Book Description
In this profoundly affecting memoir from the internationally renowned author of The Caged Virgin, Ayaan Hirsi Ali tells her astonishing life story, from her traditional Muslim childhood in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, and Kenya, to her intellectual awakening and activism in the Netherlands, and her current life under armed guard in the West.
One of today's most admired and controversial political figures, Ayaan Hirsi Ali burst into international headlines following an Islamist's murder of her colleague, Theo van Gogh, with whom she made the movie Submission.
Infidel is the eagerly awaited story of the coming of age of this elegant, distinguished -- and sometimes reviled -- political superstar and champion of free speech. With a gimlet eye and measured, often ironic, voice, Hirsi Ali recounts the evolution of her beliefs, her ironclad will, and her extraordinary resolve to fight injustice done in the name of religion. Raised in a strict Muslim family and extended clan, Hirsi Ali survived civil war, female mutilation, brutal beatings, adolescence as a devout believer during the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, and life in four troubled, unstable countries largely ruled by despots. In her early twenties, she escaped from a forced marriage and sought asylum in the Netherlands, where she earned a college degree in political science, tried to help her tragically depressed sister adjust to the West, and fought for the rights of Muslim immigrant women and the reform of Islam as a member of Parliament. Even though she is under constant threat -- demonized by reactionary Islamists and politicians, disowned by her father, and expelled from her family and clan -- she refuses to be silenced.
Ultimately a celebration of triumph over adversity, Hirsi Ali's story tells how a bright little girl evolved out of dutiful obedience to become an outspoken, pioneering freedom fighter. As Western governments struggle to balance democratic ideals with religious pressures, no story could be timelier or more significant.
Customer Reviews:
One Brave Woman.......2007-10-09
Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a rare and remarkable woman, someone who has achieved success, and a measure of fame, despite the odds that origin and circumstance stacked against her. Her intimate autobiography, Infidel, explains how she became a determined feminist because of, not despite, her upbringing in a Muslim culture in which women have few rights and little value compared to the males in their world.
Born into a family situation in which her father took several wives, although each maintained a separate household, Ali did not see much of her father for long periods and was raised by her more religiously tolerant grandmother and mother. Even as a girl, she found herself questioning authority and some of the basic tenants of her religion while still striving to do the things that were expected of her. Ali learned exactly what those expectations were. Circumcised as a young girl and educated by radical imams, she soon learned that by so much as uncovering her hair in public she would be solely responsible for whatever reaction she received from any male she encountered. She learned that the Koran was to be taken literally as the direct word of Allah and that it could never be questioned even when it seemed to justify the beating and killing of women by husbands, brothers or fathers who believed them to have disgraced the honor of the family or clan.
She tried very hard to internalize all that she was taught, but Ayaan Hirsi Ali was born with a questioning mind and could never reconcile herself to the fact that she felt much of what she was taught to be unjust. And when she saw an opportunity to escape and make a new life for herself she took it. While in Germany to arrange for the paperwork to join her new husband in Canada, the result of an arranged marriage set up by her father, she took the opportunity to flee to Holland where she sought and received refugee status.
What Ali accomplished in Holland is the most amazing part of her story. She learned the Dutch language so well that she was able to support herself as a translator rather than having to depend on the Dutch welfare system. She went to university and received a degree. She was granted Dutch citizenship. And, most amazing of all, she was elected to the Dutch parliament.
Never afraid to speak her mind despite the danger of doing so, Ali spoke loudly about the plight of Muslim women forced into arranged marriages who suffered beatings and, on occasion, honor killings at the hands of either their new husbands or their own family. When Dutch film director, Theo van Gough, who collaborated with her on a film documentary about the abuse of Muslim women within the confines of their religion was murdered on the street, she was forced into hiding, almost had her Dutch citizenship stripped from her, and eventually moved to the United States for her own safety.
Ali states her beliefs and goals very simply: "...the Quran is an act of man, not of God. We should be free to interpret it; we should be permitted to apply it to the modern era in a different way, instead of performing painful contortions to try to recreate the circumstances of a horrible distant past. My intention (is) to liberate Muslim minds, so that Muslim women - and Muslim men, too - might be freer. Men, too, are forced to obey inhumane laws."
Is this really a crime for which she and others should be killed?
We Really Aren't That Different...........2007-10-08
Thank goodness there are women like Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and thank goodness she has a voice. I think she should receive a Nobel Peace Prize for her courage in speaking out about the abuses committed against Muslim women; I hope it doesn't cost her her life.
I couldn't help but notice the similarities between hard-core Islamic fundamentalism--- the duty to convert classmates and save them from Hell; the severely authoritarian treatment of young girls, to the extent that they do not even feel like persons; the fetish of virginity and extremely prevalent circumcision of female children (Ali refers to this as being "branded" by an owner); the enforced child-like dependency of women ("because I was born a woman, I could never become an adult"); women being conditioned to put themselves last; women who have to declare whether they are virgins or not when they get married; practitioners feeling superior to unbelievers, etc.--- and the same kind of Christian fundamentalism we find here in the U.S. The same things happen here; it's just a matter of degree and different costumes for the women.
Hirsi Ali's tale is a bildungsroman of exceptional courage by a woman who stands up to not only her family and her clan and her religion and people who are trying to kill her, but who also is consequently at risk of death for being an apostate.
She is very grateful to the Dutch culture that took her in when she escaped and provided her with money, housing, and education, and she points out the difference between Dutch girls who are raised to be self-reliant and Muslim girls who are raised to be docile and submissive, and how this inhibits their transition (and the transition of their children) to modernity.
I was particularly interested in her discussion of Muslim schools, which she says "suppress the critical faculties" and "... neglect subjects that conflict with Islamic teachings, such as evolution and sexuality", because our own Christian schools do exactly the same thing. And now, we have voucher programs that are supporting religious indoctrination by directing taxpayer money from diverse populations into Christian-only endeavors. I believe we could learn something here, from the situation Ali described in the Netherlands. Ali, as a member of the Dutch Parliament, tried to abolish laws that permitted the establishment of religious schools, and she feels that when countries take in people from backward and abusive cultures (in her words, "We froze the moral outlook of billions of people into the mind-set of the Arab desert in the seventh century"), that allowing them to carry on their culture off to the side somewhere and not strongly encouraging their integration into the mainstream is a mistake. She says that the message of her book is that "... we in the West would be wrong to prolong the pain of that transition unnecessarily, by elevating cultures full of bigotry and hatred toward women to the stature of respectable alternative ways of life".
Hirsi Ali speaks of the need for a Muslim Enlightenment, something that would address "...the relationship between our faith and the behavior of our men", and she wishes for the liberation of Muslim women. On a Dutch TV show, she explained that "... Islam was like a mental cage. At first, when you open the door, the caged bird stays inside; it is frightened. It has internalized its imprisonment. It takes time for the bird to escape, even after someone has opened the doors to its cage."
Surely if Muslim women say "I may no longer submit" (the last line of Ali's movie Submission), their revolt will benefit us all. And perhaps a Muslim Enlightenment could lead to a Christian Enlightenment, and indeed to a dialogue about the divisiveness of all religion. Surely people will see that brutalizing and limiting women, who are the caretakers of children, will affect their treatment of those children, and surely men can realize that the love of a woman, freely given, is immeasurably more valuable than her coerced compliance.
Vivid and Brilliant Work.......2007-10-07
This was one of the best books I have ever read. It is enriching and enlightening to us Westerners who mistakenly believe that Islam is a religion of peace hijacked by a handful of extremists. It's understandable how so many people believe that, trying to extend an olive branch and maintain peace. Unfortunately, it's just not true. And that's what the primary message of this book is. The great issue of our time is how to adapt Islam into the global system with the least possible bloodshed.
Fascinating story....but read about peaceful Muslims also.......2007-10-02
InfidelThis is a fascinating story by a courageous woman and gives us valuable insight into life in many Middle Eastern countries. I highly recommend it. At the same time I have visited other Muslim countries and have women friends who have a totally different life with freedom and choices, so I would recommend reading other books about women and Islam. Many of our Muslim friends are working for peace, tolerance and interfaith dialog here in the US and in other countries.
YOu GO ,GIRL.......2007-10-02
College Club reviewed your autobiography and you put us to shame-your accomplishments despite yourcultural restrictions...searching for a God of Love-You did find yourself- AND courageous enough to take a stand - God does love you and blesses you You have opened the door for many women and more WILL follow. May you continue your crusade for women;s rights
Book Description
Now in Paperback!
Customer Reviews:
Great Book for Retarded People.......2007-10-11
Great book for reading on the special little bus whilst trying not to drool on ones self. Another gem from the Fundamentalist Capitalist Fanatics crowd at the Cato Institute. The era of the of the mindless "think tanks" shall be remembered with glee by the those of us waiting to sue the pants off them as soon as we get ourselves together. Great book for retards.
An important book about the "science" of global warming.......2007-07-08
This book deals with many of the common myths regarding global warming using facts instead of personal attacks in order to deal with the many issues and constituencies who have a stake in the global warming debate. Michaels shows that far from there being a "consensus" about global warming, there is a vast group of special interests who distort facts, ignore real scientific research, and create "facts" out of fiction.
Michaels gives many examples of supposedly scientific conclusions about global warming are really a closed loop of closed minds who exclude any evidence that questions the reasons behind global climate changes.
Are there holes in the Arctic sea ice in the summer.? Yes, but they have always shrunk and expanded over millions of years. Is the Antarctic getting warmer or colder? Yes and no, depending on which part of this vast area you are measuring. Are CO2 levels increasing? Yes, but they are no where close to historical levels reached many times in the past. Polar bears on the verge of extinction? Not when the truth is that there are more of them now than at any other time in history (and eating those cute little fur seals in record numbers, no less.)
The list of currently held myths are dealt with in a very objective fashion, backed up by real research, and showing the earth to be a very complicated system, which is not very well understood. Michaels does a great job of showing that many of the things we think we understand about climate change are really not what you read in the newspapers.
If you are looking for a book that deals with the many arguments used in the global climate change debate in a fair and objective way, this is the best of the lot. But of course Michaels is attacked because he does not rely on tax money for a living, unlike the hundreds of thousands of politicians, bureaucrats, media people and their ilk who flood the world with hysterical stories about the end of the world due to global warming when the evidence is quite to the contrary.
The irony of course is that many who see a great conspiracy in those who question the reasons behind climate change somehow blame "big oil" for asking questions about a supposedly finished debate. They obviously have failed to notice, as Michaels has, that most advertising by "big oil" today is to embrace the agenda of the Gores of the world so that they can make even more money trading "carbon credits" which do nothing to reduce air pollution, and not have to spend a dime for oil exploration.
The reality distortion machine.......2007-06-26
Global warming alarmists follow the rules set down by Leon Trotsky when he established the Soviet Union's Agitprop program. Lie, lie, lie. Spread false stories over and over again. Helped by sympathizers and left-wing media, the lies will soon become accepted as truth. Over and over again in the 20th Century, we saw the basic concepts of Soviet Agitprop employed.
Patrick Michaels demonstrates how these concepts are being once again deployed by the global warming alarmists. The global warming lobby is not monolithic. Some members are motivated by nothing more than simple greed: academics who must have grant money in order to keep their jobs. They often have no political purposes, just a need for public money to pay their salaries and fringe benefits. Some non-academics are simply cause hustlers: saving the planet is a potent headline for fund-raising solicitations. Others, the real movers and shakers, want to change the world, they want a single world governmenr to rule the lives of everyone. (It is neither accident nor coincidence that Earth Day is also Lenin's birthday.)
Here Michaels dissects the process of distortion engaged in by the various pressure groups and the media. For example, one interesting graph depicts the way UN IPPC projections of temperature change are consistently amplified in the media, regardless of what the IPPC report actually predicts. The pernicious influence of monopolistic government funding producing an echo chamber of politically correct peer-reviewed "studies" is especially interesting. In short, you don't get financed and certainly not published if you don't agree in advance that your findings will support the "consensus" position.
One by one, with ample supporting documentation, Michaels blows apart what amount to media myths about global warming.
This is a must-read book for anyone attempting to get at the truth of global warming.
Jerry
Meltdown: The Predictable Distortion of Global Warming by Scientists, Politicians, and the Media.......2007-06-08
This is a brilliant and witty review of the issues concerning global warming.
Independent Thinkers Beware!.......2007-06-04
Mr. Michaels is a member of no less that 20 institutes, think tanks, and other national groups that receive significant funding from Exxon--places like the Cato Institute, the Heritage Foundation, the George C. Marshall Institute, and the Heartland Institute. He also admits that he has accepted funding from various fossil fuel industry groups. One would have to suspend a lot of disbelief to think that such a well-funded person is not serving as a spokesperson for these industries, or, at least, is badly, badly compromised.
Average customer rating:
- Carefully Balanced Melodrama with Fabulous Poetic Writing
- This is MY review
- Politics
- A Classic
- My Favorite American Novel
|
All the King's Men
Robert Penn Warren
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
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ASIN: 0156004801 |
Amazon.com
This landmark book is a loosely fictionalized account of Governor Huey Long of Louisiana, one of the nation's most astounding politicians.
All the King's Men tells the story of Willie Stark, a southern-fried politician who builds support by appealing to the common man and playing dirty politics with the best of the back-room deal-makers. Though Stark quickly sheds his idealism, his right-hand man, Jack Burden -- who narrates the story -- retains it and proves to be a thorn in the new governor's side. Stark becomes a successful leader, but at a very high price, one that eventually costs him his life. The award-winning book is a play of politics, society and personal affairs, all wrapped in the cloak of history.
Book Description
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, this classic book is generally regarded as the finest novel ever written on american politics. It describes the career of Willie Stark, a back-country lawyer whose idealism is overcome by his lust for power. New Foreword by Joseph Blotner for this fiftieth anniversary edition.
Customer Reviews:
Carefully Balanced Melodrama with Fabulous Poetic Writing.......2007-10-05
ALL THE KING'S MEN has a rich mix of carefully balanced characters who help Jack Burden, the narrator, explore the paths he, his childhood friends, his colleagues, and his parents take through life. At this level, ATKM is a carefully wrought story, more about the tyranny of the past than the bare knuckled compromises of politics, with the character Sadie Burke contrasting with Anne Stanton, Willie Stark contrasting with Adam Stanton and Tiny Duffy, Jack Burden contrasting with Sugar Boy, and so on. But while all of these characters are fully realized, they are also somewhat predictable. It is for this reason that ATKM seems like a melodrama; once you get the characters, their stories fail to surprise.
Nonetheless, this novel is well worth reading, primarily because of Robert Penn Warren's fabulous style. I'm no expert. But most authors I read seem to use metaphors and similes to create a quick burst of insight or beauty. Yes, Updike, Chabon, McEwan and maybe a few others create occasional passages of descriptive writing with multiple moving elements that fit together in seamless metaphoric surprise. But Warren does this repeatedly, taking an idea and exploring it for 100 words or more. This, in my opinion, explains why ATKM has lasted: much of the novel is very fine poetic prose. Here's one example:
"In the morning it had stopped raining and there was the sun. I went out and saw the thin pools of water standing on the black ground, like sheets of isinglass. Around the japonicas, the white and red and coral petals, which had been shattered from the blossoms, floated on the blackly gleaming pools. Some of them floated with the curled edges upward, like boats, and around them other petals floated upside down or had shipped water, making a gay carnage as though a battleship had fired a couple of salvos into a fleet of carnival barges and gondolas in some giddy, happy, far-off land."
Warren's poetic style helps explain why ATKM is both a long book but a fast read.
This is MY review.......2007-09-30
Overall, I thought the story was okay. I am not much of a fan of Penn's prose, and this book dragged until Jack Burden retells the story of Cass Mastern. For me, this is where the book starts falling into place. Maybe I was set up for failure with this book because I keep seeing this novel being called "political fiction." As someone picking this up expecting "political fiction," you'd expect the story to focus on Willie Stark and in much more detail of his humble beginnings to his tragic downfall, but he is only a distant focal point in this novel as the story belongs to one of Stark's cronies, Jack Burden. I don't know WHY I'm supposed to give a flip about Jack Burden and after finishing the novel, I still don't give a toss for the character. There are so many sub-plots and interesting characters within the story that I was much more interested in than the big picture of Burden's personal "odyssey." I felt that some of the story was predictable (Burden's father) and some of the book just didn't seem feasible (the relationship between Stark and Anne Stanton). So all in all, this book didn't do it for me. I have read better.
Politics.......2007-08-30
Jack was a journalist living in the 1930s in the South. As a newspaperman he had the opportunity to follow the early political campaign of the idealistic Willie Stark, a farm boy who thought he could make a difference and agreed to run when some powerful men asked him.
Little did Willie know that he was a stooge set up to split the vote and guarantee a win to his opponent. Little did he know that nobody was listening to his earnest, figure-ridden speeches about how he would make the country a better place. Jack was there to help pick up the pieces when Willie finally found out what was going on, and he was there to witness Willie's rebirth as a fighter, who promised to come back to campaign on his own for the next election.
Years later Jack is no longer in journalism. Instead, he is Willie's right-hand man. He is the one who keeps track of the things Governor Willie Stark needs to get done. He is the one who digs up dirt on friends and opponents and puts pressure where pressure is needed. He is essential to the smooth running of Willie's personal and political life, and he is much reviled by many people for his role in the government.
In Jack's mind, though, Willie is a better politician than most. There is some corruption within his organization, but there is also much more good being accomplished than in past governments. Jack defends to his friends and himself that such good should and does overshadow the dark parts of his boss. As this book progresses, we are able to see how decent and moral people can be sucked into a somewhat immoral life, and how those who are immoral to begin with can find places to sneak into an ethical man's world.
I really liked watching the evolution of all of the characters in this book, and the changing relationships among them. It was interesting to puzzle through Willie's change from idealistic young man to hardened womanizer, or Jack's change from slacker student to dedicated blackmailer. I liked seeing where Jack and Anne's relationship went wrong, and I liked the stubborn way Adam refused to let his friendship with Jack go.
This book had some beautiful descriptive paragraphs, but there were times in which I felt I was simply wallowing in description, trying to wade through words in order to get back to the story.
A Classic.......2007-08-27
After seeing the movie I wanted to finally read the book; I wasn't disappointed. Although some of the language does not translate well to today, I really enjoyed the story and the way Warren uses real life events to craft his story. The book is always better than the movie!
My Favorite American Novel.......2007-08-26
Has a better American political novel been written? All The Kings Men edges out The Last Hurrah on my list and is the only novel I've read three times in the last 30 years. Yeah, I knew how it would end but it is worth reading more than once. Willie Stark is one of literature's great characters.
Others have gone into the plot and the themes of the novel so I'll just say read ATKM if you want to read an American novel on the level of The Great Gatsby.
Book Description
Hugely charismatic, humble, and possessed of preternatural luminosity of spirit, Wangari Maathai, the winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize and a single mother of three, recounts her extraordinary life as a political activist, feminist, and environmentalist in Kenya.
Born in a rural village in 1940, Wangari Maathai was already an iconoclast as a child, determined to get an education even though most girls were uneducated. We see her studying with Catholic missionaries, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the United States, and becoming the first woman both to earn a PhD in East and Central Africa and to head a university department in Kenya. We witness her numerous run-ins with the brutal Moi government. She makes clear the political and personal reasons that compelled her, in 1977, to establish the Green Belt Movement, which spread from Kenya across Africa and which helps restore indigenous forests while assisting rural women by paying them to plant trees in their villages. We see how Maathai’s extraordinary courage and determination helped transform Kenya’s government into the democracy in which she now serves as assistant minister for the environment and as a member of Parliament. And we are with her as she accepts the Nobel Peace Prize, awarded in recognition of her “contribution to sustainable development, human rights, and peace.”
In Unbowed, Wangari Maathai offers an inspiriting message of hope and prosperity through self-sufficiency.
Customer Reviews:
Extraordinary Women's memoir.......2007-06-27
This memoir is an inspiring example of what one woman can do, bit by bit, and eventually have an internationally positive influence. The author's story resonates with anyone who wants to make a difference in her/his own molecule of the world.
Perseverance and hope.......2007-04-05
When Wangari Maathai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004, questions were raised regarding her choice by the Nobel Committee. Why should an environmentalist receive a prize that was identified with peace and human rights, voiced the critics. Reading Maathai's memoir sets the record straight, and justifying her selection for the award. In this fascinating and very personal account, she paints a vivid picture of her life, embedded in the realities of Kenya before and since independence. Her experiences during the Moi regime, in particular, demonstrate the challenges a young educated woman confronted in the face of traditional prejudice as well as political oppression.
Raised in rural Kenya, Wangari Maathai never lost the deep connection with the land and its the natural beauty. Over the years, she noticed the changes and the increasing fragility of the environment. Trees for her became a symbol and a tool for protecting the vulnerable ecosystem and assisting rural population to stem the growing poverty.
Thanks to the intervention of her older brother and the support of her mother, she was able to attend school beyond the primary level, which was all girls at the time could reach for. As luck had it and, being a bright student, her convent school was one of those selected to send graduates to the US under what became known as the Kennedy Airlift: a program to send young Africans to American colleges for further education. These young people were being primed to become future leaders of their societies in the soon to be independent African states. Maathai returned to Kenya with a Master's degree in biology, a subject that for her combined her scientific interests with her deep love for her natural environment. She was encouraged in her research and added a PhD in veterinary medicine to her record. Life should have been easy after that with a good husband, a blossoming academic career and three wonderful kids. But women in Kenya were not supposed to be independent and strong. Her fight for women's equal rights broadened her environmental commitments. Eventually she lost her academic position, her husband divorced her and she ended up as poor as she was a child. Not deterred by the adversities she was facing, she continued fighting on several fronts. She started the Greenbelt Movement to plant trees to reclaim the land as a campaign for and with rural women. Over time it gained such prominence that it was perceived as a threat by the authorities. Public show of opposition, such as the demonstrations to save Uhuru Park in Nairobi from President-friendly developers, increasingly identified Maathai and the Greenbelt Movement as a focus for opposition forces. They fought for human rights and dignity, anti-tribalism and democracy. The details of these struggles, the friendships and solidarity that Maathai experienced, both in Kenya in internationally, supported her morally and probably saved her life more than once.
Maathai's memoir is very personal and written from the heart. We get to know her thinking and feelings as well as a detailed description of the difficult life women and men who opposed the Moi regime faced. Her easygoing and conversational style softens the impact of her description of the arduous and sometimes even brutal experiences that she relays. At the same time, her story is a stirring example of how one person's strength and perseverance can make a difference to a people and the world. The Greenbelt Movement is now a motor for tree planting around Africa and beyond. This is an inspirational book as well as a historical record. Reading it will make you feel enriched. [Friederike Knabe]
Didn't grab me.......2007-03-09
I heard the author speak on NPR awhile ago, and thought this would be a fascinating book. However, I just couldn't get past the first couple of chapters. I think the lady has an interesting story to tell, but I just couldn't connect with what she had to say.
Impressive, Incredible, & Motivational. It will have you believing in the Impossible!.......2007-01-27
I enjoyed this book! "Unbowed" is a straight-forward, gripping, and majestic effort by Wangari Maathai --- a formidable woman who faced unimaginable hurdles in a noble effort to help others ... and shape the destiny of her country.
During her fantastic journey, she became a mother of three, an inspiration for millions, and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Her life is an eloquent triumph of good versus evil. Those who have asked: "What can one person do?" Need only to read about her "Green Belt Movement". I'll give you a hint: It is about trees, self reliance, and human endurance.
Prepare yourself for spell-binding details (page 277) on crime, corruption, and monumental waste of natural resources by so-called leaders --- who feed off the carcasses of their people.
"Unbowed" is a book that will have you believing in the unattainable. Exquisitely written ... it is a compelling story of incredible courage, tenacious will, and survival in modern day Africa.
I loved it. You will, too!
take a bow.......2007-01-14
I have never read such a heroic story. Every time I close my eyes they pop open again and I say but how could person like this possibly had the courage to do do all the things that she did. When I try to tell Olive about it I cant find the words to say what I want to say. I keep thinking what I want to say to you, what it has made me feel, but my mouth just drops open and I have no words to express my feelings. I am awed. I am overwhelmed at the things this person accomplished. Its almost as if it is not a human being doing these things. Perhaps its because I know where she went to school when she came to the US. Perhaps its because she is so close to the age of a lot of my younger friends. Perhaps its because I have only read of such bravery and devotion to a cause. Perhaps its because she is so close in age to many of the friends I have and I can associate personally with that. Perhaps I have never really felt this close to greatness. Perhaps I am just learning a little about life I never realized. Just perhaps.
Book Description
A landmark work from one of the preeminent historians of our time: the first published biography of Andrew W. Mellon, the American colossus who bestrode the worlds of industry, government, and philanthropy, leaving his transformative stamp on each.
Following a boyhood in nineteenth-century Pittsburgh, during which he learned from his Scotch-Irish immigrant father the lessons of self-sufficiency and accumulation of wealth, Andrew Mellon overcame painful shyness to become one of America’s greatest financiers. Across an unusually diverse range of enterprises, from banking to oil to aluminum manufacture, he would build a legendary personal fortune, tracking America’s course to global economic supremacy. Personal happiness, however, eluded him: his loveless marriage at forty-five to a British girl less than half his age ended in a scandalous divorce, and for all his best efforts, he would remain a stranger to his children. He had been bred to do one thing, and that he did with brilliant and innovative entrepreneurship. The Mellon way was to hold companies closely, including such iconic enterprises as Alcoa and Gulf Oil. Collecting art, a pursuit inspired by his close friend Henry Clay Frick, would become his only nonprofessional gratification. And by the end of his life, Mellon’s “pictures” would constitute one of the world’s foremost private collections.
Mellon’s wealth and name allowed him to dominate Pennsylvania politics, and late in life he was invited to Washington. As treasury secretary under presidents Harding, Coolidge, and finally Hoover, he made the federal government run like a business—prefiguring the public official as CEO. But this man of straightforward conservative politics was no politician. He would be hailed as the architect of the Roaring Twenties, but, staying too long, would be blamed for the Great Depression, eventually to find himself a broken idol. The New Deal overthrew Andrew Mellon’s every fiscal assumption, starting with the imperative of balanced budgets. Indeed, he would become the emblem—and the scapegoat—for the Republican conviction and policy that the role of government is to help business create national wealth and jobs. At the age of seventy-nine, the former treasury secretary suffered the ultimate humiliation: prosecution by FDR’s government on charges of tax evasion. In the end Mellon would be exonerated, as he always trusted he would be, and throughout the trial, which lasted more than a year, he never abandoned what had become his last dream: to make a great gift to the American people. The National Gallery of Art remains his most tangible legacy, although he did not live to see its completion.
The issues Andrew W. Mellon confronted—concerning government, business, influence, the individual and the public good—remain at the center of our national discourse to this day. Indeed, the positions he steadfastly held reemerged relatively intact with the Reagan revolution, having lain dormant since the New Deal. David Cannadine’s magisterial biography brings to life a towering, controversial figure, casting new light on our history and the evolution of our public values.
Customer Reviews:
Very Well Done Business History.......2007-09-07
A very detailed history of the Mellon family (lots of time spent on the father), but more importantly, this is a description of the rise of American-style capitalism. David Cannadine is a historian with obviously great research skills. This audio book tops 36 hours and I found every minute of it to be interesting. I'm so sick of journalist writing shallow books on topics they only have a passing interest in (and zero research ability beyond talking to someone who just so happens to want to sell something). Prof. Cannadine says the book was more than ten years in the making--I just wish we had more quality business history like this.
Acquisition and accumulation.......2007-06-29
Born prior to the Civil War, one of five surviving sons of Judge Mellon, Andrew had a close relationship with his father. Pittsburgh was growing. Andrew Mellon's metier was finance. He began his career in banking at age seventeen in 1874 at a time of economic decline. T. Mellon and Sons had difficulty meeting the claims of depositors. Bad times were used to gain real estate hoildings. The bank was stabilized. Andrew developed his business connection with Henry Clay Frick. By 1882 Andrew Mellon had become the acknowledged leader of his generation of Mellons. Mellon mining, banking, and real estate holdings expanded. Ventures were national in scope.
There was an exceptional boom, 1898-1900. Andrew Mellon, middle-aged bachelor, had a drive to acquire, substituting it for intimacy and personal commitments. He was ambitious and aggressive. In 1899 Mellon and Frick founded the Union Steel Co. When Andrew Mellon married in his forties, his young English wife, Nora, was appalled and bewildered at conditions in Pittsburgh. She did not like the dirt and squalor. Tempermentally the couple was unsuited. Andrew was cold, repressed.
In 1902 the Mellon National Bank came into being. By the mid 1900's Andrew was the most significant economic actor in western Pennsylvania. Financial self-interest caused him to favor monopolies. The failure of his marriage in 1909 was an unprecedented crisis for Andrew. Divorce might mean social disgrace. When the divorce was granted in 1912 Andrew emerged the winner. Andrew was successful by making business collaborators successful too. Disloyalty and failure were punished.
By 1915, age sixty, Andrew was withdrawing from work. Marriage woes and anti-business progressivism tended to make him discouraged. He had, nevertheless, a continuing interest in business. He came to believe that inventors and scientists were critical to continued wealth creation and, as a consequence, he supported the program of industrial chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh. The Mellon Institute was Andrew's first large-scale philanthropy.
Mellon was Secretary of the Treasury through three administrations. The stock market crash of 1929 was followed by the world-wide Great Depression. In 1930 Mellon had to admit economic prospects were not good. The winter of 1930-1931 was bitter. His reputation in Pittsburgh collapsed in the second half of 1931. In 1932 Mellon spoke of a grave emergency. There were budget deficits. Andrew was being regarded by others as out of touch and out of date. Hoover offered Mellon the London embassy to enable him to leave his cabinet post.
After 1929 Mellon re-entered the art market as a buyer. He was able to buy masterpieces from the Hermitage. Roosevelt in office disavowed the interests of the financial titans. His activities during the first one hundred days of his presidency were anathema to Andrew Mellon. In the end Mellon created the National Gallery of Art. The gift was announced in 1937.
This is a fine and lengthy book. The portions of the book concerning art collecting are of supreme interest to the general reader, (even to those whose grasp of business and finance history is not secure and may find other sections hard-going). The story of the life and times of Andrew Mellon could be said to be straight out of a Dickens novel.
Remarkable Man, Remarkable Book.......2007-04-23
Hat's off to Cannadine for delivering an illuminating, compelling, superbly written bio about an obviously intelligent, gifted, determined and generous public as well as private citizen-leader-benefactor.
Excellent biography.......2007-04-14
David Cannadine did fabulous work researching the life of Andrew Mellon. I was amazed at the depth of detail and the amount of work that had to have gone into this project. The book discusses Mellon's business acumen, his strained personal relationships and his love for collecting great works of art. The latter culminated in the establishment of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. I did not know that he was Secretary of the Treasury. There is a great review of FDR and the sea change America went through in reaction to the Great Depression.
Despite a heavy dose of the politics surrounding business, labor, competing economic and social theories and class related arguments, Cannadine does a marvelous job of remaining objective. He is not wholly detached from these discussions. But he does present strong arguments coming from both left and right. I learned a great deal about western Pennsylvania and about an important era in American history. The book is well written and captivating.
One of the best biographies I have read.......2007-04-02
While a book of numerous pages, I have to say that I could hardly put this book down. As an Australian, I am ever fascinated by the individualism and personal drive of those individuals who made America what it is today. Both Andrew and his father 'The Judge' prove what can be achieved if you have the belief and self-drive to take on the risk to achieve what would be considered beyond most peoples' expections of themselves. What this book has lead me to is an increased fascination with Roosevelt and tbe New Deal and where it has ultimately lead the US. Would the US be a better or worse off place today without either of these types of individuals? I imagine that it is probably a draw but it is interesting to speculate where the US might have been today had Andrew's belief in letting the Great Depression sort itself out been left to do just that.
Average customer rating:
- Calculations are only as good as your numbers
- Pants on fire?
- Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
- Very Interesting
- History as Science Fiction
|
History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
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Binding: Paperback
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Similar Items:
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ASIN: 2913621058 |
Book Description
Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.
Customer Reviews:
Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03
Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.
Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19
Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09
There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.
For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.
Very Interesting.......2007-03-07
It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.
History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10
Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.
I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.
Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.
Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.
I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.
This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.
Product Description
Andrea Camilleri's novels starring Inspector Montalbano have become an international sensation in eight different languages. This funny and fast-paced Sicilian page-turner will be a delicious discovery for mystery afficionados and fiction lovers alike.
Early one morning, Silvio Lupanello, a big shot in the village of Vigàta, is found dead in his car with his pants around his knees. The car happens to be parked in a rough part of town frequented by prostitutes and drug dealers, and as the news of his death spreads, the rumors begin. Enter Inspector Salvo Montalbano, Vigàta's most respected detective. With his characteristic mix of humor, cynicism, compassion, and love of good food, Montalbano goes into battle against the powerful and the corrupt who are determined to block his path to the real killer.
Customer Reviews:
Marvelous Introduction to the Politics and Sociology of Sicily.......2007-09-01
As any Italian will tell you, Sicilians (or Sicilianos) are not Italians, and any Sicilian worth his salt will tell you thats a good thing. Camilleri who wrote this story back in 1994 has a feel for a part of his country that is remote and misunderstood by most of his countrymen. This is not the urbane Commissario Bruneti of Venice, Salvo Montalbano was born and bred on the island, and has contacts among all strata of society.
On the island of Sicily, one has three choices in life, 1)government and politics, 2) mafioso, and 3) leave. Montalbano is unusual in that he grew up there and stayed. He uses his connections to ferret out information as to things that happen on the seamier side of life.
The story itself is pedestrian, but must have been much more intense in 1994 (dealing with adultery, prostitution, bisexuality, homosexuality) so it will read as dated. But all in all it's a good introduction to the character of Inspector Salvo Montalbano.
A very Sicilian novel.......2007-08-21
Dottore Montalbano is urbane, intelligent, smooth, guttoral, well dressed, well read, well spoken, sharp as a tack, and as cynical as they come without resorting to bitterness. He is a detective in the Sicilian town of Vigate, a town seemingly overruned with crime, crooked politicians (is there another kind?), communists, fascists, over sexed and moneyed men and women.
The beauty of this book is not that the crimes are all that difficult to figure out. Plus the previous reviewers have delved into the intricacies of the plot. I will focus on the beauty of this book.
The beauty of this book is the tone of the conversations, the nature of the repartee and the give and take between friends and foes, the political, the literary, the profane and the profound. It is like a long drawn out lunch over a fine lunch al fresco, with an abundance of good wine and gossip. Food for the mind, body, and soul. It lets you into the conversations that Italian friends have with each other, all the laughs, conflicts, and resolutions. This book was an extended conversation with Camilleri and his views of everything Sicilian.
Fighting Stereotypes in Sicily?.......2007-07-24
Andrea Camilleri's police detective series, set in Sicily with his Inspector Montalbano, reinforces all of your stereotypes about crime, corruption, intrigue and double dealing on the island. This is an earthy story with sex as a leading element. The protagonist, an intuitive cop, questions why one does favors for those in power. A witness explains, "Inspector, you can't sail without a favorable wind."
A big shot is found dead in a compromising position in a distinctly bad locale. People in power seem determined to gloss over the details and put an end to the case. The Inspector smells something fishy so he wants to investigate.
The author has fashioned a complicated plot, but he hasn't made it very engrossing. He has sprinkled into his mix a lot of conniving characters, but hasn't made them very individualized or interesting. The book lacks spark and vitality. It is advertised as having a comic quality, but to this reader, it came over as rather glum and sodden. This is the first in Camilleri's series about the Sicilian police inspector, and I hope that the later ones are better.
The Daemon in Our Dreams
Nine Lives Too Many
The Rice Queen Spy
The Gentleman in a Savage Land.......2007-06-03
Inspector Salvo Montalbano is a gentleman: a gourmet and an esthete.
He is also a faithful lover to his Livia who waits for him in Genoa
while he toils as a police inspector in a mythical region of Sicily.
The Sicily of Andrea Camilleri's fiction is a savage place indeed.
Nothing and nobody is at it seems and layers of conspiracy underly
other layers.
In this context, when a prominent engineer is found dead in a trash-
filled dump where prostitutes ply their trade, Montalbano is
suspicious of the coroner's verdict of death by natural causes.
His investigation takes him through descending layers of depravity
which conclude with a long, surprise-filled monologue in which all
is revealed.
This is very cerebral detecting, even given the Maigret-like texture
of the narrative. Fans of rough-and-tumble may be disappointed.
Those who flinch at the social critique of the South of Italy may
find the portrayal of Sicilians to be a bit problematic too.
But I think these objections are misplaced. The real action in this
book is on the social and personal level. It is precisely the
quality of thought that the ever-humane Montalbano brings to the
proceedings that make them exciting. More importantly, his dim-eyed
view of Sicilan society and mores is an invitation to reflect on
its similarities to our own. Sicily here is not a stand-in for
some uncivilized 'other'. It's handled with a sympathy that
makes it a proxy for all of us.
--Lynn Hoffman, author of THE NEW SHORT COURSE IN WINE and
the novel bang BANG. ISBN 9781601640005
Camilleri's a blockbuster author.......2007-05-25
I bought my first Camilleri novel a few weeks ago after reading a New Yorker piece on trends in European detection writing. They indicated that he was pretty good. The Shape of Water turned out to be so incredibly good that I quickly returned to Amazon to buy up everything Camilleri that was on offer.
I am a little biased because I know and love Italians so well.
Camilleri combines deep introspection on the part of gloomy Inspector Montalbano, his disgust with Sicilian and Italian corruption, the blackest of noir, commentaries on contemporary political events, intellectual and culinary asides with broad ethnic humor including well-rendered translations of local dialects that connote ignorance and peasantry. Think of Elmore Leonard at his best. Definitely five standing bravos. I can't wait for the movie. If any of his stuff has made it to the screen, please let me know.
Customer Reviews:
A Satirical Look at the White House.......2005-10-12
Having read "No Way to Treat A First Lady" I had to read another Christopher Buckley and while "The White House Mess" is not quite the same entertainment, I was not disappointed.
Buckley is happy to poke fun at politicians and White House staffers. The pompouse self imporant members of staff are ridiculed constantly be it due to their addictions, predilictions or luxury yachts. Meanwhile POTUS himself is portrayed as a man of Clintonesque nature and warmth but not so hot in the speech writing department.
It's all too believable; from the Secret Services Hunt for the First hamster to the covert missions to Havana the reader will identify with more than one administration. It will have you laughing out loud on more than one occasion and is worth the read.
FUNNY, FUNNY, FUNNY.......2005-08-31
Here is another great and funny book from Mr. Buckley.
Are these real life situations or just possibilities ?
Just like his father, Christopher finds the right tone and the right sense of humor to make fun of our politicians.
Mr. Buckley please keep writing and amuse us. We need it in today's political environment.
Great book , and as always very well written.
Where to go after "Thank You For Smoking".......2002-05-16
"Thank You For Smoking" is still Christopher Buckley's best effort to date. But if you want to know where to go *next*, I suggest this lesser-known volume rather than "Little Green Men" or "Wry Martinis." "Mess" has a psychic feel to it - written during the days of the Reagan Administration, it could just about pass as a roman-a-clef by a Clinton cabinet member.
Is Christopher Buckley a secret psychic friend?.......2002-01-21
The White House Mess is both a hilarious political satire and an amazingly accurate portrait of the first Clinton Administration. Sure, the names have been changed but anyone who followed politics over the course of the '90s will recognize the characters. Thomas N. Tucker is a so-called "Moderate Democrat" who, after a few terms as Governor of a small Republican state (Idaho, in this case), is elected President over Republican George H.W. Bush. Tucker comes to Washington with a fiercely independent wife and a staff that is an uneasy mix of cynical insiders and idealistically niave (read: stupid) campaign aides with little actual practical experience. Over the course of the next four years, Tucker finds himself embroiled in a sex scandal, has to deal with his idiot brother, fails to establish any firm policy beyond what the polls say he should do, and -- as his Presidency comes to a close -- manages to embroil American soldiers in a futile military campaign. There it is, the Clinton Administration in a nutshell. Of course, what's truly amazing isn't that Buckley managed to write a memoir of the Clinton Presidency but that Buckley did so in 1987 -- five years before anyone outside of Arkansas even knew who Bill Clinton was and certainly before anyone expected this guy to be President. (Of course, what's really funny is that when the book first came out, many critics sniped that Buckley's satire was too outrageous and had no basis in reality.)
Unfairly or not, Clinton hangs over Buckley's satire and, what originally might have seemed as a simple farce, is now tinged with a certain bittersweet feel. You still laugh but its no longer a what-will-he-say-next laugh as much as its a laugh of I-Can't-Believe-This-Actually-Happened. By that same regard, when the book first came out, one of the funniest parts dealt with the difficulty of getting a senile Ronald Reagan to leave the Oval Office following Tucker's inaguration. As funny and well-written as this scene is, its no longer quite as funny with the knowledge that Reagan is -- in real life -- suffering from the late stages of Alzheimer's.
However, these are all minor quibbles and they shouldn't take away from what is one of the funniest, unsung political satires of the previous century. Buckley disguises his book as the political memoir of former Tucker aide Herbert Wadlough. Wadlough, a stuffy, pompous, but well-meaning Englishman, comes across as something of a poor man's Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and Buckley perfectly captures the man's moralistic yet clueless voice. As well, anyone who has read any of the recent memoirs by various Reagan and Clinton administration veterans will be amused as Wadlough continually tries to overhype his importance and present himself as something other than a rather minor cog in the government. Admitedly, its probably easier to enjoy this book if you're a conservative -- most of Buckley's barbs are reserved for the less-than-worldly liberals who surround Tucker. However, Buckley is hardly a partisan when it comes to throwing his punches. The Republican Party takes it share number of shots. Buckley is truly a bipartisan ridiculer but writes with such good-natured wit and skill that its hard to imagine any sensible person (no matter what their political alignment taking offense). This is a truly hilarious book and a must read for anyone with an interest in politics or a need for a good laugh.
Prophetic Comedy.......2001-12-29
The book's hook is that it's a parody of White House politics, where the status of the characters' relationships among one another is given more importance than the issues that are being governed over. Written before an Arkansas governor won the real presidency, it's narrated by a sidekick of the [obviously fictional] Democratic Idaho governor that went on to inherit the White house for a term. Buckley does a wonderful job of telling the story with sublety - the narrator is too dignified to admit his own wrongdoings while burying his peers, who have also all written their own memoirs doing the same thing. True to the title, the President's term is embroiled with controversy, ranging from a missing hamster to a poor decision to gas an uprising in the Bahamas. There's a sex scandal involving interns, a first brother that causes some grief, and strain in the bedroom of the first lady. Can you believe it was written before Reagan left office?
Recommended for anyone that can laugh at Presidential politics, political critics, or the pretensions of executive staff members.
Book Description
In this new paperback edition, the author exposes Jesse Jackson's life and works, uncovering a sordid tale of greed, ambition, and corruption from a self-proclaimed minister who has no qualms about poisoning American race relations for personal gain.
Customer Reviews:
Timmerman is the "preacher of hate.".......2007-07-24
It's hard to miss how Timmerman is serving powerful interests by going after a very effective advocate for all working class people, not just African Americans. I hear Jesse Jackson's excellent radio show (Keep Hope Alive Radio) each weekend, and he is doing even more good work than most people could imagine. Jackson is there on picket lines when people are striking for better wages, or better working conditions. He is there when it comes to unjust sentencing regarding the death penalty, or the harsh penalties for drugs that pharmaceutical companies don't have a patent on. Jesse was there in Libya negotiating the release of a U.S. air force pilot who was being held there. Jesse is going all around the world promoting mutual respect and multicultural celebrations.
And the list of Jackson's positive contributions goes on and on.
What has Timmerman done with his life? Well, he has been paid to be a character assassin of the right-wing elite. Sometimes he'll go after individuals, sometimes he'll go after entire groups of people - like Muslim imams.
I'm sure it pays well to protect multi-billion dollar corporations from the "shakedowns" of activists like Jackson.
In an earlier period, America's right-wing would've killed Jackson, but they try to avoid creating martyrs, so they go with smear campaigns instead. Other members of the media lynch mob give Timmerman all kinds of publicity on America's airwaves, people like Sean Hannity and Limbaugh who also get paid to bear false witness in the interests of Big Business which hates activists, environmentalists, feminists, labor advocates, and anyone else who may reveal the insatiable greed of the corporate matrix.
How sad that so many fall for it; or, so many choose to be deceived by shameless preachers of hate like Timmerman.
Jesse: The Life and Pilgrimage of Jesse Jackson
Well Documented!.......2007-05-15
I've always known that Jesse Jackson was an opportunist and a liar. Now
I see him as much more than that! He is a danger to our Country and our way of life, and should be put UNDER the jail! The poor and uneducated who listen to him don't have a prayer of getting out of poverty until this man is off the scene. Let's hope he'll take to his rocking chair soon.
I don't get it.....bright and promising young men get sent to prison for having a marajuana cigarette .....and a man like Jesse remains free! Go figure!! He was called a 'poverty pimp' and a 'race baiter' by acquaintances in the book. I couldn't agree more. It literally makes me sick to see him BLAME instead of TEACH. And if I see him 'marching' for anything at all, I become suspicious and head the other way. How sad that he takes advantage of the poorest and least educated among us.
Jesse Jackson.... A PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A HUMAN BEING!
Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who and what is he??????.......2007-02-20
The research that Mr Timmerman did is astounding. I heard rumors years ago about how his version of the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. was different from those who were present. Let every lie be reveal and the truth be exposed.
Thank You!.......2006-07-03
Thanks so much for this book about Jesse Jackson. Jesse Jackson is for himself. He has exploited Black people and used them for his own good. Where ever there is a cause he's present. Not so much for the sake of those involved, but more or less for his own benefit. It's ashame that he has to speak for the common good of man for a fee. Before he speaks he wants to come to a payment agreement. He uses Black people. A Black problem is his gain. Black people please get hip. Jesse Jackson is a pimp in the worse way. He pimps and profits from Black problems.
What if he had won the presidential election? You talking about a mess. He would have sold the country out. Jesse came to the town that I live in to help a candidate get elected. He tried to steal the spotlight. Jesse Jackson out talked and over talked the person running for election. He uses every chance that he can get to promote Jesse Jackson.
Jesse has no shame. It's all about him. Please stop paying him to speak. There is self gain in everything he does. He is a user. Racial problems and issues are his gain. He is glad when things go wrong. THINK ABOUT IT.
A Great Book about a complete Fraud!.......2006-05-02
I've always had a thought about "REVERAND" Jackson, and this book proves it! Jesse jackson isn't black - He's just a white man that's so full of s**t tha his body long ago lost the ability to absorb it!
Book Description
In August 2004, Governor James E. McGreevey of New Jersey made history when he stepped before microphones, declared "My truth is that I am a gay American," and announced his resignation. The story made international headlines—but what led to that moment was a human and political drama more complex and fascinating than anyone knew. Now, in this extraordinarily candid memoir, McGreevey shares his story of a life of ambition, moral compromise, and redemption.
From childhood, McGreevey lived a kind of idealized American life. The son of working-class Irish Catholic parents, named for an uncle who died at Iwo Jima, he strove to exceed expectations in everything he did, meeting each new challenge as though his "future rode on every move." As a young man he was tempted by the priesthood, yet it was another callingâpoliticsâthat he found irresistible. Plunging early into the dangerous waters of New Jersey politics, he won three elections by the age of thirty-six, and soon thereafter nearly toppled the state's popular governor, Christie Todd Whitman, in a photo-finish election. Four years later, he won the governorship by a landslide.
Throughout his adult life, however, Jim McGreevey had been forced to suppress a fundamental truth about himself: that he was gay. He knew at once that the only clear path to his dreams was to live a straight life, and so he split in two, accepting the traditional role of family man while denying his deepest emotions. And he discovered, to his surprise, that becoming a political player demanded ethical shortcuts that became as corrosive as living in the closet. In the cutthroat culture of political bosses, backroom deals, and the insidious practice known as "pay-to-play," he writes, "political compromises came easy to me because I'd learned how to keep a part of myself innocent of them." His policy triumphs as governor were tempered by scandal, as the transgressions of his staff came back to haunt him. Yet only when a former lover threatened to expose him did he finally confront his divided soul, and find the authentic self that had always eluded him.
More than a coming-out memoir, The Confession is the story of one man's quest to repair the rift between his public and private selves, at a time in our culture when the personal and political have become tangled like frayed electric cables. Teeming with larger-than-life characters, written with honesty, grace, and rare insight into what it means to negotiate the minefields of American public life, it may be among the most honest political memoirs ever written.
Customer Reviews:
An Emotional Time.......2007-05-10
Read about the experience of New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey when he came out of the closet.
MIXED FEELINGS.......2007-05-02
I am glad he is at peace. I really am. But what about Dina? What about the fact that he would have been running for President right now - had he not been "caught."
I knew him for a short time. I also knew Dina. Jimmy still has a lot of work to do on himself. Very self-absorbed man. Hopefully this will help him live in a real world now. I think he's lived in denial for so long, he can't distinguish reality from lies. It's sad.
Dina, just a sweetheart. Always loved her. Deserved way better than this. A well written book, however.
The litany of a Liar.......2007-05-02
Absolutely amazing that this person can create excuses for all his behavior. He had one goal in life - to get to the Presidency - and everything he did was to advance that goal including marrying Dina his 2nd wife. This woman was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got enmeshed in the web of lies and avarice that ruled McGreevey's life. How incredible that everybody else is the cause of what he did - no responsibility from him, no true apology to his wife for what he did. He robbed his wife of the ability to trust anybody else and left his daughter with the legacy of her father's lies and continued hypocrisy. His sexuality has nothing to do with the morally corrupt person he is. He continues to lie and try to rehabilitate himself in the eyes of the public - remember this is what he has done over and over! Don't fall into the trap of believing any of his explanations; you may want to believe in the goodness of people but this man has no redeeming values at all. I am sorry that Oprah ever had him on her show - he was great theater at that time- but he is such a manipulator. This is so sad for Dina's daughter but also for his older daughter who is of an age to understand what has gone on.
Confession is good for the soul.......2007-04-06
I was prepared to fine McGreevey unlikeable and pleading. Instead, I found his story engrossing and his window to New jersey politics extremely informative to those of us not living in the Garden State. As a gay man who also came out late (although now many years ago) I fully understood his concerns and recognized the dilemmas he faced. Well worth the read.
I want my money back.......2007-02-06
Thank goodness that I didn't pay to read this book. Since McGreevey is bent on releasing his personal demons for redemption, how about he pays NJ taxpayers back? -- I was one of them -- when he forced us to pay for his boy-toy on staff -- a man who was absolutely not qualified for the job for which he was hired -- nor did he deserve the HUGE extraordinary salary he was given. We all seem to have forgotten this McGreevey tidbit. Why aren't we asking McGreevey to truly repent -- and pay back NJ taxpayers for arranging for this boy-toy on his staff -- who as we know -- was hired by McGreevey so that McGreevey could conveniently find him when he needed to frollic in bed. McGreevey's friend, Bill Clinton, never paid Federal taxpayers back for the $42 million we paid for investigating his "I never had sex with that woman" statement. Why did we have to also pay for McGreevey's denials of what he was really doing?
I could care less about the sex lives of these politicians. They may do whatever they wish as long as they do not do it in their place of business and remember that their position demands ethics -- it is their fidiciary duty to taxpayers -- as well as their duty to be a role-model for our nation's children. Any gay, purple, black, female or gorilla politician is fine with me -- they simply must stop stealing taxpayer money -- particularly for their perverted sexual pleasures! And if politicians like McGreevey do steal taxpayer money -- as when he hired Golan for a job this boy-toy was not qualified to work-- then McGreevey needs to be held accountable -- only then will his true demons leave and "cleanse his soul" -- if that's what he's into these days.
Now McGreevey is writing all about it. Boo hoo.
Books:
- Jesus and the Disinherited
- Just And Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument With Historical Illustrations
- Last and First Men and Star Maker : Two Science Fiction Novels
- Life in the French Foreign Legion: How to Join and What to Expect When You Get There
- Lone Star Lawmen: The Second Century of the Texas Rangers
- Lord John and the Hand of Devils
- Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye (Geronimo Stilton, Book 1)
- Lower Your Taxes - Big Time! 2007-2008 Edition (Lower Your Taxes Big Time)
- My First Five Husbands..And the Ones Who Got Away
- New Edge of the Anvil: A Resource Book for the Blacksmith
Books Index
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