Ours Blog will cover with Biographies Memoirs Books Reviews. All of book are share here is about Biographies and Memoirs of someone. I hope you will enjoy what I share to you.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks >> Fascinating Story Wow This book tells the true story of Henrietta Lacks and her family s attempts at understanding how her cells have impacted science It is part medical research history part human interest and part science lesson Civil rights and patient s medical rights are also woven in throughout the book I w
Three Cups of Tea With Headphones Playaway Adult Nonfiction
Three Cups of Tea With Headphones Playaway Adult Nonfiction >> A Treasure There are few books in life that a person would forever keep at his side and of those select few I treasure this one most I find solace in the pages of this book especially in my most trying times and this is because those precious words contained within them remind me that difficulty is always
Liar s Poker >> Terrific portrait of 1980s Wall Street before the MBAs arrived If you want to know what the big Wall Street bond firms were like before the MBAs took over this is the book It s a great portrait of 1980s Wall Street the way that traders and investment bankers used to appear in the eyes of the young MBAs they hired and the ridiculous training that newcomer
Courage and Consequence My Life as a Conservative in the Fight
Courage and Consequence My Life as a Conservative in the Fight >> Setting Bush s record straight A well written clarification of the President s accomplishments and yes some significant mistakes A book like this from an insider who was so close to the facts is much needed to counter the reporting by a media that on the whole tended to be politically biased against President Bush
Author : W B Yeats Total Page : 180 Publisher : Wildside Press Publication Date : 2004 09 01
The Celtic Twilight >> Inspired Prose I had heard of William Butler Yeats and I must say he is quite an excellent poet The dreams I had of the old worlds came to life in this >> An Excellent Guide to Understanding Yeats Early Poetry When Robert Frost A not very likable fellow when you read his biographies despite his excellent poetry visited Yeats in Ireland he made a comment to the effect that It s no wonder he believes in faeries He was responding to the beautiful mystical Irish landscape Yeats grew up in This book even though you re probably not in Ireland when you read it will have you responding much as Frost did The peasantry have so much of their pagan ancestry in their blood that despite their ostensible Catholicism their deep belief in the little people comes out as strong as ever when questioned about it Reading these anecdotes some of them grafted directly onto Yeats early poetry gives them a power they would not have had you not read this book and realized how here and now faeryland was to the common people at the time The Celtic belief that death into Faeryland is far more desirable than birth is made beautifully apparent in this book Hence by the way the celebratory Irish wake Hence also this lovely poem
Heardst thou not sweet words among That Heaven resounding minstrelsy Heardst thou not that those who die Awake in a world of ecstacy That love when limbs are interwoven And sleep when the night of life is cloven And thought to the world s dim boudaries clinging And music when one beloved is singing Is death
These sorts of things as well as Yeats poetry are worth deep consideration in this present world where medicine is deemed omnipotent and yet nevertheless we all die
Author : Bethany McLean Total Page : 464 Publisher : Portfolio Trade Publication Date : 2004 09 28
The Smartest Guys in the Room The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron >> Great book This book is very informative on life inside Enron I would recommend it to anyone >> What WAS Enron A revealing view of the sham that was Enron a company run by arrogant scheming people who didn t care at all whose investments they ruined It is well written and informative but it s scary too One is left wondering how many of these types of firms exist With the fallout of the Madoff situation and the collusion and excesses of the financial firms in the last years it is more relevant than when it was first published If you don t think you are up to reading the book at least view the film by the same name that was based upon it The pretenses of the management of this company are almost humorous if they didn t have such destructive consequences >> Great service The book was received in great condition The delivery time was faster than expected I will be using this service for future purchases
Author : Annie Kubler Total Page : 12 Publisher : Child s Play International Publication Date : 2001 09
If You re Happy and You Know It Baby Board Books >> lovely little book for a toddler I purchased this little board book for a 2 year old child She loved it >> Waste of money I was really disappointed in this book The illustrations are really not that good and the text is well pathetic Even as a board book for a baby it d really not worth the 5 99 You re better off just singing the song to your little one >> If You re Happy and You Know It This is a sweet little sing a long book perfect for young child The sturdy cardboard is perfect for little hands and will last a long time
Author : Joseph J Ellis Total Page : 352 Publisher : Faber Faber Ltd Publication Date : 2005 08 30
His Excellency >> The intriguing character of the man who would not be king This book was a bit different from what I expected when I received it as a gift I enjoy reading American history and thought this would be a historical examination of the Washington years i e the Revolutionary War and his two terms in office While it did obviously cover those events it was far less of a history book and much more a biography Indeed some key historical events like the battles at Lexington and Concord are barely mentioned and then only to provide some historical context for the biographical discussion In other words this is a high level view of America in the second half of 18th century with Washington at the center and other people or events coming into focus only as necessary to shed light on his actions and attitudes
The great value of this book is to offer the reader a deeper look into the character of a person who has been elevated nearly to demigod status in the minds of so many Americans The author takes us past the Adonis like sculpture that so many of us have seen in the Smithsonian and into the mind of this singular figure whose importance to the birth of the country is both undeniable and somewhat accidental We get to take a warts and all look at the real Washington with his intriguing blend of ambition ego self interest commitment service and resolve On one hand is the aristrocratic slave owning squire obsessively amassing an ever larger personal estate On the other is the revolutionary leader willing to put that life on hold for years on end and endure severe hardship to advance the greater common good From ambitious young soldier to marginally competent general to stateman and president and finally to the retired gentleman manipulated by the scheming Hamilton Washington s successes and failures are treated with equal fairness by the author
Particularly intriguing was the insight into Washington s growing internal conflict between his idealism the realization that slavery was inconsistent with his revolutionary principles and his intense realism and pragmatism the knowledge that immediate action toward emancipation was not practical either for the country or his personal affairs His willingness to compromise on the issue for the sake of holding the country together during its formative years is understandable as we consider Washington the statesman His vacillation at the personal level particularly the moral inconsistencies on the slavery issue his willingness to own slaves to secure his financial interests while feeling a moral revulsion to selling them give us a look at the internal struggles of Washington the private man Much has been said by historians about his decision to free his slaves in his will but the intellectual and moral gyrations that led him to that point tell us much more about Washington than that final act
Overall I was very pleased with the insights offered in this volume and found it a very enjoyable and quick read I would recommend it for anyone who wants to get an unvarnished look at the real Washington A great man Definitely But this book reminds us that in the final analysis he was just a man at a unique place and time in history and he played his role well >> I ll take the authors word for it I had a problem with the tone of this book from the start Ellis makes definitive conclusory statements consistently This would be great if substantiated except his assertions are frequently without clear citation After a few paragraphs you re lead to an endnote that cites dozens of pages of another book or lumps two or three of Washington s letters together This is especially concerning regarding Ellis s treatment of slavery which incidentally seems to get more time than any other topic and was the most rewarding portion to read With such a charged topic I would think perfect citing is a must
The other aspect of the book that is troubling of the repetition of themes almost as if Ellis is anticipating chapters are going to be read separately or photocopies and handed out to a class He reasserts the same point Cinncinattus and Fabian thinking in an odd way especially considering the short length of the book and the cursory nature he treats topics worth more time
Because Washington is worth reading about this book is worth reading But I ll be looking for a more complete biography that I can put a little more faith in regarding the sources I d recommend His Excellency for someone who is looking for a new perspective on Washington not someone looking to read their first biography on our first president As for Ellis s attempt to read Washington s mind from marrying Martha to freeing his slaves in his will the reader has to take the authors word for it There aren t enough hard facts cited to make a convincing case for many of Ellis s conclusions >> Don t bother with this one So after the first chapter I have found out Washington was a liar a mass murderer and a coward I have tried to read this book on several occasions as it has been in my library since I foolishly purchased it shortly after it came out Now that I am two chapters into it I will put it down and not waste anymore time on this revisionist history Joseph Ellis has been proven a liar and was put on leave from Mt Holyoke for dishonesty Look it up It s not surprising that a dishonest man like Ellis would seek to tear down the image of a man who had so much to do with shaping the ideals and values of the founding of country I would recommend the Flexner volume over this or The Real George Washington The title of this book His Excellency should have given Ellis s intent to besmirch the character of Washington away
Author : Azar Nafisi Total Page : 559 Publisher : Wheeler Publishing Publication Date : 2003 10
Reading Lolita in Tehran A Memoir in Books >> Didn t grab me Not only am I one of the last people in the world to read this book I m one of the few who didn t like it And I really wanted to like it I generally enjoy reading and learning about life in the Middle East but this book just did not grab me
One problem was my fault I haven t read all of the books she and her girls have and they played an important part of the story But I also found the sequence of events confusing it s not entirely chronological I found Nafisi s writing style to be detached almost arrogant and therefor I found myself not really caring what happened to her personally I would have like to have known more about each individual girl in her reading circle >> Reading Lolita In Tehran Reading Lolita in Tehran is both a profile in courage and a literary lecture all in one telling us how art can change lives and sustain us as humans A Nietzsche once said We have to have art in order not to die of the truth In Tehran unfortunately people are dying because of the truth
Azar Nafisi skillfully interweaves her lectures on Nabokov Fitzgerald and James with her interaction with a group of young Iranian women who she calls her girls as they join her in a secret class to study Lolita and other important works of fiction We get to know each of the young women individually who represent a cross section of Iranian society religion and politics as the book progresses We are also privy to the treacherous landscape Nafisi and her students had to navigate during those troubled times before Nafisi left Iran for good in 1997 As she says in her book she left Iran but Iran did not leave her
The classes favorite book fittingly was Nabokov s Invitation to a Beheading This is the story of Cincinnatus C who has been interred and condemned to death for committing the sin of gnostical turpitude or in other words being different This is a crime punishable by beheading In this novel the villains are the totalitarian rulers trying to posses and control imaginative minds In Lolita the villain is Humbert Humbert He is the one with the imaginative mind Lolita is also a metaphor for Iran who is victimized by the Islamic oppressor and who control the action of females by placing them under the veil and exploiting their nubile young bodies by lowering the marriage age to nine This is an age of innocence that would make Humbert himself blush with shame
>> How many years can some people exist before they allowed to be free More than a combination of literary criticism and memoirs of living through the totalitarian ruthlessness of Islamist ruled Iran this book essentially examines how the author and a group of friends took refuge in literature from the totalitarian nightmare And at the same time using that literature to make sense of life under Islamo Nazi repression The women in the group are able to make analogies of the works of Vladimir Nabokov Jane Austen Henry James and F Scott Fitzgerald with the society in which they live The villain of Nabokov s Lolita Humbert rapes a twelve year old girl and thus the book is about the confiscation of one individuals life by another Humbert has tried to shape another soul according to his own hopes and dreams So the author is taking revenge on the Ayatollah and the Mullahs for confiscating the lives of the people of Iran for their war against women
This is a society in which girls are punished most brutally for wearing coloured shoe laces running in the school yard or licking ice cream in public Where women are flogged for wearing nail polish
Marxist and left wing feminists in the West pour scorn on taking up the cause of oppressed women in Iran as the Iranian Marxists did at the beginning of the Islamic Revolution of 1979 before they themselves became victims They claimed that there were bigger fish to fry the author explains That the imperialists and their lackeys need to be dealt with first Focusing on women s rights was individualistic and bourgeois and played into their hands What imperialists asks the author acting as a much needed voice of true conscience Do you mean those battered and bruised faces on television confessing to their crimes Do you mean the prostitutes they recently stoned to death or my former school principal Mrs Parsa who like the prostitutes was accused of corruption on earth sexual offences and violation of decency and morality for having been the minister of education For which offenses was she put in a sack and then shot or stoned to death Are those the lackeys you are talking about and is it in order to wipe these people out that we have to not protest
Azar Nafisi has been indeed accused by leftist and Islamist radicals in the West of serving the imperialist or neoconservative cause by writing this novel So once again the dreams of the people of Iran to enjoy the same freedom Nafisi s leftwing critics in the West enjoy are denied Like Humbert in Lolita the Western Left want to confiscate the lives of the long suffering people of Iran and shape them according to the formers own hopes and dreams Like Humbert and like all great myth makers they try to fashion reality of their dream and end up destroying reality and their dream Nafisi is a true feminist who really cares about the rights and welfare of women unlike so many left wing self styled feminists in the West who want people moulded according to their ideals and have never spoken up for the persecution of women by Islamists for their own selfish reasons
Author : Harold S Kushner Total Page : 192 Publisher : Anchor Publication Date : 2007 08 21
Overcoming Life s Disappointments >> A profound book which hopefully will be of great help to many This book is written with the aim of helping those disappointed by life It relates many contemporary cases and instances but its major model story is the story of Moses who after for forty years leading the people of Israel through the desert towards the Promised Land is denied entry into it This is too the Moses disappointed by the people s rejection of the First Tablets of the Law their preferring instead the Golden Calf Rabbi Kushner makes much of the Mosaic model of picking up the broken pieces and placing them in the Altar with the new Tablets The model of not going into total despair with disappointment but somehow transforming oneself and one s dream going on and continuing to realize it in another way is an inspiring one Rabbi Kushner with long experience as a Rabbi meeting congregants in all kinds of life crises shows a great wisdom and moderation in this book He speaks about the importance of our need to understand that it is not always about us that in certain situations we are not under control He teaches a wisdom of practicality modesty and responsibility In the course of it he shows through the story of Moses how Judaism contains universal values and meanings The book has helped me as I contend with my own difficulties and disappointments It has given me the sense that perhaps I am not the most terrible person in the world for not having fully realized childhood dreams It above all is written in such a way as to give faith and hope in the future A wonderful book truly which should be a blessing for many readers >> Never Received Book I had really wanted to read this book After ordering it I was told shortly after purchase it was not available Why would you advertise a book if you don t have it to sell >> Life wisdom and inspiration Another solid book by Harold Kushner He keeps getting better and better This book addresses coming to terms with loss and adds perspective and inspiration to modern problems and challenges His use of biblical references and the lessons that they have to share with all of us is priceless It is a book that I read again and again for inspiration
Author : Bill Buford Total Page : 336 Publisher : Jonathan Cape Ltd Publication Date : 2006 07 13
Heat >> great condition fast shipping The by line is a bit of a misleader He doesn t sit in with the Dante quoting butcher until the very end It s much much more of a look into the life of a low level cook and how to elevate yourself in the world of food and it s knowledge The proposed sequel a look into French cuisine is definitely going to be a future purchase >> A joy to read I absolutely love this book I was so anxious to get it just after reading the first chapter on Amazon that I had it shipped overnight Even though I don t have all the time in the world to read being a college student I still find time on my weekends to pick it up and enjoy a few pages at a time for quick breaks This is the kind of book that you want to read to anyone who will listen It will make you snigger laugh out loud and gasp at the audacity of the characters sometimes I highly recommend this book for anyone who likes to read about food cooking and great characters >> For a grandson chef We ordered a copy of Heat to give to one of our grandsons who is working as a pasta chef during his interim year before going to university He greatly appreciated both the cooking lessons and the life/living lessons
Author : Melanie Benjamin Publisher : Random House Audio Publication Date : 2010 01 12
Alice I Have Been A Novel >> A fantastic exploration of how Alice in Wonderland might have come to be I ve read several books lately that deal with women and literature of one kind of another and how the pursuit of those words impacted their lives Arcadia Falls and The Children s Book are two that come to mind Alice I Have Been is far and away the best one Benjamin does a truly wonderful job of taking us inside the mind of a young girl who thinks she knows how the world works Alice is a delightful little girl who isn t afraid to speak her mind or follow her dreams Her family s relationship with Charles Dodgson and her personal relationship with Dodgson clearly show where the themes and characters of Alice In Wonderland sprang to life Benjamin doesn t pretend to have all the answers but she provokes some interesting questions If there is one flaw in the book it is the absence of Alice s transition from heart broken young woman to well heeled wife and mother The two Alices are very different and while it is easy to infer the changes that she went through it would have been nice to see them I rarely give five stars to a book but this one deserves them >> From Alice s Point of View I really enjoyed Alice I Have Been and if it was an option I would give it a 4 5 rating The moment I saw the inside cover blurb I was fascinated because I wondered how in the world the author would handle this infamous and mysterious tale of the relationship between Dodgson/Carroll and Alice Liddell Of course all of the real or potential evidence of wrongdoing was destroyed in the real life drama but this story handles the legend well I especially liked that the author gave Alice believable intelligence and feeling Anyone who looks at the photos Dodgson took of Alice knows that she was full of life and intelligence Her photos are the best in Dodgson s collection in my opinion and you can t help but wonder what the child was thinking when the photo was taken you also wonder where the child s mother or guardian was for some of them
Reasons I didn t give the book a five star review There were a couple of places not many where it lost my attention The most frustrating aspect of the book for me was the characterization of Ruskin I felt like he turned into a caricature and the author s use of him in the story didn t do much for me
Still overall the book is worth the read and the money I highly recommend it >> Wonderful Quick and Engaging Read I was never a big fan of Alice in Wonderland but Alice I Have Been seemed like an intriguing story It was and I was not disappointed Melanie Benjamin wrote a story that was fascinating yet haunting It left me wanting to know more about Alice Liddell and Charles Dodgson I highly recommend this to everyone who likes a good read into the psyche and personal lives of others
Author : Frances Mayes Total Page : 304 Publisher : Broadway Publication Date : 1997 09 01
Under the Tuscan Sun >> Rich smug American gloats about her vacation home This book was so hyped that I hoped it would be good but the best that I can say is that it is fairly well written The writer is terrifically proud of herself She drops references to her privileged childhood successful but part time career and stunning San Francisco home as often as possible As other reviewers have pointed out she has an art colony view of Italy where she hangs out with other leisured expatriates and micromanages her environment >> Spending time in Tuscany Worth the read I love reading books and watching movies connected to a place I am soon to visit Before venturing to Tuscany a couple summers ago I watched the movie Under the Tuscan Sun It s cute and pretty the cinematography makes you want to go there Then I began reading the book which I finished upon returning from my trip
As other reviews have stated the book is very different from the movie Surprisingly so However I truly enjoyed the book for what it is one woman s personal account of a place and her experiences in that place Admittedly I don t think I would have enjoyed the book as much had I not actually spent some time in Tuscany Finishing the book after my trip I could easily visualize and appreciate Mayes descriptions She is a good writer her narrative style makes places so vivid and compelling
If you are planning to spend time in Tuscany or recently enjoyed a visit there then this book is for you It s a nice read >> Enjoy It For What It Is Accept this work for what it is a stylized description of one woman s poetically romanticized experiences in Italy It s not a historical novel and not a true memoir or travelogue Anyone who knows Mayes work knows she is a poet so it naturally follows that her work will reflect that poetic inclination When read with that understanding it is much easier to accept her simplistic vignettes of the town and its people When it is all said and done she is not so much patronizing as theatrical
For those who want the grit of true Italian life my advice is to choose another book with which to depress oneself However if you want a simple and poetic look at an idealized pastoral life a mental vacation of sorts pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy the book
Author : Michael Lewis Publisher : Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged Lib Ed Publication Date : 2009 05 18
Home Game An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood >> A Vindicating Book for Fathers I laughed out loud as I read this book I am a big Michael Lewis fan and have found humor in all of his books even though he writes to educate and inspire Home Game meets all the standards of its predecessors
A new father I appreciated his downright brutal some mothers might say antisocial honesty He makes fathers feel safe having doubts and regrets but redeems his taboo thoughts with stories of genuine humanity
For example on an urban camping trip with his daughters they all discovered together that the author was no good at camping he of course embodied the daughters disappointment but related the tale with a self deprecating humor that makes the reader feel smarter and more fulfilled
My wife endorsed the book too probably because it puts fathers in the role of lovable dimwit when compared to the female parent The read can be cathartic even vindicating
Fair or not fathers have a role whose conventions are changing faster than we can define them Lewis comes as close as I ve read to describing the expectations emotions and realities of that role
>> Should be required parental reading Michael Lewis should be the baseline requirement for parenting Anyone not smart enough to laugh constantly at Lewis insights should not be allowed to breed I m a parent and a grandparent and I m amazed at how much more about child raising he understands than I will ever comprehend This is a terrific book even if you are dumb enough to want to have kids after reading it >> Hilarious Michael Lewis is a natural storyteller After I heard my husband laughing out loud and reading passages from the book to me I just knew that I had to read this book
Author : Donald Miller Publisher : Hovel Audio Publication Date : 2007 11 30
Searching for God Knows What >> excellant Book purchased was in waaaay better condition than expected a true surprise and super fast shipping Thank You >> the right book at the right time i ve read a couple donald miller books and it always strikes me that his books are perfect for me when i read them everything he talks about all the stories he tells and all the lessons he learns seem to apply perfectly to what i m thinking and where i am at the time these books are great for helping me sort through things and refocus my thinking it s a good read for when you re feeling contemplative and reflective >> An intriguing read This was my second book by Donald Miller and I was once again struck by his work Very interesting ideas and experiences conveyed with insight and humility A pleasure to read
Author : Walter Isaacson Total Page : 704 Publisher : Simon Schuster Publication Date : 2008 05 13
Einstein His Life and Universe >> His personal life revealed I didn t want a review of his scientific work But I did want to know about his personal life I haven t finished the book I ve jumped around reading highlights I have the feeling this book was painstakingly written for an accurate Einstein I was pleased to learn about his decisions and values His father was the owner of an electric power plant His father offered an engineering position that he didn t force on his son Einstein If you read the book you will see what decisions he made what kind of jobs he pursued and what he valued He is a role model for others because of his what he believed in I visited Bern Switzerland where he lived and sought citizenship in after he graduated college I stood in his home which is now a museum They have many swiss army knife stores He wanted to do bicycle tours biweekly Such a beautifly country >> A great overview of the scientific process in action This biography of Einstein life was a great introduction into the scientific process and into Einstein s discoveries I enjoy the mix of gossip about his life and the science that he was preforming along the way Einstein s Relativity work was explains in a way to not go into to much detail but left the reader with a good understanding I found that this explanation of Relativity allowed me to understand it a little more and gave me the desire to research it more outside the book I would recommend this book to anyone interested in science most in physics >> Great Biography Pretty Good Science This was an enjoyable and very easy read I loved the author s writing style it was crisp fast paced and moved the story along well
Einstein s life is explained fairly certainly in a sympathetic light but the author doesn t gloss over his flaws or ignore his mistakes either Felt like a very complete look at Einstein s life
The descriptions of relativity and Einstein s other scientific theories are good but not great Someone without any scientific background will not feel overwhelmed Having read Brian Green s Fabric of the Cosmos recently I found his explanaitions to be clearer and easier to understand than those in this book however Someone with a more scientific background may have a different view though
From this book I felt like I got an excellent understanding of Einstein s life and a pretty good look at his universe To really get a good handle on Einstein s theories I think something more is necessary
Overall enjoyable and definately recommended I read the Kindle version of the book and it is well formatted
Author : Don Lattin Total Page : 272 Publisher : HarperOne Publication Date : 2010 01 01
The Harvard Psychedelic Club How Timothy Leary Ram Dass Huston Smith and Andrew Weil Killed the Fifties and Ushered in a New Age for America >> Could have been much better For some reason the author decided to split the book into sections regarding each of the four main people So for instance there is a section on Ram Dass and then a section on Timothy Leary I really did not like this organization as it make the book seem more like a collection of magazine articles than a book Also the material itself was pretty dry and I feel like I didn t learn that much more than I already knew about these people >> Underwhelming in the analysis department I know it s selling well but this is a lightweight book A Wikipedia entry
Although author has much factual material at his disposal and frequently repeats it one wonders at the whereabouts of his editor and pre publication readers there is little in depth analysis or cultural/historical contextualization of the activities in question
Virtually meaningless and trite observations are given too much space and there is tuch reliance on hearsay gossip newspaper accounts and the subjects self serving description when it comes tothe motivations involved These activities these people did not develop in a vacuum and for this material to have meaning beyond the patently obvious it needed to be related in depth to the larger culture and period
That said most readers will learn something of the wacky childish sneaky abusive and often unsavory activities of all four of Lattin s iconic boys The Trickster The Seeker The Healer etc and the grotesqueries of the era in which they made their mark After reading this I disliked both decades even more than when I lived through them
Andrew Weil the porky smug and snakey little health guru and grinnin egoist Tim Leary whom Weil helped to grind into the dirt although Leary did plenty of that himself come off the worse here and it seems deservedly so Their positive qualities are listed by their buds but their nasty behavior screams at the top of its lungs
The author lets others speak but doesn t weigh in himself which might be okay in a feature news story but not in a book that pretends to treat decades of American life It suggests that he just can t get his mind around the whole topic much less its myriad jabbertng parts So he lets the sensationalist descriptions of the subjects self important hair brained behavior in a rather sensational time substitute for depth
I was left hungry for understanding for a sense of the psychology of the main characters not just their nuttiness greed and shallow regrets but how their rather profound losses affected them the suicide of Leary s wife and the death of his daughter are quite lightly treated and how they came to understand their roles and the often faulty assumptions that so defined their lives and times
Lattin is a newspaper religion writer after all not an anthropologist or a sociologist and I m afraid a scholar with years of research under his belt is what was called for here
Perhaps my reading suffered from having just finished Blake Bailey s masterful biography of John Cheever The comparison is of a handful of corn chips eaten on the fly to an eight course meal prepared by a master chef Of course Lattin s book is not cheap it just tastes cheap
I would like to think the subjects of this book deserved better Perhaps some of them did Others I could easily do without In any case it will be a cold day in hell before I read ANYTHING about this crew again >> Any collection strong in American social history and issues needs this The Harvard Psychedelic Club tells how three brilliance scholars and one freshman crossed paths in the early sixties at a Harvard psychedelic drug research project and changed American lives and culture The four explored expanded consciousness and their actions set the stage for the 1960s social and spiritual revolution with Timothy Leary as the proponent of LSD Richard Alpert the spiritual seeker Huston Smith the teacher of world religions and Andrew Weil the proponent of alternative healing Any collection strong in American social history and issues needs this
Author : Daniel Ammann Total Page : 320 Publisher : St Martin s Press Publication Date : 2009 10 13
The King of Oil The Secret Lives of Marc Rich >> Ruthless Bold Brash and Driven The enigma that is Marc Rich comes thru clearly As a brilliant commodities trader he did whatever it took to make money including trading with some of the world s most vile regimes and despicable characters
He claims and after reading this book I believe he may be correct that he never broke any laws and that he paid the taxes he owed Rich believes he was railroaded by Rudy Giulliani for poltical reasons and for the exposure it would give the future Mayor of New York
Rich is not a sympathetic character but I found it fascinating that while the U S Marshall s chased him around the world for 25 years he was willing to help other agencies of the U S and Israel by giving them access to his vast network of people in places dangerous like Iran Iraq Libya and Yemen
Once he made his mega fortune he also used his own money more than 100 million for charitable or humanitarian purposes with great effect
The sections covering his pardon by President Clinton are fascinating and gives an insight into how the pardon process works and what went wrong with this pardon in the end Ultimately Rich will never again enter the USA
He seems to have lost almost everything but his fortune His Country his wife of over 20 years and a daughter to cancer Finally he was thrown out of the company he built by the very ingrates he had made obscenely wealthy
By the end of the book Rich seemed to me to be a sad and melancholy man living in his beautiful Switzerland home but so far from the center of the action he once so craved A prisoner in his gilded cage placed there by his own blind ambition and singular chase for money
>> A Pure Capitalist This book tells in plain language the incredible story of Marc Rich Author Daniel Ammann takes very complicated business and legal issues and makes them clear and interesting The story flows nicely It is a can t put it down book
When you re finished you sympathize with Rich Marc Rich speaking through Ammann s text is convincing in his contention that he s been over prosecuted and demonized beyond his alleged crimes Many believe he is the ultimate international demon but the reasons for his notoriety are not clear to the general public After he paid his company s back taxes plus fees US prosecutors who were building name recognition to go on to more powerful or lucrative careers pressed for a criminal conviction Significant resources were used in building this case and hunting him down Bill Clinton could certainly sympathize with the harassment factor
Rich is less convincing in justifying his dealing with the world s most oppressive governments While saying these deals are merely business he claims that in bringing commerce to these sad and poor countries he has made life better there Like the Nicholas Cage character in Lord of War Blu ray he believes This is not our war I believe he made life better for the dictators and their henchmen at the top thereby retarding the development of better societies
Rich showed confidence in his story by giving Ammann unprededented access to people and records and ceding him full editorial and content control Ammann uses his access well and covers Rich s family his rise his methods and lifestyle Rich s terse answers in the interview at the end show wisdom and experience To me his flaw is that he believes that everything legal is moral
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in this person and topic >> Censorship is not only in China I m a proud Kindle user and live in Italy I believe it s ridiculous that the kindle version of this book is not available for customers living in Europe Why should I buy a physical book and pay more for it pay for extra shipping cost and wait several days when I could easily download it in one minute The fact that I m not allowed to do it simply because I live in Europe is just unbelievable When will this author and his publishing company realize we live in the third millennium and this kind of stupid limitations don t make sense anymore Can somebody explain this to me
Author : Dan Baum Total Page : 368 Publisher : Spiegel Grau Publication Date : 2010 02 16
Nine Lives Mystery Magic Death and Life in New Orleans >> Character s of New Orleans After I finished this wonderful book I wanted to see what the other reviews were Just for fun I read the reviews of those who had unbelievably given it 1 star Not enough character development Apparently the author of this review does not understand that the characters in this book were real people dysfunctional characters Has the author of this review ever been to New Orleans it is a city like no other because of the strikingly colorful diversity of the characters who live there I loved this book got to know every one of the featured residents of the incomparable city Dan Baum s writing allowed me to smell what they smelled taste what they tasted hear their music and feel what they felt >> Everyone Should Read This Book This book is not only beautifully written but a stunning account of the lives of nine people in New Orleans in between Hurricanes Betsy and Katrina Through the storytelling of the lives of Tim Bruneau Billy Grace JoAnn Guidos Ronald Lewis Frank Minyard Joyce Montana Wil Rawlins Jr Belinda Rawlins Anthony Wells and all of their families and friends you hear the story of New Orleans through the people who are at the heart of the culture of this great city from the manchines of the Garden District to the lower Ninth Ward
This is the story of the real New Orleans and the interesting and at times tragic lives of these people and their people I think it s essential that everyone read this book to know how important this city and its people really are and how very important it is for New Orleans to be rebuilt and the people who belong there brought back at whatever cost
Finally the fact that this book touches on every cultural element that is New Orleans is written in a way that makes you want to read this book in one sitting These nine lives are mundane exciting sad happy hopeful and hopeless all at the same time Going through their experiences of life during and between these hurricanes makes me feel like I know them personally and I must say to them Thank You for sharing your stories >> Kkatrina The Real Story in Human Terms Lots of books have been written on Katrina This book is a Katrina book and more much much more
It is a fascinating intriguing and captivating look at the living of nine lives before during and after Katrina
We all remember the water the pictures the videos the absence of aid etc about Katrina This book effectively and movingly done is about the lives lives of nine people affected by that water that natural disaster and national embarrassment It is quite good putting a human face and human lives on the tragedy one that we can sense and feel as never before
One only wishes there was a website to catch up on these nine lives since the book was published Where are they now How are they doing In the course of reading this book they become friends more than acquaintances
Author : David Bellavia Total Page : 336 Publisher : Pocket Star Publication Date : 2008 12 30
House to House An Epic Memoir of War >> Riveting This is must reading for every politician who doubts what actually happens in those places were our men and women are fighting While the venue is different I ll bet the experience is similar to every war we ve fought Each is its own version of Hell This book just describes it more vividly
The reviewer who said he would be put in the brig for being so subordinate to a REMF major is showing his Viet Nam era thinking The military would have actually put him in the brig Fortunately there are enough senior officers around today who actually understand how things work Unfortunately some of the REMF s are those who actually influence our politicians War isn t clean and sanitary and the sooner our friends in Washington understand that the sooner they will support our troops in ways other than lip service We need to dedicate our efforts to winning not to sustaining a status quo Otherwise the efforts of Sgt Bellavia and the sacrifices of his colleagues will truly be in vain
Please read this book >> The 2nd Battle of Fallujah was even worse than imagined Once started I couldn t stop listening to this audiobook My heart was pounding and hands sweaty I had no idea of the visceral impact this story would have I m glad I listened just to know what happened there
Both sides in this battle were unbelievably brave and uncompromising The mujahedeen wanted to die for their cause and to take as many Americans with them as they could The Americans put into this battle were hardened battle tested warriors that wouldn t give up either
This story shows how violent house to house military battle in a city can be There s no medical service close by no way one can get clean or even feel safe for a few minutes David Bellavia Bell was with a platoon that suffered lots of deaths and probably nobody wasn t injured Somehow these young men fought day after day with little to no rest or sleep and even continued after becoming sick and with infected wounds
Toward the end of the book I felt angry as anyone would when the men in Bell s platoon returned from the battle and were unable to get a meal This part of the story was also difficult to get through I keep thinking about it and what it meant because I don t want to believe that bravery and sacrifice is inconsistent with getting ahead within the military The pogues or what the late Colonel David Hackworth called REMFs seem very important when soldiers return from the field
Bellavia discovered in his big fight in one house that the enemies fought in Fallujah included Shiia fighters if I am correct I didn t see anything about this in the regular media House to House is not only an action packed and terrifying story It s also highly informative regarding the War in Iraq and the 2nd Battle of Fallujah in particular
>> Graphic tale straight from the heart A graphic tale not for the squeamish Urban war in general and Iraq in particular requires the soldier on the ground to use intelligence training and a variety of weapons to supplement a fatalistic attitude
Author : Duff McDonald Total Page : 352 Publisher : Simon Schuster Publication Date : 2009 10 06
Last Man Standing The Ascent of Jamie Dimon and JPMorgan Chase >> A good book displaying a vivid Jamie in front of us Even though I haven t finished this book half of them I can t wait telling you that I indeed like this book
This book is very good in terms of displaying a vivid Jamie from a fresh graduates from HBS with lots of attractive offers to a CEO assistant of Sandy Weill to a two man company to the most visionary stronghead promising financial leaders
The most important thing I read from this book is that the author tells us a 360 degree Jamie where I can see the suffer and joyness all his road to the top
>> A Privilege A Pleasure An Honor Magnificent I just finished Duff McDonald s Last Man Standing The Ascent of Jamie Dimon and JP Morgan Chase This book should be required reading for every person in the financial services industry anyone studying business in college as well as entrepreneurs M A types accountants and investors It s just a fantastic incredible story woven together by a master literary artist
This is a tremendous biography Yet it s vastly more than that It is a crucial contribution to the the burgeoning insights into the development of the financial services industry in the U S Moreover it is a story about the development of character human character the character of a man Jamie Dimon whose life intelligence compassion and instincts continue to shape the landscape in America In many ways Dimon s life represents something that is lacking today in U S culture living role models for a younger generation to yearn to emulate
The writing by Duff McDonald is balanced provides the reader with a tremendous sense of Jamie Dimon as a human being as well as financier/CEO The writing has a pulse provides a perspective into both the personal and corporate world an existence that is often perplexing The dimensions of struggle insight learning and persistence all resonate throughout this non nonsense non fiction account of one of America s true leaders
The history of the development of the U S financial services industry is also quite detailed and anything but boring
After Alexander Hamilton founded the Bank of New York purportedly the first commercial bank in the U S in 1794 he had the industry to himself until 1799 About this time his political rival Aaron Burr started the Bank of Manhattan A banker named John Thompson started Chase National Bank in 1877 He named it after Salmon P Chase who d been President Lincoln s secretary of the treasury as well as Chief Justice of the U S Supreme Court
J P Morgan Company emerged in what has been referred to as the gilded age of American finance Founded in 1871 by J Pierpont Morgan and a Philadelphia banker by the name of Anthony Drexel P 203
The essence of the book is captured in the following paragraph from author Duff McDonald
After years of being considered a glorified number cruncher who only knew how to cut costs he was finally acknowledged as a leader who knew how to make a company grow What s more he was recognized s both a creative thinker and a man with the ability to shape the culture not just of his company but also of his industry and even the country itself It says something about Wall Street today that only a few people command both the respect of their peers and the genuine curiosity of the outside world P 322
Of course the years as Sandy Weill s protege are well documented and shared frankly yet with uncanny dignity However there are some lessons you can identify in the book that should serve readers requirement for a perspective on the real Sandy Weill as evidenced by the following
Weill had acquired the dreaded CEO disease which made him unable to hear anything but what he wanted to hear p 115
Sandy Weill on the other hand is proof that you should never underestimate the man who overestimates himself p 130
The Dimon family s dedication to giving back to community is well documented in the book
The Dimons give generously from their family foundation as well as from their personal accounts Jamie also gives gifts above and beyond annual bonuses to the people with whom he works closely including his driver And just like Sandy Weill he has tried to spread stock ownership through every company he s run from top to bottom driven by a desire to see his colleagues get rich along with him P 114
Dimon s insights into deal making and mergers and acquisitions activity are numerous useful and characterized in the following
On a call with analysts in May he tried once again to make explicit his view of acquisition opportunities There are three things that have to make sense he said And they are not in order of importance One is the business logic There should be clear business logic to it The second is the price Sometimes there is a price at which you cannot make it pay for shareholders And the third is the ability to execute You have to be able to see clearly getting done what you need to get done whether it is management or systems or marketing or culture or something like that If those things make sense you can then weigh and balance them Meaning if you have exceptional business logic and an easy ability to execute you could pay a higher price And conversely if those things are a little more complex you want a margin of error by getting a lower it price Pp 216 217
The tidbits that Warren Buffet shares about Dimon are priceless Here s a couple to chew on
Warren Buffett thinks Dimon separated himself from the pack by relying on his own judgment and not becoming slave to the software that tried to simplify all of banking into a mathematical equation Too many people overemphasize the power of these statistical models he says But not Jamie The CEO of any of these firms has to be the chief risk officer
You have to have somebody that s got a real fear in them of what can happen in the markets They have to know financial history You can t evaluate risk in sigmas quote from Warren Buffett p 232
Duff McDonald refers to sayings of Dimon as DIMONOLOGY These are precious sentences of wisdom uncommon sense and the voice of both character and experience Allow me to share a few here I particularly enjoyed to whet your whistle
a consistency to performance rather than someone chasing the flavor of the month p 206
One of the toughest jobs of the CEO is to look at all the stupid stuff other people are doing and to not do them p 214
Everyone was trying to grow in products we didn t want to grow in he later told a reporter So we let them have it P 214
There is one financial commandment that cannot be violated Do not borrow short to invest long particularly against illiquid long term assets You know what sinks companies he asked an audience in late 2008 Financing illiquid assets short P 230
Well sometimes you can t grow Sometimes you don t want to grow In certain businesses growth means you either take on bad clients excess risk or too much leverage P 231
I don t want to be big and stupid I want to be really good at what we do P 240
The issue is not just whether someone has the intellectual capacity to manage it Someone must also have the desire P 325
Individual units may have volatile results but the combination is more stable P 324
It is no surprise that a lack of corporate intrigue tends to go hand in hand with long term success P 303
He actually trusts the people working for him and trusts too that they can learn from their mistakes as he has learned from his own P 304
When talking of the most important things in his life he once said My family humanity my Country and the world And way down here is J P Morgan P 309
A lot of those mark to market losses will end up being real losses he said They are real losses that are simply being recognized in the market before they re being recognized in expected cash flows P 310
What we aim for is continuous improvement It s not like we think we get to a perfect place P 320
Problems don t age well denying or hiding them guarantees that they will get worse Bureaucracy silos and politics are the bane of large corporations they must be combated vigorously and continually P 160
No company has ever had much of a future by cutting costs Success is measured by top and bottom line growth P 169
Review our businesses and what we re doing well organically That kind of growth will get you a higher value for your shareholders By the way M A is risky and tough so the discipline is different You really need to think about the landscape to ask yourself what s changing Pp 173 174
I think it s important that you re open minded to other people s ideas P 176
Many of the previous decade s mergers had been nothing more than stacking doughnuts the holes in the business that had existed before were still there P 181
On large outsourcing contracts We want patriots not mercenaries p 93
open architecture in which the firm s brokers were allowed to offer any number of funds not just those from JPMorgan Chase P 194
If you admit your mistakes Dimon s theory went you save yourself the hassle of having your critics point them out to you P 196
Every single risk you re taking can be broken down to its smallest components and therefore be better understood All it takes is time and effort P 197
As Duff concludes this volume he shares the following
Jamie Dimon has emerged as a moral and managerial compass for both his industry and the country itself p 328
Frankly after 328 pages of absolutely wonderful investigative journalism the obvious discipline of a superb historical biographer and being immersed in the rare literary talents of a master story teller I am referring here to author Duff McDonald I unequivocally agree
To Jamie Judy family colleagues and to Duff McDonald It was a pleasure and a privilege to have the honor of reading about your lives My sincere thanks Your story shall endure with me
To the reader Buy This Book One of the Best I ve devoured in 2010 and likely to make my Top 10 for 2010 ENJOY
>> Good read with lots of practical applications I really enjoyed this book It was both well written and full of personal applications Personally I was glad it didn t recite in gory detail all of the discussions surrounding the financial bloodbath in fall of 08 I think there are plenty of books out there right now for that What I enjoyed was the up close description of 1 Dimon s leadership style and 2 how he thinks about businesses In those respects the gems in here were too many to count On the career/leadership side the take homes were plentiful For example Dimon s willingness to voice dissent his decision to eschew the typical investment banking path for a riskier position with better training potential and his ability to be a good father and husband during a demanding career here so many other business leaders fail spectacularly see The Snowball on Warren Buffet for an example The insights about how to think about businesses were also abundant Dimon s concept of a fortress balance sheet is something that will stick with me for a long time I also admired his relentless attention to detail and his insistence that acquisitions and new product launches are meaningless without successful integration and implementation This book set out to lionize Dimon and it did that A good friendly biography should challenge the reader to aim a little higher and work a little harder This book had that effect on me and for that reason I recommend it
Author : Tom Clavin Total Page : 432 Publisher : Touchstone Publication Date : 2010 03 16
Roger Maris Baseball s Reluctant Hero >> Roger Maris Baseball s Reluctant Hero Just finished reading this great new book Roger Maris Baseball s Reluctant Hero by Tom Clavin Danny Peary No baseball fan will be the same or view Roger Maris in the same way after reading this excellent summary of his career and life To the authors credit they have detailed in an unsentimental fashion Roger s career its ups and downs and the world around him To this day Roger s greatness is not fully appreciated Read this book and then write a letter to the Veteran s Committee at the Cooperstown Hall of Fame to elect Roger There is also an online petition
An online petition to the Veteran s Hall of Fame Committee
Nothing will bring back Roger from his untimely death and nothing can make up for the mistreatment that he endured But George Steinbrenner and the Yankees did some things in the late 1970s and early 1980s to make amends and now the whole Baseball Community could benefit from Roger s election to the Hall of Fame >> Cooperstown s Missing Member Nearly 50 years have passed since that glorious for the fans and torturous for Roger Maris season when baseball s reluctant hero broke Babe Ruth s record with 61 home runs To this day the record still stands despite the tainted steroids induced numbers 73 70 66 registered by players who will probably never be inducted into baseball s Hall of Fame despite their impressive numbers
Does Roger Maris belong in Cooperstown Certainly Will he ever get there Eventually Hopefully this wonderful biography written by Tom Clavin Danny Peary will hasten the process This is a man who had to endure more stress than few could bear during that amazing season when it seemed the whole world was against him Certainly a hostile New York media made life miserable for the intoverted Maris who could have made things easier on himself by being more apporoachable and easy going but that wasn t in his make up He was quiet and he was proud and he was his own worst enemy Still he accomplished his heroic feat 61 in 61 The asterisk has long since been removed but the fact that it was imposed to begin with is a travesty all the more reason to celebrate what Maris did for baseball This is the true single season record and it was established under the harshest of circumstances for this great player
This book is a wonderful tribute to a reluctant hero you don t have to be a fan of the game to appreciate its significance I only hope the members of baseball s Hall of Fame s Veteran s Committee re evaluate the accomplishments of Roger Maris on the field and give him his rightful place among the game s other legendary heroes
Roger Maris belongs in Cooperstown and this book supplies the evidence to support that claim >> The REAL Home Run Champion Back before the home run chase of 1998 featuring steroid enhanced players Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa two Yankee teammates staged an epic chase of their own against Babe Ruth s hallowed 60 home runs in a season These two men were Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris Mickey was loved and adored by Yankee fans while Maris was viewed as an outcast because he wasn t an original Yankee like Mantle was In this one defining season Maris would endure more hatred ridicule and threats than any other player in recent memory
Maris and his older brother Rudy were born in Minnesota and moved to Fargo North Dakota while they were still young Upon entering junior high and high school the boys excelled at sports Both played baseball football and basketball Rudy was the one that others thought would become a professional athlete but polio took away his chance Roger continued to excel and eventually was drafted by the Cleveland Indians Roger spent a couple of years in Cleveland and was eventually traded to Kansas City where he played for the A s During these early years Roger became known as an aggressive base runner superior fielder and strong hitter He didn t get a real chance to show his power until he was traded to the Yankees before the 1960 season
Upon arriving in new York Roger was inserted into a powerful line up consisting of Mickey Mantle Moose Skowron and Yogi Berra Roger had an MVP season in 1960 belting 39 home runs Despite his achievements on the field the New York press corps found Roger to be somewhat aloof and surly This unfair perception would follow Roger throughout his Yankee career but it was at its worst in 1961
1961 saw the greatest home run chase ever as Mantle and Maris staged a season long assault on Ruth s magical 60 home runs Throughout the season Mantle and Maris remained neck in neck as they both approached 60 However Mantle missed the final weeks of the season and ended up with 54 home runs Roger dealt with reporters who would misinterpret interviews and write whatever they wanted about him He received death threats his hair began to fall out and he was treated miserably by the Yankees organization Commissioner Ford Frick realizing that Ruth s record was in jeopardy made the stunning statement that any record broken in more than 154 games would have an asterisk placed next to it 1961 was the first year of the 162 game schedule Maris ended up with 59 home runs after 154 games But he hit his 61st on the last day of the season
Roger endured several more years of torment from the New York press before getting traded to St Louis where he won 2 more pennants and a World Series He retired in 1968 After retiring he and his brother operated a successful Budweiser distributorship Roger died of complications from cancer in 1985 at the age of 51
This is an outstanding book I ve been a baseball fan my whole life and I ve never read as an informative and revealing book as this one Authors Clavin and Peary do a masterful job of describing Roger s rise to stardom and the unbelievable pressure he faced while in New York The coverage of the 1961 season is exceptional I especially liked how Maris and Mantle s friendship was covered throughout the book No person was more saddened by Roger s death than Mickey was
I give this excellent book my highest recommendation Roger Maris is the true home run champion and his record should be restored Baseball fans will love this masterful book
Author : Tom Jokinen Total Page : 288 Publisher : Da Capo Press Publication Date : 2010 03 23
Curtains Adventures of an Undertaker in Training >> Fascinating Read Like the tv show Dirty Jobs there are some jobs only a select few can do The funeral industry is one of them Imagine you a regular person are suddenly dropped into a funeral home to be an apprentice Curtains Adventures of an Undertaker in Training is that book It s one of those I want to know/I don t want to know situations but the book is fascinating It will get you thinking about death life and the meaning of it all Tom Jokinen s observations are right on the money and reflect what I think I would feel if placed in the same situation An unusual topic but a page turner nevertheless
Author : Peter B Kyne Total Page : 68 Publisher : Standard Publications Inc Publication Date : 2005 12 22
The Go Getter >> the Go Getter Inspirational Though difficult to understand at the beginning but read through a couple time and it make more sense each time Not to difficult to do since its only 30 pages >> Persistance a true virtue for success The story included in this book is one that each of us will confront more than once in our worling lifetime The fact that a positive attitude for accomplishment of a task will bring fulfillment in both your work and your life I have given this book to my salesforce and to many friends that let little obstacles halt their pursuit God made us with a free will and we should expect that our using that gift will please both Him and us A must read for all that I know and love >> Review Product was delivered in a timely manner and was in perfect condition as mentioned when purchased
Author : Amos Oz Total Page : 560 Publisher : Mariner Books Publication Date : 2005 11 01
A Tale of Love and Darkness >> All Oz all the time A brilliantly written autobiography A Tale of Love and Darkness is sometimes gorgeously descriptive witty with beautifully rounded and developed characters At times however it s a hard slog It s amazing how Oz somehow managed to know and interact with so many of the fathers and mothers of the State of Israel The history alone makes this a powerful read >> A story of sorrow told in beautiful joyous prose There are 54 reviewers who recorded their thoughts before mine So my review includes some comments on those reviews
I found the book to be very fascinating because I am very curious about Jews as people and Israel as a country Amos Oz has gone through events that few people go through in their life the most difficult one is his mother s suicide The story is told in a radiating style with his mother s suicide being the focus Events either flow towards it or away from it It is not easy to tell such a difficult painful story Amos Oz tells it very effectively and virtually takes you into his life His prose is so beautiful He is also very humorous
As many commented this book is not completely autobiographical A bulk of it is on his childhood years He was in kibbutz for nearly 35 years starting from when he was nearly 15 but less than one third of the book is devoted to it While so much detail is shared with readers about his reading habits the people influenced him etc the life changing decision he made with respect to joining kibbutz is told as if he woke up one day and decided to do it There is no detail on how he found out about it what he thought about it initially and how he ultimately came up with the conviction
Someone has mentioned that there are nothing but street names in the first 70 pages and the book was so boring they could not continue I feel sorry for the person because he missed the best parts of the book Even in the first 70 pages there are a number of events of interest In fact the most poetical paragraph in the book is in the first 70 pages which describes how his mother acted in the presence of a famous writer Agnon
>> Long Winded But Enjoyable Amos Oz is one of Israel s best known novelists some label him as Israel s number one Any new book by Oz gets the immediate attention of everyone gets translated to several languages and hits the no 1 spot in the bestsellers list almost immediately Indeed Oz has become an icon in Israel to whom many turn to not only to discuss literary matters but also get his opinion on politics society and life in general As my wife says he has become a sacred cow elevated to a status where it has become extremely difficult for any critic to harm sales of his books in any significant way
I read A Tale of Love and Darkness in Hebrew during my trip in New Zealand and it accompanied me throughout the journey It is an autobiography that Oz started writing shortly after he turned 60 at the end of the previous century It tells mainly the story of his childhood in Jerusalem growing up during the time Israel was being formed Oz was 9 when Israel gained independence Although the book covers many aspects of his life the one overriding theme surfacing over and over again is the suicide of his mother when he was 12 This event shaped Oz s life and led to the abrupt change he embarked upon two years later the move from the book centric scholarly life of his father in Jerusalem to the freedom and agricultural life of Kibbutz Hulda
Oz s writing is at times long winded and pompous Even daily mundane events are recounted in excruciating detail that sometimes make the reader wonder whether they indeed made such an impact on his life to deserve such attention Despite this Oz manages to combine tragedy and comedy in his family s saga and his occasional self effacing manner make the reader forgive him for his long windedness Throughout the book the leading figures of Israel as a young nation pop up Bialik Tchernikhowsky Agnon Ben Gurion and Yadin all came and went in Oz s childhood
The book is more of a memoir than an autobiography The storyline is not linear and Oz repeats some events several times If we ignore the fact that Oz wrote this book and thus remove the sacred cow factor the book is an enjoyable read and contributes to the understanding of how Ashkenazi Jews coped with their new life in the Middle East
Author : Ruth Reichl Total Page : 528 Publisher : Random House Large Print Publication Date : 2005 04 05
Garlic and Sapphires Random House Large Print >> So much fun Oh to go undercover with Ruth to various restaurants in New York City in the 90s wearing wigs and costumes what a perfect delight It is quite obvious how profound an impact she had on the food revolution daring to give legitimacy to Asian noodle restaurants when no one else would dare This book is so entertaining to read I loved every second of shadowing her on her food adventures I will be attempting to make her recipe for Sort of Thai Noodles very soon For a foodie this book is fantastic escapism to one of the food capitals of the world To see the life of the most powerful woman in that industry in action Pure bliss >> Great Book Just Like Her Others If you liked Ruth Reichl s other books you will definitely like this one The description of foods is amazing and literally leaves your mouth watering for more Needless to say I eagerly await her next release >> I m happy I have not gotten around to reading it yet but I cannot wait to dig in From the few pages that I have read I know it is a good read
Author : Susan Richards Total Page : 256 Publisher : Soho Press Publication Date : 2006 06 01
Chosen by a Horse a memoir >> A truly wonderful heartfelt inspirational book It has been a long time since I have read a book that spoke to my very soul like this beautiful story From beginning to end a well written thought provoking story Reading it rekindled the forgotten sound of my horses munching their hay and the sight of their breath coming from their noses Susann Richards was also able to completely capture and put in words the deep longing for a lost mother s love something that never diminishes no matter how old you get >> Amazing and highly recommended I read this book in two great gulps half one night half the next It is that entrancing I ve always loved horses having grown up with them but I think even those who just have a love for animals will enjoy it And as several other reviewers have said I cried at the end sobbed really The book is about more than a horse it s about the author s life but not to the point that you keep thinking But what about the horse She s always there always teaching lessons with her gentle ways I do love books about real animals and I do love memoirs this was the best of both worlds The best part was that the writing was so clear and easy to read Like I said I read this 250 page book easily in two nights because it pulls you in so quickly and so thoroughly If you re looking for a memoir and/or a book about real animals you can t go wrong with this book >> Excellent book This is the best book I ve read in quite some time It is a quick read and it s for people who like animal stories This author has a super flare for writing about people in a very real way You will laugh and cry And you won t regret buying this book I think it would make a great gift for an animal lover too
Author : Frank Schaeffer Total Page : 448 Publisher : Da Capo Press Publication Date : 2008 09 30
Crazy for God How I Grew Up as One of the Elect Helped Found the Religious Right and Lived to Take All or Almost All of It Back >> Decent memoir This memoir is well written but I found my enjoyment hampered by the unlikeable nature of most of the main figures While this provides evidence that Schaeffer was probably presenting an accurate portrait not least of himself it makes it hard to root for any of them >> Must Read re contemporary US society This book covers a pretty wide arc from enlightened Christian spiritually of the 1960 s through the turgid burgeoning religious right of his personal encounters with the likes of Pat Robertson James Dobson et al He gives an even handed account of his own parents as well as himself Schaeffer points out that the new religious right was all about religiously motivated morality which it used for nakedly political purposes He further opines that the leaders of the new religious right were different from the older secular right in that they were gleefully betting on American failure If for instance crime went down dramatically for any other reason that a reformation and revival this would make the prophets of doom look silly when they said that only Jesus was the answer to all our social problems He further explains that the evangelical community merged the entertainment business with faith the flippant lightweight kitsch of paranoia of the American right wing enterprise Schaeffer left the new religious right and is now an Orthodox Christian After some down years he found himself as a novelist and has come full circle This is a fascinating account of his entire experience with organized religion in America Any one interested in contemporary American society and culture should read this book >> Definitely Worth Reading This is a good read and I wish more people would pick it up especially Evangelicals and Pentecostals Having been raised in that world myself as the son of a pastor I could relate to much of the sentiments expressed by Mr Schaeffer It is one thing to come to these faiths as an adult but the theology and culture of it can be devastating to the psychology and emotional well being of a child Nevertheless I don t think you need to relate to his childhood to appreciate the book It is interesting in many ways
However this is a memoir and those simply looking for a commentary on modern Evangelical America may find themselves bogged down in the many personal stories that don t relate to that subject It is a very quick read and those wanting to skip a couple chapters should have no problem doing so Furthermore I suppose masturbation is a natural part perhaps necessary to everyone s life especially men but so is defecation I m not sure I needed to hear so many stories regarding his manipulative affection That said if you are even slightly interested in picking it up I would recommend it with no reservations
Author : Charles Henderson Total Page : 336 Publisher : Berkley Trade Publication Date : 2001 10 01
Marine Sniper 93 Confirmed Kills >> True American Hero Carols Hathcock is one of the many American Heros to come out of the Vietnam War His selfless dedication to his country and his fellow Marines was adeptly portrayed in this book Made me proud to be a former Marine and a Vietnam Vet >> Great Read could not put it down Wow what a story True story written about a marine sniper Carlos Hathcock It goes into detail on some of his exploits during the war and also gives background information on the sniper It will keep you reading and you will not want to put it down I had a full day off and started reading in the morning and finished it that night Why has this not been made into a movie yet Would I recommend it Yes Would I buy it all over again Yes >> The Variable A Natural Hunter Buy it There are some things in this world that just are Out of so many men you will come across a diamond every now and then out of thousands of possibles A man that has the right combination of ability suited to be an artist in his profession and trade You can teach many skills to different people but there will always be the one that is a natural They are rare but exist
Carlos Hathcock was one of those men that had the mental physical and intuition to do things others could not He did not just survive but prospered in a lethal environment forming his own rules and doctrine as he went using his instincts and skill
His doctrine formed a foundation that changed the Marine Corps and how Snipers operate and are viewed today
Out of every one hundred men ten shouldn t even be there eighty are just targets nine are the real fighters and we are lucky to have them for they make the battle Ah but the one one is a Warrior and he will bring the others back Heraclitus
Long Tra ng was the 1 The Warrior
His highest Award was not for his Sniping Ability it was for his Courage of what Heraclitus wrote of to bring others back through sacrifice A Warrior
An outstanding book and very educational reading material I would suggest getting it in Hardcover format
Author : Mike Greenberg Total Page : 240 Publisher : Villard Publication Date : 2007 05 15
Why My Wife Thinks I m an Idiot The Life and Times of a Sportscaster Dad >> Wonderful book I absolutely love this book It is one of my favorites and it is definilty a book you can read again Very happy i got the book I would recommend it to anyone whether you are a fan or mike and mike in the morning or not >> Poor wife takes a beating here Like many of the buyers of this book I m an ESPN addict I was hoping for a glib ESPN related read here and didn t get that Instead I got an enjoyable but quirky book by and about a truly complex/weird sports broadcasting figure Overall this is a quick and entertaining read Mike Greenberg does come across as a whiner at times and in my opinion is far too obsessed with clothes and being Mr GQ His wife also comes across as a really unreasonable monster Throughout the book Mike details many catch 22 situations he manages to find himself entrapped in Invariably he makes the wrong choice much to his wife s chagrin Maybe that s the way his wife is but I doubt it Yet again Mike also presents himself as the kind of guy who might well let himself be pushed around by an ultra bossy woman His kids come out of this book much better and his gambling aunt is great as a minor character But where is Mike Golic If you want the inside story behind the ESPN crew you won t find it here >> So so 3 and 1/2 stars This isn t the best of Mike Greenburg but it was an entertaining and humorous one nonetheless I still recommend getting it even if I gave it 3 5 stars
Author : Yvon Chouinard Total Page : 272 Publisher : Penguin Non Classics Publication Date : 2006 09 05
Let My People Go Surfing The Education of a Reluctant Businessman >> Excellent Excellent service Book was packaged nicely I highly recommend this seller >> If only more companies worked this way Great book showing how some dirtbags have changed business paradigms Great read for any socially responsible entrepreneur who wants to create a great company >> Excellent I love it Being a great leader does not necessarily mean you have to compromise your values
Author : Mark Kurlansky Publisher : New Millennium Press Publication Date : 2002 06
Cod A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World >> lb auld another great book this author is such a great historical source of information reminds me of Michener >> An insightful view of Cod s role in human history Another astonishing achievement by Mark Kurlansky after Salt I became addicted to foodwriting and engaged on this compelling way of seeing the world through the eyes of food This book shares an interesting view of the role codfish played in our lives from its role as food to its prescription as a medicine and its role for the dispute settlement on fishing grounds and the role of maritime law >> Got this for my son in law This was a birthday present The second by this author that my son in law has read He really enjoys the author his knowledge and style of writing
More Blood More Sweat and Another Cup of Tea >> Good thing it was free I guess I didn t read the reviews well enough This is not so much a story as a bunch of diary entries Not impressed He doesn t seem like he enjoys his job very much
The Blind Side Evolution of a Game >> Casual football fans will love this book What a great book Michael Lewis not only knows how to put together a captivating story he does so with subtle wit and plenty of insight His meticulous research is obvious he ll casually mention a former player and then go into detail about that player s career and its importance to the history o
In Defense of Food An Eater s Manifesto >> Pithy and Powerful Eat food Not too much Mostly plants writes Pollan It s been a few weeks since I read the book and I still remember that Words to live by The book expands on those simple sentences in the subsequent chapters The book is short and well written and dare I say life changing I was already a f
With the Old Breed >> Good read Does a great job of putting you in the shoes of a grunt Didn t serve during WWII but have served in every conflict since Viet Nam and he nails some of the experiences HIs descriptions of what you see hear and smell are dead on Good book and it s on the list of required reading for Marines
Eat Pray Love One Woman s Search for Everything Across Italy India and Indonesia
Eat Pray Love One Woman s Search for Everything Across Italy India and Indonesia >> Another crazy divorcee writes a book How original If I have to read one more mind numbingly insipid novel written by some pill popping neurotic woman who can t keep her life together I will scream I am SO SICK of these women thinking they can write books I am just so tired of their pathetic attempts at humor They allll think they hav
