General Books - Page 2

Obama: From Promise to Power

David Mendell

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 26 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The biography of America's hottest political superstar, Barack Obama—a man poised on the threshold of greatness.

Barack Obama's meteoric rise from Hawaii high schooler to exemplary Harvard Law School student to well-groomed politico to history-making presidential candidate is the stuff of legend. Since his headline-grabbing speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, Obama has come to represent the promise of unity among groups of all types of Americans—blacks and whites; Democrats, Republicans, and moderates; the young and the old; the upper, middle, and lower classes.

Veteran Chicago Tribune journalist David Mendell has covered Obama since the beginning of the candidate's campaign for the Senate. In Obama: From Promise to Power, the author offers a revealing, detailed portrait based on intensive research and exclusive interviews with Obama's closest aides, mentors, political adversaries, and family—most notably his charismatic wife, Michelle. It is an eye-opening look at the evolution of a brilliant politician whose name has become a catchphrase for hope in a politically jaded society.

The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: A Jewish Family's Exodus from Old Cairo to the New World (P.S.)

Lucette Lagnado

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 52 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Lucette Lagnado's father, Leon, is a successful Egyptian businessman and boulevardier who, dressed in his signature white sharkskin suit, makes deals and trades at Shepherd's Hotel and at the dark bar of the Nile Hilton. After the fall of King Farouk and the rise of the Nasser dictatorship, Leon loses everything and his family is forced to flee, abandoning a life once marked by beauty and luxury to plunge into hardship and poverty, as they take flight for any country that would have them.

A vivid, heartbreaking, and powerful inversion of the American dream, Lucette Lagnado's unforgettable memoir is a sweeping story of family, faith, tradition, tragedy, and triumph set against the stunning backdrop of Cairo, Paris, and New York.

Winner of the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature and hailed by the New York Times Book Review as a "brilliant, crushing book" and the New Yorker as a memoir of ruin "told without melodrama by its youngest survivor," The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit recounts the exile of the author's Jewish Egyptian family from Cairo in 1963 and her father's heroic and tragic struggle to survive his "riches to rags" trajectory.

Hopes and Dreams: The Story of Barack Obama

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Who paid this man to produce this book? 1 out of 5 stars.
3 of 10 people found this review helpful.

I purchased this book for a little over $6.00. It's obvious the cost of the book is subsidized by someone--probably the DNC or George Soris. It's a typical fluff piece--you won't find any meat inside. Save your money. It's not even worth $6.00!

great book 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

The book is great with good color photos, interesting reading, will make a good addition to my history collection

Good resource 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This is a great overview of Obama's life. It is short and to the point. It also contains a lot of nice photos.My kids(11&13) and I enjoyed it.

Hopeful pictures of a living dream 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

The biography reflects the life of president-elect Barack Obama by way of pictures, text passages and quotations. The author Steve Dougherty has a nose for Obama's typical statements. Combining quotations like "Not before you prepare yourself for something bigger than you think you`re capable of, will you recognize your real potential" with fascinating images of a moving life result in an informative illustrated book. Pictures from his youth, his family life, his college life, his political years of apprenticeship, beginnings of the election campaign until presidency give a good impression of the life of the candidate. The photo editorial by Hal Buells moves along at eye level with the text passages and quotations.
It seems as if author and photographers constantly accompanied Barack Obama. This illustrated book is deeply moving. It will fill all those with enthusiasm who sympathize with the president-elect. Hope and dreams belong to the keywords of the new president. This biography illustrates how dreams can come true und how to live with hope so that it inspires people worldwide.

My Grandfather's Son: A Memoir

Clarence Thomas

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 307 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

One of the Finest Autobiographies Ever. 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

My Grandfather's Son is more than a memoir. It is one of the finest autobiographies ever penned. Moreover, how ironic it is that a man we associate with dispassionate objective reasoning could produce one of the most emotionally moving books imaginable. I was deeply moved by his narrative throughout. I once knew a man like the author's grandfather, Myers, and he too cast a shadow far greater than his physical size. Thomas's tale is infinitely believable as he failed to fully appreciate the one he called "Daddy" until after he passed. The lessons granddad taught are ones which should be internalized by children today and I'd recommend reading aloud to them passages from the early chapters as a means for inspiration. Myers was a master of the art of self-sufficiency and gave Clarence the mental fortitude to persevere in the face of incredible odds. Thomas's life is far more compelling than Barack Obama's and his last three chapters--"Approaching the Bench," "Invitation to a Lynching," and "Going to Meet the Man"--flow as if they were embedded in a movie. The sham of his last Senate confirmation, as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, was horrifying both in retrospect and while it occurred. The leftist activist groups and their Congressional minions tried to subject him to a "high-tech lynching" but he stood up to their menace. In my opinion, Clarence Thomas is a hero of the highest order and may be remembered as one of the finest justices in history. As of right now, My Grandfather's Son is the best book I've read in 2008.

Editorial Review:

Provocative, inspiring, and unflinchingly honest, My Grandfather's Son is the story of one of America's most remarkable and controversial leaders, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, told in his own words. Thomas speaks out, revealing the pieces of his life he holds dear, detailing the suffering and injustices he has overcome, including the acrimonious and polarizing Senate hearing involving a former aide, Anita Hill, and the depression and despair it created in his own life and the lives of those closest to him. In this candid and deeply moving memoir, a quintessential American tale of hardship and grit, Clarence Thomas recounts his astonishing journey for the first time.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Maya Angelou

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 307 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Charmed but Cautious 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book provides well-written insight into growing up as a black child during the Depression. Maya Angelou is wonderful with her use of words and imagery. I was greatly reminded of my own childhood and what being a kid really meant. Written in first person, she addresses childhood fears, respect for adults and growing up with such tangible details that she could be her eight-year-old self again.

Angelou's insights into the African-American way of life and religion during a time of national change range from tender to comical. She speaks warmly of her love for her brother and her frustration with the young white girls. It is sweet to see the growing up process taking affect and the experiences of youth shaping her character.

I am somewhat relieved that we were not permitted to read this book back in my high school literature class where many parents were opposed to it. I fear it would have caught me off guard in many respects. Many of the sexual themes running throughout the book are quite heavy and discussed in detail. Both the subjects of rape and teen pregnancy are covered and sex in general is frequently alluded to.

Though I do perceive this as a lovely piece of literature, I would be cautious in offering it to teens and others who may be unprepared for its impact.

Editorial Review:

A phenomenal #1 bestseller that has appeared on the New York Times bestseller list for nearly three years, this memoir traces Maya Angelou's childhood in a small, rural community during the 1930s. Filled with images and recollections that point to the dignity and courage of black men and women, Angelou paints a sometimes disquieting, but always affecting picture of the people—and the times—that touched her life.

Angela's Ashes: A Memoir

Frank McCourt

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Total reviews: 1833 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Now a major motion picture from Paramount and Universal Pictures International.

The #1 national bestseller. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Award, and the ABBY Award.

"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.

Roots: The Saga of an American Family (Modern Classics)

Alex Haley

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 171 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

This "bold...extraordinary...blockbuster..." (Newsweek magazine) begins with a birth in an African village in 1750, and ends two centuries later at a funeral in Arkansas. And in that time span, an unforgettable cast of men, women, and children come to life, many of them based on the people from Alex Haley's own family tree.

When Alex Haley was a boy growing up in Tennessee, his grandmother used to tell him stories about their family, stories that went way back to a man she called "the African" who was taken aboard a slave ship bound for Colonial America. As an adult, Alex Haley spent twelve years searching for documentation that might authenticate what his grandmother had told him. In an astonishing feat of genealogical detective work, he discovered the name of "the African"--Kunta Kinte, as well as the exact location of the village in West Africa from where he was abducted in 1767.

While Haley created certain unknown details of his family history, ROOTS is definitely based on the facts of his ancestry, and the six generations of people--slaves and freedmen, farmers and lawyers, an architect, teacher--and one acclaimed author--descended from Kunte Kinte. But with this book, Haley did more than recapture the history of his own family. He popularized genealogy for people of all races and colors; and in so doing, wrote one of the most important and beloved books of all time, a true Modern Classic.

Cooked: From the Streets to the Stove, from Cocaine to Foie Gras

Jeff Henderson

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Total reviews: 49 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Jeff Henderson was just another inner-city black kid born into a world of poverty and limited options, where crime seemed to provide the only way to get out. Raised mostly by his single mother, who struggled just to keep food on the table, Jeff dreamed big. He had to get out and he soon did by turning to what so many in his community did: dealing drugs. But Jeff was no ordinary drug dealer; by twenty-one, he was one of the top cocaine dealers in San Diego, making up to $35,000 a week. Two years later he was indicted on federal drug trafficking charges and sentenced to almost twenty years in prison. Before he knew what had hit him, he was looking at spending most of his life behind bars. The street life had been the only one he'd ever known and even incarcerated he was too hardheaded to realize that no good would come of it.

That is, until he was assigned to one of the least desirable prison jobs: washing dishes. That job helped turn his whole life around. It gave him access to the prison kitchen and he became fascinated watching his fellow prisoners cook for the thousands of other inmates and prison officials. Henderson learned to cook in prison. Not cocaine, but food. And his dream was born: Once outside, he would become a chef.

It was a tough, seemingly impossible journey for an ex-con. Few chefs would give him the opportunity to cook in their restaurants. And once hired, he endured racism and sabotage in the kitchen. But Henderson refused to accept rejection. Driven by a dream and an unshakable will to succeed, Chef Jeff worked hard to overcome unimaginable adversity and eventually reached the top of his profession, becoming executive chef at Café Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Alive with the energy of the streets, the sober reality of prison, and the visceral thrill of being inside the fast-paced kitchens of great restaurants, Cooked is an intense, intimate tale of crime, punishment, and redemption—a deeply poignant story of how the worst wrong can lead to the most extraordinary right.

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

Marjane Satrapi

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Total reviews: 174 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A New York Times Notable Book
A Time Magazine “Best Comix of the Year”
A San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times Best-seller

Wise, funny, and heartbreaking, Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi’s memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.

Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran and of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life. Marjane’s child’s-eye view of dethroned emperors, state-sanctioned whippings, and heroes of the revolution allows us to learn as she does the history of this fascinating country and of her own extraordinary family. Intensely personal, profoundly political, and wholly original, Persepolis is at once a story of growing up and a reminder of the human cost of war and political repression. It shows how we carry on, with laughter and tears, in the face of absurdity. And, finally, it introduces us to an irresistible little girl with whom we cannot help but fall in love.

My Father's Paradise: A Son's Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq

Ariel Sabar

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Total reviews: 45 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In a remote and dusty corner of the world, forgotten for nearly three thousand years, lived an ancient community of Kurdish Jews so isolated that they still spoke Aramaic—the language of Jesus. Mostly illiterate, they were self-made mystics and gifted storytellers, humble peddlers and rugged loggers who dwelt in harmony with their Muslim and Christian neighbors in the mountains of northern Iraq. To these descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel, Yona Sabar was born.

In the 1950s, after the founding of the state of Israel, Yona and his family emigrated there with the mass exodus of 120,000 Jews from Iraq—one of the world's largest and least-known diasporas. Almost overnight, the Kurdish Jews' exotic culture and language were doomed to extinction. Yona, who became an esteemed professor at UCLA, dedicated his career to preserving his people's traditions. But to his first-generation American son Ariel, Yona was a reminder of a strange immigrant heritage on which he had turned his back—until he had a son of his own.

My Father's Paradise is Ariel Sabar's quest to reconcile present and past. As father and son travel together to today's postwar Iraq to find what's left of Yona's birthplace, Ariel brings to life the ancient town of Zakho, telling his family's story and discovering his own role in this sweeping saga. What he finds in the Sephardic Jews' millennia-long survival in Islamic lands is an improbable story of tolerance and hope.

Populated by Kurdish chieftains, trailblazing linguists, Arab nomads, devout believers—marvelous characters all— this intimate yet powerful book uncovers the vanished history of a place that is now at the very center of the world's attention.