5 comments about Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families.

1. A hugely important work, immense in its scope. This book is an excellent educational experience, on at least the levels of racial attitudes in the 60's and beyond, Boston and New England history, local and national politics, and social stratification. Common ground is detailed in its factual accounts, empathic with its central characters, and insightful yet unbiased. A must-read for anyone from the Northeast, and a should-read for everyone else. I hope to read this at least every other year, so as not to forget its importance and cultural significance.



2. Though Common Ground is non-fiction it reads like great literature.So detailed and moving is the story of the families and individuals that Lukas traces, that while you read this involving and complex tale of idealistic politics and failed expectations, you end up caring deeply for all the people whose lives over two decades are being traced.If you were going to read one book to understand the state of race relations in the late 20th century this would be it.There are only a few books that I have read that made me want to meet the author and thank him for writing it.This is one of those.



3. I thought this book was breathtaking. J. Anthony Lukas does a masterful job telling the story of the Boston busing crisis from the perspective of 3 individuals involved (in 1974 a judge ordered the city of Boston to bus children into schools outside their own neighborhoods in order to achieve racial diversity; problems ensued). You learn about a young, idealistic upperclass white man who works for Boston Mayor Kevin White, a poor black mother who is concerned for her children and their education, and an Irish Catholic family living in Charlestown who resent the changes being imposed on them by others. Lukas tells you about each family's history and presents their story and perspectives in a way that you can understand and relate to.
   
   As a resident of Boston, I really enjoyed learning more about an important period of time for the city. I think that by putting human faces to the story he personalized it for people who didn't experience it themselves. Boston still does not have neighborhood high schools - students submit their top 3 choices and then are assigned to a school - and I would imagine this is a vestige of the 1974 court ruling.
   
   A great book.



4. This book is an absolutely magnificent tableau of American politics in all its complexity and ambiguity. Lukas investigated the lives of three families in a fundamental controversy on the future of America: forced school busing.
   
   The first family are brahmans, from Harvard Law and straight into the Mayor's office in a moment of idealism that would forever change his career. He is a mechanic of political change, who is trying to lead a good and honorable life. Then there is a working class Irish family, from the other side of the tracks. The widowed mother becomes a great adversary of the process underway, in no way racist but opposed for very practical and personal reasons to forced busing. Finally, there is a black family, struggling to get by amidst dashed hopes and pathological mental illness, the supposed benificiariers of a great social experiment. The portrayals of these lives - all real and thoroughly investigated by an absolutely first-rate investigative journalist - are beyond novellistic realism. The personalities are so vivid and well drawn that it is simply astonishing.
   
   Then there is the wider political/historical milieu, Boston in the early 1970s. Lukas stops at nothing to create a composite picture: there is the mayor Kevin White (whom I was astonished to learn was considered by Jimmy Carter as a running mate in 1976), Ted Kennedy, and scores of others including the archdiscese and various minor politician-demagogues hoping to make a career out of the crisis. The portrait is as beautiful and detailed as the Sistine Chapel, exposing the best, the worst, and the unexpected in American politics of the period. Lukacs' talent to do all of this is simply extraordinary. Late in the writing, I learned, he had to throw out one of the three families and begin the entire process over again in the name of thoroughness. No wonder he won a pulitzer.
   
   This book also spoke to me personally. I was in Boston for part of the time, in the very neighborhood where the brahmans lived as a personal social experiment, and I witnessed many of the events as they unfolded. Lukacs' evocation of it all struck me as entirely accurate, pitch perfect to where people were coming from and what they hoped and feared. As such, this book is a crucible of the American race conundrum, a turning point of the greatest political import, perhaps equal to the Vietnam war protests.
   
   And the writing! It is elegant and clear beyond imagination, approaching what I would call genius, the product of an unusually driven mind. The characters are so vivid that I will refelct on them until the day I die. This is destined to become a classic, like Tacitus or Thucydides - the quality is truly that high. I have read HUNDREDS of political-historical books, and this one ranks as near the top as a handful.
   
   Recommended as a true must-read. Get it, make the effort, for an excpetional reading experience.



5. In you are interested in modern Boston history, and why Boston is the way it is, there is no better book. The subject of this book is busing, but that is only one (important) element of the book. Excellent, well-researched overview of Boston's different ethnic clans, geography, religious groups (the most fascinating history of the Boston Roman Catholic Church I have ever read), and Boston culture. Extremely well-written.
   
   I've lived in Massachusetts/Boston my entire life. I regret not reading this book earlier.

5 comments about Queen of the Oil Club: The Intrepid Wanda Jablonski and the Power of Information.

1. You will be sucked into the story from page one. How could a woman named Wanda Jablonski have climbed into the middle of the super secret, conspiratorial world of global oil and remain there for more than 30 years as big oil's top digging journalist? The author, Anna Rubino, lays it out in page-turning fashion.
   
   Wanda broke all the stereotypes. She was on a first-name, trusted basis with Arab oil sheikhs. Her publication, Petroleum Intelligence Weekly, became the must read for every global oil player. She broke all the big stories in a career that, as written in this compelling book, tracks more like a great work of fiction - except it's all true. If you want to understand the forces that have carried us into the current world of skyrocketing fuel prices, read this book.
   
   It's a great summer escape - particularly if you can't afford the gas to get to the beach! You can sit under an umbrella on the back deck, grab a cool drink and get absorbed.
   
   Wanda Jablonski - one of the most important journalists in U.S. history. Who knew?



2. Anna Rubino was a brilliant scholar of history at Yale as she pursued her PhD. Now she has written a brilliant historical study, impeccable in scholarship but also timely and exciting. Five stars all around.
   --William Lilley III, a Yale history faculty member when the author was a graduate student.



3. Review for "The Queen of the Oil Club"
   Anna Rubino takes us into the world of oil in the 1950's through the eyes of a remarkable woman, Wanda Jablonski. In this clearly readable book the reader is exposed to the personalities of the industry leaders, the look and feel of the Middle Eastern cities and the customs and concerns of its people. Filled with high drama, this book tells a fascinating and timely story, perhaps even more relevant in view of today's oil crisis.
   Donald and Kathie Eppert



4. The seeds of today's oil crisis were sown during the five decades that Wanda Jablonski reported on industry events and, through that reporting, influenced their outcome. To understand the current surge of oil nationalism on the part of both producer and consumer nations that will determine the future of hydrocarbons for years to come, we need to go back to the earlier rise of oil nationalism that led to the creation of OPEC. This book takes us there through the life of an extraordinary woman. Wanda, her first name sufficed to identify her whether in the court of the King of Saudi Arabia or the Exxon executive offices, had access to the boardrooms and bedouins that created the oil machine. She spoke the truth to their faces and told her readers what went on behind the curtain. In an all-male oil world, she earned respect and fear for the power she wielded as a journalist who knew as much or more about this crucial industry than the men who ran it. Anna Rubino captures Wanda, a strangely reclusive woman who quietly re-wrote the rules of business journalism and influenced the world we live in today.



5. While I expected to find Queen of the Oil Club to be an educational read, I wasn't prepared for the page turner I found. Rubino's first person and you are there approach to Wanda's amazing life was riveting. So far,I've recommended it to friends looking for a lively summer read, writer friends, my graduate student niece who is pursuing Women's Studies and a friend who grew up in Saudi Arabia in the 1960's. There's something there for each of them.

5 comments about Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery.

1. I've read several books on William Wilberforce and watched the movie as well. His life not only intrigues me, but inspires me! This book makes for good reading and will give you a detailed look at the life of William Wilberforce, a man who worked hard to end slavery in the British Empire.
   
   While the movie tends to downplay Wilberforce's Christian faith, Metaxas clearly documents his conversion to Christianity as the catalyst that led him on his quest to end slavery. As he became a changed man, he could no longer ignore the sufferings of the slaves.
   The author also does a fine job in portraying the suffering Wilberforce endured for the sake of this cause and the danger the fight for abolition put him in.
   
   The story of William Wilberforce is one that must be remembered throughout history...and this book makes his story come alive.
   This a must read for everyone interested in making changes in their sphere of influence.



2. "Amazing Grace," Eric Metaxas' biography of British MP and abolitionist William Wilberforce, is a fantastic narrative on one of Britain's greatest heroes. Metaxas takes the readers back to that fateful time in Britain's history, when Wilberforce and just a few men and women took a stand to end English involvement in the transatlantic slave trade from 1787-1807. From beginning to end, the author crafts a narrative that presents facts in a fascinating, truly memorable way, serving as the perfect companion volume to the powerful motion picture Amazing Grace. If you're interested in learning more about the life of William Wilberforce, then this book is for you!
   Grade: A



3. A staggering life story. Wilberforce's decision to live his new found Christianity ultimately abolished slavery in England and then around the world. Upon that success he changed his focus to the treatment of the Indian's within Indian society and under the British East India Company. A politician and humanitarian who knew and was known by the leaders and shakers of his day. Rivetting, absorbing and up front about a Decidedly Christian Life well lived.. Read this Book...!



4. This is not an all-emcompassing biography of William Wilberforce. Its author tips his hat to John Pollock who did write the reformer's most comprehensive biography. But for those who want an overview of the anti-slavery movement in Britain and its players, this is an excellent choice. I found Mextaxas's witticisms to be a deligtful contrast to its grim subject. When Wilberforce won a seat in Parliament from a previously safe seat in York, the author described it as "an unprecedented and truly shocking leap, like someone pole-vaulting into the balcony at the opera [and saying], is this seat taken?" Some of the descriptions of cruely to animals, so common at this time, and the conditions of the slave ships make for difficult reading, but it is important that we read it as slavery and animal cruelty continue to this day. The only problem I had with this non-fiction work is its lack of an index.



5. This is a well written book with lots of insight, humor and a good snapshot of life in 18th and early 19th century England. BUT, there is no index which was frustrating for me when using this book to prepare a lecture for my adult Sunday School class and no bibliography and no notes which buts some question to the validity of some of the material.

5 comments about Ben Hogan: An American Life.

1. Only reason I'm not giving one star is simply because Dodson had access that no other writer was previously granted. I can only imagine what Curt Sampson would have done with all this extra information. The only reason I made it through this book is because I'm a Hogan geek. Anyone remotely well versed in Hogan's history will notice a factual error in just about every chapter. And for those not well versed in Hogan's history, there are many basic golf facts that don't make sense. I write this without the book in front of me, but one instance still stands out: Dodson refers to a 10 birdie round of 64 - with no bogeys. I know times have changed, but I don't recall many par 74 courses back in the day. By itself, this can seem like an innocent mistake, maybe even a typo. But when you pair it with the 100 other similar mistakes you lose credibility in the author. You also get the idea that Dodson himself isn't very familiar with the game of golf itself - the type of guy who keeps score on his wrist watch and uses 'golf' as a verb. The last half of the book I was just reading to find a decent quote or two. There's a reason Sampson's book was so popular and this one wasn't.



2. An outstanding insight to the life and times of Mr. Hogan. So much was presented that never came to the public eye. And even though a discredit was given by one reviewer in his May 9, 2005 review, based on the fact that 10 birdies in an US Open on a par 74 course was not possible, this individual did not do his homework. The US Open was played on a par 74 course in Savannah, Georgia in the early 1930s. A great book, a wonderful revelation, a must read for those interested in golf history.



3. I would greatly recommend this book. It is a very comprehensive study into the life of a true legend and is also a very incisive insight into America during the thirties and forties. In the course of reading about such an outstanding career the name Tiger Woods inevitably enters one's thoughts. Just how would Hogan have compared to Woods during the prime of his career. Woods continues his gallop into history but Hogan's name will always be the one who was responsible for taking golf out of the country clubs and into the municipal courses.



4. As both an avid golfer, and Ben Hogan admirer, I was more than satisfied with this book. Once i turned the first page I couldn't put it down. The information shared on the life of who I consider to be the greates golfer ever is unparalleled. Although this will instantly become a cherished part of any Ben Hogan fan's book collection, anyone who enjoys American history, sports history, sports in general, and golf in particular, as well as those who like true stories of sucess against all odds, will enjoy this book. It's a well-written portrait capturing all the good and bad of Ben Hogan and his life, and there was plenty of both. Anyone who thinks they know anything about Ben Hogan the man owes it to themselves to read this book. As Arnold Palmer himself said of the book: "I thought I knew Ben Hogan pretty well, until this book came along...". If you were interested enough in this book to read the reviews, you should buy it. You will not regret doing so.



5. I had read that Hogan would tell other golf pros that came to him seeking golf swing advice that they should "dig it out of the dirt" like he did. What sounded like a brush off may have been simply the truth. Hogan dug his swing out of the dirt by putting more work in on it that anyone else. Perhaps that was his real "secret". Hard work.
   
   This book puts a positive spin on a personality that was respected but was not uniformily well liked. Along the way the author gives enough well reseached detail to put human flesh and bones on an iconic figure. A good read. I recommend it.

5 comments about John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, a Private Life.

1. After noting the ratings and browsing the titles of other reviewers, I realize I am in the minority in the low review I have given this book. I find it even more peculiar given my disposition to normally be quite favorable in my reviews. I will not flinch, however, in my belief that this biography is ill conceived, inadequately researched, and poorly written.
   
   First, I will tackle why this book is ill conceived. Nagel makes the assertion that he will be able to add knew insight into the inner workings of John Quincy Adams, a task he points out that no previous biographer has been fully successful, by writing a biography utilizing JQA's diary. This certainly seems like an acceptable approach but in practice Nagel simply uses it as an excuse to write a biography without doing any real research. In fact, you will not find a single footnote in this entire volume, simply an explanation basically telling you that his primary research was JQA's diary with the gaps filled in by other biographers work. Even more inexplicable, beyond a couple of lines of poetry, Nagel never quotes directly from JQAs diary except for short sentences or phrases trapped within his mechanical prose. The dumbfounding outcome of this is a book that purports to tell JQAs story utilizing his diary, yet never gives the reader any sense of what JQAs diary was actually like.
   
   The preceding criticism might be overlooked had Nagel actually written an enjoyable biography. Unfortunately, Nagel's writing is as lazy and thoughtless as his research. Nagel makes no effort to craft his work in a way that would be appropriate to his subject matter or complement his desire to use JQAs diary as the basis for the book. I would encourage anyone thinking of buying this book to read the excerpts available through the "Look Inside" feature. Nagel continues the exact same paragraph structure throughout the entire book. The book is strictly chronological, basically following a "then this happened, then this happened, and then this happened..." approach that is about as compelling as a high school level history assignment. Nagel treats events big and small with the same level of detail (not much) and never elaborates on events that seem to provide an opportunity for adding interest or bringing the reader to a better understanding of John Quincy Adams and his place in history. I would call this a "feather duster" biography - it glides along the surface without ever taking the time to go into any depth.
   
   Those interested in learning about JQAs presidency will be the most disappointed. Nagel explains that he only devotes a chapter to JQAs presidency because JQA himself did not think his presidency was very important. This is an absurd defense and a smokescreen for the fact that he did not do the necessary research. In fact, the chapter devoted to JQAs presidency is mostly about events that happened to JQA during his presidency unrelated to his presidency.
   
   In conclusion, I will call this book exactly what it is - an abridgement and paraphrased version of JQAs diary and a very poor one at that. I am still perplexed at how so many others found this book satisfactory, but I found it to be the worst biography that I have ever read.



2. It was obvious from tne start that John Quincy Adams was going to be a great man,like it or not. His father,John, second in his class at Harvard, immediately began bombarding the youth with Greek, Latin, English and history. His mother, Abigail Smith of Mayflower descent, simultaneously joined the festivities, instilling a religious morality that might have frightened Calvin himself.Trips abroad with Quincy's father were to be educative,with little time to be "wasted".Little wonder that J.Q. would also graduate second in his Harvard stint. The real surprise to this reviewer is that the future 6th president ever married since he seemingly knew nothing about intimacy, only work and duty.His beratings and impudence towards his wife are carefully preserved, perhaps sadly. Certainly no family wrote or retained more for future historians.That he was a competent diplomat, an historic Secretary of State under Monroe, and a highly respected Representative for Massachusetts until his death in 1848 (stricken on the floor of The House) is almost completely forgotten.It's simply that his presidency was a complete bust,due mostly to the infamous alleged "corrupt deal" with Henry Clay in the election of 1824. No president was better trained for the office, few presidents were treated more callously by Congress.(Which came first,the chicken or the egg)? Paul Nagel writes an anecdotal, not too heavy biography of a difficult man. The results are generally favorable to the reader, even if the subject himself tends not to be, Is there a psycho-historian in the house?



3. I'm nearly at the halfway point of my mission to read a biography of each President. I would put this bio in the top third of those I've read for a variety of reasons.
   
   First, it was the perfect length. JQA was an important President but was he TJ, Roosevelt, Truman, Nixon, Lincoln... no. Nothing that important happened when he was President at least in a very broad, international sense. I'm very glad the author didn't lengthen the biography and make it detailed to a fault just to make it look like he did more research or overvalued the importance of JQA.
   
   JQA was quite a character. Clearly he was an intelligent man. I loved the way the author talked about what JQA read. In fact, I might even read some of those books myself because as with nearly every President, they gathered most of their intelligence from reading on their own. I liked the fact that the author included all the info about JQA's literary, research and professorship.
   
   I didn't get the point of how the author pointed out JQA's schedule so often, when he got up, what he did all day, that got a bit old.
   
   Other than that, it was really a great biography that shed a lot of light on this man.
   
   A few things I found interesting about JQA that the author did a good job detailing.
   
   1. Abigail and John Adams really put a lot of pressure on their son. That was very apparent and made JQA a sympathetic person at times.
   
   2. JQA was a stick in the mud a lot of times so it is easy to see why a lot of people didn't like him. It also explains why his presidency isn't held in such high regard. I thought it very telling that on Andrew Jackson's deathbed JQA was very uncomplementary. I would've hated to cross him.
   
   3. And perhaps this is the most interesting. JQA couldn't rise above the pressure that was put on him by his parents. He passed that pressure on to his kids, causing one to kill himself. Of course, I do think he mellowed as he got older which the author detailed allowing him to become a sympathetic figure again.
   
   Lastly, how about the fact that JQA died pretty much in congress. Wow, what dedication.
   
   Good bio that I would recommend.



4. A fine biography about America's most important second generation citizen. Nagel manages the tricky balancing act of covering the relevant topic without overstaying his welcome with everything and the kitchen sink. Nagel also earns due credit for resisting, for the most part, the urge to apply today's psychological interpretations to the mind and motives of a man who lived two hundred years ago. Discussion is important but speculation is just that. It also helps Nagel's cause that JQA led a pretty uncontroversial life.
   
   A great legislator and a (by his own admission) below average President, JQA proved his mettle as a Secretary of State and congressman. The only President to return to congress, he fought vehemently for abolition and civil liberties. He even died on the job. How's that for service to the nation.
   
   If the personal aspect of the biography seems underwhelming, perhaps that is due to the subject's relative colorlessness. A staid, serious individual who may have even suffered from mild depression, JQA lived his entire life as his father's son. Hard to live up to a man revered around the world as a living or recently deceased god. JQA lived a very quiet, serious life for a public figure.



5. A great biography on John Quincy Adams. The author thoroughly went through everything from childhood to death. He was able to describe him very well. I liked hearing about his various government jobs and living in Europe. I only have a minor nitpick the author should have sticked with refering to him as JQA instead of rotating from JQA, John and Adams given his famous father it would have been better to stick with just JQA. Other that it was a great biography.

5 comments about Get in the Game: 8 Elements of Perseverance That Make the Difference.

1. Life's little lessons taken from one who knows. Good title. Inspirational! Thanks Cal.



2. Get in the Game is not only a book about Cal Ripken Jr., his consecutive games streak and his fine career. It's a recap of some simple but overlooked values.
   
   Using his core strength in baseball to describe his thinking, the reader will not only appreciate some particular plays in his career, but also down-to-earth ways of approaching things in life.



3. This book provides extremely useful guidelines in dealing with situations we all eventually run into in our lives. While alluding to baseball related examples, it does not simply dwell solely on recounting Mr. Ripken's impressive baseball accomplishments or relate amusing/interesting anecdotes. Instead it gives thought-provoking insights into two all too fast-disappearing basic axioms in our country's psyche: "practice makes perfect," and "do unto others." I highly recommend this book for everyone, especially young people still in their formative years. In fact, it presents an excellent opportunity for parents to reconnect with their child(ren) by reading it aloud and together, with discussion centering on each of the eight elements as they are completed.



4. Cal Ripken offers many of his life lessons and experiences he has learned through playing the right way his whole career. I highly recommend this book to baseball fans of all ages and backgrounds.



5. This book helped me and it helped me help my eleven-year-old son.
   
   One of the parents from my son's baseball team actually said to me last night at our end-of-season party that several games ago it was like a completely different boy began showing up to play. He said he could see my son now has baseball in his head. That's about when I started reading parts of this book to my son. I started taking him to the batting cages. We began really working toward his goals on the field and talking about his goals in life.
   
   This book resounds with the values I've always carried in my heart but have not been able to live due to circumstances beyond my control. Reading it allowed me to see these values do actually work somewhere out there in this world and these values are what I want for my child.

5 comments about The Quotable John Wayne: The Grit and Wisdom of an American Icon.

1. I just picked up The Quotable John Wayne - The Grit and Wisdom of an American Icon, compiled and edited by Carol Lea Mueller. This isn't exactly a Western book. John Wayne was an actor, not a cowboy, but he was a true westerner.
   
   This small book can be read in an hour, but it begs rereading. The compiled quotes are not lines from Wayne's movies; they're his comments in private life. They show Wayne to be quick-witted, a warm human being, and of a consistent character with the roles he played in the movies.
   
   The quote on the back cover that grabbed my attention was, "Don't even for a minute make the mistake of looking down your nose at Westerns. They're art - the good ones, I mean... the facination with the Old West will never die."
   
   Each chapter starts with quotes about John Wayne and then proceeds to give his opinions on the chapter subject. As you might guess, his statements are never mealy-mouthed.
   The Shut Mouth Society
   The Shopkeeper



2. This book has real American Ideals from a True American Icon, from a time when being a proud American was a good thing. This book has come out at a perfect time to remind Americans that it is okay to be patriotic.
   This is something that any fan of John Wayne, westerns or American Ideals, should have on their shelves.
   I highly appreciate Carol Mueller for reminding us that John Wayne was a True American and publishing it in time for John Waynes 100 year anniversery.



3. The John Wayne fanatic in our family (who, by the way, has nearly everything John Wayne) was excited to receive this as a gift.



4. I've been a fan of "Duke" for over 30 years and I've read a lot about him, and I can say that "The Quotable John Wayne - The Grit And Wisdom Of An American Icon" by Carol Lea Mueller is one of the finest. Not simply another boring biography like many other books, this book succinctly gets to the 'True Grit'...the spirit behind the legend of the man. Chock full of interesting anecdotes,memorable quotes and tasty tidbits regarding Duke's attitudes about God, America & family values, it's all here. Good job Ms. Mueller!



5. Great book full of common sense and insight into the man. Proof that when you look up American in the dictionary, it says 'see John Wayne'. Why didn't we ever make this man President?

5 comments about Part Asian, 100% Hapa.

1. The illustrations themselves speak louder than words and its a good teaching tool to help people of different ethnic backgrounds that have mixed race in them, especially parents of two different cultures who are married with kids who are mixed race to teach them and show them there are people out there in the same situation as them. I bought two of these books for my friends who are going to have kids of different cultural backgrounds. A must have.



2. I am so glad that I bought this book for myself and my little sister.
   
   Growing up, I always felt out of place. Caucasians saw me as asian, and asians saw me as caucasian. When every exam you take at school asks you to check a box for your coresponding race, but you feel your race is not listed, what do you choose? It's very clear as to what I am not, but what exactly DOES that box labeled "other" mean?
   
   This is a wonderful book full of beauty and humor. It gives those that lie in the spaces between clearly defined boxes a feeling of belonging and pride.



3. Being hapa myself I definitely could appreciate everyone displayed in this book. It really makes me feel proud of the diversity in myself and in others.



4. I'm one of those people who get uncomfortable when filling out applications and reach the dreaded "Race" section that says "Select only one."
   
   I guess I'm supposed to pick whichever one I identify with the most. I usually skip that section and come back to it at the end. After staring at it for a solid half-hour, I hastily pick something and put the paper out of my sight. I try not to think about the answer I chose, and the ancestors I denied. My answer differs every time.
   
   Half my family views me as white (just "white" - because white people have no ethnic backgrounds or interesting cultures, right? There's no English, Irish, Dutch, German, Swiss, etc. - it's just "white"). The other half views me as some strange Mutt they don't quite know how to interact with.
   I'm sick of being too white or not white enough. This book helped me realize I'm not the only one.



5. I'm half Japanese and half Euro (German, Swede, Scottish) and I sure wish this book had been around when I was a kid many moons ago. It's striking in it's simplicity, very profound. I enjoy looking at the unique faces and reading the individual hand-written commentary by each subject. I will keep this in my library, for our daughter, who is Ukrainian, Italian, et al.

5 comments about Shooting to Kill.

1. If you want to know more about what it's like to produce, rather than HOW to produce...this is the book. Vachon takes you through her life, and I've learned more about producing just from reading about one of her days. She's honest, doesn't preach much, doesn't give very many golden rules (since we all make our own), and tells you how it really is. If your tired of reading books on forms and paperwork, negotiating and contacts, and are just plain interested in what it's like to be IN IT, buy the book. It's so worth it.



2. Somewhere between the world of independant movies and studio pictures reside a group of people who've bounced between both worlds and have taken up residence in the void. The author is one of those people. This book isn't very informative for the ultra low budget producer but a good read nonetheless. Although at times it wanders aimlessly while the reader tries to figure out which of the half-dozen guys named "Todd" she's talking about now. I'd recommend this book to people with budgets in the neighborhood of 100,000 to 5 million. I wouldn't call it a very good resource for locating financing.



3. Having just directed a low-budget feature in Hollywood, I wish I had read this book beforehand (and I certainly wish my producer had read it). Vachon breaks down the process, making it understandable to even the most novice film fan. The writing is gutsy, the tales from the trenches always interesting. One of the must-reads if you're at all interested in making movies.



4. Not only is this a thorough and informative piece of work, which would make it worth twice the price all by itself, it's also an inspiration and should be read by anyone, writer, actor, producer, director, anyone.... who's ever been told you have to compromise your vision in this business to get your movie made. There are several great stories in this book but the image that keeps resonating in my head is Christine Vachon, the High Priestess of Indie Film and Soverign Protector of Infant Directors, saying to the producer's rep: "We'll talk about it" and saying to everyone else after hanging up the phone, "We're not cutting anything, we're not cutting anything." Not only did I not know there were people out there doing such things, I had begun to wonder if it was even possible. This book can make you believe again. I didn't read it. I devoured it.



5. Christine Vachon has written an extremely accessible, entertaining book about what it means to be an independent film producer. She covers every step of the movie-making process, from finding a script to casting to hiring a crew, editing, etc. She covers the material with an engaging style and a sense of humor, and the facts are punctuated with examples and anecdotes from the movies she's produced. She's candid and unapologetic, and apparently some reviewers here have a problem with that. News flash - if you intend to make a career in the film industry, you better get used to people who yell, tight schedules, high expectations, plus low budgets if indies are your thing. If you spent any time on a film set, you would know that it is the producer's JOB to be tough, to get things in on time, and to run a tight ship. At the end of the day, it's the producer's butt that is on the line. It's just plain silly to give the book a low rating because Christine had the guts to be honest about the way things work on a film set and you wouldn't want to work with her. It's clear that some reviewers here need to get a thicker skin or find a different calling.
   
   Christine's films have been critical success stories despite their low budgets and tight time frames - she knows what she is doing and has taken the time to write a wonderful introduction to the world of filmmaking for beginners and those of us with some experience. I highly recommend this book.

4 comments about Famous Men of the Renaissance & Reformation.

1. This is an excellent research tool for high schoolers in history, religion, humanities, art history or world history classes. It is a large, workbook-sized soft cover book. I ordered it for our church library. Illustrations are all in black and white. It was interesting to read as an adult, too, o because it is a good refresher or review of the history of the era. Although each chapter covers a person, the history of the whole book is kept intact. I would recommend it to public school high school teachers for use as a text. However, I have a comment. Where are the WOMEN of the Renaissance and Reformation? What about Catherine de Medici, Katherine von Bora, Joan of Arc, Hildegard von Bingen, and Artimisia Gentileschi, the great female Renaissance painter (check Vasari's Lives of the Painters.) I would like to see women included in any revisions, with the book called, "Famous PEOPLE of the Renaissance and Reformation." Do some digging and don't follow the typical history that men haver written. There is "herstory", too, and it should be researched and brought once again to life. Just because women may not have been as famous as the men, they did wield considerable power and were just as spiritual and talented.



2. I'll admit it - I picked up this text and went immediately to the entries that I thought might be problematic. I didn't have to look far. The entry on Machiavelli is too nuanced for the book's intended audience. The chapter dealing with Luther is erroneous in its treatment of Church doctrine and at times, downright hateful (and at other times, quite silly, as if the whole subject is a joke). I would have to stand over my children's shoulders and correct every other word if they read this. It might prompt an interesting discussion of popular Protestant misconceptions of Catholic teachings, but it doesn't seem to be a suitable textbook for forming children's knowledge of the characters of the historical period.



3. My children and I really enjoyed this treatment of the Renaissance and Reformation. I recommend all the titles in this series.



4. This book is full of great information on men of this time period. It tells you who they were, and what their role in history was. It does a good job of linking the principal players as well, so that you understand who was living and making history at the same time, and what influence they had upon one another.