Book Description
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio introduces Evelyn Ryan, an enterprising woman who kept poverty at bay with wit, poetry, and perfect prose during the "contest era" of the 1950s and 1960s. Standing up to the church, her alcoholic husband, and antiquated ideas about women, Evelyn turned every financial challenge into an opportunity for innovation, all the while raising her six sons and four daughters with the belief that miracles are an everyday occurrence. The inspiration for a major motion picture, Evelyn Ryan's story is told by her daughter Terry with an infectious joy that shows how a winning spirit and sense of humor can triumph over adversity every time.
Download Description
Stepping back into a time when fledgling Madison Avenue ad agencies were active partners with consumers and everyday people saw possibility in every coupon, Terry Ryan tells the story of her mother, Evelyn, who kept her family afloat writing jingles and contest entries. It is a compelling drama of a woman who defies the church, her husband, and antiquated views of housewives to seize every opportunity to secure a happy home for her ten children. Entering contests on TV, on the radio, in newspapers, and through the mail, Evelyn Ryan won every appliance her family ever owned, not to mention bicycles, watches, a jukebox, cars, even trips to New York, Dallas, and Switzerland. But it wasn't just the winning that was amazing; it was the timing. If a toaster died, one was sure to arrive in the mail from a forgotten contest. Days after the bank called in the second mortgage on the house, a call came from the Dr. Pepper company: Evelyn was the grand prize winner of their national contest -- and had won enough to pay the bank. From the frenetic supermarket shopping spree to the clever entries that captured the imagination of contest sponsors everywhere, The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio is about one woman whose joy for life overshadows both lean times and her husband's alcoholism to raise children who seek out their own winning ways.
Customer Reviews:
Great Read.......2007-08-28
Well written true account about a family of 12. Mother is creative in her ways to keep the family feed and happy. Do not pass up this book for a great read.
An incredible family.......2007-06-04
This is a story that just shines with hope for the underdog. What a resourceful mom to keep her family afloat while her husband's alcoholic self destruction rages on. A highly intelligent and witty woman, Terry Ryan's mom is an everyday hero! This a very funny, funny book!
The Truth about Alcoholism.......2007-04-28
A great movie, based on a true story. All comments aside regarding the acting (although I thought Moore and Harrelson were at their best) I saw it as a sad portrayal about the effects of alcoholism - I would highly recommend it as an "eye opener" for young people who are dealing with drug and alcoholism issues. It is pretty clear about the life-long ill effects of one's choices. It reminded me of the book, "The Glass Castle", by Jeannette Walls.
To Be Chewed and Digested.......2007-04-24
I heard random references to this movie a while back, and I've seen the DVD on the shelves at Blockbuster. The cover of the movie makes it look like some kind of "Yours, Mine, and Ours" farce (not the older version, which is still solid gold, but the lame, slickened-up, modern version of a story that didn't need modernizing) so I've purposely avoided renting it. But while looking through the nonfiction section at the library recently, I saw it in the biographies: The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less. I was intrigued - not just because I didn't know the movie was based on a biography, but also because I hadn't heard the subtitle before. What do you mean "25 Words or Less?," the writer in me wondered (I was less interested in the 10 kids part). I grabbed the book and entered the world of 1950's and 60's midwestern America. The world of the "contest era." The world of the poor, put-upon, persistant Ryan family.
Contests today are, by and large, contests of luck. You pull the instant win cap off your Sprite. You get Park Place on the McDonald's Monopoloy Board. You're the 3rd caller in to the radio station. In the 1950's and 60's, though, major corporations sponsored contests with *huge* payoffs, the bounty going to entries written (typically) with 25 words or less. Jingles, limericks, you name it. Dial soap, Jello, Burma Shave. And many, many others. Send in proof of purchase with your cleverly written entries, and you might win big. Evelyn Ryan sure did. LOTS of times!
Evelyn Ryan always had a knack for writing, and enjoyed a short career writing the op-ed column at her step-grandmother's newspaper when she was a young woman. But then came marriage - to a hard-drinking, hard-working Irish Catholic man named Kelly - and one by one, ten active children. A career in journalism was out of the question, but Evelyn kept her writer's fire alive by filling mountainous piles of notebooks with quick poems and anecdotes, many of which she sold to area newspapers. She also spent countless hours at the ironing board, combining her everyday household chore with the inspiration to write catchy jingles for major contests. For Lucky Strike cigarettes:
Send me laundry, send me dough
Send me Luckies to send my beau
I'm true to him, he's true to me
And we're true to Luckies, eternally.
She won $25 for that entry, money crucial to the care of such a large family, and with a father that typically drank the better part of his weekly paychecks.
Terry Ryan, one of Evelyn and Kelly's daughters and the author of this biography, includes many of the little jingles that won her mother some big and not-so-big prizes. She tells of a housefull of won appliances, the trip to New York for her mother and brother after a particularly large win, the Christmas her mother bestowed the kids with won presents she had been stashing in her closet all year long. Terry writes of some close calls - medically, financially, domestically. Her writing is so totally engaging that you laugh and cry and feel every little emotion just like you would if you were just one more child in that brood of Ryan kids. You want to cheer when they cheer for another prize win, you want to yell and scream when their father loses his judgement to the beer (again), you feel the anxiety of waiting every day for the postman - Pokey - as they wait to hear from the bank (on the foreclosure) or the brand (for the contest win that just might save the day).
It's not all serious, though. There are many moments of clear gaiety. Like when they learn their cat can open doors (by turning the KNOB!). Or when that same cat adopts an orphaned chick as a member of her newest litter. The frequency with which Evelyn forgets she has hidden food in the dryer (and fuses cake donuts, bananas, you name it, into the fibers of the clothes!). Or Evelyn's method for mending her girdle, keeping the oven door on, fixing the melted gears in the family car. I laughed loud and long at the story of their garbage disposal - a tempermental beast that only worked on occasion. They kept it switched "on," and whenever they heard the trap start to churn - day or night, tragedy or no - all the kids would clamor into the kitchen and start feeding the piles of trash into the sink. There are also moments of pride, like when two of the Ryan boys are selected to play minor league baseball, or when some of the other kids get scholarships for school.
Almost all of Evelyn's writing came from the ready-made material all around her - her family. As a result, many of her poems portray the wonders and worries of family life, and I really identified with them. For instance:
Lawn Time No See
When I survey
my barren plot...
Long stamping ground
For tyke and tot...
I must conclude
It's clear (alas!)
One cannot grow
Both kids and grass!
I also love this one she wrote about her boys, whom she helped as often as she could with their progress and success in sports:
Fielder's Choice
There are moms who can cook,
And moms who can sew,
And moms who will come
When they're beckoned;
But give me that pearl
Of a mom-type girl...
A mom who can slide
Into second.
And finally, letting her guard down just a little to vent:
Complaint
Forgive me if I mutter, Lord,
Against my bitter cup;
But why can't bread `n' butter
Ever land with the butter up?
These types of poems often earned her anywhere from $1-$25, but it was the corporate contests that really kept this family afloat. The whole affair was a business to Evelyn, as it was to many (many!) people in those days. There were 4 unofficial "rules" to any entry, above and beyond filling out the necessary forms and making sure to include the proofs of purchase. All entries needed to be written thus:
1. Make your statement.
2. Use a conjunction like "yet," "while," or "so."
3. Use a series of three nouns ("the mystic three").
4. Include an unusual word or turn of phrase (called a "Red Mitten"), preferably at the end.
There were societies formed for the improvement of a contester's skills or for the socialization of people hooked on this lucrative hobby. Evelyn herself joined a charming group of women called the Affidaisies (a play on the word "affadavit," documents necessary for winners to claim big prizes). In the book, Terry begins to see her mother as a person as she learns what contesting means to her. It's the fulfillment of a dream, really, that makes Evelyn so passionate about what she does. It may not be the writing career she envisioned, but in a way, the contesting life allows Evelyn to be outspoken, independent, and keep her mind engaged on more than just cleaning up after 10 children.
I found this book to be funny, inspiring, sometimes sad, but altogether uplifting. Terry dedicated the book to her late mother, but also "the little bit of Evelyn in all of us". I'd like to think there IS a little bit of Evelyn Ryan in me. I'd like to think that I could have the same passion for my family and for writing that she lived every day. I'd like to think that I have the wits about me to survive just about anything. I'd also like to think that I have some of the faith she showed in getting through some very rough times. I'll leave you with one last poem, something Evelyn wrote in her final days and that Terry read aloud to her siblings as they were gathered around Evelyn's deathbed. It gives an idea of just what may have fueled this amazing woman through more than 80 years of an incredible life:
Every time I pass the church
I stop and make a visit
So when I'm carried in feet first
God won't say, "Who is it?"
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio.......2007-03-11
An absolutely wonderful story, well written and hard to put down. I've shared this with family and friends who all enjoyed it immensely.
Customer Reviews:
Masterful.......2007-08-27
In a culture that continually confuses lust and love, it was refreshing to read Defiance and be reminded once more of what real romance can be. Don Brown not only masterfully portrays the female point of view with a story many women long to experience, but he brilliantly includes the action and intrigue men prefer. Like discovering an oasis in the desert, this fast-paced novel was a real find! I am now a Don Brown fan and I plan to read all his books. Georgia Shaffer, PA licensed psychologist, life coach and author of A Gift of Mourning Glories (www.MourningGlory.org)
awesome.......2007-07-16
I'm only about halfway through this one. The first two books in the series were great and I couldn't wait to start the third. So far this one has been the most exciting, from the first page on. I haven't seen a legal novel written this well since John Grisham.
Combination of action and romance, men and women should both be able to enjoy this story.......2007-07-03
A former JAG officer, Don Brown has written an exciting third story for The Navy Justice Series. Except for Zack's being so outrageously handsome, the characters feel authentic. The plot moves along rapidly. Brown displays a good knowledge of international tensions, alliances, and undercurrents. Eleanor Claxton bears a striking resemblance in personality to an actual candidate running for president, adding to the sense of authenticity. With its combination of action and romance, men and women should both be able to enjoy this story.
Brown has left some plot threads dangling, so we may hope to read another in this series soon. - Debbie W. Wilson, Christian Book Previews.com
Defiance ( The Navy Justice Series ) : Don Brown.......2007-05-15
Great Christian mystery . Couldn't put it down because it kept me on the edge of my chair wondering what was going to happen next.
Defiance.......2007-05-06
This was very well written, grabbed my attention almost immediately and held it throughout the book. I liked it so much I bought the whole series and am hoping for the series to continue. Some have confused Don Brown with a similar named "brown" author....NOT EVEN CLOSE!
Average customer rating:
- Execellent Everybody Book
- Cancer Kid
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Defiance
Valerie Hobbs
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
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ASIN: 0374308470
Release Date: 2004-08-26 |
Book Description
A memorable trio of characters, each fighting for independence
Eleven-year-old Toby Steiner wants to do normal things on his vacation: he wants to hike and race his bike down the hill and learn to fish out on the lake. The last thing he wants is to return to the children’s hospital where his painful cancer treatment finally ended. When Toby starts spending time with Pearl, a spunky old woman who lives on a nearby farm, and Blossom, her broken-down cow, he sees all the more reason to keep the new lump on his side a secret from his parents. From Pearl he discovers the beauty of poetry, and from Blossom he just might uncover the meaning of life.
In this honest and life-affirming novel for young readers, which Suzanne Fisher Staples, author of the Newbery Honor Book Shabanu, calls “beautiful and gripping,” an unforgettable boy learns about the importance of letting things happen on their own and listening to his heart.
Customer Reviews:
Execellent Everybody Book.......2006-04-19
This book is a heart-warming, couragous story. I found myself smiling and by the end, shedding a few tears! What a great story about life, relationships, feelings and more. A must read for anyone!!
Cancer Kid.......2006-02-22
The thing about cancer is that only a person who has it knows how hard it really is to take care of the problem. It's not like you get to pick if you have it or not, it just happens.
In the book DEFIANCE a boy about 11 years old finds another lump on his side, He gets real scared, trust me if I had cancer and I found a lump on my side I would be worried too.
The one big mistake someone with cancer can do is not tell anyone and let it get worse. I know how hard it must be for the parents because they worry all the time. My grandma has lung cancer, and she dosn't even smoke. It's real hard to just leave them alone but you have to learn to and that is what this whole book is all about really, he wants his mom to leave him alone about his problem but is comes back and he just doesn't want to go through it agian. I wouldn't want to eather.
Toby meets someone who helps him make the right choices in the end so he soesn't make dumb ones, like not getting the treatment he needs for his cancer. he just wishes he could be a normal kid and that is what put this book together, the choices he made, and how he made them.
Book Description
Change Your Child's Life! Turn Negative Behavior into Positive Traits
How do you deal with a difficult and defiant child or teenager? What can you do if your child has been diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) or is resentful and constantly in trouble at school? Are there constructive ways to channel such oppositional energy and determination? Dr. John F. Taylor will tell you how.
Inside, you'll find new hope and hundreds of specific, sensible, and easy-to-implement suggestions for improving life with a rebellious and argumentative child. Parents and teachers — anyone who deals with difficult children, teens, or young adults — will also learn how to tap the potential of these natural-born leaders by discovering how to:
·Understand why an oppositional attitude exists
·Open up new, safer avenues for children to express needs and wants
·Enhance communication, avoid common mistakes, and reduce undesirable behavior
·Teach a child conscience-based self-control
·And much more!
Customer Reviews:
Not Useful. Misleading Title........2007-02-15
Misleading title. I had to put this book down 1st time I picked it up. You see he told me I was the problem then proceeded to only offer solutions to fix my family. No case studies, no references to previous solutions, no suggestions from immediate help. Nope, ODD children are created by the parents. Hogwash.
I'm sick and tired of "professionals" telling me that my child isn't the one who is bringing in the problem to my family. That it's me and my misguided attempts to thwart his behavior constitute abuse.
Here's how I see it. My child needs help. We need help. We need real tools to quickly deal with his problems so we can get to the other side and start to deal with the complex issues a ODD child creates in the family. The way I see it is if you're here looking for help, your not abusive - you need support. What kind of support is it to be told from the start you're the problem. Your desperate and in need of immediate solutions. Not told to take your wife on a picnic, go to the movies or on vacation. You need suggested actions based on real life scenarios.
Don't buy this book unless you need to be told you're the problem. Which your not. It's not your fault - especially if your here looking for solutions.
Very helpfull.......2007-01-23
I found that this book gave me alot of very good advice. I would recomend this book to anyone who has a child that doesn't respond well to disapline, or instructions.
Important wake up call for parents.......2005-10-30
I work with children that have every problem you can imagine and my own issues with one of my own children. It is always the parents that desire to have an outsider "fix" the child, feeling that it is the child who is at fault. Parents that cannot take a good close look in the mirror and embrace the messages that this book exposes and details will miss an opportunity to turn their family around, and really help themselves while helping their child. It is not about blaming but about honesty, and how to correct beliefs and patterns that may have been handed down from old generations that don't work so well in our current life-style. I found the book to be a worthwhile one among other resources to become informed and WORK on all of us.
Helpful? Ha........2005-01-25
The gist of this book is that if your child is defiant, it must be because you, the parent, is too controlling. Give the child what he wants and quit bugging him.
Um, no. Has this author ever spent any time with a defiant preschooler? If I didn't try to control him somewhat, he'd spend most of his life naked in front of the tv eating cookies. This book was no help at all.
Never mind my child-- now I'M angry and defiant!.......2004-12-14
Believe me, any parent dealing with the angry, defiant, discouraged child will gladly plunk down the $15.95 for the "real solutions for transformation" promised by Taylor. Only problem is, 1/4 of the way into the book, it becomes evident that Taylor soundly believes that YOU are your child's most severe problem, and YOU must be "fixed" as quickly as possible to heal your child. Your child suffers only from fear, which coincidentally, you just so happened to have created in your child. HOGWASH! This quackery harkens back to the days when autism was blamed on the mother's inability to "fully bond" with the child. We know better now, yet thousands of families suffered needlessly in the process. Gee- this is something new coming from the psychiatric community-- we don't know what in the world is wrong with these children, so, hey LET'S BLAME THE PARENTS!! When we're done with the scapegoating, let's drug the little devils as well. That'll solve the problem. At least it'll keep 'em quiet in the movie theater.
DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK. The damage done could be far worse than the $15.95 you've wasted.
Product Description
And you think youve got it rough? Young, wealthy, powerful and prominent one day and a robbed fugitive with a KGB contract out on his head the next, so has gone the life of Alex Konanykhin. Like they said it on 60 Minutes, Alex Konanykhin didnt only have KGB after him...He had the FBI, the Justice Department, even the CIA all on his case, as a favor to the Russians, part of a deal to allow the FBI to keep a bureau in Moscow. And while you may have heard a bit about the chaos and danger faced by Alex and his wife Elena on 60 Minutes, CNN and FOX News, you now have the chance to experience the thrill of their misadventures first hand in Alexs page turner, Defiance. While the plot is as twisted as any international paperback novel, this is the real McCoy every bit of it a true story.
Customer Reviews:
Riveting Roller Coaster Ride of a Story!.......2007-03-24
Alex Konanykhin's story of his phenomenal success against overwhelming odds in becoming one of Russia's first entrepreneurs and the steep price he paid as a result, is one that rivals and even tops any novel by James Patterson,Carol Higgins Clark, or Frederick Forsyth. The sad part is how the U.S. goverment was a willing party in Russia's attempt to suppress and kill Konanykhin.
The most amazing part is that this is ALL verifiably true!
Amazing Story.......2006-11-18
Defiance By Alex Konanykhin How to succeed in business despite being hounded by the FBI, INS, Homeland Scurity, Interpol, Department of Justice, and Mafia hit men. This is the amazing true story of Alex Konanykhin, a young man who made millions in Russia during and immediately after the ending of the Soviet Union's Communist dictatorship. He was an entrepreneur in business even before citizens were allowed to pursue capitalistic ventures and before he had completed college. His wealth was seized by the KGB and he had to flee Russia to keep from being killed or thrown into political prison. He continued to pursue business ventures within Russia even from his exile in Hungary and later the United States. In a difficult to fathom true account he describes how the United States government sold him out to the KGB and Russian mafia who wanted him returned to Russia so they could kill him. The biographical account reads like a Clancey novel. His determination and courage are amazing, and what was done to him by trusted government entities of several countries is horrifying. An interesting read.
Intriguing.......2006-07-31
Ever since the Soviet Union crumbled in the early 90s, many first-time entrepreneurs who had exceptional financial success amidst the chaos that followed the collapse of the old way of life found themselves targets by the ruthless Russian Mafia, the KGB and also, the United States government.
This real life story of the author, Alex Konanykhin, is a detailed account of his life that spanned his relatively simple days in college to being the "Bill Gates" of Russia; from being one of the most powerful men close to Russian president Boris Yeltsin, to a marked man by the KGB; From a political refugee in the United States to being a prisoner, and then finally to freedom.
Written during his frequent incarceration, Konanykhin narrates a story worthy of a best-selling spy novel that proves once again that reality is certainly far stranger than fiction. It tells us even in the free world as long as there is lust for money, no one can escape persecution.
The book adequately shows insights into the dark world of Russian politics with its influence even reaching U.S. shores and the breadth and depth of the KGB's clout in the U.S. government. The paperback offers a different and deeper perspective into the conspiracies revolving inside Russia's political affairs. Many will find this revealing and will understand better what truly happened to the author.
Readers will be shocked about the hidden agenda of governments including the US' own government. You will be convinced that what is commonly released in the media has more to it than meets the eye. As you read this book, you will also find it unbelievable that the US government is all too willing to help KGB-controlled Russia, the so-called "Superpower of Crime," catch its political enemies.
The book also exposes a part of the Soviet culture which blindly hates capitalism yet it tolerates or sometimes encourages lust for power and wealth among its citizens.
The author, whom the CIA calls "The Kid," reveals that titles are more important than actual production in a Soviet economy. To get by, one must be well-connected to men in power - it ensures a good job that pays well without having to actually work. It also shows how fear of authority restrains the whole nation from straying beyond the Soviet thinking. And only the brave few will prevail; challenging the status quo.
Appropriately titled, Defiance tells its readers that even in a world such as where the author lived in and against all odds, one can triumph. Alex Konanykhin's memoir is an absolute must-read for anyone - particularly those who are interested in Russian business or politics.
Today, Alex Konanykhin, 39, heads KMGI, a thriving high-tech B2B agency located in New York which services major corporations and ad agencies across the globe.
This is a book that's got it all..........2006-07-23
And you think you've got it rough?
Young, wealthy, powerful and prominent one day and a robbed fugitive with a KGB contract out on his head the next, so has gone the life of Alex Konanykhin. Like they said it on 60 Minutes,
"Alex Konanykhin didn't only have KGB after him...He had the FBI, the Justice Department, even the CIA all on his case, as a favor to the Russians, part of a deal to allow the FBI to keep a bureau in Moscow."
And while you may have heard a bit about the chaos and danger faced by Alex and his wife Elena on 60 Minutes, CNN and FOX News, you now have the chance to experience the thrill of their misadventures first hand in Alex's new fact action page turner, Defiance.
While the plot is as twisted as any international paperback novel, this is the real McCoy - every bit of it a true story. From cover to cover, you'll find yourself immersed in a world of cruelty, intrigue and espionage, and seeing it through the eyes of an indomitable hero diametrically opposed to the oppression and lack of moral fiber (and ingenuity) around him. What started out as merely an attempt to quell an internal business takeover took him on a whirlwind adventure that left them fleeing from country to country, until finally finding themselves seeking amnesty within the safety of the borders of the United States.
But the story doesn't end there. In fact, it only begins.
Soon after fleeing here for safety, Alex learned that it wasn't just Russia that was after his life. You may just be surprised to learn of some of the social (and potentially life-threatening) injustices that various departments of the United States government made this young man and his wife suffer through as the US Court system became the playing field for a battle of immense, far reaching and often quite unexpected proportions.
More than just a great fast paced read highlighting the highs and lows of an incredible decade of change, Defiance is also a great source of motivation and inspiration for rising entrepreneurs and business men and women all across the globe. In addition to the hope inspired by the story of the chase, you'll also find wonderful insight into the budding economy and changing political ideology in Russia that are sure to refresh the hearts and minds of even the staunchest and experienced Capitalists around!
In a world far too short of people with principles, integrity, and long-suffering Alex's story is sure to inspire individuals in just about any negative situation, from imprisoned immigrants to disgruntled employees, to reach above their current circumstances and hold fast to a dream of something more, something better.
With an intense plot that will speed you from the first page to the last, and a bird's eye view of a world straight out of a spy novel (hey, that's not just me saying that, judges said so too!) Defiance is a compelling page turner that solidly deserves two thumbs up!
-Jennifer Gibbs
Talk About Survival Instinct!!.......2006-07-21
Defiance is a riveting, eye-opening, and compelling story of the Konanykhin family, who desperately tried to stay one step ahead of former KGB agents and ruthless CIA, FBI, and INS agencies. Once one of Russia's wealthiest men, Alex Konanykhin runs for his life (and the life of his devoted wife, Elena) after his bank is taken over by former KGB agents through extortion and fraud. The KGB displayed their unsavory tactics through kidnapping the Konanykhin couple. The two successfully perform a daring escape from Hungary and obtain quiet refuge in the United States, which had granted him a green card from the United States Immigration Department.
Their freedom in America was short-lived. The Konanykhins were arrested on bogus criminal charges which had been sought by the Attorney General of Russia. While an innocent man and his wife are trying to seek justice, powerful law firms, and even an INS agent, come to Alex's defense as a pro bono case.
Brilliantly written, Alex tells his own story in Defiance eloquently. The book is a must-read for every American who values basic Constitutional rights and how these rights can be trampled on for sheer political purposes. Follow the story through a myriad of legal maneuvers by the INS and United States Department of Justice designed to sell out the Konanykhin's in order to win favor with the Russian Government. Defiance dramatically sends message to readers that government agencies, whenever located, can succumb to corruption and use under-handed tactics with conscious disregard for basic, human, and constitutional rights.
But Defiance is not just about the issue of constitutional rights. It is also relays the disquieting apathy and lack of courage of our society as a whole to defend basic constitutional rights of others when these rights are placed in jeopardy.
Stripped of their estimated $300-$400 million in assets, the couple soon becomes disenchanted with their situation and begins to lose hope. But their courage to fight the system and their love for each other, which never wavered, is inspiring for us all. Having lost fortunes before and working his way back to wealth, Alex is a role model for aspiring entrepreneurs everywhere. This book restores the sense of ultimate justice while reminding us that even "justice", once denied can never really be restored when it has been delayed.
The emotional courtroom drama recounting the Konanykhin's story climaxes in the rendering of a decision by an American Immigration Department administrative law judge. The judge is faced with a politically-charged situation. Will the judge rule in favor of the Konanykhins and do them justice? Or will he collapse and lend aid to the intelligence agencies' carte blanche tactical methods?
Alex Konanykhin was a major supporter and friend of former Russian President Boris Yeltzin, whose political campaign was substantially funded financially by Alex. The Russian mafia and the KGB have likely taken over many of the new industries in Russia, and around the world, as well as the United States. The Konanykhin's story cannot help but capture your interest and keep you on the edge of your seat through every page.
Fasten your seat belts and prepare for the ride of your life.
Average customer rating:
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In Defiance of Painting: Cubism, Futurism, and the Invention of Collage (Yale Publications in the History of Art)
Christine Poggi
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
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ASIN: 0300051093 |
Product Description
Every class has a range of students from those who are always cooperative to those who predictably fight the teacher for control every step of the way. In the most challenging classes, this
oppositional and defiant student is on the verge of preventing him/herself and many of other students from focusing on learning.
This book will help the classroom teacher find effective ways to avoid disruption and increase cooperation from the most resistant students. As you begin to understand the underlying causes and dynamics of opposition, you will be able to develop additional strategies that will lead to increased classroom success and satisfaction for both the defiant student and the teacher! Parents will also find this book helpful for providing insights that are both useful at home and at school.
Customer Reviews:
So so.......2007-03-04
This may be more suited for a teacher who is open to learning how to best deal with the ODD child, and teaching skills to help all of their students. Otherwise, I didn't get that much insight and stratergy from the book. It should have been generalized to all those who may encounter the ODD child, and concepts more readily accessible.
Book Description
The prevailing image of European Jews during the Holocaust years is one of helpless victims under a death sentence, unable to fight consignment to the ghettos, to the camps, and to the gas chambers. In fact, many Jews struggled alone or with others against the terrors of the Third Reich, risking their lives against overwhelming odds for the slimmest chance of survival, or a mere glimpse of freedom. In Defiance, Nechama Tec offers a riveting history of one such group, a forest community in western Belorussia that would number more than 1,200 Jews by 1944--the largest armed rescue operation of Jews by Jews in World War II. Describing the entire partisan movement in the region, Tec shows that while most forest fighters in Belorussia were rifle-carrying young men, the members of this extraordinary community included both men and women, some with weapons but mostly unarmed, ranging from infants to the elderly. She reconstructs for the first time the amazing details of how these partisans and their families--hungry, exposed to the harsh winter weather, always on the lookout for German patrols--managed not only to survive, but to offer protection to all Jewish fugitives who could find their way to them. Driven by courage born out of despair, they dug wells, set up workshops to repair guns, made clothes, and resoled shoes, supplied services to other guerilla units, and even established a makeshift hospital and school in the forest. Arguing that this success would have been unthinkable without the vision of one man, Tec offers penetrating insight into the group's commander, Tuvia Bielski, and his journey from his life as the son of the only Jewish peasant family in an isolated rural village to his emergence as a leader possessing the charisma and courage to command under all but impossible circumstances. Tec brings to light the untold story of Bielski's struggle as a partisan who lost his parents, wife, and two brothers to the Nazis, yet never wavered in his conviction that it was more important to save one Jew than to kill twenty Germans. She shows how, under Bielski's guidance, the partisans smuggled Jews out of heavily guarded ghettos, scouted the roads for fugitives, and led retaliatory raids against Belorussian peasants who collaborated with the Nazis against their former Jewish neighbors. Refusing to turn away the weak or the old for the sake of the survival of the larger group, Bielski would warn new arrivals to the forest, "Life is difficult, we are in danger all the time, but if we perish, if we die, we die like human beings." A scholar, a writer, and herself a Holocaust survivor, author Nechama Techas devoted the last two decades to studying the fate of European Jewry, recording rare but vital examples of human compassion, resistance, altruism and heroism in the face of overwhelming horror and despair. Drawing on wide-ranging research and never before published interviews with surviving partisans--including Tuvia Bielski himself two weeks before his death in 1987--she reconstructs here the poignant and unforgettable story of those who chose to fight.
Customer Reviews:
Riveting Story.......2006-06-23
This was among the six books my dad loaned me recently. It's about time there is a book about Jews saving other Jews! This book is a deep and thorough study of the partisans who have managed to escape the ghettos, camps and imprisonment and formed a group to survive till the war was over. It is an insightful look into a history of a group of people that one do not hear much of.
The author has relied heavily on personal interviews ~~ which definitely made this book interesting. However, this book was either translated choppily or written choppily because it was very hard to follow in some cases ~~ as the stories skipped back and forth and it got confusing following it. That is why I rated this a three ~~ I literally had to skip chapters because it was repetitive and sometimes, too drawn out. It was not written in a way to capture your attention ~~ if you have an imagination, this book only serves to enhance it because the stories are enlightening, terrible and wonderful ~~ depending on what it is. And after drawing it out for several hundred pages, the ending was rather chopped.
It is about time though that the world hears of Jews saving other Jews during this horrible blight on history. I think the stories are enlightening and provoking. The stories all rate a five star ~~ as they were personal and sometimes, intimate. The three Bielski brothers endured a lot to keep the Jews from starving to death as well as keeping order in a camp filled with women, children and men.
If you are studying the Holocaust and the Jews, please read this book. In spite of its' choppiness, it is still a good read and a good lesson to be learned. Everyone should read this and remember those who have fought to stay alive in that terrible time.
6-22-06
This Book is Absolutely Amazing.......2004-04-07
In her book, "Defiance: The Bielski Partisans", Nechama Tec depicts an amazing tale of Jewish resistance and rescue on the eastern front during World War II. At the pith of this movement was one Tuvia Bielski, the commander of the large Jewish partisan outfit that roamed the Belorussian woods, constantly trying to avoid contact with the Germans. Tuvia, along with his brothers Asael and Zus were responsible for the salvation of over 1200 Jews, many of whom were elderly, female, or juvenile. Taking in such refugees in an extremely volatile environment was a huge risk. Without Tuvia's willingness, or determination to take on such risks, many of these people would have otherwise perished to the Nazi barbarity that was ubiquitous in the region. As a professor of sociology, the author Nechama Tec offers a unique perspective on this historical phenomenon. Her expertise brings into focus the social dynamic of partisan camps in World War II.
Rather than succumb to the popularly accepted view that Jews were passive victims who simply laid down and allowed the Nazi aggressors to do their bidding during the Holocaust, Tec attempts to elucidate the under-documented, untold side of the story. That is, despite the widespread annihilation and extermination that Jewish citizens faced in Europe, there were pockets of resistance to the Nazi menace that deserve laudatory recognition. Tec takes the sentiment that there is a necessity to educate people on the unmentioned and tries to fill in the gap she believes is left by mainstream historians. Her effort to do so indeed deserves the very same laudatory recognition that she sets out to bestow upon the Bielski partisans.
Tec makes the interesting suggestion that, contrary to popular belief, the Eastern European Jewish population was chock-full of resilient human beings. Human beings who were not only perfectly capable of surviving harsh physical conditions of the Belorussian woods, but also endowed with enough self respect to openly defy and resist the malevolent psychological conditions brought about by the Nazi occupiers.
The evidence that Tec employs is abundant. She relies heavily on personal interviews with people who lived in, and survived with Tuvia Bielski's partisan group. Obviously, such interviews can be considered primary text evidence, and are therefore integral to any comprehensive historical study. However, the question of the reliability of such sources needs to be raised. Having conducted the interviews nearly fifty years post hoc, Tec leaves the question of their accuracy wide open. Many times, in the years that pass after a traumatic event, people who have lived through that event have a tendency to romanticize it. This skepticism is in no way meant to take away from the tremendous effort and commendable activity of the Bielski partisan organization. It is merely a suggestion that the facts offered by the various interviewees need to be taken with a grain of salt. The accuracy of the overall picture is not what should be questioned, only the minute details. Despite the possibility of these petty hair-splitting ambiguities, the nature of the evidence that she employs makes her argument a believable one.
As one tarries along the path that is the study of the Second World War, one continually stumbles upon certain recurring themes. Perhaps one of the most intriguing of these themes is the duality of hope. Hope was such a major factor in so many peoples' lives during this turbulent time in Eastern Europe, regardless of their religious beliefs. There is no doubt that hope for freedom, hope for equality, hope for a better life, and hope for a liberated post war Europe was the underpinning of the exemplary actions of the Bielski partisans. Such hope supplied this sui generis group of Jews with something to live for, something to long for. However, hope has a darker side as well, a side that many choose to ignore. At the very same time that hope was motivating the Jews to defy, resist and survive, it was providing legitimacy to the atrocities committed by Nazi collaborators. If hope was drawn on a continuum, the Bielski partisans, as limned in Nechama Tec's "Defiance", should be placed on one extremity, epitomizing the good that can come from hope. On the opposite extremity should be the various collaborators depicted in Tadeusz Borowski's "This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen". These people absolutely epitomized the evil and nefariousness that hope can breed. When studying the Holocaust it is important to understand that hope is not always a virtuous attribute. It is essential for one to comprehend the paradoxical qualities of hope during this pestilent period of Nazi occupation.
Overall, Nechama Tec does a wonderful job recounting this story. Her sociological perspective helps to illuminate the organizational dynamics of partisan groups in Nazi occupied Eastern Europe. This organizational understanding is not always available from strictly historical authors. From a Jewish standpoint, it is particularly difficult to read her book, and not swell up with pride when learning about the messianic determination of Tuvia Bielski to save his people. Perhaps messianic is a bit too strong of a word for this situation. Still, Tuvia's work was highly meritorious. If one word could be used to describe the manner in which Jews are portrayed by mainstream History it would be compliance. If one word could be used to describe the manner in which Jews are portrayed by Nechama Tec it would be, and is Defiance. Her title is an apt one indeed. Ultimately, her work is a must read for anyone wishing to broaden their understanding of the Holocaust, Jewish history, or European history. Thusly, her book is recommended with the highest amount of adulation.
The Jew's who fought back.......2001-08-06
This book tells the largely unkown story of the Bielski Partisans. The only Jewish partisans that fought against the Germans in WWII. There are 30,000 Jews alive today from the 1,200 that were saved and fought with them in the forests. To get into the group, one had to kill a German by hand to get his weapon! This book relates the absolutely true story, that showed what happened when Jews were not victims, but organized, guerilla fighters.
review from a Bielski.......2000-11-09
Being the son of Aron Bielski the youngest of the 12 Bielski children I must say Ms.Tec did a wonderful and accurate job.Since Defiance was published there has been a great amonut interset raised on the Bielski Brothers.The book is informative and suspensful, it tell stories previously only known to the family and members of The Bielski Brigrade.
Excellent.......1998-10-10
I am the the son of two of the members of the Bielski Partisans. For many years my parents would not talk about their role in the war. However, since getting this book, they have become more responsive to my questioning. Is there anyway that i can in touch with the author to find out more information? I guess, because of my background, I've always been interested in this period. I could not put this book down. As a result of reading this book, I've gotten a hold of the other books by Mrs Tec. They are just as riveting as Defiance.
Book Description
The Lone Wolf and the Bear examines the Russo-Chechen conflict, from early Russian expansion into the Caucasus in the sixteenth century to the current war between Russia and Chechnya. Moshe Gammer offers a comprehensive study of modern Chechen history, its people and cultures, and the factors of Russo/Soviet influence and modernization that have molded Chechen self-perception and enflamed the passions of separatism. Perhaps the most ethnically diverse region in the world, Chechnya claims over seventy native groups, yet it is unified in its opposition to Russian control and the quest for nationhood.
Through difficult research (many historic documents on Chechnya have been destroyed by Russian authorities, and Chechen documentation is scarce), Gammer assembles the stories of a fiercely independent people and their three-hundred-year struggle against domination by the world power of Russia, a conflict that continues today.
Customer Reviews:
Cebtral Asia.......2007-06-09
This is a well written and informative book. I believe Central Asia is one of the future areas of trouble in the world, and this is a good introduction at a reasonable price. I recommend it along with Tolstoy's Hadji Murad, translated by Aylmer Maude and Blanch's The Sabres of Paradise.
The Deadly Dance of the Lone Wolf and the Bear.......2006-01-28
This is a book which should not be missed if you are interested in the Caucasuses in general and Chechnya in particular. It should be required reading for all students of Russian history and all counter terrorist experts who may not specialize in the Chechen situation. Gammer has written an eloquent, witty, compassionate and utterly fascinating book jam packed with cultural tidbits which make understandable the recalcitrant nature of the conflict between Russia and the clannish Mountaineers. It is, also, unusual to encounter a nuanced understanding of the reception of Islam into Chechnya and how it has played out vis a vis the gazavat, evolving into jihad, in some sectors. One of my few quibbles would be that I would have liked more on family and gender relations though this is not to say that there is not valuable references to be found here. It seems to me that this book had to be written first but it is hoped that in the next, more space will be given to this underlying conflict. On the geo-political scale, Gammer aptly identified the problematic issue of pathological control, the desire to engineer 'peoples' lives and language' which inevitably fails. This is a stellar book which is sure to be come a classic.
Book Description
Michael Newman—a two-time winner of the Cyril O. Houle Award for Outstanding Literature in Adult Education—examines the use of rational discourse, nonrational discourse, and storytelling to bring about personal and collective change. Using a powerful blend of theoretical discussion and step-by-step accounts of practice, Newman returns to what actually happens in that magical encounter between teacher and learner. He examines the educational use of emotions such as frustration, dismay, anger, hatred and love. He proposes ways of teaching and learning insight. He examines how educators can teach people to take effective action. And he discusses how educators and learners can work together to make that action morally justifiable. Newman argues that the educator’s role is to help people resist the controls imposed on them by others. The task, the challenge, the mission of the activist educator is to teach defiance.
Books:
- The Red Tent
- The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ Within You (2 Volume Set)
- The Soul of a Doctor: Harvard Medical Students Face Life and Death
- The Story Teller (Arapaho Indian Mysteries)
- The Wandering Hill: A Novel (Beryybender Narratives)
- The Widowmaker Unleashed (Widowmaker Series)
- The Wisdom of Menopause Journal: Your Guide to Creating Vibrant Health and Happiness in the Second Half of Your Life
- The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
- Tides of Blood: The Minotaur Wars, Volume Two (Dragonlance: The Minotaur Wars)
- Track Your Plaque: The Only Heart Disease Prevention Program That Shows How to Use the New Heart Scans to Detect, Track and Control Coronary Plaque
Books Index
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