A Man Without a Country

Book Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“[This] may be as close as Vonnegut ever comes to a memoir.”
–Los Angeles Times

“Like [that of] his literary ancestor Mark Twain, [Kurt Vonnegut’s] crankiness is good-humored and sharp-witted. . . . [Reading A Man Without a Country is] like sitting down on the couch for a long chat with an old friend.”
–The New York Times Book Review

In a volume that is penetrating, introspective, incisive, and laugh-out-loud funny, one of the great men of letters of this age–or any age–holds forth on life, art, sex, politics, and the state of America’s soul. From his coming of age in America, to his formative war experiences, to his life as an artist, this is Vonnegut doing what he does best: Being himself. Whimsically illustrated by the author, A Man Without a Country is intimate, tender, and brimming with the scope of Kurt Vonnegut’s passions.

“For all those who have lived with Vonnegut in their imaginations . . . this is what he is like in person.”
–USA Today

“Filled with [Vonnegut’s] usual contradictory mix of joy and sorrow, hope and despair, humor and gravity.”
–Chicago Tribune

“Fans will linger on every word . . . as once again [Vonnegut] captures the complexity of the human condition with stunning calligraphic simplicity.”
–The Australian

“Thank God, Kurt Vonnegut has broken his promise that he will never write another book. In this wondrous assemblage of mini-memoirs, we discover his family’s legacy and his obstinate, unfashionable humanism.”
–Studs Terkel

Customer Reviews:

Vonnegut at the end.......2007-09-27

It occurred to me while reading "A Man Without a Country", Kurt Vonnegut's last offering, that we all have it in us to write a comparable book regarding our own lives. However, few of us could write in the style of Vonnegut, and his short but pointed book is well worth the hour or so it takes to read.

"A Man Without a Country" blends humor, fact, sarcasm, wit and a lifetime of observation. It is Andy Rooney, Garrison Keillor and George Carlin wrapped into a small package of good writing, Vonnegut-style, of course. Age brings perspective and with that Vonnegut has plenty on which to comment. As one who survived the bombing of Dresden in 1945, the author has an earned platform to speak about war and he does so quite often in this book. But it's his humor, often black but always funny, that propels things along. Vonnegut, a humanist, addressed a group of fellow humanists upon the death of Isaac Asimov. He told the assemblage, "Isaac is up in heaven now". Vonnegut goes on to say, "it was the funniest thing I could have said to an audience of humanists. I rolled them in the aisles. It was several minutes before order could be restored." Lines like that give a warmth to the book, yet he saves his best line for "W". Vonnegut says, "...do you know why I think George W. Bush is so pissed off at Arabs? They brought us algebra". With that comment I had to take a minute or so away from the book to wipe the tears from my eyes.

I highly recommend "A Man Without a Country" for its appealing nature and visionary comment. Kurt Vonnegut departed this life with just the right things left to say. I could add that "Kurt is up in heaven now", but I wouldn't want to get my fellow humanists going. The book is a pleasure.

Beautiful.......2007-09-06

A conversation with America's greatest writer about the same things everyone in the country had had on their minds that year, this work by the late Kurt Vonnegut was just what I was waiting for and it delivered a kind of comedy and editorial that people all over the country were holding just on the tips of their tongues. Vonnegut is suing PALL MALL cigarettes for keeping him alive in a time when the three most powerful people in the world are named Dick Bush and Colin. He puts himself out there and tells the truth like he always did.

peaCE,

Jacques Paisner, Author of Albuquerque Blues

A banal book from a great writer.......2007-08-14

Another Amazon reviewer, commenting on Vonnegut's "Breakfast of Champions", wrote (quote) "You know that anything goes once you pick up a work by the zany and terrific Kurt Vonnegut. The man knows how to dish up satire like none other. He'll spew out his complaints about the government, the world, people, etc., and instead of making it sound like a bunch of inane ranting he uses all of that to create a crazy world filled with outrageous characters and situations."

Very nicely said. It is too bad that, at some point, Vonnegut did decide to write up "a bunch of inane ranting", which he then condensed into this booklet. I do love the two books of Vonnegut I have read, and I do think that there is much to be ranted about the government, the world etc etc, but the rants in this book are not mush more valuable than mine or yours, or those of a random guy you hear ranting on your way home on the subway.

It is unfortunate that sometimes great artists feel compelled to stray into areas which are not their own. Even sadder than their beliefs and views end up being listened to just because they come from someone accomplished in something. Unfortunately, being a great writer (and I do think he is), or a great actor or director, does not necessarily make you a very deep political thinker.

To feed any "anti-establishment" feelings, give me any day one of the outstanding investigative reporters out there. There is way too much well documented, well written, honest anti-establishment work out there (Seymour Hersh's "Chain of Command", just to mention one example) to waste time on this sort of booklet. I received it as a gift, and I gave up after a few pages, because I was really getting nothing out of it. Booklets like this one, in my opinion, do more harm than good to the ideas they want to represent.

Not Kurt's best.......2007-08-08

Vonnegut is one of my favorite authors, and I really wanted to read some new material and get his take on the present. We're at a major crossroads in history where a new paradigm is emerging. And yet, there seems few author's worth reading anymore -- not like the Vonnegut's who gave us new and interesting perspectives on decades' past.

Unfortunately, his views on the present are tired and cliche. I almost wish I didn't read this book as it diminishes my respect for the author.

Example: he wrote something about a child being better off in an enlightened country, not the US, which had universal health care and better schools. He blames conservatives/republicans. I felt like throwing the book away! Forget politics (if possible). This is tripe. I thought aloud... we spend a _fortune_ on education and healthcare. The new perspective I was hoping for? ... Euro-socialism I suppose.

What I'm saying is, I didn't want to read tired old left-right, conservative-liberal gibberish. I was hoping for some FRESH ideas from an original, free thinker. I was looking for a new paradigm -- not liberal-lite, shallowness.

A Few Last Jabs . . . .......2007-07-27

Kurt, Kurt, Kurt . . . A few last jabs before you went down for the count. No, this can't be compared to his earlier novels, or his later novels. It is not meant to be---it is a memoir of sorts---his last parting thoughts on the way things are. A Man Without A Country is a concise, simple little ditty, with a few quick jabs to once again jolt the minds of the choir. Like Mark Twain before him, life just plain got to him. I know the feeling. At 57, I am feeling much the same way. After spending some hard-time on earth, dealing with the workings of this world and man's never changing habits, any thinking, caring person would have to throw their hands in the air and say, "When will we ever learn!" And it seems, from Twain's time on---and from way before---back to the first primates to utter a sound and drop from the trees in search of something to kill, man hasn't changed a spit. A Man Without A Country is a dang good little book, and an enjoyable read from a man who will be sorely missed. Hi Ho! Mr. Vonnegut, Hi Ho!

Bewick Cory

Average customer rating:

Hatred of adjectives
Frustration and confusion over contradictions
Hemingway's Last Best Work
One of the best!
A good present for someone going to Paris

A Moveable Feast
Ernest Hemingway
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 068482499X

Amazon.com

In the preface to A Moveable Feast, Hemingway remarks casually that "if the reader prefers, this book may be regarded as fiction"--and, indeed, fact or fiction, it doesn't matter, for his slim memoir of Paris in the 1920s is as enchanting as anything made up and has become the stuff of legend. Paris in the '20s! Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley, lived happily on $5 a day and still had money for drinks at the Closerie des Lilas, skiing in the Alps, and fishing trips to Spain. On every corner and at every café table, there were the most extraordinary people living wonderful lives and telling fantastic stories. Gertrude Stein invited Hemingway to come every afternoon and sip "fragrant, colorless alcohols" and chat admid her great pictures. He taught Ezra Pound how to box, gossiped with James Joyce, caroused with the fatally insecure Scott Fitzgerald (the acid portraits of him and his wife, Zelda, are notorious). Meanwhile, Hemingway invented a new way of writing based on this simple premise: "All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know."

Hemingway beautifully captures the fragile magic of a special time and place, and he manages to be nostalgic without hitting any false notes of sentimentality. "This is how Paris was in the early days when we were very poor and very happy," he concludes. Originally published in 1964, three years after his suicide, A Moveable Feast was the first of his posthumous books and remains the best. --David Laskin

Book Description

Published posthumously in 1964, A Moveable Feast remains one of Ernest Hemingway's most beloved works. It is his classic memoir of Paris in the 1920s, filled with irreverent portraits of other expatriate luminaries such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein; tender memories of his first wife, Hadley; and insightful recollections of his own early experiments with his craft. It is a literary feast, brilliantly evoking the exuberant mood of Paris after World War I and the youthful spirit, unbridled creativity, and unquenchable enthusiasm that Hemingway himself epitomized.

Download Description

"You belong to me and all Paris belongs to me and I belong to this notebook and this pencil." Begun in the autumn of 1957 and published posthumously in 1964, Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast captures what it meant to be young and poor and writing in Paris during the 1920s. A correspondent for the Toronto Star, Hemingway arrived in Paris in 1921, three years after the trauma of the Great War and at the beginning of the transformation of Europe's cultural landscape: Braque and Picasso were experimenting with cubist forms; James Joyce, long living in self-imposed exile from his native Dublin, had just completed Ulysses; Gertude Stein held court at 27 rue de Fleurus, and deemed young Ernest a member of rue génération perdue; and T. S. Eliot was a bank clerk in London. It was during these years that the as-of-yet unpublished young writer gathered the material for his first novel, The Sun Also Rises, and the subsequent masterpieces that followed. Among these small, reflective sketches are unforgettable encounters with the members of Hemingway's slightly rag-tag circle of artists and writers, some also fated to achieve fame and glory, others to fall into obscurity. Here, too, is an evocation of the Paris that Hemingway knew as a young man - a map drawn in his distinct prose of the streets and cafés and bookshops that comprised the city in which he, as a young writer, sometimes struggling against the cold and hunger of near poverty, honed the skills of his craft. A Moveable Feast is at once an elegy to the remarkable group of expatriates that gathered in Paris during the twenties and a testament to the risks and rewards of the writerly life.

Customer Reviews:

Hatred of adjectives.......2007-08-08

What a poisonous, vituperatve, jealous, mean-spirtied man he must have been. Also self-righteous and condescending.
Does anybody read his tripe anymore?

Frustration and confusion over contradictions.......2007-08-07

That's all I felt as I picked up this book to read. Is it fact or fiction? To me, and others that I have spoken to, it makes a world of difference as to how I approach a book, it's characters, location, and events that take place. This book is supposed to be Hemingway's memoirs. I have no idea who is on the cover.

There is a disclaimer by the publishing company that this is a work of fiction.

Not to mention Hemingway's own explanation that does not make a bit of sense. "If the reader prefers, this book may be regarded as fiction. But there is always the chance that such a book of fiction may throw some light on what was written as fact."

Following that, there is a note written by M.H. that states that this book covers the years 1921-1926 in Paris.

Lastly, there are nine black and white photographs of people and places that supposedly do not even exist.

I became so frustrated with all of these contradictions that I did not even bother to read the book.

Hemingway's Last Best Work.......2007-06-11

Published posthumously, this memoir is a series of sketches recounting episodes from Hemingway's life in Paris in the early 1920s. It is probably the best thing Hemingway wrote in his late years. This is the period when Hemingway perfected his laconic style and produced several of the short stories that form his most durable work. Many of the sketches display the economy of style and eye for telling detail found in Hemingway's best short stories. Much of the book is devoted to describing his life as a young writer trying to perfect his style. It contains interesting, though not necessarily objective, portraits of Hemingway's friends Gertrude Stein and F. Scott Fitzgerald. The presiding spirit of this book is Hemingway's first wife, Hadley Richardson Hemingway.
This book has a more than wistful quality because of the circumstances under which it was written. Hemingway produced it in the late 1950s when he was struggling with his alcoholism, bouts of depression, and not very successful attempts to produce major novels. The contrast with the vigor, productivity, and happiness of this Parisian period must have been painful for Hemingway though only at the very end of book does a note of self-pity creep in.

One of the best!.......2007-06-01

So many good things have been said of this book and I can add nothing more. Anybody wanting to understand Hemingway and disciplined writing should read or reread this book.

A good present for someone going to Paris.......2007-03-08

This book by Hem was published after his death. You can of see this, Hem would never have published some of these stories if he was alive and kicking - at least he would have edited them heavily. Still it is an amazing book filled with beautiful memories of a fantastic city when it was both good and affordable. Today Paris is still a good city, but it's hardly affordable. Anyway, if you intend to travel to Paris by yourself or if some of your close friends will visit Paris, they will be most happy to get this as a present. Afterwards they will keep thanking you every time you meet them - yes, it's just that good...

Average customer rating:

Moving
Miss Jane Pittman
Great if you like this sort of thing
Ahhh, such a classic
Very Interesting but also very dry.

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
Ernest J. Gaines
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0553263579
Release Date: 1982-07-01

Book Description

"This is a novel in the guise of the tape-recorded recollections of a black woman who has lived 110 years, who has been both a slave and a witness to the black militancy of the 1960's. In this woman Ernest Gaines has created a legendary figure, a woman equipped to stand beside William Faulkner's Dilsey in The Sound And The Fury." Miss Jane Pittman, like Dilsey, has 'endured,' has seen almost everything and foretold the rest. Gaines' novel brings to mind other great works The Odyssey for the way his heroine's travels manage to summarize the American history of her race, and Huckleberry Finn for the clarity of her voice, for her rare capacity to sort through the mess of years and things to find the one true story in it all." -- Geoffrey Wolff, Newsweek.

"Stunning. I know of no black novel about the South that excludes quite the same refreshing mix of wit and wrath, imagination and indignation, misery and poetry. And I can recall no more memorable female character in Southern fiction since Lena of Faulkner's Light In August than Miss Jane Pittman." -- Josh Greenfeld, Life

Customer Reviews:

Moving.......2007-05-12

This is the story of an incredible, 110 year old black woman, as told to a writer on tape. Jane, born Ticey, was born a slave on a Louisiana plantation and lived through slavery, with all of its cruelties, the Civil War, WW2 and the beginning of the civil rights movement. It's a fascinating glimpse into the lives of people born as slaves with no rights whatsoever, and follows them as they progressed through the following 100 years, learning to assert themselves, gain an education and aiming for better lives for themselves and their children. Some of the language was a little incomprehensible to me as a non American and I couldn't make out the meaning of a lot of phrases that local readers would understand immediately. I'll now try to find the movie on DVD to go with the book.

Miss Jane Pittman.......2007-02-21

I read the Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman as an independent reading project for my English class this year, and I loved it. Although it was a little dry at times, it was a very thought-provoking book with a plot that made you want to keep reading. Although it is fictional, the author has a way of writing that will make you believe this story is a true autobiography. While reading, I could actually imagine being there with Jane, working by her side in the fields as a slave. It was almost as if I could feel the exact emotions she was feeling and all the pain that she was going through. Along with being entertaining, I also found this book to be educational. I learned so many things about the Civil War and slavery that I never knew before, but it was actually fun to read about. That's more than any text book can offer. My only warning for anybody who is planning on reading this book is that it's terribly sad in some parts. Some passages include a lot gory details, which I think are necessary to show what the characters are really going through, but others may find them to be a little excessive. In spite of that, I still ejoyed reading The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. My next step will be renting the movie. If that is anywhere near as good as the book, I'm in for a treat.

Great if you like this sort of thing.......2007-01-06

This was a really interesting book, but it was a slow read and it wasn't very exciting to me. It was also very depressing. I did learn a lot from this book. For all you history and/or Civil War/Civil Rights fanatics, this is the book you need to read. For all you fantasy/adventure fans, you might want to read something else.

Ahhh, such a classic.......2006-01-14

I have been a fan of the movie forever. It inspired me and moved me ever since i have been a little girl! it's soo funny that i have had this book forever and i finally finished it. miss jane has such an inspirational story. thsi is a classic that no one should miss! for the longest time, i thoght miss jane was a real woman who lived and walked this earth for real. but i realized as i got older that her story is the story of my ancestors and i feel even more inspired! a great read, don't miss it!

Very Interesting but also very dry........2006-01-12

I sorta enjoyed the novel it was not really one of my favoorites but I was fascinated with the civil war era. The main thing I didnt like about this book was that it focused to much on the part of the united states where she lived Lousiana. But its definatly worth reading.

Average customer rating:

wonderful portrayal of a migrant family
book review on Breaking Through
breaking through
An Inspiring story for all readers
Good Stories and Good Message

Breaking Through
Francisco Jiménez
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Hispanic & Latino | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Teens | Subjects | Books

Classics | Literature & Fiction | Teens | Subjects | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0618342486

Book Description

At the age of fourteen, Francisco Jimnez, together with his older brother Roberto and his mother, are caught by la migra. Forced to leave their home, the entire family travels all night for twenty hours by bus, arriving at the U.S. and Mexican border in Nogales, Arizona. In the months and years that follow, Francisco, his mother and father, and his seven brothers and sister not only struggle to keep their family together, but also face crushing poverty, long hours of labor, and blatant prejudice. How they sustain their hope, their goodheartedness, and tenacity is revealed in this moving sequel to The Circuit. Without bitterness or sentimentality, Francisco Jimnez finishes telling the story of his youth.

Customer Reviews:

wonderful portrayal of a migrant family.......2007-02-16

I bought *Breaking Through* without realizing that it was a sequel to *The Circuit*. Nonetheless, you aren't lost if you start with *Breaking Through* I loved this memoir because it was one of the best portrayal of a migrant family.

This memoir chronicled the life of Francisco Jimenez from the time that him and his family entered America from Mexico to his entrance into college.

The Jimenez family saved up some money and entered into Mexico illegally. They were soon caught, after a time, and deported back. However, they were able to get papers and return. Despite living in the land of freedom and opportunities, the family has to work hard in order to survive. They worked in strawberry fields, lettuce patches and cleaned buildings.

Francisco is loving school yet struggled to stay on top as he also has to work. His older brother did well in school but worked nearly as much as their often-ill father did. The mother stayed home and took care of the children. However, she often substituted in their work when needed.

*Breaking Through* is a story of a family working together. It's also a story of one finding one's own identity in America. It's also a story of one trying to achieve the American dream.

You'll laugh. You'll cry. If you don't understand the Mexican culture, you'll find yourself puzzled at some things. Coming from a Hispanic family, I found myself nodding and taking strolls in memory lane.

Overall, it's easy reading for a great book.

book review on Breaking Through.......2007-01-16

Book Review on Breaking Through

Hi, this book Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez is a sad book. Why is it a sad book? A boy named Francisco struggles through life trying to keep his family together. He works and goes to school, also trying to keep his grades up. This book is a good book because of the Theme, believable charters, and a nice setting.

The theme is, heart breaking. It's heart breaking since a boy and his family have to face many difficult obstacles. The obstacles are not easy for Francisco and his family. They have to pay bills but they don't have any money. So the whole family except mom and the youngest ones have to work.

Besides the heart breaking theme there are nice believable charters. The charters sometimes where confused. They where confused because they didn't have money. No one to help them, and struggled to keep food on the table.

There also was a very good setting. The setting took place in many different places. Like school, fields, gas company, Twitchel and Twitchel. There are many different places. So that means that the family is all over the places.

So this book has a great theme. Wonderful setting that makes you feel like your there watching it all happing. Also nice believable charters that do things that you could relate to. So if you like heart breaking novels then this is the book for you.

The End

breaking through.......2007-01-15

ANTHONY JOHNSTON
JAN. 11, 2007

"BREAKING THROUGH" BOOK REVIEW

The book is "Breaking Through" and the author is Francisco Jimenez. The main person in the book is the author. It is a true story. He has a mom, dad and brother. His brother's name is Roberto. I thought it would be a good book because the first sentence was "I lived in constant fear for ten long years."

You shouldn't read this book because there are a lot of Spanish words. The book is very long. It has 195 pages in the book. The Spanish words are very hard to read and you can't understand them.

The characters were papa, mama; Roberto and Francisco. They live on a farm or tent. Papa and mama are the mom and dad. Roberto is the brother. Francisco is the author and character in the book.

There are pictures of the author in the back of the book. The Jimenez's lived on a farm or tent. They grew up poor in America. They lived in a tent in America.

This book is very hard to read and it's long. The whole book is Francisco's life. I'd liked to sum up by saying I still don't like the book because I couldn't understand the words. In less you like reading Spanish you shouldn't read this book.

An Inspiring story for all readers.......2006-11-10

This is a wonderful book. It draws you into Francisco's life and really makes you think about how easy most of us had it as a child! A MUST READ!!

Good Stories and Good Message.......2006-10-01

I bought this book after I'd read The Circuit because I needed to find out what happened to the family. I was intrigued by both books, found them fairly easy reading, and believe that they open up opportunities for discussion with teens. Thought provoking, well-written, very descriptive, somewhat depressing although I found the characters' spirit amazing and inspiring, and all together a very good read. Great for young adults as well as adults...highly recommended.

The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative

Average customer rating:

Made me want to get back to writing
write it right- the Gornick way
Book was not what I thought it would be
sylvia winner
Incredible

The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative
Vivian Gornick
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Essays | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0374528586

Book Description

A guide to the art of personal writing, by the author of Fierce Attachments and The End of the Novel of Love

All narrative writing must pull from the raw material of life a tale that will shape experience, transform event, deliver a bit of wisdom. In a story or a novel the "I" who tells this tale can be, and often is, an unreliable narrator but in nonfiction the reader must always be persuaded that the narrator is speaking truth.

How does one pull from one's own boring, agitated self the truth-speaker who will tell the story a personal narrative needs to tell? That is the question The Situation and the Story asks--and answers. Taking us on a reading tour of some of the best memoirs and essays of the past hundred years, Gornick traces the changing idea of self that has dominated the century, and demonstrates the enduring truth-speaker to be found in the work of writers as diverse as Edmund Gosse, Joan Didion, Oscar Wilde, James Baldwin, or Marguerite Duras.

This book, which grew out of fifteen years teaching in MFA programs, is itself a model of the lucid inteligence that has made Gornick one of our most admired writers of ninfiction. In it, she teaches us to write by teaching us how to read: how to recognize truth when we hear it in the writing of others and in our own.

Customer Reviews:

Made me want to get back to writing.......2007-03-09

Gornick manages to analyze exactly what makes a personal essay successful without sounding didactic or sentimental. I'm not surprosed, as she is a terrific writer herself. She uses examples of pieces and excerpts from well-known and not-so-well known writers. For anyone who has written creative non-fiction and hasn't always known what to do to improve their work, Gornick offers an unusual way of looking at things, an interesting combination of intuitive and analytical. If you are new to writing, she offers suggestions on how to read other writers, and what to look for. I would add this to "Bird by Bird," by Anne Lamott, as excellent and inspiring books for writers.

write it right- the Gornick way.......2007-02-15

The Situation and the Story although easy to follow is a tough read. Gornick's book tells how to read memoirs as well as how to write them. She strives for the highest standards and lays great responsiblity on the wrier's shoulders. Beyond just relating a good story that happens to be true, Gornick expects the writer to impart wisdomto the reader gained by the writerfrom the act of writing the memoir. If the writer didn't gain wisdom, t she probably shouldn't write the memoir.
For serious memoirist the book is a must read, and reread, and reread.

Book was not what I thought it would be.......2006-08-10

No fault of amazon or author.

sylvia winner.......2005-09-24

Vivian Gornick never disappoints me. Her intellegence and insights abound and this is a particularly stimulating and revealing book.

Incredible.......2004-10-24

Gornick's approach to the subject and her analysis of personal narrative = priceless. A thoroughly engaging read for those who are exploring how to become stronger writers of essays and/or memoirs. Highly recommended.

Black Boy (The Restored Text Established by The Library of America) (Perennial Classics)

Average customer rating:

wow
Not the best edition to have
Searching for Humanity
Read it for the second time!
Hearing Wright's Life and Our Own

Black Boy (The Restored Text Established by The Library of America) (Perennial Classics)
Richard A. Wright
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Authors | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Popular Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Book Clubs | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0060929782

Book Description

With an introduction by Jerry W. Ward, Jr.

Black Boy is a classic of American autobiography, a subtly crafted narrative of Richard Wright's journey from innocence to experience in the Jim Crow South. An enduring story of one young man's coming off age during a particular time and place, Black Boy remains a seminal text in our history about what it means to be a man, black, and Southern in America.

"Superb...The Library of America has insured that most of Wright's major texts are now available as he wanted them to be tread...Most important of all is the opportunity we now have to hear a great American writer speak with his own voice about matters that still resonate at the center of our lives."
--Alfred Kazin, New York Time Book Review
"The publication of this new edition is not just an editorial innovation, it is a major event in American literary history."
--Andrew Delbanco, New Republic

Customer Reviews:

wow.......2007-09-29

This is my all time favourite book ever. I'm sure there are literary drawbacks to it somewhere; but overall I think its an amazingly well written book. Poignant, stark, and unfathomable. Reading it made me so hungry, you wouldn't believe.

Not the best edition to have.......2007-09-15

Much as I love and admire this book--a must-read in American literature--this is not the best edition to have. Wright originally wrote the book in two parts: "Southern Night," about his experiences in the South; and "The Horror and the Glory." His original title for the two-part book was AMERICAN HUNGER.

When it was selected as a primary selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club--a great honor at that time, which tripled the sales of the book--he was asked to remove "The Horror and the Glory" and just publish the first section, "Southern Night." That was the book he retitled BLACK BOY. It is a pure memoir of his life as an aspirational but deeply alienated black growing up in the South.

Recent editions of the book have restored "The Horror and the Glory" to the text, and you might think this is a good thing. I don't think it is, in this case. That section purports to continue his memoir with his experiences in Chicago. However, unfortunately--and ironically--the Book of the Month Club editors were right from an artistic standpoint. "The Horror and the Glory" is completely different in tone. It largely recounts Wright's involvement in the Communist Party of the 1930s, and is deeply enmeshed in party politics. It embodies Wright's own feelings of devotion to Communism and Communist ideals even as it recounts his repudiation of the party.

I have nothing against Wright having been a Communist per se; my objections are not political at all but purely artistic. This second part of the book has none of the directness and immediacy of the first part; it is far less entertaining, and much more of a chore to read. Actually, the first part of the book (about two-thirds of its length) does indeed stand alone as a cohesive, coherent narrative. This is how it was issued, and, actually, it's how it should be read. The second part merely dilutes the artistic impact of the first part, rather than adding to it.

"The Horror and the Glory" was published originally in a motley of smaller articles, in the Atlantic Monthly and elsewhere. The issues it raises--internal Communist party politics and their relationships to the John Reed Clubs and their associated writers' groups--are somewhat interesting historically, but dated and ultimately irrelevant. It feels very much like commentary on facts and events you're expected to know about, but don't.

I suggest readers either purchase an edition that is true to the first edition, and contains only what in this edition is called "Southern Night," or else consider just reading the first part and letting the second part go. I think it's a better book the way it was originally issued.

Searching for Humanity.......2007-06-26

Richard Wrights autobiographical book is all the more remarkable in so much that it exists and was written by a man born to fail by society and given every hinderence to his thirst and love for life and reading.

Wrights book never becomes mawkish or pious.It simply tells it how it was;deep south society at the turn of the century and the black peoples place in it. Wright is open about his own failings-taunting jews, his childhood alcoholism-but there was no escape for him no matter how hard he tried to get ahead. A painful scene comes when young Wright thinks he is 'getting ahead' by selling newspapers to have a wiser black head point out he is actually selling ku klux klan literature. His love for books is hampered by the law banning blacks from libraries.

He comes across liberals who try to help him, but there is only so much anyone can do in a society swamped by prejudices.

The sad end is when Wright traveled up to the north; Chicago, where 'Blacks are free' The memoir ends here, but further reading of Wrights work-and that of his admirers and contemporaries such as Ralph Ellison-makes you aware that this was just another myth.Yes,life wasn't as oppressive as the south, but the 'liberals' liked the blacks to stay in the 'black belt'(a favourite term of Wrights) and used all means at disposal should they get 'Uppity'.

Wright inspired Ellison and Baldwin amongst others, but I feel sure he must have inspired MLK as well, as all Wright ever really wanted was human dignity for all mankinds peoples.

Read it for the second time!.......2007-04-25

This book is an early years autobiography of Richard Wright, the famed and accomplished African American author. I read all of Mr. Wright's books when I was in junior high school and wanted to share them with my teenage daughter. In doing so, I picked up "Black Boy" and couldn't put it down until I read it again.

Richard Wright was raised in the South in the 1920's. He experienced the hardships, poverty, and racism of those days and relays these experiences descriptively yet simply in the book. The reader can can see and feel the events without being bored.

"Black Boy" is a quick one- or two-day read, and I recommend it highly. I also highly recommend one of Mr. Wright's fictional novels, "Native Son."

Hearing Wright's Life and Our Own.......2007-04-05

Peter Francis James's performance of Richard Wright's autobiography brings many of its aural qualities our ears, qualities we may not notice in a silent reading of the book. These CDs enable both the visually impaired and the sighted to enjoy Wright's classic and to ponder why after sixty-two years the book still provides insights about American culure.

Looking for Jimmy: A Search for Irish America

Average customer rating:

A must read for anyone who wants to better understand America.
Getting the Irish Right
Mining for Irish green
No Plastic Paddy Here....
Brilliantly Written

Looking for Jimmy: A Search for Irish America
Peter Quinn
Manufacturer: Overlook Hardcover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Irish | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Historical | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Essays | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1585678708
Release Date: 2007-02-15

Book Description

"Paddy"--the caricature of the heavy-drinking, hardbrawling Irishman born in Vaudeville acts and nativist cartoons-- remains, unfortunately, a vivid feature of the American national imagination. But as this stereotype fades into the past, what image does America have of the millions of Irish-Catholic immigrants who have played such a central role in our history?

In this remarkable collection of writings chronicling the author's exploration of his own past--and the lives of the hundreds of thousands of nameless immigrants that struggled alongside his own ancestors--Peter Quinn paints a brilliant new portrait of the Irish-American men and women whose culture and values now play such a central role in all of our identities as Americans. In Quinn's hands, "Paddy" gives way to an image of "Jimmy"--an archetypal Irish-American (a composite of Jimmy Cagney and Jimmy Walker) who comes to life as the fast-talking, tough-yet-refined urban American who redefined American politics, street culture, religion, and moral imagination. Addressing subjects ranging from the impact of decades of immigration on Western Ireland to the long legacy of Irish-American Archbishop John Hughes, Quinn's vibrant prose weaves together the story of a people that has made an immeasurable contribution to American history and culture.

Customer Reviews:

A must read for anyone who wants to better understand America........2007-10-01

A big fan of Quinn's historical fiction novels "Banished Children of
Eve" and "Hour of the Cat," I knew I was in the hands of an expert
author and historian in "Looking for Jimmy." Quinn gets personal in
this collection of essays about the Irish in America. As he shares
stories of his family, I'm reminded of my own, or the lack thereof.
The older generations didn't speak much about Ireland or the trials
and harsh tales of their immigration and integration into the new
world. Quinn notes the silence and dearth of artifacts. The phrase
"Watch the quiet ones" comes to mind. May as well say, watch the
Irish ones. Thankfully, Quinn is not quiet. He watches them all,
researches, studies and considers, takes account and conveys the story
and motivation of a people across generations.

It's all too common for modern society to neglect its ancestry. The
melting pot warrants, yet makes it harder to figure identity. Quinn
bravely and enthusiastically explores one important and special
ingredient in that pot, the Irish. He takes us to the movies with
James Cagney, to the legendary story of hero Michael Corcoran, to many
places the Irish permeated and permeate. What it means to be
American, has a lot to do with what it means to be every other
culture. Quinn's "Looking For Jimmy" helps us find him and appreciate
the Irish element in the fabric of America. If we're lucky, there's a
little bit of Jimmy in all of us.

Getting the Irish Right.......2007-09-11

The great Irish labor leader and 1916 rebel James Connally once said,"It's easier to explain socialism to the Irish than to explain the Irish to the socialists." I've always found depictions of Irish Americans--even more that the Irish in Ireland--to be riddled with stereotypes, both favorable and unfavorable. Why, I've wondered, couldn't anybody "explain" Irish Americans to their fellow Americans--i.e., capture all the confouding complexity of this people in their long day's journey from famine and rural serfdom to the top of the New World? Maybe no one story can ever capture the whole journey, but for me "Looking for Jimmy" comes as close as anyone will ever manage. I was deeply moved by this book, and though, unlike the author, I no longer have any association with organized religion (I describe myself as a "disorganized Christian"),I found his observations on faith to be filled with truth. If you're not Irish American but want to find out about them, read this book. If you are Irish American and want to find out about yourself, do the same.

Mining for Irish green.......2007-08-01

I bought this book because of the many positive reviews. The work is extremely long on opinion and very short on fact. How this sentimental and nostalgic bathos can sell without negative reviews appearing is beyond this Celt's understanding.

No Plastic Paddy Here...........2007-03-12

This book answers the question once and for all; Are all the NY Irish dead and buried in Calvary Cemetary??? Not so.....Quinn's book riveted me from the first word written. So many of the reflections were identical to my own family and their experience in New York. The silence of our past, the quest for respectability, the fierce fidelity to the faith. I was torn between laughing and crying at the similarities.

Besides the magnificent analysis and brilliant prose, I appreciate Quinn's indebtedness to the parochial school system; I too am a product of a Christian Brothers high school, then Fordham (much to the dismay of my high school teachers, no Manhattan College in my future...my father had the Jesuits at Xavier and Georgetown)

If you are a New Yorker of Irish descent, this is a must read. Too few of my generation appreciate the sufferings and sacrifices of our ancestors; we have succeeded upon their shoulders. This book crystalizes that fact, and challenges us to keep faith with that past as we look to the future

Brilliantly Written.......2007-03-12

Peter Quinn is a master storyteller and with his prose he tries to keep alive the enduring and rich legacy of Irish-American contributions to the history and foundations of American life.

Average customer rating:

The Hobo Philosopher
Pertinent and well written
A lesson for us all
Great classic/ but too expensive here
Mr. Thoreau's Work: Walden

Walden: (Writings of Henry D. Thoreau)
Henry David Thoreau
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Essays | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0691096120

Book Description

Originally published in 1854, Walden, or Life in the Woods, is a vivid account of the time that Henry D. Thoreau lived alone in a secluded cabin at Walden Pond. It is one of the most influential and compelling books in American literature.

This new paperback edition--introduced by noted American writer John Updike--celebrates the 150th anniversary of this classic work. Much of Walden's material is derived from Thoreau's journals and contains such engaging pieces as "Reading" and "The Pond in the Winter." Other famous sections involve Thoreau's visits with a Canadian woodcutter and with an Irish family, a trip to Concord, and a description of his bean field. This is the complete and authoritative text of Walden--as close to Thoreau's original intention as all available evidence allows.

For the student and for the general reader, this is the ideal presentation of Thoreau's great document of social criticism and dissent.

Customer Reviews:

The Hobo Philosopher.......2007-09-24

My first copy of this book was indubitably from some other publisher. So I'm not commenting on this particular volume but the content of the work itself.
I have always loved this book but it wasn't until recent years that I realized what a controversial book this was. Thoreau published this book at his own expense and he sold very few copies. Later on he stored most of his unsold copies in an attic. He once claimed to have the largest collection of book published by Henry David Thoreau than anyone alive - and I'm sure he did.
But why didn't people buy this book? Well, for one thing it was critical of "the neighborhood". For another thing it was critical of "the values of his neighbors". For another thing it was critical of the values of his countrymen; it was critical of Capitalism; it was critical of modern life; it was critical of the "consumer mentality"; it was critical of the work ethic; it was critical of buying things; it was critical of "getting ahead" and "accumulating; it was critical of working for a living; it was critical of achieving; it was a critique on the civilization of the day - and it was not positive.
So why did it make me feel good to read it then and why does it have the same effect on me today?
I don't know but whenever I get lonely to go have a talk with an old friend I go to the book shelf and pick up Walden by Henry David Thoreau.

Pertinent and well written.......2007-09-17

Strangely surprising how pertinent many of Thoreau's perceptions, opinions and insights on habits and values are to modern day society and culture. And impressive how vehemently he professes these views in some sections. No sugar coating here. This is raw stuff, presented with language and skill we've lost over the years.

My favorite quote: "One generation abandons the enterprises of another like stranded vessels"

Thoreau is inspired and inspiring.

A lesson for us all.......2007-08-18

Imagine a man, living in the present time, who is fed up with life in our ever-changing electronic world. So, he goes to live in a hut he's re-built out by a gentle pond, reasonably away from civilization. He throws away his cell phone, computer, TV, radio, etc. and lives simply and quietly, observing naature with his eyes and a microscope. He's not a hermit, because he visits and is visited by, friends and neighbors. He examines his life in solitude and writes about the sights and sounds of the woods and the pond.
For two years living alone this way, he comes to know nature and himself intimately and when he returns to civilization, he is refreshed, spiritually, emotionally and mentally.

Now, imagine all this as done 160 years ago when technology consisted of things like the newly invented telegraph (which he disdained), railway system, and others. Thoreau, like many of us today, longed to live simply and in harmony with Nature. The inspiration for hundreds of hippies, eco-freaks, Luddites and anti-technologists, he showed us that we sometimes need to get back to simple and clean living with no one and nothing to intrude on our thoughts.

And by the time you've finished this little gem of a book, the weekend will be over, and it will be time to go back to the ugly, long commute to a place where technology and stress seemingly go hand in hand.

Great classic/ but too expensive here.......2007-07-16

I brought this book because I had a class that required it. I got it within 2 weeks so that wasn't bad but I hadn't realized that I paid more for the book here then I would have had I gone to a local store! The back of the book says it's only $2.50. The lowest price I could find on Amazon was $4. I guess that's why people don't have to pay for shipping when they purchase items that exceed $25! (The free mailing gets paid for (at least in this case), with higher book prices.
BTW I found out that this book is a free e-book via the web. Next time I'll make sure to check that avenue first.

Mr. Thoreau's Work: Walden.......2007-04-22

It looks like I rated it 4 stars. I can't seem to change that. I really meant to rate it a 3.

Fortunately, I read The Annotated Walden, annotated by Phillip Van Doren Stern. Thank goodness I chose it. Without Mr. Van Doren Stern's introduction, side bars, pictures and comments, I think I would have been thoroughly lost.

I have to agree with a few of the reviewers who stated how pompous Thoreau sounds; he does. He tries to act superior,only to have the side bar notations state something different; something that a friend mentioned. For example, he says he "could easily do without the post-office," yet a contemporary, Sanborne, is quoted off to the side of the annotated version as having said about this quote: "Few residents of Concord frequented the Post Office more punctually or read the newspapers more eagerly than Thoreau."

He contradicts himself constantly. He mocks people who don't read, and then says he barely read a few pages of one book in the two years he was at Walden pond. He could be vindictive; lashing out at Flint's Pond (and Mr. Flint) because Flint would not let him build a cabin on his pond. He comes off as a snob, saying most men learn to read only as a necessity; for work, to add up their profits. But *true* readers are hard to come by. "I aspire to be acquainted with wiser men than this Concord soil has produced.."

Yet, he also has some really great words of wisdom. He questions the wisdom in working so hard during the best part of your life (youth) only to spend the fruits of your labor "during the least valuable part of it." Enjoy life while you are young. Why work so hard when the endgame is death? He comments on things that are still true to this day; fashion and our obsession with appearance. Work to provide for yourself, not to overburden yourself and keep yourself in debt.

Someone reviewing this book on Amazon wrote that it was a failed experiment; that he meant to live in the woods as a hermit of sorts and failed miserably to do so. That was never the extent of his experiment. He never says he's going to lead a solitary life. He states he visited the village every day or two. "As I walked in the woods to see birds and squirrels, so I walked in the village to see men and boys."

I find myself having mixed feelings regarding this book. He is so contradictory, but then, so am I. He can be judgemental and then he can be spot-on. It was a difficult book to get through, Again, had I not had the annotated version, I would have been truly lost. He frustrated me at times. I was not reading literature. I was reading someone's diary that often went off-tangent (like this review). Is it Top 100 book worthy? My opinion: no. It was good at times, painful at others. I took 2 months to trudge through it, all the while reading 5 other books just to keep me going. I am glad I read it. I won't do it again though. Sorry, Mr. Thoroeau

Average customer rating:

Magill's Survey of American Literature

Manufacturer: Salem Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

Authors | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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

English (All) | Dictionaries & Thesauruses | Reference | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 1587652854

Memoirs of General W.T. Sherman (Library of America)

Average customer rating:

Read it !
"MEMOIRS" BY W.T. SHERMAN
Sherman in his own words...
timeless lessons
Illuminating Generals Memoir

Memoirs of General W.T. Sherman (Library of America)
William Tecumseh Sherman
Manufacturer: Library of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0940450658

Book Description

Hailed as a prophet of modern war and condemned as a harbinger of modern barbarism, Sherman is the most controversial general of the Civil War. "War is cruelty, you cannot refine it," he wrote in fury to the Confederate mayor of Atlanta, and his memoir is filled with dozens of such wartime exchanges and a fascinating, eerie account of the famous march through the Carolinas.

Customer Reviews:

Read it !.......2007-10-06

Sherman is (perhaps arguably) the most articulate and intelligent autobiographer (and biographer) of the Civil War period. Yes, he was controversial, but that, in great part, came from the times, and the period politics, and later from the political agendas of modern politically correct historians/writers. The overriding elements in Sherman's autobiography are the matter-of-factness and the fairness with which he describes events and people in his life. With much the same exquisite Dignity as U. S. Grant in his memoiors, Sherman speaks to the reader with a clarity and honesty no decent person can help but admire. He is painstaking in relating military associations - sometimes wearily so. But his thorough and candid descriptions of events, people and places still present themselves in an entertaining manner time and time again. For the reader mature enough to accept those times without tainted sanctimonious judgement, Sherman's memoirs will be a fascinating and enlightening glimpse of the people and the soul of our country during one of our most trying eras.

"MEMOIRS" BY W.T. SHERMAN.......2007-06-28

INTERESTING TO READ "SHERMANS" SIDE OF THE STORY !! GOOD READ IN CONJUCTION WITH "CITIZEN SHERMAN" BY MICHAEL FELLMAN !!!

Sherman in his own words..........2007-06-27

General William T. Sherman's memoirs, first published in 1875, are primarily an account of his service in uniform during the Civil War. Sherman rallied to the Union colors early in the conflict, but had indifferent success until the searing crucible of the Battle of Shiloh, where he fought under the command of the stalwart U.S. Grant. Shiloh was a turning point. With increasing confidence as a leader, Sherman played key roles in the siege of Vicksburg and in the relief of beseiged Union forces at Chattanooga. When Grant was called east to head up all Union forces, he hand-picked Sherman as his successor in the West. Sherman would go on to take Atlanta, march to the sea at Savannah, and pillage his way through the Carolinas to hasten the end of the war.

Sherman the man, and his memoirs, stand in vivid contrast to his contemporary and close friend U.S. Grant. Where Grant was modest and reserved, Sherman comes across as all nervous energy, talking up a storm and hardly able to sit still doing it. His memoirs are reflective of his personality, passionate and argumentative in between inserted copies of key correspondence. While less polished than Grant's, they are in many ways more entertaining and certainly more revealing of Sherman's feelings and personality.

Sherman expresses an opinion on practically everything. His battles with newspaper reporters, whom he despised, date from an alleged nervious breakdown in the first year of the war. His exchange of correspondence with Confederate General John Hood over the forced evacuation of Atlanta, are a malstrom in miniature of the passions behind the war itself. Sherman is more than frank about the politics within the Union Army, and its sometimes troubled relations with civilian authority. Above all, Sherman recognized the cruelty of the war, and was unwilling to sugarcoat that reality for anyone. Sherman and Grant each understood the grim arithmetic that the Confederate Armies must be bled to death in order for the Confederacy to be defeated and were prepared to carry out that strategy.

This book is highly recommended to students of the Civil War, who will find Sherman to be an instructive and even at times entertaining guide through those portions that he personally experienced.

timeless lessons.......2006-11-10

Clearly historians and civil war buffs will acknowledge the brilliance of this memoir for its obvious window into the mind of this most important figure of his time.
I didn't come to this as either one of the former,but as a reader interested in understanding how this man accomplished the most decisive strokes in the war with such skill.
The greatness of book lies not so much in its explanation of military strategy(which it is) but the powerful definition of the principles of freedom as expressed through a common foot soldier.
Sherman understood that no elitist and patrician society could stand however strong there reputation ,against a soldier who fought for this principle.
I found it inciteful that Shermans experience in the prewar south,and his views of its imbalanced society, became more valuable in breaking it than his geographical knowledge.
That Lincoln approved Shermans plan to march through the heart of the confedreacy at the disapproval of all his advisors shows his wisdom to Shermans argument that the south was a shell,and hollow inside.
Grants reluctance to this plan,which he approved only out of his loyalty to Sherman, is poignant to read.Grant thought he'd never see his best friend again.
The genius of Sherman was his utter conviction in the goodness of men to destroy that which was evil,knowing that when his men saw not the soldiery of the south,but its hideous society,he needn't do more to motivate them.
The miserable condition of slavery was known,but the site of 90 percent of a white population virtually no better off provided Sherman with a civilian population unable and unwilling to resist.Noone but Sherman thought this important,and that his diary records this as a current fact and not analysis years later is powerful reading.
Defeating the confedracy on this march with no major battles and losing but 100 men of his 62,000, told the south, as well as the north the myth of southern military advantage.
Sherman became so feared ,Southern commanders as well as thier soldiers fled before him,offering almost no opposition.
Shermans Army of the West,recruited and trained by him,became the most feared army in the world,for it fought under the true belief of a free people against real evil.
His own words to that effect are awe inspiring.

Illuminating Generals Memoir.......2006-08-21

I just finished reading this book (from the library, a 19th century edition) and came to search for other books. There are modern histories, but reading the original memoirs is very satisfying. The book by Julius Ceasar of the Gallic wars comes to mind. Sherman is a clear and satisfying writer. He does remind me of Ceasar in his matter of fact recollections.

I enjoyed the section on the taking of California during the Mexican war. Talking about hundreds of ships abandoned in Yerba Buena (to become San Francisco) due to the desertion of all the crews was interesting.

The period between California and Louisiana and secession is less interesting, but he was preparing a memoir of his life.

The war is what everyone will be looking for, and specifically the March to the Sea. The advance down from Tennessee to Atlanta is more militarily interesting. After the fall of Atlanta the battle was all logistics. Could such a large army separate from it's supply lines? According to W.T. Sherman this was all his idea and he documents it exhaustively. Presumeably this was due to disparagements of his leadership in the decades after the war and the presidency of Johnson.

The extensive documentation of lines of battle and effective strength and copies of tremendous amounts of coorespondence can be tedious, but are easily scanned for what is of interest or skipped altogether.

Great read, interesting book. Tecumseh Sherman is one of my heroes.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books