Folly and Glory: A Novel (Berrybender Narratives)

Book Description

As this final volume of The Berrybender Narratives opens, Tasmin and her family are under irksome, though comfortable, arrest in Mexican Santa Fe. Her father, the eccentric Lord Berrybender, is planning to head for Texas with his whole family and his retainers. Tasmin, who would once have followed her husband, Jim Snow, anywhere, is no longer even sure she likes him, or knows where to go to next.

In the meantime, Jim Snow, accompanied by Kit Carson, journeys to New Orleans, where he meets up with a muscular black giant named Juppy in whose company they make their way back to Santa Fe. But even they are unable to prevent the Mexicans from carrying the Berrybender family on a long and terrible journey across the desert to Vera Cruz.

Starving, dying of thirst, and in constant, bloody battle with slavers pursuing them, the Berrybenders finally make their way to civilization, where Jim Snow has to choose between Tasmin and the great American plains, on which he has lived all his life in freedom, and where, after all her adventures, Tasmin must finally decide where her future lies.

With a cast of characters that includes almost every major real-life figure of the West, Folly and Glory is a novel that represents the culmination of a great and unique four-volume saga of the early days of the West; it is one of Larry McMurtry's finest achievements.

Customer Reviews:

A disappointingly cruel tale.......2007-09-12

I want to start out by saying Larry McMurty is one of my favorite writers and that I enjoyed the descriptions of the Berrybender travels across the 1830s West. I don't think anyone sets a western scene as well as he does. But I was put off by the abject cruelty of this final book in that nearly all the characters were either outwardly cruel to others or were buffoons. The child killing scene was totally unnecessary and disturbing, and all the native Americas were shown to be fools, wanton murders, or both.

Review of the Berrybender series, vols 1-4. Overall rating 4.8 stars.......2007-07-24

This a quick minireview of the whole Berrybender series, now complete with the fourth volume -- it's really one long novel, and an omnibus edition can't be far behind. A *very* odd bunch of English aristos visit the American west in the 1830's and have adventures. A few of them even survive .

This is McMurtry in antic farce mode, but with a base level of cruelty & violence that may squick some. And don't get too attached to your favorite characters! McMurtry is as good a novelist as any now writing, and knows the history of the American west very well, indeed. And doesn't let real history get in the way of a good story .

The past is a foreign country, and McMurtry's treatment of 1830's American history is strange enough to be sfnal.... Anyway, I had a great time reading the Berrybenders. Second only to _Lonesome Dove/Streets of Laredo_ among his historicals, I think, though not much like those. But very, very good.

Happy reading--
Peter D. Tillman

unfailingly entertaining McMurtry.......2007-05-09

You have to read all the berrybender novels. Sheer entertainment, as are all McMurtry's books. There are four books in the Berry bender series. You probably will be better off starting with book number one but they can all stand on their own for a wonderful, quality read.

Read the entire series straight through.......2006-09-13

I don't think of this as a separate book. This is the conclusion to the Berrybender tale, as Return of the King was the conclusion to Lord of the Rings. These four books are all one book to me, and must be read consecutively, with no reason to read anything else in between.

I'm fond of the characters. I feel a loyalty to them, having gone through their travails with them.

One thing that takes some getting used to is that McMurtry kills off so many of the characters. He mixes this with comedy, believe it or not, especially in the first book, Sin Killer. I don't take the violence as seriously as I would have without the comedy. Come on, Lord Berrybender poking out his son Bobbety's eye with a fork? You have to be kidding. I take it that way. For that matter, the boy is named Bobbety? That's funny right there.

Because I take the entire story with a grain of salt, and just enjoy it for the ride, I'm not bothered by the extreme violence. It reads like black humor to me.

The strength of the series lies in the adorably spoiled behavior of Tasmin and, later, her daughter Petal. Without Tasmin, this series would be nothing at all.

I even get a kick out of how McMurtry sends Lord Albany Berrybender, that self centered but brave fool, to the Alamo with Davy Crockett. It almost reminds me of Where's Waldo.

Throughout the book we keep being shown that Jim Snow doesn't love Tasmin, but other men do, and that Tasmin wants to return to England but Jim Snow never would. Their marriage seems like a temporary thing.

This final book doesn't completely resolve Tasmin's life for the readers, but does give some sort of conclusion to her marriage with Jim Snow. I think Tasmin will be traveling across the pond a number of times in her life.

One thing I took from this book is the barbarity of the American Indians. Oh my god! They are usually portrayed so positively, as the poor Native Americans who the evil Europeans dispossessed.

Anyway, Larry McMurtry made Tasmin my friend. I've been through so much with her, and she is so likeable in her annoying way. I have to give the series five stars, and I refuse to differentiate one book from another. It's all one book.

Grisly Reconciliations.......2006-07-16

If you haven't read the earlier books in the series, I strongly encourage you to read them first in the correct order (The Sin Killer, The Wandering Hill and By Sorrow's River) before tackling this book.

Should you read this series? Had I known how bloody, painful and unpleasant the details would be, I wouldn't have started.

Since Lord Albany Berrybender first arrived in the United States with a major part of his family (at least the legitimate children) and a small army of servants, he's been looking forward to shooting everything in sight. In this installment (the last) of the four-part series, Lord Berrybender gets a chance to shoot at the most dangerous game of all . . . but rues that he missed a chance to kill a grizzly bear.

This story is not for those who are easily depressed. The book opens with Tasmin Berrybender totally distraught by the murder of her beloved Pomp Charbonneau. To make matters worse, she's pregnant . . . and not sure whether the father is her husband Jim Snow or Pomp. After giving birth, she's still depressed and sends Jim away.

The Berrybenders find themselves under arrest in Santa Fe for two years . . . both to line the government's pocket and to entertain the governor's wife. Lord Albany finds himself smitten with a teenage mistress . . . a liaison that has dangerous consequences for the party. While in Santa Fe, we learn about how the Mexicans liked to deal with Native American outlaws and pursue their private pleasures.

But all is thrown into disarray when the governor is dismissed and a troop comes to march the Berrybenders to Vera Cruz in anticipation of war with the United States. Jim Snow escapes and tracks the group to rescue the Berrybenders. But before he can do that, he has to rescue the Mexican army. The march becomes a death trek like those in many of the earlier books . . . as cholera and slavers take their toll. Jim Snow had been a captive slave, and he takes the slaver attack very personally . . . which leads to a remarkable confrontation in which Jim has the epiphany of his life.

The Berrybenders end up in Texas just in time for the war for independence.

Tasmin and Jim come to a final understanding about their marriage and everyone who has survived has to scope out a new plan for the rest of their lives as they limp into St. Louis.

For those who like exciting action, this book has one spell-binding sequence as Jim Snow becomes a one-man army. If it hadn't been for that portion of the book, I would have rated the book at two stars.

Average customer rating:

Bad Bad Bad
What's Kafka got to do with dolls?
Great subtext--if you get it...
Slow to start but persevere
Bo-ring

The Brooklyn Follies: A Novel
Paul Auster
Manufacturer: Picador
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0312426232
Release Date: 2006-10-17

Book Description

Nathan Glass has come to Brooklyn to die. Divorced, retired, estranged from his only daughter, the former life insurance salesman seeks only solitude and anonymity. Then Glass encounters his long-lost nephew, Tom Wood, who is working in a local bookstore--a far cry from the brilliant academic career Tom had begun when Nathan saw him last. Tom's boss is the colorful and charismatic Harry Brightman--a.k.a. Harry Dunkel--once the owner of a Chicago art gallery, whom fate has also brought to the "ancient kingdom of Brooklyn, New York." Through Tom and Harry, Nathan's world gradually broadens to include a new circle of acquaintances. He soon finds himself drawn into a scam involving a forged page of The Scarlet Letter, and begins to undertake his own literary venture, The Book of Human Folly, an account of "every blunder, every pratfall, every embarrassment, every idiocy, every foible, and every inane act I have committed during my long and checkered career as a man."

The Brooklyn Follies is Paul Auster's warmest, most exuberant novel, a moving, unforgettable hymn to the glories and mysteries of ordinary human life.

Customer Reviews:

Bad Bad Bad.......2007-09-26

I love Auster, I was turned onto him when his New York Trilogy was first coming out, thanks to a bookseller on Westwood Blvd, in LA. I'm pleased to have hardbacks of the first three books that make up the Trilogy. Since then I give him a lot of latitude, and he's often hit or miss. The last good one was "Book of Illusions." This book plus the following "In the Scriptorium" have realy put me off him. Maybe he's got too many other plates spinning to make time for his fiction... Who knows, just hate to see a great writer lose it.

What's Kafka got to do with dolls?.......2007-09-26

There are a few bad things I could say about this book, a bit too vulgar at times, a bit too descriptive others, but those are my personal preferences. Overall, its brilliant moments far outweigh any flaws I may have perceived.
I enjoyed the symbolism, the intellectual discussions between Tom and Nathan, the strong intertextuality, and the constant shifting in the narrative.
I particularly loved the story about Kafka and the doll. It's easy to picture that as the inspiration behind the entire book. And the Hotel Existence, so resemblant of Borges' writing!

Great subtext--if you get it..........2007-08-16

This is a novel in which the subtext is by far more interesting than the narration appearing on the page. And Auster seems to have worked hard to weave this subtext.

The retired, recently divorced Nat becomes reacquainted with his nephew, Tom, formerly an English professor who's failed to complete his Ph.D. Tom says, "Poe was artifice and the gloom of midnight chambers. Thoreau was simplicity and the radiance of the outdoors." In these words Auster captures the two main characters: Tom, the erudite yet bewildered and lost literary expert, who, like Poe, epitomizes disappointment and gloom, and Uncle Nat, the uncomplicated man who watches life on the sidelines and who is more interested in rehabilitating the lives of others than his own.

From that point on, the novel is peppered with borrowed literary concepts, starting with Rousseau ("As long as man had the courage to reject what society told him to do, he could live life on his own terms.") to Voltaire, in the form of the colorful, yet tragic, figure of Harry.

But that is also where the problem of this novel lies: A reader must work very hard at getting to the bottom of every scene--if not of every paragraph--in order to make the story come to life. The surface story is merely a mild plot that lacks either momentum or tension. When events finally move at the end, they are narrated succinctly, as an afterthought, a summary of what should have been allowed to bloom on the page in real time and to reach a climatic crescendo. If the reader has developed any attachment to the characters, she would be disappointed at the lack of emotions when these characters finally seem to resolve their problems. The summarizing tone, like an epilogue, must have been written on one leg at a Brooklyn phone booth rather than toiled at at the author's desk.

I could not help but compare the lackluster narrator of "Brooklyn Follies," Nat, to Auster's engaging narrator in "The Book of Illusions," David Zimmer. And when I thought of the unforgettable brilliant depiction of the comedian Hector Mann and compared it to the flat persona of Tom in "Brooklyn Follies," I wished that Auster would do better next time.

Slow to start but persevere.......2007-07-17

At the beginning of the book I decided that I really wasn't going to like the main character. But it turns out that at the beginning of the book, the main character doesn't like himself. As the book progressed we both changed our opinions.

This story was touching, funny and I found the narrative style clever and absorbing. The main character is writing a collection of his own 'follies'. Little snapshots of silly things he has done in his life. He doesn't share many of these with the reader but he does share the bigger follies of the people around him. In engrossing but sympathetic details.

This book gives you plenty of sub plots, excellent characterisation and manges to tie it all into an uplifting story of humanity, it's flaws and it's beauties.

Bo-ring.......2007-06-11

After reading the first 50 pages of this book, I'm calling it quits. It's hard for me to do, as I'm all for giving books a chance and I know sometimes books with slow beginnings can end up being great by the end. But, I feel this book is a waste of my time. I've never read an Auster book before and chose this one after reading some reviews of it. Life is to shore to spend it reading books that are boring. I'm moving on to another.

Jazz Age Beauties: The Lost Collection of Ziegfeld Photographer Alfred Cheney Johnston

Average customer rating:

Beautiful!!
Very nicely done
A beauty unto itself
Beautiful
Purchased for the photos, enjoyed the text

Jazz Age Beauties: The Lost Collection of Ziegfeld Photographer Alfred Cheney Johnston
Robert Hudovernik
Manufacturer: Universe
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0789313812
Release Date: 2006-10-17

Book Description

Despite Prohibition, the '20s was the decade of jazz, flappers and hip flasks. While some took their vote and joined the Woman's Christian Temperance Movement, others, well, took liberties. Compiled here for the first time are more than 200 publicity stills and photos of some of America's first "It" girls—the silent film-era starlets who paved the way for the cacophony of Monroes and Madonnas to follow. Accompanying these iconic images are the stories behind them, including accounts from surviving Ziegfeld Girls, as well as ads featuring them that helped perpetuate the allure of It girl glamour. When rare and striking portraits of these women surfaced on the internet in 1995, author Robert Hudovernik began researching their source. What he discovered was the work of one of the first "star makers" identified most with the Ziegfeld Follies, Alfred Cheney Johnston. Johnston, a member of New York's famous Algonquin Round Table who photographed such celebrities as Mary Pickford, Fanny Brice, the Gish Sisters, and Louise Brooks, fell out of the spotlight with the demise of the revue. A sumptuous snapshot of an era, this book is also a look at the work of this "lost" photographer.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful!!.......2007-10-02

I cant say enough about the beauty of this book. I was pleasantly surprised at the top notch quality. I highly recommend it.

Very nicely done.......2007-07-01

I'm a photographer and also a big jazz fan, so when I saw this title it caught my attention. I found it to be an interesting mixture of text, photography and history. I'm a big fan of vintage photography and often buy quality images and negatives at garage sales and flea markets whenever I can find them. I'm always amused by what was once considered daring, and risqué' and always interested in seeing the vintage clothing styles and backgrounds including the furnishings and automobiles as well as the subject of each image.

By any measure Alfred Johnston was a great photographer, and in my view one luck man. Firstly his images all give the models dignity, grace, and pose, and the nudes are done with exceptional taste. Image if you can being a photographer during that era and also being lucky enough to have access to a pool of models that included the stars, both real and wannabes, as well as the Ziegfield Girls! But Johnston does much more than just shoot pretty faces and bodies. The care given to each pose, especially the attention given the eyes and face, the makeup, the props, they're all first rate. All the images, especially the nudes speak volumes about this photographer's passion for producing quality images.

From a technical perspective, it's easy to pick at some of the work. Some of the lighting and shadows, and the extensive use of soft focus might give some a reason to critize. But there was no "Photoshop" software to edit these images; in fact the technology of photography was very crude by today's standards.

This is a first rate collection of vintage photos and the carefully written text makes it a great book for anyone with a serious interest in photography or the history of the craft.

A beauty unto itself.......2007-04-19

Not only does this book contain some of the most stunning photography from the jazz age but is also full of wonderful stories about some of the people pictured. I've been studying the 1920s for years now and some of this information came as a delightful surprise. This is a treasure from anyone who loves great history and fine art.

Beautiful.......2007-03-13

They just don't make 'em like they used to. So many beauties, all beautiful for different reasons.

Purchased for the photos, enjoyed the text.......2007-02-21

I purchased Jazz Age Beauties for the beautiful photographs. Alfred Cheney Johnston brought an aristocratic air to classically posed black and white nudes. The photographs from the 1920s illustrate that beauty is timeless. However, as I read through the text, I gained an insight of life passing from youthful beauty to adulthood and often the troubles that followed. The text brought the photos to life. More than just a book of excellent photographs, Jazz Age Beauties offers the reader a glimpse into another time, not unlike our own.

The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam

Average customer rating:

A Timely Commentary
The Optimistic Jew
Prescient and Unintelligible to Neo-Cons
You can count on one hand the factors leading to folly, but....
Will the folly ever end?

The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam
Barbara W. Tuchman
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0345308239
Release Date: 1985-02-12

Book Description

Twice a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, author Barbara Tuchman now tackles the pervasive presence of folly in governments through the ages. Defining folly as the pursuit by governments of policies contrary to their own interersts, despite the availability of feasible alternatives, Tuchman details four decisive turning points in history that illustrate the very heights of folly in government: the Trojan War, the breakup of the Holy See provoked by the Renaissance Popes, the loss of the American colonies by Britain's George III, and the United States' persistent folly in Vietnam. THE MARCH OF FOLLY brings the people, places, and events of history magnificently alive for today's reader.

Customer Reviews:

A Timely Commentary.......2007-09-09

Though written in 1984, this book takes apart governmental decision-making and reveals that since Biblical times right on through the Viet Nam War, government leaders frequently operated against the best interests of their nations. The "folly" is that these leaders knew they were on the wrongtrack but did little to correct their errors while they continued to defend them. Though the book deals extensively with the Viet Nam War (as well as the American Revolution and the Seige of Troy), the current fiasco in Iraq is very much on the mind of the reader. Almost every misstep by the British at the time of the American Revolution was replicated in some form during Viet Nam and it is clearly being repeated again in Iraq.

The Optimistic Jew.......2007-08-31

Chapter One of this book is entitled "Pursuit of Policy Contrary to Self-Interest". Here Ms. Tuchman identifies what she feels are the three criteria for folly: 1) it must have been perceived as counter-productive in its own time (not in hindsight); 2) a feasible alternative course of action must have been available; and 3) the policy in question should be that of a group (of rulers or entire societies) and not of single individuals.
In my book "The Optimistic Jew" I identify Israel's misconceived settlement policy in the occupied territories since the Six Day War as the most self-damaging project in the history of Zionism. It is Israel's (and Jewry's) very own "March of Folly" and satisfies all of Tuchman's criteria.

Prescient and Unintelligible to Neo-Cons.......2007-06-24

Barbara Tuchman wrote this book to illustrate some of the worst examples of leadership throughout history. She retells the mythical story of Trojan defeat, Papal life that spawned the Reformation, British obtuseness that lost America and the U.S. experience in Vietnam. Although casual readers of history have heard these tales before, Tuchman's version is original and trenchant with a touch of weary sarcasm.

The origins of the Reformation are usually told from Luther's viewpoint, but Tuchman sketches the Popes' lifestyles and family conections from 1470-1530. It was an era when civil and religious warlords were so drawn to the demonstration of opulence and power that the Popes could no more represent Christ's message than mafia dons. Michaelangelo asked Julius II if he should be painted with a book in hand. "Put a sword there," he replied. "I know nothing of letters."

Most Americans have heard the improbable success-story of the Revolution, but Tuchman relates the story from Parliament where the British ruling class exerted their perogatives. America was only a newspaper item to the titled Brits- not one in position of authority ever set foot here- unless he commanded an army. This peek at Royal Britain goes a long way to explain why they were so determined to bend America to their laws and interests. Of course there were distinguished Cassandras among them- Pitt, Burke, Barre and others- But, all were ignored.

America became the fool in the 20th century when she tried to prop up a corrupt and incompetent faction in South Vietnam. I was surprised to to read that all Presidents involved had plenty of warning about the tenacity of the North, the ineffectiveness of our bombing, the futility of "Vietnamization, the ultimate harm we were doing to our country... Somehow we inveigled leaders who would lie and misrepresent only to dig a deeper hole. They persisted to "work the levers" even when they knew it was a lost cause.

If Ms. Tuchman were alive and able to update this work, Junior Bush's war would provide the perfect fodder. His war fits so many descriptives that could be applied to previous follies. And yet, the millions of Americans who remembered Vietnam and saw the similarities with Iraq were unable to stop it. I'll close with a quote from Tuchman that is about Vietnam, but is relevant to many ill-conceived conflicts: "The follies...begin with continuous over-reacting: in the invention of endangered 'national security,' the invention of 'vital interest,' the invention of a 'commitment' which rapidly assumed a life of its own, casting a spell over the inventor."

You can count on one hand the factors leading to folly, but...........2007-06-06

...it still persists. Tuchman lays out the history of 4 events - Troy, The Reformation, The US revolution, and The US Vietnam "War" - in her usual comprehensive detail. If you don't want the facts and the facts that lead to the facts, dont bother reading BT. She will bore you. If you are curious as to how history and events evolve, then she delivered again with this one.
What leads to Folly (defined as a group acting contrary to their own best interests) - self-interest over public interests, belief in the monopoly of power, belief that abndonment of the current course will lead to ruin.

An interesting conclusion I drew from this was that open systems that feared their own demise and debated it actually survived and grew stronger. The British Empire expanded for the 100 years after US rebellion, while there were many who believed it would crumble without the American colonies. Many in US policy circles believed that Communist agression, if not checked in Vietnam, would lead to the demise of free and open societies. Clearly events unfolded otherwise.

The open debate of folly in a society leads to progress as in the case of The British Empire and The US. The lack of debate led to the destruction of Troy, and the persistent decline in power of the RC Church since the Renassaince.

All leaders would do well to take heed...

Will the folly ever end?.......2007-05-17

"The March of Folly" is a book that is sure to get readers thinking about why countries can sometimes do absurd things that wound them badly. This book focuses on the phenomenon of the (page 4) ". . .pursuit by governments of policies contrary to their own interest." She asserts that misgovernment has four facets: (a) tyranny or oppression; (b) excessive ambition; (c) incompetence or decadence; (d) folly or perversity. This book focuses on the final aspect of misgovernment.

To be counted as folly, the policy enacted must meet three standards: (1) it is counter-productive in its own time and not just apparent after-the-fact; (2) practical and feasible alternatives had to be available; (3) the policy in question is not adopted by one person but is part of a group process. A part of this process is what she colorfully terms "wooden-headedness," which (page 7) ". . .consists in assessing a situation in terms of preconceived fixed notions while ignoring or rejecting any contrary signs. It is acting according to wish while not allowing oneself to be deflected by the facts." It reflects what psychologists refer to as "confirmation bias," the tendency to accept data consistent with one's views and reject information not compatible with preexisting perspectives.

The book considers four illustrations. The first is the Wooden Horse that the Greek besieging forces introduced into Troy. This fits Tuchman's definition of folly--it had immediate repercussions harmful to the Trojans' interests; there were simple alternatives available (not bringing the horse inside the city's walls; the decision was the result of group deliberation and discussion. And the result was disaster for Troy, of course.

The second example is the Renaissance Popes making decisions that led to the Protestant movement and the split in Christendom. The third case study is the British loss of America, as a result of the Revolutionary War.

The final instance is America's involvement in Viet Nam. Was this folly? The withdrawal of the United States from Viet Nam had immediate effects, with the fall of the South Vietnamese government and corrosive effects on the United States' national interest; there were other alternatives available than sending in massive numbers of troops and huge amounts of materials; no single person got the United States fully involved in Viet Nam; it was the result of many decisions, spread out over time. Was Viet Nam policy folly? While some disagree now, many more would contend that this case well illustrates folly.

Can one extend the analysis to the American policy toward Iraq? Is there enough evidence to suggest wooden-headedness (or confirmation bias) by the Administration? Is the engagement in Iraq counterproductive to America's national interest? Are there feasible alternatives to the status quo? Was the policy adopted by just one person or was it the result of numerous decision-makers deliberations? We can certainly answer the last question in the affirmative. As to the first three questions, each reader would have to make up his or her own mind. But the book can provoke such reflection, whether considering Iraq or other major policy choices. This book is well worth looking at.

Water Follies: Groundwater Pumping And The Fate Of America's Fresh Waters

Average customer rating:

Water Follies - a must read for water concerns
Pumping too Much
The biggest pump wins!
A book any hydrology student should read
The same motives as Scheherazade

Water Follies: Groundwater Pumping And The Fate Of America's Fresh Waters
Robert Jerome Glennon
Manufacturer: Island Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1559634006

Book Description

"...a book as rich in detail as it is devastating in its argument." -SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

"Water Follies deserves a place alongside the late Marc Reisner's classic Cadillac Desert." -ENVIRONMENT

"a lively account of hydrology" -NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS

"if you want to scare yourself silly, read Water Follies, by Robert Jerome Glennon. In it you'll learn how America is irrigating itself to death-just like the Sumerians-while sucking its groundwater aquifers dry."-TORONTO GLOBE & MAIL

Customer Reviews:

Water Follies - a must read for water concerns.......2007-06-08

I gave this book to a friend who just completed an environmental science degree. She said she thought it should be required reading. She learned about some major water concerns in this book that she wasn't taught in classes she took on this same subject. If you are at all concerned about the future of our water supply, you must read this book. While most of us cannot fight the big battles that this issue requires, we can stop buying McDonald's french fries, farm-raised salmon, farm-raised blueberries, etc. Even if you aren't majoring in environmental sciences, read this book. It is an eye opener. We are all going to be affected by a water shortage in the near future. We need to be educated about this very severe problem. Those who control the water will control the world.

Pumping too Much.......2006-08-24

Glennon writes in plain English to warn Americans of the growing danger under our feet. We are pumping groundwater, the gift of fresh and wholesome well water, at an unsustainable rate across the country. Glennon ties groundwater to surface water and illustrates in terms that are as accessible as they are urgent that the United States is headed for a crisis of our own making.

Using a number of case studies, Glennon gives us a glimpse of the American approach to ground water. Throughout much of the US, ground water is considered legally separate from surface water. Within this legal framework, there are few restrictions placed on the use (and abuse) of a critical resource that respects neither property lines nor political boundaries. Indeed, the law encourages abuse with a use-it-or-lose it philosophy to ownership of ground water. Whoever pumps the most wins. Unfortunately, we are pumping so much ground water that rivers, lakes, and ponds across the nation are running dry--ruining many local ecosystems in the process and setting ourselves up for major economic ramifications. With the studies Glennon has chosen, he shows us the consequences of unrestricted ground water pumping for lawns, for agricultural uses, and in support of mining. In every case, Glennon demonstrates that we are doing grave damage to ourselves with our profligate pumping.

This book belongs on the reading list of all high school and college students, regardless of major or course of study.

The biggest pump wins!.......2005-08-28

If we say "Glennon covers all the ground" in a book about water, will the reader be confused? Let's take the risk, since that is precisely what the author does in this excellent study. From the ways in which water collects or flows on the land's surface to the movement of water deep in the earth, Glennon carefully explains how water accumulates. He describes farm, mining and even water for scenic tourist views.Water consumption has been an economic, social and legal issue since the colonies were founded almost four centuries ago.

The legacy of those early efforts to distribute water to thirsty farms and communities is a central theme of this book. As settlement moved westward, readily available water waned. Contention arose between early settlers and those arriving later. Farm use of water was challenged by mining and industry as communities grew. In the West, as available surface water was used or claimed, fresh sources were sought. These proved to be buried deep beneath the surface - "ground water". Ground water was a mysterious resource to many - it still is, according to Glennon. Although it's known that, like streams, ground water reserves must be "recharged", only a little is understood about the rate of inflow or, too often, the source of refreshment. In a nation that consumes over 5000 litres per person per day, the availability of fresh water is a major consideration.

Glennon presents a string of vignettes of water issues in the USA. The selection process allows him to present a spectrum of issues surrounding water availability and use. Although naturally focussing his study in the West where availability and variations in types of demand complicate an already complex area. The stops include San Antonio, a minor river in California, mining in Arizona and Nevada. The East isn't ignored - rivers in Massachusetts and Florida are impacted by groundwater pumping. A Florida case is most enlightening. Groundwater pumping drained moist soils, putting houses at risk and drying lakes. The lake problem was addressed by re-filling the lakes - with more groundwater!

Nearly every case demonstrates the level of ignorance surrounding how water moves and impacts its environment. The legal issues Glennon discusses air this problem admirably. The law considerations range from "the commons" [where all have access] to those who settle first gaining full rights which followers must adapt to or contest. Western court archives are stuffed with litigation records over access. In too many cases, decisions have rested on who needs the most water - the biggest pump often wins. Glennon explains how the science of hydrography and legal decisions over water are often at best disparate. In other cases the two disciplines are sharply at odds. His conclusion suggests these divergencies can be overcome. A number of compromises will have to be reached. The biggest problem, however, is establishing realistic priorities regarding consumption. The biggest problem is data. Collecting it while water is being consumed at astronomical rates won't be a simple task. The water is running out faster than reserves can be measured. When the USA runs out of water, they will seek it elsewhere - a fact all Canadians are well aware of. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

A book any hydrology student should read.......2003-07-25

I read this book during a summer program dealing with freshwater resources throughout the world. It not only helped my progression through the course, but also gave me a new perspective on water as a resource. In the US most of us do not give a second thought to the water we use in our everyday lives. Even in regions plagued by drought modern technology adds to the illusion that water is everywhere and limitless. However, any reader of this book will tell you differently. It takes you through different case studies through out the country where water use has had dramatic influence on the environment we live in. It explains not just the science of the situation but also the politics often behind the scenes as well. I would highly recommend this book to any student, professor, or hobbyist with an interest in hydrology.

The same motives as Scheherazade.......2003-01-19

Most recent controversy over the use and conservation of America's fresh water has concerned the water visible on the surface - river and lakes. With that as an implicit focus, we frequently argue over where dams ought to be built, what fields ought to be irrigated and at whose cost, whether homes in flood plains ought to be insured at public expense, and so forth.

Robert Glennon, a professor of law at the University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law, wants to draw our attention to invisible water, and to the question how we might best avoid either polluting or running out of it.

Early on, he tells the story of Ubar, a city of ancient Arabia, an oasis for the camel caravans of its time, and a place of fabulous wealth. Scheherazade spoke of Ubar in one of her thousand-and-one tales, as did countless bedouins around countless campfires. It became an Arabian Sodom, reputedly destroyed at the peak of its splendor by an angry God. What Glennon adds is that Ubar (in what we now call Oman) was a very real place.

In the 1980s, an amateur archeologist, Nicholas Clapp, led an expedition that successfully located and unearthed the fortress that had once guarded the precious spring-fed well that had made the city a port of call for those desert-crossing voyagers. It now appears that sometime between 300 and 500 AD, Ubar simply fell. It collapsed of its own weight, into a huge underground limestone cavern - the cavern that its wells had progressively emptied of water. The groundwater had held the city up, physically as well as fiscally. So Ubar, having exended its capital, sank out of sight, and entered legend as the "Atlantis of the desert" (T.E. Lawrence's phrase.)

Glennon tells this story for the same three reasons that Scheherazade did: to charm, to instruct, to survive.

Fanciful Paper Projects: Making Your Own Posh Little Follies
Average customer rating:

Cute ideas

Cute & Fun Projects..

Cute and useful too

Where's the CD?

Like Crack for Crafters and Scrapbookers!!

Fanciful Paper Projects: Making Your Own Posh Little Follies
Sandra Evertson
Manufacturer: Sterling/Chapelle
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Papercrafts | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1402727526

Book Description

New in Paper
The beauty of vintage paper is at the core of the absolutely captivating projects that author Sandra Evertson calls "Posh Little Follies." She has created a unique selection of enchanting little theaters, bandboxes, ornaments, and art dolls. Best of all, Sandra makes it fun for everyone else to craft them, too. The instructions are easy to follow and the elements can be color-copied straight from the book--even the actual rare papers she used. Some of the items feature embellishments such as ribbon, while others glisten with rhinestones and beads. Among the charming projects: a Prima Ballerina doll; Theatre La Rousse, complete with a Pierrot; Cupcake Papier Mache Box; and paper posies with fanciful faces to "plant" in pots.

Customer Reviews:

Cute ideas.......2007-08-18

I bought this book to do some paper art crafts with my daughter. Although I won't follow the artist's step by step instructions (which she gives great detail)it inspired me for my own projects. My only complaint was that she wrote the book in third person "...the artist prefers...." Why couldn't she say, "I prefer to use...." it was annoying reading---almost like she needed to pretend that someone was writing a biography on her.

Cute & Fun Projects.........2007-03-30

This is a fun book for "crafty types" and the templates are very cute. I especially liked the fairy one,in fact I made several of them and didn't closely follow the one shown in the book,which is what I reccommend once you get the hang of making these little projects. Yes,a CD would be nice,but I didn't pay much for the book itself,so,overall I'm pretty happy with it.

Cute and useful too.......2007-01-12

At first the photography attracted me. Then I appreciated the detailed instruction that explained how to make little boxes that will stand up on their creepy little legs. Fun reference I can see myself going back to for years.

Where's the CD?.......2006-11-15

This is a great book, full of inspiration and feel-good eye candy. It seems rather antiquated, though, to include lots of clip art that needs to be photocopied at a specified enlargement. To accomplish this copying, the book needs to be taken apart. Also, most home printers do not print on paper larger than 8.5 by 11 inches, so some images are cut off while others are being enlarged. Why not just include all the images on a CD (that costs, what, about 25 cents to produce?) Most of the other books in this genre seem to be including CDs now. That's my only problem with this book.

Like Crack for Crafters and Scrapbookers!!.......2006-09-15

I am constantly buying craft books to add to my collection. This book is beautifully illustrated with patterns, ephemera, papers and instructions for completing the projects.

In response to the fear of destroying the book to make the crafts I have some suggestions to offer.

1. Buy two copies if you are worried about wrecking the spine or cutting up the book. It is DEFINITELY worth the investment if you are a serious crafter.

2. Tracing paper is good for tracing basic patters. Find a good craft store that carries a selection of patterned papers and transfer the tracing to the paper. In Washington state I frequent Michael's, Jo-Ann Fabric, and Ben Franklin which all carry a large selection of different papers.

3. A good scanner and a photo editing program are another good way to copy the items without spending alot of money on color prints. Of course a printer also helps. This method is helpful if you want to resize images to fit a particular format.

4. If you are good with a vector program like Freehand or Illustrator you have opened up even more possibilities for tweeking these designs to fit your needs.

As for the downside to this book? I'm not the writer raking in the cash for it! This is truly one of the best "how to" crafting books I've seen on the market yet! It truly is, as one reviewer put it, a visual feast! Enjoy!

Century Girl: 100 Years in the Life of Doris Eaton Travis, Last Living Star of the Ziegfeld Follies

Average customer rating:

A loving tribute to an extrordinary woman.
eye candy at its best
Beautiful Book About a Remarkable Life
"It's the top, it's the coliseum"
High-kicking hybrid

Century Girl: 100 Years in the Life of Doris Eaton Travis, Last Living Star of the Ziegfeld Follies
Lauren Redniss
Manufacturer: Collins Design
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Mixed Media | Other Media | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0060853336
Release Date: 2006-10-24

Book Description

The Ziegfeld Follies, Florenz Ziegfeld's stage spectacular, promised the best performers, the most lavish sets, and the most ravishing girls. Doris Eaton Travis was one of these prized beauties–and, at 14, was chosen as the youngest chorus girl in the Follies. "Mine eyes are yet dim with the luminous beauty of a girl named Doris," one Chicago reviewer wrote.

Today, at the age of 102, Eaton is the last living Ziegfeld girl. Over the past century, she has performed for presidents and princesses, entertained Gershwin, Lindbergh, and Astaire, starred in silent and talking pictures, bantered with Babe Ruth, offended Henry Ford, outlived six siblings, written a newspaper column, hosted a television show, earned a Phi Beta Kappa degree in history, raised turkeys, and raced horses. Century Girl is a visual tour of this extraordinary woman's journey through the ages.

Customer Reviews:

A loving tribute to an extrordinary woman........2007-09-03

Century Girl: 100 Years in the Life of Doris Eaton Travis, Last Living Star of the Ziegfeld Follies is a new order of biography. Lauren Redniss uses hand-written text as an artistic element to guide the eye through the evocative images she has created using photo-collage and line drawings. The result is a visually stunning tour of the extraordinary life of Doris Eaton Travis

The book chronicles the life of Norman, Oklahoma, resident and University of Oklahoma graduate Doris Eaton Travis. The book follows Travis and her siblings, once known as the Eatons of Broadway, from their lives as child actors, to their success in theater and early films, and ultimately to their sad and often tragic fates.

Travis alone was able to leave show business behind. She had the strength to adapt herself when circumstances demanded; from dancer, to entrepreneur, to book-keeper on a horse ranch, to college graduate at 88 years old. She returned to the Broadway stage at the age of 94 and recieved an honorary doctorate at 100. Her's is a story of reinvention and ultimately of success.

Lauren Redniss teaches at the Parson's School in New York City. Her work is often seen on the Op-Ed page of the New York Times, which nominated her for the Pulitzer Prize. She is currently writing a biography of Marie Curie, due out in the fall.

This book is a work of art from cover to cover. Redniss knows her subject well and the story is told largely in Travis' own words. It is the author's unique, artistic approach that brings this fascinating story to life so vibrantly and with such immediacey.

In one section of the book, for example, Redniss discusses Travis' sister Mary Eaton's beauty, and the eagerness with which men gave her expensive gifts. The text takes the reader to photographs of Eaton in a seductive pose layered over images of Eaton's name in lights on the marquis of the New Amsterdam Theater. These images flow into a still photo from Eaton's starring role in Glorifying the American Girl. As we read of Eaton's beauty, we see coming off the page a Broadway star at the height of her fame and a woman who epitomizes beauty in the early twentieth century....and we understand why men were so easily parted from their money.

The artistic elements flow together seamlessly and carry the reader through this lovingly crafted biography. Redniss' incredible images allow the reader to experience the lives of Travis and her family in ways that text alone simply doesn't allow.

This book would appeal to anyone interested in dance or theater history. It has appeal to the general reader as well. Doris Eaton Travis is an extraordinary human being. Her ability to overcome tragedy, to reinvent herself, and to constantly strive to learn is an inspiration to all. Lauren Redniss' extaordinary book is the perfect vehicle to bring her inspiring story to life.

eye candy at its best.......2007-05-17

Have you ever looked through an old school yearbook where handwritten script accompanies carefully cropped pictures to make art? My grandma's yearbook from 1918 was like this. So is this gem by Lauren Redniss. The text and the artful images tugged at my heart and had me reading anxiously onward. It is as much a journey through this past century as it is a tribute to one remarkable lady. This was worth every cent!

Beautiful Book About a Remarkable Life.......2006-12-10

Lauren Redniss' Century Girl is a work of art that tells the story of a remarkable woman, Doris Eaton Travis. It is visually stunning -- the colors and art/photos/clippings and presentation make the cleverly inked biographical words LIVE on the page. And though longevity is one of the book's hooks -- "100 years in the life..." -- it is really about LIVING life, really, truly living life. It's a very unique experience reading this book -- you open a page and the gorgeous, artistic presentation really draws your eyes. You soak it all in, and then you read the words. As you read the words, you take in the art in a new way, and the words and the art combine to unfold the story in a really wonderful way. I highly recommend this book.

"It's the top, it's the coliseum".......2006-12-01

Everything about this vivacious book gives me a thrill. From the life and times of Doris Eaton herself (my latest and greatest role model - Please, God, let me live so long and be so grand!) to Ms. Redniss' swell and funky collaged interpretations of it, these are book dollars well-spent. Century Girl is a BIG, juicy tome of a book with a fabulous and sturdy library binding and thick glossy pages.

Whether you're a fan of cutting edge book design, collage, the 1920's, or the Ziegfield Follies, do your coffee or bedside table a sweet favor and grace it with this book before another week passes you by. And don't forget the tables at your Aunties' and your best girlfriends'.

This is a book to give anyone you're really crazy about.

High-kicking hybrid.......2006-11-20

This book is an engaging blend of art journal, visual bio, and time-travel archive. Although the book documents the life of a bygone
Ziegfeld Folly-dolly, it is really a prime example of how a nearly-forgotten pile of clippings and ephemera can be turned into a fascinating
bit of visual magic. The author/artist shows a strong affinity and tenderness for her subject, and yet she breathes new (vibrant) life into the story of Doris Eaton Travis; and creates a fascinating visual diary
in the bargain. Although the target audience for this book is probably theatre buffs and historians, I would suggest that many of my "tribe" who love art journals, altered books, and mixed media artwork will find it to be full of ideas. Visually-fascinating and engaging.

Pretensions to Empire: Notes on the Criminal Folly of the Bush Administration

Average customer rating:

His reasoning is compelling, measured, and completely accessible to readers of all backgrounds.
Requiem for a republic
verdict : impeach now
Superbly written
Even the Liberal NY Times....

Pretensions to Empire: Notes on the Criminal Folly of the Bush Administration
Lewis Lapham
Manufacturer: New Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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Gag Rule: On the Suppression of Dissent and the Stifling of Democracy
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Lapham's Rules of Influence: A Careerist's Guide to Success, Status, and Self-Congratulation

ASIN: 159558112X

Book Description

The preeminent political essayist writes about the perversion of America's democratic legacy under George W. Bush—and makes a compelling case for impeachment.

Lewis Lapham stands virtually alone among mainstream American journalists in having consistently seen through the fog of lies and narcissism surrounding the Bush administration from its earliest days in Washington. Pretensions to Empire brings together Lapham's trenchant political commentaries from his award-winning "Notebook" column in Harper's, giving us a complete picture of a presidency whose brazen abuses of power—and incompetence—have led the United States down a precipitous path, culminating in Lapham's eloquent case for impeachment.

From a perspective deeply informed by history, Lapham's essays measure the current political moment against a backdrop of past events. Whether discussing the failure of the Bush administration's imperial project in Iraq, its shameless servitude to the country's corporate and religious minority and equally shameful ineptitude in responding to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, or the disturbing revelations of illegal domestic spying authorized by the president himself, Lapham perceives in George W. Bush and his allies a fundamental betrayal of the nation's democratic heritage.

Written with the clarity of thought and elegance of prose that have become Lapham's signature style over the years, Pretensions to Empire is a brilliant and provocative work of political reportage.

Customer Reviews:

His reasoning is compelling, measured, and completely accessible to readers of all backgrounds........2007-09-03

Award-winning essay writer and editor emeritus of "Harper's Magazine" Lewis Lapham presents Pretensions to Empire: Notes on the Criminal Folly of the Bush Administration, a stinging indictment of the Bush-Cheney administration from its first days in Washington up to the present. Chronicling the presidency's abuses of power, and drawing upon the lessons of history to provide an ominous background to current events, Pretensions to Empire dissects the government's shameful incompetence in the wake of Hurricane Katrina; the copious, unwarranted domestic spying authorized by the president; and above all, the jingoism and pretensions to empire that prompted the administration's war in Iraq on shoddy intelligence. The resounding, passionate message is that the nation can no longer afford to tolerate George W. Bush or his cronies. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the author, his reasoning is compelling, measured, and completely accessible to readers of all backgrounds.

Requiem for a republic.......2007-01-11

At the time of the US "mid-term" elections in the Autumn of 2006, the credibility of the Bush regime in that nation had reached nadir. The favouritism of its domestic policies and the false premise of its foreign wars prompted a belief in the need for "regime change". The exposure of the deceptions and illegal activities of the regime was largely due to such journalists as Lewis Lapham. Lapham lays bare the inconsistencies, evasions and falsehoods that Bush and his team have put forth during their time of governance. This collection of those columns makes dismal reading, but the information they present is invaluable. They are a requiem chorus of a once-admirable nation.

Lapham, who wrote the "Notebook" column for Harper's Magazine for many years, was an early detector of the direction the Bush coalition was taking. That direction not only disturbed him for its potential results, Lapham was also alarmed at the lack of attention US media gave the trend. The fundamental issue, Lapham argues, is the attempt to transform a democratic republic into a global empire. Underlying this change is a document published in 1993 by Pentagon "officials" - officials who later played major roles in the Bush administration. The paper defined the US as the sole superpower - a power with the means and will to strike anywhere on the planet. Inhibiting or challenging that will was tantamount to treason if domestic, or tending to "terrorism" if external.

The US would undergo a fundamental change resulting from the provisions of the document. "Terrorism" was already long in the US lexicon by the time the World Trade Center towers were struck. Yet, Lapham recognises that declaring a "war on terrorism" necessitates defining non-existent ideology, then countering its adherents. Because the WTC attacks were carried out from within the US, one tactic must be the close surveillance of the domestic population. Lapham asserts that the implementation of that policy is turning the US into a "quiescent police state". This new condition is exacerbated by the economic policies of the government which enlarges the chasm between corporate wealth and real income for the less well-off. He is clear that, irrespective of which individual is in the White House or which party that individual represents, it is the shift from the traditional ideals of his country that alarms him. He wants others to share his concern, since once those ideals are demolished, their reconstruction will be a long, monumental task shared by all citizens.

Lapham's keening is a lament for lost principles. His conclusion, that Bush must be brought to account for ignoring or violating his Oath of Office, may be an act of political redemption, but it will not shift attitudes in the US very much. Lapham seems convinced that by placing Bush on a sacrificial political alter will restore the past. He ignores the fact that the legislation enacted by the regime will remain on the books unless repealed or sharply revised. The thousands now employed by "Homeland Security" and other "anti-terrorist" agencies will need jobs somewhere. Nor is it likely that the elimination of one individual will reset the collective viewpoints of a nation committed to maintaining world hegemony. This reality may seem to give Lapham's essays a tinge of "Bushwhacking", but the blatant disregard of the regime for law and truth show how badly this collection was needed. The results of those mid-term elections may have been an encouraging glimmer, but they don't promise the level of restoration Lapham is looking for. [stephen a. haines = Ottawa, Canada]

verdict : impeach now.......2006-11-26

Lewis Lapham's notes reveal the perspective of a deeply informed man on the current republican mess, written with elegance and brillance.
"How does one reconcile the demand for small government with the desire for an imperial army,[...] match the warmhearted currencies of "conservatism compassion" with the cold cruelty of "the unfettered free market", know that human life must be saved from abortionists in Boston but not from cruise missiles in Baghdad?"
The essays cover the whole affair, from the rise of conservative propaganda to the last proofs of incompetence(or crimes) of the Bush administration.
An instructive, captivating, refreshing critic worth to be read.

Superbly written.......2006-11-01

Lapham's monthly essays for Harper's were always some of the best writing of the magazine. This collection from the last four years touches on "Empire" only as a basic theme for the unending expansion of American militarism and loss of demestic freedoms. Lapham is an acute observer, bringing his usual brilliant insights into the American political, social and international scenes. The book will make you think, will remind you of missed opportunities caused by the Bush Administration's actions and give you a perspective on what the American nation may be like in just a few years. Highly recommend.

Even the Liberal NY Times...........2006-09-27

The New York Times! in its Sunday book review section said this book is an over-the-top mess, filled with hatred for Bush, with nary a constructive comment. Save your money.

Stalin's Folly: The Tragic First Ten Days of World War Two on the Eastern Front

Average customer rating:

A good but not flawless account of those first ten days
Stalin's Folly
No cigar
Great Reading, Informative and Passionate
a must read, but be careful

Stalin's Folly: The Tragic First Ten Days of World War Two on the Eastern Front
Constantine Pleshakov
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Japan | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Russia | History | Subjects | Books

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Colossus Reborn: The Red Army At War, 1941-1943 (Modern War Studies)
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The Siege of Budapest: One Hundred Days in World War II

ASIN: 0618367012

Book Description

On June 22, 1941, Hitler launched a massive three-pronged attack on the Soviet Union, and in days his troops were within reach of Moscow. The attack was stunning, but Stalin's response was even more astonishing. During the invasion, the mighty Soviet military stood in place while its soldiers were slaughtered by the hundreds of thousands. Drawing on a wealth of newly available documents, from classified Politburo papers and diaries of key generals to diplomatic cables and secret police memos, the Russian historian Constantine Pleshakov paints a startling portrait of Stalin, one of history's most feared despots, as a vulnerable and paralyzed leader. Refusing to believe that the Germans would strike first, despite repeated warnings, he continued to supply them with war materials in the days before the attack, then tied his generals" hands in the crucial first hours of the invasion. For more than a week, while Hitler rolled over Soviet territory, Stalin cowered in his dacha, leaving the country rudderless and as Pleshakov reveals here nearly losing power. The Red Army's effort to regain the territory lost in those first ten days cost more than 10 million Soviet lives. Stalin's Folly is a dramatic hour-by-hour account that sheds light on an enigmatic and ruthless figure while providing a new and far deeper understanding of Russian history.

Customer Reviews:

A good but not flawless account of those first ten days.......2007-06-13

Pleshakov has written a very detailed and lively account of those tragic first ten days, and the events leading up to them. His style is easy to enjoy, while his knowledge of the topic is extensive.

I only have two complaints:

(1) I think the endnotes should have been flagged by numbers so that it would have been easier to follow them.

(2) His theory that Stalin wanted to attack Germany by early July 1941 is not widely accepted, and there is no hard evidence whatsoever supporting it. It is just one possible explanation of Stalin's actions (or the lack of them) before Barbarossa, and (in my point of view) not even the most likely. Still Pleshakov regards it to be fact, and although he admits the lack of evidence, some readers may believe that what they're reading is the only (or at least by far the most likely) explanation of the known facts. Well, it is not.

Still, I recommend this book for anyone who's interested in the history (and the Soviet side) of the German Eastern Front.

Stalin's Folly.......2007-03-06

Just finished reading this book, interesting theory, that Stalin was going to preempt Hitler's attack on the USSR. What does Pleshakov think?, that Stalin is George Bush Jr? Clearly this theory is part of the revisionist interpretation of the facts. Stalin was a basket case and not a cunning foe of Hitler as being depicted. His commentary on the situation in Ukraine,the Ukrainian people and their representatives, the OUN, was stupid. Let me explain when the Nazis turned on the Ukrainians he called the OUN terrorists and then when the OUN fought the Soviets at the same time as they were fighting the Nazis-lo and behold-he also called them terrorists again. What?? Get your facts straight. He also called the Ukrainian trident an agressive symbol-what????? The trident is the national symbol of the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian nation-nothing more and nothing less. His commentary on Ukraine, clearly tells me that he is speaking as a Russian imperialist who has not gotten use to the reality that Ukraine is a independent nation and no longer a part of the Russian empire. I guess he is having withdrawal pains-lets give him a shot of vodka-might help him. In conclusion, this book is a revisionist study of a truly dark period in European history-a good read but you have to be selective in what you believe.

No cigar.......2006-04-25

The book is a description of the first ten days of the German invasion of Russia in 1941. The interest of the book is the suggestion that Stalin had decided on a pre-emptive assault on Germany and this was foiled. The notion of Stalin's folly being organising his troops in such a way that they were vulnerable to a German attack. The notion of a Soviet pre-emptive attack is mostly popular with right wing or pro Nazi historians who try to justify Hitler by the suggestion of Bolshevik expansionism. The writer of this book is far from being a Nazi sympathiser and although anti-communist is more of a Russian nationalist.

The writer however concedes that there is simply no evidence at all to support his assertion that Stalin was going to attack Germany. He advances his thesis and suggests that evidence will turn up in the future. The preponderance of opinion is of course against him. In fact if Stalin wanted to attack Germany it is the sort of thing that would have turned up in someone's memoirs by now. If Stalin wanted to attack Germany it is the sort of thing which requires enormous organisation. It is not just the matter of him giving an order for armies to move west. Rather the various armies have to be given enough ammunition to wage a campaign, transport has to be arranged to support the needs of the armies once they advance maps supplied to the troops and so on. No Russian figure has ever suggested that Stalin ordered preparation for an attack and there is no suggestion that the Russian armies were actively preparing for an attack in 1941. Part of the reason for the initial success of the German operation was the poor state of Russian preparedness.

After the discussion around the proposed attack by Stalin the book breaks down into a largely anecdotal account of the first days of the Barbarossa campaign. The approach is descriptive rather than looking quantitatively about what happened and there is only one map. There are much better books about this phase of the campaign by Glantz and others. In short a disappointing book that does not come up with the goods that it promised.

Great Reading, Informative and Passionate.......2006-03-31

Pleshakov is a young historian that deserves to be considered as a nascent star by any history buff and so taken into acount seriously in any endeavour he can or could undertake. This book about the first 10 days of war in the Eastern front is not only full of information, much of it new, but well written and with passion. Perhaps this last feature could seem a defect by some that believes science -if ever history is a science at all- requires a diet-kind of style, dry and deprived of life, but in fact, on the contrary, just to begin to grasp the sense of so colossal events as those told by Plashakov, passion is a neccesary element or you simple lose the scent of those awful days and the kind of society and polity that made them possible.

a must read, but be careful.......2006-01-04

First, why it is a must read. This is the first book that (in my opinion) provides a non-conflicting with known facts version of the war preparations made by USSR, as opposed to both the official Soviet version and the revisionist version spelled out by V.Suvorov.

This is the first book that pays attention to the important dynamics of personal relationships between Zukov, Timoshenko and Stalin. This book as no other one highlights the truly critical role played by Zukov and to lesser extent by Timoshenko before the war and on its outbreak.

It has a very good grip on the events in the Soviet corridors of power, among other things it has the best description of the purge of generals that started right before the war.

Second, what is not so good. A big part of the book repeats tired (and not so true) official narrative about what was happening on the ground during the first 10 days of the war. There are way better books on this very interesting subject by M.Solonin and V.Beshanov (unfortunately, not available in English translations).

Third, there are few not so important but truly ridiculous claims. For example, the author goes to the great lengths describing a conflict between "cavalrymen" (Budennyi, Voroshilov, Kulik) on one side and Timoshenko with Zukov on another side. Strictly speaking Timoshenko and Zukov (and Rokossovsky) are cavalrymen themselves and the author should pick up a better term. There is a claim that Rokossovsky was a second marshal after Zukov, clearly the second by significance marshal was Konev.

There is another ridiculous claim that Rokossovsky used military force against Polish students in 1956 because he was once a gulag prisoner. Rokossovsky was a committed Communist and he did not hesitate to use military force against civilians during the Civil War in Russia, long before going to gulag.

To sum it up: this is an important work but do not get carried away.

Banvard's Folly: Thirteen Tales of People Who Didn't Change the World

Average customer rating:

Wonderful and true tales
Truly insightful
Pretty damn good
A Sypathetic Retelling of Tales of Failure
One of the best books of 2001

Banvard's Folly: Thirteen Tales of People Who Didn't Change the World
Paul S. Collins
Manufacturer: Picador
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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Spilling Clarence: A Novel

ASIN: 0312300336

Book Description

In Banvard's Folly, Paul Collins celebrates what he calls the "forgotten ephemera of genius." Here are thirteen unforgettable portraits of men and women who might have claimed their share of renown but who, whether from ill timing, skullduggery, monomania, the tinge of madness, or plain bad luck-or perhaps some combination of them all-leapt straight from life into thankless obscurity. Among their number are scientists, artists, writers, entrepreneurs, and adventurers, from across the centuries and around the world. They hold in common the silenced aftermath of failure, the name that rings no bells-until now.AUTHORBIO: Paul Collins writes for McSweeneys Quarterly, and his work has also appeared in Lingua Franca and eCompany Now. While writing Banvard's Folly he lived in San Francisco, where he taught early-American literature at Dominican University. He and his family moved briefly to Wales-a journey about which he is writing a book-and now live in Oregon.REVIEW:"Hearteningly strange...." (The Onion) REVIEW: "Of Collins' endeavor....we can proclaim our permanent thanks and amazement and heartiest welcome." (The Los Angeles Times Book Review) REVIEW: "Thirteen wry biographical essays about people, once famous, who have disappeared from memory." (The New Yorker)

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful and true tales .......2006-01-04

This humurous and sympathetic presentation of thirteen lives of historical nobodies is a sheer delight to read. Among his subjects, Collins chose a showman, a forger, a scholar, an imposter, a wannabe actor and several scientists and inventors, not to mention a businessman or two. Some tales are absurd and hilarious, while others are sad and even tragic to a degree. All are well-written and fascinating.

I selected this title to kick off a book club in my library and everyone loved it as much as I did. It is highly recommended.

Truly insightful .......2005-06-15

I absolutely loved this book. Paul Collins takes thirteen chapters of American myth that have been largely forgotten and turns them into an eye opening treatise on the failure of will, the folly of hubris, and the absolute madness of challenging the status quo. Mr. Collins' style leads to frequent laugh out loud asides while telling the story of folks who either succeeded and then lost, had a mad idea that failed (but not for lack of trying), or who had the sheer will to make themselves momentarily inportant only to be swallowed up by the tide of time. Every person and idea profiled was at one time wildly popular or important and each eventually fell from favor for one reason or another. Sometimes it was common sense that triumphed, sometimes fad ran its course, sometimes folks just got too bizarre for accomodation. I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting a look into uncommon history. Mr. Collins has done us the favor of rummaging through the musty, dusty, long forgotten bookstacks of some of our most prestigious libraries and he has come up with a winner of a book. Save yourself the moldy lungs and long hours of researching the library basements yourself and read this work.

Pretty damn good.......2004-10-01

Don't know if I'd give it 5 stars but it's pretty good.

A Sypathetic Retelling of Tales of Failure.......2003-05-20

"Banvard's Folly" is a wonderful book, thanks to the talents of author Paul Collins. As you have probably gathered by now from other write-ups, this book tells the story of 13 people, once prominent, and now largely forgotten. They each earned inclusion in this book because of a grand failure of some sort. In other hands, this material could have been a tool for ridicule; but Collins strikes just the right tone here. While not forgiving his subjects' excesses or blind spots, he manages to tell their stories with a real sense of empathy. It's obvious that a lot of research went into this volume, but Collins never overpowers the reader with it; each chapter just seems to glide along. If history's lesser lights are of interest to you, you should enjoy this.

One of the best books of 2001.......2002-06-27

BanvardÕs Folly is a lovingly-researched tribute to the forgotten, the mistaken, and the discredited. The book profiles 13 historical figures, many of whom were among the most well-known figures of their day. Each, however, pursued his or her genius to a historical dead end, and their reputations and achievements have long since vanished into obscurity. Although each of these profiles is ultimately a study in failure, these ill-fated individuals demonstrate a brilliance, eccentricity, or audacity that is often breathtaking. CollinsÕ subjects may be failures, but they are spectacular failures, visionaries and dreamers who failed with an astounding degree of ambition, style, and verve. Exceptional.

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