Book Description
In this profoundly affecting memoir from the internationally renowned author of The Caged Virgin, Ayaan Hirsi Ali tells her astonishing life story, from her traditional Muslim childhood in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, and Kenya, to her intellectual awakening and activism in the Netherlands, and her current life under armed guard in the West.
One of today's most admired and controversial political figures, Ayaan Hirsi Ali burst into international headlines following an Islamist's murder of her colleague, Theo van Gogh, with whom she made the movie Submission.
Infidel is the eagerly awaited story of the coming of age of this elegant, distinguished -- and sometimes reviled -- political superstar and champion of free speech. With a gimlet eye and measured, often ironic, voice, Hirsi Ali recounts the evolution of her beliefs, her ironclad will, and her extraordinary resolve to fight injustice done in the name of religion. Raised in a strict Muslim family and extended clan, Hirsi Ali survived civil war, female mutilation, brutal beatings, adolescence as a devout believer during the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, and life in four troubled, unstable countries largely ruled by despots. In her early twenties, she escaped from a forced marriage and sought asylum in the Netherlands, where she earned a college degree in political science, tried to help her tragically depressed sister adjust to the West, and fought for the rights of Muslim immigrant women and the reform of Islam as a member of Parliament. Even though she is under constant threat -- demonized by reactionary Islamists and politicians, disowned by her father, and expelled from her family and clan -- she refuses to be silenced.
Ultimately a celebration of triumph over adversity, Hirsi Ali's story tells how a bright little girl evolved out of dutiful obedience to become an outspoken, pioneering freedom fighter. As Western governments struggle to balance democratic ideals with religious pressures, no story could be timelier or more significant.
Customer Reviews:
Fascinating story....but read about peaceful Muslims also.......2007-10-02
InfidelThis is a fascinating story by a courageous woman and gives us valuable insight into life in many Middle Eastern countries. I highly recommend it. At the same time I have visited other Muslim countries and have women friends who have a totally different life with freedom and choices, so I would recommend reading other books about women and Islam. Many of our Muslim friends are working for peace, tolerance and interfaith dialog here in the US and in other countries.
YOu GO ,GIRL.......2007-10-02
College Club reviewed your autobiography and you put us to shame-your accomplishments despite yourcultural restrictions...searching for a God of Love-You did find yourself- AND courageous enough to take a stand - God does love you and blesses you You have opened the door for many women and more WILL follow. May you continue your crusade for women;s rights
Great book!.......2007-09-28
This is a wonderful book about Ayaan's life story. It grabs your attention from beginning to end. I definitely recommend this book especially to individuals who love women studies!
Outstanding - must read.......2007-09-24
This is a brave, honest and intelligent book written by the courageous, honest and intelligent women. "Infidel" is a "coming of age" story, written by women who grew up as a devoted Muslim, saw the Islam world "from inside out" and was gradually able to open her mind, question her faith and her world - and find the answers that contradicted everything she learned before.
Ayaan Ali continues to tell the truth and fight for her ideals; and even though sometimes the style of this book made me wish for more editing, most of the time I realized that this uneven style makes the book and its message more genuine and potent. Very powerful book, absolute necessary reading for anybody who is interested in current political affairs or Islam religion.
Spellbinding autobiography and history.......2007-09-23
It is rare to find autobiography as absorbing as this. Not only because of the author's unusual path from the desert of Somalia to the USA via the Netherlands, but also on account of the engaging writing style. Clear and descriptive, the narrative of her eventful life had a profound impact on this reader. Born and raised in Somalia, she spent part of her youth in neighboring countries like Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Kenya, describing through the eyes of a child what it was like to live there.
She makes the history of Somalia come alive under the dictatorship of Siad Barre, explaining the clan system and comparing the relaxed Muslim practice in that country with the strictness of Saudi Arabia and the hypocrisy and racism that go along with it. The short experience of Ethiopia and later the long stay in Kenya, both predominantly Christian countries, were different again and she really captivates one's attention with the places and the people. One of the most salient memories she recalls is the obsessive anti-Semitism in Saudi Arabia. Where her family lived in the city of Riyadh, Jews were blamed for everything.
A sub-theme of the book is the increased radicalization of Muslims, partly because of the failures and the suffering brought about by Barre and the chaos of the civil war that unseated him. She noted this radicalization taking place amongst Somalis and others in Kenya where she spent most of her adolescence. This radical strain was brought to Africa by Arabs and Iranians, both Sunni and Shia, also reflecting the failure of secular ideologies and bad government in the dictatorships of the Muslim world.
There are sympathetic but honest portrayals of her family and friends: her mother who showed healthy signs of independence early in life but eventually lost hope and became embittered, her loving and tolerant but mostly absent father, her brother who stayed in Kenya and her sister who, when she couldn't cope in Holland, died tragically after returning to Kenya.
Instead of stirring up feelings against Islam, this book makes one contemplate the location of each individual's birth, how little free choice there really is in a closed society, the powerful hold of your community's history and culture, the difficulty of resisting brainwashing and how grateful people in free societies ought to be for the blessings that a lot of us take for granted.
The book is also about a second journey - the one from a stifling experience of oppressive religion to enlightenment and an embrace of Western values like individual freedom, freedom of speech and the rule of law. The fact that the individual mattered and had a right to life, to choice and freedom, was a joyful discovery.
This theme interweaves with the history she so deftly chronicles: the collapse of Somalia, the slow decline in Kenya, Dutch politics in the face of dysfunctional multiculturalism that however well intended, harms individuals in the immigrant communities and society as a whole. More information of what is going down in The Netherlands and Europe as a whole is available in While Europe Slept by Bruce Bawer and Menace in Europe by Claire Berlinski.
It is humbling to read of the author's wonderment at Holland where even the police were friendly and helpful, and everything worked. She clearly loves The Netherlands; her words radiate with gratitude and appreciation of Dutch culture and society. I especially enjoyed the account of her studies at the University of Leiden where she discovered the great Western philosophers.
Infidel is the story of a life that has experienced mutilation, war, deprivation, tragedy, adventure, drastic adaptation and inspiring achievements, by an unusually courageous, empathic and resourceful individual. There are 11 black & white plates of family and other people who played a part in her life. As far as leaving Islam is concerned, I recommend the following informative books by two equally courageous women: Because They Hate by Brigitte Gabriel and Now They Call Me Infidel by Nonie Darwish.
Amazon.com
Updated Edition: Thomas L. Friedman is not so much a futurist, which he is sometimes called, as a presentist. His aim in The World Is Flat, as in his earlier, influential Lexus and the Olive Tree, is not to give you a speculative preview of the wonders that are sure to come in your lifetime, but rather to get you caught up on the wonders that are already here. The world isn't going to be flat, it is flat, which gives Friedman's breathless narrative much of its urgency, and which also saves it from the Epcot-style polyester sheen that futurists--the optimistic ones at least--are inevitably prey to.
What Friedman means by "flat" is "connected": the lowering of trade and political barriers and the exponential technical advances of the digital revolution that have made it possible to do business, or almost anything else, instantaneously with billions of other people across the planet. This in itself should not be news to anyone. But the news that Friedman has to deliver is that just when we stopped paying attention to these developments--when the dot-com bust turned interest away from the business and technology pages and when 9/11 and the Iraq War turned all eyes toward the Middle East--is when they actually began to accelerate. Globalization 3.0, as he calls it, is driven not by major corporations or giant trade organizations like the World Bank, but by individuals: desktop freelancers and innovative startups all over the world (but especially in India and China) who can compete--and win--not just for low-wage manufacturing and information labor but, increasingly, for the highest-end research and design work as well. (He doesn't forget the "mutant supply chains" like Al-Qaeda that let the small act big in more destructive ways.)
Friedman has embraced this flat world in his own work, continuing to report on his story after his book's release and releasing an unprecedented hardcover update of the book a year later with 100 pages of revised and expanded material. What's changed in a year? Some of the sections that opened eyes in the first edition--on China and India, for example, and the global supply chain--are largely unaltered. Instead, Friedman has more to say about what he now calls "uploading," the direct-from-the-bottom creation of culture, knowledge, and innovation through blogging, podcasts, and open-source software. And in response to the pleas of many of his readers about how to survive the new flat world, he makes specific recommendations about the technical and creative training he thinks will be required to compete in the "New Middle" class. As before, Friedman tells his story with the catchy slogans and globe-hopping anecdotes that readers of his earlier books and his New York Times columns know well, and he holds to a stern sort of optimism. He wants to tell you how exciting this new world is, but he also wants you to know you're going to be trampled if you don't keep up with it. A year later, one can sense his rising impatience that our popular culture, and our political leaders, are not helping us keep pace. --Tom Nissley
Where Were You When the World Went Flat?
Thomas L. Friedman's reporter's curiosity and his ability to recognize the patterns behind the most complex global developments have made him one of the most entertaining and authoritative sources for information about the wider world we live in, both as the foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times and as the author of landmark books like From Beirut to Jerusalem and The Lexus and the Olive Tree. They also make him an endlessly fascinating conversation partner, and we've now had the chance to talk to him about The World Is Flat twice. Read our original interview with him following the publication of the first edition of The World Is Flat to learn why there's almost no one from Washington, D.C., listed in the index of a book about the global economy, and what his one-plank platform for president would be. (Hint: his bumper stickers would say, "Can You Hear Me Now?")
And now you can listen to our second interview, in which he talks about the updates he's made in "The World Is Flat 2.0," including his response to parents who said to him, "Great, Mr. Friedman, I'm glad you told us the world is flat. Now what do I tell my kids?"
The Essential Tom Friedman
From Beirut to Jerusalem |
The Lexus and the Olive Tree |
Longitudes and Attitudes |
More on Globalization and Development
China, Inc. by Ted Fishman |
Three Billion New Capitalists by Clyde Prestowitz |
The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs |
Globalization and Its Discontents by Joseph Stiglitz |
The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy by Pietra Rivoli |
The Mystery of Capital by Hernando de Soto |
Book Description
The World Is Flat is Thomas L. Friedman’s account of the great changes taking place in our time, as lightning-swift advances in technology and communications put people all over the globe in touch as never before—creating an explosion of wealth in India and China, and challenging the rest of us to run even faster just to stay in place. This updated and expanded edition features more than a hundred pages of fresh reporting and commentary, drawn from Friedman’s travels around the world and across the American heartland—from anyplace where the flattening of the world is being felt.
In The World Is Flat, Friedman at once shows “how and why globalization has now shifted into warp drive” (Robert Wright, Slate) and brilliantly demystifies the new flat world for readers, allowing them to make sense of the often bewildering scene unfolding before their eyes. With his inimitable ability to translate complex foreign policy and economic issues, he explains how the flattening of the world happened at the dawn of the twenty-first century; what it means to countries, companies, communities, and individuals; how governments and societies can, and must, adapt; and why terrorists want to stand in the way. More than ever, The World Is Flat is an essential update on globalization, its successes and discontents, powerfully illuminated by one of our most respected journalists.
Download Description
The Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist gives a bold, timely, and surprising picture of the state of globalization in the twenty-first century
Customer Reviews:
Great book to introduce an inside to the 90's and now.......2007-10-03
This was an excellent book for someone who is ever curious about the expanding global ecomomy as a whole. As a sailor in the U.S. Navy I found the book fasinating because I not only grew up during which most of the book was talking about but I am witnessing the predictions of the book first hand. Great book all around!!
Friedman's writing and subjects are captivating.......2007-09-27
Are you still a little confused about why American corporations are outsourcing to India and manufacturing in China, or why Al Qaeda has suddenly become so powerful? If so, this is the book for you.
Friedman's made 'Globalization' simple enough for a high school student to understand. That being said, this is NOT a high school textbook. It is NOT dry. Friedman is a great journalist and an author who will hold your attention chapter after chapter.
Friedman has a knack for taking complex and often emotionally charged issues and breaking them down into easy to understand concepts. You don't have to be a graduate student to enjoy this book. It's great!
Globalization 3.0.......2007-09-24
I wish I had read this book during a Globalization class I took a year ago.
Friedman is an exceptional writer, very engaging. He really lays out the information well and then brings in together in the latter part of the book.
I thought the middle part of the book could of been edited a bit.
Overall, an excellent introduction to globalization and the affect this will have on the US and industries in general.
Great Read.......2007-09-23
I actually listened to the audio version of this book for an information technology class I teach and found his discussion of the flatteners of the world very interesting and well explained.
The writing style, although technical at times, has a narrative style to it.
One critique I have of the book is that the author may be a little over optimistic about how new technologies and global connections will benefit everyone in the world.
Certainly worth a read (or listen).
Baby boomers move over and read the computer manual.......2007-09-21
As a fan of Alvin Tofflers, Future Shock, I was looking forward to reading Friedman's view. Well he certainly delivered! The book is a thought provoking read, sprinkled with facts, interviews and anecdotes. As a journalist he has travelled to all corners of the globe and had access to a wide variety of people and situations, he pulls together what he saw and maps it out in topics. He identifies what is happening in the world, for example: cost rationalization, outsourcing, people increasing their skill sets, business growth, the drive of developing countries, the use of technology and glimpses of the future. As a realist he tries objectively, to balance the good aspects of globalization with the painful and less glamorous aspects particularly when he assesses the impact on countries, industries and people. The main he tackles the negative aspects is to draw up a game plan for the USA as to how they should prepare and compete in this new world order. Basically, we all have to learn how to "run faster" than before.
It was hard for me not to link baby boomers starting their retirement with the starting of the flattening of the world. Coincidence? I don't think so.
Looking at Japan's involvement in the process and the outcomes for Japanese customers. Friedman describes the outsourcing Japan is undertaking in China, explores the strong skills Asian countries with few natural resources have in order to survive, shares the increased fascination and interest in Japanese culture around the world, hinted at how Asian retirees will change world travel, how Japanese innovation has impacted the modern world and describes what skills Asian students seek when they study abroad in developed countries. In a nutshell he feels that the world is slowly starting to realize the skills Asia has to offer and how hungry they are to improve their standard of living.
He provides excellent examples of how education institutions must change to meet the demands of the new world and that existing systems, procedures and attitudes are obsolete. International education he highlights will change the livelihoods of individuals, companies and countries.
A good read with plenty of examples to make you stop and think. The strength of this book is that Friedman analyzes the small pieces to show us the bigger picture which is important now that we all live in a soundbite world and don't have the time to put it all together.
Amazon.com
It's difficult to imagine a harder first act to follow than The Kite Runner: a debut novel by an unknown writer about a country many readers knew little about that has gone on to have over four million copies in print worldwide. But when preview copies of Khaled Hosseini's second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, started circulating at Amazon.com, readers reacted with a unanimous enthusiasm that few of us could remember seeing before. As special as The Kite Runner was, those readers said, A Thousand Splendid Suns is more so, bringing Hosseini's compassionate storytelling and his sense of personal and national tragedy to a tale of two women that is weighted equally with despair and grave hope.
We wanted to spread the word on the book as widely, and as soon, as we could. See below for an exclusive excerpt from A Thousand Splendid Suns and early reviews of the book from some of our top customer reviewers.--The Editors
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An Exclusive Excerpt from A Thousand Splendid Suns |
We have arranged with the publisher to make an exclusive excerpt of A Thousand Splendid Suns available on Amazon.com. Click here to read a scene from the novel. It's not the opening scene, but rather one from a crucial moment later in the book when Mariam, one of the novel's two main characters, steps into a new role.
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Early Buzz from Amazon.com Top Reviewers |
We queried our top 100 customer reviewers as of March 6, 2007, and asked them to read A Thousand Splendid Suns and share their thoughts. We've included these early reviews below in the order they were received. For the sake of space, we've only included a brief excerpt of each reviewer's response, but each review is available for reading in its entirety by clicking the "Read the review" link.
Joanna Daneman:
"His style is deceptively simple and clear, the characters drawn deftly and swiftly, his themes elemental and huge. This is a brilliant writer and I look forward to more of his work." Read Joanna Daneman's review
Seth J. Frantzman:
"Khaled Hosseini has done it again with 'A Thousand Splendid Sons', presenting a new, dashing and dark tale of two generations of women trapped in a loveless marriage, bracketed by great events." Read Seth J. Frantzman's review
Donald Mitchell:
"Khaled Hosseini has succeeded in capturing many important historical and contemporary themes in a way that will make your heart ache again and again. Why will your reaction be so strong? It's because you'll identify closely with the suffering of almost all the characters, a reaction that's very rare to a modern novel." Read Donald Mitchell's review
Lawrance M. Bernabo:
"All things considered, following up on a successful first novel is probably harder than coming up with the original effort and Hosseini could have rested on his laurels in the manner of Harper Lee, but as "A Thousand Splendid Suns" amply proves, this native of Kabul has more stories to tell about the land of Afghanistan." Read Lawrance M. Bernabo's review
Amanda Richards:
"There are parts of this book that will have grown men surreptitiously blotting the tears that are on the verge of overflowing their ducts, and by the time you get to the middle, you won't be able to put it down. Hosseini's simple but richly descriptive prose makes for an engrossing read, and in my opinion, "A Thousand Splendid Suns" is among the best I have ever read. This is definitely not one to be missed." Read Amanda Richards's review
N. Durham:
"All that being said, "A Thousand Splendid Suns" is a bit more enjoyable than Hosseini's previous "The Kite Runner", and once again he manages to give we readers another glimpse of a world that we know little about but frequently condemn and discard. However, if you were one of the many that for some reason absolutely loved "The Kite Runner", chances are that you'll love this as well." Read N. Durham's review
John Kwok:
"Khaled Hosseini's "A Thousand Splendid Suns" is a genuine instant literary classic, and one destined to be remembered as one of 2007's best novels. It should be compared favorably to such legendary Russian novels like "War and Peace" and "Doctor Zhivago"." Read John Kwok's review
Thomas Duff:
"Normally I'm more of an action-adventure type reader when it comes to novels and recreational reading. But I was given the chance to read A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (author of The Kite Runner), so I decided to try something out of my normal genre. I am *so* glad I did. This is a stunning and moving novel of life and love in Afghanistan over a 30 year period." Read Thomas Duff's review
Charles Ashbacher:
"This book manages to simultaneously capture the history of Afghanistan over the last thirty years and how women are treated in conservative Islamic societies.... In many ways it is a sad book, your heart goes out to these two women in their hopeless struggle to have a decent life with a brutal man in an unforgiving, intolerant society." Read Charles Ashbacher's review
W. Boudville:
"Hosseini presents a piognant view into the recent tortured decades of the Afghan experience. From the 1970s, under a king, to the Soviet takeover, to the years of resistance. And then the rise and fall of the Taliban. An American reader will recognise many of the main political events. But to many Americans, Afghanistan and its peoples and religion remain an opaque and troubling mystery." Read W. Boudville's review
Mark Baker:
"I tend to read plot heavy books, so this character study was a definite change of pace for me. I found the first half slow going at times, mainly because I knew where the story was going. Once I got into the second half, things really picked up. The ending was very bittersweet. I couldn't think of a better way to end it." Read Mark Baker's review
Grady Harp:
"Hosseini takes us behind those walls for forty some years of Afghanistan's bloody history and while he does not spare us any of the descriptions of the terror that continues to besiege that country, he does offer us a story that speaks so tenderly about the fragile beauty of love and devotion and lasting impression people make on people." Read Grady Harp's review
Robert P. Beveridge:
"When I was actively reading it, the pages kept turning, and more than once I found myself foregoing food or sleep temporarily to get in just one more chapter. When I had put it down, however, I felt no particular compulsion to pick it back up again. It's a good book, and a relatively well-written one, but it's not a great book. Enjoyable without leaving a lasting impression." Read Robert P. Beveridge's review
B. Marold:
"While the events in Afghanistan and the wider world create a familiar framework for the stories of these two women, it is nothing more than a framework. The warp and weft of everyday life, and the interaction of the two women and their close relatives is the heartbeat of the story." Read B. Marold's review
Daniel Jolley:
"Khaled Hosseini has written a majestic, sweeping, emotionally powerful story that provides the reader with a most telling window into Afghan society over the past thirty-odd years. It's also a moving story of friendship and sacrifice, giving Western readers a rare glimpse into the suffering and mistreatment of Afghan women that began long before the Taliban came to power." Read Daniel Jolley's review
Book Description
After 103 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and with four million copies of The Kite Runner shipped, Khaled Hosseini returns with a beautiful, riveting, and haunting novel that confirms his place as one of the most important literary writers today.
Propelled by the same superb instinct for storytelling that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once an incredible chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, faith, and the salvation to be found in love.
Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them-in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul-they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation. With heart-wrenching power and suspense, Hosseini shows how a woman's love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love, or even the memory of love, that is often the key to survival.
A stunning accomplishment, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a haunting, heartbreaking, compelling story of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship, and an indestructible love.
Customer Reviews:
SPLENDID service.......2007-10-03
This book came so much faster than I expected! and in perfect condition, as I ordered it new from Amazon, at ten dollars less than the walmart price, with free shipping. thank you.
Real Page Turner.......2007-10-03
Exciting story about women in other cultures. Could hardly put it down. Love does triumph.
Pros and Cons Summarized.......2007-10-03
I've just spent the last two hours reading a large proportion of the reviews here on Amazon for Khaled Hosseini new novel, "A Thousand Splendid Suns." It's been over a year since I read "The Kite Runner." I finished "A Thousand Splendid Suns" a few days ago.
I didn't set out to read so many reviews, but the more I read, the more a pattern started to emerge that I wanted to verify. This is what I discovered.
Most people, whether they rated the book three, four, or five stars, said that they enjoyed the reading experience, and that they would recommend the book to other readers. They were spellbound by the characters and their harrowing tale of emotional and physical survival. It was an eye-opening experience for them to learn about the history, people, and culture of Afghanistan--a country so often in the news.
But why the wide differences in ratings from people who all really liked the book and recommended it to others.? And, why did so many readers start off their reviews by saying that they were disappointed?
Simply, it comes down to two very different types of readers. The lovers of modern literary fiction were disappointed. The lovers of well-written popular fiction were overjoyed.
The popular fiction lovers couldn't help but love both "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns." These people loved the experience of being submerged in a compelling plot that took them on a journey to a world they knew little about. They were enthralled by the many fully believable, yet totally alien characters, and they were spellbound by the strange other-worldly story lines. These readers cared little about the craft behind the novels. I'm sure they were aware they were reading a well-written novel, but they had no real desire to know why that was so.
On the other hand, the modern literary fiction readers believed that they had discovered an exhilarating new author. These folks found Hosseini's prose fresh, open, gentle, perceptive, and intimate. They were eagerly awaiting Hosseini's new novel. When these readers finished Part One of the new novel, they were pleased and thought they were settling down for another wonderful literary treat. However, that feeling quickly disappeared as they started reading the following three parts. As the structure of the novel began to unfold, these readers could see that the author had taken on a huge literary task, one far bigger than he could handle. Many felt that Hosseini was trying to squeeze what amounted to an Afghani version of "War and Peace" into a brief 350-page tale. In an effort to move the plot along and cover 40 years of recent Afghani history in the remaining three parts, something had to be sacrificed. What the readers started seeing was that the important secondary characters lacked depth, backstory, and believability. They started to appear more like stereotypes. Naturally, these readers were sorely disappointed.
Finally, there were a smaller number of reviewers who found significant political dishonesty in the story. They viewed the author as having purposefully managed the story line to avoid anything that might show American intervention in Afghanistan in a poor light.
So what do I believe? For me, "A Thousand Splendid Suns" is easily a five-star winner. Yes, I saw the change in depth of characterization what occurred after Part One, and this disturbed me. Yes, it became obvious to me that the author was carefully crafting the tale to avoid anything that would displease a Western audience, and this disappointed me. So, why was it still so easy for me to rate this novel with five stars? It is because the story was so amazingly spellbinding! It physically and emotionally transported me to a different world. In the last three parts, it was easy for me to let my mind create plausible backstories to flesh out the stereotypes and make these secondary characters more believable, and I did not dwell on the fact that this was unnecessary in Part One. I enjoyed my active participation in the story; it brought me deeper inside the plot. And perhaps best of all, this book taught me a great deal about Afghanistan.
Splendid book and amazingly realistic.......2007-10-03
Splendid read!! I lived in Kabul, Afghanistan from 2005 through 2006. This book was completely realistic from every perspective about life there. It accurately portrayed the lot of women and girls there and men's attitudes toward them. Under Islam, women are the property of men and are treated as such. The stories Afghan women told me of their suffering was heart-wrenching as were the broken bodies of beaten women treated in our international hospital. This book is a must read.
Disappointed........2007-10-03
I loved Kite Runner and couldn't wait to read this book about Afghan women. As alive as I found Kite Runner to be, I found this one forced and mechanical, not written from that place deep inside but an intellectual artifact. Well, I confess I took it back to the library at the end of the first part. But this takes nothing from the wonderful talent of the author. He's just not a woman! Keep writing Khaled!
Book Description
A sensational addition to the Dresden Files adventures-from a USA Today bestselling author.
Professional wizard Harry Dresden is investigating a series of deaths in Chicago. Someone is killing practitioners of magic, those incapable of becoming full-fledged wizards. Shockingly, all the evidence points to Harry's half-brother, Thomas, as the murderer. Determined to clear his sibling's name, Harry uncovers a conspiracy within the White Council of Wizards that threatens not only him, but his nearest and dearest, too...
Customer Reviews:
Great as always!.......2007-09-22
Jim does it again! Harry Dresden continues to grow and evolve as a character. Fast paced and I couldn't put it down!
Dead or Disappeared.......2007-09-21
White Night (2007) is the ninth Urban Fantasy novel in the Dresden Files series, following Proven Guilty. In the previous volume, Harry fetched Molly Carpenter back from Arctis Tor, with a little help from his friends. He took her back to her family, but she decided to turn herself in to the White Council for violations of the Fourth Law.
At the trial, the Merlin arbitrarily convicted her of using black magic and sentenced her to death. Harry pointed out that the Gatekeeper hadn't yet cast his vote. Then Ebenezar McCoy arrived with survivors of the Warden training group accompanied by Molly's father Michael. Merlin reconsidered his verdict and Molly became Harry's apprentice.
In this novel, Sergeant Murphy has a probable suicide, but she rides a hunch and calls in Harry. He checks out the scene and casts a spell at a particular place on the wall. The notation "EXODUS 22:18" appears and Karrin knows the victim was murdered.
Suddenly, Murphy strikes out with a foot sweep and a young woman -- little more than a girl -- becomes visible and falls to the floor. Harry's apprentice Molly hasn't done as he told her and now she has a few bruises and pains to remind her to obey her master. Not that she is going to pay attention, but one more lesson won't hurt . . . much!
Harry does congratulate her on the invisibility spell, but points out that both he and Sergeant Murphy had noticed a few out-of-place sounds and smells. Molly needs to put in some extra practice, but she is improving. Molly goes home happy, but aching in several places.
In this story, Harry and Murphy find other victims around Chicago and elsewhere. Most of the Chicago victims belong to a witch group known as Ordo Lebes, which Dresden translates in his correspondence course Latin as "Order of the Big Pot". Karrin, however, suggests that a better interpretation would be "Order of the Cauldron". But one victim does not belong to this order.
Harry also discovers that one of the Ordo Lebes is Helen Beckitt, whom he has had problems with in the past. Although she cooperates with Harry and Murphy and doesn't even deny her prison record, Dresden just can't bring himself to trust her. When he discovers that she works for John Marcone, both Harry and Murphy become suspicious of her behavior.
Harry meets another old acquaintance on this case. Elaine had been his first girl, but they had parted after Harry killed their mentor. While the White Council ruled that the killing was in self-defense, Elaine was already gone. Yet she had not forgotten him and even followed his career path as a consulting wizard.
This story also has a minor side plot involving the fallen angel Lasciel. The shadow of Lasciel residing in his mind provides some useful services, such as translation of dead languages, but is still trying to seduce him to the evil side. It occurs to Harry that such seduction can go both ways and he treats "Lash" as an almost trusted friend. Some surprising changes occur.
While Harry doesn't really like being a Warden of the White Council, he hasn't considered it as a handicap. Then a mysterious Grey Cloak is noticed as somehow involved with the dead witches and everybody is afraid to tell Harry. And his brother Thomas is often observed with these victims shortly before their death or disappearances. Being an enforcer for the Council is bad enough without the paranormal community wondering whether you are responsible for these passings.
Highly recommended for Butcher fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of preternatural creatures, paranormal individuals, and strange happenings.
-Arthur W. Jordin
Another winner.......2007-09-17
The Dresden File books have maintained their quality and readability. This one is no exception. Love the way these stories play out.
Love harry but need more Bob the Skull.......2007-09-05
I love this series and enjoy the way it is going. Harry is amusing and this one does not disappoint. I do miss Bob the Skull. He was not featured as much in this one and i miss that... just my own personal quirk.
White Night.......2007-09-03
Being a witch myself I just love Harry. He is funny and romantic and heroic in this one and all my favorite characters are in it. I cannot wait until the next book comes out. I am also very thankful that most of the time my being a witch is not as dangerous. White Night (The Dresden Files, Book 9)
Amazon.com
Best known for the provocative and powerful novel, Midwives (an Oprah Book Club® Selection), Chris Bohjalian writes beautiful and riveting fiction featuring what the San Francisco Chronicle dubbed "ordinary people in heartbreaking circumstances behaving with grace and dignity." In his new novel, The Double Bind, a literary thriller with references to (and including characters from) The Great Gatsby, Bohjalian takes readers on a haunting journey through one woman's obsession with uncovering a dark secret. We think Bohjalian fans will be thrilled with this compelling and unforgettable read, but just to be sure, we asked bestselling author Jodi Picoult to read The Double Bind and give us her take. Check out her review below. --Daphne Durham
Guest Reviewer: Jodi Picoult
From the provocative and gut-wrenching The Pact, to the brilliant genre-bending The Tenth Circle, to her latest novel about a high school shooting Nineteen Minutes, Jodi Picoult's riveting novels center on family and relationships, and bring to light questions and issues that remain with a reader long after the last page is turned.
I once heard a fellow novelist call writing "successful schizophrenia"--we invent people and worlds that don't exist; but instead of being medicated, we are paid for it. Although countless novels succeed in whisking the reader away on the heels of such fabrications, there are very few that pull the curtain away from the craft, allowing us inside the mind of a working novelist as he combines reality and fantasy. Chris Bohjalian's The Double Bind is not just one of these; it's the finest example I've ever read of a book that tips its hat to both the beauty of the literary creation, as well as the magical act of creating.
Fact and fiction become indistinguishable in The Double Bind: The story centers on Laurel Estabrook, a young social worker and survivor of a near-rape, who stumbles across photographs taken by a formerly homeless client and tries to understand how a man who'd taken snapshots of celebrities in the 50s and 60s might have wound up on the streets. However, an author's note tells us that Bohjalian conceived this book after being shown a batch of old photographs taken by a once-homeless man; and the actual photos of Bob "Soupy" Campbell are peppered throughout the text. In another neat twist, Bohjalian's resurrects details from The Great Gatsby, which become "real" in the context of his own novel--Laurel lives in West Egg; part of her hunt for her photographer's past involves meeting with the descendants of Daisy and Tom Buchanan.
As a writer who counts The Great Gatsby as one of the books that changed her life, this inclusion was both startling and remarkable for me. Who doesn't want one's favorite characters to come to life--even if it's only within the constraints of another fictional work? But Bohjalian chose his text wisely: no discussion of The Great Gatsby is complete without alluding to missed opportunities and unreliable sources--critical elements in Laurel's quest. And therein lies Bohjalian's true double bind: all stories--even the ones we tell ourselves--are subject to our own interpretation, and to the degree we can make others believe them.
The Double Bind may flirt with the classics, but it's not your father's stuffy old tome: it's the sort of book you want to read in one sitting, and it packs a twist at the end that will leave you speechless. It also, worthily, spotlights the cause of homelessness in a way that isn't preachy, but honest and explanatory. Ultimately, what Bohjalian's done is offer his lucky readers another reminder of why he's such an extraordinary author: by creating characters that become so real we lose the distinction between truth and embellishment; by reminding us that the story of any life--whether fictional, functional, or marginal--is one to be savored. --Jodi Picoult
Book Description
Throughout his career, Chris Bohjalian has earned a reputation for writing novels that examine some of the most important issues of our time. With
Midwives, he explored the literal and metaphoric place of birth in our culture. In
The Buffalo Soldier, he introduced us to one of contemporary literature’s most beloved foster children. And in
Before You Know Kindness, he plumbed animal rights, gun control, and what it means to be a parent.
Chris Bohjalian’s riveting fiction keeps us awake deep into the night. As The New York Times has said, “Few writers can manipulate a plot with Bohjalian’s grace and power.” Now he is back with an ambitious new novel that travels between Jay Gatsby’s Long Island and rural New England, between the Roaring Twenties and the twenty-first century.
When college sophomore Laurel Estabrook is attacked while riding her bicycle through Vermont’s back roads, her life is forever changed. Formerly outgoing, Laurel withdraws into her photography and begins to work at a homeless shelter. There she meets Bobbie Crocker, a man with a history of mental illness and a box of photographs that he won’t let anyone see. When Bobbie dies suddenly, Laurel discovers that he was telling the truth: before he was homeless, Bobbie Crocker was a successful photographer who had indeed worked with such legends as Chuck Berry, Robert Frost, and Eartha Kitt.
As Laurel’s fascination with Bobbie’s former life begins to merge into obsession, she becomes convinced that some of his photographs reveal a deeply hidden, dark family secret. Her search for the truth will lead her further from her old life—and into a cat-and-mouse game with pursuers who claim they want to save her.
In this spellbinding literary thriller, rich with complex and compelling characters—including Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan—Chris Bohjalian takes readers on his most intriguing, most haunting, and most unforgettable journey yet.
Customer Reviews:
Long and winding middle of the road writing.......2007-09-29
Author Chris Plot Twist Bohjalian is at it again. As with his breakout novel, Midwives, The Double Bind is filled with twists and turns and things are never what they seem. Due to that fact, little that can be said without spoiling the plot. A young woman who has survived a harrowing ordeal lands a job at a homeless shelter. After being given a box of photographs belonging to a recently deceased client of the place, she tries to find out as much as possible about the man and his family. Although her coworkers, friends and acquaintances believe that she is going overboard in her quest, she is undeterred and doggedly pursues the truth. In a number of places, the reader will likely find him or herself wondering about certain coincidences and unlikelihoods, but if he or she is can just go with it - things will eventually become clear. Clever plotting aside, the book has its problems: it is long, long, long and the writing is not exactly compelling; there are two sections (within the prologue and again in the Chapter 28) that contain profanity and graphically described violence; except for some discussion of the fact that the homeless often suffer from mental illness and Laurel's encounter with a homeless man (during which she throws caution to the wind, telling her companions that she will escort the strange man to the shelter ALONE), the whole "homeless" angle of the story seems pretty sanitized; and anyone unfamiliar with The Great Gatsby is sure to have a tough time of it. The story's highlights can be found by reading the following (if you plan to read it in its entirety, don't read on): the prologue, page 200 (for "the double bind" explained), and chapter twenty-eight through the reader's guide. Best thing about the book - the surprises - worst - the writing. Midwives is a better choice.
WOW........2007-09-27
I am rarely as enthralled with a book as I was this one...couldn't put it down, and I will recommend it to many people! Very different, brilliantly creative, and breathtaking. READ IT.
A Painful Reality.......2007-09-17
No matter how lurid, misunderstood, violent or repugnant the subject, Chris Bohjalian wrests his themes from the daily news, fleshes them out with realistic details and spins a compelling tale that both enchants
and educates the reader. His latest book, The Double Bind, deals with the aftermath of a brutally senseless attack on a compassionate young social worker.
The author aced this one, and I will never again see a young woman pass by on a bicycle without reliving in my mind the horror of a cruel encounter on a bright fall day along a Vermont country lane. The event and the subsequent unfolding of the residual pain are told with
compassion and a surreal weave of reality and fantasy. It's hard to imagine where this talented writer will take us next!
Izzie Hayes, avid Bohjalian fan
A literary game not played by fair rules.......2007-09-17
I have to give Mr. Bohjalian 5 stars for chutzpah. How many authors would so tightly link their own work to one of the American classics of the 20th century--perhaps the Great American Novel itself--forcing any reader to compare Bohjalian to Fitzgerald? I can assure you that, if this work is representative, Mr. Bohjalian is no Fitzgerald; they hardly speak the same language.
But wait, the chutzpah gets even more extreme! It is possible that Mr. Bohjalian has deliberately given us this rambling, slack style--sometimes seemingly deliberately hanging with Spanish-moss-like clumps of unfocused, clicheed phrases that only a nonwriter would dare have appear under his own name--for a literary purpose. Without revealing too much--and the book is all about the series of relevations that progressively emerge--I think I can safely suggest that Mr. Bohjalian may be dropping a (perhaps massive) clue about where the story is heading by writing in such a slack, nonliterary style. Chutzpah indeed to set himself up so close to a master stylist like Fitzgerald just to make himself look like a bad writer to advance his own plot.
Or maybe not. Maybe the book really isn't that coherent. It teems with references to The Great Gatsby on many levels. It invites the reader to hear these references in multiple voices speaking in the primary narrator's voice. But for the life of me, I can't distinguish where one voice starts and another leaves off. Shifts appear to occur in the middle of paragraphs. Or at least, the story can be viewed as coherent only if this is going on. As a reader, I feel like one of the early German scholars of the Bible trying to sort through the distinct voices present in the text and wondering what scribe could have edited these voices together in such a haphazard patchwork. What was the scribe trying to do?! What is the author trying to do here?
I can't be more detailed without revealing key elements of the story. Let me say simply this. I came to the book with great expectations. I actually lived in F. Scott Fitzgerald's dorm room in college and had a classmate who saw himself and his girlfriend as the reincarnations of F. Scott and Zelda. (Sounds like part of some alternative take off on Gatsby, but this one wasn't fiction ;-)). I felt a literary mystery story unfolding through the pages of The Double Bind and my expectations rose. I love a good literary game. But as the revelations unfolded, I couldn't make them hold together. Other readers I have spoken to have had the same reaction. At the end of the day, I can't tell what the author actually intended us to believe happened in his story. More than anything, I felt as though he had not played fairly by any set of rules he had set for the game. Or maybe more mercifully, the game didn't have coherent rules to begin with. Takes Mr. Bohjalian off the hook, but it takes any fun out of the game. I came away frustrated and disappointed.
Couldn't Put It Down.............2007-09-11
"What a ride! _The Double Bind was a "couldn't-put-it-down" book. Now I have to read it again with a different perpsective. I loved the first, and am now looking forward to the second journey with Laurel. Thank you for such a provocative book."
Book Description
“Politics is stuck,” writes Bill Bradley, in this insightful, informative, and provocative book about America at a crossroads, but “idealism isn’t dead. It can be reawakened.”
What will it take to make America a better, stronger, truer country? asks the bestselling author, former Knicks star, and onetime presidential candidate. Bill Bradley believes that America is at a teachable moment when we are compelled to reevaluate our political system, our leadership, our agenda as a nation, and ourselves as citizens. With clarity and urgency, Bradley shows why the story we are being told now about who we are as a people is not true. He then offers a new story about our nation, based on America’s rich heritage and his belief in the character of the American people. Bradley explores what changes need to be made in our parties, in our politics, and in citizen activism to ensure America’s future. He asserts that the American people are ready for the truth and suggests that the party that chooses to embrace this new story will be in power for a generation.
Writing from his own experience in politics and drawing on his knowledge of history, Bradley shows how the Republican Party has built a solid pyramid structure since the 1970s, at the base of which are money, ideas, and media, whereas the Democratic Party’s structure is an inverted pyramid, with too much emphasis put on the need for a charismatic leader to hold the pyramid up. Each party, for different reasons, fails to deal with the real issues that now confront America.
This informed and inspiring call to action is addressed not only to the parties and elected leaders, but to citizens as well. Bradley proposes things every American can do to shape our nation’s future. He points out that if eighty percent of the electorate voted, instead of fifty percent, it would be the most important change in American politics since women got the vote. Now more than ever, he says, we need to embrace an “ethic of connectedness,” a combination of
collective action and individual responsibility, to solve our nation’s most pressing
problems, and he argues that the fate of all countries is bound together as never before. Writing today with the freedom of a private citizen, Bradley provides this transformative and eye-opening book about the danger and the promise of America’s choice at this crucial moment in the nation’s history.
Customer Reviews:
A "HOW-TO" for citizenship and political leadership.......2007-09-29
Why should you read this?
- If you care about our democracy and want to help make it strong again
- If you want to understand the big domestic challenges we face today
- If you want thoughtful proposals to addresses those challenges
- If you want to better the understand the Democratic and Republican parties; what makes them function, what makes them DYSFUNCTIONAL
- If you want to hear an insider's take on what makes our democracy tick, what makes it great, and what threatens its survival
This is a terrific book. If I had the money, I'd buy one for every member of Congress.
I listened to this book unabridged on audio, narrated by Michael Prichard. He does a good job capturing Bill Bradley's dignity, but to my ear doesn't quite capture his enthusiasm and passion for good government.
excellent.......2007-08-28
bradley is a truly brilliant man. the book is filled with hundreds of good ideas. hopefully he will stay involved in politics. the problem is that the people who need to read this book will not. our government is controlled by big business and greedy men with their own agendas. how soon is that going to change? i highly reccomend this book.
Call to Greatness.......2007-08-20
You'd swear Bill Bradley was running for office or dashing down court for a breakaway three-pointer. This one-time presidential contender and New York Knicks superstar writes with the energy and urgency of a man on a mission.
Read his book, The New American Story, and you'll be tempted to join him. Bradley has issued a powerful call to action--one that promises to rescue our nation from political infighting and restore America's leadership role in the world.
His is not a story of military might and moral superiority; it is the story of our nation's founding principles, written by the men and women whose active engagement at pivotal points in history assured the country lived up to its highest ideals.
We have a choice before us that could transcend our current state of affairs, says Bradley. A choice that puts country over political party, the common good over the distracting issues that divide us.
One of our nation's most admired leaders--Abraham Lincoln--knew a thing or two about bringing a divided nation together. When he was president, Lincoln would often sneak out of the White House on Wednesday nights to hear sermons of a well-known preacher at the New York Presbyterian Church. One night, an aide asked Lincoln what he had thought of the sermon. "The content was excellent. The minister had a strong voice and a good delivery," said Lincoln, pausing. "But he forgot the most important part. He didn't ask us to do something great."
Bill Bradley is asking us to do something great.
"The answers to our problems rest in our hearts as well as in our heads," Bradley says in the introduction to his book, "and until we understand that, we'll make marginal improvements, but we won't make the quantum leaps that our Founders made and hoped we would continue."
I am drawn to stories of ordinary Americans who overcame obstacles to achieve great things. Freedom fighters on the Underground Railroad. Journalists who exposed unethical business practices at the turn of the 20th century. The immigrants who built our transcontinental railroad. A country lawyer who became a United States Supreme Court Justice, America's chief prosecutor of Nazi War criminals, and the founder of international law. These are the stories I want people around the world to know about when they think of America and its unique contributions to the world. That's why my husband and I make historical documentaries for a living.
Bill Bradley's book had me from hello, or at least from the moment I read the book jacket blurbs written by David McCullough, David Halberstam, Doris Kearns Goodwin and Robert A. Caro, all Pulitzer Prize winners. Because I love history, and because I believe in the strength of our nation's collective character, I kept on reading.
There is no question the bold policies outlined in Bill Bradley's book will be hotly debated in the coming weeks. He takes both political parties to task, taking aim at the current administration's policies with the finesse of a seasoned athlete and senator. And while I don't agree with every single one of Bradley's strategies on health care, education, environment, tax reform, and national defense, if this American story is to have a happy ending, I, like all other Americans, will have to look for common ground, and make sacrifices for the greater good.
Bill Bradley has faith that, given the right information--the true American story--we will do the right thing.
Current state of affairs for the middle class .......2007-08-07
I confess I have read many other books on the current status quo and state of politics in our country before reading this book. If you have too, this may be a bit repetitive as most issues have been discussed before. What I do like about Bill Bradley's book is it is not simply a laundry list of complaints. He offers at the end of each chapter (designated to each issue) some thought out solutions. This is a good book for eye-opening for our major issues - health care, education, energy... and would recommend it to readers who want to learn more about the who, what and why our social issues are being ignored by government. I also recommend "War on the Middle Class" by Lou Dobbs or "Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class -- And What We Can Do About It" by Thom Hartmann. I enjoyed reading those a little more.
Long-winded and Confusing Story.......2007-07-29
I'll confess right up front that I haven't finished the book yet, and I'll update this review when I do. I'm still slogging through lengthy, wandering passages that fail to make any points. I keep waiting for any kind of "here's a solution" or "here's what we should do" sentence, but I have yet to find one. He spends a lot of pages in the first 25% of the book telling the reader about the "story" that he says we're being told -- by whom? On every issue he seems to pick the most extreme right-wing position as representative of this "story" rather than the positions that the majority of Republicans and conservatives hold. And thus far all he's offered for his "new story" is idealistic pie-in-the-sky notions with no plan to get there. I trust that he gets there in the second half of the book.
Just one example of the poor writing and editing: In the section titled "Inequality" in chapter on The Economy, he goes on for quite a while about financial inequality, then about globalization and technological change, finally claiming that you can no longer get ahead by working hard. He then admits that that there is no way around benefiting the wealthy if you want to encourage investment. And then this sentence:
"But there is no excuse for failing to conduct rigorous oversight of and increase resources to education ... which in the long run will result in ... greater equality."
Okay, he tied it back into equality, but how did he suddenly switch from tax cuts and investing and unions to education in the middle of the same paragraph? Where did this out-of-the-blue accusation come from that someone isn't overseeing and funding education? I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with that accusation, just pointing out that it's completely out of place in any kind of logical or narrative flow.
And so goes this story so far. I'll keep at it and hope the writing and presentation of ideas tightens up. Maybe his publisher paid him by the word...
Book Description
Harry Dresden--Wizard
Lost items found. Paranormal investigations.
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties, or Other Entertainment.
Harry Dresden is the best at what he does. Well, technically, he's the only at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers. For the "everyday" world is actually full of strange and magical things--and most of them don't play too well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a--well, whatever.
There's just one problem. Business, to put it mildly, stinks. So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry's seeing dollar signs. But where there's magic, there's a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry's name. And that's when things start to get... interesting.
Magic. It can get a guy killed.
Customer Reviews:
The Dresden Files - How did I miss these????.......2007-09-30
A few weeks ago I ended up purchasing book 1 of the Dresden Files, Storm Front, deciding I would give it a chance. I believe I was reading a Christopher Golden Book (The Veil or the newest Menagerie Book) and saw something in the back about Butcher's books. Oh my gosh, I could not believe when I started reading the books that I missed out on them for so many years. From the first pages, I was hooked and looked forward to purchasing EVERY other book in the series. I haven't watched the show based on the books yet, but if it is 10% as good as this series, I'm all over it! If you like books about the modern world with hidden underpinnings of the supernatural, please give the series a try, you will not be disappointed!
Awesome.......2007-09-28
I stumbled onto the SciFi Channel series and finally got around to picking up some of the books.
I love the TV series but this book is so much better. I hope Jim Butcher is up to writing these for a long time.
Great. Just great!
Another wizard named Harry.......2007-09-26
I must confess that my affection for the short-lived TV series was what roused my curiosity and got me reading this book. I don't do detective novels, but this time I made an exception. The Harry Dresden series as a whole is one long, continuous story, a sort of combination of Sam Spade, Kolchak the Nightstalker, Harry Potter, and manages to throw in almost every element of the fantasy genre that their author could conjure up.
This first book in the series, "Storm Front", is the only one adapted for TV. The book is, of course, a lot longer and more complex, much more intense, the characters are drawn out in greater depth, and also, a great deal funnier. As in most of the Harry Dresden adventures, our hero is confronted with a supernatural menace that nearly brings about his destruction, only to foil his enemy at the very last moment. Along the way, he meets the love of his life, Susan, is forced into aquaintence with a mob leader, deals with a supernatural enemy, and of course has a wonderfully exciting, comical battle with giant scorpions and a demonic toad, all on a disastrous first date.
Harry is not only a guy you can believe in and feel for, but a true superhero.
Pretty good.......2007-09-23
Not bad at all. To be fair I watched TV series before I listened to the first book, and it seems they changed quite a few things in the TV series in regards to the relationships between characters.
The book does a good job of explaining some of the logic behind the magic in Dresden's world. The one thing I really do like (Butcher barely touches the idea in this book but it becomes more prevalent in later books) is that Dresden's brand of magic is not the only source of supernatural power in his world. Power can come from other faiths and beliefs as well.
Quite a few things were predictable but overall I would say the book was interesting enough to keep me reading on to the next book. Especially because I heard from those who read all the books thus far that the series becomes much better especially by the end of book 3.
Gumshoe Wizard.......2007-09-18
Originally a fan of the tv show, I picked up this novel after learning it had been canceled. You'll find in the books Harry is darker and a bit more chauvinistic. It didn't really impact my enjoyment of the story, but it's worth noting.
The mystery is better than those typically in the tv series. More fleshed out, better staged. Butcher's writing is very utilitarian which makes for an easy read.
The novel isn't a perfect blend of fantasy elements with murder mystery - those familiar to both genres will easily suss out the mystery early on, but it doesn't pass itself off as the greatest mystery or fantasy novel either so it works.
I preferred the more lighthearted and amusing Harry in the tv series, and I'm hoping he'll lighten up as the novels progress. I certainly was entertained enough by the novel to continue with the series, whether his emo tendencies abate a bit or not.
Book Description
Bill O’Reilly is the very embodiment of the idea of a Culture Warrior—and in this book he lives up to the title brilliantly, with all the brashness and forthrightness at his command. He sees that America is in the midst of a fierce culture war between those who embrace traditional values and those who want to change America into a “secular-progressive” country. This is a conflict that differs in many ways from the usual liberal/conservative divide, but it is no less heated, and the stakes are even higher.
In Culture Warrior, Bill O’Reilly defines this war and analyzes the competing philosophies of the traditionalist and secular-progressive camps. He examines why the nation’s motto “E Pluribus Unum” (“From Many, One”) might change to “What About Me?”; dissects the forces driving the secular-progressive agenda in the media and behind the scenes, including George Soros, George Lakoff, and the ACLU; and dives into matters of race, education, and the war on terror. He also shows how the culture war has played out in such high-profile instances as The Passion of the Christ, Fahrenheit 9/11, the abuse epidemic (child and otherwise), and the embattled place of religion in public life—with special emphasis on the war against Christmas. Whatever controversies are roiling the nation, he fearlessly confronts them—and no one will be in the dark about which side he’s on.
Culture Warrior showcases Bill O’Reilly at his most eloquent and impassioned. He is an unrelenting fighter for the soul of America, and in this book he fights the good fight for the traditional values that have served this country so well for so long.
Customer Reviews:
interesting read.......2007-09-27
Well written book. I'm not sure of the validity of all the things he talks about because he is often defending himself, but I think he makes some very smart points. I can see some of the effects of the sp movement that Bill mentions in his book almost everyday.
Bill's strawman.......2007-09-25
Mr O'Reilly is somewhat of an enigma to me. I find his show entertaining. He sometimes speaks very rationally about current issues and presents his point of view very reasonably. But there are times when he appears to let his emotions completely overrule his logic, and then he looks foolish and petty. So it is with "Culture Warrior."
Bill blames nearly all of America's ills on secular progressives. The S-P movement (according to O'Reilly) wants to completely dismantle all that is good and replace it with atheistic, socialist programs that would undermine America's moral fiber and promote malaise and complacency.
Pure bunk! The truth of the matter is that Bill's Republican Party has held the White House for all but 12 years since 1968. In all this time, the party of "family values" and "personal responsibility" has done little, if anything, to improve our nation's social problems. A good argument could be made that many of those problems have actually gotten worse. And yet, here's Bill trying to shift the blame to some small minority of the population with practically no political power.
Of course, he's preaching to the choir with his simplistic scapegoating. If you're a Fox news fan and an O'Reilly-phile, you'll no doubt be blind to his flaws in logic and his stretching of the facts.
I would love to have Bill as a dad .......2007-09-16
My grandma read me this book.I thought it was good and it's fun too.It never gets boring and I feel like he is the greatest guy in the world.My grandma says she will read all the books he writes to me and that will make me real happy and I'm looking forward to that.
I Enjoyed This so much.......2007-09-16
This book is great from cover to cover.Bill has so many ideas and he should be making lots of money with this wonderful book.I also would like you to know about the great book he wrote just for kids.It should be on everybody's list for a birthday comming up or A present to some special kid.So far all of his books have been a joy reading.
The Hobo Philosopher.......2007-09-02
Bill has discovered a conspiracy. Now I'm a true believer in conspiracies so I can't knock him on that one. It seems that there are a group of people, living right here within the borders of the United States who are presently involved in the overthrow of "our" government. They are not doing this by means of a revolution or violent overthrow. They are too cleaver to come right out and fight like men. They are doing it by guile and persuasion and trying to sway voters and by real sneaky, underhanded, dirty methods like using their money to twist the media and the "truth". Bill has a lot of terrible names for these people but overall he benignly refers to them as Secular Progressives or S-Ps.
These S-Ps are a very cleaver group of evil and vile people and they have a horrible anti-American agenda; wait until I tell you about it, you won't believe it. It is truly beyond your widest dreams.
First and foremost these S-Ps do not believe in God; they are very anti-Judeo/Christian. They want to take all the money from the rich people and use it to make their version of a "better world". For example they want everybody to have their own home - with no mortgage; they want all children to have an education - for free! And that includes college; they think that everybody should make a living wage - whether they deserve to be alive or not! (my God! these people are horrible); they want businesses and corporations to act and conduct themselves in the world market place with a moral conscience (what a pernicious method for undermining capitalism and the American way); they want prisons to be reformed and drug crimes to be looked upon as an addiction to be treated as a sickness and not simply incarceration; they want any and all sick and even healthy people to have access to health care - even if they don't have a penny!; they actually want the United States to be attacked before the United States attacks anybody else; and one can only conclude from all of the above that these S-Ps would probably try to outlaw war if they could get away with it.
This book is powerful on emotion but very short on thought. If your ideas are on the far right you will love this. I was told by a friend that Bill is actually not on the far right but is really only moderately right. Since I didn't find much of what he had to say "right" in any way and many things very "wrong", I can't really find all that much to recommend . But Bill seems to be doing very well without me as a backer.
Book Description
This wickedly funny, big-hearted novel about life in the office signals the arrival of a gloriously talented new writer. The characters in Then We Came to the End cope with a business downturn in the time-honored way: through gossip, secret romance, elaborate pranks, and increasingly frequent coffee breaks. By day they compete for the best office furniture left behind and try to make sense of the mysterious pro-bono ad campaign that is their only remaining "work."
Customer Reviews:
Great read -- offers some surprises........2007-10-01
As already mentioned in several reviews, this book is not as hilarious as some critics made it out to be. However, this is still a very entertaining and witty novel. I loved the end.
Must-read for anyone who has ever worked at an ad agency!.......2007-09-27
If you've ever worked at an agency, you'll recognize each character as one of your coworkers (or you!). And you'll feel sick alongside them as layoffs continue and pro bono jobs replace paying clients. It's hard to keep track of all the characters at first, but the author helps out by reminding you who's who throughout ... plus there are fewer and fewer as the story progresses. I highly recommend this book!
Don't Waste Your Time..........2007-09-11
This was probably the worst and most boring book I've read in 2007. Amazon has it rated as one of "the best so far..." There must be some mistake. The author, while allegedly a skilled writer, drones on and on about the most irrelevant subjects, 5 pages devoted to a chair. It has taken me almost a whole month to finish because I get sleepy after about 3 pages and have to put it down. I am now on the last chapter and can't wait to "come to the end". The characters are mere caricatures of real people with no depth or relatability. There is basically no plot to speak of. I have given it two stars because the author has an occasional good line or train of thought, but when he puts them all together it's nothing but a trainwreck. I'm no rocket scientist and usually pretty easily entertained but this book was no good. I'm serious.
office culture.......2007-09-11
if you work in an office with lots of personalities, this book should resonate. Mr. Ferris had to have intimate knowledge of a cubbied space
Hilarious.......2007-09-06
Hard not to get a kick out of this book. He makes connections in culture today that will blow your mind. Great read.
Book Description
With its outrageous brand of conservative talk, The Neal Boortz Show has been one of talk radio's hottest commodities for more than twenty–five years. Known as the Talkmaster and the High Priest of the Church of the Painful Truth, Boortz has been entertaining his rabid followers with his commentary on everything from corruption in Washington to the troops overseas.
Now, with Somebody's Gotta Say It, Neal gives us his biggest book yet–a hilarious but serious–as–taxes screed covering all the issues that get Neal and his millions of listeners hot under the collar on a daily basis. Among his subjects:
•The Tyranny of the Children: How we've ceded control to our bratty little runts . . . and how to take it back
•They're Government Schools, Not "Public" Schools . . . and they're killing us.
•The Dumb Masses: Say that really fast–and then have a look in the mirror!
•Socialized Medicine: Get ready for free crappy health care for all–Now, with Extra Taxes!
•Soccer Moms: The leaders of a culture where every precaution has been taken to make sure your son may never actually get hit! The wussification of America continues...
Full of irresistible wisecracks and irrefutable libertarian wisdom, Somebody's Gotta Say It is the next big conservative talk–radio bestseller.
Customer Reviews:
Boorish!.......2007-09-26
I could hardly get past the first chapter. I found this to be almost "tabloid" in nature and ordered it originally thinking I would be reading some intellectual quips, quotes, etc. I found instead that it is more basic and elementary than I wish to spend time on. Couldn't get through the entire book - sorry!
Great Ideas Presented In An Entertaining Style.......2007-09-09
This is a thought provoking and highly interesting book.
Neal Boortz does a superb job of outlining many of the numerous problems our nation faces. He also presents great suggestions which, if enacted, would make life much better for all Americans (except career politicians) and their children and grandchildren.
The author does not beat around the bush. He gets right to the heart of issues. It is sure to infuriate many readers. Those who are open minded will be challenged with some things that they would probably prefer to ignore.
Some of the issues that he addresses are as follows:
Education - "There is no greater long-term threat to our continued prosperity, economic liberty, freedom, and quality of life in the United States than that presented by teachers' unions. And that includes Islamic terrorists." Although I suspect he will not be invited to the NEA convention, he makes a great case for the tremendous problems we have in education. Of course anyone who has watched a clerk trying to make change (with the cash register's calculator not working) or watched Jay Leno's 'Jaywalking' is well aware of the scary level of ignorance being cranked out by the government school system. Fortunately, Boortz not only points out the problems, he gives workable solutions. He also provides an awesome list of things that should be taught in the public schools.
Voting - 'Instead of trying to increase that stock of knowledge, why not decrease the number of ignorant voters! Private businesses don't let ignorant employees decide company policy. Why should we allow ignorant voters to set public policy?' Not only would he limit who votes (the ignorant and tax consumers), but Boortz also presents a very radical proposal to change presidential selection. It is a revolutionary concept.
Boortz combines the best parts of libertarianism (liberty) with reality (terrorism, borders) to present a comprehensive plan for improving life in the United States. I highly recommend this book and also another book by Boorz, 'The Fair Tax Book' for anyone who desires to return America to its best.
Talk show style of writing.......2007-09-01
Neal Boortz is a libertarian, not a conservative, talk show host. He's in agreement with the economic conservatives on issues such as education, taxes and the minimum wage, but generally disagrees with the moral conservatives on concerns such as abortion, homosexuality, creationism and school prayer. (However, he's against totally removing religious symbolism from public life....) He uses a lot of energy bashing public education, calling schools "government indoctrination centers" and recounting horror stories of kids being required to pool their own school supplies.
He is very pro-individual, and generally against government regulation of business. Some of his positions are a little strange. For example, he is in favor of legalizing drugs, but then goes nuts over people smoking tobacco. The last chapter "No Way In Hell", is a synopsis of his political positions, some workable, some probably not, some kind of silly....
Although I've never listened to Boortz' show (to my knowledge, it is not played in Southern California). I do listen to a lot of talk shows, and this book seems to be written in an in-your-face, loud talk show host style. While that might be fun while sitting in traffic, when I'm actually reading, I prefer the more academic style of writing, with citations, a bibliography, etc.
Mildly Amusing from a pea brain with a big mouth.......2007-08-29
If your a thinking person - intellectual, academic, progressive, you will probably look at this book as if were written by a highly opinionated eight grader. Boortz thinks he "drives liberals crazy" as his trademark jingle says, however he leaves me thinking that I just bought a book consisting of nothing but opinion without reason, logic, or rationale. This book is not analytical, coherent, convincing, discerning, inferential, perceptive, relevant, or even sensible. However IT IS entertaining.
Interesting.......2007-08-27
This book was very enjoyable and informative. Neal Boortz is a very entertaining author. He seems to be refreshingly unconcerned with what anyone else thinks, yet presented even the subjects on which I disagree with him in a way that didn't make me want to throw the book across the room. I particularly liked his solutions, placed at the end of the book and styled as a political platform, albeit not a likely one, due to the modern political atmosphere.
The only reason that I docked it a star was his "Reasons not to vote for..." section, in which the points are far too brief, and also not well thought out. As a brief example, he cited "Stem cell research" as a reason to not vote Republican. This is confusing, as it paints the issue far too broadly. There are different types of stem-cell research, most of which, as far as I know, Republicans have not openly or secretly opposed. In my opinion, therefore, the "Reasons not to vote for..." section should have been left out, and perhaps further researched for another book, in which the points could have been covered with at least a little more depth.
Books:
- Introduction to Permaculture
- James Herriot's Treasury for Children: Warm and Joyful Tales by the Author of All Creatures Great and Small
- Just Gus: A Rescued Dog and the Woman He Loved
- Mandated Landscape: British Imperial Rule in Palestine 1929-1948
- Mandated Landscape: British Imperial Rule in Palestine 1929-1948
- Marlene Koch's Sensational Splenda Recipes: Over 375 Recipes Low in Sugar, Fat, and Calories
- Medical Herbalism: The Science Principles and Practices Of Herbal Medicine
- Modern Magick: Eleven Lessons in the High Magickal Arts (Llewellyn's High Magick)
- Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World
- Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
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- Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before
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- Agile Software Development, Principles, Patterns, and Practices
- Binocular Highlights: 99 Celestial Sights for Binocular Users
- Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris
- In Defense of Humanism: Value in the Arts and Letters
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- The Response of Western Forests to Air Pollution
General
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A Thousand Splendid Suns
The Caged Virgin: An Emancipation Proclamation for Women and Islam
The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World's Most Intolerant Religion
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