Books

The Conservative Soul: How We Lost It, How to Get It Back

Average customer rating:

Sullivan's recantation
Disappointed
Honest & Direct
Competing Definitions of Conservatism
Highly Recommended

The Conservative Soul: How We Lost It, How to Get It Back
Andrew Sullivan
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0060188774
Release Date: 2006-10-10

Book Description

what does it mean to be a conservative anymore?

With the Iraq war, the rise of Christian fundamentalism, exploding government spending, soaring debt, insecure borders, and an executive branch with greater and greater power, Republicans and conservatives are debating this question with more and more urgency.

The contradictions keep mounting. Today's conservatives support the idea of limited government, but they have increased government's size, power, and reach to new heights. They believe in balanced budgets, but they have boosted government spending, debt, and pork to record levels. They believe in individual liberty and the rule of law, but they have condoned torture, ignored laws passed by Congress, and been indicted for bribery. They have substituted religion for politics, and damaged both.

In The Conservative Soul, Andrew Sullivan, one of the nation's leading political commentators, makes an impassioned call to rescue conservatism from the excesses of the Republican far right, which risks making the GOP the first fundamentally religious party in American history. Through an incisive look at the rise of Western fundamentalism, Sullivan argues that conservatives cannot in good conscience keep supporting a party that believes in its own God-given mission to change people's souls, instead of protecting their liberties. He carefully charts the arguments of the new conservatism, showing why they cannot work in today's America, why they fail the test of logic and pragmatism, and why they betray the conservative tradition from Edmund Burke to Ronald Reagan.

In this bold and powerful book, Andrew Sullivan criticizes our government for acting too often, too quickly, and too expensively. He champions a political philosophy based on skepticism and reason, rather than certainty and fundamentalism. He defends a Christianity that is sincere but not intolerant, and a politics that respects religion by keeping its distance. And he makes a provocative, heartfelt case for a revived conservatism at peace with the modern world, dedicated to restraining government and empowering individuals to live rich and fulfilling lives.

Customer Reviews:

Sullivan's recantation.......2007-06-27

Andrew Sullivan explains at some length, and with some digression, how
he became disenchanted with what he calls the fundamentalist wing of the
current Republican party. His brand of conservatism is Burkean; he considers that the prevailing ideology of the current administration is
not conservative at all, but springs from a tradition of literal evangelism. Some chapters are better than others. The chapter
on sexuality seems labored and occupies more of the book than it should. On the whole, it is an honest and thoughtful book and would be useful reading for people who shared Sullivan's early enthusiasms for the Rovian revolution.

Disappointed.......2007-06-24

Without question, Andrew Sullivan is one of my favorite writers. Even when I do not agree with his analysis of a situation, be it political or philosophical, I find him to be interesting, thoughtful, and passionate. And when it comes to the Bush Administration and the handling of Iraq and other facets of the conflict with Islamic terrorists, I have to say that a good deal of his attitude (though not, I think, development of ideas) has mirrored my own over the course of the past several years. So I was very much looking forward to reading his most recent book, The Conservative Soul. I am also disheartened to say that I was tremendously disappointed. Although there are some interesting nuggets of good ideas buried in the book, I find that on the whole it was sloppy, muddled, disorganized and -- I'm sorry to say -- not very well written. Although I would highly recommend that everyone read Sullivan's blog and essays, I would not recommend this book.

Honest & Direct.......2007-06-04

Great book! Andrew Sullivan spoke at my local library and he was loved by all. Had him sign this book for my collection.

Competing Definitions of Conservatism.......2007-05-18

Andrew Sullivan's book is a thoughtful, well-crafted critique of current Republican party conservatism. His view, essentially, is that what is currently termed conservative is, in fact, the promotion of a fundamentalist Christian agenda that is not conservative at all, certainly not the conservatism of his heroes, Reagan and Thatcher. He argues that "fundamentalist vs. conservative" is not a continuation, but a usurpation. He claims that a shift has occurred changing conservative emphasis from freedom to "remoralization."

Although this book is lucidly written and cogently argued, I reject its thesis that in order to return to true conservatism, the influence of the Christian right must be removed. The fundamentalist impulse in politics is in response to intolerant political correctness, the radical relativism of the Hollywood left, media elites, and the kook fringe left (now the base of the Democrat party). It is reasonable to believe in moral absolutes; Sullivan espouses values closer to libertarianism. The Republican party does not have to be "fundamentally religious" to believe that there is such a thing as right and wrong; it has always believed so.Conservatism is not based on theory but on practical observation of life. I surmise that Sullivan is one of the many today who confuse freedom of religion with freedom from religion. Freedom vs. Morality (p.128) is not freedom from morality. I don't agree with even mildly linking Osama Bin Laden with the American religious right, although Sullivan is by no means alone in this distorted view, Al Gore and many in the media do it too. Sullivan exaggerates when he draws a distinction between visions for America; no rational person wants to remake the U.S. in Iran's image.

This is not supposed to be a harrangue from me; I enjoyed the book. For the reluctant, you don't have to agree with everything he proposes to learn from this book. It is nonjudgemental in tone; you won't be offended.

Highly Recommended.......2007-03-24

This is one book that has had a huge influence on my political philosophy. Both the author and I grew up in conservative homes, grew up in Christian homes, and voted for G.W. Bush in 2000. Before I picked up the book, that's where the similarities ended.

Sullivan is truly a fascinating man. A homosexual, British, Catholic who voted for John Kerry in 2004. Sullivan lives with HIV and I say that only to say that it doesn't stop him from living life to the fullest, from speaking passionately about the America he still believes in, his adoptive country. That is where the differences begin. But as I read his book I felt his ideas resonate with me strongly.

The term conservatism has been taken over in the last 15 years or so and abused and Andrew Sullivan's mission is to take it back. If you lament what conservatism used to be, and dream of what it truly can be, this is the book for you. His main theme is that our politics should be a politics of doubt, that is, a realization that individual humans don't have all the answers for everyone else at any point in time. Thus the beauty of the freedom that has been written into our constitution here in America.

If you know of a conservative or a fundamentalist, who is thick-headed, blindly passionate about their views, not willing to consider error in their own perspective or listen to sound reason, this is the book that just might break them down. So do be careful.

Other Information: It is a quick read with large margins and double-spacing and it is a page-turner. It is the kind of book you will want to pass on to your friends and family.

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (Plume Contemporary Fiction)

Average customer rating:

A Good Read
"Subtle...Powerful..."?
Amazing
family life for women
Waste of time

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (Plume Contemporary Fiction)
Julia Alvarez
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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!Yo!

ASIN: 0452268060

Customer Reviews:

A Good Read.......2007-05-29

I was assigned to read this book for my college class--the history of the women's movement. It was very good and funny. I laughed out loud in many places. I finished the book in two days which is good for me since I am a slow reader. It held my interest the entire time.

"Subtle...Powerful..."?.......2007-05-26

I don't really know what to say...But I feel disappointed that I didn't find How The García Girls Lost Their Accents to be the wonderful work that is proclaimed in the editorial reviews.

There are without a doubt some lines and parts that display Alvarez's talent with words...I enjoyed the very first episode of Yolanda and her craving for guavas. Some of the vignettes centering on Yolanda, I think, are some of the best in the book. But even then, there was something missing, and it was that I didn't connect with any of the characters as real people.

The sisters, we are told, all have different personalities, but essentially the only things that differentiate them in the reader's mind are their names. Carla, we are reminded many times, is the analyst in the family, the psychologist, which we can see in her comments, but she doesn't have a real voice; she isn't a real person. Mami, Papi, the aunts and uncles and the whole García family didn't come to life for me. At times, some of them were on the verge of coming off of the paper, but they never really did. Everything that is good in the novel is hard to appreciate as it is dampened by the rest.

Alvarez's exploration of some ideas, such as the displacement that immigrants experience, are not really effective...Sometimes she states things that we never really get a sense of and understand because we cannot sympathize with the characters. I think it is ultimately because of this that some parts feel contrived or not quite artfully done. As a whole, it is like a skeleton of a book. The organization of the vignettes (backwards in time) is creative but unmeaningful, and the vignettes themselves don't intertwine successfully to give us a "bigger picture" or insight or any sense of connection; rather, they are isolated, and as the narrator changes from 3rd person to Yolanda, the narration sounds the same. It doesn't captivate.

Right now I am more than halfway through the book, and I don't feel that it is worth finishing. I hope that How the García Girls Lost Their Accents isn't representative of Julia Alvarez's work...I should pick up another of hers but definitely do not feel motivated to at the moment...

For an American immigration story, The Joy Luck Club and The Namesake are two great novels!

Amazing.......2007-05-07

The characters are multi dimensional, the writing is captivating, the story is thought provoking, the scenery draws you in and in the end you are left feeling like your life has been enriched by reading about the trials of the Garcia girls. Julia Alvarez instantly became my new favorite author after reading this book. I have bought 4 more of her novels since reading this one!

family life for women.......2007-04-23

This is a book that I think women will enjoy more than men as it reflects on their struggles and aspirations once moving from a caribbean country to the united states. there n easy flow to this author's writing. She is compassionate and desperate when she needs to be and that emotion is compelling to me, the reader.

Waste of time.......2006-12-11

Our book club chose this book, because it sounded intriguing and had great reviews. What a waste of time...

A compilation of short vignettes is a great idea...but unfortunately, this collection went no where. The characters were dull, and the stories had no depth or interconnection.

I thought I was the only one who felt this way about this boring book until our group met. Half of them didn't even finish it. We all agreed it was a bad choice, and wondered WHO in the heck could give it five stars???

Sailing from Byzantium: How a Lost Empire Shaped the World

Average customer rating:

A Great History of a Lost Empire
Forget Byzantium at Your Peril!
Cultural and religious dispersal
An excellent synopsis, though sometimes mired in trivia
Byzantium the Golden

Sailing from Byzantium: How a Lost Empire Shaped the World
Colin Wells
Manufacturer: Delacorte Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Early Civilization | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0553803816
Release Date: 2006-07-25

Book Description

A gripping intellectual adventure story, Sailing from Byzantium sweeps you from the deserts of Arabia to the dark forests of northern Russia, from the colorful towns of Renaissance Italy to the final moments of a millennial city under siege….

Byzantium: the successor of Greece and Rome, this magnificent empire bridged the ancient and modern worlds for more than a thousand years. Without Byzantium, the works of Homer and Herodotus, Plato and Aristotle, Sophocles and Aeschylus, would never have survived. Yet very few of us have any idea of the enormous debt we owe them.

The story of Byzantium is a real-life adventure of electrifying ideas, high drama, colorful characters, and inspiring feats of daring. In Sailing from Byzantium, Colin Wells tells of the missionaries, mystics, philosophers, and artists who against great odds and often at peril of their own lives spread Greek ideas to the Italians, the Arabs, and the Slavs.

Their heroic efforts inspired the Renaissance, the golden age of Islamic learning, and Russian Orthodox Christianity, which came complete with a new alphabet, architecture, and one of the world’s greatest artistic traditions.

The story’s central reference point is an arcane squabble called the Hesychast controversy that pitted humanist scholars led by the brilliant, acerbic intellectual Barlaam against the powerful monks of Mount Athos led by the stern Gregory Palamas, who denounced “pagan” rationalism in favor of Christian mysticism.

Within a few decades, the light of Byzantium would be extinguished forever by the invading Turks, but not before the humanists found a safe haven for Greek literature. The controversy of rationalism versus faith would continue to be argued by some of history’s greatest minds.

Fast-paced, compulsively readable, and filled with fascinating insights, Sailing from Byzantium is one of the great historical dramas–the gripping story of how the flame of civilization was saved and passed on.

Customer Reviews:

A Great History of a Lost Empire.......2007-06-18

I have always had a fasination with byzantium. This book as well as John Julius Norwich's series of books has helped to appreciate this lost empire more than ever. I especially liked the end of the book where it is just abruptly ended. In a way it made me cry a little to see what could have happened to the world if Byzantium had never have existed. I feel that more people should read this book and be aware of the several contribution that Byzantium has bestowed upon out modern world.

Forget Byzantium at Your Peril!.......2007-05-19

Ignorance of Byzantium (in two senses: lack of knowledge and lack of attention) has confounded Islamicists and Western European historians alike in the past 100 or so years. Colin Wells offers a concise and cogent description of the role Byzantium,including exiled or conquered Byzantines, played in the preservation and transmission of ancient Greek science and philosophy to the Muslim empires of the pre-Crusade "golden age" and directly to Western Europe chiefly by way of Italy. For nearly a thousand years, Byzantium WAS Rome, the hinge of civilization, linking rising and sinking cultures from the Visigoths of North Africa to the Vikings who called themselves Rus, from the humanists of Renaissance Florence to the Nestorian Christians of Syria, the primary translators of the Greek classics into Arabic.
Yet despite the significance of the material presented, it's a fun book, a quick read, written in a relaxed and simple style, accessible even to people who couldn't locate Byzantium on the map. (Hint: "Istanbul is Constantinople, now you can't go back to constantinople...")

Cultural and religious dispersal.......2007-04-20

This is not a "history" book in the exact sense of the term, if you think of "history" books as a linear progression of events. What this author has done is written a very valuable work detailing how the Byzantine Empire spread its culture and religion to its neighbors. The book is divided into three parts, each one showing the effect of Byzantium on 1: Western or "Latin" Christianity, 2: the states in the Balkan area, and 3: what eventually bcame Russia. It's a fascinating tale, extremely well told, and reveals to us that, even though 1453 saw the political end of the Empire, its influence in many different aspects spread and remain even today in many areas. These are subjects rarely, if ever, covered in this context, and should be required reading for anyone interested in obtaining a well-rounded knowledge of Byzantium.

An excellent synopsis, though sometimes mired in trivia.......2007-03-08

I'd rate this book at 3+ stars, to be exact. It packs a great deal into a small volume, in offering many "big picture" lessons of the dynamics and heritage of Byzantine civilization, which continues to impact the world. But it also dishes out quite a few pages mired in trivial detail.

On the positive side, Wells summarizes the mechanisms, and--to lesser extent--the contours, of Byzantium's cultural influence on three of the five civilizations which (if one accepts the eminent scholar Samuel Huntington's thesis) will dominate the 21st century: Western, Islamic, and Slavic. (The other two which Byzantium never touched are Chinese and Japanese.) So the book is of interest for contemporary, as well as historical, reasons.

The strongest (and lengthiest) portions focus on the means and men by which classical Greek learning was transmitted from Byzantium to Western Europe and helped power the Renaissance. The next, and next best, portion of the book is its saga of how ancient Greek learning from Byzantium underpinned an Arab Enlightenment focused on science which went well beyond the Greeks, before being smothered by Islamic religious obscurantism nine or ten centuries ago. (Interestingly, the author traces Wahhabi extremism and its current Al Quaida offshoot to a leading reactionary Islamic scholar, Ibn Hambal, of the 9th century.)

Finally, the book offers an account of Byzantium's impact through eastern Christianity and associated culture in helping to form Slavic civilization, although--apart from generalities--the focus here (unlike in the other sections) is less on cultural than on political history, in particular the Orthodox Church's contribution to the rise of Moscow as the center of a unified Russian state.

These are large themes, offering major lessons, and Mr. Wells is stylistically elegant in conveying them. Much of the book is very well written.

On the negative side, for a small book it contains not only many broad lessons but also a quite a lot of boring detail. The latter falls into two categories: 1) capsule (yet still overly long) biographies of many cultural protagonists, which serve to illustrate their connections with each other and to Greek/Byzantine learning but nonetheless are too much "in the weeds" for a general history; and, 2)in the section on the Slavic World, excessive detail on the rapidly revolving door ("inside baseball") of Byzantine and Russian politics, at some neglect of the broader cultural themes so well addressed in the book as regards Western and Islamic civilization.

In essence, and remarkably for a relatively short volume, this book manages to have it both ways: many broad and worthwhile observations; but also considerable trivia. I recognize that grand history ultimately is the product of the sometimes modest stories of individuals. And in the thinly populated Middle Ages, specific individuals perhaps made more of a difference in cultural transmission. Still, I think that the author at times could have found a better "middle focus."

That said, why complain TOO much when the book is less than 300 pages long? What it does have to offer is well worth that read. And, beyond that, the author provides an excellent annotated bibliography with reading suggestions valuable to the layman who wishes to pursue Byzantine studies further.

Byzantium the Golden.......2007-01-10

Sailing From Byzantium (the title is morphed from Yeats' "Sailing to Byzantium") is a wonderful introduction to Byzantine civilisation for the general reader. Byzantine studies are sadly ignored in the UK and America, but without this powerful Christian state the West would never have survived. Beyond history, the culture of Byzantium informs our own culture in many and varied ways, and is a joy to celebrate.

How I Gave Up My Low-Fat Diet and Lost 40 Pounds (Revised and Expanded Edition)

Average customer rating:

WHOO HOOO DANA!!! I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!!
information and guidance
Even a carb eater can learn from this book.
Best Low-carb book on the market
Best Low Carb Explanation of diets I've read

How I Gave Up My Low-Fat Diet and Lost 40 Pounds (Revised and Expanded Edition)
Dana Carpender
Manufacturer: Fair Winds Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Low Fat | Special Diet | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

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Accessories:

Tanita BC533 Glass Innerscan Body Composition Monitor

ASIN: 1592330401

Book Description

This book is a breezy, chatty, non-technical, fun-to-read explanation of low carbohydrate dieting why it works, the surprising health benefits, and most importantly, how to approach low carb dieting.

The book details three very different main approaches to controlling carbohydrates (including the Basic Low Carb Diet, similar to Atkins or Protien Power, and the Mini-Binge Diet, popularized as the Carbohydrate Addict?s Diet), plus several variations, finally summing up the basic principles which tie them all together.

The point is to give the reader the tools necessary to construct a new way of eating that will fit his or her body, psyche, and lifestyle, thus allowing them to stay slim, energetic, and healthy for life.

Customer Reviews:

WHOO HOOO DANA!!! I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!!.......2007-02-18

10+ Stars!
Wow! How do I put into words my true enthusiasm and excitement for something so great as This BOOK!! I just got through reading the last word on page 312 and couldn't wait to run to the computer and write a review about it. Dana, I have to tell you... when I started reading this book, I thought to myself "hey, this chic doesn't have DR. in front of her name so what makes her so special to write a book about how I should control my diet?" Boy, I'm eating crow pie (low carb of course) right now! You are a complete WHIZ when it comes to articulating and simplifying the science of the Low Carb World! I'm taking a bow of appreciation right now in your honor. You have done your research and then some. I picked up on pieces of health info that I have read in other books that only real crazies like me like to read. We health book reading crazies have to stick together!! I really enjoyed reading chapter 23 about Exercise. It so ME! A gym drop out. How can someone fail jump roping? Well, I'm here to say that someone can and did! Yep, I failed it big time!! Dana, I know your pain when it comes to past memories of gym class.
This book such a nice change from all the deep, scientific, mumbo jumbo that all the other's right about. They can get so sterile with it all. You on the other hand kept it "REAL" and I really appreciate that. It almost read like a novel. I couldn't put it down and loved how you gave your personal experiences all through out the book. Please write another one!! Pretty Please!!
For those who haven't read it yet... DON'T WASTE ANOTHER MINUTE! BUY THE BOOK NOW AND DON'T WAIT TO READ IT ONCE IT ARRIVES IN THE MAIL!!
If you already own the book, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?? Stop reading the damn reviews and pick up the book and start reading!!
This book explains EVERYTHING you MUST know about Low Carb Eating.
My husband and I have read till we are blue in the face all the "other" low carb books and you just about have to force yourself to get through each and every page. Not Dana's book! Nope, I raced right through it and will be rereading it this week just in case I missed something the first time. Note: I have NEVER read the same book more than once, so this is really saying something!
Now I'm going to Dana's website to try to soak up as much goodness there as possible.
Dana, You are a Godsend! I Love the book and I love YOU for writing it.
Also purchasing ALL of the cookbooks ASAP (which will be right after I post this review.) If this book was this good, I can't wait to get the cookbooks!
Thanks a million x a million!!!!
Jennifer in Dallas, Texas
p.s. It does feel like a "zillion degrees" here in the summer time! ((wink))
xxooxx

information and guidance.......2006-03-18

I needed to make changes in how and what I was eating. A low-carb diet was strongly recommended by my doctors. This book gave a lot of useful information about how focusing on lowering carbohydrate intake, rather than reducing intake of fat and calories, can be a sensible way to improve ones health.
The author explains to a layman's level of understanding the how and why of low-carb eating. She also has a good section explaining the similarities and differences between the many highly publicized low-carb diets. Her cook books are wonderful- I have two-my family is reasonably satisfied with the overall change in our eating style. And the dietary changes have positively affected my health.

Even a carb eater can learn from this book........2006-01-30

I am not a low-carb dieter, but I have been hypoglycemic since I was in high school. It's gotten more pronounced since the birth of my last child, and since I'm naturally busier with two kids, I found myself needing more and more snacks during the day to combat energy crashes, especially in the late afternoon. I came across Dana's book when I was doing some reading about lower carbohydrate eating, and in spite of the fact that I have no intention of ever giving up all my carbs, this book has realy helped me make much wiser food choices and helped me understand why refined carbs made me feel the way I did. It also underscored why it's important to feed my kids stuff besides refined carbs (which, fortunately, they already are used to; I never get complaints about whole wheat bread or brown rice). This book is very readable, easy to understand and full of sensible suggestions. I think it transcends the "faddishness" of low carb dieting, with its emphasis on real food rather than processed low-carb products, and that's what makes it relevant to folks like me and low-carb dieters alike.

Best Low-carb book on the market.......2005-11-17

Not only have I actually read this book, but have given it away time and time again and am getting ready to buy my 5th copy. This book is a source of motivation and revelation about how the body works. In March 2004 I looked in a long mirror and discovered that I was FAT! I decided that day to give the low-carb lifestyle a try. With the help of this book I went from 172 lbs to 123 in 7 months. I feel great, I can keep up with my kids and best of all my husband can't keep his hands off me! So I have two things to say- It is NOT all water weight, in fact, I drink more water now that I have ever drank in my life (one of the book's recommendations); and two, I have fell off the wagon for a week or two more than a couple of times, and have gained some weight, but no where near to all of it, usually between 3-5 lbs (5 lbs was the MOST I ever gained back) and it came right back off once I got back on. Remember...this is NOT meant to be a "Diet" (meaning a quick or temporary fix) but a lifestyle! When I eat lots of carbs my body gets very upset with me, I get horrible headaches and feel lethargic. When I eat Dana's way, I feel invigorated and ready to take on the world! The easy to read and valuable information in this book make this a must read for anyone interested and invested in their health!

Best Low Carb Explanation of diets I've read.......2005-11-16

I have read the Atkins, The Carbohydrate's diet, Protein Power etc. This book touches on many low carb diet options, and explains all the different plans. I thought this book was the best one I've ever read, to explain the different options, and benefits to low-carb dieting. What you might be doing wrong, how much protein a person needs. Why some people might still have to count calories on a low carb plan. Very good book!

The $64 Tomato: How One Man Nearly Lost His Sanity, Spent a Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden

Average customer rating:

As an animal lover...
Of hope, disappointment, and tasty heirloom tomatoes
Animal lovers beware!
This is why I get the unmanly foods at the Safeway
the composted gardening book

The $64 Tomato: How One Man Nearly Lost His Sanity, Spent a Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden
William Alexander
Manufacturer: Algonquin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1565125576

Book Description

Bill Alexander had no idea that his simple dream of having a vegetable garden and small orchard in his backyard would lead him into life-and-death battles with groundhogs, webworms, weeds, and weather; midnight expeditions in the dead of winter to dig up fresh thyme; and skirmishes with neighbors who feed the vermin (i.e., deer). Not to mention the vacations that had to be planned around the harvest, the near electrocution of the tree man, the limitations of his own middle-aged body, and the pity of his wife and kids. When Alexander runs (just for fun!) a costbenefit analysis, adding up everything from the live animal trap to the Velcro tomato wraps and then amortizing it over the life of his garden, it comes as quite a shock to learn that it cost him a staggering $64 to grow each one of his beloved Brandywine tomatoes. But as any gardener will tell you, you can't put a price on the unparalleled pleasures of providing fresh food for your family.

Customer Reviews:

As an animal lover..........2007-06-28

... I too was distressed by the chapters where the authors obsession defies his place at the top of the food chain and his "logical" abilities. When the local fauna decide that his exorbitantly expensive garden is the local salad bar, he goes on the war path and attempts to destroy everything alive that is not a plant.

While this is somewhat disheartening, it is also illuminating. I place this book alongside ElectroBoy on my bookshelf, and alongside The Omnivore's Dilemma, because it makes such a natural segue between the two.

William Alexander is truly obsessed with his garden. What ought to be a nice, pleasant way to pass time and to get some exercise and food turns into a dangerous obsession, resulting in damage to his finances, his health, his psyche, and his marriage.

It is amusing, in parts, however.

Read it, if only to see what lengths people will go to in order to save their hobby. It is an interesting study, really. Probably not a book I will read again, but it is one that I will think of from time to time.

Harkius

Of hope, disappointment, and tasty heirloom tomatoes .......2007-06-16

"Gardening is, by its very nature, an expression of optimism over experience." - Wm Alexander

How true. Having personally tried, for many years, to have a successful (albeit small) backyard garden in which to grow tomatoes that I could pick right off the plant, which is as fresh as you can ever get, I felt the joy and frustration of "me vs them" gardening just like Mr Alexander. Fortunately, reading this humourous account of his experiences in his own garden gave me some laughs and made me feel better about having done some dumb things in my quest to be semi-self-sufficient. (I used to tell myself, " I'm NOT going to spend another cent on overpriced supermarket tomatoes!" Little did I know then that you can't simply will things to grow the way you want them to.) This is a very enjoyable book and I highly recommend it to anyone who has ever tried to grow anything outside of a houseplant. I see that several reviewers here were offended by Mr Alexander's handling of troublesome deer, groundhogs, bugs, and having to resort to the use of chemical sprays instead of sticking to his plan of "pesticide free gardening." Those are views I don't happen to share. Read this funny and informative book out in the yard in a lawnchair.

Some of his favorite recipes are included in the back of the paperback edition: e.g. "Leek Potato Soup."

Animal lovers beware!.......2007-06-14

Sadly, I was never able to get far enough into this book to be able to give it a reasonable review. About halfway through, the author goes into chilling detail about his efforts to get rid of several of those pesky creatures that we call wildlife. When his efforts to keep said wildlife from his crops fail, he decides that they need to be killed. After his description of how he trapped an oppossum, left it in the sun to die and, failing that, tried to drown it (all witnessed by his children), I was finished with this book. The fact that this is offered up as humor makes me sick.

This is why I get the unmanly foods at the Safeway.......2007-06-03

" ... you grow things, and the deer, groundhogs, beetles, and webworms eat them, and you eat what's left." - Wm. Alexander

"A hundred pounds of apples is a lot of pandowdy." - Wm. Alexander

For me, mind you, pizza is the perfect food. Especially cold for breakfast with a glass of milk. My wife, on the other hand, nags me to get my fifty daily servings of fruit and veg. Ok, ok, some shreds of onion and mushroom wouldn't spoil the Meat Lover's Deep Dish Feast, but I wouldn't dedicate ten years of my life to growing stuff like author William Alexander unless pizza grew on a vine.

THE $64 TOMATO is Alexander's fun tale of the fifth decade of his life, which he spends battling deer, beetles, webworms, squirrels, groundhogs, weeds, caterpillars, opossums, and fungus to bring the produce of his home garden in the Hudson River Valley into the kitchen to feed the family. It's a love/hate relationship that sometimes interferes with his day job as the director of technology at a psychiatric research institute.

Three elements of THE $64 TOMATO elevate the narrative well above the ordinary. One is William's engaging self-deprecatory humor. He's not afraid to reveal himself as an occasional idiot, as when he contemplated managing his meadow with fire, an action plan narrowly avoided only after noticing that the National Parks Service caused the evacuation of Los Alamos Laboratory after losing control of a "controlled burn" in New Mexico's Bandelier National Monument. The second is the self-realization of the limits imposed by aging and a herniated spinal disc as he reaches 50:

"I felt a little dizzy. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I wanted to have an affair. I wanted to be young again."

Just turned 58 myself, I can relate.

The third is the esoteric knowledge gained while laboring at his hobby and imparted to the reader, the best example being the chapter on growing apples, "No Such Thing as Organic Apples". Did you know that apple blossoms need to be cross-pollinated by a different apple variety in order to set fruit?

Perhaps the book's greatest failing is that no pictures are included. However, this deficit is easily remedied by going to the Web site address comprised of this volume's title followed by ".com". I tell you, even I was impressed - but not so much that my fruit and veg is coming from anywhere other than the supermarket.

the composted gardening book.......2007-06-01

I'm a master gardener (organic) and an English teacher and never did I think I could hate a book or, to make matters worse, a GARDENING book the way I hate this one....If I can garden blissfully and organically in South Carolina then surely this guy can manage not to kill everything that moves with pesticides and even worse means in New York! And on Page 216! How does he know how many penises a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader has seen? Just because he couldn't make it on a football team in N.C. doesn't mean cheerleaders are whores...Jeez...I hate this book so much that I am either composting or putting it in the paper recycle bin..I do not want to be responsible for anyone else reading and thus being discouraged by it...

BLOW: How a Small-Town Boy Made $100 Million with the Medellin Cocaine Cartel and Lost It All

Average customer rating:

FREE GEORGE JUNG!
Blow
Sloppy job, but still interesting
Literally Being Blown Away
Got to know when to calm down

BLOW: How a Small-Town Boy Made $100 Million with the Medellin Cocaine Cartel and Lost It All
Bruce Porter
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0312267126

Book Description

BLOW is the unlikely story of George Jung's roller coaster ride from middle class high school football hero to the heart of Pablo Escobar's Medellin cartel--the largest importer of the United States cocaine supply in the 1980's. Jung's early business of flying marijuana into the United States from the mountains of Mexico took a dramatic turn when he met Carlos Lehder, a young Columbian car thief with connections to the then newly born cocaine operation in his native land. Together they created a new model for selling cocaine, taking it from a drug used by the entertainment elite, to a massive and unimaginably lucrative enterprise-one whose earnings, if legal, would have ranked the cocaine business as the sixth largest private enterprise in the Fortune 500. The ride came to a screeching halt when DEA agents and Florida police busted Jung with 300 kilos of coke, effectively unraveling his fortune. But George wasn't going down alone. He planned to bring down with him one of the biggest cartel figures ever caught.... A riveting insider account of the lurid world of international drug smuggling and a supercharged drama of one man's meteoric rise and desperate fall, Bruce Porter chronicles Jung's life using unprecedented eyewitness sources in this critically acclaimed true crime classic.AUTHORBIO: Bruce Porter, a former newspaper reporter and editor of Newsweek, teaches at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He has also written for the New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, Playboy, and Connoisseur, among other publications.

Customer Reviews:

FREE GEORGE JUNG!.......2007-01-04

If you want to understand George Jung this is the book to read. After you read this you'll have a new appreciation for how cleverly the movie was made. Sadly, the real George had some sexual habits discussed in the book that would of been better left unsaid, that don't add to the story and only tend make him sound bad. Never the less, it gives you a clear picture of how he was used as an example and given a much harsher sentence than was warrented. George Jung should be a free man today. He's more than payed his debt to society!!!!!

Blow.......2006-03-01

The up your nose, in-your-face life of George Jung, the high-school football star from small-town USA who became the American linchpin of the Columbium cocaine cartel. Jung is talked about his earlier years as a poor student, risk taker from a shaky family but the story comes to age as he takes off for California for a haze of sunbathing, sex, pot, and LSD. Soon enough George is arrested and his operation is on hold temporarily. In prison, Jung befriends a young Carlos Lehder and links up with the Medallion cartel, which gross 35 billion in cocaine sales a year. Money, Learjets, fast cars, and very wild women make this story a big success. George Jung did what he considered the best thing he would be at and took it to a level of unknown power. During the 1980's if you snorted cocaine you had an 85% you bought it from him or people he supplied to. I would recommend this book to people that can feel remorse for what a man did only for the reason he was good at it and enjoyed what he did. George Jung lived the American Dream in his own aspect and I will respect him for what he did and what he regrets.

Sloppy job, but still interesting.......2005-08-25

Aware that the movie is only loosely based on a true story, I turned to this book for a more factual account of the rise and fall of George Jung. But Jung's own account of the execution he witnessed on the Escobar ranch, to pick an example, differs as much from the one in this book as from the movie!

By page four I knew this wasn't secretly penned by Truman Capote. It is vulgar and loaded with malapropisms, for example: the word "obviate" is repeatedly used where "eliminate" is intended. Evidently no one at Harper Collins knows what the word means. "Secrete" is used for "secret." There are stretches long enough that I was able to get into the read before pausing to wonder what was meant by a non sequitur or a sentence that is not a sentence, but a slight effort by a copy editor or high school English teacher would have greatly improved the work. The editors and "fact checker" should all be serving time for criminal negligence. Terrible job.

Carlos Lehder is portrayed as a reckless megalomaniac brazen enough to unabashedly ramp up his smuggling through Norman's Cay to full tilt --really taking it to another level-- seemingly without regard for how much attention it would draw; indiscretion ultimately did the cartel in. There are interesting tales of boaters being chased away from the island, including a retired Walter Cronkite! Once a boat was found adrift in that vicinity, spattered with blood.

Surprisingly, considering the vast differences between this book and the movie, the fight scene with Mirtha driving up the I-95 one night actually did occur.

Regarding the Eastham bust, George was said to be looking at a ten-year sentence for the coke, but the book makes no mention whatsoever as to whether Richard Barile did in fact have the machine gun he mentioned at least twice to the undercover cop that evening, possession of which would carry the same sentence under federal law --not to mention what the state of Massachusetts would have done to him. There are many such places throughout the book that left me wondering why something was covered so unevenly and then just abandoned. At another point it refers in passing to George having two children, with no mention before or after of a second child being born.

Some of the "factoids" regarding aviation and firearms are hilariously inaccurate. A Hughes 500 helicopter becomes a "Huey 500." ("Huey" refers to an entirely different type of helicopter, and there's no such thing as a "Huey 500.") And once and for all, folks, a .357 magnum will not go through an engine block; that's a myth. (It just ricochets, leaving a tiny dent on the surface. Don't try this at home.)

For an enthralling account of indulgence, lust, and greed in the 1970's narcotics biz try "Underground Empire" by James Mills. It covers selected DEA CENTAC operations on different continents. Think you can't finish a thousand-page book? You wait. :-) Also, another bio of George Jung is currently in the works. And for instant gratification search the web for "Norman's Cay."

Literally Being Blown Away.......2005-03-23

I was handed Blow from a friend and finished it within a busy schedule in less than a nine days. It is the unbelievable story of George Jung's life from being a small town local hero, to becoming deeply seeded in the Colombian drug trade. He managed to make more than 100 million dollars before he was caught for the last time and his extraordinary life leaves you nothing but dumbfounded.

My favorite aspect of this novel is that you fall in love with and root for the bad-guy. The reader never really acknowledges George as the enemy even though he is part of a murderous, criminal trade. Because his personality is so likeable you disregard many of the immoral things that he does. How he plays the prison game and makes friends everywhere he goes. George even manages to befriend Senor Pablo Escobar. As a white kid from suburbia this feat is astonishing.

The story is written through a mix of George's and author Bruce Porter's point of view and with interviews from several of his close friends and colleagues you can understand his life and actions from every point of view. George's dialogue is especially captivating because he is such a humble, carefree man with it seems no fear and complete control.

Since the book is vulgar and sometimes portrays cocaine use in a humorous and unapologetic fashion I would recommend the book for at least, mature late teens. This book instantly became a new favorite of mine and because it is a true story I think it is especially unbelievable. This intensely researched and complete chronicle of George Jung's life is one of the most irresistible stories I have ever read.

Got to know when to calm down.......2004-12-18

For anyone expecting this book to be a kind of light, or detailing of the events in the film it's not. The George Jung we read about in Bruce Porter's book is a quite different one from the one played by Johnny Depp. He's a lot smarter (while not exactly being a genius), a lot more greedy, and a lot tougher. Plus, anyone enamored of the movie will be starstruck by the level of embellishment Ted Demme indulged in while making it. Jung never stopped dealing, even after he basically got a "get out of jail free" card for testifying against Carlos Lehder (Diego in the movie), a sinister megalomaniac who along with Jung basically introduced coke to the US. There was no "one last run" for his daughter, who we only hear about a few times in the book in vague reveries of regret Jung has for all she had to witness in his "glory days". Mirtha was not quite the ruthless bitch Penelope Cruz played, and seemed to have stuck by Jung through quite a bit. The book is essentially a repetitive documentation of drug smuggle after drug smuggle, until Jung gets way too comfortable and dipping into his own stash all the time. He just doesn't know when to calm down. Soon, he's so fried that he starts bragging to undercover cops and taking them under his wing as fellow smugglers, and so of course getting busted.

For all this, Jung is no ruthless monster like many of the people we see him associate with. He's actually kind of a middle class goofball who had a business mind and weird determination to never be poor, which may have stemmed from his childhood (who cares? that's no excuse.) He seems to have had quite a bit of intellect and could have been successful at something other than his purely destructive occupation. He simply chose his own path and paid for it. He gets out of jail after he should have gone away forever, starts dealing weed again, and then goes away for good. There's no heartbreaking twist to any of this, just one man's greed getting the best of him. This is a sad story not for Jung but for his daughter, his wife, and his father, who also seems to have seen some good in him the whole way through. (We actually get to read the real tape Jung made for his father, one of the highlights of the book). An alternately exciting, depressing tale.

The Lost Art of the Great Speech: How to Write One--How to Deliver It

Average customer rating:

Fantastic- a great resource
The Lost Art of the Great Speech: How to Write One--How to Deliver It
An Excellent Resource for Speakers
This is a terrific book!
A Must Read

The Lost Art of the Great Speech: How to Write One--How to Deliver It
Richard Dowis
Manufacturer: AMACOM/American Management Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0814470548

Book Description

It's not all in the delivery. Here's expert guidance on how to write a dynamic speech. Splashy slides, confident body language, and a lot of eye contact are fine and well. But if a speech is rambling, illogical, or just plain boring, the impact will be lost.

Now everyone can learn to give powerful, on-target speeches that capture an audience's attention and drive home a message. The key is not just in the delivery techniques, but in tapping into the power of language.

Prepared by an award-winning writer, this authoritative speech-writing guide covers every essential element of a great speech, including outlining and organizing, beginning with a bang, making use of action verbs and vivid nouns, and handling questions from the audience. Plus, the book includes excerpts from some of history's most memorable speeches--eloquent words to contemplate and emulate.

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic- a great resource.......2006-01-27

Ultimately, what stays with an audience, is the content of your speech. Richard Dowis, a former journalist and retired senior vice president of Manning, Selvage, and Lee Public Relations provides information to help you effectively collect, organize and shape content into powerful speeches. He urges you to consider first the purpose of your speech, what you really want the audience to walk away with. Then, to fit your purpose into the format and time allotted. You must begin by researching your topic, clarifying your purpose, creating an outline and identifying a strong thesis, or unifying idea. When organizing your speech the most important consideration is that it must be logically organized. He identifies several organizational strategies you can use. For example, Chronological order, the "Big Bang" where a shocking thesis is presented up front, and Cause-and-effect which outlines the causes of a problem, describes its effect and suggests a solution. He also provides the following guidance on writing your speech:

1. Begin Well: Your opening should establish rapport with the audience, set the tone, reinforce your credibility and arouse interest in your subject. 5 categories of opening are: novelty, dramatic, question, humorous and reference/quote.
2. Watch Your Language: Avoid Jargon and overly complex language. Try instead for a simple elegance. Be yourself.
3. Use Proven Techniques: The Rule of Three: Organize related thoughts into groups of three to make them more memorable and dramatic. Anaphora: repeat words or phrases at the beginning of several sentences.
4. When using statistics: make them interesting and meaningful, express statistics in terms your audience can understand, and avoid using too many raw figures in a row.
5. Closing the Speech: use your closing to reinforce your point, or to reinforce the goal of the speech. Most closings fall into seven categories: Summary, Wrap-up, Direct appeal, Thesis, Reference, Inspirational, and Humorous/Anecdotal.
6. Editing: When editing consider content, organization, style, language and grammar.

The Lost Art of the Great Speech: How to Write One--How to Deliver It.......2005-09-09

I originally checked this out at the library and realized I needed it in my reference collection. It's well writen, informative and fun to read. The author walks you step by step through the process of writing a speech to giving it, along with useful tricks of the speech writers trade. I highly recommend it.

An Excellent Resource for Speakers.......2002-10-03

Richard Dowis spends no time lamenting this lost art. Instead he focuses his energy on its resurrection.

Dowis's background in journalism and public relations provided the foundation for his writing a remarkably readable book. His conversational style serves as a model for the language you would want to hear -- and use -- in a speech. Frequent headings and an especially legible font also contribute to the book's readability.

In _The Lost Art of the Great Speech_, Dowis addresses every conceivable aspect of this topic -- from deciding whether to accept a speaking engagement to "leveraging" a speech by converting it to one or more publishable articles. The book takes a holistic approach to speech writing. Chapters follow the process of speech preparation, including delivery as well as crafting. In addition, Dowis discusses topics such as how to write a speech to be delivered by someone else and how to introduce a speaker.

Each chapter includes pertinent excerpts from actual speeches, many taken from the business world, and also includes a full speech or a substantial excerpt of a speech by a well-known person. Many of these speeches have historical significance. Having asserted that "reading and listening to speeches is one of the keys to learning how to write and deliver them," Dowis supplies us with many examples to study.

Dowis devotes several chapters to rhetorical devices that can lift a speech from the respectable to the eloquent. To illustrate how rhetoric can immortalize a concept, he compares several versions of an idea that appeared in speeches by famous Americans.

In addition to a detailed index, _The Lost Art of the Great Speech_ includes two helpful appendices: An Editing Checklist for Speech Writers and Resources for Speakers and Speech Writers.

_The Lost Art of the Great Speech_ is a valuable resource for anyone who might have the opportunity to address a group of people. Although it does not include study questions or practice exercises, it would be an excellent book for a class of high school or college students as well as for adults who are studying independently.

This is a terrific book!.......2001-08-09

Although this book was written for business folk, it serves as a tremendous text for high school students. The suggestions are clear, the models exemplary, and the writing concise. Also, the texts of speeches that end nearly every chapter are well-chosen. AND there's a handy appendix listing resources for speakers and writers.

A Must Read.......2001-05-05

For those of you who don't like text book reads but need the information, this is the book for you. This book gives useful information and useful hints on speech writing and speech giving. It is the best of Speech Communication classes and everyday ideas for the beginner in public speaking and the expert speech writer.

The Lost King of France: How DNA Solved the Mystery of the Murdered Son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette

Average customer rating:

A searing tale
The Suffering of the Innocent
Great Read, Poorly Made Book
Well written
Intriguing, Engrossing History of Louis XVII

The Lost King of France: How DNA Solved the Mystery of the Murdered Son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
Deborah Cadbury
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0312320299

Book Description

Two years after the executions of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette at the height of the French Revolution, a ten-year-old boy, his skin covered with scabies, his sanity gone, died in a Paris prison. Was this tortured child of royal birth, or had the young prince escaped? In time, the prince's surviving sister was approached by count-less 'brothers' claiming not only the dauphin's name, but also his inheritance. For the next 200 years, as rival royal dynasties vied for the French throne, this mystery went unsolved. It was not until experts discovered a mummified human heart in a crystal urn that the truth unfolded. Examining this historical mystery from every absorbing angle, Cadbury explains how modern DNA analysis uncovered a surprising answer to this centuries old mystery.

Customer Reviews:

A searing tale.......2007-05-23

Of all the human tragedy that marked the French Revolution, perhaps none was so acute as that experienced by the royal family. In this well-researched and engrossing book, Deborah Cadbury conveys the full measure of this tragedy in her description of the unspeakable horrors visited on the little Dauphin of France, Louis-Charles, son of Louis VXI and Marie-Antoinette. It is impossible to avoid that sick feeling in the pit of one's stomach as we read this harrowing tale, and it certainly helps explain why, to this day, many people can't bring themselves to believe that it was indeed Marie-Antoinette's "chou d'amour" who ended his days in so wretched a manner.
Cadbury also does a fine job of recounting in a very readable manner the seemingly endless procession of pretenders that began to emerge shortly after the Terror, and keeps the reader in suspense until the final denouement.
All in all, an excellent, moving book, not to be missed.

The Suffering of the Innocent.......2007-05-23

I enjoyed Deborah Cadbury's "The Lost King of France," although I would never recommend reading it at night, unless stories of small children being brutalized help one to sleep. Cadbury has a dry, logical style which makes her descriptions of the royal family's descent into hell all the more horrifying. I was perturbed when she stated that Fersen and Marie-Antoinette were probably lovers, without giving any evidence, especially when she was careful to give evidence for everything else. Also, on the cover of the book is most likely a picture of Louis-Joseph, not Louis-Charles (Louis XVII).

Many say that the book proves beyond doubt the death of Louis XVII on June 8, 1795, but it does not. The DNA merely concluded that the desiccated heart which was allegedly removed from the little victim who died in the Temple was the child of a Habsburg princess. As anyone familiar with European history knows, Habsburg princesses were legion; many not having the last name of Habsburg, but having Habsburg genes. Although it is highly probable that Louis XVII did die in the Temple at age ten after horrendous sufferings, it should be recalled that Madame Royale herself had doubts about the fate of her brother, since she had not been allowed to identify the body.

Great Read, Poorly Made Book.......2007-02-22

I purchased my soft cover copy of The Lost King of France in February 2007 through Amazon. As I began reading, the pages began to fall out of the book. The ink on the pages was thin, spotty,frequently irritating to read as one's eye stopped to make out whether a letter was an "e" or an "o." The publisher is St. Martin's Griffin. Fine work by the author - excellent read. Check it out of the library or find a hardback to buy. By the time you finish reading the paperback, you'll have a lap full of single pages and a severe case of eye strain. Paper's cheap too.

Well written.......2007-01-29

Oh , this is such a sad book, about a poor child that suffered so much---just because he was the son of Marie Antoinette. Parts of this book simply made me cry (especially at the very end of this book).

The author is AMAZING!...Wow, what a writer! I'd love to read more of her books after buying this one.

The information given inside this book (ie: on whether the "real" Boy King died in the horrible way which he did) were proven to me, in my humble opinion. The author covers all bases, in order to come up with the final conclusion on what truly happened to the poor King child.

I recommned this book if you like mysteries, biographies of famous people, and also if you like the topic of History , in general.

Intriguing, Engrossing History of Louis XVII.......2007-01-25

This book was absolutely enthralling from the first page to last. Even knowing a lot about this historic period, I was continually educated and surprised, while not being bored for a second. An absolute must for anyone wanting to know in detail about the tragic fate of Marie Antoinette and her family.

Crazies to the Left of Me, Wimps to the Right: How One Side Lost Its Mind and the Other Lost Its Nerve

Average customer rating:

A bit tepid.
Great read.
Right Down My Rut
Goldberg lashes out at Republicans and Democrats
Very Pleased

Crazies to the Left of Me, Wimps to the Right: How One Side Lost Its Mind and the Other Lost Its Nerve
Bernard Goldberg
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Somebody's Gotta Say It
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming (and Environmentalism)
Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel - Why Everything You Know Is Wrong

ASIN: 0061252573
Release Date: 2007-04-17

Book Description

The number one New York Times bestselling author Bernard Goldberg is back with more hard-hitting observations and no-nonsense advice for saving America from the lunatics on the Left and the sellouts on the Right.

In Crazies to the Left of Me, Wimps to the Right, Goldberg speaks for the millions of Americans who are saying: Enough!

Enough of lunatics like Rosie O'Donnell who think "Radical Christianity"—whatever that means—is "as big a threat to America as Radical Islam." Enough of the hyperbolic liberal rhetoric comparing Bush to Hitler and Abu Ghraib to a Saddam Hussein torture chamber. Enough of the liberal media, in particular the New York Times, which Goldberg claims doesn't publish "all the news that's fit to print" so much as "all the news that fits our ideology." And please, enough of the military-hating crazies who run San Francisco! ("Just what this country needs," Goldberg writes, "a city with Rice-A-Roni and a foreign policy.")

But Goldberg doesn't stop with the crazies on the Left. Speaking for fed-up conservatives, he also goes after the wimps on the Right—the gutless wonders in Washington who sold out their principles for power.

He's had it with hypocritical Republicans who say they're for small government but then spend our hard-earned tax money like Imelda Marcos in a shoe store. He's also had it with the weak and timid Republicans who won't stand up and fight against racial preferences, too afraid that the Al Sharptons and Jesse Jacksons of the world will call them bigots. In plain English, he's had it with Republicans who are afraid to be conservative!

In his most personal, provocative book yet, Bernard Goldberg argues that while conservatives still believe in important things, the jury is out on Republicans. The 2006 election was a wake-up call, he warns, and if the wimps on the Right fail to regain their courage, recover their principles, and reclaim their sense of fiscal responsibility, the crazies on the Left just might win the White House in 2008.

Customer Reviews:

A bit tepid........2007-07-02

I really wish Bernard Goldberg hadn't written this book - or had at least waited until it was done. The book is good, mind you. Goldberg takes devestating aim at not only left-wingers, but at pretend conservatives who let America down with their greed and pandering and lost control of Congress in 2006.

But, overall, the book has the feeling of being compiled from a list of to-dos, diary entries or blog postings. There are 47 short chapters or perhaps mini-essays. But they have no real depth and make no profound points. The subjects they cover, such as the editorial and reportial of the New York Times are not revelatory.

In short, Goldberg is preaching to the choir here. In "Bias" and "Arrogance", he made some solid points and provided information that wasn't readily available elsewhere, a benefit of his 28 years at CBS. Here, his points are covered ad nauseum on blogs, talk radio, on FoxNews and in conservative magazines every day. Sure, those of us who are conservatives will agree with Goldberg, just as we agree with anyone else making these points. Nothing new here.

Goldberg makes a big mistake in including three silly mini-essays oj how he would "fix the world". They're silly, but the subjects they address are not. Bad mistake in my mind.

Overall, the book is an okay read, if you don't mind reading what you already know. Next time around, I hope Goldberg - who has repeatedly demonstrated that he possesses a perceptive intellect - will take more time and perhaps write a more focused book, such as "Bias" and "Arrogance".

Jerry

Great read........2007-06-28

I literally could not put this book down. In many ways I enjoyed this more than "Bias". Goldberg has an easy matter-of-fact writing style which gets the point across without pretense. It is refreshing when so many authors feel the need to try and write an "instant classic". I only wish I could get some friends and acquaintances to read Goldberg's books. Too many people buy into everything that is spewed to them in the media, and the very people who could benefit most from Goldberg's message are those who would never even listen to it.

Right Down My Rut.......2007-06-27

Bernard Goldberg does an excellent job writing of the transformation of the Democrat and Republican parties, what they once represented and what they represent today. For me his book had me shaking my head in agreement.

Goldberg lashes out at Republicans and Democrats.......2007-06-25

Crazies to the Left of Me, Wimps to the Right by Bernard Goldberg is an enjoyable if uneven read. I love Bernie, and I've read all of his books. His book Bias changed how I look at mainstream media. In this latest book, he reviews his falling out of love with the Democrat party, becoming Republican, and then losing faith in his newfound party. He traces the changes in policies Democrats have made over the last fifty years going from the party of the worker to the party of the entertainment industry and intellectual elite. On their road to change, they've made some wacky decisions, most have been reported and covered in other books. The Republicans have gone from being the party of small government, big business to the party of same business as usual. I am a conservative at heart with a few libertarian tendencies, and much of the book rings true to me, but I was disappointed in Bernie's recycling of stories that have made the rounds in nearly every other conservative book published in the last two years. He loses some credibility when he shifts from objectively pointing out each party's flaws to name-calling. His redeeming quality is his insistence that neither party is doing right by America, but are failing in refusing to listen to what voters want and believe. He beats up on the Religious Right, Ann Coulter, affirmative action (again and again) and the liberal bias in the media. His take no prisoners approach is sometimes refreshing, sometimes uncomfortable. No matter where your political loyalties lie, take a look at this book.

Very Pleased.......2007-06-19

I enjoyed this book very much. I found it informative and well written.

How to Shit in the Woods: An Environmentally Sound Approach to a Lost Art

Average customer rating:

Required reading if you have to "go" outdoors!
It's a body function get over it!
Yawn - don't bother
A Masterpiece of English Literature
Finally ... a great help for the novice woodsman

How to Shit in the Woods: An Environmentally Sound Approach to a Lost Art
Kathleen Meyer
Manufacturer: Ten Speed Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0898156270

Book Description

An Environmentally Sound Approach to a Lost Art

Our once-pristine wildlands are threatened by ever increasing problems of pollution. Since its first publication in 1989, How to Shit in the Woods has been adopted by outdoor enthusiasts everywhere as part of the solution. In this updated edition, outdoorswoman Kathleen Meyer reviews the newly available portable potties, with special attention to individual trekkers in an all-new chapter, "Plight of the Solo Poop Packer." Other topics include: the growing array of travelers' field water-disinfecting systems, Giardia contamination and the now infamous critter Cryptosporidium, crotch-accessible clothing for women, and a fresh batch of "worst experience" stories, all peppered with irreverent musings. For the purist, there are more wise t.p.-less techniques from the Old World. Written with an effervescent sense of humor, this is a book for anyone who wants to enjoy the outdoors responsibly.

Customer Reviews:

Required reading if you have to "go" outdoors!.......2007-05-14

To the uninitiated, the art of having a dump in the woods probably seems no more complicated than "squat, squint, squeeze and squeegee"! But, alas, as the world shrinks and the use of the world's limited wilderness terrain by outdoor adventurers increases to the limit of the land's ability to withstand the stress of that use, it's just not that simple. When considerations such as ecology, weather, temperature, privacy, courtesy, hygiene, biodegradation, density of camping use in an area, terrain and so on are factored into the decision as to where and how to complete the necessary feat, all is not as simple as it would seem. The methods one should choose are as varied as the terrains one might choose to visit and the times of year in which those choices are made.

"How to Shit in the Woods" is a book that should be read by EVERY person who would choose to venture into the out of doors - whether you want to spend a weekend at the local campground or you're a hardcore toughened backwoodsman heading out into the bush for a week long solo canoe trip in Canada's northern boreal forest!

Be prepared for lots of silly toilet humour, hilarious anecdotes concerning toilet misadventures, lots of tongue-in-cheek jokes, a good number of belly laughs and a very earthy delivery to be sure - but the message ultimately is entirely serious and well worth the read! There is very little humorous when it concerns encountering the leavings of someone who trod the trail in front of you.

Highly recommended for campers of all stripes, sexes, ages and experience levels.

It's a body function get over it!.......2007-03-19

A well written book about a subject that people normally don't think about till they are out in the middle of nowhere and it's too late to find a restroom that is miles away. The title may be offensive to some but, the books provides excellent information

Yawn - don't bother.......2007-01-24

This is a serious subject, and I hoped the book would contain some good info and be a useful and light-hearted read for the inexperienced campers I often escort into the country. Sadly, the useful info in this book would barely fill a magazine article - which is where it should have been. The bulk of it is a painfully inept attempt at humour, over-complicated and pompous storytelling and self-apology. There is simply too much tedious waffle diluting the interesting stuff to make the book useful to anyone as a quick reference, and it simply isn't funny enough to warrant it's size (which, given its smallness, is saying something). At best it is mildly amusing in parts - and at worst it is a painfully protracted waste of paper. Perhaps it is intended to be used for wiping yourself after practising some of the poorly described techniques within?

A Masterpiece of English Literature.......2005-12-07

Ok, it's not a masterpiece of English literature. What is there to analyze here? This is like arguing the merits of Benny Hill. For 8 bucks, buy this book. It has a few practical tips about where and how to deficate in the woods (hence the title). Great. The introduction is a tears-in-your-eyes funny anecdote on that topic that is probably worth the price. Then, you have a conversation piece for your bookshelf that will be appreciated by almost everyone. And, the author goes to some length to argue that this title is NOT vulgar (the book includes a useful lexicon for the word that is also worth the price). And, you'll have something to think about the next time you take a hurried necessary behind a tree or abandon a diaper in the Wal-Mart parking lot! Enough analysis already.

Finally ... a great help for the novice woodsman.......2004-12-13

Few experiences do more to mar the outdoorsy afternoon or the 8 day backpack trek than stepping over a log and discovering your expensive waffle-stompers are filled with the leavings of another hiker. The problem is as old as mankind. At least, it's as old as mankind after he began noticing what was between his toes.

The Bible addressed the problem, probably in the first surviving form, by demanding that people walk away from others with a spear or spade, dig a hole, and cover it. That method works well where the traffic is light. It works less well on heavily traveled forest trails.

Meyer offers 102 pages of suggestions, anecdotes and solutions for novices who want to experience the woods, don't want to create a problem, recognize it's a necessary body function and must be addressed.

I'd recommend it for everyone who plans a trip into the outdoors and isn't already familiar with how to deal with the function in a way that's not objectionable to those who follow. I'd make it required reading for those who go to the areas I'm likely to visit.

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