No comments about Martin Luther King: The Inconvenient Hero.

5 comments about Rosa Parks: A Life.

1. An inspirational story about the life of Rosa Parks, a mulatto woman who refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery AL on Dec 1, 1955. Her courageous act became known as the beginning of the Civil Rights movement in the United States. Her quiet and non violent action sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycot, provided the NAACP with a model case to end Jim Crow laws in the South and gave opportunity for young minister, Martin Luther King, Jr. to display his enormous leadership potential. The story reveals little known facts about the quiet and demure seamstress. It tells of her personal struggles with racism, poverty and chauvinism. It is a heroic story of an ordinary person with incredible inner strength.



2. True Life: Rosa Parks
   By: Mariah Sanchious
   
   This book states all the facts about Mrs. Rosa Parks and how she basically struggled to be equal her whole life. Mrs. Parks didn't really understand in her young years, why they happened to be separated by color. As she grew older she began to learn why. Why did she make such a difference in the south? Come experience her growing up memories with me and how she had a huge impact on today's society.
   
   I enjoy this book because it notified me that people struggled to get what I have. Even though Mrs. Parks isn't before Irene Morgan or Claudette Colvin she made her stand up for her rights famous. She went through things like getting kicked out of restaurants to getting threating phone calls. She also cost her husband Raymond Parks his corner barbershop job. She also had KKK mobs running up and down the street throwing fires. She worked all the way on the opposite side of town and she walked six miles everyday until justice was served. As this happened to her, her close friend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's house was burned down. His church also got burned down while two little girls were in the bathroom. She later lost her job and her husband was abused by policeman. She was also aware that her friends got raped and murdered by policeman and nothing would be done about it. A lot of pregnant women would walk a great distance just to protest with the bus boycott. People really believed separate but equal but a lot of African American leader strived to make that change.
   
   I also enjoyed how the book gives specific details on her childhood years. Rosa McCauley was born on February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama. She had a mom Leona that was a rural school teacher, and she had a dad James that was a carpenter. In her toddler years her mom and dad separated and Rosa, her younger brother Sylvester, and her mom moved into a farm. They moved in with their former slaved grandparents in Pine Level, Alabama. She was home schooled until she was old enough to realize how the law was. At age eleven she went to an all girl's school with her friend Jonnie Carr. She continued that all girls school until she went to college. She went to Alabama State College for Negroes but had to dropout because her mom and grandmother were diagnosed with a terminal illness. That's when she got a job and married a local barber named Raymond Parks.
   
   I also enjoyed how they showed how much awards she received and how much honor she received when she died. after the Montgomery Bus Boycott,In 1979, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People awarded Parks the Spingarn Medal, its highest honor, and she received the Martin Luther King Sr. Award the next year. She was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 1983 for her achievements as a civil rights activist. She was aslo asked to welcome Nelson Mandela from is imprisoning in South Africa. She also received rthe Rosa Parks Piece Prize in 1994 in Swedan. She also received the highest award given by the U. S Executive Branch in 1996 called the Presedintal Medal of Freedom. She also received the highest award from the legislative branch in 1999 called the Conggressional Gold Medal. Sha also got the Windsor-Detroit International freedom award that was pesented to her at the Windsor-Detroit International Freedom Festival. She died in Detroit, Michigan at age 92.
   
   In conclusion, I would like to say that Rosa Parks stood up for a lot of coloreds . Her and all the civil rights activist led us to vitory and achieved their goal. Those 382 days of that bus boycott proved that we are strong and can do and be anything that we want to be. I would recommend this book to anybody who enjoys learning about black history. I also would like to say that this book makes you apprciate everything you have. It also has makes you feel that your in the obsticles that happened to african americans. I think that people would enjoy this book a lot .



3. I do not think this is a very good book for a book report on Rosa Parks. Despite the fact the title is "Rosa Parks", I received more information on other things that were happening at the time and about other people than you did about Rosa Parks. However, this is a good book if you are doing a report or want to learn about African American History in the late 1800s and 1900s.



4. Walking into restaurants and shopping malls, I see short and tall people, young and old people, and black and white people. You may be thinking, "Well, DUH!", but think about it for a minute...were black people always allowed to eat with and shop where white people did? I don't think so! I mean if it weren't for certain people such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, black and white people wouldn't even be able to drink out of the same water fountain, let alone shop and eat among each other.

   After reading the book entitled Rosa Parks, written by Douglas Brinkley, I realized that life today isn't at all the same as life was 50 years ago.

   Rosa Parks is mainly an autobiography of Rosa Parks. It does although mention other great people such as Susan B. Anthony and Sojourner Truth. All these people helped create equality throughout all of the human races.

   On December 1, 1955, a 42-year old black woman, named Rosa Louise Parks, refused to give up her seat to a white man. You see, back then, white people had the privilege of sitting in the front of the bus, due to their so-called "superiority" over blacks, and blacks were sent to the back. Rosa Parks' refusal set off a 381-day boycott led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and is now considered to have been the beginning of the American civil rights movement.

   Rosa Parks' case was different from many other people who disobeyed the laws. Rosa Parks had this biblical quality, which made her a saint, somewhat divine. Also, Rosa Parks only spent 2 hours in jail, while others were in for days, weeks, perhaps even months.

   This book not only recognizes some of the most influential people of all time, but also tells exactly how black people were treated and how they reacted.

   If you are interested in finding out more about Rosa Parks and other interesting people, I highly recommend this book.




5. Douglas Brinkley brings out the essence of Rosa Parks' humanity and her role in the Civil Rights movement. This short, highly-readable book provides useful background on Mrs. Parks' parents, early childhood, and introduction to the NAACP.

   The impact of Rosa Parks' actions on her family and friends was among the most revealing aspects of the book. The web of support, before and after her refusal to give up her seat, is truly inspirational.

   The author explores in detail the involvement of Mrs. Parks in the NAACP, church groups, and other activist organizations during the early-to-mid '50s. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s first national exposure in the movement is interesting for those not having read "Parting the Water..." and other such works.

   Douglas Brinkley's telling of the Rosa Parks story is not the first - and certainly not the last - but is the best!

No comments about Memoirs of General William T. Sherman.

5 comments about Laura Bush: An Intimate Portrait of the First Lady.

1. I liked this book but it wasn't great. I was wanting some insight to Laura Bush and her marriage. Mr. Kessler didn't do that. He repeated numerous stories that the media had already reported and responding to Kitty Kelley's The Family book. I felt like this book was rushed. He didn't go into a lot of explanation and I felt that her childhood along with the governor years were very glossed over. I wanted Mr. Kessler to talk about the librarian/school teacher years of Laura Bush's life. After reading this book, I wanted to feel like I knew her. Instead I feel like I barely scratched the surface. Some of that may be that Laura Bush is a private person. I don't know. I just had higher expectations after reading some Mr. Kessler's other books and he didn't not fulfill my expectations.



2. I loved this book. I bought this book after reading a library copy.
   
   This book is based on interviews with Laura Bush's friends. It reveals friendships that are full of caring, insight, jokes, loyalty and sincerity. I would like to be as good a friend to the people I love as I think Laura Bush is to the people she loves. Laura Bush is still friends with schoolmates from high school and college! And they are very smart and also funny!
   
   In reading this book, I found out that Laura loves to clean. One of her friends said cleaning supplies are Laura's favorite substances. No one in my family feels that way! But I find Laura's attitude inspiring, funny and helpful. Now, when something around here needs cleaning, I think of Laura's enthusiasm. I find that it is much easier and more fun to tackle cleaning with enthusiasm than to go through it with a dismal attitude.
   
   I liked Laura Bush before I read this book. Based on the impressions shared by her friends, it seems to me that she always tries to do her best but without taking herself too seriously. She is smart, sensible, witty and also kind. And she loves to read!! And I love to read!! And I love people who love to read!!
   
   I liked her very much to begin with, and having read the book, I like her better. In fact, I have added Laura Bush to my virtual team and I consider her an awesome virtual friend and consultant.
   
   I wish her well and thank her for her contributions as First Lady. Thank you, Laura!
   
   I think this is an excellent book, with revealing insights into Laura Bush's friendships and life. It is not a snarky critical book and I was grateful for that. I'm not interested in snark and criticism (well, hardly at all). I'm interested in encouraging people to be their best and to enjoy life. I think this book does that, and I highly recommend it.



3. He lets us feel as though we are "right there" - a moving story of this woman's life. You don't want to put the book down til you're done...very interesting presentation.



4. I admire Laura Bush and enjoyed learning more about her. But I appreciate authors who can provide some objectivity. This one falls all over his subject rather than providing a sophisticated eye. Laura herself is very diplomatic and more non-judgmental than most of us. But the author betrays the spirit of the First Lady with his pot shots at others, particularly the Clintons. It's almost as if he wrote the book to state his own opinions rather than to state hers. He is politically naive and less than a stellar writer. His transitions from one topic to another are very weak. Read this book if you want to learn more about Laura but don't waste your time if you are looking for a well-written piece.



5. This book was worth waiting for! I admire the First Lady greatly, and this book did not disappoint me. It is written with all the grace and elegance Mrs. Bush is known for. A great book.

5 comments about The Widow Down by the Brook: A Memoir of a Time Gone By.

1. I've just finished reading this wonderful book a few days ago. It was sweet and simple, yet Mary was obviously such an elegant lady. I took my time reading each page, savoring every moment she described of her life in CT. I truly didn't want this book to end. How I wish I had personally known Mary and had been able to sit down and have tea and cake with her. I can't stop thinking about Mary, her 1st and 2nd husbands, and her friends and family. Most of all, I keep thinking about Smoky, her precious German shepherd. I cried about Smoky, and then I cried about Mary when I found out she had passed, also. This was an extremely memorable book.



2. Mary was delighted to hear your raving reviews of her book. I am sad to tell you that she passed away August 18, 2001 at the age of 96. She was in the process of completing a sequal to "The Widow Down By The Brook". Had her body not given out, believe me, her mind would have finished it. I was fortunate to have spent the past year trying to keep up with her. The immediate personal connection you feel reading the words in her book are the same feelings you had meeting her. She found humor in every day. She was a delightful woman, a precious one that got away. She will be truely missed.



3. To the reviewer from Modesto - please email me, I know Mary would love to hear from you.



4. Mary's book read like a conversation between friends as she reminisced about the challenge of making a barn into a home and then adjusting to life as a single woman upon the death of her husband. Although for me it was reminiscent of similar experiences as I was her neighbor, living just over the hill, everyone will enjoy her style. In her telling of the love and support she found among neighbors, she reminds us all of a life and time many of us knew but now has been lost.



5. This is one of the best reads I have expereinced. Must admit that I am partial because I live in CT and much of what she describes I have seen. It is a touching love story. A book about the value of women learing to be independent well before her time. It is richly written. Our book club will be reading this book next month. I'm looking forward to the second reading. A must read in my humble opinion!

5 comments about First In His Class : A Biography Of Bill Clinton.

1. he nails a lot of truth about clinton's early years and presidency...
   
   and/but
   
   david maraniss is also fair... approaching it all as a Fellow Human just trying to get along in the world...
   
   this book was fascinating to read and, like all good biography, taught life lessons ~
   
   it was so interesting because ~ say what you will about bill clinton ~ he's the most interesting capable man of a generation...
   
   anne coulter, christopher hitchens and ALL the folks of that Ilk who are not nearly as impressive as the people they love to skewer... lack everything someone like david maraniss demonstrates: for starters, insights that MATTER...



2. I decided I hated Clinton a few days after 18 of my brother soldiers were slaughtered in Mogadishu. It was the day the first load of wounded Rangers came back to the states. I dont expect Presidents to be standing tall every moment wounded troops come back. But I do expect they would have enough decency not to tout their health care initiatives by visiting wounded gang bangers on such a day (as Clinton did). I read this book a few years after that incident. Still hate Clinton and her husband......just not as much!

   Mr. Maraniss paints an interesting picture of Bill Clinton. Here is a truly brilliant man who learned the ins and outs of the American political system. A man who can spend a law school semester on the campaing trail yet manage to pass with some intense studying at the least moment (Im a law school grad an freely admit I couldnt do this!). But he also shows us the spoiled child side too. A person who was doted an indulged in his early years and who essentially got everything he wanted. Its no wonder he thought he was too good to serve in the military! Speaking of that Mr. Maraniss puts to bed for all eternity the draft issue. He makes it quite clear Clinton received an induction notice and then did everthing in his power to avoid service. Why should he serve his nation or follow his marriage vows? He was the best of the best and should be above the law!

   So there you go. The good and the bad of a very polarizing character in a very intriguing format. Clinton lovers, nows the time to hit the not helpful button and get the hate email flowing!




3. If you are a right wing nut, stay away from this book, you might actually appreciate and respect Bill Clinton. Maraniss really sheds light on the former President's childhood, initial interest in politics, Arkansas' governorship and his announcement for the presidency. Unbiased and definitely a page-turner. I have read a bunch of Bill Clinton books and this is definitely one of my favorites. You do not need to be a policy wonk or even a political hack to enjoy learning about our 42nd president. Even some of my Republican friends find his ascent interesting and even revealing as to some of his decision making during his time in the White House. A great book, a greater president, two thumbs up!!



4. First, the title of this story can be misleading. In highschool, college, at Oxford and Yale, Clinton was never "first in class," based solely on grades. But, who cares? Clinton is one of the best presidents in United States history and Maraniss gives an inside look into the life of this great man despite not interviewing anyone in the Clinton family. He uses research based solely on interviews from those people closest to the man himself. When you reach for this book don't think it will give you an inside look at the presidency. It rolls along in chronological order from birth to announcement of candidacy for the 1992 presidential election so never gets to the presidency. It does however provide some interesting insights into the Clinton marriage, and the Clinton psyche. His temper, although rare is described well in this biography. Overall, it is a great read for anyone who wants to know more about a former president. Everything from his Oxford years and apparent affairs with other women not named Monica Lewinsky or Paula Jones. Perhaps the greatest thing about this book is how Maraniss remains neutral. Regardless of his like or dislike of Clinton, he never shows it.



5. I'll just start this by saying that I recommend this book wholeheartedly. Maraniss does a fantastic job of creating an incredibly readable work and his research here shines through. Interviews with former friends, old letters, yearbook signatures...! If you want to gain a better understanding of Bill Clinton, both his strengths and weaknesses, I strongly urge you to read this book.

4 comments about Sam Patch, the Famous Jumper.

1. I bought this book used, but when I received it, it was in perfect condition. My child needed it for a class that she was joining mid-semester. The book is no longer being printed. However, while other students were still waiting on the arrival of their books ordered from another bookstore, she was in class with her copy in a little over a week with standard shipping.



2. This is a biography of Sam Patch, the famous jumper from high places into swirling chasms. Yet it's more than a biography; it's also a social history of the times (1820s) and the places where Sam made his daring leaps (Paterson, NJ, Niagara Falls, and Rochester, NY). Sam's early life was spent working in the cotton mills of first, Pawtucket, RI, and then Paterson, NJ. He learned the "art" (Sam's word, and an important one in defining how Patch saw himself) of jumping while a boy performing daredevil stunts in the Blackstone River of Pawtucket. Later, in Paterson, he leaped into the Passaic Falls more as a "rebel-victim" - Timothy Crane had erected a bridge across the falls, which was considered a social good; but when he bought land adjacent to the falls that was popular as a recreational retreat for the working people of Paterson and turned it into a private park for the wealthy, Crane became a villain to the many factory workers of Paterson. Sam timed a number of his jumps there to coincide with events designed to honor Crane, to humiliate him or at least take away some of his thunder. In these instances, Sam Patch was a jumper for Democracy.
   
   After Paterson, Sam leaped off the mast of a sloop anchored off Hoboken, NJ into the Hudson River, which was reported widely in the press, and Sam became a celebrity. Now his leaps would be for fame and fortune. He jumped twice at Niagara Falls to great success, and then went to Rochester to leap the Genesee Falls. His leap was successful, but a second jump on a cold November day proved to be his undoing; his body wasn't found until the following spring.
   
   Then of course, Sam Patch the legend took off. The real Sam Patch was a drunkard and millworker, raised in poverty, who discovered he had a talent for surviving high leaps into dangerous waters, and decided that exploiting this talent brought a big improvement to his otherwise futile existence. (It's the classic American story: think of all the ballplayers, actors, singers, etc. who saw even the worst of times in their chosen endeavors as better than "going back" to the mines, or the mills, or the empty windswept towns on the bleak prairie.) But for the decade or two after his death Sam was transformed into a gentleman's son who overcame timidity and learned to face danger and be "a man." Then, of course, even this made-up image of Sam disappeared from the scene - until 1945 when folklorist Richard Dorson rediscovered him and grouped him with such legendary characters as Davy Crocket and Mike Fink.
   
   Johnson does a superb job in rescuing Patch from the annals of folklore and presenting him as a real historical figure. This is not an easy task since very little in the historical record is known about Sam, and much of that is contradictory. He devotes much space to what life in the cotton mills was like, how Niagara Falls was perceived in the American imagination at the time, and what the young and bustling cities of Paterson and Rochester were going through when Sam visited them. Johnson is an interesting writer - detailed and learned, but not dry and scholarly. It's a fascinating book. Highly recommended.



3. Sam Patch was an American original who escaped my attention for forty-eight years. Professor Johnson's study of this mostly forgotten, irreverant showman has piqued this reader's thirst for more of the bold, eccentric and sometimes ambivalent personalities that have shaped this nation in often subtle ways.
   Not long after completing the author's chronology of the Patch family's slide from the respectability of the rural New England landholder and the influence of Calvinism, it becomes apparent
   that a documented record of just what manner of man Sam Patch really was is not to be had. From the standpoint of social status, Patch was a non-entity, a skilled textile laborer his sole identifying trait; that is, until he made public his hobby.
   Just what spurred Patch to leap the Passaic Falls at Paterson,NJ on July 4, 1828, effectively upstarting the elaborate holiday ceremonies planned by one of the city's wealthy and genteel manufacturing elite is uncertain. One effect of the feat was the galvanizing of the local labor force into an awareness of their potential to force reform in mill working conditions. No sooner had Patch had dried himself off when a consortium of mill owners issued an edict altering the daily work schedules of its employees, needlessly disrupting the domestic routines of thousands. Patch then betrays a political motive in answer to management with an encore jump during work hours just one week after the new schedule had taken effect. Patch's exploit was followed by a strike, arbitration and comprimise. The Paterson jumps gave birth to Patch's intriguing motto "Some things can be done as well as others."
   The cynical critic questions the depth and genuineness of Patch's social altruism based upon his lack of education, predilection to alcohol, and the complete absence of any concern, stated or implied, other than self-promotion during the remainder of his career. In fact, Patch, at the age of twenty-seven, having worked in the mills for twenty years, resigned his vocation permanently upon departing Paterson shortly after the second jump. After a brief exploit from atop a ship's mast in Hoboken,NJ, Patch emigrated to Niagara Falls for bigger game.
   Now an avowed professional jumper, backed by resort developers and sporting gentlemen, Patch thrilled crowds of commoners and elicited enmity from the Whig sophisticates and press. After a few successful performances, the venue shifted to Rochester,NY and Genesee Falls where class distinctions and responses to such behavior were at a premium. After an initial jump, a plan was hatched to erect a platform some forty feet above the millrace which paralleled the falls, raising his leap to an uprecedented one hundred-thirty feet. Unfortunately for our hero, he met his ultimate fate that day in 1829 when, unable to contain his passion for the bottle, he endeavored to jump while in a well-lubricated state, lost his form early in the air, hit the water on his side, and disappeared for four months before his body was hauled from under the ice of the Genesee River some seven miles downstream.
   On reconsideration, it is perhaps the case that Patch had an angle along reformist lines. Though unsophisticated in its method, the very inanity of Patch's nonconformist act served as a slap in the face to the righteous, overbred conceit of the upper classes and their proclivity for circumscribing the limits of self-determination for those less fortunate. In appropriating a mere mill-boy's pastime Patch defied the ruling gentry and diletantes of morality to prevent his freedom of expression. Although his jumps lacked the ingenuity, utility or permanence of the engineering marvels which buoyed the emerging industrial revolution, they gave notice that democracy entitles a man to make his mark after his own fashion and, notwithstanding limited means, proof that "Some things can be done as well as others."
   Despite the absence of source material Professor Johnson has done a comendable job of resurrecting Patch's story from the confines of legend. Johnson's tedious labor is evidenced by his notes--drawn almost entirely from periodical literature.
   While it is not possible to forge an intimate acquaintance with Sam Patch, Johnson has provided the detailed social, political and religious mileau needed to understand his role in history.
   Johnson is also to be credited for the modesty of his prose, which makes this book smooth and entertaining.



4. If you have never heard of Sam Patch, it is because you are not living in the nineteenth century. Sam Patch was America's first celebrity daredevil, someone who made his fortune and his fame by spectacularly endangering his life, jumping from waterfalls. Paul E. Johnson, in _Sam Patch, The Famous Jumper (Hill and Wang), has not exactly brought Patch back to life. As Johnson explains, people like Patch did not have linear careers that lent their lives to being told as stories; they had episodes, not biographies. Patch only lived thirty years, and jumped professionally only for the last two of those, but he did have a wonderful career, and even some meaning within American history and sociology. Johnson has, though Patch's story, examined some details of Jacksonian America, industrialization, philosophies of art, and aspects of fame from self-endangerment and self-promotion rather than self-improvement and civic involvement. Patch was, after all, a lout and a drunkard, but it must mean something that he achieved such a level of fame that his feats could be cited by Melville, Hawthorne and Poe. Even Andrew Jackson's favorite steed was named Sam Patch.

   Sam was around seven years old when he took up work in a mill; families in the early eighteenth century were being drawn to mill towns since mothers and children could easily get work. He was good at the work, and fiercely independent in the craft of "mule spinner". The independence manifested itself in his jumping as well. He learned the craft of jumping as other boys did, but when he moved to another mill town, his jumping acquired a social and political aspect that endeared him to the populace. He jumped to spite a rising industrialist in Paterson, New Jersey, and then in support of his own class when there was a dispute over how the town should celebrate the Fourth of July, and jumped again during the first labor walkout. People loved the jumps, and newspapers reported them. Patch became a working-class hero. He went on to jump into Niagara Falls twice, and finally in Rochester. On 13 November 1829, he took a plunge into the Genesee Falls, into which he had jumped successfully a week before. He was drunk, and hit the water out of control. It was months before the body was found, but respectable Americans had found a new cause to rail against; one preacher spoke of the "strange and savage curiosity" of the crowds who came to see the jumps, and another told his Sunday school class "... that any of them who had witnessed Patch's last leap would be judged guilty of murder by God."

   Sam Patch could have been an emblem against the masses, but it did not work out that way. He became the subject of poetry, comic stories, and stage plays. "What the Sam Patch!" became a common way of swearing. There was a Sam Patch cigar. He has even recently been the subject of a novel. Rochester has welcomed his memory as if it were that of a favorite son, and you can buy souvenirs at Sam's Gift Patch. There are those who insist that any American Dream must be built on hard work, domestic harmony, and sobriety. Johnson's able and well-researched portrait, with its many digressions into aspects of our fledgling democracy, shows a different sort of dream and a new sort of celebrity. Americans, bless their hearts, had from the beginning a delight in one who tweaked the nose of his betters and got fame for lots of wrong reasons.

4 comments about The Making of a Radical: A Political Autobiography (Good Life Series).

1. Scott and Helen Nearing are familiar to many of my post-WWII peers because of their figurehead status in the back-to-the-land movement in the 60s. Their homestead experience as reported in LIVING THE GOOD LIFE provided a blueprint for many city folk who wanted to follow Joni Mitchell's Woodstock admonition to "get back to the land and set my soul free." Scott Nearing's earlier life was far from invisible, however, and in this work he explains his journey from a childhood of conservative privilege to the forefront of pacifist, socialist economic theorizing and activism. Along the way you will relive his public and popular debates with the likes of William Jennings Bryan and H.L. Mencken, his expulsion from teaching at the prestigious Wharton School of Business. (which became and remains a landmark in the struggle for academic freedom), and his federal trial for publication of anti-American opinion (not-guilty). Though Nearing is sometimes disappointingly uncritical of the Soviet and Chinese experiments with socialism, that does not diminish his clear-eyed critique of our own system. In his view, capitalism replaced feudalism over a period of three hundred years, and the system which replaces our current one of "monopoly-capitalism" will be a similarly gradual process. Communism's failures are to be expected, he believes, because they are an early attempt at a reorganization of human endeavor -- and he reminds us of the horrors of early capitalism (slavery, child labor, sweatshops, violent suppression of unions, etc.), as well as the wars fought to make the world safe for capitalism. This is the story of an intentional life, lived by a profound thinker. You will bid goodbye to Nearing either furious, or inspired, but definitely not unmoved. Whither humanity?



2. This book gives a person an idea about how the controlling forces in America will supress someone that tries to help the lower classes.
   
   In Nearing's early career he spoke out about child labor, and was hated on by the controlling forces at that time. Only time would tell how right he was. Yet he spent his entire career being shunned away from the universities which he wished to teach at, just because he would not shut up when he cared about something.
   
   The greatest part of this book, to me, was that Nearing talks about "avoiding wealth" and "narrowly avoiding getting rich"... as if it is a disease or something. He never aspired to become rich, in fact he purposely stopped anything of the sort from happening.
   
   Nearing sets an excellent example of someone that tries to help out, never gives up, and cannot be silenced. When he turned 100 he stopped eating and CHOSE to die, believing that he had lived a full life and did not deserve any more of the earth's resources.
   
   Now, if that doesn't make you think, what does.



3. Each human being's life is itself of great value and meaning.
   And so, life should be lived just as life itself, not as a means for other doctrines or propaganda. No one is expendable.
   The author also gives a sharp insight into monetary economy in which we live in. Day after day we are getting subject to the Lord of Money, and money becomes our Lord.
   So parodoxically, the more money one make, the more subject to money we get.That's absurd.
   This book shares much in common with 'To have or To Be' by Erich Fromm.
   The author is a real humanist, who wanted every living being live the life as it deserves. Not being deceived by the illusions that we meet in our daily lives.
   I really want to recommend this book to all those who looks upon all living beings as a united One, each not a separate pieces of life against life.



4. Many people try to live keeping their conviction. However it is difficult to keep it and it is even not easy to have a right conviction. Scott Nearing was the sociologist who practiced the right things that he believed and lived all his life as a naturalist. He lived for true convictions. After reading this book, I reflected my past. At least I think, it could be fortunate to have a opportunity to think of our spiritual slackening in the midst of material prosperity. I recommend this autobiography.

1 comments about J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography.

1. Rick Geary does it again with his graphic biography of an American icon, J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI. He uses his trademark illustrative style to chart the course of Hoover's life from birth to death, and all points in between. Hoover is now a controversial figure thanks to some scandalous, yet unproven rumors (mostly about his personal life), but Geary treats his subject matter fairly, and portrays Hoover in an unbiased fashion. This is a new venture from Geary's excellent "Treasury of Victorian Crime" series, and it does not disappoint. Anyone looking for a concise, yet thoroughly enjoyable biography of Hoover need look no further.

5 comments about The Portable Abraham Lincoln (Viking Portable Library).

1. There are several anthologies of selections from Abraham Lincoln's writings available. But The Portable Lincoln is my favorite among them. My copy is dog-eared, underlined, and scribbled on to such an extent that it now looks quite shabby. But this is as much a tribute to the wisdom of Lincoln's words and the judicious editorship of Andrew Delbanco as it is a sad monument to my hard treatment of books.
   
   There are two main reasons why I find The Portable Lincoln so pleasing.
   
   First, editor Delbanco (who's best known for his insightful work on American Puritans) prefaces the collection with an elegant and informative intellectual biography of Lincoln that prepares the way for a more informed reading of the selections. He also provides a useful chronology of Lincoln's life, and he introduces each of the book's six sections with prefatory remarks that put the selections in context.
   
   Second, the selections themselves are carefully chosen and genuinely representative of Lincoln's thoughts in each of the six periods of his life from which they're drawn: his early years up to 1850; the pivotal "republican" years of 1854-1859; the presidential campaign, 1860; the early days of the war, 1860-1861; Lincoln the war president, late 1861-1864; and the reflective Lincoln, 1864-1865. Within each section are to be found exactly what one wants in a collection such as this: for example, Lincoln's early Address to the Springfield Young Man's Lyceum; his Handbill Replying to Charges of Infidelity; his House Divided speech; the first (and possibly best) Lincoln-Douglas Debate; the not-so-good Lecture on Discoveries and Inventions; the Cooper Institute speech; the too-neglected great First Inaugural and the justly-praised Second; the July 4 Message to Congress in Special Session; the Final Emancipation Proclamation; and assorted letters, private memoranda, and speeches. Taken together, these selections give the finest overall impression of Lincoln the private man, politician, thinker, and statesman that one's likely to glean from reading his own words.
   
   I might add that even long-time readers of Lincoln are likely to find one or two pleasant surprises in this collection. Let me mention but one. Everbody's familiar with Lincoln's barbed quip, when McClellan failed to pursue Lee after Antietam, that he'd like to borrow the army if McClellan wasn't going to use it. But Delbanco quotes an even more barbed (and delicious!) zinger from Lincoln to McClellan, written on 24 October 1862:
   "I have just read your despatch about sore tongued and fatiegued [sic] horses. Will you pardon me for asking what the horses of your army have done since the battle of Antietam that fatigue anything?" (p. 244) Ouch!!
   
   Highly recommended, not only for its historical interest but because of the fact, which becomes more obvious to me each time I reread Lincoln, that his words are just as timely today as they were 150 years ago.
   ________
   * From Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, p. 203.



2. This book os simply another attempt to perpetuate the Lincoln Myth. He almost certainly did not write the Bixby Letter, John Hay, his secretary almost certainly did. Lincoln in fact wrote very little himself, leaving most of the work to his two secretaries, Nicolay and Hay. As for his writing all his own speeches, this too is untrue, certainly not after he became President. There is not a shadow of a doubt that his Secretary of State, William H. Seward had a hand in most of his speeches and in fact was virtually the power behind the throne throughout Lincoln's presidency. Lincoln was a nice enough man, though a manic depressive, as for a genius and great emancipator, GIVE ME A BREAK!!



3. This is a very good and readable collections of the major writings and speeches of Abraham Lincoln. Unlike many collections of writings and speeches of that era, this is no dull melange of dated issues, but wisdom of the ages.
   
   In one early piece, Lincoln waxes nostalgic by comparing the lethargy of his generation to the generation who fought in the Revolutionary war (talk about the "good old days" is nothing new). In an 1848 letter, he makes some stinging comments against the then-president's "lies" that got America into the Mexican War(sounds similar to modern complaints about you-know-who getting us involed in you-know-where).
   
   Modern revisionists love to take scattered comments by Lincoln about Black people to show that Lincoln was a racist. Aspects of the Douglas debates and his mesage of colonization of 1862 do not deny this, but such people conveniently forget (or omit) Lincoln's evolution of thought as evidenced by the Second Inaugural Address (which also appears in its entirety at the Lincoln Memorial) and his statements about Black soldiers having the right to vote (in the 1860s, mind you). Some racist!
   
   It is also important to remember that Lincoln wrote all of his own speeches and was largely self-educated! When you compare the quality of his speeches and writings to our soundbyte era, it is truly remarkable.
   
   Read this book and become acquainted with greatness.



4. This collection of documents in a sense tells the life- story of Lincoln. It consists primarily of letters but also contains communications of other kinds, including his great speeches. Lincoln's immense power with language, the depth of his feeling and insight, his quiet humor and his great imaginative sympathy are all on display here. Also of course his political wisdom, his detailed knowledge of local and national political affairs, his struggle in conducting the great Civil War.
   There are certain people it simply an honor and uplifting to be in the presence of . Lincoln is such a person, and so these words of his inform and most often, inspire.



5. The Portable Abraham Lincoln is just that, a small book packed with nothing but Lincoln's words and ideas, from the famous debates with Stephen Douglas to his immortal 2nd Inaguaral Address.

   Mixed throughout the speeches are letters, both public and private, which reveal his inner thoughts and animating philosophy. Included is his short and moving letter to Mrs. Lydia Bixby, featured in the movie Saving Private Ryan, which is the most eloquent expression of patriotic grief I have ever read.

   The book is organized in themes, from his emergence of a polictian to his writings as Chief Executive and as Commander-in-Chief, and ending up with Fate.

   This book is for people who want to go beyond the soundbytes featured in documentaries; it places those famous phrases in the context of the entire speech and the commentary is kept to a minimum, showing respect for the reader.