Live from Jordan: Letters Home from My Journey Through the Middle East

Book Description

One man's irreverent and insightful chronicle of his journey into the Arab World.

The deejay put on a James Brown remix, and the club went nuts again. Everyone started singing in English, and people climbed up on all the club's tables and chairs to shake their hipsÃ-On my way home at 4:00 a.m. (the club was still hopping when I left), I couldn't help thinking about all these wealthy Jordanians and Palestinians, dressed in American and European labels, dancing and singing to American music with such sheer joy. . . . As far as I know, there isn't a word in Arabic for "longing for America," but that is what this night, this scene, and this club seemed to be about.--from Live from Jordan

On the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, 27-year old Pittsburgh native and grad student Benjamin Orbach traveled to Amman, Jordan, in search of answers. Young, confident, and optimistic, Orbach anointed himself America's secret diplomatic weapon. He was finishing a degree in Middle Eastern studies, had a working knowledge of Arabic, and possessed the determination to "negotiate a peace treaty."

He also had no place to live, little money, and no friends to speak of in Jordan. As Ben Orbach spent his first few days in the Middle East in search of a hot shower, the address of his new flat, and a decent haircut, he began to discover something much more important. In the cafes and salons, and on the buses and streets of Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and Turkey, he found conflicted, curious, and multilayered people who had more to teach him than he ever imagined. From bustling bazaars to an underground brothel, Live from Jordan is the incredible story, told via his eloquent, compassionate, and irreverent letters home, of Orbach's 13-month journey through the Middle East.

Through Orbach's eyes, we begin to see a world where nothing is quite what it seems, a world that is more intricate than what is portrayed in 30-second sounds bites on American television. We meet people like Sundos, a Jordan University freshman who digs surfing the Internet, and Fadi, his sensitive, passionate Palestinian flatmate, who belts out the lyrics of Mariah Carey songs and decries the policies of George Bush. From the privileged young clubbers of Amman to the beleaguered workers who cram themselves into buses every day in search of a meager salary, we begin to see the Middle East as it really is.

As he travels from the throbbing streets of Cairo to the friendly living rooms of ordinary people in Jordan, Ben Orbach offers an honest, balanced portrait of a region in turmoil. Engaging, witty, and evocative, Live from Jordan is a myth-breaking book that transports us to a world that is more multifaceted, more beautiful, and more seductive than many of us have ever imagined.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent "on the ground" account of the Middle East.......2007-09-27

This book is an excellent account of everyday life in Jordan and Egypt, as well as an account of the history, politics and economics of the region. I visited Jordan before this book was published. I wish I would have had it before I went, especially for the perspectives of the Palestinians in Jordan. Highly recommended!

Entertaining and educational.......2007-09-16

I found Live from Jordan to be entertaining and educational. Orbach does an excellent job providing a first hand account of his experiences in the Middle East. He provides great insight into daily life in the region as well as the complex issues and nuances faced in his daily travels. Orbach's stories are well detailed and often humorous making for an enlightening and enjoyable read.

Its approach and presentation are winning........2007-07-09

Any collection strong in modern Middle East issues and studies, whether it be at the college level for sociology courses or in public library holdings, will find LIVE FROM JORDAN: LETTERS HOME FROM MY JOURNEY THROUGH THE MIDDLE EAST to be a winner. On the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq the Pittsburgh native and grad student Benjamin Orbach traveled to Amman, Jordan to finish a degree in Middle Eastern studies. He had no place to live, little money, and no friends in the region - and through his 13-month series of journeys he discovered a land and people not ordinarily presented through media reporter's eyes. Any who would really learn about the Middle East must have LIVE FROM JORDAN: its approach and presentation are winning.

Surprisingly Good Read.......2007-07-05

Being half Arabic, I was skeptical before I picked up the book because I assumed it would be written with a tone in which I wouldn't agree. However, what I found was an insightful novel that was both funny and thought-provoking.

Mr. Orbach writes in a wonderful tone that brings his experiences to life while doing an amazing job explaining the perceptions surrounding the situation in the Middle East - from all sides.

I highly recommend this book as an enjoyable travel read and as a remarkably understandable historical and social account of events in the Middle East.

Travalog as Contrivance for US fForeign Policy.......2007-06-24

Live from Jordan: Letters Home from My Journey
Through the Middle East by Benjamin Orbach

My criteria for liking a book are to meld content
and style. I finally came upon a book that is ostensibly a travelogue but really is a very good discovery of the complexity of the peoples of Arabia, particularly the people of "the Arab street" in Damascus, Amman and Cairo. The peoples have differing cultures, language dialects and are still pulled by tribal instinct.

Mr. Orbach shows that the populations of these
countries are extremely variegated - to the extent
that US foreign policy decision-makers cannot make glib pronouncements on the basis of "truth, justice and the American way."

Victims of exploitative colonialism and greedy
dictators, the common people seem unremarkably passive, with a predilection for regime change if not for revolution. The internet, among other things, has brought: other visions to the common folk; experiences of freedom of thought; and the materialistic comforts as the result of their enterprise.

The spark to ignite the lethal explosive between them and the dictator seems not too far off. And yet, the common people may not have a palatable solution for the Israeli's or Jews. Indeed, the author feared identifying himself as a Jew, thinking it enough of a shock that an American was in their midst - who even spoke their own Arabic dialect.

We learn the living conditions, the oppressive work and the little time for "fun." It makes me wonder what will occur when nation building is accomplished. What type of government overthrow will occur and what role will the United State play in regime change, if any at all?

All in all, this book is well worth the read to
sensitize the Western reader that the "Arabs" are
not a monolithic body, all of whom are terrorists.

Art Finkle

Letters From Eden: A Year at Home, in the Woods

Average customer rating:

Letters From Eden
What a wonderful book, full of everyday wonders
It's like conversing with a friend.
It's a truly lovely book
A Natural Gift

Letters From Eden: A Year at Home, in the Woods
Julie Zickefoose
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Natural History | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0618573089

Book Description

A frequent commentator for NPR's All Things Considered, Julie Zickefoose has painted nature virtually all her life. She knew at the age of seven that she wanted to paint birds for a living, and her lifelong dedication shows in her paintings, which are meticulously accurate as well as beautiful. The paintings used here, of scenes from her beloved southern Ohio home, illuminate well-crafted essays based on her daily walks and observations. Wild turkeys, coyotes, box turtles, and a bird-eating bullfrog flap, lope, and leap through her prose. She excels at describing and exploring the interactions between people and animals, bringing her subjects to life in just a few lines. Her husband and young children make appearances, presenting their own challenges and pleasures. Starting with winter, the essays are arranged by season, providing a sense of movement through the year.

Customer Reviews:

Letters From Eden.......2007-08-07

This is a wonderful little book. Julie Zickefoose is a writer, illustrator, and contributor to NPR. In this book, organized by the seasons of the year, she shares her experiences living on her 80-acre farm in southern Ohio. She brings a sense of wonder to seemingly mundane things such as squabbling starlings and the wreck of her vegetable garden.There are sad points, such as euthanising a little opossum caught in a steel trap, but most of the book is devoted to happier topics. I really enjoyed reading it.

What a wonderful book, full of everyday wonders.......2007-05-16

Experience the seasons with Julie and her family on their wildlife sanctuary in the Appalachian foothills in southern Ohio. A gem of a book, if you love birds and other animals... very real and full of the wonder of everyday happenings - if you keep your eyes open.

It's like conversing with a friend........2007-04-11

I loved Ms. Zickefoose's little book. It's a publication one reads in small doses, enjoying her comments and her art. The style is like having a really good conversation with an interesting, accomplished naturalist. I would recommend it for anyone who enjoys nature.

It's a truly lovely book .......2007-02-03

Author Julie Zikefoose is a frequent commentator on NPR's 'All Things Considered', and has painted nature all her life - so her book reflects not only an avid nature writer's appreciation for the wild, but a set of seasonal essays accompanied by black and white and color drawings that provide lovely first-person reflections. It's a truly lovely book highly recommended for either coffee table display at home or a public library acquisition.

A Natural Gift.......2007-01-29

Emile Zola wrote, "The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work." In Julie Zickefoose?s book "Letters From Eden," you will find both. The gift shines from every page, in her glowing watercolors, in her lyrical prose, and in her obvious passion for the natural world around her. The work is evident in her field notes and pencil sketches, and in the tales she tells. The effort she exerts when protecting nesting piping plovers on a busy beach along the Connecticut coastline, climbing ladders to replace baby birds in their nests, or rehabilitating box turtles is demanding. If you would ask Julie however, she would not call this work, but a way of life, her life in the little piece of Ohio she calls Eden.

Come along with her as she shares her discoveries during a walk in the woods, or celebrates spring with tree swallows playing with feathers, or grieves for an opossum found dying in a trap. From the hilarious to the tragic, with the drama of a poisonous snake thrown in, "Letters From Eden" strikes just the right chord. Anyone with an interest in nature will feel right at home with this book. I know I did.

Average customer rating:

Poetry at its best
An amazing read

On Desert Trails With Everett Ruess

Manufacturer: Gibbs Smith, Publisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0879058250

Book Description

9X12 In, 96 Pp, 45 Black & White Illustrations We Are Proud To Introduce This Handsome Commemorative Edition of On Desert Trails With Everett Ruess (First Introduced In Our 60, 000 Copy A Vagabond For Beauty), Which Was Originally Published In 1940 and Has Since Become A Collector's Item. The Poetry, Letters, and Artwork Contained In This Book Reveal The Adventurous Young Artist Who Loved The Arid Wilderness and Disappeared Into The Desert of Southern Utah. To The Original Book We Have Added Many Photographs of Ruess On The Trail, Along With Others Taken By Ruess of The Land That So Inspired Him. A Special Appenidx Tells The Salt Lake Tribune's Account of Its 1935 Expedition To Southern Utah In Search of Everett Ruess.

Customer Reviews:

Poetry at its best.......2005-02-03

Everett Ruess is a marvelously gifted poet. He writes in elegant lines teeming with passionate imagery. "Wilderness Song" is the most incredible piece and describes nature at its fullest. Any poet can write beautiful lines, but Ruess writes with soul, the soul of an aficianado of the wilderness.

An amazing read.......2004-06-23

A chilling voice out of the past from one who loved wilderness so much he vanished without a trace in it. I am hard pressed to come up with a book or person who was able to articulate the beauty around him more than Everett Ruess. In a tragic twist this lover of the purity nature gave and continues to give a painter's perspective in words to the American west despite the mysterious circumstances surrounding his disappearance. He left behind not only the beautiful writings of a master (and at such a young age) but also a mysterious tale of intrigue that leaves people guessing to this very day. Was he a victim of murder or did his love for wilderness drive him into the vast unknown to live out his days in the peaceful tranquility only nature can provide? Buy the book and formulate your own opinions. I highly recommend it.

Dear Children of the Earth: A Letter from Home

Average customer rating:

Review of Dear Children of Earth
Great book for adults and older children
A GREAT Book - Helps Children (Heck, and whoever reads it!) To Appreciate and Care for the Earth and What Nature has Given Us
This Book was Very Warm and Touching
this is a great book

Dear Children of the Earth: A Letter from Home
Schim Schimmel
Manufacturer: Northword Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Short Story Collections | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1559712252

Book Description

by Schim Schimmel Mother Earth writes a letter to the children of our planet encouraging environmentalism. Powerful acrylic paintings compliment the gentle text.

Customer Reviews:

Review of Dear Children of Earth.......2007-05-22

Again, a wonderful book that tells a great story about how everything connects to this world. A definate must have!

Great book for adults and older children.......2006-08-08

I loved the pictures in this book. It has a great message I can appreciate and want to teach my child. Yet it didn't win my 5 year old son's heart. He dosen't really like it nor does he want to read it again. To my disapointment, he has rejected it. Although since reading the book, he does randomly say under his breath, "The Earth is our home." Thats as far as the book has gone. I think it would be better for older kids.

A GREAT Book - Helps Children (Heck, and whoever reads it!) To Appreciate and Care for the Earth and What Nature has Given Us.......2006-04-26

My 8 y/o daughter had read this book at school and she couldn't stop talking about it. She said how she LOVED the artwork and how wonderful the story was. So we went to the public library here in town and got a copy of it and she read it to me that night and what can I say? -Everything she said about it is true! This story and the artwork in it spoke to my child's heart and I believe those kinds of books (the ones that really speak to the heart) are the best for kids because it makes reading exciting for them and teaches them a new/different way of looking at things. I had never heard of Schim Schimmel until a few days ago but I do know that I will be buying many of his books for my daughter. I highly recommend this book.

This Book was Very Warm and Touching.......2002-10-11

Hi! My name is Jacqueline. For all you people out there who like touching stories and animals, boy do I have the right book series for you. Well, there is this really cool author named Schim Schimmel. Here is one of his books, Dear Children of the Earth: A Letter from Home. It is about how Mother Earth and the animals that live there need you. Here are two of his sentences in the book, "My children, when my people do a little thing to me, it becomes a big thing. So it is very important for each person to stop doing things that hurt me, or hurt their sister and brother animals." The book is a very touching and heartwarming story. It made me feel like the animals were my friends. It is very easy to read. I would recommend it to five year olds and up. I only read two books. I hope you read all of them. I can't tell you any more but you can find out!

this is a great book.......2002-05-19

bought this for my son. a great way to teach kids to respect and take care of Mother Earth. illustrations are absolutely beautiful and the text is easy to read. one of my son's favorite books.

West from Home: Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder, San Francisco, 1915

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West from Home
An adult fan
Laura
Much More Than a Collection of Letters
Interesting

West from Home: Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder, San Francisco, 1915
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Manufacturer: HarperTrophy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0064400816

Book Description

"It is like a fairyland." So Laura Ingalls Wilder described her 1915 voyage to San Francisco to visit her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane. Laura's husband, Almanzo, was unable to leave their Missouri farm and it is her faithful letters home, vividly describing every detail of her journey, that have been gathered here. Includes 24 pages of exciting photographs and completely redesigned jacket art.

Customer Reviews:

West from Home .......2007-07-12

Laura Ingalls Wilders makes a trip by train to visit her daughter, Rose, in 1915 in San Francisco. It was during the 1915 World's Fair. Laura visited for two months and wrote interesting, detailed letters back home to Almanzo about what she saw and did.
Some of her descriptions were captivating in their detail. The book fills in gaps and answers questions about the years following the events of the Little House books. The reader meets Rose, the daughter, as an adult, and begins to learn about her amazing life as a successful writer.
It was during this visit that Rose begins to help Laura learn how to better write for publication, such as how to block-out a story.
The reader gets an insight into Rose's fierce loyalty and sense of responsibiity to her parents.

An adult fan.......2007-02-21

As an adult Laura fan it felt so personal to be reading Laura's letters to her husband. It really wound up the series for me and made me search for more books about the Wilders.

Laura.......2006-01-15

I love all the little house books. I am buying these so I can read them again and also to build up a library for my grandchildren.

Much More Than a Collection of Letters.......2005-09-12

In addition to Laura's detailed letters to Almanzo describing her adventure, this book includes over thirty photographs featuring Laura, Rose, the Pacific Ocean (ships, beachgoers, etc.), San Francisco, and many scenes of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition including an air show and night-lit festivities. Though in black and white, this pictorial insight into what was behind the letters is wonderful.

The book also includes an introduction telling how and where the letters were found and a lovely description of San Francisco at the time of Laura's visit. The letters themselves beautifully showcase the art of letter writing: Along with Laura's vivid descriptions of the technological marvels of the expo, her words are full of charming details to make us smile such as the price of eggs, hat shopping, and her favorite foods of the expo. Laura's expertise in writing compositions, as portrayed in the original Little House books, is very much evident even in these personal letters.

This book is a must have for Little House enthusiasts. Also recommended: On the Way Home: The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, in 1894.

J.H. Sweet, author of The Fairy Chronicles, and longtime Little House fan

Interesting.......2001-10-11

This is a very sweet and interesting book. Laura is visiting Rose in San Francisco for a few months and writes letters to Manly to fill him in on all she is doing and seeing.

The letters are detailed and filled with much information about San Francisco at the time. This is very interesting since it was 1915 and the Panama-Pacific International Exhibition was in progress.

Amazon.com

When Rob Walker and his girlfriend relocated to New Orleans in 2000, Walker (a regular contributor to The New York Times Magazine) started filling his friends' email inboxes with tales of adventures from his new home. Those stories--capturing the simple, everyday, and often unbelievable moments that regularly transpired in the Crescent City--are the basis for the fascinating Letters from New Orleans. Here, the author describes the parades and jazz funerals not as a tourist would see them, but from behind the scenes, amidst the personalities. Over the course of 20 or so vignettes, Walker finds himself in dive bars that should probably be condemned; bicycling through an improvised community park that happens to exist directly below a busy freeway overpass; and mulling the consequences of random, celebratory gun firings that appear to be a regular occurrence in New Orleans. Throughout, Walker is the perfect fly on the wall; he's equal parts journalist, anthropologist, and tour guide. He devotes his energy equally to the beautiful, the downtrodden, and the wacky, but these are clearly love letters to the unique people of New Orleans. Walker is, quite simply, infatuated with his adopted city. With the 2005 flooding of Hurricane Katrina happening just months after the publishing of this book, these pieces serve as even more poignant snapshots; some of Walker's favorite landmarks may be gone forever. With that in mind, the author is devoting the proceeds from this wonderful effort to Katrina victims. --Jason Verlinde

Book Description

In January of 2000, Rob Walker left a high-powered media job in New York, and with his girlfriend, moved to New Orleans. Letters from New Orleans collects, in one volume, the delightful and unsettling observations Walker sent to friends and fans about his intriguing new life in New Orleans.

Customer Reviews:

In "the land of dreams".......2007-02-06

I've never drunk and eaten my way through an hours' long lunch at Galatoire's. I don't own a white suit nor do I normally hang out in jazz clubs. Sleazy bars may possess charms, but I seldom indulge. I've never dug the Comus or Zulu krewes or jumped for mass-produced Chinese beads in the streets. This is all because I've never been to New Orleans. But I've done the next best thing---read Rob Walker's LETTERS FROM NEW ORLEANS. What I liked about Walker's emailed letters to his family and friends that later got collected into a slim volume is that they offer a view of the city that is far more sombre and penetrating than the one we used to get before Katrina turned the place into a bad news hub. Yeah, "The Big Easy" definitely had its downside even before floods killed hundreds and destroyed the low-lying sections. Murder in the projects was not unknown pre-Katrina, corruption, decay, and poverty ruled much of New Orleans behind the tourist glitz. Your quaint atmosphere of down-at-heel tradition rested on the stunted lives of a lot of black folks who were caught in an old web. I never had a great desire to visit the place, not thinking someone else's misfortune very picturesque. Still, reading Walker's letters, I felt that I got the feel of it---small details, a chance conversation that you might not have elsewhere, strange characters in electric blue suits, church music. He doesn't intrude much into his descriptions, yet you feel that he liked the place, he didn't judge it with the amused or jaundiced eye of many others. Small incidents reveal many facets of the city---the controversy over a fired waiter, explorations of a freeway ramp, attending a jazz funeral, a burning teddy bear at an annual bonfire. I liked the conclusions Walker drew--not sweeping, drastic ones, but more like collections of observations and questions left to the reader. The small black and white photographs that fill the book are strangely obtuse. They hint at things rather than illustrate them grandly and perhaps that sums up this charming little book.

P.S. If you ever wanted to know stuff about the song "St. James' Infirmary" but were afraid to ask, rest easy. It's all in here.

Read it aloud, read to yourself, just read it.......2006-03-25

If you've yet to visit New Orleans, the candid "snapshots" of Walker's letters will surely entice. If you're familiar with the city, you'll nod your head & sigh in remembrance - & hope for the future to be as sadly sweet & savory - & unsavory; yeah that, too, as the past. These "letters" capture the crazy ambience of the whole package perfectly.
I am curious about one small detail, why DID the author leave?

Like being there again!.......2006-03-19

In my 65+ years, New Orleans is the place I have returned to most often, almost like a second home. This compilation of writings--done before Katrina--echo mine experiences so closely, I get the feeling that the "Spell" of this great city affects others like it did and does me.
I was in New Orleans when as Katrina approached and the Mayor urged visitors to leave. I was lucky to get three connecting flights home to California. "Letters from New Orleans" was like a balm which I needed to feel something other than sorrow.

nice snapshot.......2006-03-10

This book started out as a nice snapshot of the characters in New Orleans. About halfway in, it devolved into a sociology disseration on the racial/class ills of the city. I grew up there and am well aware of the problems. Some of the ideas put forth by the author were simplistic at best. Otherwise, a pretty good book.

Real New Orleans.......2005-12-27

I've collected dozens of books about New Orleans, all in an attempt to further my understanding of the mysterious love affair so many of us have with the Crescent City.

In "Letters From New Orleans," Walker examines his own love affair by crafting slice-of-life vignettes shot through with the kind of colors and detail that make the reader want to tumble right down the rabbit hole with him.

Walker gets gets off Bourbon Street and gets real. "Letters From New Orleans" is personal and yet has wonderful, broad appeal owing to Walker's skill as a writer and storyteller. One need not have lived there or even visited to enjoy this book, but those who have had the pleasure of New Orleans, will be further delighted (and educated). It left me wanting more. I've read it three times; I'll read it again.

As for books about New Orleans, this little gem is a huge must. It captures the wackiness, the peculiarities, the enchantment and the "je ne sais quoi" that makes this American city unlike all the others. Rob Walker is donating the proceeds to hurricane relief efforts, which makes reading it even sweeter.

Gideon Lincecum's Sword: Civil War Letters from the Texas Home Front

Average customer rating:

Strongly recommended and powerfully vivid

Gideon Lincecum's Sword: Civil War Letters from the Texas Home Front
Gideon Lincecum
Manufacturer: University of North Texas Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 157441125X

Customer Reviews:

Strongly recommended and powerfully vivid.......2001-04-15

The effects of the Civil War on Civilian life in Texas are powerfully conveyed in the correspondence of Dr. Gideon Lincecum (1793-1874), a natural scientist and philosopher who moved to Texas in 1848 with his family of ten children and settled in Washington County. This body of correspondence, ably edited by the collaborative efforts of Jerry Bryan Lincecum, Edward hake Phillips, and Peggy A. Redshaw, is gathered together in Gideon Lincecum's Sword: Civil War Letters From The Texas Home Front and forms a strongly recommended, powerfully vivid, and informatively welcome addition to Civil War studies reference collections and reading lists.

Since You Went Away: World War II Letters from American Women on the Home Front

Average customer rating:

A marvelous glimpse at "the home front" during WWII
An important resource
Nice easy read
An Enthralling Collection
AWESOME - EMOTIONAL - REVEALING - INFORMATIONAL - THE BEST

Since You Went Away: World War II Letters from American Women on the Home Front

Manufacturer: University Press of Kansas
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0700607145

Customer Reviews:

A marvelous glimpse at "the home front" during WWII.......2006-11-12

Compiling 400 letters, Litoff and Smith give readers a very personal look at what World War II was life for American women at home. Reading them is an almost vouyeristic experience, as these women share their thoughts, struggles, personal victories and tragedies.

The book is divided topcially rather than chronologically, giving the reader an opportunity to focus in on one aspect of the war. For example, "I Took a War Job" focuses exclusively on the liberating and empowering experience women felt in working in the defense industry (and making a man's wages.) The most touching and strongest chapter, "The Price of Victory" dealt with the loss of a loved one - husbands, brothers, lovers. The letters are from all social classes, races and parts of the country, providing a representative view, and speaking to the commonality of experiences. It is a remarkable resource, a fantastic read, and a rich collection of primary documents. For the professioal historian, I highly recommend it. For the lay reader, it is as insightful as it is fascinating. Recommended.

An important resource.......2006-10-30

The letters in this book are divided into categories such as war brides, working women on the homefront, newlyweds separated by war, why we fought, the price of war and having a loved one away for so long, and courtship by mail. There's also one chapter that consists entirely of photos and photocopies of postcards, advertisements for things like V-mail and writing to servicemen overseas, posters, drawings, and newsletters. Although many of the concerns and experiences are similar, no two stories are exactly alike. We get a wide range of people, such as newlywed wives who had to cope with pregnancy and raising young children while husbands were away, wives who lost their husbands and often kept writing because they didn't know of their deaths right away, a family in a Japanese-American internment camp, a couple who went from friendly correspondence to a nationally-known breakup and angry feud to finally lovebirds again and a happily and long-married couple, a Quaker couple dealing with the husband being in prison due to his pacifist beliefs and refusal to serve in the military, wartime shortages on the homefront, and the often hard life many farmers faced during these years. The one thing all of these female letter-writers had in common, though, was that they were dealing with the absence of husbands, sons, brothers, fathers, and male friends.

However, this book didn't pique my interest quite as much as it could have due to there being just so many different excerpts; even with the longer sections, there just wasn't as much opportunity to really draw the reader in and make him or her fully connect with these longago letter-writers, the way there could have been had there been more longer excerpts (even with fewer letter-writers represented overall), with some shorter excerpts mixed in along the way. Although this is a problem with all such anthologies; as great as the material is, one can tend to feel that it's still not the full complete picture, particularly when the editors haven't included all of their letters and have even edited the length of some of them. It makes one wish one could read all of these letters written by these interesting people instead of just these relatively short samples. Still, all things considered, this is a relatively minor complaint, certainly nothing that should dissuade one from reading this fascinating book.

Nice easy read.......2005-07-02

I study all kinds of stuff from the WW2 homefront. I really liked this book. It's an easy read, however, you really get to know what it was like for the women who had to stay home during the war. I learned really early in my studies to NOT just listen to what the propoganda tells you. It was not all USO swing dances, troubles finding nylons and writing letters.

The only thing I didn't like about the book is that the letters are edited. I read the book "war letters" before this one and I was spoiled because the letters in that book are unedited and even includes spelling errors, etc but they are exactly how the soldiers wrote their letters. So when I read "since you went away", I was kinda disappointed that the author only gave you what they thought was important in the letter.

An Enthralling Collection.......2000-04-08

I'm very interested in the powerful tapestry of the US homefront during WWII. This book provides a wide variety of first hand accounts of what was happening and more importantly how people felt about these events. The power comes from the fact that the words were written at the time rather than as later rememberances tainted by subsequent experiences. The only selectivity is in the letters people chose to save. But I think the authors have done a good job in trying to mitigate this natural bias by drawing from a wide variety of sources.

AWESOME - EMOTIONAL - REVEALING - INFORMATIONAL - THE BEST.......1997-03-08

This book of letters is so revealing of that period in time. It lays the emotions of the women left behind during war time right out in the open for all to feel and experience. This book has become a part of my life. I work at a college and when we have a program that needs a reading done I am always called on to read from "my" book of WWII letters from home. I feel like these letters are my children and each one is crying out to be heard and I really do hate to have to pick only a couple to read. This book is that good. I feel that this book should be read by everybody especially young people. I get very good response after my readings and some very emotional responses as well. This is a truly wonderful book and I recommend it to everyone.

Average customer rating:

great condition
Indispensable
First hand account of the Vietnam War
5 star book
Heartfelt story of men at war

Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam

Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0393323048

Book Description

More than twenty-five years after the official end of the Vietnam War, Dear America allows us to witness the war firsthand through the eyes of the men and women who served in Vietnam. In this collection of more than 200 letters, they share their first impressions of the rigors of life in the bush, their longing for home and family, their emotions over the conduct of the war, and their ache at the loss of a friend in battle. Poignant in their rare honesty, the letters from Vietnam are "riveting,...extraordinary by [their] very ordinariness...for the most part, neither deep nor philosophical, only very, very human" (Los Angeles Times). Revealing the complex emotions and daily realities of fighting in the war, these close accounts offer a powerful, uniquely personal portrait of the many faces of Vietnam's veterans. Over 100,000 copies sold.

Customer Reviews:

great condition.......2007-06-08

love this book broke down many times on some of the letters great book!!

Indispensable.......2007-04-25

This marvelous little book offers a parallel and human voice to the more academic books about Vietnam.
There is no "agenda", here just a selection of moving, articulate, impassioned voices talking about their experiences and feelings at the time they were there. Some of the most moving, of course, being those from young people who would die shortly thereafter. We see through the letters in the book that even on the front lines this "war" was seen through a wide diversity of opinions, from those that were totally committed to it, and why (though they tend to become less prevalent as the years pass), to those who came to believe it was not a worthy effort to justify the consequences. And the majority, just confused. A must read.

First hand account of the Vietnam War.......2005-10-26

After the amazing documentary about Vietnam that solely exists of actor voice overs of funny, goofy, anxious and heartbreaking letters home from soldiers at the battlefront in Vietnam, accompanied by graphic footage of the war itself, this book came out. It contains the letters read out in the movie, and additionally has some more background information about the soldiers who wrote the letters.

Even without the trained actor voices reading the letters out loud to you, and without the grim and realistic war images, this book is a pageburner. Heart-wrenching accounts of the legacy of war written by the soldiers that fought it, as well as by the people they left behind.

5 star book.......2005-07-21

This is a wonderful book for anyone who wants to see the Vietnam war from the eyes of those who were there. The book is a collection of writings from Vietnam veterans that were written during there time in country. This book shows the War as more than casualty numbers and battle field dates. A good read for everyone.

Heartfelt story of men at war.......2004-08-19

This book captivated me so that i could not put it down, untill i had finished. It touches your heart and soul. Wonderful read!! Please put it on DVD!!! Thank you :-)

Average customer rating:

Too many small-town cliches
the best book I've ever read...
Coming of Age Murder
Puts you at the scene of the crime
Wonderful

Letter From Home
Carolyn G. Hart
Manufacturer: Berkley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0425198820
Release Date: 2004-10-05

Book Description

World-renowned journalist G.G. Gilman does her best not to think of the past. But one day she gets a letter--sent from the small Oklahoma town where she grew up--that brings it all back. Memories of people she had once known and loved dearly--and of the sultry summer when her life changed forever.

Customer Reviews:

Too many small-town cliches.......2006-11-13

I enjoyed this book and will read more Carolyn Hart mysteries. I found the ending - the mystery's solution - particularly satisfying. But much of the story called on way too many all-too-familiar and overused cliches of small town America. Which we all know (yawn) is narrow-minded, hypocritical and suspicious of those artistic types. The book's Children of the Corn mob scene is way over the top.

Nearly all of the characters fall into two rather obvious piles - the saints, and the villains. Grandmother is a perfect, selfless saint a la Ma Joad; the victim, Faye, is the Saintly but Misunderstood Artist. And the preacher, of course, is a slimy, evil purveyor of hell-fire-and-damnation. And then you have the silly side plot about the townfolk veering into vigilantism over what everybody clearly assumes is a domestic murder. HUH? And I had to stifle a snicker when, at the city council meeting, the leathery-faced, tobacco-chewing farmer yells out, "How come you ain't found Tatum yet?" How imaginative.

The mystery itself could have held its own without having to take these detours into such overworn territory.

the best book I've ever read..........2006-06-02

and I have read a lot. I very much enjoy Carolyn Hart's other books, but not as much as this book. The imagery is as compelling as the dialog. The characters are drawn lovingly & realistically. Her use of the letter, the preset & the past in each chapter keep me racing to read more. I felt that the "mystery" serves as a backdrop for the story of the characters, unlike most thriller/mystery works where the plot is the most important part of the book. I love mysteries, but for those who do not, this is just as wonderful a book showing the slice of life for these characters. This is the first review I've ever written, but this book compelled me to share my thoughts. It really is the best book I've ever read. Ms. Hart has my respect... and thanks.

Coming of Age Murder.......2005-04-26

Gretchen Gilman is only thirteen the summer of 1944, but she's managed to get a summer job at the local newspaper. With all the men off fighting the war, the editor was desperate. It's hard work, but she's enjoying herself and gaining great experience.

One night, her friend and neighbor Barb comes to her window asking for help. They return to find Barb's mother, Faye, murdered in the living room. Immediately, the rumors start about Faye's dancing at the local tavern every night while her husband is off at the war. But Gretchen finds herself getting more caught up in events that will scandalize a small town and change her life forever.

I'll admit this book took a chapter or two to fully get. Each chapter starts with part of a letter the grown up Gretchen has received, a few thoughts of her own, then flashes back to the third person account of the story as it unfolded. Once I got into the story, I was hooked. Foreshadowing keeps the suspense up, while the writing style pulls you in. I felt like I was in the small Oklahoma town that summer with its problems, prejudices, and pride. The ending is as surprising as it is logical and extremely powerful.

In spite of all I've heard about her, this is my first Carolyn Hart book. It won't be my last.

Puts you at the scene of the crime.......2005-01-14

The descriptions are so vivid that you can almost smell the starch in the doilies,taste the crunchy watermelon and feel the blast of hot air through the window.

Not only does Ms. Hart place us amidst the happenings, seen through the eyes of Gretchen, she manages to make the story twist and turn so that at the end, we are truly surprised at the outcome.

The two young girls, Gretchen and Barbie, follow very divergent lives, and their story is told through fragments of a letter sent to Gretchen and her thoughts as she looks back to that time long ago.

This book should satsify any mystery fan and those who love stories from the 40's. We get a feel for the times with women doing war work, rationing and young boys from the town that are killed.

And one great thing about this book is that a young girl is given her break into journalism by a crusty old editor. A concept that in those times was remarkable indeed.

Wonderful.......2004-09-16

I really enjoyed this book and wanted to savor it and rush through it simultaneously (I opted for savoring it!). Ms Hart's writing style easily moves the story forward and gives depth to her characters, and the ending is both unexpected and satisfying.

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