The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band

Book Description

The most influential, enduring, and iconic metal band of the 1980's reveals everything a tell–all of epic proportions.

This unbelievable autobiography explores the rebellious lives of four of the most influential icons in American rock history.

Motley Crue was the voice of a barely pubescent Generation X, the anointed high priests of backward–masking pentagram rock, pioneers of Hollywood glam, and the creators of MTV's first ⯯wer ballad.⟔heir sex lives claimed celebrities from Heather Locklear to Pamela Anderson to Donna D ᄲ rico. Their scuffles involved everyone from Axl Rose to 2LiveCrew. Their hobbies have included collecting automatic weapons, cultivating long arrest records, pushing the envelope of conceivable drug abuse, and dreaming up backstage antics that would make Ozzy Osbourne blanch with modesty.

Provocatively written and brilliantly designed, this book includes over 100 photos, many never before published, for the most exciting and insightful look ever into the Crue.

Customer Reviews:

Best book I've ever read!!!.......2007-09-30

Art is a piece of work that moves you & this book did. I laughed, I was disgusted, I even cried. This is twenty years of a band strugling though fights, overdoses, suicide attempts, mariages, deaths, prison (it's all here!). I love how the story is told by different people so you can hearing everybody's version of what happened (crazy how everybody remebers things differently). You get to hear what happened behind closed doors & what wasn't in the tabloids. It truly was an awesome read - very hard to put down!

Great book.......2007-09-18

From page one your are on a journey, as told by each memeber of the band, from the worst part of L.A. and Motley Crue's beginnings, to their rise to super stardom in the world of rock and roll. I was never much of a Crue fan when they were in their prime, but as I got older, I started to like their music and enjoyed reading about their beginning and the typical crazy road that most rock stars take.

Anazing !!.......2007-09-18

I loved the book the most amazing thing i have ever read inmy life !!!

Suprisingly great book.......2007-09-17

You will wet your pants laughing within the first 5 pages. I am half way through the book and learning alot about the band and Nikki Sixx himself. There is alot people do not know. Can't wait to finish the rest.

Great book, but just a little over-embelished........2007-09-13

This book is a FUN read and I have no doubt that for the most part things went down exactly as described. However I've also read Neil Strauss' other books and while a brilliant writer, he tend to make things larger than life and more polished than they really were (read the Game especially for examples of this.) Some things in the book seem a little too "neatly" described and he glosses over some of the more negative aspects of Motley Crue (And I grew up with them and obsessively followed their press since I was in middle school.)

But definitely a thumbs up. Look forward to reading Nikki's new book for comparison.

Average customer rating:

What a hoot!
Not even worthy of being called Dirt
another good barrington novel
Man oh man! Is this the same guy that wrote "Chiefs"?
Very enjoyable!

Dirt
Stuart Woods
Manufacturer: HarperTorch
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0061094234

Amazon.com

Woods seems to write smooth and solid thrillers as fast as most of us read them. Cop-turned-lawyer Stone Barrington of New York Dead returns with all his street smarts intact in this story about a powerful gossipmonger who has the tables turned when dirty pictures of her start appearing on fax machines across the country. The characters are so rich, famous, and upscale that you might get a nosebleed, but Woods has a light, deft touch that makes the book hard to resist.

Book Description

On the heels of his New York Times bestseller Choke, Stuart Woods brings back one of his best-loved characters, Stone Barrington, in a glittering roller-coaster ride through the murderous world of high-profile celebrity gossip.

Feared and disliked for both her poison pen and ice-queen persona, gossip columnist Amanda Dart finds the tables have turned. When an anonymous gossipmonger begins faxing the scathing details of Amanda's sexual indiscretions to national opinion makers, she turns to Stone Barrington for help. But as the faxes also expose other members of the gossip "community," it becomes apparent that the most respected of the social scene will stop at nothing--even murder--to clear their names. Set against a backdrop of glitzy Manhattan society, Dirt is a sexy, fast-paced and witty thriller--Stuart Woods at his best.

Download Description

E-book Extra: 'We Are Very Different People": Stuart Woods on Stone Barrington. The tables have turned on ice-queen gossip columnist Amanda Dart: someone is faxing the scathing details of her sexual indiscretions to national opinion makers. Amanda turns to Stone Barrington -- ex-cop, fulltime lawyer, and sometime investigator -- for help.

Customer Reviews:

What a hoot!.......2006-04-12

This book was a hoot and a half to read - a vicious gossip-monger who has always been careful to keep her own dirty laundry hidden finds out she hasn't done as good a job as she would like and finds the tables turned. She turns to Stone Barrington to get help. As things progress, more and more of the high and mighty find themselves being drug through the mud. I had lots of good laughs in this, and of course the suspense was great as well. The twists and turns were everything you would expect out of Stuart Woods and more and the mystery plotting was tight. Expect some pins and needles, because you're not going to want to put it down - you'll sit right where you are until you're finished!

Not even worthy of being called Dirt.......2005-03-19

My first Stuart Woods book and I'm not likely to pick up another. Not a likeable character to be found other than the domestic help. I didn't care what happened to anyone.

another good barrington novel.......2004-10-28

This is the third Barrington novel I've read and I have to say that Woods keeps the plots pretty interesting...they're not all just murder mysteries...

now, that being said..there's some things that I don't like as well....Stone's morals are a bit iffy at times with certain things...let's just say that I don't feel bad for him if he doesn't have luck with the ladies =)

anyway..I read this in about two days..the pages go by really quick and it left me always wanting to know what the next page held...

very entertaining read

Man oh man! Is this the same guy that wrote "Chiefs"?.......2004-10-14

I ask the question because 'Chiefs' was an absolutely fantastic novel. One of my favorites. This story is easy to read, quick-moving and entertaining but, for me, ultimately it is disappointing because I know that he could do sooooooo much better. If you've never read Stuart Woods, read 'Chiefs' and maybe you'd be better off just walking away.

So, why am I irritated? The characters are two-dimensional cutouts of what we might suspect the rich and the famous are really like. They reminded me of unpleasant parodies of the Howells from Gilligan's Island. Woods can do so much more.

To be fair, I guess I'm really irritated to see a man who showed so much early promise resort to being a hack writer, pounding out the same story time after time. I tolerate, in fact, I revel in it when it comes to Robert Parker. But in the case of Stuart Woods - what an incredible waste of writing talent!

Very enjoyable!.......2004-08-03

Heard the taped version of DIRT by Stuart Woods . . . this is an engrossing novel about a lawyer, Stone Barrington, who is asked to investigate gossip being spread about a New York
columnist . . . there are lots of twists and turns, as well as suspense, and the story kept my attention until the very end . . . the narration by Tony Roberts was as good as any I've ever heard.

The Female Thing: Dirt, Sex, Envy, Vulnerability

Average customer rating:

Respect from a non-feminist man, with a daughter.
The Evolution of the Feminist.
The conflicted female psyche (3.75 *s)
Dirt, Sex, Envy, or Vulnerability... Kipnis explores (western) female identity

The Female Thing: Dirt, Sex, Envy, Vulnerability
Laura Kipnis
Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Feminist Theory | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0375424172
Release Date: 2006-10-17

Book Description

In the female psyche nowadays, “contradictions speckle the landscape, like ingrown hairs after a bad bikini wax.” So writes Laura Kipnis, author of the widely acclaimed polemic Against Love. With “the gleeful viperish wit of Dorothy Parker” (Slate), Kipnis now offers a fresh and provocative assessment of the female condition in the post-post-feminist world of the twenty-first century. For every advance toward sexual equality on the part of women in recent years, she argues, some new impediment just “seems” to appear. Ironically, feminism ran up against an unanticipated opponent: the inner woman.

An ambitious and original reassessment of feminism and women’s ambivalence about it, The Female Thing brims with bracing and funny social observations informed by psychological acuity. For all the upbeat “You go, girl” slogans, women remain caught between feminism and femininity, between self-affirmation and an endless quest for self-improvement, between playing the injured party and claiming independence. Feminism is bedeviled by the same impasses and contradictions it seeks to rectify. But rather than blaming the usual suspects–men, the media–Kipnis takes a hard look at culprits closer to home, namely women themselves and their complicity in upholding male privilege, even as they resent men deeply for it. Which makes relations between the sexes rather thorny at the moment, and Kipnis serves up the gory details of the mutual displeasure between men and women in painfully hilarious detail.

In the tradition of The Feminine Mystique and The Female Eunuch, this is a pathbreaking work. As audacious as it is historically and socially grounded, The Female Thing explores age-old quandaries: the war between the sexes, what women “really” want, and to what extent anatomy is destiny after all.

Customer Reviews:

Respect from a non-feminist man, with a daughter........2007-02-17

As a man, there were many parts of this book that caused me an eye-roll or two. But I had to concede by the end that I found "The Female Thing" to be an enjoyable and enlightening read on balance. Guys will be able to read this because it has ample doses of humor and doesn't take itself so deadly seriously as most women's books do. Kipnis examines four topics in women's culture (a term introduced to me by Kipnis herself, just what the heck is women's culture?) :Envy, Sex, Dirt and Vulnerability.

Women want more. More of what, they are not sure but they want more of it; and men seem to have it, whatever it is. Power seems like a good thing to have and money seems to be the key to power so maybe women should get more money. But that just feeds capitalism and that can't be good (eww!) And if women earn more and men relatively less and women continue to rate men based on how much they make, won't women thus be denied one of the very things they've always wanted i.e. rich men? What women really want is not to feel inadequate. Or maybe just for men to feel inadequate too. Maybe if men started worrying about tummy fat and laugh-lines and their hair and using the right lotions and...wait a minute...metrosexuals... Never mind. Let's look at Sex.

Women are faced with an uphill climb to sexual fulfillment, there are physical and social barriers to satisfying recreational sex. Or so Kipnis tells me. My own field research suggests that women who write books about women's sexual problems are over-thinking the thing but I will take her at her word (so to speak.) Then there is pregnancy and childbirth. The profound asymmetry between men's and women's participation and investment in procreation poses socially insurmountable barriers to an equitable distribution of rights and responsibilities. Only technological and legal changes can change outdated paradigms and...wait a minute...designer babies, family law crisis... Never mind. Let's look at Dirt.

In what is by far the most readable section for men, Kipnis concedes what men have known all along: women are crazy. Okay, to be fair she offers a lucid examination of the economic, technological and social trends that have shaped modern women's feelings and attitudes toward hygiene and cleanliness and how those feelings and attitudes have presented an obstacle to women's equality (cukoo.) Kipnis fails to mention a well-known truth about the housework wars: A woman will be mad if her man does not enough housework, she will be ballistic if he does too much or does it too well or, worst of all, does it too publicly. Couldn't women ditch these images of feminine perfection and adopt a utilitarian mode of dress and hairstyle more like men's in order to...wait a minute...Rosie O'Donnell... Never mind. Let's look at Vulnerability.

Kipnis wades bravely into the issue of rape (you didn't think she meant emotional vulnerability, did you?) Referring grudgingly to statistics, she goes on to talk about the fear of rape being a bigger issue than the actual incidence of rape. She lays out a wide range of what has been written by feminists about rape and the fear of rape that plays such a large role in women's lives and makes a deft observation: "The opposite of desire isn't aversion, it's indifference..." At what the author concedes is a Freudian (ergo discredited, outmoded) level, women are fascinated by the idea of surrendering to the powerful rogue archetype. (Hey, she said it, not me!) The upshot of decades of loud talk about the socio-political gender ramifications of the fear of rape is a raft of laws and rules that make every sidelong glance a potential train-wreck. Kipnis ends the chapter and the book with the following endearing sentence: "A full accounting of the female situation at the moment would need to start roughly here." Some clever typesetting leaves most of that last page invitingly blank. It is simultaneously humble and defiant; I like it.

Someday, anthropologists will discover a tribe that has no word or concept for gender. When visitors point out that some people have one kind of plumbing and some another, some bigger shoulders, some bigger hips, they will shrug as though the distinction were no more important than the shape of one's earlobes. They will have suitably elaborate mating rituals which allow the necessary mechanics to be glossed over while still allowing procreation. And we will set up discrete viewing blinds in order to make full use of this gender-neutral laboratory. Until then, we are muddling through and, for me anyway, Kipnis' subtext seems to be that we are making progress.

As a man who likes women and wants them to be happy (along with everyone else) I hope so.

Comments invited.

The Evolution of the Feminist........2006-12-11

Perhaps the best way to educate an audience about a particular subject is to outline the uniqueness of its properties, which is most easily done by juxtaposing its essence alongside what it is not. Professor of Media Studies at Northwestern, Laura Kipnis, in her new book, The Female Thing: Dirt, Sex, Envy, Vulnerability, uses this strategy to illuminate intrinsic female qualities via the four emblematic areas listed in the title. While it may sound rather popish, her brisk essays succeed in their goal. The author has produced a competent, intelligent, and valuable narrative.

It may surprise conservatives that a book written by a leftist-feminist could possibly appeal to them, and undoubtedly some will disagree with this reviewer's assessment. Although, The Female Thing's central theme is key to my reasoning. Kipnis believes that it is their own "inner woman," as opposed to men or a global conspiracy, that acts as the biggest barrier to women realizing the progressive utopia they deserve--a utopia for which, the author concedes, many women are not even interested. Females have certain refractory predispositions and fascinations which cannot be propagandized away. This is revealed in the female longing for men, the way in which feminine personality types persist despite their sometimes being cloaked in feminist garb, and the world's assigning to women a higher worth based on their bodies. By identifying Woman as a free-thinking agent, Kipnis infuses the opposite sex with responsibility, and this immediately places her on a plane far above her peers. Hopefully, more non-equity feminists will agree that, socially and psychologically, our "respective anatomies produce different situations." That's not to imply that she is a biological determinist, however. What she does state is that, "what kind of anatomy you've been assigned invariably structures the female experience here on earth." These views are a major advancement for feminism as they eschew the lie that only social construction makes us who we are.

The book's greatest strength are the arguments produced by the author's iconoclastic and insightful mind. Many novel ideas are on display. She clarified that women's empowerment came with a cost because much was lost in the process. Furthermore, has not femininity been on its own, from its earliest beginnings, an incredibly effective strategy for the acquisition of resources? From there, we turn to a major dilemma for the modern woman: one can't really be feminine and a feminist at the same time for they are mutually exclusive conditions. The former denies weakness and frailty while the latter promotes it. We find that the root of women's ever-increasing resentment of men--a resentment which is largely not reciprocated--is their own disavowal and self-deception. Their over expectations can be attributed more to a lack of personal fulfillment than to the inadequacies of men.

While The Female Thing may not be a precise fit for conservatives, it undeniably marks an advancement in our relations with feminists. Its pages are steeped in argumentation and debate as opposed to calls for castration and lesbianism. Laura Kipnis is her own woman and not a slave to dogma which is all we can ask for. When leftist-feminists desire truth over propaganda they become allies or worthy opponents instead of buffoons walking around blaming "the other" for their own poor decision making. If her peers follow her example, political correctness will join the gargoyle that sired it, Marxism, upon the list of intellectual viruses which only history will remember.

The conflicted female psyche (3.75 *s).......2006-11-22

THE FEMALE THING is an irreverent look at the conflicted and contradictory female "thing" - that is, the female psyche. Achieving equality with and independence from the male of the species has been the goal for feminists for the last forty years, and while somewhat achieved, there is a sense of dissatisfaction, of things missing.

At least for heterosexual women, men do have something that women want - the possibilities of love, etc. Apparently those needs have driven a tremendous consumption of advice and self-enhancing products and procedures, even among the most ardent feminists. Self-acceptance seems to be in short supply.

Attaining financial independence by entering the workforce also has its problems: the loss of time and being subject to the rules of workplace regimes. Now in the name of empowerment, some younger women are opting for child-rearing - eschewing careers. The drive for equality and independence is indeed taking strange directions.

Women are also conflicted over the nature of sex. According to the author the location of orgasmatic centers and the assignment of technical responsibility for achieving such is engendering debate among frustrated women. And then there's dirt. Women have been in charge of dirt ever since the rise of domesticity and men are generally oblivious. But the female anatomy itself has, through the centuries, been considered "dirty" by some elements creating no small amount of consternation even today.

The author also considers the hysteria that can surround even the potential for rape, while acknowledging female vulnerabilities. She strongly questions a couple of well known feminists who have either forgotten their complicity in unwelcome advances or fabricated the same.

Kipnis' appraisal of the female psyche, actually female sexuality, is intended to be provocative. Her writing is difficult, at times, to follow - just as in her other recent book, Against Love. But it's worth the effort. She forces a re-examination of issues that many may have thought to be settled.

Dirt, Sex, Envy, or Vulnerability... Kipnis explores (western) female identity.......2006-10-23

Well, that "Female Thing." Does it lead to backlash or ambivalence? Feminism or femininity? What is the "inner woman"?

In this book, The Female Thing, Kipnis explores what it is like to be a women (in western culture, and particularly in the US) in today's society. Have "we've come a long way, baby?" Or, as Linda Hirshman claims in Get to Work: A Manifesto for Women of the World, are women continuing to miss the boat?

Kipnis more or less issues a report card here: where are women now in regards to social status and equality? My interpretation of her analysis is that the report card would be a "C-".

She looks at 4 primary issues that she calls Envy, Sex, Dirt, and Vulnerability.

Envy: "If you're a modern female, unfortunately something's always broken" (p. 9). Women are obsessed, for complex reasons, about their "imperfections." [Note: read I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron for an example of this.] Kipnis summarizes this concept in her phrase "...voluntary servitude to self-improvement" (p. 10). There is a huge focus on looks instead of health, by the way. This commands women's attention to the detriment of other issues in their lives.

Sex: Suffice it to say that women are told they don't need it, or they deserve more, or there are tricks of the trade that are either hidden from them or that fool them, or something! To borrow a title from Star Trek IV, sex for many women is "The Undiscovered Country."

Dirt: Your various "apertures" make you vulnerable to nasty things in life. Women in many societies take the major role in managing dirt (internal and external). "Needless to say, being in charge of all the dirt has not made women particularly jovial" (p. 91).

Vulnerability; Kipnis' bottom line is that the "custodianship of a vagina really is the female Achilles' heel..." (p. 124). She discusses whether female anatomy is fundamentally vulnerable and perhaps "overvalued". Rape is the quintessential vulnerability, and she discusses the effects of sexual trauma (for example, experiences of Andrea Dworkin) in detail.

And then the book ends! I really was expecting a concluding synthesis at the end of these four sections.

All in all, this was a well-written, interesting discussion of the plight of many women in search of their various identities... as individuals, as members of family groups, and in societies. It is not a discussion of all the plights, nor all the opportunities. However, Kipnis focuses on the cages surrounding "free women." I expect this book will be an interesting one to discuss in your local book club.

Farmer John's Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables

Average customer rating:

Working with our CSA crop
The Most Used Cookbook in My Kitchen, and A Great Read, Too
Much more than a cookbook!
The CSA's Primer/Cookbook
A Must For Any Kitchen

Farmer John's Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables
John Peterson
Manufacturer: Gibbs Smith Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1423600142

Book Description

Join the real food revolution with a true pioneer in the Community Supported Agriculture movement-Farmer John Peterson and his farm, Angelic Organics. Angelic Organics is a leader in community supported gardening and biodynamics, helping to connect people with their food, their farmers, and healthful living.

Customer Reviews:

Working with our CSA crop.......2007-07-28

This cookbook has helped us make full use of our weekly crop from our local CSA. Love the Chocolate Beet cake. Hard to get my kids to eat beets but they eat this cake up like crazy.
Fun stuff!

The Most Used Cookbook in My Kitchen, and A Great Read, Too.......2007-07-12

I bought this cookbook on the recommendation of my CSA (Community Supported Agriculture = Organic Farm Share). It was written for CSA members who regularly get large batches of in-season vegetables that they may either not know how to cook, or are getting tired of as the season wears on.
As a result, it's packed with tons of vegetable recipes that are a bit out of the ordinary.
So far, absolutely everything I've tried has come out wonderfully, and brought a surprising new flavor to my table. A word of warning: somewhere between starting and finishing each of these recipes, I also had a moment of doubt, like "oh my God, why have I done this, this will never work." The moment always passed, and the recipes worked.
Normally I read cookbooks and then go out and do my own thing, picking maybe one or two recipes to actually follow from any given book. This book is so packed with unique ideas, and has been so successful every time that I follow the directions with unaccustomed frequency.
A must for CSA shareholders, I also recommend Farmer John's cookbook for anyone who wants to add more vegetables to their life, and more life to their vegetables.

Much more than a cookbook!.......2007-01-09

This was a gift,so I didn't read it. I just skimmed it. The recipient has not yet tried the recipes, but he enjoyed the text. John Peterson is a very interesting eccentric and an expert organic farmer.

The CSA's Primer/Cookbook.......2006-10-05

With the current spinach scare, modern industrial society has begun to reflect on exactly where their food originates. A DVD like Koons-Garcia's "The Future of Food" explores both the problems with our current genetically engineered food, while develing into the socio-economic issues conflicting farmers faced with the GE future; where seeds are patented or refuse to grow unless sprayed with Round-up.

Interestingly, when we enter a supermarket, rarely do we reflect on the fact that 70 percent of the produce we can purchase is, well, out of season. The distances produce travels to sate our society, to eat tomatoes in the dead of winter, provides carbon emission concerns, while again triggering the "now what kind of conditions were these vegetables produced under?" or more directly, "Are they safe to eat?"

Which is why a CSA, or community supported agriculture, has become viewed as a viable, intelligent option to our current predicament. Farmer's participate as a group, receiving a call every week to fill a specific number of orders. The farmer sees what they will have available, and only one day before being delivered, pick the said product. The farms net their produce together, fill a box with their various pickings(like figs, tomatoes, beets, squash, arugala, carrots, green onions, etc.) and then deliver them to a drop point where customers pick the boxes up. So week to week, the food the customer receives changes depending on availabilty and time of year.

Besides giving customers better produce, a CSA cuts carbon emissions because food travels on average 50 miles to 1500 miles, and obviates concerns of chemically laden, GE foods.

So the Farmer John's Cookbook's attitude, or arguably its underlying theme, becomes tied to this notion of seasonality, slow food, and CSAs; hence why the author mentions his own CSA and farm Angelic Organics(to dispel, again, an earlier review here). The recipes are quite good. They are family-style and feature enough twists to be worthwhile. More importantly, each recipe focuses on each chosen produce's strengths. Similar in many ways to Alice Waters' "Chez Pannise Vegetables."

But the true greatness of the book is in, again, its theme. It argues for seasonality, and shows the eater how much can be appreciated in the produce each season brings. The snippets of information, an amalgamation of the Farmer's Almanac and some esoteric dated Brillat-Savarin philosophizing, only further carries this notion of appreciation.
As a CSA primer, the text succeeds, becoming more of a handbook than a cookbook; place it firmly next to "One Straw Revolution."

A Must For Any Kitchen.......2006-08-30

I was truly impressed by this book. Anyone can compile recipes and call it a cookbook!
This author in my opinion is very passionate about the earth, vegetables and very healthy eating.I enjoy using the recipes..They are not the "average" boil and serve recipes. I liked the anecdotes,pictures and the descriptions..an added plus.The handling,storage and usage is a nice reminder to us all. One outstanding feature of this book is how the author separates the vegetables into seasonal crops.
This is a MUST book for any kitchen!!!!!

Average customer rating:

Essential reading
The demise of soil
What you never knew about history
Unsuitable title - otherwise fine
An Amazing Book!

Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations
David R. Montgomery
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0520248708

Book Description

Dirt, soil, call it what you want--it's everywhere we go. It is the root of our existence, supporting our feet, our farms, our cities. This fascinating yet disquieting book finds, however, that we are running out of dirt, and it's no laughing matter. An engaging natural and cultural history of soil that sweeps from ancient civilizations to modern times, Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations explores the compelling idea that we are--and have long been--using up Earth's soil. Once bare of protective vegetation and exposed to wind and rain, cultivated soils erode bit by bit, slowly enough to be ignored in a single lifetime but fast enough over centuries to limit the lifespan of civilizations. A rich mix of history, archaeology and geology, Dirt traces the role of soil use and abuse in the history of Mesopotamia, Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, China, European colonialism, Central America, and the American push westward. We see how soil has shaped us and we have shaped soil--as society after society has risen, prospered, and plowed through a natural endowment of fertile dirt. David R. Montgomery sees in the recent rise of organic and no-till farming the hope for a new agricultural revolution that might help us avoid the fate of previous civilizations.

Customer Reviews:

Essential reading.......2007-09-15

This should be essential reading for any resource planner, all levels of elected policy makers and anyone that has read Jared Diamond, i. e. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

The demise of soil.......2007-09-13

Policy makers at all levels as well as concerned citizens should take Dave's lessons to heart. In addition, this is THE book for the layman wondering anything about dirt's role in human history and its fate.

With unrelenting precision, Dave builds the case-by-case history of civilizations misusing the dirt to their ultimate misfortune. As a top-flight scientist and admirable philosopher, he lays bare the storyline of people first using dirt modestly, then disturbing and losing their topsoil in dozens of cases spanning the globe and ranging from pre-history to the present.

The progression of dirt degradation becomes very familiar by the end - one wonders how many more times and on what grand scale the failures will again become apparent.

A caveat - Dave is a colleague of mine, as well as an entertaining pop-folk guitar, who leads with guitar and vocals the local band "Big Dirt".

What you never knew about history.......2007-08-28

While David R. Montgomery goes on a bit long and repetitively about how and why and where and how fast soils erode, the more interesting part of the book is the new look at history--why the Romans sought new lands to conquer, how Thomas Jefferson tried and failed to get widespread adoption of contour plowing, how the depletion of the southeast's agricultural soils provided yet more impetus for the Civil War, how even in ancient times writers urged soil husbandry, yet were largely ignored as they still are today, how monoculture, slavery and now industrialized agriculture speed up the process by which land will become unable to sustain growing human populations. It's a sobering message that we ignore at our children's peril.

Unsuitable title - otherwise fine.......2007-08-01

The story of past soil erosion is not glamorous - but why title the book DIRT ? Why not TERRA MATER (mother earth) which is the true topic of this historical story. It is well told though not in a chronological sequence while passing smoothly from one civilization to another; well researched with some 300 references, but these are not cited in the text; with many of the author's direct observation from his trips as a geomorphologist. Revised edition needed. The chapters on North American events are best,

An Amazing Book!.......2007-06-12

Read this book. It will change the way that you relate to civilization as we know it. David Montgomery has put together an emensly interesting, highly readable factual tale of the doom wrought when humans take dirt for granted.

Average customer rating:

Excellent essays on reading
Another Fantastic Collection
Writer on the Decline.
long may he run.
A great read!

Housekeeping vs. the Dirt
Nick Hornby
Manufacturer: McSweeney's
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Books & Reading | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1932416595

Book Description

In this latest collection of essays following The Polysyllabic Spree, critic and author Nick Hornby continues the feverish survey of his swollen bookshelves, offering a funny, intelligent, and unblinkered account of the stuff he's been reading. Ranging from the middlebrow to the highbrow (with unrepenting dips into the lowbrow), Hornby's dispatches from his nightstand table serve as useful guides to contemporary letters, with revelations on contemporary culture, the intellectual scene, and English football, in equal measure.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent essays on reading.......2007-09-03

This second collection of Hornby's columns picks up where "The Polysyllabic Spree" left off.

We readers are treated to another set of Hornby's thoughts on reading. There are few authors today like Hornby, who are immensely intelligent while remaining accessible. To read this witty and thought provoking collection is to see a master taking joy in what he loves to do.

An added bonus is that there are many great book recommendations here. I personally found about 5 books that I immediately placed on my to-read list.

A great book for avid readers and Hornby fans.

Another Fantastic Collection.......2007-03-29

I'll pretty much devour anything Nick Hornby publishes, but this book filled me with a little extra "I know just what you're talking about" glee with the features on Sarah Vowell, probably my next favorite writer next to Hornby, and Jess Walter, who hails from my neck of the woods-- Spokane, WA. With both this book and the previous collection of Believer essays, Hornby inspires you to tackle your stack of books you've let accumulate on the shelf, or to go a bit crazy next time you visit the library. I say that anyone who inspires us to read, and urges us to really read what we WANT (and not what we think we SHOULD), is speaking the commendable truth.

Writer on the Decline........2007-03-26

I've been a Nick Hornby fan since I read Fever Pitch and High Fidelity, and I enjoyed the first round of reviews in The Polysyllabic Spree but this book wore on me by the end. The first thing which made it as inferior was the book selection itself--or the works he talks about throughout. For the most part its fiction and there was nothing Hornby perused that wound up on my wish list; whereas, in the first installment I got several solid recommendations. Second, Hornby always has witty, clever moments, that's his nature, but they are not enough to make up for the outright politicizing he engages in at several points in the book. He was not as overt about his politics in Polysyllabic which caused it to grate less. He seems to think that people on the right can't read so that all of his leftist cant is merely preaching to the converted. Well, he lost one fan with this publication. We'll see how many more he looses in the future. It was probably inevitable anyway as he doesn't like Amazon reviewers much either and takes an elitist view of guys like me. The last thing I need is a silly fiction writer like Hornby talking down to me about politics. If he thinks socialism is the answer to anything, life is going to deal him several more disappointments in the years ahead. His views on the subject are superficial and I resented his taking advantage of his readers in such a fashion.

The true low point of the book came on pages 100 and 101 where he actually defended political correctness. He objected to the phrase `deliciously politically correct', and said that what the phrase really meant is that a work is racist, sexist or homophobic. Um, no, actually it doesn't as they usually are not. Fiction is supposed to be about imagination and creativity so it's appalling that any novelist would defend limitations on speech. Given the thin parameters of PC, do we throw out all of Hemingway, Faulkner, and Mark Twain? We'd have to if we left it to the race, sex, and gay obsessed leftists who are the true merchants of hate in our society. Creating rules for speech and shunning those who fail to meet them is the stuff of totalitarianism. I don't want it here and they shouldn't want it in England. PC is a great evil and represents the death of the intellect. It's too bad that Mr. Hornby has become so corrupted by trends and his own pathetic need to conform. As we saw in Fever Pitch, he could have been somebody, but now, like the Arsenal player Gus Caesar, he's nothing but a memory.

long may he run........2007-03-23

i have never seen the believer magazine. i don't know if mr hornby is still doing this column. i hope he is. the first volume of these collected essays "the polysyllabic spree," was addictive, so i was thrilled to see this second volume on my local barnes & noble shelves. i took it home with me, put all other reading material aside, and devoured it in an evening. just as addictive as the first book. long may mr hornby run. someday i hope to see more volumes of this material at bookstores than, say, volumes of patrick o'brian sea novels. i don't know what it says about me, but lately i've been enjoying reading what other people have to say about the fiction they are reading, more so than i am enjoying reading fiction myself. call me knucklehead johnson, i guess.

A great read!.......2007-02-15

This is a book I read in 1 sitting. I love Nick Hornby's writing and, much like "The Polysyllabic Spree," (and yes, I know titles of books should be underlined or italicized, but I don't seem to be able to do that, so quotations marks it is!) this book makes me want to run to my local library and check out all the books he's talking about. Some sections of "Housekeeping..." are hilariously funny and many parts had me nodding and saying, "me too!". The introduction had me hooked when he said that sometimes it's just a lot easier to watch TV than read, but his book made me want to read more than watch television that night, and most nights since.

Country Property Dirt Cheap: How I Found My Piece of Inexpensive Rural Land...Plus My Adventures with a $300 Junk Antique Tractor

Average customer rating:

A great guide by example
Well written and easily read
Low density but valuable information
READ ME! A good argument for land
Very entertaining and lots of great ideas!!

Country Property Dirt Cheap: How I Found My Piece of Inexpensive Rural Land...Plus My Adventures with a $300 Junk Antique Tractor
Ralph C. Turner
Manufacturer: Index Legalis Pub.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0945959524

Customer Reviews:

A great guide by example.......2007-09-09

For those that are looking for an A-B-C, follow the list type guide to finding cheap land, keep on looking. Though there is a list of the steps used, it takes only a couple of pages near the end. If you are too lazy to read the rest, and instead skip to the list, you will miss out on a lot of good advice.

Now for the rest of you that are smart enough to enjoy Mr. Turner's tale of how he found it, and glean the tidbits of information bestowed throughout the tale, you will walk away with invaluable information that will let you find the land that you want at a price you can afford.

Well written and easily read.......2007-04-30

This book is an excellent and quick read- I finished it in one day. Although not directly suited to my purpose, the book contains great advice on finding a small acreage (4-12) property in the country.

Most of all the book made me feel even better about our opportunities- as the writer repeatedly commented on how much easier his search would have been if he was looking to buy 40 or more acres of land. Wouldn't you know it, that is what we are looking to do.

The author has a flowing and folksy writing style, that doesn't get bogged down with too much technical real estate jargon- and footnotes are provided in the rare instances where technical terms occur. This book is in many ways much more than a book about how to buy property cheap, it is the author's life story- his dreams and aspirations for a place in the country since his boyhood.

I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to purchase land in the country.

Low density but valuable information.......2007-02-26

The information in this book is worth the price you pay for it. I had fumbled around looking for land and only found a couple of the many tips he offers for finding and buying land. The author presents the information as his experience finding and buying a piece of land to be used as a get away and week end home. He explains why small parcels of land are more expensive per acre compared to large parcels of land.

His tips on buying land are summarized in a two page appendix. I think the one thing he left out of his summary was "get lucky and stumble across someone who will sell you land for cheap". If this was a "how to" book, it would be a pamphlet.

While not an exciting story, it is engaging. I found that I lost track of time while reading it. I have no need to be as thrifty as the author, however.

READ ME! A good argument for land.......2006-11-15

This book and another book made me re-think about land. In the past, people considered it as dangerous, but sometimes investing in land isn't such a bad thing, especially if you want to keep it for long term or for your children.

I would also suggest buying this book on how to purchase land below market value:

Investing Without Losing (ISBN: 0978834607 NOT on amazn, on other stores)

Very entertaining and lots of great ideas!!.......2006-03-14

I couldn't put this book down after I started it. A quick entertaining read, it was exactly what I was looking for! We just bought 7.5 acres of rural undeveloped mountain land ourselves, and are in the midst of learning more about how to prepare it for use. I had such a great time reading this book because it matched what we are doing exactly, from searching with plat maps and using aerial photos (as we did to find our property), to figuring out what's the best type of structure to put onto the land to be able to go out and enjoy it. I love the escapades about the tractor too, and the ending is just great! You won't be disappointed.

Average customer rating:

Pay Dirt
James Quirk , and Rodney D. Fort
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0691015740

Book Description

Why would a Japanese millionaire want to buy the Seattle Mariners baseball team, when he has admitted that he has never played in or even seen a baseball game? Cash is the answer: major league baseball, like professional football, basketball, and hockey, is now big business with the potential to bring millions of dollars in profits to owners. Not very long ago, however, buying a sports franchise was a hazardous investment risked only by die-hard fans wealthy enough to lose parts of fortunes made in other businesses. What forces have changed team ownership from sports-fan folly to big-business savvy? Why has The Wall Street Journal become popular reading in pro sports locker rooms? And why are sports pages now dominated by economic clashes between owners and players, cities with franchises and cities without them, leagues and players' unions, and team lawyers and players' lawyers? In answering these questions, James Quirk and Rodney Fort have written the most complete book on the business and economics of professional sports, past and present.

Pay Dirt offers a wealth of information and analysis on the reserve clause, salary determination, competitive balance in sports leagues, the market for franchises, tax sheltering, arenas and stadiums, and rival leagues. The authors present an abundance of historical material, much of it new, including team ownership histories and data on attendance, TV revenue, stadium and arena contracts, and revenues and costs. League histories, team statistics, stories about players and owners, and sports lore of all kinds embellish the work. Quirk and Fort are writing for anyone interested in sports in the 1990s: players, players' agents, general managers, sportswriters, and, most of all, sports fans.

Draw 50 Monsters: The Step-by-Step Way to Draw Creeps, Superheroes, Demons, Dragons, Nerds, Dirts, Ghouls, Giants, Vampires, Zombies, and Other Curiosa (Draw 50)

Average customer rating:

Not for kids...
Pink?
Great book!
Great basic drawing book for the young AND young-at-heart.

Draw 50 Monsters: The Step-by-Step Way to Draw Creeps, Superheroes, Demons, Dragons, Nerds, Dirts, Ghouls, Giants, Vampires, Zombies, and Other Curiosa (Draw 50)
Lee J. Ames
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0385176392
Release Date: 1986-04-02

Book Description

Lee Ames has come up with 50 creepy creatures that young people can learn to draw.

An American Bookseller Pick of the Lists.

Customer Reviews:

Not for kids..........2007-06-17

This book is only so-so as a drawing book, whether for beginners or more advanced artists. The pictures are weird, and not aesthetically pleasing, even for monsters. However, this is definitely not a book for kids. The pictures are frightening enough to give kids nightmares. Think horror. Not a very useful book.

Pink?.......2007-05-09

I ordered the library editions of this book for my grandson and another little boy and I was surprised that a "draw your own monster" book would come with a pink cover! I was also a little disappointed in the array of superheroes, but I'm sure copyright restrictions made it necessary to exclude Superman, Spiderman, Batman and so on. This is a case where actually seeing the book before purchasing would have been a help. Vona Van Cleef

Great book!.......2006-01-26

I can't draw very well, so I bought this book to improve my drawing. This is a Great book for beginners! Gives you an idea how to start off and how it should looked finished! Awesome book as a "get started guide type". And After you got the idea of how to start to draw the monsters you can create your own. Perfect idea for kids that love to draw!

Great basic drawing book for the young AND young-at-heart........1997-02-22

Lee Ames does another excellent job, as he does with his entire "Draw 50" series. His step-by-step format is easy to use and quite rewarding as well. Ames is the only drawing artist that simplifies the drawings so that anyone can follow and become adept at drawing intriguing figures. This particular edition contains a great variety of characters to draw and will be on and off any doodler's bookshelf for years

The Dirt on Dating: A Dateable Book (Dirt Series)

Average customer rating:

not like other dating books
A Great Godly Intro To Dating
Dirt on Dating
another worthwhile read

The Dirt on Dating: A Dateable Book (Dirt Series)
Hayley Morgan , and HAYLEY DIMARCO
Manufacturer: Revell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0800759176
Release Date: 2005-02-01

Book Description

To date or not to date? It's easy to ask that question, but not so easy to find the answer. With her usual straightforward style, Hayley DiMarco helps teens sort through the pros and cons of starting a new relationship. She takes a look at why guys and girls are so different when it comes to dating, how to know if he or she likes you back, and even how to perfect the art of flirting. And what happens when a relationship gets more serious? How do you know if it is true love or not? All teens have these questions. The Dirt on Dating has the answers.

Customer Reviews:

not like other dating books.......2006-06-29

If you're worried, wonder or even asking questions about dating than this book is for you. If you're christian or not this book has tips on dating beyond your wildest dreams. It's informative and leaves the decision up to you, whether dating is right for you or not.

Other dating books just focuses on the negative side of dating and why one shouldn't. I strongly recommend this book to the individual, male or female, questioning dating.

A Great Godly Intro To Dating.......2006-05-11

This book has been very helpful to me; it has opened my eyes into what the opposite sex really wants and doesn't want. This book has solid advice and common sense principles that will make sense almost as soon as you read them. And it reveals all of this and more in a Godly way, making this a sure book for any Christian teen who is wondering what dating is all about!

Dirt on Dating.......2006-03-09

Great book! The guys in my youth group are really enjoying it. If you're looking for a book that delivers a Biblical view on dating while using a totally different book layout than you're used to, then this is the one.

another worthwhile read.......2005-01-31

Here we have another solo effort by DiMarco-but it is ten times better than Mean Girls, I can assure you. This book doesn't look like much, and the price might have you going "what???" but this book, I can assure you, is worth your time, so put it on your "I want" list. The Dirt on Dating DOES NOT talk about whether dating is okay or not. DiMarco leaves that to you. So this manual is for those of us who are looking into relationships with the opposite sex, and/or are already dating a ton, but have not found Mr./Mrs. Right. DiMarco starts off with how the dating/courtship movements are actually fairly new movements. Back in ye olden days, the parents would discuss who married whom, and they exchanged money/livestock/other items for a wife for their sons. Dating, she claims, came after the reasons for marriage changed (she talks about how a man needed a woman to clean house and raise children, and a woman needed someone to protect her). Later on, DiMarco divides the book into sections for each gender, talking about dating specifics: what to do on a date, what not to do on a date, how to compliment someone and stay within the Dateable Rules (also read the book "Dateable: Are You? Are They? By the same authors). Basically, this book serves as a manual on how to date safely without getting squashed by someone, and offers insight into dating later on in life. A perfect gift for the single in your life. The books main target audience is 13-18 years of age, but college and career people can still get a lot out of these books, especially if you are not looking for a spouse right now. I also know married couples that read this series religiously and wish that these books had been around back when they were single. A must have staple for fans of the Dateable series. The book features a fairly grounded Biblical viewpoint, with DiMarco pointing out that while the Bible does not mention dating, it does mention conduct among Christian young people, and this is where she draws her insights in this book from.

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