are often repeated, sometimes in separate chapters and sometimes on the next page. For example, page 347, "with Meade only nominally in charge..." and page 348, "Meade would remain head--nominally--of the army..."
   
   In spite of these issues, I'm enjoying this book and I'm glad to have it.



4. This is a superb, work -- in league with the best historical writers of our day in both substance and style. Bissland has done his homework in crafting a spell-binding glimpse of Ohio's significant role in the Civil War.
   
   I found his character descriptions to be most insightful and colorful. The depictions of Grant, Steedman, Rosecrans, and John Brown were especially riveting. His short bios of the main players were rich with detail and fresh anecdotes. They were never dry and plain -- always juicy and enticing. I loved the alliterative description of Brown as " an avenging angel on assignment from God. I didn't wanting to stop reading in the midst of any new character description.
   
   The author is almost poetic in his economical painting of snippets, often catching the reader off guard, e.g., "small conflicts flickered on the horizon like heat lightening" and my favorite: depicting Foote's gunboats as "enormous Hostess Twinkies with quills."
   
   The work is well-researched and appropriately documented, using an array of fascinating primary sources, including many diaries and early newpaper accounts. While the book subtitle suggests a narrow geographic view, I highly recommend this book to those beyond the midwest.

5 comments about Kinky Gazpacho: Life, Love & Spain.

1. This is just an excellent book. I travel a lot and people always seem to be surprised to see a black woman abroad. So it was very gratifying to read a travel memoir from a black woman writer. She's really honest and for that reason sometimes you like her and sometimes you don't. Her struggle with sex, love and race is filled with a fair amount of self denial and self realization. However it's a real struggle that many of us go through, but it's rarely explored through the prism of travel. I highly recommend this book.



2. I found the author's journey entertaining, but also thought provoking. She brings up difficult issues, but in a light hearted way that is accessible to readers of any background.



3. I was a little hestitant about reading the book because of Wild Orchard's review, but the book turned out better than I expected. I actually thought the history portion was the best part of the book.
   
   I think Ms. Tharp may have learned( and the above Nigerian reviewer should make an effort to learn)that speaking "proper" English is not rare among blacks, nor is listening to opera, and reading definitely isn't rare within the African-American community. And that is the missing element of the book...What changed Ms. Tharp's prospective of blacks? The book is missing her New York years which awakened her pride in herself. She gives us a sneak peek, but only to show how much Manual, her Spanish love, meant to her.
   
   My biggest problem was trying to figure out what audience this book is geared towards, adults or teens. There seems to be too much innocence in this book to have been written by a married 30-something with two children. It doesn't have to be rauchy, but it's just a little too chaste. I got the impression that it was written by a late teen rather than an adult.
   
   I bought this book because I wanted to live in Spain for a year. However, I've been hestitant due to it's history in the kidnapping and enslavement of Africans in the Americas. Then there were the incidents with Spain's Olympic basketball team's mocking of Chinese people, and the treatment of black fútbol players by Spanards which haven't encouraged me to want to assist in Spain's economy. So, I was eager to read this book because I really wanted to get a prospective from a black person.
   
   I cant' say that the book enligthened me on the Spaniards. First the author was a student, and then a member of an extended family. She didn't really write about going on excursions alone, except to and from school or to acquaintances' homes. So, I don't get a true sense of what the average tourist may encounter.
   
   However, I do have to say the sites in Cadiz interested me. So, I may end up going for a vacation, but if so, only to the South of Spain.
   
   ***Unfortunately we can't change the rating once it's entered. I meant to rate this as THREE STARS. I really don't have anyone I would recommend read this book.
   
   It definitely shouldn't be a hardback book. This book is only good to use in an African-American Studies course to study the various way a racist society shapes self-image.



4. I bought and read this book as part of a bookclub selection. The first 60 pages were good almost even interesting then it went downhill from there! She was a complete Drama Queen and sort of an Elitist. If I was really interested in a history lesson (like the one you'll get reading this book) I would have grabbed a history book instead and not spend 15 bucks on this. So all in all it was good in the beginning then quite a torture to finish.



5. I must admit that I vacillated between sorrow and anger for Lori. She seemed to have such a hard time identifying with her Blackness and I didn't realize young Black people struggled with this identity crisis while coming of age in the '80's. Having lived through the turmoil of the '50's and '60's, I assumed that people of African descent living in America were Black and Proud.
   
   I'm happy that Lori is finally appreciating the blessing of being born Black, one manifestation of the Source of all of us.
   
   Now she will be able to impart to her children and others that on a spiritual plane, all of us share the same Source even though the multitude fails to realize that the breath of life, the air that sustains us all is the same. Many will go through life not realizing this simple fact and will continue to erect barriers/walls to separate us.
   
   Her memoir is a gratifying read and many will enjoy her awakening.

1 comments about Civil War Battles and Leaders.

1. REVIEWED BY: Wayne Walker
   
   This past year, our younger son Jeremy, now age twelve, did an in depth study of the American War Between the States. We used several good resources, such as Fields of Fury by James M. McPherson and the Scholastic Encyclopedia of the Civil War edited by Catherine Clinton. Another one that really helped to put the events and people of that major period in our nation's history together in an understandable way was the Civil War volume of the DK Publishing's "Battles and Leaders" series, which is a guide to the battles and leading figures of the war that tore America apart. As with all other Dorling Kindersley books, there is a wealth of visual images, including pictures of artifacts, portraits of important people, battlefield paintings, and numerous maps, all of which complement the very lucid and easy to read text which chronicles year by year the important events of that era. It is a great book for both children and adults who want to study more about the Civil War.