5 comments about White House Ghosts: Presidents and Their Speechwriters.

1. Schlesinger has summarized the presidencies from FDR to W. How each president used, or not, the skills of their respective 'ghosts' shows one and all that words do matter; as well as the wisdom of our first executives when it came to choosing their wordsmiths. Witty and full of details, each chapter of this book is a joy. Indeed, this a must read.



2. Even though I live in Australia, I have long been fascinated with U.S. politics. Especially since GWB walked into the job. It made your politics a lot more interesting. (Good or bad, make your own decisions, I have certainly made mine.)
   
   Even more interesting to me are the Presidents speechwriters. I realise there may be plenty of good books available on this topic which I could have bought, however I was always waiting for that up to date and new book which inevitably had to be released.
   
   For me, this is that book. I am sorry that I do not have the ability to write a comprehensive review. My writing skills do not allow, which is probably why I am fascinated with the skills of a Presidential Speechwriter.
   
   If, like me, you are a layperson who simply enjoys reading about these remarkable writers and how they interact with their Presidents, I am sure you will not be disappointed with this book.
   
   Also, Mr. Schlesinger writes in such a way that even though this book looks imposing, with almost 600 pages, it is nice to read and easily digestible.



3. It seemed to me to lend itself best to "dipping into," read a little ahead there, double back here, and check the index to see when an interesting character enters.
   
   But I would recommend it. Especially since the craft and art of speechwriting (and making) is such a crucial part of the modern American presidency.
   
   Two of my favorites, even though they were given by presidents whom I would not have supported (had I been old enough, or in one case alive) were Nixon's first inaugural and Reagan's "Tear down this wall."
   
   Here, you'll find out who wrote these and other of the best-remembered speeches in history.



4. 'White House Ghosts' seeks to answer the questions of who wrote the best Presidential speeches and lines, which President gave the speech, and who came up with the ideas at the core of those speeches. Often times, other than who said it, those questions are not easily answered but Schlesinger still weaves a great historical accounting of presidential history, communications, and policy development since FDR. At its best, Schlesinger makes clear that speechwriting is a collaborative effort that brings together a President's vision with the wordsmithing of a talented writer with the time to spend on a speech. At its worse, speechwriting appears to drive policy development and changes because a good line was created, so the policy must follow through. Perhaps even worse is when a line has no relation to policy at all (see President George W. Bush's second inaugural). Schlesinger's exhaustive research brings you into each presidency, shows you how the President interacted with the speechwriters and how some of the most famous, and important, words of the 20th and early 21st century came about. A must for any student or fan of presidential history.



5. as a speechwriter, this book was manna from heaven for me. there are few books around that look at modern presidential speechwriting in depth. it also has a broader appeal as a presidential history that gets you right inside the inner circle of modern presidents. the book is well written, excruciatingly researched and filled with funny, inspiring and humanizing anecdotes.

5 comments about The Unlikely Lavender Queen: A Memoir of Unexpected Blossoming.

1. I was trying to save this book for summer vacation reading but the minute I opened it I knew it wouldn't wait. The book has all the right ingredients: relationship issues, childrearing dilemmas, world travel and adventure, plant and nature life, business and money making life, friendships, career decisions, health problems, and more.... All brought to life by the insightful, funny and smart narrator.
   
   This book is especially for anyone who feels a potential rising inside to go out into the world and experience something else and see where it leads. If you read this book you might become motivated to take steps to a new kind of future for yourself even within the confines of your day to day life.
   
   If you liked the book "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert then you will like this book. "The Unlikely Lavender Queen" reads like a novel, I found myself turning the pages to watch the story unfold. Enjoy the book!



2. This book is for any woman who thinks she has somehow strayed from the life that she had always imagined for herself. Although Jeannie's journey was still more exciting than most by far, with exotic travel and building a magazine-worthy dream home, she encounters the same issues most women face, regardless of financial status. It makes you realize how different people are and how strong individial desires are, for many people would have given anything to be leading the life she so wanted to escape. This book is an example that life doesn't always have to go as planned. And once you see the beauty in that, life's lemons transform into lemonade. Or in this case, lavender lemonade.



3. I was really looking forward to reading this book. In fact, my library even ordered it for me. I'm sorry to say that I was a little dissapointed in the book. Not so much the writing-the writing was fine. It seemed like a good subject-chuck the corporate rat race and start a lavender farm in Texas while living in a cool refurbished dream farm house.
   
   Although, that's not what I got out of the book. I could not get over the fact that this smart, independent woman turned into such a doormat. Everything was Rob's way or thr highway. He would latch onto an idea and dig in, no matter how it affected his family or take into account the needs and desires of his wife. When rob wanted to move from New York, Jeannie did not and protested a little, but stood by her man and moved to Austin. (Austin is actually a hip place to live BTW).
   
   On another whim, he decided that Austin is getting too congested and he wanted to move to a more rural part of Texas. Again, Jeannie did not want to move again, but of course she went along with whatever he wanted. The farm house they moved into needed to be completely remodeled, so what does Rob do? He makes his very exacting plans for the house, takes off on a long photo assisgnment, and leaves her behind to do the work and deal with the contractors and remodel. When she was pregnant and almost due, he takes off on another assignment, and leaves her benhind in the middle of nowhere Texas during flash floods and no way to get out. Again, he takes off while she was battling post partum depression.
   
   Then he gets this brilliant idea when shooting a story in Provence to start a lavender farm. He and some neighbors planted the plants, and guess who was left behind to maintain and harvest the plants while he was off on another long assignment? After all this, Rob wants to sell the farm, uproot his family again and move to Mexico.
   
   All I can say to the author is good luck-you're going to need it-and get a backbone for goodness sake! This man is walking all over you.



4. I stumbled upon this book when researching "how-to" books for starting a garden. I was anxious to get to the chapters that dealt with the Lavender, but it didn't take long before I was hooked on the main characters, Jeannie and Robb. Actually, I still can't get them out of my head. What an enchanting life and story! I feel inspired and fortunate to have read this wonderful and true story. We should all be so lucky to have a "Robb" in our lives...I think Jeannie is a very smart woman for following her heart and I'm especially thankful she wrote this book.



5. I found this book to be very compelling. I enjoyed it so much that I stayed up way too late to finish it. The cover picture alone absolutely pulled me in and forced me to buy this book. I enjoyed Jeannie's story, and how much her life changed from how she thought things would go. Her life is quite different from mine, but I understood the strong desire to have children, and also raised two boys myself (now grown).
   
   The story of lavender is a very sentimental thing for me, as my mother loved the scent of lavender very much because it reminded of her grandmother, who wore it. I didn't used to like it, but it has grown on me with the stories of my long gone grandmother and great-grandmothers. Now that my mother is gone, it reminds me of her, too.
   
   I was surprised at the outcome at the end but was pleased to see how Jeannie was able to make such a big and unexpected change and be very happy with it.
   
   I'm sure I'll be visiting some local lavender farms soon. Thanks to Jeannie for sharing her life.

5 comments about Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage.

1. Great book! We used this book in our book club. Everyone enjoyed it! Very interesting and kept your attention. You really felt like you were there on the ice with the men.



2. This book was exactly what I wanted and it arrived in great shape. The service was excellent; thank you!



3. The extraordinary record of Ernest Shackleton and his company of the "Endurance". They set out for the South Pole, but their shp was caught in pack ice, and eventually destroyed. Read how Shacckleton and a few members of his crew set out in one of the ship's boats to find rescue for the remaining men. Courage and loyalty in the extreme.



4. The true story of Shackleton's exploration is an amazing testament into the power of strong leadership. Shackleton's leadership skills helped the entire crew to overcome seemingly impossible circumstances to achieve the end goal. This book chronicles a life lesson for all of us to know and understand. Although parts of it are hard for the non-seaworthy to understand, the book is still a good read. I found it hard to put down.



5. This account of Shackelton's expedition to Antarctic is a read like no other. I could not put this book down,nor could I believe the constitution each person on the crew had to continue forth under such insurmountable odds. The author, Lansing has provided a compelling book. His research of events are smoothly seamed together captivating the reader. Even if ones interest usually doesn't lean toward the topic of explorer, I promise you this book will consume you. Its message is especially good for any of us who may be feeling "overwhelmed" by what our lives are tossing our way... you will be giving thanks at the comforts you have by comparison to this expeditions minimal articles to provide their continued existence. As another reviewer mentioned, buy the hard or soft-cover not paperback version as these include all of Hurley's photographs which are essential to this book-seeing is believing and you won't believe what this photographer captured. Enjoy, you will share the events of this book over and over with many.

5 comments about Lucky: A Memoir.

1. This book is powerful. I think every high school student should read it, boys and girls. The topic of rape needs to be discussed and understood by young and old people alike. This book really portrays all parties in a "human" light and it's truth is what makes it so powerful. I can't say enough good things about the writing style and the ease of reading, all the while, it draws you in and keeps you interested. Fantastic book!



2. Lovely Bones led me to this book. I really didn't want to read a book about rape, but I'm glad I did because it is so much more. The story is delivered masterfully and written with skill. Read this book for the writing.



3. 
   I don't recommend this book to anyone who enjoys prose or literature. Sebold's use of a stripped down, matter-of-fact tone desensitizes her story. Though her rape was a traumatic event, I couldn't feel for her. Perhaps it was her intent not to draw out feeling to avoid pity but personally, I think it was uneffective in conveying her complete story because a memoir needs an emotional plot as well.
   
   I wanted to put down this book before I was even half way though there were still many unfinished subplots like the conviction of her rapist.
   
   I would expect this book in the children's/ preteen section if it weren't for the detailed account of the rape.



4. Lucky is a thought provoking book that helps readers understand rape from the victim's perspective. Written in an honest manner, it explores the rational and sometimes irrational reactions of everyone involved - whether victim, friend, or family member.
   
   Seabold opens the book with a vivid description of her brutal rape. Initially, this makes it a difficult read because it forces readers to live through a brutal act. However, it also helps to expose a reader's preconceived notions and biases. Seabold describes her struggles to return to a normal life and she honestly discusses societal issues that favor the criminal and penalize the victim. This is a good read for anyone looking for some insight into a difficult issue.



5. From the opening pages, Sebold tells the reader a truly horrifying story of her rape in accurate and quite graphic detail. And whilst horrified at what she has endured, you want to read more - to see how someone survives an attack like that, and what life is like for a rape victim in the hours, days and week afterwards. I couldn't put this book down - a combination of great writing and admiration for the author, made this a compelling read.

No comments about Hero of the Underground: A Memoir.

5 comments about The Tender Bar.

1. This was an interesting read. It felt a bit lenghty at times - redundant. But overall, a satisfying read with some good discussion at book club.



2. This one almost makes you want to go back into those murky waters polluted by the likes of a Million Little Pieces and Running with Scissors. Almost, but not quite.
   To be sure, J.R. Moehringer, Yale graduate, national correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, Pulitzer Prize winner, knows how to write. His story, told with a certain Rocky-Balboa, only in America, ascendancy, begins with his father skipping out. Abandoned, uneducated and sickly, his mother is forced to eke out a meager existence for her child and herself in their hometown of Manhasset, Long Island, NY. Young JR loves his mom, wants to provide for her, but doesn't know how. He craves for a father figure. He eventually finds one in a bar called Publican's. Populated with misfits of every stripe, none are sufficiently complete to serve as mentor. Piecemeal, they have all the qualities any boy would want in a father. Steve is a natural leader. Cager is a prankster. Joey D is tough and fearless. DiPietro is smart and successful. And, Uncle Chaz knows horses, women, fights and baseball even if he is not so good at hoops. Selectively pieced together, they are like some sort of super-dad. When his mother moves them to Arizona, JR takes a job working as a cashier at a bookstore run by a couple of misfit book-worms. Having already mastered the art of selective composition at Publican's, JR manages to alloy Bud and Bill into a sort of Mr. Myogi for the aspiring Yalie. Wipe-on Gatsby, Wipe-off Rocky-Balboa. Wipe-on urbanity, Wipe-off Hicksville. If a Yalie knows just one thing about everything, then JR's book is here to tell you that composite fatherhood is almost as good as the real thing. He almost convinces. Almost.



3. I enjoyed reading this book, especially when J.R. talks about the book he wanted to write, especially the chapter in which J.R. includes a number of anecdotes & jokes he meant to include in the book he imagined. I enjoyed the process aspect of this book--the process through which we see Moehringer realize his insecurities and identify his alcoholism, problems with women, and the role the bar plays in his life. It's a little bit like watching someone you care about grow up.



4. The less than 5 star reviewers are not understanding this story. JR's memoir is not about a bar, not about avoiding a life of achoholism, not about whining over misfortune, and not about overcomming childhood challenges. The real story here is sharing boldly and courageously what it is like to grow up fatherless. JR speaks for all of us men who grew up without fathers and his medium is great storytelling. While "growing up" we really were always searching for the right templates for manhood. We would grab ahold of anyone who paid attention! That could be good and that could be bad, but fortunatly for our author, the men at the bar were ultimately a good influence, not all of them as career path role models, but certainly as "man models" and that is what was needed. It is impossible (no criticism) for individuals who grew up with a father to empathize. This is not whining, it is just plain being honest and sharing what it is like. JR's memoir resonates with all of us "fatherless boys" and he must be reviewed from that perspective. For those of you who would like to know what goes through our minds and our orientation to the world, this is great primer/story. BRAVO JR.



5. Unbeleivably honest and extremely inspiring. Despite of what he has been through, he is now a successful journalist and a Pulitzer Prize winner. What is ironic is that his book ended up on the NY Times bestseller list. It is as if Moehringer is sticking his tongue out to the senior editors who previously declared him as "non NY Times material". It is a lesson in perseverance and endurance. One should always keep trying and never give up.

5 comments about Rocket Boys (The Coalwood Series #1).

1. I bought this book and the audio tapes and my son and I listened and read this amazing book together. Our plan was to read for 30 minutes a night...however it was sooooooo good we listened and read for 5 hours!
   
   We are now going to rent the movie that was made from the film! All systems go....we enjoyed the adventure!



2. I was a little disappointed by the ending and the fact that Homer Hickam gave John Kennedy the idea to go to the Moon but other than that I couldn't help but root for the band of misfits.



3. ... "On June 4, 1960, the Big Creek Missile Agency, fresh from its medal winning performance at the National Science Fair, is sponsoring a day of rocket launches at its Cape Coalwood range. Everyone reading these words is invited..." This quote can be found on page 356-357 of a book called Rocket Boys; this statement showed me that the success of the main characters was a result of personal hard work and teamwork.
   
   "Rocket Boys" by Homer H. Hickam, Jr. is a nonfiction account of a group of friends from Coalwood, West Virginia in the early 1960's who have a fetish for making rockets. Homer and his friends have a dream to shoot a rocket up into the clouds. This story gives the reader a message that dreams really can come true.
   
   Rocket Boys is one of the strongest books I have ever read. The author accomplished his goals to tell people that team work is one of the most important things to know in your life. This book is recommended for people that like space and rockets and who want a hopeful book to read. Reading Rocket Boys really gets you thinking about team work and how far you can get with it.



4. Homer Hickam grew up in a rural isolated mountain town but went on to win the National Science Fair.
   
   This book is his story and how he was successful.
   
   I bought 24 copies of this book to inspire my advanced 6th grade Reading class. They loved the book. In our discussions they mentioned never giving up. Homer and his friends kept trying until they had success.
   
   Thank you for sharing your life with us, Mr. Hickam.



5. Was purchased due to a requirement by my childs school. He has informed me it is a good book.

5 comments about The Hiding Place.

1. this is my favorite book of all time. corrie ten boom is one of the best examples of a human being expressing christian love.



2. I laugh at the kids saying it's boring. "Well my school made me read it and I didn't like it! Waahh!"
   
   My school made me read it(twice I think) and I love(d) it. I can see the reason for one saying it's boring, but this a AUTOBIOGRAHPY. Not always life moves so fast. Never once did I think it was boring. Buy it.



3. I was fortunate to meet Corrie Ten Boome in Rome, Ga. when she gave a lecture! Later, My husband took me to Haarlem, the Netherlands to see her home,when I was going thru a particularly hard time in my life, as he had heard me speak of her and her brave story so many times! She and her family, her sister, showed the most extraordinary courage and strength of faith in the most horrible circumstances. Her father's explanation of death:..."Just like I gave you your tickets, The Lord gives us our ticket when we get on the train"....an example of how he always gave his daughters their tickets right before they got on the train to Amsterdam....A must read.. Different aspects will mean different things to different people. Also, as I have re=read it over the years, it has given different encouragement to me in different circumstances. Please don't miss this book.



4. This book is beautiful inside and out. The outside is burgundy leather? bound with gold stamped letters. Very classic looking. The story itself is so well written, Corrie ten Boom draws you into her family. To hear how God worked miracles in spite of German occupation and concentration camps, and the lack of money and resources, was very faith building. I highly recommend this book.



5. The Hiding Place should be read by EVERY Christian. Corrie and her sister's testimony in this book is just like reading the Bible's testimony of the new Believers! Need to feel inspired? Read The Hiding Place.

5 comments about Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets.

1. I really enjoyed this book a lot. It's not a ton of climactic, over the top stuff, but it kept me interested throughout. I'm not a reader (more of a tv person unfortunately for my weakening brain) but I read this book in a couple of days, and I can't even remember the last time it took me less than 2 weeks to finish a book. It almost made me want to go to a ghetto (there are plenty near where I live) and hang out to see what the people are like, but I don't think it would be as easy for a woman to do as it was for a man (few things are, I guess). Anyway, I enjoyed this book a lot because it really gives you some insight into why rich people get richer and poor people get poorer. Sad but so obviously true.



2. "Rogue sociologist" and author Sudhir Venkatesh is aptly described in GLFAD's foreword as "born with two abnormalities: an overdeveloped curiosity and an underdeveloped sense of fear." Both are evident in this impressive narrative of his extensive, nearly decade long doctorate research in sociology, conducted while embedded in the Chicago projects. Venkatesh unwittingly set the bar high: his home away from home, which he more or less stumbled upon while naively (yet purposely) straying far away from his University of Chicago on an ethnographer's quest, was Robert Taylor Homes, one of the nation's largest and most violent ghettoes. Not to mention the late 80s and early 90s marked a period especially tarnished by an epidemic of ruthless and widespread gang activity, not the least of which was due to the pervasive sale and abuse of the too-affordable crack cocaine. This story is as much about the projects and their interplay with the drug trade as it is about Chicago's street gangs.
   
   Venkatesh penetrated the inner circles and high ranks of the vicious, drug-dealing street gang the Black Kings by more or less going to places that he shouldn't have, and fraternizing with people he should have run from. Venkatesh seemed to avoid the gang's wrath through a combination of childlike naiveté and flattery; his access to main character and Black Kings leader J.T., for instance, was engendered by the latter's mistaking Venkatesh for his biographer. The gang also attempted to use "The Professor" to spread its propaganda, emphasizing how its money and security made the projects safer, and making sure Venkatesh took ample notes at events like community outreach programs, voter registration drives, and life-skills workshops. Fortunately for the GLFAD's readers, Venkatesh's curiosity extended to the gang's seedier side, and his descriptions of digging beneath the surface to witness beatings, shootings, and extortion make the story a page turner.
   
   That's not to say that Venkatesh didn't possess common sense and his wits about him, at least as he got older and wiser. He had a knack for knowing when to stop asking questions, and when not to get involved in the brutal mayhem around him (being an admitted coward works wonders that way, although Venkatesh second guessed a lot of his decisions not to at least try to involve the police). He made a great many alliances with gang leaders, community activists, squatters, cops, prostitutes, and garden variety hustlers, while never pitting them against one another- a balancing act that got more delicate the longer he stayed, especially as events like FBI raids and the planned demolition of the projects increased paranoia among Robert Taylor's residents.
   
   Venkatesh's relationship with J.T. is the best chronicled and most powerful of GLFAD. The gang leader is no clichéd thug with a heart of gold, and yet his positive contributions to his community are more evident than the often subtle influence of drugs. He was college educated, loved his extended family, was more honest than most about his role in the community, and worked hard at his illicit "profession." [GLFAD gets its title from J.T.'s handing over his responsibilities to Venkatesh for a day, after the latter questions how difficult his "work" really is.] J.T. craved legitimacy and waxed about how a drug economy was "useful for the community," by redistributing undesirable drug addicts' money into the hands of ordinary citizens through the gangs' philanthropic efforts. His relationship with Venkatesh was both intimate and instructional, and daresay, sweet at times (particularly at the story's end).
   
   Sadly, the uplifting messages are few, and a big theme of the book is how conventional sociology tools are ill-fitting to Robert Taylor Homes' hardships, and how Venkatesh's colleagues were (understandably) out of touch with the inner-city. The outlook on the projects' side wasn't any rosier: take home messages from the projects included (i) everyone is a hustler when you're facing extreme impoverished circumstances, with few exceptions; and (ii) a thirst for power trumps- although can coexist with- helping your fellow man. The sense of community was never as powerful in Robert Taylor as when in lockstep with lining the pockets of those extending a helping hand. No birthday party was assembled without drug money funding, soda kickbacks from local markets, and hired hot dog grilling duty; well-connected (and self-appointed) housing authorities assisted tenants for "consulting fees"; neighborhood meetings couldn't assemble without specious security detail and room fees. Ventakesh himself realized his complicity when it was pointed out to him that his research was a hustle, too: he exercised kindness and showed compassion to those in the ghetto, but his research and data were the ends justifying much of his means.



3. This is a very readable book - sad, funny and haunting. However I have some very ambiguous and sometimes very negative feelings towards the author Sudhir Venkatesh, especially while reading his last chapter. For most of the book, the relationship between Sudhir and JT comes across as a warm and trusting freindship. I really was rooting for both of them: for Sudhir to be successful in his academic ventures and for JT - not to end up being killed or land in jail. But the last chapter was very off-putting. I was pained when Sudhir says JT wasn't his friend and he doubts whether he ever was. He also sounds very condescending when he describes JT as being clingy. It really appears that Sudhir was really using JT for his research and all the "friendship" and camaraderie was just playacting - a means to an end. In the end Sudhir made his academic career out of the people who befriended him and after his mission was accomplished, he has discarded them like a used glove.
   I am an Indian-American and I am proud of the success and acclaim that Sudhir Venkatesh has recieved first for his part in "Freakanomics" and now for "Gang Leader For a Day". However as a fellow South Indian, I would like to remind him of another South Indain virtue: Do not kick down the ladder that you climbed on to fame and fortune.



4. I enjoyed this very much. Sudhir can write so well that it's one of those "you can't put it down" books. I also learned a great deal of interesting knowledge that I would not have been able to find out any other way: not only what the drug trade is like, but what life is like inside a dilapidated low-cost housing tower. I've been recommending this to all my friends.



5. Like many others, I found the chapter of Freakonomics based on Venkatesh's data on drug dealing to be the most compelling of the book. So I looked forward to picking up this extended account of his journey into the murky world of Chicago public housing and the research he did there from 1989-95. His entry into that world is a decidedly naive and somewhat accidental one, as he commences work toward his sociology PhD at the University of Chicago by assisting in a research project. This project requires him to go to several apartments in a public housing high-rise to administer a rather ridiculous questionnaire. Unfortunately, the resident drug gang suspects him of being a spy for a rival gang and holds him overnight until their boss can decide what to do with him.
   
   Fortunately, the boss ends up taking a shine to Venkatesh and allows him to hang out around the gang and its slice of the Robert Taylor Homes housing project. This one decision (based at least partially on the gangster's belief that Venkatesh will use the material to write a biography of him), grants the student and budding scholar almost unprecedented access to the day-to-day functioning of a street gang, as well as a passport to the roam around the projects talking to the residents about their daily life. Venkatesh is very up front about his naivety, his discomfort with the role he was playing to gain the trust of people, the complexity of needing to befriend them in order to hear their stories, and the benefit his access to their stories has had on his academic career. In the end, he concludes that he is just as much a "hustler" as those he meets throughout his seven years, taking advantage of others as needed, in order to survive.
   
   The focus of the book is on his interaction with the "Black Kings" gang, however, much of the material on their workings is interesting but not necessarily revelatory Basically, if you've seen season one of The Wire, you'll be more or less equally up to speed on the mechanics of drug slingin' street gangs. This is at least partially due to the rather edited view of operations the gang afforded him. What's more surprising in his account is the naked power over daily life in the projects wielded by the female middle-aged president of the tenants association, who comes across as just as venal and egocentric as the gang leader. Indeed, she and the gangster had an established rapport and arrangement, in which she could tap the gang for "donations" for community events, or to police the buildings, in exchange for not raising a fuss about their drug dealing. Venkatesh also spends a fair amount of time with the regular "citizens" of the projects, as well as a few community workers and one policeman. A striking absence from his fieldwork is any attempt to interact with the Chicago Housing Authority, under whose auspices the Robert Taylor Homes falls, and whose utter ineptitude and corruption pervades the entire book.
   
   The cumulative effect is a rare look at the networks of power within a poor urban community, as well as a cautionary tale about the strengths and weaknesses of the ethnographic process. I found myself rather more drawn to his stories of the various licit and illicit hustles people run in order to make ends meet -- it turns out these are the focus of an earlier work of his called Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor, which I'll probably end up reading at some point.
   
   Note: As at least one other reviewer has noted, those interested in the "participatory observation" approach to studying gangs would be well-advised to check out Martin Sanchez-Jankowski's Islands in the Street: Gangs and American Urban Society, based on ten years of fieldwork among 37 gangs in New York, Los Angeles, and Boston. Rather oddly, Venkatesh never refers to it.

5 comments about My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams.

1. This book is a wonderful adjunct to the HBO series and David Mc Cullough's brilliant book.."John Adams". I have never been devoted to our American history, preferring instead Ancient cultures. I see what I have missed and vow to read more about the brave and devoted men and women who, indeed ,created our country. The love affair between John and Abigail seemed to provide the great man, as well as Thomas Jefferson, with the strength and comfort that spurred them on. Bravo!!



2. I started reading this while watching the John Adams HBO mini series. I didn't finish the book until after I had seen all 7 episodes. It was interesting to read their correspondence and realize how much of an asset Abigail was to John. If you enjoy reading letters, you will enjoy this book. The author inserts commentary prior to a particular time frame of letters in order for you to understand the tenor and specifics of the letters that follow. I enjoyed it.



3. If you are a history buff or just a little interested in the history of our nation you will love this book. The letters exchanged between John and Abigail Adams are wonderful. Abigail was definitely John's rock. She kept him focused and steady. John was a very passionate man in his beliefs and at times would become a tyrant trying to convince people that his way of thnking was the only way to think. Thank goodness he had Abigail as he ran everything by her to see how she thought the people would react to his perception. Abigail would let him know when he needed to press an issue or just be quiet and let it happen on its own. Besides being lovers as husband and wife they were truly best friends. An inspirational read.



4. I must shamefully admit that prior to the renewed interest in John Adams with the recent miniseries, I really had only a general knowledge of his role and importance in the founding of our country. This book gives a private, personal and wonderful view of the strength,deep,abiding love of this first family. I could not put it down & would highly recommend it to anyone.



5. A beautiful book as I was sure it would be. Now in the possession of another John Adams admirer who happens to be a resident of Cornwall, England.