Customer Reviews:
(RAW Rating: 4.5) - What is happening to black men?.......2007-08-04
Demico Boothe has explored the reasons so many black men are indeed in prison in, WHY ARE SO MANY BLACK MEN IN PRISON? He begins with his own story of a shaky upbringing and his subsequent dabbling in drug dealing. He was caught with a few grams of crack cocaine but because it was the dreaded crack, he was given 10 years in prison. When he left prison after serving his time, he was actually railroaded back into prison by a crooked justice system. He delves deeply into our justice system and the motives behind all the new prisons that are being built. He gives succinct and reasonable views of exactly what is happening now in the United States and how the past has played a role in the present. He uses persuasive statistics regarding the number of black men in prison as compared to the number of white men who are incarcerated.
Demico Boothe has done an excellent job of researching his subject and it is a plus, if unfortunate for him, that he has actually experienced first hand what he's talking about. I knew I was hearing the real story rather than just statistics from an intellectual who had no real idea of what the prison system is really like. I would have liked for Boothe to search a little deeper into the Haiti, Aristide and USA question, maybe even reading Randall Robinson's take on the situation, and then he might see it a bit differently. Otherwise, it is a good book and one every one in America should read. We indeed, have a crisis going on.
Reviewed by Alice Holman
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
Why Are So Many Black Men In Prison? A Comprehensive Account Of How And Why The Prison Industry Has Become A Predatory Entity In.......2007-06-09
The book was very interesting. I learned soooo much about the government and the prison industry. I did some searching independantly to check on the things reported in the book and they are very true. Great Read!! Buy the book.
A Must Read.......2007-05-25
Mr. Demico's book is a must-read for anyone concerned about young African American men. Although I did not agree with every conclusion he reached, Demico's main premises are convincing. As a white woman who teaches mainly students of color, I am always impressed, and often in awe, of those young men who reach college with so much going against them. Demico's books lays bare not only the horrible inequalities of our society, but also the racist attitudes of our political system - - Democrats, Republicans, and most everyone in between.
Why are so many Black Men in Prison?.......2007-05-13
I is a well put together book. He really goes into a lot of detail of how our society is really set up.
Why are so many blacks in prison?.......2007-05-12
I found this book very interesting. As a white devil myself, I had no idea that I was responsible for forcing blacks into committing crimes and then subsequently clogging up the whole "Prison Industrial Complex"(tm). I will try to stop causing this, as I am sure it is creating a LOT of trouble for everyone! Sorry!
It is probably also my fault that young black men dressed in XXXXL clothes overtly threaten me and my family members routinely. Can anyone tell me what I should do to make this not happen?
I imagine it's also my fault that black on white violent crime is WAY higher than white on black violent crime, even though blacks constitute about 12.5% of the population, and whites are about 70%. But since it is impossible for a black to commit a hate crime according to our criminal justice system (since blacks are not under any circumstances racist), statistically, there are more white on black hate crimes. Boothe notes a statistic regarding hate crimes, but he skips the one about interracial violence in general.
In sum, Boothe notes that just about everything blacks do is actually MY fault, because my skin is white. Boothe, I've got a word for you.
Introspection.
Book Description
Following on from his earlier book, the well-received Wires and Walls: RAF Prisoners of War in Itzehoe, Spangenburg and Thorn 1939-1942, Wire and Worse provides for the first time a detailed account of the history of RAF PoWs during this crucial phase of the war at some of the most infamous PoW camps in Germany. Based upon correspondence with survivors, as well as unpublished diaries and manuscripts, the book includes a fascinating selection of contemporary illustrations that graphically portray the reality of life as a PoW during World War 2. As the course of the war swung against the Allies, following the defeat in France and Western Europe and as the RAF sought to take the aerial war to the heart of the Third Reich, so the number of RAF PoWs increased dramatically - a facet brought dramatically to life in this absorbing account of the period. Comprehensive and highly detailed, no historian of the RAF during World War 2 can afford to ignore this title.
Book Description
Prisoner of X: 20 Years in the Hole at Hustler Magazine is a savagely funny odyssey through the bizarro world of Larry Flynt's cracker-rich X-rated empire.
During his tenure in the Hustler trenches, punk-rock dropout Allan MacDonell ascends from entry-level comma-catcher to editorial overlord of the unseemly offerings at Larry Flynt Publications. Here's the inside story of running America's most influential porn domain.
A professional career of evaluating countless skin photos, taking XXX field trips, mastering "fully erect" film criticism and enduring creepy interoffice schemers suddenly launches MacDonell into national politics when Larry Flynt opens his wallet to impact the impeachment proceedings against President William Jefferson Clinton. MacDonell reveals the backside of his prominent role in tricking right-wing Speaker-elect Bob Livingston into resigning from Congress.
Prisoner of X is a wildly entertaining memoir about life climbing the bent and fearsome masthead of an infamous magazine, and the bittersweet reward of publicly crossing its hillbilly Caesar.
Aside from being the most prolific writer in the history of Larry Flynt Publications,
Allan MacDonell contributed to the archetypal punk magazine Slash and the underground anthology Apocalypse Culture. Freelance pieces have appeared in venues as diverse as Gambling Times magazine, MrSkin.com and the L.A. Weekly. Mr. MacDonell lives in California's Hollywood Hills with two dogs, his wife Theresa, and a clear conscience.
Customer Reviews:
Hey, I really did buy it for the articles!!!.......2007-02-05
Is it possible to write a book where the main character is yourself and you are the hero only because everyone else is insane, a sleazebag or just generally unpleasant? The author, MacDonell, at least, proves that you can. I kept thinking, "Boy, this guy's a jerk," at the same time I feverishly sped through his 20 year memoir of working at Hustler magazine. The stories he tells are at times shocking, sad, hilarious, occasionally boring (but these bits pass quickly), titillating and raucous (hey, kind of like Hustler magazine itself!). One can't help but feel for the guy at the same time one might not want anything to do with him.
The first half of the book is probably the toughest on his character (and interestingly he doesn't spare himself much). He was abusing drugs, women and himself, paranoid that he would be fired on a daily basis, and basically existing hand to mouth on his low wages (dating a girl at one time because she owned a VCR!). At a certain point time (after a particularly scaring DUI incident) he gets cleaned up and doesn't even drink. It's somewhat downplayed, but his success at the magazine soars at this point.
While he bashes almost everyone, (name dropping Dennis Hopper, Frank Zappa, who at times were friends of Flynt or connected to the magazine, and he cares for neither), he is particularly nasty to his fellow inmates at the asylum and of course hardest on his pyscho boss, Larry Flynt. (Once again these people probably deserve even worse criticism), but it would be nice to hear a more good tales (he admits at one point that his staff - when he rises to power - was actually a good one).
Comparison's have been made to Hunter S. Thompson, and while I think these are somewhat accurate as far as characters and subject matter, that should not indicate that the writing (and or editing) is nearly in that league. The book feels a little flabby (and repetitive near the end), and probably could have been 50 pages shorter.
Another complaint is no photos - it would be nice to know what some of these people looked like. The great cover art is by Daniel Clowes but there are no further illustrations (that would have been better than photos!)
Besides all the juicy gossip about the mag there is also some poltical stuff that is very fascinating (as they destroy one Republican senator's career, defend Clinton and try to trash Bush (Jr.). If you've ever read the magazine this book will be of interest to you. Even better on the porn industry itself is "The Other Hollywood: The Uncensored Oral Histroy of the Porn Film Industry" by Legs McNeil (also reviewed by yours truly).
Hilarious, Crazy Book!!.......2006-12-23
Although the prose is a little self consciously rich at times, this is the most laugh out loud funny book I have read since Howard Stern's Private Parts memoir.The most inside look at not only Flynt and Hustler but the entire porn scene from the 80's and 90's. His description of porn legend Tori Welles on page 118 is uncanny-"Complexion the color of cinnamon or bourbon, brunette mane of body and bounce, flaunting the defiant cheekbones and chin of an urchin empress, the sublime Ms. Welles stepped with the self-assurance of the lifelong stone fox." (See what I mean about the prose?) When he's done describing her, you will know exactly what she looked like and what her sexual magnetism was all about even if you have never seen her. Hilarious, insightful, sarcastic. Would make a great movie.
Even if you haven't been let go from Hustler, you will love this book!.......2006-11-14
You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll wish that once in a while you had actually read some of the articles. This book is as hilarious as Hustler often was during Allan's tenure. A common misconception about this book is that it is about Larry Flynt. This book is not about Larry Flynt--it is about Allan MacDonell. If you want to learn more about Larry Flynt, you should probably visit his website. If you want to learn more about what it is REALLY like to oversee the day-to-day operations of America's most notorious stroke rag--penile scabs and all--then this is the book for you! My only complaint about Prisoner of X is that Allan has not yet recorded an audio-book version, but that's coming up next, right Mr. MacDonell?
funny and facinating.......2006-08-09
I wasn't quite sure what this book would include for obvious reasons. I was pleasantly surprised. What a great insight to the inner workings of a very popular magazine.With great humor it told his rise from the very bottom of the ladder to the top. Great stories about all different famous and not so famous people and of course about Larry Flynt. A great story.
Thank God Allan Lives!.......2006-08-05
I've known the author for over 30 years, 27 of which I thought he was dead. As college students at the dawning of the punk rock era, we were involved in hijinks ranging from the rerouting of public transportation to social criticism using jumbo markers. We ended up losing touch after someone had told me that Allan was dead. Easy enough to believe after personally witnessing him nearly lose half his body while trying to bulldog a moving cable car and knowing of his great fondness for self-induced catatonic states.
Forward 27 years, I'm sick at home listening to Howard Stern and Allan is a guest promoting his book. What a second, Allan is alive and he worked at Hustler for the better portion of his adult life. This is a book I have to buy immediately.
The book is darn funny. His nearly two decade journey from being a punk rock proofreader during the early days of the Reagan administration to help saving the 42nd President's rear makes for a great read. Thank God that Allan lived to bring us this special gem through his Canadian/SoCal/Punk Rock eyes.
Buy it today, so you can eventually say the book was so much funnier than the movie (wonder if Woody will reprise his role?)
Average customer rating:
- Corregidor: From Paradise To Hell
- Corregidor From paradise to hell
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Corregidor: From Paradise to Hell!
Ben Waldron , and
Emily Burneson
Manufacturer: Trafford Publishing
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Binding: Paperback
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Corregidor
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Prisoners of the Japanese : Pows of World War II in the Pacific
ASIN: 141202109X
Release Date: 2006-07-06 |
Book Description
Ben is one of those millions of young men who were children of the great depression. His narrative takes the reader through five years of his life, from 1940 to 1945. It tells of his transition from a normal naive teenager to a battle-hardened soldier fighting a losing battle on Corregidor, and then suffering the harsh, inhumane indignities heaped upon him as a prisoner of war when the Philippine Islands were surrendered to the Japanese Forces on May 6, 1942.
This is a story of survival. How does one survive three and a half years as a POW under a brutal enemy? It shows how an American boy becomes a man by adjusting to a completely foreign environment, every day meeting the daily hardships, obstacles and challenges served up by the unfeeling captor.
Winner of the North American Bookdealers Exchange "BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD" for 1989-90.
Customer Reviews:
Corregidor: From Paradise To Hell.......2007-09-23
I am lucky enough to have met Ben Waldron through family members that know him. I am not related to him in any way, but after reading this book, I feel that I know him better than some of my own family. This is a gripping true story of Ben's life, narrated by Ben, of leaving his family at 18 years old during the depression and joining the Army. Ben kept a diary for the three and a half years that he was kept as Prisoner of War under the Japanese. This book will take you through all of your emotions, and you will be left awestruck, bewildered, angry, sickened, happy and well informed about life as a soldier and as a POW during WWII.
Corregidor From paradise to hell.......2007-04-02
Excellent book. I read it in one sitting because it was impossible for me to set it down. The author tells the story in real language with no extra words. It really shows the horrors of being a prisoner of war.
Average customer rating:
- Remarkable true story of persistent courage
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Journey to Freedom and Beyond
Robert M. Slane
Manufacturer: Trafford Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 141201672X
Release Date: 2006-08-01 |
Book Description
A true-life story of combat during World War II. In the book the author describes the action that leads up to the loss of his combat crew when their aircraft is downed by German forces. Events after he crash-lands his aircraft provide a narrative history that leads the reader into the emotional life of a prisoner of war.
The reader is taken through a progressive series of events as the author adjusts to a life that is a composite mixture of boredom, fear and danger. With escape uppermost in his mind he is made increasingly aware of the risks and retribution following a failed escape attempt.
He was in that same Stalag Luft III prison camp when British Prisoners in the adjacent North Compound made their escape through a tunnel. When captured, fifty of these prisoners were shot to death. The directive to murder the prisoners came directly from Hitler.
Solitary confinement for an escape attempt followed by a "forced" winter march as Stalag Luft III is evacuated, provides further insight into the dangers and hardships faced by the prisoners as their captors move the prisoners from one area to another in an attempt to avoid liberation by Allied military forces.
As the war continues the Red Cross food supplies are depleted and starvation becomes a reality. Dysentery and vermin are prevalent in the prison Stalag located at Nuremberg where thousands of allied prisoners have been relocated.
The author describes in vivid detail the chaos and fear created as bombs fall on targets located adjacent to the prison compounds.
Seeking to make his way to friendly territory the author continues his quest for freedom with multiple escapes during a second forced march from Nuremberg to Moosberg, Germany.
The author is greeted with a shocking scene of horror when captured after several days of freedom and returned to an "Oflag" where British ground-officer survivors of the battles of Dunkerque, Crete, Dieppe are imprisoned by the Germans.
The day of liberation finally arrives, but the story does not end with the events of that joyous day.
Adventure and tragedy continue after the war as the author flies combat during the Korean conflict and later provides a stirring, emotional account of a B-47 accident.
After his combat tour in Vietnam and retirement from the military the author and his wife revisit areas in England and France where some of the wartime events took place. Of special significance was a visit to his gunner's grave in France.
Customer Reviews:
Remarkable true story of persistent courage.......2007-03-16
Robert Slane's expierences will captivate the reader. The author unassumingly tells of his three plane crash survivals and almost two years of captivity as a POW in Germany. His story reveals the potential of human strength and empathy even while enduring inhumane afflictions of war.
Customer Reviews:
See ya!.......2005-01-09
Since it's inception, X-Treme X-Men has had it's share of up's and down's. Even though it's been scripted by legendary X-Men scribe Chris Claremont, this title really showed his flaws as a writer, and the flaws within the X-Men mythos that Claremont himself is and was responsible for to begin with. Prisoner of Fire, the final collected arc of the series, finds Storm, Shadowcat, Gambit, Rogue, Bishop, Sage, and the rest of the crew on the trail of a genericly written villain that naturally leaves the door open for another encounter. Igor Kordey's art looks more improved than what we have seen on his various stints on New X-Men, but it doesn't have long to impress since this TPB comes to an end rather quickly. Since X-Treme X-Men has come to an end, Claremont has returned to writing Uncanny X-Men and is also the scribe of the newly launched Excalibur book, both of which are currently faring better than almost anything to be found in the entire X-Treme X-Men series.
X-Tremely Tired Ends.......2005-01-01
X-Treme X-Men comes to a close with plenty of loose ends. The bad guy gets away (again). As per usual with X-Treme, the villains are forgettable and hardly credible threats to the X-Men (who are only threatened by mind-controlled members of their own team).
While Kordey finally hit his stride in the book after a painful time growing into it, he doesn't get the chance to show some of the vicious tough action and strong acting evident in his better work (X-Treme X-Men: Storm The Arena and Cable).
This is not a great book. If you want to find some interesting X-Men or Kitty Pryde, try Astonishing X-Men.
Customer Reviews:
Old Secrets Revealed.......2007-05-08
The `Foreword' explains the origin of MI-9, the agency who trained armed forces how to behave if captured, and how to send secret messages from prison camps. Later they helped to create MIS-X for American forces. Their mission was to conceal maps, cameras, and radio sets in innocent objects for prisoners of war. Today no records of MIS-X exist (p.xiii); they were all destroyed after the end of WW II. But a few were able to recall details to recreate this history. Three years after WW II ended they could not locate this information for the impending Korean War (p.2). Fort Hunt was set up close to Washington as an interrogation camp for enemy prisoners. This operation had the highest secrecy possible (p.15), greater than the A-bomb project (p.20).
Chapter 4 explains the fictitious charity groups and the parcels sent to POWs. The Post Office cooperated (p.31); so did the Ration Board and manufacturers (p.32). Once a POW guard accepted a bribe, he could be blackmailed to provide information (p.49). Red Cross parcels prevented starvation (p.54). The dollar figures date this book. You could travel from Washington to Cincinnati overnight by rail (p.105). There are no details on the four items needed for a transmitter (p.104). Detailed maps were hidden in a pack of playing cards (p.110). Chapter 13 tells how pistols were smuggled into Oflag 64. The planned break-out and rescue by B-17s was canceled as too risky. There was a danger in buying more than one camera (p.132). Germany banned radios for Allied POWs; America gave radios to German POWs for their education (p.159). Fliers had to carry pistols now for protection against civilians (p.161).
Colonel Spivey asked for bombing missions so he could determine the reason for high losses. Gunners were ignoring their gunsights (p.190)! A smuggled German-lettered typewriter was used to forge passes and IDs (p.191). As Germany was losing the war there were threats to murder the POWs (p.193). Shipments stopped in Nov 1944 because they expected the war to end soon, the POW camps were well-stocked, and German transportation was ruined. In Aug 1945 they were ordered to destroy all records. Food items went to the Salvation Army, clothes and games to Walter Reed. [If this story skimps at times its because there were no written records.]
The `Afterword' explains the origins of this book. He found the current location of the MIS-X Pentagon papers. But they were destroyed by a fire (p.213). Little is known about MIS-X activities in the Pacific theater. Unlike Europe, a Caucasian could not hide among Asian people, he had to stay hidden. Japan mistreated POWs even after being warned (p.219).
What happened at Ft Hunt?.......2001-03-13
This book is a must read for those of us touched by Ft Hunt in some way. Also WW II and history buffs.
I grew up very close to Ft Hunt, and spent literally hundreds and hundreds of childhood hours there, riding bikes, exploring the fortifications, building dams on the little creeks, hiking the bridle trail (back when you could rent horses at the stables at the end of what's now Elkins Rd) and discovering all of its secret areas. Originally all of the buildings and fortifications in the area were secure, firmly boarded up with very stout 2x6's or 2x8's. But the "big" kids would find ways to break into these areas, and then we would all discover the remnants of what had been left behind when the military had given Ft Hunt to the National Park Service for recreational use.
The scenario was typically, the big kids would manage to pry a couple of the boards from a doorway. We "little" kids would come upon the opened doorway usually not more than about a day later, and of course be very excited to explore new areas...this was like Dungeons and Dragons but for real, where the (mostly) underground rooms were very intriguing. There were rumors of crates of rifles and even a secret tunnel under the Potomac to Ft Washington that we searched for relentlessly.
At the time Ft Hunt still had its original road system, and several large two story frame houses that had been officers' quarters. And there were all of the other buildings to house the facilities of a small military outpost. But no area was sacred from tenacious and unsupervised youths in search of adventure.
I brought home all kinds of things, like alarm buzzers, gas masks, and old electrical fixtures. I even brought home a baby skunk whose family I found living behind the concrete steps that led up to a one-story frame building we used to call the "schoolhouse". The skunk is another story though. At some point boards were removed from the schoolhouse doorway and very soon thereafter we little kids found the breach.
The schoolhouse contained a treasure unbelievable to a 10 year old's eyes. Looting was in season! There were all manner of research books (a complete set of Britannica from 1893), neat equipment, like a full Fairchild stereoscope and air photos, 35mm films, etc. Much to my parents chagrin, I began carting home as much as I could. My excuse for stealing? Well, all this stuff was abandoned, and if I didn't take it, the next guy would. If only I knew what the real treasure was at the time! This was definitely some the stuff used in the MIS-X operation.
After the schoolhouse door was breached, it couldn't have been more than a couple of days, a bulldozer came, pushed the schoolhouse into a pile, and it was torched. (This happened in about 1960, which disputes the claims that all "evidence" was destroyed within the decade of the 1940's.) In all of our time having our great adventures, we had never seen any action taken over anything, but the schoolhouse was different. It happened fast. I can remember, because I wanted to retrieve some more loot, but we got to watch the bulldozer instead. And The Escape Factory explains why. It also explains why, when I was a child, I would hear stories about German soldiers who had been brought to Ft Hunt for interrogation. Apparently more than one had escaped and showed up wandering the area, looking for food. Reportedly one was employed at a nearby farm for several months.
For years I wondered about many of the things I had run across at Ft Hunt. Now the story has been told.
A first American view.......2000-05-04
One of the first American views of the MIS-X program. Previously the British have written about their experiences from the MI-9 and MI-19 perspective. Much of the work of this unit has been still kept classified. There was some unit activity in Southeast Asia and elsewhere in Japanese controlled POW camps. My grandfather was one of the unit's commanders and later CO of Fort Hunt at the end of the war.
Useful but incomplete history of a Super Secret Activity.......1998-09-24
MIS-X was the branch of U.S. Army G-2 which was in charge of furnishing escape aids and aiding the active escape measures of U.S. service personnel captured by the enemy in aWW II and kept in POW camps. The "ratlines" or escape networks were often run in cooperation with the British agency MIS-9 (cf M.R.D. Foote's book MIS-9). As in other cases the British were the "big brothers" who taught our clandestine operators. This was as much true of the brotherhood of the British SOE and the United State's OSS as the brotherhood of MIS-9 and MIS-X.
Why the operations of the E and E agencies required such highly kept secrecy, lasting in this country until the last ten years, was the necessity for the Germans not having even a hint of the special equipment smuggled in via Red Cross relief packages, all unknowingly by the latter of course, nor could the Germans be allowed to penetrate the "ratlines". Of course, the latter did happen, with unfortunate results to our side but they never knew of MIS-X.
After the war ended the headquarters of MIS-X which was colocated with the POW interrogation facilities at Fort Hunt, Va, was razed to the ground and plowed under and the heavy non-destructible equipment shipped to salvage yards and junked (presses, etc) and the soft goods such as escape checkerboards and radios concealed in baseballs were all to be destroyed.
Five years later when the Korean War broke out, the institutional memory was gone. A few heavily sanitized but still classified documents held in outside files ended up in the Suitland facility of the Federal Records Office but few knew what they meant and they did not talk. Compared to the Manhattan Project or the breaking of codes this project was a ten compared to their eight.
Although most of the WW II prisoners in contact with MIS E&E (both services) were air personnel the agency was part of the Army Chief of Staff's G-2, Intelligence, not Army Air Corps intelligence. Thus the individuals assigned to MIS were from many branches of the Army.
Shoemaker himself spent most of his service time at Fort Hunt in support and development. His book is mostly from memory with the aid of some of the highly chopped up documents. The story in this account is excellent for the war againt Germany. It is incomplete and inaccurate for the war against Japan.
First, the Japanese were not interested in taking care of prisoners except where they could be made to work, second, there was no place to go if you did escape, except in the Phillipines, and third, MIS-X did not operate in the SW Pacific or Central Pacific theatres and most of the CBI Theatre was either British responsibility or uncovered. In China the MIS-X operated independently. For an account by the man in charge of that unit see the recent work by Wichtrich, [u]MIS-X: Top Secret[/u]. (also on this site)
Lastly, the "jungle living" and other courses given to personnel shot down in the tropical areas were given by theatre personnel and were organizationally the responsibility of the Army Air Force's Air Surgeon General and the flight surgeons of the Naval Aviation forces. "Survival" in primitive areas was not an MIS responsibility.
A look into how we helped our men in German POW camps........1995-08-25
A differnt look at the POW situation suring the secondworld war. This is the story of a small but efficentoperation to smuggles supplies to American POW's inside camps in Germany. What was smuggled, how it was done, and how the prisoners communicated their wishes back home without German knowledge. This is really James Bond type stuff in World War II. A nice read with good information.
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Dark Skies Over Paradise
Alida Louisa Bogaardt
Manufacturer: Trafford Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 141202787X
Release Date: 2006-07-06 |
Customer Reviews:
WHOA.......2003-03-24
I thought that this was your typical X-Men book. I was wrong. This book really suprised me. It was very VERY graphic, in depth and had a very cool story to it. This book is definately worth reading and is essential for any X-Men fan.
Prisoner X review.......2002-11-08
I absolutely love this book! It is in my opinion the best of the X-men novels. My main reason for adoring the book is because i love Rogue and Gambit and absolutely love the storyline and characters featured. I think newbies to the X-men will also enjoy this book due to the brilliant characterisation of it's main lead's and also the links to real life issues. Go on read the book i'm sure you'll like it, if not then i'm sure it will still leave you with some idea's you may never have considered before!
Prisoner X a Pleasant Surprise.......2002-09-09
I am avid X-Men fan. Considering that my other experiences to the Mojoverse all involved the X-Babies, I was expecting, basically, a comedy book, something to make me laugh. Instead, I received a very dark and gritty tale.
In a nut shell, the book is about a reality show that shows life in a prison, something that seems even more likely than when the book was originally written. (Ok, the fact that the prison was located in space is less likely, but hey, that's what makes it an X-Book.)This reality program is building to a climax with its first live execution, the mutant Longshot. Not suprisingly, the prison is ultimately run by his arch-nemesis, the grotesque and insane Mojo. The X-Men ultimately learn about this, through a variety of sources, and find their way to the prison to rescue him before his big finale.
A note right now: some social issues Noceti goes into great detail about are video-game violence, TV reality shows, and humane treatment of prisoners. If you like your X-Men all action, this book may not be for you. On the other hand, tolerance and equality are supposed to be what the X-Men stand for, so it's nice to see it applied to something other than the tried and true humans vs. mutants. Prisoner X is also written in past tense: she sees, he walks, they talk, etc. It can be a bit jarring, but ultimately fits with the book's darker tone.
Characterwise, there are good and bad. First, the three villains are portrayed excellently. Mojo is insane, Spiral is callous and vengeful, Major Domo is sarcastic and inhuman. The heroes are more of a mixed bag. Wolverine is in character, as are Rogue, Gambit, and Longshot. Noceti does a particularly good job at looking into the relationships between Rogue and Longshot and Rogue and Gambit. Others are not so good. Phoenix is so-so, as is Beast. Storm, who is supposedly to be the team leader is disappointing. She doesn't lead, exactly, then every other X-Men just go off on their own and she docilely follows behind to pick up the pieces. Also disappointing was the absence of Dazzler, Longshot's maybe-wife. The book makes no reference to her by name and only one reference otherwise, a throw-away comment that may or may not be talking about her. Other than those qualms, this was a reasonably good book, albeit one with rather pointed morals. Give it a go.
Not Bad But..........2002-07-21
If you like the X-Men and want to read an X-Men book then pick this up. It's an easy read but has little action or interesting points.
Not nearly at the level of other X-Men novels..........2002-07-11
Ann has a writing style that I found very annoying. She would build up to a big suspenseful fight scene, and then sum it all up too quickly with something like, "...and then Wolverine made quick work of about 20 people". All right, that's obviously an exageration, but seriously, Ann is great at character development and interaction, but she certainly knows how to leave the ACTION out of the interaction. Consequently, this book was a total bore, and I found myself wishing for the merciful end many times. Her thinly disguised liberal, political commentary on the state of prisons in our society, which is interjected every other chapter or so, is also unnecessary (i.e. if you want to campaign against our "dehumanizing" prisons, stick to writing non-fiction Ann). Save your money, pass on this one and buy the "Mutant Empire" trilogy or "Codename: Wolverine" both by Christopher Golden... he does a great job of capturing the essence of the x-men characters AND providing detailed, heart-stopping action along the way.
Books:
- Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul
- Winter of the Wolf Moon: A Mystery (An Alex McKnight Novel)
- Wolf's Blood (Wolf)
- 101 Cataclysms: For the Love of Cats
- 15 Books in 1: L. Frank Baum's Original "Oz" Series. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Marvelous Land of Oz, Ozma of Oz, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, The Road to Oz, The Emerald City of Oz, The Patchwork Girl Of Oz, Little Wizard Stories of Oz, Tik-Tok of Oz, The Scarecrow Of Oz, Rinkitink In Oz, The Lost Princess Of Oz, The Tin Woodman Of Oz, The Magic of Oz, and Glinda Of Oz.
- 30 Years a Watchtower Slave: The Confessions of a Converted Jehovahs Witness
- A Dangerous Path (Warriors, Book 5)
- A Single Shard
- Advance and Retreat: Personal Experiences in the United States and Confederate States Armies
- Against a Crimson Sky: A Novel
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