5 comments about The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism.

1. Megan Marshall has done superb work in this carefully researched account of the amazing Peabody sisters.



2. I only get to read on the train to and from work. This book makes my daily trip a real treat. I'm only half through, but hooked from page one. Not only does Marshall make a fascinating biographical and historical account of the Peabody sisters, but she provides answers as to why strong, ambitious, smart women have been so frustrated for so long. Society supressed gifted women in the 1800's so much so that women either became outcasts because they had to find expression, which in itself was restricted to motherhood, housewife or teacher, or they retreated into themselves in the form of illness or depression. Indeed, the contributions to romanticism by the Peabody sisters came at a very high cost to them. And now I can read about them and think "How strange that society was so close-minded back then!"



3. Somehow I overlooked this book when it was released, but thank goodness I discovered it later. The author takes readers back in time to share the amazing lives of these sisters. In the process, acquaintances of the Peabody family, that readers already know as historical figures, are brought to life as real, flawed but remarkable people. Readers will identify with these women as they strive to achieve and practice their own talents in a society that shares possibilities and limitations not so different from our own.



4. The Peabody Sisters is a wonderful book. It was so interesting and fast-paced, it reads like a novel. The women of the Transcendentalist Movement have been so poorly remembered it is possible to learn something new on every page. Megan Marshall's writing style is relaxed and conversational, a good balance to the 19th century melodrama, angst, sentimentality, and lofty philosophies of the sisters and their circle. Although Marshall quotes letters, sermons, poetry, reviews, journals, reports, and literature from many sources, it is done sparingly and logically integrated.
   
   The Peabody sisters were extraordinary women living in extraordinary times. A case can be made that Elizabeth Peabody, the oldest sister, is one of the most important figures in Transcendentalism. Barred from college and commerce by poverty and sex, she still managed to be more educated than many of the men she befriended and promoted. Many of the relationships we take for granted in Boston and Concord of the era can be directly linked to Elizabeth Peabody's tireless efforts to intellectually support interesting, creative individuals, make introductions, even find people jobs and students, housing, mentors - all while she is shut out and struggling to support her parents and five younger siblings while teaching herself Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Italian, Spanish. Also: teaching children and adults, writing articles, editing and publishing, and keeping up a lively correspondence with teachers, philosophers, artists, poets of the era. Her sisters Sophia and Mary are hardly less accomplished.
   
   And yet Megan Marshall always keeps things grounded. The sisters are always real people who display very normal sibling rivalries manifested in jealousy, competition, ambition, despair, frustration and anger. There was also commitment, love, affection, support, delight and generosity.
   
   What is most amazing is the strength of the women in this group. They are creative, adaptable, intelligent, extraordinary in many ways. They are continually held back by the convention of the time that women were somehow frail and that ambition and accomplishment were unseemly in the "fairer sex." Considering what hothouse flowers many of the men in this group proved to be, it's all the more unreasonable that the inequality of the sexes persisted.
   
   Megan Marshall never harangues - the rant is purely my own. Marshall simply gives us the benefit of her prodigious research in the most straightforward and appealing manner. Don't be scared off by the length of the book: the last 100 pages or so are notes and index. The book itself speeds by and the reader is left at the point when the sisters are taking up their own separate lives.



5. The author attempts to run the three biographies in parallel but what really happens is that she jumps from one place to the other, so none of the biographies unfold properly. I found it utterly unreadable. On top of it to add to my frustration, there are generalities, like Elizabeth fought with her mother "like all adolescent girls do" or romantic creations "like on this day if you didn't watch out a dog might have showered you with water". I wanted to read a proper biography and not a society novel. I had read "Eden's Outcasts" by John Matteson before and came away with a more lively picture of Elizabeth Peabody and her involvment in the Temple School then from this book. If you are interested in the transcendentalist movement, the time, or women I highly recommend "Eden's Outcasts: The story of Louisa May Alcott and her father".

5 comments about Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman.

1. i am a reading specialist in Washington, DC and chose this book b/c i love David Diaz and because, like wilma, my children have many obstacles in their lives. i simply can not finish this book without nearly crying in front of my class. i've read it so many times, but the suspenseful writing and triumphant ending never get tiring. it is a truly wonderful story and wonderfully told and illustrated by this duo.



2. Inspirational stories fill hundreds of picture books every year. Most are simply awful. They either tell tales that are loose plots barely supported by facts or they paste together a slapdash concoction of truth and fiction with as little thought as possible. The truly beautiful bio-picture books out there are as rare as hummingbirds in autumn. So it was with great joy that I located "Wilma Unlimited" and found it to be not only inspirational but also a darned good read. Written by Kathleen Krull (the woman who could make long dead musicians fascinating in "Lives of the Musicians" and bring Cesar Chavez to life in the recent "Harvesting Hope") and illustrated by David Diaz the book is the best possible way to introduce kids to one of the world's greatest athletes.
   
   Born in 1940 to a family of twenty-one people (nineteen siblings, no less), Wilma Rudolph was initially a sickly child. Though she was energetic enough, she often caught every disease imaginable. At the age of five, Wilma's left leg twisted inward and it was clear that she'd come down with polio. Still, Wilma was a determined child and she consistently exercised her unruly leg to get stronger. After continual practice, she was finally able to walk free of the leg brace that had weighed her down. At twelve the brace was put away for good and Wilma started participating in sports. She led her high school basketball team to the finals, catching the eye of a college coach. Before you knew it, Wilma was recruited into the Tennessee State University's track-and-field team on a full ride scholarship. In 1960 she competed in the Olympic Games in Rome. The book sets this part up beautifully. Wilma arrived with a twisted ankle into a place filled with television cameras (the first time they ever filmed the Olympics), the place "shimmering heat", and her competition consisting of runners who had run faster races than she ever had. Then Wilma proceeds to win one... two... three gold medals! The last medal is especially dramatic, hinging on the moment when Wilma drops her baton and STILL beats the other runners in the 400-meter relay. The last double page spread in this book shows Wilma standing, "tall and still, like a queen", earning the last of her three medals. It's a truly proud moment for all who have the privilege to experience it once again in picture book form.
   
   Krull has a way with words. I'm not saying that Wilma Rudolph's life is dull. Far from it. But in the hands of a lesser author this story could easily have been bogged down in all the wrong moments. This author knows which moments should be given full glory. The moment when Wilma removes her brace and walks proudly into church will banish from your mind that similar pseudo-inspirational moment in "Forrest Gump". Wilma's struggle at the Olympics through pain and skepticism puts the reader through the same strains. You yearn for this woman to beat them and beat 'em she does. Then, best of all, come the illustrations of David Diaz. This is my first Diaz experience, though I suspect that I'll read many more of his books as the days go on. Diaz has accompanied his illustrations in this tale with sepia toned photographs. The book's endpapers display the outlines of footprints in the dirt. The title page is an evocative view of ivy climbing a raw wooden fence. Behind his colorful illustrations, each background photograph refers to the corresponding scene obliquely. When Wilma and her mother take the bus to the hospital, the photograph is a close-up of a wheel. When she packs away her leg brace, it's shredded packing paper. A great relief it is indeed that the colored illustrations are worthy of their sepia compatriots. Though these pictures may appear blunt at first, they are filled with the most delicate of designs. I loved watching the character of Wilma as she aged. As she grows in confidence, her posture improves and back stiffens until, by the last shot, she is standing taller than all the women around her. Than all the women in the world.
   
   "Wilma Unlimited" should be known to everyone living in American today. This is inspirational without being either annoying or faux-patriotic. It's an actual honest-to-goodness amazing story. The book is beautiful and its story is worthy of its packaging. I challenge you to read it and not shake your head at least once in amazement. It's just that good.



3. I have used Wilman Unlimited in my classroom for the past few years. It is a fantastic book to use any time during the year, but good for Black History Month also. I use it with fourth graders to teach sequencing and analyzing character. I highly recommend this book.



4. This is a true and exciting story that will make you never want to give up on your dreams. I really liked this book and recommend that you read it.



5. My granddaughter needed books on Wilma Rudolph for a 5th grade school project. This ended up being her favorite. The text was just right for her understanding and she really liked the illustrations. As she was reading it she clutched it to her chest and exclaimed to me, "Grandma, I love this book!" It prompted a conversation about overcoming doubts, believing in yourself and what things inspire us... a conversation I don't think we would have had otherwise.

1 comments about Mark Spitz: The Extraordinary Life of an Olympic Champion.

1. Great book on this Olympic icon. Very timely with the Olympics coming up. Don't have to be a sports fan to enjoy this book. Spitz was an amazing athlete and person and this book presents a lot of previously unkown stories about him.

5 comments about The Burn Journals.

1. I was a little skeptical to pick up Burn Journals but once I picked it up, i oculdnt put it down. its a memoir about how brent runyun doused his bathrobe in gasoline and lit himself on fire. Brent takes you on his recovering journey from the surgerys to repair his skin to learning to walk and do normal activity all over again to being in rehab. it really opened my eyes to how lucky we are to not have to go through that much pain.
   
   just last week i got a bad sunburn and everytime i went to complain about it hurting, my mind would draw back to this book and id feel ashamed at complaining. as i said earlier, its a real eye opener. i recommend anyone over the age of 14-15 reading it.



2. I had finished a book that I had anticipated and was disappointed by so I need something to wash that "bad book" taste out of my mouth. I went to a local shop (Sorry Amazon!) and browsed the Biography section and settled on this.
   
   At home I cracked the cover around 6 and way after the sun went down I closed the book and put it on the shelf completed.
   
   I think this book hits home with me more than most memoirs because I can recall similar feelings as the author described having at that age.
   
   I think this could be "boring" or "dull" for a lot of people that pick up a memoir of personal tragedy expecting pages and pages of self loathing and reality show-esque emotional breakdowns and temper tantrums to the cries of "I hate myself and want to die!". Although that may be real life for some people this book is more than that........... this book is about a struggle that happens within a family that don't know a struggle is happening. It's about a young man that did something horrible and kicked himself afterwards and came out a little stronger in the end without dragging his family through his own inner turmoil (the debate over if that is good or bad is up for debate howeveR) over his past actions and thoughts.
   
   It's a book about dealing with a problem (depression), not ness. BEATING a problem. Which is the case for a lot of people that struggle with depression.
   
   I would suggest it as a good read, especially for the adult teen angst type. Like me.
   
   The way I described this book to a friend....
   
   "It's like having a really really long "I need to get some stuff on my chest" conversations with your best friend without having to say a word"



3. This book is a very touching story. When I read it I couldn't believe that someone would have the guts to do that sort of thing to themselves.I would definately recomend it to others especially to teenagers so that they see what commiting suicide does to your family. This was a awesome book!



4. Taking his bathrobe into the bathroom and dousing it in gasoline, Brent Runyon, 14, lites a match and sets himself on fire. It all started because he lit a match in the boys' gym locker room, lit a locker on fire, and would have possibly gotten expelled. With the fear of his parents reactions in mind he plainly decides to kill himself. The pain of the fire was too much for him to handle and he douses the fire out in the shower and his brother Craig calls 911 immediatly. After he sets himself on fire he is sent to the Children's National Medical Center where they help replace his skin because he burnt over 88% of his body. After all his skin was replaced he was then transferred over to Alfred I. duPont Institute. While there he goes through a process of recovery and goes through physical challenges in order to get his body working properly again. I think that this book would be good for both adults and young teens to read. Not only does it show adults what goes through the mind of teenagers sometimes but it also opens up a whole new view for teens too. This book shows all differnt sorts of points from different points of view. During the process of his recovery the book could get a little slow but all in all this book was a good one for both teens and adults.



5. Taylor Moody:
   In the autobiography "The Burn Journals" Brent Runyon describes his traumatizing suicide attempt and his difficult recovery over the next year. Brent shows us his experience at a Burn Unit in a children's hospital where he underwent burn care and skin grafts. After his stay at the Burn Unit and a few psychologist meetings he then went to a rehabilitation hospital for intensive physical and psychological therapy. And then he finally arrived home and began high school.
   In the beginning of the story Brent comes home one day after school with the thought of suicide on his mind. He was in trouble at school, his best friend was going out with the girl he liked, and he felt unwanted, unloved, and alone. He put on his black bathrobe stepped into his shower and poured gasoline on himself then he lit the match that would turn his life upside down. While engulfed in flames he made the decision to stop himself. He turned on the shower and the fire went out. He was rescued from his house and taken to the Burn Unit at Children's Hospital. At the hospital he discovers that he has burns over 85% of his body and undergoes intensive treatment. He makes friends with the nurses that take care of him and it makes his stay more enjoyable. Brent's burn scars have to be stretched or else he will lose almost all of his range of motion in his arms and legs.
   After about 6 months at Children's Hospital he then moves to a rehabilitation center called DuPont. Here Brent goes through intensive physical and psychological therapy. Brent figures out after a few meetings with psychologists that he doesn't know why he tried to kill himself. He feels that none of the reasons he thought he was doing it for meant any sense anymore. Also at DuPont Brent took some school courses to try and get caught up with his peers who he would meet up with in high school. After DuPont Brent went to another rehabilitation facility where he stayed with other teens that had problems of their own. Here Brent and his family talked about the event and how it affected the family. Brent was then released from here after a short period of time and could now stay full time at home.
   At home Brent caught up with some of his friends from eighth grade who were now in high school. He realized how much he'd missed and that he was going to have to struggle to find his way in high school. After a few weeks a t home Brent's psychologist decided he was ready to go back into the mainstream of life. Brent got on a bus, put his head on the window and rode the bus to this seemingly alien world which he knew nothing about anymore. Brent steps of the bus and starts a new beginning.
   I thought the author did an excellent job of bringing the reader right into his head. I could relate to the character and his humor. The Burn Journals showed me how fragile life is and the psychological affects suicide has. I thought this book was a masterpiece and I would absolutely recommend this book to all of my friends and even some of my older family members.

5 comments about Blood, Money & Power: How L.B.J. Killed J.F.K..

1. The author opens with a detailed biography of Lyndon Johnson that removes the veneer of 'presidentiality' from Johnson and shows him as a greedy, fearful, mean man with an all-consuming need for power. McClellan then builds his case against Johnson by describing events earlier in Johnson's life in which foul acts were performed for a momentary advantage. Quite a bit of detail is provided about the stuffing of the ballot box which allowed Johnson to win his seat in the US Senate in 1948 and also about the murder of the USDA inspector, Henry Marshall, who was on the trail of fraud being perpetrated on the Department of Agriculture. The original investigation found that Marshall had committed suicide...with five bullets in his body delivered by a close Johnson associate, Mac Wallace. Another murder victim was Doug Kinser who was threatening to bring scandal to Johnson. Mac Wallace was then convicted of killing Kinser but, thanks to Johnson's power over the Texas legal system, was sentenced to 5 years in prison and given a suspended sentence.
   
   It is Wallace that the author alleges was one of the trigger men in the sniper's nest along with Oswald. As proof, the author matches a fingerprint found on a box in the sniper's nest with one of Wallace's earlier fingerprints obtained for the Kinser murder to place Wallace on the 6th floor of the School Book Depository. The author provides a lot of other interesting information such as pointing out that it was Johnson who arranged for Kennedy to visit Texas on November 22, 1963 and that Johnson had given a copy of the Secret Service plans for protecting the president to the conspirators.
   
   McClellan also claims that there was a third trigger man on the grassy knoll who he does not identify and he claims that the conspirators wore suits and used fake Secret Service badges to identify themselves to police and escape the scene after the shooting. There is some credibility to this as many of the shooting eye witnesses and police officers reported encountering secret service agents in Dealey Plaza after the shooting and yet the Warren Commission established that not a single secret service agent was present in Dealey Plaza other than those riding on vehicles. One of the weaker parts of the book is where McClellan claims that the entire conspiracy was the work of a crooked Johnson lawyer named Ed Clark. It seems much more likely that the conspiracy was large enough that the lawyer Clark was working closely with other a handful of rogue agents from the CIA and the secret service and that the final conspiracy was a 'team' effort.
   
   This is an interesting book that fleshes out a lot of missing pieces of the assassination puzzle and makes some of the earlier stuff attributed to Johnson, such as his phone call to the Parkland Hospital ER seeking a dying confession from Oswald, much more believable.
   
   After reading this book, you will never again look the same way at the famous photo of Johnson getting a wink from Congressman Albert Thomas on board Air Force One after being sworn in as the president following Kennedy's killing.



2. Strange book; it starts off promisingly but then moves from factual data to 'faction' and at that point becomes riddled with errors and unnecessary speculation. If McClellan had just stuck to the facts of what he knew this would have been a far more credible book.



3. I've read quite a few books on the JFK assassination. This one makes the most sense to me. The book doesn't go into a lot of technical detail like the ballistics, Zapruder Film, witnesses, medical evidence, etc. I think that trying to "prove" who carried out the assassination using physical evidence is problematic at this point in time, because so much of it has been altered, stolen, or just disappeared. Several researchers even say that the Zapruder film has been altered. The only evidence the author uses is a fingerprint found on the 6th floor of the TBD that doesn't match Oswald's. A fingerprint expert does match the print to someone named Mac Wallace. You will have to read the book to find out who Mac Wallace was. Most of the book deals with LBJ from his early days up to the assassination. The author describes how LBJ uses power and political contacts to pull off the crime of the century. This may be the last book on the JFK assasination you will need to read.



4. I hope that being the son-in-law of Page Keeton (expert on Torts law and U of Texas Law School Dean) lends credibility to this tome of LBJ's involvement with the men and actions surrounding JFK's death. It's interesting that so many lawyers would be involved, but who better to help cover the tracks of the conspirators? If I had not seen the History Channel's The Men Who Killed Kennedy: The Guilty Men, I might have gotten lost in the myriad of names and dates. I wanted the Audible version but the reviews said the written book was better as the author (not a professional reader) read his own work. Recommended for conspiracy theorists and JFK buffs.



5. This book is almost as phony as his son's recent book about President Bush. I guess making things up and lying for money runs in the family. Can't wait until he sells the film rights to Oliver "Che" Stone.

5 comments about James Madison: (The American Presidents Series).

1. Garry Wills is fast becoming a favorite Historian and Author to me.
   
   As is his habit, he brings his pithy and rich style to an examination of Madison's Presidency which in many ways was decidedly less successful than his stellar legislative and constitutional achievements. Rather than stating surprise at this, as many historians do, Wills outlines why this outcome was somewhat predictable when the skills of Madison early on are examined dispassionately. Madison was a superb legislator and a thorough academic well equipped to study and digest history and come to a reasonable conclusion. These skills made him indispensible in the work done upon the American Constitution. As an administrator, however, he lacked the drive and focus that others brought.
   
   Make no mistake, Wills does not fail to give credit where credit is due and as an 8 year president who left office more popular than he came in, there is much to say positively.
   
   There are good biographies that go into far greater detail in many areas. However, if you want a short overview which will leave you with a good understanding of the Madison presidency and how it ties into the themes of the day, you will be hard pressed to find a better one than this.
   
   Well worth the read.
   
   5 stars.
   
   Bart Breen



2. As stated in the Editor's Note, the American President series, of which this book is a part, aims to ".... present the grand panorama of our chief executive in volumes compact enough for the busy reader, lucid enough for the student, authoritative enough for the scholar." At 164 pages of text, this book is certainly compact. It is quite lucid and it is surly authoritative. The book is not, however, an analysis of the life of James Madison, or even a comprehensive presentation of his whole life. It discusses the many facets of his life in terms of his contribution to the United States. As the man considered to be the "Father of the Constitution", a co-author of The Federalist (the series of essays that were instrumental in getting the Constitution ratified), as a leader in the first Congress, Secretary of State (under Thomas Jefferson) and then as a two term President, Madison made immense contributions to the founding and early government of the Untied States. All these facets of his career are discussed, but given the compactness of the book they are only discussed briefly.
   
   The primary thing that I came away with was the feeling that Madison was an enigma. I guess that this just shows my ignorance of the finer points of American history, as historians have been trying, largely unsuccessfully, for the last two hundred years to explain the enigma that was James Madison. Indeed, Madison was also vexed with the difficulty of trying to explain his many contradictory actions. In working on the Constitution he unsuccessfully tried to give the federal government the power to veto state laws. Yet he later was secretly the author of the Virginia Resolutions that promulgated the idea that the states had the right to nullify federal law. He opposed Hamilton's Bank of the US, but then tried to renew the charter and when this failed he supported the formation of the second Bank of the US. He opposed war, yet he led the US into a war with Britain for which it was completely unprepared. Garry Wills tries to come to grips with these, and other contradictions, but I do not think that he was completely successful, but then again neither has anyone else. For me, just realizing that this conundrum exits was worth the price of the book.



3. Garry Wills is an exceptional documentarian, and this effort is a fine example. A very comprehensive review of the formative years of this Founding Father is provided, those years that helped define the political system and policy of early America. Madison's contribution to the constitutional constructs of Virginia and the U.S. are well-woven, even if his presidency is less a focus of Wills energies. Portrayal is of a deeply insightful humanist who performed best as a thinker than an administrator, WIlls has captured the essence of the man himself.



4. Garry Wills, eminent author on the American mind, writes a literate and compelling political biography of James Madison, "Jemmy" as he was called earlier in his life. Here was someone whose resume seems made to become president. Yet this man, "the Father of the Constitution," was not near the success that one might have guessed from his background.
   
   His pedigree includes: key figure in the Constitutional Convention--from getting George Washington to attend (a coup) to helping structure the agenda (from amending the Articles of Confederation to trashing the extant constitution and replacing it with something very different); to serving as a major figure in the early Congress (including helping to produce a Bill of Rights), to organizing the first political party (along with Thomas Jefferson, although it took Martin Van Buren and his circle to perfect the arrangement).
   
   Wills begins by observing that there is consensus that (Page 1) ". . .Madison, though one of the nation's greatest founders, is not one of its greatest presidents." Wills suggests that one can account for this by (a) bad luck falling Madison's way (which Wills discounts); (b) his temperament (he had more legislative than executive talent--more apt an explanation in Wills' view); (c) errors (a very poor reading of the British Empire, leading to foolish foreign policy and the War of 1812).
   
   As with other in "The American Presidents" series, this begins with a brief sketch of the future president's youth, his early career, and his rise to the presidency (from the Constitutional Convention to Congress to Jefferson's Secretary of State). Trivia is included: Madison was the shortest American President ever.
   
   This represents a standard, literate Wills' work. His literary approach is as expected (what a wonderful command of the language!). The work nicely lays out why Madison was not as good a President as one might have guessed--as well as his later life.
   
   All in all, an estimable addition to this valuable series.



5. James Madison(1751 -- 1836) is revered for his role as one of our nation's Founders. Madison played a major role in organizing the Constitutional Convention, in drafting the Constitution, and in securing its ratification through cowriting "The Federalist" (with Hamilton) and through winning a difficult debate with Patrick Henry which led to the narrow ratification of the Constitution in his home state of Virginia. Madison also worked valiantly for the separation of church and state.
   
   Madison's accomplishments as the fourth President (1808 -- 1817) are less well remembered. Madison's presidency is the focus of this brief book by Garry Wills as part of the American Presidents series. Wills tries to explain why Madison's presidency was less successful that his brilliant earlier career. Wills points to Madison's provincialism, shyness, lack of executive experience, and tendencies toward idealism rather than practical politics to conclude that Madison's talents and prodigious learning made him better suited for a legislative, behind-the-scenes role than for a position as the nation's chief executive.
   
   After brief consideration of Madison's earlier accomplishments and his roles under the presidencies of Washington, Adams, and Jefferson (he was Jefferson's Secretary of State), Wills examines Madison's two terms as president. Early in his administration, Madison showed poor judgment about people in selecting his cabinet members, Supreme Court Justices, and military leaders. He also displayed weaknesses of leadership and administration in coordinating the efforts and minimizing the feuding of his subordinates. Even thought he came to see the wisdom of the Bank of the United States, (he had opposed Hamilton on the formation of the Bank) Madison foolishly allowed its charter to lapse, when any sort of endorsement on his part would likely have saved the bank in Congress. This mistake haunted Madison throughout his administration.
   
   Most of Wills's study of Madison's presidency is devoted, as it must be, to the War of 1812. If Madison's presidency is little-known, the War of 1812 remains our country's most confusing, obscure, and little understood conflict. The War had its roots in the conflict between England and Napoleon as Jefferson tried to steer clear of war. At the end of his presidency, at Madison's urging, Jefferson imposed an embargo with near disastrous results.
   
   Wills traces the complex course of events that led Madison into war. Some of these events were due to misunderstanding and to slowness of communication (Britain had repealed the Articles in Council to which the United States had taken offense in declaring war. The ship bringing the repeal to the United States crossed the Atlantic at the same time as the United States ship sailing to England with news that war had been declared.) But, Wills argues, Madison was active in bringing on the War, in part because he had grandiose visions of annexing Canada. The result was a conflict for which the United States was ill-prepared. The country had a weak army, only six frigates built during the Washington administration, no generals with military experience, and, with the end of the First Bank of the United States, no money to conduct the war. It was a harrowing conflict for the United States.
   
   The United States and Madison were fortunate to be able to end the War of 1812 without loss of territory. For Wills, Madison led the Nation into an unnecessary war for which it was ill-prepared. But Wills praises Madison for conducting the war without treading upon the constitutional rights of Americans. This was an important and difficult accomplishment which partially redeems Madison's presidency. And the United States came together as a nation following the conflict for the first time in its history.
   
   Wills's book is both more reflective and more detailed than most of the works in the American President's series. Indeed, Wills has written extensively about this period of our history. Readers of this volume may wish to turn to Wills's study "Henry Adams and the Making of America" which examines Henry Adams' monumental history of the Jefferson and Madison administrations. Wills' short study is heavily indebted to Adams's history. Ambitious readers may want to explore Adams's history of this period for themselves. It is available in a two-volume set from the Library of America.
   
   Robin Friedman

5 comments about The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop.

1. I really enjoyed reading this book from start to finish. It's small and manageable; not too long, not too short. Although described as a memoir, it's not all about the author but contains snippets of information and history that all booklovers will devour. It's quite nicely bound and is lightweight enough to carry around. All-in-all if you're a true bibliophile, then this book is for YOU.
   
   Lewis Buzbee tells his story as a partial memoir; the history of his interest, and then love, of books is described in some detail. He writes about his career as a bookseller (although always as an employee - he never ran his own shop) and as a publishers rep, and he writes about his love of visiting bookshops of all shapes and sizes. In-between this narrative is neatly woven a basic potted history of bookselling, from ancient times, through the Gutenberg press, and on into the production of mass market paperbacks. I was particularly fascinated to read about the scandal surrounding the publication of James Joyce's 'Ulysses', and how the publishing of the book was taken on by one of Joyce's friends, the proprietor of the little but exclusive Shakespeare & Co. bookshop in Paris. Copies of the book then had to find their way into England and America where it had already been censored. A fascinating account.
   
   I have a couple of very small quibbles about Buzbee's style. At one point early on he mentions shop-lifting a book as a teenager; he narrates this in such a way that it sounds as though this is considered acceptable practice, or at the very least is an activity which lots of people have done and can understand. This did shock me a bit and marred my enjoyment slightly. In a couple of places he does also go over a point he's already mentioned which is a little repetitive. However, tiny quibbles aside, I found this book a delightful journey from cover to cover and will be cherishing my copy for some years to come.



2. Lewis Buzbee's celebration of the bookstore springs from his observation that 90 percent of people who buy books still leave home to do their shopping in a bookstore. These are the people who know they could more easily buy the book they are searching for by clicking their mouse around Amazon's website, but they cannot resist the lure of a real bookstore. There is just something special about being surrounded by books and other people who, to one degree or another, feel the same as we about books. As Buzbee says, even if we do not actually speak to other shoppers, they are part of the experience of shopping for books and they can often accidentally lead us to a book we would have otherwise missed.
   
   The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop is a combination memoir and book/bookstore history. Along the way, Buzbee explains the evolution of the book from rare hand-copied pages affordable only to the wealthy upper class to mass produced paperbacks that sometimes sell in the millions of copies. He does the same for the bookseller, a calling that for many feels like a vocation they were destined for from birth. Buzbee's has been a life centered around his love for books, and the memories he shares of his days working in bookstores and as a publisher's sales rep are the heart of The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop.
   
   Not surprisingly, Buzbee's focus is on independent bookstores rather than on the big chains which, along with Amazon, dominate the bookselling business today and he emphasizes just how difficult a business it can be for bookstores, authors and publishers alike. Avid readers often moan about the cost of new books but Buzbee provides the numbers that explain where the money goes: bookstores can receive as much as a 45 percent markdown on the cover price, the publisher gets about 35 percent of the price, the printer about 12 percent, and the author maybe 8 percent. That means that each hardcover sold puts about $2 in the author's pockets, an amount that he or she probably shares with an agent. Keeping in mind that most books are published in numbers of less than 10,000 copies, it is easy to see that few authors will become millionaires from the proceeds of their books. And though it might appear that the bookstore's cut is an inappropriately high percentage of the money generated, Buzbee points out that an independent bookstore with gross sales between one and two million dollars will be lucky to net more than $100,000 for the year. Bookselling is not a high margin business for anyone involved.
   
   The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop is filled with stories and thoughts that will intrigue and delight book lovers, those readers who are always drawn to books about books. We are an optimistic lot when it comes to the future of books and bookstores although we do tend to get a little nervous when we read of the closings of so many independent bookstores and the supposed pending death of the publishing industry as we know it today. Buzbee has heard all the "gloom and doom" talk and he closes his book with this reminder: "It is important to remember that the death of literature, of a literary culture, is not an idea that we twenty-first centurions invented. In the nineteenth century, the invention of the bicycle was believed to mark the end of civilization; we would become leisure addicts and reading would surely cease. The same was said of radio in the 1920s and of television in the 1950s. And at later dates, rock-and-roll, premarital sex, and the jet ski would be cited as literary destroyers. Let's not forget that critics also wailed and gnashed their teeth when parchment replaced papyrus, and when Gutenberg printed his first Bible."
   
   Buzbee's writing style is a little dry at times but his little book has a lot to offer to the booklovers amongst us.



3. Although the act of reading can be considered a solitary act, Buzbee describes how the book lovers among us share an unspoken bond in our book ventures. From the excitement of receiving a new Scholastic booklist to the feeling of browsing through unexplored novels in a bookshop, Buzbee has captured the essence of what it is like to be in love with books. Unlike many other nonfiction books, the interesting historical tidbits were just that, interesting.



4. I for the life of me cannot figure out what everyone loves about this book. I found it overly sentimental, boring, and flat. In general, I love books about books and am a confirmed bibliophile. I love Nicholas Basbanes, Charles Everitt, and enjoyed Matthew Budman's "Book Collecting."
   
   In addition to my love of books, I was attacked to this book because I was interested in learning more about the history of the book industry. While there was certainly an element of that here, it was actually a very small part of the book with the greater part being the memoirs of Buzbee. The problem is that nothing really happens. We get to watch over his shoulder as he stocks books, talks with other bookstore employees, and daydreams about his favorite books and authors. Pretty boring stuff in my opinion. When something does happen - like an argument with a customer about a book - the story is told with all the life of a high school text book.
   
   Because of my love of everything books and the glimpses into bygone years of the book industry, I give the book a solid two. Much lower than most people but maybe they are more into flowery sentimentality than I. Personaly, I find it annoying.



5. Are you a bibliophile who salivates when entering a book store or library? Then this is a "must-read" book for you. Author Lewis Buzbee began his love affair with books as a schoolboy, carefully ordering his 25¢ Weekly Reader selections (remember those?). As a young teen Buzbee harangued the management of his hometown book shop until they finally caved and gave him a job as a shelver. Thus began a career that led to working as a publishing rep and later as an author. Filled with historical anecdotes of the history of bookmaking, bookselling, and marketing--from papyrus to POD books--Buzbee weaves personal essays throughout the text. Toward the end of the book Buzbee shares info on unusual bookshops, from the One Book Bookstore in Arizona to the large independent bookstores that contain miles and millions of books. He relates: "In Montpelier, Vermont, I recently visited Bear Pond Books. What first struck me about Bear Pond were the two signs hanging near the front entrance, each with an arrow pointing to a different half of the store; one sign said Facts, the other Truth, and I'll let you figure out which was for Fiction and which was for Home Repair."

5 comments about Could It Be Forever?: My Story.

1. The book arrived on Saturday around 1-ish, and I opened it after dinner. I finished it by 7:30 pm Monday night. I could not put it down! I, the web addict did not turn on my PC, except to check messages during the entire time I was engrossed in the book! And totally engrossed I was!
   
   It's an honest open account of David's life. It's well written and keeps the reader engaged. What I mean by that is that you get the information, the story in good detail but not so much that you get bored. Seriously, I felt that a 13-16 year old me was right there with David on the set, on the stage and behind the scenes.
   
   Reading about his painful childhood made me just want to reach out and give the guy a big old hug.
   
   I have not read the first book, but I would recommend this to anyone and everyone who gazed into those bedroom eyes that graced those posters so long ago.
   
   I enjoyed the snippets from other people that were put into the book. Loved Henry Diltz' (who I admire as a photographer), account of the photo that Gina Lollobrigida shot of David. Nude with all of that fruit....LOL!
   
   The only thing that did bother me is that I would have liked him to explain in better detail his relationship with Katie. I was a bit confused by a few gaps there:
   
   1) He says he was hit with a paternity suit, and that he borrowed money to pay support, but did not elaborate further. Was he there for the birth of the child? Was he part of her life? Did he have visitation when she was young?
   
   2) He does mention Katie near the end of the book. Says that they have had a good relationship for the past few years, that he supported her financially until she was 19, but still does not really elaborate.
   
   3) He speaks of Beau's birth as if he were becoming a father for the first time...left me kind of wondering just what the deal was with Katie.
   
   But then maybe his daughter and her mom were not comfortable with him discussing such details publically? If that were the case, it would have nice for him to just say so instead of leaving gaps in that story that may leave the reader confused.
   
   That is my only gripe about it. If you were, as my mom used to say 'Cassidy crazy' back in those glorious days of old then order this book and read it!
   
   It will take you back...(let's face it..we are all either in our 50's or nearing that age and our memories ain't so hot anymore...).
   
   It will also let you see beyond the cute buns in the white jumpsuit and into the young man who wore it.
   
   It will take you on the roller coaster ride that was David Cassidy's life. What a ride it seems it was.....super highs and rocky lows. Made me happy to have led a 'normal' life.
   
   It will let you see David Cassidy as he is now...as we all are now..older, wiser, settled.
   
   An awesome read...go for it!



2. I had the pleasure of meeting David Cassidy in 2002 after one of his concerts near Syracuse, New York. He's everything I imagined him to be-- kind, sincere and just plain wonderful. That said, if you are a fan of David's, or even if you're just interested in reading his book out of curiosity, then by all means, purchase this book. It's worth every dollar. They did a nice job on the photos-- some of the captions are in David's handwriting (die-hard fans recognize his handwriting). A section of his older photos are in black & white and a section of more recent photos are in color.
   
   I also liked the excerpts included in David's book-- thoughts & comments by his wife Sue, closest friends, colleagues, etc. I really liked reading about the love story between David and his wife Sue. He wrote about his Mom, Evelyn Ward and his father, Jack Cassidy. He wrote about so many things that were very interesting. After reading this book, I was glad that I'm not famous. He told things the way they were back in the early 70's, at the height of his fame. Its remarkable how he kept his sanity through the madness.
   
   David still has a huge, loyal fan base and that is quite evident when you attend his concerts. The fans' love for David and his appreciation for his fans is enduring. YES, DAVID, IT COULD BE FOREVER!



3. We purchased this book for a friend who is a big David Cassidy fan. I'm sure he will enjoy it. Amazon's service was very professional and the book was delivered promptly, in good condition.



4. This book was well worth the read, I loved it, the honesty and feed back from his family members were great. You will enjoy this book if you grew up watching david on tv and listening to his music.



5. Kind of boring and a bit whiney - half the book has a "poor David" tone to it - his parents were jealous of his success, other people lost his money, he didn't get recognition for his talent and none of the magazines ran stories about the real David.
   Well if this is the real David, then who could blame them - the teen idol was way more interesting.
   He's worked with a huge range of actors through his career, but offers hardly any insights on what they were like to work with. He skips over other key periods and details too - covering his first marriage (to actress Kay Lenz) in about two pages and his second marriage in even less! Plus there is way too much detail about writing/producing songs with people that really isn't that interesting.

5 comments about In Arabian Nights: A Caravan of Moroccan Dreams.

1. I loved Tahir Shah's previous books. I'm a fan...actually, WAS a fan. Tahir has misrepresented this book, has no one noticed there was only, uh, a handful of actual stories in this book? Mostly it's a whiny expat account of his inability to fully integrate into his adopted homeland. He would describe, build up a story, but NOT tell it...and then go on about his quest to find another story...and then NOT tell it...and on and on. I got nothing. just read his previous book and save yourself time and money. I was frustrated.



2. Given me as a gift by someone who traveled to Morocco last year, this became one of our most valued pieces of insight into this unique culture. Morocco is a land with feet in both ancient and modern times. As indicated by the book, the Morocco we encountered showed us genuine and heartfelt care and hospitality, and a value system not unlike that of Judeo-Christian culture. But the greatest treat in this book is the inter-weaving of stories that describe life, lessons and humanity. This book will have a permanent place on our bookshelf and be enjoyed again in the future. Fresh, candid, and funny, too.



3. Would you like to be transported on a magic carpet ride through the mysteries and magic of Morocco? Then read In Arabian Nights. I loved Shah's last book, The Caliph's House, and was thrilled to discover he has written another. And I wasn't disappointed. I read it slowly, savoring his exquisite writing like a delicious tajine (Moroccan stew for those who haven't tasted one).



4. This latest of Tahir Shah's books brings to mind his father's own works, though clearly from a different and unique person with the gentle wisdom of his father housed in an apparently mad, obsessed adventurer. Surfaces are often misleading, and underneath the funny, interesting, exciting, puzzling, touching surface of this book is a way of seeing and feeling and experiencing that is wonderful.
   
   The author's own growth and development are on display along with fast moving, ever changing imagery and crisp almost unnoticed writing. With him the story is the thing. Read this book and then read his others.



5. In Arabian Nights: A caravan of Moroccan dreams, Tahir Shah - Mr. Shah continues from where he left off at The Caliph's House: A year in Casablanca ... and the result is as uneven as that book was. The plague that haunted Mr. Shah in Caliph's House strikes here as well: untied loose ends, veering off an account just as when it was becoming interesting, etc. The book is a journey about a story -- every person has a story that is close to his or her heart. Finding that story is the hard part. Mr. Shah does indeed find the story, but guess what? The reader has no idea what it was! One aspect that struck me -- put me off, really -- was the almost feverent view of the author that anything to do with the Oriental culture is far more superior to the Occidental one. Thus we are treated to many reasons why Oriental culture is better -- some that I can still recall are depths of friendship; the treatment of guests; deep in-depth knowledge of things, not the superficial "expert" label that everyone sports in the west; strict adherence to principles, etc. -- all things that the west can (and should) readily learn from the east. Brushed aside almost indifferently are the instances where the east can learn from the west: things like not marrying off young girls to old men, or learning to go to the police if oppressed. The one sided romantic view of Mr. Shah was almost too much to take, more so since it appears that his only mode of income was coming from the west through the sale of his book! Mr. Shah can be a great writer -- his earlier work, Sorcerer's Apprentice was simply marvelous. Chances are that I will still read his next novel, but this one was a bit disappointing. (March 2008).

5 comments about The Worlds of a Maasai Warrior: An Autobiography.

1. I read this book 12 years ago and was so moved that I wrote a letter to to the author - something I have never done before or since. I was so struck by his ability to navigate between two cultures that seemingly had little in common. His book is a testimonial to the flexibility of the human spirit and the power of education. Last week, out of the blue, I received a telephone call from the author. Apparently, he had saved my address all these years. Saitoti is currently in the US as a visiting scholar. He will be speaking in various institutions and he has just started writing a follow up to The Worlds of a Maasai Warrior (The Worlds of a Maasai Elder). I have just shown him these amazon reviews. He is sitting here beside me and
   would like to take this opportunity to say: "Thank you to the reviewers of my book for such beautiful reviews and to amazon.com for posting such a wonderful display of my work."



2. Excellent book, very accurate and really worth the money. It gives the picture of a boy growing up as a real Maasai and the new life in civilized world of Germany and USA - a man between two cultures and the difficult question to decide which way to go along. Makes yourself wondering about the way we Western people are living and gives a chance to see our world with other eyers.

   After having visited the Maasai area some months ago a good opportunity to compare facts with my own experience and found it even more interesting. Go for it!




3. There couldn't be two more different places than New York City and the lands of the Maasai in Tanzania. Tepilit Ole Saitoti's story of his journey in and between these two worlds is fascinating. I am looking forward to the update he is writing now that he is a Maasai Elder. This insight into another land and culture is a gift.



4. After having just visited Africa, I wanted to get a better feel for what it's really like to be Maasai. This book is very real, and gives interesting insights from the "inside". I enjoyed it thoroughly.



5. Very interesting first person account of a Maasai man who becomes western educationed and gives insight to what growing up in a Maasai village was like. Quick read - powerful story. You must read this book if you plan on going to Kenya or Tanzania.