Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan

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In this fanciful volume, Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, founder of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (O.M.A.), both analyzes and celebrates New York City. By suggesting the city as the site for an infinite variety of human activities and events--both real and imagined--the essence of the metropolitan lifestyle, its "culture of congestion" and its architecture are revealed in a brilliant new light. "Manhattan," Koolhaas writes, "is the 20th century's Rosetta stone . . . occupied by architectural mutations (Central Park, the Skyscraper), utopian fragments (Rockefeller Center, the U.N. Building), and irrational phenomena (Radio City Music Hall)." Filled with fascinating facts, as well as photographs, postcards, maps, watercolors, and drawings, the vibrancy of Koolhaas's poignant exploration of Gotham equals the heady, frenetic energy of the city itself. Anyone who loves New York will want to own this book.

Customer Reviews:

What an interesting philosophical dissertation.......2007-02-05

through the exhaustive historiography of the phases of congestion coney island brought to manhattan, koolhaas provides a rather cynical view of the Grid as being an ulimatley neutral zoning system of constraining ideas that represent the continual decline of a phantastically realistic civilization, represented as mutated symbols of architecture in the "void" of repeated "pregnancies."

it's really well written. funny. uses, like above, a somewhat inefficient vocabulary but remains in the same vein throughout. it is also a graphic design hubris consuming every page, even the left-justified text, showing off koolhaas's interpretation of the importance to combine scholarship and marketing.

buy it. it's a very good book.

Way Too Much To Think About Sometimes.... .......2006-11-09

A very inventive concept of New York's "culture of congestion" and how people are affected by the architecture they create. It is heavily researched and exhaustive, and after pretty much the third page I agreed with his concept of NY being "totally fabricated by man". What could of been a fascinating article becomes a spastic, heavy-handed read with a sledgehammer effect to your brain. (However,for those of us reading it for school, there are plenty of pictures that fill up the almost devastatingly vast 300+pages quickly.) It will scramble your brain with its thousands of nearly bumper-stickerish statements ("It hides life." "The Mountain MUST become architecture.") written with pretentious glee. However, I believe an independent scientific study has concluded that when pretending to read this book on the train people around you will assume your IQ is 40% higher than truth.

Eating oysters with boxing gloves, naked, on the nth floor........2005-05-25

The quote written above is excerpted from Delirious New York. It is a perfect example of the lyrical quality of the writing prevalent throughout this amazing book. Delirious New York is not an objective chronological listing of New York's development, but a collection of manifestos and stories with opinionated perspectives about a city founded on the idea that maximum congestion is a desirable factor. It is informative, funny (the midget firefighters of Coney Island had me laughing aloud for a solid minute or two), twisted, and inspiring.

Rem Koolhaas is edgier and far more interesting literary figure in architecture than say, Le Corbusier. Koolhaas's analytical yet shockingly refreshing writing style is a blessing for architecture, since he stays away from academic incoherent writing style that most architectural historians and architects tend to employ.

Get a copy of this book if eclectic (and at times disturbing) tales of architecture and urban development is something you think you will enjoy.

best koolhaas ever, man.......2004-01-30

koolhaas is a bit over-the-top for me, but this I think is is best work. it's worth checking out if only for the story of coney island. once you get past blisteringly pretentious phrases like "coney island is a fetal manhattan", you'll find it gloriously entertaining as both a narrative and theoretical work.

the culture of congestion.......2002-12-24

This is by far Koolhaas's most accessible work, as it is rooted so clearly in detail from the city's past. Further, the book is simply brilliant. His take on urban history is to Jane Jacobs what Socrates is to common sense. New York is a special case of modernism that sprang from a special constellation of poltiical and technological forces that collectively create a cultural "big-bang" at the turn of the century. Read it. Blow your mind.

American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China

Average customer rating:

An American's delightful stay among the Shaolin monks
Six of one, half-dozen of the other
Go to CMAOD dot com to learn Shaolin and any other martial arts style for cheap, and avoid imposter martial arts teachers!
A special book - warm, funny and thoroughly enjoyable
Already a Favorite

American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China
Matthew Polly
Manufacturer: Gotham
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1592402623
Release Date: 2007-02-01

Book Description

Bill Bryson meets Bruce Lee in this raucously funny story of one scrawny American's quest to become a kung fu master at China's legendary Shaolin Temple.

Growing up a ninety-pound weakling tormented by bullies in the schoolyards of Kansas, young Matthew Polly dreamed of one day journeying to the Shaolin Temple in China to become the toughest fighter in the world, like Caine in his favorite 1970s TV series, Kung Fu. While in college, Matthew decided the time had come to pursue this quixotic dream before it was too late. Much to the dismay of his parents, he dropped out of Princeton to spend two years training with the legendary sect of monks who invented kung fu and Zen Buddhism.

Expecting to find an isolated citadel populated by supernatural ascetics that he'd seen in countless badly dubbed chop-socky flicks, Matthew instead discovered a tacky tourist trap run by Communist party hacks. But the dedicated monks still trained in the rigorous age-old fighting forms—some even practicing the “iron kung fu” discipline, in which intensive training can make various body parts virtually indestructible (even the crotch). As Matthew grew in his knowledge of China and kung fu skill, he would come to represent the Temple in challenge matches and international competitions, and ultimately the monks would accept their new American initiate as close to one of their own as any Westerner had ever become.

Laced with humor and illuminated by cultural insight, American Shaolin is an unforgettable coming-of-age tale of one young man's journey into the ancient art of kung fu—and a funny and poignant portrait of a rapidly changing China.

Customer Reviews:

An American's delightful stay among the Shaolin monks.......2007-09-28

American Shaolin is an amusing and insightful memoir of a young American's experiences while training with Shaolin monks in the 1990s. It is the kind of book that you will read in a few hours. I especially like the author's mostly positive attitude toward his environment. I compare it favorably to Paul Shirley's memoir as a basketball player, in which Shirley mostly complains and puts down his fellow athletes. In this book, the author has respect and awe for the monks, and it is satisfying to watch him approach their level of expertise. While it is nonfiction, the book follows a narrative structure and is essentially a coming-of-age story. Frankly, I'm suspicious of his success as a kungfu kickboxer. It is hard to believe that someone with months of training can defeat someone with years of training. However I do not think that he fabricated any of the stories. Rather, he chose the anecdotes that fit his storyline of physical (as a martial artist) and personal (as a man) growth. Thus, he starts with a few missteps and then describes a few more successes. I have one slight quibble: at the end, he refers to his respect for China's devotion to its culture, which I thought he could have referenced earlier in the book, to show his progression to that respect.

Six of one, half-dozen of the other.......2007-09-06

As a travel narrative, the book is excellent. It's easy to learn a lot about the Chinese culture from this period of time, and the local characters are likable, well-written, and complex. If read as a memoir, however, it's difficult for me to get over the fact that the author just isn't very likable. He begins as a self-centered college student, and never really evolves all that much. Sure, he gets stronger and more skilled at his art, but I was never able to sympathize with him. No matter why this is the case, the book is mildly recommended if read for what it is--a light travelogue for those interested in China or martial arts. Those looking for an example to follow or a character for which to root ought look elsewhere.

Go to CMAOD dot com to learn Shaolin and any other martial arts style for cheap, and avoid imposter martial arts teachers!.......2007-08-26

Shaolin kung fu is without question beautiful and if you wish to learn complete kung fu forms for only seven ninety nine per video disc, or slightly more for English-Chinese DVDs, visit the website that begins with the first letters of "Chinese Martial Arts On Disc": CMAOD dot com. "CMAOD dot com" offers every kind of kung fu form and style you would ever wish to learn from beginning to end: traditional hong gar, almost all styles of Shaolin, Dim Mak, traditional hong fist, animal styles, many fighting self-defense videos, wudang, er mei, and dozens of other complete systems of kung fu, including weapons, forms, and self-defense. You name it, you can learn it, without having to spend thousands of dollars to learn from phony kung fu teachers. Many Americans don't know that this website allows you to buy the best instructional VCDs and DVDs available. Visit the "wushu for youth" section of CMAOD dot com and you can buy the wushu fundamentals VCDs or DVDs that will teach you from the beginning stages. Visit the Shaolin section and you will find more fundamental Shaolin VCds or DVDs taught by two allegedly real Shaolin monks called Shi De Juan and Shi De Jian. I don't know how real their monkhood is, but they are gifted martial artists, and you can learn complete forms in many styles of martial arts. You've got to see this website to believe it. The owner Bill is a great guy, and offers great discounts on his website. You've got to visit CMAOD dot com to believe it. There are literally thousands of kung fu artists here that are "at least" as good as the so-called real Shaolin monks in China and America, and many are far far better. With a few bucks, they can be your teacher. If you can't find a good teacher in person, here's your only chance to learn real Shaolin or other styles for almost nothing. Ever wish you could find "the secret kung fu manual" to teach you various styles? Well, here it is in video disc or DVD form. Buy these VCDs or DVDs and enjoy learning great martial arts from top Chinese masters without worrying about being fooled by phony kung fu masters. Finally, every American has access to real kung fu learning at his or her own pace! I have written three international cover stories for Inside Kung Fu and Wushu Kung Fu magazines (now Kung Fu magazine) and can vouch that CMAOD dot com is the best source for learning authentic Shaolin and other kung fu step-by-step without being bamboozled by and kowtowing to phony practitioners of fake kung fu styles or schools. Learn at your own pace, according to your own interests from the best Chinese masters and grandmasters for less than eight dollars for VCDs.

A special book - warm, funny and thoroughly enjoyable.......2007-08-20

This book will appeal to anyone who likes a good story and a good laugh. On the surface, the book seemingly appeals more naturally to men, but it is great book for anyone who welcomes adventure, likes rooting for the underdog, and loves great writing ala PJ O'Rourke and Christopher Buckley. Matt Polly is a great new writer -- I'm hooked.

Already a Favorite.......2007-07-27

A friend of mine who practices Kung Fu told me I should pick this up. He is a good friend. I practice Chon-tu Kwan Hapkido myself, an Americanized Korean art, so I was immediately intrigued. I'm only a few chapters in now but I am already sold. This is one of those books that combines personal anecdotes with delectable morsels of historical trivia. Matthew Polly weaves easily through both, stitching together an instant classic. His writing style is humorous and informative. Its sort of like combining the History channel with Comedy Central, then peppering the stew with some A & E biography. In just 3 chapters, I already feel like I've been schooled in Chinese culture, Chinese martial arts, Eastern philosophy, English writing, World history, and comedy. A fantastic read. Five stars.

The Rejection Collection: Cartoons You Never Saw, and Never Will See, in The New Yorker

Average customer rating:

Fabulous!
Rejected With Good Reason
You MUST have this book!
Not to be read in public...
A Funny Twist on the Usual New Yorker Cartoons

The Rejection Collection: Cartoons You Never Saw, and Never Will See, in The New Yorker

Manufacturer: Simon Spotlight Entertainment
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1416933395

Book Description

Each week about fifty New Yorker cartoonists submit ten ideas, yielding five hundred cartoons for no more than twenty spots in the magazine. Arguably the most brilliant single-panel-gag cartoonists in the world create a bunch of cartoons every week that never see the light of day.

These rejects were piling up in the dusty corners of studios all over the country. Sam Gross, who has been contributing since 1962, has more than 12,000 rejected cartoons. (Seriously. He's been numbering every single cartoon he's ever submitted to The New Yorker since the very beginning.) Enter editor Matthew Diffee. He tapped his fellow cartoonists, asking them to rescue these hilarious lost gems. From the artists' stacks of all-time favorite rejects, Diffee handpicked the standouts -- the cream of the crap -- and created The Rejection Collection, a place where good ideas go when they die. Too risqué, silly, or weird for The New Yorker, the cartoons in this book offer something no other collection has: They have never been seen in print until now.

With a foreword by New Yorker cartoon editor Robert Mankoff that explains the sound judgment, respectability, and scruples not found anywhere in these pages, and handwritten questionnaires that introduce the quirky character of each artist, The Rejection Collection will appeal to fans of The New Yorker...and to anyone with a slightly sick sense of humor.

Customer Reviews:

Fabulous!.......2007-09-27

This book is a must have for those who love New Yorker cartoons. They are even more amusing than some cartoons that are published, however, they are definitely not appropriate for all magazine viewers!!!

Rejected With Good Reason.......2007-09-23

I'm a fan of New Yorker cartoons and would be the first to congratulate the editorial staff on the fine job it's done these eighty years in discovering new talent, employing recognized masters like Charles Addams and Peter Arno, and knowing which cartoons fit the style and tone of the celebrated publication. The editors were wise to give most of the cartoons here in The Rejection Collection a big thumbs down. Sure, there are some concepts in this collection I liked and was surprised they weren't included in the magazine (Pat Byrnes' material most of all, the Marchetto quip on page 95, which was hilarious, and the Tom Cheney illustration on page 114, too) but mostly what's here is a gathering of gross, unfunny, perverse and mocking drawings that the readers of the New Yorker did fine without seeing at all. A much better collection would have dug into the vaults and let us see some rejected pieces that went back decades instead of just the 2000's. I understand a second volume of rejects is coming out this year and I hope it's not the letdown this one was.

You MUST have this book!.......2007-09-19

This is a hilarious and sometimes screamingly funny collection of cartoons that were deemed "too resque, silly, or weird" for publication. In other words, right up my alley.

As big as this volume is, it represents a small percentage of the thousands of brilliant items not fit for the New Yorker, and is absolutely over-the-top funny!

Not to be read in public..........2007-09-05

....unless you don't mind being seen cackling, gasping for breath with beer
running out of your nose.
You already know that these are cartoons by New Yorker cartoonists that were
rejected by that magazine. If you're a regular reader of the New Yorker, this book
will be a revelation: the difference between these cartoons and the ones that get
published is not just that these are much funnier. The difference lies in the
exuberance and boundary-pushing that's the hallmark or true art. Or at least
true cartoons. There's less of the insider-joke smarminess that congratulates you
for being hip enough to get what the joke is. Seeing what the magazine didn't
want to publish has diminished my respect for it just a bit. (I'm not cancelling my
subscription though.)

There's the cartoon of the couple sitting on a couch. Through the window, we see
the full moon. The man is visibly turning into a werewolf. The woman observes:
"You're lucky. I'm turning into my mother." Then there's the Roadkill Zoo and the
Santa with a craving for venison and the ventriloquist who getting drunk while
his dummy barfs and. . . . . . .

_Lynn Hoffman, author of bang BANG, which was rejected once or twice itself

A Funny Twist on the Usual New Yorker Cartoons.......2007-08-01

The New Yorker cartoons are always fun to read. This book of rejects contains many that can be categorized as "Things you think about but would never dare put on paper." They are laugh-out-loud funny. In addition to the rejected cartoons, each cartoonist was asked to complete a questionnaire, including his/her explanation of what an ink blob reminded him/her of. A most enjoyable read.

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Average customer rating:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Pants on fire?
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Average customer rating:

A worthy contribution to history free of myth and full of facts
Two Shortcuts To Becoming A Lone-Assassin Believer: Watch The 11/22/63 Real-Time Live TV Coverage....And Then Read This Book
Out of the Past
very good press reporting
JOURNALISM CLASSIC AND INSIDE SCOOP

When the News Went Live: Dallas 1963
Bob Huffaker
Manufacturer: Taylor Trade Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1589791398

Book Description

Broadcast journalism came of age in the Kennedy Assassination crisis and helped to hold a mourning nation together. Four reporters on the scene relate their experiences.

Customer Reviews:

A worthy contribution to history free of myth and full of facts.......2007-04-03

There are so very few books that convey a sense of "being there" when it comes to the Kennedy assassination. This outstanding book takes the reader back to that fateful weekend of November 22nd 1963 in Dallas, Texas and does so in an open, honest and compelling manner.

"When the News Went Live" is written by four journalists who were in Dallas on that day covering the presidential visit. Bob Huffaker and the other three newsmen share many interesting stories that you will not find elsewhere and that have been untold for many years no doubt to all but their personal friends. This is why the book is such a valuable contribution to the historical record. Such first hand observation regarding not just those few seconds in Dealey Plaza, the murder of Officer Tippet and the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby, but how in fact the entire story unfolded, makes fascinating reading.

As an aid to anyone interested in the assassination, this book is a must have. I would emphasize - rarely do you find first hand knowledge like this - much of what is written on this subject is written by people many steps removed from the event where fact and fiction merge into one. Not so here. A fabulous book which is refreshingly free of the conjecture and myth that is so common in the Himalayan pile of work on the Kennedy assassination and is highly recommended.

Two Shortcuts To Becoming A Lone-Assassin Believer: Watch The 11/22/63 Real-Time Live TV Coverage....And Then Read This Book.......2007-01-02

"With three shots from a mail-order rifle, Lee Oswald set off a worldwide tragedy that developed too fast to print. .... Broadcast journalism came of age in that crisis of grief and uncertainty, and as it drew its mourning audience, it helped to hold the nation together." -- Bob Huffaker; From the Preface of "When The News Went Live: Dallas 1963"

----------------------

"When The News Went Live: Dallas 1963", published in 2004, paints a vivid word picture of many of the incredible events that surrounded President John F. Kennedy's assassination in November of 1963, as seen through the eyes of four journalists -- Bob Huffaker, Bill Mercer, George Phenix, and Wes Wise -- who covered those events as they happened for CBS affiliate KRLD-TV and Radio in Dallas.

President Kennedy's shocking and appalling assassination on November 22, 1963, was the very first really big "Watch It Unfold Live On TV" news event of the television era, with four full commercial-free days being devoted to nothing but exclusive assassination-related coverage by all three major TV networks (with KRLD's on-the-scene Dallas reporters frequently feeding CBS-TV headquarters in New York).

And the four reporters whose intriguing stories unfold within this 224-page hardcover volume were right smack in the thick of things during the rapidly-developing events -- from the initial sketchy bulletins that told of the President being shot in Dealey Plaza during a motorcade drive through the city of Dallas -- to the announcement of JFK's death at Parkland Hospital -- to the capture of the accused assassin (Lee Harvey Oswald) in a nearby movie theater -- to Oswald's very own murder on live TV (with Bob Huffaker reporting live from the basement of the Dallas Police Department, where the single gunshot from Jack Ruby's pistol added yet another hard-to-believe chapter to the weekend's nightmarish story).

It was a mesmerizing weekend in American (and television) history, to say the least. And those days are re-lived with clarity in this engaging book by way of the recollections of four men who lived through and reported on those events when they were occurring.

"When The News Went Live" contains several excellent black-and-white photographs, too (some of them I haven't seen published elsewhere).

On a personal level, I have had the pleasure of communicating (via e-mail) with Bob Huffaker several times. He has been very cordial and gracious whenever answering the questions that I had for him. His personal insights into the events revolving around JFK's death are fascinating glimpses into the past, and are insights that I have enjoyed reading immensely.

A sample e-mail excerpt from Mr. Huffaker:

----------------------

"David, you're right about the presidential visit and motorcade being the main attraction that all Dallas media were covering, of course. But all our stations had limited capabilities for doing mobile TV, which then demanded either cables or microwave dishes--as well as a receiving dish within line-of-sight beaming or bouncing.

Hence the pool TV arrangements, limited to three planned locations. The local TV stations did live TV from the FTW {Fort Worth} breakfast, Love Field, and the Trade Mart. But this was, indeed, the day the news went live on television, unplanned.

WBAP-TV in Fort Worth had a non-running TV van, which they had towed all the way from Cowtown to Dallas Police headquarters, and we sent both of our KRLD-TV vans into duty--the Bread Truck at DPD and the Blue Goose on the 24th to the county jail, etc.

This was the first time in TV history when on-the-spot news suddenly demanded to go live from the scene. Before that, radio news on-the-spot descriptions such as ours that day were common (like the Hindenburg broadcast--radio only), and live TV was usually reserved for major speeches, sports, etc.

Bob" -- E-mail to this writer; May 30, 2006

----------------------

Relating to the subject of "WHEN THE NEWS WENT LIVE", I'd like to offer up the following observations as an extension of this book review.....

To those JFK conspiracy theorists who seem to favor the Oliver Stone-like or Robert Groden-promoted assassination scenarios (that feature a minimum of three gunmen and anywhere from 6 to 10 gunshots being fired at President Kennedy in Dallas' Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963) -- I always suggest to them that they ought to dig up some of the originally-aired "As It Is Happening" live TV or radio broadcasts from that dark Friday in American history.

After performing that exercise of watching a few hours of the November 22 television coverage of the assassination (in real time), or listening to some of the radio broadcasts in real time (which works just as well) -- I challenge anyone to then arrive at the same conclusion that was slapped up on the big theater screen in 1991 via Director Oliver Stone's blockbuster, conspiracy-laden motion picture "JFK".

Watching the day's events unfold "live" in front of you (or listening to them unfold on the radio as it was happening) should, in my opinion, provide everyone with a good general idea of how utterly impossible a task it would have been to have "faked" so much stuff that was being IMMEDIATELY reported to the world on live television and radio within minutes and hours of the President's assassination (and within a very short space of time following Police Officer J.D. Tippit's murder as well).

Via those original live TV/Radio broadcasts, you're not going to hear a SINGLE report that resembles anything close to the Oliver Stone/Jim Garrison-endorsed nonsense of:

"Three gunmen fired six shots at President Kennedy's motorcade today here in Dallas!!"

What you will hear, instead, is live coverage, as it happened, of a ONE-GUNMAN assassination taking place from where the majority of witnesses said it took place (the Texas School Book Depository Building), with no more than three shots having been fired by the SINGLE SHOOTER, which is a shot count that over 91% of the witnesses concur with -- including the small percentage of witnesses who heard only one or two shots, who are witnesses that certainly don't do Mr. Stone's "6-shot ambush" theory any favors.

Upon evaluating virtually all of the TV networks' live assassination footage from November 22nd, 1963, there is no possible way that a reasonable person could arrive at a conclusion that JFK was shot by three assassins, firing from both front and rear. Let alone arriving at an even more-cockeyed "8-to-10-shot" shooting scenario, as purported by Mr. Groden and some other CTers, which is an outlandish conspiracy-flavored scenario that has John Kennedy and John Connally being shot by way more than just the two Warren Commission-backed Mannlicher-Carcano bullets from Lee Harvey Oswald's rifle.*

* = And Mr. Groden's theory (that sports from 8 to 10 gunshots) also features an additional hunk of lunacy, in that Groden thinks it's very likely that NONE of these eight to ten shots came from the "Oswald window" in the Book Depository! (I'm not making this crazy stuff up here. I promise. Anyone who owns a copy of Robert Groden's 1993 book "The Killing Of A President" can check out Groden's preposterous theory for themselves, on pages 20-40.)

The bottom line is -- Very nearly all of the information being reported on TV and radio that November day favored a "Lone Assassin" shooting scenario (including the info concerning the Tippit murder in Oak Cliff), with very little evidence and information being broadcast that would support any type of a "conspiracy" whatsoever; and certainly no "conspiratorial" evidence that has ever panned out and "proved" that a multi-gun plot ended JFK's life in Dallas.

This is quite a telling "One Killer" fact. Because, in my view, if a vast conspiracy and subsequent "cover-up" had been in place on November 22nd (given the immense amount of TV and radio coverage, with reporters scrutinizing everything coming across their desks and digging hard for any type of case-solving clues during those first hours and days after JFK and J.D. Tippit were killed), I think that at least SOME pieces of the conspiracy would have leaked through to the sweeping television and radio coverage surrounding the two Dallas murders.

And I'm guessing that every reporter and newsman in the country (including Messrs. Huffaker, Mercer, Phenix, and Wise) would have loved to dig up some "conspiracy"-proving angle during that weekend in November of '63. Being the person who uncovered such a huge story would certainly be a feather in that reporter's cap, to be sure. But, as it turned out, nothing of that nature occurred....and has yet to occur all these many years later.

To think (as many theorists do) that these conspirators were so smart and so quick to have had the capabilities to immediately eliminate virtually every last scrap of information leading to a conspiracy plot of some kind, making sure that none of the "multi-gunmen shooting event" details seeped through to the media (multiplied by TWO separate murders as well, counting Tippit's!), is to think that any such evil-doers had powers similar to "Superman".

For example -- Almost every one of the initial reports concerning the number of gunshots heard by witnesses stated "3 shots". And while it's true that the very first report of the shooting from UPI's Merriman Smith (which was broadcast over all the television networks) stated "Three shots were fired...", it's also worth noting that Smith's initial bulletin was not the ONLY "three shots" account that was reported during those early hours just after the shooting.

For instance, Jay Watson of ABC affiliate WFAA-TV in Dallas (who happened to be in Dealey Plaza during the shooting and nervously reported the first bulletins to the unaware Dallas TV audience) is heard multiple times on November 22nd saying he heard "3 shots" fired.

Plus, several other members of the media are also on record stating their own PERSONAL beliefs that exactly three shots were fired by the assassin, including Robert MacNeil, Jack Bell, Bob Clark, Jerry Haynes, and Pierce Allman, among still others.

Some of the other "Three Shot" witnesses who were riding right in the Presidential motorcade itself include -- Photographers Tom Dillard, Robert Jackson, Mal Couch, and James Underwood. Plus, both John and Nellie Connally, who were riding in the same car with President Kennedy.

In addition, Presidential aides Ken O'Donnell and David Powers, who were both riding in the Secret Service follow-up car directly behind JFK's limousine, can also be added to the lengthy list of witnesses who heard precisely three gunshots.

And then there's also amateur filmmaker Abraham Zapruder, who took the most famous 26-second home movie in history when he captured the entire assassination with his 8mm Bell & Howell movie camera -- Zapruder showed up on live TV about 90 minutes after the President's murder took place and gave a graphic account of the horrifying event that had taken place in front of his very eyes.

Mr. Zapruder told the WFAA-TV viewing audience that he had heard two or three shots (but definitely no more than three), and he also demonstrated on live television where on the President's head he had seen the effects of the fatal gunshot. Zapruder puts his hand over the right-frontal portion of his own head to demonstrate where he saw the blood coming from JFK's head.

That's pretty amazing "LIVE" stuff from Mr. Zapruder's own lips (within approx. an hour-and-a-half of the assassination). And it's especially incredible and amazing if there had actually been many more than just two or three shots fired at the President, and if the fatal shot had actually (as many CTers believe) caused a huge hole in the BACK of John Kennedy's head, instead of the location where Zapruder placed it on live television -- i.e., the RIGHT SIDE AND FRONT portion of the head.

How could the so-called "conspirators" have possibly gotten THAT lucky with respect to Abraham Zapruder's live "on-the-air" WFAA-TV statements and head-wound "demonstration"? How?

And -- Could these ultra-clever conspirators have somehow managed to "manipulate" several reporters who were relaying the news live to the world immediately after the event, and have them ALL report on hearing just "three shots" (or, in a few cases, hearing only TWO shots, which is a number that certainly does not favor a "Multi-Shooter Conspiracy Plot")?

Or did the plotters just happen to get really, really LUCKY (again) when virtually all of the news reports favored the "Three Shots Fired" conclusion? With this 3-shot scenario matching the precise number of bullet shells that were found on the 6th Floor of the Book Depository after the shooting; and also perfectly matching the exact number of shots heard by TSBD witness Harold Norman, and also perfectly matching the precise number of bullet shells (3) that Norman heard hitting the plywood floor directly above his 5th-Floor location within the Depository.

Which, per Oliver Stone's movie, would mean that a full 50% of the ACTUAL number of gunshots were somehow inaudible to the enormous majority (91%+) of the earwitnesses! And, remember, Oliver has NONE of the shots within his movie's six-shot assassination ambush being "synchronized" in order to merge together with the sound of some of the other shots.

And yet, per Mr. Stone, we're supposed to actually believe that approximately 9 out of every 10 witnesses somehow missed hearing HALF of the gunshots fired that day! A reasonable thing to believe....or not? I ask you.

Were these so-called conspiratorial shooters so good that they could make 4 to 10 shots sound like only three to the vast majority of witnesses scattered all throughout Dealey Plaza? Highly doubtful, to say the least.

Again -- I'd advise all conspiracy theorists to sit down and watch the live TV footage....or listen to some of the surviving 11/22/63 radio tapes....and then try to find a "Multi-Gunmen Conspiracy" lurking within ANY of those original broadcasts. If anybody finds proof of a conspiracy via those means, please let me know. And let the world know too.

David Von Pein
December 2006
January 2007

Out of the Past.......2006-04-04

We have become accustomed (yea, verily, some would say desensitized)to horror unfolding before our eyes in our very own living rooms. Bob Huffaker's book brings us back to a time before the desensitization, when we could scarcely believe what our eyes were telling us. I recommend this book highly to those who were there, watching as I was, and even more so to those who were not there. The young, raised in an era of suicide bombers, need to understand that it was not always thus.

very good press reporting.......2005-07-30

1963 nov 22 brought to life again but with more professionalism.some very interesting facts that confirmed my own thoughts .

JOURNALISM CLASSIC AND INSIDE SCOOP.......2005-05-07

I stayed up all night reading when my copy of When The News Went Live, Dallas 1963 arrived. This book is a classic and should be included in the curriculum of every journalism and political science classroom in America.

Huffaker, Mercer, Phenix and Wise have written the Texas story of the Kennedy assassination, the inside scoop on Oswald's murder and the history of the evolution of modern journalism. These four men were Dallas television reporters, on the scene and on their own, in the middle of the news story of the century.

It is a salute to their training and their integrity as newsmen that their coverage under duress stands today as a compelling rendering of those fateful moments. I am glad they were the early ones on the scene, for they were the ones who broke the news to me in my elementary classroom. The story gives their perspectives more fully; all these years later, this book helps me understand the events and how they affected Texas and the nation.

Bob, Bill, George and Wes were there in Dallas with their Southern sensibilities. They weren't easily pushed around or manipulated that dark day and still aren't. They were taught to tell the truth as objectively as possible, and they reverted to that training and their good common sense when placed in positions lesser men might have blown or exploited. These four men cared about truth and justice and fairness and still do. I hope all young journalists will read this and learn about balanced reporting.

Average customer rating:

Wonderful book but massive!
Cartoons for the "literati" - buy it for the CDs
DVD and Book are fantastic
I have never seen the book
The Cartoons are great! CDs are awesome too...

The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker

Manufacturer: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1579126200

Book Description

The book that Janet Maslin of The New York Times has called "indispensable" and "a transfixing study of American mores and manners that happens to incorporate boundless laughs, too" is finally available in paperback—fully updated and featuring a brand new introduction by Adam Gopnik.

Organized by decade, with commentary by some of the magazine's finest writers, this landmark collection showcases the work of the hundreds of talented artists who have contributed cartoons over the course ofThe New Yorker's eight-two-year history. From the early cartoons of Peter Arno, George Price and Charles Addams to the cutting-edge work of Alex Gregory, Matthew Diffee and Bruce Eric Kaplan (with stops along the way for the genius of Charles Barsotti, Roz Chast, Jack Ziegler, George Booth, and many others), the art collected here forms, as David Remnick puts it in his Foreword, "the longest-running popular comic genre in American life."

Throughout the book, brief overviews of each era's predominant themes—from the Depression and nudity to technology and the Internet, highlight various genres of cartoons and shed light on our pastimes and preoccupations. Brief profiles and mini-portfolios spotlight the work of key cartoonists, including Arno, Chast, Ziegler, and others.

The DVD-ROM included with the book is what really makes the "Complete Cartoons" complete. Compatible with most home computers and easily browsable, the disk contains a mind-boggling 70,363 cartoons, indexed in a variety of ways. Perhaps you'd like to find all the cartoons by your favorite artist. Or maybe you'd like to look up the cartoons that ran the week you were born, or all of the cartoons on a particular subject. Of course, you can always begin at the beginning, February 21, 1925, and experience the unprecedented pleasure of reading through every single cartoon ever published in The New Yorker.

Enjoy this one-of-a-kind protrait of American life over the past eight decades, as captured by the talented pens and singular outlooks of the masters of the cartoonist's art.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful book but massive!.......2007-09-28

Have enjoyed the New Yorker since I was old enough to turn the pages. This book is a "real history of our times" in addition to being a pleasure to read. Depressions, wars, politics, and general attitudes are shown with all their "warts and wrinkles". This is a wonderful book, but read it sitting at your desk, or kitchen table, or some other sturdy base. Take several days to go through it, (at the very least), since cartoon meltdown is a real possibily if taken all at once. Aside from the "reading logistics" it's a great book.

Cartoons for the "literati" - buy it for the CDs.......2007-09-10

A book with 6 decades worth of wry New Yorker cartoons needs a strong coffee table and a big lap. Flipping through the book gives you a wonderful look at the flow of current affairs, both social and political. Along the way the editors give us a narrative that's a good course in the history of American humor in the 20th century.

The real bonus, though, is not the book, which despite its being massive is not "Complete." It has maybe 20% of the 60,000-plus cartoon promised on the cover. The complete set you want is on 2 CDs included in the book, and the CDs are searchable by topic, etc.

So if you want a cartoon on consultants (and I'm a consultant), here's one: Two detectives stand over the prone lower half of a murder victim. "By the number an violence of the stab wounds," says one, "I'd guess he was a consultant."

Buy the book so you can open it at any point and smile or laugh out loud; use the CDs to browse the whiole New Yorker cartoon universe and/or find the smiles and laughs you want.

DVD and Book are fantastic.......2007-08-15

I had been apprehensive about this purchase after reading the reviews rubbishing the quality of the resolution on the DVD. I was surprised to find however, that the resolution of the cartoons is fine. Occasionally I will have trouble reading the finer print, but with 72,000 of them, it doesn't really matter.

I have never seen the book.......2007-07-18

It was a gift I bought for somebody else, but the person who received it, took picture of it and she was so happy with the book that I have to rate it 5 stars. Maybe I will buy one for myself too...who knows.

The Cartoons are great! CDs are awesome too..........2007-07-08

I wanted to clarify some doubts about the resolution of the cartoons on the CDs. They are perfectly fine and don't know how it can be better. The CD contains cartoons in pdf documents, and there is one cartoon per page. Each cartoon is dated and has the cartoonist's name. I didn't find any problem at all. I am using Adobe Acrobat reader 7.0 and Windows Vista OS. The CD couldn't directly launch pdf which I suspect is because of Vista. Hence, I just opened mainmenu.pdf directly from adobe acrobat reader and was really happy. Please go ahead and buy this, the CDs are not low resolution.

All That Glittered: The Golden Age of Drama on Broadway, 1919-1959

Average customer rating:

Mordden Does It Again
A fascinating retrospective on the role of Broadway in American culture
Play Time

All That Glittered: The Golden Age of Drama on Broadway, 1919-1959
Ethan Mordden
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0312338988
Release Date: 2007-04-03

Book Description

From the late 1920s to late 1950s, the Broadway theatre was America's cultural epicenter. Television didn't exist and movies were novelties. Entertainment took the form of literature, music, and theatre. During this golden age of Broadway, actors and actresses became legends and starred in now classic plays. Laurence Olivier, Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontaine were names to remember, etching plays into memory as they brought the words of Tennessee Williams or Eugene O’Neill to life. Joseph Cotton romanced Katherine Hepburn in Philip Barry's The Philadelphia Story while Laurette Taylor became The Glass Menagerie’s Amanda Wingfield. Frederic March, Florence Eldridge, Jason Robards Jr. and Bradford Dillman showed us life among the ruins in Long Day's Journey Into Night. In All That Glittered, Ethan Mordden, long one of Broadway's best chroniclers, recreates the fascinating lost world of its golden age.

Customer Reviews:

Mordden Does It Again.......2007-09-30

Ethan Mordden has written many books on the topic of Broadway, although generally they have been about the musical stage. This time he writes about plays, (mostly) without music, and rather arbitrarily defines, perhaps for purposes of symmetry, its golden age as the period between 1919 and 1959 (although he can't help himself and goes on into the 1960s a bit). As usual one is amazed at his encyclopedic knowledge of Broadway history; one can imagine him spending weeks and months, perhaps even years, in dusty libraries reading all those old copies of Variety, Playbill and the New York newspapers. His all-but-copyrighted bitchiness is much in evidence and gave me more than a few chuckles. His penchant for pointing who was gay among the actors, authors and directors, and for finding gay themes where they aren't obvious, is prominent.

He chronicles the Broadway spoken play by decade and finds something characteristic about each period. I found his writing, always sparkling, becomes more so when he gets to the 1940s and beyond, perhaps because those plays and the people who made them are within living memory for many people. Clearly Mordden (who is right at sixty, although his glamorous never-changing dustjacket picture hasn't changed in at least two decades) has had personal contact with many of the people mentioned in those latter years and he has some tales to tell.

Included are some pretty obscure plays and we are all the more informed for that. He writes much about the important actors, writers, producers and directors and we pick up a lot of theater lore as a result. His writing style is dense with fact and sometimes hermetic but it always dances along. I had difficulty putting the book down.

Another valuable book by Mordden, possibly primarily for specialists but assimilable by the casual reader with even a modicum of interest in the subject.

Scott Morrison

A fascinating retrospective on the role of Broadway in American culture.......2007-06-25

I love theatre history, but Mordden is such a fine writer that I will read his "History of Plumbing" should he write one.

Unlike his essential seven-volume chronicle of the musical, this is not a show-by-show description. Instead, Mordden takes a thematic approach, insightfully linking the development of the Broadway play to broader cultural developments. The shift from rural to urban humor, the relationship between Broadway and Hollywood, and the role of theatre as educator to the unsophisticated are among his compelling through-lines. Despite my unfamiliarity with most of the titles referenced, this is a great read.

Play Time.......2007-04-06

Ethan Mordden is probably best known for three things: the impossibility of remembering how to spell his last name; the width and depth of his subject matter; and his encyclopedic knowledge of musical theater. To all this, we can now add a fourth; an almost equally deep knowledge of "straight" (in the theatrical sense) drama. While it is arguable as to whether the golden age began in 1919 and ended in 1959, Mordden's treatment of this span is as exciting and insightful as any of his other critical studies and that, as his readers know, is saying a lot! (Aside to Mr. Mordden: The title "Beggar on Horseback" may be more closely related to the saying, "If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride."... just a thought). Oh, and the only reason for 4 instead of 5 stars is to have somewhere to go for the next time.

Average customer rating:

It's still THE Basic Cookbook
Best cookbook for people who love to cook.
My favorite cookbook
Good BASIC cookbook
Great for Beginners

The New Basics Cookbook
Julee Rosso , and Sheila Lukins
Manufacturer: Workman Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0894803417

Amazon.com

While it won't tell you how to boil an egg, Lukins and Rosso's The New Basics has proved itself a modern classic, fit to reside on your shelves next to The Joy of Cooking and The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. Aspiring chefs can use this 850-page tome to plan their next cocktail party (try the Raspberry Dip with Crudites), make brunch for the in-laws (how about Smoked Salmon and Leek Frittata and a Chicory and Bacon Salad?), or even bake up a batch of Pinwheel Cookies for the office. The "basics" include tips for entertaining, a glossary of cooking and wine terms, suggestions for a well- stocked pantry, and instructions on how to pick the best seasonal ingredients. Menus and delightful culinary quotes are sprinkled throughout the book, and the chatty tone will inspire confidence in every kitchen.

Book Description

It's the 1.8-million-copy bestselling cookbook that's become a modern-day classic. Beginning cooks will learn how to boil an egg. Experienced cooks will discover new ingredients and inspired approaches to familiar ones. Encyclopedic in scope, rich with recipes and techniques, and just plain fascinating to read, The New Basics Cookbook is the indispensable kitchen reference for all home cooks.

This is a basic cookbook that reflects today's kitchen, today's pantry, today's taste expectations. A whimsically illustrated 875-recipe labor of love, The New Basics features a light, fresh, vibrantly flavored style of American cooking that incorporates the best of new ingredients and cuisines from around the world.

Over 30 chapters include Fresh Beginnings; Pasta, Pizza, and Risotto; Soups; Salads; every kind of Vegetable; Seafood; The Chicken and the Egg; Grilling from Ribs to Surprise Paella; Grains; Beef; Lamb, Pork; Game; The Cheese Course, and Not Your Mother's Meatloaf. Not to mention 150 Desserts! Plus, tips, lore, menu ideas, at-a-glance charts, trade secrets, The Wine Dictionary, a Glossary of Cooking Terms, The Panic-Proof Kitchen, and much more.

Main Selection of the Better Homes & Gardens Family Book Service and the Book-of-the-Month Club's HomeStyle Books.

Customer Reviews:

It's still THE Basic Cookbook.......2007-08-26

I've had this since it was first published and it immediately became MY basic cookbook. After all these years it still is. It is what I pull from the shelf to look up just about anything about cooking. What makes this really 5 stars for me is the engaging style of the authors, their friendly and charming style actually make the book entertaining. I have enjoyed every recipe I've tried.......and I'm still trying new ones.

Best cookbook for people who love to cook........2007-07-24

I've had this cookbook for so long and used it so much that it's falling apart. The meatloaf recipe is the best meatloaf I've ever made. Not only do I love the recipes in this book, but the very first Silver Palate cookbook actually taught me to love cooking by making it fun and beautiful. I can't believe it's been 25 years. I was still in college when I first received that book. Cheers to Sheila and Julee!

My favorite cookbook.......2007-06-17

I recently bought the hardcover to replace my paperback that had fallen apart after 20 years of heavy use. My favorite recipes are Rattlesnake Ribs, Baked Beans and the northwest Salmon. Enjoy...this is basics gone semi-gourmet.

Good BASIC cookbook.......2007-05-22

This book is a good cookbook to own, since even the best cooks can benefit from a general "BASIC" cookbook.

I love to cook and qualify myself as a "pretty good cook" with quite a bit of experience. And yet, I refer to this book often... For example, when referring to a special tool, or a special food item, etc.

Great for Beginners.......2007-01-12

I already own this cookbook and recently purchased one to give as a gift. It is a great cookbook for beginners. It has all the basics; from the various ways to cook an egg to cooking fresh vegetables, It even has complete meals that are easy. Definitely a great book for beginners and a great reference for experienced cooks.

The New New Journalism: Conversations with America's Best Nonfiction Writers on Their Craft

Average customer rating:

Worth the time
Where (New) Journalism and Anthropology meet
Good disection on the present state of the matter.
needs revision
Immersion Journalists

The New New Journalism: Conversations with America's Best Nonfiction Writers on Their Craft
Robert Boynton
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Journalism | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 140003356X
Release Date: 2005-03-08

Book Description

Forty years after Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson, and Gay Talese launched the New Journalism movement, Robert S. Boynton sits down with nineteen practitioners of what he calls the New New Journalism to discuss their methods, writings and careers.

The New New Journalists are first and foremost brilliant reporters who immerse themselves completely in their subjects. Jon Krakauer accompanies a mountaineering expedition to Everest. Ted Conover works for nearly a year as a prison guard. Susan Orlean follows orchid fanciers to reveal an obsessive subculture few knew existed. Adrian Nicole LeBlanc spends nearly a decade reporting on a family in the South Bronx. And like their muckraking early twentieth-century precursors, they are drawn to the most pressing issues of the day: Alex Kotlowitz, Leon Dash, and William Finnegan to race and class; Ron Rosenbaum to the problem of evil; Michael Lewis to boom-and-bust economies; Richard Ben Cramer to the nitty gritty of politics. How do they do it? In these interviews, they reveal the techniques and inspirations behind their acclaimed works, from their felt-tip pens, tape recorders, long car rides, and assumed identities; to their intimate understanding of the way a truly great story unfolds.

Interviews with:
Gay Talese
Jane Kramer*
Calvin Trillin
Richard Ben Cramer*
Ted Conover*
Alex Kotlowitz*
Richard Preston*
William Langewiesche*
Eric Schlosser
Leon Dash
William Finnegan
Jonathan Harr*
Jon Krakauer*
Adrian Nicole LeBlanc
Michael Lewis*
Susan Orlean
Ron Rosenbaum
Lawrence Weschler*
Lawrence Wright*

* Search our online catalog to find other titles by these Vintage and Anchor Books authors.

Customer Reviews:

Worth the time.......2007-08-16

This is a great idea, to present some of the best new, new journalism folks around. I did not read all 19 author interviews word for word (some I skimmed), but found all of them enlightening. It was interesting to see the different answers/passions expressed by the writers to standard questions such as do you prepare a list of questions, do you prefer face-to-face to phone or e-mail interviews, etc. Each writer proved why she or he does what they do so well. It is for folks who like getting more from what they read; it reads like a behind-the-scenes piece, or sounds one of those director's commentaries on a DVD. Easy to pick up, leave for a while and pick back up again.

Where (New) Journalism and Anthropology meet.......2006-01-04

This is a great book, especially for nonfiction writers. It covers everything from the mechanics of writing (e.g., the best time of day to write, the number of words per writing session we promise ourselves) to the complexities of fieldwork and interviewing strategies, how to synthesize vast amounts of information, and how to stimulate the creative process. The fieldwork and interviewing strategies of these journalists very much resemble what I use as an applied anthropologist focusing on Africa, and poorer nations generally. In fact, some of these journalists either had anthropological training, or, like Leon Dash, they are good-naturedly referred to as "our staff anthropologist" by their colleagues.

The link between "new journalism" and anthropology is primarily the participant-observation fieldwork technique these journalists use, basically meaning that they live among and share the lives of those they write about. Total immersion. Of course, anthropologists traditionally did ethnographic fieldwork for least at least 1-2 years before writing about their adopted society, while journalists typically spend less time researching an article or book.

I found myself underlining this book on almost every other page. There are little gems strewn everywhere. Nineteen journalists were interviewed for this book and I did not encounter one that I found uninteresting or who did not teach me something valuable for the work and writing I do myself.

One recurring theme is that these writers often challenge and overturn conventional wisdom. For example, journalist William Finnegan (two of whose books I happen to have read) went to Somalia in 1995 expecting to find little more than anarchy, anomie and mayhem. Instead he found "wild, frontier capitalism," and vibrant, unrestrained entrepreneurship, made possible in part by "having no dictator around." I did a 2-week information-gathering assignment in Somali in 1984, and my colleagues will tell you that all I raved for weeks after this experience was the "vibrant unrestrained, entrepreneurship" I unexpectedly encountered. And there was still a dictator around then.

I was relatively young in my career then and I wondered at the time if my "quick and dirty" field methods might have been flawed. After all, no one I read or spoke to about Somalia ever mentioned entrepreneurship. (Hmmmm....I am wondering if Finnegan somehow stumbled upon my obscure 1984 Somalia report for USAID? But no, that building must have been burned down.)

I am happy to recommend Boynton`s book to anyone who does, or attempts to do, nonfiction writing, which means an audience that extends far beyond journalism.

Good disection on the present state of the matter........2005-12-26

First of all, I'd like to say I disagree with previous reviews than mention the repetition of question between the book's interviewees as a flaw. Robert Boynton is trying to offer us a complete radiography of the working processes of current literary journalists, and he interviews a great number of today's best known names. Each time you read one of the interviews you may discover a very different approach towards the methods of the other writers. I consider one of the books strengths' that I can see some authors work from a complete, detailed outline, whereas other work from organic writing. Besides, there is some personalization in every single one of the interviews, expanding on certain aspects of each of the writer's careers.
Mr. Boynton does distill the quotes of the interviews, but he also offers something quite unique in this type of books, which is both the positive and negative reviews the various journalists works here listed have received.
One of the great things about this title is not only its instructional value, but the ideas about the current state of affairs that emerge upon reading it. For example, the current trend of non fiction being more and more in the realm of books, not of magazines, or the fact it is almost entirely limited to the United States and UK (tell me about it! I live in Spain, and whereas there used to be a sound tradition of literary journalists in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the panorama is fairly bleak nowadays).
Overall, this is a very interesting volume, not to be read in one sitting, which would make a good base for a creative nonfiction course. By the way, if you get it, I recommend you buy "The complete New Yorker" along with it, as most writers in the book have published for this magazine. I sometimes check what they are stating in their interviews towards their articles from the New Yorker, and this gives my reading experience some further depth.

needs revision.......2005-10-03

Boynton's work is a unique idea and is somewhat of an education in itself: interviews with some of the best non-fiction writers around about craft and procedure. However, the problem lays not so much in the interviews with the authors but the way Boynton packages the information in his book. Almost all of the writers are asked the same questions and after several hundred pages, this wears thin. In all the book totals 430 pages. If he narrowed down the list of writers and added some diversity in his questions and presentation of their interviews, it would be a more enjoyable and even beneficial read.

Immersion Journalists.......2005-08-30

The New New Journalism is a fascinating peek into the techniques, thoughts and attitudes of immersion journalists, who spend months or even years with their subjects. I loved it!

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Castaneda
To Carlos, with gratitude
Words cannot explain
Dreaming truly is an art...
Buy it

The Art of Dreaming
Carlos Castaneda
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 006092554X

Book Description

Bestselling author Carlos Castaneda introduces readers to the worlds that exist within their dreams.

Customer Reviews:

Castaneda.......2007-07-01

Not the greatest but who's to say. Lists some practical guides for dreaming and is still a bit criptive to those not fully involve with the sorcerer's path. Still a recommended read for those not too inclined but interested. Don't know what else to say.

To Carlos, with gratitude.......2007-06-22

Carlos Castaneda was one of the most controversial writers of the twentieth century. Some in academia branded him a fraud for claiming his stories were biographical rather than fiction, while lauding him as a great novelist for exposing a mass audience to otherwise inaccessible philosophical abstractions they claimed were largely plagiarized. Each of his works is a piece of a larger puzzle, which makes it impossible to critique any one book without addressing the larger context into which it fits.

His first two books, "Teachings of Don Juan" and "A Separate Reality" describe experiences induced by ingesting psychotropic hallucinogenics prepared by a Yaqui Indian shaman from Sonora, Mexico he called don Juan Matus, and accounted for his becoming a guru to a generation seeking short cuts to spiritual enlightenment, as well as his lifelong interest in the relationship between perception and reality, a theme now explored in many popular books on consciousness and quantum physics. Unfortunately, these books remain his best selling works, in spite of Castaneda refuting their importance in his later works. Readers would be best served to skip these and avoid the risk of being turned off to Castaneda and missing the more stimulating works that followed.

His third and fourth works were "Journey to Ixtlan" and "Tales of Power." In Ixtlan he admits to over-estimating the value of his drug experiences, which caused him to overlook the more profound teachings of don Juan which became the focus of future writings. What emerges is a spiritual discipline dating back to the Pre-Colombian Toltec sorcerers of Latin America, culminating with don Juan's departure from our world, effectively ending Castaneda's direct affiliation.

In his fifth and sixth works "Second Ring of Power" and "Eagles Gift" Castaneda suffers strange flashbacks of what seem to be memory fragments of events he is unable to fit into any logical time sequence. In his seventh and eighth works, "Fire From Within" and "Power of Silence," Castaneda succeeds in reconstructing his lost memories, which derive from teachings previously administered by don Juan while Castaneda was in a "heightened" state of awareness.

In books nine and ten, "Art of Dreaming" and "Active Side of Infinity," Castaneda focuses on what he describes as inorganic predators from another dimension, some having the power to imprison humanity in "ordinary reality" so they can feed on the dark emotional energies we produce when succumbing to the negative thoughts they insert into our minds.

In later years several seemingly substantiating works appeared by two of Castaneda's female apprentices, Taisha Abelar and Florinda Donner-Grau. In addition, two scathing exposés were also published by two of his ex-wives. The first, "Magical Journey with Carlos Castaneda" by first wife, Margaret Runyon, offers little corroboration, since her marriage pre-dates the time when the bulk of Castaneda's adventures were claimed to have occurred. While steadfast that Castaneda was a sorcerer, she doubts the existence of don Juan, even claiming authorship of many of the concepts Castaneda ascribed to him.

The second, and more credible work, is "Sorcerer's Apprentice," by well-known writer Amy Wallace, daughter of the late best selling novelist Irving Wallace. Here again, we find little corroboration since the time of the events she describes is well after the period when Castaneda's relationship with don Juan is alleged to occur. What the book does provide is a troubling look inside Castaneda's final years, a picture of descent into what seems sexual addiction and possibly madness, leaving one to wonder if Castaneda was just one cup of cool-aid short of a Jonestown.

Many have asked why I put any stock whatsoever in Castaneda. A story from my autobiography, "The Vortex" may shed some light. A year before Castaneda published his first book I had an experience that would remain a mystery until Castaneda published "Power of Silence" twenty years later.

For a brief time, in my youth, I became a practicing Muslim, meticulously performing the complex prayer ritual five times a day. Then one night, sitting in my car, frustrated and complaining at not being able to find the address of my next sales appointment, something inside me snapped. It was as if some part of me had disconnected from my body and assumed control, lecturing me about my lack of discipline. A profound calm settled over me, rendering me simultaneously detached and engaged. For two days my sales figures soared. It was as if no one could say no to me. On the evening of the second day I decided to put my new state of being to the acid test by visiting my parents. Their behavior was so uncharacteristically supportive I hardly recognized them. It was enough to convince me that I was now living in an altered reality. But by the following morning I had returned to "normal." So distracting had this event been that I completely forgot to perform my Muslim prayers, and in fact, never did so again.

Twenty years later, in a chapter of "Power of Silence" entitled "Place of No Pity" Castaneda describes a very similar experience. In the aftermath of the event don Juan explains that humans are like televisions stuck on a channel called "self-preoccupation," lacking the energy to tune into any of the vast array of other channels available to us. To change channels, he explains, we first need to accumulate energy, by practicing rituals that are deliberate, precise and repetitious. Do this long enough and eventually our stored energy precipitates a shift to a channel where self-importance and self pity become impossible. Once this happens we connect with the force that controls the entire universe, a force don Juan called "intent," and everything can be bent to our will and even more channels can be opened, assuming we remember to keep practicing the rituals that save our energy.

This one realization alone was enough to inspire me to dedicate my autobiography "To Carlos, with gratitude."

Maxwell Austin van Lack, Author of The Vortex: A True Story of Passion and Karma

Words cannot explain.......2007-02-05

The art of dreaming is a book that can help you understand an increase your awareness into the world of dreaming. Once you begin down that path you will never see things the same or experience things with quite the same thoughts or perception. If you can become aware of your dreams you will enrich a large part of your life you once thought of as nothing more than sleep or time away, after you master dreaming... you will never truly be asleep, I recommend this book to anyone who wants to approach the world of dreaming for knowledge and perception and a life long journey.

Dreaming truly is an art..........2007-01-10

Castaneda has shared again the Don's teachings, this time on the dream realm. Other than a dream guide, it is an unusual journey, and reveals a path for shamanic dreaming. This book could put you to sleep - if you want to test his words.

Buy it.......2006-11-17

Buy this book, RIGHT NOW. After you buy it, go buy THE Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. Then go buy whatever looks good after that. These books are ESSENTIAL. I NEED CAPS TO EMPHASIS THIS!!!

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