Average customer rating:
- grim, dark, gripping
- Leave It to Beaver on Acid!
- Remarkable and somewhat overlooked masterpiece
- A classic!
- It cuts deep and it cuts true
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Revolutionary Road
Richard Yates
Manufacturer: Vintage
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Binding: Paperback
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The Collected Stories of Richard Yates
ASIN: 0375708448
Release Date: 2000-04-25 |
Amazon.com
The rediscovery and rejuvenation of Richard Yates's 1961 novel Revolutionary Road is due in large part to its continuing emotional and moral resonance for an early 21st-century readership. April and Frank Wheeler are a young, ostensibly thriving couple living with their two children in a prosperous Connecticut suburb in the mid-1950s. However, like the characters in John Updike's similarly themed Couples, the self-assured exterior masks a creeping frustration at their inability to feel fulfilled in their relationships or careers. Frank is mired in a well-paying but boring office job and April is a housewife still mourning the demise of her hoped-for acting career. Determined to identify themselves as superior to the mediocre sprawl of suburbanites who surround them, they decide to move to France where they will be better able to develop their true artistic sensibilities, free of the consumerist demands of capitalist America. As their relationship deteriorates into an endless cycle of squabbling, jealousy and recriminations, their trip and their dreams of self-fulfillment are thrown into jeopardy.
Yates's incisive, moving, and often very funny prose weaves a tale that is at once a fascinating period piece and a prescient anticipation of the way we live now. Many of the cultural motifs seem quaintly dated--the early-evening cocktails, Frank's illicit lunch breaks with his secretary, the way Frank isn't averse to knocking April around when she speaks out of turn--and yet the quiet desperation at thwarted dreams reverberates as much now as it did years ago. Like F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, this novel conveys, with brilliant erudition, the exacting cost of chasing the American dream. --Jane Morris, Amazon.co.uk
Book Description
With a new introduction by Richard Ford
"A deft, ironic, beautiful novel that deserves to be a classic." --William Styron
From the moment of its publication in 1961,
Revolutionary Road was hailed as a masterpiece of realistic fiction and as the most evocative portrayal of the opulent desolation of the American suburbs. It's the story of Frank and April Wheeler, a bright, beautiful, and talented couple who have lived on the assumption that greatness is only just around the corner. With heartbreaking compassion and remorseless clarity, Richard Yates shows how Frank and April mortgage their spiritual birthright, betraying not only each other, but their best selves.
In his introduction to this edition, novelist Richard Ford pays homage to the lasting influence and enduring power of
Revolutionary Road.
Customer Reviews:
grim, dark, gripping.......2007-09-04
Richard Yates' did not believe in the resiliency of the human spirit, and Revolutionary Road bears this out; Yates has some sympathy for his characters, but this does not prevent him from piling petty horror after petty horror upon them. Yates seems to say at the outset: these are the terms for life, and there is nothing you can do to surmount them; nothing in American works anymore and there is no way to gain a sense of authenticity or regenerate the self. Yates' world is Calvinistic without the religion. So, this novel is a grim catalog of redundant failure. The prose is precise and oddly dispassionate, so there is the impulse to keep turning the page, perhaps to see what horror will occur next. Revolutionary Road is a curious novel with a dark vision which most readers would never wish to possess.
Leave It to Beaver on Acid!.......2007-08-31
Richard Yates now gets his due. John Updike had ripped him off. Read Couples after Revolutionary Road and see what I mean, but let's face it: Yates is head and shoulders above the latest Post-Modern's whoever. No, Yates was a storywriter in the Realism School. He reminds me a bit of a contemporary, Walker Percy (The Moviegoer) Where Percy's character's find or at least try to find God in 1950's New Orleans's, Yates', April and Frank never actually get a foot into church. Their New York City Suburb is a purgatory of lawn mowers and suburban strivers. The 1950's dream, the migration into country homes, a cookie cutter cul-de-sac, it becomes The Hell. A bit romantic or over fevered this distrust of The American Dream? Yes, but it seemed so real in the dark crevices of the Eisenhower years. The intellectuals had read The Great Gatsby and Fitzgerald seemed to be a sage though his characters were definitely not the middle class. By the 50's there was the new weekend-leisure class, a poor cousin of Fitzgerald's protagonists. The wishful world envisioned by April (not unlike Gatsby's muse), a girl that just can't seem to get to that next level where art and life come together in exquisite excellence; the disillusioned mother won't bring a baby into the holocaust of husband, home, and Leave It to Beaver. Ten years later, everyone dropped acid and dropped out.
Remarkable and somewhat overlooked masterpiece.......2007-08-23
This is a work of stunning excellence. A remarkable portrait of American middle class life which, although set in the 1950's, has perhaps even greater relevance for our own time. This dark and disturbing novel reveals the spiritual poverty of life in our middle-class, consumer society and provides many, many opportunities for self examination. This is a work that invites re-reading again and again.
A classic!.......2007-08-23
I bought this book after hearing a review of it on NPR. I found the writing very insightful and feel that, in spite of it being set in 1955, it resonates with suburban life today. It is very powerful and is highly recommended.
It cuts deep and it cuts true.......2007-08-23
On the surface Revolutionary Road might appear dated - the pre-dinner cocktails, everyone smoking, Frank works for a company that is about to embark on making...computers! - but dig a little deeper, and you will find that this novel is timeless. Yates unflinchingly peels apart what it is like to be in your thirties, unsure of who you are and what you're supposed to be doing, convinced that you're not living the life you were intended to lead. The novel is also a brilliant character study of two people trapped in a marriage and in a life that neither wants, and how their self-deception leads to self-destruction. The writing here is fantastic - it's urbane and cuts deep, yet is completely accessible and is full of sharp, caustic wit. The novel's plot and themes are largely bleak and dark, but it's impossible to read Revolutionary Road and not find some light creeping in. Recommended for anyone in their late twenties or thirties.
Average customer rating:
- This book is lame.
- An interesting and enjoyable story.
- Suprised at the one-star reviews...
- Great Book!
- Swapping Lives
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Swapping Lives
Jane Green
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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The Other Woman
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ASIN: 0670034800 |
Book Description
The New York Times bestselling author of The Other Woman returns with a wry tale of two women who discover the grass is not always greener on the other side of the Atlantic
Vicky Townsley is single, solvent, and seriously successful. Features director of the hugely successful Poise! magazine, she has an amazing flat, good friends, a fantastic wardrobe . . . in short, everything—except the life she wants: marriage, children, and a house in the country.
On the other side of the Atlantic, Amber Winslow has a stone mansion in Connecticut, two kids (and a full-time nanny), the requisite golden retriever, and a busy charitable commitment for the local Women's League. But she hasn't quite found the fulfillment she had expected from being a wife and mother. When she spots an intriguing contest in Poise!, Amber never expects to be picked.
Life Swap is a riotous and poignant look at what happens when two women, both of whom think their bliss lies elsewhere, walk in each other's shoes for a month only to discover that happiness is closer than they'd ever thought. A rich, clever, and sharply observed chronicle of the true lives of women, Life Swap is a must read for the modern mademoiselle that will again squarely position Jane Green in a preeminent place in women's fiction.
Customer Reviews:
This book is lame........2007-09-12
The whole time while reading this book I wondered what it constitutes to call something out for plagiarism? The TV show "Wife swap" runs for several years now, so the whole exchanging lives idea was nothing new.
From ABC's website:
Wife Swap is ABC's most-watched series in the time period in four years, and its highest-rated among Adults 18-49 in eight years - since the 2001-02 and 1997-98 seasons, respectively.
Aside from all that the book was still halfway enjoyable to read until it comes out that Amber's husband Richard had lost his job 6 months ago, and she happily moves with him to some sort of Apple farm to stat over their life - then it just got too unrealistic and plain lame...
An interesting and enjoyable story........2007-09-05
I've always enjoyed Jane Green's books and "Swapping Lives" is no exception. The story was interesting, but not a surprise since the subject of swapping something, homes, mates, work, etc has been around for awhile. The characters in the story were believable, especially Vicky and Amber. I read the book over a two day period, so for me it was a fast read, but an enjoyable read. I won't say it was one of Jane Green best, but it was still a wonderful read.
Suprised at the one-star reviews..........2007-08-22
I am a little surprised at all the bad reviews. I've read all of Green's books, and while this might not be her best book to date, I have a hard time imagining it being considered an awful book.(I actually would have given this three and a half stars, were that an option).
Yes, this book is a little predictable, and the characters don't have tremendous depth - certainly not as much as some of Green's characters in earlier books. But what Green did really well in this book was to make the reader see how Vicky and Amber both got into the positions they're in today - a successful but single woman who longs for a family (Vicky), and a happily married woman with two children who, despite being caught up in the social climbing ridiculousness that surrounds the women in her town, loathes her own lifestyle (Amber).
While I had a hard time understanding why Vicky and Amber didn't make more proactive choices in their own lives, and while I had a hard time relating to the desire to actually swap lives with someone else, I thought Green stayed true to her typical M.O. - fun, easy to read books with likable characters and a satisfying ending.
Great Book!.......2007-08-05
i thought this was a great chick lit book! great characters and a neat idea for a story- didn't want to put it down- read it in 3 days! - jane green is a great writer- good vocabulary and very clever writing-
Swapping Lives.......2007-07-21
If you love Jane Green you will be happy with this book written in the same style as others. Her characters in this book tend to very naive. Sometimes when ready it they drag on and on-all I could think was get over it already.
Amazon.com
Any book that can give voice to the voiceless should be celebrated. No one feels this more strongly than Wally Lamb, editor of Couldn't Keep It to Myself, a collection of stories by 11 women imprisoned in the York Correctional Institution in Connecticut. Teacher and novelist Lamb was invited to head a writing workshop at York Correctional Institution in 1999. His somewhat reluctant acceptance soon turned into steadfast advocacy once the women in his charge began to tell their stories. Lamb maintains that there are things we need to know about prison and prisoners: "There are misconceptions to be abandoned, biases to be dropped." However, as heartfelt as his appeal is, nothing speaks more convincingly in this book than the stories themselves.
Those collected here are disturbing and horrific. They reveal, often in graphic detail, the worst kind of abuse: incest, drug addiction, spousal violence, parental neglect, or incompetence. They're also testimony to what social workers and health care professionals have confirmed for years--that those who populate our prisons are often victims first themselves. Thus, the telling of these stories serves as a form of therapy. They are also sad accounts of the brutalities many suffer, yet few discuss: "One day I figured out a dying little girl lived inside of me, so I threw her a lifeline in the form of paper and pen." Considering the degradation the contributors have experienced both in and outside prison, the courage, candor, and honesty with which they speak truly make these stories, as difficult as they are to read, "victories against voicelessness--miracles in print." --Silvana Tropea
Book Description
In a stunning work of insight and hope, New York Times bestselling author Wally Lamb once again reveals his unmatched talent for finding humanity in the lost and lonely and celebrates the transforming power of the written word.
For several years, Lamb has taught writing to a group of women prisoners at York Correctional Institution in Connecticut. In this unforgettable collection, the women of York describe in their own words how they were imprisoned by abuse, rejection, and their own self-destructive impulses long before they entered the criminal justice system. Yet these are powerful stories of hope and healing, told by writers who have left victimhood behind.
In his moving introduction, Lamb describes the incredible journey of expression and self-awareness the women took through their writing and shares how they challenged him as a teacher and as a fellow author. Couldn't Keep It to Myself is a true testament to the process of finding oneself and working toward a better day.
Customer Reviews:
Never stereotype.......2007-09-11
After reading this book, we have to be reminded that not everyone in prison is a bad person, although all have done bad things. All of the stories were heartwrenching, but one of the most disturbing was Diane Bartholomew's. What she must have endured during her marriage to an physical, mental and sexual abuser. These stories were haunting and very moving. We all have a testimony, but these women shared them with all who would read them. Powerful reading.
Fantastic Book.......2007-08-29
I am an avid reader and belong to a book club so I have read many good books but this was one of the best. I liked the author's previous book, She's Come Undone, so I knew his work when I purchased this one. It was lengthy, 891 pages, but it carried me along until the last page was read. Good writing and good storytelling made this a powerful essay on human strengths and weaknesses.
People-stories and the humanity behind their writing (despite some official hounds of persecution).......2007-06-09
We need more often to be reminded that people whom we stereoptype/label/classify are actually persons, looking for their lives to be lived long after we (amateur social analysts, all) have made our judgments and assigned others to categories that we can either dismiss or simply feel superior to. Wally Lamb and his hard-working partners have brought us vibrant humanity between book covers. Real-life experiences in skillful language. Nice job!
Great Book Couldn't Put IT Down.......2007-05-15
I really enjoyed this book. It gave a lot of insight into the lives of imprisoned women before there incarceration and afterwards. Changed my outlook on those imprisoned not only by their incarceration but by their lives.
This book was absolutely amazing.......2007-04-28
This book was wonderful. Very inspiring, sad, and amusing at the same time. I would recommend it to anyone.
Book Description
With our nation's urban schools growing more segregated every year, Susan Eaton set out to see whether separate can ever really be equal. An award-winning journalist, Eaton spent four years at Simpson-Waverly Elementary School, an all-minority school in Hartford, Connecticut. Located in the poorest city in the wealthiest state in the nation, it is a glaring example of the great racial and economic divide found in almost every major urban center across the country.
The Children in Room E4 is the compelling story of one student, one classroom, and one indomitable teacher, Ms. Luddy. In the midst of Band-Aid reforms and hotshot super-intendents with empty promises, drug dealers and street gangs, Ms. Luddy's star student, Jeremy, and his fellow classmates face tremendous challenges both inside and outside of a school cut off from mainstream America.
Meanwhile, across town, a team of civil rights lawyers fight an intrepid battle to end the de facto segregation that beleaguers Jeremy's school and hundreds of others across America.
From inside the classroom and the courtroom, Eaton reveals the unsettling truths about an education system that leaves millions of children behind and gives voice to those who strive against overwhelming odds for a better future.
Customer Reviews:
A new classic on the state of urban education in the U.S........2007-07-25
This book goes beyond simply explaining what the challenges in urban education are -- it shows where they came from. With a detailed history of the Supreme and Federal Court decisions since Brown v. Board of Education, Eaton illustrates how segregated and isolated schooling has been perpetuated and gotten worse in the last 50 years. Her analysis does it in two ways: first, by focusing closely on a high achieving Hartford class of students in their third and fourth grade years (the Micro view) and by showing how the Macro problems -- the legal history -- have enabled the complete ignoring and disempowerment of American cities.
In so doing, Eaton tells the story of Sheff v. O'Neill -- a landmark Connecticut court decision on the vastly segregated and unequal state of schooling in the Hartford area. She explains how the legal team put the case together, the data they collected, their Constitutional interpretations, and their battles to win....
If you are from Connecticut, interested in schooling or in school law, this book is perfect for you.
Compelling and Powerful.......2007-05-04
Can separate ever be equal? Over and over again, we seem to be coming back to the same question our country has struggled with for decades. Countless court cases later, Susan Eaton describe in heart breaking detail, the inequities in the school lives of the children in room E4- a room found in every urban area in this country today.
Public education continues to fail miserably. Eaton's ability to weave the details of the court ruling and efforts by civil rights attorneys with the every day life in the classroom is stunning. Anyone who cares about education in this country today must read this book. It provides a compelling roadmap of where we've been and where we are headed if something doesn't change.
An Eye-Opener.......2007-04-19
Susan Eaton has produced an exceptional, deeply researched book. It's by no means without an agenda, but it's no Swiftian polemic, something to which a wealth of footnotes and references will attest.
Eaton grabs you by the wrist, pulling you through the torturous folds of the Sheff v O'Neill court case. She forces the ugly machinations of a typical large-city public school system into the fore, giving a vivid account of the harsh inequity of Connecticut schools.
Eaton makes a compelling argument against district boundaries, with their rigid, segregating forces. She tells of an entrenched system of De Facto segregation, arisen over the past fifty years, here to stay--unless, of course, the slumbering giants (our public schools) wake up to their own mistakes. They did in 1954, when Brown forced them. Perhaps they will again.
Every school district board member should keep this book on their desk.
A Great Book for All Teachers.......2007-03-29
Susan Eaton clearly explains the current state of urban education, particularly in Hartford, Connecticut. The book is wonderfully written in two interwoven narratives. The first traces the seemingly unending legal proceedings surrounding education in Hartford. The second contains what I feel is the true spirit of the book. Eaton tells the reader a story in language so plain and clear that any teacher will feel the overwhelming, systematic, and largely ignored challenges facing `the children in room E4.' Yet, the story also tells us of an amazing educator and her students. Eaton brings to us those everyday student-teacher exchanges that give us hope; hope that our curious and intelligent children will be blessed by dedicated teachers. `The Children in Room E4' inspires me as a new teacher. Lastly, it reminds me that while the state of urban education nationwide is dire, the challenges of where one teaches can be overcome by the kindness, compassion, and relentless energy of a great teacher.
The Children in Room E4: American Education on Trial.......2007-03-22
It is an excellent book that provides a detailed insight of the culture and public school environment of Connecticut. I would definitely recommend this book to educators, administrators and parents.
Book Description
Greenwich, Connecticut, has a mystique all its own. It epitomizes the suburban tradition in America, with houses that are among the country's most beautiful examples of colonial, Tudor, and English country style. This book offers a glimpse into homes that are "quintessentially Greenwich"—that capture the classic style and tradition of houses that are stately and reflect a life well lived. With their handsome facades and elegant yet comfortable interiors, these homes have provided inspiration to decorators and homeowners nationwide. In this richly illustrated volume, celebrated interior designer Cindy Rinfret provides entrée to the beautiful homes she has crafted with her exquisite eye for detail and unique decorating sensibility: a warm blend of color; contemporary materials with traditional shapes; antiques with inexpensive pieces; English-style furnishings with family heirlooms. All-new photography walks the reader through the twelve homes in the book, from their long, tree-lined driveways through their gracious entryways and into their elegant yet comfortable rooms. By opening these doors, Rinfret lets us inside an intimate and exclusive world and shows how people who covet the look and style of Greenwich can create it for themselves.
Customer Reviews:
Timeless style, well worth it!!.......2007-09-28
Brilliant overview of classic timeless style and decorating. The written excerpts are well worth reading, with excellent tips and information.
Decorating Styles.......2007-07-03
Good book though photos not so great and the printing above all is not good.
Poor photo-graphy---boring.......2007-05-21
The title creates visions' of grandure; however you could probably find a better book at HomeDepot.
Buy for the photos only...........2007-03-30
It's unfortunate that Ms. Rinfret doesn't write as well as she designs. The photos of her work (and her work) are excellent, but the text is sophomoric at best. The number of self-aggrandizing "I" statements led me to abandon reading midway through the second chapter and just peruse the photos - which is the only reason to buy this book.
LOVELY INTERIORS.......2007-03-19
REALLY LOVELY INTERIORS AND WELL WORTH HAVING IN A COLLECTOR'S LIBRARY....A TRIBUTE TO THE EAST COAST STYLE THAT SO MANY PEOPLE LIKE.....
Average customer rating:
|
An Arctic Whaling Diary: The Journal of Captain George Comer in Hudson Bay, 1903-1905
Manufacturer: Univ of Toronto Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Arctic
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ASIN: 0802056180 |
Book Description
Sports book. The author, a former staff writer at Sports Illustrated, spends the 2000-2001 season with the defending NCAA champion University of Connecticut women's basketball team.
Customer Reviews:
this is a great book that every basketball fan should read!.......2005-01-23
Ok, first I have to admit, I'm a huge fan of UCONN basketball, Diana Taurasi in particular, but that doesn't make me biased:). I think this book is well written, fun to read, funny, and insightful. It tels the story of an amazing basketball team that deserves recognition even though they didn't reach their final goal. I learned a lot from this book, and it made me laugh and cry. I think that anyone who has interest in women's basketball will enjoy this book, especially if you are a fan of the UCONN huskies. Go huskies!:)
Great For Anyone.......2004-12-16
This is the best book I have ever read! It's funny, inspiring, informative, a great all around book for any basketball fan. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone.
Great book of "greatest" team.......2004-06-30
After winning the 2004 NCAA Championship, UConn senior Maria Conlon said, "I feel like it was just yesterday we were lying in the locker room in St. Louis crying our eyes out, saying we never wanted to have this feeling again. Sure enough, we never did."
Perhaps the true greatness of the 00-01 Huskies can only now be appreciated. Could Taurasi & Co hunger for excellence without first knowing the bitterness of falling just short? This book can add fuel to the argument.
I love this book!.......2004-05-11
I am an avid Husky fan, and I loved this book. I bought it after this year's double championships.i enjoyed reading about the players, about Diana's first and Sveta and Shea's last.This book is a must for any Husky or Women's basketballl fan.
Awesome.......2003-08-02
This is a great book that shows a great basketball program. It shows the struggles and triumphs of the season. John Walters did an excellent job at writing this book and capturing the true meaning of UCONN basketball.
Book Description
A virtual tour of thirty-five landmark houses, 1947-1966, built in a quiet New England community.
Since the fifties, "the Harvard Five" has been the catchphrase for the five architects featured in this book, who all built houses for themselves and for clients in New Canaan, Connecticut. Other architects, well known (Frank Lloyd Wright, for example) and not so well known, also contributed significant modern houses that elicited strong reactions from nearly everyone who saw them and are still astonishing today. An introductory essay by Jean Ely, "New Canaan Modern" (reprinted by permission of the New Canaan Historical Society), recounts the history of the area and how New Canaan came to be the locus of the modern movement's experimentation in materials, construction methods, space, and form. The book is done as a "house tour" in chronological order, with photographs and floor plans. 50 color, 50 black-and-white illustrations.
Customer Reviews:
New in Canaan.......2007-09-20
William Earls reveals an interesting fact in his introduction: that a small group of brilliant young architects uniquely designed houses for themselves and others in this conservative small town in the post-war years. The book details thirty-seven modern houses though it has to be said that nine were demolished. Each house starts on a spread with photos, floor plan and a brief description.
This should have been an interesting editorial concept but I thought it had all the signs of a quickie production not helped by a rather bland design. The distribution of pages to each house varies quite a lot (most likely depending on what images were available). Philip Johnson's Glass House estate gets sixteen pages, Frank Lloyd Wright's Rayford House gets six pages but Marcel Breuer's demolished Mills house gets a spread with one photo. The book's title refers to the Harvard Five and they have the most houses but twelve architects are actually featured.
Many of these houses are standing and occupied but there is no contemporary reference to them. The author rightly says that private homes are not open to the public but surely it would have been worthwhile to contact the owners and ask them what they thought of the house and were there any technical problems in living in a 'modern' house that is now some decades old. Some owners would probably have agreed to allow a photo of their house so the reader can see its contemporary look.
Because the screen size is only 133dpi so many of the photos are grey and also much of the cropping does not bring out the best in these buildings. I wish more thought had gone into the design. Some photos have nearly unreadable text on them, captions are sometimes white out of a photo while others are placed (correctly) underneath the image.
Certainly this is an interesting idea for a book but I don't think it really comes off.
***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.
Black and white interior and exterior photos abound........2006-10-15
New Canaan was a household name according to a 1953 issue of House and Garden magazine: it referred to five architects who designed houses for themselves and their clients in New Canaan, Connecticut. An introductory essay provides the history, recounting how the town became the figurehead of a new modern movement in housing experimentation: chapters which follow analyze the structures and works of Marcel Breuer, Landis Gores, John Johansen, Philip Johnson and Eliot Noyes. Black and white interior and exterior photos abound.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Book Description
The cloak-and-dagger secrecy of Yale University's secret society known as Skull and Bones has prompted people worldwide to attribute to it some of the most staggering conspiracies in modern history. From the society's neaarly windowless crypt in the middle of the Yale campus, the Bonesmen, it is said, plot to dominate the world. In this widely acclaimed book, Alexandra Robbins slips through the veil of myth to reveal the truth about Skull and Bones' operations and influence, and explains why this old-boy 19th century throwback still thrives in 21st-century America.
Download Description
The Ivy League is full of societies and clubs, some public and some very private. But none is as secret as Yale's Skull and Bones, a tiny, mysterious society that has spawned three U.S. presidents, including William H. Taft, George W. Bush, and his father. Skull and Bones' cloak-and-dagger secrecy has prompted people worldwide to attribute to it some of the most staggering conspiracies in modern history-as well as events including the drop of the atom bomb, the rise of Hitler, and the invasion of the Bay of Pigs. From their nearly windowless crypt in the middle of the Yale campus, the Bonesmen, it is said, plot to dominate the world. In Secrets of the Tomb, acclaimed journalist Alexandra Robbins slips through the veil of secrecy to investigate, through society documents and interviews with dozens of members, the truth about Skull and Bones' influence and operations. She also explains why this old-boy 19th century throwback, a product of another time, still thrives in 21st-century America.
Customer Reviews:
Fantastic Book !!!!.......2007-06-08
This book is a wonderful read! If you are not from the Northeast and don't know much on the Ivy Leagues and their past, it's a great book to get an understanding on the subject. Somewhat Cloak & Daggar, but very intersting indeed!
Just as others said - quite the disappointment..........2007-05-29
I was looking for some interesting insight but found very little in this book. It provides the basics of the society and what I'm sure is public knowledge but no insider information... Generally disappointing.
Either a fantastic work of disinformation, or an incredibly boring read.......2007-05-07
This book is either great or awful. Great if my longshot hunch is true: Alexandra (herself a secret society member) merely leads readers off the path and convinces them that there really is nothing to Skull and Bones. Awful if this is the real boring truth of the club. If it is the truth, then it doesn't really warrant a full book. A mere few pages stating: Skull and Bones: an average fraternity that happened to survive for many many years and have a few third-tier Presidents, sleazy CIA agents, and a handful of Congressman.
Is the book believable? Who knows.
I'd like a book written by a true outsider, and not someone who attended Yale herself as well as joined a secret society.
I say its a coin-flip: the society is either incredibly boring as this book attempts to tell you, or this book is just what they want you to believe. Either way, its dull and a very slow read.
Maybe the only way i will know for sure is if i disappear and my bank accounts are frozen after i post this...
Can you trust a 322 and Scroll and Key collaboration? .......2007-04-22
There is a lot of interesting stuff in this but you have to ask yourself how much the information in it can be trusted because for one the author gets a good portion of it from anonymous Skull & Bones members who talked because they claimed they were tired of hearing so much weird speculation about them. So for one, how can you be sure what they told her was accurate and not intentional disinformation. For another even if what they gave her was true, its still information that they chose to let out but not the whole story. Another big factor that has to make you wonder is it turns out that the woman who wrote Secrets of the Tomb was her self a member of another elitist secret society at Yale, Scroll & Key.
This book is worth reading if your researching S & B but you just have to wonder how honest it is. The best book on the Skull & Bones is Fleshing Out Skull & Bones which was edited by Kris Millegan. Antony Suttons work on the 322 cabal is also highly recomended.
Not the revelation I expected.......2007-03-09
While this book was reasonably entertaining and readable, it tended to get repetitious and did not deliver the "secrets" as advertised. The underlying consipracies were only old school bonds that anyone could expect from a frat house.
Average customer rating:
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New Britain Museum of American Art: Highlights of the Collection (Prestel Art)
Laurene Buckley
Manufacturer: Prestel Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
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Abstract Expressionism
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Connecticut
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ASIN: 3791320874 |
Books:
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