No comments about Standing Before the Shouting Mob: Lenoir Chambers and Virginia's Massive Resistance to Public School Integration.

5 comments about Off Ramp: Adventures and Heartache in the American Elsewhere.

1. Stuever has a unique voice, at once hilarious and compassionate, with a great eye and ear for the odd, off-beat and comic detail that most people breeze past on their way somewhere else. Whenever I stumble across a new Hank Stuever story, I drop everything else and read the whole thing through. He's just so damn good. Terrifically human stuff that captivates.



2. Welcome to the crazy world of storage unit subculture, Texas weddings and the discount funeral industry -- before Six Feet Under made it cool. Off Ramp is a delightful read; Hank Stuever's insight and dry whit shine through in this book. Comparisons to David Sedaris are inevitable, as both will make you alternatively laugh out loud and wince from stinging observations. Stuever's background as a journalist -- in the best sense of the term -- makes him a keen commentator on the bizarreness of our world, with little glimpses of his personality, bias and foibles mixed in. As a reader of the Washington Post, I have often found myself in the middle of a hilarious piece, only then remembering to look at the byline to find Stuever's name. Read this book for the humor, recommend it for the reflection of yourself you can't share with anyone else.



3. Off Ramp - Adventures and Heartache in the American Elsewhere
   
   Washington Post staff writer Hank Stuever (his work appears in the Style section) collects his articles about the almost-mainstream. Stuever enters the stories as a journalist, but he stays because they resonate with him. Whether he's talking about the creator of Wonder Woman, the owner of a skating rink, or the Murrah building bombing, he finds the anecdote that explains the people, not just the situation.
   
   Stuever understands the nature of strip mall America, and it's where he focuses his attention. Although many of his subjects are ridiculous, he treats them with respect. He's the same age as I am, so he feels nostalgic in the same ways for the same cultural icons. His cadence stays with me for hours after I finish reading.
   
   Who Should Read it:
   Anyone who likes the radio program "This American Life". Anyone who wants to better understand that "other America" (i.e. not the big coastal cities). Reading it in two sittings was, for me, a mistake -- the stories tend to be between wistful and sad. I would have been better off reading just one essay at a time.



4. This book looked like it may be pretty funny to read, but unfortunately it was not. I generally try to be kind in my reviews but I found this book to be so nauseating that I just had to write a negative review. Mr.Stuever may be a talented writer technically, but the content of his articles is pretty pathetic. He spends so much of his time being critical of others, that it leads me to wonder why he feels it is necessary to degrade others to help his own cause. If you enjoy reading articles that are a constant derision and mockery of others, then this is the book for you. If not, there are plenty of other funny reads out there.



5. I've been a fan of Hank's since his days at the Austin American-Statesman. Before and after I lived in DC, I've always searched the Washington Post's website to find his work. He is a rare talent, able to suss out the story from even the most bland of subjects (discount funeral homes, vacant parking lots, collectors of kitsch, Catholics, Miss America and, even, Willmington, DE). It's always funny, sometimes moving and consistently amazing.

1 comments about Ambivalence, a Love Story: Portrait of a Marriage.

1. Donatich explores his roles as son, lover, worker, husband, and father. He grapples with the concept of manhood by examining unemployment, religion, gender relations, the immigrant experience, the pursuit of identity through lifestyle, and family life. With openness and honesty, he shares the bittersweet feelings of a "middle-aged, married, mortgaged, and mortal" man to celebrate and define the book's title. Ambivalence--and a good relationship--means being of two minds; having moral strength, not certitude; mindfully loving, not clinging to the blind faith of being in love.

No comments about Fiery Heart: The First Life of Leigh Hunt.

2 comments about June Callwood: A Life of Action.

1. "Each person is like a stone in a pond...Individual actions, good or bad, send out tiny ripples that change the surface of the public pond. People, by choice, can spread warm understanding or cold indifference."--June Callwood
   
   June Callwood, a Canadian journalist and activist, has led a very active life. Having written articles about everything from celebrities to censorship, and over thirty books dealing with topics like Canadian history and the battle against AIDS, Ms. Callwood has definitely kept busy.
   
   JUNE CALLWOOD: A LIFE OF ACTION is a comprehensive biography of the woman who helped establish over fifty different organizations, such as Digger House for homeless youth and Casey House for people with AIDS. She's also a Companion of the Order of Canada, which is the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a Canadian citizen, and has a park and street named after her.
   
   Filled with dozens of photographs, a timeline of her life, and selected honors she's received, this is a great book for anyone looking for information specifically on Ms. Callwood, or for those interested in Canadian activists.
   
   Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"



2. Teacher, librarian, and award-winning author Anne Dublin presents June Callwood: A Life of Action, a biography for young adults about the remarkable life of June Callwood, one of Canada's greatest journalists and activists. Callwood grew up poor during the Great Depression, in farm communities and small towns of Southern Ontario, yet through compassion, hard work and sheer grit she made a difference in thousands of lives around her. She founded more than 50 activist groups, including Jessie's, a center that gives housing and support for teen parents; Nellie's, a shelter that protects abused women and children from violence; and Casey House, the world's first special-care hospice for people with AIDS. Her journalism career included an interview with a young Elvis Presley, and for a time she even hosted her own television show. Black-and-white photographs illustrate this inspirational tale of an exemplary life, highly recommended for school libraries.

3 comments about Beautiful Exile: The Life of Martha Gellhorn.

1. Just about the weakest biography of anyone I've ever read - poorly written with little insight into the subject's character, this is a book that appears to have been thrown together with no care and little effort. An insult to the reader.
   
   For a good read on Martha Gellhorn, try Caroline Moorehead's Gellhorn: A Twentieth Century Life - a much more in-depth look at the subject and a superior quality of writing. Ms Moorehead is clearly a writer who knows her stuff. (Check out her latest, Human Cargo, for a powerful work on refugees).



2. I wrote the first and still the best biography of Gellhorn, relying on key archival sources and interviews with her friends and associates. A new edition will soon be available in paperback, and a film based on my book, will be going into production shortly.



3. I wrote the first and still the best biography of Gellhorn, relying on key archival sources and interviews with her friends and associates. A film based on my book is in development.

1 comments about Agnes Smedley: The Life and Times of an American Radical.

1. The Mackinnons have done a great service in writing this book about a great American, as shown by their interviews which started on June 10, 1974 and ended on July 25, 1985. They also covered the world, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, New Delhi, Calcutta, Zurich and in all parts of the U.S. Their knowledge and fluency in Chinese contributed to their research in ways that other biographers will have difficult in overcoming. Their devotion and sacrifice to their subject is amply demonstrated.

   It seems to this reviewer that two themes came together in Agnes Smedly's life and in the interests of the biographers, the feminist movement and China's attaining its status on the world political stage. Unfortunately during the time that it took to gather the material and write the book, both of the movements have changed substantially and the people interested in them have moved to other concepts and ideas. Another cross lays over the book- is it to be an academic treatise or a popular biography? The academic treatise seems to have won out and in large sections become a rote laying out of dates, times and movements.

   Not coming from the academic world, I have to assume that in order to have a proper foundation and references, this is the way it has to be done. Unfortunately, Smedly does not come to life. I had no feeling of the person involved. The parts that have fire and verve are those quotations from Smedley's own writings. Nothing is presented that contradicts her own analysis of herself and her point of view, whether from her novelized form, her personal correspondence or her other writings. I got the feeling that more of her own writings would have given a better picture than what was written.

   The book is well worth reading, but its greatest value may be in bringing together the material about Smedly in an organized form and its whereabouts for either the MacKinnons or others to write the biography that will bring her to life.

   (The MacKinnons were the principle organizers of the US/China Peoples Friendship Association of Phoenix in 1975).

   This review was written on August 15, 1988 by Frank Kadish. Jan MacKinnon died on Sunday, September 26, 1999 in Phoenix, Arizona.

1 comments about Confessions of an American Media Man: What They Don't Tell You at Journalism School.

1. The Author of this book seems to have a hard time explaining what he is most proud of about his career in media. Yet he does so with a self effacement equal only to that of Ghandi. He wants to brag yet does not. I think it would have been better had he bragged. Anyway the book is very intersting and informative about how he managed to carve out a career in journalism for himself. Something that seems to be difficult yet he seems to have pulled it off without a hitch. He does have many legitimate successes that he should rightly be proud of yet he seems embarassed to toot his own horn. He is very happy to give the credit for his success to others whom he has admired and who had mentored him in his early years and even today. If you don't mind his awkwardness you'll get alot out of this book. Like he said they don't tell you what he does in school. I am glad he wrote this book because I know how you can unintentionally be blind to the bigger picture around you. Which is what makes this book good. An accurate description of the bigger picture and how not to get side tracked or misled into making the wrong decision. He also explains and rightly so how your integrity may be tested by that of others in situations where you need to keep it in mind that your integrity is what is important not getting a big scoop. He speaks a lot about how much character you have and how to rightly develope and use what you've got. All in all I am glad I bought this book because it shows me the side of journalism you often hear about but never get an example of. It also takes the focus off of what many journalists believe is the sacred cow and tells us what is most sacred about that cow and why it should be protected.

1 comments about Conversations with Norman Mailer (Literary Conversations Series).

1. hello
   i finally found one no one has reviewed! anyway i strongly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in norman mailer but maybe doesnt want to go thru a novel to get his ideas. Norman is an articulate person and the format of interview and dialogue here places his ideas and opinions in the center without allowing to much superfluity.
   he talks about...running for mayor of new york, making films, women and men, vietnam, media(there is a good discussion with m macluhan too) politics, sex, art, writing...
   that said i should say that i rented it from the lib, but it really is concise and informative with a minimum of repetition.
   (and if you want a similar read but more essayish find "cannibals and christians").

1 comments about In Their Shoes.

1. The author has lived a long life. She is very well rounded. I wanted to know more about her experience being a black woman and the other cultures. I guess I will have to get my hands on a copy of Soul Sister.