Amazon.com
When he was but 10 years old, Tim Tyson heard one of his boyhood friends in Oxford, N.C. excitedly blurt the words that were to forever change his life: "Daddy and Roger and 'em shot 'em a nigger!" The cold-blooded street murder of young Henry Marrow by an ambitious, hot-tempered local businessman and his kin in the Spring of 1970 would quickly fan the long-flickering flames of racial discord in the proud, insular tobacco town into explosions of rage and street violence. It would also turn the white Tyson down a long, troubled reconciliation with his Southern roots that eventually led to a professorship in African-American studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison--and this profoundly moving, if deeply troubling personal meditation on the true costs of America's historical racial divide. Taking its title from a traditional African-American spiritual, Tyson skillfully interweaves insightful autobiography (his father was the town's anti-segregationist Methodist minister, and a man whose conscience and human decency greatly informs the son) with a painstakingly nuanced historical analysis that underscores how little really changed in the years and decades after the Civil Rights Act of 1965 supposedly ended racial segregation. The details are often chilling: Oxford simply closed its public recreation facilities rather than integrate them; Marrow's accused murderers were publicly condemned, yet acquitted; the very town's newspaper records of the events--and indeed the author's later account for his graduate thesis--mysteriously removed from local public records. But Tyson's own impassioned personal history lessons here won't be denied; they're painful, yet necessary reminders of a poisonous American racial legacy that's so often been casually rewritten--and too easily carried forward into yet another century by politicians eagerly employing the cynical, so-called "Southern Strategy." --Jerry McCulley
Book Description
“Daddy and Roger and ’em shot ’em a nigger.” Those words, whispered to ten-year-old Tim Tyson by a playmate, heralded a ?restorm that would forever transform the tobacco market town of Oxford, North Carolina.
On May 11, 1970, Henry Marrow, a twenty-three-year-old black veteran, walked into a crossroads store owned by Robert Teel and came out running. Teel and two of his sons chased and beat Marrow, then killed him in public as he pleaded for his life.
Like many small Southern towns, Oxford had barely been touched by the civil rights movement. But in the wake of the killing, young African Americans took to the streets. While lawyers battled in the courthouse, the Klan raged in the shadows and black Vietnam veterans torched the town’s tobacco warehouses. Tyson’s father, the pastor of Oxford’s all-white Methodist church, urged the town to come to terms with its bloody racial history. In the end, however, the Tyson family was forced to move away.
Tim Tyson’s riveting narrative of that fiery summer brings gritty blues truth, soaring gospel vision, and down-home humor to a shocking episode of our history. Like To Kill a Mockingbird, Blood Done Sign My Name is a classic portrait of an unforgettable time and place.
Customer Reviews:
Grippingly Written, Moving, and Historically Powerful.......2007-08-16
I finally got around to reading this memoir this summer and was in awe of the author's narrative gifts. This story reads like a novel and is full of plain human wisdom, an emotional openness combining humility and pride, wry humor, sharp political analysis, and a can't-put-it-down story line that comes to terms with America's number one cultural problem: racism. This is a book of local history that gets at the human condition, and a work of history that reads like great literature. I'm telling everyone I can to read it, and that includes whoever reads this. Don't pay attention to any of the so-called "corrections" made by some other reviewers here. This is a must-read historical work that shows an astute and perceptive ability to understand its widely varying participants' points of view and experiences, while not shrinking from the moral and historical obligation to draw judgments. There is only one word to use: *brilliant.* (I'm not one to use that lightly when talking about either autobiography or
history.)
Disclaimer: The writer of this review is a professional historian with a Ph.D., but one who has never met Timothy Tyson.
Evangelical Pastor - 63 years old.......2007-07-29
Few books are as challenging for me as this one. I lived through the years of this story and consistently refused to believe that our racism was as extensive or deeply rooted as it was. Take away: the challenge to see it in our present day and to do something about it.
A mixture of polemic, interesting recollections, and accounts of questionable credibility.......2007-07-18
I was born and grew up in Oxford, North Carolina as a white boy, and graduated from the
University of North Carolina in 1949. I have lived in a suburb of Baltimore, Maryland for many
years.
Tyson deserves credit for deploring the murder and acquittal of the murderer in the book.
However, he tends to be polemic: all black people in it are noble; all but a few white people are
some combination of racist, ignorant, or narrow-minded. (It is similar in that respect to Leon
Uris's novel "Exodus", in which all Jews are noble and bigger than life, while all others are hateful
or, at best, not very bright.)
He often uses a down-home style of writing, calling his parents "Daddy" and "Mama" and being
addressed as "Little Buck" by his father, which he apparently feels makes him and his family seem
to be folksy, good plain people.
However, the book is not without its shortcomings.
Accounts of questionable credibility:
¶¶He states that tear gas was used by Oxford police in 1944 to dispel a crowd of black people
who were protesting the arrest of two men. I witnessed the event and remember no tear gas--had
there been, I think I would never have forgotten it.
¶¶An account of the torching of buildings in Oxford on May 25, 1970 by angry black people
following the killing of Marrow describes two tobacco warehouses which were among
them:"Inside these warehouses were eight hundred thousand pounds of golden cured tobacco, a
known flammable substance, with a total value of more than a million dollars." I find it hard to
believe that any tobacco would have been in those warehouses in May.
Tobacco was brought by the farmers to Oxford warehouses from mid-September through
mid-November, where it was sold at auction and immediately taken by the buyers to their Oxford
processing plants, and then shipped off to the cigarette manufacturers. By some time in late
November, all of the warehouses became empty.
Although the whole procedure I describe above could have changed somewhat by 1970, I still
find it hard to believe that there would have been tobacco in the warehouses in May, by which
time it would have probably become dry and crumbly.
¶¶The following exchange supposedly took place during the 1930's between Major T.G. stem (a
prominent white man in Oxford) and a man described in the book as "a local white bootlegger."
Having occurred long before Tyson was born, it was recounted to him by Thad Stem, the Major's
son and a close friend of the Tyson family.
"Major Stem was leaving Hall's drugstore with his son (Thad) and they passed Mrs. G. C. Shaw,
the wife of the principal at Mary Potter High, the local Negro high school.
'Good afternoon, Mrs. Shaw,' the Major said, tipping his hat.
A local white bootlegger, idling under the store awning, accosted Major Stem. 'Why'd you call
that [...] woman Mrs. Shaw'?" he demanded.
'Well, Mrs. Shaw's older than I am,' he began softly. 'She's better educated than I am,and she has
more money.' Then, thrusting the bootlegger away from him, the major exploded: 'But more to
the point, what I call Mrs. Shaw is none of your goddamned business, you low-life taxidermist,
you two-for-a-nickel jackal, you knee-crawling [...], net.' These were the days when
people really knew how to cuss. Back then, the appendage 'net' meant a real [...]...on the
way home (Thad) asked his father why on earth he had called the bootlegger a 'taxidermist.' The
major said quietly that a taxidermist is a man who mounts animals."
If not a total fabrication, the story seems to me to have been mostly made up.
In those earlier times, I never heard any white person in Oxford address or refer to a black person
as Mr./Mrs./Ms. (However, by some strange logic, a black doctor was referred to as Dr. X by
white people. Dr. Ellis Toney was a black practitioner there for many years and was so referred
to. The same was the case for some black ministers, who were referred to as Pastor or Reverend
such-and-such.)
¶¶In writing about the slave trade, Tyson speaks of "the dark Atlantic, where the bones of
somewhere around ten million Africans settled into the sand, thrown overboard by the slave ships
that plied those waters in the early days of the republic (the USA)."
Where did this 10 million figure come from? Tyson provides no source. One reference, "Slavery:
A World History", by Milton Meltzer, says that about 2.2 million died that way.
Degrading most of Oxford's black people by stereotyping them as uncultured:
The most puzzling aspect of the book is: On the one hand, Tyson makes the legitimate point that
black residents of Oxford and Granville County, after long having been subjected to a segregated,
inferior status in society, deserved to be recognized as having equal rights with white citizens.
Yet, at the same time, he consistently shows these same black people as being crude and unable to
say anything without massacring English grammar.
"I knowed him right good, and I liked him all right. He didn't hurt nobody." "Yeah, we was
listening to TV, that's how we got involved in the first sit-ins in Oxford, because we saw on TV
they was doing it up in Greensboro." "Me and a guy named Ronald Jordan, me and him climbed
up on the Confederate soldier..." And there are many more.
I know from personal experience that many black people in Oxford, then and now, are much more
cultured than Tyson portrays them. I also know from my volunteer work at the Helping Up
Mission in Baltimore, where I tutor men who are recovering from drug and alcohol addiction in
the 3R's (all of whom to date have been black), that most black people, like anyone anywhere, will
grasp an opportunity to become more cultured.
Heartbreaking and Revelatory.......2007-05-18
An essential history and memoir of a time whose facts are often forgotten and even actively repressed. The present doesn't make sense without honestly examining the past, and this book does that with humility and emotional power. Even if you think you know this history (as I did) you very well may not.
essential.......2007-03-15
For those of us who think we understand by reading about racial prejudice and thinking about what it must be like, should read this book. We still won't really understand, but we will be a much closer than we were before.
Amazon.com
First published in 1970, this extraordinary book changed the way Americans think about the original inhabitants of their country. Beginning with the Long Walk of the Navajos in 1860 and ending 30 years later with the massacre of Sioux men, women, and children at Wounded Knee in South Dakota, it tells how the American Indians lost their land and lives to a dynamically expanding white society. During these three decades, America's population doubled from 31 million to 62 million. Again and again, promises made to the Indians fell victim to the ruthlessness and greed of settlers pushing westward to make new lives. The Indians were herded off their ancestral lands into ever-shrinking reservations, and were starved and killed if they resisted. It is a truism that "history is written by the victors"; for the first time, this book described the opening of the West from the Indians' viewpoint. Accustomed to stereotypes of Indians as red savages, white Americans were shocked to read the reasoned eloquence of Indian leaders and learn of the bravery with which they and their peoples endured suffering. With meticulous research and in measured language overlaying brutal narrative, Dee Brown focused attention on a national disgrace. Still controversial but with many of its premises now accepted, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee has sold 5 million copies around the world. Thirty years after it first broke onto the national conscience, it has lost none of its importance or emotional impact. --John Stevenson
Book Description
Now a special 30th-anniversary edition in both hardcover and paperback, the classic bestselling history The New York Times called "Original, remarkable, and finally heartbreaking....Impossible to put down"Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is Dee Brown's eloquent, fully documented account of the systematic destruction of the American Indian during the second half of the nineteenth century. A national bestseller in hardcover for more than a year after its initial publication, it has sold almost four million copies and has been translated into seventeen languages. For this elegant thirtieth-anniversary edition -- published in both hardcover and paperback -- Brown has contributed an incisive new preface.Using council records, autobiographies, and firsthand descriptions, Brown allows the great chiefs and warriors of the Dakota, Ute, Sioux, Cheyenne, and other tribes to tell us in their own words of the battles, massacres, and broken treaties that finally left them demoralized and defeated. A unique and disturbing narrative told with force and clarity, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee changed forever our vision of how the West was really won.
Customer Reviews:
BURY MY HEART ! (the truth of how our government "won" the west).......2007-10-10
I first read Dee Brown's book, Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee (1970) as a college assignment in the 1970s. It changed the way I looked at America/our country, America/our history and America/our land. The book is subtitled "An Indian History Of The American West", and focuses on the period of 1860 to 1890. This was after "The Trail Of Tears" of the 1830s, when the Cherokee, Choctaw, and other Indian nations were forced against their will to evacuate the eastern United States and move west. The book covers the Apaches, the Navajo, the Cheyenne, the Nez Percez, and the Sioux, among others. The wars, the injustices, and the sad fate of men, women, and children who died trying to pack up and move their lives yet once again. Brown doesn't portray the Indians as saints, but only as people with limited resources who, too many times, trusted the promises of a government that would, time and time again, go back on it's word, and forcibly humiliate them and worse. Brown also points out that sometimes the Indians overreacted by attacking innocent non-military settlements. Mostly the book is a concise account of the real Manifest Destiny story, and it expels the myths of the old American History 101 textbook, and the romantic Hollywood cowboy/injun-fighter version of our history. It's a tragic and cruel story, really. It's the true story of the progress of one generation of people at the expense of a civilazation. Unfortunately that progress was paved with broken promises, injustice, and lives forever lost.
A Wake-up Call for Americans .......2007-09-05
I just (July 2007) acquired my new copy coming from Amazon. I lost my old copy in 1995. I was not naive about politics and government in 1995. Any scintillas of trust in politics and government,are now gone for even more different reasons. This book seems to keep me awake and keeps my ears wider open to what can happen in this country and this world. It is not just about the shameful and bloody acts in our westward expansion. The word "treaty" from these times is a joke. I can also see more about international expansions. America makes large wrongs, as do other countries do to their own people in history. My heart feels buried because Americans, we, made such innumerable, horrendous and cruel acts. This book remains to me as a great "jolt" to my consciousness. He put together a great example of what America did do to the Native American Peoples. Look at the status of the Native American Peoples who are left today.
Original Eye-Opener.......2007-08-03
This book was and contines to be a wake-up call to the asleep teaching of American History. Especially that of Native Americans and most notably our utter ignorance of our history with Latin America.
A great book.......2007-07-01
Bury my heart at wounded knee is a oustanding account of native american history. Very informative and captivating, piquing my interest in native american's. The words tell of a people heroic,caring,hospitable, and understanding almost pushed to the point of annihilation at the hands of conquistadors,whites and others. Sadness,anger,hate, and sympathy are just some of the feelings brought out by reading this book. If you want an unflinching account of native american history this a great place to start.
bury my heart at wounded knee.......2007-06-27
I was told to read this book as i like to read about american history. this is one of the best book i have read. dee brown really did a lot of backgroud work on it .
Book Description
A revealing look at the college freshman experience, from an insider's point of view
After fifteen years of teaching anthropology at a large university, Rebekah Nathan had become baffled by her own students. Their strange behavior—eating meals at their desks, not completing reading assignments, remaining silent through class discussions—made her feel as if she were dealing with a completely foreign culture. So Nathan decided to do what anthropologists do when confused by a different culture: Go live with them. She enrolled as a freshman, moved into the dorm, ate in the dining hall, and took a full load of courses. And she came to understand that being a student is a pretty difficult job, too. Her discoveries about contemporary undergraduate culture are surprising and her observations are invaluable, making My Freshman Year essential reading for students, parents, faculty, and anyone interested in educational policy.
Customer Reviews:
Required Reading for University Administration and Parents.......2007-10-09
Rebeka Nathan's anthropological account of campus life at the anonymous "AnyU" public university should be read by every professor, university administrator, or parent of a college student. As Nathan says, "Most students have no understanding of...how the university actually functions," while professors "have no idea what a dorm room looks like,...or the cost of books, tuition and housing." Her assessment of what's wrong (students are working more nowadays, and "diversity" is nothing more than a buzzword) are dead-on.
College freshman today!.......2007-09-18
Although this book was a mandatory assignment in a graduate course, it was a great read. The author's decision to transform from a professor to student was a brilliant idea to uncover the truths of college freshman. Although her methods raise some ethical flags, her discoveries of what goes on in the dorms, class and outside of class are amazingly true. Her discoveries at AnyU not only premise on this campus, but so many others.
In addition, so many professors today make unrealistic demands on college students. For once, a professor was able to understand what it is like to be a freshman and adapt to the needs of her students after this research. In addition, the author was able to express her ideas and those of others on academic integrity, meaningful courses, international students, learning and campus community.
The author's detailed descriptions of her personal experiences intrigued me every step of the way. I would definitely recommend anyone, student, parent or professor to read this book. Very insightful and productive research!
Things look better when you're there.......2007-07-16
Shows what an older person in her 50s can get out of the college atmosphere by registering as a real full-time student. This anthropologist learned how younger students behave in the dorms, in the hall discussions, and what they really think of their teachers and of one another. The new (but somewhat older freshman) did not reveal who she really was and went along with the students in what they did or said. Not until the very end does she tell who she is; surprise and understanding are the remarks she heard, but retributions.
Quite an open book, like Augustine's Confessions (almost) and Rousseau's of the same title. It's a good read no matter what your age/sex/education.
Clueless.......2007-07-03
I'm around the author's age (50) and I actually went back to college to study, not to spy on people. Just through casual conversations I know 100x more than I learned from this book. You know, she has revelations like today's students have cell phones instead of rotary dial phones, and some have been known to actually drink alcohol a day or two before reaching age 21. (I'm being sarcastic.)
She didn't seem to interact much with students. This is a dry, dull, uninteresting book with little useful information and is more like a community college paper than a serious study.
Informative to both the professor and the student.......2007-06-09
I found this book, this account of re-entering college to study the student, insightful. It brought back memories of my undergraduate days, though I did not go to a large public university like the one in the book. This fact leads me to disagree about with the author as to the state of "community" in the undergraduate life. The small, private school that I attended was a Christian college. In having this affiliation, it gave every student a connection to every other student, and this lead to more community than I was portrayed in the book. I am not suggesting that every college and university in the country become Christian, just that having another (or at least one) thread that ties all the students together did more for community than policy could. We regularly had meetings, floor activities, and group meals that were attended by the vast majority of the dorm/floor. In sharing another bond, we were more willing to share other things, which is something to think about at least.
I was surprised to learn that cheating was so prevalent in universities, and in student life. It was facts like this, and others that the author peppered throughout her narrative that I found, while not altogether new, useful and interesting. I was especially interested in the final chapter, which in the paperback edition was a discussion of ethics. I found the rules, both institutionally and self imposed to be both pleasing (that the research wasn't "compromised") and frustrating (that I couldn't get the full story - not that I wanted it, just that I couldn't get it). As a future researcher myself, albeit with molecules not humans, the chapter brought up many points to think about.
All in all, the book was worth reading, and was loaded with information I am sure I will make use of as I teach my own classes.
Average customer rating:
- Travels with the ugly Americans
- A built-in fan club
- Nicholas Sparks best book so far!!!!
- A good read
- Three Weeks with My Brother
|
Three Weeks with My Brother
Micah Sparks , and
Nicholas Sparks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Memoirs
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Sparks, Nicholas
| ( S )
| Authors, A-Z
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biography
| Bargain Books
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
At First Sight
-
True Believer
-
Dear John
-
The Rescue
-
A Bend in the Road
ASIN: B000EHSMKY |
Book Description
In January 2003, Nicholas Sparks and his brother Micah set off on a three-week trip around the world. It was to mark a milestone in their lives, for at 37 and 38 respectively, they were now the only surviving members of their family. As Nicholas and Micah travel the globe, the intimate story of their family unfolds in the details of the untimely deaths of their parents and only sister. Against the backdrop of the wonders of the world, the Sparks brothers band together to heal, to remember, and to learn to live life to the fullest.
Customer Reviews:
Travels with the ugly Americans.......2007-09-25
This is for the book on CD and I just couldn't get through it. From his loud brother yelling at the airport raising his arms up -- the overgrown frat boy -- to the same brother lying down on a Mayan temple and wondering why it's sacred and being offended that he couldn't get his picture taken on it. Of course, Nicholas doesn't call is brother out on this. What would Micah think if someone laid across a U.S. flag and wanted their photo on it?
They mock other cultures, laugh at pottery, are bored with much of the trip ... and the knuckleheads on the trip with them (I can't believe these people are college graduates) don't understand why Spanish is being spoken over the Super Bowl commentary in Peru. "What is he saying," they ask. You don't know what Spanish sounds like and you're stunned it's broadcast on Peruvian TV? Again, Nicholas has no comment on just how clueless these people are. The author without an opinion.
I continued to get offended by the rich frat-kid type brothers as much as Nicholas' boring, dry, uneventful prose. Also, some of the stuff they did as kids was more than just rambunctious, it was violent. (I.E. rolling people up in carpet and then jumping on them.) Of course, Nicholas -- ever the spectator without an opinion -- does nothing. Clearly the immature children barely grew up.
This is a frustrating read on the trip around the world by two arrogant elitists. Count me out.
A built-in fan club.......2007-09-03
It's apparent to me from reading all the hymns to Sparks' book that the legions of fans of his overwrought, over-emotional novels have flooded the reviews portion of this book, too. While I can't completely condemn the book, primarily because I learned something from some of the histories of the places the brothers visited, I would much have preferred more about the places themselves--NOT the brothers' reactions to them. Other reviewers have commented on the "Ugly American" aspects of their behavior, so there is no need for me to do it, suffice it to say that I agree with those reviewers.
I was touched by their grief over the losses of their parents, but since the children were adults by this time, I also wanted to say, "Get over it," people die and we move on. Sister Dana's death affected me much more, since her lingering death was faced with such strength.
This book has less of the tear-jerker writing style of Sparks' novels, but he still likes to stick in the "kicker line" at times, particularly after a death: "Dana was thirty-three years old" and "It was just the two of us now. Brothers." (The latter word on a line by itself.) Sparks may laugh all the way to the bank at those of us who criticize his writing style, but such obvious appeal to emotions has always struck me as unsubtle and contrived.
Nicholas Sparks best book so far!!!!.......2007-08-21
This is a memoir, unlike his other books, but it is by far the best he's ever written!!!
Nicholas finds a trip on line for 3 weeks around the world. He decides to take his brother Micah and it becomes a trip down memory lane. The sadness, excitement, and joy of their life stories are unremarkable! It seems unreal that someone can have this much grief.
You will LOVE this book!!!!
A good read.......2007-08-19
I've read quite a few memoirs, and this one was quite enjoyable. You know the gist of it from the description/s above: Sparks recounts his childhood while on a trip with his brother. While some parts of the trip were a little dull (that's okay, they were also bored with some of their trip!), it has everything you could want in a good read -- honesty, humor, sadness, triumph, etc.
If you like memoirs -- and even if you don't -- I think you will like this one! I recommend it.
Three Weeks with My Brother.......2007-08-15
I just started reading the book i am enjoying it si far. I really like it because it is a real story. I love all of his books and i Thank you i will be getting more i only need 3 more and i will have all of them and i cant wait untill Sept.25
Book Description
Best Damn Garage in Town: My life and Adventures was originally published as a 3 volume boxed set of 1,100 pages with over 400 photographs. This version of the book combines all the stories and most of the photographs into a single volume with smaller type and photographs in a bookstore package, as opposed to a coffee table package.
Smokey got the idea for writing a history of stock car racing after giving a talk to explain racing to a group of kids at Lowe's Motorspeedway, around 1995. He realized that all the people who were a part of the early days were dying and most of the ones who were still alive were too involved with racing to be able to tell the real stories. He started writing this book as a history of stock car racing and ended up with look at American history of the past 60 years through a very unique set of eyes.
The first volume, Walkin' Under a Snake's Belly, covers Smokey's life outside racing, beginning with growing up in Neshaminy, Pennsylvania on a farm, dropping out of high school to take care of the family and going off to World War II as a B-17 pilot. The war stories are told through the eyes of a young man who believed all that the Army Air Corps taught him, but he had a mind of his own and was also hell-bent on having fun at all costs. (If that meant irritating a few generals, then that was just par for the course.)
After the racing years, Smokey ended spending most of his time working on his inventions and working in the oil and gold fields of Ecuador. Along the way, Smokey had a knack for finding fun and adventure everywhere he went. Alcohol, women and speed were his main addictions - he eventually gave up alcohol, but never did give up the other two.
The second volume, All Right You Sons-a-Bitches, Let's Have a Race, chronicles the stock car racing years in living color. The warning on these books, that they are not to be read by those under 18 unless they are with a grandparent who can translate the social and moral implications of the stories, is not to be taken lightly. (Smokey even includes his own dictionary to explain the terms that racers used in the early days to the uninformed.) Smokey and his band of merry compatriots were racers and there were only two things on their mind when the sun went down Ð women and booze. Smokey had his share of both during 15 years of racing, when racers were looked down on as the dregs of society. Nothing could stop his dream of being the fastest at the sport he loved, no matter what happened along the way Ð the sign of a true racer.
During his years in stock car racing, Smokey fell in love with a mistress that he would visit every May for over 20 years Ð The Indianapolis 500. The first half of the third volume, Li'l Skinny Rule Book, covers his love of this famed event and the wonderful stories of the days before the big corporate sponsors; when it was just men and their machines, sleeping on the floor in the garage and most times coming home with nothing. As the title implies, Smokey loved Indy because the rules were so simple. His inventive mind and knack for thinking way outside the box were at their best when Indy was involved.
The fourth section of the book covers his years of inventing inside and outside of racing. SmokeyÕs 10 patents don't begin to cover the breadth and depth of his inventing. His work with the car companies and on the racetrack led to a host of developments that have improved surface transportation for everyone. The value of some of his ideas and inventions, like his famous hot vapor engine, were never fully realized.
Many books have been written about the last 50 years of American history, but few are this entertaining, revealing and introspective all at the same time. Real stories from World War II, stock cars, the automotive industry and the Mexican Road Race are just a few of the elements in Smokey's autobiography. They combine to make Best Damn Garage in TownÉThe World According to Smokey one of the most interesting books in a long time.
Customer Reviews:
Great book, couldn't put it down........2007-06-09
I consider Smokey to be one of the greatest things ever for automotive innovation. This book is somewhat hard to read. It almost seems like he dictated it to somebody and told them "Don't edit a thing!!" If you get your self into the right frame of mind while reading, you'll have a lot of fun reading. I thought I wouldn't be too interested in his WWII years, but it was one of the most interesting parts. He did some really cool stuff during the earl years of NASCAR, but he doesn't really get into too much detail until you get to the technical chapters. When he does get into the technical stuff, he warns readers that it's gonna get technical and if you don't like that sort of thing, skip ahead. He also has no problems talking about his failures, and thats nice to see.
He is very repetitive. I guess the book was written over several years, and he must of forgotten he'd already told a story here or there. If you're a sensitive person, you might want to pass on this book. Lots of sex stories
It blows me away that a 10th grade dropout was able to become a B17 aviator and one of the greatest automotive engineers ever. I personally think this book is good enough to be made into a movie. If you're a racing fan, you must read this book! I'm buying the hard bound version next for my library.
SMOKEY!!.......2007-04-23
Anyone who knows NASCAR should know who Smokey Yunick was. I thought I did till I read this book. Sure, he could build a bullet fast race car, sometimes stretch the rulebook alittle. I knew that. But I never knew what this guy had really done in his life. What a great story. The guy lived a life that would make just about any guy awful jealous. He lived by his own rulebook, and backed down to no one. Need someone to look up to? Need a hero? Read this book. You may hate him. But if you don't, you'll love him!!
Smokey's Smokin.......2007-01-22
Best Damn Garage is one of the better books I've read on a racing personalty. I have a couple dozen books on NASCAR and the people who raced from the 40's till the present. This book and Fireball by Godwin Kelly are must reads for the diehard fan.
The History of Nascar (using four letter words).......2007-01-07
The book starts with Smokey's rough childhood in rural PA and then a very graphic view of WWII as a bomber pilot in Europe and how he ends up with the Flying Tigers working for Chiang Kai-Shek(pretty wild life!).
Next Smokey gives an insiders look at the history of early NASCAR and his relationship with Detroit automakers. Nothing is sugar coated and I'm sure offended a few people. Also many details about automotive engineering, rules bending and his experience with INDY cars.
If you're a car guy this book belongs on your shelf.
If you like this sort of book, this is the sort of book you'll like.......2005-11-09
Smokey Yunick lived a long and interesting life, and damn near ALL of it is in this book. It's a great story, but I hesitate to call it a great book.
It's a chore to read - figure on devoting about 24 hours to read it, and to do that the Smokey way, it should be in one sitting ;-) He's cranky and repetitive, he digresses and loses his narrative thread. He's a self-admitted cheater, so you wonder how much of the story you can even believe.
But I must say it got me by the short hairs, the story did, and there is a hell of a lot of story there. Drilling for oil in Ecuador, running the Carrera Panamerica, bringing the wildest car ever seen at Indy to fruition. The World War II stories alone would make a fine book on their own. He was a constant experimenter, making use of the Scientific Principle at a time when most racing was by guess and by gosh, and he was largely self-taught. I also read Mark Donahue's book "Unfair Advantage" at the same time, and Mark, coming up 15 years later, with a degree in engineering, didn't do any better in systematically developing cars as Smokey, and for a long time did far worse.
One of the things that bothers me about Smokey, as he describes himself, is what a hypocrite he seeems to be. He decries the destruction of the jungle as he witnessed it in Ecuador, but seems to be oblivious of his own complicity (road building, mining, oil drilling) in bringing it on. He peppers the whole book with shots at Clinton, but he clearly did himself everything Clinton did and worse. His attitude towards minorities and women is, to my sensibilities, flat out repugnant. He tells a racist "welfare queen" story about a woman in a Cadillac shopping with food stamps, but his WWII stories described in detail the scams he was running on Uncle. I've enjoyed reading about him, but I'm flat grateful I didn't know him.
If you, like me, grew up on Smokey in Popular Science, and loved racing from, say, 1950 to 1975, it's a worthwhile investment. If that doesn't describe you, you maybe oughta pick up another book.
Book Description
This is the all-time chess classic of Aron Nimzowitsch, now provided in algebraic notation and updated to modern understandable English. One of the three or four best selling chess books of all time. Contains 419 diagrams. Recommended by Grandmasters and masters for 75 years! Completely modernized in this 1991 edition.
Customer Reviews:
Too hard for a 10 year old.......2007-06-01
My son is 10 with a rating about 1300. The chess coach recommended this book for studying at home. My son found the language and the style of the book too difficult, and he gave up rather quickly. He found the companion "Chess Praxis" book easier to follow, and he reads it regularly.
I am sure it's a great book, but I am not sure it is suitable for young kids...
Difficult to Understand.......2007-05-03
I read this book when I was a teenager. Since then my understanding of chess has increased immensely. Even though at the time of reading I didn't understand a lot of it, I do notice that now later in life I use a lot of strategies in this book, but not neccessarily from reading this book. I am going to buy a new copy and see if I understand it better. This might not be the best book to get if you are a beginner because it is difficult to comprehend. If you are into buying chess books and want to have a nice collection, then you should get this book. For those who want a book that is easy to understand and will see a marketable return then try "How To Reassess Your Chess". "My System" will make you a better player but it might take more work than other books because of the complexities and early 20th Century language.
PawnMoves
greatness.......2007-04-27
this book is greatness. it is agreed by most that this is the best chess book of all time
Nimzowitsch was one of the first hypermodernists (controlling the center without actually putting pieces in the center)but his chess book isnt biased. Nimzowitsch was probably the 3rd best in the world in his time
the wording might be over the head for little kids (it was written in the 30's) but other than that this book is pretty much perfect. it has examples and games and goes over the most important chess principles
You need to re-read it every 200 rating points because there are new things you understand every time you read it.
Bible of the chess world.......2007-04-06
Nimzowitsch was not only a great player, but an excellent analyst as well as an excellent teacher, able to explain things in a simple and clear manner, then follow them up with examples and a handful of games. Another great part about the book is that almost everybody can learn something from it, excluding lower level beginners. I give it a five for completeness, although "The Art of Attack" is another great choice if you want to learn more dynamic play.
Great Chess Book!.......2007-03-11
This is a great chess book and you'll learn much from this well written book. This is one of the chess classics that will be around for awhile. It deserves to be in your library.
Amazon.com
The most honest, wildly enjoyable book written about motherhood is surely Anne Lamott's account of her son Sam's first year. A gifted writer and teacher, Lamott (Crooked Little Heart) is a single mother and ex-alcoholic with a pleasingly warped social circle and a remarkably tolerant religion to lean on. She responds to the changes, exhaustion, and love Sam brings with aplomb or outright insanity. The book rocks from hilarious to unbearably poignant when Sam's burgeoning life is played out against a very close friend's illness. No saccharine paean to becoming a parent, this touches on the rage and befuddlement that dog sweeter emotions during this sea change in one's life.
Book Description
It seems no mother of a newborn has ever been more hilarious, more honest, or more touching than Ann Lamott is in OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS. A single parent whose baby's father is out of the picture, Lamott struggles not only to support her little family by her wits and her writing, but to stay sober at the same time. Faith in God helps; so does her loyal band of helpers, from her childless best friend Pammy to her mother and "Aunt Dudu" to the folks at the La Leche League hotline. And between colic, wheat-free diets, and the triumph of solid food, Lamott learns that blessings and losses come together, and that as our capacity for joy increases, so does our capacity for grief.
"An enormous triumph . . . Charming . . . Powerful . . . A gracious book, with dozens of lovingly drawn characters and a deep, infectious religiosity throughout. It is also funny." -- San Francisco Chronicle
"Smart, funny and comforting . . . Lamott has a conversational style that perfectly conveys her friendly, self-deprecating humor." -- Los Angeles Times Book Review
Customer Reviews:
conservatives, beware.......2007-08-20
I just had my first baby (an amazing boy) & started reading this after he was born. I would not recommend for mothers, since the author drones on endlessly about her fears for her son. This only puts the same thoughts in the readers minds, things which never would have occurred to me before. I would also discourage anyone from reading this who is the slightest bit conservative. The author goes on and on about her hatred for Republicans and especially George Bush. She seems more interested in pushing a liberal agenda and teaching her son about fear and hatred than writing a good memoir. I found that part quite offensive, regardless of my political opinions. The only good thing I can say about this book is that it inspired me to write down my own observations, thoughts and feelings for my beloved baby boy, so that made it worthwhile.
So Real It Hurts: Just Like Parenting.......2007-08-16
You have an idea in your head of how Anne Lamott would be as a parent: so irreverent, so comical, so knowing and wise. Then Anne walks in and blows you away by living up to all your expectations: and destroying them!
Raw, honest, frustrating, hilarious, complicated -- this book is so dead-on about parenting it's amazing. And it's so Anne. Very simply Anne is one of the best writers currently working in English: read this even if you don't have kids.
Somehow even in the messiness (or because of it?) Anne Lamott's voice always brings us a harmony of hope. You just know, even in the worst of times, that this mother loves her son and is grateful for him.
Anne, the rest of us are grateful for you.
David & Lisa Frisbie
The Center for Marriage & Family Studies
Authors of: Raising Great Kids on Your Own: A Guide and Companion for Every Single Parent
Healing.......2007-07-10
I actually bought this book for my daughter at the recommendation of a friend who has a PHD in Psychology. I had asked my friend for something as an antidote to "Drama of the Gifted Child" (nothing against the book - was just a hard time for my daughter to read it) and my friend suggested this book. My daughter enjoyed it so much. She kept calling a reading/reciting exerpts from the book - laughing and feeling understood were such a relief for her. My son'law even sent me an email "thank you" for how uplifting it was for her.
Laugh out loud funny........2007-06-26
This book is fantastic. Lamott says the things most mothers would be too ashamed and embarrassed to admit feeling. At the same time, she expresses the love and joy that come with motherhood in a way few of us could.
I thought this was a great book! Great for first-time mothers!.......2007-05-13
This book was given to me as a shower gift and I have since given it as a gift to new mothers numerous times. The humor really helped to alleviate anxiety with regard to motherhood, plus it was very poignant! Would definitely recommend it!
Average customer rating:
- kcs shirts
- "If you love someone, you have to try things even if they don't make sense to anyone else"
- My class really enjoyed Al Capone...
- Al Capone Does My Pants Is Super
- Al Copone Does My Shirts
|
Al Capone Does My Shirts
Gennifer Choldenko
Manufacturer: Puffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
1900s
| Fiction
| United States
| History & Historical Fiction
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Mysteries, Espionage, & Detectives
| Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Family Life
| People & Places
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Fiction
| Siblings
| Family Life
| People & Places
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ages 9-12
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Choldenko, Gennifer
| ( C )
| Authors & Illustrators, A-Z
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Issues
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Historical Fiction
| History & Historical Fiction
| Teens
| Subjects
| Books
Ages 9-12
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
( C )
| Authors & Illustrators, A-Z
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
| Carle, Eric
| Carroll, Lewis
| Christopher, Matt
| Cleary, Beverly
| Cole, Joanna
| Cooper, Susan
| Cousins, Lucy
| Craig, Helen
1900s
| Fiction
| United States
| History & Historical Fiction
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
General
| Issues
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
General
| Literature
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Mysteries, Espionage, & Detectives
| Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror
| Literature
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
General
| Family Life
| People & Places
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Fiction
| Siblings
| Family Life
| People & Places
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Historical Fiction
| History & Historical Fiction
| Teens
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
All 4-for-3 Deals
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Kira-Kira
-
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
-
Chasing Vermeer
-
Becoming Naomi Leon
-
Bud, Not Buddy
ASIN: 0142403709 |
Book Description
Murderers, mob bosses, and convicts . . . these guys are not your average neighbors. Unless you live on Alcatraz. It's 1935 and twelve-year-old Moose Flanagan and his family have just moved to the infamous island that's home to criminals like notorious escapee Roy Gardner, Machine Gun Kelly, and of course, Al Capone. Now Moose has to try to fit in at his new school, avoid getting caught up in one of the warden's daughter's countless plots, and keep an eye on his sister Natalie, who's not like other kids. All Moose wants to do is protect Natalie, live up to his parents' expectations, and stay out of trouble. But on Alcatraz, trouble is never very far away.
A Newbery Honor Book
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
An ALA Notable Book
People magazine Best Kids' Book
A School Library JournalBest Book of the Year
A Kirkus Editor's Choice
A San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
Parents' Choice Silver Honor Award
A New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
A Junior Library Guild selection
A Children's BOMC selection
Customer Reviews:
kcs shirts.......2007-10-05
Moose Flanagan, he is a 12 years old boy, he is a kind person compared to the kids of Alcatraz some are trained well because there children of the gaurds and he loves baseball. Moose was forced to live here because of his mother and his dad he is one of the gaurds there too. Moose gets scared his first night because he never knows when a murderer might show up. The island of Alcatraz is not where you want to live because that is where all the worst of the worst go like murderers and full on gangsters that will kill you no matter what. So Moose has to fit in at this island, not be tricked by this girl Piper, and keep his young and imature sister out of danger. I thought this book was intresting. i would recommend this book to middle schoolers or people who like out door books or who likes reading. I learned how it is to have a younger sister.
"If you love someone, you have to try things even if they don't make sense to anyone else".......2007-07-28
Moose Flanagan and his family arrive on Alcatraz Island in 1935 so his father Cam can work as an electrician and guard at the prison and his sister Natalie can have a chance to attend a "special" school for children with Autism. At the time it's not called Autism, but that is what the reader of today is lead to believe. Moose is caught in the middle of Piper the wardens daughters' schemes and her mad drive to meet Al Capone and his mothers desperate need to get Natalie into the only school that can help her. Moose is the only one that can really reach Natalie and the decisions and realities that the family has to face can just be too much for a 12 year old boy. Maybe Al Capone is his only option.
My class really enjoyed Al Capone..........2007-06-28
I used this book in a three week summer school course with eighth graders. I needed a high interest but easy to read novel to catch their interest. AL CAPONE DOES MY SHIRTS was a great choice! They found the setting of Alcatraz very interesting, and they really loved the well-developed characters, especially Moose and Natalie. There are many, many teacher resources for this novel available on the internet. Using ideas from the internet and adding my own personal material, the unit was very easy to plan and carry out. The students wrote daily journal responses to questions relating to various aspects of the book (ideas for prompts are available on Scholastic's web site).
We did some background study which I think added to the students' enjoyment and understanding of the novel. We watched a biography of Al Capone, and we did an internet scavenger hunt to research two topics: Alcatraz and Autism. Doing this early on helped provide context for the students.
The characters in AL CAPONE DOES MY SHIRTS are probably the most interesting aspect of the book. My students seemed particularly fascinated by how Natalie, the main character's sister who has autism, changes and develops through the story. They could really relate to a lot of the things the protagonist (Moose) goes through, even though he lives on Alcatraz in 1935. To me, that's the power of a great book -- it contains themes that are universal. I would highly recommend this book for middle school students, whether it be as a group study or individual reading. It has a great ending too!
Al Capone Does My Pants Is Super.......2007-05-24
Al Capone Does My Shirts
I liked this book because it has some comedy and it talks about what some kids would actually do because it is a real place.
Other kids might like this book because they might want to learn a little bit of history or they might want to laugh. If you like cliffhangers you will really enjoy this book.
The book had a lot of cliffhangers and thought provoking scenes. It also talks about Alcatraz Island.
This book tells how Moose's dad gets a job on Alcatraz Island as a prison guard. This book also tells how Moose and his friends try to get Moose's sister, in to a private school called the Esther P. Marinoff.
Al Copone Does My Shirts.......2007-05-22
I loved the book. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes comedy/history books. I liked the book because I thought it was funny and entertaining.
Someone else might like the book because you learn about convicts that lived on Alcatraz. Someone else might also like it because you learn a little about autism in this book.
The book had a lot of facts about Alcatraz. The book was funny at times but at others it wasn't. You should read this book because it is funny, entertaining, and educational.
Book Description
Out of the stories heard in her childhood in Los Angeles's Chinatown and years of research, See has constructed this sweeping chronicle of her Chinese-American family, a work that takes in stories of racism and romance, entrepreneurial genius and domestic heartache, secret marriages and sibling rivalries, in a powerful history of two cultures meeting in a new world. 82 photos.
Customer Reviews:
Made a nice gift.......2007-09-21
The person I gave this to thought it was a very nice read and recommends it.
Incredible Book.......2007-07-31
I am a new fan of Lisa See and I have to say that this is one of the best books I have ever read. It is a fascinating story. There were times I had to remind myself that this was a work of non-fiction. I only wish there were more photographs. A great read and hard to put down.
generational story.......2006-11-10
I like Lisa See's books and this is another example of her fine writing. This time, however, her focus is the story of her own family and their impact on their new country.
Engaging and educational..........2006-11-07
Lisa See is one of those rare authors that can draw you into and keep you engaged in a story weaved with historial significance as well as personal emotions. A must read for any first or second generation immigrant who has always been curious about the lives and struggles of our ancestors who first settled into this new "free" land called America.
Fascinating.......2006-08-27
This is a most interesting book. I am 75 years old and grew up in Los Angeles, visiting Chinatown many times, and knew nothing of the people who lived there, so it was particularly interesting to me. I have read other books by Lisa See and find her to be an excellent writer. I highly recommend this book, especially to people interested in the history of California.
Customer Reviews:
Golden Expectations.......2007-07-15
Although it is the author's dream of heaven, it is a beautiful story about how heaven may be and that it is a continuation from our life on earth. We will meet our family and friends and we will all be so happy and praising our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is a lovely book and produces warm and happy feelings!
My Dream of Heaven.......2007-06-10
This is a most beautiful classic to encourage
us. I have read it three times in the past year.
Easy reading, with things to ponder. This book has been given as
a gift to others, who are ill. It gives them hope.
My Dream of Heaven.......2007-04-07
This book was given to me shortly after I burried my 27 year old son. The book was so comforting and informative that now when I begin missing my son I picture where he is and the complete joy he is experiencing and it makes me smile. I have an entirely different view of passing on from this life to the next and I am almost looking forward to it. I bought 10 more copies of this book and plan to continue passing them out to people that have lost loved ones. Sandy Roberts
A View of my future life in heaven.......2007-03-15
My sister purchased this book for me after our mom passed away from cancer. I love this book. Everytime I would sit down to read it, the most amazing thing would happen. I would be reading and was immediately touch by Jesus. He would come into my room and bless me as I read these beautiful words. I saw myself walking in heaven and seeing Jesus. I recommend anyone who has lost a loved one to read. You will rejoice.!
A Book About Comfort, Joy and Hope.......2007-02-16
In this work we are taken on a journey to Heaven with Rebecca Rutter Springer as she lingers between life and death.Rebecca details her time in this wonderful place, with her family and friends. She tells of the beauty and peace that fill every corner of Heaven; the joy and love that binds every person with their Creator, and the excitement of seeing the untold wonders that every believer in Christ will partake of. I smiled when animals were revealed, for truly I have know that our Creator loves all that He has created and it brought me great peace to know we would be in a place where we could still enjoy the animals.
I have read and enjoyed many books from those who have visited our future home and with each one I have added to my heart the great expectation of the unspeakable joys that await me, and this work has reinforced the knowledge within my spirit of those wonders.
Death hurts, but the comfort of knowing what awaits us or a loved one who is a believer in Christ cushions the blow. If we could only understand death is but a gate-way to an existence where there is no more pain, no more tears and unspeakable joy, that fear would torment us no more. Yes, we would still miss the departing soul but we would know, through works such as this, that their joy is complete and we will see them again.
My Dream of Heaven is a book that will comfort your soul and bring hope for your future. It just doesn't get any better than that.
Books:
- Blues by the Bar: Cool Riffs That Sound Great over Each Portion of the Blues Progression
- Bobbi Brown Living Beauty
- Bright Lights, Big City
- Bunny Tales: Behind Closed Doors at the Playboy Mansion
- Consider the Lobster: And Other Essays
- Crooked Little Vein: A Novel
- Death Sentence: The True Story of Velma Barfield's Life, Crimes, and Punishment
- Divided Kingdom
- Dog Heaven
- Each Little Bird That Sings
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Reasoning by Mathematical Induction in Children's Arithmetic
- Hurrell's Hollywood Portraits
- Economic Thinking for the Theologically Minded
- Financial Accounting: A New Perspective NetTutor and PowerWeb Mandatory Package
- History: Fiction or Science
- Keep Your Brain Alive: 83 Neurobic Exercises
- It's All for Sale: The Control of Global Resources
- Maximizing Law Firm Profitability
- FAT AND MEAN: The Corporate Squeeze of Working Americans and the Myth of Managerial "Downsizing"
- The Sonnets CD set
Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith
Radio Free Dixie: Robert F. Williams and the Roots of Black Power
Madame Ambassador: The Shoemaker's Daughter
Africa: Lord Hang Onto Me and Don't Let Go
Home is Always the Place You Just Left: A Memoir of Restless Longing and Persistent Grace
