History & Criticism Books - Page 4

Samuel Adams: A Life

Ira Stoll

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Even better than the beer. 5 out of 5 stars.
21 of 22 people found this review helpful.

This is a must-buy for anyone who loved McCullough's John Adams or Isaacson's Benjamin Franklin. Ira Stoll puts Sam Adams back where he belongs, front and center with the great founding fathers. But "Samuel Adams, A Life" is not merely a work of history, it is a powerful argument about the ideas that made America and still, to this day, shape the nation. Stoll demonstrates, through the life and writing of Adams, how much religion and property rights motivated the revolutionaries of New England. From the first chapter, I felt I was not just learning about important history, but I was also gaining insight into the character of America. This book is bound to help change how we think about the Revolution. And it will help us understand how Sam Adams continues to influence our own era.

The Soul of the American Revolution 5 out of 5 stars.
12 of 13 people found this review helpful.

In "Samuel Adams: A Life," journalist Ira Stoll has rescued from relative (and undeserved) obscurity one of the most influential and fascinating figures of the American Revolutionary generation. Samuel Adams was one of the earliest and most zealous of the Boston firebrands. At the same time, he was imbued with a worldview inherited from his Puritan ancestors that placed the urgent events of the day in God's time. His "religious tranquillity" was much commented upon by his contemporaries, and Stoll is committed to understanding the paradox of the "tranquil revolutionary." Stoll's crystal clear and plain-spoken prose is entirely fitting for his equally plain-spoken subject. What emerges is a full-blooded portrait of a man whose idea of America resonates -- and often tellingly contrasts -- with positions on the right and left in our own debates about the nation's course and what it means to be a patriotic American. For history scholars and enthusiasts, for anyone interested in the origins of American political culture, and for today's political junkies, this book is a wonderful read.

Editorial Review:

The rousing story of Samuel Adams, the Founding Father who has been undeservedly overlooked by history but who, in Thomas Jefferson's words, was "truly the Man of the Revolution."

Lord of the Flies (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations)

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Total reviews: 1275 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Lost Innocence 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I enjoyed reading Lord of the Flies by William Golding. It was a very well written novel. Although I believe the beginning started really slow and did not grab my attention right a way, but as I kept going the book became more and more interesting. Golding sure knows how to make a huge plot flow and was able to create a huge conflict for the story. The conflict in the end teaches some very valuable life lessons for the reader and the characters.
Golding expressed each character extremely well. Each character was unique. The only characters that were very similar were the twins, but they were like one character rather than two characters. The four main characters Ralph, Piggy, Simon, and Jack all add to the story. Ralph is the elected leader and he believes very much in keeping order and government. Ralph also wishes to be rescued and builds a signal fire. (Which becomes a source of many future disputes) Jack is Ralph's opposite because he just wishes to hunt, have fun, and is tremendously power hungry. Piggy is the kid who everyone picks on, the misfit, but he very logical and applies sense to the tough situation they are in. Simon rarely does anything wrong. He is always there to help Ralph, but is sort of a loner compared to the rest of the schoolboys.
In the beginning, a group of schoolboys are stranded on an uncharted island and are forced to fend for themselves. At first they try to run a form of government. Which is considerably hard when no adults are there to enforce the rules and as result chaos breaks out. When the boys were thrust into this sort of situation it caused them to grow and mature very rapid. None of them will leave the island the same boy they came to the island as. It shows the dark side of reality and forces us to except the truth is that even the most innocent will fall to evil one day. (Simon) As the boys were taken off the island at the end they all left behind one thing, their innocence.
After reading Lord of the Flies by William Golding I say that it was a great book. I highly recommend it and if you are contemplating putting it down DO NOT it only gets better as it goes on!

Editorial Review:

-- Presents the most important 20th-century criticism on major works from The Odyssey through modern literature -- The critical essays reflect a variety of schools of criticism -- Contains critical biographies, notes on the contributing critics, a chronology of the author's life, and an index

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Haruki Murakami

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Total reviews: 25 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In 1982, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, Murakami began running to keep fit. A year later, he’d completed a solo course from Athens to Marathon, and now, after dozens of such races, not to mention triathlons and a dozen critically acclaimed books, he reflects upon the influence the sport has had on his life and—even more important—on his writing.

Equal parts training log, travelogue, and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon and takes us to places ranging from Tokyo’s Jingu Gaien gardens, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston among young women who outpace him. Through this marvelous lens of sport emerges a panorama of memories and insights: the eureka moment when he decided to become a writer, his greatest triumphs and disappointments, his passion for vintage LPs, and the experience, after fifty, of seeing his race times improve and then fall back.

By turns funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is rich and revelatory, both for fans of this masterful yet guardedly private writer and for the exploding population of athletes who find similar satisfaction in running.

Ernest Hamingway's the Sun Also Rises (Barron's Book Notes)

Ernest Hemingway, Robert Dunn

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 479 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Bitter sweet 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I'm Jake. Jacob Barnes. American journalist. Living in Paris. I send off my cables. I work hard for a couple of hours. I put the stories in big manila envelopes. And send them out. That brings in the money.

French? I speak French.
Spanish? I speak Spanish.

Don't think I've got it made. I don't. The War did bad things to me. The War wounded me. Physically. Okay, I survived. Some say the wound was worse than dying.

I have a girlfriend. Brett. Brett Ashley. Lady Ashley. She got "Lady" from a past marriage. Everyone loves Brett. She is a remarkably attractive woman. And she loves that everyone -- all the men -- love her.

I love her, and she loves me. Deeply. That's the end of it. We know that I can't consummate anything. Physically I cannot get it on. That's the War wound. We can kiss, and she shivers. But that's it.

"We kissed standing at the door. She pushed me away. We kissed again. 'Oh, don't!' Brett said."

The wound hurts me and the wound hurts her. So, she sleeps around. With all the guys in our group that she is attracted to. And others not in our group. Like the daring young, very young bullfighter later on. And with others she is not attracted to. Like the ex-champion boxer from Princeton, who is a Jew, sometime author, and magazine publisher. The Jew keeps hanging on. She would like to be rid of him. But he keeps hanging on.

Brett does not have independent income. The boys, the men, who love her take care of her. Drinks. Food. Hotel rooms. Sometimes they go on short trips.

All of us do a lot of drinking. A lot of drinking. We drink in the morning. We drink at lunch. We drink in the afternoon. We drink at dinner. We drink in the evening. We drink during the night. All night. We drink. Good stuff.

We all love hanging out. Going out. To the bars. Inside the bars. Outside the bars. At tables. And drinking. We get drunk. Hung over. Feel bad.

And arguing. Fighting even. Sure, and sometimes we hike. We walk through Paris. The Tuileries. By the Seine. Or out in the towns. In the woods. We play some tennis.

In Paris you can see anyone you want. South Americans. Americans. The English.

A bunch of us decide to hire a car and driver to go to Spain for some fishing in the mountains and for the fiesta at Pamplona. Others go by train.

My friend Bill and I ride a crowded bus to the mountains. We sit with many on top of the bus. The riders pass around leather wine-bottles. Lifted high, the wine streams down to your mouth. Good fun. Laughing. Good camaraderie.

We reach the river. We have worms and fishing flies and catch a lot of trout. We hide wine bottles in the cold river. The bottles get very cold.

Back to Pamplona. The others arrive in time for the fiesta. The fiesta explodes. The street is solid with dancers. The fiesta goes on for seven days and nights.

I go to sleep in my room. I wake to a rocket exploding, announcing the release of the bulls from the edge of town. From my balcony the street is empty. Suddenly the street is filled with people running. And the bulls running on the way to the ring. The bulls toss several runners.

In the ring the bullfights begin. The purest and most exciting fighter is Pedro Romero. Everyone sees the bulls goring the picadors' horses and goring the steers brought into the ring. Romero is nineteen. Brett is in her thirties. She has eyes only for him.

In a restaurant in the evening, our group strikes up a conversation with Romero's table. Introductions all around.

Brett confesses she is a goner for Romero.

Later, more about Brett and Romero. And about Brett and myself. About Paris. And Madrid. But . . . not right now.

Editorial Review:

A guide to reading "The Sun Also Rises" with a critical and appreciative mind. Includes background on the author's life and times, sample tests, term paper suggestions, and a reading list.

On Writing Well: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction

William Knowlton Zinsser

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 174 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Inspiring and practical instruction on writing 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3SOY5891YP5FI This is by far the best book on writing any kind of non-fiction. He encourages you to be clear, and gives practical tips and instruction so that you feel that you know what good writing looks like. I'd also recommend Bird By Bird by Lamott for fiction writers, or anyone who needs moral support for the writing process.

Editorial Review:

On Writing Well has been praised for its sound advice, its clarity and the warmth of its style. It is a book for everybody who wants to learn how to write or who needs to do some writing to get through the day, as almost everybody does in the age of e-mail and the Internet. Whether you want to write about people or places, science and technology, business, sports, the arts or about yourself in the increasingly popular memoir genre, On Writing Well offers you fundamental priciples as well as the insights of a distinguished writer and teacher. With more than a million copies sole, this volume has stood the test of time and remains a valuable resource for writers and would-be writers.

Cat's Cradle (Modern Critical Interpretations Series)

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Total reviews: 375 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The master of Cat's Cradle 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

The cat's cradle is an extraordinary tale about the extent of human limitations when incompatibilities exist between the goals of science and humanity. Vonnegut created another masterpiece that describes the dangers of human science when mixed with their desires and lewdness.

John, the narrator, is writing a book about the day the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, and in the process of his research discovers the life of Felix Hoenikker, the Nobel prize-winning physicist and one of the creators of the atomic bomb.

Similar to walking through a hilarious human maze, we are taken to San Lorenzo; a town were Hoenikker's two sons and daughter live and ignorantly use their father's last invention causing another world wide human disaster.
Vonnegut brilliantly shows human limitations and foolishness with his description of an imaginary religion called Bokononism, which originated and blossomed in San Lorenzo.

Vonnegut, who survived the cruelty of war and faced life's emptiness, is one of the few writers who can laugh at the human inability to reconcile the inherent conflict of science's power and capabilities with the needs and limitations of humanity.

Editorial Review:

- Presents the most important 20th-century criticism on major works from "The Odyssey through modern literature- The critical essays reflect a variety of schools of criticism- Contains critical biographies, notes on the contributing critics, a chronology of the author's life, and an index- Introductory essay by Harold Bloom

Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time

Valerie Bertinelli

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Total reviews: 195 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Valerie Bertinelli, then: bubbly sitcom star and America's Sweetheart turned tabloid headline and rock star wife. Now: actress, single working mother of teenage rock star, and weight-loss inspiration to millions.

We all knew and loved Valerie Bertinelli years ago when she was girl-next-door cutie Barbara Cooper in the hit TV show One Day at a Time, and more recently when she starred in numerous TV movies and co-starred in Touched by an Angel. From wholesome prime time in America's living rooms, Valerie moved to late nights with the hardest-partying band of the decadent eighties when she became, at twenty, wife to rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen. Losing It is Valerie's frank account of her life backstage and in the spotlight: the ups and downs of teen stardom, her complicated marriage to a brilliant, tormented musical genius, the joys of motherhood, and her very public struggle with her weight.

Surprising, uplifting, and empowering, Losing It chronicles Valerie's journey as she finds new love, raises a terrific kid, and motivates other women to take back their lives.

Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation

Sheila Weller

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 120 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Where are the editors? 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The public is hungry to know more about these 3 fantastic women. I think this book made the best selling charts on the strength of its subjects. A better book would have been #1 and a fantastic book would have stayed there a long time. This book is a missed opportunity.

It's not that Sheila Weller hasn't done any homework. She's digested every lyric and has assembled a considerable amount of information. Unfortunately, the meat is dwarfed by gossip, name dropping, trivia (did you know that Carole King and Hettie Jones both raised young children in walk up apartments not far from each other?) and hyperbole.

The biggest strength of the author is how she interprets the lyrics that inspired many. She brings them to life in describing the each of authors' lives at the time the words were written. Another strength is the respect and understanding she gives to each woman.

It is the lack of discipline in the text and the hit or miss research that caused my 2 star assessment. The book shows the research method suggested in a footnote on p. 433 which references an unanswered email to Sue Mingus (widow of Charles) asking about Joni do you "regard each other as day for night opposites or sisters in spirit?" (What is being sought here?) On page 407 in an apparently answered email regarding an incident with Jackson Browne someone says "this is the first time a man ever hit Joni". (Of the implied second or third time, where is the follow up?)

There is a lot of fanzine style jargon and overly long sentences laiden with real and stylized adjectives. As you go through the book, the hyperbole diminishes, but it never goes away. It is most absent in the parts about Carole's second marriage and Carly's son's operation making them two of the best parts.

The lifestyles described are modest for millionares of this period. Have they been screwed on their record deals or have they squandered the money they should have been making? The only clue that one of these women might be fabulously wealthy is Carole King saying each divorce costs her a million dollars. Financial success is a considerable element in each of these lives and should have been covered.

The book presents but does not develop these women as generational pioneers, not just in their music, but in their asymmetrical romantic relationships. Each of them had to hide their talent when it out shown their partners' and each of them suffered because their talent could not be hidden.

I believe the affection some have for this book is a reflection of the affection for the women profiled. The idea of putting these three breakthrough songwriters (despite their disparate genres) together was ambitious, but is a good one. The author clearly understands the artists, the female-restricting environment from which they rose and their art. She's obviously willing to do the work, but seems to need direction. A good editor or editing team could have made this a top flight book.

Editorial Review:

Girls Like Us is an epic treatment of Joni Mitchell, Carole King, and Carly Simon, midcentury women who dared to break tradition and become what none had been before them---confessors in song, rock superstars, and adventurers of heart and soul.

Spark Notes The Killer Angels

Michael Shaara, SparkNotes Editors

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Total reviews: 517 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Get your "A" in gear!

They're today's most popular study guides-with everything you need to succeed in school. Written by Harvard students for students, since its inception SparkNotes™ has developed a loyal community of dedicated users and become a major education brand. Consumer demand has been so strong that the guides have expanded to over 150 titles. SparkNotes'™ motto is Smarter, Better, Faster because:

· They feature the most current ideas and themes, written by experts.
· They're easier to understand, because the same people who use them have also written them.
· The clear writing style and edited content enables students to read through the material quickly, saving valuable time.

And with everything covered--context; plot overview; character lists; themes, motifs, and symbols; summary and analysis, key facts; study questions and essay topics; and reviews and resources--you don't have to go anywhere else!

Running with Scissors: A Memoir

Augusten Burroughs

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Total reviews: 821 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Running with Scissors is the true story of a boy whose mother (a poet with delusions of Anne Sexton) gave him away to be raised by her psychiatrist, a dead-ringer for Santa and a lunatic in the bargain. Suddenly, at age twelve, Augusten Burroughs found himself living in a dilapidated Victorian in perfect squalor. The doctor's bizarre family, a few patients, and a pedophile living in the backyard shed completed the tableau. Here, there were no rules, there was no school. The Christmas tree stayed up until summer, and Valium was eaten like Pez. And when things got dull, there was always the vintage electroshock therapy machine under the stairs....

Running with Scissors is at turns foul and harrowing, compelling and maniacally funny. But above all, it chronicles an ordinary boy's survival under the most extraordinary circumstances.

 

Running with Scissors Acknowledgments
Gratitude doesn’t begin to describe it: Jennifer Enderlin, Christopher Schelling, John Murphy, Gregg Sullivan, Kim Cardascia, Michael Storrings, and everyone at St. Martin’s Press. Thank you: Lawrence David, Suzanne Finnamore, Robert Rodi, Bret Easton Ellis, Jon Pepoon, Lee Lodes, Jeff Soares, Kevin Weidenbacher, Lynda Pearson, Lona Walburn, Lori Greenburg, John DePretis, and Sheila Cobb. I would also like to express my appreciation to my mother and father for, no matter how inadvertently, giving me such a memorable childhood. Additionally, I would like to thank the real-life members of the family portrayed in this book for taking me into their home and accepting me as one of their own. I recognize that their memories of the events described in this book are different than my own. They are each fine, decent, and hard-working people. The book was not intended to hurt the family. Both my publisher and I regret any unintentional harm resulting from the publishing and marketing of Running with Scissors. Most of all, I would like to thank my brother for demonstrating, by example, the importance of being wholly unique.