Recipe Excerpts from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook
Praise for The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook
"The Lee Bros. have written the classic Southern cookbook. They write with flair, brilliance, and hilarious commentary on the recipes, customs, and eccentricities of the South they celebrate with such passion. Their recipes are so good that I believe cookbook writers like the Lee Bros. may turn Southern cooking into an actual cuisine." --
Pat Conroy, author of The Prince of Tides
"I'm a bag fan of that particular brand of Southern poetry and smarts that make up the Lee Bros.' contributions--the best food pieces I read in the Wednesday New York Times each week--so I attacked Matt and Ted's new book like a hungry wolf. I found the same genius and eye for a good story, as well as simple-to-make recipes of the new exotic cooking of the American South. These recipes make my mouth water, and the prose makes my eyes well up for its beauty, simplicity, and truth." --
Mario Batali, chef/owner, Babbo restaurant
"These guys can cook! Just reading the recipes makes me ravenous for scintillating Southern dishes. Sign me up for Tuesday Fried Chicken and Sweet Potato Buttermilk Pie!" --
Bobby Flay, chef/owner, Mesa Grill, BOLO, and Bar Americain
"The brothers Lee chronicle a South unbound by geography. They celebrate a people loosed from the burden of history but still mindful of the ties that bind. In the Lee South, boiled peanuts and edamame play well together. So do black and white, young and old, native and outlander. You'll feel welcome here." --
John T. Edge, author of Southern Belly: the Ultimate Food Lover's Companion to the South
"The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook makes me daydream of a long ago summer on a Pawleys Island back porch, the aroma of the marsh and the dinner table mingling with laughter of many generations of families and a few too many glasses of wine. Oh to the magic of being at table together in the South." --
Frank Stitt, author of Frank Stitt's Southern Table
"The wit and enthusiasm of the Lee Bros. is irresistible, as are the recipes--a mix of traditional Southern classics and unique, highly individual creations--which will have you reaching for your cast- iron (or stainless steel) skillet." --
Scott Peacock, author of The Gift of Southern Cooking
Book Description
You don't have to be southern to cook southern.
From the New York Times food writers who defended lard and demystified gumbo comes a collection of exceptional southern recipes for everyday cooks. The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook tells the story of the brothers' culinary coming-of-age in Charleston—how they triumphed over their northern roots and learned to cook southern without a southern grandmother. Here are recipes for classics like Fried Chicken, Crab Cakes, and Pecan Pie, as well as little-known preparations such as St. Cecilia Punch, Pickled Peaches, and Shrimp Burgers. Others bear the hallmark of the brothers' resourceful cooking style—simple, sophisticated dishes like Blackened Potato Salad, Saigon Hoppin' John, and Buttermilk-Sweet Potato Pie that usher southern cooking into the twenty-first century without losing sight of its roots. With helpful sourcing and substitution tips, this is a practical and personal guide that will have readers cooking southern tonight, wherever they live. 32 pages of full-color photographs of the recipes; fifty b/w photographs from the Lee Bros.' travels throughout the South.
Customer Reviews:
Charleston...The cradle of gentility.......2007-10-10
I am pleased with this book and especially proud of the Lee bros. As a Charleston and environs resident in the 70's I learned to appreciate stories and writing efforts such as this. I can only tell you that I am thoroughly taken with the effort.
Passionate Southern cooking.......2007-10-08
I read this cookbook cover-to-cover. It's very conversational, with great stories and a deep love for Southern food. It's huge! Over 500 pages of recipes from drinks and appetizers to desserts. There are many references to Internet food stores, and I bookmarked many while I read.
This cookbook turned me on to several Southern foods I didn't know, like Boiled Peanuts (like soy beans), Scuppernong Preserves (a grape) and Sorghum Molasses.
The first recipe I made was Corn Cob Wine - corn cobs, yeast and sugar fermented several weeks into an off-beat fruity moonshine. I just made the Sweet Potato Buttermilk Pie - a tangy, bright version of the classic. All the recipes look terrific.
Overall, I highly recommend this cookbook for any Southern collection.
not my kind of southern.......2007-10-08
This is a large book that has some good stories in it, but I live in the south and expected a different kind of book, maybe like a paula deen book. This is not it. This is too fancy for me. I love to bake but not too crazy about cooking in general so I am fairly comfortable in the kitchen. This book is more for those who entertain a lot and need meals that are more over the top. It also has some form of liquor in almost every recipe and since I don't drink and don't prepare meals with liquor, most of the recipes didn't appeal to me. If you like bon appetit magazine then this is the book for you. I prefer more like Taste of Home. Good book but just not for me.
Not what I imagined.......2007-10-04
I liked the book but did not love it. The many many recipes for all the broth were overkill. I made the biscuits and they did not WOW me.
I don't like boiled peanuts and cheese straws are not enough for this book.
Sorry to be against the majority but this one got returned.
terrific read - great writing.......2007-09-30
I based my purchase on others opinions and I am glad that I did. I have not attempted to re-create any recipes because reading the book itself is such a delight. I am looking forward to doing some of the preserving and found such inspiration from this.
Average customer rating:
- Point of Impact- HITS THE MARK
- A Great Read!
- Oh come on!
- One of the best action-packed book I had in years...
- A must-read, overlooked Classic!
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Point of Impact
Stephen Hunter
Manufacturer: Bantam
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ASIN: 0553071394
Release Date: 1993-02-01 |
Book Description
He was one the best Marine snipers in Vietnam. Today, twenty years later, disgruntled hero of an unheroic war, all Bob Lee Swagger wants to be left alone and to leave the killing behind.
But with consummate psychological skill, a shadowy military organization seduces Bob into leaving his beloved Arkansas hills for one last mission for his country, unaware until too late that the game is rigged.
The assassination plot is executed to perfection—until Bob Lee Swagger, alleged lone gunman, comes out of the operation alive, the target of a nationwide manhunt, his only allies a woman he just met and a discredited FBI agent.
Now Bob Lee Swagger is on the run, using his lethal skills once more—but this time to track down the men who set him up and to break a dark conspiracy aimed at the very heart of America.
From the Paperback edition.
Customer Reviews:
Point of Impact- HITS THE MARK.......2007-10-06
Point of Impact
This book is the screenplay for the movie "Shooter". I first read the book about twelve years ago, it was so superb that it stuck with me. I was convinced that it was the basis for the very exciting movie, after some resaearch online, I was proven right. I read on average of three books a month and "Point of Impact" is on my top five ever. Bob Lee swagger uses his most accurate shots in the climactic courtroom scene, and the reader is left grinning and wanting a sequel.
A Great Read!.......2007-09-16
Clancy-like technical writing and Ludlam-like action. Throw in Grisham for good measure and you won't put thisbook down. The action just keeps on coming. Some brilliant writing that made a good movie (but the book was much better, as usual). Highly recommend this one.
Oh come on!.......2007-08-01
This has to be one of the worst suspense novels I've ever read. Stephen Hunter makes a number of technical errors and implausible scenarios to try to make up for his wooden prose and lack of understanding of the shooter's culture.
- For instance, early on he claims that a villain carries an "automatic shotgun" under his coat. Then a chapter later he changes it to a "pump shotgun". Sure Benelli makes the M3 Super 90 now, but it's clear that Hunter doesn't know this (was the M3 even in existence when he wrote the book?). He just fails to pay attention to detail.
- Then he places the hero on a hilltop, has him rapid fire over 45 rounds through a .308 with hot hand loads at moving targets at variable distances, hero never misses, over a 145 men turn tail and run, then he fires a shot at over 1,200 yards offhand (or kneeling) and hits all three rounds on a single concealed target. Of course Hunter probably believes that a bull barrel might make up for heat stress but...oops, he forgets to have that particular rifle bull barreled (which probably wouldn't help anyway).
- Oh, and let's not forget the main premise of the whole story: hero fires a bullet through his rifle, villains recover the bullet, put it through a slightly larger barrel with a paper patch or sabot, bad guy then makes a precision kill at well over 1,500 yards. Yeah....right.
- The poor woman hostage has a bad guy tape a shotgun to her head with his finger on the trigger. The hero blows off the guy's arm at the elbow.... at six feet... with 00 buck... firing from the hip. Somehow he miraculously misses the woman (who was supposed to be between the two antagonists). She falls backward on the gun and severed arm and the shotgun doesn't go off. Then the hero goes through a gut-wrenching worry fest while trying to disconnect the girl from the shotgun because he's worried the gun might go off with the bad guy's finger perched on the trigger. *GROAN* THEN he takes the arm/shotgun and tosses it "as far away as he could".... so he just spent five minutes worrying that it might go off and then he hap-hapzardly launches it through the air.
The story line is weak. The dialog is unimaginative and dependent on cultural cliches. The characters are one-dimensional to the extreme. There is no suspense and everything in the end plays out exactly as you would expect it to from such a formulaic plot line. The only piece of mystery in the whole story is so implausible that you'll laugh at it when Hunter finally deems to tell you his big mystery.
If you know very little about guns (or just enough to write a hack novel) or don't particularly care about good writing then you will probably like this book.
One of the best action-packed book I had in years..........2007-07-27
Stephen Hunter really did a good job in packing all the actions and excitement into one book. Very well laid out plots and you could really feel the characters. It was so breath-taking that you just kept on turning the pages...
A must-read, overlooked Classic!.......2007-07-10
What makes this book great:
1. Ever imagined a scenario of one man against the world? We've all seen movies or read books about people overcoming insurmountable odds. But Vietnam Veteran Bob's foes are tougher than all of them. Mentally, they have him beat. Some of the most devious minds have come together to plan the perfect conspiracy. If that isn't enough, a shamed, but ingenious evil psychiatrist has Bob all figured out. He knows his fears and weaknesses. The bad-guys certainly have more connections than Bob. The entire U.S. Government and mass media is intent on ending his life. In terms of firepower, even discounting the nation's law enforcement personal, and the hand-picked group of ex-military types that personally hate Bob, a well-trained and battle-hardened group of Central American commandos are poised to fill our hero with bullets. If Bob's lucky, he'll get a long range rifle, an incompetent ex-FBI agent, and an 80 year old southern lawyer to help him out. If he's unlucky, maybe he gets a .45 ACP and the Ouachita Mountains. How can it get any better than this?
2. Tension and uncertainty aren't great things in life, but they are when you're reading a suspense novel. This book is packed with plot twists and unexpected turns. A book that has believable, yet riveting, surprises is the kind of book that I want to read. Stephen Hunter incorporated plenty of this into "Point of Impact."
3. Sometimes a passionate romantic encounter, sporting event, or life threatening situation will make your heart accelerate, but how about a book? This book is more than a slowly decaying lump of processed wood and splattered ink. This book will make your heart thump, thunder, and accelerate. I found my eyes racing through paragraphs during the multiple climaxes in this book.
4. Awaiting the revenge part. This book has some disgusting villains that badly need to be punished for their atrocities. This can be a fulfilling thing to read about. And you're guaranteed to keep turning the pages until the evil-doers get what's coming to them.
5. Appreciate a good conspiracy? Or would you rather see it come unraveled by the hands of a real American hero? In this book, we have the perfect conspiracy. You won't see a more immaculate frame-up. Even if you hate the undercover villians, you'll appreciate their professionalism as they plan to send Bob the Nailer, and a few innocents, to their doom. The best part is seeing the conspiracy fall apart, though.
6. Better than the movie "Shooter." We've all heard this adage before, so there is no use in me repeating it. Just trust me on this one.
7. If you appreciate guns and marksmanship, then that's something else you'll like about this book. Some of the calibers might be foreign to you if you're a novice like me, but if you like target shooting or gun collecting, this book will really resonate with you.
So what are you waiting for? Get lost in a world of suspense, intrigue, guile, and all those other adjectives for a few hours. Give your brain a kick, figuratively of course. You can let Bob Lee Swagger be your guide and not risk being picked off at the top of a hill.
Here's some more stuff about the book if you're eager.
Characters:
Bob Lee Swagger: AKA Bob the Nailer. A Vietnam vet with a reputation for superb sniping abilities. He is not without battle scars, both mental and physical. Physically, he was shot in the hip by a sniper during Vietnam. Mentally he has problems too. After Bob got shot in the leg, his best friend Donny Fenn tried to save him and got killed in the process. Bob came back from Vietnam and went through some difficult times and finally settled down in a lonely cabin in rural Arkansas. He has no companions but a handful of friends that he spoke to on occasion. He also has his dog. His life consists of collecting his checks from his services to the armed forces and shooting. Shooting is his only passion and pastime. He methodically hones his rifles to perfection on a daily basis. This hobby is a form of escape really. Bob shoots targets and forgets about everything else in life. Bob is intensely patriotic and never lost his southern humor, despite the hardships and setbacks that he has faced. Something about his psychological profile convinced a handful of masterminds that he would be the prime fall guy for their assassination plot. Swagger shows what he has left in him as he struggles against what appear to be insurmountable odds.
Nick Memphis: All Nick ever wanted was to be an FBI agent. Early in his career he landed the prestigious position of sniper for the FBI. In a hostage situation, he was in the position to take the shot at the deranged criminal. Perhaps due to his own nerves; or perhaps because of the commanding officer barking orders as loud as possible into his ear piece, Nick messed up the shot in the worst possible way and hit the hostage in the spine. As a result, his career took a dive. He lost his sniper position and was reassigned to the FBI headquarters in New Orleans. He married the wheelchair bound woman that he hit in the spine that terrible day. They surprisingly build a loving relationship. But everything takes a turn for the worse when she passes away. Sometimes unsure of himself and plagued with bad luck, Nick does his best to be a stellar agent but things just never seem to work out for him. Despite his work ethic and loyalty, he struggles to not get fired as he works for the FBI. Everything is elevated when he finds himself in the middle of the investigation and chase to capture Bob the Nailer.
Jack Payne and Colonel Shreck are ex-elite military veterans. They are the muscle behind the assassination and conspiracy plot.
Dr. Dobbler is an evil psychiatrist who no longer has a license. But this does not keep him from working for a covert front that might be loosely connected to the CIA. He's got Bob's profile.
There are more villains than meets the eye. Among them is a brutal Central American General, government law enforcement agents, a local policeman or two, and perhaps some government officials that are pretty high up. There is also another sniper, and evil one. He seems to be the opposite of Bob, and he might even be more skilled.
Plot summary:
Bob is at home, minding his own business, when a handful of strangers show up at his rural Arkansas trailer. Bob does not want to talk to them initially, but one of them flips him his congressional medal of honor and Bob listens to him in part as his patriotic duty. The strangers have a wonderful proposition for him. They are representatives of a cutting edge ammunition company that has designed a process to make the most accurate and reliable rounds in the world. They need a top notch marksman like Bob the Nailer to sample their product, endorse it, and represent it. But to make sure Bob endorses the product in good faith, they invite him to test the ammunition at their facility. Bob starts out with some simple tests; firing and checking the marking of different kinds of ammunition, including the new company's ammunition and Bob's custom loads. Just to show Bob that the ammunition was truly phenomenal, the mysterious company had Bob simulate some real life sniping events. During the final event, Bob simulated the murder of a drug-cartel Kingpin from several hundred yards. By the force of some ingenious psychological manipulation that will not be revealed in this review, Bob becomes angered and nearly traumatized. The whole ammunition bit was a set up to lure Bob into a covert operation to protect the President of the United States!
Bob's new covert allies inform Bob that they have obtained top secret knowledge that the man who shot Bob and killed Bob's best friend, Donny Fenn, during Vietnam, was planning on killing the president. They needed his sniping expertise to find out more information so that they could stop the terrible event.
To Bob's surprise, he is set up and framed for the assassination attempt (and murder). Now he has the entire federal government, and local law enforcement personal, and everyone else in the country on his tail.
Bob has a two goals, vengenance and clearing his name. The first goal is greater than the first. Somewhere over the course of the book, Bob's character develops in the midst of these hardships and he acquires a third goal. He wants to start a new life. He seeks to emerge from the hermit-like existence that has consumed him in rural Arkansas and find love and family like many other Americans. Bob is up against top secret organizations and powerfully efficient foes. He must utilize stealth and violence to survive.
One of my favorite parts of the book is when our wrongly accused sniper matches his jungle fighting prowess with a sizable group of Central American commandos.
This book successfully manages to have multiple climaxes in a way that other books fall short. The first climax involves multiple master snipers, elite villains, psychological manipulation, and involves Bob going toe to toe with the evilest of covert, conspiring, and absolutely brutal villains.
The second climax is Bob matching his wits with the sharpest young (and old) minds of the federal government.
I'm not sure which of the climaxes was more exciting, although the second one is a bit further outside of Bob's area of expertise.
The book is highly recommended. It is the kind of book that you read for enjoyment, and it is a classic in this regard. Very few books (if any) surpass this work in its ability to show the reader a good time.
Book Description
Legendary auto executive Lee Iacocca has a question for every American: Where have all the leaders gone?
The most widely recognized business executive of all time asks the tough questions that America's leaders must address:
• What is each of us giving back to our country?
• Do we truly love democracy?
• Are we too fat and satisfied for our own good?
• Why is America addicted to oil?
• Do we really care about our children's futures?
• Who will save the middle class?
A self-made man who many Americans once wished would run for president, Iacocca saved the Chrysler Corporation from financial ruin, masterminded the creation of the minivan, and oversaw the renovation of Ellis Island. Since then he has created the Iacocca Institute for leadership at Lehigh University and the Iacocca Foundation, which funds research for a cure for diabetes. Lee Iacocca believes that leaders are made in times of crisis -- such as today. He has known more leaders than almost anyone else -- among them nine U.S. presidents, many heads of state, and the CEOs of the nation's top corporations -- and is uniquely suited to share his wisdom, knowledge, and wit about the leadership of America.
Author of the gigantic number one bestsellers Iacocca: An Autobiography and Talking Straight, Lee Iacocca famously doesn't mince words and offers his no-nonsense, straight-up assessments of the American politicians most likely to run for president in 2008, including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Joe Biden, Bill Richardson, Mitt Romney, and John Edwards.
Confessing that he has "flunked retirement," Iacocca calls on citizens of all ages to vote, get involved, and choose our leaders carefully. Along the way, he shares stories about the prominent people he's met and known, including the time he smoked cigars with Fidel Castro, what Bob Hope told him about how to live a long life, what Lady Sarah Ferguson said to him as they danced, why Bill Clinton woke him up in Italy, what Robert McNamara taught him about success, how Frank Sinatra sang for him personally, and whom Pope John Paul II asked him to pray for. We learn what he discussed with Warren Buffett, DaimlerChrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche, Ronald Reagan, Senator John Kerry, Congressman John Murtha, Prince Charles and Camilla, former Saudi ambassador Prince Bandar, rapper Snoop Dogg, financier Kirk Kerkorian, Ted Turner, Bob Dole, and many more.
Knowing that the times are urgent, the iconic leader shares his lessons learned and issues a call to action to summon Americans back to their roots of hard work, common sense, integrity, generosity, and optimism.
Where have all the leaders gone?
Lee Iacocca has the answer.
Customer Reviews:
Answer: They've gone into hiding!.......2007-10-18
Review: "Where Have All the Leaders Gone?"
For the past several years, I have been wringing my hands about the growing dearth of leadership in our nation. I suspect this arises as education snobbery pushes common sense aside in favor of intellectualism. When I learned that Lee Iacocca, one of our greatest contemporary leaders, was similarly concerned and had authored a book on the subject, I was eager to read it. I was confident that he would have some good ideas and would offer some sound advice.
Discouragingly, I was wrong.
Where have all the leaders gone? I wonder if the author chose the title, since the book does not give us a direct answer. On the chance that was because he could not figure it out, here is my answer: They have gone into hiding, Lee, just like you!
According to his memoirs, as documented here, Lee Iacocca had at least three opportunities to serve his country in government and in positions as high as President. His reasons for passing on those solicitations were the same as usually uttered by other very capable people; they are not confident about their ability to participate effectively in the degradingly duplicitous and disingenuous management system that we currently call "politics." That, of course, has left leadership positions open to those who are comfortable in that paradigm. Hence today's situation.
As an alternative, he recommends that we all get more conscientious about voting, and evaluate candidates much more critically before going to the polls. Gee; thank's Lee. We never thought of that!
I'm sorry, but we're tired of rolling up our sleeves and donning our thinking caps to evaluate - as Jerry Brown cleverly put it over ten years ago - "the evil of two lessers." Since people of your caliber choose to excuse themselves, our role defaults to bottom-fishing. Carp, mud puppies and other scavengers; all junk fish with no fight in them, and never worthy of our table. Not worth fishing for! Why bother?
The last sentence in the book is, "Won't you join me?" My first take on that was surprise: 'join you in what?' However, on second thought, I guess my answer is, "Yes." We are all doing the same thing as you. We are bitching and complaining, but keeping far enough away from the mud-wrestling pit that we will not get splattered.
Harry Truman was a lot like Lee Iacocca in many ways - common, practical, decisive, responsible and plain talking. Wonder where we would be today had he felt the same way and let things default to lesser men.
The above notwithstanding, I give Lee's book high marks.
First, because the author is Lee Iacocca, a staunch, real life American icon - someone with a story every youngster should know about. Second, because there is so much more in the book that in conversations with family and friends, no matter what the topic, I currently find myself mentioning what Iacocca had to say. I guess that means I think what he had to say on those things is worth knowing about.
Solutions for Secretaries of Small NPO's
The Manitou Passage Story
O.K., we get it. You hate Bush. But, what about leadership???.......2007-10-10
This book isn't about leadership - it's a collection of hateful rants aimed at the Bush presidency. Touting the "success" of the Chrysler K car (!?!?!) was laughable and delivering a mean-spirited attack about the president's actions on 9/11 was churlish and really low. I'm glad my president had the good sense NOT to look panicked to the world (kids at school) and to assess his safety before heading back to D.C. This book masquerades as a book about leadership, but it is really an octogenarian's platform for spewing his political dogma and venom.
Thank Goodness I Got This From The Library.......2007-10-02
I thought Iacocca might have some interesting observations on leadership based on his years at Ford and Chrysler. After all, this is the man whose inspired leadership saved the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Instead, Iacocca has done a good job of impersonating a liberal version of Ann Coulter as he splashes his hatred (no other word describes it) of George Bush on page after page.
Iacocca lists his traits of a leader -- he calls them his Nine Cs of Leadership -- then pours out his bile on George Bush by describing the president's inadequacies in each. Here's an example under the "C" for CRISIS: "On September 11, 2001," Iacocca writes, "we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history. Where was George Bush? He was reading a story about a pet goat to kids in Florida."
I would agree that President Bush has shortcomings in terms of his leadership skill, especially as a communicator. But I believe Iacocca takes far too many cheap shots in his latest book for it to have any credibility as a learning tool. I'd like to suggest that Iacocca add one more "C" to his list to make it an even ten: CIVILITY. A good leader (and writer) understands the dangers of overkill.
Has some good points.......2007-09-29
I thought this was a very thought provoking book. As always Lee toots his horn pretty loudly but I expected that. His plans for how to get the country back on track and make the USA the world leader again has some good points and some that would never work. I would recommend reading it if you think the present administration is doing a good job but are open minded. If you do not want to hear anything negative about the present admin then by all means do not read it.
Contender For Worst Book of 07' .......2007-09-19
First impressions of the cover are baffling. I knew nothing of Lee Iacocca before reading this which raised so many questions beforehand- What direction will he take with all of his experience and knowledge? What is the book's subject, corporate management? Life motivation? Occurring somewhere in it's arduous chapters you realize it's that guy from the Snoop Dog TV ads. He's also no stranger to leadership; managing one of the largest corporations in the world is no easy onus, so why shouldn't he provide some edifying, invaluable knowledge to us readers?
Hopes of acquiring stimulating, Donald Trump-styled professional wisdom dissipate upon plunging into the first chapter. The bottom line is Lee Iacocca is artlessly fuming about the government. Essentially, the book has nothing at all to do with today's business environment or corporate management. By reading the cover we're led to believe Lee has some rare fresh, balanced views on our nation`s leadership. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. Eat your heart out Andy Rooney, there's competition now for the role of mope eternally bitching about every worldly unjustness today.
Iacocca, a former Kerry booster, earnestly aims to capitalize off low presidential and congressional approval ratings compounded with colossal media and pop culture demonization campaigns of Bush's presidency in a platitude of flagrantly throwing every dubious cliché that emulates a run-of-the-mill, freshmen term paper imbued with senior citizen angst and insincerity; a real shame for someone his age. Our esteemed author offers nothing new to a reader but the same old repetitive juvenile fallacies fabricated by Michael Moore films and leftwing blog rants- Bush lied about Iraq, Bush is dumb, Cheney is evil, Iraq was for oil, Saddam wasn't a threat, "powerful neocon conspirators" get rich off of Iraq via Halliburton and other companies, Americans are fat, to we will all soon disintegrate from "Global warming."
Nevertheless, Lee is quick to remind us he is no partisan. His eulogy of officials he exalts definitively tails public opinion polls, kindling a true character of a modern day conformist, revealing a preoccupation with acceptance among mainstream haut monde, not to mention mantra-hungry book critics. Needless to say, he's immured in a prison of inanity. Lee's special affection with calling avid soldier-condemner John Murtha a "true patriot" is utterly joshing. Lee, intentionally or not, manages to fill his jeremiad with flourishing self-contradictions, naïve propositions, rampant pessimism, and groundless "statistics", such as: "Since 1777 there's only been 45 flag burnings."
Among the myriad ludicrousness includes:
-It's solely the US's fault the Cuban people are suffering due to economic embargos and callous diplomatic relations
-Castro is a kindly man who is often misunderstood. The only reason he is despised in the US is because of right-winged-defectors in Fl who will always support Batista. (Which is not only preposterous but downright repugnant)
-Consistently groans the US has "invaded countries which don't pose a threat" before suggesting we should invade our ally Saudi Arabia.
-Declaims the US cold-heartedly hinders illegals from entering America while dedicating a chapter to deploring how the Middle Class is getting screwed today- carrying the heaviest tax burden and losing jobs.
-Spends a great deal of the book deprecating Bush's presidency, which he attributes to an inability to lead; quite ironic for someone who was fired for his own ineptitude in leading Ford, which is seldom mentioned.
The final chapter takes an incongruous turn, as if the whole of the book wasn't anomalous enough. Iacocca further rambles on on everything from retirement, golf, the Pope, Frank Sinatra, to the upcoming election. Finally concluding with a pitch to join his foundation.
In addition to lacking defined objectives and structure, Lee's second book is erratic in subject and more importantly, omits a central theme. Everyone holds passionate opinions in a democracy but if you expect us to pay to hear yours, regardless of persuasion, they should be unique, factual, and ruminative. Simplicity is plenteous in Iacocca's elementary writing style, full of short sentences of puerile thoughts on intricate matters like bioethics, the political economy, and public policy issues. A well-educated scholar's work that exhibits skillful prose and authentic intellect on these subjects would unquestionably be more rewarding than 200 pages of time-consuming, clamorous tirades. In Lee's more familiar business world, if you present a poor, rancid, futile product you lose money and credibility, why should your book be any different?
Book Description
The guide that enables you to identify, and place in their historic and architectural contexts, the houses you see in your neighborhood or in your travels across America. 17th century to the present.
Customer Reviews:
Great Resource.......2007-09-30
Great book!!! I'm using for my company to get a true representation of many styles for many of the house I'm designing. A great resource for any firm!!!
great book for the housing history.......2007-09-10
great at housing history
great describe for the house component
good picture to show handy book to show at real estate
Get out your "readers!".......2007-07-27
A good "bible" type book for house lovers (buyers, sellers, architects, Realtors, etc.) However, the print is itty bitty, so be sure to have a magnifying glass or some readers handy. There is a lot of information and many black and white photographs along with intricate drawings. It almost feels like a college textbook (good thing it's a paperback!). Good reference book.
A very useful book .......2007-05-06
This book has been one of the most fascinating and useful books I have read. It is laid out in an easy-to-use manner, and is packed full of information that is useful for an amatuer old-house lover, or as a reference for a professional. It follows the history and evolution of homebuilding consecutively from pre-1600's-current (the book was published in 1984, so it is lacking the last 20 years, though). Each style of house or time period has it's own chapter, which goes into depth detailing the features that are unique to and commonly found in that style. It also includes many pictures displaying these features.
The first few chapters of the book introduce you to the basics of house form, structure, and style, and provide a wealth of information on how to look at a house and identify it using key features. It literally is a field guide! I have learned so much about the way a house is constructed, how house layouts have evolved through the years, and learned the names and meanings of all the different parts of a house. It has been fascinating. My husband and I met with a home builder last week, and I was able to comfortably converse with him and understand everything he said because of having read this book recently!
I can't begin to describe all that this book contains. Highly recommended!
A Field Guide to American Houses.......2007-03-12
I've actually purchased two of this book, one as a gift. It is a 'coffee table' book that will actually get used. It is a great reference book and an interesting book to spend some time with. The explanatory illustrations are exceptional, and the photographic examples provide more than just an example. Looking at these photographs you can travel back in time and different periods of American history. Some of the houses are abandoned and run down which in no way lessens the impact of their design and grandeur.
Early in the book, most houses are named and the location given. However, the newer houses toward the back are not so identified. This is not a problem as much as it is a disappointment.
Book Description
This classic, bestselling study of the !Kung San, foragers of the Dobe area of the Kalahari Desert describes a people's reactions to the forces of modernization, detailing relatively recent changes to !Kung rituals, beliefs, social structure, marriage and kinship system. It documents their determination to take hold of their own destiny-despite exploitation of their habitat and relentless development-to assert their political rights and revitalize their communities. Use of the name Ju/'hoansi (meaning "real people") acknowledges their new sense of empowerment.
Customer Reviews:
Very Insightful.......2007-10-04
This book contains a lot of data and figures on the Ju/hoansi and is very informative and well written. The changes of the people, as well as their neighbors, are well documented.
A+++++ Very nice.......2007-03-23
Awesome job, I was in a bind because I needed this for my Anthropology class. And I lost my copy while on a family trip! OOPS! And Amazon had it to me just in time for me to finish and score full points on the exam!
Makes you have a deep understanding for this group.......2007-01-14
I had to read the book for a cultural anthropology class and many of the passages are easy to read. I started the class thinking of tribes in Africa as "backwards" and at the end of the class I now think that tribes in Africa are another form of a group. The book gives a viewpoint of like you're there.
You cannot expect anything better!.......2000-03-23
I haven't even read the entire book yet, but I can still tell how wonderful it is going to be when I have finished it. I'll probably want to read it again because it is so interesting. This study has opened up so many new understandings of unique ways of life that I cannot wait to buy more Case Studies just like this one! It's the perfect addition for anyone with a curiosity of how unique people exist in different parts of the world, specifically in South Africa. By far the most interesting and entertaining work I have read--it sure beats thoses dull books we have to read in AP English!
An outstanding and thought-provoking book........1997-02-05
The Dobe Ju/' hoansi is a masterpiece in modern cultural anthropology. It absorbs the richness and the level of complexity of humankind. Lee opens our mind and lets us appreciate the level of diversity in our world. While Richard B. Lee delineates the differences between our advanced western society and the simple bushmen society of southern Africa,he points-out the similarities we all share as humans, without regards to race, creed, social class or gender. This book helps us understand ourselves and perhaps see the world without all the tint of biases we all carry around
Customer Reviews:
Changing China.......2007-07-30
The book is good and is full of factual info but its quickly becoming outdated when dealing with the younger Chinese people.
Very helpful but some things have changed... .......2006-07-30
Having just taught in two major Chinese universities, I found this book very helpful. But based on my conversations with numbers of students (at undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate level), in today's competitive China some things appear to have changed. E.g. granted the diversity of a vast country like China, in those cities that have been more impacted by Western consumer culture there is much more individualism especially among youth. At the more prestiguous universities intense competition means that fewer students are as willing to assist their colleagues as their more traditional counerparts might have once been. Highly recommended (even for tourists) but do be aware of the increasing impact of Western culture.
Encountering the Chinese : A guide for Americans.......2006-03-24
I found this book interesting however, if you plan to just visit China and not live there it is probably not that helpful. If you are an American and do plan to live there for some period of time it would probably be quite helpful.
This book is worth the encounter.......2005-10-11
This book is primarily directed at Americans involved with China but much of what it refers to is also valid for other English speaking westerners. In fact, it is the best book I have read in terms of explaining Chinese culture as x, y, z. It is said that everything you hear about China is true, but not necessarily where you are. This book includes valuable information that is true in most locations in China, not only the coastal cities, nor just Beijing, nor only in academic circles. The book is broken into two sections. The first half of the book contains general culture information about Chinese people which should be applicable to Chinese in general, no matter where they live in the world. The second half contains information specific to Mainland China and situations you may find yourself in there.
A poignant example would be the fact that when Chinese people are visiting you and decide it is time to leave they do just that, leave. There is no extended time of talk after an initial, "I need to go soon," rather they just stand up and say goodbye. This surprised me the first time it happened with some students but I quickly became used to it. I have read other books which recommend against reading books like this because they will only cause more harm than good. However, almost everything in this book was relevant to my time in China and if I had read it before I went my learning curve would have been shallower.
I would hope that they will come out with a third edition of this valuable book. A few items are dated and China is changing so rapidly that some details are sure to be very different in the future.
an experience leading to a Must read and better understandin.......2005-04-13
I have just finished the book, twice; Encountering the Chinese; A Guide for Americans. by Hu Wenzhong & Cornelius L. Grove.
This is a great book for help in making cross cultural or intercultural communication between Chinese and Americans more rewarding while trying to avoid abrasiveness regarding deep fundamental differences.
Before reading this book I did not know that Chinese culture is one of collectivism, I had thought that everyone is individulistic in the world, I had never known anything different. It was hard for me to understand Chinese life until I got some help from these two authors. It explained many of my questions and concerns for why Chinese do some of the things they do and act in such ways in response to things I do. Why i was treated the way I was, for the way I acted, which I had no idea, was only a response of a disliking of my fundamental character and individualistic personality, one of American born and raised in the Heartland U.S.A..
It showed me the reason, for alot of my confusion and why I received the response I did for my actions.
I acted like an individual and showed anger, which I read to the Chinese are two of the worst ways to act. This difference in fundamentals between myself and the Chinese culture may have led to the misunderstanding and consequential accusations, and or just the overall way of bringing anxiety and frustrations to the surface in my life here in China.
I recommend this book to anyone who would like to know the difference between collectivism and individualism, the predominate theory or doctrines of China & The United States, for better relations between these two ways of thinking for more harmony on both sides for neither one is right or wrong for without education the other has no idea of the inherited fundamental differences each have.
It has helped me see the Chinese way of thinking and acting in response to my way of thinking and acting in my daily life, something that rarely do Americans need to or have to think about. I will forever before instinctly acting on my own individualistically trained nature to see how such acts would be seen from the perspective of one of collectivistic. Like I would never complain aloud in anger about poor pay, nor openly criticize a Chinese person, nor think only of the betterment of myself in matters of personal likes and dislikes. I would also refrain from wearing expensive, name brand, clothing while in the presence of less educated and fashion sensitive people who may feel I am just a selfish American taking advantage of being able to travel the world freely as I my country has given to its citizens. The sometimes I really feel that it is not about cultural differences but something we all have subltely within us, something very known which we all can recognize; jealousy, envy, concite, revenge, hate, and many others that if one is not careful, and educated can appear very similiar to the other as a possible excuse as to say that we have named it a fundamental difference in cultural perspective one of the friction between individualism and collectivism.
>> also if you don't have an idea yet why this book is so important>> a letter to a friend, referring this book and what I had learned from it>
Dear Professor xxxx,
I am not quite sure how to thank you and Prof.xxxx, except to acquire the utmost from this gracious learning opportunity.
Before receiving your email, I had just finished one of the required readings, Encountering the Chinese; A Guide for Americans. By Hu & Grove
How true it really is, I am probably not the first nor the last to say that, but wow I was both amazed and glad that I had read it, to confirm what I had questioned repeatedly and already dealt with and deal with every day. True to it that Americans are fundamentally individualistic, I at least understand that as I was raised by my hard working, blue collar, U.S. Veteran and father, to be self sufficient and self promoting in work and daily affairs, that my survival muchly depended on myself, and that to act in way to promote myself and my priorities is what will make success for myself and family. To depend on another was and is looked down upon, as an American, as one needs to become a compitant providor both to society and his/her family. Such a phrase for this I remember being told as I was growing up, "you need to make a life for yourself, no one else is going to do it for you."
On the other hand, or at the other end of the "continuum," the orientation of the Chinese, collectivism.
Like I had said before, my wife is Chinese, though we are both young and she is somewhat even younger then myself, I have indeed and will continue to make observations on this fundamental orientation in the difference between individualism and collectivism, which if not observed and prepared for will indeed as I have experienced many times, surely cause faux pas, conflicts, and downright hard to explain your way out of -misunderstandings, for it is hard to teach that we both are right from our own orientation, though each of us find from our own conditioning and orientation that the other is wrong. In the moment of such misunderstanding it is not common and hard to say, "ohh, our conflict is one which stems from fundamental differences," instead it is best to be informed beforehand, to be eguipped, and that is exactly why I feel that this course and this book of which is a required text, is of very high importance and benfit.
I am indebt to you for allowing me to expand my knowledge, not only academically but also the practical knowledge that will allow for me to put into practice, at once within my immediate family and that of my surroundings.
Thanks,
-An American Citizen (born & raised on U.S. soil)
-Married interculturally w/ a Chinese Citizen born and raised in one of the two systems one country,-HK
-living with an all Chinese Family, except myself
Book Description
To Kill a Mockingbird, the twentieth-centurys most widely read American novel, has sold thirty million copies and still sells a million yearly. Yet despite the books perennial popularity, its creator, Harper Lee has become a somewhat mysterious figure. Now, after years of research, Charles J. Shields has brought to life the warmhearted, high-spirited, and occasionally hardheaded woman who gave us two of American literatures most unforgettable charactersAtticus Finch and his daughter, Scoutand who contributed to the success of her lifelong friend Truman Capotes masterpiece, In Cold Blood. At the center of Shieldss lively book is the story of Lees struggle to create her famous novel. But her life contains many other highlights as well: her girlhood as a tomboy in overalls in tiny Monroeville, Alabama; the murder trial that made her beloved fathers reputation and inspired her great work; her journey to Kansas as Capotes ally and research assistant to help report the story of the Clutter murders; the surrogate family she found in New York City. Drawing on six hundred interviews and much new information, Mockingbird is the first book ever written about Harper Lee. Highly entertaining, filled with humor and heart, this is an evocative portrait of a writer, her dream, and the place and people whom she made immortal.
Customer Reviews:
Insights into the Life of a Very Private Woman.......2007-08-11
Charles J. Shields got off to a slow start in Mockingbird but readers who suffered through the rather mind-numbing first chapter were rewarded with an intriguing Nelle Harper Lee biography that got stronger and stronger as each chapter unfolded. Shields managed to give insights into Harper Lee, the woman, despite the fact that her public life and career have been limited to relatively few milestones, events that her admirers find interesting even today.
Nelle grew up in the small Alabama town of Monroeville where she was much like the tomboyish character Scout who was the central figure in her masterpiece To Kill a Mockingbird. After high school she went on to Huntingdon College and, under pressure from her father, later studied law at the University of Alabama but did not graduate. Nelle was determined to become a writer and left law school to move to New York so that she could concentrate on that.
The events that define the public Harper Lee all started to happen around 1960 and they make up the heart of the book:
* Publication and immediate success of To Kill a Mockingbird
* Her intimate involvement in the research for In Cold Blood with her oldest friend in the world, Truman Capote
* Filming of To Kill a Mockingbird, starring Gregory Peck
* Her disappearance from public view and lack of a second novel
Nelle Harper Lee was very fortunate to find, early on, a gifted and patient editor in the person of Tay Hohoff who worked with her through the numerous drafts required to transform Nelle's stories into the unified novel that they ultimately became. Within just a few weeks of publication, To Kill a Mockingbird was on the top ten lists of both the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune and had become a Reader's Digest Condensed Book (considered quite an honor in those days).
While all this was happening, Nelle was helping her childhood friend and neighbor, Truman Capote, do the Kansas research required for the creation of his own masterpiece, In Cold Blood. In fact, it is unlikely that Capote would have been able to write such a groundbreaking work if Nelle Lee had not made herself available to serve as his "assistant" in Garden City, Kansas. Truman Capote did not have the kind of personality or presence that went over well in rural Kansas and without Nelle there to open doors for him with her graceful southern personality and temperament he would have been unable to gather the inside information that makes In Cold Blood so special. Sadly enough, all of the help that Nelle gave Capote did not exempt her in later years from being treated with the same contempt and lack of respect with which he treated all of his supposed friends.
The chapter on the filming of To Kill a Mockingbird provides interesting insights into the personality of Gregory Peck and how he came to truly love Nelle Lee, remaining a friend of hers for the rest of his life, and is filled with stories and bits of gossip regarding most of the key members of the cast. Monroeville, Alabama, of the 1960s looked little like the Monroeville of the 1930s but such great care was taken to recreate the older version of Monroeville (even to taking exact measurements
The Perfect Summer: England 1911, Just Before the Storm
Too Close to the Sun: The Audacious Life and Times of Denys Finch Hatton
Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations
The Last Mrs. Astor: A New York Story
Nancy Cunard: Heiress, Muse, Political Idealist
Hermione Lee, about whose Virginia Woolf the Amazon.com reviewer wrote, "Biographies don't get much better than this," has turned for her next major subject to Edith Wharton. Wharton's classics, including The House of Mirth, The Age of Innocence, and Ethan Frome, are known to many readers, but Lee has prepared exclusively for us a Reading Guide to Edith Wharton that goes beyond those familiar titles to unearth lesser-known gems among her remarkable stories and novels, from the story "After Holbein," "a masterpiece of ghoulish, chilling satire," to The Custom of the Country, her "most ruthless, powerful, and savage novel."
On a clear, brisk February afternoon in Louisville, Kentucky, in the asphalt parking lot of Lynn's Paradise Cafe, we started a fire. All it took to get going was some wadded-up newspaper, a small pyramid of charcoal, and a match. To keep the flame alive, we put our cheeks to the chilly pavement and blew on the bottom layer of coals. Diners leaving the cafe from early dinners glanced at us, chuckled nervously, and hurried along to their cars. When the pile was glowing, we added some split logs and the plume of smoke rising from the pavement became woodsy and fragrant. By the time the sun went down, the flames were hotter and brighter, so we added more oak. Once the fire was roaring, customers in the restaurant became concerned, and the chef, Sarah, in clogs and a kerchief, shuffled out with the buttoned-up manager, Lori, to check on us.
