The Poe Shadow: A Novel

The Poe Shadow: A Novel
Average customer rating:

A confusing and over-long novel

Overkill

Please don't give me a test on this book

ZZZZZZZ

Overly-contrived potboiler
The Poe Shadow: A Novel
Matthew Pearl
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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The Dante Club: A Novel

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ASIN: 1400061032
Release Date: 2006-05-23

Book Description

“I present to you . . . the truth about this man’s death and my life.”

Baltimore, 1849. The body of Edgar Allan Poe has been buried in an unmarked grave. The public, the press, and even Poe’s own family and friends accept the conclusion that Poe was a second-rate writer who met a disgraceful end as a drunkard. Everyone, in fact, seems to believe this except a young Baltimore lawyer named Quentin Clark, an ardent admirer who puts his own career and reputation at risk in a passionate crusade to salvage Poe’s.

As Quentin explores the puzzling circumstances of Poe’s demise, he discovers that the writer’s last days are riddled with unanswered questions the police are possibly willfully ignoring. Just when Poe’s death seems destined to remain a mystery, and forever sealing his ignominy, inspiration strikes Quentin–in the form of Poe’s own stories. The young attorney realizes that he must find the one person who can solve the strange case of Poe’s death: the real-life model for Poe’s brilliant fictional detective character, C. Auguste Dupin, the hero of ingenious tales of crime and detection.
In short order, Quentin finds himself enmeshed in sinister machinations involving political agents, a female assassin, the corrupt Baltimore slave trade, and the lost secrets of Poe’s final hours. With his own future hanging in the balance, Quentin Clark must turn master investigator himself to unchain his now imperiled fate from that of Poe’s.

Following his phenomenal debut novel, The Dante Club, Matthew Pearl has once again crossed pitch-perfect literary history with innovative mystery to create a beautifully detailed, ingeniously plotted tale of suspense. Pearl’s groundbreaking research–featuring documented material never published before–opens a new window on the truth behind Poe’s demise, literary history’s most persistent enigma. The resulting novel is a publishing event that, through sublime craftsmanship, subtle wit, and devious twists, does honor to Poe himself

Customer Reviews:

A confusing and over-long novel.......2007-09-20

This novel reads more like a rough draft than a finished novel. Throughout the book the text contradicts itself frequently - for example: in one section of the book the main character is unable to sit up due to restraints around his neck. Only two sentences later, he sits up. Also, the main character loses consciousness very frequently, and so that action loses all of its drama after it happens a few times.

Overkill.......2007-09-11

Pearl's latest foray into the literary thriller genre (following The Dante Club, which I did not read), revolves around the mysterious real-life death of Edgar Allen Poe. Our guide to mid-19th century Baltimore is wealthy young lawyer Quentin Clark -- a naive idealist and ardent Poe fan in an era where few cared for his macabre writings. The story open with Poe' death, ill-attended funeral, and a spate of ignominious obituaries, which spark Clark to try and clear his name. Alas, the book is far from thrilling, and falls flat on multiple fronts.

First and foremost, Quentin Clark makes for a poor guide and protagonist. His defining characteristic is an obsession for Poe and clearing Poe's name. This is so strong that it leads him to make all manner of improbable social, personal, and professional blunders. Unfortunately, as a motivation, it's never that convincing -- especially considering the serious effect it has on his life. Clark is otherwise totally uninteresting, and even somewhat annoying in his constant indignation. Secondly, while Pearl has done an admirable job of writing in the style of the period (the story is presented as a text written by Clark), the style of the period makes for clunky reading. It's stilted and mannered in a way that unfortunately only accentuates another big flaw -- the achingly slow pace of the story.

The bulk of the story involves Clark trying to track down the real-life inspiration for Poe's legendary detective, C. Auguste Dupin, and their joint efforts in Baltimore to learn the truth as to how Poe ended up delirious in a Baltimore tavern when he was supposed to be in Philadelphia. Pearl does a very nice job of bringing Baltimore to life, and there's clearly a lot of research behind the story. However, writing a novel to outline a possible scenario for what happened to Poe seems like overkill. The new evidence Pearl has uncovered is best suited to an essay or scholarly journal, and while weaving a novel around a few tidbit is certainly impressive in and of itself, the result is a clunky work that's only average at best.

Please don't give me a test on this book.......2007-09-10

Because I will fail it. I kept reading it and couldn't really begin to tell you what happened. The language is good and it's clearly well researched, but the plot goes into some minutiae that was impossible to follow. Very tedious and something was just wrong with it. It started off well and I liked it at first, but the whole Dupin/Duponte who's who just drifted off into some kind of pettiness and smallness that only Pearl could have followed or outlined. Reading this book was like watching someone with OCD organize a box of used staples with a pair of tiny tweezers. Impossible to follow and you're just observing someone who may or may not be doing a brilliant job as you would never know either way. A great idea for a book, but it seems like Pearl couldn't make a decision on all of the information he found in his research and just had to include all of it, making the plot extraordinarily intricate and impenetrable.

ZZZZZZZ.......2007-09-04

This novel was very tedious reading.
Did you complete it ?
Yes.
Why?
I kept thinking it'd get better...
Lame.
Yeah, but other books have gotten better toward the last third.
But not this one?
No.
What specifically did you not like?
A mystery not really solved; a period piece not giving us much descriptive context; and a main character who might have carried a hobby into an obsession, and nearly ruining his life, without giving us an understanding of why he couldn't have kept his business and his personal life in order while still uncovering what he did. And it's too long.
Well, why did you give it one star?
I couldn't give it less.

Overly-contrived potboiler.......2007-08-12

I didn't find this book very interesting; in fact, I didn't finish it. It is a work of fiction, a period piece, in which a young lawyer in Baltimore, one Quentin Clark, attends Edgar Allan Poe's funeral in that city (Poe died there in mysterious circumstances on October 7, 1849, at age 40). Afterward, Clark travels to Paris to look up C. Auguste Dupin, the father of all fictional private detectives, introduced to the world by Poe. Clark's purpose for this visit is an attempt to put together the true story of Poe's demise.

The book should have interested me because I have read much Poe, I like mystery stories, and much of it takes place in Baltimore (although around 1849), in a suburb of which I have lived for many years. But somehow it didn't. For me, it was an overly-contrived potboiler.

In My Brother's Shadow: A Life and Death in the SS

Average customer rating:

Don't let the title fool you
history, memory, guilt
great book

In My Brother's Shadow: A Life and Death in the SS
Uwe Timm
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Authors | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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German | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

A Stranger to Myself: The Inhumanity of War: Russia, 1941-1944
A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary
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Accessories:

philosophy hope in a jar daily moisturizer
Braun IRT 4020 ThermoScan Ear Thermometer

ASIN: 0374103747
Release Date: 2005-03-31

Book Description

A renowned German novelist's memoir of his brother, who joined the SS and was killed at the Russian front.

Uwe Timm was only two years old when in 1942 his older brother, Karl Heinz, announced to his family he had volunteered for service with an elite squadron of the German army, the SS Totenkopf Division, also known as Death's Heads. Little more than a year later Karl Heinz was injured in battle at the Russian front, his legs amputated, and a few weeks after that he died in a military hospital. To their father, Karl Heinz's death only served to immortalize him as the courageous one, the obedient one, the one who upheld the family honor. His childhood was marked by the mythology of his brother's lost life; his absence-the hole he left in the family-just as palpable as if he were still alive. His mother's sadness and his father's rage over the loss of Karl Heinz ultimately defined Uwe's relationship with his parents. But while they eulogized the boy, Uwe wondered: who really had his brother been?

The life and death of his older brother has haunted Uwe Timm for more than sixty years. His parents' silence was one of the most painful aspects of his family history. Not even after the war ended, and details of unspeakable horrors emerged, did his parents ever acknowledge Germany's guilt and Karl Heinz's role in it. They simply said: We didn't know. After the deaths of his parents and older sister Timm set out in search of answers. Using military reports, letters, family photos and cryptic entries from a diary his brother kept during the war, he began to piece together the picture, discovering his brother's story is not just that of one man, but the tragedy of an entire generation. In the Shadow of My Brother is a meditation on German history and guilt, one that is both nuanced and measured.

Customer Reviews:

Don't let the title fool you.......2006-08-13

This book is by far not about, as the title suggests life in his brothers shadow,as much as it is about life in his fathers shadow, or the shadow of a defeated Germany!
Herr Timm seems to be searching for his personal share of Germanys collective guilt. The writings of his brother might at most contribute 1 full page to this book! Herr Timm seems to be full of self-pity calling himself over and over again "the afterthought" where I would think his father instead planned him to be his brothers replacement. My father grew up in this same Germany and I have good insight into his thinking. I would suggest because of Herr Timms fathers position he knew a war would happen, and most likely consume his oldest son, that is what brought Uwe into being, not some accident or afterthought.Also his insistance that the 3rd. SS was an elite unit that the camp guards were drawn from is also a factual error. The 3rd SS began as the "Totenkopfverbande" they were the camp guards before the war! After the Polish and French campaigns they were re-organised into the Totenkopf division. The original members and leaders of the organisation Todt were all involved in the German camp system, not as Herr Timm suggests "elite soldiers from which guards were drawn" but rather camp guards that were formed into a front-line fighting unit!Herr Timm also wants to take small obscure entries in his brothers diaries and contort them into some evil or sinister act! A louse hunt is a louse hunt plain and simple, fodder for my MG is just an expression of the daily exposure to the horrors of front-line service. Herr Timm is searching so hard, it seems also hoping to find some act of brutality or inhumanity that he might link to his brother as to justify the feeling he has inside of himself! This book is a waste of time if you are seeking 1st hand accounts of the war, but if you want to read of the guilt placed on the German people and the effects of defeat on a family and country, it might be of some helpful insight.

history, memory, guilt.......2006-01-09

This is less an account of Uwe Timm's brother's life and death in the SS -- though it is that -- than it is a reflection on memory and history, specifically on what they mean in postwar Germany. Timm's brother's diary, kept against regulations ("it ought not to exist," Timm writes), is brief and ambiguous. And in those ambiguities lie the greatest turmoil and conflict, with no real answers. What did the brother mean when he referred to a "big louse hunt"? Clearly, he was involved in criminal activities ("plenty of loot!"), and clearly, he was coarsened by the war ("fodder for my MG"). But was he involved in atrocities? Did he murder civilians? Those are the questions that Timm can't answer with any certainty. They point to the doubt and guilt of an entire people, a people who still struggle to come to terms with the war. Sixty years: still no answers, still no resolution.

great book.......2005-10-27

I was born and raised in Germany. Even though my parents were born after the war and both my grandfathers were dead by the time I started asking questions I can still relate very well to the unease when it comes to talking about WWII.

Where I grew up we had a neighbour whom I only knew as a mild mannered older guy, who loved us kids, would give us sweets and let us play in the big old trees in his garden. At one point I discovered that he was a member of the SS in WWII and had fought somewhere in Russia. He had no family. When he was in his eighties, he started opening up to a few people in the neighbourhood, among them my family. He would talk about the war, his comrades and generally the hard life they lived. He would always start crying. He would never mention fighting, killing civilians and all the other things he most likely saw and did. We all knew about those things, but we also felt sorry for the old guy and nobody pressed questions. He was a neighbour, not close family after all.

Timm's book perfectly captures the conflict of the - very normal - desire to love and admire a brother (father, uncle, grandfather, neighbour) while at the same time knowing that that person must have consciously participated in something unspeakably atrocious.

Obviously there is no easy solution and that conflict is one that generations of Germans had to deal with after the war. It is impossible to excuse what happened, but it is equally impossible to condemn all these people around you who all might have participated to various degrees, and be it just by keeping silent.

Willa Cather : Later Novels : A Lost Lady / The Professor's House / Death Comes for the Archbishop / Shadows on the Rock / Lucy Gayheart / Sapphira and the Slave Girl (The Library of America)

Average customer rating:

Her talent is breath-taking
My Antonia
My Antonia
Some of Cather's finest work
Absolutely perfect fiction

Willa Cather : Later Novels : A Lost Lady / The Professor's House / Death Comes for the Archbishop / Shadows on the Rock / Lucy Gayheart / Sapphira and the Slave Girl (The Library of America)
Willa Cather , and Sharon O'Brien
Manufacturer: Library of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Willa Cather: Stories, Poems, and Other Writings (Library of America)
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Collected Stories (Vintage Classics)
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The Song of the Lark

ASIN: 0940450526

Book Description

The six works in this volume--"A Lost Lady," "The Professor's House," "Death Comes for the Archbishop," "Shadows on the Rock," "Lucy Gayheart," and "Sapphira and the Slave Girl"--are at once intensely lyrical and highly controlled. Their fascination with the American Southwest, early Canada and Catholicism reflects the older Cather's search for alternatives to the grasping civilization she felt was increasingly replacing the spirit of the early pioneers. validation-form-field.keypoints: The Library of America is an award-winning, nonprofit program dedicated to publishing America's best and most significant writing in handsome, enduring volumes, featuring authoritative texts. Hailed as "the most important book-publishing project in the nation's history" (Newsweek), this acclaimed series is restoring America's literary heritage in "the finest-looking, longest-lasting edition ever made" (New Republic).

Customer Reviews:

Her talent is breath-taking.......2006-06-21

Somehow, though I love to read,I had missed Willa Cather. I had already read and loved Jane Austen but it was not until I read "My Antonia" that I realized what I had missed all of these years. Willa Cather is truly a genius of the written word. To call her writing 'good' or her stories 'enjoyable' is to understate her talent. Her writing is beautiful though the stories are simple. Each place she writes about makes one believe that she lived there all her life. Her book "Saphira and the Slave Girl" would make you think she had lived there and in that time. Many of her stories are out on the prairie and seem to glow with the golden light from the sun on the fields of grain. Her characterizations are simple but profound and she often throws in a dramatic tale told by a character. And yes, this physical book is also beautiful and a joy to read. It makes one wonder about ever reading a cheap paperback again.

My Antonia.......2001-09-02

This book was very interesting had a good theme and plot.
It kept the reader on edge throughout the entire book. I would recommend it to everyone.

My Antonia.......2001-09-02

This book was very interesting had a good theme and plot.

It kept the reader on edge throughout the entire book. I would

recommend it to everyone.

Some of Cather's finest work.......2000-10-03

Like all the volumes in the Library of America series, this book is beautiful and made to last. Some readers may be bothered by the thin paper, but it allows so much to be packed into a handy book. As the title states, this is a collection from Cather's early work (her first "first novel," _Alexander's Bridge_, is missing). _The Troll Garden_ is a collection of Cather's early short stories, most in the manner of H. James and have a fin-de-siecle tone. "The Sculptor's Funeral," which depicts a town's inability to recognize achievement in any form but monetary, is perhaps the best. That and two other stories were revised by Cather for _Youth and the Bright Medusa_ (1920 an available in LoA 57 _Stories, Poems, and Other Writings_). Reading the versions side-by-side, one can achieve insight into Cather's growing abilities as a writer. However, the most rewarding read in this volume is _My Antonia_. Cather's first masterpiece depicts the lives of Jim Burden and Antonia Shimerda from their arrival in Black Hawk, Nebraska to twenty years after Jim leaves Black Hawk for a life in the East. Antonia remains in Nebraska, becomes a maid in town, and marries (twice). The theme of the book, from Jim's perspective, is aptly captured in the epigraph: "optima dies . . . prima fugit" (from Virgil's _Aeneid_). Again like all volumes in the LoA, a chronology of the authors life, a "Note on the Texts" and a few notes, containing information on allusions and translations of foreign words and phrases appear at the end of the volume.

Absolutely perfect fiction.......1999-05-21

One of my all-time favorite books. Attractively packaged on acid-free paper. Very classic looking. And the fiction is excellent! Her stories about the Plains, the Southwest, Chicago, and Quebec are perfect works of art. I especially liked "Tom Outland's Story" contained within "The Professor's House."

Average customer rating:

A Journey of Recovery
Light in Blue Shadows
Revealing the Grace of Healing
Life at its most Real
Light In Blue Shadows

Light in Blue Shadows
Edie Hartshorne
Manufacturer: Ellsberg Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Grief & Bereavement | Death & Grief | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

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The Assault on Reason
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

ASIN: 0978869907

Book Description

In times of crisis, loss and suffering, how can we continue to live with a clear mind and a peaceful heart? Can adversity offer unexpected gifts? In this spare, translucent memoir, Edie Hartshorne presents a collection of finely rendered vignettes that explore these questions. Through the tragic and unexpected loss of her eldest son, Edie is guided by music, spiritual exploration, and a sensitivity for nature to discover the hidden radiance of her own inner strength. Her transformational journey unfolds like a living work of art, inspiring us to remain open to kindness and compassion even in the midst of suffering. Within these delicately portrayed shadows of love and death, of joy and sorrow, shines a tender light of hope, wisdom and love.

Customer Reviews:

A Journey of Recovery.......2007-09-19

It was hard to put this book down once I started reading it. I was completely engrossed and very moved. The author tells her story with abundant generosity of feeling and detail, sparing little about the depths of shock and pain at the loss of her son, and equally about her emotional and spiritual journey of recovery, the richness of her family relationships, her musical life, her time in Plum Village with Thich Nhat Hanh and her eventual work with refugee children in Croatia, all which serve to help heal her wounded heart as she slowly re-engages with the world.

Light in Blue Shadows.......2007-07-27

As a psychotherapist, I have recommended this book to my clients who have had tragedy in their lives. I think it is much better than "The Year of Magical Thinking." The process of healing is much more poetically spelled out; it is inspirational. Hartshorne is an incredible writer. This book is a gift to the forlorn.

Revealing the Grace of Healing.......2007-07-24

For me one of the very special aspects of this book is how it reveals the grace of healing that is available to us if we are willing to openly face our most overwhelming losses. Edie Hartshorne's journey through grief is a profound , deeply human and deeply moving story. This book is a teaching for us. It is a clear description of a process of growth both personal, and I believe universal as well, in that we can as readers feel the expanding and deepening of Hartshorne's heart and soul by the test of this most devestating trial by fire. But in the narration her humanness, vulnerability, and tenderness keep this story our story, any of us, all of us - the fragility and poignancy of living this human existence.

Life at its most Real.......2007-04-27

An extraordinary book! Edie Hartshorne gives a vivid description of her horror at the news of her son's unexpected death, poetically shares her feelings and thoughts through the depths of grief, and then brings us through to her resurgence as more fully alive, more fully attuned to the love and philosophical beauty in the world.

Light In Blue Shadows.......2007-03-26

"Light in Blue Shadows" is a jewel-like recounting of Edie Hartshorne's immense journey through the darkness of her son's apparent suicide, as she emerges back into life. Her story, so tenderly written, so personal, makes me appreciate my own life more, and awakens that sometimes slippery knowledge that we are strong, resilient beings who seek light.

She organically sieved from her days and her interactions the glimmers of light and reminders of life that came her way. And, somehow, her intractable grief did, in fact, transform. It is a miracle, it is a mystery, and she has thankfully chronicled it lest we ever forget that it is possible. I can see that I can use her book as a resource for myself as a reminder of this precious truth.

Her choice to write each offering in succinct, pointed bits was brilliant, as I was able to steep in each event, thought, or letter, as a meditation, or a poem. As haiku reverberates through spaciousness, so do each of Edie's chapters.

With honesty, humor, and a very gifted and real voice, Edie Hartshorne has offered a personal and universal experience of loss of a beloved.

In the Shadow of Death: Restorative Justice and Death Row Families

Average customer rating:

This is a superb book

In the Shadow of Death: Restorative Justice and Death Row Families
Elizabeth Beck , Sarah Britto , and Arlene Andrews
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Adult Children of Alcoholics | Recovery | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0195179412

Book Description

The press called Martin's actions a "crime spree." Already convicted of armed robbery, Martin was facing the death penalty. In less than two weeks the jury would decide his fate. Terrified that his son would be sentenced to die, Phillip did the only thing he felt he could do: in an act of faith and desperation in his garage with the car exhaust running, Phillip made the consummate sacrifice to spare his son the ultimate punishment. Ironically, his suicide presented Martin's with another chance at life; the jury, moved by Martin's loss, spared his life. Phillip's story-like those of the other parents, siblings, children, and cousins chronicled in this book-vividly illustrates the precarious position family members of capital offenders occupy in the criminal justice system. At once outsiders and victims, they live in the shadow of death, crushed by trauma, grief, and helplessness. In this penetrating account of guilt and innocence, shame and triumph, devastating loss and ultimate redemption, the voices of these family members add a new dimension to debates about capital punishment and how communities can prevent and address crime. Restorative justice theory, which views violent crime as an extreme violation of relationships; searches for ways to hold offenders accountable; and meets the needs of victims and communities torn apart by the crime, organizes these narratives and integrates offenders' families into the process of transforming conflict and promoting justice and healing for all. What emerges from hundreds of hours' worth of in-depth interviews with family members of offenders and victims, legal teams, and leaders in the abolition and restorative justice movements is a vision of justice strongly rooted in the social fabric of communities. Showing that forgiveness and recovery are possible in the wake of even the most heinous crimes, while holding victims' stories sacred, this eye-opening book bridges the pain of living in the shadow of death with the possibility of a reparative form of justice. Anyone working with victims, offenders, and their families-from lawyers and social workers to mediators and activists-will find this riveting work indispensable to their efforts.

Customer Reviews:

This is a superb book.......2007-02-01

The narrative style of this book, along with the balance of stories, research and analysis, makes for easy, informative and compelling reading. The book addresses a long ignored part of the impact of the death penalty: the families of those charged, convicted and executed. For anyone interested in the death penalty, restorative justice or simply in the lives of many of the worst off in our society, this book offers unique and essential information and insight about the effects executions have on those involved.

Living in the Shadow of Death: Tuberculosis and the Social Experience of Illness in American History

Average customer rating:

Interesting but of Truly No Relevance
Fascinating, informative...and overwhelmingly sad

Living in the Shadow of Death: Tuberculosis and the Social Experience of Illness in American History
Sheila M. Rothman
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Social History | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

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The White Plague: Tuberculosis, Man, and Society
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ASIN: 0801851866

Book Description

Tuberculosis -- once the cause of as many as one in five deaths in the U.S. -- crossed all boundaries of class and gender, but the methods of treatment for men and women differed radically. While men were encouraged to go out to sea or to the open country, women were expected to stay at home, surrounded by family, to anticipate a lingering death. Several women, however, chose rather to head for the drier climates of the West and build new lives on their own. But with the discovery of the tubercle bacillus in 1882 and the establishment of sanatoriums, both men and women were relegated to lives of seclusion, sacrificing autonomy for the prospect of a cure.

In Living in the Shadow of Death Sheila Rothman presents the story of tuberculosis from the perspective of those who suffered, and in doing so helps us to understand the human side of the disease -- and to cope with its resurgence. The letters, diaries, and journals piece together what it was like to experience tuberculosis, and eloquently reveal the tenacity and resolve with which people faced it.

"A fascinating and powerful book... compelling reading. Tuberculosis was a disease, now reemerging, that killed more Americans, young or old, rich or poor, than any other disease, until well into the twentieth century. It shaped our culture, determined careers, blighted lives. Rothman writes beautifully and with great sensitivity about the human condition. The book will, I believe, become a classic in the field." -- David E. Rodgers, Cornell Medical College

Customer Reviews:

Interesting but of Truly No Relevance.......2005-12-24

As Rothman, ruefully notes in her book there have been studies of medicine from the perspective of the doctor and from the perspective of the disease but not from the perspective of the patient.

Thus, Dr. Rothman sets out to do "a history of patienthood" and how being a patient changed over the course of time with respect to one single disease, TB or Consumption.

The problem is that her original sources are diaries, mainly of women but not exclusively. That by and of itself limits her subjects overwhelmingly to upper crust and educated NE families by and large. Overwhelmingly these are the well-off, relatively speaking. Theretofore, all of Rothman's democratic impulses are naturally very limited. The whole thrust of thesis is thus quite silly. This is not a history truly of patienthood, but of patienthood of the wealthy - of a small well-to-do segment of society.

What was it truly like to a patient with TB among the indigent and the poor? Rothman cannot really say for these people kept no diaries and if they did they were certainly not preserved a hundred and fifty years later in some library archives waiting for her to come find them.

Rothman gives us only the narrowest slice of what it means to be a patient.

Furthermore, this is a telling of history through anecdote. So she takes one, two, maybe 3 dozen diaries and summarizes what the people say in them. Who cares! To say these 3 dozen people are a representative sample (even among the upper crust educated elite of society) is downright silly.

It would be like someone reading 3 dozen blogs today on the net and saying they have a general sense of what society was thinking of the Iraq war. Who actually spends their time writing a blog? What is the motivation of those who write the blog? By definition, they are the people with extreme views, angry, disenchanted, frustrated, opinionated jerks. Represenative of nothing.

And this all leaves out the fact that we still have no clue as to biased selection of diaries that Rothman chose, potentially only using the one's that made her point (or only quoting passages from the diaries that support her thesis).

This is not history. This is not fact-telling. This is historical fiction writing.

If you want to understand disease read the work of Robert Fogel, Nobel Prize winning cliometrician. If you want to read historical fiction, go read Barbara Tuchman or Leon Uris.

This is just bad fiction with labored dense writing posing as history.

Fascinating, informative...and overwhelmingly sad.......2004-07-07

"[T]uberculosis was the leading cause of death in the United States throughout the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth. From 1800 to 1870 tuberculosis was responsible for one out of every five deaths. Paying little attention to geography, social class, or age, it struck rich and poor, young and old, and urban and rural residents." These statistics in Rothman's introduction are tragic enough. The narratives that follow are even sadder.

Consumption -- as it was known at the time -- was thought to be either inherited or the result of a sedentary life. (The communicable tubercle bacillus wasn't discovered until 1882.) Doctors focused on a three-pronged cure for their male patients of means: daily exercise, a good diet, and travel to a better climate. On the other hand, female patients were told to handle their domestic duties as best as possible and to get assistance from single female family members who could move in temporarily. Invalids and their families eventually dealt with the inevitable outcome and prepared for death. In the twentieth century, patients were sent off to sanatoriums. Chances are good that someone in your ancestry was affected. At the very least, they knew people who were.

This book is revealing because it is written from the patient's viewpoint and with the individuals in mind. Letters and diaries of consumptives show that people commiserated with fellow sufferers and exchanged news of symptoms and possible curative measures. The focus of the story-telling is thus very personal rather than medical. It makes for compelling reading.

"Living in the Shadow of Death" is mandatory reading for anyone interested in life in the United States in the 1800s and early 1900s. Genealogists and academic researchers in the humanities (especially literature and history) should put this title on their to-read list. "The good old days" really weren't.

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A Healing Experience

Good Grief: Healing Through the Shadow of Loss

A touching journey toward understanding

THE BEST GRIEF BOOK YET!

Quenches the Sorrowful Soul
Good Grief: Healing Through the Shadow of Loss
Deborah Morris Coryell
Manufacturer: Shiva Foundation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Death & Grief | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Grief & Bereavement | Death & Grief | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Developmental Psychology | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Ethics & Morality | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Family Health | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
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Healing Through the Shadow of Loss

Good Grief

I Wasn't Ready to Say Goodbye

I'm Grieving as Fast as I Can: How Young Widows and Widowers Can Cope and Heal

Getting to the Other Side of Grief: Overcoming the Loss of a Spouse

ASIN: 0966069781

Book Description

Slowly and eloquently, you are lead by the hand to the many treasures at the bottom of the well of grief. Along the way, you will be challenged to embrace all loss -- to refuse the impulse to avoid it or expect it to go away after a preordained period of time. You will also be urged to stop grading and comparing your losses with those of others and instead to embrace them fully. In the process, you will find that loss happens "for" you, not "to" you.

Customer Reviews:

A Healing Experience.......2007-09-19

This is a terrific book for anyone struggling with the loss of a loved one. I've used it over and over again in support groups and sent it to many friends in their bereavement. Recommend highly.

Good Grief: Healing Through the Shadow of Loss.......2005-08-12

Deborah Coryell wrote this book for me. It was as if she looked into my soul and saw my need. I unexpectantly lost my daughter 3 days after Xmas 2004 and have been trying to cope ever since. Deborah Coryell reached out (through this book) and pulled me into a new realm of healing. I plan to reread it again and again. If fact, I am about to order 2 more copies for my other two daughters (I don't want to give up my copy). So much of what Deborah Coryell writes is what I believe and feel but she puts it in words for me. She also introduced me to a new way of viewing the transition from physical life to "...the divine spark...dispersed into the universe." Her words and understanding of loss, grieving and healing are powerful. I am so grateful for having found her (book) at this time in my life.

A touching journey toward understanding.......2001-09-12

Author Deborah Morris Coryell, who has worked in the health field for more than 25 years and has written numerous books on wellness, now takes pen to paper in order to shed light on the process of healing from grief and loss. She observes that "We only grieve for that which we have loved and, the nature of life being transitory, love and loss are intimately connected," among many other hidden truths about the essence of grief. Eloquent and poignant, Good Grief: Healing Through The Shadow Of Loss is a touching journey toward understanding the regret that makes us human.

THE BEST GRIEF BOOK YET!.......2001-02-23

Having lost my only child four years ago, I have read many books on grief. This one is by far the best! I found myself highlighting most of the pages and have just bought a second copy!

My advise: Buy This One!

Quenches the Sorrowful Soul.......2000-12-18

This book was remarkable in that, even just holding it and looking at the simple cover offered me some peace in a time of shear agony. Obviously, a lot of love went into it. The words are simple and beautiful AND offer great depth. So much soulful contemplation and growth can be derived from reading this book while grieving. The entire energy of the book is in concert with the healing process. I've recommended this book to many friends who have lost someone close to them and will many times again, God willing.

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Helma works at a mission
Another great episode in the Miss Zukas chronicles
Really loved it
Miss Zukas is back, same as ever!

Miss Zukas in Death's Shadow
Jo Dereske
Manufacturer: Avon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Series | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Women Sleuths | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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Final Notice: A Miss Zukas Mystery Bk 3 (Miss Zukas Mysteries)
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Catalogue of Death: A Miss Zukas Mystery (Miss Zukas Mysteries)
Bookmarked to Die (Miss Zukas Mysteries)

ASIN: 0380804727

Book Description

Booked for Trouble

With an audit going on at Bellehaven's Public Library, it couldn't be a worse time for librarian Helma Zukas to be serving a sentence of fifty hours of community service. But Miss Zukas stubbornly refused to pay what she thought to be an unjust traffic fine and now she's doing time at the Promise Mission for Homeless Men--ladling soup and clearing tables for a motley group of ungrateful down-and-outers. When Helma discovers there's a rash of thefts going on at the mission, she's appalled. Add to that, the unannounced visit of a high school flame who intends to win her hand, and Helma's ready to run to the auditors for relief.

But none of that can compare to the shock when, during the first night of her service, a body is found just outside the mission's back door. Suddenly in the wake of a heartless homicide, Helma becomes one of the suspects, and her fifty hours of service are looming like a life sentance. Fortunately for the otherwise law-abiding librarian, her gaudy, bawdy good friend Ruth is close at hand to help her solve the case...before she ends up doing hard time in a much worse place than the mission house.

Booked for Trouble

Customer Reviews:

Helma works at a mission.......2002-04-30

Helma Zukas is given a ticket for running a red light, but she refuses to pay the fine, feeling that the ticket is unjustified. In lieu of paying the fine, Helma works at a mission for homeless men, dishing up food and doing other chores. During one of her volunteer nights, an influential businessman is found dead near the mission on his way in to a meeting to consider a grant proposal. He is also on the library board and has disagreed with Helma on policy in the past, thus placing her on a list of suspects. Helma discovers that there are lots of people with an ax to grind against the victim and she begins to sort through the clues and suspects in order to find the murderer. As always, her artistic friend Ruth serves as a comic foil for the straight-laced Miss Zukas and the road to a solution is an entertaining one.

Another great episode in the Miss Zukas chronicles.......2000-06-06

Wilhelmina Zukas, reference librarian for the Bellehaven (Wash.) Public Library, finds herself doing community service at a mission for homeless men. When a library board member is murdered outside the mission, Miss Zukas is quick (once again) to help police in their investigation ... while a prior public disagreement with the victim places her in criminal suspicion as well. If you've read any of the other titles in this series, you'll enjoy following the continuing sagas of: the weather in Bellehaven; the bizarre antics of Ruth, Helma's artist friend; and the glowing embers of the quasi-platonic relationship with Wayne Gallant, the city police chief. And those of us in the library profession can easily identify with many of the quirks of the library staff and patrons. "Miss Zukas in Death's Shadow" is a quick and delightful read, and you might not figure out who the murderer is until just before Miss Zukas does!

Really loved it.......2000-02-27

This was a great addition to the series.

Miss Zukas is embroiled in audits, relationship difficulties, (more than one man is involved, that's all I'll say,) the homeless, and the fending off her mother, aunt, and New Age boss. This is a great combination of social commentary and mystery. The right to privacy is a big, big, issue in this book, and it is weaved within a very exciting mystery.

Support the ALA!---(American Library Association.)

Miss Zukas is back, same as ever!.......2000-01-11

Not much has changed for good ole' Helma! I enjoyed the plot and, as usual, the characters, but it doesn't seem like there was much different from Ms. Dereske's other novels with Ms. Zukas. Gotta love Ruth!

Litigating in the Shadow of Death: Defense Attorneys in Capital Cases

Average customer rating:

Litigating in the Shadow of Death: Defense Attorneys in Capital Cases
Welsh S. White
Manufacturer: University of Michigan Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Criminal Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Subjects | Books

Litigation | Procedures & Litigation | Law | Subjects | Books

Criminology | Crime & Criminals | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Death by Design: Capital Punishment As a Social Psychological System (American Psychology-Law Society Series)
A Life and Death Decision: A Jury Weighs the Death Penalty
Back from the Dead: One Woman's Search for the Men Who Walked off America's Death Row
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Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court

ASIN: 047206911X

In the Shadow of Denali: Life and Death on Alaska's Mt. McKinley

Average customer rating:

Uncovering the realism of mountaineering...
Enjoyable
Incredible honesty about the mountaineering experience
Pretensious Judgmental
Hard to put down...

In the Shadow of Denali: Life and Death on Alaska's Mt. McKinley
Jonathan Waterman
Manufacturer: The Lyons Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Mountains | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

North America | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Mountaineering | Sports | Subjects | Books

Mountain Climbing | Mountaineering | Sports | Subjects | Books

General | Sports | Subjects | Books

Minus 148 Degrees: The First Winter Ascent of Mount McKinley
Surviving Denali: A Study of Accidents on Mount McKinley 1910-1982
Denali's West Buttress: A Climber's Guide to Mount McKinley's Classic Route
Denali Climbing Guide
Ascend Denali

Accessories:

National Geographic TrailSmart 15 Major National Parks of the USA

ASIN: 1558217266

Book Description

For fans of Into Thin Air, a gripping narrative.

Customer Reviews:

Uncovering the realism of mountaineering..........2002-04-21

A real look into the world of mountaineering that hasn't been glamorized or overly dramatized (in the case of other authors). The primary focus is Denali, but the book often shifts attention away from it, giving the reader a good look into the mountaineering career of Jon Waterman and a bit of insight upon many others. For the experienced mountaineer, they can most likely relate to many of Jon's experiences. To the less experienced, it will give a sobering wakeup call to the realities of mountaineering. I must disagree with the reader from NY listed below as stating that "The author falls into the trap of thinking that climbing is going to give him and some other fellow climbers an insight into life beyond that of the ordinary man." For anyone who has survived a truly epic climb, one does gain a bit of insight into life that they failed to notice beforehand, and that many others do not completely understand...do this regularly enough, and it can in fact change a person. The book was NOT self-indulgent in the least...merely giving a first hand account of his experiences, both good and bad. If you are planning a trip to Denali, this should be required reading....

Enjoyable.......2002-02-23

This book helped me to get a good "feel" for Denali and its surroundings. It was easy to read and entertaining. Waterman recounts his life, first in New Hampshire in the white mountains and then later in Denali as a park ranger.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get a little history of Denali and its beautiful surroundings through entertaining short stories while not getting bogged down in factual details and structured story lines.

Incredible honesty about the mountaineering experience.......2002-01-03

I've always been fascinated by Denali (Mount McKinley)and its lands, but most literature about the mountain is similar to most other mountain writing: dry hubristic stories that don't give the deep-down-dirty. Much to my surprise, Waterman includes those hidden details of mountain climbing and Northern life in this incredible book. This is a timeless addition to the mountain writing genre, and what I believe is Waterman's best book. If you don't have it on your shelf, get it, read it, and read it again -- then share it with a friend.

Pretensious Judgmental.......2001-10-13

The author falls into the trap of thinking that climbing is going to give him and some other fellow climbers an insight into life beyond that of the ordinary man.

No doubt he has done some amazing things but the fact is when you get off the mountain you are the same jerk you were before you started. Being a great climber does not make you a better person than someone else.

I thought the chapter about his winter ascent was really self indulgent. Under the circumstances of his physical condition he had no business being there.

On the positive the author has a knowledge of the Denali area that is very impressive but ...

Hard to put down..........2000-11-22

Heck of a book. Kudos to Jon Waterman on putting together a terrific collection of stories related to Denali. For those not well versed in mountaineering I think you can still enjoy this book a great deal. It will give you an honest look into the experience.

In addition, Waterman doesn't try to glamorize it. Sure he'll give you a good look at the many men full of character who have risked life and limb for a chance the climb the high one (as they call Denali). Also some of the stories take place when Jon was younger and you can see how he has matured. He doesn't make any attempt to hide the brashness of his youth. Finally, the climbers themselves really make the book. Read about the 'Pirate', the other Waterman (an especially intriguing story), Wilcox, the inimitable Mugs Stump, and others. A fine book that will having you turning pages and keep your attention.

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