Hunter Baker has a post up at Evangel on Rodney Stark’s new book on the crusades, God’s Battalions. Here’s what he says about the book by way of description:
Rodney Stark’s God’s Batallions is an outstanding book designed to help the educated reader (not only the academic reader) understand the Crusades. You know the routine. You want to talk about Christianity and the village atheist wonders just how you are getting past the horrors of the Crusades and the Inquisition. This book answers the question with regard to the Crusades. Stark brilliantly explains how the Crusades started, what happened in the course of events, and why they finally ended. All in all, the western church comes off pretty sympathetically. Readers who know Stark find it easy to trust him because he always questions excessive claims and makes sure to back his own assertions up with data.
Check out God’s Battalions. Also, Hunter’s own book, The End of Secularism, looks very good. I am working my way through it and commend it to you. Al Mohler did a whole radio program on it.
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An interesting post from Matthew Anderson on church architecture. Good Chesterton quotation to kife as well.
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Amanda Baker reports on a summer she spent living with unbelievers in Washington, DC. Hers was a reserve experience of the kind chronicled in the recent book by non-Christian Kevin Roose, The Unlikely Disciple, which profiles Roose’s strange semester at Liberty University.
I just read Roose’s book and found it provocative on a few points. Nothing too earth-shattering. I think the whole “I studied evangelical Christians thinking they were weird and found out they’re actually pretty normal” genre is a bit played out, personally. Many Christians are indeed pretty normal, sometimes too much so, as Roose’s book shows. The guys he pals around with struggle with lust, pornography use, and nominalism. I was reminded just how difficult it is for young men to fight for purity in this world, whether at Liberty or elsewhere, and just how much we need a robust view of Christ, not merely rules, Christian codes, and chapels, good as these things can be.
Roose’s writing isn’t exceptional, and the book doesn’t unearth anything terribly unusual, but I was glad that he seemed to warm to Christians through his exposure to them, and I hope that he finds the Lord.
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Have you heard of Libera? They’re an all-boys choir from England. This is not usually my cup of tea, but this is a particularly elegant song.
I recently read Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse for the first time. It’s one of those books I thought I’d read as a child but hadn’t. But perhaps it’s good it only found me now, because my then limited horse–and human–sense would have kept me from understanding much of what British author Anna Sewell (1877) wrote about the nature of horses.
(Note: “Horse sense” in American English colloquialism (1870) may have referred to strong, bold, simple common sense. I’m talking about sensing what a horse’s body language and behavior communicate.) (Note-note: I understood one horse, a skittish deep brown pony whose name I’ve forgotten. I, a fearful, soft-spoken child, never scolded her for shying away from my hand. We both needed gentleness, so it was easy for me to ride her. )
You might not know this, but, according to Wikepedia, Sewell intended Black Beauty to be an adult novel written for people who work with horses. Her book demonstrates how a person’s character is revealed through how s/he treats her horses. In the early chapters she gently preaches the virtues of kindness toward horses and humans and the benefits of upstanding behavior. Unfortunately, the later chapters her admonitions become annoyingly pontifical.
I think what I liked most about this book is its history lessons about painful treatment of horses, which included docking their tails and putting them in “bearing” reins that forced them to hold their heads unnaturally high, both a reflection of the day’s fashion. It also talks about taxi drivers who leased horses and then had to drive them hard to recoup their costs as well as earn a living. Was a tough life. Yet Sewell didn’t write only about cruelty; she writes about Black Beauty’s early days in his masters meadow and describes dedicated and competent grooms who kept his and other horses’ lives safe and comfortable.
I recommend you read Black Beauty, even if you’re not a horse fan or a kid.
Ferraris, Zoe. Finding Nouf. New York: Mariner, 2008. Print.
Nayir ash-Sharqi may only be a desert guide to some, but to others, he is the only hope of finding out what happened to sixteen year old Nouf Shrawi. When Nouf’s body is found and the autopsy reports drowning…in the desert, Nayir attempts to track Nouf’s last few days. Helping him search for evidence is 28-year-old Katya Hajazi, who hopes that the truth will set Nouf free.
This mystery is set in present day Saudi Arabia, and reveals much about the practices of a society so different from our own Western one, while also revealing that in essence, we are all much the same. I liked parts of this book, but some of the time I found it very heavy reading. I enjoyed the visual descriptions that the author added to make the setting come alive, but I’ll admit that I found it hard to relate to the characters.
Marked
P. C. Cast
Paperback, 320 pages
St. Martin’s Press
May 01, 2007
Once again, apologies for the lag time between reviews! Things have been really hectic and I’ve been so busy I’ve let some things slide through the cracks. I actually finished Marked over a week ago so this will be more of a mini review with the summary provided by Borders.com:
Enter the dark, magical world of The House of Night, a world where vampyres have always existed. Sixteen-year-old Zoey Redbird has just been Marked as a fledgling vampyre and joins the House of Night, a school where she will train to become an adult vampire. That is, if she makes it through the Change–and not all of those who are Marked do.
Sadly after about a week and a half after reading this book, not a lot of details jump out at me to pass on to you. I didn’t absolutely love it, but I did enjoy reading it and I got sucked into the story from the first few pages. Some of it seemed a bit too cookie-cutter for my taste (a hot vampire fledgling that sets his sights on the main character, an antagonist that is nasty and mean to the MC for no apparent reason, etc.) and I kept wishing that the teenage lexicon wasn’t constantly getting slammed in my face (if Zoey made any more smartass parenthetical remarks or used the words “poopie” or “boobies” one more time…), but it was really hard to put the book down because I was so drawn into the world PC & Kristin Cast created.
I loved the concept of the vampyres worshipping the ancient Greek goddess of night and all the ties to Cherokee rituals and beliefs. And I’m really intrigued by the differences that make Zoey stand out from the other fledglings (completely filled in Mark, bloodlust, etc.) so I hope I find out the reason for that eventually. The characters that make up her new group of friends at the school are great and provide a lot of delicious sarcasm and witty retorts.
The end was incredibly climactic and actually got pretty intense at times and it definitely left me wanting to continue the series and find out what happens next. I’m hoping that as the story progresses and Zoey gets older and (hopefully) wiser, the writing will reflect that as well (Hmmm…deja vu, didn’t I just say that about Percy Jackson?).
After reading Vampire Academy I found that I liked this book better and will probably read the next one before continuing the other series.
But again, I didn’t love it as I hoped I would. Ever since reading the Harry Potter and Twilight series I’ve been searching for more YA books that would captivate me just as much and so far I’ve been unsuccessful. It makes me wonder if those were just flukes and YA really just isn’t for me.
Have you read this series? What did you think? Can you recommend any YA books that will change my mind?
True to form for a contemporary fantasy, The Blade Itself plunges us straight into an action scene, a desperate bid for survival and a literal cliffhanger. The mechanics were initially arresting to my cycnical take on novel craft, but Abercrombie pulls it off well. He is never verbose and always seems to come up with simple words that convey the greatest image.
Perhaps the biggest strength of the book, for me, is Abercrombie’s use of voice and point of view. The principles have little idiosynracies of speech – sometimes action – which makes them instantly recognisable without a surfeit of speech tags (he said, she said…) There is the “say one thing for Logan Ninefingers…” and “you’ve got to be realistic” of Logan the barbarian, the italicised thoughts of Inquisitor Glotka, always commenting dryly but giving nothing away to his interlocutors), and the preening narcissism of Jazal dan Luthar.
Logan and Glotka in particular are extremely strong memorable characters – at times pantomimic but great fun. Many of the characters are caricatures, broadly brushed and stock types. This in no way hinders the comedic elements of the book but occasionally distances the reader from full engagement with them.
The plot is at times lumbering, a slow coming together of the principle characters. There are elements of intrigue, detective work, sword and sorcery (shades of Gene Wolfe at times, particularly in the House of Questions scenes). Abercrombie creates a hotch-potch of parody and tribute that nevertheless has moments of brilliance. He is at his best with action and character but occasionally lulls into mediocrity.
Language is also a slight inconsistency. Often it is used effectively, particularly when he remembers the point of view. There are, hovever, some incongruities and a smattering of contemporary expletives that don’t always fit the moment.
Whilst point of view is a definite strength in the book, I felt Abercrombie over did the changes of point of view. We often get a chapter from Logan’s perspective followed by a shift to Glotka, then to Jezal, back to Logan, off to Ferro. I found myself being drawn into a character only to be spat out and forced into another induction. I would have prefferred a little more balance and pacing here.
Nevertheless there are great things in The Blade Itself, the odd sublime scene, cruel wit, and (most of the time) a deceptively simple and utterly effective use of language. It is a refreshing read and stands out from the heap of turgid mush that the genre has been spilling onto the bookshelves for the past few decades.
True to form for a contemporary fantasy, The Blade Itself plunges us straight into an action scene, a desperate bid for survival and a literal cliffhanger. The mechanics were initially arresting to my cycnical take on novel craft, but Abercrombie pulls it off well. He is never verbose and always seems to come up with simple words that convey the greatest image.
Perhaps the biggest strength of the book, for me, is Abercrombie’s use of voice and point of view. The principles have little idiosynracies of speech – sometimes action – which makes them instantly recognisable without a surfeit of speech tags (he said, she said…) There is the “say one thing for Logan Ninefingers…” and “you’ve got to be realistic” of Logan the barbarian, the italicised thoughts of Inquisitor Glotka, always commenting dryly but giving nothing away to his interlocutors), and the preening narcissism of Jazal dan Luthar.
Logan and Glotka in particular are extremely strong memorable characters – at times pantomimic but great fun. Many of the characters are caricatures, broadly brushed and stock types. This in no way hinders the comedic elements of the book but occasionally distances the reader from full engagement with them.
The plot is at times lumbering, a slow coming together of the principle characters. There are elements of intrigue, detective work, sword and sorcery (shades of Gene Wolfe at times, particularly in the House of Questions scenes). Abercrombie creates a hotch-potch of parody and tribute that nevertheless has moments of brilliance. He is at his best with action and character but occasionally lulls into mediocrity.
Language is also a slight inconsistency. Often it is used effectively, particularly when he remembers the point of view. There are, hovever, some incongruities and a smattering of contemporary expletives that don’t always fit the moment.
Whilst point of view is a definite strength in the book, I felt Abercrombie over did the changes of point of view. We often get a chapter from Logan’s perspective followed by a shift to Glotka, then to Jezal, back to Logan, off to Ferro. I found myself being drawn into a character only to be spat out and forced into another induction. I would have prefferred a little more balance and pacing here.
Nevertheless there are great things in The Blade Itself, the odd sublime scene, cruel wit, and (most of the time) a deceptively simple and utterly effective use of language. It is a refreshing read and stands out from the heap of turgid mush that the genre has been spilling onto the bookshelves for the past few decades.
I read much of this on the living room couch under the blanket. It's been a cold winter in Texas!
Kingsolver, B. (2009). The lacuna: A novel. New York: Harper. 9780060852573
Back in high school, I picked up Barbara Kingsolver’s The Bean Trees for an English class assignment. Even though one of my guy friends berated the book and me, I enjoyed reading The Bean Trees. Then, I read The Poisonwood Bible for one of courses in college. While this book wasn’t so funny, I was enthralled by Kingsolver’s skill at presenting the same story from multiple perspectives. In fact, I consider The Poisonwood Bible one of my favorites. When Kingsolver’s The Lacuna came out in 2009, I placed a request on her latest book. After checking out the book five times, I managed to finish The Lacuna.
Harrison William Shepherd is the son of an American father and a Mexican father. His parents have split and Harrison spends his formative years bouncing between Dad and Mom, United States and Mexico. The book starts in 1929, when his mom, Salome, has dragged her passive son with her to the remote Isla Pixol, Mexico. They live her rich boyfriend and Harrison nothing but time on his hands. He discovers pastry-making with the household cook, Leandro, and a lacuna in the sea. Also, Salome presses upon him the need to write, to record his passage through life. After an unsuccessful stint in a U.S. military academy, the young man finds himself keeping a journal as a domestic employee of Diego Rivera. Here, he rubs elbows with Rivera, Kahlo, and an exiled Trotsky.
When circumstances bring Shepherd back to the United States, he publishes novels about the Azteca. The Lacuna itself contains many of Shepherd’s journals, letters, articles, and when needed, explanation from his right hand and future archivist, Violet Brown.
Kingsolver deals in many themes here – culture clash/shock, fear, prejudice, and alienation. While I found Shepherd compelling and I cared enough about him that I wanted to know what happened to the guy, I felt that I was kept at arm’s length. I couldn’t really know this man. As Violet Brown described him, he was a watcher rather than an actor. His words are beautiful but Shepherd is so remote.
I’m divided about the real people of the book. When I did a project about Rivera in high school, I had much the same sense of the muralist as portrayed in the book. Frida Kahlo as a fierce Aztec queen is right on the money. Yet, the amateur historian (okay, I minored in History) within me doesn’t find this kosher.
I think The Poisonwood Bible is a far better work. The Price women were just that – women. In that book, only the females talked to the reader. In The Lacuna, Shepherd, a man, feels cold even when my brain says that’s he’s not. I craved the words of Violet so much more simply because she was a woman and Kingsolver knows women. Whether or not Shepherd was gay doesn’t make a difference when it comes to writing a man in first person.
Beautiful prose but not completely natural. . .
Two out of Five Pearls
Word Bank: lacuna, Aztec, jingoist, Communism, McCarthyism
Places: Mexico, USA
For more on Barbara Kingsolver’s The Lacuna and related topics, please check out the following sites:
‘The Lacuna,’ Barbara Kingsolver’s Disappointing Return | NPR
Book World: Ron Charles reviews ‘The Lacuna’ by Barbara Kingsolver
Book Review: The Lacuna By Barbara Kingsolver – Blogcritics Books
Barbara Kingsolver – The Lacuna << Fyrefly’s Book Blog
This is a review/summary of chapter 1, by Karen B. Rogers, PhD, from The Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Children, What Do We Know?.
Weighing the disadvantages and benefits, it is essential for the academic, social, and psychological well-being and development of gifted students, for educators to create accelerated learning opportunities and environments. What form this acceleration takes place depends on many factors, some specific to the child and some to the allowances of the educational system. For the greatest benefit to occur, both need to work in a delicate balance.
Good points to bring up with a staff working with gifted students:
“…when high ability is exercised only in environments that provide little challenge, students tend to abandon hope of real learning and begin to expect themselves to excel at everything they try, avoiding situations at which they might not be instant experts and becoming more involved in demonstrating their ability than in the learning task itself.” p. 3
“As Foster (1985) and Gross (1989) have both discovered in their studies, when gifted children are not with their intellectual peers, their social self-concept declines and their negative self-criticism increases.” p. 4
“…in order to address [gifted] emotional and social issues, three educational provisions must be in place: (1) placement with others of like ability when the learning is ’serious,’ (2) exposure to progressively more complex tasks in a prestructured continuum of learning experiences based on mastery and readiness, and (3) flexible progression at an appropriately rapid pace.” p. 4
Questions/Implications raised:
Is the greater success of subject acceleration in the “lower grades” than the “older grades” due to the nature of the increased complexity of the content or the varying ability of the schools to offer accelerated opportunities at various grade levels? What can secondary schools due to change this trend?
Do secondary schools not appropriately address the social and emotional needs of gifted students in accelerated situations, and if so, could this lead to the decrease in the effectiveness of subject acceleration in “older grades”?
How can a school or district system support Rogers’ “four prerequisites of successful accelerative placement: (1) cognitive functioning, (2) personal characteristics, (3) learning preferences, and (4) interests,” p. 10? How does this process and the designed acceleration opportunities vary for our gifted students from “culturally different” or “poverty” backgrounds?
“For cognitive functioning…the child must be processing and achieving well above most others at the current grade level…” p. 10. How do we definer “well above”?
“In terms of personal characteristics, the child must generally be motivated by challenge and learning, be independent in thought and action, persist in other-directed and self-directed tasks, be socially mature and comfortable with older children, and have a positive relationship with at least one adult,” p. 10. How do we keep this from limiting acceleration and instead design differentiated acceleration opportunities for gifted students who do not fit all the qualities listed above? We need to find ways to engage all gifted students appropriately at higher levels of learning.
“The child’s learning preferences should include a willingness to work at his or her own pace, but not necessarily always alone,” p. 10. This is another great argument for homogenous grouping for gifted students. How do we overcome the rampant myths in education against leveled groupings of students while still honoring the benefits of heterogenous partnerships for specific learning targets in mixed-ability classrooms?
“The interests of the child should generally favor academic work, while his or her involvement in a variety of activities and hobbies outside of school might preclude time to supplement school learning in the home,” p.10. Again, we cannot ignore our gifted students who have become disillusioned and are currently underachieving academically. What work needs to be done with this subset of gifted students to prepare them for successful acceleration?
Parenting, Inc., written by Pamela Paul, goes beyond criticizing the baby product industry for its over-the-top marketing ploys, and analyzes how this exploding industry is impacting parents’ child-rearing abilities. It is an eye-opening read for any couple thinking of having children, as well as for those parents who know they should trust their instincts but are getting swept away in the tide of marketing and societal pressures.
The book’s first chapter discusses the ridiculous amounts of gear that parents are guilted into purchasing even before the little one is born. Forget diapers, baby wipes and onesies; parents are now made to feel inadequate if they don’t purchase every available item (including wipe warmers and baby-monitoring cameras) that could potentially minimize their child’s discomfort and maximize his happiness. Sure, parents want their children to be happy, and there’s nothing wrong with happiness. But, as Paul wonders: “Does it make sense to have a happy baby all the time?”
In the book, Jack Shonkoff, chairman of the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, reminds us that “babies need to live in a real world, a real environment, where things sometimes go well and sometimes don’t… They need some time to flounder by themselves and figure things out.” The author then argues that by catering to the whims of children, parents are creating a generation of entitled and attention-seeking human beings, who look to others when problems need to be solved.
Any teacher who works with children of affluence can sadly attest to the phenomenon of problem-solving deficit disorder. I have students who don’t know how to say “help me” when they first start school, and who will sit and stare for 20 minutes at a material I’ve shown them how to use, without making any effort to tackle the work in front of them, ask a classmate for help, or even put the material away. None of my kindergartners (five very bright children) knew what the word “solution” meant when they came to my classroom this year. Does that mean they’d never been presented with a problem???
Paul reminds us that the worst part of all the paraphernalia peddled to parents is its impact on parental confidence. The underlying message is that parenting is an overwhelming job that simply cannot be done well without the use of ridiculous amounts of expensive equipment. And when the perfect family life doesn’t materialize, parents are left to feel that they and their flawed children – not the backed-by-experts products – are to blame.
Twenty years ago, Kerr wrote the Berlin Noir trilogy of books, following a private eye called Bernie Gunther, working in Nazi Germany. They were, unsurprisingly, very dark but they were also very good, gripping and atmospheric. He’s now returned to Gunther with three more books, The One From The Other is the first. It’s set in 1949, while Germany undergoes a de-Nazification process. There’s no need to have read any of the previous novels in order to appreciate this one.
Once again, the best aspect of the novel is Kerr’s sense of place, the atmosphere envelopes the story. While Forsyth’s The Odessa File treated the subject as a straight fight between good and evil, Kerr is excellent at drawing out the ambiguities, where everyone is compromised, and the spectrum ranges from pitch black to flinty grey with not much in the way of purity. Virtue brings no reward at all.
The plotting is tight, with enough twists to keep you on your toes, but with sufficient foreshadowing that you don’t suddenly have credibility evaporate with a surprise coming out of nowhere. There are a few gumshoe cliches, this one by far the worst: “I would head to the Hofbrauhaus and spend the evening with a nice brunette. Several brunettes probably – the silent kind with nice creamy heads and not a hard luck story between them, all lined up along a bartop.” Other than that, horrible, exception, the writing is very good, and the book works both as genre fiction and beyond that.
“Until we moved to the city, we went to the river every year on the first of November. The women would all dress in white. My mother would hold my hand tightly as we walked toward the water. We were all daugthers of that river, which had taken our mothers from us. Our mothers were the ashes and we were the light. Our mothers were the embers and we were the sparks. Our mothers were the flames and we were the blaze. We came from the bottom of that river where the blood never stops flowing, where my mother’s dive toward life–her swim among those bodies slaughtered in flight–gave her those wings of flames. The river was the place where it had all begun.”
-from “Nineteen Thirty-Seven,” Edwidge Danticat
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This book is the one I chose for my final, big project for Caribbean Women’s Writing. I finished it today, as we have a proposal due soon in preparation for that final project.
The book is beautiful. It’s a collection of nine short stories that take place in Haiti or in America in the lives of Haitian immigrants. Danticat herself is from Port-au-Prince, and on the back of this book (which was published in 1995), the Washington Globe states, “If the news from Haiti is too painful to read, read this book instead and understand the place more deeply than you ever thought possible.” It seems almost prophetic that this quote is from 15 years ago.
The title, Krik? Krak?, comes from the Haitian oral storytelling tradition. The storyteller asks “Krik?” and the audience responds “Krak?” These stories are about a variety of different characters: Haitian sisters living in America, lovers who have been separated when the man sails to America on a raft, a girl who models for a painter and dreams of leaving a legacy, a woman who desires a baby so bad that she “adopts” a dead baby, and many more.
The above quote is from a story about a woman who flees her native Dominican and watches many other women, her own mother included, be slaughtered by soldiers. She swims across a river full of blood and bodies into Haiti and freedom. The story is told from the woman’s daughter’s perspective. The woman has since been imprisoned, both physically and mentally. Her daughter is the one now who must find her own freedom outside of the constrainsts of her mother’s history.
In another story, “Seeing Things Simply,” the main character Princesse models for a painter. Princesse desperately wants to learn to paint so that she, too, can leave a legacy behind. Something about her dreams and desires is so universal. It’s wonderful that Danticat can write a story about a Haitian girl that I, a white American girl, can relate to.
I’m so excited about having chosen this book. I’ll probably read it several more times before the semester is over, as I work on my final project. Have I mentioned that I’m seriously enjoying Caribbean writing?
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“It struck Princesse that this is why she wanted to make pictures, to have something to leave behind even after she was gone, something that showed what she had observed in a way that no one else would after her. The sky in all its glory had been there for eons even before she came into the world, and there it would stay with its crashing stars and moody clouds. The sand and its caresses, the conch and its melody would be there forever as well. All that would chagne would be the faces of the people who would see and touch those things, faces like hers, which was already not as it had been a few years before and which would mature and chagne in the years to come.”
Rebecca West’s The Return of the Soldier was written during the first world war. Perhaps understandably it is not especially cheerful but it is an astute slice of life story. It offers what I thought was a wonderful insight into human behaviour and the effects of war.
The story is narrated by Jenny who shares a home with her cousin Chris and his wife Kitty. It is obvious from the beginning that Jenny is devoted to her cousin. Her purpose in life seems to be to work alongside Kitty to make his life as comfortable and happy as possible. This is a job they both take seriously, the furnishings in the house, even the layout of the garden designed to be comforting and peaceful.
Chris returns early from the war, shellshocked, the past 15 years of his life and the turmoil in the world erased from his memory. He doesn’t remember his wife at all and only remembers his cousin as a young playmate, not the woman she now is. This is something that bothers Jenny. He believes himself to still be in love with Margaret, his girlfriend from that period who is now married herself.
Margaret is central to the story. Kitty and Jenny consider her to be poor, unattractive and badly groomed, to the extent that they are embarrassed for her and to be around her. They don’t consider her a threat at all but soon realise that Chris in his regressed state is besotted with her. She comes to their house to see Chris, to aid in his recovery. Initially hostile, Jenny warms to her, begins to appreciate her genuine and simple character, feels nourished by her company. We don’t learn much about Kitty, she is portrayed as being beautiful and shallow, clothed in silks and struggling to believe that her husband could prefer this undesirable woman over her.
The outer beauty of Kitty contrasted against the inner beauty of Margaret.
The women’s actions will be crucial to the outcome. Especially those of Margaret. Does she follow her heart and in doing so protect her former love – as long as he is “ill”, Chris will be kept away from the front. Or does she do the right thing, honour their respective marriages and help him to recover is memory.
This was one of Rebecca West’s earlier novels, written when she was 24. It is short and I didn’t get to engage with the characters but it introduced all sorts of issues begging to be explored further. Rebecca West sounded like a fascinating woman and I’m looking forward to learning more about her. I would also like to read her non fiction/travel memoir, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: A Journey through Yugoslavia which was written later in her life.
Read for the Decades 2010 challenge.
1918, 112 pages
The Sacrifice of Tamar, by Naomi Ragen is quite the compelling read on subjects that are varied, yet linked together.
What is it like to be Tamar Finegold, a young bride, married to an academician Rabbi and Talmlud intellectual? How does the environment of the Ultra-Orthodox community in which she is part of receive a woman who has been “stained”? Is there security for a woman within the community when she decides to hide the truth? Is there security within herself, or does the horrifying act that Tamar initially chooses to hide have repercussions psychologically and morally? So her actions and choices cross religious boundaries? Do the consequences extend beyond Tamar to her children, other family members and friends? These are just the basic questions I found myself asking while reading The Sacrifice of Tamar.
The Sacrifice of Tamar is disturbing on many levels. First and foremost, with vividly graphic visuals, the reader is privy to an extremely personal abhorrent and contemptible act of manipulation and violence. Tamar was brutally raped in 1970, while babysitting for her sister. Tamar becomes pregnant, not knowing whether the baby was fathered by her husband or the rapist. She feels ashamed, alone, devoid of the capacity to confide in her husband due to fear from what she feels are religious restrictions that will eventually cause her husband to divorce her.
Tamar feels the urgency and necessity to speak to someone, and chooses to talk to a friend of hers from childhood, Hadassah Mandlebrith. Hadassah eventually tells a mutual friend of theirs named Jenny what happened to Tamar, without Tamar’s knowledge. The secret remains with Tamar, as the years move forward.
The story is told in a flash back type of mode, with the women recalling their childhoods. Their childhoods had great influence on them and the women they matured into within their chosen lifestyles. Stigmas and hardcore tactics were forced upon them, causing them to form their own coping mechanisms and opinions regarding behavior and truth. Moral choices and responsibility factor into their trains of thought and judgment, and they input their own values and own opinions, influencing the choices that Tamar makes. The choices linger in Tamar’s life for over twenty years, and not a day goes by without her questioning her decision.
Flash forward to 1993, and you will be dealt with an overwhelming and disquieting blow, one that might shock you.
Religion and racism are primary issues that Ragen concisely and sharply writes about . Racism is a strong factor within the pages, not only racism for other ethnic groups, but racism and purity within the Ultra-Orthodox community, itself. I found the book to be a difficult read due to the subject matter of rape. Rape, in itself, is a brutal force, and Ragen depicts it with clear details. The Sacrifice of Tamar is extremely unnerving and disturbing, yet it is somewhat intriguing at the same time from a sociological and psychological perspective. Rape is also synonymous to betrayal, not only of the body, but of marriage. It is also a betrayal of the emotional aspects inflicted by a religious community, and most importantly, it can lead to betrayal of Self.
American Rust by Philipp Meyer is a contemporary fiction novel set in a dying Pennsylvania steel town, where the largest employer has shut down years before, where few opportunities exist for the town’s youth or the adults who’ve spent their lives slaving away in the steel mills.
Isaac English is a smart but socially awkward young man saddled with the care of his disabled father. Bitter that his sister was able to get out after their mother’s suicide, he finally decides to leave town to make his way to California. Taking his father’s stash of emergency money and throwing some items in a backpack (journals, a jacket) he heads out, asking his one friend Billy Poe to join him in walking the tracks to the outskirts of town where the plan is he’ll jump a train.
Billy Poe is a young man who has used up all his chances. A football star in high school who’s had a couple scrapes with the law, a fight gone wrong, and some missed opportunities.. . now a few years have gone by and here he is, stuck. His glory days are behind him and his future looks bleak. With self doubt holding him back he has stayed behind with his mom in their trailer rather than pursue offers of college scholarships, thinking maybe he’d go away to school in a year or two- well, he realizes now he’s made a big mistake. Nobody wants him anymore and he’s full of regret.
So with no prospects and nothing to lose, Isaac and Billy set off. Before long they encounter a situation with some homeless men on their way out of town that turns violent and changes their lives forever.
Other characters in the book include Billy’s sad and lonely mother, who has had an on again/off again relationship with the chief of police for years; Isaac’s brilliantly stupid sister Lee, a genius and Yale graduate who married into a wealthy family but is still dangerously attracted to Billy Poe; Isaac’s used-up father, a man who favors his daughter and doesn’t realize his deep feelings for his son until it’s almost too late; and the conflicted Chief Harris, a man who means well but whose actions belie his questionable character.
Told from the perspective of all of these characters, this novel does a lot of things very well. Each voice was entirely unique and felt real and raw. Mr. Meyers has created memorable characters that leap off the page, with inner conflicts that are completely relatable. Not only do you want to know what will happen to Billy and Isaac, but you gain a deeper understanding of the complex issues facing towns like the fictional Buell, PA. This economically devastated yet beautiful town was a huge presence in the book. As I was reading, I kept wondering… even if you get out, can you ever escape your past?
American Rust is an excellent debut novel, dark and emotional. It’s about loyalty, friendship, desperation, and loss. Mr. Meyers storytelling is compelling and gritty. There is no happy ending here, but if you’re ok with that, this is one I highly recommend.
Random House has generously offered a copy of American Rust as a giveaway to one of my readers as part of it’s TLC Book Tour! For a chance to win, leave a comment letting me know if you still live in or near your hometown, or if you’ve left it behind. The contest is open until Sunday, February 21, at midnight.
Maria V. Snyder Inside Out
HarlequinTEEN (US: 1st April 2010) Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Trella lives as a scrub in the lower levels of Inside, but the Queen of the Pipes can access the upper levels thanks to her air duct navigating prowess. Rumours of Outside have circulated, various prophets proclaiming that all will be revealed in the millionth week. Enough of the waiting – within Inside’s computer system are files pinpointing the Gateway’s location. Trella has a lot of duct work to do…
The concept is by far the novel’s drawcard: futuristic, dystopian, and mysterious. Life Inside is stark, technological, and effed-up. But the settings are difficult to visualise, and the devices not fully explained. Drops that can change iris colour? And other drops that can restore iris colour to its original hue? Colour me confused.
Predictably, my favourite characters are Sheepy and Mama Sheepy
Inside Out brings up more spoilerish questions than answers, therefore making next year’s sequel a must-have. For the time being, I remain befuddled.
The Hawk is Dying is Harry Crews’ sixth novel, published in 1973, and it’s the twelfth of his novels I’ve read to completion (this is if you include Car and Where Does One Go When There’s No Place Left to Go? as novels – they are more novella length). Anyway, I liked this one well enough, even if it won’t end up being one of my favourites overall. Before I go on to discuss the novel in detail, let me say that Crews’ early work (up to and including A Childhood) is remarkably consistent in quality. There’s nothing approaching a poor book in the first nine he published (eight novels and one memoir), and when you think that the essays collected in Blood and Grits and Florida Frenzy are also equally strong, that’s eleven quality books straight. At least it will be if Naked in Garden Hills and This Thing Don’t Lead to Heaven live up to expectations. In interviews, Crews has often spoken of the writing regimen he stuck to throughout his career. Get up at four, ‘put your ass in the chair’ for three hours with the intention of producing a mere 500 words, and that’s it. It worked for him – his books are uniformly well constructed – and there’s seldom if ever a dull or superfluous chapter.
In The Hawk is Dying , we are introduced to George Gattling, a forty-three year-old seatcover salesman living and working in Gainesville, Florida (the majority of Crews’ novels are set here). George works with a man called Billy Bob. He lives with his sister Precious and her retarded adult son Fred. And George is sleeping with one of his employees, a young woman called Betty. Each of these main characters is memorable in his or her own way. George is finding his life to be without meaning in the way that almost all of Crews’ protagonists do. In the absence of God, he struggles for something to believe in, having rejected most if not all of the trappings of Western capitalism.
Duffy Deeter, protagonist of All We Need of Hell, explains it best by saying that ‘a man’s gotta have enthusiasm.’ What he means by this is that people need things to believe in (or obsess over). Practically all of Crews’ novels have at least one character embodying this motto. The Gospel Singer believes in sex; John Kaimon believes in karate; Hermann Mack believes he can eat a Cadillac car; Joe Lon believes in nothing and goes on a murderous rampage as a result. In The Hawk is Dying, George Gattling believes in austringency: the art of hawk training.
This is a novel in which Crews appears to be writing fairly transparently about his own life. He says he has trained hawks himself. He lived in Gainesville for much of his life. He was about George Gattling’s age when he wrote this. And, like his protagonist, Crews himself rejected most of the lures of capitalism. This is an entertaining and sometimes mildly amusing read. Though it does deal with some pretty raw material (a mysterious death in a waterbed being the event that the novel hangs on), it seems a little tamer than The Gypsy’s Curse and much tamer than A Feast of Snakes. Those would be the next two novels he wrote after this. It seems that Crews is really building himself up to something in his fourth, fifth and sixth novels. But I would still agrue that that something reached its fullest expression in his seventh and eighth novels, The Gypsy’s Curse and A Feast of Snakes.
BOOK REVIEW: What the Dog Saw, by Malcolm Gladwell
By Sujay Desai
Over the last decade, Malcolm Gladwell has developed a singular reputation for delivering a fresh perspective and unique insights into a diverse and fascinating array of topics. His insatiable curiosity is put on full display in his new book What the Dog Saw, a collection of Gladwell’s most interesting intellectual adventures taken from his days at The New Yorker. Gladwell tackles such subjects the problem of homelessness, Enron, criminal profiling, and job interviews. Perhaps it is not the subjects themselves but Gladwell’s signature approach that sets him apart. His goal is first and foremost to tell a story with vivid characters and fascinating details. Through the story, Gladwell educates the reader and leaves him/her feeling more informed and intelligent about the world than before. More than anything, he helps us understand ourselves better as human beings.
Gladwell’s exploration of homelessness is a shining example of his unique approach to a seemingly mundane topic. The chapter is titled “Million Dollar Murray”, and Gladwell uses the story of the most expensive homeless man in Nevada, Murray Barr, as a starting point to exploring the issue as a whole. Murray is a colorful character, and through his chronic alcoholism, he has cost the state of Nevada over one million dollars in medical bills. Even if we are not particularly interested in homelessness per se, we become interested in it because we are curious about this man named Murray and how he cost the Nevada taxpayers such an outrageous amount of money.
In the chapter on Enron, Gladwell chooses a subject with which we are all very familiar and provides a very different perspective on it. He challenges our deeply held assumptions about the causes of the Enron debacle. People have felt and still believe that a lack of information led to this scandal. In essence, our perspective is that Enron concealed information and misled Wall Street. Gladwell is not convinced, and finds through his research that all the Enron financial information was freely available, but everyone chose to ignore it. Human nature, he concludes, is to transfer blame rather than to accept responsibility.
Gladwell devotes several chapters to the challenges of recruiting, interviewing and hiring. The talent hunt, we learn, is not quite as straightforward as it seems. In one segment, he explores the question of what interviews really tell us. Does an interview really predict a person’s job performance, or is it just a test to see how well they perform in an interview situation? In another chapter, Gladwell follows the tale of an NFL scout looking for the next star quarterback. Does success in college translate into success in the pros? To our surprise, often times it does not.
The beauty of What the Dog Saw is that it works on several different levels. On the one hand, it is a collection of stories and essays that entertain and amuse the reader. In addition, the book will appeal to intellectuals who want to explore interesting issues. If you are looking for a book that educates while it entertains, you will undoubtedly enjoy this one.
By STEVEN PINKER
Published: November 7, 2009
Have you ever wondered why there are so many kinds of mustard but only one kind of ketchup? Or what Cézanne did before painting his first significant works in his 50s? Have you hungered for the story behind the Veg-O-Matic, star of the frenetic late-night TV ads? Or wanted to know where Led Zeppelin got the riff in “Whole Lotta Love”?
Neither had I, until I began this collection by the indefatigably curious journalist Malcolm Gladwell. The familiar jacket design, with its tiny graphic on a spare background, reminds us that Gladwell has become a brand. He is the author of the mega-best sellers “The Tipping Point,” “Blink” and “Out¬liers”; a popular speaker on the Dilbert circuit; and a prolific contributor to The New Yorker, where the 19 articles in “What the Dog Saw” were originally published. This volume includes prequels to those books and other examples of Gladwell’s stock in trade: counterintuitive findings from little-known experts.
A third of the essays are portraits of “minor geniuses” — impassioned oddballs loosely connected to cultural trends. We meet the feuding clan of speed-talking pitchmen who gave us the Pocket Fisherman, Hair in a Can, and other it-slices!-it-dices! contraptions. There is the woman who came up with the slogan “Does she or doesn’t she?” and made hair coloring (and, Gladwell suggests, self-invention) respectable to millions of American women. The investor Nassim Taleb explains how markets can be blindsided by improbable but consequential events. A gourmet ketchup entrepreneur provides Gladwell the opportunity to explain the psychology of taste and to recount the history of condiments.
Another third are on the hazards of statistical prediction, especially when it comes to spectacular failures like Enron, 9/11, the fatal flight of John F. Kennedy Jr., the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, the persistence of homelessness and the unsuccessful targeting of Scud missile launchers during the Persian Gulf war of 1991. For each debacle, Gladwell tries to single out a fallacy of reasoning behind it, such as that more information is always better, that pictures offer certainty, that events are distributed in a bell curve around typical cases, that clues available in hindsight should have been obvious before the fact and that the risk of failure in a complex system can be reduced to zero.
The final third are also about augury, this time about individuals rather than events. Why, he asks, is it so hard to prognosticate the performance of artists, teachers, quarterbacks, executives, serial killers and breeds of dogs?
The themes of the collection are a good way to characterize Gladwell himself: a minor genius who unwittingly demonstrates the hazards of statistical reasoning and who occasionally blunders into spectacular failures.
Gladwell is a writer of many gifts. His nose for the untold back story will have readers repeatedly muttering, “Gee, that’s interesting!” He avoids shopworn topics, easy moralization and conventional wisdom, encouraging his readers to think again and think different. His prose is transparent, with lucid explanations and a sense that we are chatting with the experts ourselves. Some chapters are master¬pieces in the art of the essay. I particularly liked “Something Borrowed,” a moving examination of the elusive line between artistic influence and plagiarism, and “Dangerous Minds,” a suspenseful tale of criminal profiling that shows how self-anointed experts can delude their clients and themselves with elastic predictions.
An eclectic essayist is necessarily a dilettante, which is not in itself a bad thing. But Gladwell frequently holds forth about statistics and psychology, and his lack of technical grounding in these subjects can be jarring. He provides misleading definitions of “homology,” “sagittal plane” and “power law” and quotes an expert speaking about an “igon value” (that’s eigenvalue, a basic concept in linear algebra). In the spirit of Gladwell, who likes to give portentous names to his aperçus, I will call this the Igon Value Problem: when a writer’s education on a topic consists in interviewing an expert, he is apt to offer generalizations that are banal, obtuse or flat wrong.
The banalities come from a gimmick that can be called the Straw We. First Gladwell disarmingly includes himself and the reader in a dubious consensus — for example, that “we” believe that jailing an executive will end corporate malfeasance, or that geniuses are invariably self-made prodigies or that eliminating a risk can make a system 100 percent safe. He then knocks it down with an ambiguous observation, such as that “risks are not easily manageable, accidents are not easily preventable.” As a generic statement, this is true but trite: of course many things can go wrong in a complex system, and of course people sometimes trade off safety for cost and convenience (we don’t drive to work wearing crash helmets in Mack trucks at 10 miles per hour). But as a more substantive claim that accident investigations are meaningless “rituals of reassurance” with no effect on safety, or that people have a “fundamental tendency to compensate for lower risks in one area by taking greater risks in another,” it is demonstrably false.
The problem with Gladwell’s generalizations about prediction is that he never zeroes in on the essence of a statistical problem and instead overinterprets some of its trappings. For example, in many cases of uncertainty, a decision maker has to act on an observation that may be either a signal from a target or noise from a distractor (a blip on a screen may be a missile or static; a blob on an X-ray may be a tumor or a harmless thickening). Improving the ability of your detection technology to discriminate signals from noise is always a good thing, because it lowers the chance you’ll mistake a target for a distractor or vice versa. But given the technology you have, there is an optimal threshold for a decision, which depends on the relative costs of missing a target and issuing a false alarm. By failing to identify this trade-off, Gladwell bamboozles his readers with pseudoparadoxes about the limitations of pictures and the downside of precise information.
Another example of an inherent trade-off in decision-making is the one that pits the accuracy of predictive information against the cost and complexity of acquiring it. Gladwell notes that I.Q. scores, teaching certificates and performance in college athletics are imperfect predictors of professional success. This sets up a “we” who is “used to dealing with prediction problems by going back and looking for better predictors.” Instead, Gladwell argues, “teaching should be open to anyone with a pulse and a college degree — and teachers should be judged after they have started their jobs, not before.”
But this “solution” misses the whole point of assessment, which is not clairvoyance but cost-effectiveness. To hire teachers indiscriminately and judge them on the job is an example of “going back and looking for better predictors”: the first year of a career is being used to predict the remainder. It’s simply the predictor that’s most expensive (in dollars and poorly taught students) along the accuracy-¬cost trade-off. Nor does the absurdity of this solution for professional athletics (should every college quarterback play in the N.F.L.?) give Gladwell doubts about his misleading analogy between hiring teachers (where the goal is to weed out the bottom 15 percent) and drafting quarterbacks (where the goal is to discover the sliver of a percentage point at the top).
The common thread in Gladwell’s writing is a kind of populism, which seeks to undermine the ideals of talent, intelligence and analytical prowess in favor of luck, opportunity, experience and intuition. For an apolitical writer like Gladwell, this has the advantage of appealing both to the Horatio Alger right and to the egalitarian left. Unfortunately he wildly overstates his empirical case. It is simply not true that a quarter-back’s rank in the draft is uncorrelated with his success in the pros, that cognitive skills don’t predict a teacher’s effectiveness, that intelligence scores are poorly related to job performance or (the major claim in “Outliers”) that above a minimum I.Q. of 120, higher intelligence does not bring greater intellectual achievements.
The reasoning in “Outliers,” which consists of cherry-picked anecdotes, post-hoc sophistry and false dichotomies, had me gnawing on my Kindle. Fortunately for “What the Dog Saw,” the essay format is a better showcase for Gladwell’s talents, because the constraints of length and editors yield a higher ratio of fact to fancy. Readers have much to learn from Gladwell the journalist and essayist. But when it comes to Gladwell the social scientist, they should watch out for those igon values.
o Ian Sample
o The Guardian, Saturday 17 October 2009
o Article history
In 1984, a history graduate at the University of Toronto upped sticks and moved to Indiana. His grades weren’t good enough to stay on for postgraduate work, he’d been rejected by more than a dozen advertising agencies, and his application for a fellowship “somewhere exotic” went nowhere. The only thing left was writing – but it turned out that Malcolm Gladwell knows how to write.
Gladwell’s journalistic trajectory from junior writer on the Indiana-based American Spectator to the doors of the New Yorker makes for a story in itself, but only after arriving at the magazine did he become established as one of the most imaginative non-fiction writers of his generation. As of last year, he had three bestsellers under his belt and was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people.
Gladwell owes his success to the trademark brand of social psychology he honed over a decade at the magazine. His confident, optimistic pieces on the essence of genius, the flaws of multinational corporations and the quirks of human behaviour have been devoured by businessmen in search of a new guru. His skill lies in turning dry academic hunches into compelling tales of everyday life: why we buy this or that; why we place trust in flakey ideas; why we are hopeless at joining the dots between cause and effect. He is the master of pointing out the truths under our noses (even if they aren’t always the whole truth).
Gladwell’s latest book, What the Dog Saw, bundles together his favourite articles from the New Yorker since he joined as a staff writer in 1996. It makes for a handy crash course in the world according to Gladwell: this is the bedrock on which his rise to popularity is built. A warning, though: it’s hard to read the book without the sneaking suspicion that you’re unwittingly taking part in a social experiment he’s masterminded to provide grist for his next book. Times are hard, good ideas are scarce: it may just be true. But more about that later.
Gladwell has divided his book into three sections. The first deals with what he calls obsessives and minor geniuses; the second with flawed ways of thinking. The third focuses on how we make predictions about people: will they make a good employee, are they capable of great works of art, or are they the local serial killer? Brought together, the pieces form a dazzling record of Gladwell’s art. There is depth to his research and clarity in his arguments, but it is the breadth of subjects he applies himself to that is truly impressive. He bounds along from the inventors of automatic vegetable choppers and hair dye to Cesar Millan, the American “Dog Whisperer” behind the title piece, and Nassim Taleb, the US banker who turned his nose up at the investment strategies of George Soros and Warren Buffet and made himself a pile of money.
Gladwell is more than just a people person, though. His forensic dissection of the collapse of Enron and his survey of the causes of the Challenger space shuttle disaster manage to be fresh and compelling when you could be forgiven for thinking there was nothing left to say about the events. “The Art of Failure” is a fascinating examination of how experience plays a part in how you’ll fail when you do fail.
The common theme that runs through all Gladwell’s pieces is his desire to show us the world through the eyes of others – even if the other happens to be a dog. Inevitably this becomes the world as Gladwell sees it through the eyes of others, but his cast of characters (except perhaps in the case of the dog) is strong enough to withstand the filter.
The story of Murray Barr, which first appeared in 2006, is a classic. Barr is a hopeless alcoholic who lives on the streets of Reno, Nevada, and spends more weekends than not in hospital or drying out in a police cell. He is a burden on the system, but that is the fault of the system, Gladwell argues. Barr’s routine involves getting drunk, falling over and being taken to hospital. When he is released, he starts all over again.
The first to raise doubts about society’s way of dealing with people such as Barr are local police officers. Over 10 years Barr’s hospital bills mount up. “It cost us $1m not to do something about Murray,” says one of the officers Gladwell quotes. Barr’s personal story becomes the springboard for Gladwell’s argument that society finds it more palatable to manage homelessness than to end it. Surely it would be cheaper – not to say more helpful – to give people like Barr a flat of their own, he suggests, to keep a watchful eye over them rather than leave them on the streets to rack up medical bills. He plays the idea out by examining pilot programmes that have attempted to do just this, and then muses on why society hasn’t embraced the strategy. We don’t do it because it doesn’t seem fair. Why should someone who contributes so little to society be tossed the keys to a new home? Morality prefers equity, and rewards for doing nothing are inequitable.
This is what Gladwell does best: he takes an idea, recasts it as a human story, and works it through to its conclusion, taking a strip off conventional wisdoms as he goes. Even when the patterns he identifies are spurious or the conclusions flawed, the arguments he raises are clear, provocative and important. It’s as if he is saying, read this, then go and think for yourself. His pieces, he says, are meant to be “adventures”.
Gladwell’s most recent book, Outliers, was knocked by some critics for stating the obvious: that successful people put in a lot of hours, but crucially are often in the right place at the right time and seize the opportunities life throws their way. Before that, Blink drew flak for urging readers to go with their gut feelings, except when their gut feelings were wrong.
Both books were spun out of articles Gladwell published in the New Yorker, and it is easy to see why they met with a mixed reaction. When Gladwell’s theories are drawn across a broader canvas, the cracks are harder to ignore. One virtue of What the Dog Saw is that the pieces are perfectly crafted: they achieve their purpose more effectively when they aren’t stretched out.
In his introduction, Gladwell tries to head off the familiar criticisms by re-stating what his writing is and isn’t trying to achieve. “Good writing does not succeed or fail on the strength of its ability to persuade. Not the kind you’ll find in this book, anyway. It succeeds or fails on the strength of its ability to engage you, to make you think.” On that basis, Gladwell surely succeeds.
Back to that warning. There is nothing new in this new book, but that is clear from the start. What is less clear is that all the pieces are available free of charge from Gladwell’s own website. If you like, you can go there and read the original New Yorker articles, complete with beautiful layouts and cartoons. You can even print them out and staple them together using an industrial stapler from the stationery cupboard at work. A trial run suggests that this could occupy an idle lunchtime.
Gladwell’s publisher no doubt paid a lot of money to repackage his free stories and sell them on for a tidy profit. It is a scenario that has the makings of a Gladwellian dilemma. Why buy the book if the content is free? And what does that say about me? Is the feeling of being mugged by the publisher trumped by the virtue of convenience? The book is beautiful and brings together the writing that made Gladwell the extraordinary figure he is today. That alone is worth paying something for, but if you want to avoid mental anguish it might be safer to buy it for someone else.
How To Be an Everyday Philanthropist: 330 Ways to Make a Difference in Your Home, Community, and World – At No Cost (2009)
Written by Nicole Bouchard Boles
214 pages
I’ve never traveled to Africa to help feed the hungry or soothe a baby orphaned by AIDS. I’ve never initiated a rally for the homeless or poor. I haven’t found a cure for cancer, a way to stop domestic abuse, or an alternative energy source that will save our planet. And last I checked, I wasn’t a millionaire. But through simple steps I take each day-actions that cost nothing more than a bit of my time-I’m joining with thousands of other people who are trying to make a difference and give what we can to those who need it most. It is through these actions that we become philanthropists-everyday philanthropists.
Introduction
I love browsing through my library’s shelves. Taking my time to go through most of the aisles, looking at the latest books my library has, walking from section to section finding books I wouldn’t otherwise have found on my own. A few weeks ago I went to the library and stayed as long as I wanted finding a ton of non-fiction reads, including How To Be an Everyday Philanthropist.
Nicole Bouchard Boles gives readers over three hundred ways to contribute to society. The author divides the book into chapter eleven chapters with each chapter devoted to a different way to give. Chapter 1, “Use Your Body”, list ways readers can use their body to help others such as giving blood, participating in baby-snuggling programs in local hospitals, learning CPR and more.
A great thing about this book is that there is something for everyone and every activity takes up only a short amount of time. It doesn’t take long to knit a hat for the homeless or infants, donate your unwanted clothes to a charity, or recycle paper. This book has taught me that by changing the way I buy products, throw away trash, or use my time, I can help someone every day.
A few of the things I’m interested in participating in are:
Seed Savers. Seed Savers is a non-profit organization that shares heirloom seeds. By saving, sharing, and growing heirloom seeds, gardeners are helping to preserve the biological diversity. On the organization’s site, I found many plants I would love to grow.
Blog Action Day. Blog Action day is an annual event that’s hosted by Change.org to raise awareness about a specific issue. Last year’s issue was climate change. Every year on October 15th bloggers around the world post their thoughts on the issue, sharing why the issue is so important and what people can do about.
Donating $50 to the Orphan Foundation of America. The organization has a program that gives birthday and holiday presents to foster kids who may not otherwise get presents.
Included at the back of the book is also a list of books that talk more in-depth about the issues the author has highlighted.
How to Be an Everyday Philanthropist is a great addition to any library.
Book Review: From the Shop Floor to the Top Floor: Releasing the CEO Within, by Wes Cantrell. (Bloomington, IN: Crossbooks, 2009), 133 pages reviewed.
In his latest book Wes Cantrell shares his personal “rags to riches” story of his career at Lanier Worldwide. To declare a bias, I am a personal fan of Mr. Cantrell, having worked for his company several years back.
The book details leadership principles that Cantrell learned and applied throughout his career. Each one is accentuated with a personal story and the context of family. He speaks with the tome of a caring friend who seeks to empower the reader to make wise choices in seeking to achieve success in life’s endeavors.
A particularly interesting characteristic is the fact that Cantrell makes no apologies for his Christian Faith and the formative influence it had on him is his career and leadership decisions when guiding a successful public company. In a culture when one can likely “sell more books” by leaving out details of “faith,” Cantrell continues his unfiltered but gentle position of allowing his faith to inform his decision.
For any leader who seeks to understand how to cast vision, maintain balance between work and home, or simply act appropriately with difficult personnel decisions, this book is a must! For the Christian who believes that his faith is somehow disassociated from other pursuits in life, be prepared to reconsider as you take the journey with Wes “From the Shop Floor to the Top Floor.”
The majority of this post was written by my friend Doug shortly after he finished reading A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.
“I thought his use of the metaphor of story as a guide to looking at one’s own life was good, but I thought that he had to stretch the metaphor a little too much in order to reach his message. One thing I thought that Don was implying that the only interesting stories, aka lives, are those where the character’s are doing community service or helping others. To be more clear, interesting stories are only those involving “doing” things and not “feeling” things.
If you look at the Don’s character in the book, he really only made strides in his character, in the personal trait sense, when he was feeling things like dealing with the emotions surrounding meeting his father, the loss of his uncle, the loss of his girlfriend. Riding across America, Climbing the Inca trail, starting a mentoring programs, these “doing” things were merely manifestations of his new found enlightenment after Don felt things and learned about himself. He could have never accomplished the latter with out first accomplishing the former.
What I took away from this book is not that we should all go out and build an orphanage some where in order for us to have a good story. Conversely, we should look at those parts of ourselves that our holding us back from realizing our full potential. I think someone who has worked through a difficult issue about themselves, has done more meaningful work than any person who builds an orphanage.
I think in a round about way, Don may believe my former proposition. The last few chapters of the book, where Don talks about how we must seek to know ourselves and that no one on earth is going to fulfill all of our needs. Not even God. I agree with that in many respects. I think we have to do our own work here on earth to get what we need.”
I think Doug makes some really good points. He took some things away from the book that I didn’t notice at first.
I think the chapter where Don talks about growing up in a church where Jesus was the answer to all of life’s issues and the problem with that theology explains why he may have focused more on the “doing” side of living a good story. Many people who will read this book, will come from the perspective of “Westernized Christianity.” They will have grown up a church where they were told in order to get to heaven when they die, they have to “believe” the “right” things. It didn’t matter how you were actually living your life, or if you actions reflected these “beliefs,” just as long as you believe in the “right” doctrine.
But that’s another issue for a different discussion.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book. For anyone who has read and enjoyed Miller’s first successful book, Blue Like Jazz, A Million Miles in a Thousand Year will pick up right where you left off.
Pollan intelligently addresses our present confusion about “what to eat (?)” and suggests this confusion is product of the new era of “nutritionism”. – The ideology that our species has lost touch with our traditions, our food culture and our ancestral roots, all of which had the answer to this question.
We focus on nutrients, not foods, and while science is all-powerful, we just don’t know enough, certainly not more than Mother Nature herself. Instead of looking at our heritage, we turn to nutritionists, scientists, journalists or government food pyramids.
I particularly relished Pollan’s unyielding conviction to relevant and recent research that supported his position. Moreover, he devotes an entire chapter to explaining nutritional scientific research, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses.
Pollan aim is to help us “reclaim our health and happiness as eaters” (pg 7) by providing the reader with recommendations “more like eating algorithms, mental devices for thinking through our food choices.” (pg 12)
At the risk of taking the following excerpts out of context, I have a few poetic, insightful and heartening quotes from this book.
“Sooner or later, everything we’ve been told about the links between our diet and our health seems to get blown away in the gust of the most recent study.” (Pg 5)
“Sorry Marge” [an essay written by an Australian sociologist in 2002] looked at margarine as the ultimate nutritionist product, able to shift its identity (no cholesterol! one year, no trans fats! the next) depending on the prevailing winds of dietary opinion.” (pg 27)
“The entire history of baby formula has been the history of one overlooked nutrient after another: Liebig [ref provided] missed the vitamins and amino acids, and this successors missed the omega-3s, and still to this day babies fed on the most “nutritionally complete” formula fail to do as well as babies fed human milk.” (pg 31)
“Yes as a general rule it’s a whole lot easier to slap a health claim on a box of sugary cereal than on a raw potato or a carrot, with the perverse result that the most healthful foods in the supermarket sit there quietly in the produce section, silent as stroke victims, while a few aisles over in Cereal the Cocoa Puffs and Lucky Charms are screaming their new found “whole-grain goodness” to the rafters.” (pg 39)
“At every level, from the soil to the plate, the industrialization of the food chain has involved a process of chemical and biological simplification.” (pg 114)
“These days most of us think chronic diseases as being a little like the weather – one of life’s givens…” (pg 93)
This was a great read, one for the library. As put by The Boston Globe, “Pollan’s accessible, meticulously researched book will be essential reading for anyone who takes food seriously.”
Toronto Bathurst Lions Movie Night presentation – February 9, 2010
By Robert Payne
On the 18th of February, the Toronto Bathurst Lions Club (of which Robert Payne is a member) is presenting “movie night” featuring the documentary “Prom Night in Mississippi” as a Black History Month presentation. (see attached file) Paul Saltzman, the producer/director of this award-winning documentary will participate in a Q & A at the conclusion. I thought this might fit with some of the journalistic endeavors you’re involved in. Because the theatre is small (180 seats) even we Lions have to purchase a ticket (all of them go for $15) and
It is a little-known fact that I used to live near, and love, Concord, Massachusetts. I still love Concord, home of so much history and so many authors, but I no longer live twenty minutes away.
One of my favorite places to visit was Walden Pond. You may recall Walden Pond as the place where writer and philosopher Henry David Thoreau lived in a tiny house for two years. He went in an effort to live simply and to cut out all distractions. He also wrote a book while he was out there. It wasn’t Walden that he wrote while living on by the shores of the pond, but that’s the book that I picked up again recently. I’d love to share some of my favorite passages:
On small living:
“I intend to build me a house which will surpass any on the main street in Concord in grandeur and luxury, as soon as it pleases me as much and will cost me no more than my present one.”
“I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society. When the visitors came in larger and unexpected numbers there was but the third chair for them all, but they generally economized the room by standing up. It is surprising how many great men and women a small house will contain. I have had twenty-five or thirty souls, with their bodies, at once under my roof, and yet we often parted without being aware that we had come very near to one another.”
On food:
“One farmer says to me, ‘you cannot live on vegetable food solely, for it furnishes nothing to make bones with;’ and so he religiously devotes a part of his day to supplying his system with the raw material of bones; walking all the while he talks behind his oxen, which, with vegetable-made bones, jerk him and his lumbering plough along in spite of every obstacle.”
On stepping back from society’s expectations:
“Let him who has work to do recollect that the object of clothing is, first, to retain the vital heat, and secondly, in this state of society, to cover nakedness, and he may judge how much of any necessary or important work may be accomplished without adding to his wardrobe…. I cannot believe that our factory system is the best mode by which men may get clothing… as far as I have heard or observed, the principal object is, not that mankind may be well and honestly clad, but, unquestionably, that the corporations may be enriched.”
On work:
“This spending of the best part of one’s life earning money in order to enjoy a questionable liberty during the least valuable part of it reminds me of the Englishman who went to India to make a fortune first, in order that he might return to England and live the life of a poet. He should have gone up garret at once.”
If you’re interested, you can read Walden online or listen to a free audio version, both via Project Gutenberg. I highly recommend it if you’re interested in voluntary simplicity, minimalism, or nature.
This is my first post on my new blog. You should check back in the near future as one of the main focuses of this space will be book and movie reviews.
I read quite a lot – often devouring several books per week. I watch a lot of movies too, old and new. I generally watch movies and read books with a highly critical eye. It is difficult for me not to notice all sorts of minor flaws, inconsistencies, plot holes, etc.. Some people don’t like watching movies with me because I have a tendency to bring up all the flaws when discussing the movie afterward.
I plan to focus mainly on movies and books that I enjoyed. It is rare that I meet a book or movie that is flawless in my eyes, but they don’t have to be flawless in order to be enjoyable, informative, exciting, or hilarious. So I will present honest critical perspectives, while maintaining some degree of objectivity.
It should be noted though, that if a book or movie catches my interest enough that I give it a write up here, then it is probably worth reading or watching despite the shortcomings I may focus on. Either good enough to be remarkable, or so bad that you almost have to watch it just to see how bad it really was. Things that are just mediocre and boring won’t get written up here at all.
So if you are interested in exceptional stories, then you have come to the right place. I may be able to introduce you to a few you hadn’t known of, and I welcome your recommendations as well.
This will mostly be a movie and book review blog, but I reserve the right to go off on wild tangents occasionally as well. Look for the first book review in the next couple of days.
This weekend I read a book titled, “Step Up – How to Win More and Lose Less in Business” by Daniel Grissom. The book focuses in on one thing, performance. It analyzes, through facts, metaphors and real world examples, why some people outperform others and why some companies operate at a higher level of efficiency. The book challenges us to ask questions to uncover why some folks remain ordinary while others achieve extraordinary results.
Grissom’s book is a manifesto for performance. What I admire most is the courage the author shows in its indictment of procrastination and self-doubt as the perpetrators of many failed careers and/or failed companies. He doesn’t back down from pointing the finger at ourselves for our own inability to achieve desired results.
Grissom’s model for stepping up your personal results is em bedded in the acronym, STEP UP, which stands for: Standards, Talents, Evaluation, Preparation and Unleash Potential. Here’s a summary:
Standards – In the book Grissom challenges you to raise your standards if you want to raise your standard of living; personally and financially. In whatever role you play in corporate America (e.g., sales, manager, employee, etc.) you need to improve on what you’re doing. Complacency is not acceptable and will not increase your performance. The book provides plenty of stories and examples to make the case that in order to grow we have to demand more of ourselves. He quotes Earl Schoff, “Your results are directly related to your philosophy not the economy”
Talents- People have to develop a skill set, talent based on doing something they enjoy doing. If you’re unhappy with what you’re doing the chances are you’re not going to be a top performer. Understand and self-assess your hidden talents and focus in on what you’re passionate about. From a company standpoint Grissom makes the case that you need to hire the right people for the right job (i.e., a good fit). Which leads into his next step.
Evaluation – The cornerstone of this step in the STEP UP process is that you have to know where you are. Much like pointing to a map on wall, knowing your location (situation) will allow you to make the necessary plans to get to where you want to be. The best way of doing this is by first being truthful and objective about your current situation. Asking yourself tough questions is the key here and Grissom helps you out with a key list of self-evaluation questions. In this section he quotes his late mother Dr. Pauline Grissom to whom he dedicates the book, “Average is being at the top of the bottom.”
Preparation: This section is reminiscent of Sun Tzu’s Art of War. Grissom challenges the reader to come up with a tangible and measurable battle plan for achieving your desired outcome. He challenges the reader not to simply set goals, but to set demanding and exacting goals beyond their present scope of what they think possible.
Unleash Potential: The philosopher Aristotle wrote, “To know and not do is the same as not knowing.” In this section Grissom talks about the mental toughness required to take action in order to reach your personal or financial goals. He points to three reason why many people don’t take action: Fear, Lack of Structure and, (very insightful in my opinion,) Not mentally wired for action. People who are afraid to take action fail to do so because they don’t want to measure by their actions. People who lack structure and lack focus will lack the initiative to take action. Lastly, when people prefer thinking over doing then nothing ever happens. What Grissom drives home is that inaction is the killer of achievement in all respects…nobody could argue with that!
Grissom closes out the book by emphasizing how important continuous improvement is in maintaining a high-level of performance of individuals through coaching. Towards the end of the book Grissom uses a Gaussian Distribution Curve to divide up performance within an organization as follows: 20% lagging tail (Move Talent- low performers), 60% center (Average Talent) and the leading tail 20% (Top Talent). He emphasizes the benefits of investing in coaching but then highlights something quite insightful. He encourages companies not to invest coaching in the bottom 20% (Move Talent) but instead in the top third of the 60% of average talent essentially shifting upwards another 20% into the leading tail of performance (i.e., move more Average Talent into the Top Talent increasing it from 20% to 40%). Whether you agree with this approach or not, it merits strong consideration especially in a tight economy or if you’re in a hyper-competitive environment and the utilization of resources and training is critical.
The book is a great read for managers not only in sales, but every aspect of management in a corporation. Again, the book is a manifesto aimed at enhancing individual performance and as a consequence a company’s performance as well. Let me humbly suggest you STEP UP and get your copy today!
I came across this work of magical fiction through Facebook and I am so glad I did. As an avid reader of Roald Dahl books as a child, I became immersed in the adventures of Millicent from the start. Millicent Marbleroller is s a worthy attempt at a début novel and if Wayne Roseberry continues in this way, he could very well become the next generation’s Roald Dahl. Similarly, just like Roald Dahl, Wayne’s sense of adventure, spirit and excitement will continue, I’m sure for sequels to come.
The only criticism I have of the book is that it could be too long for younger children, however it is a great book to read with your child and is definitely a book both children and adults alike can enjoy. It is a mark of a great story that even at the age of 28 I was left between chapters wondering what will happen next, whether Millicent will beat her adversary and indeed how.
As I reached the end of the book, I marvelled at Wayne Roseberry’s talent for gripping imagination and detail. He has a great play for words, something that as a budding author I envy greatly.
I wasn’t going to read this, but a friend saw it on my LibraryThing profile, and asked to borrow it. She promptly returned it, and informed me that it was actually a good read. So I had it sitting next to me at work for a few weeks, and every couple of days, while waiting for Stata to do its thing, I read a few pages.
The book is about a hundred columns from the London Financial Times Dear Economist agony aunt column. Overall, some entertaining material – but by the end I was sick of the repetitive formulaic responses… One column in particular caught my eye:
Dear Undercover Economist
I am often offered the chance to have an unauthorised copy of a current film downloaded from the web. As family circumstances presently preclude cinema trips, these offers peresent my only chance to see some films promptly.
I do not believe in enjoying the fruits of other people’s labours for free. So is there any way in which I can make financial reparation for watching an unauthorised copy?
I live very close to a cinema so one option is to buy a ticket for a screening even though I won’t actually be there. Or I could buy a copy of the DVD when it comes out, even though I don’t really want to own it.
If I cannot put this right in economic terms, my conscience tells me not to watch!
– Yvonne, London
And Tim Harford’s response:
Dear Yvonne,
You should certianly watch since there is a positive benefit to you and zero marginal cost to the studio. Yet I believe you’re right to feel uneasy about free-riding on someone else’s time and talent. It is not only unfair but contributes to the wrong incentives for future filmmaking; in fact one suspects that the reason so many Hollywood blockbusters are childish is that the studios know adults don’t have time to go to the cinema any more.
But your proposal to buy cinema tickets or DVDs doesn’t seem right either. It sends a misleading signal that cinemas and DVDs are what you want. You might try alternating your patronage of cinemas and DVDs, while downloading pirated copies many more times than you actually need to. If the studios are paying attention they might start to realise what it is you really want.
All this assumes that your need for an immediate copy is genuine.
I would question that. Do you shoplift when you’re in a hurry?
I would question Tim’s answer on two fronts. First, his assertion that downloading ‘unauthorised’ copies of Hollywood movies “contributes to the wrong incentives for future filmmaking” is contradicted by his advice in the second paragraph (infact, even the advice in the second paragraph is wrong; alternating between cinemas and DVDs while downloading many unauthorised copies sends a confusing signal, if anything!).
Second, the suggestion that shoplifting if you’re in a hurry is the same as downloading a unauthorised copy because you don’t want to wait for the DVD implicitly assumes that watching a film on a DVD is the same as downloading a film – and obviously there are a number of differences. Not least to mention that, depending on where you live, it wouldn’t matter how long you wait – you could never download certain films.
Anyway, this book would be a good present for someone who likes faux novelty, formulaic comedy and one page chapters.
“Honolulu Then and Now” (2007) is a fascinating look at how Honolulu and its architecture have changed over the years. The book juxtaposes history with progress, and makes the past interesting and relevant. If more textbooks were like this, students would pay more attention to history!
Freelance writer and photographer Sheila Sarhangi places historical black-and-white photos side-by-side with contemporary photos, and includes short background information.
Remembering the way things were:
Merchant Street was a dirt-paved road in 1880; today, it is a busy commercial district.
At Punchbowl Lookout you could see trees, the old domed Civic Auditorium, and Diamond Head in the 1930s; today, the view is dominated by high-rises.
Manoa Valley was farmland in the 1980s; today, there are homes and the University of Hawaii.
Lost grandeur (places I never knew existed):
Keōua Hale was a majestic Victorian palace built by Princess Ruth on Queen Emma Street in 1878; today, it is the site of the sprawling Central Middle School.
Helumoa was a royal residence in Waikiki, surrounded by a coconut grove in 1878; today, it is the site of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, called the “Pink Palace of the Pacific.”
Kainalu House was a grand mansion with Tiffany stained-glass windows, waterfront lanais, and a salt-water pool in 1899; today, it is the uninspiring Honolulu Elks lodge.
The Fall of Highwatch by Mark Sehestedt- This is the first book in the Chosen of Nendawen trilogy, the second being Hand of the Hunter (due out in December 2010) and the third being Cry of the Ghost Wolf (due out December of 2011), all set in the Forgotten Realm universe. Mark Sehestedt is the author of two other Forgotten Realms novels and a Eberron novel. The Eberron novel is Tales of the Last War and the two Forgotten Realms novels are Frostfell, part of The Wizards series of stand-alone novels, and Sentinelspire, part of The Citadels series of stand-alone novels. A character from Frostfell reappear in this novel.
The story is about a young woman named Hwielan, the granddaughter of the High Warden of the fortress Highwatch. Her grandmother is making Hwielan leave for a year to a city in Damara to, hopefully, meet a young noble to marry. Hwielan doesn’t like this idea and asks her mother her opinion, which, surprising to her, her mother agrees with her grandmothers thought. Before she can go, while at her father’s grave, Highwatch gets attacked from the inside and everything she knows is lost. While being pursued, Hwielan finds her friend and teacher, Scith, who tries to figure out what happen to Highwatch, but never returns. Hwielan decides to go after him and finds him near death and tortured, and she gets caught, but it rescued by an elf named Lendri (from Frostfell) he tells her to follow him to safety. But things don’t go as planned. Between being relentlessly chased by an unholy being in the form of her uncle, being captured by eladrin elf named Menduarthis and taken to the Feywild, and finding out that she is something much more, it looks like Hwielan doesn’t have much chance to escape.
Negatives:
1) Descriptions. Before I really say anything, they were just wonderful. It was amazing how much Mark Sehestedt described the landscape and everything in between. You really can picture everything described. However, there is a slight, slight problem. Every once and a while, the descriptions slow down the story. For example, when Hwielan is going to met the Queen while she is in the Feywild, the palace’s description got in the way more than it should. It just became a little distracting.
2) Cliffhanger. It just had to stop at a cliffhanger. And I have to wait a good ten months till I can read the next one. It just isn’t fair. I really never wanted the story to end.
Positives:
1) Characters. The characters were just plain wonderful. They really made the story as a whole interesting and engaging. Hwielan was a wonderful main character. She brought a lot of helplessness and confusion to the story. Basically, she just was a normal girl thrown into something very abnormal and it really shows with everything she does. It’s amazing how she adapts and grows while the story progresses. Menduarthis was great for many reasons. His, at times, cold attitude towards Hwielan and Lendri makes him out to be more of a villain than one of the heroes. But as the story moves forward, he becomes more and more likable and funny. In fact, he is probably one of my favorite characters within the story. Why is that? Because (Small Spoiler!) the reason for him helping Hwielan escape is because he is really bored in the Feywild. How great is that? No motivation except of his boredom, it’s just wonderful. Also, the side characters and minor characters all add something interesting and really help the story along.
2) Secondary Plot. I love how every time the secondary plot is brought up, the chapter only lasts a few pages, then after those few pages, we go back to the main storyline. It makes the story flow better than having to stop the wonderful pacing for some pointless, or relatively pointless, side plot that the reader really couldn’t careless for. Now, the secondary plot of the person who took over Highwatch and his reasons is really good, but I was really happy to see it as only a few pages after a few chapters with the main storyline. It just didn’t bore you with things that weren’t really happening in the main story. Instead it seemed to be more like a subtle reminder of the what is still going on in Highwatch.
3) Story. The story itself was just wonderful. It may have been a little simple, but it still was interesting and engaging. Basically, the story is having Hwielan running away from everything and it really does work out for the best. It makes the story fly by, because these scenes are fast paced and exciting. Even the slower parts of the story are interesting. They have an underlying sense of excitement when things get slow. For example, while being led through the Queen’s palace it’s a slower scene, but it still builds up what is going to happen when Hwielan meets the Queen. It just was plain exciting.
Side Notes:
1) Gruesome. There were a lot of scenes were things got a little more than gory. It was great however. I squirmed a little more than I should when Hwielan stabbed one of her chasers in the eye. And reading about what this unholy creature looked like after a while was really shiver worthy.
2) Lendri. It was nice to see him return. But his whole back story seems like it needs to be told more.
3) Cover Art. I really like it. First off, it’s actually in the story, when Hwielan meets Menduarthis. Secondly, the way it’s horizontal and not vertical really catches your eye. Finally, the mountains are a little more than plain, they are beautiful in there own way.
Overall: 5/5
Final Thoughts:
The problems I have aren’t really huge issues. They don’t really take away from the positives at all. The story is wonderful, the characters are vivid and very interesting, and it’s just plain exciting. I haven’t read a story this good for a while, and I was pleasantly surprised by how great the story was.
Hunter Baker has a post up at Evangel on Rodney Stark’s new book on the crusades, God’s Battalions. Here’s what he says about the book by way of description:
Parenting, Inc., written by Pamela Paul, goes beyond criticizing the baby product industry for its over-the-top marketing ploys, and analyzes how this exploding industry is impacting parents’ child-rearing abilities. It is an eye-opening read for any couple thinking of having children, as well as for those parents who know they should trust their instincts but are getting swept away in the tide of marketing and societal pressures.
“Until we moved to the city, we went to the river every year on the first of November. The women would all dress in white. My mother would hold my hand tightly as we walked toward the water. We were all daugthers of that river, which had taken our mothers from us. Our mothers were the ashes and we were the light. Our mothers were the embers and we were the sparks. Our mothers were the flames and we were the blaze. We came from the bottom of that river where the blood never stops flowing, where my mother’s dive toward life–her swim among those bodies slaughtered in flight–gave her those wings of flames. The river was the place where it had all begun.”
The Sacrifice of Tamar, by Naomi Ragen is quite the compelling read on subjects that are varied, yet linked together.
American Rust by Philipp Meyer is a contemporary fiction novel set in a dying Pennsylvania steel town, where the largest employer has shut down years before, where few opportunities exist for the town’s youth or the adults who’ve spent their lives slaving away in the steel mills.
Maria V. Snyder
Book Review: From the Shop Floor to the Top Floor: Releasing the CEO Within, by Wes Cantrell. (Bloomington, IN: Crossbooks, 2009), 133 pages reviewed.
I came across this work of magical fiction through Facebook and I am so glad I did. As an avid reader of Roald Dahl books as a child, I became immersed in the adventures of Millicent from the start. Millicent Marbleroller is s a worthy attempt at a début novel and if Wayne Roseberry continues in this way, he could very well become the next generation’s Roald Dahl. Similarly, just like Roald Dahl, Wayne’s sense of adventure, spirit and excitement will continue, I’m sure for sequels to come.
I wasn’t going to read this, but a friend saw it on my LibraryThing profile, and asked to borrow it. She promptly returned it, and informed me that it was actually a good read. So I had it sitting next to me at work for a few weeks, and every couple of days, while waiting for Stata to do its thing, I read a few pages.