5 comments about I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After Twenty Years Away.

1. This is the 2nd book I have read by Bill Bryson. I enjoyed it! I admire someone who can take normal life in America and write with such humor. I found myself giggling every few paragraphs. Such talent this writer has.
   Basically this book is filled with essays that are organized by chapters. He writes about all kinds of things about America, after moving to New Hampshire after living in Britain for 20 years. He writes about baseball, shopping, lawyers, over-the-counter medicine, drive-inn movies, computers, waste, airplanes and taxes among countless other things that sets America apart from other countries. The thing I love about Bryson's writing is, I learn something as I laugh thru the pages. His outlook on things is sometimes like reading my mind and putting it on paper. I highly recommend these books and look forward to reading others by this author.



2. Not his best work. He is getting a bit too left leaning but still funny at times.



3. In 1995, Bill Bryson returned to live in the United States after living in England for 20 years. A British newspaper asked him to write a weekly column about America and I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After Twenty Years Away is a compilation of those columns. His observations of America and family life are laugh out loud funny. I read many of them to my husband. He wrote these lines about his oldest child going off to college and they hit close to home for us:
   
   "Once they leave for college they never really come back," a neighbor who has lost two of her own in this way told us wistfully the other day.
   
   "This isn't what I wanted to hear. I wanted to hear that they come back a lot, only this time they hang up their clothes, admire you for your intelligence and wit, and no longer have a hankering to sink diamond studs into various odd holes in their heads. But the neighbor was right. He is gone. There is an emptiness in the house that proves it."
   
   The columns are short and each one is an individual read making this book easy to read when you have a lot going on.



4. Mr. Bryson's half-hearted curmudgeonly approach to life makes for another enjoyable read by this author. He covers a wide array of society's peculiar habits with a mixture of surliness and confusion. The only editorials that were creative but somewhat ponderous were his columns dealing with his computer. With the exception of just those few pieces, I enjoyed his book. Mr. Bryson is a funny, insightful writer who is a great remedy for a case of the blues.



5. nothing like looking at the US from the eyes of a stranger. What a beautiful perspective. There were many times I was laughing out loud when I read this book. Also a great gift for those who are travelers. you will not be disappointed.

5 comments about Star Trek Memories.

1. Worth every penny - Chock full of fascinating details about all the backstage and front office folks, and some about the cast. Doesn't go into individual episodes much, and we actually don't hear all that much about Bill Shatner's Star Trek experience: it's more like Bill is the narrator for EVERYONE ELSE'S Star Trek memories. As a die-hard Shatner worshipper I was bummed about that; still, the book has enough juicy backstage scoop to be a really fun read.



2. While Star Trek made a great deal of television history, there were many other significant consequences. To the best of my knowledge, it was the first show to make significant profits via syndication. It was so popular that three subsequent television series, "Star Trek: The Next Generation", "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and "Star Trek: Voyager" each ran for years. Finally, there is also the enormous number of books about Star Trek. I own nearly one hundred Star Trek novels and have read nearly every one of the "memories" books written by a major cast member of the original series.
   In this book, Shatner sets down many of his recollections about the original series. To his credit, Shatner is very honest about things, giving all of the other major players the opportunity to contribute to the book. Those contributions are included even when they are critical of his actions on and off camera. In defense of Shatner, it is difficult to see how it could have been any other way. This was a show about a quasi-military ship that by necessity had to operate independently of any central command structure. The captain of the ship was lord of his surroundings, so the premise of the show was that all the action had to resolve around the captain. Secondly, television shows, especially in that period of time, revolved around the stars of the show.
   These are the reasons why I have always taken comments critical of Shatner by the secondary members of the cast with a grain of salt. Had the show simply languished and died off, none of them would have ever achieved the fame that they did. Therefore, they are criticizing the very means whereby they achieved their fame.
   As Shatner makes very clear in this book, all the members of the cast and production crew were under enormous pressure to get the work done. Given those circumstances, it is amazing that more serious and lasting rifts between the principals did not occur. The fact that they did not speaks to the sense of purpose and community that existed between them.



3. After reading this book, I was able to tell that William Shatner knows how to write! Not that I had any doubts, but this book is so intriguing, it feels like he is talking to me as a friend while I read. This is written like a documentary, and it is just as interesting. There are facts in here that I never knew, and stories are told about things that happened in front of and behind the camera. About the smallest detail of how Star Trek works that you wanted to know is talked about. Shatner not only talks about and interviews the cast, but the behind the scenes set builders and script writers among other people that are revealed and talked about.
   
   The book is written in a light hearted, joking way, with Shatner making fun of himself and having fun at other people's expense. The only problem I had is that the book also kind of brags on how great Shatner is, and how many problems some of the other cast members had while filming. Coming from the man who wrote the book, it feels kind of like an ego trip since it occurs many times throughout the read. There is also a very nice collection of pictures that are on some of the pages that shows behind the scenes laughs and on set memorable scenes. Overall, this is a book I recommend to all fans. It hardly ever gets dull and by the end, it feels too short and could have lasted longer.



4. The first big chunk of this book is taken up with giving lots of attention and credit to Gene Roddenberry and the many people behind the scenes, and explaining the interworkings of network TV- very interesting to those who like to know how the series was created and why it started losing in the ratings wars and why it was eventually cancelled.
   
   I would have loved to hear more about the crew of the USS Enterprise and enjoyed immensely the few stories related. The book became much more interesting once he launched into the separate sections with the interviews with Grace Lee Whitney, Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols, but there was not much on the rest of the crew. The format used of letting others speak for themselves was unique and entertaining. The conversational style of writing made one feel right at home. William Shatner is a fine actor and a gifted writer. Obviously, he was the star of the series and movies and that caused much friction, especially since the other cast members didn't let him know when he upset them or hurt their feelings. I would have loved to read much more concerning all the crew of the Starship Enterprise. "The Captain" turned the spotlight on the cast and crew but overall kept out of the spotlight in this book. Since William Shatner has all the notes from extensive interviews and possibly the ability to gain more information from the other actors, I would love to see one more book on our Star Trek heroes.



5. Keep in mind going in that William Shatner (with Chris Kreski) set down these "Star Trek Memories" a quarter century after Gene Roddenberry's "Wagon Train to the stars" aired on television, so this is not a contemporaneous account by the actor of the television that made him a pop culture icon. In fact, this memoir begins with a mea culpa from Shatner, who acknowledges that he was "Blind with personal problems, with fatigue and with the necessity of spending those incredibly hard hours shooting 'Star Trek,' the series." Sometime between the end of the series and when he wrote this book Shatner apparently made a transition from being a supreme egotist to someone who can make fun of his own persona (the man sold his kidney stone for charity this week), passing somewhere along the way the Shatner who did the infamous "Star Trek" convention skit on "Saturday Night Live."
   
   Shatner began writing this book on the final day of shooting "Stark Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country," which was being promoted as "the final voyage of the Starship 'Enterprise/.'" Consequently, Shatner found himself in a nostalgic state of mind, and goes back to the beginning. "Star Trek Memories" proceeds chronologically, from the creation of the series, when Shatner was not the captain of the "Enterprise," to the show's cancellation. Of course around the same time that Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon, "Star Trek" was becoming enormously popular in syndication, which is why there were all those new "Star Trek" movies and television series. However, the epilogue to this book is not about the success of "Star Trek" after the original series, but about Shatner learning what his co-workers thought about him, his efforts to reconcile with them, and his regrets over the lack of stronger friendships. The final subject of the book is Roddenberry's death and the legacy of "Star Trek."
   
   In covering the three seasons of "Star Trek," Shatner tells what he remembers about the various episodes and guest stars, with his developing friendship with Leonary Nimoy a constant element. But not as much as the series of practical jokes that took place on the "Star Trek" set. There are chapters devoted to the Shatner's favorite episode, "The Devil in the Dark," which was filmed the week Shatner buried his father, and Harlan Ellison's "City on the Edge of Forever." There is much more about the first two seasons than the show's third and final season when it became obvious cancellation was inevitable. The story of the "Save 'Star Trek'" campaign receives more attention from Shatner than the season it produce, which makes sense. The result is a decent but certainly not comprehensive look back at the history of the television show, Die-hard fans should read in paperback as opposed to hardback. Shatner and Kreski followed this book up with "Star Trek Movie Memories," which continues the actor's journey to the death of the character of James T. Kirk.
   
   In addition to his recollections and anecdotes, Shatner includes the personal recollections of cast members, producers, designers, and crew, who are able to provide some different perspectives on the series (No surprise, Nimoy provides thoughtful insights, but my favorite is Nichelle Nichols getting to the heart of the NBC suits worried about the first interracial kiss on television, which, Shatner reveals, did not really happen). There are also more than 120 photographs and illustrations scattered throughout the book, most of which include wry captions because while Shatner might be willing to give up his ego, he is always going to go for the laugh. It is clearly pathological with the man, which explains why he has won consecutive Emmy Awards as Denny Crane on "Boston Legal."

No comments about Amelia Earhart: Queen of the Air (Biography Audiobooks).

5 comments about Wait Till Next Year : A Memoir (AUDIO CASSETTE).

1. As a Brooklyn-born boy who came late into his true inheritance, love of the Brooklyn Dodgers, this book was recommended to me by a friend who appreciates my passion despite the fact that he is a NY Yankees and NY Giants fan.
   
   I've read and enjoyed several of Doris Kearns Goodwin's books, among them Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln,The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys : An American Saga, and No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II, so I assumed I was going to enjoy WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR. And there are things I enjoyed very much.
   
   Kearns Goodwin's recollections of growing up in the Long Island town of Rockville Centre, New York predate mine by twenty years; but certain landmarks were familiar. References to Sunrise Highway, Wolf's Sport Shop, and the Cathedral of St. Agnes, Kearns Goodwin's church, connected us. Although Kearns Goodwin grew up several towns cityward from my own post-Brooklyn home in Massapequa, her compass was mine as seen from the train or through the car window as I commuted to or from home. And her reminiscences of playing in the streets and backyards of a less-crowded 1940s-50s Nassau County resonated with me. Kearns Goodwin can remember when there were 7000 televisions in America. I can't. But her descriptions of the quiet suburban streets and the general tenor of life on Long Island rang true.
   
   Raised in a religiously diverse environment, I could smile at her memories of her First Communion, her first Confession, and what passed for sin in the mind of a very Catholic and properly brought-up young lady of her time, which was pre- Vatican II. After a while, and even with this awareness however, I had to check the spine of the book to see if it had not been co-written by St. Augustine of Hippo. So much of WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR is filled with page after page of recitative of votives lit, novenas said, Hosts swallowed, Hail Marys repeated, and Acts of Contrition uttered that the middle of the book became a tedious slog.
   
   It was sweet to read of Kearns Goodwin's personal gift to fellow Catholic Gil Hodges of a St. Christopher's Medal blessed by the Pope, handed over at an autograph signing, and it was even more satisfactory to read that this gift broke Hodges out of a legendarily long and awful batting slump the next day. God bless!
   
   It was infuriating, however, to read about Kearns Goodwin's childhood fear of the eternal damnation of her immortal soul for the transgression of having visited the social center of an Episcopal Church to take part in an ecumenical, interracial event, a speaking engagement by Roy Campanella on tolerance and diversity. Kearns Goodwin never remarks on the irony of the situation. To be fair, I wasn't angry at Kearns Goodwin (who was only a child), nor at her parents (who to their credit let her attend), nor at the clergy (who reassured her of the harmlessness of such an act), but at the stultifying atmosphere of that form of 1950s white suburban American Roman Catholicism that could imbue a child with such terror.
   
   Kearns Goodwin did NOT attend parochial school. She went to public school, and her neighbors were not all Catholic, so her fixation---near obsession---on religion was unexpected (at least to this reviewer). At least she did not go so far as to say that some of her best friends were Jewish (even though some of them were).
   
   In part, this repressiveness was due to the inflexibility of Catholic dogma at the time, and it was also part and parcel of a world which was suffering from a polio pandemic, Cold War paranoia, McCarthyism, Rosenberg Spy Trial Mania, and fixed and seemingly immutable rules regarding the roles of women and men, the place of blacks and whites, the superiority of one belief system over another, and the rightness and wrongness of Right versus Left. People dealt with these issues differently. Kearns Goodwin's neighbors the Greenes (nee Greenbergs) converted to some branch of Protestantism and hid their previous identity; Jewish neighbors avowed their hatred of the Rosenbergs' presumed treason; her best friend found her personal ambitions frustrated by her family in favor of their son; Kearns Goodwin's father encouraged his family of daughters to investigate nontraditional roles; as she grew older Kearns Goodwin began questioning her received ideas about ethics and morality (as an example, in regard to the Legion of Decency's ban on Blackboard Jungle); and over all, the Brooklyn Dodgers integrated baseball, changing America forever. 1957 saw the integration of Central High School in Little Rock, and Kearns Goodwin came of age just as, and just in time for, the start of the social ferment that was the 1960s.
   
   Kearns Goodwin had the pleasure of meeting not only Gil Hodges and Roy Campanella and Clem Labine in person, but also her favorite player, Jackie Robinson. Her love of the Dodgers bound her to her father, a lifelong fan. Her heartbreak at the Dodgers' annual loss of the World Series to the Yankees is palpable. Her joy at their World Series win in 1955 is an event shared by millions.
   
   It seems to be a hallmark of this genre of memoir that the departure of the Brooklyn Dodgers is linked to, and becomes a metaphor for, life-altering change and loss in the lives of the authors. Kearns Goodwin's mother died in 1958, when she was fifteen. Roger Kahn's (The Boys of Summer) father passed away in 1956, just as Jackie Robinson left the team; Thomas Oliphant's (Praying for Gil Hodges: A Memoir of the 1955 World Series and One Family's Love of the Brooklyn Dodgers) father survived a severe bout with a long chronic illness in 1957 and his family relocated to California in 1959, literally following the Dodgers; Maury Allen (Brooklyn Remembered: The 1955 Days of the Dodgers) was just beginning his overseas military service as the Dodgers won the Series; Michael Shapiro (The Last Good Season: Brooklyn, the Dodgers, and Their Final Pennant Race Together) was a child just coming into his first awareness of the outside world as the Dodgers departed at the end of the 1957 season; and Bob McGee (Greatest Ballpark Ever: Ebbets Field And the Story of the Brooklyn Dodgers), links the departure of the Dodgers to priceless memories of time with his father: "He said it would matter to me someday, I would value the time we spent, and he was right."
   
   So right.



2. As a college drop out I am not what many people might consider well read. While school was never my strong suit, and studying was an event that rarely ever happened, I did manage to read a few great books along the way. My first and best semester of college I read Wait 'til Next Year. While I am not a fan of sports and am not competitive at all, this book was beautifully written and takes the reader on a tour through the author's life, all in the language of baseball. Using the sport as a way to framework the personal story was a wise choice as it gives great metaphors and context to the tale. I suppose I also have good memories tied into the novel as well, considering that I did really well grade-wise that semester and I remember really enjoying this book when I read it at that time.



3. Doris Goodwin is a Pulitzer Prize winning author. She is a democrat and mostly she writes about politics. However several years back she took part in Ken Burns documentary film on baseball and portrayed her memories and love of the Brooklyn Dodgers of the 1950s and later as an adult in Massachusetts, the Boston Red Sox.
   
   This stimulated her to reflect on her childhood days as a Dodger fan and she decided to write a book about it. But as she carefully researched her memory and her past she found that it was all intertwined with her life groing up as an impresionable girl on Long Island in the 1950s. Her parents her friends and her future wriing career were all tied togehter. So this delightful book is a memoir of her childhood growing up and living and dying for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
   I am 55 years old, slightly younger than Goodwin but I too grew up in the 1950s on Long Island and can relate to many of her experiences. She discusses how she started learning about baseball and the Dodgers when her father taught her how to fill out a scorecard. In the evenings during their quiet time together she would use the scorecard like a cue to narrate the game she listened to on the radio that day. This brought the game to life for her father and created an interest in her in narration that carried on into a career of writing.
   
   The book flows marvelously and you see the world from the eyes of an impressionable grammar school girl. Goodwin is somehow able to go back and put herself back in the mind of that little naive child. We see her devotion to the Catholic church, the fear of polio in the ealry 1950s before the vaccines. I know this so well as I contracted polio in the summer of 1953 though I never got it so bad as to need an iron lung. We here of her confessions as she admitted to her priest that she wished harm on the Dodger opponents. We learn about the kids in the neighborhood, all Dodger, Giant or Yankee fans. I was a Yankee fan but my brother and all my friend that I played ball with as a kid were Dodger fans. The Dodgers were the most popular team in New York. They were the underdogs and the team for the common working man.
   
   Goodwin's first boyfriend was a boy she got to know because he was a Dodger fan and they could talk so comfortably about the Dodgers. This is a story about the Dodger players she admired; Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, Don Newcombe and Carl Furillo and the Yankees and Giants that she dispised, Mays, Mantle, Martin, Berra and others. It is a story about devotion and heartbreak; Bobby Thomson's home run, the story of Mickey Owens' dropped third strike. Billy Martin's heroics is 52 and 53. But it is also the thrill of 1955 when Dodger fans finally didn't have to say wait till next year.
   
   As all this goes on we also hear about her mother's health problems and her childhood girlfriends, the beginning years of television, the Army - McCarthy hearings, the cold war, the civil defense drills and the fallout shelters, memorable events for those growing up in the 1950s.
   
   



4. Wait Till Next Year is about baseball and life. It is the title of Doris Kearns Goodwin's memoir of childhood. Set in suburban New York in the `50s, and lived before the backdrop of baseball, the account follows Goodwin through her childhood ending when she is fifteen at the death of her mother Helen, and the move from the family home. The opening line: "When I was six, my father gave me a bright-red scorebook that opened my heart to the game of baseball."
   
   When Thomas Kearns teaches his daughter to keep a scorecard on each Brooklyn Dodger game he initiates her love for baseball, as well as for telling a compelling narrative. Baseball bonds their relationship. With careful records Doris relives each game with her father after he comes home from work. Baseball permeates other relationships. Doris listens to games on the radio after school with her mother. Her first boyfriend shares her love for baseball; her best girlfriend Elaine does too, although she was a rabid Giant's fan. The repetitive disappointment about the team's poor results demanded optimistic philosophy. Ever hopeful of winning a pennant, "wait till next year" became the family theme at the close of a season of defeat.
   
   Defeat overwhelms the Kearns' family when Helen dies. For a time Thomas' grief was inconsolable. Doris threw herself into activity and study. One of the final scenes in the book takes place in the attic. Doris and her father are looking at a box of old scorebooks. Thomas admits he cannot live in the house anymore without his wife. It is time to move on. Baseball continues, as does their family. Cycles repeat. In the final pages of the memoir Doris initiates her own sons into the culture of baseball teaching them, like her father had taught her, how to keep a scorebook. Like her father she opens her sons' hearts to the game of baseball. "Wait till next year" prevails.



5. Most interesting for me since I am a "wait till next year" Red Sox fan. She's an excellent writer and commentator and this lives up to her standard.

5 comments about How I Play Golf (Cassette and Instructional Booklet).

1. This book is actually used by many instructors - it gives detailed written and photo examples of instructions from the master.



2. Tiger Woods' book, How I Play Golf, is a thorough self-examination of his game, from green to tee (sic) and everything in between. Filled with fantastic photographs that do half the battle of ingraining the image of good technique into your mind, the book examines each element of the game and the swing, as Tiger plays it. He caveats at the beginning that his goal is not to tell us how to play, but rather to tell us how he plays and what works for him.
   
   The book is also filled with lots of fun anecdotes which, now that it's 2008, are practically historical given that 2005 hadn't even started at the time the book was published.
   
   It's definitely a practical book, filled with tips and advice to try and implement into your own game. Tiger starts with putting and moves back to the full swing with the driver, visiting chips, flops, high-irons and fairway woods along the way. He also talks extensively about the mental game and the importance of fitness.
   
   The only thing that I felt was missing was a comprehensive section on practice. While Tiger talks throughout the book about elements of practice there's no one place where he provides a simple outline of how he approaches practice or how we should approach practice. Granted it's different for someone who rolls out of bed every morning and hits 300 balls on the driving range in his backyard but amateurs like us could probably use some advice on effective practice technique.
   
   A great book that I've read once cover to cover and have already re-read a number of sections numerous times.
   
   Enjoy.



3. Excellent book. Not a how to of golf but rather a how Tiger plays. Helped my game immensely. Espcially my putting. I would recommend this book golfers of all levels.



4. An exceptional book with good illustrations & bought at a very good price. Postage time was VERY DISAPPOINTING - expected to receive within 3-4 weeks (standard Air Freight) but took 6 weeks!!! This was our 1st purchase on Amazon & we were concerned and had almost given up on it! Expect DELAYS on overseas purchases.



5. great book that help us to improve our golf...
   and also give us a little taste of what is like been tiger

5 comments about Birth of the Chaordic Age.

1. Dee Hock spend much time contemplating while being in nature, to which he felt strongly connected. Therefor it came as no surprise that he decided to organise his company, VISA International, following the structures of nature. The resulting enterprise showed flexibility and ingenuity, being able to rapidly respond to changing circumstances. The people it attracted grew a strong sense of responsibility and pride in their contributions. The interconnectedness and mutual trust laid a solid base for creativity and daring. Given the circumstances all were leaders at times and followers at others. A shared passion or spirit of relevance drove them further, growing VISA to a multi trillion business in the process. A beautiful example what can happen if we align ourselves with the forces of nature.



2. not much to say other than the service was prompt and the book arrived in excellent condition.



3. Dee Hock is a man with a rich history. He relates a large part of that personal history in Birth of the Chaordic Age even though, he claims, this is not a story about him, nor about VISA International, although both figure prominently in the tale. The book is not so much a story at all, but a passionate manifesto for the future of business and society as a whole. If almost anyone else had written a book of such grand - perhaps grandiose - pretensions, we would quickly dismiss them. But Hock is known as the founder and former CEO of VISA International. He explains that he founded the organization on "chaordic principles". This business now connects over 20,000 financial institutions, 14 million merchants, and 600 million consumers in 220 countries. That's a compelling argument for allowing the man to speak.
   
   Hock's book is a masterfully written broadside against the dominance of today's command-and-control institutions. He is far from alone in the outlines of his historical perspective. According to this, over the last three centuries we have increasingly sought to structure society according to reductionism, specialization, more technology, more efficiency, more linear education and processes, and more hierarchical command and control. The goal has been to create an organization in which leaders can pull a lever and reliably produce a desired result.
   
   Hock goes further than most who share this perspective when he talks of the "dominator organizations" that have ordered resources and people so as to produce large quantities of uniform goods. Instead of the expected results, claims Hock, what we have produced is "obscene maldistribution of wealth and power, a crumbling ecosphere, and collapsing societies." This apocalyptically gloomy view may be trendy, but has only a passing resemblance to reality. (For a brief alternative view, see "The Truth About the Environment", related to this review.) Readers need not share Hock's assessment of today in order to learn from, agree with, and help to implement his alternative vision of chaordic organizations - those that are simultaneously chaotic and orderly.
   
   The positive vision expounded on in Birth of the Chaordic Age sees organizations of the future as being the embodiment of community, based on shared purpose calling to the higher aspirations of people. Hock puts this general description into more specific form by explaining how a chaordic organization is formed by attending to six elements in the proper order: Purpose, Principles, People, Concept, Structure and Practice.
   
   Hock claims that VISA was formed according to this description - the unusual organization is owned by its member banks, which combine competition for customers with cooperation by honoring each other's transactions across borders and monetary systems. If this is true, then you may persist in reading the book for its vision, despite some annoying peccadilloes, such as Hock's talk of "Old Monkey Mind" (his rational thoughts).



4. I have two regrets after reading it. One that I can't give it more than 5 stars, and that I did not read it a long time ago. I read this book to learn more about Hock's views on complexity and organization, what he describes as a "chaordic system." While I met that purpose, I also discovered much more.
   
   The personal narrative about failure and disappointment before Hock's leadership in the creation of VISA is something I needed to read years ago before I went through frustrating set-backs in my own career for related reasons.
   
   What's more, Hock's understanding and recommendations for harnessing the power of complex systems is brilliant. If you could read only one book on leadership and complexity, I would strongly encourage this book to be it.
   
   Part of what I find so amazing is that Hock is able to express a great deal of cutting edge philosophy and social science thinking as he tells a business story.
   
   Read this book and share the ideas within with others!



5. This is a book that is fascinating and frustrating by turns. It's about one of the most fascinating and effective and least written-about business executives in the world, Dee Hock.
   
   Hock is the founder and CEO Emeritus of Visa. Visa is an organizational form unlike anything anyone had ever seen or, for that matter since. It combined the efforts of organizations that were normally at each other's competitive throats. But that's not all.
   
   In the process of getting Visa to work, Hock and the other folks that he worked with, also managed to create the payment system that is Visa. To realize how big an achievement this is, consider the fact that the check-clearing system in the Federal Reserve still does not work with a fraction of the efficiency of the Visa-approval and payment-clearing process.
   
   I'd known about Dee Hock for years, and I was fascinated by him and by the process that must have gone into establishing, actually inventing, Visa. I snatched up this book when it came out hoping that it would contain the story of Hock and the Visa adventure. It did. That story is compelling and well written.
   
   But there's more to this book than that story, and the "more" includes lots of bits of value and many bits of frustration.
   
   Take the title. Birth of the what Age? "Chaordic." Try looking that up in the dictionary. It's not there. Do we need a brand-new word to describe what Hock is describing? Maybe, but I'm not sure.
   
   I'm quite sure I don't need some of the other strange things that he does with language in the book. There is, for example, "Thee Ancient One." That turns out to be a tractor. Then there's "old monkey mind."
   
   Old monkey mind is the term that Hock uses in several different ways throughout the book. Sometimes it's used to refer to logical, linear, left side of the brain. Sometimes it's used to refer to old thinking patterns. Sometimes it seems to be a kind of alter ego for Hock with whom he has conversations.
   
   That kind of language is cute but it's more appropriate to a book of whimsy. Here it gets in the way of understanding. And there's a lot here to understand.
   
   Whatever else Dee Hock is, he is certainly one of the most fascinating intellects that I've come across. He's clearly a man of principle. He's had an amazing life, starting from poverty, rising to heights of business where he created one of the great financial institutions in the history of the planet. Then he walked away from that achievement with less ongoing compensation than Jack Welch's apartment rentals. Hock's mind is supple and rich and dips into sources that span time and geography and cultures.
   
   Hock's life and the story of Visa are fascinating, and it pulls us along, but there's real meat in his observations about organizations and how they work and how they ought to work. There are penetrating insights into the ways that organizations have an impact on the Planet, on the economy, and on individual lives. There are insights and observations about what it means to be human.
   
   In the end, I think this is really two books. One book is a story that goes from start to finish. It's the story of Dee Hock. It's the story of Visa. It's a fascinating story, filled with lessons and examples. It's worth buying the book that's between the cover for.
   
   Then there's the other book that is a collection of bits of observation and thought. They're not presented in a coherent way, just plopped down into the story in separate chapters throughout the book. This is a book with less organization and more random insights. It, too, is interesting and worth the price of the book.
   
   In the end, you can get two books - both wonderful, for the price of one.

5 comments about The Liars' Club: A Memoir.

1. If you are a fan of child rape then this is the book for you. Otherwise you may want to try something a little lighter. Briged Jones Diary is good for a few laughs. Anything by Terry Pratchett is amusing.



2. Mary Karr shhots from the hip, creating a superficial narrative that expounds a kind of confession. People like this-- that is, average readers. Set out in the world she claims, in Book World(2008) Bill Matthews beat brain cancer by having a heart atack-- (lie) She also misspeaks regarding Keats(Book World 2008)-(liar) As I said, she shoots from the hip-- in no way is an academic, does not check her sources, writes anything she wants, because, perhaps, she has branded herself a liar already. Her work is, frankly, weak, poems and prose. Those of you who "love" it should reach higher in regrd to your reading. Or not. Stay on the low plain of writing like Mary Karr's.From what Kevin saio



3. I just finished reading this book, and it is one of the most un-put-downable memoirs I have ever read. Karr grew up in the lower middle class of a depressing town in Texas. The story revolves around her family life as a very young girl - ages 6 to 9 or so. What first strikes you is Karr's voice. Tomboyish, able to hold a grudge, thirsty for love, stubborn as a mule, Karr unflinchingly admits her own foibles and those of others, but also cuts through the novel's events to the beating, loving heart of her family.
   
   Her alcoholic/manic depressive mother is beautiful and educated in a town where neither attribute was common. Her father, a working man with a talent for bombast, dotes on both his children, but particularly on Karr, whom he dubs "Pokey." After her mother leaves her father, Karr and her sister choose to live with her mother, more out of a sense of feeling obligated to protect her from herself than anything else.
   
   Eventually, the family finds its way back together again, and the story is satisfyingly whole. Though few doubt that at least some of a memoirist's work must be imagination (Who among us can remember such detail about their life as a 7-year-old?), Karr has a knack for taking down some of her more relatable thoughts and experiences. The people she writes about, their conversations, their weaknesses, have the ring of universality.
   
   Worth reading, and one of the best examples of the genre I've come across in a while.



4. I read this book when it was first published; and re-read it this week for a book club discussion of "reader's choice." Mary Karr is a poet with a hard-knock childhood. Is it any wonder she wrote a memoir that is beyond belief in every sense? The sentences jump off the page. Oh, that I could write like this.



5. Mary Karr is that most exceptional of non-fiction writers: one who went through exceptional tragic / comic circumstantial experiences as a child; who absolutely remembers them AND how she felt as if they were yesterday; and who grew up to become a literature professor who can write!! Wow! That's the only word for the book. I have never read an autobiography remotely like it.
   
   In simple terms, Mary, the younger of two sisters, was the daughter of a tough, take-no-prisoners, blue collar oil refinery worker Father and an ethereal, arts and drame culture-oriented Mother with her heart still in New York or Paris but with obligations in backwater southeast Texas. What a situation, and, to my amazement ... she remembers it all, seemingly day-by-day.
   
   The Liar's Club (her small child's view of hew dad and his friends and their times in the bar) is a memoir from her earlest years through late childhood (her later book Cherry carries the story forward through teenage years). You'll both laugh histerically and cry at the heartbreaking situations for the little girl and the family trying to keep it all together. Wow! Highly recommended!

5 comments about Forever Yours Faithfully: My Love Story.

1. This depiction of Lorrie's life prior to, with, and shortly after Keith will stay with you forever. You will listen to her music (and his music) from a different and enlightened perspective. You will have a profound respect for Lorrie, too, once you finish reading this book. She is a real trooper. A must-have for all Lorrie fans and anyone wanting to know more about Lorrie and/or Keith Whitley.



2. This is the first book I've ever reviewed on Amazon but felt the need to express my opinion since I read other peoples before buying.
   This book is very poorly written, almost like teenager diary entries. It is poorly worded and I agree with other reviewers, some things are meant to be kept private.
   Maybe Lorrie needed to tell her story & maybe this was her therapy because she needed to heal BUT don't spend money buying it! She reads the audio book herself, but again very disappointing!
   I am an avid Keith Whitley fan and have listened to Lorrie a lot as well, but it is rather one-sided and immature.



3. this is a good book to read but wasnt wrote that great' i dont think it was... keith whitley is my favorite singer. and i like some of lorries stuff aswell.. but i feel there is some stuff that should remain private even if you are famous... doesnt matter... but then i guess like the saying goes to each his own... now i know its hard to go through things she went through. but its a he did this- she did that kinda deal and no one is perfect...kellysherman



4. I'm an avid reader and I have to say this is the most poorly written book I have ever read. Specifically the writing style was disjointed, uneven and childish. If you manage to continue reading through lorries choppy, confusing writing you will find that Lorrie portrays Keith as a drunken, cheating porn-addicted hillbilly. She always paints herself as the perfect loving, caring wife. I find it interesting that this person who would have the reader believe that the failing marriage was totally Keiths fault is currently working on her 5th failed marriage.
   
   This is one of those books that you wish you could give 0 stars to. I say this not because I'm a huge whitley fan, but because the writing is sloppy, forced and ridiculously insincere. I bought the book hoping to get some insights about the late country music star. Instead I got some sort of public relations attempt by Lorrie Morgan.



5. I found this book interesting. I found it unique as an autobiography, as I've never read one quite like it. Usually when I read these, they are filled with scandals and controversy. Sure there is a bit of that in here, but Lorrie Morgan writes this from her heart it seems. Of course you can't believe everything, authors of autobiographies want to write the book from their perspective and present in the best light, whatever way they want to. Lorrie chose to write this book about her great love with Keith Whitley, a fine country singer that was gone too soon. She recalls their relationship, which in fact when you read about it, seems much longer than it really was, which was 3 years. When she met him he was married, so she thought "hands off" but soon enough he was divorced and they were together. Their love story is sweet in the beginning, however later in the book it becomes more and more complex and confusing, as to why she'd stay with him. Keith Whitley was an alcoholic. She says she was so in love with him and that it wasn't as bad as it sounds, that there was still some great moments. She goes into great detail about his drinking binges, visits to the porn stores, his treatments, his career versus hers, and more. The events surrounding his death were complicated, as her career was just taking off and she was required to do some promotional work, and Keith ended up having an affair, and overdosing on alcohol, and ultimately dying. As well she talks candidly about growing up and finding herself. You call tell this love was very real and she very much loved him, but was love enough for this couple? Overall it's a slow starter but worth the effort to read, especially if you are a fan of Lorrie's.

5 comments about Memories, Dreams, Reflections.

1. His genius lies in his blend of deep intuitive thinking and strict scientific empiricism. Jung's contributions are still slowly trickling down into the collective understanding of modern culture. One of Jung's greatest achievements has been his ability to produce a new vocabulary for modern man to deal with the processes that occur where the personal psyche meets objective reality.



2. "Memories, Dreams, Reflections" is the most insightful autobiography of Carl G. Jung's life and his humble experiences. I have read his other works, including Man and His Symbols and Dreams, and never fully understand them until I read this last book of his to which brings it all together in terms of his scientific approach. This 400-page book is a window into his inner world, and it is such a remarkable read.
   
   In this book, Jung revealed much wisdom and insights from his early years up to his remainder of his life. One even can learn about oneself from his life. It is very much worth reading. It is both fascinating and inspiring.
   
   My favorite line of Jung from this book:
   
   "As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being."



3. Wow!
   
   I've always admired Carl Gustav Jung, and this book, a biography of his inner life, has helped me to understand him much better. It was fascinating to read about his boyhood, his adolescence, his days as a student, his time as a doctor (most all of his adult life) and his travels. And the best part was the insights he shared about his inner life.
   
   Perhaps the biggest surprise in reading this book was the extent to which I identified with him. As a child I had a rich imagination and sometimes thought that I was some kind of an odd-wad. And like Jung, not only did I have trouble with algebra when I was in junior high, I also, like Jung, had thought it was a plot! It was nice to find out that a highly intelligent person like Jung had experienced many just-like-it-only-different events as I had.
   
   The biggest thing I appreciate about Carl Jung is his attitude towards the individual. I think he has one of the best treatments of individualism that I've read. The "individuating" process he outlines will make us better members of the community. Like Jung, I have always felt that the community is only as healthy as the individuals in it.
   
   I continue to learn about his approach to dreams and to learn new insights from this book. It's very much worth reading.



4. As much as I would have liked to learn about Jung's life I just couldn' finish this book. Jung comes across as so incredibly self-absorbed - it's only me, I, me, I and me again. He writes hundreds of pages about his most detailed inner experiences, yet there is not a single word about his relationship to his wife, children and mistresses. If I hadn't known that he was married with five children I would have assumed he was a complete hermit. Loving relationships seem to have meant nothing to this man. I honestly wonder how he could have been a good therapist. I also wonder why so many women have followed his teachings when quite obviously he held them in such low regard. I only hope that the reality was better than this book makes him out to be.



5. This book is sublime, a GEM. In his subjective view of the world -"with half closed eyes and somewhat closed ears, to see and hear the form and voice of being" he arrived at an inspiring insight about life: supreme meaning of being can consist only in the fact that is,not that it is not or is no longer; nature, the mystery of love, the psyche, life, human beings, a state of lively contemplation of images is divinity unfolded (the greatest of miracles)-being conscious of this can come to you not through emptiness, imagelessneess or wanting to be freed from nature or yourself.
   Here's a passage of the book that reflects the quintessence of his wisdom:
   No language is adequate for this paradox. Whatever one can say, no words reflect the whole; for only the whole is meaningful...love "bears all things" and "endures all things". These words say all there is to be said; nothing can be added to them. For we are in the deepest sense the victims and the instruments of cosmogonic "love"- a unified and undivided whole. Being a part man cannot grasp the whole. He is at its mercy. He may assent to it, or rebel against it; but he is always caught by it and enclosed within it. He is dependent upon it and is sustained by it. Love is his light and his darkness, whose end he cannot see. "Love ceases not"-whether he speaks with the "tongue of angels", or with scientific exactitude traces the life cell down to its uttermost source. Man can try to name love, showering upon it all the names at his command, and still he will involve himself in endless self-deceptions. If he possesses a grain of wisdom, he will lay down his arms and name the unknown by the more unknown- ignotum per ignotius-that is, by God. That is a confession of his subjection, his imperfection, and his dependence; but at the same time a testimony to his freedom to choose between truth and error.
   If we understand and feel that here in this life we already have a link with the infinite, desires and attitudes change.

5 comments about The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus.

1. It's very simple - a proper, effective argument for Christ must defeat the arguments against Christ IN THEIR BEST LIGHT. Anybody can take the worst arguments for a stance, and defeat them - and then pretend that that's the end to the debate (this is especially easy when everyone at the debate is on the same side). To truly prove validity, you need to take the best and brightest of the arguments, and show why they're wrong. Otherwise, you've made a "case" for nothing at all (except maybe one's own intellectual weakness/dishonesty).
   
   At best, this book is the intellectual equivalent to putting the Lakers on a basketball court vs. a junior high basketball team and saying that the Lakers winning the game is proof that they're the best team in the world. At worst, it's putting the Lakers on the court vs. the Lakers Cheerleaders who let them win, cheering them on each time they make a shot - and again, claiming that this proves their dominance.
   
   It is also, in another way, plain dishonest - Strobel doesn't claim that this book is him, as a Christian, presenting the arguments for Christianity - no matter what the title of the book is. He claims this to be a documentation of his journey from Atheism to Christian belief. If we take him at his word on that claim, Strobel was either a miraculously easy convert or very stupid Atheist. Although, unfortunately for Strobel, something much worse is painfully obvious - that his claim of this book being a factual retelling of his conversion from staunch Atheism to equally firm belief is wholly false. His reasons for painting this picture are obvious - he hopes to guide the unbelieving of us along with this character named Lee Strobel, meeting us first in our land of unbelief, and guiding us down his trail to Christian freedom. Unfortunately, his dishonest grasp at this goal is self-defeating. In fact, it's insulting. Strobel thinking that anyone will identify with the simplified, ridiculously weak-minded caricature he presents of the non-Christian proves a barrier from him identifying with contemplative non-Christians.
   
   Let's think of the same exact book, same exact structure, except instead "retelling" the conversion of a Christian to an Atheist. If we used the same methods as Strobel, it would go something like this:
   
   "I, a hard-nosed, stubborn Christian journalist, was about to start my first interview with these Atheists, to see if they have answers to the hard-hitting questions...
   'Author: So, Atheist X, I believe there's a floating bearded man in the sky who, after thousands of years of promoting barbarous behavior (killing any child who disobeys once, killing women if they are not a virgin on their wedding night, etc.), magically impregnated a virgin (who happened to have a boyfriend of sorts) to do some magic tricks, tell us all to love each other unconditionally, and die, come back to life, and thus save us all from the evil that was started when our great-great-great (etc) granddaddy ate an apple that a snake gave to him. I don't really have any facts to back this up, and I assure you that I will not try to refute any of your arguments, nor will I seek out anyone who can. Basically, I just believe this because my pastor told me so. So what do you have to say to that, Mr. Atheist, huh?'"
   
   This is not an honest documentation of an Atheist's struggle and eventual conversion, or even an honest debate. It's a fixed game of bowling on page - Lee setting up pins, making them easy for a list of apologists to knock down. This is a Christian poster-child being dishonest (or at best, less than completely honest, which really isn't any different) about what really happened in his past in order to convince people to entirely change their worldview on life, death, and eternity. Why this isn't receiving the same type of scorn as a James Frey who does the same just to get published and sell some books makes me wonder if everyone is on crazy pills.
   
   As a follower of Christ, this book embarrasses me.



2. I'll make this short. I think Strobel's book is an excellent introduction to Christian Apologetics. He kept his explanations at a high enough level so that they were easy to understand without burdening the reader with much more, heavy detailed evidence that exists.
   
   What I find interesting, however, is the number of readers that apparently have completely missed the point of the book. I've seen many reviews that criticize Strobel for not interviewing a single person that had a opposing point of view, for not interviewing any Atheists, etc.
   
   To those people, I want to say this - Did you not read the title of the book??!! It's called the "Case FOR Christ", not "Notes from the Stenographer at Christ's Trial". Strobel was a confirmed Atheist (the prosecuting attorney if you will) before he wrote the book and in an attempt to DISPROVE the divinity of Christ, became a Christian.
   
   Let me also ask this - if you were writing a book called "The Case For Christ" why WOULD you interview people that had an opposing point of view?
   
   There are plenty of books out there that could be titled "The Case Against Christ" - they are written in general by Atheists, and I don't think you're going to find that they interviewed too many Christian scholars in the process of researching their books.
   
   When you read a book it's kind of important to first understand the context of the subject and where the author is coming from when he wrote the book - I thought Strobel did a very good job in laying the groundwork on this - sorry that this point was apparently lost on some people.



3. "In light of the convincing facts I had learned during my investigation, in the face of this overwhelming avalanche of evidence in the case for Christ, the great irony was this: it would require much more faith for me to maintain my atheism than to trust in Jesus of Nazareth!" ~ pg. 265
   
   "The Case for Christ" is quite an experience. If you read this book as an unbeliever the facts presented may lead you to a deeper understanding of Jesus and his mission. If you read this book as a Christian, your faith will be strengthened.
   
   Lee Strobel was an atheist for most of his life until he began researching the life of Jesus Christ. In this book he challenges leading scholars with objections he had as a skeptic. His questions are hard-hitting and precise. In turn, the scholars present convincing arguments that are intellectual as well as heartfelt. Some of the questions he asks include:
   
   Can the biographies of Jesus be trusted?
   Is there credible evidence for Jesus in history?
   Is Jesus really the Son of God?
   Does Jesus match the identity of the Messiah?
   Was Jesus seen alive after his crucifixion?
   
   If you have any doubts about the validity of the New Testament, this book puts them to rest. Did Jesus really die on the cross and how could the resurrection be true? Lee Strobel investigates every aspect of Jesus' life and comes away with some startling facts and brilliant conclusions.
   
   I love the way this book is written. As a journalist, Lee Strobel knows how to ask the right questions. His conversations with prominent scholars are the highlight of the book. I was amazed at the depth of knowledge these scholars possess.
   
   I think this book can be enjoyed by atheists and Christians. I personally found this book to be exciting, informative and very well researched. Reading "The Case for Christ" could affect your life in a very positive way. It could also help you determine your eternal future. This is a book you will want to buy for all your friends!
   
   ~The Rebecca Review



4. Atheist or believer, this book is worth investigating. The author interviews several scholars concerning different aspects of Jesus such as archeology, history, psychology, and medicine. All the experts weigh in as to how plausible certain claims of the gospel are. Granted, all the experts are believers themselves, but this book does not intend to give a "both sides" account. It is also seems that their area of expertise and their studies helped convince them even MORE (or in some cases just convince) of the truth claims of Jesus.
   
   The book is very easy and fun to read. It is written in the form of the conversation that the author had with each of the scholars and the author's commentary. It will give a believer a good idea of what academic areas have to say about Jesus, and non-believers an idea of what they need to argue against.



5. Let me start by saying that this book has been recommended to me by Christian friends for a long time. And in my own atheist circles, I've heard Strobel criticized pretty rampantly. So, in the interest of fairness (although I wasn't expecting much, to tell the truth) I picked it up.
   
   I didn't get beyond a couple of pages. Strobel presents an interview with an academic in which the claim is made that we can attest to the historicity/authenticity of the Gospels because Papias SAYS they are authentic in the early second century! Said academic then CONFOUNDS his egregious error by tacking Irenaeus, who lived much later in the second century, on there!
   
   Let me explain for those of you who may not know: the Gospels are generally accepted to have been written in the late first century, with Mark being the oldest at ca. 70 CE--because it mentions the fall of the Temple of Herod in Jerusalem. Matthew and Luke are later, maybe 75-85 CE or thereabouts, and seem to draw on Mark but in their own way. John is believed to be the very last, maybe 90-100 CE.
   
   So, the Christian tradition that the Gospels were written by the apostles of Christ is an old one, but it is just that: a tradition. And given the dates it's thought by credible historians that the Gospels were not written by Christ's apostles. For Strobel's authority to claim that they ARE based on a LATER source and a STILL LATER source is an absurd and transparent appeal to authority: 'X is true because so-and-so says X is true'.
   
   I put the book down because frankly, anyone who's going to butcher something that badly has destroyed all credibility with me. Read it if you must, as a lesson of what NOT to do when arguing about the Gospels. Otherwise leave it on the shelf.