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 : Dani Shapiro Total Page : 256 Publisher : Harper Publication Date : 2010 02 01
Devotion A Memoir >> Honesty and the search for truth in suburban Connecticut Dani Shapiro is a magician with the English language She has an uncanny ability to perfectly articulate universal human feelings and experience In this memoir she recounts her mid life search for meaning and spiritual truth in her suburban writer s life Her personal family history was built upon a foundation of religion and unhappiness She had a complicated relationship with each of her parents The best part of the experience of reading this memoir is the way that Shapiro connects with the reader from the depths of her introspection >> What a drip I finally couldn t read another word of this book after the author declined a travel magazine s assignment to India to write about yoga which seems to be the author s main spiritual practice She couldn t go because on the spot at the luncheon meeting she decided her place was at home where he spiritual work is In reality she is too frightened of life as if her husband and son would evaporate if she left them for two weeks Why I read this far was to try and learn more about orthodox Judaism a tradition in which the author grew up and into which goyim rarely get a glimpse As well I was totally intrigued by the author s angry volatile frustrated mother She is the real protagonist of this book whose story I found myself truly wanting to know more about As for her daughter Dani the author what a bore Dani who has the outwardly idyllic life her mother didn t refuses to be happy even though her son beat a rare infant seizure disorder that affects 7 in 1 000 000 000 children 85 of whom never recover and have severe developmental problems I remember this because the author harps on it quite a bit It s as if Dani has survivor s guilt which she probably does but it is very tiring dull and displays itself as a yawning lack of ingratitude Alas the author never gets at either the cause of her mother s un fulfillment or the reason a disproportionate number of Jews turn to Buddhism affectionately called Bu Jews but far be it from this book to include that tid bit or any sense of levity or fun The events of 9/11 also loom large in the book at which time the author and her family were living in New York City Soon after author husband and child fled to the country in Connecticut I believe some of the author s search for life s meaning is impeded by her failure to open herself to the truth about this event and face the fear that our government engendered as a result in its pursuit of hegemony in the Middle East Nonetheless What saves the book and also makes it so irritating is the author s cut and run style of writing Just when I was alternately warming up to the subject matter her mother her father Aunt Shirley the author cuts to some other snippet This literary trick also worked in the opposite direction when I was growing bored about to give up on the tripe she was writing about I guess in the end the author is not someone I would want to hang out with She is so self absorbed that she seems to lack a sense of humor or to have any distance or detachment from her melancholy emotions Forget the meditation and retreats and just drop the false beliefs and negative emotions Dani They aren t true Otherwise there s no air in this book to breathe The author is suffocating which her son must know all too well I plan to skim not buy one of her novels to see if she can actually write because any ability she might have is not on display here I mean come on half a page of dictionary entries As I say unlike Elizabeth Gilbert I would not want to be stuck in an elevator with this author >> A little piece of peace and grace This novel is for those of us searching for the profound and the simple in life answers to questions that haunt us touch us take our breath away There are no easy answers but Dani Shapiro delves into herself and the world to find meaning and peace A book to be read more than once a book to covet to share and mark up with post its and notes A work of remarkable strength and insight
Author : Eric Siblin Total Page : 336 Publisher : Atlantic Monthly Press Publication Date : 2009 12 15
The Cello Suites J S Bach Pablo Casals and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece >> an Extraordinary and Enlightening Book What a wonderful journey this book is
How refreshing and rewarding it is to travel with Eric Siblin in his discovery and learning to love these truly wonderful suites and gain more knowledge of them He weaves SO much into this marvelous book including a semi biographical line of Pablo Casals the discoverer of these wonderful pieces as a young cellist and his growing with them practicing daily for many years before ever playing them publicly and recording them for EMI We also get Mr Siblin s personal journey of discovery and fascination with this music cleverly used piece by piece and movement by movement as chapter and sub chapter titles And also the wonderful searching into and documentation of J S Bach s life and likely time frame of composition of these most lovely pieces for solo cello at the time a most neglected instrument Bach ever the genious and consummate artist/creator surely had an insight that no one else of his time shared and how very very fortunate lucky and gifted we are to have in particular these six pieces along with all his other masterly compositions truly one of the greatest musical geniouses ever to grace the planet
Mr Siblin has certainly done ALL his homework before writing this excellent and enlightening book I cannot think of anyone music lovers of course but also anyone interested in history biography and plain discovery who would not be totally caught up in this fabulous journey of the author in his quest to learn more from interviewing cellists listening to many many recordings of the works researching Papa Casals life and journey with this music and also J S Bach and the creation of these wonderful Suites for this truly most expressive and beautiful of all instruments
Kudos to you Eric Siblin for one of the finest reads that I have had the pleasure to enjoy in a very long time
operabruin >> An Informed Newbie s View of a Classic It is hard for me to imagine Bach s Cello Suites as absent from my collection of CDs or from the records that I used to have or for that matter from the role of standards within the huge Bach oeuvre They are beautiful jaunty sad and puzzling and meet anyone s definition of fine classical music The truth is though that they dropped away from the world s musical knowledge only partly because the world was slow to understand how much Bach had given it and really didn t surface until the twentieth century when Pablo Casals resurrected them Even then they didn t make any impression on music critic Eric Siblin That s not surprising Siblin had been a pop music critic in Montreal a job that had filled my head with vast amounts of music much of which I didn t want to be there Still in 2000 idle curiosity led him to a performance of the suites mostly because he chanced to be in a hotel near the recital hall The performance was a revelation music more earthy and ecstatic than anything I d ever heard In The Cello Suites J S Bach Pablo Casals and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece Atlantic Monthly Press Sibling tells the welcome stories of the composer the performer and his own growth in understanding of the suites Part of his search is literally for Bach s lost original score for them that s OK but it won t ruin your appreciation of the book to know that if he had found the original there would have been international headlines about the discovery The better part of the search is his growing musical appreciation and fondness for the suites and for their historical lore
Bach was not a musical sensation in his own lifetime His own contemporary Handel was far more famous and Bach never approached the sort of superstardom that Mozart or Beethoven would attain After his death it was the sons that got the manuscripts of his work There are stories that some of his handwritten pages went to the padding to wrap around fruit trees or in a shop for wrapping cheese or even as detritus in a New York City construction site The original manuscript of the Cello Suites has never turned up Bach s wife sometime around 1730 made a copy of the original manuscript to give to a violinist Her copy went from one musician to another winding up in a royal library in Berlin in 1841 where it was mostly ignored The thinking seemed to be that the suites were perhaps technical exercises for cellists not performable pieces Then in 1890 Pablo Casals thirteen years old and a prodigy was looking for music to play rummaging through a sheet music store in Barcelona A tattered copy of the suites caught his eye he had not known that they existed They were to change his life He practiced them every day a routine he would keep up during his long life but it was twelve years before he would perform them in public Casals in exile from Spain refused to play in countries that recognized Franco s government he might have waivered on this pledge in order to enter the US and play at the United Nations but he would not play the Cello Suites which were his spiritual key signature
Siblin s book is a lovely tribute to the suites to Bach and to Casals but it is also a rewarding introduction to classical music itself The classical world was new to Siblin although he can t help commenting on say Bach s influence on Procol Harum or on hip hop and the book would be a fine introduction to give to a young person who might have a first interest in classical music Siblin s descriptions of the music are good though abbreviated Much more fun are his expeditions to put himself into Bach World Interviewing Walter Joachim an 80 year old veteran cellist he got the advice that he should learn to play the cello Not that I could ever be any good he cautioned I was too old for that to ever happen But it would give me some insight And it does he got to play some Bach although not the suites themselves which were simply too intimidating His modest results were sobering but they did bring him closer to appreciating the suites He joined a choir of amateurs spending a weekend learning to sing a Bach cantata for a one off performance Remember what an amateur is literally someone engaged in an activity for the love of it Throughout this sparkling book Siblin the amateur has written intelligently about the Cello Suites as a newbie coming to a fuller appreciation It is an appealingly fresh view of a pinnacle of music
>> Enjoyable intro to Bach and Casals and to the cello suites Eric Siblin has done a nice job of combining just enough biographical information ie stories about Bach and Casals and the wonderful cello suites with just enough about Eric Siblin He rightly recognizes that Casals and Bach are more interesting than he is which is not always the case in these personal history books
If you re already up on Bach and Casals and the suites you won t find anything new here but the story is charmingly told in a way that interests people not already classical music buffs Siblin has done a service here and had fun doing it
There s a useful bibliography and an unobtrusive set of sourcing footnotes too
The copy editing is lacking for example don t try to find a biography of Casals by i Katz However irritating this and other minor errors may be they don t ruin a very pleasant read
So if you have a nonscholarly interest in Bach in Casals in the cello or in the magisterial Cello Suites you ll enjoy this book and learn from it painlessly
Author : Robert Kurson Publisher : Random House Audio Publication Date : 2005 05 03
Shadow Divers The True Adventure of Two Americans Who RIsked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II >> Compelling narrative and a gripping story I have never been a fan of WWII history let alone naval history Nor am I a diving enthusiast But the story and struggle of discovering and identifying a German submarine only 100 miles off the New Jersey coast was fascinating I could have done with a bit less biographical information on some of the people involved did I really have to know all about their childhoods but the twists turns and dead ends make up for it >> Excellent Read This book hooked me from the outset It s the kind of book where when not reading it you look forward to getting back to it then thoroughly enjoy the experience when you do Very well drawn characters Fascinating story >> More compelling than fiction This book was recommended by a friend who is a recreational diver This is so much more than a book about deep diving It is an amazing story of two men bigger than life to me who have an insatiable curiosity and bulldog determination They are not thrill seekers but truth seekers The author has given us background on the two main divers and their character which makes them so real/personal that you almost stop breathing with them The book is part biography part adventure part history part mystery with graphic descriptions of the dangers of deep diving I could not put it down even when it ended I kept reading through the acknowledgements then Googled John Chatterton and Richie Koehler and found they each have websites This is the most compelling read ever
Author : Robert G Hagstrom Total Page : 272 Publisher : Wiley Publication Date : 2005 10 04
The Warren Buffett Way Second Edition >> Excellent Investment Understand the Way Buffett Thinks I have read around a dozen books about Warren Buffett the famous Oracle of Omaha who is arguably the best stock investor that ever lived This book by Robert Hagstrom is the best of the bunch for those that are interested in understanding and possibly duplicating his investment methods
Hagstrom manages to maintain the perfect balance between oversimplifying and getting lost in the details of Buffett s investment principles He never talks down to the reader even investment professionals will find it interesting At the same time he is accessible to stock market novices In fact he may succeed in his quest to teach them to outperform so called professionals
Particularly interesting to me was his emphasis on the Behavorial Finance aspect of Buffett s success which I think usually gets short thrift in most accounts of his success Hagstrom emphasizes that the actual valuation techniques Buffett uses are not unique but rather derivative of what other pioneers before him have discovered It is Buffett s rare ability to keep his head about him when others are losing theirs that has allowed him to run circles around the rest of Wall Street
Hagstrom delivers exactly what he promises he explains the Warren Buffett Way which is not a set formula but rather a set of underlying principles and ideas which are not constrained by simple charts or ratios
I listen to many many audiobooks and this one had the best narration I can remember This audiobook is an excellent investment of your time and money >> more time to read I was just on a bent to know more about Mr Buffett The book came promptly and in good condition I am still trying to absorb what I am reading just hoping all the information will all register in the end >> Practical books Hellenbooks has provided excellent service delivery and condition of the books I would insist to combine shipping so I can buy more books from them the charges for each one is 3 99 and can add up Practical books with a lot of information to be used by the regular reader
Author : Jean Dominique Bauby Publisher : Random House Audio Publication Date : 1997 05 13
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly >> The Diving Bell and the Butterfly What an insight into a mind locked up and yet able to communicate though almost to the point of unbelievable The patience he had to blink out an alphabet and the pain he must have felt at not being able to physically do what he wrote about had to be deep It taught me how important patience and faith should be in each person s life >> Not as good as I hoped Have better suggestion I was disappointed in this book A much better book on the same subject is Look Up For Yes by Julia Tavalaro Her story started in 1966 when awareness of locked in syndrome was much less known and technology to help was not available but had to be invented and improvised for her She wasn t even recognized as being anything other than brain dead for 6 years but she was very aware of everything and tells us of the treatment she received and the remarkable story of her progress once this was discovered She was 31 when she went into a coma for 7 months as a result of two strokes She lived until she was 68 >> Free Minds a Lesson on the Power of Attention Many life lessons may be distilled from this book However one of the most powerful is the degree of control our minds exert over feelings of fulfillment and life meaning If we increase our attention to everyday details and our reflection on memories we can have minds as free as butterflies even when confined to the diving bell of normal life
Plot Summary In his previous life Jean Dominique Bauby was the editor in chief of Elle magazine in France His was always quick witted and expressed a zeal for life s luxuries and an appetite for new experiences When he was 43 years old this all was abruptly arrested by a massive stroke After two weeks spent in a coma he awoke to his new life as a victim of locked in syndrome an individual in this condition is still fully cognizant yet unable to accomplish any volitional movement By an arguably cruel twist of fate Bauby was still in control of the muscles in his left eyelid Using this limited capability he was able to blink his selection of letters to his infinitely patient speech therapist as she repeatedly read him the alphabet Through this painstakingly slow method of communication Bauby was not only able to compose correspondence to his friends and family but also wrote this eloquent and surprisingly cheerful memoir
Confined yet Free Because it is written by a man condemned to a fate many would consider worse than death the jovial topics addressed in most of the anecdotes which comprise this book come as a surprise Even his occasional lapses into self pity are expressed in such a mercurial manner that the reader s pity is offset by admiration of his enduring mirth His body whose constant immobile state is conferred by what Bauby lovingly dubs an invisible diving bell exercises no constraint on his mind In fact Bauby s situation which would conventionally be bemoaned as extremely unfortunate seems to actually yield a degree of freedom neither experienced nor contemplated by physiologically normal individuals Like a butterfly Bauby s mind is free to roam distracted neither by movement nor responsibility Atention previously preoccupied by these is redirected towards the minutia of everyday experience and towards memory
Benefits of Attention Although most people would never wish locked in syndrome on their worst enemies the whole of humanity would benefit from the resulting redirection of attention which Bauby so eloquently recounts Because of the repetitious nature of everyday events our appreciation for them is often muted if not altogether absent Bauby s nostalgic description of the mundane tasks of his previous life such as shaving and dressing himself cast them in such a tragically positive light that the reader is prompted to stop and appreciate similar events in his/her own life Even in his paralyzed state Bauby is careful to note the comfort of his weekly bath and the colors cast on the wall of his hospital room at sunset With this book Bauby extends an invitation for the reader to join him in his diving bell even though it promises to take them into unexplored territory he invites us to abandon our focus on the stresses which seem so important and pressing at any given moment in favor of the quite pleasures that are all too often overlooked If we were to allow ourselves to learn from his experience and afford a heightened level of acknowledgement to simple details of our experience our lives would undoubtedly be richer and more fulfilling than achieved with our current benumbed attention
Power of Memory The majority of the anecdotes offered in this book are written as a stream of consciousness Bauby relates memories as they come back to him The fact that his memories are in effect his only remaining connection to normalcy reflects the importance of memory to all of humanity We all rely on memories to ground us to our past and form educated judgments of future actions He relies on them not just for this sense of identity but for improving his quality of life even though his only form of nourishment enters his body via an IV Bauby mentally treats himself to the tastes and scents of memories of gourmet meals If taking the time to appreciate his past had such a profoundly calming and life affirming effect on Bauby during the bleakest times of his bedridden life one can only imagine the positive ramifications such appreciation would produce in our own lives
Brain Plasticity Although his brain and spinal cord suffered catastrophic damage during the stroke Bauby was able by the time of completion of this memoir to grunt the little song about the kangaroo He also regains his ability to shake his head and even muster a loud grunt The recitation of this French children s rhyme and reacquisition of limited movement serve as testimonies to his brain s ability to reorganize itself As popularized by current theories on the subject brain plasticity can result in drastic changes so long as therapy is repeated and afforded absolute attention by the patient This is yet another display of the importance of attention if we are to make any meaningful change to our own bodies or lives we must increase the attention we pay to efforts towards that end
Words to Potential Readers The structure of this memoir lends itself to quick reading but its content demands the attention which can only be given during slow consideration Do not be deceived by its short length for what it lacks in page numbers the book overcompensates with its emotionally charged and witty content I have read each anecdote several times every time extracting more subtle exquisite nuances unnoticed during previous readings Bauby s wit along with his unabashed optimism is at once awe inspiring and life affirming It shows that even though we are all confined to a certain extent by the diving bell of responsibility and the limitations of our bodies we can maintain minds as free as butterflies by being selective with our attention to our surroundings and appreciation of our past This was an absolutely wonderful book which I would recommend to any reader with an open mind You shouldn t read it unless you are ready to shed some tears and have your life views radically challenged It is not sad but instead poignant a powerful testament to the durability of the human spirit Be prepared to want to read it multiple times
Author : W E B Du Bois Total Page : 330 Publisher : Transaction Large Print Publication Date : 1998 05 31
The Souls of Black Folk Transaction Large Print Books >> Understand double consciousness This was required reading for a graduate course in the Humanities William Edward Burghardt Du Bois February 23 1868 August 27 1963 was an American civil rights activist leader Pan Africanist sociologist educator historian writer editor poet and scholar He became a naturalized citizen of Ghana in 1963 at the age of 95 David Levering Lewis a biographer wrote In the course of his long turbulent career W E B Du Bois attempted virtually every possible solution to the problem of twentieth century racism scholarship propaganda integration cultural and economic separatism politics international communism expatriation third world solidarity After graduating from Fisk University in 1888 Du Bois took a bachelor s degree cum laude from Harvard College in 1890 Harvard having refused to recognize the equivalency of his Fisk degree and in 1892 received a stipend to attend the University of Berlin While a student in Berlin he travelled extensively throughout Europe and came of age intellectually while studying with some of the most prominent social scientists in the German capital such as Gustav von Schmoller In 1896 Du Bois became the first African American to receive a Ph D from Harvard University After teaching at Wilberforce University in Ohio and the University of Pennsylvania he established the department of sociology at Atlanta University now Clark Atlanta University
The Souls of Black Folk is the most well known work of African American W E B Du Bois a writer leader and civil rights activist The book published in 1903 contains several essays on race some of which had been previously published in Atlantic Monthly magazine Du Bois drew from his own experiences to develop this groundbreaking work on being African American in American society Outside of its notable place in African American history The Souls of Black Folk also holds an important place in social science as one of the first works to deal with sociology In Living Black History p 96 esteemed scholar and Du Bois biographer Manning Marable makes the following observation about the book Few books make history and fewer still become foundational texts for the movements and struggles of an entire people The Souls of Black Folk occupies this rare position It helped to create the intellectual argument for the black freedom struggle in the twentieth century Souls justified the pursuit of higher education for Negroes and thus contributed to the rise of the black middle class By describing a global color line Du Bois anticipated pan Africanism and colonial revolutions in the Third World Moreover this stunning critique of how race is lived through the normal aspects of daily life is central to what would become known as whiteness studies a century later
For Du Bois the problem of 20th century is problem of color line Concept of double consciousness is looking thru eyes of others Notion of authenticity what does it mean to be authentic His idea is very Freudian Du Bois says authenticity is a longing for Blacks but impossible because blacks can t be authentic have to live another way Cornell West says Du Bois is a pragmatist He is connected to the Harlem Renaissance Paul Gilroy says Du Bois is more connected with Pan Africanism experience of displaced Africans around the world What does he mean souls of Black folk It is a metaphor for spirituality Book is meant to provide progress for black folks Freedman s bureau had some success like schools He had issue with B T Washington populist message of wanting blacks to concentrate on jobs not the vote higher education or civil rights Du Bois resents Booker T Washington as spokesperson for blacks Critiques American materialism Standard of human culture and lofty ideals of life the talented tenth Book is pioneering for 6 reasons 1 Identification of hyphenated self 2 Recognition of Black culture like music the Blues vernacular culture The soul of the nation itself West says musically is key to text it sings the sorrow song is motif of life 3 Important to Harlem renaissance period 4 Pioneering work of sociology and psychology 5 Higher education is means to self realization 6 Relations to economics drives development of black life
Double consciousness His double consciousness gives us a vivid picture of how tragic the racist discourse is defined by skin color Black or white thus it strengthens arguments that each race had unique properties thus polarizing us His book gives us this understanding of our mind and self identity If Blacks accept the racial divide they then deny equality He does see a black identity and celebrates difference made real in Black experience Celebrates difference made real in peoples experience and beyond our racial fictions How does he do this what is the key It is music the sorrows song Those voicings these songs speak to slow tragedy He precedes each chapter with sorrow song The doubleness of consciousness is extended throughout the work They convey resistance and defiance Last chapter how prejudice works on people Whiteness is non race The great chain of being your place in society Rise of Enlightenment human is now sovereign leads to systematic study of man
Du Bois was investigated by the FBI who claimed in May of 1942 that his writing indicates him to be a socialist and that he has been called a Communist and at the same time criticized by the Communist Party Du Bois visited Communist China during the Great Leap Forward Also in the 16 March 1953 issue of The National Guardian Du Bois wrote Joseph Stalin was a great man few other men of the 20th century approach his stature Du Bois was chairman of the Peace Information Center at the start of the Korean War He was among the signers of the Stockholm Peace Pledge which opposed the use of nuclear weapons In 1950 he ran for the U S Senate on the American Labor Party ticket in New York and received 4 of the vote He was indicted in the United States under the Foreign Agents Registration Act and acquitted for lack of evidence W E B Du Bois became disillusioned with both black capitalism and racism in the United States In 1959 Du Bois received the Lenin Peace Prize In 1961 at the age of 93 he joined the Communist Party USA
Du Bois was invited to Ghana in 1961 by President Kwame Nkrumah to direct the Encyclopedia Africana a government production and a long held dream of his When in 1963 he was refused a new U S passport he and his wife Shirley Graham Du Bois became citizens of Ghana making them dual citizens of Ghana and the United States Du Bois health had declined in 1962 and on August 27 1963 he died in Accra Ghana at the age of ninety five one day before Martin Luther King Jr s I Have a Dream speech
Recommended reading for anyone interested in history psychology or philosophy
>> Understand double consciousness This was required reading for a graduate course in the Humanities William Edward Burghardt Du Bois February 23 1868 August 27 1963 was an American civil rights activist leader Pan Africanist sociologist educator historian writer editor poet and scholar He became a naturalized citizen of Ghana in 1963 at the age of 95 David Levering Lewis a biographer wrote In the course of his long turbulent career W E B Du Bois attempted virtually every possible solution to the problem of twentieth century racism scholarship propaganda integration cultural and economic separatism politics international communism expatriation third world solidarity After graduating from Fisk University in 1888 Du Bois took a bachelor s degree cum laude from Harvard College in 1890 Harvard having refused to recognize the equivalency of his Fisk degree and in 1892 received a stipend to attend the University of Berlin While a student in Berlin he travelled extensively throughout Europe and came of age intellectually while studying with some of the most prominent social scientists in the German capital such as Gustav von Schmoller In 1896 Du Bois became the first African American to receive a Ph D from Harvard University After teaching at Wilberforce University in Ohio and the University of Pennsylvania he established the department of sociology at Atlanta University now Clark Atlanta University
The Souls of Black Folk is the most well known work of African American W E B Du Bois a writer leader and civil rights activist The book published in 1903 contains several essays on race some of which had been previously published in Atlantic Monthly magazine Du Bois drew from his own experiences to develop this groundbreaking work on being African American in American society Outside of its notable place in African American history The Souls of Black Folk also holds an important place in social science as one of the first works to deal with sociology In Living Black History p 96 esteemed scholar and Du Bois biographer Manning Marable makes the following observation about the book Few books make history and fewer still become foundational texts for the movements and struggles of an entire people The Souls of Black Folk occupies this rare position It helped to create the intellectual argument for the black freedom struggle in the twentieth century Souls justified the pursuit of higher education for Negroes and thus contributed to the rise of the black middle class By describing a global color line Du Bois anticipated pan Africanism and colonial revolutions in the Third World Moreover this stunning critique of how race is lived through the normal aspects of daily life is central to what would become known as whiteness studies a century later
For Du Bois the problem of 20th century is problem of color line Concept of double consciousness is looking thru eyes of others Notion of authenticity what does it mean to be authentic His idea is very Freudian Du Bois says authenticity is a longing for Blacks but impossible because blacks can t be authentic have to live another way Cornell West says Du Bois is a pragmatist He is connected to the Harlem Renaissance Paul Gilroy says Du Bois is more connected with Pan Africanism experience of displaced Africans around the world What does he mean souls of Black folk It is a metaphor for spirituality Book is meant to provide progress for black folks Freedman s bureau had some success like schools He had issue with B T Washington populist message of wanting blacks to concentrate on jobs not the vote higher education or civil rights Du Bois resents Booker T Washington as spokesperson for blacks Critiques American materialism Standard of human culture and lofty ideals of life the talented tenth Book is pioneering for 6 reasons 1 Identification of hyphenated self 2 Recognition of Black culture like music the Blues vernacular culture The soul of the nation itself West says musically is key to text it sings the sorrow song is motif of life 3 Important to Harlem renaissance period 4 Pioneering work of sociology and psychology 5 Higher education is means to self realization 6 Relations to economics drives development of black life
Double consciousness His double consciousness gives us a vivid picture of how tragic the racist discourse is defined by skin color Black or white thus it strengthens arguments that each race had unique properties thus polarizing us His book gives us this understanding of our mind and self identity If Blacks accept the racial divide they then deny equality He does see a black identity and celebrates difference made real in Black experience Celebrates difference made real in peoples experience and beyond our racial fictions How does he do this what is the key It is music the sorrows song Those voicings these songs speak to slow tragedy He precedes each chapter with sorrow song The doubleness of consciousness is extended throughout the work They convey resistance and defiance Last chapter how prejudice works on people Whiteness is non race The great chain of being your place in society Rise of Enlightenment human is now sovereign leads to systematic study of man
Du Bois was investigated by the FBI who claimed in May of 1942 that his writing indicates him to be a socialist and that he has been called a Communist and at the same time criticized by the Communist Party Du Bois visited Communist China during the Great Leap Forward Also in the 16 March 1953 issue of The National Guardian Du Bois wrote Joseph Stalin was a great man few other men of the 20th century approach his stature Du Bois was chairman of the Peace Information Center at the start of the Korean War He was among the signers of the Stockholm Peace Pledge which opposed the use of nuclear weapons In 1950 he ran for the U S Senate on the American Labor Party ticket in New York and received 4 of the vote He was indicted in the United States under the Foreign Agents Registration Act and acquitted for lack of evidence W E B Du Bois became disillusioned with both black capitalism and racism in the United States In 1959 Du Bois received the Lenin Peace Prize In 1961 at the age of 93 he joined the Communist Party USA
Du Bois was invited to Ghana in 1961 by President Kwame Nkrumah to direct the Encyclopedia Africana a government production and a long held dream of his When in 1963 he was refused a new U S passport he and his wife Shirley Graham Du Bois became citizens of Ghana making them dual citizens of Ghana and the United States Du Bois health had declined in 1962 and on August 27 1963 he died in Accra Ghana at the age of ninety five one day before Martin Luther King Jr s I Have a Dream speech
Recommended reading for anyone interested in history psychology or philosophy
>> Above Average Took the entire period of shipping to get to me but the book was in good condition
Author : Jen Lancaster Total Page : 400 Publisher : NAL Trade Publication Date : 2007 05 01
Bright Lights Big Ass A Self Indulgent Surly Ex Sorority Girl s Guide to Why it Often Sucks in the City or Who are These Idiots and Why Do They All Live Next Door to Me >> SO Boring I m sorry but her stories are utterly boring Does she think her real life stories are actually funny enough for people to want to read I m pretty sure my 2 year olds life would be more interesting to read about This girl clearly has no idea what fun is and needs more girl friends
If you are told this book is similar to Chelsea Handler you are being lied to Just read Chelsea Handler that is real comedy >> You d love this book if you love cats I usually like Jen Lancaster s books Bitter is the New Black and Pretty in Plaid were both creative and funny but with Bright Lights Big Ass I wish I could get my time and money back In this book Jen writes a lot about how she has nothing to write about and folks she s not lying If you re writing a memoir perhaps you should get out of the house and do something so you have something to write about She includes a lot of e mails addressed to her best girlfriends who are never identified in the book and I deduce that she copied and pasted her real messages because she was to lazy to do any real writing I don t want to her about her dogs pooping on the rug every chapter or about their corn chip scented paws I have heard people say that in real life and didn t find it amusing let along a topic to write about I could give a crap about her stupid cats I don t want to hear about my real friends pets either BORING poor eating habits or reality TV watching You can put that crap on your blog where people can read it for free if they want This book masquerades as a satire to Bright Lights Big City and Jen lives in the thriving metropolis of Chicago but she doesn t actually get out in the city and do anything interesting She takes several jabs at Candace Bushnell but at least her characters get dressed and leave the house Honestly if you are interested in this book check out the author s other works instead they are worth reading but this one is a miss >> Funny with a Capital F This book is hilarious laugh out loud funny I am trying to read all of Jen Lancaster s books because she is sooo damn funny
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
