5 comments about Shah of Shahs.

1. Everyone interested in understanding what is going on in Iraq, Iran and the rest of the middle east should read this book. It provides a
   succinct, informed history of rulers, dynasties, cultures, etc. that affect today's life in this area. A super read! The author literally immersed himself in these cultures at great risk in order to provide an accurate portrayal.



2. Kapuscinski writes persceptively about Iran before and during the Iranian revolution, based on his extended stay there during the period it occured. He combines factual reporting and his own impressions based on notes, tapes and photographs. It is particularly strong on the psychology of various players. He is a wonderful, direct writer. The rewarding 152 page book goes by in no time.



3. I read this book twice both in Persian & English and found lots of historical errors in the book such as claims that PM Mossadeq was democratically elected back in 1950s which is totally wrong. PM Mossadeq was APPOINTED as PM by the King of Iran, Shah Reza Pahlavi in 1950 and when ordered to quit, the Shah had to execute a UK-US backed coup against him.... Errors like that are enormous in this book.



4. Never did like this book. Was to graphic and details of things that happened that I didn't need to know about.



5. A. Modern Islam is built on its petroleum reserves, on the sense of divine favor that petroleum wealth confers.
   B. The "American Century" -- actually a half century at best -- ended with the fall of Shah Reza Pahlavi.
   C. Everything that has happened in Iran since 1954 is an extended consequence of the CIA overthrow of Mossadegh, the worst mistake in the history of American diplomacy. At least, that's how Iranians and most of the rest of the world interpret history.
   D. Recovery of sane social and political norms in Iran will eventually depend on the legacy of respect for Mossadegh and his brief era of democracy.
   E. The world is no longer an Anglophone sea.
   F. The late Shah's SAVAK made Tamerlane, Vlad the Impaler, and the Spanish Inquisition look like pussycats.
   G. Any Iranian who didn't celebrate the fall of the Shah was obviously on the Shah's payroll of clientage.
   H. Revolution, however justified and even salubrious, seldom or never brings out the best human qualities of the victors.
   
   If any of these premises seem unfounded or offensive, don't lambaste me! I'm just the reviewer, and these are my clumsily simplified extrapolations of Ryszard Kapuscinski's nuanced impressions, supposedly written on scraps in his hotel room in Teheran in 1980, at the end of Jimmy Carter's ineptitude but before Ronald Reagan's consummate covert idiocy.
   
   Kapuscinski was too subtle and artful an essayist ever to have been an ordinary journalist. His writing is too graceful to be merely what it seems. "Shah of Shahs" is an extreme example of Kapuscinski's indirection; it starts out as a collection of snapshots - literally! the first 'chapters' are labeled 'Daguerrotypes - innoucuous impressions at most. As you read on, however, amused by the author's wit, the intensity of Kapuscinski's awed recognition of the significance of the Islamic Revolution builds and builds. Perhaps only an observer like Kapuscinski - an outsider to both sides of everything, a Pole, a man who traveled with Herodotus in his pocket of memory - could have written such a report, placing what he saw first hand the day before in the context of all recorded history. This book was written before the worst days of the Iran-Iraq War and the repression that has occurred under the clerical autocracy, but it is not dated. It's well worth reading today and it will continue to be a source for historians long into the future.

5 comments about On the Genealogy of Morals and Ecce Homo.

1. _On the Genealogy of Morals and Ecce Homo_ consists of translations by Walter Kaufman and R. J. Hollingdale of the works _On the Genealogy of Morals, A Polemic_ (_Zur Genealogie der Moral, Eine Streitschrift_), first published in 1887, and _Ecce Homo_, written in 1888, by the tormented German thinker Friedrich Nietzsche. _On the Genealogy of Morals_ was Nietzsche's eighth book and consists of three essays which reveal his opposition to Christian morality. _Ecce Homo_ was an autobiographical work which consists of several chapters detailing Nietzsche's philosophy. Nietzsche's philosophical viewpoint may be described as that of aristocratic radicalism, in which he sets up an opposition between the morality of the masters and what he terms "slave morality". It is this "slave morality" motivated by a spirit of ressentiment that Nietzsche seeks to overcome by a return to the morality of the masters. Nietzsche is firmly opposed to the Judeo-Christian tradition, which he views as the culmination of slave morality. Indeed, according to Nietzsche the slaves sought to revolt against their masters by supplanting the morality of the masters with their own which glorifies the weak, meek, and sickly. Instead, Nietzsche advocates a revaluation of all values with a return to the morality of the masters, who are proud, strong, and heroic.
   
   _On the Genealogy of Morals_ consists of a preface followed by three essays and an appendix which consists of aphorisms from his various writings. The preface notes the slave rebellion in morality, in which a morality of pity came to replace the morality of the masters. Nietzsche references the work of Schopenhauer, his great teacher, who he believes has made possible a new Buddhism for Europeans - nihilism. The first essay of this book is entitled ""Good and Evil", "Good and Bad"" and it details Nietzsche's opposition to Judeo-Christianity and Christian morality as well as Platonic philosophy. Nietzsche argues that the Jews, a slave people, began a great revolt in morality which resulted in the inversion of moral values in which what previously had been called "good" and "noble" came to be replaced by the lowly, weak, and sickly. Nietzsche argues that with Jesus of Nazareth, the Jewish slave revolt was accomplished in which Europe became under the sway of a Jew. Nietzsche contrasts this with the "blond German beast", the primitive Aryan tribesman, and his morality of the conquerer. Nietzsche quotes extensively from the church fathers, including Tertullian, regarding the "kingdom of God" and offers in opposition to the sign on the entrance of Dante's hell, "I too was created by eternal love", the sign "I too was created by eternal hate", instead. Nietzsche offers the opposition "Rome against Judea, Judea against Rome". In addition, Nietzsche shows how the Jews have come to conquer Rome through the slave revolt in which today in Rome they bow before three Jews and a Jewess (Jesus, Peter, Paul, and Mary). Nietzsche claims that the Renaissance represented a return to the classical idea; however with the Reformation motivated largely by ressentiment and the French Revolution the slave revolt was made complete. The second essay in this book is entitled ""Guilt", "Bad Conscience" and the Like". This essay focuses on the meaning of guilt and ressentiment showing the cruelty of punishment and torture. Nietzsche shows himself to be a primitive psychologist in his understanding of "bad conscience" and "guilt" and his theories were an important precursor to modern day psychoanalysis. The third essay of this book is entitled "What is the Meaning of Ascetic Ideals?". Here, Nietzsche focuses on Richard Wagner with whom he had a complicated relationship. Nietzsche also expresses his disgust with the German anti-Semites of the time (though only with a certain type of anti-Semite, the kind who still retained adherence to the Christian tradition). This essay ends with the following line: "man would rather will nothingness than not will", an expression of Nietzsche's nihilism. This book concludes with an appendix, "Seventy-Five Aphorisms in Five Volumes", containing various aphorisms from Nietzsche's writings.
   
   _Ecce Homo_ was Nietzsche's last work and was not published during his lifetime. The book is subtitled "How One Becomes What One Is". _Ecce Homo_ contains a preface and three chapters, followed by discussions of several of Nietzsche's books, and then a final chapter. The chapters attempt to show Nietzsche's philosophical progression as he began his career as a philologist, the influence of Wagner on his early life, his subsequent break with Wagner, and his later writings. Nietzsche also includes commentary on his own writings, particularly his _Zarathustra_ and shows the opposition between the Dionysian and the Appolinian. Nietzsche entitles his chapters brazenly: "Why I Am So Wise", "Why I Am So Clever", "Why I Write Such Good Books", followed by his discussion of his individual works, and then "Why I Am Destiny". It has been suggested that Nietzsche may have been experiencing the early symptoms of his mental decline at this point and his complete mental collapse was to occur soon thereafter (rumored to be the result of syphilis, though probably wrongly). Nietzsche claims that he is wise because of his aesthetic sensitivities. He claims that he is clever because he can choose the right nutrition, climate, residence, and recreation for himself. He claims to write such good books because they open up a series of new, delicate, and noble experiences. And, he claims to be destiny because his anti-moral truths serve as intellectual dynamite which can topple the sickness inherent in Western culture. Indeed, Nietzsche writes, "I am no man, I am dynamite." Nietzsche opposes Dionysus to "the Crucified", as his new god of life's exuberance to overcome the god of the heavenly otherworld. Nietzsche claims that he wants no believers and that he fears that he will be worshipped and pronounced holy in the future. He wants to assure that his publishers will prevent his book from doing "mischief". Nietzsche ends with the pronouncement that he is the great immoralist and that Dionysus has come to supercede "the Crucified".
   
   This translation of two of Nietzsche's important works includes commentary by Walter Kaufman. Some of Kaufman's commentary is useful; however Kaufman was prone to his own understanding of Nietzsche which he interjected all too often. Nevertheless, these two books stand out as important works which must be understood by those who seek to develop an understanding of the rise of nihilism in the Twentieth Century.



2. I gave this to my coworker and he couldn't stop talking about how great it was!



3. Nietzsche's complex sequel to Beyond Good and Evil is a remarkable achievement of philosophy, philology, and history. It laid the groundwork for such 20th century thinkers as Foucault and Deleuze, though they would never reach Nietzsche's complexity and moral sophistication. In the preface to the book, Nietzsche proposes the project of investigating the origins of morality on the grounds that human beings are unknown to themselves. He is ultimately concerned with the development of moral prejudices, and the value of morality itself. He criticizes mankind in its acceptance of moral principles, and writes: "we need a critique of moral values, the value of these values themselves must first be called in question-and for that there is needed a knowledge of the conditions and circumstances in which they grew, under which they evolved and changed" (456).
   Nietzsche begins the essay (Good and Evil, Good and Bad), with a philological examination of the words and roots of the words related to good and evil, and a delimitation of their evolution. He makes a connection between the creations of words and places them within the historical context of rulers and nobility. Linguistically, Nietzsche has discovered that the `good' is linked with nobility. He writes: "everywhere `noble,' `aristocratic' in the social sense, is the basic concept from which `good' in the sense of `with aristocratic soul,' `noble,'" (464). Alternatively, words associated with the `bad' invariably were linked with the `plain,' `simple,' and `low.' In this way, morality as a human construction is an extension of power, wealth, and civilization. The origin of evil is intertwined with priestly aristocracies.
   Nietzsche moves into a discussion of a shift in the history of morality, in which the morality of the priestly aristocracy is superceded by Jewish morality. For Nietzsche, the Jews inverted the morality of nobility and established a system which places value on the lower order of mankind. He indicates that the Jews believed "the wretched alone are the good; the poor, impotent, lowly alone are the good; the suffering, deprived, sick, ugly alone are pious, alone are blessed by God" (470). Nietzsche describes this turn as `the slave revolt' of morality. He describes the triumph of Judeo-Christian morality over the previous system of values, and indicates that this turn is a triumph for the herd instinct, and for ressentiment. He writes: "The slave revolt in morality begins when ressentiment itself becomes creative and gives birth to values: the ressentiment of natures that are denied the true reaction, that of deeds, and compensate themselves with an imaginary revenge" (472). Noble morality develops as an affirmation of itself, while slave morality always says No to what is external to it. For Nietzsche, the need to constantly turn outward to an external `other' and place judgment on it is the essence of ressentiment.
   In the proceeding section of the treatise, Nietzsche discusses civilization's taming of man the animal. Here he writes: "Supposing that what is at any rate believed to be the `truth' really is true, and the meaning of all culture is the reduction of the beast of prey `man' to a tame and civilized animal, a domestic animal, then one would undoubtedly have to regard all those instincts of reaction and ressentiment through whose aid the noble races and their ideal were finally confounded and overthrown as the actual instruments of culture" (478). Nietzsche insists that Europe's taming of man is a tremendous danger, for we are made to be weary of our own being. For Nietzsche, this weariness and fear of man has compelled us to lose our love for him, to turn our backs on our instincts, to reject affirmation.



4. This is a complex, often confusing, yet a very important book, because it gets at the bottom line of one of the thorniest conundrums ever to face man: The problem of where his morals originate. Although several books have readdressed this issue in light of new findings in psychology (Freud in his Civilization and its discontents), social psychology (Robert Wright's Moral Man), and Anthropology (Ernest Becker, Angel in Armor) just to name my three favorites, none have done so with either the emotional intensity or philosophical depth as has Nietzsche.
   
   In this, Nietzsche last book, he locates the origins of morality at the intersection of man's transition from hunter-gathers to agrarian societies. With the advent of agrarian societies, there was a crossover in the survival value of violence versus that of cooperation: man's instinct for violence cease to have the survival value equal to that of cooperation. And as a result, he was forced to learn to outwardly suppress his violent instincts by more and more turning them inward. This conversion of outward violence into an inner struggle, allowed man to use his conscience to carve out an inner life, which was a mixed blessing as there were both collateral benefits and penalties. Along with guilt and bad conscience, man also acquired a sense of beauty. The upshot of his inner struggles was that they eventually got resolved through the development of religion: Bad conscience and moral guilt could be redeemed or forgiven through the grace and mercy of a higher, morally perfect, being.
   
   With this as introduction, Nietzsche's story of morality takes place in three parts over the span of three essays, each of which elaborates a different aspect of the details of his theory.
   
   The first essay deals with Good and Evil, and examines the evolution of two different kinds of moral codes: that of the master and that of the slave. The second essay deals directly with guilt, bad conscience and related moral concepts and issues. Here, Nietzsche notes that initially guilt lacked moral overtones, and was more like a monetary debt, in which the debtor was due payment and the debtor, was punished. The third essay struggles with the question of: What is the meaning of Ascetic Ideals, or, with why different cultures pursued a life of self-denial. Nietzsche's answer is that self-denial gives the individual more power and control over himself and is therefore life affirming rather than life denying.
   
   Nietzsche's writing is dense and not for the faint-hearted, but ultimately rewarding. Five stars.



5. If you want to expand your mind beyond the imposed constraints of Western Religion, then read Nietzsche. You must question your sanity as much as Nietzsche ended up destroying his. Go to the brink, but come back won't you?

5 comments about The Everything Guide to Online Genealogy: A complete resource to using the Web to trace your family history (Everything Series).

1. This book offer a trememdous amount of very useful information for doing online genealogy. I prefer the information in it compared to "Printed Sources .. a guide to Published Genealogy Records". It is well written and user friendly.



2. This book is great. It tells a lot of stuff I already knew about researching family history, but I also learned a lot just in the first Chapter! This is a must have for serious researchers!



3. I am a librarian and have bought a lot of books on genealogy but this one is fantastic. It is loaded with websites and ideas and to have it all in one place is just staggering. The author did a great job.



4. THIS HANDBOOK IS A GREAT ASSET TO SOMEONE JUST STARTING OUT IN GENEALOGY (AS I AM). IN FACT, I PURCHASED 2 COPIES; ONE FOR ME AND ONE FOR MY SISTER. NOW WE BOTH CAN BURN UP THE NET!



5. This was my first book on Genealogy I purchased and it has been a big help, after I had started my family tree. It's packed with great information and on-line resourses and also, some samples of family tree research. A must have for your Genealogy library.

3 comments about 100 American Flags: A Unique Collection of Old Glory Memorabilia (The Collector's Eye).

1. Compiled by one of the grandfathers of modern print design, this book, which features items from Kit Hinrichs' own personal collection, is a wonderful artistic expression of the Stars & Stripes through antique American flags, patriotic memorbilia, and art. I highly recommend it.
   
   Jeff Bridgman, dealer in antique flags, www.jeffbridgman.com



2. I was very pleased with the quick delivery. I knew what I was ordering because I had seen the author on Martha Stewart. It was a great overview of his book. I am a Patriotic and flag nut, and this was right up my alley. I was not disappointed with this purchase.



3. 100 American Flags is a very well-done, educational little book. Perfect for a Hostess gift for a 4th. of July Party. That's why I bought two - one for me and one for a dear friend who collects Americana and has a HUGE 4th. of July Bash every year.

5 comments about Quicksheet Citing Online Historical Resources.

1. This is a great little item. Easy to carry. Lots of quick, useful info. I'd recommend it.



2. Elizebeth Mills is increasingly referred to as one of the main citation sources for genealogical methods and standards. While this 2 sheet laminated card does help, I wasn't thrilled when I received it.
   
   Opening my wondeful Amazon box (with other goodies) it was "oh yeah, hmm".
   
   The sheet is not really worth the money cause it misses some elements of citation - especially if you are international - rather than being based in the US.
   
   But then again, for the time, effort and expense of getting your own copy laminated it might be a bad option.
   
   Personally, I feel this double sided sheet should have been added and available for free in conjunction with her book "Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian" ISBN-10: 0806315431
   
   Conclusion: Have a review yourself with the "Search Inside" and see whether it suits you.



3. I needed an update guide of "How To" for citing online sources for my history research. It was better than I had hoped. It covered several types of sourecs material I had not considered. I believe it a good backup for larger style manuals.



4. Great, easy to use summary for citing sources of not just genealogy but other subjects as well. Plastic coated, just right for those of us that drink and sometimes eat at our computers. A must have - like all the other nonfiction items by this author.



5. This is one of the handiest items I have yet purchased for a quick guide to historical resources! Thanks.

5 comments about Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan.

1. This is by far Koolhaas's most accessible work, as it is rooted so clearly in detail from the city's past. Further, the book is simply brilliant. His take on urban history is to Jane Jacobs what Socrates is to common sense. New York is a special case of modernism that sprang from a special constellation of poltiical and technological forces that collectively create a cultural "big-bang" at the turn of the century. Read it. Blow your mind.



2. koolhaas is a bit over-the-top for me, but this I think is is best work. it's worth checking out if only for the story of coney island. once you get past blisteringly pretentious phrases like "coney island is a fetal manhattan", you'll find it gloriously entertaining as both a narrative and theoretical work.



3. A very inventive concept of New York's "culture of congestion" and how people are affected by the architecture they create. It is heavily researched and exhaustive, and after pretty much the third page I agreed with his concept of NY being "totally fabricated by man". What could of been a fascinating article becomes a spastic, heavy-handed read with a sledgehammer effect to your brain. (However,for those of us reading it for school, there are plenty of pictures that fill up the almost devastatingly vast 300+pages quickly.) It will scramble your brain with its thousands of nearly bumper-stickerish statements ("It hides life." "The Mountain MUST become architecture.") written with pretentious glee. However, I believe an independent scientific study has concluded that when pretending to read this book on the train people around you will assume your IQ is 40% higher than truth.



4. through the exhaustive historiography of the phases of congestion coney island brought to manhattan, koolhaas provides a rather cynical view of the Grid as being an ulimatley neutral zoning system of constraining ideas that represent the continual decline of a phantastically realistic civilization, represented as mutated symbols of architecture in the "void" of repeated "pregnancies."
   
   it's really well written. funny. uses, like above, a somewhat inefficient vocabulary but remains in the same vein throughout. it is also a graphic design hubris consuming every page, even the left-justified text, showing off koolhaas's interpretation of the importance to combine scholarship and marketing.
   
   buy it. it's a very good book.



5. While "Delirious" has its fair share of archispeak, Mr. Koolhaas pulls off an intelligent, fun and thought-provoking take on the early 20th century building culture of New York.
   
   One of the quirkier (and frankly, awesome/bravadoish) aspects of "Delirious" is Mr. Koolhaas's analysis of Coney Island: an "incubator for Manhattan's incipient themes." As a reader, one initially questions the inclusion of such a trashy place in such a lofty manifesto. However, as the chapter progresses, you start to see Mr. Koolhaas's iconoclastic brilliance. He pays an amazing homage to "the laboratory" that was Coney Island, illuminating the vital role it played in the building philosophies that would emerge later in Manhattan.
   
   Scattered throughout "Delirious," also, are compelling supporting images that Mr. Koolhaas clearly spent a lot of time digging up. In fact, flipping through the book for the images alone makes for a near-equivalent, and fun, learning experience.
   
   However, unlike his tasteful use of images, Mr. Koolhaaas's flamboyant use of scholarly English makes his writing difficult to digest at times:
   
   "It is probably inevitable that a doctrine based on the continual simulation of pragmatism, on a self-imposed amnesia that allows the continuous reenactment of the same subconscious themes in ever new reincarnations and on inarticulateness systematically cultivated in order to operate more effectively..."
   
   Given Mr. Koolhaas's journalism background (and assumed mastery of writing), I suspect he made the conscious decision to remain somewhat inaccessible to preserve his "lofty" image. While such a decision may be understandable, his brilliance as a writer often gets overshadowed by the sheer irritation of trying to understand him.
   
   Ultimately, "Delirious" proves itself to be a very intelligent synopsis---just as delirious and congested the themes Mr. Koolhaas puts forth. For the most part, it's a pleasure to read, and it also reflects the exhaustive research on Mr. Koolhaas's end. Much like Mr. Koolhaas's buildings, "Delirious" is on the cusp of being as grand as it intends to be.

5 comments about The House of Medici: Its Rise and Fall.

1. Good read although I was surprised to find typos which is more a comment about the editor/publisher.
   
   Overall, a fluid and entertaining read. Gives a good idea of the social and political life in Florence and within the family.



2. This is one of only handful of books that I have started and not been able to finish. I love history and thought this book would be a nice change from some of the "fluffy" books I have been reading lately. To be honest, I had a time time following the book. There were too many names that I found hard to keep track of, plus there were many historial references that I made the book very confusing. I couldn't even make it past chapter 3. Dont waste your money like I did!



3. This history read like an adventure movie, especially the discription of Lorenzo the Magnificient's life. I'm surprised someone here thought it lifeless! Murders, riots, wars, seductions! What more could you want?



4. The many very good reviews on "The House of Medici: Its Rise and Fall" compelled me to read it. It was a pretty good read indeed. The author covers the entire Medici history in great detail and the book reads quite well. There are also some nice illustrations. However, what was extremely disappointing was the lack of important supporting information, which is essential to history books. There were only two relatively poor maps (with very small font) and no map of Florence. Therefore, the location of the Medici villas, important battles and events are not shown. What is even worse: there is NO genealogy chart! I had to go back and forth and even tried the much inadequate Index to figure out who was the sister or brother or cousin of whom. I don't comprehend how this was not caught by any of the acknowledged proof readers or the Editor. Nevertheless, if you can get your hands on some good maps and the genealogy (e.g. Encyclopedia Britannica) the book is worth reading.



5. This book is a terrific narrative on the Medici's of Rennaisance Florence. Hibbert captures the various Medici family members which included Cosimo and his banking empire which funded the dynasty. His grandson Lorenzo who was the greatest of all the patrons of Rennaisance artists such as Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Galileo. We meet Medici's who become Pope even though their only qualifications seem to be that they were Medici's. Hibbert also introduces us to their lethal competitors, the Pazzi family. The book includes murder, betrayal, ambition, sexual dalliances, great artists, and the fabulous setting of Florence. What more do you need for a great read.

5 comments about 100,000 + Baby Names: The Most Complete Baby Name Book: Including 300+ Fascinating Lists, The Latest Naming Trends, Key to Gender-Neutral Names.

1. My 8-month pregnant friend and I spent an entire vacation combing this book for a name for her little one. There were some liberties taken with root names (Elizabeth, Liz, Lizzie, Liza) and the like to increase the count, but generally a good resource - the most comprehensive we found. Plus we loved the lists at the beginning of the book, where you could see popular names by decade, names of stars, their kids, shakespearean names, etc., etc. Good buy.



2. This is a great book for anyone who needs to pick out names, whether for a baby, a pet, or characters in a book you're writing. There are literally over 100,000 names in here, from modern quirky to old-fashioned classics.
   
   The book is arranged in an easy to use manner, making it a snap to find what you're looking for. The two main sections are for boys and girls, each name listing having the name's origin, meaning, and alternate spelling and forms in alphabetical order. Plus there are many short lists toward the front for specific catagories, including Mythological, musicians by genre, actors, Old West, and even names from the Harry Potter series. The list of the top 100 names and the top names from around the world are helpful as well.
   
   If that wasn't enough, there is also a section about legal concerns and another for fun name trvia.
   
   I highly recommend this book if you need to come up with some names, or research where your's came from.



3. Searching for name options, meanings, etc. in the web is not very efficient so I decided to buy this book when I saw it in the store. The number of options is large, and it includes origin, meaning, gender classification, etc., so it looked like a good book.
   
   However, you must be careful when reading this book. Not only the "good" names are there but I found several important flaws in some of the names listed, like the following examples.
   
   - Pulqueria (girls). Translated as Latin for pretty. Maybe, but it is Spanish for some kind of cantina.
   - Sandia (girls). Accurately translated as watermelon (Spanish).
   - Sato (girls). Accurately translated as sugar (Japanese). No Japanese girl has this name (there is a very similar family name, though).
   - Sarik (boys). Translated as Hindi for bird. Maybe, but it is Arabic for thief.
   - Feo (boys). Accurately translated as ugly (Spanish).
   - Santana (boys). Correctly described as a Mexican general. But it is actually a family name incorrectly spelled, and he is not the most liked historical character in his country.
   - The meaning of Japanese names actually depends on what characters are used, but the book gives only one of the many options without further explanation. There are also Japanese names listed in the wrong gender.
   
   Let's be serious. Will you name your baby "watermelon" or "ugly"?
   
   If you are thinking in giving your baby a name not very common, do your research first. Do not believe only what the book says about the name.
   
   A good point about the book is its set of lists (popular names, professional names, etc.). One I liked is "The Impressions Names Make."



4. This book is an incredible resource for choosing your baby's name. The book is very easy to read, the sections were easy to find and the references to names inspred by famous peoplle, places and things was very interesting- as was the section of names that celebrities gave their kids (those pooe kids!!). I bought this book for my son to help him with naming my grandchild-to-be and originally bought Mr. Lansky's book 25 years ago for help naming my kids. Glad he's still around!



5. If you are an expectant mother, you probably don't want a book where you have to weed out 90,000 names to get to normal names. Some of the information is incorrect or at least not including the factual information. I hated this book because of the made up names that were included. I can't believe it got this high of a rating.

5 comments about Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do.

1. This book changed my life. I read it when it was new, at a time when I was becoming incredibly discontent in my first real career position job. What struck me about the people in this book was that almost all of them are busy doing work they don't really care for, and which many of them downright hate. They feel trapped and are unhappy, but they stick at it because they have bills to pay. The people who in contrast were doing work that they *loved* had a magical time of it. They were also few and far between. After I read this I questioned why people choose to make themselves unhappy at work they hate, when they could (as we say these days but didn't, then) "follow their bliss" and find what gives them joy. I have never looked at work the same way since, and the insights I gained from this book gave me the courage to leave a bad situation in order to find a better path to fulfillment. This is an amazing work of oral history, and the love work/hate work issue is just as relevant today.



2. This culturally significant novel is a must for anyone interested in American studies, labor issues, oral history, etc.. The author, Studs Turkel is a prominent Chicago figure that has interview 9,000+ people about their jobs. This is well worth the read. Turkel interviews a variety of interesting people ranging from actors, flight attendants, CEO's, and even a call girl.



3. I read Working in 1986, when I was 23, and chose my profession based on one of the interviews (I'm a piano tuner/repairman). I am so grateful to Mr. Terkel and his subjects; without them I may have floundered in life, but because of their inspiration, I found work which I have enjoyed and learned from for more than two decades.



4. I was actually recommended this book by my advanced acting teacher as a senior in college. We had been talking about different places to find monologues for auditions other than plays. I had heard of the musical "Working" that had been inspired by this book, but had never looked into the literary reference. The second I opened this book, I was hooked.
   
   Not only did I find a countless number of potential monologues (sometimes three or four within one interview) but it also completely opened my mind to the people around me I often look past. I never took the time to consider the woman at the grocery register, like B. Secoli. Reading this book was ultimately life changing. Of course, after time one sinks back into their own self-absorbed existence, but every now and then, when I need a little perspective, I return to Studs Terkel's "Working" and rediscover the rest of humanity.



5. As I have done on other occasions when I am reviewing more than one work by an author I am using some of the same comments, where they are pertinent, here as I did in earlier reviews. In this series the first Studs Terkel book reviewed was that of his "The Good War": an Oral History of World War II".
   
   Strangely, as I found out about the recent death of long time pro-working class journalist and general truth-teller "Studs" Terkel I was just beginning to read his "The Good War", about the lives and experiences of, mainly, ordinary people during World War II in America and elsewhere, for review in this space. As with other authors once I get started I tend to like to review several works that are relevant to see where their work goes. In the present case the review of Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day And How They Feel About What They Do serves to reflect on a time a couple of decades ago when people may have been resigned about their working career but had a feeling that it did not express all of what they were. Given today's uncertain economic climate and the wider fears about the effects of the long term trend "globalization" which particularly threatens many lower- skilled or easily transferable jobs I am not sure that such interesting reflections on their work experiences would be forthcoming from today's working population.
   
   Although Terkel has cast a wide net on the range of occupations and types of work that he presents here it is weighted toward blue collar working people: the waitresses, bartenders, service personnel and the like with whom he had such affinity. The most interesting aspect of this effort is that almost universally the work that people do does not reflect on their capacities. In short, the job is not the measure of the person. That said, I believe, intentionally or not, this little treasure trove of interviews is one of the great arguments for socialism: the creation of a society where an energetic waitress or a well-read steelworker, for example, could break out and become a leader of society. A place where every cook can take a turn at governing. That is the real message that these interviewees are trying, unsuccessfully for the most part, to articulate. How to successfully do that, however, is a separate and frustratingly hard politcal and organizational question that I have argues about elsewhere.
   
   One thing that I noticed immediately after reading this book, and as is true of the majority of Terkel's interview books, is that he is not the dominant presence but is a rather light, if intensely interested, interloper in these stories. For better or worse the interviewees get to tell their stories, unchained. In this age of 24/7 media coverage with every half-baked journalist or wannabe interjecting his or her personality into somebody else's story this was, and is, rather refreshing. Of course this journalistic virtue does not mean that Studs did not have control over who got to tell their stories and who didn't to fit his preoccupations and sense of order. He has a point he wants to make and that is that although most "ordinary" people do not make the history books they certainly make history, if not always of their own accord or to their own liking. Again, kudos and adieu Studs.

5 comments about A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance: Portrait of an Age.

1. I bought this book because I liked the title. I still like the title. The content is rubbish. Perhaps the trouble is the genre. "Popular history" is a story so popularised, so dumbed down, as not to be history. But even given that fact, this book is bad. The author is an American journalist, not a historian. If one were to list all the inaccuracies you would have a list longer than this book. Almost every sentence requires qualification, many sentences and nearly all key judgements need at least a paragraph of qualification because they are so wide of the mark. Manchester's book reads much like a 300 page attack on the Catholic Church. The heroes are the Protestants. This can be done well, but the lack of intelligence at work here is mind-boggling. I think it is very sad that this book is - according to the cover - a "national bestseller"; it is sad to think of people reading and believing this stuff, especially young people, who, with its salacious gossip-driven narrative, are more likely to read this than something factual, and because it is published, more likely to believe it. The publishers, Little, Brown & Co, must take much of the blame. It is one thing to want to sell books to make financial gain, but when this leads to what we have here, the propogation of drivel posing history, then it is against culture.



2. William Manchester's account of Megellan's circumnavigation of the world and the effect his voyage had on commonly held views and "truths" of the world was delightfully insightful. I was entralled with the way Mr. Manchester tied the current events of Magellan's time into his writing. I have shared this book with friends and given it as a gift. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, whether they are looking for a very well writen book that is a joy to read, or are seeking knowledge.



3. I recently re-read this book in preparation for a trip around Cape Horn. The section on Magellan alone is worth the price of the book. However, the entire book is an enlightening read about a time in history that most of us know very little about. This is a fine book standing alone, and a fine book to begin your education on this fascinating period of human history.



4. Outlandishly silly, full of factual errors and misrepresentations, and poorly organized and written. I find it astonishing that this fellow had an academic appointment (but nowadays perhaps that's not so surprising). Comic relief at best.



5. This book gives a thorough background in what Medieval Times were really like and not the tales that we have all grown up with and that have been romanticized over the generations. This was a harsh world and one where most of the people were poor, illiterate, and kept that way by their rulers and the Church.
   
   The author spends a great deal of time setting the background of the time before moving to various events that were going on such as the Protestant Reformation, Henry VIII's trials with the church over his divorce, and the various persons who ran afoul of the church. The book also details alot of the excesses and abuses of the Roman Catholic Church at the time and how it led to some radical changes in the world. The last part of the book deals with Ferdinand Magellan's voyage around the world. It is quite detailed and gives the reader a close view of him with his virtues and his flaws
   
   I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the historical time period and wants to get beyond the romanticized versions of tales that were taught to all of us as children. It also provides a good history of the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Reformation for persons interested in them.