5 comments about Insatiable: Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess.

1. My expectations weren't high and it still didn't meet them. This is such a bad book on so many levels.



2. Whoa, this badly written, unsexy epic could have used some serious editing. I'm surprised, since I've enjoyed GG's witty reviews, but there's hardly an amusing line in this tome, which mostly chronicles Greene's narcissistic pursuit of celebs to wine, dine, and bed her. Talk about TMI! You'll come away from these pages feeling like you've eaten mediocre swill at an overrated restaurant; Greene evidently had all the depth of a finger bowl. I agree with others that Reichl's memoirs -- not to mention Fisher's and Child's -- are far, far better reads.



3. Will I ever finnish this tedious tome? An excess of ego and pointless information. Ruth Reichel's exsquiste "Comfort Me with Apples" benefitted from a genius of editing, I longed for more. With Insatiable I want less. Ms. Greene sometimes writes about food as if it were ad copy.
   
   I had to laugh when she wonders after her second one night stand with Clint Eastwood "I wondered if there could have been something more beyond the hotel room that night"....
   
   I would urge anyone interested in food writing and personalities worth spending time with to read all three of Ruth Reichel's memiors, any of MFK Fisher, and Amanda Hesser's "Cooking for Mr. Latte". A rewarding read awaits you.



4. I was so looking forward to another food critic's life story like Ruth Reichl's Garlic and Sapphire - one of the best books I have ever read.
   
   I was seriously dissappointed. I realize that at the time Greene became a food critic, critics were well known by the restauranteurs and treated like Queens with special menus the rest of the people dining did not ever see, but I had no idea how bad it was. To think everyones opinion was determined by a few egotistical food critics in New York who never ate the way the rest of the people did is disgusting. Couple this with her flamboyant use of her magazines money to pay for all her meals (and her lovers meals) and you can't find a reason to enjoy the true life of Gael Greene.
   
   Frankly, for me, her little splurge with a porn star was the most interesting part of the book, but then she would move on to sleep with the very chefs she was reviewing.
   
   Halfway through the book it became a real snore with very little mention of food - which is why a foodie would buy such a book. Instead it was one celebrity name after another, one bit of gossip after another and list after list of names of chefs and all their restaurants and if they made it or not. It was more one long dull gossip column than a book.



5. THERE IS GOOD SCHMUTZ AND BAD SCHMUTZ. THIS BOOK IS EITHER FICTIONAL, OR BAD SCHMUTZ. THERE ARE GLARING ERRORS TO BOOT. CONTRARY TO THE AUTHOR'S HUGE MISTAKE, THE WIDOW OF THE FAMOUS RESTAURATEUR HENRI SOULE WAS UNSUCCESSFUL IN ALL OF HER LAWSUITS TO GET PART OF HIS ESTATE. AND WHY WOULD THE AUTHOR INCESSANTLY REFER TO SOULE'S LIFE PARTNER, MRS SPALTER, AS HIS "MISTRESS", OVER AND OVER? THIS ELDERLY COUPLE SHARED THEIR LIFE AND WORK 24 HOURS A DAY EVERY YEAR. ONE REFERENCE WAS BAD ENOUGH, WHY HAMMER IT OVER AND OVER?
   
   AND THE WORD IS NOT "MATERIZED", IT IS "MADERIZED", THAT IS, WINE THAT IS OXIDIZED DUE HEAT AND TURNED CARMEL COLORED. EVERYONE WHO DRINKS OR READS ABOUT WINES KNOWS THAT.
   
   THE CONCENSUS OF ALL REVIEWS TO DATE ALL ECHO THE SAME BASIC SUMMARY, THIS IS SCHMUTZY WITHOUT BEING FUN.

5 comments about Lessons I Learned in the Dark: Steps to Walking by Faith, Not by Sight.

1. A friend recommended this book when I was going thru a very difficult time. I have since bought it to give to others during hard times.
   
   Jennifer tells her story of coping with blindness and getting on with her life and how depending on Jesus is the only way to go thru life.
   
   She is honest and open with her fears and thus you can connect and relate to her no matter what your present situation is.
   
   Very encouraging book that will build your trust in Jesus.



2. I loved this book. As it teaches us how people with vision problems have to go though. I have worked with the visual handicap and believe me they can do alot of things you think they cant. A big thanks to the author Jennifer Rothschild. Everyone should read this book.



3. Loved the book! Inspiring! Unique "look" at the lessons learned from loss of sight! I loved the "play" on words!



4. Jennifer Rothchild touches our very souls with her encounters with God and his majesty. We begin to "see" for the first time just how powerful and mighty our Heavenly Father can be to his children. While we listen to her stories dealing with her family and her life as a vibrant mother and lecturer, we often forget she is doing all these wonderful things under the cover of darkness. We forget because there is no darkness in Jennifer's soul. Each chapter, enriched by a personal poem or song, introduces us to the holy love and power of Jesus Christ. Uplifting and encouraging, this book begins a journey for us, and we want to walk alongside this amazing woman for the rest of our days. There is no doubt how much she loves the Lord, and this love enables her to make some wonderful connections to his power and light. I loved this book and would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to "see" the big picture when it comes to religion, overcoming handicap, emotional triumph, and even awkward moments of victory. As Jennifer runs across a busy street, our thoughts go along with her. Jennifer may have learned lessons in the dark, but she walks in the light of the love of the lamb. That light touches the souls of her readers and transmutes us all to her own special way of seeing. I cannot wait to read more books by this wonderful author.



5. Jennifer Rothschild writes to make us SEE! She is a wonder and a role model for anyone and everyone. Courage is her badge and the word NEVER enters her life. I honor her and hope to have as much courage and endurance in my life as she does.

4 comments about Life Work.

1. I am a big fan of Donald Hall's writing, both poetry and prose. This is my favorite and the one that made me think the most. It allows one to put one's life in perspective, realize the importance of life and work. We all aren't as lucky as Hall has been to work at what we love, but the book makes you think about how work can become more worthwhile. Deep and enjoyable.



2. Reading this book is work -- in the Donald Hall definition, for to read it is to become absorbed in each word to the exclusion of all else. Hall writes of his ancestors, of the rocky farms of New England, a small dairy, his father's early death, his wife's gardening, and then quite suddenly as his colon cancer recurs, of the possible end to life and the very prosaic tasks of cancelling readings, putting papers in order for survivors. Throughout, he achieves a sense of time, place and self which crosses generations. He charts both the constants and the increasing changes of the farm which has been in his family for more than a hundred years and the country around it. Hall, like God, love and grace--all of which are found in abundance in this book, abides.



3. Donald Hall's memoir, The Old Life, is beautifully crafted in prose form. It is full of personal recollections as well as literary references. It is intense, deeply personal, funny, and wonderfully readable. One has a very real sense of who Donald Hall is - his views of life, his passion for baseball and his family, his trials with his own ill health, his love for his wife, Jane Kenyon, also a poet, and his agonizing grief when she dies quite unexpectedly. A beautiful, poignant, literary triumph



4. Poet Donald Hall somehow manages to talk about the craft of writing and, even in prose, wondrously shapes a poetic work. This book is an excellent depiction of the author's life, as well as a fascinating historical account of Hall's life and background. Contrary to the popular romanticized view of writing or the "anyone can do it" mentality, Hall shows the reader just what his writing has entailed, and it is clearly WORK

5 comments about Extraordinary Circumstances: The Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower.

1. Cynthia has a way of writing that makes this book incredibly accessible. If you've ever been a college grad, accountant, auditor, mother, experienced personal hardship or been faced with tough decisions you will relate to Cythia's story and think "That could have been me."
   
   Every auditor and corporate accountant should read this book. It should be a mandatory read for all business students.
   
   Todd Davies
   www.todddavies.com.au



2. Cynthia Cooper, ex-WorldCom VP and former head of its internal auditing department, is a genuine hero. Despite her supervisors' pressure, browbeating and subterfuge, Cooper uncovered and exposed the massive WorldCom corporate fraud. When her information became public, it set off a cataclysmic chain of events: WorldCom exploded like dynamite. It filed for bankruptcy. Investors lost billions on the suddenly worthless stock. CEO Bernie Ebbers went to jail for 25 years. Other executives received prison sentences. Being a whistleblower is painfully difficult, but Cooper stuck to her guns, as she relates in this personal and sometimes even chatty saga. getAbstract recommends her instructive, inspiring book as a gripping corporate story and a cautionary tale.



3. The book is as the title suggests - an ordinary person faced with extraordinary circumstances.
   
   If there is one book that I would encourage every current and potential internal auditor to read it would be Cynthia's book.
   
   It shows the challenges and risks that she and her team had to take and demonstrates why being in Internal Audit is both a huge privilege and a huge responsibility.
   
   I had the pleasure of meeting Cynthia and spending time with her during a recent Australian book tour.
   
   Her courage was admirable but what was more impressive is that - when it mattered most - she stood up and was counted.
   
   How many amongst us can say the same.



4. Cynthia Cooper was a true corporate whistleblower. She became famous, not by choice, but because of the WorldCom financial statement fraud valued at $11 billion. She was the Vice President of Internal Audit at WorldCom, a position that was not easily obtained. She almost single-handedly created the internal audit department at WorldCom, and her book Extraordinary Circumstances: The Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower details the struggle to get management to take internal audit seriously.
   
   Things started going wrong at WorldCom very early. The company went on an acquisition spree, and the merging of many small companies, managers, and accounting systems was a disaster waiting to happen. Cynthia says that WorldCom was much better at acquiring companies than integrating them, and that is clear.
   
   From an accounting perspective, it was next to impossible to create a properly controlled system. There were too many small systems being pieced together, and it was easy for numbers and authorizations to get lost in the shuffle. This struggle is well-documented by Cynthia, who no doubt painstakingly researched the various acquisitions in order to give such a complete history.
   
   At times the book seems to get a little off-topic as Cynthia goes through each player's background briefly. Honestly, that information isn't really relevant to the story and, while it was probably intended to make these characters relatable human beings, it really just serves to make the book longer than necessary. It prolongs the process of getting to the real heart of the story.
   
   I was drawn into the parts detailing the background of Bernie Ebbers and his early entrepreneurial ventures. I don't think Cynthia came right out and said that Ebbers wasn't equipped to run WorldCom, but that's exactly how it appears when you're done reading.
   
   Where this book is so good is in detailing the fraud and how it happened. I don't think most consumers know how and where WorldCom's fraud started: all in the "line costs." You don't need an accounting background to understand the details of the fraud once Cynthia explains how things went down. Earnings were too low and management was, quite simply, looking for a place to reduce expenses.
   
   When management realized they were paying too much for capacity that they weren't selling to customers, it became clear. Take some of those "line costs" and capitalize them, which essentially amounts to moving them off the profit and loss statement (decreasing expenses and increasing profits) and onto the balance sheet (increasing assets).
   
   WorldCom moved those line costs into something that the executives called "prepaid capacity." The company's financials instantly looked better, and CFO Scott Sullivan found that this was an easy way to rehabilitate the financial statements each quarter. Wall Street wanted lots of growth, and that's exactly what the executives delivered by the time the fraudulent accounting entries were completed.
   
   Yet the process of uncovering this fraud, as Cynthia and her team would soon find out, was grueling. Their investigation into the accounting shenanigans was long because the accounting entries behind this manipulation of the financial statements were complex. Hundreds of entries were made to a variety of accounts in order to confuse anyone who might later look at them. And the investigation was hard because management didn't want Cynthia and her people looking into the entries, for obvious reasons.
   
   After the fraud became clear to Cynthia and her team, there was a long fight over whether something should or could be done about it. Scott Sullivan was determined to find an accounting rule to justify the fraudulent accounting entries. It is no surprise that there is not an accounting rule that backs up what was done, because it wasn't done with the accounting rules in mind. It was done with only Wall Street in mind.
   
   And WorldCom's audit committee wasn't completely behind the internal auditors' investigation or results. The audit committee should be the independent group of individuals to whom an employee can voice concerns and be taken seriously. Yet Cynthia didn't seem to be given as much consideration as she should have been, and she relates this struggle nicely in the book.
   
   The story of the investigation comes to life through Cynthia's words. I found myself drawn into the story, and I could feel myself sitting there as the internal auditors were going through entry after entry, always watching their backs because the executives didn't want them investigating.
   
   Lots of clichés and heartwarming stories of family interactions are woven into the book. Again, these things aren't really all that relevant to the story and merely provided a distraction from the business at hand: the collapse of WorldCom.
   
   These minor criticisms don't take away from the book as a whole. It is a detailed account of what happened, and digs much deeper into the WorldCom fraud than I ever expected. The detail behind how the fraud occurred is told in a fascinating manner, and I found myself able to picture WorldCom executives sitting around and comparing the company's financial results to the expectations of Wall Street ... and making fraudulent accounting entries to meet those expectations.
   
   Congratulations, Cynthia, on a successful first book. And many thanks for being willing to stand up for the truth and fight to expose the WorldCom fraud.



5. COMPELLING ACCOUNT OF UNCONTROLLED GROWTH AND GREED, AND HOW A DOWN HOME GIRL WITH EXCEPTIONAL UP-BRINGING FOUND HERSELF IN A SITUATION THAT WENT AGAINST ALL HER STANDARDS.
   A VERY EASY READ.

5 comments about The Company She Keeps.

1. "The Company She Keeps" should be on the must read list for all dating age
   girls and be kept at all women's shelters.
   Georgia Durante puts today's issues for women into a real page turner. Every
   woman can relate to Georgia's story as a mother, daughter, sister or friend.
   As a young battered woman in the 70's and now as an advocate, I wish I'd had
   the insights this books presents.
   
   Patti Maund
   Board Member Hope Alliance



2. Georgia Durante's book had me at the first word-- be prepared to go through the emotional roller coaster of a lifetime. How Georgia managed to not only survive but succeed is beyond me but her story is one that everyone-- men and women-- should read and remember. I carried the book with me everywhere until I finished it last night. You won't be able to put it down either!
   
   I plan to buy a copy for each of my friends-- it's the perfect stocking stuffer!



3. The Company She Keeps by author Georgia Durante is one of the most
   fascinating books i have ever read. No work of fiction could ever top
   the life this woman lived. Ms. Durante has held nothing back, all of the
   highs and lows are here, she has laid bare her soul. I can't believe
   this book has not been made into a movie. It would be one of those
   movies that you would want to watch over and over to make sure you
   have seen every detail, it would be just that fascinating. Any of
   hollywood's leading ladies could turn this role into an oscar winning
   performance. This is one book i will not be lending out, it is one of
   those you want to read over and over.



4. Georgia Durante's book "The Company She Keeps" is riveting. I could not put it down, I could not sleep because I wanted to get back to her story. I was proud of the warrior she is and I was sad when it was over because I will miss reading about her. I can not wait for her next book to come out.
   She is truly an inspiration...to change your life...you can change your thinking.
   Sincerely,
   Susan Lynn
   Jupiter, FL



5. I found this book very honest, exciting and interesting. Georgia Durante takes you along on her adventure and you will enjoy the ride.

4 comments about Brotherhood of the Fin: A Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer's Story.

1. Former Coast Guard rescue swimmer Gerald R. Hoover presents his own biography in Brotherhood of the Fin: A Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer's Story. Harrowing life-and-death decisions and endurance-testing rescue missions formed a part of his life and his dedication to saving those in desperate need. In his long career, he racked up more deployments than any other rescue swimmer in the history of the program; his final mission was to serve as part of the search and rescue mission to aid those victimized by the national disaster that was Hurricane Katrina. An absorbing, straight-talk tale of real life adventure and heroically selfless dedication.



2. What an excellent book. If you have ever wondered about the world of Coastguard Rescue Swimmers, this is a must-read.



3. This book is so well written. I have read many that are not as well thought out and reviewed by the writer; but this writer obviously really went over every detail and made sure it read well. The organization of the book is also one of the best. It seems a kind of beginning rather than just a focus on one career and eventual retirement. This should continue as a series covering many other AST Swimmer stories as well as how the experiences may affect and lead to improvements towards future more successful Search and Rescue Missions. This book also shows how vital and important the AST Rescue Swimmer program is since it's recent inception in the Coast Guard (only the last ~22 years). Now, countless people have been saved who could not have helped themselves into the rescue basket for hoist - who have gone on and had continued successful lives after their rescue. This is important to everyone - especially if you should need rescue one day....



4. 
   
   Gerald Hoover's book is a outstanding work of non-fiction. As a retired Coast Guard rescue swimmer I'm very proud of the way he relives his career of rescues that were life and death struggles filled with heart-pounding action. ASM1 Hoover takes the reader on a journey into the depths of turbulent waters where a select few persons, who are the Brotherhood of the Fin, willingly enter to rescue those in peril. Furthermore, Hoover hits the nail on the head by emphasizing the team effort of the Coast Guard's highly trained professionals that are part of every rescue. I highly recommend this book and would make it a required read for any young man or woman who wants to pursue a career as a Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer.
   Darell Gelakoska
   ASMCM USCG (Ret)

5 comments about Jonathan Edwards: A Life.

1. This is a long book; the text alone is a little over 500 pages. In the ample space of those pages, Marsden very fully sets out virtually everything that is known about Jonathan Edwards. First and foremost, this is the story of a life. It is biography on a grand scale, in which Edwards' life is described, from beginning to end, in great detail.
   
   What is really marvelous about this book is how Marsden combines the professional objectivity of a historian with sympathetic understanding of his subject. This is very important, because Edwards is not the kind of person that just anyone could write about in a useful way. The events of Edwards' life are not very dramatic or significant. What makes Edwards important is his thought. He was a theologican and a philosopher, who stood on the point of transition between a world in which God still reigned supreme and the modern world of secular thought and scientiic belief. He was also a defender of Calvinism, in a world which was about to turn against Calvin.
   
   To write usefully about such a man, the writer needs to have a deep interest in theological and philosophic subjects, and Marsden does. I am not entirely sure what his own perspective is, because he keeps his own beliefs off stage, as is proper, but Marsden says that he is, and he plainly is, someone whose personal religious viewpoint is not too far away from that of Edwards. Marsden is someone to whom the issues Edwards wrestled with are still alive. He is thus able to bring alive Edwards' philosophic and theological concerns in a wonderful way.
   
   I, personally, do not yet know enough about Protestant thought to really be able to make sense of all of this. Much of Calvinism seems very odd to me. I am perplexed by such doctrines as the teaching that humans have absolutely no ability to merit grace -- not just faith alone, but the further teaching that what we believe and feel is not relevant either -- combined with the belief that we should exert ourselves greatly to be saved. If nothing we do makes any difference, where is our motive to work hard to accept God? I find all of this very perplexing.
   
   Marsden does not try to explain the larger Calvinist framework of thought to those, like me, who are bascially ignorant of it, so much of this material goes past me. One point that came across very strongly, however, is that Edwards -- in his own, odd Puritan way -- was a passionate mystic, as devoted to God as Saint John of the Cross or Teresa de Avila. I think, quite often, we find the Puritans repugnant, because their stress on God's anger is so foreign to us. While I still find that aspect of Puritan thought hard to sympathize with, I am glad to have someone show me that the Puritans -- in their own way -- were extremely sincere and zealous Christians.



2. This is certainly a good biography of the life and times of the great Jonathan Edwards. However, it does lack something of a the personal touch, especially about the days to day details of his life; his study and spiritual life. For a man living in the backwoods of America, lacking intellectual and spiritual companionship, he must have (and other biographies tell us) spent much of his days in his study, writing, thinking and praying.
   
   Although I am not of Edward's philosophical or religious persuasion, I found the description of his thoughts very illuminating, and at times, a little frightening. When everything that happened in his little town or in the turbulent times of US and world history are sourced back to the work of God; in most cases, God's judgements on the sins of the people, one wonders what sort of psychological damage he must inflicted in his poor flock! You almost feel, that for all his learning, he was still living in pre-scientific times.
   
   And you have to laugh where he refers to Hume's Treatise as a 'corrupt book'!But at least he read Hume and a number of other enlightenment philosophers; more than what can be said for the average pastor or preacher/'pop'writer today!
   
   This is a good readable work that does justice to a great, though in many ways, misguided, thinker.



3. I was seeking information regarding religious teachings before the American Revolution and found a theologian's theologian. This was not a quick read since I was largely unfamiliar with Edwards' writings and teachings. I now have a "Great Awakening" anchor thanks to Marsden's treatment of Jonathan Edwards, his time, and his contemporaries. An important preacher at a particularly important time in the history of America. Brilliant presentation by Marsden.



4. Above all, it's very nice that I can recieved this book very quickly with perfect condition (paperback).
   Among biography of Jonathan Edwards, this book is a masterfiece!
   I'm very satisfied with this order!



5. Marsden, George M. Jonathan Edwards: A Life. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003.
   
   There is almost a glut of material on Jonathan Edwards. That can be both good and bad. It is good that men are wrestling with Edwards's life and thought. A study of Edwards can renew intellectual life within the church. Furthermore, Edwards is being fairly studied by scholars outside the conservative world. This, too, is good. But there is always the question when a new Edwards book comes out: is there anything left to say? George Marsden thinks so. And Marsden takes his point of departure from other Edwards scholars. For all of the work on Edwards, the standard biographies (Perry Miller and Iain Murray) leave holes in some places.
   Thesis: Jonathan Edwards lived in the crossroads of intellectual and social history. He is a perfect representative of both streams of both European and American thought: he was a traditionalist who stood for authority, order, and stable values. Ironically, he also planted the seeds of the individualism that would later haunt evangelicalism. Even more paradoxically, the very cure (e.g., the Great Awakening) to the problem (e.g., spiritual decay and social stagnation) would later become another problem for religious America.
   
   There are two illustrations of Marsden's thesis from Edwards' ministry: the Great Awakening and the communion controversy, the latter will be examined in light of his political views. In both cases we see Edwards the traditionalist clash with Edwards the innovator. Edwards' instrumental role in the Great Awakening conflicted with other pastors in the region. Unwillingly, or unwittingly, Edwards inspired other men to rise up and carry on the revival, a task that also meant criticizing the status quo ecclesiology. Another example is Edwards' view on church-state relations (160). Was Edwards going to be the traditional Constantinian Protestant and favor a state-protected church, or would he encourage his people to be a holy congregation, called-out and separated from the world? It appears he wanted both. On p. 196 Edwards advocates a strong Constantianism. This clashed with his view on presenting spiritual evidences to the Lord's Supper. It is obvious why.
   
   Solomon Stoddard, Edwards' grandfather and the previous pastor, sought a mediating position with the Puritans demand for evidence of conversion alongside the painful fact that many people did not have that evidence. If they did not have that evidence, they weren't really in the covenant. So they posited a "half-way" covenant. There was still the nagging problem of evidence. Therefore, the parishioners would give evidence of moral sincerity whereas Edwards' demanded evidence of godly piety (368). It was Edwards' downfall (or heroic hour, depending on your point of view) to overturn this compromise.
   
   Evaluation:
   This book faithfully carries on the Edwardsean tradition. It presents a pastor who sought Christ-exalting power in the pulpit. Yet it is one of the first sympathetic books on Edwards to illustrate tensions in his worldview--tensions the Evangelical world is feeling today. Does a longing for revival and fresh power from the Spirit undermine certain stati quo in Reformed orthodoxy? Marsden's thesis leaves the reader wrestling and thinking on this question. Another fine point is Marsden's emphasis on the healthy sexual morality and love found between Jonathan and Sarah, especially in light of current confusion on sexual mores. I heartily recommend this book.

5 comments about Hats & Eyeglasses: A Family Love Affair with Gambling.

1. Martha Frankel's HATS AND EYEGLASSES truly blew my mind. I was instantly hooked by the harrowing story of gambling seeping more and more into Martha's life, but I really surprised myself by how hard I was crying by the end of the book, when Martha's mom was calling her and asking Martha to tell her what was it that had come between them. Martha's mom knew something was up, and yet had no idea the extent of her addiction and problem. It just KILLED me. I loved this book. Buy it; you will not regret it!



2. I honestly loved this book. I read it cover to cover in less than a week (which is rare for me!). An honest, raw, funny memoir that captures an feminine essence in masculine worlds. Innocence and cynicism battle it out for Martha's soul, and word by word the reader can keep score. I've gifted this book many a time and absolutely recommend it.



3. Loved this book, could not put it down. Thought it was about poker but turned out to be about the game of life and Martha has conquered it with humor, love, guts, and smarts!!



4. When Martha Frankel was growing up in the Bronx and Queens, members of her poker-hound extended family sometimes would peek at their cards and moan, "I've got hats and eyeglasses"--referring to what floats to the surface after a ship sinks. Decades later Frankel, a noted magazine writer and chronicler of the celebrity scene, found herself drowning in a sea of Internet poker losses. It's easy to see why Frankel fancied herself immune to addiction (aside from a cigarette habit she shared with her mom): She'd indulged in everything from sketchy men to hard drugs to the poker rooms of Los Angeles and Atlantic City, and usually ended up ahead of the game. But as her career prospered and her love life settled into a happy groove, Frankel's shot at real paradise was threatened by her inability to win at or walk away from the virtual tables of Paradise Poker. This memoir has a lot going for it: Frankel's clean and clear-eyed prose; a cast of lovable, and lovingly rendered, rogues; a compelling exploration of how and why she pushed away those closest to her; as well as the honesty to avoid easy answers (readers might be surprised by her current attitude toward live poker) and let the chips of recovery fall where they may (she's quite critical of Gamblers Anonymous, for instance). The result is a fast, addictive, highly rewarding read. -Frank Sennett



5. Martha Frankel's book 'Hat's & Eyeglasses' is a "must read" and a book which immediately grabs your attention. The author is able to create a feeling of being a part of her life as she shares some real telling events that make you both laugh and cry at the same time. This books gives the reader an opportunity to be emmersed into the life of a women who was able to find a way to not only survive through all the challenges, but eventually find a place to thrive and build a life of meaning and purpose. I highly recommned this book to anyone!

5 comments about Obama: The Postmodern Coup - Making of a Manchurian Candidate.

1. Whoever insults this book is obviously in denial. There's no way you can sit here and say Obama is where he is now because of his mind and personality. He's a mediocre character at best. He's an image and nothing more and everything he spouts is rhetoric. The people are scared and they're looking for something different and here comes this multiracial, multiethnic guy. It's a fantasy. Obama is the people's candidate and the people are by and large clueless, ignorant, shallow, self-centered, mediocre, barely passable as human beings, nuerotic, etc, etc, etc. The American people are pretty damn sorry.



2. This guy is playing on the fears and prejudices of the lowest common denominator of American society. You people are all completely insane to think there is one iota of truth or legitimacy in anything written in this rag.
   
   Talk about unthinking sheep...



3. 
   In opening Professor Webster Griffin Tarpley's book "OBAMA The Postmodern Coup", I did not imagine how this latest work of his would speak to me in a manner so powerful. Webster Griffin Tarpley has presented us with an analysis of current events, so devastating as to leave us reeling in utter dismay and disarming our general complaisance, rudely awakening us from the smug satisfaction that we know what's going on. But what Tarpley is telling us cannot be! But then again we have not dug up the facts, even though some of us are capable, and then like Tarpley fearlessly let the truth out.
   
   Webster Griffin Tarpley's defining moment when laying out the facts that clearly show the molding of Barack Obama as a creature that was formed into a puppet to be be molded as the Democratic candidate for the Presidency in the forthcoming November election. With little choice of prospective candidates Obama, as Tarpley writes "was a student at Columbia University in 1981-1983 where he was studying politics, doing his thesis on Soviet nuclear disarmament," and was taken in hand by Zbigniew Brzezinski who was head of the anti-communist Russian Department at the University. Obama possessed the formative character background that made the molding of his specific nature susceptible to the manipulations of the puppeteer Brzezinski who presented Obama to the Rockefeller Trilateral Commission. As Tarpley writes "Obama would be nobody without the investiture, financing, networking, media support and other forms of assistance provided by Zbigniew Brzezinski, the Trilateral Commission, Skull and Bones, and other members of the financier elite."
   
   Tarpley dwells in detail on the true nature of Zbigniew Brzezinski. He had previously offered assistance to Carter after Carter announced his intention to run for President, So Brzezinski, in 1975, taking advantage of Carter's acceptance of his offer of aid brought Carter the support of the Trilaterial Commission ( p.55). This in the end led to the failures in the Carter regime."Zbig who was kept in the closet for many months during the Carter administration because of his hideous Dr. Strangelove persona"(p.176)...."Any lingering doubts about Obama's status as an abject puppet of Zbezniew Brzezinski and the Rockefeller Trilaterial commission ended this morning when the withered mummy of imperialism himself appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe to campaign for Obama urged on by his own moronic daughter Mika Brzezinski, an Obama groupie and sycophant" (p.176)....."Zbigniew, a low level Polish aristocrat whose life has been devoted to hatred for Russia, lauded Obama for his 2002 speech opposing the Iraq war, saying he himself was the source of Obama's arguments back then - thus confirming Obama's long-term status as his puppet"(p.176).
   
   Brzezinski's evil design as an "aging revanchist" is to develop all avenues that would lead to the crushing of Russia, smashing it into smithereens. Tarpley's profile of Brzezinski brings to the fore the thorough details it deserves. As for the concern of Obama, Tarpley has laid a thin layer of veneer over his real persona. On this veneer are the do good platitudes,
   b ut also on this surface veneer was Obama's strategy as expressed by Tarpley; his strategy "has depended from the beginning on creating an irresistible tidal wave of hysteria, adulation, media swoon and sense of messianic inevitability....He has not been running for president he has been running for Savior."(p.154) But now let us look under the Obama's surface veneer. As we pull back this veneer the first words to catch our eyes is Zbezniew Brzezinski and the Rockefeller Trilateral Commission, The Ford Foundation, Bilderberger Group, Skull and Bones, Rand Corporation, The Chicago Council of Foreign Relations and the Chicago School of economics. To this partial list of the corporate ruling elite, we can also add Obama's military advisor the war criminal General Merrill McPeak and then to seal the deal of corporate military control we now newly have General Colin Powell jumping on the Obama bandwagon. Not forgetting the pro-Obama Wall St. financiers, we have the real nature of Obama and what we can expect once he is in office. Professor Tarpley's book is a chilling account of events today as he has put them together in their logical order,
   showing Obama to be the "ventriloqist's, Zbezniew Brzezinski's dummy" which on examination could be identified as a "Manchurian Candidate".



4. Author Tarpley has written an expose of Obama as the next Manchurian Candidate (the first was Carter), recruited, trained, husbanded, financed and handled by the Bilderbergs and their American subsidiary, the Trilateral Commission. Unfortunately, the book is VERY repetitive, going over and over the same material, and loaded with invective and really scurrilous personal attacks and ill-advised adjectives. Apparently it is impossible for the author to mention many names without using descriptive adjectives like reactionary, doltish, evil, idiotic, fascist, scoundrel, etc. The use of such terms is hardly scholarly, and indeed the author makes no pretense of offering a scholarly work, preferring instead to offer a polemic.
   
   The author includes essays by others than himself, but who offer essentially nothing new or different that those points made in his own chapters. In essence, more than half of the book can be skipped without missing anything.
   
   The theme is that Obama was spotted and recruited by Zbigniew Brzezinski for his eventual election to President while Obama was studying political science at Columbia. Zbig was teaching there at the same time (1982-83), and Obama wrote his senior paper on a subject of Zbig's primary interest, "Soviet Nuclear Disarmament." Obama has provided essentially no information concerning his time at Columbia and the influence of Zbig.
   
   Lest this seem unbelievable to the reader who is unfamiliar with Zbig's role as co-founder (with David Rockefeller) of the Trilateral Commission (TC), the author serves up a few relatively undisputed facts. Zbig was put on to Jimmy Carter in 1973 by George Franklin when Carter was an unknown governor of Georgia. Zbig liked what he saw and understood that Carter would be subservient and easily handled, so took Carter to Rockefeller and the two catapulted Carter into the Presidency. It must be remembered that Carter came from nowhere, and only seven months before his nomination, was preferred by only four percent of the Democrats. The Trilateral influence was brought to bear and it proved decisive. And Zbig became Carter's National Security Advisor, TC, CFR (Council on Foreign Relations) and Bilderberg Paul Volcker took over the Federal Reserve. In fact, Carter's cabinet was stuffed with TC, CFR and Bilderberg members, as has every administration had their cabinets and top bureaucratic positions including the CIA filled by Bilderbergs, TC & CFR members since then.
   
   Unfortunately Carter was totally inept, and Ronald Reagan's "Reagan Democrat" revolt proved to be a nasty surprise for the Bilderbergs, Zbig & David Rockefeller. The first George Bush was better (also a CFR & TC member), but he still did not move the country into a public-private partnership of socialism and giant international corporations to control the country on a national and international level. Pamela Harriman introduced Bill Clinton to the Bilderbergs in 1991, and he was anointed by them to be the next President a year before he was actually elected. Zbig was back in power, if a little behind the scene. Incredibly, George W. Bush stole the election from the approved Al Gore, and even held his own against Bilderbergs John Kerry and John Edward. But now there would be no fooling around. It was time to bring someone forward who was totally bred and groomed for the Presidency and one who would dance every tune the Bilderbergs and TCs played. Although Bill Clinton was a Bilderberg, TC & CFR, Hillary was not. Enter Barack Obama.
   
   The author cites how Obama's career was managed for him: from his assisted entry into Harvard Law School, Editor of the Law Review, his movement to Chicago and receiving a position to teach constitutional law, then his election to the Illinois State Senate (unopposed, as the expensive Bilderberg lawyers were able to have all Obama's opponents' names taken off the ballot), and even his election to the US Senate. In that campaign, the Democratic front runner was destroyed by the timely breaking of a scandal story, and then his popular Republican opponent, Jack Ryan, was destroyed and forced to abandon his candidacy when Obama's handlers were able to get an LA judge to unseal Ryan's divorce settlement and give it to the press. Obama walked in against little more than a token protest vote. In the Senate Obama was instructed to avoid voting on controversial bills so his carefully coached controlled voice and cadenced speeches would be the only face he would present. The author points out that Obama is strictly a nothing front man, but his vacuous speeches are able to almost hypnotize his audiences. Much like Mussolini, Chavez, Castro and Hitler were able to do.
   
   These are the main elements of the author's theme, but he also spends a good of space on fascism, and the One World Order goals of the Bilderberg, TC and CFR organizations. The surprising element in all this is that the author is a committed leftist, and his criticism of Obama comes from the left. He puts Obama more readily under the fascist label than the socialist, although clearly the two labels become blurred together is the state envisioned by Zbig, the Bilderbergs & company.
   
   There is much to ponder in this book, particularly in view of the collapse of the US economy predicted by the author that was to be engineered by the Bilderbergs at the right time to ensure Obama's election. The price of oil almost terminated Obama's candidacy, but the Bilderbergs were able to get the price under control and reduced by their financiers in Europe and Asia.
   
   If this book's themes seem improbable or the Bilderbergs, TC or CFR are unknown to the reader, he would be advised to read Daniel Estulin's "The True Story of The Bilderberg Group", James Perloff's "The Shadows of Power - The Council on Foreign Relations And The American Decline", and Robert Ross's "Who's Who of the Elite - Members of the Bilderbergs, Council on Foreign Relations & Trilateral Commission".
   
   As I said, these is truly much here to read and ponder, but the presentation was awful. The overblown content rated five stars; the presentation and writing only one. So I compromised on three. Still, I recommend the reader buy and read this book.



5. When Obama first ran for president I was a bit excited. Being a libertarian I hoped he would actually end the disastrous war in Iraq but when I did some sniffing around and research I found out it was all talk. Something troubled me, I didn't like the almost brainwashed mentality of his supporters, nor did I like his plans for a Stassi like agency in the US, coupled with his dealings with a noted fascist who worked for the Carter White House and he started to come off as a phony. I had no way to corroborate my feelings with the facts, until I came across this book. It blew my mind and my eyes wide open, what I suspected was true. Look up any of this stuff, it is backed up. Knowing Obama's sycophantic followers who would and are following him of a cliff, I'd say most of the negative reviews are from them. Don't underestimate Obamabots, there is droves of them and it is hard for them to see truth, they just stick their head right back into the propaganda sand. I know I used to be in their camp but unlike them, I have a mind of my own and if I have doubts I always look into them. Obama is just another one of their tools, the same people who are behind the Bush administration are the same ones behind the "Savior" and the "Last Hope". People please wake up, and open your eyes. You Obamabots shut off your programming and give this book a try, and leave your mind open.

1 comments about In the Country of Brooklyn: Inspiration to the World.

1. This book was mentioned on a website I regularly read, and I reserved it from the library. It is a collection of personal reminiscences from Brooklynites, roughly arranged by decade. However, as many people know, when one mentions "New York in the '70s" one is referring to the heroin years, and the city's decline; and by the '50s one generally means the golden post-war baseball years.
   
   It sounds done to death, but this book captures the magic of Brooklyn that is so evident once you move here. It's full of stories of all neighborhoods, the ones people who don't live here have never heard of. Bay Ridge? Canarsie? Not glamour places, but they have a charm that if you are down to earth, you will feel at home there. I often tell people I never go to Manhattan anymore, and those who are suprised would never want to spend time in Marine Park. But those who have been, they nod and agree, yes, no reason to go to the city much, really.
   
   The reminiscers are out of this world good - Curtis Sliwa, Pete Hamill, Neil Sedaka, various others who basically lived through the exact timeline of the city's expansion, decline, and renewal. Sliwa has many very funny and perceptive comments; another author named Casson tells about being black and from Brownsville in an unforgettable way, and on and on. The only insincere author is Charles Barron, and his self-congratulatory essay I only half read, knowing his long tradition of being divisive. The other authors are all sincere storytellers.
   
   The best book I've ever seen in the genre of "the strange magic of New York." Definitely buy this book, especially if you're moving to Brooklyn.