Shadow Dance: A Novel

Book Description

Jordan Buchanan is thrilled that her brother and best friend are tying the knot. The wedding is a lavish affair–for the marriage of Dylan Buchanan and Kate MacKenna is no ordinary occasion. It represents the joining of two family dynasties. The ceremony and reception proceed without a hitch–until a crasher appears claiming to be a MacKenna guest. The disheveled and eccentric professor of medieval history warns that there’s “bad blood” between the couple’s clans, stemming from an ancient feud that originated in Scotland, and involving the Buchanan theft of a coveted MacKenna treasure.

Jordan has always led a cautious life and has used her intelligence and reason to become a successful businesswoman. So she is intrigued but skeptical of the professor’s claims that the feud has been kept alive by the grave injustices the Buchanans have perpetrated over the centuries. But when Noah Clayborne, a close family friend and a man who has never let a good time or a pretty girl pass him by, accuses Jordan of being trapped in her comfort zone, she determines to prove him wrong and sets out on a spontaneous adventure to the small, dusty town of Serenity, Texas, to judge the professor’s research for herself.

Maneuvering through a close-knit community in which everyone knows everyone else’s business, Jordan never anticipates the danger and intrigue that lie in her path, nor the threat that will shadow her back to Boston, where even in familiar surroundings, her life is at risk.

A powerful thug who rules by fear, a man who harbors a simmering secret, and an unexpected romance that pierces all defenses–beloved author Julie Garwood weaves these dazzling elements into a brilliant novel of romantic suspense. Shadow Dance is a searing tango of passion and peril.

Customer Reviews:

didn't even finish it.........2007-10-09

i am saddened to say that i couldn't finish the book. like many other avid jg readers i too waited with abated breath for noah's story and was quite disappointed that i couldn't even get past the first couple of chapters. it was pretty slow.. soo slow i felt no connection to the characters what so ever..
i couldn't give it just one star as it is jg, who has written my absolute most favorite book in the world.. the ransom.. so i gave it two stars just because i have faith that jg will come back with something better

Shadow Dance - One Of Garwood's Best.......2007-09-29

Again Julie Garwood has enchanted me with one of her books about the Buchanan family. She has written another superb book that readers who appreciate romantic suspense will enjoy. Keep up your wonderful story telling.

Julie...You REALLY Missed this Boat!.......2007-09-10

I have been eagerly awaiting Noah's story since Mercy, when it became obvious that he would be a recurring character. He is clearly a contemporary version of Cole Clayborne with his quick one-liners, witty charm, and undeniable way with the ladies. I was incredibly disappointed--actually a little heartbroken--to finally get my hands on Noah's story and find that he played second fiddle to a very dull Jordan Buchanan. In her previous contemporary novels, JG has done a thorough job of developing Noah as a likeable, believable, and all-around HOT character (although he is pretty slutty). After crafting such a solid foundation upon which to build Noah's potentially incredible story, Julie wasted him and all that his romance could have been with Shadow Dance. Noah was completely closed to the reader for most of the book. He was bland, unexciting, ordinary, and forgettable. I'm sad that Julie's readers will never get to witness the exciting romance that Noah could have had--with all of the charm, wit, temper, thunder and fight that I expected when he finally fell (in love). He didn't have to fight for a thing in this book. Pity. I was really hoping for some red-hot spark. What I found was much less. Poor Noah.

Julie Garwood could do better.......2007-09-04

I have read and own everyone of Julie Garwood's books I love her she's one of my favorite authors her female heroins are always funny and have some odd characteristic that I love, but not this one she just seem like the runt of the family a family that always seem spirited and strong not week.I like the Buchanans triology and I always new Noah the Buchananas trusted best freind would get his own story but how sad for Noah it was a stale one......

Shadow Dance.......2007-08-09

I loved reading any book by Julie Garwood. But getting to be updated about decendants of Cole from For the Roses was so great. I thought that this was an awesome read and could not put it down. I hope Julie continues to write about this amazing family in her future books.

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Particularly Apt for Me
Teacher Man - Slightly Disappointing
school'd
"Listen. Are you listening? You're not listening"
Boring

Teacher Man: A Memoir
Frank McCourt
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0743243781

Amazon.com

For 30 years Frank McCourt taught high school English in New York City and for much of that time he considered himself a fraud. During these years he danced a delicate jig between engaging the students, satisfying often bewildered administrators and parents, and actually enjoying his job. He tried to present a consistent image of composure and self-confidence, yet he regularly felt insecure, inadequate, and unfocused. After much trial and error, he eventually discovered what was in front of him (or rather, behind him) all along--his own experience. "My life saved my life," he writes. "My students didn't know there was a man up there escaping a cocoon of Irish history and Catholicism, leaving bits of that cocoon everywhere." At the beginning of his career it had never occurred to him that his own dismal upbringing in the slums of Limerick could be turned into a valuable lesson plan. Indeed, his formal training emphasized the opposite. Principals and department heads lectured him to never share anything personal. He was instructed to arouse fear and awe, to be stern, to be impossible to please--but he couldn't do it. McCourt was too likable, too interested in the students' lives, and too willing to reveal himself for their benefit as well as his own. He was a kindred spirit with more questions than answers: "Look at me: wandering late bloomer, floundering old fart, discovering in my forties what my students knew in their teens."

As he did so adroitly in his previous memoirs, Angela's Ashes and 'Tis, McCourt manages to uncover humor in nearly everything. He writes about hilarious misfires, as when he suggested (during his teacher's exam) that the students write a suicide note, as well as unorthodox assignments that turned into epiphanies for both teacher and students. A dazzling writer with a unique and compelling voice, McCourt describes the dignity and difficulties of a largely thankless profession with incisive, self-deprecating wit and uncommon perception. It may have taken him three decades to figure out how to be an effective teacher, but he ultimately saved his most valuable lesson for himself: how to be his own man. --Shawn Carkonen

Book Description

Here at last in paperback is Frank McCourt's critically acclaimed and bestselling book about how his thirty-year teaching career shaped his second act as a writer. Teacher Man is also an urgent tribute to teachers everywhere. In bold and spirited prose featuring his irreverent wit and heartbreaking honesty, McCourt records the trials, triumphs and surprises of teaching in public high schools. Teacher Man shows McCourt developing his unparalleled ability to tell a great story as, five days a week, five periods per day, he works to gain the attention and respect of unruly, hormonally charged or indifferent adolescents.

For McCourt, storytelling itself is the source of salvation, and in Teacher Man the journey to redemption--and literary fame--is an exhilarating adventure.

Download Description

"Nearly a decade ago Frank McCourt became an unlikely star when, at the age of sixty-six, he burst onto the literary scene with Angela's Ashes, the Pulitzer Prize -- winning memoir of his childhood in Limerick, Ireland. Then came 'Tis, his glorious account of his early years in New York. Now, here at last, is McCourt's long-awaited book about how his thirty-year teaching career shaped his second act as a writer. Teacher Man is also an urgent tribute to teachers everywhere. In bold and spirited prose featuring his irreverent wit and heartbreaking honesty, McCourt records the trials, triumphs and surprises he faces in public high schools around New York City. His methods anything but conventional, McCourt creates a lasting impact on his students through imaginative assignments (he instructs one class to write ""An Excuse Note from Adam or Eve to God""), singalongs (featuring recipe ingredients as lyrics), and field trips (imagine taking twenty-nine rowdy girls to a movie in Times Square!). McCourt struggles to find his way in the classroom and spends his evenings drinking with writers and dreaming of one day putting his own story to paper. Teacher Man shows McCourt developing his unparalleled ability to tell a great story as, five days a week, five periods per day, he works to gain the attention and respect of unruly, hormonally charged or indifferent adolescents. McCourt's rocky marriage, his failed attempt to get a Ph.D. at Trinity College, Dublin, and his repeated firings due to his propensity to talk back to his superiors ironically lead him to New York's most prestigious school, Stuyvesant High School, where he finally finds a place and a voice. ""Doggedness,"" he says, is ""not as glamorous as ambition or talent or intellect or charm, but still the one thing that got me through the days and nights."" For McCourt, storytelling itself is the source of salvation, and in Teacher Man the journey to redemption -- and literary fame -- is an exhilarating adventure. "

Customer Reviews:

Particularly Apt for Me.......2007-10-07

I am in the middle of a life-career change. I'm going to be a teacher.

A friend of mine lent me this book a while ago simply because she had read it. I don't think she had any idea how pertinent it would be for me.

This is the circuitous tale of Mr. McCourt teaching in the schools of New York City. He starts (and spends a good deal of time) teaching in vo-tech schools and eventually ends up in one of the premier private schools in the city.

Throughout the book, his self-deprication is humorous and apparent, as is his appreciation for the people he teaches. Yes, he's frustrated, often. But at the same time, he's the strangest english teacher I've ever heard of.

Reciting recipes as a part of creative writing? That's weird. Sorry.

I really found the tales amusing, and I can understand how he'd be a wildly popular teacher: he has the Irish Bard's gift of the tale. Teachers like that often do.

This is, however, not his first book, and it seems like he's searching for some tales to fill this tome. Not by much, though.

A solid 4 stars.

(*)>

Teacher Man - Slightly Disappointing.......2007-09-18

Frank McCourt's poverty-stricken youth in Limerick, Ireland, so aptly described in the Pulitzer Prize winning Angela's Ashes actually comes to his rescue in his chronicles in Teacher Man in New York City's public high schools. His first day as a high school English teacher at a vocational school on Staten Island is a whirlwind of confusing strangeness, as if he just stepped off the boat all over again. His college education did not prepare him for these exuberant adolescents, the likes of which he never knew in Ireland because he left school at thirteen to help support his mother and brothers. His stories saved him: the rambunctious adolescents, who spoke a seemingly foreign language and behaved according to the rules their own secret, sub-cultural sect, actually sat down and listened when he told them his stories. Magic. The magic of good storytelling.
This magic spell of the storyteller saves Teacher Man from the ill effects of its lack of depth. Humorous anecdotes compensate for the absence of substance in the classroom. Indeed, McCourt accomplishes much in revealing the daily struggle of teachers, an "in the trenches" portrait of five classes a day with over 150 students. Clearly, the author describes the plight of the overworked, underpaid educator, a member of the "downstairs maid of professions", and readers will sympathize. But, the realities of sandwich throwing, wisecracks, and requests for "the pass" to use the bathroom overwhelm the lesson plans. And so, especially at the start of his career, Mr. McCourt regaled them with stories simply to keep them quiet. Although silence is valuable in the classroom, the curriculum must be addressed as well.
To his credit, McCourt does learn to become a good, perhaps even a great, teacher. Small snippets early on hint that he does possess the natural talent to translate confusing concepts into analogies his students can comprehend. For example, one epiphany relates his discovery that "grammar is the way language works" just like psychology is the way a person's mind works. Students get this, just like they understand the structure is like the structure of a ballpoint pen - both need something to make it work. A pen needs a spring like a sentence needs a verb. Another brilliant idea that sets his students to work is the "excuse note" writing exercise. After a hilarious study of their own excuse notes, many of which are forged, Teacher Man asks his students to write excuses from Adam and Eve to God, from Al Capone to the authorities, from Hitler to the Jews. These bursts of inspiration compensate for the drudgery, such as correcting mountains of compositions (170 students multiplied by 500 words each) that amount to reading the Encyclopedia Britannica.
McCourt's career contains segments of unemployment, the acquisition of his Masters degree, and a failure in attaining his Doctorate at Trinity College in Dublin. Interspersed throughout the memoir, the author includes both humorous and depressing incidents concerning his personal life, including an unsatisfying marriage and a bout of psychotherapy. McCourt reaches his stride as a teacher (not a "taskmaster") at the prestigious Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, where his principal encourages him to be innovative and his creative writing classes spawn ingenious techniques to motivate his students. Students sing recipes and learn to write stories others want to listen to. In 1976 Mr. McCourt earns an award as one of America's Teachers of the Year.
Although Teacher Man may lack pedagogical content, the memoir entertains and causes one to consider the problems of the American educational system and the difficulties teachers encounter on a day-to-day basis. The author maintains an open mind and always learns from his students. He learns that being honest is paramount as a teacher. His honesty prompts him to tell his life's story, and in doing so, his students are motivated to write honestly themselves. For that alone, Frank McCourt deserves the accolade of Teacher Man.

school'd.......2007-09-18

Teacher Man was I think the best of the three. You have so much sympathy for Frank as he tries to teach America's youth while being teased for his "Irish Brogue" the fenetic spelling of how the kid's talk easily let's you hear the dialogue in your head, as well as get a real feel for their cultural backround, the Mexicans, the Italians, the Blacks it's fantastic, I'd say that book taught me a thing or two about life in general.

"Listen. Are you listening? You're not listening".......2007-09-12

A smile. A reminiscence of the good old school days. How many times did our teachers address us with that remark? If you are a teacher, how often did/do you say it to your students? Countless times. Mr. McCourt recounts his 30+ years as a teacher in various high schools in New York. For those of you who were, are or will be teachers, and for those who were, or are students, or if you simply like real-life stories, this is the book for you.

Honing his teacher's skills as the years went by, Mr. McCourt delivers a true insight of life in the classroom, with its laughs, its tears, its frustrations, its joys. This book is constellated with memories of his past, which he would often talk about to his pupils who always listened avidly and eagerly and were encouraged, in turn, to open up and believe in themselves.

His passion for teaching is all there in those laughs, tears, frustrations and joys. Unquestionably, teaching was what Mr. McCourt was meant to do, no matter how undervalued a profession it often was/is, but if you love it, that passion is the fuel igniting everything.
His writing is, as usual, witty, harrowing, poignant and humorous at the same time. He explores his own weaknesses and strengths squarely, learning as he teaches, facing hundreds of challenging minds every day.

After "Angela's Ashes" and " 'Tis ", this is perceived by the author as the last book about himself. Should it be the case, please allow me to quote him once again by saying that I'm so glad that he "sang his song, danced his dance, told his tale". Auspiciously, he'll write some more.

Boring.......2007-09-05

One of the most boring books I've ever read. I had to force myself to keep on reading, then when I started just skipping large sections of it I knew it was time to quit. I didn't finish it and I'm not sorry!

Average customer rating:

The Coast of Myopia
Fun Reading
A Monumental Work
The most important theatrical event of the past 60 years
Unexpected disappointment

The Coast of Utopia (Box Set)
Tom Stoppard
Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0802140033

Book Description

The Coast of Utopia is Tom Stoppard's long-awaited and monumental trilogy that explores a group of friends who came of age under the Tsarist autocracy of Nicholas I, and for whom the term intelligentsia was coined. Among them are the anarchist Michael Bakunin, who was to challenge Marx for the soul of the masses; Ivan Turgenev, author of some of the most enduring works in Russian literature; the brilliant, erratic young critic Vissarion Belinsky; and Alexander Herzen, a nobleman's son and the first self-proclaimed socialist in Russia, who becomes the main focus of this drama of politics, love, loss, and betrayal. In The Coast of Utopia, Stoppard presents an inspired examination of the struggle between romantic anarchy, utopian idealism, and practical reformation in this chronicle of romantics and revolutionaries caught up in a struggle for political freedom in an age of emperors.

Customer Reviews:

The Coast of Myopia.......2007-07-25

Tom Stoppard's three play series "The Coast of Utopia" was mounted at the Lincoln Center where I was privileged to see the dramas on separate nights. The plays about early nineteenth century Russia were brilliantly staged; the scenic effects were breath-taking; the acting was superb; and the thrust stage was used in novel ways with fast-paced exits and entrances; and the revolving stage, elevators and trap doors were integrated successfully with the action.
Here in this three volume set, we have the texts in which Stoppard tries to dramatize philosophical and ideological conceits. He writes in English, but unfortunately much of it turns out to be unfathomable gibberish. A brilliant turn of phrase becomes merely bombast. His sense of humor is sharp, but his sense of the dramatic is blunted.
We have anarchists, anti-Czarists, nihilists and serfs, landowners, sparkling women, and would-be bomb throwers who are content with editing polemical magazines. Stoppard's abstractions, high level generalizations, obtuse theories, obfuscations, and cloudy reasoning swirl in and around the theatergoers' heads. Although in the theater the lines go by with dizzying speed, the armchair reader will have time to parse and reflect.
Years ago I saw a marathon nine hour "Nicholas Nickleby" adapted from the Dickens novel on stage. It was magnificently acted and staged. It was dramatic and emphatically lucid. Dickens wanted to be a playwright and an actor, and it shows in his theatrical novels. Stoppard apparently wanted to be a philosopher, and it shows in his erudite plays. When one attempts to dramatize ideas, one runs the risk of creating cotton candy: fluffy, gauzy, and nebulous.
Some of the characters are based upon real personages of the period like Turgenev, and the views they spout come from their writings. Stoppard had the great good fortune to have first-class actors saying his lines. Readers who have the time and patience will find these play scripts well worth reading, and if they have the good fortune to see them in live performances, they will be doubly rewarded.
The Daemon in Our Dreams
Nine Lives Too Many
Nicholas Nickleby
The Rice Queen Spy

Fun Reading.......2007-06-12

I was delighted to finally be able to read these plays after reading so much about them. I don't live anywhere near New York and it would be impossible to see these plays either in a 'marathon' performance or separately. But reading and imagining (aided by the production photos in the TCG magazine) made it a good, though vicarious experience.

A Monumental Work.......2007-04-22

Stoppard's Coast of Utopia is marvelous, and reading the plays before you see them enhances the experience. For his canvas, Stoppard uses Russia in the mid 19th century, a period of tremendous turmoil that saw the Decembrist uprising of 1825, the death of Nicholas I, the emancipation of the serfs, and growing revolutionary sentiment in that huge and backward land. The other backdrop for Coast of Utopia is the political and social unrest in Europe, including the various revolutions of 1848, and the development of socialist/communist political theory.

For his story, Stoppard traces the lives of various of the young Russian intellectuals (for whom the term intelligentsia was coined) who saw their country's backwardness, oppression and poverty and dreamed and dared that it could be different. The central characters in The Coast of Utopia are Alexander Herzen, Michael Bakunin, Nicholas Ogarev, Ivan Turgenev and Vissarion Belinsky, but other historical figures also play roles.

The Russian intellectuals who sought change in Russia were hampered by many obstacles; harsh censorship, which made open political dialogue a crime punishable by exile or worse, an utter absence of democratic institutions, a huge peasant class that was largely ignorant of and oblivious to their efforts, and the Tsar and a coterie of landowners, bureaucrats and priests who were largely satisfied with the status quo.

In The Coast of Utopia, Stoppard adroitly mixes social themes with political theory and history. As one might imagine, as these Russians groped for ideas about how their country should be reformed, there were differences of opinion. Initially, the reformers, such as Herzen, favored gradual reform, led by the Tsar; as the 19th century progressed, more radical thought, influenced by Marx, came to predominate, and more moderate voices, such as Herzen's, were drowned out by the increasing call for violent revolution. Stoppard does a fabulous job in showing the various intellectual currents that ran among the exiles by having them argue out their theories on stage in the course of the play.

All this might sound talky and dull, but it's not, for two reasons. One is Stoppard's genius at showing how real people discuss these ideas. One minute we have two characters debating Hegel; the next minute they're attending their children, just the way real life interrupts all sorts of activities. And the lives of the main characters were sometimes untidy, and for that reason interesting; we see their joys, their sorrows, their love affairs and their occasional melancholy on being separated from Russia for so long.

The second is the staging of the plays; I could go on and on, but I was utterly wowed by the Lincoln Center production, it is magnificent and at times transcendent.

But ultimately what makes Coast of Utopia so interesting is that it's a series of plays about ideas, what is the best way to modernize and democratize a backward society. Of course, we see this play through the lens of history, after the revolution in Russia and after communism has been justifiably relegated to the dustbin of history. So we know how disastrous the actual revolution proved to be. But one of the strengths of Stoppard's work is that he doesn't fall prey to easy triumphalism about the later result. Instead he shows these men, mostly in a sympathetic light, trying to imagine a better society for Russia, and then taking the first steps toward making that better Russia come to pass. Without a doubt, Stoppard sees Herzen as his hero, and Herzen, with remarkable prescience, clearly saw the risks of the absolutism to come. But despite his sympathy for Herzen's humanistic views, Stoppard also gives fair voice to the radicals, so that a balanced picture of the political thought of the era emerges.

Stoppard has acknowledged his debt to Isaiah Berlin's Russian Thinkers in writing The Coast of Utopia. If you are interested in the ideas in The Coast of Utopia or the history of 19th century Russia, Russian Thinkers is well worth reading.

The most important theatrical event of the past 60 years.......2007-03-11

Stoppard's eloquence and wit are only the beginning. The subject is monumental and speaks to our times. Wisdom emerges at the perfect pace. Catharsis at the end. I have seen the trilogy and will see it twice more in marathon experiences. Reading the text beforehand enhances the understanding of the contest and of what takes place. If you don't recognize the importance of The Decembrists, please review some history before seeing and/or reading the trilogy. If you don't know at least a bit about Tsar Alexander, please look at wikipedia and go from there. Very timely and relevant and ominous.
And if you read the inspiring text either before or after the experience, the catharsis will be even more powerful. If you havent't seen the epic, this is a must-read.
Thank you, Tom Stoppard (and ensemble) for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
"Rock & Roll" goes further.
IMO, this is a transformational work which materially enhances Stoppard's prospects for already likely Nobel Prize.
What next? What a genius.
Unforgettable lessons to be learned dramatically.

Unexpected disappointment.......2007-02-20

I am pasting here my letter on the topic sent today (Febr, 19, 2007) to "The New York Times" in response to the review of Mr. Stoppard's work by Ben Brantley:

I admire Ben Brantley for his skill of writing a seemingly positive review of Tom Stoppard's "The Coast of Utopia" (Febr. 19) filled with such phrases, unfortunately fully justified, as: "I wouldn't call it a major work of art" or "But as for major insights of philosophical or historical weight, that's not what "Utopia" is about."

First, my background: since seeing Mr. Stoppard's "Arcadia" in London about 10 years ago my wife and I have become great admirers of its author, we have never missed any of his plays until now when, after attending the first two parts of "Utopia", we decided to skip the last part (though we've read it). Also, with our school education in Russia, we understand a thing or two about the history of the Russian political thought.

With this background, it is painful for me to use the word "failure" to describe the last Mr. Stoppard's venture but regretfully I cannot find another word. A noisy long production - everything could be said in just three hours - with more than 60 characters, it exhibits no unity, no central idea and eventually no purpose. There are three major books on the topic written at that time: "The Fathers and the Sons" by a liberal Turgenev, "The Possessed" by a conservative Dostoevsky and "My Past and Thoughts" by a centrist Herzen ("Utopia" is in significant degree is simply a stage version of Herzen's book), and they give a much better idea of what really happened in Russia at that time. Orwell's "1984" may be considered as an important 20th century commentary to the first three books.

Of course, the fall of communism does call for some reconsideration and the new insight. As a man who combines both Eastern European and the Western cultural traditions, Mr. Stoppard was uniquely placed to give us such insight, and we eagerly waited for this his work. What we got instead may be best described by Mr. Brantley's words: "...you could find a snapper, shorter version of the same idea in a fortune cookie."

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

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Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Pants on fire?
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

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Angela's Ashes: Irish I was Reading This!
A great read, an even better listen
Colorful portrayal of life as a poor Irish Catholic
What a Story!
'Tis indeed...

Angela's Ashes: A Memoir
Frank McCourt
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 068484267X

Amazon.com

"Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood," writes Frank McCourt in Angela's Ashes. "Worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." Welcome, then, to the pinnacle of the miserable Irish Catholic childhood. Born in Brooklyn in 1930 to recent Irish immigrants Malachy and Angela McCourt, Frank grew up in Limerick after his parents returned to Ireland because of poor prospects in America. It turns out that prospects weren't so great back in the old country either--not with Malachy for a father. A chronically unemployed and nearly unemployable alcoholic, he appears to be the model on which many of our more insulting cliches about drunken Irish manhood are based. Mix in abject poverty and frequent death and illness and you have all the makings of a truly difficult early life. Fortunately, in McCourt's able hands it also has all the makings for a compelling memoir.

Book Description

"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood."

So begins the luminous memoir of Frank McCourt, born in Depression-era Brooklyn to recent Irish immigrants and raised in the slums of Limerick, Ireland. Frank's mother, Angela, has no money to feed the children since Frank's father, Malachy, rarely works, and when he does he drinks his wages. Yet Malachy -- exasperating, irresponsible and beguiling -- does nurture in Frank an appetite for the one thing he can provide: a story. Frank lives for his father's tales of Cuchulain, who saved Ireland, and of the Angel on the Seventh Step, who brings his mother babies.

Perhaps it is story that accounts for Frank's survival. Wearing rags for diapers, begging a pig's head for Christmas dinner and gathering coal from the roadside to light a fire, Frank endures poverty, near-starvation and the casual cruelty of relatives and neighbors -- yet lives to tell his tale with eloquence, exuberance and remarkable forgiveness.

Angela's Ashes, imbued on every page with Frank McCourt's astounding humor and compassion, is a glorious book that bears all the marks of a classic.

Download Description

"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood". So begins the luminous memoir of Frank McCourt, born in Depression-era Brooklyn to recent Irish immigrants and raised in the slums of Limerick, Ireland. Frank's mother, Angela, has no money to feed the children since Frank's father, Malachy, rarely works, and when he does he drinks his wages. Yet Malachy - exasperating, irresponsible and beguiling - does nurture in Frank an appetite for the one thing he can provide: a story. Frank lives for his father's tales of Cuchulain, who saved Ireland, and of the Angel on the Seventh Step, who brings his mother babies.

Customer Reviews:

Angela's Ashes: Irish I was Reading This!.......2007-09-21

Imagine being crammed into a one bedroom home with two siblings, an alcoholic father, an exhausted mother, a flooded downstairs, and the constant threat of tuberculosis, or even worse, death knocking at your door. On top of it all, imagine being so poor that going days without food is normal and an egg can be considered a delicacy. No matter how difficult that is to imagine, it was nevertheless the life of young Frank McCourt.
Frankie grows up in the slums of Ireland where begging is commonplace and children must find jobs at the age of 14 in order to support their entire family. Frankie struggles to overcome his destitute life, the death of three siblings, and a father who drinks away all of the money needed in order for the rest of the family to survive. This is the world that you experience as you begin reading Angela's Ashes, a true-life memoir of Frank McCourt.
Angela's Ashes takes place during the Great Depression where poverty runs rampant through the streets and even the most proud of families is reduced to begging in order to get a simple lump of coal. However, Frankie has the seemingly unrealistic dream of eventually travelling to America and starting his life anew. Throughout the course of the novel you are left wondering how Frankie can gain the physical or mental power to accomplish his goal.
One aspect of the novel which I found very intriguing is Frank's use of "comic relief" in order to keep his otherwise depressing life hopeful and at least somewhat upbeat. Mikey Molloy, a cross-eyed friend of Frank who suffers from "fits" (seizures), is one such example of this sporadic humor. Frank even recounts one time when Mikey fakes one of his fits in order to sneak into the movie theater. "...I'll pretend to have the fit and the ticket man will be out of his mind and you can slip in when I let out the big scream...That's what I do to get my brothers in all the time." Scenes like this really kept me smiling throughout the sadness in Angela's Ashes.
McCourt's writing style also provides a relieving mixture of both comedy and sorrow. At one point, Frankie contracts typhoid fever and describes his experience with the doctor in charge. "It's dark and Dr. Campbell's sitting by my bed...He tilts over on the chair and farts and smiles to himself and I know now I'm going to get better because a doctor would never fart in the presence of a dying boy." Through the innocence and naivety of Frank's voice, I felt as though I could really understand and feel what the author was feeling while recounting his life.
Despite all of the comedy throughout this novel, the author never loses sight of the main aspect of the story: the sorrow. Frank basically has to support his entire family by himself at a very young age because his dad is always at the bar drinking away every penny he earns. From the age of three to nineteen, Frankie moves from one house to the next, and each time the conditions get worse and worse to the point where Frank and his family have to live next to an outhouse which is shared by the entire street they live on. Not only that, but Frank's mother, Angela, has to spend all day scrounging the streets for whatever scraps she can find to help her family survive.
Angela's Ashes has become one of my favorite books. Although I would suggest it to a more mature audience due to some of its scenes, I would still recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about Frank McCourt's struggle growing up in Ireland. I would easily give this book an "A." I never lost interest in the plot no matter how depressing it was and the characters always kept me compelled to learn more about their plight and hardship. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and most importantly this book will make you appreciate what you have and realize that we have it pretty good here in America.

A great read, an even better listen.......2007-09-04

This is one of those rare instances when listening to a book being read is better than reading it yourself. I bought this copy of the book for my daughter, who chose it as her summer reading assignment. Yet the version I treasure is the audiobook, read by the author himself. My daughter would not have read the book if I hadn't played the audiobook in the car. Your imagination can't do justice to that Limerick accent and wry delivery; you are hooked in the first two minutes. A warning: if you listen to it with a young child present, you are likely to have to answer a lot of embarrassing questions.

Of course it's a wonderful book: funny, poignant, heartwrenching... you can keep loading on the adjectives. It has its own music and rhythm as it moves from one small incident to the next, painting a picture of a childhood defined by unimaginable poverty. The narrative moves from a child's acceptance of his circumstances to the adolescent's ruthless determination to find a way out, while never abandoning the family that mean so much to him. And the author manages to accomplish this without a trace of sentimentality, and with plenty of deadpan humor. I would recommend this book - or audiobook - to anyone old enough to cope with its unrestrained language.

Colorful portrayal of life as a poor Irish Catholic.......2007-09-03

McCourt was funny, witty and descriptive in every regard throughout this book. His first person account of being raised in a poor Irish Catholic community makes you glad to be raised in modern times in America. Read the book for an interesting insight into Europe over fifty years ago.

What a Story!.......2007-08-26

I listened to the Recorded Books Unabridged version of this on tape--narrated by the author. What a treat! I'm sure it must have been better than reading it myself. I cried and sometimes I giggled and belly laughed. Many have reviewed the book and most were riveted to it as I was. How I wished I could have scooped up those kids and given them a good life.

'Tis indeed..........2007-07-27

I've meant to read this book for years. Now, however, was the just-right time for it. I cried, despaired, railed in my head, laughed myself silly... In a voice of unflinching honesty and innocence, Frank McCourt details his life as the son of an alcoholic yet sometimes caring father from Northern Ireland and the woman he fell for fresh off the boat from Ireland, Angela Sheehan from Limerick in the south. McCourt takes the reader on a journey from death, poverty and pain in New York City to more of the same in Ireland and back again. Settled simply between the aching hunger, hacking coughs and continual dampness are many universal questions about life, both on earth and after. I am breathless having finished it.

Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob

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Perfect
The First Book
Frightening account of corruption
Incredible Book
More to come??

Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob
Dick Lehr , and Gerard O'neill
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060959258
Release Date: 2001-05-22

Amazon.com

In the spring of 1988, Boston Globe reporters Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill set out to write the story of two infamous brothers from the insular Irish enclave of South Boston: Jim "Whitey" Bulger and his younger brother Billy. Whitey was the city's most powerful gangster and a living legend--tough, cunning, without conscience, and above all, smart. Billy, president of the state Senate, was a political heavyweight in Massachusetts. These facts alone make for an intriguing story, but as Lehr and O'Neill found out, this was only the beginning.

John Connolly, a rising FBI agent and fellow "Southie," had known the Bulgers since boyhood when Whitey rescued him from a playground fight. After investigating organized crime in New York, Connolly was reassigned to the bureau's Boston office in 1975, and was determined to make a name for himself by relying on his old connections. He succeeded in a big way by lining up Whitey as an FBI informant in an effort to bring down the Italian Mafia--a major coup for both the FBI and Connolly. In exchange, Bulger received protection. Though heavily involved in extortion, intimidation, assassination, and drug trafficking, Connolly's "good bad guy" did not receive so much as a traffic infraction for over 20 years. In time, however, the deal changed, and information began flowing the other direction, with Bulger manipulating Connolly and a small group of corrupt FBI agents to further his nefarious network. The criminals and the lawmen eventually became virtually indistinguishable.

Black Mass expertly details the twists and turns of this complex story, painting a vivid portrait of Boston's underbelly and its inclusive political machine, as well as exposing one of the worst scandals in FBI history. It's also an examination of loyalty--to family, home, and heritage--and "a cautionary tale about the abuse of power that goes unchecked." As a final favor, Connolly tipped off Bulger that he was to be indicted on racketeering charges in 1995, allowing him time to go on the lam (he's reported to have access to secret bank accounts across the country). He was added to the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted List" in 1999. --Sharon M. Brown

Book Description

John Connoly and James "Whitey" Bulger grew up together on the streets of South Boston. Decades later, in the mid 1970's, they would meet again. By then, Connolly was a major figure in the FBI's Boston office and Whitey had become godfather of the Irish Mob. What happened next -- a dirty deal to being down the Italian mob in exchange for protection for Bulger -- would spiral out of control, leading to murders, drug dealing, racketeering indictments, and, ultimately, the biggest informant scandal in the history of the FBI.

Compellingly told by two Boston Globe reporters who were on the case from the beginning, Black Mass is at once a riveting crime story, a cautionary tale about the abuse of power, and a penetrating look at Boston and its Irish population.

Customer Reviews:

Perfect.......2007-03-14

This item was exactly what i ordered in the exact condition that i ordered it in. Would definitly do business with seller again! Thank you

The First Book.......2007-02-23

This book was the first book to be written on the Bulger/FBI scandal. For those who don't know; James "Whitey" Bulger ran Bostons Irish mafia for almost 20 years. He also was a Top Echelon Informant for the FBI. As such, they let him get away with all types of crimes, including murder. Making matters worse, his younger brother Billy was the Senate president of the Mass. state Senate. Another brother, Jackie, was a juvenile court judge. This family took corruption to new heights. Eventually they fell. Whitey is now one of the top 10 fugitives. This book by two Boston Globe reporters, details the Bulger brothers, their history, Boston politics, and how they all came together. This is a good book. The only problems are because it was written in 1998-1999, some things have changed ( For example, Bulgers partner in crime, Steven Flemi, has pleaded guilty to several murders, and is doing life without parole ). Also, there wasn't enough written about the Top Echelon Informant program and all the problems with it. I'd recomend getting 2 other books along with this to get a complete picture. 1 is Dangerous Alliances by Ralph Ranelli; the other is The Brothers Bulger by Howie Carr. All 3 books should give you a complete view of this scandal.

Frightening account of corruption.......2006-10-20

Black Mass is an unbelievable account of the illicit relationship between two Irish mobsters from South Boston (Whitey Bulger and Stevie Flemmi) and their FBI handlers (John Connolly and John Morris).

The book begins with background on South Boston and the "us against them" mentality of the residents. As a young boy, John Connolly looked up to and admired Whitey Bulger, a local gangster, and left an indelible impression on Connolly one day when Bulger rescued Connolly from a fight. Years later, when Connolly was assigned to the Boston FBI office, he sought out Bulger to turn him into an informant, hoping to make a name for himself. Bulger's younger brother was president of the state senate and Whitey by this time was head of the Irish mob in Boston, both highly regarded in their own circles.

Though Connolly may have begun the relationship with good intentions, it very quickly turned corrupt, and the information Bulger supplied Connolly was self-serving, and Connolly, never having grown out of his idolization of Bulger, did all he could to keep Whitey's record clean. The Irish and Italian mafias had a tenuous relationship, so for Bulgur, informing on his competition got them out of his way, and as long as he worked with the FBI, he was untouchable. Bulger's partner in crime, Stevie Flemmi, as it turned out, had been an informant for several years before Bulger. Rather than the FBI handling them, Bulger and Flemmi cultivated a bond with Connolly and Morris to ensure that they could do anything without fear of punishment. Reports were made up, lost, or taken; phone calls from other law enforcement agencies were ignored; Bulger and Flemmi's importance was inflated; and they were always one step ahead of a sting. Under the protection of the FBI, Bulger and Flemmi were involved in racketeering, gun running, drugs, and over a dozen murders - and got away with it.

What amazes me is that supposedly Connolly and Morris only benefited by $7000 during the two decades that Bulger and Flemmi were informants. Initially I believe that Connolly just wanted notoriety, but he is also flamboyant and likes living the high life, which it appears he did.

Eventually Morris' conscience bothered him enough to start talking, but it still took several years before Bulger, Flemmi, Connolly and Morris were indicted. Connolly warned Bulger, enabling him to escape. Flemmi, on the other hand, still thought that Morris would tell the court that this was all a mistake, and get Flemmi off as he had done for so many years.

As far as I know, Bulger is still a fugative and on the 10 Most Wanted List. I hope that regulations are now being followed to ensure FBI handlers are accountable for their action or inaction, and that the chain of command is aware of what the agents are doing. This was a well-written and engrossing story.

Incredible Book.......2006-08-19

I've had an interest in Boston and the organized crime around Boston for a while. I've actually had a big interest in the mafia in general. This is a great book with a lot of information that is very useful in understanding how corruption in the system allows organized crime to become more powerful and almost unstoppable.

More to come??.......2006-08-05

One might ask after reading this excellent book whether 2 kids,say brothers, were groomed to follow in the Bulger's footsteps but perhaps something went awry??

I know of 2 brothers from Massachusetts. Both were raised in state care during Bulger's reign. The older brother went into the army and a couple years later the younger was being harassed by activities a man who bore the same name in the same town, as if the younger brother had another identity created and which was made to look bad to hurt him in the identity confusion following. It is speculated the older brother set up the younger brother, both from Woburn,Mass and that the older brother after a name change went into FBI service at his younger brother's constant expense.Wherever the younger brother went the older followed and bad thingsalways happened to the younger as a result. There is a lot that went on but it looks as a duplicate of the Bulger's good guy/bad guy pairing for controlling different levels of influence was going on.

All Souls: A Family Story from Southie (Ballantine Reader's Circle)

Average customer rating:

I mean....
Winged Cockroaches Drowning in Sprite
A Gripping, Informative Memoir
inspiring
Amazing, enraging, beautiful, heartbraking,inspiring

All Souls: A Family Story from Southie (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
Michael Patrick Macdonald
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 034544177X
Release Date: 2000-10-03

Book Description

Michael Patrick MacDonald grew up in "the best place in the world"--the Old Colony projects of South Boston--where 85% of the residents collect welfare in an area with the highest concentration of impoverished whites in the U.S. In All Souls, MacDonald takes us deep into the secret heart of Southie. With radiant insight, he opens up a contradictory world, where residents are besieged by gangs and crime but refuse to admit any problems, remaining fiercely loyal to their community. MacDonald also introduces us to the unforgettable people who inhabit this proud neighborhood. We meet his mother, Ma MacDonald, an accordion-playing, spiked-heel-wearing, indomitable mother to all; Whitey Bulger, the lord of Southie, gangster and father figure, protector and punisher; and Michael's beloved siblings, nearly half of whom were lost forever to drugs, murder, or suicide. By turns explosive and touching, All Souls ultimately shares a powerful message of hope, renewal, and redemption.

Customer Reviews:

I mean...........2007-08-25

This guy had a LIFE. I don't envy him and I'm happy that he has come out on top...as far as an "Angela's Ashes"...not even close. I read this after a "true story" about a guy that worked for Whitey Bulger in Southie...I thought this would be another perspective and I looooved Angela's Ashes...I just wasn't hooked to any of the family except for the author...it was an interesting read but not that emotional or moving...again, I'm so glad he made it through his awful life but I don't think I'd make my friends read it...

Winged Cockroaches Drowning in Sprite.......2007-07-07

An ancient slander against the Irish holds that they would sell their own children for money to buy whiskey and damn if that isn't exactly what one of Michael MacDonald's sisters tries to do in "All Souls", MacDonald's didactic tale of coming of age in the Old Colony projects in South Boston. The sister in question wants to sell her child for money to buy crack, not whiskey, but it's the same difference in a case of life imitating stereotype.

In Old Colony, where "everyone is Irish or claims to be", the MacDonald family is, as they might say in Donegal, callanach and barbartha (rowdy and uncivilized), even when measured by shanty project standards. The family matriarch (there is no patriarch), "Ma", had ten children by three men. She supplements the welfare check by playing the accordion in taverns and her kids run wild in the streets, with predictable results-crime, drug addiction, mental illness, and suicide. The residents consider the project "the greatest place in the world", and pretend to live by something called the "Southie Code"-all for one and one for all, don't steal from your neighbor, throw the bums a dime, and above all, don't snitch. Of course, they rob each other blind, sell each other dope, and kill each other with distressing regularity. The only Southie Commandment they all seem to honor is "Thou Shall Not Snitch", since the police are the bad guys and the criminals, who have supplanted the missing fathers, the criminals are the neighborhood heroes.

"All Souls" is brisk and thoughtful. The book has value because it shows that urban poverty will produce the same social plagues regardless of race. It compares favorably to Claude Brown's classic about growing up amid the squalor and violence of Harlem, "Manchild in the Promised Land". High praise indeed. The narrative, however, is seriously flawed. One has to wonder how a five year-old MacDonald can so vividly recall visiting a brother in a mental hospital, or how an eight year-old MacDonald can so meticulously recount the Southie anti-busing riots, when he was "filled with the spirit of rebellion". The writing also suffers from wrenching, abrupt shifts. For example, one brother, an athlete, a boxer on the verge of making it, a man who wouldn't drink beer in public and who admonishes those that do because it sets a bad example for neighborhood kids, this man is suddenly shot dead while robbing an armored car because somehow, unannounced to the reader, he had developed a "major cocaine addiction".

Winged cockroaches drowning in Sprite? Mr. MacDonald finds twenty dead cockroaches (ubiquitous in the project) floating in cup of Sprite
and realizes that they have wings:

"They all floated in the cup with their useless
wings spread out. I stared at them for a good
long time wondering if they didn't know how to
use their wings, or if they just didn't know
they had them, until it was too late to save
themselves".

As metaphors go, that is about as sappy as it gets. Mr. MacDonald did, though, spread his wings and save himself from the Sprite of the project mentality.

A Gripping, Informative Memoir.......2007-04-10

I've never been to Boston, my upbringing was about as suburban as you can get, and I loved "All Souls." It's the memoirs of Michael Patrick MacDonald, who grew up in the largely Irish-Catholic South Boston ("Southie") in the tumultuous 60s and 70s. The Publishers Weekly review summed up the book better than I could, so I will just add some of my own observations.

1.) "All Souls" is instrumental in publicizing a largely-neglected aspect of American history- the Boston busing riots. Aside from a few passing references to it in history textbooks, I'm not aware of any other book where the topic is explored from the viewpoint of someone who was actually there. Basically, William Garrity, a federal judge in Boston, found that the schools in Boston were segregated, and ordered that students should be bused to achieve an equal racial balance. The protest in South Boston was fierce. The people there resented the decision, and threw rocks at the first buses carrying black students into the South Boston area. If students were in a neighborhood assigned to be bused to the predominately black schools, then their parents would send them to a private school if they could afford it. Many times the students would simply drop out. When the busing started, fights broke out between the black and white students. Racism was rampant in South Boston, and many used the "n word" with abandon. Yet not all of the opposition to busing was racially motivated. Mostly the parents were concerned for the safety of their children, and resented the tight-knit community being forcibly torn apart.

2.) Another fascinating aspect of "All Souls" was the code of silence that enveloped Southie until very recently. If there were murders or suicides, you didn't mention it to the police. The myth was "in Southie, everyone looks out for each other." And to a certain extent that was true- it was a tight-knit community. The problem is that when someone was in real trouble, such as getting shot in a botched robbery, no one would come forward to give information that could save lives and rectify the situation. Whitey Bulger was largely responsible for perpetuating the code of silence and the "people look out for each other" myth. And he could say this, since he was comfortably living in a mansion, while most of the people in Southie were in public housing projects.

3.) The author's portrayal of poverty is fascinating and heartbreaking. We can see the effects of the breakdown of the family unit firsthand through the author's eyes. Most families had no father to look after them, and many of the mothers were on welfare. MacDonald's mother, Helen King, or "Ma" as he calls her, is one tough cookie. She managed to raise 10 kids on her own without a father- and the only income she received was from welfare and whatever tips she could scrape by playing the accordion at pubs. Most mothers were not as dedicated as this one, unfortunately. MacDonald never preaches about the issue, and there is much in here for people of all political persuasions to think about.

I love it how the book begins and ends with the author, now a grown man, attending a meeting of the newly-formed South Boston Vigil Group on All-Souls Day. They are people from all over South Boston who are ready to break the silence, and name the names of loved ones lost to murder, drugs, or suicide. Fans of gripping biography, social history, Irish-American history, and American history in general will not want to miss this.

inspiring.......2007-03-29

Even though there are pages upon pages of great reviews for this book, I had to add my two cents.

Having grown up as a unidentified upper-middle class American in the 80's, searching for connection with community and my family's origins, I found this book to be inspiring. Macdonald's recollection of his community and pride in his flawed family induced me to appreciate my own average life, as well as appreciate those full of tragedy.

Amazing, enraging, beautiful, heartbraking,inspiring .......2007-03-26

I can't say enough about this book,it is a must read for every single American citizen that has ever been foolish enough to believe that our so called government does not promote and encourage acts of violence against the most vulnerable communities in this country.

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Love <3
not as good as Angela's Ashes
A Natural Born Storyteller
'Tis
Excellent

'Tis: A Memoir
Frank McCourt
Manufacturer: Scribner
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0684865742
Release Date: 2000-08-29

Amazon.com

The sequel to Frank McCourt's memoir of his Irish Catholic boyhood, Angela's Ashes, picks up the story in October 1949, upon his arrival in America. Though he was born in New York, the family had returned to Ireland due to poor prospects in the United States. Now back on American soil, this awkward 19-year-old, with his "pimply face, sore eyes, and bad teeth," has little in common with the healthy, self-assured college students he sees on the subway and dreams of joining in the classroom. Initially, his American experience is as harrowing as his impoverished youth in Ireland, including two of the grimmest Christmases ever described in literature. McCourt views the U.S. through the same sharp eye and with the same dark humor that distinguished his first memoir: race prejudice, casual cruelty, and dead-end jobs weigh on his spirits as he searches for a way out. A glimpse of hope comes from the army, where he acquires some white-collar skills, and from New York University, which admits him without a high school diploma. But the journey toward his position teaching creative writing at Stuyvesant High School is neither quick nor easy. Fortunately, McCourt's openness to every variety of human emotion and longing remains exceptional; even the most damaged, difficult people he encounters are richly rendered individuals with whom the reader can't help but feel uncomfortable kinship. The magical prose, with its singing Irish cadences, brings grandeur and beauty to the most sorrowful events, including the final scene, set in a Limerick graveyard. --Wendy Smith

Amazon.com Audiobook Review

'Tis a blessing that the author narrates his own work. McCourt follows up his Audie Award-winning performance in Angela's Ashes with another brilliant reading as he chronicles his return to post-World War II New York. Like all good storytellers, McCourt has good stories to tell; 'Tis pulses with grim adversity and quiet triumphs--character-shaping moments that gain the listener's empathy. What makes McCourt a great storyteller is his ability to give these moments just the right amount of humor and perspective. His lyrical tones are wise but not weary; he's survived life's challenges to tell his tale. And while it may be trite to credit McCourt's verbal skills to his Irish heritage, these war stories were undoubtedly polished amongst friends in the pubs. 'Tis is Grammy material, and a perfect example of how an author's voice can enhance the written word. (Running time: 6 hours, 4 cassettes) --Rob McDonald

Book Description

Frank McCourt's glorious childhood memoir, Angela's Ashes, has been loved and celebrated by readers everywhere for its spirit, its wit and its profound humanity. A tale of redemption, in which storytelling itself is the source of salvation, it won the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Rarely has a book so swiftly found its place on the literary landscape.

And now we have 'Tis, the story of Frank's American journey from impoverished immigrant to brilliant teacher and raconteur. Frank lands in New York at age nineteen, in the company of a priest he meets on the boat. He gets a job at the Biltmore Hotel, where he immediately encounters the vivid hierarchies of this "classless country," and then is drafted into the army and is sent to Germany to train dogs and type reports. It is Frank's incomparable voice -- his uncanny humor and his astonishing ear for dialogue -- that renders these experiences spellbinding.

When Frank returns to America in 1953, he works on the docks, always resisting what everyone tells him, that men and women who have dreamed and toiled for years to get to America should "stick to their own kind" once they arrive. Somehow, Frank knows that he should be getting an education, and though he left school at fourteen, he talks his way into New York University. There, he falls in love with the quintessential Yankee, long-legged and blonde, and tries to live his dream. But it is not until he starts to teach -- and to write -- that Frank finds his place in the world. The same vulnerable but invincible spirit that captured the hearts of readers in Angela's Ashes comes of age.

As Malcolm Jones said in his Newsweek review of Angela's Ashes, "It is only the best storyteller who can so beguile his readers that he leaves them wanting more when he is done...and McCourt proves himself one of the very best." Frank McCourt's 'Tis is one of the most eagerly awaited books of our time, and it is a masterpiece.

Download Description

The sequel to the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Angela's Ashes, " McCourt's glowing memoir chronicles his story from impoverished immigrant to brilliant raconteur and schoolteacher--a tale of survival as vivid, harrowing, and often hilarious as its bestselling predecessor.

Customer Reviews:

Love <3.......2007-09-18

I love this book. While Angela's Ashes was somewhat depressing but 'Tis is hilarious and enthralling. Throughout the book all you can think is how much you want to hug him. and you'd like to think you'd be the pretty girl that would give Frank a fair shot. Anything this man writes is pure gold that's for sure.

not as good as Angela's Ashes.......2007-09-05

Tis is not nearly as good as Frank McCorts other work. I it sometimes talks about when he was a kid. But for the most part is not as good.

A Natural Born Storyteller.......2007-06-23

The only thing more pleasurable than reading Frank McCourt's memoirs is listening to him read them! Wonderful! You will not be disappointed.

'Tis.......2007-05-04

"`Tis," an Autobiography of Frank McCourt's life, tells how he made his way in life as a young immigrant living in New York. It also explains how he survived the chaos and mayhem without much money or family. Yet it also tells of his struggle to get through the army, how he learned to write and then explains his way through college. Written with passion and full of memory, "`Tis" is an outstanding book that is recommended for any young person about to go on their own in the world. Frank McCourt wrote this book as a sequel to Angela's Ashes, which is an autobiography about Frank's life as a child in Ireland. Full of twists, drama, deaths and love, "`Tis" should be on everyone's top ten list of books to buy. After he wrote this book he wrote "Teacher Man" which is a summary of his life as a teacher and how it changed his life and who he thought he was going to be. -Daniel Archuleta

Excellent.......2007-04-01

This is a great book. Not as good as Angela's Ashes but if you reade the first you will want to read this one.

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The Norton Anthology of Poetry

Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0393979210

Book Description

Long the classic anthology of poetry in English, The Norton Anthology of Poetry, Fifth Edition, adds to its wealth of known and loved poems a rich gathering of new poetry. Beginning with Beowulf, newly represented by selections from Seamus Heaney's dazzling translation, and continuing to the present day, The Norton Anthology of Poetry includes 1,100 poems by 250 poets in the Shorter Edition. Many major figures—from Chaucer and Shakespeare to Ashbery and Walcott—have expanded sections, and a range of outstanding younger voices have been newly added. Concise annotations, biographical sketches, an Essay on Versification by Jon Stallworthy, and, new to this edition, an Essay on Poetic Syntax by Margaret Ferguson help readers understand and enjoy the poems.

The Politically Incorrect Guide(tm) to English and American Literature (Politically Incorrect Guides)

Average customer rating:

PIG to English and American Literature
Seriously?
Hoo, boy, where to start with this one...
Prescription for Poor Readers
A Terrific Book

The Politically Incorrect Guide(tm) to English and American Literature (Politically Incorrect Guides)
Elizabeth Kantor
Manufacturer: Regnery Publishing, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1596980117

Book Description

The Politically Incorrect GuideT to English and American Literature exposes the PC professors and takes you on a fascinating tour through our great literature-in all its politically incorrect glory. Included: a syllabus and how-to guide to give yourself the English lit education you were denied in school.

Customer Reviews:

PIG to English and American Literature.......2007-10-05

This is a superbly written book by someone intimately familiar with the subject matter. It exposes the post-modernist absurdities with delightful wit and not in an accusatory manner. This book would be an excellent text for a mid-level college English course, and could help students prepare for being hoodwinked by silly professors with agendas. Some of the best consideration of Shakespeare I have seen since my "pre-politically correct" studies as an English major in the late 60's.

Seriously?.......2007-09-15

As a person who works in the field of English Capital-L literature, I have recently taken an interest in various books that talk about HOW we teach English. I take exception to Ms. Kantor's view of the field because it is obvious that she has never taught English, or in some cases, read the books she discusses.

First of all, in no way are the classics disappearing from the English classroom. I can guarantee that every English major in the United States is required to take a survey of British and American literature (which is fairly heavy on the "classics," mind you), and a seminar on Shakespeare, Milton, and Chaucer (or, in the case of where I went to school, all THREE). Why do we do this? Because these great writers build on each others legacy and we have to read them to understand literature. Just like we should read Dante to understand Milton, and read Milton to understand Blake. (What Kantor also fails to recognize is that our readings of Dante change after having read Milton and our readings of Milton change after having read Blake, as those men were engaging in the very literary "theory" she denounces. Furthermore, not having "theory" is still a "theory.")

As a liberal, but also an educator, the point of broadening the canon is not to forget about Shakespeare or to assume that his works are not relevant to human experience (Julius Caesar is one of the most cogent political plays ever written, and one Ms. Kantor should probably review before she kicks the opposing party out of the classroom), but it is expanded to include new kinds of human experience that have traditionally been ignored by those "dead white males" who defined the curriculum one hundred years ago. Sure, Conrad's Heart of Darkness might teach us what it means to be "human" (whatever that means), but it certainly doesn't teach us what it means to be an African or a woman, and a gander at Conrad's own words will affirm that, for all his book is critique of Imperialism.

What Ms. Kantor fails to recognize is that no literary interpretation is without its politics, not even hers. What we should focus on teaching our students is that these books are worth reading BECAUSE they raise questions about OUR culture as well as the culture of the writer's own time. But let me tell you this, Ms. Kantor, when we stop reading and discussing Chaucer with undergraduate English majors, I'll quit my job.

Hoo, boy, where to start with this one..........2007-09-02

Is there really a problem with evil liberals trying to re-write how we should look at Beowulf? This whole series of books is politically motivated. In this case, as with the other works, the author made up her mind first, and then looked for anything at all that might support it. You know, pretty much the opposite of how you're supposed to approach scholarly writing. It's a good thing they found a woman to write it, though. It's sort of like how Comedy Central found Carlos Mencia so they could legitimately tell jokes with he word "beaner" in them like twenty times each. Real classy stuff.

Prescription for Poor Readers.......2007-08-25

Thank the Almighty! At last we have a book to help us restore our sense of self-worth by exposing the tactics of that old battle-ax teacher who belittled our reading skills by declaring that we focused too much on our own thoughts and rightful opinions and not enough on the author's intentions, as if it would have been possible to reconcile that propaganda with our own straight truths! Now we can rely on the better class of writers, or at least portions of them, to help us think what we already know. They've kept us silent too long! Why, on the amazonian rankings of sales, Darwin's "The Descent of Man" is 280,117th, Marx's "Das Kapital" is 199,773rd, the "Collected Poems" of that draft-dodger Robert Lowell rank 122,823rd, Moby Dick is 45,550th, Sean Carroll's "The Making of the Fittest" (an anti-religious diatribe) is 13,034th, but "The Politically Incorrect Guide to English and American Literature" is 5088th! Do I make myself clear? The world needs a PIG book on every possible subject, so that we can effectively revile and shout down all those left-behind left-wing wingnuts!

A Terrific Book.......2007-08-25

Elizabeth Kantor's book is one of the very best introductions to English and American literature I have ever read. For the general reader or the smart high school student or beginning college student it should be indispensable reading in these days of the near destruction of literature and criticism in the colleges and universities. I speak as a retired college English professor, scholar, poet, and essayist. It is a splendid antidote or, to use a better metaphor, a strong inoculation against the rampant disease of politically correct teaching and reading of literature. I did not find a single misjudgment in Kantor's choice of valuable works to read (except maybe Joyce's ULYSSES) and don't find that she missed too many. And she named the only really good poem Pound ever wrote, "The River Merchant's Wife: A Letter"!

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