When I picked this up, based on an internet controversy, I looked at it and thought, "532 page book about the Civil War? I'm not so sure." T...moreWhen I picked this up, based on an internet controversy, I looked at it and thought, "532 page book about the Civil War? I'm not so sure." The first few chapters are quite engaging and interesting, and the perspective is new, to me. There are many questions I would ask about economics and class, but the emphasis on the Evangelicals is quite interesting. Not so much new under our national sun.(less)
This is a detailed account, by two reporters, of the investigation and arrests of money-laundering rabbis, bribe-taking politicians, and one transplan...moreThis is a detailed account, by two reporters, of the investigation and arrests of money-laundering rabbis, bribe-taking politicians, and one transplant-kidney broker. Dozens were arrested in New Jersey.
The whole thing is fascinating, not least how corrupt both Jersey politics and Orthodox Jewry are.
LIke any book based upon the authors' intense work, this one "tells me more about penguins than I want to know," because the authors didn't want to waste any of the material. Still, in the end it's a page-turner.(less)
The novel that was made into the movies. The Coen Bros. are pretty faithful to it.
A good read, told in the voice of a Presbyterian spinster...moreThe novel that was made into the movies. The Coen Bros. are pretty faithful to it.
A good read, told in the voice of a Presbyterian spinster from Arkansas, remembering her girlhood. Funny, exciting, and cleverly constructed. They should read it in middle school. Boys and girls would like it.(less)
The recently deceased Chalmers Johnson was a former CIA man turned apostate from the American Imperial project. This book is an account of the America...moreThe recently deceased Chalmers Johnson was a former CIA man turned apostate from the American Imperial project. This book is an account of the American Empire, its flaws and weaknesses. It's rather well-documented, to the point where one wants to skip some of the details. Johnson also adopts, with the zeal of a convert, some of the nostrums of the Left.
By hollowing out our manufacturing industries, depleting our culture and genes with too much immigration, engaging in needless and unwinnable wars, empowering speculators and Ponzifiers, and devouring our seed corn, we have set the stage for the Empire's demise. Our political class is utterly unable to manage these dark times.
This novel is a portrait of a group of Jews connected to a community of orthodox Orthodox Jews who live in Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York, wi...moreThis novel is a portrait of a group of Jews connected to a community of orthodox Orthodox Jews who live in Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York, with a summer community in the Catskills. There is no one central character, and less a plot than a series of stories, none so dramatic in itself. However, the writing is excellent and the layers of meaning thick. The characters are neither romanticized nor turned into emotional talismans.
A good read for a quiet, rainy day, which is when I read it.
BTW, my college-student daughter LOVED this book.(less)
Not one of Leonard's best. The concept had promise--Americans off to film Somali pirates, but the book turned into a sort of meta-meta-narrative, and ...moreNot one of Leonard's best. The concept had promise--Americans off to film Somali pirates, but the book turned into a sort of meta-meta-narrative, and was not very believable. Near the end there is a spectacular explosion, leading me to believe the author has a movie in mind. You need explosions for the 19-year-old boys in the audience.(less)
A very readable account of the wars between the Comanches and the Texans on the southern plains.
Gwynne pulls no punches about the brutali...moreA very readable account of the wars between the Comanches and the Texans on the southern plains.
Gwynne pulls no punches about the brutality and deception on both sides, and has great insight into the historic displacement of mounted hunters by settled ranchers and farmers. His protagonist, Quanah Parker, was a remarkable figure, who was a leader both of the Comanche resistance and the Comanches after their settlement on the reservation.
Typical Leonard. Hero is a bank robber recently out of prison.
The story concerns a Cuban sidekick, his girlfriend, and FBI agent with lite...moreTypical Leonard. Hero is a bank robber recently out of prison.
The story concerns a Cuban sidekick, his girlfriend, and FBI agent with literary aspirations, and assorted others. The Venice, California landscape is familiar to me, and well-depicted, and the language is typically pithy.
I found the story a bit less plausible than some, and it dragged in spots, but it's typical Leonard in that it's lively, and a quick read.(less)
This book is very interesting--full of interesting ideas about the "civil religion" in the United States and its consequences for traditiona...moreThis book is very interesting--full of interesting ideas about the "civil religion" in the United States and its consequences for traditional religion, and various forms of social theory.
Unfortunately, the book is marred by a systematic unclarity of diction. It is written in the finest sociologese. Worth considering, but a slog, for that reason.(less)
Benjamin Whorf, an amateur anthropologist, suggested that language affected the way people think, in very fundamental ways, although the idea hardly o...moreBenjamin Whorf, an amateur anthropologist, suggested that language affected the way people think, in very fundamental ways, although the idea hardly originated with him.
Whorf's ideas have not held up to serious analysis and investigation. Deutscher, however, summarizes recent research on linguistic elements such as the description of directions, color terminology, and gender, suggesting that language does subtly influence perception and thought.
This book also contains some interesting intellectual history. William Gladstone, the English Prime Minister, wrote on color terminology long before the anthropologists Berlin and Kay did, and was followed by many others.
The book is quite readable, marred only occasionally by strange diction ("forgive us our ignorances"), perhaps due to the fact that the author is a native speaker of modern Hebrew.
I find this stuff fascinating, and look forward to more books on linguistic topics by this author. (less)
The English are really different. And they all know one another.
This book is a series of recollections, and riffs on those recollections, ...moreThe English are really different. And they all know one another.
This book is a series of recollections, and riffs on those recollections, by Christopher Hitchens, once a man of the left and still a militanf atheist. Hitchens has become an American citizen and a supporter of the war in Iraq, but he is many other things besides. Full of anecdotes, allusions and opinions, this book is an intriguing self-portrait, fortunately quite literate, of a public intellectual with a restless and inventive mind.
Hitchens now is battling esophageal cancer. I offer up a prayer for his recovery, and a long life, whether or not he believes in the efficacy of such things. (less)
This book is excellent. It strikes the right balance between accessibility and scholarly content. Linguists used to say that any discussion of the ori...moreThis book is excellent. It strikes the right balance between accessibility and scholarly content. Linguists used to say that any discussion of the origins or early development of language was futile and an invitation to quackery. Apparently progress has been made. If Akkadian root structure and left-handed languages toot your horn, get this book.(less)
A very detailed, carefully-sourced attempt to rehabilitate Sen. McCarthy, who was demonized by Herblock and other liberals. The OSS and State were fu...moreA very detailed, carefully-sourced attempt to rehabilitate Sen. McCarthy, who was demonized by Herblock and other liberals. The OSS and State were full of communists and fellow-travelers. How much harm they did is another question.
Whether these folks "lost China," or conceived the New Deal is another matter, but they were there and some of them were spies. On those questions, McCarthy was right.
Evans heavily documents his work with quotations, references, and facsimiles of relevant documents. It makes for a slow read, but probably was necessary in that the concept of "McCarthyism" as the slinging of false accusations against political opponents has in fact entered the language.
Where Evans leaves open question is the extent to which the communist associations of many of the named individuals had any consequence either for the transmission of information to the Soviets, or to influences on policy. I doubt, for example, that those who sympathized with Mao at Yenan were the cause of the Communist takeover of China. Dean Acheson and his minions certainly were able to create the apparatus of the Cold War, which was continued by the Republican Eisenhower, although in his valedictory he questioned the "military-industrial complex."
The author is the mother of a high-funcitoning autistic son. This is the story of her attempts to help her son grow, and how the love of a golden retr...moreThe author is the mother of a high-funcitoning autistic son. This is the story of her attempts to help her son grow, and how the love of a golden retriever puppy worked a bit of magic with the boy.
It's a sentimental tale, and the author comes off as rather self-involved. She comes by it honestly, though, and one must conclude, in spite of not liking her all that much, that she is a heroic and loving person.
A quick read. You have to tolerate sentimentality to enjoy this book.(less)
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