No comments about Hiroshima -.

4 comments about What You Call Winter: Stories (Borzoi Books).

1. Nalina Jones' intertwined stories are, first of all, about something interesting: the lives of an extended family in an Indian town where Catholicism is the dominant religion. Secondly, she "connects" stories in beautifully natural, organic ways, rather than simply trying to make a collection collect. Thirdly, her stories trace the ways that small actions and traits of character affect family members, and shape children. Indeed, her treatment of children is superlative: she respects their seriousness even as they make childish mistakes, and they bear serious consequences. I smiled often as I read these stories, because the portraits are tender and quixotic, but I also often caught my breath when I recognized where a story was going.
   Writers could learn a lot just by studying Jones' epert use of scenes. She is so skilled at manipulating point of view, psychic distance, and pace, you don't notice how often she is tweaking the "rules" of contemporary fiction (especially the idea that you can't switch POV, which she does beautifully). Above all, these are stories of character, of flawed, loving, intelligent people navigating changes in their society and even movements to the U.S. Readers who like Indian literature will love this book, but so will people who just plain love good stories about sympathetic characters caught up in their own "small" lives.



2. a beautiful, synesthetic series of interlaced tales of 3 generations of an extended Christian Indian family as Bombay is turning into Mumbai and some of them are turning into Americans. Sings like a garden in spring.



3. This is a book of very beautifully written stories that happened in an unfamiliar place. The stories are very personally, yet very restraint. I picked up the book without any expectation, but found myself completely absorbed in these short journeys.
   I highly recommend the book. I look forward to Nalini's next stories.



4. Like Lahiri did with displaced Bengali families, Jones does with Catholics in Santa Clara (read Santa Cruz) in bombay. Through many tiny but deep and loosely interconnected stories, Jones draws the lives of a people for many generations. How she has achieved the kind of insight into the tiniest of details i do not know, but i was struck by the nuances that only a person with keen observation would notice. A fascinating read for anyone, particularly Indians abroad.

3 comments about The Borzoi College Reader.

1. Great collection of writers is assembled. A great collection of writings to build your knowledge. Expressions in composition with ultimate terms in rhetoric to a brave new world. It is history and philosophy from fiction to the literal signs of the times. I would truly recommend this book for scholars of law and political science, but not just. If you are a student of history, business or any major humanities, you will love this book just for the knowledge wisdom and understanding you will receive through the experience of perusal. Enjoy, you will be on a road that only a few have chosen. Notably names in the book - ee. Cummings (my personal favorite), A. Huxley, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King jr. and many others.



2. Great collection of writers is assembled. A great collection of writings to build your knowledge. Expressions in composition with ultimate terms in rhetoric to a brave new world. It is history and philosophy from fiction to the literal signs of the times. I would truly recommend this book for scholars of law and political science, but not just. If you are a student of history, business or any major humanities, you will love this book just for the knowledge wisdom and understanding you will receive through the experience of perusal. Enjoy, you will be on a road that only a few have chosen. Notably names in the book - ee. Cummings (my personal favorite), A. Huxley, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King jr. and many others.



3. Very nice anthology. Lots wonderful essays, and some are directly responding to each other. It's for my English class, pretty interesting to read from.

5 comments about The Classic Ballet: Basic Technique and Terminology (Borzoi Books).

1. I thought this book contained good information and the drawings are incredible- although confusing at times. There are many steps described in this book, both advanced and beginner. I find this book a great addition to my ballet collection. As a dancer, it is a good reference book for me when I have a question or uncertainty about a step. This book describes in detail how to preform barre exercises, allegros, turns, pointe work, etc. This is a necessity for all dancers and dancer-wannabes.



2. I have the hard bound edition of this book, published some time ago by Alfred Knopf, and I never tire of looking at the drawings and appreciating the mathematical precision of classical ballet. The reading of this book will be of an enormous assistance to studying ballet, and it is also invaluable if one wants to study the more technical facets of the subject. Ballet is one form of dance that can be mathematically systemaitized and characterized, and this book is a great reference for such an undertaking. Definitely worth having and the paperback edition with its low price makes it completely accessible to all.



3. This beautiful classic, repackaged by Alfred A. Knopf, will remain a treasured addition to the library of any lover of the ballet. Six hundred stunning illustrations, in 156 plates by Carlus Dyer bring life to the concepts.



4. This is a wonderful book for beginners as well as experienced dancers. In particular, this is one of the best references for barre exercises, but the center steps are well covered, too. This is actually my first choice when recommending barre exercise references, which is reason enough to include it in a ballet library.



5. I purchased this book because I wanted an updated copy of the 1971 version. This book is practically identical to the older copy, but it's still great information and a really cool book.

5 comments about Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt (A Borzoi Book).

1. A small quibble before I sink into utter praise. The cover of this book depicts the aforemention sweet Clara and her sweetheart as they run joyfully through the fields. To freedom. Running joyfully, mind you, away from the slave plantation in broad daylight. I'm not saying that there weren't a couple slaves here and there who felt complete and utter joy as they ran, but this scene is positively idyllic. Shouldn't they be afraid of getting caught? Then again, maybe it's just representing the feeling that accompanies such flight, rather than sticking to the strict facts of the matter.

   In any case, I began off point and I'm bound to wander off point unless I pull myself up and mosey on over the actual point. Ahem.
   ACTUAL POINT: The book is quite good. You don't see that many stories reflecting the quilts that served as maps to lead slaves to freedom. The story is a realistic one, despite everything I said about the cover. And the people are especially well represented. You like Clara. You want her to find her mother and escape off of the plantation. The illustrations are, in pure James Ransome style, beautiful. I've nothing more to say. It's a book that should belong in every library's collection. Nuff said.




2. 5. The story is sbout s young girl and she got taken away from he rmother and she was staying with her aunt but it really wasn't her aunt she was just raised around her before she got
   moved too.She was trying to find a to get to her mother. She got there because it rained and no one had to work. She got there and seen her mother.
   6.This story is an okay story but it wasn't long enough but it was okay. If you like picture books than you wold like this book.
   7.Thsi book was also irony because I didn't thin kshe would get to see her mother.
   8.I rated thisbook for four stars because it was an okay book.



3. While Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt is a wonderful work of fiction, it should be considered just that.
   While the horror of slavery are age appropriately described so a child can relate...poor Clara is taken from her mother...the story perpetuates a myth...that quilts were used to assist slaves to freedom.
   I urge teachers not to use this book in their classrooms prior to further research. Neither Quilt Historians nor African American Studies Historians have been able to connect quilts to the UGRR, and to perpetuate the myth is a disservice to our children and the African American People.



4. Deborah Hopkinson's use of dialogue in this story is what really recommends it to be read aloud. The characters come through the story so well through their words. They usually don't come right out and SAY anything, but instead communicate vital information in a round-about sort of way. They pretend not to have a care in the world, all the while desperately plotting against their captors.
   
   This is book would be a great tool for opening up a discussion about why people say one thing when they really mean something else entirely. Also, this book is great for discussing ways of "escaping" authority and subverting roles of apparent compliance.
   Sweet Clara deserves a place on the bookshelves of young revolutionaries worldwide.



5. This is one of many books I purchased as a learning tool for the Education Committee of our local quilt guild. It's instrumental in showing our young people some of the history of quilting. It's even fun for "older" people to read.

2 comments about A Life of Picasso: The Cubist Rebel, 1907-1916 (Borzoi Books).

1. Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was an amorous Andalusian who spent most of his life in Paris. Picasso is the greatest artistic genius of the twentieth century. In this second volume of his sine qua non biography of the complex painter his friend John Richardson does a superb job of looking at his life from 1917-1932. The small print text of over 400 pages is complimented by the works of the master which are being discussed in the text. I love this technique! It makes Richardson's astute analysis of the artwork much easier to understand!
   This era in Picasso's career is concerned with his invention of CUBISM a revolutionary avant-garde movement which changed the way we see and interpret art! Picasso drew on his love of Cezanne, El Greco and others to move from his blue and red period into the wild world of cubism. Cubism breaks down pictorial forms into angles and presents them to our eye as two-dimensional. Cubism makes use of cubes and lines, cones and
   spheres to entice us into seeing reality in a new way. The movement was launched with Picasso's great 1907 masterpiece: "Les Madimoiselles d' Avignon." Picasso along with his best friend Georges Braque and lesser lights such as Juan Gris were in the vanguard of the burgeoning movement sweeping all aside! Cubism would be virulently attacked during World War I by French chauvinists who believed the movement was German and led by spies and decadents. As the war ended we see Picasso moving to neoclassicism. It was also in these years that he moved from a bohemian life to one of wealth and renown in the art world.
   During these years Picasso lost his father and found several art dealers (especially in Germany and Russia) who purchased his art at high prices. His friendship with Gerturde and Leo Stein led to his being known in the United States. During this time we learn of his friendships with the eccentric poet Apollinaire and Max Jacob a Jewish convert to Catholicism who was a writer and worshipper at the great artist's throne.
   As always we see Picasso falling in and out of love. He broke with his live in lover Ferdinand Oliver and almost wed a woman named Eva. He had torrid affairs with the lesbian bisexual Irene Legut and a woman named Gaby who refused to wed the mecurial quick-tempered moody Spaniard. The book ends with Picasso working on the art work curtains for the ballet
   "Parade" produced for Serge Diagheliv's ballet company. It was then he got to know Stravinksy and Erik Satie as well as Jean Cocteau who became a big fan of Picasso. It was while working on the ballet in Rome that P:icasso met his first wife the lovely Olga Khoklova who was a ballerina with the company.
   Picasso is an enigma entwined in a mystery! He could be generous and parsiminous, violent and gentle, loving and sadistic. I applaud his pacificsm during World War I. Browsing through these many pages one is astounded at the range and breadth of this artist's oeuvre. Only Henri Matisse can compete with the Andalusian bull.
   No one can understand Picasso without devouring these volumes by Richardson. As Picasso changed the way we see so too does Richardson alter our perception and understanding of Picasso and Cubism.



2. This is the real deal when it comes to deep, satisfying biographies. Written by a true expert, it is also ful of life and lively details and manages to bring the enigma of Picasso closer to our understanding. I cannot compliment the author enough on bringing forth such a treat.

3 comments about A Life of Picasso: The Prodigy, 1881-1906 (Borzoi Books).

1. Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was born to a mediocre painter and his good wife Maria on October 25, 1881. His family was poor but well connected. One uncle was a priest; another a prominent medical doctor. Picasso's father was easygoing eking out a living as an art teacher. When Pablo was a boy the family moved to Barcelona where his father taught in an art school. His mother was beloved of Pablo who had her tenacity of character and eager desire to learn. His younger sister Conchita died in childhood and he was close to his remaining sister throughout their long lives.
   Pablo loved to paint from birth! He did not like formal schooling. He did attend the art school in Madrid but grew bored and left. As a teen he was wild and enjoyed chasing girls and hanging around with his bohemian chums. In these early years Pablo developed his routine throughout life: hard work, lots of sex (often in brothels!and smoking. Picasso drank very little and never had an alcohol problem.
   As a young man he made three trips to Paris finally staying for good in the City of Lights on his fourth trip. He became friendly with several artists and writers most notablly the poet Apollinaire. His first true love was Olive Ferdinand a fetching Parisian who was also a minor painter.
   Picasso had countless mistresses.
   During these early years he went through his "Blue Period" in which he portrayed tragic and erotic figures in gloomy and sad modes. He later entered the "Rose Period" of colorful harlequins, clowns and street folks. He also enjoyed sculpture. His work began to sell.
   Instrumental in his success were the dealers he relied upon to majrket his avant garde art. Among the influential people who bought his paintings were the American expatriots Leo and Gertrude Stein. Picasso was popular with Russian buyers. He preferred private sales rather than exhibiting his art alongside other salon artists. It was during these years he produced such masterpieces as "La Vie" "Old Man with a Guitar" and several works portraying androgynous bathers. As the book ends he is on the verge of moving into cubism along with fellow painter Braque.
   Richardson does a good job of keeping his text balanced between sapient art assessments and Picasso's personal life. The crammed text is filled with such characters as the Steins, Matisse and the fetching Olive
   Ferdinand. We see how Picasso was influenced by such masters from the past as: Ingres, Cezanne, Velasquez and El Greco. Richardson is insistent that we see Picasso as a Spanish artist heavily influenced by his Andalusian roots and the luminaries of Spanish art.
   The book is well illustrated with hundreds of black and white photos of Picasso's works and snapshots taken of Picasso and friends. Richardson knew Picasso in his old age and is a brilliant critic of his work.
   What kind of man was Picasso? He once told an interviewer "Truth is false!" In other words he was a paradox. He could be kind or cruel. He could abuse lovers forcing them into unnatural sex acts or he could be a gentle lover. He loved and hated Spain. He was apolitical at this early juncture of his career. Picasso hated pretense and liked common people.
   He is complex and unique in art history as a protean master of many different types of art. This is the best biography ever written of Picasso and is the first of the four volumes to be published on a 2oth century art icon. Essential.



2. Great work, done by a real scholar, beautifully written, as fascinating as a novel. Keeps away from myths and tales, impressively documented, meticulously illustrated (too bad it is not in color).



3. Where does genius come from? What are the motives? What are the stars that guide?
   
   Picasso was arguably the most original and influential artist of the 20th century. In volume one of four planned volumes (three of which have been produced to date), John Richardson collaborates with Marilyn McCully to establish the detailed record of how Picasso developed as a man and an artist through the early Rose period. The book is made richer by Richardson's friendship with the artist and his access to Picasso's memories of key events. But he doesn't slavishly accept Picasso's version (except in damning Matisse as inferior to Picasso) but rather checks out the different versions and picks what seems to make the most sense.
   
   Picasso's fanatic desire to succeed was fueled in part by his contempt for his father's failed career as an artist and his father's views that Picasso should follow in his footsteps. Picasso also needed to be treated as special, more than most of us. Groveling before exploitive dealers built a lifelong passion to be in charge. Picasso also knew that Paris was where he had to shine and suffered greatly to make his success there. His struggles will impress you.
   
   Where the book is unequaled in my experience is in tracking down the sources of Picasso's images, gestures, styles, and innovations. The book is filled with black and white images from the works of other artists, Picasso's notebooks, photographs of the scenes and subjects, and related works that Picasso did. From these, you get a better sense of Picasso as a synthesizer of styles and modes.
   
   In closely examining Picasso's work from these years, it's easy to develop superficial impressions of what sort of man did those paintings. For instance, the paintings of women show someone who feels compelled to alternately adore and dominate women . . . especially sexually. Learning later that he locked his mistress into the studio even on the hottest days when he left adds to that impression.
   
   The book provides other powerful insights of this sort by relating the heavy use of opium by Picasso and his circle of artist friends during the Blue period. A lot of the models seem stoned in those paintings. Could it be that they were? Picasso loved to paint the circus performers and one of his first mistresses was one. Could it be that those performers are really emotional self-portraits? The book isn't clear on that point, but the possibility of the interpretation will occur to you.
   
   A few central mysteries are left undeveloped. Why did Picasso stick so long with styles that he later abandoned and which didn't sell well when he was very poor? Picasso admitted to Richardson that the Blue and Rose periods had been mistakes. Why did Picasso slow down his production at times when he had contracts and shows upcoming? How did Picasso incorporate his love for poetry into his paintings?
   
   At times Richardson is over the top in his fawning. Here's an example. Picasso is described as clearly one of the great poets of the 20th century, but Richardson doesn't reveal any evidence . . . nor was Picasso doing any poetry writing at the time of this volume. I suspect that the fawning was the price of admission for his access which rewards us in other ways.
   
   Ultimately, the book's main weakness is that the images are not in color. Fortunately, color is less important to Picasso's work during this period than in later periods. Perhaps there will be another edition at some point that will bring the full dimensions of the work to bear at least for the masterpieces.
   
   Enjoy your immersion in Picasso's chaotic world.

5 comments about Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life (Borzoi Books).

1. great summary of the development of American capitalism as it has changed in the 20th and 21st century. He is very clear and repeats his ideas over and over so you can't miss his logic. Excellent book for those that misunderstand the highly competitive 21st century and how we can't go back to to the almost golden years of capitalism in the middle 20th century



2. Robert Reich does an amazing job of explaining what is wrong with the American democracy--the powerful influence of capitalism. He states that companies that so many people hate like Walmart are simply successful players at the capitalist game. The problem is our laws allow them to influence the democratic process. The way to fix this problem is to pass laws, which are the rules to the game. This will get money out of politics and make companies work more for the good of people. The problem is it's in the self interest of the elected officials to keep the money game the way it is since it benefits them personally. What to do...
   
   I think understanding his points is critical to solving the biggest problems we face in America. The problem is too many voters are watching baseball and drinking beer instead of making their elected officals accountable.



3. I bought this book as new. The physical condition was awful. Groups of pages were bound at different lengths into the binder creating an edge that gave the appearance that an eight year old put it together. Or should I say, an eight year old in a Chinese forced labor camp.



4. Robert Reich writes extremely well. In this book, he has some particular points to make. He sticks to the point, and develops his argument very clearly and cleanly. What he's saying is tremendously important to anyone who lives in, or wants to understand, the USA. The way we have traded off gains in our roles as consumers and shareholders, at the expense of our roles as citizens, is a huge change in our society that affects us all. Even if you are a "conservative", you'll find that you can read this book and appreciate what he's saying; it's not based on "liberal pieties", and he's not taking sides. As with many public policy books, he's much stronger on analyzing the problem than proposing solutions, but he is quite up-front about this. His goal is to persuade you to agree that the phenomenon he describes is a real one, and that we should think carefully about the degree to which we like or dislike this tradeoff. The writing style is utterly lucid, and no special knowledge is required to understand everything he says. I have not heard these points made anywhere else; this is truly something new. If you want to understand a lot about how politics works in the USA and its direct effects on you, read this book!



5. 
   This is a very good, clearly written and authoritative book. It is of particular interest to me for it explains why capitalism has developed to be instrumental in the present world crisis for civilisation. The author does not claim this but if one extrapolates supercapitalism's explosion of lobbying and influence to remove impediments to profit, which have demolished many of the social attributes of capitalism, it follows that environmental regulation and law will continue to suffer most from the attention of market forces. There are no affluent companies to lobby on behalf of the retention of ecological services, in effect the life support services of humanity, or to lobby on behalf of the urgent action to curtail greenhouse emissions which have an increasingly visible impact on the earth's physical and biological systems, or to make representations that capitalism must not extend its exploitation of natural resources to use capital as well as interest. These representations are made by dint of the small donations of concerned citizens and are rarely heard.
   
   For these reasons, I would recommend the book to all those concerned with the future health and wellbeing of humanity and therefore students of environmentalism for it explains the fundamental problem that must be solved if democracy is to survive to address the present crisis. This orientation is in contrast with the many reviewers who see the book as economically focussed.
   
   By any scientific calculation, world natural resources and damage to the planet, the accelerating economic growth conferred by supercapitalism is not sustainable. Reich does not address this and the omission reflects the reductionism that separates economics and science. His observations on the demise of democracy are however incisive. In "The Climate Change Challenge and the Failure of Democracy" by David Shearman and Joseph Wayne Smith published at the same time as "Supercapitalism", our conclusion agrees with that of Reich--that democracy must be reformed by separating government from capitalism. We describe a fusion of capitalism and liberal democracy as a root cause of our problems and state that it must be ruptured.
   
   The mechanisms whereby reform can be enacted amount to wishful thinking by Reich. This statement is not intended to be dismissive for it is difficult to visualise how to proceed. As a physician and therefore student of human nature, I recognise both the potency of unleashed human greed and the capacity for self delusion in the face of severe illness! Western democracy is wallowing in both. It would be good if the intellectual giants of public policy, such as Robert Reich and the environmental scientists applied their lateral thinking together.
   
   A final thought. The statement "Capitalism is almost certainly a precondition for democracy" can surely be contested, perhaps not in US liberal democracy but certainly in the ancient Greek origins and operation of democracy.

5 comments about The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker (Borzoi Books).

1. I've long been concerned about the rough way that many workers are treated and I picked up The Big Squeeze at a friend's recommendation. I was impressed -- and angered -- by The Big Squeeze; it lays out better than anything I've read exactly what's happening to the nation's workers. Sad to say, wages are going nowhere for millions of Americans, pensions are going down the drain and in this age of Blackberries, everyone seems to be working more than ever. The best thing about this book is that it tells the tales of individual workers -- some are written like nimbly told short stories -- to explain the way that many workers are being dragged down by trends like offshoring white-collar jobs to India, factories moving to Mexico and the two-tier wage schemes that are hammering many twentysomethings as they enter the workplace.
   Books about economics or about work can often be heavy-handed and hard to read, but I was pleasantly surprised at how readable this book was. And Greenhouse tries very hard to be balanced and fair-minded as he treads through some difficult terrain about globalization, labor unions, corporate culture and immigration. It's good that Greenhouse writes about the good and the bad, about Wal-Mart and other corporations that brazenly flout the law in how they treat their workers and about corporations like Costco that do right by their workers, companies that we can all learn from and that more companies should seek to imitate.
   The Big Squeeze does a terrific job explaining in a very human, readable way the many painful things happening to the nation's workers. I think it's the best book on American workers since Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed.



2. I first picked up The Big Squeeze after I heard that it had a chapter about the factory closing in Illinois that Barack Obama spoke about in his keynote address to the Democratic convention in 2004. I grew up in the Midwest, and I care a great deal about the future of manufacturing, so that was the first chapter I read in the book. It was terrific. Yes, the chapter was about a factory closing--Maytag closed a 1,600-employee refrigerator factory and moved it to Mexico--but the chapter was far more than that. It was a great read about a devastated community, Galesburg, Illinois, and it was fascinating--it was even literary--because it tied in Carl Sandburg, the Lincoln-Douglas debates, Ronald Reagan's Illinois childhood all with David Ricardo and the economics of globalization. The chapter had some very moving descriptions about how globalization affects workers. At one point tears came to my eyes.
   
   Then I turned to the rest of the book, and I found it highly readable and intelligent throughout, whether it was discussing Wal-Mart workers, immigrant workers or contingent workers like freelancers. The book has very good, human stories of individual workers, and analysis that digs much deeper than other treatments of these issues. At a time when everyone is talking about working-class voters, this book really lays out what's happening to America's workers. And the story ain't pretty. Anyone who wants to know what's happening to the nation's 140 million workers should read this book.



3. Greenhouse's focus is to ask "Why, in the world's most affluent nation, are so many corporations intent on squeezing their workers dry?" Corporate profits, economic growth, and worker productivity have grown strongly, while pay has languished. Median income for non-elderly households in 2006 was $2,375 lower in real terms than six years prior. Income inequality now more closely resembles a 3rd-world country than an advanced nation - if it was the same as in 1979, the bottom 80% would receive $8,000 more in yearly income.
   
   Almost one-fourth of the workforce earns less than $10/hour, and generally also lack benefits. Health costs now account for 16% of GDP, up from 5% in 1960. Meanwhile, the proportion covered by pensions (especially defined-benefit - eg. IBM) is declining, and large corporations (eg. United, Delta, and U.S. airlines, LTV and Bethlehem Steel) are defaulting on existing obligations.
   
   Corporations flaunt overtime laws (eg. Wal-Mart, Target), and even fail to pay workers for all their time worked (H-P, Wal-Mart). Circuit City has twice replaced its longer-term workers earning higher salaries with new recruits at lower pay scales, while Microsoft, H-P, and others make the term "temporary" workers an oxymoron in a bid to deny benefits to large numbers of long-term employees.
   
   Three decades ago employer-provided health insurance protected 70% of private-sector workers - now it is down to 55%, and their coverage is no longer as extensive. "Independent contractor" status is extensively exploited (saves Social Security, etc. payments) by eg. FedEx, and their use of the tactic is expanding (to FedEx LTL) despite adverse court rulings.
   
   What fuels these actions? Greenhouse answers - takeover threats, deregulation (airlines, trucking), pressure from jobs lost through automation (also used to create an environment of close supervision), outsourcing, streamlining (eg. delayering, eliminating overheads), increasing costs of employer-funded health care (especially vs. non-coverage by Asian firms), and the "Wal-Mart" effect (low employee pay and benefits; forcing suppliers in the same direction).
   
   There are few heroes in "The Big Squeeze." The most obvious is Costco - higher pay, benefits, sales, and profits/employee than Wal-Mart and Sam's Club, while much lower employee turnover and shrinkage. Greenhouse also suggests Las Vegas casinos (courtesy of strong employee unions) and Timberland shoes - however, both are exempt from strong commodity-like or foreign competition and thus not as impressive as Costco's achievements.
   
   Don't economists agree that globalization to the max is good for us? Not all - Paul Samuelson, Nobel Prize winner in economics, says: "If you don't believe (offshoring) changes the average wages in America, then you believe in the truth fairy."
   
   Unions used to be a strong offsetting force vs. management. However, just 7.5% of private sectors are now in unions - the lowest rate since 1901. Yet, 53% of non-management, non-union workers say they would like to join. What holds them back? Greenhouse suggests that one reason is the 2,000+ "union-avoidance" consultants 9Only 100 in the 1960s).
   
   Greenhouse also suggests a need to improve organizing tactics, and offers the SEIU's approach to organizing janitors in Houston as a good example. They began by getting elected officials who were pension-fund overseers with large real-estate holdings to urge Houston building owners to press cleaning contractors to cooperate. The SEIU also promised not to begin bargaining until at least 55% of the employees' contractors were organized (no "unfair" disadvantages). Finally, they leveraged their strength by picketing opposing janitorial firms with work in other cities.
   
   Greenhouse's Recommendations: Increased Social Security taxes (to ensure its stability), increased income taxes on those with higher incomes (benefited most from globalization), changing health care to a single-payer system (much less overhead), and working to restrain health care costs.
   
   Reading "The Big Squeeze" sometimes hurts as one sees how people are taken advantage of. My only criticism is that Greenhouse does not lay enough blame at the feet of globalization.



4. Book is easy to read. Author presents lots of examples of how our American middle class is being squeezed out, and the increasing differential between the poor and the rich, or upper class. His answers are dissapointing unless you are left wing liberal. He places blame on the awful big/greedy companies. Thinks the era of the 50's/60's was our best because we had big Unions to get benefits for workers. His answer now is basically for the government to contol most everything, and to return to the area of big Union representation. Never mind much of our American industry is crippled in the global economy due to the huge legacy costs to workers brought on by the Unions before we had to compete in a global economy. Yes, we have big problems today, but this is not the answer that will solve things.



5. I imagine that many conservative talk show hosts who have heard of or even read "The Big Squeeze" will dismiss out of hand Steven Greenhouse's new book as just more predictable liberal negativity. After all, according to Sean Hannity on one recent afternoon program it is possible for everyone to become rich in America if they are just willing to work hard enough. This is hogwash, Mr. Hannity. Everyone is not cut out to be an enterpreneur or a stockbroker. The reality is that in America today 10% of the population controls nearly 50% of the wealth. The gap between the richest Americans and the rest of us has been increasing at a alarming rate. Good paying jobs are being shipped to other nations and millions of Americans employed in retail or service industries are being forced to work in miserable conditions just to scrape by. "The Big Squeeze" is about the sobering new realities facing an ever increasing number of American workers today. And for the most part what Steven Greenhouse has discovered is not a pretty picture.
   It would appear that the American worker is under attack from all directions. Over the past two decades the U.S. has been inundated by millions of illegal aliens from places like Mexico, Guatemala and Haiti. The presence of these additional workers helps to depress blue collar wages in this country and places a strain on the public services we all have to pay for like schools and hospitals. Meanwhile, despite that fact that Americans are among the most productive workers in the world U.S. corporations have accelerated the outsourcing of good paying white collar jobs to places like Pakistan and India where workers are happy to work for a fraction of what his American counterpart makes. Greenhouse spotlights a number of instances where American workers were actually forced to suffer the indignity of training their foreign replacements or else risk losing their severance packages. This one hits especially close to home because my wife found herself in just this situation a few years ago.
   As the grip of "The Big Squeeze" gets tighter and tighter, increasing numbers of Americans are forced to accept lower paying positions at outfits like Wal-Mart and Family Dollar. Steven Greenhouse hightlights a whole host of appalling working conditions too numerous to mention here that employees at these retailers are forced to endure. To me the most disturbing one was that in many smaller stores Wal-Mart employees working the overnight shift were actually locked in the store with no manager present and with absolutely no ability to get out in case of an emergency! How can they get away with that?? In the course of "The Big Squeeze" Greenhouse does give kudos to both the discount retailer Costco and the accounting firm Ernst and Young. He praises these companies for the value they place on their employees and cites them as models for other companies to follow. Greenhouse also believes that if the challenges facing American workers today are ever to be reversed then labor unions must play a major role, particularly with those doing lower-paying jobs like janitors and nursing home workers.
   For most Americans, what Steven Greenhouse has to say in "The Big Squeeze" will really come as no surprise. The problems outlined in this book are myriad and the implications for most workers are quite frightening. Steven Greenhouse argues that America should take a second look at globalization and perhaps make some adjustments along the way. "The Big Squeeze" is a highly readable and informative book. Recommended!

5 comments about McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld (Borzoi Books).

1. Glenny dutifully documents, in exquisite detail, the rise of transnational criminal organizations in every global region.
   
   Simple formula: morally neutral global economic platform + economic/social distress = the rapid proliferation and unabated growth of transnational criminal organizations.
   
   Without a fundamental revision of global governance (not very likely), we will soon become very familiar with local variants of the stories he documents.
   
   John Robb, author of: Brave New War: The Next Stage of Terrorism and the End of Globalization



2. This is a very engaging book, so well written that it seems like fiction - but sadly its not. Are you perplexed by the glitzy storefronts and countless luxury cars on the city streets of Kiev and Moscow? Are you curious about how guns get into the hands of warlords in Africa or where the demand for slave labor could possible come from? Do you wonder how the fall of the Soviet Union really played out? This is a riveting account of our alter world - the one thriving and evolving in the shadows of mainstream economies and governments - and how all of the nefarious activites around the globe tie together and relate to each other. It does get a bit repetitive towards the end of the book, but you still feel the urge to read on and finish. I strongly recommend it.



3. Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of Glenny's book is how well he traces the births of organized crime groups, what enables them and why they do what they do. This book isn't a comprehensive manual of all organized crime in the world for Interpol use as some may expect, but a tour through environments that spawn criminal groups. After describing the scams, crimes, how they're executed and how the criminals make a profit, he traces the groups' origins, analyzes their social environment, why their service is in demand and what keeps them in business (no real rule of law, people want to buy their wares/services no matter what, etc.). If you wan to know where and why organized crime gets its steam and its profits, this is definitely a book for your reading list.



4. Very good read with tons of information but just could not shake the feeling like the book was more a collection of stories told that relied too much on primary sources to recount what they knew than any overarching investigative effort. The stories in their singularity are true, especially those about Eastern Europe, but I am not so sure they fit as part of a bigger puzzle; the author sounds too much like a Friedman on some issues and a union leader on others. The good is that book is definitely eye opening and a must read to get an idea of the criminal world.



5. This is a global journey through organized crime. The first thing I thought of when I read this book was "The World Is Flat" by Thomas Friedman. This book succeeds in every regard where Friedman's book fails. Glenny shows how criminal organizations take advantage of corrupt and inefficient systems to create smooth enterprise. Crime all over the globe is profiled, from Russia to India. Rather than reading like an encyclopedia, Glenny's anecdotes show the insidious nature of global criminals and the large part they play in the world's economy.