Customer Reviews:
Tatum needs to stop capilalizing on Stingley's misfortune !!!.......2007-04-06
I wish I could give Tatum a -----***** in honor of Stingley's death today. What a self-centered jerk!!!
Can't believe this was published...........2004-05-17
Aside from Tatum's whining about every game the Raiders lost, and his incessant bad-mouthing of the Pittsburgh Steelers of the 70's, I actually enjoyed Tatum's first book, "They Call Me Assassin". Tatum's second book, "They Still Call Me Assassin", was almost an exact reprint of the first book, except it included a few more of Tatum's self-serving rants that would interest no one outside of Tatum's immediate family. Now, in this third installment, we are given exact reprints of both books. Amazingly, the reprinted portions of "They Call me Assassin" that were in "They Still Call Me Assassin" are left in "Final Confessions", so much of the reprinted material in "Final Confessions" appears twice in the book! The actual `new' material takes up a whole 12 pages in the 348 page fiasco. Don't waste your money now, simply wait until the fourth Tatum book appears on the market, "I Still Have Final Confessions", and has the exact reprints of volumes 1-3.
States again what was said in the original..........2003-11-09
Buy "They Call Me Assassin" rather than spend your money on this release. It is simply too dry a read; especially when compared to his first book.
Brutally honest and shockingly factual, the best ever........1999-10-14
Brutally honest, shockingly factual, this book is the best ever written on the REAL world of professional sports.
"Final Confessions of NFL Assassin Jack Tatum" is an exact reprint of Jack's previous two books, "They Call Me Assassin" and "They Still Call Me Assassin - Here We Go Again". It also contains additional opinions and conclusions that Jack reached on a variety of subjects.
This compilation of events in the life of an NFL superstar reveals an athletically gifted, well educated, courageous and practical man who was raised to believe that truth, no matter how painful or revealing is more important than maintaining a phony status quo.
In this book, Jack has finally put to rest the whole issue of his insensitivity towards Darryl Stingley. He has taken a lot of undeserved heat for something completely out of his control. He indicates that he tried to visit and talk to Stingley more than once and was refused an audience. In spite of these unfortunate refusals, he has written words of praise for the man.
Honesty is not a behavior pattern for a reckless "loud mouth", it is the trait of a thinking man with values. This book is a celebration of honesty.
Just as time has transformed the public perception of Muhammad Ali from the "Louisville Lip" to one of the world's most beloved sports figures, this book proves that Jack Tatum deserves to be acknowledged as one of the greatest legends in sports history.
Jack Tatum deserves to be in the NFL Hall Of Fame because of his phenomenal play on the field and his courageously honest words off the field and in print.
If you want unvarnished truth about "pre through post" life in the NFL, This Is It!!
Don't Waste Your Money........1998-09-13
"Final Confessions" is actually two books: "They Call Me Assassin" (1979) and "They Still Call Me Assassin" (1996), which discuss the football career of Jack Tatum, a former Oakland Raider defensive back who was one of the hardest-hitters in the history of the NFL.
Tatum was criticized sharply in the press for his hard hits, which often injured or knocked out opposing players. The criticism turned into an uproar on August 12, 1978, after an exhibition game between the Raiders and New England Patriots, in which Tatum made a vicious (but clean) tackle of Darryl Stingley that permanently paralyzed Stingley. That coupled with Tatum's unfortunate tendency to fire off his mouth, the "bad boy" image of the Raiders, and Raider Owner Al Davis' own conflict with Pete Rozelle and the NFL led to Tatum being characterized as an outlaw.
In his defense, Tatum responds, (1) professional football is a vicious and brutal game, (2) I was paid to hit people hard, and (3) I generally played up to but within the limits of the rules. He has a point. Half of the second book is simply a rehash (often verbatim) of the first book. The other half is taken up with stories about Tatum. Jack Tatum may have an interesting story to tell, but you won't learn it reading this book. Only the oldest die-hard Raider fans will find anything of interest in it.
Book Description
Extensively updated and revised for 2006, this 504-page new edition maintains its strong focus on San Francisco, but expands greatly its coverage of the entire region, especially Silicon Valley. Of the 174 pages devoted exclusively to discussion of neighborhoods and communities, 52% describe San Francisco neighborhoods and North Bay communities, while 48% focus on the East Bay, Peninsula, and South Bay towns. This edition also includes a new, detailed map of San Jose designed to accompany the in-depth treatment of each of its neighborhoods, reflect the importance of the city, and complement the more broadly focused South Bay area map.
From Santa Rosa to San Francisco to Vallejo, from Walnut Creek to Oakland to Newark, and from San Bruno to San Jose to Los Gatos, this Newcomer's Handbook® provides its readers with the most up-to-date information on housing styles, costs, and trends; redevelopment; and all the other niceties of Bay Area life, including education! and childcare, transportation, cultural life, and much more.
Customer Reviews:
covers just about every aspect of living in and around San Francisco.......2007-08-04
The Newcomer's Handbook for Moving to and Living in the San Francisco Bay Area covers just about every aspect of living in and around San Francisco. I mean everything! Including "Moving and Storage," "Getting Settled," "Children and Education," "Sports and Recreation," "Transportation" and everything in between, this thick book answers almost any question about San Francisco.
The introduction to the book is just as cool: "San Francisco is the land of the 49er Gold Rush, the Great 1906 earthquake, and the missionary expeditions of the Spanish; it is the birthplace of Levi's jeans and home of the railroad tycoon Leland Stanford; it is host to one of the greatest feats of engineering, the Golden Gate Bridge, and as a cultural epicenter, it fueled the hippie flower-power revolution, gave rise to Rolling Stone magazine, and played host to beat generation poets." Geez, now I want to move to San Francisco!
This guide to "America's melting pot" provides information about the local lingo, so you will not feel too much like an out-of-towner. For example, "The Haight" is the famous Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, "The City," always capitalized, "is the way natives and local newspapers refer to San Francisco" and BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) is "the under-and-above ground subway-style train network that connects the East Bay and peninsula with San Francisco."
This guide also provides detailed information concerning the many municipalities of San Francisco, including web sites, area codes, zip codes, post offices, police stations, emergency hospitals, libraries, public schools, community resources and public transportation. The "Cultural Life" section is also pretty cool, providing tons of information about film festivals, music, theater, ballet and dance, restaurants, nightclubs, comedy, art, museums and anything else you can think of. San Francisco is one cool town, and this book is undoubtedly the perfect guide to moving there!
Accurate and helpful.......2006-11-10
We found this handbook to be very accurate and very helpful in our move to the bay area. The writing style is clear and easily digestible.
Book Description
The Oakland Raiders of the late 1960s-1970s were a colorful team built by the myth of the antihero, a group defined by misfits, outlaws, and castoffs. But talent and hard work were also part of their success, and they became the only team in NFL history to have 16 consecutive winning seasons. This is a tribute to those Raiders and their inimitable style, when John Madden prowled the sidelines, Ken Stabler threw the touchdowns, and owner Al Davis helped fuel the team's mystique.
Customer Reviews:
GREAT.......2003-12-26
Loved reading about the old Raider Days and the great players from that era. The book profiles all the big name players like Stabler and shows what made them great.
Big deception.......2003-07-24
RAIDERS FOREVER was a big deception for me cause I buy the book to read about the greats moments of one of the greatest team of the NFL story,the Raiders of the 70's.I have a big surprise when I realise the book was a kind of short biography of each of the great players of that time.They talk about their years at high school,college,how they feel when they we're draft and a lot about their life after they retired from football.But I want to read about the games vs the Steelers,Chiefs or the Superbowl.I'm looking for Raiders memories not for the private life of the players.Mr.Lombardo talk about some highlights of the great moments of the team but talk too much about the players life off the field and not enough about what they did during the games.
Great insights.......2001-02-22
This is a book that truly captures the spirit of The Oakland Raiders of the 1970's. Best of all you come away with a deeper sense of the personalities and what made the team so unique. It is not just a "remember when" book, but rather a behind the scenes look at why the Raiders where the most compelling team of the 70's. It's well written, full of detail and should be interesting to any football fan.
Great Book.......2001-02-09
Raiders Forever is a must read for any Raiders fan. I'll never forget the glory days of the 60's and 70's - guys like Stabler, Madden, Van Egan, etc. After you read this book, you realize they never will either. The author finds all our old favorites, spread out all over the country now, and they reminisce about what it was like to be a Raider back in the good old days. It's fun to hear them as they look back, tell a story or two, and fill us in on what they're doing now. This is a great book about a great team. Highly recommended!
NOT ENOUGH.......2001-02-04
RAIDERS FOREVER IS SKIMPY. IT IS GREAT TO READ ABOUT ALL THESE GREAT PLAYERS. BUT HALF THE INTERVIEW IS WASTED ON THERE BACK GROUND AND SCHOOLING. LETS HEAR MORE ABOUT HOW IT WAS IN THE TRENCHES AGAINST THE STEELERS. THE BATTLES WITH RIVAL CHIEFS. I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED IN THIS BOOK. I THINK THE AUTHOR SHOULD HAVE SPENT MORE TIME TALKING ABOUT THE GOOD OLD DAYS. A TEN PAGE OR LESS INTERVIEW JUST DOESN'T HACK IT. NOT WORTH THE MONEY. NOT RECOMMENDED. GLOSSY GARBAGE.
Book Description
The Hell's Angels. The name conjures up images of toughs on Harleys terrorizing the law-abiding; of wild brawls and wild sex; of drugs and cruelty, beatings, and even murder. Their lifestyle, we think, is horrifying, but it's also perversely fascinating, for there's an alluring freedom in such nihilism. Still, nobody knows what it's like to be an Angel except an Angel-an Angel like George Wethern, for many years the vice president of the Oakland Chapter.
Until he found himself in reluctant service to the courts, Wethern was the quintessential Angel, tough as they come, one of the most important drug dealers on the West Coast-a man who loved bikes, fights, women, and drugs; a man who knew the deepest secrets of Angel life. Arrested, strung out on drugs, in despair, he testified in several major trials against Angel members-and then went into hiding.
In A Wayward Angel, we witness killings, drug deals worth millions, "picnics" that are nothing short of orgies, the inner codes and inner workings of the club and its bizarre initiation rites. It is a vivid portrait of the chaos of postwar California, the awful early collision of the drug scene and the alienation of modern life, a story as American as can be. This is a powerful book, and not for the squeamish; but it's fascinating and important, terrifying because it's real.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting Read.......2007-06-08
I heard of most of the people he talked about. A little too much about him and not "them." But after all, it is an auto-biography, isn't it?
Very interesting.......2007-05-14
An interesting read, i see other reviews that think it isnt, but this was the thrid book i have read on the subject and i found it insightful, the glory days of the hells angela are what interest me the most and this book details them well. Worth a read for sure.
Just some what pleased.......2007-05-10
Old info about club. Club doesn't operate that way any more.
A Waste of Money and Time.......2006-05-22
Let me save you the money and time of buying and reading this book. Here it is.....I was an Angel; I used, bought, and sold drugs; I got caught and squeeled on my brothers......Thats about all this book says. It's a waste.
Not great, but worth a look.......2006-05-14
George Wethern may appear to be "coming clean" in this book, but just like in every book written by ex-OMG'ers, the bravado as he describes his days with the HAMC is a bit of a turn-off. As Sonny Barger used to say, "Why do they lie about us? The truth is bad enough." Well, neither Sonny nor George seems capable of just laying it out there for us to see in some un-trumped-up manner. At least Sonny's books don't purport to be tell-alls. What is Wethern's excuse?
This book really fell apart at the end. Wethern took a wrong turn. Rather than talking at length about the details of his cooperation with authorities, and his feelings about his "ex-brothers" as well as their feelings for him, he spends little time on it. Instead, we are treated to page upon page of trailer park-esque writings between him and his wife. Who cares?
I also believe that the book was not particularly well edited.
Still, this is sort of a landmark writing because it blows a little lustre off the mystique, and there is not a lot out there by ex-insiders that purports to tell any truth. I do recommend "Under and Alone" by William Queen if you want a little more honesty about what it's like "inside."
As for Wethern's being a "rat", the people in question were all criminals to some degree anyway, so why get hung up on that? I do like the brotherhood aspect of OMGs and I am not particularly fond of rats, but there are reasons why George turned. Wethern was not the only one to not live up to the "brotherhood" ideal.
Amazon.com
Touted as a Ball Four for the new millennium, Jose Canseco's Juiced promises to expose not only the rampant use of performance-enhancing substances in baseball (with steroids replacing the amphetamines of Bouton's day), but the painfully human flaws of its heroes as well. A steroid devotee since the age of 20, Canseco goes beyond admitting his own usage to claim that with the tacit approval of the league's powers-that-be he acted as baseball's ambassador of steroids and is therefore indirectly responsible for "saving" the game.
Chief among his claims is that he introduced Mark McGwire to steroids in 1988 and that he often injected McGwire while they were teammates. According to Canseco, steroids and human growth hormones gave McGwire and Sammy Sosa (whose own usage was "so obvious, it was a joke") the strength, stamina, regenerative ability, and confidence they needed for a record-setting home run duel often credited with restoring baseball's popularity after the 1994 strike. Although he devotes a lot of ink to McGwire, Canseco envisions himself as a kind of Johnny Steroidseed, spreading the gospel of performance enhancement, naming a number of players that he either personally introduced to steroids or is relatively certain he can identify as fellow users. Because Canseco plays fast and loose with some of the facts of his own career he provides fodder for those looking to damage his credibility, but in many ways questions of public and personal perception are what raise the book beyond mere vitriolic tell-all. Those willing to heed his request and truly listen to what he has to say will find Juiced to be an occasionally insightful meditation on the workings of public perception and a consistently interesting character study. --Shane Farmer
Book Description
The book that changed baseball forever
For years, Jose Canseco was one of the most intimidating hitters in the Major Leagues. The embodiment of speed and power, he was the first player in Major League history to steal forty bases and hit forty home runs in a single season. Off the field, his personal life was just as outrageous, with tales of his out-of-control antics spilling off sports pages and into gossip columns. But Canseco also harbored one of Major League Baseball's darkest secrets: steroids. In Juiced, he comes clean about this wild past, sharing the unbelievable truth about baseball's steroid addiction and how this onetime taboo has spread to every locker room in the big leagues. Entertaining, raucous, and unforgettable, Canseco takes you beneath the veneer of Major League Baseball, demonstrating how big muscles and performance-enhancing drugs have changed the rules of the game forever.
Customer Reviews:
The Godfather of Steroids.......2007-07-18
When I was 10 years old, every kid I knew had a McGwire/Canseco "Bash Brothers" poster on their wall. McGwire went on to have a Hall of Fame caliber career, while Canseco never really fulfilled initial expectations. At least Canseco admits here that he was an average player who never would have made it in the big leagues without steroids. That's the most refreshing thing about this book: He has no apologies. In a day and age when every player that tests positive points fingers at everyone but themselves, it's nice to hear at least one professional athlete stand up for his actions.
Canseco's motives and honesty were rightly questioned when this book was released, but a couple of years later exposes such as "The Game of Shadows" have proven that Canseco's claims may not be as exaggerated as previously thought.
The writing level of this book is strictly third-grade, apparently written without the assistance of a ghost writer. The book could have been improved by a ghost writer or editor willing to fact-check and do some investigative legwork to lend credibility to Canseco's hyperbole.
Enjoyable, but fairly shallow........2007-05-30
Although this book sparked bitter debate and endless controversy, its contents are not actually that surprising or, if you'll pardon the pun, juicy. Canseco is of course not nearly the bad guy he was made out to be, although I don't think he entirely disliked being a villain. It seems like he brags quite a bit when it comes to women and his material possessions, but it's very likely just a case of him being truthful. I had to keep reminding myself that insecure people such as Jose often feel a great need to boast to others. You might dislike whistle-blowers and view steroids as cheating, but illegal substances are more a part of sports than the average fan will ever know or care about. The media wants us to believe this is a crisis, but if everyone is cheating, is anyone cheating? Overall, I guess I have a better opinion of Jose Canseco after reading 'Juiced' than I once did; he probably has killed any and all of his slim Hall of Fame chances, and I respect that sacrifice. But he didn't kill anyone. His 'patients' hit him up for a 'roids 101 class and reaped great monetary rewards. He's got a beautiful daughter, a great bank account, and his health. Why should any of us have a problem with that? I had some problems with his endless racism theories, as it just makes him look foolish. And he claims that he was run out of baseball because they wanted to shut him up, when such action is the very thing that would prompt a tell-all such as this. Who wants to bet he received a few calls from teams but that he probably wanted too much money? Much like steroids, it happens all the time.
Jose Conseco is right on.......2007-05-24
Jose Conseco writes an excellent article as life in the Major leagues. His stories are concise and to the point. The object of this book, it not to tell someone how to play better, but rather what life can be like in the Majors. Also, Jose is not the bad guy he is now days considered to be. He was a scapegoat for the commissioner of baseball. Often he describes how the media and baseball can play politics and destroy an otherwise great career. His chapter on umpires is, in fact, exactly how I found it to be when I played and very informative. The book is entertaining and forthright and explains how the "haves" and "have nots" fare in the Majors. Highly recommended reading. His excuse for using steroids is weak, but overall, you can see how things basically destroyed one of the best Cuban hitters to ever step in the batter' box. Great book.
A Baseball Expose'.......2007-04-12
Jose Canseco exposes the baseball players he says used steroids during their careers. Although you may not be surprised at the names he floats as users, you may enjoy his personal stories.
Average?.......2007-03-14
I would say average book due to the content has mostly come out to be true. Just written like a fourth grader wrote it
Book Description
The Oakland Raiders have not only had three Super Bowl champions since their inception with the upstart American Football League in 1960, but also some of the most colorful characters in football history. It starts at the top with maverick owner Al Davis, called "The Geinus"--with admiration by some and derision by others.
The Raiders have been a team known for playing as hard off the field as on, led by the likes of Kenny "Snake" Stabler, John "The Tooz" Matuszak, and "Big Ben" Davidson. They also practically have their own wing at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, with legends such as Jim Otto, Gene Upshaw, Art Shell, George Blanda, Willie Brown, and Dave Casper.
Customer Reviews:
SOME GREAT STORIES ABOUT THE BLACK AND SILVER.......2004-05-23
THIS IS A MINI OAKLAND RAIDERS HISTORY PUT TOGETHER VERY NICELY IN THIS BOOK. I ENJOYED THE SEASON TO SEASON COVERAGE ALONG WITH A FEW SPECIAL FEATURES ON RAIDER SUPERSTARS. THE BOOK MIXES INTERVIEWS ALONG WITH FACTS TO THE UTMOST. THERE ALOT OF GOOD THINGS IN THIS BOOK, INCLUDING THE IMMACULATE RECEPTION, RAIDERS 1ST SUPERBOWL WIN AND MANY OTHER HIGHLIGHTS IN THEIR LONG AND "EXCELLENT" HISTORY. A MUST READ.
Book Description
Gumshoe Conrad Metcalf has problems-there's a rabbit in his waiting room and a trigger-happy kangaroo on his tail. Near-future Oakland is a brave new world where evolved animals are members of society, the police monitor citizens by their karma levels, and mind-numbing drugs such as Forgettol and Acceptol are all the rage.
Metcalf has been shadowing Celeste, the wife of an affluent doctor. Perhaps he's falling a little in love with her at the same time. When the doctor turns up dead, our amiable investigator finds himself caught in a crossfire between the boys from the Inquisitor's Office and gangsters who operate out of the back room of a bar called the Fickle Muse.
Mixing elements of sci-fi, noir, and mystery, this clever first novel from the author of Motherless Brooklyn is a wry, funny, and satiric look at all that the future may hold.
Customer Reviews:
First Time's The Charm.......2007-03-08
Lethem's first book doesn't crackle and sparkle with the literary virtuosity of his later works ("Motherless Brooklyn" and "Fortress of Solitude"), but it is a fine example of the nimbleness of his creative spirit.
"Gun" follows private inquisitor, Conrad Metcalf, around a futuristic California, where animals and babies are forcibly evolved, societal compliance is enforced with measurable karma, and it is no longer acceptable to ask questions. Metcalf's latest client has been killed, and the case is being pasted to a patsy by the big dogs in the government pound. Metcalf makes things uncomfortable (for himself as well as everyone else) in his pursuit to uncover the truth.
It's not an easy task. Metcalf is dogged by a trigger-happy kangaroo, the loss of his masculine nerve endings (literally), and people who take legally-sanctioned drugs designed to induce amnesia. He skims off the dross with typical flat-footed panache, employing the standard P.I. lingo (and glum stubborness) made famous by Chandler and Bogey (although not with quite as much skill).
Although, at heart, this is a tribute to the world of literary noir, Lethem gives us a glimpse of his future import by sewing hefty totems into his weird (but fully realized) world. Orwell it ain't, but it sure comes close; Lethem has more to say about how we enslave ourselves, rather than how others do the enslaving for us.
By turns funny and fast-paced, clever and creepy, slick and sharp, "Gun" is a great diversion. It's certainly not an example of an artist at the top of his game, but it IS an example of an artist learning quite deftly how to break all of the rules. More than anything else, this is Lethem showing us just why he's a writer to begin with -- because he loves it. In the hands of someone as talented as he, it's hard for a reader not to share his enthusiasm.
Lethem in the rough.......2007-01-24
It seems that all I ever read these days is Jonathan Lethem and bizarro authors like Carlton Mellick III. The bizarro guys are pretty good and fun to read in a freaky surreal-ish kind of way, but they aren't master craftsmen of the written word. Lethem is. Gun, with Occasional Music is his first book, but probably the 7th I have read. After getting used to the style of his recent work I can really tell how strong his writing has become. He is an excellent author. Even with his first book, you can tell he is an excellent author. But he has definitely improved over time.
PROS: 1) If you like classic crime noir and weird science-fiction, you'll love this book. It is a mixture of those two. Basically, it is just your usual old time crime novel set in a future of mutants and intelligent anthropomorphic animals 2) The mystery unfolds quite nicely. Not only the mystery of the plot, but also the mystery surrounding this odd world Lethem has created. 3) Once you get into it you won't be able to put it down.
CONS: 1) While the writing is good, it is still pretty mediocre in comparison to any of his other works. 2) It was originally published by a sci-fi genre publisher, so it feels like run-of-the-mill genre fiction. So if you are a fan of the literary elements of Lethem's work more than the sci-fi elements you might be disappointed. 3) Though it was intentional, the characters are pretty cliche to that of classic detective stories. This might be a good thing or bad thing. Since I am not a fan of detective fiction, it was more of a con for me.
Overall, I give this book 4 stars. It is definitely worth reading. It's just not as good as most of Lethem's other work. I might have enjoyed it a bit better than As She Climbed Across The Table, but it wasn't as unique and smart as that book. Casual readers might like this one best, so start with here if you don't read a lot of literary fiction. Otherwise, start with Girl in Landscape or Motherless Brooklyn.
Great First Novel.......2006-06-29
Jonathan Lethem's witty first novel is a sci-fi/private-eye romp through the futuristic mean streets of Oakland. Postmodern gumshoe Conrad Metcalf gives Sam Spade a run for the money as he pursues the leaders of a society corrupted by government-sponsored drug addiction. Evolution therapy has spawned the "babyheads" (hard-drinking infants who carouse all night and have adult heads), and their genetically-altered counterparts, the "evolved animals." Remembering and asking questions is discouraged, a state of affairs enforced by "forgettol," "addicttol," and "regrettol." Inquisitors deduct karma points from peoples' karma cards: the sentence for a "karma defunct" is suspended animation.
Metcalf's investigation takes us from a holographic haunted house to sleazy sex clubs, baby-head bars, murder sites and beyond. We meet drugged out femmes fatale, a murdered sheep, a pissed-off kangaroo, folks trying to hide things, others trying to forget, and those who can't remember what it was they were trying to hide. In a world where the printed word is illegal and the news is rendered musically, we can sleep safe knowing that Metcalf is fighting the good fight.
(originally published in San Francisco Review of Books, 1994. now defunct, © by author, todd jatras)
Would you believe it?.......2006-06-11
Midway through reading Motherless Brooklyn, I decided that Lethem was something of a genius and ordered Gun, with Occasional Music without even investigating the plot (I loved the title). When the book arrived, I read the jacket and felt a bit put off by the seemingly preposterous storyline, but decided to give it a shot anyhow. I was rewarded.
If you are considering reading the book and have doubts, read Motherless Brooklyn and Fortress of Solitude first. I think you will then conclude that Lethem is a writer whose books are worth reading.
Over the top, but..........2006-04-22
Lethem can write rings around most writers, but with all his incredible ability to create mood and switch from one unique voice to another, he ultimately does not deliver a satisfying read.
The world of this book is bizarre but believable, with the accelerated evolution treatments (babyheads), and evolved animals, snf free government drugs, etc. The exaggerated wise guy private eye tough guy lingo, broken by unexpectedly hilarious passages (gun - with occasional music) is fun to read, and hard to put down. But the ending does not feel like a real ending, and there are no moral truths here.
I'm not being a baby here; it's not that I want a happy ending, just some sense of closure.
Book Description
As the birthplace of the Black Panthers and a nationwide tax revolt, California embodied a crucial motif of the postwar United States: the rise of suburbs and the decline of cities, a process in which black and white histories inextricably joined. American Babylon tells this story through Oakland and its nearby suburbs, tracing both the history of civil rights and black power politics as well as the history of suburbanization and home-owner politics. Robert Self shows that racial inequities in both New Deal and Great Society liberalism precipitated local struggles over land, jobs, taxes, and race within postwar metropolitan development. Black power and the tax revolt evolved together, in tension.
American Babylon demonstrates that the history of civil rights and black liberation politics in California did not follow a southern model, but represented a long-term struggle for economic rights that began during the World War II years and continued through the rise of the Black Panthers in the late 1960s. This struggle yielded a wide-ranging and profound critique of postwar metropolitan development and its foundation of class and racial segregation. Self traces the roots of the 1978 tax revolt to the 1940s, when home owners, real estate brokers, and the federal government used racial segregation and industrial property taxes to forge a middle-class lifestyle centered on property ownership.
Using the East Bay as a starting point, Robert Self gives us a richly detailed, engaging narrative that uniquely integrates the most important racial liberation struggles and class politics of postwar America.
Customer Reviews:
Beating Cultural Studies At Its Own Game And Laughing All The Way Up The Ivory Tower With Meticulous History.......2006-03-14
In American Babylon, Robert Self attempts to synthesize consistently isolated renderings of urban, suburban, white black, economic and sociocultural histories in postwar metropolitan development. He seeks to join the histories of "modernist city planning" with "politics and social struggle (9)." In doing so, he centers his study around three primary transitions, each roughly beginning in the New Deal era and reaching completion around the advent of Johnson's Great Society. First, the remaking the white labor movement into what he terms "conservative populism." Second, the remaking of progressive black labor and urban activism into black militarism, nationalism, and Maoism. Finally, the remaking of liberal state aid from infrastructure development to human development, from direct financial subsidy for low-income whites to mobilization against pathology for low-income blacks.
The study concludes with a clash between the liberal state and suburban prosperity, newly estranged by the racialized nature of poverty.
Key to the suburban backlash of the seventies is a political disposition that formed much earlier in the late forties called "conservative populism." Self defines "conservative populism" as a postwar coalition of white blue collar workers, skilled workers, and small business interests that were pro-union, pro-private property, pro private-rights, anti-tax and anti-big-business. He defines "industrial garden" as a sort of ecosystem of commercial, industrial, and residential infrastructure in close proximity that delivers abundance and utopian living. Upon the failure of the inner city industrial garden to deliver utopian prosperity, suburbs became the actualized vision of the garden city and the staging grounds for an evacuation of prosperity.
Self portrays 1960s urban spaces as a conflict between business elites who wish to mechanize and deindustrialize infrastructure toward the end of capital accumulation, and blacks who want infrastructure investment in neighborhoods. Sometimes I found myself asking if Self was too adherent to municipal boundaries in drawing the border between city and suburb. It seems to me that large parts of American cities became and remained suburban-like in the postwar era. To use my own city as an example, there are places where Minneapolis and its suburbs seem to be very much of the same yoke. I wonder to what degree this is the case with Oakland?
There are times when the text seemed aggressive in reducing the city playing field to a contest between business infrastructure and poor blacks when a significant number of prosperous white residents remained in the city. I wonder if "post-municipalism" would be a useful younger sibling to "post-nationalism" in conceptualizing urban spaces. It might be rhetorically useful if "suburb" was reduced to an adjective in a study like this.
American Babylon hits its stride as it explores and lucidly articulates the reasons behind the conservative backlash and the death of the welfare state. While there is a tremendous body of scholarship that presents cultural explanations for the conservative backlash, it is rare that one finds an economic explanation, especially one that centers prosperity rather than exploitation and false consciousness (a la Thomas Frank) as its driving phenomenon. Self takes the same statistics that others (like George Lipsitz) have used to document the structural invention of black poverty and animates them as a call to action for white tax activists.
In affirming that both disempowerment and empowerment can be the precursors of fervent activism, Self avoids reinscribing social action as an exotic and racialized mystique of nature. Undisturbed by the proscribed boundaries of most scholarship, such mystique holds that liberal activism is essentially black, essentially urban, and essentially anti-capital or that conservative activism is essentially white, essentially rural, and essentially theological. Self disturbs and hybridizes this binary by locating the most demonstrably effective social action within suburbs.
Self also uses the suburbs to disrupt what he sees as an inadequate north/south binary in Afro-American history. It is not just business that opposes the welfare state for being anti-market or whites that oppose it out of racism, as one might gather from prevailing readings of the southern movement. Suburban whites had a vested economic interest in the elimination of civil rights gains and their adjunct, the liberal welfare state. Self also advocates retelling the civil rights movement as a national black confrontation with the exclusionary policies of the New Deal.
In perhaps his most radical departure from existing scholarship, Self talks about political economy without talking about liberal capital or economic determinism. He does not see lopsided urban development as the problem or manifest destiny of a free market, nor does he see policy as a reliable proscription on the lives of people. For Self, capital success is always prefixed by organized social action. The invisible hand is neither anonymous nor autonomous and Self is on a mission to name names.
Yet American Babylon is not without shortcomings. The introduction seems to be seeping with rich and critical contradictions. But the text-and perhaps it is just an artifact of the massive amount of information that is represented-the prose engages most of its terms with a very declarative nonchalance. A writer of similar style would be Nell Irvin Painter. Self's prose has a disarming factuality that marginalizes the ambiguity and contested meaning which seems central in cultural history. For all of its insights, it is difficult to read American Babylon as a cultural history because it is so linear. Because it does not raise problematics or invoke dialectic to resolve unclear and confounding juxtapositions, its engagement with its data is more encyclopedic than exegetical.
Ironically, while the Self does not talk about hegemony, intersectional theory, Foucault, Marx, modernity, or subjectivity, his work offers a framework for dissent that could not be built within the cultural studies lexicon.
rigorous and accessible.......2004-02-24
I read American Babylon after hearing about it on the radio, and came away impressed with the author's ability to make a remarkably complex process - the interplay of surburban development, urban decline, racial politics, and civil rights - accessible to an amateur such as myself. The book lays out a persuasive explanation of why things are they way they are in Oakland, and by (my) extension in many urban areas around the country, including my own hometown of Brooklyn. In doing so it seems to me to be the best sort of historical analysis: rigorous, remarkably detailed, and carefully documented, but useful to the public at large. Highly recommended.
Brilliant history that should be read by political activists.......2004-02-14
Robert Self's "American Babylon: Race and the Struggle for Postwar Oakland" deserves the attention of grassroots political activists as much as academics. It is a brilliant analysis of the post-World War Two business strategy for Oakland, California and the boom (and boomerang to Oakland) in housing and jobs elsewhere in Alameda County that resulted. Self shows how the decline of Oakland was the other side of the coin in the creation of new communities in the open spaces nearby. He lays out the class and race contexts of the suburbanization process and shows the consequences for and responses by the labor movement and African Americans to the changes that were wrought. "American Babylon" thus provides, for example, an interesting account of the Black Panther Party. Finally, using this region in northern California as a case study, the book examines the origins of the anti-property tax movement, when the suburbs regime went sour. Since California is still embroiled over the same issues this book addresses -- taxes, urban revitalization, de-industrialization, racial equality, and the political and environmental impacts of suburban growth -- Robert Self's "American Babylon" could not be more timely.
Medium-sized Cities in the times of Urban Renewal.......2004-02-10
Robert Self's book should interest readers interested in understanding the aftermath of urban renewal and development in US cities and the politics of race and class in the post-WWII to 1975 period. Self's work makes a contribution to studies of urban poltiics and the histories of cities and of the Civil Rights era by pointing to what has often been ignored or left invisible: that the so-called problems of people living in cities are often directly related to the overdevelopment of their surrounding suburbs (the noose), and that the problems of people of color in this country are directly related to the privileges of white people, structurally and historically. Thus, Self's book shows intimately and concretely how one might explore the dynamics of structural, institutionalized racism, in the post-Civil Rights era, when we all thought that the problem of blatant individualized racism had been solved.
In addition, the book will be useful for those of us living and working or traveling through the Bay Area: It adds another part of the story, and links the decline of Oakland with the rise of Silicon Valley, and with shifting terrains of race and class politics. It also provides important historical perspective on the forces that started the long trajectory that we now live, the decisions that sowed the seeds for the so-called ghettos, but also for the gentrification and displacement that threatens to displace our communities today.
If You Want to Understand American Cities, Read This Book.......2004-02-08
Oakland is frequently in the news. Our school board passes a resolution asserting the language rights of African-Americans, and the country explodes in controversy. Our citizens elect a celebrity mayor, and the Wall Street Journal speculates on the reasons. None of these events are understandable without understanding Oakland's history, and Robert Self has done a terrific job of capturing its contours. He lays waste to the common myth that the Civil Rights movement was exclusively a Southern phenomenon, and reports in fascinating detail on Oakland's own Civil Rights movement. Although he reports on its most famous organization, the Black Panthers, he also describes in detail the tenacity and success of other organizations, like the Oakland Black Caucus and the East Bay Democratic Club, which produced changes in the employment and electoral rights of American-Americans.
People who want to change cities should read this book.
An Oakland College Professor
Book Description
Fleeing the murderous Pol Pot regime, Cambodian refugees arrive in America as at once the victims and the heroes of America's misadventures in Southeast Asia; and their encounters with American citizenship are contradictory as well. Service providers, bureaucrats, and employers exhort them to be self-reliant, individualistic, and free, even as the system and the culture constrain them within terms of ethnicity, race, and class. Buddha Is Hiding tells the story of Cambodian Americans experiencing American citizenship from the bottom-up. Based on extensive fieldwork in Oakland and San Francisco, the study puts a human face on how American institutions--of health, welfare, law, police, church, and industry--affect minority citizens as they negotiate American culture and re-interpret the American dream.
In her earlier book, Flexible Citizenship, anthropologist Aihwa Ong wrote of elite Asians shuttling across the Pacific. This parallel study tells the very different story of "the other Asians" whose route takes them from refugee camps to California's inner-city and high-tech enclaves. In Buddha Is Hiding we see these refugees becoming new citizen-subjects through a dual process of being-made and self-making, balancing religious salvation and entrepreneurial values as they endure and undermine, absorb and deflect conflicting lessons about welfare, work, medicine, gender, parenting, and mass culture. Trying to hold on to the values of family and home culture, Cambodian Americans nonetheless often feel that "Buddha is hiding." Tracing the entangled paths of poor and rich Asians in the American nation, Ong raises new questions about the form and meaning of citizenship in an era of globalization.
Book Description
Arranged by season, this cookbook highlights the abundance of fresh foods cultivated in Northern California. In addition to our members' favorite recipes, which have been triple-tested in our own kitchens, California Fresh Harvest provides fascinating food lore, inspirational menus, wine pairings, cooking tips, and information on local events and special destinations. In the tradition of the treasured, original California Fresh cookbook, again the Junior League of Oakland-East Bay has created a classic for Northern California residents and visitors alike.
Customer Reviews:
My favorite cookbook.......2006-11-04
Received this cookbook as a gift and have since given it as a wedding gift... this is my favorite cookbook hands down... has a great layout with nice pictures... recipes are organized seasonally with focus on fresh local food... recipes have interesting combinations of flavors and spices... everything I've made has turned out to be something I'd make again as a staple meal for entertaining or just for the family.
California Fresh Harvest.......2003-10-20
I received this book as a gift. What a treasure it has become - great recipes for all seasons, an excellent layout, beautiful illustrations, and simple instructions. It is now the first cookbook I go to!
California Fresh Harvest.......2002-07-16
Absolutely a phenomenonal cookbook! Just purchased on vacation in Cape May, New Jersey at Love the Cook. Gorgeous pictures, wonderful recipes......California at it's best! A real winner...a real find.
A Junior League Classic!.......2002-02-27
I originally received this cookbook as a gift. I was so delighted with it, I subsequently ordered four additional copies to give as gifts. The recipients are still thanking me! First, the recipes are creative and delicious -- fully enhancing the flavors of bountiful, diverse, fresh ingredients found in the San Francisco Bay Area and Wine Country. (It's hard NOT to eat well in this region!) Second, the cookbook itself is uncommonly successful in evoking this spectacular setting with gorgeous photos, sidebars of interesting sidetrips, local restaurants and wineries, and mind-boggling facts regarding the abundance of local agriculture. Food preparation tips, background information on local food and wine festivals/events, and delicacies such as Meyer Lemons are also highlighted. While it's fun to simply browse through this beautiful cookbook, it's even better to sample the Junior League's trade-mark "home cooking with flair." Full menus are offered here. My personal favorites are the Baja Guacamole, Savory Polenta w/Asiago Cheese, Garlic-Roasted Chicken, Pork Tenderloin w/Apricot Ginger Sauce, and Cherries & Berries Compote w/Crispy Puffed Pancake. The Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Bars are worth the price of admission all by themselves! I'm not surprised this cookbook is winning national rave reviews and awards. They are very well deserved! It is so beautifully rendered, it puts most commercially-produced cookbooks to shame.
Impress Guests with Simplicity and Elegance.......2002-02-26
I received this cookbook as a gift. I must admit, at first I found it so nice to look at that it sat on my coffee table on display. Recently, however, I hosted a baby shower and prepared several dishes which were simple yet elegant. Everyone was so impressed--I felt like Martha Stewart without any of the hassle. Another nice feature of this cookbook is that it recommends menus, which is great, b/c I never know what to serve together. This is one of my favorite cookbooks now!
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