4 comments about Mi Vida.

1. Good book, very interesting, and rich in valuable topics that can be used as an indirect experience for life, and learning purposes. From my personal point of view, due to the translation style the book is better in English than in Spanish. In the Spanish version, it's very curious how the translator uses some words like"Madre" instead of "mi mamá ó mamá". Examples: Page 79: "El viaje fue más duro para Madre que para mí". Page 59: "...el 14 de abril de 1962, Madre presentó la demanda de divorcio." Page 36: "A pesar de las reservas de Madre," Take a look at Page 75: "Con esta última realicé un viaje de fin de instituto a Pensacola,".
   
   Furthermore the book let us know that the life of a president is just like any body else.
   
   Rodolfo Aguirre



2. Uno de los mejores presidentes de muchas decadad ;hasta un buen amante;sin mencionar su corage como hombre de decir,todo lo que sintio,en un antes y despues fabuloso el libro,creo que su carisma pasara a las generaciones y si no hubiera sido infiel en la presidencia,no seria la diferencia de la sociedad democrata en un mundo cambiante;incluyendo a las personalidades.
   Recomiendo de los libros en spanish para leer el Sueno del amor y el amante perfecto



3. (I'll write this in English and Spanish because speakers of both languages read these reviews.) Aunque no soy demócrata, tengo un gran cariño para Bill, pues le conocí en la universidad de Georgetown en 1964 cuando era casi un chiquillo, y de veras se ve por su manera de escribir que todavía tiene la misma personalidad. I met Bill in '64 at Georgetown, and his writing style shows he's still the same open and essentially unassuming guy he was then (no, I'm not a democrat). Aunque su estilo va saltando de manera parentética, logra bastante claridad en lo que presenta. His style jumps around somewhat, but his conversational tone still gets his points across clearly. Aquí se presentan los pormenores y las estrategias políticas de su vida. He lays out the problems he encountered and the strategies he used to size up and win elections. Bastantes asuntos muy personales están presentados sin recriminaciones ni disimulaciones. Lots of very personal matters are here presented without excuses or blaming of others. Les recomiendo este libro a los lectores que quieran comprender el corazón de este líder tan talentoso. Readers who want to understand Clinton's spirit should read this autobiography..



4. Como habitante de Mexico fronterizo, vivo en Mexicali, conocemos bastante bien a los Estadounidenses, sabemos que cuando les va bien a ellos, nos va bien a nosotros, cuando Clinton fue presidente creo que fue de las mejores epocas, pero leer su historia ha sido fascinante, todo un ejemplo para los que quieren llegar a ser algo, en cualquier ambito. Pero la historia no ha terminado, Clinton sigue con su impetu humano y espero que alguien algun dia siga con sus ideales. Excelente libro.

5 comments about Amazing Dope Tales.

1. First off, this book's not even by Spider. I'm not vertain why he lent his name to it, much less wrote the introduction. The book itself is a loosely connected series of ramblings of a proto-typical dope-fiend from the 60's San Francisco scene. It's a bit trippy, and even mildly insightful once is a while, but was certainly not worth picking up if you're expecting anything like the quality of writing and storytelling that Spider Robinson imparts to all of _his_ works.



2. I was wondering, did you read the title before buying the book?



3. Amigo-I too/also think the "truth" can be agreed on. Give Thanks 4/that! And I have allways remembered that version of Monday PM class that had that "dose"--Initials taken OUT! I'm not 2/sure I wanna know anything about DMT-but I'm gettin vexed with all the food gettin dosed with canola oil. It's 2/close to mustard gas in your "lower". Kinda freightening the way square world stuffs your gut to weaken you-that just can't be defended. BRO.{OUT!}



4. I've got somebody I'd like you to meet. Reader, this is Stephen Gaskin; Stephen, this is Reader.

   Stephen Gaskin is, among other things, one of the founders of The Farm (which is about the only big hippie commune that turns out to have been built to last) and an activist for cannabis legalization. He's usually billed as a "hippie spiritual teacher," which means that listening to him has the power to knock your mind loose from your brain.

   And that should clue you in that this book -- originally published in 1980 and republished here with a new foreword by Stephen and a new introduction by Spider Robinson -- is _not_, despite its title, about dope. Stephen himself will tell you that dope is just one means among others and that all of this stuff can be approached in other ways. As for dope itself, Alan Watts and Baba Ram Dass used to say that when you've gotten the message, you should hang up the phone.

   If you're worried about the drugs, you should be aware that for the most part the only drugs involved here are cannabis and LSD (plus an occasional bit of peyote and one or two others). Moreover, the book includes lots of cautionary tales about bad trips. And it's not _at all_ about (what I regard as) the really dangerous drugs. (These distinctions are important, especially during today's indiscriminate "war on drugs." Being "anti-drug" is roughly equivalent to being "pro-food.")

   So what _is_ the book about? It's about consciousness and religion and getting telepathic, and it's about some things that happened during some of Stephen's trips that hipped him to all of that stuff. More prosaically, it's a transcription of some oral history about the late '60s as delivered in Stephen's unique voice.

   You'll like Stephen. And I wasn't kidding when I said he can knock your mind loose from your brain.

   The _way_ he tells his stories is as important as the stories themselves. You can read a couple of sample pages and see what I mean; the whole book is like that. He talks from inside the experiences he describes, and these transcriptions make them real for you too, just as if he were sitting there talking to you. He's also pretty self-critical in what he makes of these experiences; pay close attention to his opinions about how hallucinations work and in what sense(s) they may be "real."

   Anyway, when you read one of his amazing dope tales, you may find that you've picked up a contact high from Stephen and that you, too, can sometimes see the subconscious on people. If enough of us did this sort of vicarious tripping, it might help us to get telepathic even without taking dope ourselves. That would be a good thing, wouldn't it?

   If (like me) you're also a Spider Robinson fan, you'll enjoy his short introduction, which deals with both the significance and the failures of hippie ideals. (Stephen has shown up, sometimes disguised, in several of Spider's books.) And vice versa: if you like this book, you'll probably enjoy Spider's fiction as well.




5. a wildly fun and entertaining romp through some of the more interesting corridors of mind. Well worth the trip!

No comments about Colored Memories: A Biographer's Quest for the Elusive Lester A. Walton.

3 comments about Religious Life of Thomas Jefferson.

1. This book is an excellent look at the deep roots of spirituality, not religion, of one of America's most important founders, Thomas Jefferson.

   The book is both informative and very interesting. It's a great book to keep for future reference as well.

   It points out that Jefferson, like many of America's key founders, was not a Christian, but was a Deist. That is, he believed in God based on reason and nature, not on the Bible, Torah or Koran or any other man made book.

   This is a book that will stimulate your brain and cause you to expand your mind!

   Robert L. Johnson




2. Sanford writes a well-documented but accessible account of Jefferson's religious ideas. Other books on Jefferson's religion extract his ideas from his letters, papers, and speeches, but Sanford goes deeper, tracing the roots of Jefferson's ideas and the influence Enlightenment philosophers played in shaping his thinking. Sanford's book reveals how Jefferson's ideas about liberty, rights, and democracy sprang from his profound belief in God. Sanford's book also shows the contradictions and complexities of Jefferson's beliefs: that he loved Jesus's teachings even while doubting his divinity, that Jefferson attacked immaterialism in religion while believing in the afterlife, and that he contributed to and regularly attended churches while blasting the corruptions of the church and clergy on the Christian faith. I highly recommend this book to understand Jefferson's religious ideas, but to get historical context for the development of this ideas, I recommend as a companion book. "Sworn on the Altar of God" by Edwin Gaustad. Together the two books give a complete potrait of Jefferson's religious life.



3. One of my favorite books that has helped challenge and shape my spiritual and philosophical outlooks on life. Sanford goes to great length explaining and detailing Thomas Jefferson's views on controversial topics such as the right and nature of Man, nature of God, separation of church and state, religious freedom, deism, Christianity, materialism, morality, and the afterlife. Sanford provides many citations, including Jefferson's personal letters, diaries, personal Jeffersonian Bible, and other primary sources. Sanford carefully places Jefferson's views in historical and cultural context, but yet there's no sugarcoating anything here. It's a great read and I recommend it for any open-minded and mature individual interested in learning about the beliefs that motivated Jefferson and our founding Fathers to create the US Constitituion and a free society.

5 comments about Bill W.: A Biography of Alcoholics Anonymous Cofounder Bill Wilson.

1. Of late, I have been doing a lot of research work and writing on the differences in religious views, religious background, and religious influences on A.A. co-founders Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith. In that connection, I have found myself turning more and more to Francis Hartigan's account and quoting portions of it in various contexts. The Bill Wilson story itself has been hacked around in so many ways, many of them inaccurate, that I look for the tidbits that show the author's real familiarity and lack thereof with the subject at hand. In Hartigan's case, I found his recital of the "spiritual experience" by Bill's grandfather, Hartigan's details on Lois Wilson, and Hartigan's accurate observations on Bill's decision for Christ at the Calvary Rescue Mission to be most refreshing and quotable. Among the plethora of recent books on Bill's life, I believe this Hartigan biography and the Bill W. Autobiography from the "Bedford Papers" as reported by Hazelden to be two important resources for learning A.A.'s historical, spiritual background. Dick B.



2. This is an amazing bio of Bill W.
   
   I've read pass it on and afew other AA related books, nothing has held my interest with such awe as this wonderful book.
   
   This book gives you a better understanding of Bill. Everyone has there own opinion.



3. The author went to work for Bill W's widow. Eventually this book resulted, after both were dead.
   
   The book provides a much needed perspective. It is clear on Bill's early atheism (which he called agnosticism) and helps focus how AA is a spiritual program and not a religious one and wny.
   
   Over and over again it explains the forces that were being reacted against. If you've listened to Bill and Charlie (they are available for free on the internet as mp3 downloads for ipods and similar products -- or your computer), this fills in the gaps.
   
   For example, everyone knows about Bill as a womanizer in his later years. What people do not know is that about the time he turned forty, his wife decided that she was done with sex. She was older than he was, went through menopause and retired from sex. No wonder that has he got into his fifties he started thinking of her more as a mother figure and less as a wife figure.
   
   In a modern hospital, such as where my wife works, everyone knows about "banana bags" (IVs that are yellow from the b-vitamins, especially niacin, used routinely on alcoholics who have serious problems because of bad diet) -- but I never knew that started with niacin for alcoholics.
   
   Or the rumors of financial misuse -- at complete odds with poverty and the audits -- now I know how they started and how they kept going.
   
   I'm not an alcoholic (well, I've never had a drink, so I'm at least a very dry alcoholic), though I've sent a number of clients to 12 step programs, until recently I did not have the slightest idea what they were about.
   
   With this I understand what makes AA different from every other program out there, why it found that balance and how it was shaped and touched by the personality of its founder.
   
   The book is an easy read, and gripping. I finished it over a weekend, along with other projects and preparing and teaching a Sunday School lesson.
   
   It was interesting, complex, consistent and had a basic appreciation and fondness for the subject.
   
   I'm not sure how it plays inside AA, but from the outside I find myself admiring Bill W and AA a great deal from having read this book. Heck, I even got started on the "Big Book" (I've read about half of it so far).
   
   If you've gotten to this page where the book is advertised, it is probably worth your while to buy it. I got my copy at half price books for six dollars. They had a bundle of them. Used copies in excellent to new condition abound.
   
   Buy it, read it, think about it. Well worth the read.



4. I've been a "friend" of Bill and Dr. Bob since Christmas 1990, and have read a lot of material, both "conference approved" and other, and this book is probably the best biography of Bill W. that I've come across. I have to disagree with the reviewers who gave this work a low rating... I do not see this biography as a "hatchet job" or any sort of attempt to demean or diminish the memory of Bill Wilson.
   
   Bill was not saint, and he never really sought sainthood. If some hold him to saintly standards or infallible behavior, those depictions were\are pressed on him.
   
   Hartigan successfully describes Bill's childhood, young adulthood, service years, marriage and the early years of AA's struggles in great detail. Until I read this book, I knew from other readings that Bill had many faults, but I did not fully appreciate the depth of his alcoholic behavior, and its effect on both Bill and Lois. I also did not appreciate the severity Bill's lifelong struggle with deep depression.
   
   This biography also does a good job putting context and details to Bill's lesser known "adventures" which folks hostile to AA use to discredit Bill and the AA program.
   
   Bill experimented with LSD, starting in the 50's and into the 60's... starting when the drug was legal and being investigated for psychotherapeutic potential to help alcoholics and schizophrenics.
   
   Bill actively promoted niacin for alcoholics, dragging the AA name into this promotion, but it was out of enthusiasm and hope to help the still suffering alcoholic. He was called to task for this, and the AA name removed from such endorsements.
   
   Bill was unfaithful to Lois and maintained long term relationships outside his marriage. This biography, written by the personal secretary to Lois at the end of her long life, makes no excuses for this behavior, but does add context.
   
   I came away with greater appreciation of Bill Wilson, the man, who overcame many serious problems to help create an organization that has helped many thousands of people live better lives.



5. Marital difficulties
   Wilson was serially unfaithful to his wife Lois. Wilson 's affairs with women caused controversy and concern within AA and it was common knowledge in New York AA circles. His interest in younger women increased with his age, and caused Barry Leach and other friends of Wilson to form a "Founders Watch". People were assigned to keep an eye on Wilson during the socializing that followed AA functions and to separate and steer away those young women who caught Wilson's interest. Wilson, like many in his generation, could be sexist, but he was also "capable of treating the women who worked with him with dignity and respect". In the mid 1950s he began an affair with Helen Wyn, a woman 22 years his junior, "in duration, intensity and scope" this was different from his other affairs. Wilson at one point discussed divorcing Lois to marry Helen. Wilson with determined perseverance was able to overcome the AA trustees objections, and renegotiated his royalty agreements with them in 1963, which allowed him to include Helen Wynn in his estate. He left 10% of his book royalties to Helen and the other 90% to his wife Lois. In 1968 with Wilson's illness making it harder for them to spend time together, Helen bought a house in Ireland.
   
   Alternative cures and spiritualism
   In the 1950s Wilson experimented with LSD in medically supervised experiments with Gerard Heard and Aldous Huxley. With Wilson's invitation his wife Lois, Father Dowling, and Nell Wing also participated in experimentation of this drug. Later Wilson wrote to Carl Jung, praising the results and recommending it as validation of Jung's spiritual experience. (The letter was not in fact sent as Jung had died.)
   
   At a parapsychology meeting in the 1960s, Wilson met Abram Hoffer and learned about the potential mood-stabilizing effects of niacin. Wilson was impressed with experiments indicating that alcoholics who were given niacin had a better sobriety rate, and he began to see niacin "as completing the third leg in the stool, the physical to complement the spiritual and emotional." Wilson also believed that niacin had given him relief from depression, and he promoted the vitamin within the AA community and with the National Institute of Mental Health as a treatment for schizophrenia. However, Wilson created a major furor in AA because he used the AA office and letterhead in his promotion.
   
   For Wilson, spiritualism (communicating with the spirits of the dead) was a life-long interest. One of his letters to his spiritual adviser Father Ed Dowling suggests that while Wilson was working on his book Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions he felt that spirits were helping him, in particular a 15th century monk named Boniface.[18] Wilson believed that the living could communicate with the dead and kept a "Spook Room" in his basement, where he along and others would conduct seances with a Ouijiboard, as well as experiment with automatic writing. Despite his conviction that he had evidence for the reality of the spiritual world, Wilson chose not to share this with AA.

1 comments about Furl That Banner: The Life of Abram J Ryan, Poet-priest of the South.

1. Ryan was a significant person in US history though few know of him today. This book provides a good overview of his life and includes Ryan's patriotic poems in an appendix. Ryan's poems continue to show up in many places today. I enjoyed reading this book.

1 comments about Ted Turner Speaks: Insights from the World's Greatest Maverick (Speak Series).

1. The last review, sounds exactly like what Turner fought against, control freak zealots. He isn't mental, he is brilliant.
   
   In a media world where people like Rupert Murdock are put on a boat for a photo op, people like Ted Turner actually support the crew and stay onboard for the whole race, all 31,000 miles of it.
   
   Regardless of money my friends, that separates the men from the boys.
   
   Who would you want to be behind in the battle field?

1 comments about 920 O'Farrell Street: A Jewish Girlhood in Old San Francisco (California Legacy Book).

1. Harriet Levy was born in San Francisco in 1867 and lived at 920 O'Farrell Street until about 1904. Readers who are familiar with the sights and sounds of San Francisco will be equally pleased with the unfamiliar: "Near the corner of Polk Street stood the cow barn of old man Waller, to which the anemic children of the neighborhood, glass in hand, hurried in the early morning hours to receive warm milk fresh from the cow." About one-third of the chapters are named for rooms of her house. The rooms are described in great detail only to flow into some memory of an event that occurred there. For instance, before reminiscing about her sister Addie's beautiful singing voice and the songs she sang, Levy describes the room itself: "...the ceiling of the music room a lattice of bamboo intertwined with garlands of tea roses and autumn leaves, and burnished birds of copper and blue winging their flight..." Levy's vivid descriptions put you right there. Familiar names also pop up, like Alice Toklas who was a friend and neighbor. This book is a treasure.

4 comments about Battles and Leaders of the Civil War.

1. This book is a veritable dictionary of the civil war. It holds everything one ever wished to know about the war and its leaders. I recommend it!



2. This book is a veritable dictionary of the civil war. It holds everything one ever wished to know about the war and its leaders. I recommend it!



3. This compendium of battle studies and reports was written by commanders of all levels: Grant, Sherman, Lee and Longstreet down to lieutenants commanding companies for points of clarification on minor skirmishes or segments of the battlefield.The accounts were set down when the war was still fresh in their memories, yet when enough time had passed for reflection.

   The fact that several viewpoints, some conflicting, are given for each major battle and campaign adds immeasurably to the value of this work. Of course recent "scholarship" has eclipsed and corrected many of these accounts. However, you get the immediacy and vigor of the post-war controversies and the finger-pointing --- the first early exposition of the rift between Longstreet and the Jubal Early faction for example.

   Battles and Leaders was for a long time THE source for the early critical historians of the war such as John Codman Ropes, W. Henderson (the pre-eminent biographer of Stonewall Jackson) as well as the generals themselves who wanted to cross-check their accounts. This was the case until well after the release of the Offical Records some ten years later.

   There were inevitable lapses of style and critical ability in the original multi-volume edition; these for the most part have been weeded out from this accessible one-volume version.

   The great part about this book for me is that one can get the flavor of the passions still raging, even though the writers attempted a detached and clinical tone for credibility's sake.

   Johnson and Buell made a concerted effort to elicit a well-rounded picture for battles and episodes which were the subject of intense debate.

   If you have any interest in the Civil War, and lack the time to sift through the voluminous post-war memoirs of the commanders, you'll want to keep Battles and Leaders handy.




4. Be careful what edition of this book you get. The original edition was a large, useful collection of primary sources. However, another edition was put out which, while still a collection of primary documents, was much shorter and could not be considered definitive at all. The latter was the one I wound up with, and I didn't get much use out of it.

3 comments about Pirates, Privateers, and Rebel Raiders of the Carolina Coast.

1. With Pirates, Privateers, and Rebel Raiders, Dr. Lindley Butler has written an exceptionally readable narrative that attempts to transcend the myths of sea outlaws and tell the stories of 8 important seafarers who operated off the rugged North Carolina coast. The book spans over 150 years from 18th century pirates, to privateers during the War of 1812, and rebel raiders of the Civil War. The stories of the notorious Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet open the book with engrossing tales about these pirates' lives and activities during their relatively short stints as outlaws. Historical consultant to the archaeological team exploring the 18th century wreck off the coast of North Carolina believed to be Blackbeard's flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, Butler has researched some of the most up-to-date material on the world famous pirate, though much of Blackbeard's early life remains a mystery. Equally engaging are the stories of the lesser-known privateer, Otway Burns, and naval commerce raider Johnston Blakeley who operated out of North Carolina during the War of 1812. The poignancy of Blakeley's final days is skillfully told through Butler's narrative. The book concludes with the exploits of Confederate naval officers James Cooke of the ironclad Albemarle, blockade runner John Maffitt, naval commando John Taylor Wood, and James Waddell, the commerce raider who sailed around the world in the Shennandoah. The stories of these naval heroes of the rebellion reveal the intensity of the national struggle that shook the country apart and draw the reader into a deeper understanding of the personal struggles that affected so many in the nation. Although the lives of these eight men are not romanticized in Butler's book, romance is not left out of his narrative as family life and personal relationships are woven into each biographical sketch. Nonetheless, the action packed stories of these maritime warriors and thieves are thoroughly captivating, making the book difficult to put down. What Butler has reminded us is that history in its truest form is first and foremost about story-telling. He has succeeded in telling the stories of these men's lives in a way that is both historically informative and skillfully narrated.



2. While visiting beautiful Ocracoke Island on North Carolina's Outer Banks recently I picked up this book in a local book store. I wanted to get some flavor of the island's history and had skimmed through a dozen or so titles before I settled on this one. I was not disappointed. Lindley S. Butler has captured the marine lore of the Outer Banks in a well written and researched book. "Pirates, Privateers, and Rebel Raiders of the Carolina Coast" chronicles, without sensationalism, the often bloody careers of eight of the most important personalities of the days of pirates, the War of 1812 and the Civil War. All, from the pirate Blackbeard to the Confederate raider James I. Waddell, are shone in realistic fashion. I was much impressed by both the wealth of sources listed and with the easy reading style of this work. It made a great read during my flight from Raleigh-Durham to El Paso. This is, in my opinion as a non-historian, the way histories should be written to make them more accessible to the layman. I have to also give my compliments to the University of North Carolina Press for publishing this excellent account, which stands out among any number of books on pirates and privateers.

   If you visit the coast of either North or South Carolina and wish to know more about the rich local history, you cannot go wrong in reading Butler's volume on the subject!




3. I picked up this book after hearing a talk on the the recovery of the Queen Anne's Revenge, Blackbeard's ship, now going on near Beaufort, NC. The book has the appealing qualities of great stories, excellent prose, and solid scholarship. Using Butler's references, a reader can explore way beyond what the book offers.
   
   Finding a chapter on James Waddell, born in nearby Pittsboro, NC, was a surprise and a delight. Waddell, in the closing days of the Civil War, circumnavigated the globe, intending to disrupt Union whaling, a task at which he succeeded admirably. Waddell's Shenandoah was the only Confederate ship to cruise in the Pacific.
   
   Butler's book highlights seamen of the southern coast, and brings to life vibrant personalities that most of us have not heard of. Pirates (Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet) get adequate attention, but are not the stars of the show. Otway Burns, a real swashbuckling privateer, is by far a more interesting character. The Confederate privateers are heroes in their cause, leading and surviving adventures worthy of an O'Brian or Forester. Confederate naval commanders (Cooke, Maffitt, Wood, Waddell) give a new face to war-time intrepidity. Most of those were names I did not know, but all were intriguing new personalities.
   
   The book is spare, describing eight individuals in a little more than 200 pages. Butler provides adequate detail, in general, but doesn't often go beyond that. Having read Butler's book, I want to find out more, as you might. Waddell's exploits, for example, get a book length treatment in the recent volume, "Sea of Gray," by Tom Chaffin. Maffitt's novel, "Nautilus," is still in print and could be worth a look. There are others.
   
   Butler's book is a tiny bit repetitive in spots, not a big surprise, given the degree of interaction among the protagonists. The repetitive elements are brief and not distracting. The inclusion of multiple maps is very useful for keeping geographical track. The photos emphasize that these were real people, with real lives -- including their loves, losses, heartaches, disappointments, and achievements. The tedium of a naval career is also abundantly represented. Butler does a good job of humanizing men who could otherwise have been caricatured as comic book superheroes. I also liked the descriptions of the innovations in ship-building that occurred, especially in Souther shipyards, during the War.
   
   A good read for the nautical history buff, worth the money to buy, worth the effort to recommend. The prose is accessible, I think, to adults and young readers from about high school age.