Cultural Books - Page 12

Race, Class, and Gender in the United States

Paula S. Rothenberg

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

It changed my life 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I read the previous edition of this book in Spring of 2004 for one of my Enlgish courses in college and it literally changed my life in many shapes and forms. My intellectual knowledge has expanded tremendously on the issues of gender, racism, racial prejudice, ethnic cultures, sexism, and classism thanks to this great scholar book. On my 22nd birthday I was given this new edition and I am glad a new edition was released with more updates and information.

I recommend this book to any person interested in those issues and concepts that shape our everyday life and our sociological evolution as humans. I am a university student of history and I have found this book to be a valuable tool for research papers and self-education.

I strongly recommend this book. If you are willing to read on the social issues that are absolutely necessary to understand our political, social and economic system, please read this book.

Looking inwards... 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

The "RCG" text edited by Rothenberg is truly a gem. It offers a myriad of perspectives from all Americans not just those with doctorate degrees or trapped in their ivory towers. I have used the text for my courses and have not had one student indicate that it was a nothing book or that they did not learn something of value from the book. Moreover, when the book is updated, the publisher and editor put an effort into demonstrating the changing landscape that is race, class, and gender bias in the "United States of America."

Anatomy of Love: A Natural History of Mating, Marriage, and Why We Stray

Helen Fisher

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A fascinating and enjoyable book 4 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

The reviews for this book are very mixed, and perhaps if I were a scientist I might be a little harsh too. As someone with zero scientific training but a strong interest in human relations, I found the book fascinating, easy to follow and fun to read. I think that the author did a great job of introducing interesting ideas in manner that anyone can grasp. I can really recommend one of her other books too, Why we love.

Editorial Review:

"Captivates the reader, answers all those puzzling questions that caused your mother (or priest or guidance counselor or gym teacher) to blame God and/or hormones....Her prediction of a more open and egalitarian order provides a compelling--and hopeful--vision for the future."
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
Love at first sight...the copulatory gaze...dinner dates...jealousy... intimacy... homesexuality...infidelity...Dr.Helen Fisher, an anthropologist at the American Museum of Natural History, explains it all in this four-million-year history of the human species. She demystifies much about romance and pairing that we tend to believe is willfull or just plain careless. She offers new explanations for why men and women fall in love, marry, and divorce, and discusses the future of sex in a way that will surprise you.

The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age

Simon Schama

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Tough sledding and not for amateurs 2 out of 5 stars.
12 of 23 people found this review helpful.

I cannot say if this book is good or not. I have waded through one hundred pages and know that reading ten books a week for twenty-five or thirty years has left me insufficiently prepared for the verbal density. It is up there on the shelf next to William Gass, and I plan to pull it down the next time I feel strong enough.

Editorial Review:

Schama explores the mysterious contradictions of the Dutch nation that invented itself from the ground up, attained an unprecedented level of affluence, and lived in constant dread of being corrupted by happiness. Drawing on a vast array of period documents and sumptuously reproduced art, Schama re-creates in precise detail a nation's mental state. He tells of bloody uprisings and beached whales, of the cult of hygiene and the plague of tobacco, of thrifty housewives and profligate tulip-speculators. He tells us how the Dutch celebrated themselves and how they were slandered by their enemies.



"History on the grand scale...An ambitious portrait of one of the most remarkable episodes in modern history."--New York Times


"Wonderfully inclusive; with wit and intense curiosity he teases out meaning from every aspect of Dutch seventeenth-century life."--Robert Hughes

Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia

Gilles Deleuze, Felix Guattari

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Original, brilliant... insightful, but distorted in perspective. 5 out of 5 stars.
27 of 31 people found this review helpful.

Why am I giving this book a five star rating? Because this work is an effort at a new theory that is systematic and terminologically consistent and must have been a torture for the writers to conjure up in their head.

It certainly is a torture to read this work. Not because I can't understand hard-core philosophy - I have read, understood and liked Hegel, Heidegger, Sartre and Derrida, considered amongst the most abstruse stylists - but because it is difficult to empathize with writers who characterize themselves and their readers as 'desiring machines' rather than as subjects with consciousness and will.

Is desire the only thing that defines human beings - what about will, thinking, compassion, judgment? And further why am I supposed to be a machine and in what sense? These are the questions that came to my mind. The authors never explain. The question of the subject is dismissed in one sentence.

It is also difficult to agree with writers who dismiss all seeking of power and all active resistance by implication as fascism and preach escape/flight as the most radical ideology of resistance and hope.

And it is difficult to find hope in the vain jargon of molecular vs. molar, in the lines of escape or flight, or in a schizoid approach to life (a schizophrenic has no control over himself - is a machine and hence is the authors' favorite).

The authors fail in their synthesis of Marx and Freud although they come close and fail to understand Nietzsche, one of their favorite philosophers. Marx, Freud and Nietzsche would turn violently in their graves, if they ever know what Deleuze/Guattari did to their philosophies. They speculations on incest, kinship etc., are just too weak, sketchy and merely assertoric to be taken seriously.

I do not endorse the philosophy of Deleuze/Guattari. To be sure they offer brilliant insights but their line of argument has as many holes as Swiss cheese.

Yet there are a few things that are brilliant in the work and it certainly remains an original and challenging work. Having, stated my disappointment with the work, now let me also state the better aspects of this work. This work has a very well argued theory of control mechanisms in primitive, barbarian and capitalist societies.

The authors rightly point out that capitalism governs well because it always generates new rules to survive (new axiomatic) and controls because all social codes are 'decoded' (de-codified) into flows (loose, lawlike systems of control) and de-territorialized. (Other writers have explained the same things in simpler jargon, but Deleuze-Guattari need to be given due credit for the brilliance of their analysis of capitalism, although their libidnalization of economics doesn't add anything valueable to the analysis of either libido or economics and seems forced).

The other hallmark of this work is that it offers one of the more interesting critiques of Freud's Oedipal complex, psychotherapy and its role in making humans conformist. They demolish the Daddy-Mommy-Me triangle and its implications in making us conformists quite effectively.

However, it may be borne in mind that there have been better criticisms of Freud's theories and Deleuze/Guattari are in some respects more Freudian than Freud with their libidinal interpretations of human beings as desiring machines and of economy as investment of desire (libidnal economy).

To sum up, this work is worth reading for its analysis of capitalism, and to some extent for its critique of psychoanalysis. However this is not a work that offers hope for the oppressed or an agenda for political action although followers of Deleuze/Guattari like Antonio Negri and Alain Badiou take their philosophy in a more positive direction. The best portion is the third section, followed by second. The least satisfactory portions and the last and the first, although they are essential to read in order to understand the relevant middle portion of the work.

And of course human beings are not desiring machines no matter what Deleuze/Guattari say. Beyond a metaphor, machinism is delusory. We are what we are. Happy to be human and animal rather than machines. Much as post-structuralist and post-modernists dismiss the question of the subject, the question remains - alive and active and kicking.

What Are Old People For?: How Elders Will Save the World

William H. Thomas

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Author's Note 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

The first sentence of Dr. Spock's "Baby And Child Care" does a good job of summarizing my attitude toward aging and longevity: "Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do." We are immersed in a shimmering sea of conflicting ideas and attitudes about aging and it is not surpirsing that people's feelings about aging can be complicated and conflicting. It is for this reason that I have done my best to stake out a "Common Sense" approach to thinking about the impact aging is likely ot have on our society and how that influence can be turned to the advantage of people of all ages.

This book derives its central argument from recent progress made in the fields of biology, mythology, sociology, and philosophy, but its heart belongs to the simplest observations of the way we live now. I recognize that some experts will find fault with some of its specifics. As a devout generalist, I believe that the truth of an important argument can be sustained even when fault can be found with certain of its specifics and I hope that you will agree.

It has been said that people are not interested in books about aging but, in fact, people are always interested in learning more about matters that concern their lives and well-being. The questions that revolve around aging and our longevity increasingly rise to that level. Issues related to aging define some of the most important risks and opportunities that confront our society. We live in an exciting time. There is a new old age waiting to be discovered, ready to be explored. Aging and the aged are not, as so often supposed, the cause of our problems--they are and have always been the source of the answers we need. Our longevity is ready freed from the shackles of prejudice and fear. It can and it will save our world.

Editorial Review:

We live in a society that opposes aging, despite the evidence that each of us is, in fact, aging. This anti-aging bias has prevented us from thinking about old age in a way that feels good or that will create a good elderhood. Removing our ageist blinders, Dr. Thomas provides a motivational and visionary blueprint for old age as a healing force in society.

The Basque History of the World

Mark Kurlansky

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Total reviews: 78 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The Basque History of the World is the illuminating story of an ancient and enigmatic people. Signs of their civilization existed well before the arrival of the Romans in 218 B.C., and though theories abound, no one has ever been able to determine their origins. Their ancient tongue, Euskera, is equally mysterious: It is the oldest living European language, and is related to no other language on Earth.

Yet despite their obscure origins and small numbers (2.4 million people today), the Basques have had a profound impact on Europe and the world for more than 2,000 years. Never seeking more land, they have nonetheless fiercely defended their own against invaders ranging from the Celts and Visigoths to Napoleon and Franco. They have always been a paradoxical blend of inbred tradition and worldly ambition, preserving their indigenous legal code, cuisine, literature—even their own hat and shoe—while at the same time striving immodestly to be leaders in the world. They were pioneers of commercial whaling and cod fishing, were among the first Europeans in the Americas, Africa, and Asia during the age of exploration, and were prosperous capitalists when capitalism was a new idea, later leading the Industrial Revolution in southern Europe. Their influence has been felt in every realm, from religion (the charismatic Ignatius Loyola founded the Jesuits in 1534) to sports and commerce. Today, even while clinging to their ancient tribal identity, they are ready for a borderless world: The unique Basque concept of nationhood has never been more relevant, at a time when Basques are enjoying what may be the most important cultural renaissance in their long existence.

Mark Kurlansky's passion for the Basque people– their heroes and commoners alike-and his exuberant eye for detail shine throughout The Basque History of the World. Like his celebrated book Cod, it blends human stories with economic, political, literary, and culinary history into a rich and heroic tale.

Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey

Isabel Fonseca

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 53 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Gypsy Road 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Isabel Fonseca has written a cleared-eyed, well documented account of gyspies, focusing on those she visited in Eastern Europe. It is a higly readable, provocative narrative about a population ignored and abused, but with a defined culture that continues to survive at the edge of the modern world.

Editorial Review:

Gypsies have always intrigued and fascinated - partly due to their their mysterious origins and partly due to the romance of nomadism. But because they resist assimilation, having survived as a distinct people for over 1000 years, they have also been the victims of other people's nationalism and xenophobia. The have been persecuted throughout the ages, including recently in German concentration camps and by nationalist mobs in Romania. In this study, the author focuses particularly on the gypsies of Eastern Europe (an estimated six million) and their future as a distinct race within a nationalist Europe. Her book is a blend of the scholarly - their origins, folklore, customs, dietary laws, myths, taboos - and the personal. While researching the book, Fonseca learned Romany and stayed with the gypsies, becoming deeply involved with their lives and befriending several gypsy kings.

Gothic: Dark Glamour

Valerie Steele, Jennifer Park

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Editorial Review:

From its origins in the eighteenth-century literature of terror to its contemporary manifestations in vampire fiction, cinema, and art, the gothic has embraced the powers of horror and the erotic macabre. “Gothic” is an epithet with a strange history – evoking images of death, destruction, and decay. Ironically, its negative connotations have made the gothic an ideal symbol of rebellion for a wide range of cultural outsiders.

 

Popularly associated with black-clad teenagers and rock musicians, gothic fashion encompasses not only subcultural styles (from old-school goth to cyber-goth and beyond) but also high fashion by such designers as Alexander McQueen, John Galliano of Christian Dior, Rick Owens, Olivier Theyskens, and Yohji Yamamoto. Fashion photographers, such as Sean Ellis and Eugenio Recuenco, have also drawn on the visual vocabulary of the gothic to convey narratives of dark glamour. As the text and lavish illustrations in this book suggest, gothic fashion has deep cultural roots that give it an enduring potency.

Sources of Chinese Tradition

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Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Ancient Chinese History: Vol. 1 5 out of 5 stars.
23 of 24 people found this review helpful.

This book is a collection of readings dealing with ancient Chinese history, especially focusing on philosophy and religion. The readings are organized into chapters related to various stages in Chinese history. Early chapters cover antiquity, Confucius, Mo Tzu, and Taoism. Then comes Confucian tradition, the Legalists, the Imperial Order, the Universal Order, and the Economic Order. This is followed by the Great Han Historians, Neo-Taoism, and Buddhism. This volume is rounded out with the Confucian revival and neo-Confucianism. Each chapter begins with a short introduction essay that introduces the context and events of the time and goes to a selection of original texts on the topic at hand. At the beginning of the book is a chronological table of Chinese history from 2852 BC to 1849 AD that highlights various events in Chinese political philosophy.

This book is a great resource for the serious student of Chinese philosophy and culture. The essays and readings provide a unique window into Chinese thought. The authors assume that the reader will have a basic familiarity with the overall picture of Chinese history, and provide many details and insights into why history took the course that it did. I found the reading selections, drawn from such documents as the Analects of Confucius or historical documents like Ma tuan-Lin's Introduction to the Survey on the Land Tax, particularly illuminating. To find so many documents such as these presented in English, together with essays that explain their context and importance, is invaluable for the serious Asian studies scholar.

Editorial Review:

-- Ying-shih Yü, Gordon Wu 1958 Professor of Chinese Studies

and professor of history, Princeton University

The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O'Neil

Ron Suskind

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 324 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

more revealing than perhaps it realises 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

One of the bizarre outcomes of a Republican allowing a liberal ideologue like Suskind to write his kiss and tell is that it makes Paul O'Neill - the Big O, as Bush called him - seem something of a flaky idiot. Literally every second chapter he is flying off to Africa with Bono. Is trying to solve Ghana's water problem in the job description of Treasury Secretary of the United States, a job founded by Alexander Hamilton? This kind of outside-the-box enthusiasm may have worked at Alcoa, but it doesn't suit one of the highest offices in the land, and (if true) is cause enough for Cheney to have fired him, notwithstanding his non-cooperation with most of the administration on most economic issues, especially tax cuts.

That said, still worth reading, particularly for its stuff on Iraq policy.

Editorial Review:

A #1 New York Times Bestseller
A Pulitzer Prize-winning Journalist

This vivid, unfolding narrative is like no other book that has been written about the Bush presidency. At its core are the candid assessments of former U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, for two years the administration's top economic official and a principal of the National Security Council. The result is a disclosure of breadth and depth unparalleled for an ongoing presidency.