4 comments about Howard Stern: King of All Media.

1. I found Paul Colford's book interesting, well-written, and entertaining. I have all of Howard Stern's books, videos, CDs, and a large collections of magazine articles and such. King of All Media is a nice addition to my collection. But don't take my word for it. Go to the nearest bookstore and check it out for yourself. Then get online and order it for less $$ from amazon.com.



2. I found this book to be informative to Stern's rise to fame and fortune. Nothing really groundbreaking or unbelieveable, just the facts. A very quick, but honest look at Howard's personal life. How he keeps everyone at bay and tries to isolate himself from the world at this house, which is understandable. Private Parts offers more humor, but a lot of the same stuff, of course.



3. It pretty much is a factual account of Howard Stern's life from his childhood days to his days in Detroit and WNBC radio. Nothing risque is really discussed. I would recommend it to someone who is looking for a viewpoint of Howard's life other than Howard. The author neither supports or chastises Stern, but presents the facts without any bias one way or the other, and that's nice to see in journalism. It's definitely worth checking out.



4. America has been known the bastion where you have a right to be different if you have the confidence to stay with your beliefs in the face of societal ridicule. Pioneers end up two ways, some find prosperity by starting new paths, and some end up with arrows in their backs. After reading this book, Howard Stern is a Pioneer that prospers due to his will to be different and confident at work and in life.

   It was a joy reading an unbiased book on Howard Stern. I enjoyed his radio show once in awhile but admit I have had to tune it out and off now and then too. The book gave interesting information on the salaries of his staff and inner workings of Radio and TV Stations and how programs acquire airtime.

   I agree with author who never trashes Howard Stern but actually gives a good picture of him and his struggles to being a Top Radio personality. I admire Howard's sheer determination to work hard at job, support his family and talk about anything.

   I really enjoyed learning how the Stations Sponsors who advertised on his show were impressed with his professionalism and interest in knowing and learning everything about their products and services they were selling. This is a true mark of an honest man living up to his job as a professional.

   I was surprised to learn that Infinity did pay off his FCC fines to avoid problems with a merger later. I feel Howard has been a pioneer with the airwaves and first amendment issues to the public benefit not to anyone's detriment.

   Since losing his marriage and wife as well as Jackie the Joke Man it is not the same show. But is still entertaining. I now use it as one of three stations I use walking in the morning. I find National Public Radio more enlightening, Jim Quinn for more thoughtful and Howard and crew interesting and delightful on entertainment issues of our day.

   In the end, Howard learn to be confident in his own ideas, own behavior and always paid attention to his sponsors, people who helped him and mutual friends and professionals. I believe having supreme confidence in you like Howard Stern demonstrates every day. Those seeking to banish him just need to tune him out or off, but not remove him in anyway

4 comments about Jumping the Line:The Adventures and Misadventures of an American Radical.

1. This book is, very simply, the best memoir ever published by an American volunteer in the Spanish Civil War. It is a relentless autopsy on the murdered idealism of the young Communists who went to fight the fascists in Spain but ended up serving as hard guys for Russian dictator Josef Stalin and his secret police. It also shows clearly that the native supporters of the Spanish left were out for more than just a repudiation of fascist aggression: they were fighting for a social revolution, based on the labor movement, of a kind Stalin hated and feared much more than he did the fascists. This book also stands as a uniquely truthful and beautiful account of the lives of American and international Communist cadres; Bill Herrick speaks for every comrade who risked his or her life fighting for the world revolution in the 1930s, only to be brutally betrayed by Stalinism. It is extremely doubtful that a better book about the appeal of revolutionary Communism or the experience of its youthful militants will ever be written, at least in English.



2. "Jumping The Line" is a brutally honest and frank account of William Herrick's life on the American Left - as a young Communist who quickly became disillusioned with the excesses of Stalinism and of Soviet Anti-Semitism. An early volunteer in the Abraham Lincoln Battalion fighting Fascism in Spain, Herrick was badly wounded in the first major battle fought by the Lincolns at Jarama. Transferred to a hospital, Herrick witnessed firsthand the betrayals and backstabbing policies of the Soviet Secret Police and their minions. In one horrific episode, Herrick recounts how, as an "unreliable" he was forced to be involved in an GPU\International Brigade execution of accused "Trotskyist" civilians, an event that has haunted him to this day.
   
   Returning home, Herrick then suffered the emotional wound of the Hitler-Stalin Pact, and being Jewish, promptly broke with the Party - courageously demonstrating as "a veteran of the Spanish Civil War - victim of the Hitler-Stalin Pact. He went on to adventures serving as a majordomo of sorts for Orson Welles - and some of the tales told here about "Citizen Kane" are quite hilarious. Herrick once told Life Magazine that his reasons for going to fight Hitlerism in Spain were that "As A Jew I know what Hitler is doing to my people".While he later admitted that it was the Party who instructed this to say the aforementioned remark, his pride and emotional attachment to his people clearly stands out in "Jumping The Line" as well as his "no prisoners taken" attitude towards both Fascism and Communism. This is indeed a memoir that Jews and all interested in the Spanish Civil War worldwide should read and while Herrick is a man who will admit his faults with candor, he is nonetheless a brave man and excellent writer - "Hermanos" is also strongly recommended by this reviewer.



3. "Jumping the Line" is a hobo phrase for "riding the rails," or hitching a ride on a freight car. It also brings to mind crossing boundaries, maybe even switching sides. Herrick has done both. Beginning life as a rail-riding hobo, Herrick developed an awareness of the plight of the downtrodden and eventually became not a member but employee of the American Communist Party. Herrick was hard-working element of the Party and an able union organizer and cell initiator. Willing to put his life on the line in backing his beliefs, Herrick traveled to Spain with the Abraham Lincoln brigade to fight the fascists in the Spanish Civil War. Comintern, the International Communist Party, hoped this effort would lead to a home for Communism in Spain. While Herrick's soldiering was brief (he quickly took a bulled to the neck, nearly crippling him), the Communist atrocities and double-dealing there made him see the Party in an entirely different light. Returning to the States an anarchist at heart, Herrick had a wife to support and was tied to the Party for a paycheck. His outspokenness about the Stalin-Hitler pact led to his dismissal and his full emergence as an anarcho-social democrat. Appearing in these pages as Herrick formalizes his distrust of all power is such figures as Emma Goldman, Cole Porter and Herrick's former employer Orson Welles. This fascinating work is historically enlightening and a textbook in the formation of practical anarchism from an adventurer-author struck from the same mold as George Orwell.



4. A fascinating book written by a veteran of the Spanish civil war that strips it of both the idealism of the left and dismissal of the right.
   
   While only roughly half of the book covers the Spanish civil war and the authors participation it is as a previous reviewer points out the "American Orwell" Herrick writes with the bitterness of a man whose ideals had been betrayed and who had seen for himself the betrayal of many of the men who went to fight for what they felt was the freedom of the Spanish people against the tyranny of dictatorship and fascism.
   
   What many of them found was the growing Shadow of the 'dictatorship of the left' in the form of Stalin-ism ever encroaching upon them. Already men had began to be silenced by the Russian backed leaders of the Brigade and every day republican controlled land began to resemble tyrannical Stalinist Russia as its lackeys in Spain seemed to be far keener on dispatching left wing opponents in Spain than fighting fascists (It is well documented the destruction of the CNT and POUM by the Communist party)
   
   Herrick also details the rise of military leaders placed in positions of power for little more than cosmetic reasons, to create an image to the world. One a University professor the other an African American. Concerning the second man it is particularly moving in that far from as some more cynical historians have painted him he was a simple man who resigned himself to 'follow party orders' while knowing full well his own shortcomings as a less than competent leader (This was later to prove true with a disastrous attack let by him that lead to heavy casualties) It is also interesting how one of Herricks friends another African American attempted to lead a protest against his appointment and how Herrick commentated on that he could as if anyone else did it would be perceived as 'racist'
   
   The arguing, the incompetence and pointless political debates are all examined in full here. A fascinating read, this may be in many ways similar to Orwell's biography but the book "In red and green" is one I would also draw comparisons to. Especially in that book the part where Irish republican troops discuss shooting their commanding officer because he had once served in the Irish republic during the black and tan wars! (This in spite of the fact that he was now a committed anti fascist and ironically Jewish! Well, Ryan did go on to support the Nazis)
   
   A fascinating insight into one mans history on the left during the first half of the last century. After reading the books of Orwell, In Red and Green and Jumping the line you will come to the conclusion that it was no surprise that Franco won, the only surprise in fact being that he took so long to do it.

5 comments about Young Stalin.

1. It is well known that Trotsky for a long time fatally underestimated Stalin, whom he thought colourless and plodding. The flamboyant Trotsky was for years more famous than the laconic provincial from Georgia, but if he had familiarized himself with Stalin's early career, he would have realized, as Lenin did, that Stalin was ruthless and efficient. This book documents Stalin's early career in great detail. It shows the charisma, leadership qualities, toughness and ambition that he had displayed from his schooldays onwards; how he was hardened by the brutality of his drunken father and by the violent nature of Georgian society; what a genius he had for organizing strikes, the burning of oil refineries, murderous bank raids and piracy, protection rackets and kidnappings, while himself not taking a direct part. Sebag Montefiore says that Stalin's involvement in some of these crimes has never been conclusively proved; but he has little doubt that they all bore his stamp. Stalin frequently used disguises and aliases, and several times escaped from prison or from exile.
   
   The frequent inefficiencies of the Okhrana and the Tsarist police emerge strongly in this account; but it was not always inefficiency: Stalin had many informers inside the security forces, just as they had many informers inside all revolutionary parties - so much so that some have suspected Stalin himself of at times having been a Tsarist agent, which Sebag Montefiore does not believe. But Stalin did have many people murdered whom he suspected of being agents for the security forces, sometimes perhaps because real agents planted such suspicions in his mind. The worst traitor was Roman Malinovsky, a man whom Stalin trusted implicitly, but who was instrumental in getting him sent to the worst of his exiles in 1913 and then betrayed Stalin's attempts to escape from there also. Malinovsky's treachery was exposed in 1914. Sebag Montefiore says that Stalin's future suspicions of even his closest comrades was rooted in this experience.
   
   The book is a prequel of the author's The Court of the Red Tsar, and, as in that book, Sebag Montefiore pays little attention to ideology. He consistently calls Stalin's followers gangsters, and some of them indeed were no more than that: Stalin certainly made use of the criminal underworld. But he himself and many of his followers (women as well as men) were more than simply gangsters. Of course they believed - as do the followers of Bin Laden today - that the ends justify the most brutal and ruthless means; but the ends were ideological. Stalin fought for Bolshevism when among the Georgian (Marxist) Social Democrats, the Mensheviks were in a majority; he was prepared to challenge (successfully) even his hero Lenin when Lenin thought the Bolsheviks should take part in the elections after the 1905 Revolution. He was not interested in personal enrichment, and the bulk of the proceeds of the bank-raids he organized went to Lenin or to the Bolshevik cause in the Caucasus, keeping back only a little to celebrate each successful heist in a wild party.
   
   We see Stalin becoming the leading Bolshevik inside Russia while Lenin was abroad: he joined the Bolshevik Central Committee in 1912 with special responsibility for Bolshevik policy on nationalities; he edited Pravda (where he sometimes took a different line from Lenin's and indeed turned down forty-seven of articles Lenin sent in!) But then he was sent into exile, and the description of his four years (1913 to 1917) near the Arctic Circle is one of the most graphic parts of the book. In October 1916, with the war going badly, the exiles were conscripted. Before they had left Siberia, the Tsar had fallen, and the Kerensky's government ordered their release, March 1917, and Stalin returned to Petrograd.
   
   Claiming seniority, he resumed the editorship of Pravda and was the most dominant Bolshevik until Lenin arrived in Russia three weeks later; then he aligned himself with Lenin's determination to fight the Provisional Government. In July, afer a failed Bolshevik uprising, Kerensky's government struck at the Bolsheviks. Trotsky, Kamenev and other leaders were imprisoned; Lenin and Zinoviev went into hiding. Stalin, for some reason left at liberty, was once again briefly in charge. In September the imprisoned leaders were released when Kerensky needed their help against General Kornilov; and then began the struggle inside the Bolshevik Party between Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin on the one hand who now wanted an immediate uprising, and `the Waverers', Kamenev and Zinoviev on the other who thought it too dangerous. But Lenin had his way, and the Bolsheviks seized power. Sebag Montefiore enjoys himself describing some of the farcical elements of the take-over: `the reality of October was more farce than glory. Tragically, the real Revolution, pitiless and bloody, started the moment this comedy ended.'
   
   



2. Even with today's conveniences of travel, it would take an extraordinary person simply to get around all the transit points and destinations in Stalin's young life. And as to personal networking skills, he seemed both to command the underground while using little effort to find support casually walking on the street.
   
   The writing and historical story-telling by the author were outstanding. While having read and viewed quite a bit on this epoch in history, I never previously got the significance of Stalin throughout the entire revolutionary ordeal. Presently, with this book's influence, I pivot from from viewing him as a crude power grabber in the later phases as we are inclined to think based on past western accounts. There was a great deal more depth to the character and story, as this historian reveals.
   
   This is a monumental contribution to straightening out modern history. It clarifies a great deal.



3. 
   First of all this is probably the best non-fiction book I've read in recent memory. Montefiore's portrait of a young criminal virtuoso measures up favourably to some of the best biographies ever written, works like Sylvia Nasar's 'A Beautiful Mind' and Martin Gilbert's 'Churchill', .
   
   The style of writing is unique in that it is both direct and elegant, a combination of clipped factual biography and sensational prose that succeeds in turning a historical document into a novel that puts your modern day bestselling thriller to shame (I'm looking at you Da Vinci Code). Stalin's days growing up in a provincial Georgian town, from the traditional yearly town brawls, to being a choirboy in the church, to fomenting anarchy in the seminary after his discovery of Marxism (Stalin probably wouldn't have made a great priest anyway), the author's diligently researched work gives the reader an often hilarious portrait of a surprisingly likeable young Georgian who, with some luck and charisma, just happened to become one of the most callous and paranoid autocrats in the history of the Russian empire.
   
   I thought it unfortunate that the author didn't really expand upon the particular brand of Marxism that Stalin espoused. Although to be fair he does remark that Stalin could quote and paraphrase Marx effectively enough to convince anyone of the cogency of his arguments, which is probably more revealing than any ideological claims. Like most fanatics, he expropriated the facts that suited him. In any case the book is about the Stalin, and not the revolution or Marxism.
   
   Another difficulty that people might encounter is the deluge of Georgian and Russian names that flit in and out of Stalin's life. Spandarian, Shaumian, Egnatashvili, Davrichewy, Alliluyeva, Svanidze, Mukhtarov, Sverdlov, Lunarcharsky, Dybenko, Kamenev...keeping track of everyone is like being Kirstie Alley's nutritionist, the shear quantitiy and variety is overwhelming. Sometimes people show up just so they can get killed a few pages later, but I suppose we can blame Stalin for that and not Sebag-Montefiore. In any case the author is adept at separating the important figures from more minor actors, without wasting much space on repetition or lengthy digressions.
   
   A few minor editing mistakes and the aforementioned quibbles however, do not detract from the fact that this is a first rate work of scholarship and writing. Easy five stars.



4. I'm probably in agreement with most in saying this is one of the most entertaining reads about such a dreadful subject as "Soso". As with Potemkin's biography, Mr. Montefiore's ability to unearth biographical details gives life to the characters. I'll mention just a few juicy anecdotes about the book (in no particular order): the author manages to interview an old man aged 109 at the time who 100 years earlier had seen Soso bereave his first bride, Kato; he reveals that the Okhrana was foresightfully worried that airplanes, back then, could be used for suicide attacks on the seat of government; he walks us through the various fathers Stalin could have had; and he takes us to Soso's last, longest and harshest Siberian exile beyond the arctic circle.



5. This is great action/adventure in the same vain as Georg Lucas's Young Indiana Jones series. Follow the exploits and exciting adventures of a young Joseph Stalin as he travels the world with a cadre of friends, including an wacky funny version of 12-year old Leon Trotsky...and in regards to that, you will perhaps laugh uneasily at the forshadowing when the 14 year old Stalin jokes to his 12-year old pal: "if you keep making those bad jokes, I am going to have you killed!" I especially enjoyed the love interest of the young Stalin, 13-year old Ameila Earhart, who takes Stalin barnstorming as they steal one of the Wright Brother's early planes. This novel is suitable for the whole family, and I think it is only a matter of time before Disney or one of the studies pick this up and makes a family movie out of it!

5 comments about Ishi In Two Worlds: A Biography Of The Last Wild Indian In North America.

1. This book is very enjoyable, informative, and enlightening. If you are interested in Native Americans, this is a must read. It truly describes the last "Wild Indian" that was brought into modern society. It explains both the natural heritage of Ishi along with the typical exploration of finding the last "Wild Indian". Truly, a story that had to be told



2. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and the story of Ishi. However, the binding on the new paperback fell apart before I was half way through it.



3. ALL humans can benefit from reading this fact based book. ISHI was a real MAN, and his humbleness and genuine qualities are what young people should strive to match!



4. Stunning. Only 100 years ago and the atrocities were numbing. Don't read this if you don't want to be ashamed of how our ancestors dismissed the rights, culture, and wisdom of native Americans. By the end of the book, I felt as though I was sitting with Ishi, quietly appreciating the abundance of nature and the solace of family and tribe. The book is fifty years old and some of the vocabulary and phrasing is quirky, but there is a reverence that is unmistakable.



5. It isn't too common for me to start crying by the ending of a book. But this story brought me to tears. I really came to admire this reticent and dignified man, and the people who befriended him, and it saddens me to think of all the other people like Ishi who were mercilessly slaughtered. Ishi is really a representative of that hunted and slaughtered class, a class that existed right here on this California soil, and a slaughter which was perpetrated by people I thought I admired: the good old cowboy types.
   
   This is a story of epic character (Ishi's) and epic cruelty. Please do not misunderstand me: this is not a book which has any intent of guilt-tripping anyone. But it did take me by surprise, because you can talk about slavery all day long, or the Nazis, and I feel no relation, no nexus between myself and those crimes. But, here, I felt a little weird. The degenerate conduct is very close to home, literally and figuratively. I had cowboy guns and chaps as a kid, and I pretended to shoot Indians. And that is a really pathetic thing to pretend, because Ishi was an Indian, and I've learned he was just like you and me. He and his people were rational and empathetic. There had to have been a more humane way to co-exist.
   
   "The true ghastliness of these events is that they were carried out not by alien monsters but by people shockingly like you and me."--Karl Kroeber in the Foreword to the book written by his mother. That's exactly right. This book describes how Ishi's family and tribe was basically hunted down and exterminated right in front of his eyes as a child, in at least two major massacres and a few other lesser atrocious moments. It breaks your heart. I always thought the Indians scalped the settlers. In this book, it is the local sheriff and his gang of quasi-criminals that is scalping the Indians, including their children, in retaliation for a theft of some beans or the killing of a cow, or some other handy excuse. "No state in the Union surpassed the Golden State in systematically and shamelessly harassing, murdering, and stealing from its native inhabitants." Since I live in California, this strikes a painful chord as well. The data cited by Ms. Kroeber is compelling and I suspect unrefuted. The conduct she describes is well documented and uncontested. These Indian peoples were treated like vermin, just a little over a hundred years ago, right where your wine grapes are now growing, or nearby.
   
   I'm perhaps unduly emphasizing negative themes. I just learned of these events, or perhaps I should say I just finally comprehended them while reading the book. They struck me out of the blue. This education about nearby and recent enormous cruelties is just a part of the reading experience, however, and isolating these events does this fantastic story no favor, and I apologize. Rest assured, this is a life-altering book, and I've mentioned only the part which shocked me in a negative way.
   
   Ishi the man is a wonderful character, he is warmly introduced and developed here, and I can think of no character, real or fiction, which I came to care about more than Ishi. He was capable, strong, polite, free from bitterness, totally alone. His champions and protectors, Professors Kroeber and Waterman, and Dr. Popey, I came to admire and respect and envy. I loved the depictions of wild nature, and Ishi's ability to make handicrafts, a skill-set described in fabulous detail by Mrs. Kroeber. You may want to make an arrowhead or a bow based on her description. Ishi recommends Mountain Juniper for your bow-making, so heed his advice, he was master.
   
   The writing is first-rate. Mrs. Kroeber was herself a scientist, and her book takes an artful but methodical approach to the events--both tragic and hilarious-- it describes: the way of the Indians; the way of the Yana (Ishi's tribe); the experiences Ishi endured during his hard life in the wild; the discovery of Ishi; the revelations from Ishi; the "camping trip" with Ishi in his old home territory (and his anxiousness to return to the city: he learned to love beds, toilets, stoves, towels, and the other "clever" inventions of the white man); and Ishi's demise from tuberculosis.
   
   I am one of those people who marks up a book as I read it. My copy had virtually every page marked up by the end. This book is so thought-provoking and idea-rich on so many levels it will take me years to fully asimilate it.
   
   One of the newspaper reviewers is quoted on the cover: "A book every American ought to read." True. And, I suspect, every American will be deeply enriched and rewarded for the effort. But the ending is still sad, when you think of what Ishi endured and how little time he had in his hard, hard life to enjoy things. I kept imagining the things I would show Ishi if I had the chance: Disneyland; a Rolling Stones concert; a Benny Hill video, lasagna, a motorcycle ride.
   
   He only spoke about 600 English words by the end, but you will understand him very well. And, I'm confident, he will be someone you deeply respect.

5 comments about A Life of Johnson (Classic Non-fiction).

1. This is an abridged version. If you want an unabridged version, get the Life of Johnson (Oxford World's Classics) [UNABRIDGED.



2. Typically, I have a bias against abridged editions of literary works. Nevertheless, prudent editing and abridgement enhances the casual reader's appreciation of this literary tome. Undergraduates working a required reading list for English Lit classes are on their own. Anyway, Samuel Johnson was a noted author and editor of the 18th century English literary scene. Instead of an exhaustive study of Johnson's life as author and editor, biographer Boswell compiled a series of anecdotes, quotations, and correspondence that is held together by his friendship with Johnson. Boswell's purpose was to capture the essence of the man. Johnson was adept at articulating pithy remarks with surgical precision. For example, "...a woman's preaching is like a dog's walking on his hinder legs. It is not done well; but you are surprized to find it done at all." The 18th century spellings, etc. remain intact. We have Johnson to thank for the familiar "...hell is paved with good intentions," and "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." Boswell takes care to portray Johnson as sexually moral. After the death of his wife, Johnson (according to Boswell) was apparently celibate. Johnson rebuffed "women of the town," and said he wasn't interested in their carnal delights. Johnson told David Garrick, the actor, that he would not go backstage at the theater because "the white bubbies and silk stockings of your Actresses excite my genitals." As an interesting aside, the editor's introduction speculates that Johnson's relationship with the widow Thrale may have been sexual, with bondage overtones. Who knows? The description of London coffeehouses, theaters, and gathering places are heavy with 18th century atmosphere. Bottom line, reading this book is interesting as a curiosity. Its relevance for 21st century readers may seem limited, but don't let that stop you from sampling the fare. ;-)



3. I liked this but prefer the unabridged edition published by Oxford University Press (in their Oxford World's Classics series). If you're willing to read Boswell, spend a few dollars more for the OUP edition.



4. The Life of Samuel Johnson is the most famous biography ever written in the English language! Its author was the Scottish lawyer James Boswell
   (1740-1795). Boswell was an intemperate soul enjoying boozing it up in taverns; whoring and wenching with ladies of the night; gossiping and quarreling with his rich Dad back in Scotland. Boswell was often a widely travelled worldly man who had visited the likes of Voltaire, Rosseau and Paoli the liberator of Corsican independence. Boswell's words allow us to see what eighteenth century London must have been like for the relatively affluent. Boswell only spent around 300 total days with Johnson from the first time they met in 1763 to the death of the Great Cham in 1784.
   I have read the 1300 page complete diary which I recommend. I also recommend that for rereading this Penguin Abridged Edition will do just fine. In it you will find such quotes by Johnson as "The road to hell is paved with good intentions"; "Patriotism is the last refuge of a coward.:;
   "We shall receive no letters in the grave." and countless philippics against the United States of America and Scotland.
   Dr. Samuel Johnson was born in Lichfield near Birmingham, England in 1709. He was best noted in his lifetime for his monumental work, "A Dictionary of the English Language." He also wrote plays, essays and newspaper columns. Among his friends were the painter Sir Joshua Reynolds, authors Oliver Goldsmith and Colley Ciber and the famous Shakespearean actor David Garrick. Johnson was clubbable soul who had a cat named Hodge; had poor eyesight and was the widower of a much older woman. He had no children. Johnson was a devout Christian adherent of the Church of England, a monarchist and a rabid Tory. He had many prejudices and was not tacit in expressing them aloud.
   Anyone who expects this famed biography to be a strict life following Johnson from cradle to grave will be disappointed. Instead it is poorly organized consisting of meetings between Johnson and Boswell over the years of their long friendship. It is a great book because of its quotablility and the quirky genius seen in the complex figure of Samuel Johnson. Boswell was also an author of genius whose detailed eye gives us a fascinating glimpse into a different age. This book is one of the essentials of English Literature.



5. Note: I made some immature Mormon angry because of my negative reviews of books that attempted to prove the Book of Mormon, and that person has been slamming my reviews almost as fast as they are posted.
   
   I must have really burned him or her because I've deleted this review and re-posted it and within an hour, I had a "not helpful" vote. Give me a break. That person's faith must be very fragile, indeed. Oh, well.
   
   I'm trying to be "helpful," and you can see that it took some work to put this review together.
   
   So, your "helpful" votes are appreciated. Thanks, and I hope you find some enjoyable quotations (below) from Boswell's wonderful book, but first a little history.
   
   Samuel Johnson, the irascible but generous lexicographer of the eighteenth century, is mostly remembered because of Boswell, and Boswell is remembered because he wrote Johnson's biography.
   
   At the time, Johnson was already famous for his "Dictionary of the English Language," an impressive work for the year 1755. Among many other writings, Johnson put out an edition of Shakespeare's works (1765), with valuable notes that are still referred to today.
   
   Johnson published a "series of grave and moral discourses" in the periodical called the Rambler, but when it was translated into Italian, it came out as the ludicrous "El Vagabondo," something far from Johnson's pious intentions. And of good intentions, it was Johnson who said, "Sir, Hell is paved with good intentions."
   
   "(Johnson's) defense of tea against Mr. Jonas Hanway's violent attack upon that elegant and popular beverage, shows how very well a man of genius can write upon the slightest subject, when he writes, as the Italians say, con amore."
   
   Johnson despised Americans and was prejudiced against Scotland. He said, "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel."
   
   Johnson was a male chauvinist. Yet, he was "a king of men." He was a "robust genius, born to grapple with whole libraries," and although "indolence and procrastination were inherent in his constitution, whenever he made an exertion he did more than any one else."
   
   As a person who is afraid of death in the normal sense, I was surprised that in spite of being very religious, Johnson had an extreme fear of death. "'The better a man is, the more afraid he is of death, having a clearer view of infinite purity.' Said Boswell, "Johnson owned, that our being in an unhappy uncertainty as to our salvation, was mysterious; and said, 'Ah! We must wait till we are in another state of being, to have many things explained to us.' Even the powerful mind of Johnson seemed foiled by futurity."
   
   Boswell's commentary brings to mind a story told by St. Augustine in his monumental City of God. A philosopher was abroad a ship captained by a bad man, and after a violent storm, the fearless captain jeered the philosopher for his terror. Said the philosopher, quoting from a similar incident that occurred to the pagan Aristippus, 'A rogue need not worry about losing his worthless life, but Aristippus has a duty to care for a life like his."
   
   "Johnson knew more books than any man alive. He had a peculiar facility in seizing at once what was valuable in any book, without submitting to the labour of perusing it from beginning to end." But he also held that it was important to "read diligently the great book of mankind."
   
   "Why, Sir, I am a man of the world. I live in the world, and I take, in some degree, the color of the world as it moves along."
   
   Johnson was also the one who said, "When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully."
   
   "I love Blair's Sermons," Johnson said. "Though the dog is a Scotchman, and a Presbyterian, and every thing that he should not be, I was the first to praise them. Such was my candor," he said with a smile."

5 comments about Black Wave: A FamilyÆs Adventure at Sea and the Disaster That Saved Them.

1. I loved this book, even though there were parts that seemed a little repetitive. There were really two different stories going on, the physical one about the boat trip and what happened off Tahiti, and the parallel story of an American suburban family, a family that had a lot going for them, but real problems as well. The family tensions seemed very appropriate and understandable, and being a mom I appreciated Jean's concerns and the stress she was feeling. I've been on a 40 ft boat for 10 days with 4 people, and couldn't wait to get off at the end. I also understood John's adventurous spirit, and loved the boating descriptions, having owned a 25 ft sailboat for many years. There is nothing like the free feeling of sailing on the open ocean. I found the Julia Ann story interesting, but the best part was the first part that Jean wrote. It was extremely compelling, with the narrative about the trip weaving back and forth through the details of the accident. The kids were both real, and real heroes. What an amazing story, and it was all true!



2. An amazing story of survival and all the people who were there in the nick of time to help this family. Not the best writer in the world, but he did a good job telling his story and bringing it to life with pictures.



3. A page turner! An amazing story of a seemingly grounded family who ran aground (& then some!), finding their footing in spite of it. A story of risk-taking, persevering & resiliency. "Black Wave" not only represents the literal wave that hides what lurks beneath the surface, but also reflects the dynamics that lurk beneath a family's polished exterior.
   
   Honest, compelling account -- interweaving 2 years aboard while returning to the scene of their ultimate crisis, where their journey challenges their very lives.
   
   Don't let the esoteric jargon dissuade you from reading what is a much bigger story. There are incredible, articulate descriptions of people, landscapes, seascapes, and the beauty of sailing, which makes you feel like you're along for the ride. The photos add to the visual descriptions. It is a growing lesson, finding balance, maintaining sanity in close quarters. Jean Silverwood's honest assessment of their joys & struggles is refreshing and very real. Not glossing over the speed bumps that make us human -- and not even providing (or having) all the answers. Some really great humor adds levity to some tense situations.
   
   This is a story of a family that grew stronger through each crisis (there were several) even when it seemed darkest. It gives you a healthy respect for the sea, and yet yearn to sail on it. Their conviction in each other & their faith is inspiring. So is Jean & John's palpable pride in their children.
   
   [4 Star Rating as the 2nd half of the book got bogged down in John's need to parallel a historical shipwreck to this family's plight. Altho' educational, it became overlong and avoided the emotional experience that we're so privy to by Jean's account in the first half of the book. But it's quick enough to skim through.]



4. Extremely interesting to anyone who has ever gone down to the sea in ships. An authentic and chilling review of what can go wrong and things that probably will go wrong. The modern equipment may not save your ship
   but it may save your life (and limb?.) Would a regular single hull have
   reacted differently?



5. I couldn't put this book down. I was especially moved by Jean's account of the events. As a mother myself, I understand the inherent need to keep your kids safe. What an adventure this family took and it almost took everything from them. John and Jean were well prepared and had researched everything from route logistics to safety on the island--who knew you couldn't trust a taxi driver in Panama? If you are into sailing there's plenty of technical stuff to keep you on your toes, even if you're not, you still get the gist of the full power of the sea. Their story of survival is incredible. The bravery of Amelia and Ben especially stand out. The experiences they shared as a family will forever change them and bond them together too. They were able to work through so many obstacles--boat repairs, alcoholism, pirates, sea sickness, family drama, broken arm. Just an amazing read. Highly recommended.

5 comments about Entering the Circle: Ancient Secrets of Siberian Wisdom Discovered by a Russian Psychiatrist.

1. If you read my review of The Altai Chronicles by Carol Hiltner and you read this book you will see why I said Hiltner's book was phony. This is 100 times better. As a long time student of shamanism I see the ring of truth here; if she is conning us as one reviewer suggested then she did a super job. I enjoyed her second book but not quite as much. So Olga, when can we expect number three? (not counting the one in French)



2. The book is quite insightful and honest. It's a blessing that Shamanism, which was oppressed for years and banned from practice by Russians themselves, is still alive and getting interest from all around the world. During the Soviet Russia, Shamans were killed, their drums and villages were destroyed with the fear that it'd be transferred to next generations. The birth place for Shamanism is Altais, and several Turkic nations are keeping the tradition alive today, including Sakhas and Tuva Turks. After reading several reviews, I needed to make certain points for the beginner in this magical world of spirituality. Umai is the most beloved wife of Sky God, protector of the unborn and guardian for children. Umai is considered to be the hihgest Goddesss by Turks and Mongolian alike. Another point is that Shamanism, pronouced Shaa-manism, is a Turkic word and do not belong to Mongols only. It's not a religion yet a way to worship and honor Kok-Tengri (Sky God), and all the spirits, which in the perception of Shamanism, everything has a soul.
   
   For the enthusiast, also Animal and Shaman is a good beginning book.



3. I would give this book four out of five stars simply because I believe the message within it is so profound. However just as I have found with other Russian novels, the narrative and setting are so gloomy and depressing - so Russian - that I found myself feeling less than uplifted at the end. Nevertheless, having bookmarked the relevent passages, I was able to reread the important message contained within the book.
   On the whole it was like wading through mud with gumboots full of treacle but worth it in the end. Definitely worth a read.



4. A fascinating look at how Siberian shamanic practices fit into the work of psychiatry. I always love it when two seemingly unconnected parts of the world slide together, especially in the world of medicine and healing. Suddenly we realise that we were talking about the same truths in the first place, only we approached it from different directions.
   I would like to honour Olga for her bravery in setting her experiences down on paper in order to share more healing with the world



5. Olga Kharitidi is a Russian physician and psychiatrist now residing in the USA. She was born in Siberia and worked for some years in a Novosibirsk psychiatric hospital. She has traveled in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Siberia in search of secrets of healing, long the property of isolated, ethnic enclaves which she believes can have a global impact on mental and physical well-being. Dr. Kharatidi first encountered such hidden knowledge of healing in a seemingly chance encounter with a `kam' (shaman) in the Altai, a mountainous region of Siberia that increasingly appears to be the source of many of the world's mystical traditions.
   
   Northern Asia, particularly Siberia is regarded as the 'locus classicus' of shamanism. It is inhabited by many strikingly different ethnic groups and many of its Uralic, Altaic, and Paleosiberian peoples observe shamanistic practices even in modern times and many classical ethnographic sources of "shamanism" have been recorded among Siberian peoples. According to historical research, many civilizations had begun their migrations across our Earth from this area. Human settlements dating back as far as 300,000 years - long before the remotest thought of recorded history - have been found there. Legends say that this region, called "the navel of the Earth" is energetically connected with outer space, the name of the chief goddess of the region being the Altaic word for the star system known to us as the Pleiades.
   
   Coterminous with the land of Altai there exists according to legend the realm of Belovodia - the blessed land - a fabled Shamballa-like civilization of highly spiritually evolved beings devoted to guiding the planet's destiny; apparently however one can see the entrance to Belovodia only whilst in a modified state of consciousness as it is said to lie in a different dimension. And one can visit only at the express invitation of Belovodia's enlightened inhabitants.
   
   The orthodox, materialistic views of health, and indeed of reality, so long inculcated by her upbringing, education and work in the then-USSR were challenged by her serendipitous experiences with the living traditions she met in snowbound Siberia, meeting people and undergoing experiences that reinforced her sense of an ancient and hidden knowledge of healing, that it might be possible to bring out into the open, if it could be done in the right way. Of the nature of trauma as transformation and development, she writes, 'Ancient cultures understood that human life is a journey with inherent transitions that are innately traumatic, and need to be managed.
   
   Dr. Kharitidi's debut book, "Entering the Circle," is a remarkable account of her spiritual adventure over the course of a few days and the long process of her integrating the transformative experiences she underwent into her life and work.
   
   Joining an ailing friend on a spontaneous trip to the Atai Mountains, Dr. Kharitidi is taken into apprenticeship by Umai, a native Shaman who guides her through a series of (to her) bizarre, magical, and often terrifying experiences that open her eyes to a wellspring of deeper learning and another facet of reality. On the road to Belovodia, she encounters revolutionary mystical teachings while discovering ancient secrets of magic and healing, even of the conquest of physical death, that had been the exclusive property and practice of a lineage of shamans. Returning to her life as an urban professional, the author finds some of her experiences in the Altai confirmed as fact by a physicist friend deeply involved in quantum research.
   
   At once a modern odyssey and a timeless dreamscape, "Entering the Circle" is an inspiring story of personal growth and an insightful work about the limitless potential of human spirit.
   
   Olga Kharitidi is a gifted storyteller. She invites the reader to taste, smell, hear and see the Landscape and people of another time and dimension.

5 comments about Arcanum: The Extraordinary True Story.

1. Today, porcelain, china, and dinnerwares are common items in a household. This was not always true. Once, hard paste porcelain, the world's best, was literally as valuable as gold. But only the Chinese knew the formula, and they kept their secret from Europeans for nearly 1000 years. So it is fitting that the person responsible for discovering the Chinese's secret was an alchemist, whose true quest was to find the secret for making gold from other less expensive metals.

   This swashbuckling tale of adventure, double-dealing, and final victory, is a basic manual for porcelain collectors and dealers, and it is a must for antiques enthusiasts, no matter where their interests lie. Porcelain and its history touch every collecting area to some degree. The knowlege contained in this short history is a must for anyone who aspires to a full education in the decorative arts.




2. If you enjoy splendidly written historical stories, this is a must read. I must admit that the story started to lose its lustre around the time that Meissen loses its lustre; but, in its entirety, the book is a must read. If you've read The Professor and the Madman, this story is equally enthralling.



3. There were many advances during the rennaisance era in Europe that are far reaching. You would think that something so ephemeral as a luxury item wouldn't have much impact, but history demonstrates otherwise. Deception, espionage, war, and even treason were common occurences in 17th and 18th century Europe. All that in pursuit of the secrets for making porcelain is conceptually challenging to say the least.

   When one alchemist searching for the legendary philospher's stone performs one illusion too many, he finds himself a "guest" of Augustus the Strong until he provides him with the gold he needs to pay for his extravagantly decadent life style. Fortunately, for the alchemist, he's bright and talented, and just may provide the king with another type of gold to keep the executioner at bay.

   The Arcanum, is well written and researched with an extensive bibliography. I was very impressed with the level of scholarship exhibited by Ms. Gleeson. Considering the subject matter, and my preconceptions, I was suitably suprised and impressed at what I learned.




4. Janet Gleeson is not a storyteller. This becomes apparent as she pops between explaining the arcanum, porcelain making, political strife and the lives of the people involved. The subjects are so compelling, however, that you will not mind too much. It is apparent, too, that she has a passion for the subject of porcelain making, and she does manage to infuse the reader with her interest.



5. Porcelain, the ceramics world's equivalent of gold, is among humankind's most celebrated and beautiful inventions: the perfect porcelain item is translucent, and infinite variations of usage exist for it. It was notoriously expensive because for centuries it could only be obtained overland, through China - some thought it was created by magic, and even among educated people despaired that the sands and clays necessary to make it would be unavailable in the West. All until a rather mad semi-conman, who had already been chucked out of one royal house, lucked upon the patronage of the Elector of Saxony, and then lucked upon the winning formula, thus bringing the art of porcelain-making to the West. For about a generation, Dresden had the monopoly on porcelain manufacturing; following that, industrial spies were able to sell the secret to France (Sevres) and various other European capitals. Nevertheless, Meissen porcelain is still celebrated as Europe's best. Gleeson's story is an excellent recapturing of the strange conventions of the seventeenth and eighteenth century economies and the strange means by which one might make one's fortune under the ancien regime. She is also blessed by some truly colorful characters: Bottger the fortunate (if not accidental)inventor; Herold the painter (who found a way of decorating and tinting the porcelain), and the Elector himself, who was ruthless enough to hold Bottger prisoner until he yielded the formula.

3 comments about CHARACTER ABOVE ALL VOLUME 2: DAVID MCCULLOUGH ON (Character Above All).

1. This cassette should be compulsory listening for ALL leaders. I have heard it dozens of times and it never fails to keep me on track. McCullough's great voice speaking about the character of a great man has produced the finest short audio tape on leadership that I have ever heard. I bought several hundred copies and gave them to managers. Put the character traits of Truman into today's business world and what an improved world it will be. BUY THIS TAPE!! Listen to it many times. It will have a HUGE effect on your life.



2. Truman. An entertaining one hour speech peppered with anecdotes covering the failures & successes of Truman. There may never have been a person to succeed to the president as unprepared & in such a time of national crises. We were about to invade Japan with perhaps two miilion men & 600,000 casualties. One thing he did know. He could not be Franklin Roosevelt. Nobody could. He had to be Harry Turman. He knew himself, grew into the job & ranks as one of our near great presidents. Apparently the most important experience of his life was World WarI which he could have avoided in several ways. He found he was brave, he could lead men in adversity & he liked it. He had known disappointments, hated farming, failed as a businessman & was largely ignored as "The Senator from Pendergast." He was honest, stubborn to a fault, loyal, humble but most of all confident in his abilities. You get a flavor of all this in a much too short tape. Read McCullough's "Truman."



3. I don't even normally listen to audio tapes like these, but being a fan of Harry Truman and David McCullough, I had to get this. I do want to say that I am VERY, VERY hopeful that this comes out on CD. It is absolutely enthralling. Very fun, very educational. As has already been said - every leader should listen to this.

5 comments about Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing.

1. Chameleon journalist Ted Conover trains as a prison guard and works in Sing Sing, giving readers an intense look into prison life and the dynamics of the guards and guarded.
   
   Intense, intensely personal, and full of insight into the prison system itself.
   
   Best part is his history of the US penitentiary system, which most of us don't study in US History classes! Highly readable, well-researched section that should be of interest to all US citizens.
   
   An incredible journey, a well-written account.



2. While on the surface, the idea of Conover immersing himself into the NY maximum security prison system as a corrections officer (CO) seemed to be a recipe for an exciting book, Newjack did not live up to its hype. Somewhere in the book it was mentioned that to become a mature CO, 4-5 years of work experience is necessary. Consequently, the one year Conover spent in New York's Sing Sing maximum security prison was hardly enough time to learn and build the kind of relationships necessary for a thoughtful and entertaining book. Instead, the parts of the book I found to be the most interesting were the historical accounts of who had the most influence in how the U.S. and NY prison systems evolved.
   
   Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of new ground covered through Conover's personal experience during guard training or in Sing Sing. The old clichés of prison guards as mean SOBs and apathetic prisoners beyond rehabilitation were reinforced.
   
   I commend Conover's dedication to compiling material from firsthand experience, but Newjack was mildly entertaining and even less educational in terms of observations of inmate behavior, or new ideas in improving the system. Newjack would have had richer content had Mr. Conover been allowed to shadow an experienced CO as he set out to do initally, but was denied.



3. Awarded a 2001 National Book Award and selected as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Newjack Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing has become a sociological classic, a gritty, eyewitness account of the escalating tragedy afflicting the American penal system. As a journalist-turned undercover prison guard, Conover demonstrates the sweeping irony of a prison system that has engulfed certain minorities on such a massive scale that prison culture has influenced popular culture through trappings such as baggy, beltless, low-slung pants or laceless sneakers, all with a pervasiveness that reflects a dark reality: "Prison has unwittingly given rise to its own empowering culture," observes Conover, "...one that keeps inmates resentful and resistant to incarceration's `reformative' goals...."
   
   The failure of prison to reform its inmates not only fails the incarcerated, observes the author in this hard-hitting narrative, but our entire society, which pays millions of dollars each year to warehouse dysfunctional human beings and must face the broken families they leave behind, in a vicious cycle that expands exponentially with each new generation.
   
   A string of powerful and insightful anecdotes portraying the wastefulness of inmate life and the struggle of both guards and prisoners to maintain their humanity in an inhuman environment buttresses the author's point: Investing in preventative measures to strengthen families and communities would reduce childhood trauma, provide hope, and avert the far higher societal and financial costs of rampant violent crime. In sum, Newjack offers a suspenseful, cinema noir style that engages the reader while conveying a bleak, cautionary vision, one that we ignore at our own peril.



4. Average prose, a real cure for insomnia with some interestging tidbits. It's a book I now own that will forever collect dust.



5. It has been said that good writers must suffer for their craft. But few would have voluntarily gone to the lengths Ted Conover went to in order to gather information for this important, informative book. Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing chronicles the author's experiences as he worked incognito for a year as a rookie corrections officer at world famous Sing Sing, one of New York State's maximum security prisons.
   Conover calmly tells it like it is in the little seen but ever expanding world of corrections. He describes the soul sapping indignities that officers and inmates alike contend with on a day to day basis, bringing to life a hidden world that few outsiders will ever see or even want to think about.
   For an informed, nonsensationalistic look at modern day prisons and the men and women who guard them, Newjack by Ted Conover is without equal. Highly recommended.