No comments about Singlejack Solidarity (Critical American Studies).

2 comments about The Americanization of Edward Bok.

1. Edward Bok emigrated from the Netherlands with his family at the age of 6 in 1870 (5 years after the Civil War). He had to learn English and the way of this new country. With the lunch money and bus fare he saved, Edward bought a set of encyclopedias to study famous Americans. He began writing letters asking questions and getting autographed replies from famous figures like Lincoln, Sherman, Grant, Longfellow, Tennyson.... When his father read the reply from General Early as to why he burned Chambersburg and not Frederick, he had the letter published in the New York Tribune.
   
   From the news story about young Edward, prominent people contacted him to read these letters. He was invited to dinner by General Grant, began writing President Garfield and many who later became US Presidents... and upon whom he called on at NY hotels when they visited NY City. When Bok became a stenographer as a teenager, the step to newspaper writer wasn't far behind as he was known by these famous Americans and could easily obtain interviews.
   
   Against all logic, Edward Bok left NY, his status at Scribner's and Son's and Curtis Publishing, to fulfill his vision and destiny of influencing the positive development of the US as the editor of The Ladies Home Journal from 1889 until he retired in 1919 when WWI ended. Bok then focussed full time on improving his new homeland and the city of Philadelphia. Bok wrote several book, established and financed several educational endowments along with The American Peace Award (to name just a few).
   
   The Americanization of Edward Bok (his autobiography) is required reading in many schools...probably at Harvard as his grandson, Derek Bok, was president of Harvard in recent years! Read alone or aloud to older children, you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll stand in disbelief about Bok's encounters with about every famous person of his time (including Twain, Kipling, Beecher, Lewis Carroll and his beloved Teddy Roosevelt). This book was a favorite read for me at 14 and again at 40. Take off your shoes and wear Bok's for a mile, or two...or more. You will come away a better person, with greater appreciation for this country, inspired to create your own vision to contribute more as a citizen of the US and the world!



2. this is a great book, easy reading, and some of the lessons (management style, on own life) I got out of it are still appropriate, even today. Though one has to read sometimes between the lines to figure out what Edward Bok's management style and view on life was. A great story how he helped build the Ladies Home Journal into such a success, and how he shaped life and public opinion at that time. Keeping things simple; stick to your principals; presistance in achieving your goals; small steps toward a big vision; review obstacles and lessons learned; letting people do their job, having their instructions clear.
   you'll read this book quite quickly.

No comments about Missing: The Execution of Charles Horman.

2 comments about Anthony Boucher: A Biobibliography.

1. One is grateful for the many facts presented in this extensively researched book. I deduct two stars for three reasons. (1) The author is incapable or unwilling to render intelligible the dominant role that Boucher's faith played in his life. (2) The proofreading is abominable. (3) Some of the précis of Boucher's stories contain errors so absurd that one is left in doubt whether Mr. Marks had ever read them.
   
   To take just Boucher's first novel, "The Case of the Seven of Calvary," we are told (p. 32) that Ryder is the Sanskrit translation of Ashwin. The text says the opposite. On the same page we are told that Ashwin exclaimed. "My dear Martin, this isn't a detective novel etc., etc." It was Paul Lennox who did the exclaiming, AND that exclamation is listed by Ashwin as one of the seven (or eight) crucial events that suggest the true solution of the crimes. (Chapter X, p. 247 in the first edition).
   
   Again, Mr. Marks tells us that in the short mystery story "Death of a Patriarch" the accused but innocent victim of the murdered man is kidnapped by communists. Boucher was a thirties and forties liberal for whom the communists were admirable folk. In the real story the young man is kidnapped by ANTI-communists (who are naturally called "fascists")



2. Anthony Boucher has been a hero of mine since I first "met" him through his mystery reviews in the New York Times.
   After that I've read most of his mystery novels and short stories. I discovered with Mr. Mark's book, that there is more to read.
   Boucher was a true Renaissance man who could have produced more had it not been for his poor health.
   He was certainly a man to admire. The largest of the mystery cons, Bouchercon, was named in his honor.
   I learned more about this extraordinary man, the history of mystery writing in the 20th century and much about Boucher's reviewing standards and ethics.
   Jeff Marks has done the mystery community a great favor and done it well.
   Recommended for the true mystery aficionado.

No comments about More Than a Muckraker: Ida Tarbell's Lifetime in Journalism.

1 comments about A Matter of Opinion.

1. A riveting tale of the world of opinion magazines. Not for everyone, perhaps, but if you have ever been interested in what it takes to publish a magazine, this book portrays it well. But the real selling point is that it's beautifully written. He's funny, clever, bright, and charming. You get a serious look at his life as well as his work and it's for this reason that the book is excellent.

No comments about Red: A Biography of Red Smith.

5 comments about Coming Home To Jerusalem: A Personal Journey.

1. As an Israeli living in Maui, I was drawn back to Israel through this book. "Coming Home to Jerusalem actually made me want to go back home, to the city where I was born. (I'm a fourth generation Jerusalemite.) I felt that the author, an American, knew Israel of the 1990's even better than I did. Now, I'm en route "home" after years abroad. And I thank Wendy Orange for getting me in touch with my Zionism, my love for Israel despite all the problems she shows and I know. 5 Stars.



2. "For hundreds of years large numbers of Arabs have lived in Palestine. Their fathers and fathers' fathers were born here. Palestine is their country where they want to live. We must acknowledge that fact with love."
   The surprising author of these lines was David Ben-Gurion, the legendary Zionist leader who became the first prime minister of the State of Israel.
   Ben-Gurion's compassionate words underscore one side of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis that has threatened for decades
   to engulf not only the Middle East but the world. On the other
   hand there is the claim of the much-tormented Jewish people,whose historic ties to the very same land are even
   older.Surely they should be allowed to return to their homeland
   and live at lastin peace?
   Both claims are just. How can we judge justly between them? And
   how soon can we judge, if ever?
   Wendy Orange's memoir, "Coming Home To Jerusalem." is one
   woman's attempt to answer these questions, at least to her own
   satisfaction.

   Orange grew up in an ardently Zionist American Jewish family,
   but she did not share their enthusiasm for the idea of a Jewish
   state. Instead, she studied the Holocaust with great intensity.
   She became a professional therapist and, later, a journalist. In the early 1990s she was persuaded to attend a conference in
   Jerusalem. As a result of hearing a talk by famed novelist
   A.M.Yehoshua she decided to make aliya, or immigrate to Israel.
   Yehoshua's impact was all the more extraordinary in that his
   talk was delivered in Hebrew, a language whe did not yet
   understand.
   Working as a journalist in her adopted country, Orange made
   contact with her Palestinian counterparts and began to do
   stories from the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. She
   was distressed by evidence of brutality on the part of Israel
   Defense Force soldiers. Such conduct does happen, as the writer
   of this review saw on a bus in Jerusalem once; but it is
   important to keep in mind the historical circumstances that have
   bred this kind of behavior.
   Orange kept her intellectual balance well--gazing at the
   looming Golan Heights, formerly Syrian-occupied, she understood
   what fear and physical suffering Syrian artillery once inflicted
   on Jewish farmers and fishermen from those same heights. And she
   felt a wave of sympathy for these victims, too, her own
   people.In a soul-trying situation she is revealed as not a
   hater of anyone.
   As suggested earlier, Orange's work may be seen as a search for what Slovakian Holocaust heroine Gisi Fleischmann described
   as "a better humanity." The search is pursued through a
   landscape deeply scarred by history, and punctuated by depths
   and heights almost impossible to imagine. An example of a height--a rare one--is the cautious euphoria generated by news of the
   Oslo Accords, with their elusive hope of peace at last between
   Israelis and Palestinians. The ultimate low may have been the
   asassination of Israeli Prime Ninister Itzhak Rabin--by a fellow
   Jew, albeit by one whose politics had nothing in common with
   those of his famous victim. It is the murder of Rabin which,
   even years later, seems to have been the most devastatingly
   successful blow against the Middle East peace process.
   Whether Wendy Orange's quest for justice and understanding will have a happier outcome than Gisi Fleischmann's remains to be
   seen. Perhaps she herself does not believe in the possibility,
   for at the end of her memoir she writes, "This drama has
   everything but an ending, I think."
   "Coming Home To Jerusalem" may be considered depressing by many.It is, on the other hand, an important read for those who wish to understand the human dimension of the Middle East
   tragedy. And it is beautifully written.




3. I really enjoyed this book. It was very well written and heartfelt, with unbiased, evocative descriptions of people and places. Made me want to hop on a plane and go there immediately!



4. As an author myself, I understand how what looks easy on the page in fact takes years to perfect. Wendy Orange's book, "Coming Home to Jerusalem" may read as effortless but I can well imagine the work that went into making this lovely book, a combination personal adventure, cultural odyssey and political update from Israel.

   Given the current givens, some may think this is history. I prefer to think of this easy to read book as futuristic, what must eventually occur between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Especially I learned a lot from the dialogue groups she so vividly describes. Strangely, in the midst of a tortuous road, full of warring, I felt elated by her book because I saw what is inevitable, that the cycle of peace must return. Orange shows what that will look like. She also shows real characters which makes all the wanton violence now sadder. I hope most of her characters, and there are many, are still alive. High recommend.
   Five Stars for sure.




5. I teach high school in Brooklyn. The kids are sick of hearing about the Middle East on the news. They groaned when I said we were going to read some books about it. But I just ordered for my class "Coming Home to Jerusalem" because other teachers told me that their students learned so much and enjoyed this book.

   When my sister gave me her copy to read, I couldn't put it down. The history teacher, 12th grade, who teaches "gifted" students said that it was a big hit in her class. I look forward to seeing how my "kids" respond. A rare book that is for adults and smart kids as well. It's a classic, a keeper. 5 stars.

No comments about The Adventures of a Boy Reporter.

4 comments about Full Swing: Hits, Runs and Errors in a Writer's Life.

1. This is a book that many high school students will be able to indentify with. Ira Berkow floundered as he tried to decide what to do with his life when he graduated from high school. He, like others, had people who helped him out in various ways. His father bought him a book entitled "30 Days to A Powerful Vocabulary" when he was in high school. This gift which was initially not readily appreciated became a powerful influence in expanding Ira's vocabulary when he became interested in writing. The noted sportswriter Red Smith took time to constructively criticize some of Ira's writing when requested. Most young people drift into a career, and Ira Berkow is a good example for those of high school and college age to read about whether they plan on becomming a writer or not. Another thing I liked about the book is the numerous anecdotes of people such as Muhammad Ali, Hank Sauer, Michael Jordan and others that I have not read in other books. Here is one I will pass on about our present President, George Bush. When Bush was part owner of the Texas Rangers he and his team partners threatened to move the team from the Dallas-Fort Worth area unless the residents of Texas paid for a new ballpark. A tax was set that was shared by both the rich and poor. Since there were more poor people in the area than rich, the tax was a burden mainly by those who couldn't afford to pay it. With this money, a new ballpark was built and the owners sold the team which was now worth more due to having a new stadium. When the team was sold Bush became rich with his share coming to $14 million. This from a conservative who supposedly tries to save taxpayers money. This book is a treat. It is not a rehash of stories found in other books. You will not be disappointed.



2. I read a lot of it but didn't finish it. Couldn't. I was looking for stuff about sports figures from the author's era. Interesting stuff. Instead, I received mostly stuff about the author, about how he made it in life and the newspaper world, with a few bumps along the way. Not interesting, to be honest. I should get my money back.



3. When you finish reading "Full Swing," including the funny and touching final two chapters of this conversational memoir, you will feel that you know Ira Berkow well. The author, a prolific writer (17 books and many articles) and a sports columnist for the New York Times for over 25 years, has produced an honest, seamless, conversational memoir which pulls the reader into the heart of a richly led life. Anecdotes abound, many about the sports, entertainment and political figures he has known and interviewed. Berkow pulls no punches in describing his own stuttering development as a writer, growing up on the West Side of Chicago, his early career as a reporter in Minneapolis, and his later move to New York City, where he worked first for a newspaper syndicate and later as the by-liner of the "Sports of the Times" column.
   
   The book is a walk through Berkow's life, often retracing his steps, making frequent, leisurely stops to explore people, places, ideas, successes, regrets, loves both lost and found, yet managing in the course of his peregrination to tie it all together such that the reader comes to understand the inner self of this talented, introspective, honest and thoroughly unpretentious writer, and ultimately wishes he could spend more time with him.
   
   The major press book reviews have cited anecdotes and quotes from various sources, including Red Smith, the sports writer whom Berkow succeeded at the Times, Richard Nixon, Groucho Marx, and numerous others such as Willie Mays, Eddie Waitkus, Hank Sauer, Al Kaline, Pete Rose, Phil Jackson and Mohammed Ali. But it is really the stories about the non-sports personalities from his past, including those in his own family, that best describe and define Berkow as a person. One such story about his cousin, a lawyer whose career ranged from a public defender to a federal judge, and who dealt with "the most monumental and noble of causes," is central to Berkow's exploration of the significance of one's own contributions, whether they are made in the public or private sphere.
   
   "Full Swing" will appeal especially to those readers who, despite a slightly guilty conscience, always turn first to the sports pages.



4. Ira Berkow's FULL SWING could also have been featured in our Sports section - but it'd be a shame to limit its audience to sports enthusiasts alone. Berkow is a sports columnist and feature writer for the New York Times, but his journey to that point was long and hard - and is chronicled here in FULL SWING: HITS, RUNS, AND ERRORS IN A WRITER'S LIFE. From his early years as a poor student who flunked out of college in his first semester to his later passion for writing and determination to become a writer, FULL SWING charts a course through the literary and sports world which will engage and delight fans of Berkow. From his early inspirations to his tales of life at the Times, FULL SWING is a lively survey of a literary life and many achievements.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch