5 comments about No Such Thing as a Bad Day.

1. I enjoyed this book because I am a cancer survivor. Mr. Jordan also
   discussed and gave an inside look into political events that happened
   events over 2 decades ago, which I found to be interesting.



2. I read this book years ago and never forgot this brave uplifting man as he fought his battle with cancer. I am greatly saddened to hear of his passing today. His words will live on for anyone facing life's greatest challenges.



3. I have several relatives with cancer,including my son who is a childhood leukemia surviver. I bought this book expecting to learn more about dealing with the diagnosis of the "Big C". I got that and much, much more.

   This book is an inspiration for those touched by cancer, but also an inspiration to see how seemingly small decisions or details in life can a have huge impact. It also is an insider's view of what life in the Deep South was like in the mid-19th century.

   Whether you read this book to better understand how to deal with cancer, how to face difficult circumstances in general, or how how a single person can make a huge difference in the lives of others, or just an interesting read you will not be disappointed.




4. Hamilton Jordan tells of his inspiring victory over the deadly disease that affects us all in one way or another - cancer. He also tells the intriguing and compelling history of his brief tenure in the White House under Jimmy Carter as well as the inspiring story of his uncle, who fought racism in rural Georgia ahead of his time.

   But above all, this book provided me with a shot in the arm while I was in the hospital for over a month with pneumonia. Feeling somewhat down, this book really lifted my spirits.
   Jordan proves that a positive outlook and one deeply rooted in prayer and faith in God immensely helps those in dire medical circumstances. I am a walking monument and a true believer of the power of prayer and faith in God.

   I highly recommend this book to everyone - whether you're sick or not. It is ineffably a book that leaves you with a warm fuzzy feeling after you put it down. A great gift to someone you love - including yourself.




5. Not many books kept me up past my bedtime but this ranks as one of them. Jordan is frank, lucid and at times funny but I would prefer if he elaborates on his tenure as chief of staff further. I'm sure the conversation he had with Carter in his old car campaining for this little known person then would interest a lot of people...well he left that part out.
   This book is about hope and doing something about it.

5 comments about Never Give In: Battling Cancer in the Senate.

1. As a Pennsylvania independent, I really enjoyed reading Specter's story on his trials and tribulations in the Senate while facing Stage IVB Hodgkin's lymphoma (the WORST stage there is, folks). He is feisty, ambitious, and, frankly, a braver person than many, in going forward and taking the chairmanship of the Judiciary committee, undoubtedly his life-long dream, while facing the ugliness of cancer. Reading this, you learn, this diagnosis is not the end, that life can go on and that, as Mr. Specter states many times, attitude is everything. However, this optimism is helped by his luck. Not all cancer survivors have a tumor that readily goes into remission. Inspiring for all and great insights into the Washington political process, including the surprising support and humanity with which he was treated during his personal crisis. If only all employers allowed naps during chemo and allowed you to come back to your job! Specter gets my vote!



2. I applaud Specter for his hard-fought battle with Hodgkins disease. This book is marketed as an account of his journey through his illness. However, it is 80% focused on his senate career and the bills he worked to pass while serving on Judiciary and 20% focused on his battle with cancer.



3. really inspiring. after reading this book, I have no doubt that Specter will be able to overcome his recurrence on Hodgkin's with flying colors. probably take names along the way.



4. I am neither a Democrat or Republican. I saw Senator Spector interviewed on a late night program and was fascinated by his demeanor. He was charming, witty , and spoke freely of his battle with cancer. He had many foes in his political career, but none as strong as this one. Some of his 'good friends' offered synthetic sympathy, but he kept smilin through the rain and the pain. I bought the book the same night and, although it ddin't keep me glued to it throughout, it was well worth the time spent reading. With the way things are going today, we could certainly use him on the Presidential ticket in November.



5. As a former intern for Sen. Specter, I can say that working in his office and watching him work was fascinating and inspiring. The more I observed him on the floor and as ranking member on the Judiciary committee, the more I respected him. Senator Specter is an icon for Republicans and Democrats alike, and his thinking transcends party lines. This book is a wonderful read, and I couldn't recommend it more. His dry sense of humor and great anecdotes are unmatched.

5 comments about A Sense of Where You Are: Bill Bradley at Princeton.

1. "A sense of where you" are, offers a fascinating look at a true scholar athlete. Author John McPhee`s debut is well written and gives the reader a look at how a student athlete should approach life and grasp the opportunity ahead. Bill Bradley is the consumate teamplayer who pays tribute to the small and important details of the game of basketball. A hoop junkie growing up, but also a reflective mind,perhaps too reflective to become President of the United States.
   An inspiring book that should be read by people of any age, who seek to become successfull at whetever they do.



2. This book is a must read for all aspiring young athletes and their parents. Bill Bradley always had his priorities straight. Although a gifted athlete, he knew that his education was more important. After being named the best college player in America, he eschewed the money and glory of the NBA to accept a Rhodes scholarship. Can you imagine one of today's selfish, ignorant, anti-intellectual, basketball stars doing that today?



3. Bill Bradley, a three-time basketball all-American at Princeton, Olympic gold medalist, Rhodes scholar, member of the New York Knicks and two time NBA champion definitely has a passion for basketball. This books helps show what goes into the making of a champion. Discipline, selflessness, respect, courage, imagination and passion are elements that made him a success on and off the court. I knew nothing at all about Bill Bradley before reading this book, but I have great respect for his personal code and his shining example.



4. I'm writing this review because the fact that it didn't have a 5-star rating irritated me. I first saw the McPhee/Bill Bradley piece in the New Yorker Magazine about 30 years ago. After reading it I xeroxed the entire article and sent copies of it to every member of the University of South Carolina basketball team (which for those of you who are as old as I am was coached by the legendary Frank McGuire (the assistant coach was Donnie Walsh, now President and General Manager of the Indiana Pacers) and featured a cast of great college players like John Roche, Tommy Owens, Billy Walsh, Bobby Cremins, etc. All of the players (an unusually intelligent group) loved the article. We had many conversations about Bradley's approach to the game in the months to come. This is definitely a 5-star book for any lover of the true game of basketball. It's great and can't possibly be outdated. Highest recommendation.



5. I was shocked to see that this book has received such marvelous reviews!

   I am a big fan of anybody that has deserved success on the same level as Bill Bradley. However, this simple fact does not mean that the product of his interesting life will be a good book.

   Simply, this book was very plain and details Bradley's life at Princeton, inside and outside the classroom and on the basketball court. The stories are not interesting and there is too much worship given to Senator Bill. I found many of the "facts" divulged by the author to be incredibly hard to believe.

   If you like the modern-day NBA at all you will absolutely hate this book.

   If you like the modern-day NBA, politics and the Golden Age of sports you will give this book two stars on a five-star scale!

5 comments about The Apocalypse of Ahmadinejad: The Revelation of Iran's Nuclear Prophet.

1. Mark Hitchcock is part of the very disturbing chorus composed of figures such as John Hagee and Tim LaHaye who have created an entire industry of selling books, CDs and videos promoting U.S. imperialism by warning us about Islamic "plans" to conquer the world, or something. His latest, "The Apocalypse Of Ahmadinejad," is a direct shot at the current President of Iran, whom Hitchcock claims is hatching some sort of underground plan to destroy both Israel AND the U.S. to usher in the Islamic equivalent of the Christian Second Coming.
   
   This kind of fantastical alarmism is similar to LaHaye's own writings about Saddam Hussein planning to build a "second Babylon" to usher in the end times, a plan apparently thwarted by the disastrous U.S. invasion of Iraq which LaHaye and Hitchcock feverishly support. Like John Hagee's "In Defense Of Israel," "The Apocalypse Of Ahmadinejad" suffers more from it's basic lack of good history as it does from the radical, almost cultish religious angle. Consider that even in the opening pages Hitchcock admits he's not very well-informed on geopolitics or political/historical matters, something which should already tell the reader something about the book's validity. Hitchock zeroes in on many of Ahmadinejad's more radical, neo-religious comments pertaining to classic Islamic symbols and beliefs, the problem is Hitchock takes them literally, never mentioning that the current Ayatollah of Iran has even limited Ahmadinejad's powers as President due to some of his more looney comments and is reported to be weary of radical stances Ahmadinejad has taken.
   
   Hitchcock also conveniently ignores basic history such as the fact that the Islamic Republic was not born out of some Satanic plan, but because in 1953 we overthrew Iran's elected, very progressive government headed by Mohammed Mossadegh. The CIA overthrew Mossadegh because he nationalized the nation's oil, a big no no to corporate powers such as ours, and then re-instated the very brutal regime of the Shah who in turn was overthrown in 1979 by what became the current government. Hitchcock, like Hagee and LaHaye also dismisses Israeli crimes in the occupied territories or the fact that Israel is the only real nuclear power in the region, instead painting them as the helpless victims surrounded by evil Muslims including those pesky Palestinians who live in a horrific apartheid state.
   
   Hitchcock also backs the imperial occupation of Iraq, accusing Iran of causing trouble in the country, not the foreign army who invaded the place. But it all somehow works for Hitchcock because Muslims are the children of Satan and they want to destroy us because we're Christian and our women wear miniskirts in America. Iran is a very complex nation, it has the second-highest Jewish population in the Middle East and a very strong, Liberal movement gaining more power little by little.
   
   If tensions get worst between the U.S. and Iran it would most likely happen due to the kind of military interventionism Hitchcock reports, one wonders how he would have reacted to the NIE report, where all 16 intelligence agencies of the U.S. concluded that Iran has no nuclear weapons program. And if Iran did arm itself, wouldn't it be logical considering a foreign power is invading it's neighbors and Israel is bent on dominating the region as seen in the brutal war it engaged with Lebanon in 2006? Again, Hitchcock simply dismisses important things like actual history and settles for Biblical code talk, Ahmadinejad's more curious quotes (not more curious than what President Bush says on a daily basis), and a recycled apocalyptic theory. One wonders how historians will look back at the kind of writings the radical fringe of Christian America produced, let us hope it's not for the need of understanding what drove America as a society to an armageddon of her own making.



2. Some might think because this author is a Christian who believes in what the Bible says about the endtimes that he is extreme. He is not.
   
   This book is the actual words of the president of Iran. They reveal his hatred of Israel and the United States and his willingness to destroy both.
   
   No one took Adolf Hitler's words seriously either until it was too late. Let's not repeat history.



3. An excellent, straight forward biblical based analysis of the situation in Iran as it affects all of us. It is well written, easy to understand and shows the relationship of this person and his views against blibical prophecy.



4. This book is so current that I can relate back to it almost nightly as I watch the evening news. Now, I know exactly what the news anchors are talking about and reporting. A must read not only for religious readers, but skeptics as well. Stay informed with the world news. Read this book!



5. The chilling part of this book is not Hitchcock's analysis but the words directly from Ahmadinejad. It is an important read for anyone desiring more insite into the nutcase at the wheel of the Mahdi Army. If you, like me had heard of the Madi Army but didn't understand the significance, then this book is a must read.

5 comments about Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey Of A Desert Nomad.

1. This is the autobiography of Waris Dirie, an international supermodel. Waris grew up as part of a nomadic tribe in Somalia that still practices female circumcision, sleeps outdoors, subsists on camels milk, and marries off young girls at 12 or 13 to much older men. It was very interesting to read about her experiences as a child because her upbringing was the same as the upbringing of children 1000 years ago in Somalia. Waris' description of her circumcision and the problems she experienced afterward were poignant and terrifying.
   
   Waris clearly has a good sense of humor. It is interesting to read her perspectives first of Mogadishu and then of London. It is fascinating to hear about how she became a model. Unfortunately, the book degenerated in the second half. Waris becomes conceited and less likeable. She also seems a bit selfish in her behaviors towards her friends.
   
   This book was a good read because of the first half but the last hundred pages was a big disappointment.



2. I looked for a book off my shelves that I hadn't read yet and came upon this one-- one I've been meaning to read ever since I first heard of Waris Dirie a few months ago when she disappeared for a few days and made the international news.
   
   As I had a few hours to wait for my son to finish his pottery class, I dove right into this book. And, it was very good. I was able to finish it before my son's class was over 2 1/2 hours later.
   
   Waris' life has definitely been interesting and, in some cases, very sad. Born in Somalia, she lived with her nomadic family for her first 13 years. As she notes, all ages are estimates, since they didn't really pay attention to birthdays. She begged her mother to be circumcised when she was five years old-- obviously, she had no idea what that meant, at all-- she only knew it meant she was considered more grown up. And, this was the kind you read about-- the kind that removes both the inner and outer labia and the clitoris. The woman that did the "surgery" sawed her with a rusty bloody broken blade that she spat on and wiped dry before cutting. Waris' circumcision left her infibulated-- with only the smallest opening that made menstruation and urination extremely painful.
   
   She does discuss this, one of the most abhorrent practices, but she also discusses much more. Much of her life was very happy-- although they were very poor. She loved both parents but ran away when she was 13 (through the desert with no shoes or water) or so to avoid a marriage to a much older man (for the price of five camels!).
   
   Through an odd chain of events, she was able to go to London to be a servant for some wealthy relatives. And, when this family planned to return to Somalia, Waris decided to stay in London. She was very soon discovered by a photographer and almost immediately became a top model.
   
   Waris' tells her story in simple, yet stark language-- she speaks her mind and is a likeable and strong woman. Her memoir is definitely interesting and she's very open about all her feelings and thoughts. The only thing I would have preferred she talk about more were her feelings about Islam. I realize that genital mutilation is not mandated by the Koran-- it is only a tradition in many of these families. However, her thoughts about her religion and some of its laws and archaic practices that affected her family (polygyny and its treatment of women, for instance), would have made the book a bit more intriguing. She didn't go into this at all.
   
   All in all, this was a provocative memoir of someone raised so entirely differently than those of us in the West. Her introduction to our foreign culture- so different than her own- made for a very thoughtful and affecting read.



3. This is the most emotional, extraordinary and shocking autobiography I've ever read, and the one I'll never forget and will always be in my mind.
   
   Some passages of the book are so shocking, you get sick in your stomach for a few seconds. But every time I had that feeling, I thought: what's this feeling compared to the pain they've gone through? So I kept reading and was astonished that FGM is still existing.
   
   I'm now a proud member of the Waris Dirie Foundation and every month, I give a little amount of money to help these little girls and the battle against FGM.



4. I purchased Desert Flower about five years ago from a street vendor in Brooklyn. I'd have to admit that I purchased the book simply because of the pretty face on the cover. I recently grabed the book of the shelf to read the story behind that pretty face. Oh! my God. I can't remember the last time I was touch by a story like this one. It's been a week since I've read the book and I'm still trying to get it out of my system.
   
   Scream in silence is the first thing that came to my mind when I heard what these women are going through in Somalia and other countries that pratice female Genital Mulitation. To deny a woman of something so natural and beautiful, I think is the worst act ever commited against women. It's as if the women are there only to service the men: cooking their food, washing their clothes, taking care of their children and she's still obligated to satisfy him sexually regardless whether or not she enjoys it in the process.
   
   Loveless sexless and most of all painfull is the best way I can describe these countries that practice Female Genital Mutilation. Shortly after these women are born, they're sexually mutilated , and have to deal with all the medical complications that follows: From trouble urinating, severe menstual cramps, painful sexual intercourse and painfull childbirth. Pain seems to play a major roll in just about every aspect of their lives. These women are hurting and and screaming in silence.
   
   A woman's body is very delicate and sensitive. Without provation women sometimes experience or develop problem with their sexual organs. So, why make matters worst?
   
   As the old saying goes, people will only go as far as you allow them. until These women work up the strength and say enough! is enough! and also recognize that they're the one with the power This nonsense will continue. Throughout history men have been known to buy, beg for sex and sometimes take it involuntary. That in itself should give these women strength to stand up to these men and stop multilating their daughters to satisfy these selfish men. These women should take control of their mind and body.
   
   Waris is definitely a child of God. There is a special purpose for hebeing here on this earth. It was not by accident that she made it safely out the desert and jungle after encountering a lion. Waris has achieve what many women will never achieve, a successful modeling career and inspite of her situation, gave birth to a healthy son without complications. Keep on counting your blessing Waris. The Lord is not done with you yet.



5. This book was both heart wrentching and inspiring. It was a beautiful story. I would like to use this book in class. I think it should be a mandatory read for everyone. This woman has become my hero. I plan on reading all her other books as well.

1 comments about Yeltsin: A Life.

1. Colton has provided a smart, well-researched and well-written account of a pivotal figure in Russian history.

5 comments about The Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a Woman and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods.

1. A wonderful book about environmental activism that left my inspired to do more to save our great forests and outraged by what the major timber companies are doing to our old growth forests and the environment. I particulary felt disgust and sadness for the disregard by Pacific Timber Corp for trees that were centuries old and using diesel fuel, napalm and other harmful chemicals/substances on pristine areas. Profit at any cost is unfortunatley what it is about. It was refreshing to learn of Julia's stand against all odds. A great book that everyone should read.



2. I read this in one day, it's almost as if reading a letter from a friend. I had heard about the woman who sat in a Redwood Tree in California, and after seeing the documentary about it, I had to read the book. The writing isn't outstanding, but I got everything I'd hoped for: A detailed description of life in Luna, which is amazing to say the least, and a much better insight on the activism to preserve old growth forests. I couldn't put it down. Read it for another perspective on life, and to learn more about Julia Butterfly Hill: A truly amazing activist.



3. I had seen the documentary and was interested to read the book. It was enjoyable, well written and an interesting report of a woman's total belief in what she was doing, along with her lessons in dealing with the very personal issues and fears that arose in her. An easy read and worthwhile.



4. Julia Butterfly Hill's father taught her a good lesson early in her life. The lesson was to stand up for what you believe in and not to give up. Julia obviously took this to heart. In her mid twenties she was looking for a meaning in her life. So she sold many of her valuables, "hit the road", and came into contact with an organization that was involved in the fight to save the redwoods. One of their main actions against the chopping of these trees is to put people up in a tree on a small platform for about a week.
   Soon after meeting people in the "Earth First" organization, Julia managed to sign up and sit in a tree. After a week she was more than willing to come down, but she was back up not too long after. But she became very sick and needed a long time to recover after her trip back down. When she found out that the association was having a hard time finding people to stay in the tree, she saw a solution: she would stay up in Luna (the tree she had spent time in before and was going to spend a lot more time in) for an extended period. The longer she stayed in Luna the harder it got: the weather worsened, the Pacific Lumber corporation which was targeting cutting down Luna started pressing harder and harder for her to come down, and even the corporation she supposedly was signed up with started to turn their back on her and beg her to come down. But with the lesson from her dad, her faith, and the friends she had made inside the corporation, she stayed up for longer, and longer, and longer.
   After her one hundred day mark in Luna, she started to become a very popular news target. Pretty much all day and night she was part of interviews, meetings and the growing struggle to save the redwoods. The people of Pacific Lumber really started to get ticked and did all they could to get her down. There were bills and pressure so they could finally have Luna in their own hands. But then an employee of this company started to treat her as a person and give her respect. John Campbell was the person who finally started to negotiate with Julia and respected her. They finally came to an agreement about a year and a half into her sit, but when she was supposed to come down, things got messed up with the agreement, so she still had to wait and sit and interview. But then came the fateful day about sixth months later in which she got a call that informed her that Luna and a buffer zone around her were safe. After two years in the tree, she had done her job, Luna was safe. So on December 18, 1999, Julia Butterfly Hill descended Luna and touched ground in the first time in two years.
   The Legacy of Luna was an enjoyable read with a good message, but I did have mixed feelings about it. While reading this book, you see that Julia is a unique person. She has a very broad faith and is very extreme in her love for Luna. At some times she would pray to Luna, and I found that to be a little weird, but then again I wasn't with this tree for 24/4 for 730 days. Also the book does get a little confusing when it starts to talk about the political essence of the tree sit. I don't know if it was just me, a high school student with little experience in this area, or if it was poorly explained, but I did get lost easily. I would recommend this book to someone who was excited in the environment and in the saving of the forest, but probably not for a Sunday afternoon read.



5. First the book was inspiring having been out of the "Environmental Movement" for 15 years, it was a breath of fresh air on a personal level. This is motivation to do more, to put action to the rhetoric. It brought into focus the simple fact that we are all connected to this living planet via creation.
   
   As I read I was left wanting more details. More information about the people in the book. I would like to see a daily journal. It was a little disjointed in places... jumping from one thought to the next with out clear transitions.
   
   It still is a great book and worth the money and time to read. I read it in 2 days... quick read.

5 comments about Letters from Burma.

1. Aung San Suu Kyi's letters are a window into Burmese culture, politics and problems the people of Burma are facing today. It is an excellent read, well written and very well worded. As you read this book, you begin to form a mental image of her as a person. Her gentle nature and positive, uplifting attitude show through. It is easy to see why the people of Burma risk their own personal freedom and safety to support Aung San Suu Kyi politically and her party.



2. An eloquently written piece that will be finished in a few sittings, Suu Kyi's Letters from Burma is a collection of short essays she submitted to the Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shinbun.
   
   It is likely that because it has been written for a mass audience, you will find 'Letters from Burma' easier to digest than her other books, Freedom from Fear and Voice of Hope.
   
   A remarkable politician, she examines Burma through its common people and the everyday lives that are led. As with all of Suu Kyi's books, she takes care to not forget why her party is fighting for democracy - its people.
   
   She discusses Burmese politics sans the jargon, allowing this book to be appreciated by everyone, even if new to the situation in Burma.
   
   She included in her writings, several wonderful quotes from English, Japanese and Burmese poems, reflecting her regard of the arts. The title 'Letters from Burma' more than merely states the intention of each of the 52 entries in this book. Her entries are personal, light-hearted, frustrated, or balanced. They are addressed to the reader, bringing him/her into the world of Burma, and seeing it as it is for a lay person.
   
   She has managed to make getting aquainted with politics so beautiful and enjoyable, through which i suppose she nurtures the concern and interest in matters of her state, that you are likely to re-read certain entries, if not the whole book again once you're through it.



3. This is not just a book. Along with Aung San Suu Kyi's two other major books ("Freedom from Fear" and "Voice of Hope"), this book is destined to be at the heart of the struggle - and eventually the victory - for democracy in Burma. Among the three, this is the one I found most wonderful. Vivid, direct, it makes the reader feel as if she/he is listening to Suu Kyi, with her wonderful Asian voice and Oxford accent. Suu Kyi talks about Burma, about her people, about herself. She tells of the tragedies of her people, in the most natural and serene way, as if she were telling of everyday life - because indeed, this is the Burmese everyday life. She does not inflate things, she does not push for her views, yet she reaches the reader's heart immediately - at least she did with me ! She simply expresses views and feelings along with plenty of thrilling facts and anecdotes. I can't imagine of any reader who won't love this book and won't feel inspired by this account from Burma's heroine. After reading this and the other books, I felt so close to Burma's struggle that I absoliutely had to go there and meet Suu in person. So I did, I took off for Burma and managed to meet her. I had met many world personalities before, but this was truly a unique event in my life. The pages of the book kept coming back to my mind, as I could finally see the source of all that strength and hope, the incarnation of Burma's struggle. In the end I was deported from Burma for having made contact with her. Now these books are my inspiration to keep fighting on for democracy in Burma in all ways I can.



4. As this book is a compilation of 52 letters written to be published as a weekly installment in a Japanese newspaper (each 2 or 3 pages long), it is an easy book to pick up when you have a few minutes. (In New York, we would call it a great subway read - you can read a letter or two between when you get on the subway and when you have to get off.) The letters combine Aung San Suu Kyi's political beliefs and accounts of the remarkable work of her political party (the National Democratic League) with vivid descriptions of Burmese culture and countryside. There are probably other books that focus solely on either the politics or the culture of Burma that do a more comprehensive job of describing it, but this seems like a great introduction to both.



5. This is a collection of 52 essays that Aung San Suu Kyi had written in the mid 1990's for a Japanese newspaper. She discusses a full range of topics including politics, religion, and the daily life of the Burmese people as seen through the eyes of the country's biggest proponent of democracy.

   Her tales are fascinating and well written. They offer a glimpse into the world of an almost Orwellian regime and can peak the interest of readers unfamiliar with Burma's current state of unrest.

   As a recent traveller to Burma, I was looking for more detail into Burma's history and details surrounding the nullified election in 1990. Though these issues are touched upon, each essay is a mere 2.5 page newspaper article which does not lend itself to such depth. It is however a fascinating read and a great introduction to Burma's struggle for democracy.

3 comments about The Autobiography and Other Writings (Penguin Classics).

1. In many ways, this is, to someone coming to it for the first time, a very surprising book. For one thing, it is amazingly incomplete. Franklin is, of course, one of the most famous Americans who ever lived, and his accomplishments in a wide array of endeavors are a part of American lore and popular history. A great deal of this lore and many of his accomplishments are missing from this account of his life. He never finished the autobiography, earlier in his life because he was too busy with what he terms public "employments," and later in life because the opium he was taking for kidney stones left him unable to concentrate sufficiently. Had Franklin been able to write about every period of his life and all of his achievements, his AUTOBIOGRAPHY would have been one of the most remarkable documents every produced. It is amazingly compelling in its incomplete state.
   As a serious reader, I was delighted in the way that Franklin is obsessed with the reading habits of other people. Over and over in the course of his memoir, he remarks that such and such a person was fond of reading, or owned a large number of books, or was a poet or author. Clearly, it is one of the qualities he most admires in others, and one of the qualities in a person that makes him want to know a person. He finds other readers to be kindred souls.
   
   If one is familiar with the Pragmatists, one finds many pragmatist tendencies in Franklin's thought. He is concerned less with ideals than with ideas that work and are functional. For instance, at one point he implies that while his own beliefs lean more towards the deistical, he sees formal religion as playing an important role in life and society, and he goes out of his way to never criticize the faith of another person. His pragmatism comes out also in list of the virtues, which is one of the more famous and striking parts of his book. As is well known, he compiled a list of 13 virtues, which he felt summed up all the virtues taught by all philosophers and religions. But they are practical, not abstract virtues. He states that he wanted to articulate virtues that possessed simple and not complex ideas. Why? The simpler the idea, the easier to apply. And in formulating his list of virtues, he is more concerned with the manner in which these virtues can be actualized in one's life. Franklin has utterly no interest in abstract morality.
   
   One of Franklin's virtues is humility, and his humility comes out in the form of his book. His narrative is exceedingly informal, not merely in the first part, which was ostensibly addressed to his son, but in the later sections (the autobiography was composed upon four separate occasions). The informal nature of the book displays Franklin's intended humility, and for Franklin, seeming to be so is nearly as important as actually being so. For part of the function of the virtues in an individual is not merely to make that particular person virtuous, but to function as an example to others. This notion of his being an example to other people is one of the major themes in his book. His life, he believes, is an exemplary one. And he believes that by sharing the details of his own life, he can serves as a template for other lives.
   
   One striking aspect of his book is what one could almost call Secular Puritanism. Although Franklin was hardly a prude, he was nonetheless very much a child of the Puritans. This is not displayed merely in his promotion of the virtues, but in his abstaining from excessiveness in eating, drinking, conversation, or whatever. Franklin is intensely concerned with self-governance.
   
   I think anyone not having read this before will be surprised at how readable and enjoyable this is. I think also one can only regret that Franklin was not able to write about the entirety of his life. He was a remarkable man with a remarkable story to tell.



2. For many this is this Letter of advice from Franklin to his son is the perfect embodiment of wisdom of American business success. For D.H.Lawrence however it showed the 'shop-keeping ' lack of soul, of Franklin and he mocked him in his 'Classic Studies on American Literature'.
   In this work Franklin creates and promotes the legend of himself. He is a great inventor, a fabulous pragmatist. He also tells the story of his own rise , and shows how hard work and going through times of difficulty with determination and strength are important.
   The work contains much of the kind of pithy wisdom Franklin made himself known with in America through 'Poor Richard's Almanac'
   It is not a full biography, and it of course omits many other sides of the mind and character of this complex genius.



3. Personal letters of Franklin to his son which recounts his experiences in the fledgling republic which became America. Limited scope of writings prevent true insight and understanding of Franklin, but what is present shows the more personal side of him. Following his autobiography, a compilation of his other writings is included. As with any autobiography, caution against vanity is needed when reading, but not in Franklin's case. He does attempt to glorify his actions or a better image.

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