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I Remember: Memories of Raasay
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son: The Life Story of a Healer
Who's Who in British History
The Lucas Affair (Irish Research Series, 26)
Irish Literary Figures, Swift, St. Sterne, Goldsmith, Wilde, Yeats, and Joyce
Dr. Quicksilver: The Life of Charles Lever.
A Soldier's Tale
Irish Minstrels and Musicians
Gladstone-Parnell, and the great Irish struggle: A complete and thrilling history ... Together with biographies of Gladstone, Parnell and others
House of Commons, 1660-1690 (The History of Parliament Trust)
In the Shadow of Nelson: The Story of Frances Lady Nelson
Memoirs of William Sampson: An Irish exile (Autobiographies : a collection of the most instructive and amusing lives ever published)
Thomas Davis (Reprint of Historic 19th Century Edition, with Additional Introductory Material): An Inspiring Force Behind the Young Ireland Movement
Breandan Breathnach
The Role of the Member of Parliament Since 1868: From Gentlemen to Players
Richard Stanihurst the Dubliner, 1547-1618: A biography, with a Stanihurst text, On Ireland's past
All for Hecuba;: An Irish theatrical autobiography,
Journal of Corporal William Todd, 1746-1763
Synge and the Ireland of His Time
The Irish nation, its history & its biography
Gladstone-Parnell, and the great Irish struggle: A graphic story of the injustice and oppression inflicted upon the Irish tenantry, and a history of ... rule," with biographies of the great leaders
Are You 17?
Irish lives;: Biographies of fifty famous Irish men and women
The Judges in Ireland, 1221-1921

The Private World of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor

Average customer rating:

A kings story
Vapid, yes...though totally fascinating...
finally a sneak peek into their very private world
too much to pay for a couple with zero to offer

The Private World of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor
Hugo Vickers
Manufacturer: Abbeville Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Similar Items:

A King's Story - The Memoirs of the Duke of Windsor
The Duchess of Windsor: The Secret Life
The Duchess Of Windsor: The Uncommon Life of Wallis Simpson
King Edward VIII: A Life
Jansen (20th Century Decorators)

ASIN: 0789202263

Customer Reviews:

A kings story.......2002-12-08

I felt sorry for the duke, he must have been such a lonely man.....He never got any compliments from his father or his family. They all seemed so far away from each other. No wonder he fell in love with Wallis, she paid attention to him, this is what he needed, someone to treat him with respect and high regard, no wonder he abdicated....He wouldn't have to abdicate,but the P.M. at that time was a very vicious and ugly person who was JEALOUS of King Edward, he wouldn't even allow the king to speak to the other members on his own behalf...Queen Mum was also jealous and vicious, she did not like Wallis, because she was divorced and an american, she would not allow King George to communicate with the duke after he was exiled. The people all wanted King Edward to become King, they all loved him because of his charistma and his feelings for the common people.Edward and Diana were very much alike and treated VERY BADLY by their so called "royal families". Edward and Diana had more "guts" than all the royals together. King Edward would have been a "great" king, thanks to Queen Mum and her coldness toward Edward and Wallis caused him to live in an empty wrld. All the worl loves "lovers"and the Duke and Duchess were the lovers of the 20th century. How many people can have such a love????????I really loved this book and read it over and over.....

Vapid, yes...though totally fascinating..........2001-03-12

I can't help it. Even though I believe that the Duke and Dutchess of Windsor were probably two of the most self-serving people ever to exist on the face of the planet, I find them totally fascinating. And this book lets us into their domaine. Imagine a man so totally mesmerized by this woman, that not only did he leave her a fresh flower on her pillow every night of their married life, he slept surrounded by photos of her (separate bedrooms). There were 10,000 photos of them in his bathtub (covered with a mahogany top. He ONLY showered.) that were discovered after her death. That means for the duration of the time that they were married, they were photographed approximately 300 times a year. Every year. The photographs of the refurbished decor in the Paris house were fascinating. Too bad everything was sold after Dodi & Diana's death. This book is truly a window into a lifestyle that no longer exists.

finally a sneak peek into their very private world.......1999-09-08

I was very impressed with the photography and the information contained in this book. Wallis Simpson is amazing, she comes off as more chic and more royal than any of the royals. Fascinating inside look into that very glamorous era, and it's most powerful couple.

too much to pay for a couple with zero to offer.......1998-04-03

It is beyond me how any person with a functioning brain could ever find the Windsors more than the most over publicized, most tedious couple who ever inhabited the pages of People Magazine and its predecessors. What is even more alarming is that there are people willing to pay $67.50 for a book of pictures of the duke, the duchess and their collection of stuff. Pardon me for my rant, but I needed to do it. I don't think I've ever typed out my feeings on this subject before. I've ranted about this couple more than I wish to admit.. but, hell, we all have our quirks.

The Man Who Saved Britain: A Personal Journey into the Disturbing World of James Bond

Average customer rating:

This might be a good book, but not for an American
Dreary
Shallow but fun
A fantastic cultural history
007 as the Robin Hood of Dark British Imperialism

The Man Who Saved Britain: A Personal Journey into the Disturbing World of James Bond
Simon Winder
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Art of Bond: From Storyboard to Screen: The Creative Process Behind the James Bond Phenomenon
The Science of James Bond: From Bullets to Bowler Hats to Boat Jumps, the Real Technology Behind 007's Fabulous Films
Bond on Set: Filming Casino Royale
James Bond and Philosophy (Popular Culture and Philosophy)
The Ultimate James Bond Fan Book

ASIN: 0374299382
Release Date: 2006-10-17

Book Description

Bond. James Bond. The ultimate British hero—suave, stoic, gadget-driven—he was more than anything the necessary invention of a traumatized country whose self-image as a great power had just been shattered by the Second World War. Bond’s creator, Ian Fleming, was an upper-class wastrel who had found purpose and excitement in the war, and to whom, like so many others, its end was a terrible disappointment—the elation of survival stifled by the reality of the new British impotence. In 1952 Fleming set out to repair this damage. By inventing the magical, parallel world of secret British greatness and glamour, he fabricated an icon that has endured long past its maker’s death.

To grow up in England in the 1970s was to grow up with James Bond, and The Man Who Saved Britain is first of all the story of the author’s relationship with the “national religion.” Simon Winder lovingly and ruefully re-creates the nadirs and humiliations of fandom while illuminating what Bond’s evolution—from books to film, from his roots in the 1940s to his “managed decline” today—says about the conservative movement, sex, the monarchy, food, attitudes toward America, class, and everything in between. The Man Who Saved Britain is an insightful and, above all, entertaining exploration of postwar Britain through the palliative influence of one of its most legendary icons, the larger-than-life Agent 007.

Customer Reviews:

This might be a good book, but not for an American.......2007-05-24

I consider myself a well-read and learned person, but I didn't feel like one after two chapters of Mr Winder's book. Granted, I have an American's worldview, which is admittedly different than a Brit's. And this is a problem, because Winder constantly references British history and literature. I don't know, maybe it's me. But to all Americans reading this review, are you familiar with the Boer War, the Indian Mutiny, or General Gordon in the Sudan? Winder assumes that you are. Have you read any of the works of H. Rider Haggard, Dornford Yates and Sax Rohmer? Again, Winder assumes that you know what he knows, and page after page I felt completely disconnected with the author's point of view.

Dreary.......2007-05-23

James Bond actually features surprisingly little in this dreary book - the author essentially uses Bond as a stick to beat Britain with as he indulges in a vigorous and relentless workout exercising his personal loathing of his own country and its 20th century history. The author has an impressive knowledge of the Bond books/films and their creator, and I have to admit he writes very well (albeit rather smugly), but away from Bond this book is shoddily researched, as evidenced by the numerous factual errors. Not recommended.

Shallow but fun.......2007-04-12

A rambling, formless discourse on recent British history and pop culture and how James Bond (sort of) fits into them. Winder never quite gets around to explaining how James Bond managed to save Britain (nor what he saved it from), but is nonetheless entertaining. Reading it is akin to listening to a slightly intoxicated British fanboy nattering on about every Bond-related topic that comes to mind for three hours.

A fantastic cultural history.......2007-03-12

Earlier this year, I read a find book entitled: The Tour de France, a cultural history. It's a fine book, and it shows the links between French culture and perceptions of the Tour. This is light years beyond it. This book is a cultural history as well, and shows the links between Ian Fleming's Bond character and post WWII British history, but does it in remarkably entertaining way. It parallels the Bond stories and the last gasps of the British empire, and ties the miserable state of Britain's economy in the 1970's to the Roger Moore film versions of Fleming's books. This book is one of those rare triple threats: Funny (hilarious at times), perceptive, and thought-provoking. If you're looking for the Compleat James Bond, look elsewhere. But for a bracing, enlightening view of a cultural icon, get this book. Mr. Winder brings a wide breadth of knowledge and arcana to bear on the subject.

007 as the Robin Hood of Dark British Imperialism.......2007-01-06

This book is indeed a personal study of James Bond as depicted in the books and in the films. For a half century, the Bond franchise has been enormously successful. Certainly no other superhero enjoys his uninterrupted popularity. Why is that?

To answer that question, the author considers that Bond appeared just when the British Empire was collapsing...and the English were feeling impotent in global affairs. Along comes Bond - a Churchillian figure - who saves his country and the West from evil blackmailers and dangerous villians.. Bond restores the psyche of the English male. Then again, Bond's attitudes were comforting to those trying to cope with new dangerous ideas: third world or womens' liberation. Bond takes charge...of women, and persons from other lands - some exotic, some from enemy camps.

I liked the part when the author discusses his impressions of James Bond when he was 10, 20, and beyond; it is interesting to see the evolution of his opinions. As a boy he was thrilled to death by the movie "Live and Let Die." Today, he notices the flaws and even silliness of the some of the scenes.

Bond is also popular because (unlike most of us) he can sample the opposite sex from around the world and make generalizations (to men) about their sexuality. Then there is the "male-talk". Amazing - the books have sold 100 million copies...true, they are pulp fiction but usually well written pulp fiction. Ian Fleming's novels are ideally suited for the movies because their quick pace and strange adventure are exactly what Americans want from action films. In my view, whenever a Bond film follows the book, it tends to be good. When the film strays, it is considerably weaker. (Consider the critical success of the 2006 CASINO ROYALE or the old success of Sean Connnery's original Bond flicks)

Simon Winder's "personal reflections" are intelligent and witty. Most assuredly, he helped me understand Bond, not just enjoy him. Those unfamiliar with the Bond BOOKS should read one or two to get the flavor of Ian Fleming's writing. Then tackle this volume. Recommended.

Who Was That Man?: A Present for Mr. Oscar Wilde (The Masks Series)

Average customer rating:

The Wilde Side

Who Was That Man?: A Present for Mr. Oscar Wilde (The Masks Series)
Neil Bartlett
Manufacturer: Serpent's Tail
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Portable Oscar Wilde: Revised Edition (Viking Portable Library)

ASIN: 1852421231

Amazon.com

Since the 1960s, when his work gained a new recognition in the literary canon, biographies of Oscar Wilde and critical analysis of his work have become commonplace. While this writing acknowledged the "fact" of Wilde's homosexuality, it did not, for the most part, explore the complexity of the impact it had upon his life and work. This is remedied in Neil Bartlett's Who Was That Man?, which squarely places Wilde in a gay historical context and literary tradition.

Neil Bartlett--an openly gay British novelist, critic and leading innovator on the British stage--has produced the one of the most remarkable books ever written on Wilde. Who Was That Man? is a personal meditation on Wilde's work and the relevance of the artist and playwright in the contemporary world. Bartlett uses his own experience as a gay man to understand Wilde's life and manages--through extensive historical research and evocative language--to make observations and connections and illuminate our understanding of the writer and his place in his own world and ours.

Customer Reviews:

The Wilde Side.......2000-02-04

A gay Londoner of the 80s goes searching for his roots and finds Oscar Wilde, a complex figure early on in the history of the cultural and social construction of twentieth-century homosexuality. If you're interested in Wilde, this is a very good book to read along with Richard Ellman's more standard biography.

The Camp Women:: The Female Auxiliaries Who Assisted the SS in Running the Nazi Concentration Camp System (Schiffer Military History)

Average customer rating:

Not worth the money
big list
Mainly a Roster

The Camp Women:: The Female Auxiliaries Who Assisted the SS in Running the Nazi Concentration Camp System (Schiffer Military History)
Daniel Patrick Brown
Manufacturer: Schiffer Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Good Old Days: the Holocaust as Seen by Its Perpetrators and Bystanders
The Jewish Women of Ravensbrück Concentration Camp

ASIN: 0764314440

Customer Reviews:

Not worth the money.......2006-11-01

Not worth the money. The only thing you learn is how little is known about the women guards

big list.......2006-05-03

The bulk of this book is an endless list of women's names possibly emplyed as Aufseherins by the SS in the Concentration camps. Added to that is a nice essay about these women and some pictures.

Could use a lot more work.

Mainly a Roster.......2005-10-26

While there are 2 or 3 very brief essays in this book, the vast majority of pages consist of a roster of women who helped run the Nazi concentration camps. I gave this item only 2 stars in part because the title should more accurately reflect this. If you want extensive narrative you'll need to look elsewhere.

Shakespeare by Another Name: A Biography of Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, the Man Who Was Shakespeare

Average customer rating:

A curious dislike for Oxford
Superb biography of Edward de Vere
Does it have to be either/or?
Nice try...
fun but not convincing

Shakespeare by Another Name: A Biography of Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, the Man Who Was Shakespeare
Mark Anderson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Players : The Mysterious Identity of William Shakespeare
Shadowplay: The Hidden Beliefs and Coded Politics of William Shakespeare
Shakespeare: The Biography
The Monument: "Shake-Speares Sonnets" by Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
Who Wrote Shakespeare?

ASIN: B000EUKQUK

Book Description

The debate over the true author of Shakespeare's body of work (some of which was published under the name “Shake-speare”) began not long after the death of William Shakespeare, the obscure actor and entrepreneur from Stratford-upon-Avon who was conventionally assumed to be the author. There were natural doubts that an uneducated son of a glover who never left England and apparently owned no books could have produced some of the greatest works of Western literature. Early investigators into the mystery argued for such eminent figures as Christopher Marlowe or Francis Bacon as possible authors, but recent scholarship has turned to Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, as the true Shakespeare.

“Shakespeare” by Another Name is the first complete literary biography of Edward de Vere that tells the story of his action-packed life—as student, soldier, courtier, lawyer, political intriguer, sophisticate, traveler, and, above all, writer—finding in it the background material for all of Shakespeare's plays. Anderson brings to bear a wealth of new evidence, most notably de Vere's personal copy of the Bible (recently analyzed to show the correlation between his underlinings and the biblical allusions in Shakespeare's work) and has employed it all to at last give a complete portrait and background to the man who was “Shakespeare.” BACKCOVER: “Makes a compelling case. . . . Anderson's demonstration of how de Vere's real life matches the characters and circumstances found in the plays attributed to Shakespeare is especially impressive.”
—THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION

“Deserves serious attention. . . . Mr. Anderson shows there are myriad Shakespeare authorship connections for de Vere.”
—THE NEW YORK TIMES

“Tantalizing parallels between the plays and Oxford's life certainly exist. . . . Anderson has a knack for finding fishy aspects of the traditional view that Shakespeare was Shakespeare.”
—NEW YORK SUN

Customer Reviews:

A curious dislike for Oxford.......2007-05-23

Mark Anderson's book is best understood within the context of Oxfordian history to better reveal its strengths and weaknesses. The seminal book was Shakespeare Identified by the English schoolteacher J. Thomas Looney (pronounced Lohney).

This was followed by The Seventeenth Earl of Oxford by B.M Ward in 1926. Nothing was published until after the war years when Charlton and Dorothy Ogburn wrote This Star of England, which was followed by their son's The Mysterious William Shakespeare. There were also some smaller books arguing the Oxford case, such as Shakespeare Who Was He by Richard Whalen and Alias Shakespeare by Joseph Sobran.

Shakespeare's Unorthodox Biography by Diana Price is a detailed account of the life of the man from Stratford-upon-Avon.

The Ogburns in their biographies of Oxford advanced the notion that Henry Wriothesley was the son of Oxford and Queen Elizabeth I. They provided evidence that the Queen and Oxford were a romantic couple and interpreted Venus and Adonis and Shake-speares Sonnets as a literary record. This was followed by Elisabeth Sears Tudor Rose, which details the mysterious circumstances of Southampton's birth. This is known in Oxfordian circles as the PT Theory (Prince Tudor).

However, if PT and PT II are true, this means that Queen Elizabeth had an incestuous relation with her own son, producing Southampton. And this is what every orthodox Oxfordian avoids. Yet, the works of Shakespeare abound with what Hamlet says is "incest that abomination."

My book, Oxford: Son of Queen Elizabeth I, asserted that Princess Elizabeth had a child in 1548 by her stepfather, Thomas Seymour, and this child was placed in the home of John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford. He was raised as Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. This is known as PT Theory Part II.

The book further asserted that Elizabeth had a total of six children, Robert Cecil, Robert Devereux (Essex), Henry Wriothesley (Southampton), Mary Sidney and Elizabeth Leighton. Elizabethan history had to be rewritten to understand Shakespeare and Oxford.

Second, that Oxford did not die in 1604, but was exiled to the Isle of Mersea in the English Channel and there he wrote The Tempest, Shake-speares Sonnets and created the King James Bible. Subsequent, articles have shown that there is no acknowledgement of Oxford's death until January 1609 and an article that compares the topography of Mersea to the island described in the Tempest.

Mr. Anderson has chosen to ignore the main themes developed by Oxfordians and other historians over the decades and presents a rather sanitized version of Elizabethan events. For example, it is simply a known fact that Robert Dudley (Earl of Leicester) was the Queen's lover and rumors abounded that she had children with him. This Mr. Anderson ignores.

It is further known that Robert Dudley was married when the Queen ascended the throne, but Robert Dudley was married. His wife was found at the bottom of the stairs with a broken neck and everyone in England thought Dudley murdered her. The clamor prevented the Queen from marrying Dudley.

Mr. Anderson makes many comparisons between the characters of Shakespeare, and the life of the Earl of Oxford. Yet, in the most autobiographical of all the plays, Hamlet, he states that Polonius is William Cecil, Ophelia is Anne Cecil, Oxford's wife, the Queen is the Queen, but he fails to draw the logical conclusion that Hamlet, the prince, is Oxford, the Prince of England.

He posits this strange interpretation of the Venus and Adonis and the Sonnets as a literary recreation of Southampton's seduction of Oxford's wife. This seems to be the only way he can avoid the directly dealing with Oxfordian thinking on the Earl of Southampton as the son of the Queen and Oxford.

Mr. Anderson's has many strengths, in particular is account of Oxford's trip through Italy is worth the price of the book. He shows that the Earl of Oxford could have only written the Italian plays of Shakespeare. However, his description of the relation between Oxford and the name "William Shakespeare" and the man from Stratford named "William Shakspere" is so confusing that no one is ever going to figure out what Mr. Anderson means.

Finally, Mr. Anderson has a curious dislike or disgust with Oxford throughout the book that becomes stronger toward the end. His final description of Oxford "from a preening and prancing young champion to a betrayed and jealous middle-aged skeptic to a resigned and bitter old man."

The book has its virtues, but many other books on the subject are clearer explanations of the life and works of the Earl of Oxford, better known to the world as "William Shakespeare."

Paul Streitz
Author: Oxford: Son of Queen Elizabeth I

Superb biography of Edward de Vere.......2007-04-28

The book is a detailed and fascinating account of the life of Edward de Vere, probably the best candidate for the true authorship of the works of William Shakespeare. It is in truth highly unlikely that the man from Stratford-on-Avon, often called "Shaksper", wrote any of the Shakespearean plays, although four hundred years on even raising the authorship question continues to elicit violent emotional protests from untold thousands of supporters of the "Shakespeare myth".

The advocacy of Edward de Vere is indeed blessed by a huge amount of largely circumstantial evidence, most of which comes clearly to light in this volume. Among the most impressive evidence is the litany of detailed parallels between many of the plays and the life of Edward de Vere, including the multitude of colourful characters that surrounded him at the court of Elizabeth. And Mark Anderson does a superb job of spotting very specific references in the plays to events, places, and stories that de Vere for certain knew of first hand.

Two other things that Mark Anderson does very well and with great gusto: Firstly, the book pre-supposes that de Vere is in fact Shakespeare, and thus follows a strategy of seducing the reader rather than battling the adversaries in the authorship question. This "fait accompli" approach is extremely effective. I dare anyone to read this book and not agree that de Vere in all probability was Shakespeare.

Secondly, Mark Anderson never directly tries to discredit the Stratford man. In fact, with the "fait accompli" approach it becomes unecessary, the darkness of doubt closes upon his head quite automatically the deeper you get into the biography. This also means that no advocates of other Shakespeare authors - including the Stratfordians - are ever ridiculed. A clever tactic unless you are out to make a lot of enemies!

I think about 95% of the arguments and details presented in the book are readily believable, although there are a few that are hard to swallow for me personally, such as the interpretation that Prospero's Island (of the Tempest) should represent England - this to me is too far gone. However, a lot of the other parallels seem to make sense and are, if you will, probably true in that they reflect the relations and real life stories surrounding de Vere in great and consistent detail.

The book certainly leaves the lasting impression that de Vere is a very likely Shakespeare. That the plays to a great extent are autobiographical should surprise noone. After all I cannot think of a single author, greater or lesser, who does not write based on personal experience.

Does it have to be either/or?.......2007-04-10

I really enjoyed this book, even though I came away from both more confused and more knowledgeable about the authorship problem. But what a wonderful confusion this is - an intriguing whodunit with great literature at it's centerpiece! What I unequivocally liked about Shakespeare By Another Name was its vivid evocation of Elizabethan history by following the life events and adventures of Edward de Vere.

The circumstantial evidence that Mark Anderson marshals to his thesis that De Vere is the author is really quite remarkable, and the weight of it cannot be ignored. On the other hand, this evidence is by its nature speculative and is really not enough to base a definitive decision on. Just like someone can sure "look" guilty, De Vere sure "looks" like the author of the Shakespeare works.

However, there are bits of circumstantial evidence that work against De Vere as well, chief among them Ben Jonson's comment about the "Sweet Swan of Avon" in the First Folio. (Not adequately explained away by De Vere's former property in the area.) And then there are the poems of De Vere that were attributed to him and published under his name during his lifetime. Many folks will say they are not poetry experts and decline to evaluate them, but after looking at them, I encourage you to do the same and see for yourself what unremitting schlock they are. The spirit of Shakespeare is nowhere to be found in De Vere's published poetry. He comes across as what he was, an extraordinary Renaissance man and adventurer living life to its fullest, but far, far from a man of letters.

So what are we left with? Shakespeare's plays seem to be about De Vere's life, but there seems to me no way that he could have written them. I don't know who actually wrote them, maybe it was the Bard of Stratford, but to me they are clearly the coordinated work of two people. Shakespeare never left England and had little access to books. As great as his imagination was, he would have needed content from somewhere. I think De Vere provided that content to the writer of these plays. Even though De Vere's mark is all over the Shakespeare works, it is the writer "Shakespeare", him or herself, who is the true genius here, not De Vere.
I don't think this kind of collaboration is either unprecedented or unheard of. Goodness knows, there was plenty of mystery about authorship in those days.

In Mark Anderson's book, one gets the continual sense that he is reaching just a bit beyond himself to make a case for something he wants to be true. He may have come closer to the truth of the matter if he had just been satisfied with seeing De Vere as a content provider for Shakespeare. The role of Edward De Vere in the Shakespeare plays was indispensible, but the genius of the plays lies somewhere else.

Nice try..........2007-03-28

I found this book engrossing. It's very well written and presents many tantalizing coincidences between DeVere's life and the works of Shakespeare. I think Mark Anderson did about as good a job as he could to argue his case. At times I got really swept up in the story and wanted to accept his version of history, but ultimately I couldn't, for several reasons.

First, the DeVere (or any anti-Stratfordian) hypothesis implies that a massive hoax was perpetrated that lasted for 400 years. The book doesn't adequately deal with the implications of such a hoax. I hoped it might, but the reality is that no book can, because it just doesn't add up.

Certainly it's conceivable a nobleman like DeVere, if writing plays, might want to use a pseudonym. It's possible it was socially unacceptable for him to have his name in print, particularly if he was satirizing other powerful people.

But what was the relationship between DeVere and Shakespeare? The author never settles on a coherent story. At times there's a hint that DeVere CHOSE the name "Shakespeare" (because of his skill at jousting or references to Athena the spear shaker). But this requires accepting the amazing coincidence that there just happened to be an actor named Shakespeare (regardless of the variations of Elizabethan spelling) who would get credit for the works. But then the author interprets some text from Elizabethan documents as meaning that Will the actor was known to have claimed credit for the works of others, even before his names went on DeVere's. Then somehow DeVere (actively or passively) allowed his own plays to have the name attached them. (If so, why assume that ALL works under the name Shakespeare were by DeVere? )

Further, if Anderson can deduce from the meager clues available today that Will of Stratford was a dolt who couldn't write a play to save his life, why would the people living at the time not have realized this? His fellow actors for over 20 years had no clue? I can imagine one of them saying, "Great play, Will! By the way, what does this line mean?" "Uh..."

The reply seems to be that most people weren't fooled after all! It was an "open secret" and many people knew the truth. At times there's an implication that even the Queen and her court knew. But then:
1. Why continue the hoax if even the people who were supposedly being satirized knew the truth?
2. Why would those who knew go to all the trouble of creating a bogus Stratford monument and a misleading First Folio? This book doesn't give a convincing explanation.
3. Why did every single person who knew the secret take it to the grave with them, so that within a generation or two everyone believed in the hoax?

Finally, the picture of DeVere I came away with was not of a person who could have written these works. Yes, he traveled in Italy. Yes, other things being equal he had more access to literary sources than Will of Stratford. However, the writer of the plays is not distinguished from all others simply by his possession of knowledge but rather by his thirst for knowledge, his love of words and his insight into human nature, as well as his great understanding of the theatre.

DeVere's letters reveal a man who could speak articulately, and I'm not qualified to judge his poetic rank. Apparently he had some connection with the theatre but it's not clear how much time he could have spent with it. However, he does not appear to have been fascinated by anyone other than himself. His letters consist mostly of complaints about how he has been treated and requests for money or other favors. He doesn't seem to display any curiosity about the lives of his correspondents. Mark Anderson implies that as DeVere matured, he "must have" developed the incredible insight into himself and others that's shown in the plays... but I found this no easier to accept than the idea that a man who had never been to Italy could write about it.

fun but not convincing.......2007-03-03

A book that supports the idea that William Shakespeare did not write the plays and poems attributed to him must cover three grounds at least. 1.) It must make a strong case that it is impossible for William Shakespeare, the simple farm boy from Stratford, to have written them. 2.) It must show why, although Shakespeare did not write them, his name is all over them in the author's spot. 3.) And if the book supports an alternative author, as this one does, it must make a good case from the life of that writer that he or she could have written the plays and poems, and cite endless coincidences, collusions, references, and possibilities, some of them hilarious, to make the point.

This book deals largely with 3., above, but does touch upon 2. According to this book, Shakespeare from Stratford was an uncouth braggart and opportunist who headed a theater group called The King's Men, and was more than willing to take credit for another's dramatic work. There is of course no proof of Shakespeare's character, but it is all supposition to go with the rest of the plot, namely, that the real author is Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford.

There isn't much on 1., that Shakespeare, being a hick from Stratford, couldn't have had the intelligence, knowledge or culture to write the immortal plays and poems. This is the theme however of Mark Twain's hilarious, and much shorter book, Is Shakespeare Dead?
But such an idea, as a wise man once said, would occur only to snobs. In the snobbish view, then, Abe Lincoln could never have written the Gettysburg Address, since he was born in a log cabin to illiterate farming parents. Nor Isaac Newton achieved his celestial mechanics, having been born and raised a farm boy. The author of this book possesses, we read, dual advanced degrees in physics and literature. One can only assume he doesn't live in a red state. (I later read that he resides in Massachusetts. There, I told you.)

Concerning 2., the issue of why Shakespeare's name is on someone else's plays and poems, there is also surprisingly little here. It all has to do, it seems, with de Vere wishing anonymity as a cover, so that he could write about Queen Elizabeth and her court, where he was an intimate, without outing or betraying anyone. Or, as we are rather comically told, de Vere couldn't safely publish Othello, the Moor of Venice, in his name when Protestant England was entered into sensitive negotiations with Catholic Spain. (One sometimes wonders if Anderson is trying to be funny, but I think not.) But why not write anonymously, under no name at all? Why instead choose a name already belonging to someone, who, presumably, might want something in return? Why, when you are sick and dying and have worked for years polishing and revising your cherished works, as Anderson says de Vere did, do you not finally come out and tell the world who you are? And how explain that there are other poems and plays by de Vere, hugely inferior to those attributed to Shakespeare, that have remained in de Vere's name? I find no answer to these questions although this is a very thick book.

The book really shines on 3., the coincidences and suppositions and fanciful possibilities. The funniest, I think, though I say again that Anderson gives no sign of trying to be funny, is elaborated on pgs. 366-367 in the book. Here is presented a copy of the title page of an old English book by one Henry Peacham called Minerva Britanna. The cover seems at first glance to have nothing to do with de Vere or Shakespeare, but by clever sleuthing, Anderson proves that it involves both. You see, the Greek goddess Minerva shook a spear, and so her name stands for Skake-speare. And, what's more, the Latin phrase mente videbori is an anagram for Tibi Nom. de Vere, `thy name is de Vere.'

Elementary, my dear Watson.

Collected Works of G. K. Chesterton: The Club of Queer Trades : The
<BR> Man Who Was Thursday : The Ball and the Cross : The Napoleon of Notting Hill

Average customer rating:

The finest book in the collected works series of GKC.
Fun to read!
Three Great Books in One Volume

Collected Works of G. K. Chesterton: The Club of Queer Trades : The
Man Who Was Thursday : The Ball and the Cross : The Napoleon of Notting Hill
G. K. Chesterton
Manufacturer: Ignatius Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton: Chesterton on Dickens Volume XV
Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton: The Outline of Sanity, the End of the Armistice the Appetite of Tyranny, Utopia of Usurers and Other Essays (Collected Works of Gk Chesterton)
The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton, Volume 3 : The Catholic Church; Where All Roads Lead; The Well and the Shallow and others (Paperback)
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ASIN: 0898703654

Customer Reviews:

The finest book in the collected works series of GKC........2002-02-28

The Club of Queer Trades - Not quite like the Father Brown mystery stories but very close. GKC traces the adventures of a club comprised of men and women who invented their own trade. You usually don't understand the trade until the end of the story, and the book never disappoints.

The Man Who Was Thursday - This is probably the most famous of all Chesterton books. The book describes the attempts of a Scotland yard detective to infiltrate a secret anarchist society. The garden party conversations between anarchists are laugh out loud funny. I'm still fascinated by the ending, mainly because I don't understand it.

The Ball and Cross - Chesterton's hilarious story of how an adamant Catholic duels to the death with an ardent atheist is a worthy read. Chesterton systematically critiques popular delusions of educated thinking as the book unfolds. The atheist and the Catholic grow closer together through their duel, and realize that they understand each other better than the other characters understand either of them. Chesterton's wit is second to none and if you liked Pilgrim's Regress by C.S. Lewis, you will love this book.

I've loaned two of these books to friends, and both of them were immediate fans. If you find this collection interesting, try the Napoleon of Notting Hill also by GKC.

Fun to read!.......2001-08-17

The Club of Queer Trades is by far the funniest story I have ever read! I assure you that it will keep you rolling on the floor from the beginning to the end of the story.

Three Great Books in One Volume.......2000-09-01

G. K. Chesterton was probably the greatest optimist who ever lived. He BELIEVED where most of us give up and become despondent. The three stories in this volume take place in a strange twilight world in which the author, as he says in THURSDAY, makes you want to see the lamppost by the light of the tree rather than vice versa. This, by the way, is his most profound and eccentric book.

In THE MAN WHO WAS THURSDAY, we see an incredible global conspiracy dissipate like swamp gas. (As Calvin Coolidge once said, nine out of ten of the troubles one sees down the road swerve off and disappear before they get to you.) THE BALL AND THE CROSS is about two heretics who appear to fight each other to the bitter end, until they find a worse enemy. And THE CLUB OF QUEER TRADES is a delightful entertainment made up of wonderful shaggy dog stories, much like THE PARADOXES OF MR POND.

If life hasn't been going your way, curl up with this volume -- and you WILL feel better.

Rat Bastards: The South Boston Irish Mobster Who Took the Rap When Everyone Else Ran

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Well what did you expect from a self-described criminal ?

Rat Bastards: The South Boston Irish Mobster Who Took the Rap When Everyone Else Ran
John "Red" Shea
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
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Brutal: The Untold Story of My Life Inside Whitey Bulger's Irish Mob
The Brothers Bulger: How They Terrorized and Corrupted Boston for a Quarter Century
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Street Soldier: My Life as an Enforcer for Whitey Bulger and the Boston Irish Mob
Running with the Devil: The True Story of the ATF's Infiltration of the Hells Angels

ASIN: 0061232890
Release Date: 2007-01-09

Book Description

An ice-cold enforcer with a red-hot temper, John "Red" Shea was already a top lieutenant in the South Boston Irish mob at the young age of twenty-one, a protégé of the notorious Irish godfather James "Whitey" Bulger. Brutal and ruthlessly ambitious—a loan shark, money launderer, and multimillion-dollar narcotics kingpin—Shea was at the pinnacle of his power when the feds came knocking and obliterated the mob in a well-orchestrated sweep of arrests. Bulger's other top men turned informant to save their own hides, but Shea alone held to his code of honor and kept his mouth shut—earning a dozen years of hard time as his reward. Even Bulger, the man Shea was protecting, turned out to be a rat who had been tipping off the feds for decades while continuing to operate one of the most murderous and profitable organized crime outfits in America.

Harrowing and unflinching, Rat Bastards brings the gritty world of the Irish mob into sharp focus—the no-holds-barred memoir of a former gangster who makes no excuses for the life he chose. Intense, compelling, and in your face, it is a remarkable story from a dying breed: a true stand-up guy.

Customer Reviews:

Well what did you expect from a self-described criminal ?.......2007-03-05

I saw this book and was interested because of the movie The Departed. I saw it in the theatre, and then got the DVD when it came out. Because I am from the area, I knew The Departed was about Whitey Bulger, more than some movie remake of Internal Affairs.

Up until now I had resisted the other books about Whitey and the Irish mob in Southie. This one just looked more interesting, and hit me at the right time.

I have read the other reviews for the hardcover, especially those who are from Southie. It seems people either love it or hate it, and him. I am more lukewarm about the book. I don't have any inside knowledge to tell if he was telling it straight, or making it up.

I thought the writing was ok, not great, but not awful. I imagine his writer was trying to keep the tone and structure true to how Shea speaks. It was a quick read, and a bit engaging, though not a real page turner to me.

I thought that there was a real lack of self-reflection from Shea for the most part. He was just as brash in his story as he was in life. He says this is what I did, this is the surface reason why, deal with it. Very rarely does he dig beneath that.

Other than the prison stories he is very vague about what he did, or what his activities were for Whitey. As he says he followed Whitey's advice about never letting someone else have anything to hold over you. But even without that you shouldn't expect anything specific from him in the book because: 1.) Anything that didn't come out in his trial, he could probably still be prosecuted for; 2.) He says he is not a rat, and so he won't tell anything about anyone else, that isn't already known; 3.) he doesn't want to get those who are guilty in trouble with the law, or make them feel a need to come after him.

What you do get is the sense that he never really grew up. He does want to prove continually how tough he is, and after all the others ratted out, that he is not a rat, but better than the others. He comes from that odd group of males who think that they still should act like teenage jerks, even when fully grown. By choosing to be a perpetual child he also throws away any chance for a real happy life, when he won't commit to Penelope. He gives up a wife, a family, and a home. He is probably too scared of that type of work, and risk. Rather he wants to follow the movie image of the tough-guy gangster, and take the easy way out. Its an empty image that he has opted for, rather than a real life. Its actually sad.

Yes what he did in terms of selling drugs, and being a criminal is bad. He doesn't really care, and he never says he is sorry. He feels bad for the accidental innocent people he hurt, but he never considers the families of his marks/victims/customers, as innocents whom he hurt all the time.

I think the book says just as much about him indirectly as it does with his input. It was a quick, interesting read. I wouldn't buy it in hardcover, but think paper is ok, and maybe borrowing from the Library is the best.

SHE WHO DARED: Covert Operations in Northern Ireland with the SAS

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More Buildup Than Payoff
she who dared a readers opinion

SHE WHO DARED: Covert Operations in Northern Ireland with the SAS
Jackie George
Manufacturer: Pen and Sword
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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OPERATORS: On the Streets with Britain's Most Secret Service (Pen & Sword Military Classics)

ASIN: 0850526868

Book Description

The personal account of a female British agent, including her controversial photographs of actual operations.

Customer Reviews:

More Buildup Than Payoff.......2000-08-09

The history of women who served in military special forces or intelligence operations is completely virgin territory. However, the promise of She Who Dared by "Jackie George" is ultimately unfulfilled.

The book, in a similar manner to ex-SAS trooper Andy McNab's Immediate Action, details George's upbringing, joining of the British Army, and recruitment into the British Security Forces operating in Northern Ireland. She mentions the difficulties involved in being a woman in a man's world, but readers should not expect sociological discussions of this!

Most of the book is detailed with her training. The publishers try to tie George's account into the mania for British SAS (Special Air Service) accounts. While SAS members trained her unit, she actually belonged to the 14th Intelligence and Security Company, a highly secret British Army unit performing surveillance on Irish Republican groups.

Readers hoping for detailed accounts of her operations "over the water" will be disappointed. The authors state that the book has been submitted to the Ministry of Defence for review, and that probably accounts for the shortness of these accounts.

A reader well versed in British special forces history or that of Northern Ireland may appreciate this book more. I would refer readers to McNab and the SAS writings of Barry Davies.

George has no love lost for the British Army officer corps and details many of their transgressions with the enlisted ranks. However, she does not really explain why her officers would act in such a manner, or how the British Army managed to operate effectively in spite of this. Her rants thus become a shortcoming.

I give the book three stars, mainly because of the dearth of similar accounts. However, in time, with other accounts, I might have to remove a star.

C. Husing ex-Dept. of the Air Force military historian

she who dared a readers opinion.......2000-04-10

an excellent book, information albeit sensitive was put across in a very professional manner,The author managed to maintain the readers interest from the start to the finish also ensure that the human emotions of what was and is a particulary sensitive occupation

Average customer rating:

Uneven Adventures in the New World
It gets much better as it moves along....
Wonderful Evocation of Chinese-American Life
Don't Call It a Beach Book!
This Sucked

Who's Irish?: Stories
Gish Jen
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Typical American (Contemporary Fiction, Plume)
Mona in the Promised Land: A Novel
The Love Wife
China Men
The Periodic Kingdom: A Journey into the Land of the Chemical Elements (Science Masters Series)

ASIN: 0375705929
Release Date: 2000-06-13

Amazon.com

Nobody writes about the immigrant experience like Gish Jen. What sets her apart from other ethnic writers is the wide-angle lens she turns not only on her own Chinese American ethnic group, but on Jewish Americans, African Americans, Irish Americans, and just about any other hyphenate you'd care to name. Though her tales are filtered through an Asian experience, they are, at heart, the quintessential American story of immigration, assimilation, and occasional tensions with other ethnic communities. The title story, for example, is a neat variation on a time-worn theme: mothers and daughters. The narrator is an elderly Chinese woman whose thoroughly assimilated daughter, Natalie, has married into an Irish American family. Natalie is successful; her husband, John, is not. Natalie's mother comments early on:

I always thought Irish people are like Chinese people, work so hard on the railroad, but now I know why the Chinese beat the Irish. Of course, not all Irish are like the Shea family, of course not. My daughter tell me I should not say Irish this, Irish that.

The narrator has other thoughts on the Irish question as well, including the connection between national diet and world view: "Plain boiled food, plain boiled thinking," she says of John, then adds that "because I grew up with black bean sauce and hoisin sauce and garlic sauce, I always feel something is missing when my son-in-law talk." But it soon becomes apparent that the problems between the narrator and her daughter's family are less cultural than generational, and in the end the mother forms a surprising alliance.

Jen comes at the question of identity from another angle in "Duncan in China," in which a second-generation Chinese American man returns to Mainland China to teach English. Here she manages to delicately suggest the enormity of the differences between the very American Duncan and his Chinese students, coworkers, and relatives. And in "Birthmates" she places her computer programmer protagonist, Art Woo, in close proximity to the low-income, mostly black residents of a welfare hotel that he's accidentally checked into. Class, race, gender, and job security all figure into this brilliant, subtle story that looks at the dark side of the American dream and finds that failure comes in all colors. These eight stories are sharply written, filled with humor, pathos, and more than a few surprising twists and turns. Quite simply, Who's Irish? is a delight. --Alix Wilber

Book Description

"Sparkling--a gently satiric look at the American Dream and its fallout on those who pursue it."--The New York Times

With dazzling wit and compassion, Gish Jen--author of the highly acclaimed novels Typical American and Mona in the Promised Land--looks at ambition and compromise at century's end and finds that much of the action is as familiar--and as strange--as the things we know to be most deeply true about ourselves.

The stories in Who's Irish? show us the children of immigrants looking wonderingly at their parents' efforts to assimilate, while the older generation asks how so much selfless hard work on their part can have yielded them offspring who'd sooner drop out of life than succeed at it.

Customer Reviews:

Uneven Adventures in the New World.......2003-07-15

I was reading this book because I was considering using it in the high school class that I teach. Ms. Jen is a well regarded member of the Asian-American writers pantheon.

"Whose Irish?: Stories," is a collection of short stories about the Chinese-American experience. Several of the stories were interesting, well written and enjoyable. My favorites include "Who's Irish?," "Chin,"Just Wait" and " In the American Society." All showed some nuanced understanding of Chinese- Americans chasing the immigrant dream and the pitfalls of assimilation.

The problem with the book is a basic one-- the writing isn't terrible compelling. Many of the remaining stories are dull and listless. The last one in particular, "House, House, Home" was excruciating to get through, which is unfortunate because it is also the longest, clocking in at 65 pages.

I was disappointed overall, but would be interested in reading Ms. Jen's best known novel, "Typical American," to see if she has better luck with the longer format.

It gets much better as it moves along...........2003-06-09

I have truly enjoyed both of Miss Jen's novels--Typical American and Mona in the Promised Land--and I was really looking forward to this collection. I wasn't so thrilled by the time I was into the third story in this collection as I though this book was shaping up to stand as the classic example of someone who can write novels but can't write short stories. Then, suddenly, things improved dramatically. By the end I was convinced that Miss Jen can write short stories but, apparently, needs a much stronger hand in selecting what is working and what isn't, as this book is filled with good examples of both types of story.

Anyway, the second half of the book is much, much stronger than this first half.

The elements that make Miss Jen such a good writer are there throughout-a very gifted ability to render the immigrant experience, a strong writing "voice" and a potent sense of the drama that fills ordinary life combined with a gifted sense of timing. The problem with the first few stories is that they seem incomplete and disjointed. That dissipates quickly as the book moves along.

This is a book that's well worth the read but one has to stick with it and not let the early sections distract and irritate you to the point where you don't truly enjoy the really good parts.

Hopefully Miss Jen will manage any future collections more adroitly.

Wonderful Evocation of Chinese-American Life.......2002-07-08

The collection of short stories titled, "Who's Irish?" by Gish Jen, is a contemporary look at middle class, Chinese-American life in the suburbs. Generally, the stories are about Americanized children in conflict with the traditional Chinese values of their immigrant parents.

In all of her stories, Gish Jen shows an ability to create vivid characters with just a few telling details. He stories have a component that is comic and a component that is sad. Although most the stories are written in a very feminine voice, "Birthmates" and "Duncan in China," have male protagonists, and I am amazed at how authentic her male characters seem, especailly the latter.

The title story, "Who's Irish?" is a picture of cultural differences between America and China. The story is told in broken English through the eyes of an immigrant Chinese grandmother. Her daughter Natalie is banking professional with a three year-old daughter named Sophie. Natalie's husband John is an Irish-American who works only intermittently due to bouts of depression. Natalie and John rely heavily on Natalie's mother to baby sit Sophie. Natalie and John's marriage and child rearing are terminally American. Natalie's mother's attitudes and customs are traditional Chinese. Natalie's mother's comments and criticisms of American child-rearing methods and life in America are absolutely hilarious. The conflict over the granddaughter, Sophie, gets so bad at one point that the parents accuse the grandmother of child abuse and cut off all contact between granddaughter and grandmother. But, I'm not doing the story justice. It is a gem; I'm tempted to call it a masterpiece. It must be read to be appreciated. The only flaw that I can detect is that between the broken English and Gish Jen's use of sentence fragments, I found the rhythm a little choppy. I read this one twice. It was that good. I'm sure I will read it a third time.

John Updike selected the story, "Birthmates," as one of the best stories of the past century, but I don't even think it's one of the best stories in this collection. It's about a middle-aged man, a lost soul named Art Woo, a computer industry professional whose marriage has fallen apart and whose future career is uncertain.

In, "The Water Faucet Vision," the main character is a fifth grade Catholic school student. Her parents fight viciously, and her best friend's father has run off. She and her girl friend deal with it by practicing extremes of Catholic spiritual asceticism. The girls behavior and conversation is highly comic, but is doesn't take a therapist to see their underlying emotional pain.

"Duncan in China," is one of my favorites. Even though I am not of Chinese descent, I identified strongly with Duncan. He is a man in his thirties who hasn't found himself yet. He's gone through all sorts of jobs, careers, colleges, and training programs. He has become fascinated lately with ancient Chinese art objects-vases from the Ming dynasty, and he decides to take a long trip to China. He visits Shantung province where an uncle and nephew lives. His expectations are that he will find the true spirit of China and in doing so, will find himself. He's also hoping to fall in love. I can certainly relate to that. Duncan discovers that his uncle and nephew live in the worst destitute poverty, and they don't show the faintest sign of manners or hygiene. Duncan learns no one in China cares about Ming vases or any other high, cultured aesthetics. Duncan takes up teaching English at a factory. He develops a big crush on a ravishing and sophisticated older woman who is a student in his class (I can really relate to that!).

In, "Chin," the viewpoint character is a white ninth-grade boy in an urban neighborhood. He interacts with a boy named Chin whose parents are recent immigrants. His observations make the family seem peculiar and inexplicable. Although it's not a great story, I liked the idea that the author chose to look at a Chinese immigrant family through the eyes of a white American.

"Just Wait," is centered around a pregnant woman's friends and family gathering for a baby shower. It took her years to get pregnant. The story ends in a mother's joy at having a child. In real life, Gish Jen had great difficulty getting pregnant, and her stories are sprinkled with the hopes and sorrows of women desiring a baby. This is strictly a woman's story.

"In the American Society," is told by Mona, who is in junior high school. He family lives in the suburbs where their father owns a pancake house. Mona's family is invited to a fancy outdoor party, but Mona's father and some of the other guests don't exactly get along.

"House, House, Home," is the story of the daughter of Chinese immigrants who goes to art school and without telling her parents, marries a fruitcake professor who is thirty years older than her. The husband's personality and physical appearance seems to be modeled after the artist Andy Warhol, right down to the white hair. She tells the story of their very bohemian life together. (Very un-Chinese-American!) Her husband is a royal [pain]. You want to scream at her for staying with such a jerk. Her parents, I felt, were relatively tolerant for immigrant Chinese, but eventually they shunned her and cut her off financially.

Although the story is slow and drawn out in parts, the descriptions of pregnancy, nursing and raising kids is very vivid, touching and close to home. Ironically, what kept me going was the lack of credibility of the story. Children of Chinese immigrants do not major in art, and they certainly don't marry fruitcake white art professors! The part with the most credibility was when the parent's cut off contact. What kept me going was that I felt sooner or later the story had to burst.

Don't Call It a Beach Book!.......2001-03-29

Unfortunately, the experience (or should I call it trauma?) of taking high school English leads most people to believe that serious literature can't be any fun. That "serious literature" is either turgid debates about the place of evil in a benevolent God's cosmos (Dostoevsky), or else allegorical whaling adventures with encyclopedic discursions (Melville). Give us something a bit more quotidian in subject matter and write it up in a style that's both elegant and witty, and some people assume it can't possibly be literature. Hence the reviewer who paid this fine collection of short stories (as well as Jen's second novel- was it the same person?) the decidedly back-handed compliment of calling it a "a great beach book!"

I suppose "Who's Irish?" could be read at the beach, but just because most of its stories go down so easily, please don't lump Gish Jen in with the John Grisham's, Ann Rice's, and Thomas Harris's of the world. Dig beyond the humor (which is just one aspect of Jen's talent) and you'll also find probing psychological insights as well as some truly tender, elegiac moments. I think the best example of these three strengths coming together is "House, House, Home", the collection's last, longest, and best story. Ostensibly about the slow disintegration of a callow young woman's marriage to a much older art history professor, "House, House, Home" is also a paean to early motherhood as well as an exploration of ethnic identity. Though some might be taken aback by Jen's seeming kowtows before the altar of multi-culti racial essentialism (a hunky Hawaiian keeps reminding the main character of "how she had been wifed, how she had been fetishized, how she had been viewed as Orientalia"), a fair-minded reading suggests that this is in no way a privileged viewpoint. For how else to explain the bemused incomprehension with which a "children of color" picnic for kindergarteners is described at the story's beginning, or the fact that the "fetishizing" art history professor is no emblem of the White Male Patriarchy(TM), but instead a crusty relic of the 60's New Left. If there's one place Jen goes wrong, it's in naming the professor Sven and titling one subsection "Sven Heads North". The latter I found just a little too cute.

As for the other stories in "Who's Irish?", "Duncan in China" is nearly as strong and most of the others are nothing if not enjoyable. When Jen tries to be naughty she still can't keep from being very proper and lady-like ("'Could it have been the penile suggestion that piqued you?' Then he would have maybe suggested some piquing himself."), but coming from a Philip Roth background, I find this turn from the clinically explicit a refreshing one. The only things stopping me from giving five stars are "Just Wait" and "Chin". The former is a rather pointless baby shower vignette while the latter finds Jen trying to write- commendablely, if not successfully- from the viewpoint of a white-ethnic teenager. That her graceful style often leaves her here ("we're talking someone who would sooner puke on the Pope than cut across two lanes of traffic") indicates that this is a writer in whom style and substance are happily joined and that her future successes should be no less pleasurable to read than this one.

This Sucked.......2000-09-09

This book is incredibly slow to read. If I didn't have to read it for English class, then I wouldn't have read it at all. Don't read it if you have a choice.

Nothing But an Unfinished Song: Bobby Sands, the Irish Hunger Striker Who Ignited a Generation

Average customer rating:

This is worth the read
inside a struggle
An Inspiring Life Story
nothing but an unfinished song
Bobby Sands in his true and pivotal place in Irish Republican struggle

Nothing But an Unfinished Song: Bobby Sands, the Irish Hunger Striker Who Ignited a Generation
Denis O'Hearn
Manufacturer: Nation Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Ten Men Dead: The Story of the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike
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Those Are Real Bullets: Bloody Sunday, Derry, 1972

ASIN: 156025842X

Book Description

Bobby Sands was twenty seven years old when he died. He spent almost nine years of his life in prison because of his activities as a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). When he died on 5 May 1981, on the sixty-sixth day of his hunger strike against repressive prison conditions in Northern Ireland's H Block prisons, parliaments across the world stopped for a minute silence in his honor. Nelson Mandela followed Sands' example and led a similar hunger strike in South Africa, and Fidel Castro compared his suffering to that of Jesus.

Bobby Sand's remarkable life and death have made him an "Irish Che Guevara." He is an enduring figure of resistance whose life has been an inspiration to millions around the world. In Hollywood, actors like Sean Penn, Mickey Rourke and Brad Pitt have flirted with a biopic of his life. But until the publication of Nothing But an Unfinished Song, no book has adequately explored the motivation of the hunger strikers, nor recreated this period of history from within the prison cell. Denis O'Hearn's powerful biography, with new material based on primary research and interviews, illuminates for the first time this enigmatic, controversial and heroic figure.

Customer Reviews:

This is worth the read.......2006-03-22

The life in the Northern Ireland Prison system was a horrible existence. What these men and women went through for their people is something any student of history or of the cuase of Irish freedom should know about.

The details of the "Dirty Protest" are enough to make a person cry. What the British government did should never be forgotten. The author does a great job showing how Long Kesh and the H-Blocks became a school - a place where people learned what the definition of freedom really is... and how Irish freedom was just like the freedom of all colonial peoples in the world.

The death of Bobby Sands and the other 9 men who followed him is a story that needs to be told again and again and again.

inside a struggle.......2006-02-23

Every now and then a book comes along that can transport you inside a moment in history, or an aspect of human experience, that had seemed remote, or unimaginable, and bring it close in a way that changes how you see the world. Nothing But an Unfinished Song is such a book. If you are old enough, you probably remember the hunger strike and Bobby Sands' death, perhaps as your first awareness that something was terribly wrong in Ireland. If you are like me, your memory is colored by a sense of unreality - the dual shock of men starving themselves to death as a political statement, and of this somehow being acceptable (at least to those in power) in the latter part of the twentieth century in a country as culturally, politically, and historically close to the U.S. as Ireland. And yet, while the thought of prisoners being kept in conditions that drove them to such lengths was cause for enormous outrage, there was another source of confusion and moral discomfort. After all, these were IRA men, and the IRA was waging a military campaign. The Brits were killing people, but the IRA was too. So who were these men and what did they die for? This book is an extraordinary gift to all who asked this question. O'Hearn's exhaustive research, including interviews with many of the men who were imprisoned with Bobby, makes human and comprehensible the development of political consciousness that led Bobby from an unremarkable life to one that inspired millions. For those who continue to struggle against any form of oppression, it is as inspirational as it is heartbreaking. With truly nothing, behind prison walls, Bobby never ceased to think, learn, and create - and to strive to reach beyond those walls. Any group struggling for change must make choices about how their part of the struggle will be waged - however limited the range of possible means may be. By illuminating one moment in one struggle, O'Hearn's book offers much for all of us to ponder.

An Inspiring Life Story.......2006-02-10

This is a meticulously researched and gripping biography of the hunger-striker who gave his life in the struggle for political recognition of the Republican struggle in Ireland. Bobby Sands transformed politics in Irish society and became an inspirational and internationally respected figure for his selfless political activism. He later became renowned for his transcendent poetry and rousing songs that captured key episodes in Irish history. But few knew this man intimately even as he became an icon of the Irish struggle for self-determination and a member of the British Parliament while he lay in a prison hospital.

Denis O'Hearn has put this to rights in a historically informative and yet intimate account of Sands' short life that included community and military activism and a harrowing journey through a gruelling and oppressive prison system. Through sheer bloody-mindedness, mental and physical resolve, and the capacity to recognise 'opportunities' in the most brutal forms of detention, Sands changed the trajectory of Irish politics. O'Hearn reveals a character full of ceaseless energy, buoyancy, sensitivity as well as political vision in a brisk, gripping and deeply moving account of Sands' life.
This book challenges complacency, urges activism and rejects thinking within the narrow confines of mainstream political discourse. Bobby Sands, the activist, has been revealed to a new generation and continues to inspire.

nothing but an unfinished song.......2006-02-01

very good book a great life story of a irish hero

Bobby Sands in his true and pivotal place in Irish Republican struggle.......2006-01-20

This book is superb and should be read by anyone with even a fleeting interest in Irish politics and events. As a biography it is a wonderful account of one of the few truly great 20th century Irish political icons. As an historical record of political change and development in the Irish Republican movement in the 1970s and 1980s - the repercussions of which still resonate today - and the unique role played within it by Bobby Sands, it is an extraordinarily detailed, formidable and unmatched piece of political, social and personal research. And yet the book is also an enthralling read, breathlessly taking the reader through the tumultuous times of one man and his far too short but generation-changing life. Many, many books have been written about Ireland. Very few have achieved the level of empathy for the subject as "Nothing But An Unfinished Song". The Sands' family should feel proud and hugely indebted to the author for placing Bobby Sands in a pivotal position in Irish Republican struggle.

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