The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir

Book Description

From one of the most beloved and bestselling authors in the English language, a vivid, nostalgic, and utterly hilarious memoir of growing up in the 1950s

Bill Bryson was born in the middle of the American century—1951—in the middle of the United States—Des Moines, Iowa—in the middle of the largest generation in American history—the baby boomers. As one of the best and funniest writers alive, he is perfectly positioned to mine his memories of a totally all-American childhood for 24-carat memoir gold. Like millions of his generational peers, Bill Bryson grew up with a rich fantasy life as a superhero. In his case, he ran around his house and neighborhood with an old football jersey with a thunderbolt on it and a towel about his neck that served as his cape, leaping tall buildings in a single bound and vanquishing awful evildoers (and morons)—in his head—as "The Thunderbolt Kid."

Using this persona as a springboard, Bill Bryson re-creates the life of his family and his native city in the 1950s in all its transcendent normality—a life at once completely familiar to us all and as far away and unreachable as another galaxy. It was, he reminds us, a happy time, when automobiles and televisions and appliances (not to mention nuclear weapons) grew larger and more numerous with each passing year, and DDT, cigarettes, and the fallout from atmospheric testing were considered harmless or even good for you. He brings us into the life of his loving but eccentric family, including affectionate portraits of his father, a gifted sportswriter for the local paper and dedicated practitioner of isometric exercises, and OF his mother, whose job as the home furnishing editor for the same paper left her little time for practicing the domestic arts at home. The many readers of Bill Bryson’s earlier classic, A Walk in the Woods, will greet the reappearance in these pages of the immortal Stephen Katz, seen hijacking literally boxcar loads of beer. He is joined in the Bryson gallery of immortal characters by the demonically clever Willoughby brothers, who apply their scientific skills and can-do attitude to gleefully destructive ends.

Warm and laugh-out-loud funny, and full of his inimitable, pitch-perfect observations, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid is as wondrous a book as Bill Bryson has ever written. It will enchant anyone who has ever been young.

Customer Reviews:

reminicent of "The Christmas Story", very enjoyable and funny.......2007-10-03

I read this specifically for the historic recollections of the 50's era, and the fact that the jacket reviews indicated "snort-root-beer-out-your-nose funny". I don't often laugh out loud while reading, and I did several times through this book. It reminds me of a print version of "The Christmas Story" movie, without the BB gun and with a lot more detail. Bryson's command of language is engaging and quite intelligent, the book was an easy read and wasn't boring. This is surprising given Bryson's admission that he wasn't a great student. My only complaint was that I wanted more. I plan to read his other works asap.

Not Bill Bryson's best.......2007-09-24

I am a Bryson fan and have been since his first book. This one is good, mind you -- funny, well written - but NOT as good as his some of his others. I was a tad disappointed, but still think the book is worth buying. So, buy it.

Deserves a Read.......2007-09-09

For a child of the 40s and 50s, this book will serve to recall better times. Bryson gets a little 60s' preachy in spots, but they are not overwhelming. When you put this book down, you are left with a slightly sad feeling that life as experienced in the 50s will not be seen again and that today's kids are missing a lot.

Bill Bryson doesn't disappoint.......2007-09-03

Any book by Bill Bryson is a treat, and this one is no exception. It explains a lot about the origins of his strangely skewed viewpoint, and being of approximately the same vintage, I enjoyed revisiting the 50's with him. Of particular interest to me was the account of his beginning friendship with the unlikely character Stephen Katz (from "A Walk in the Woods"). The only problem I have with Bryson's books is that I have to read them at home. Can't take them with me to read in, for instance, the doctor's office because I laugh so long and so loud that it creates too much of a public spectacle, and consternation in onlookers.

A very funny ode to the 1950s.......2007-09-02

To say that Bill Bryson's memoir is about growing up in the 1950s in Iowa is both true and misleading - misleading in the fact that he uses his story to tell a greater story, that of the end of an era in the U.S.A. The 1950s were fun and carefree, and looked upon with great nostalgia, at least for those of the white middle classes. Prosperity was high, the world was relatively safe, and there was great optimism that the U.S. was achieving its "manifold destiny" as the greatest country in the world. This is the world in which the young Billy (as he was known then) Bryson was raised. If the book focusses on Des Moines and Iowa, it's because that's where Bryson grew up. But it could have been set in any midwestern, New England, or western state (i.e. those with predominantly white populations).

Such an analysis is overly dry, as readers of Bryson well know. As a travel writer, he writes as much about the human condition as about the places he visits. In the same way, this book can be seen as a travelogue through the 1950s and through the ages of 0 to ~14. He lovingly paints the scene and then inserts his characters - his father who never wore pajama bottoms, his mother who made Billy "go toity" in a jar if she was in a hurry, his friends both smart and dim, etc. The heart of the book is in the specific tales of these friends and family members. And the stories are very, very funny!

I grew up in the 1970s, so have no personal memory of the time about which Bryson writes. I've gained such knowledge as I have of the era through such "reliable" sources as "Happy Days" and "Grease". But such is Bryson's storytelling that I can easily recognise the universal human condition, even though he's writing of a specific time and place. Thus, this book is accessible to all, and if I find it laugh-out-loud funny (which it is, in many places), I'm sure anyone old enough to have passed through the ages of 0 to 14 will as well.

Four Days to Glory: Wrestling with the Soul of the American Heartland

Average customer rating:

Very good book
Just Like I Remember It
excellent service and product
Right on target
A must read for wrestlers and their families.

Four Days to Glory: Wrestling with the Soul of the American Heartland
Mark Kreidler
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies | Sports | Subjects | Books

Wrestling | Individual Sports | Sports | Subjects | Books

General | Sports | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Sports Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

A Season on the Mat: Dan Gable and the Pursuit of Perfection
Make It Happen : The Inspiring Story of an NCAA Wrestling Champion
A Fighter's Heart: One Man's Journey Through the World of Fighting
Winning Wrestling Moves
Wrestling Tough

ASIN: 0060823186
Release Date: 2007-01-23

Book Description

Somewhere beyond the circle of money, glitz, drugs and controversy that characterizes professional sports in America, there exists the remnants of the ideal. In Iowa, that ideal survives in the form of high school wrestling, a way of transforming the local virtues—modesty, privation, hard work—into sporting glory. To be a wrestling champion in Iowa is to achieve greatness—individual glory where the only back to pat is your own.

For Jay Borschel and Dan LeClere, though, the stakes have been raised. Already three-time state champions in differing weight classes, each boy has a chance in his senior year of high school to do something historic—to become a "four-timer," joining the most elite group in the sport and essentially ensuring his status as an Iowa wrestling deity. For Jay, a ferocious competitor who feeds off criticism and doubt, a victory would mean vindication over the great mass of skeptics waiting for him to fail. Dan, the kid from a farm near the tiny town of Coggon (population 710), carries other burdens. For his community, for the hard-driving coach who doubles as his father, and for his own triumph over his personal demons, another title is the only acceptable outcome.

As the two boys approach the finals in a series of increasingly tense and hard-fought matches, Jay and Dan reveal the forces that drive young men through a grueling routine of early-morning and late-night workouts, social isolation, and starvation diets—and the rewards of the wrestling life. But in the finals, a victory is the only answer; blow that chance at a fourth title, before the fanatical crowds at the giant state tournament in Des Moines, and you will be little noted nor long remembered.

Four Days to Glory is the story of America as told through its small towns and their connection to sport, the way it was once routinely perceived—a way of mattering to the folks next door.

Customer Reviews:

Very good book.......2007-07-23

Good book for any wrestler who wants to understand what it takes to become a great wrestler. Well written and honest.

Just Like I Remember It.......2007-07-12

As the father of a son who wrestled for three years in high school after being cut from the varsity basketball team, this brought back all the memories of three years of agony and ecstacy. I remember going to my kid's matches and wishing they were over before I got there so I would not have my stomach in knots every time he was out there. And this, in the Philadelphia area, was not the same level as Iowa, but nonetheless the joy and pain was identical. The author kept you on edge throughout and I had no idea how it would end until I got to the final chapter. And I have to admit my heart was pounding as the state tournament began in the book. I cannot remember the last book which made me feel that way. I, too, saw my son sitting in his room with a small cup of water by his desk every week, especially when he went from 160 to 152 for the sectionals. I was on the road when he won his first two matches and he called my after each one. I made it home for the finals and I will never forget the parade of the final contestants that night as they entered the gym on opposite sides. My joy when he pinned his man (from the host school) in the first period to win the Sectionals in 1999 will last a lifetime and my wife went down to the floor when he got on the trophy stand to take photos. He had owed some money on a moving violation with his car and I told him if he won the Sectionals I would ay the fine. It was the happiest fine I ever paid. I also will never forget the disappointment when he blew a 5-0 lead in the first round of the Districts and lost 9-5 because he was out of gas from cutting weight two weeks in a row, so much so that he dropped out rather than try for the "wrestle backs" which, today, we both agree, he certainly could have won as the guy he pinned in the sectionals actually qualified through the wrestlebacks for the regionals until he was disqualified for poor sportsmanship. That was his senior year. This book brought it all back (senior night, etc.) and I was glued to the pages and finished it in less than two days. And I love Dan Gable. Anyone who ever participated or had a son who did should read this book.

excellent service and product.......2007-06-02

I ordered Four Days to Glory for my son's birthday. The book came quickly and in excellent condition. Thank you!

Right on target.......2007-05-12

If you ever wrestled, coached wrestling, known a wreslter and watched him (or now days, her)wrestle you will twist, turn, cheer, live and die with these great athletes. You will feel what they felt. You will also get insites to the pressures of Iowa College wrestling where just being good doesn't always cut it. Mark Kreidler does what few others have done when they write about wrestling. If other writers could capute wrestling in their newspapers as he has done, college wrestling woudn't have fight so hard for it's life.

A must read for wrestlers and their families........2007-04-13

This book is not for those who have never known wrestling, either as an active participant or an involved family member. To truly appreciate this book, one must know first-hand what goes into making a high school, collegiate or olympic wrestler. That is not something that can be learned vicariously. This is a well-written book that only makes sense to those who know what it is to experience the honest, lonely, agonizing and extremely rewarding sport. The book reaffirms everything I ever thought about wrestling -- the good and the bad. Wrestling is a sport that makes men of boys and this book clearly demonstrates that -- but only for those who already know it.

Average customer rating:

Born Amish Written By An Amish
Simplistic, short
Born Amish
Very educating
Another Great Book From Ms. Garrett!

Born Amish
Ruth Irene Garrett , and Deborah Morse-Kahn
Manufacturer: Turner Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Religious | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | New Age | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Personal Transformation | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Crossing Over: One Woman's Escape from Amish Life
Rumspringa: To Be or Not to Be Amish
Amish Confidential: The Bishops Son Shatters the Silence
Finding the Way
Amish Society

ASIN: 1563119633

Book Description

"But what was your life like before?" This is the question that RUTH IRENE GARRETT, nee Miller, has been asked again and again by the thousands of inspired and fascinated guests who have attended her lectures and programs on her life growing up Amish to young womanhood, when she fell in love with an "Englisher" and left the Amish community to begin her new life out in the world.

Now, working with co-author and friend DEBORAH MORSE-KAHN, we learn in Born Amish about Ruth Irene Garrett's early life as a child growing up in the Amish farming community of Kalona, Iowa: school, games, and chores; work, crafts, and foods; clothing, farming and tumbling about with many brothers and sisters. We learn about the expectations for girls and boys in Amish families, of social roles and understandings about courtship and marriage, about adult baptism and a life of faith in the Amish Church.

Born Amish is richly illustrated with wonderful color photographs of young people and families in Amish life throughout the American Midwest.

Customer Reviews:

Born Amish Written By An Amish.......2007-09-16

This is the true story of how one woman made the change and left the Amish lifestyle. It tells of the personal struggles of leaving family and lifetime friends all behind to adventure into a new life and follow one's own convictions. Very well written and informative. You can almost feel the pain this lady went through to start her new way of life!
I feel that all books are over-priced and for that reason I give this book only four stars!

Simplistic, short.......2007-03-08

This was an interesting book. However, the content was, in my opinion, limited. It was more like an outline with a few details. Information was interesting; but seemed to skim the surface of everyday Amish life.

Born Amish.......2007-01-15

It was so enlighting. It really was interesting to me to actually read about the Amish communitity.

Very educating.......2007-01-07

Timely shipment and in great condition. I was very pleased with order.

Another Great Book From Ms. Garrett!.......2005-03-09

I have read several of Ms. Garrett's books. They always make you feel as if you are walking in her footsteps. I, being an X-member of an Old Order Amish sect, was curious to see if there were any differences within her sect and mine. I learned alot from, "Born Amish." For my sect was a little different-which isn't shocking when there are so many Amish sects. I can't wait until she publishes another book. For she is a remarkable writer. I always recommend her books. I also recommend, "My Amish Heritage", by Ruth Irene Garrett; and, "True Stories of X-Amish: Banned-Shunned-Excommunicated", by Ottie Garrett and Ben Garrett.

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir

Average customer rating:

Bryson Scores Again!
Great Fun
Let's Trade Childhoods
Bathroom Humor
Another Bryson masterpiece

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir

Manufacturer: Random House Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

Authors | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Midwest | Regional U.S. | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Journalists | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Family & Childhood | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Biographies & Memoirs | Books on CD | Formats | Books

Humor | Books on CD | Formats | Books
Similar Items:

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir
Bill Bryson's African Diary
Bill Bryson Collector's Edition: Notes from a Small Island, Neither Here Nor There, and I'm a Stranger Here Myself
Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words: A Writer's Guide to Getting It Right
Shape Shifter, The CD (Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee Novels)

ASIN: 0739315234
Release Date: 2006-10-17

Book Description

BONUS FEATURE: Exclusive interview with the author.

From one of the most beloved and bestselling authors in the English language, a vivid, nostalgic and utterly hilarious memoir of growing up in the middle of the United States in the middle of the last century. A book that delivers on the promise that it is “laugh-out-loud funny.”

Some say that the first hints that Bill Bryson was not of Planet Earth came from his discovery, at the age of six, of a woollen jersey of rare fineness. Across the moth-holed chest was a golden thunderbolt. It may have looked like an old college football sweater, but young Bryson knew better. It was obviously the Sacred Jersey of Zap, and proved that he had been placed with this innocuous family in the middle of America to fly, become invisible, shoot guns out of people’s hands from a distance, and wear his underpants over his jeans in the manner of Superman.

Bill Bryson’s first travel book opened with the immortal line, “I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to.” In this hilarious new memoir, he travels back to explore the kid he once was and the weird and wonderful world of 1950s America. He modestly claims that this is a book about not very much: about being small and getting much larger slowly. But for the rest of us, it is a laugh-out-loud book that will speak volumes – especially to anyone who has ever been young.

Customer Reviews:

Bryson Scores Again!.......2007-05-12

Bill Bryson's story of growing up in Iowa is a terrific book. I bought it in large print for my mother, who can read only large print, and who has difficulty hearing too, so this is the only way she could enjoy the book. She too adores Bill Bryson. We love his facility with language, and his many ways of making us laugh. He's a marvelous storyteller.

Great Fun.......2007-02-13

This was a wonderful book, which also deviates here and there into politics and general history.

I really came to enjoy Bryson's observations about how "the good old days" were also fraught with some significant downsides, which we've gratefully grown beyond.

One carp: Bryson himself reads the audio edition, and he's not the most gifted reader I've ever heard. He's so laconic that the material really has to carry itself.

H'mmm - maybe that's not such a bad thing after all...anyway, you'll enjoy this book in any form.

PS - if you like this, you'll love the writings of Jean Shepard, too.

Let's Trade Childhoods.......2007-01-11

Bill Bryson is by far the funniest, most insightful, travel writer today.
Here his travels are temporal, instead of spacial as he takes us back to his childhood - and what a childhood it was. His writing is so personal and open that you can't help but feel that this book was written specifically for you.

It is both a very middle class North American tale, set in the fifties and a Calvin archetype (as in Calvin and Hobbes) visioneering a rich and adventurous landscape, that none of the adults could see.

May The Thunderbolt Kid ride again.

David Cale

Bathroom Humor.......2007-01-09

I am a big fan of Bill Bryson but was a little disappointed with the Thunderbolt Kid. Some of the eating habits were outright gross. Many of the stunts and shenanigans were not what I'd expect out of Bryson. Much of his wit was missing in this book. I had few if any laugh out loud moments through this book.

Another Bryson masterpiece.......2007-01-09

Bill Bryson takes you back to another time. His plain stated humor makes you laugh aloud and reminds us how fun childhood was. A must for all Bryson fans.

How to Succeed in the Game of Life: 34 Interviews with the World's Greatest Coaches

Average customer rating:

A Great Read
What a great read!
Game of life
Coaching advise from athletic coaches
Overcome Adversity

How to Succeed in the Game of Life: 34 Interviews with the World's Greatest Coaches
Christian Klemash
Manufacturer: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Success | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Coaching | Sports | Subjects | Books

General | Sports | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, & Priorities of a Winning Life
Beyond Basketball: Coach K's Keywords for Success
Quiet Strength: Mens Bible Study
Leading with the Heart: Coach K's Successful Strategies for Basketball, Business, and Life
You Haven't Taught Until They Have Learned: John Wooden's Teaching Principles and Practices

ASIN: 0740760653

Book Description

What would legendary Boston Celtics coach and 16-time NBA champion Red Auerbach say is the most critical quality for a person to be successful? Would his advice differ from 10-time NCAA championship coach John Wooden's? What would each say to a young person just starting out in pursuit of their dreams? What is the best advice they were ever given?

It took author Christian Klemash more than two years of research, persistence, and original interviews, but now he's ready to pass on the best advice you'll ever get. Only the rare individual has had the opportunity to pick the brain of just one legendary sports coach—let alone thirty-four of the best sports coaches of all time. Klemash gives sports fans a once-in-a-lifetime chance to learn valuable life lessons from the most famous, intelligent, and victorious coaches ever. The legends span the sports world, from gold medal-winning gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi and three-time college football championship coach Tom Osborne to four-time World Series-winning baseball manager Joe Torre and hall-of-fame boxing trainer Angelo Dundee.

These coaches know how to teach top athletes about character and winning, how to manage pressure at crunch time, and how to bring out the best in their players when it matters most. How to Succeed in the Game of Life shares their insights into sports, life, and the most vital keys to sustain success.Featuring Exclusive Interviews with:

Red Auerbach, 16-time NBA World Champion

Bobby Bowden, College Football's All-Time Winningest Coach, 2-time National Champion

Scotty Bowman, 9-time Stanley Cup Champion

Bill Cowher, Super Bowl Champion

Tony Dungy, Super Bowl Champion

Dan Gable, 15-time NCCA Champion

April Heinrichs, Gold Medal Winning Coach of the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team

Bela Karolyi, The World’s Greatest Gymnastics Coach

Bill Parcells, 2-time Super Bowl Champion

Emanuel Steward, Boxing Trainer of 30 World Champions

Joe Torre, 4-time World Series Champion

Bill Walsh, 3-time Super Bowl Champion

Lenny Wilkens, NBA’s All-Time Winningest Coach, NBA Champion

John Wooden, 10-time NCAA Champion

And More!

Customer Reviews:

A Great Read.......2007-08-26

Wow!Could not put it down.An extraordinay self help book.Gave it to my kids they loved it.Don't miss this one

What a great read!.......2007-07-25

I took it on vacation with me and I couldn't put it down. A great book for aspiring athletes and coaches as well as your average Joe who works 9-5. The coaches discuss a variety of topics from their childhood to how they motivate their players. Any easy read for all ages.

Game of life.......2007-07-24

I've read through Game of Life and I enjoyed it very much. There are so many things to take from this book, not just into sports, but also some reflections on life. I would recommend this book to everybody.

Coaching advise from athletic coaches.......2007-06-27

A fun read, especially if yoiu're a sports fan. I read it in search of things that would help my own ability as a coach in my company. Much of it is light stuff but the easy read makes it fun nonetheless and there are few golden nuggets laced throughout the book.

Overcome Adversity.......2007-04-12

Anyone looking for inspiration, either for their own life or to share with others, will find a gold mine of quotes here. This book isn't just for sports fans.

Iowa Acceleration Scale Manual: A Guide for Whole-Grade Acceleration (K-8) 2nd Edition

Average customer rating:

A "Must Have" for Acceleration Decisions
Wonderful resource!

Iowa Acceleration Scale Manual: A Guide for Whole-Grade Acceleration (K-8) 2nd Edition
Nicholas Colangelo , Ann, Ph.D. Lupkowski-Shoplik , Jonathan Lipscomb , and Leslie Forstadt
Manufacturer: Great Potential Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Study Skills | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Re-Forming Gifted Education: How Parents and Teachers Can Match the Program to the Child
Losing Our Minds: Gifted Children Left Behind
Developing Math Talent: A Guide for Educating Gifted And Advanced Learners in Math
Some of My Best Friends Are Books: Guiding Gifted Readers from Pre-School to High School (2nd Edition)
Genius Denied: How to Stop Wasting Our Brightest Young Minds

ASIN: 0910707553

Customer Reviews:

A "Must Have" for Acceleration Decisions.......2005-08-29

The Iowa Acceleration Scale (IAS) is a "must have" tool in the process for determining the appropriateness of whole-grade acceleration. What I like most about the IAS is that it is research based and patently objective. The IAS also requires a team approach which only serves to add confidence to whatever decision is ultimately arrived upon. Further, each child is assessed wholistically with individual items weighted based on relevance.

The IAS also provides alternate suggestions for serving the academically advanced child in the event that whole-grade acceleration is not recommended.

The manual is a very easy read and the entire process is user friendly. The IAS Manual removes the mystery and uncertainty from what would typically be a rather difficult task - deciding whether or not to whole-grade accelerate a child in school.

I highly recommend the IAS for any and all parents and educators who find themselves faced with the incredible task of trying to decide how best to meet the educational needs of a bright or gifted child. To borrow (and twist) a line from Shakespeare: If to accelerate or not to accelerate is the question - then the IAS is the answer.

A Note of caution to parents and IAS team members: The IAS process should be open and transparent. All team members should have the opportunity to read and review the manual prior to and during the process. Therefore, be sure the "team leader" does not monopolize the process or attempt to create their own procedure for completion of the IAS. The manual very clearly states the proper procedures to follow to ensure the process flows smoothly - and objectively.

Wonderful resource!.......2004-04-03

I refer to this book often when working with families and educators that are considering whole-grade acceleration for a gifted student. This is an invaluable tool that appears to be very user-friendly.

Average customer rating:

Ubiquitous?
One of the best from the author of "Blade Runner"
Testing Reality
The best I've read from my favourite author
One of his very best

Ubik
Philip K. Dick
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
The Man in the High Castle
Valis
A Scanner Darkly
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said

ASIN: 0679736646
Release Date: 1991-12-03

Amazon.com

Nobody but Philip K. Dick could so successfully combine SF comedy with the unease of reality gone wrong, shifting underfoot like quicksand. Besides grisly ideas like funeral parlors where you swap gossip for the advice of the frozen dead, Ubik (1969) offers such deadpan farce as a moneyless character's attack on the robot apartment door that demands a five-cent toll:

"I'll sue you," the door said as the first screw fell out.
Joe Chip said, "I've never been sued by a door. But I guess I can live through it."

Chip works for Glen Runciter's anti-psi security agency, which hires out its talents to block telepathic snooping and paranormal dirty tricks. When its special team tackles a big job on the Moon, something goes terribly wrong. Runciter is killed, it seems--but messages from him now appear on toilet walls, traffic tickets, or product labels. Meanwhile, fragments of reality are timeslipping into past versions: Joe Chip's beloved stereo system reverts to a hand-cranked 78 player with bamboo needles. Why does Runciter's face appear on U.S. coins? Why the repeated ads for a hard-to-find universal panacea called Ubik ("safe when taken as directed")?

The true, chilling state of affairs slowly becomes clear, though the villain isn't who Joe Chip thinks. And this is Dick country, where final truths are never quite final and--with the help of Ubik--the reality/illusion balance can still be tilted the other way. --David Langford, Amazon.co.uk

Book Description

Philip K. Dick's searing metaphysical comedy of death and salvation is a tour de force of panoramic menace and unfettered slapstick, in which the departed give business advice, shop for their next incarnation, and run the continual risk of dying yet again.

Download Description

Customer Reviews:

Ubiquitous?.......2007-09-19

The first comparison that came to mind when I started reading "Ubik" was Don DeLilo's "White Noise (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century)." Not due to any special thematic comparison, but because of the advertisements for great new products named Ubik at the beginning of each paragraph in the story; this reminded me of the constant low-level onslaught of information that came at you while reading "White Noise."

As far as the story itself - what can one say without spoiling it? The main character is Joe Chip, a tester for the Runciter Group, which is a group of "Anti-psis" - basically, they null out psionic power to help protect people's privacy. I was by stages amused and appalled by the vision of 1992 painted in this novel - apparently we were supposed to have made our way to Mars and the Moon by now, with colonies on each, and we're supposed to be dressing even more outlandishly than we do now. However, it seems odd to me, as I have been reading through the omnibus in which this story resides (Counterfeit Unrealities (contains Ubik, A Scanner Darkly, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep [aka Blade Runner], The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch)) to note the things that are kept in the 50s and 60s. Women are either young and in the service industry or they are matrons and stay at home. If they are other than that, then they are shown as . . . strange, even dangerous, such as Pat Conroy in this story. It is this that makes her such an appropriate foil for Joe Chip, as he stumbles through his attempts to keep the group together after a major fiasco occurs when the Glen Runciter - the owner of the company - takes a group of his most highly skilled workers to the Lunar colony for a job and is there attacked.

The rest of the story shakes down while the surviving characters notice a strange combination of entropy and growth - recession and coming into being. The world seems to be regressing to an older era, but at the same time, they keep getting messages from "beyond" instructing them on what to do. Then the question arises - who is really dead? Who is really alive? What is reality? Who is creating it?

Not for a light evening's read, that's for sure! But well worth the slodge if you have the time. Most intriguing and something to keep the ol' cerebellum stretched. Give it a try.

One of the best from the author of "Blade Runner".......2007-09-12

Ubik is one the better books written by Sci-Fi author Philip K. Dick. Dick mostly wrote in the 1960's and most of his books have the same theme - what is reality? Dick developed a following as much for his lifestyle as for his books. To appreciate and judge Ubik you really need to understand the author more than the author of a typical sci-fi space opera. So here goes.

First of all Dick was nuts. Certifiably. In and out of asylum kind of nuts. His whole life. He was also into every drug you can imagine. His personal life was a shambles. His books never really sold well - as a matter of fact he was on welfare or bummed off of friends most of his life. No one knows whether anything Dick said was true or not. Many of his claims are clearly false. Some are not. He apparently was monitored by the FBI at some time, but then so were most malcontents of that period. But the prime suspect in a break-in of Dick's house was - Dick himself - as Dick himself admitted.

Dick liked to go to sci-fi conventions and use drugs. The 1968 Bay area sci-fi convention was known as "Drugcon" (Drug Convention) due to the prevalence of various mind-altering chemicals. This is important because one of Dick's novels main problems is that Dick's novels and stories often don't make sense.

Dick's main theme of "Are you sure exactly what reality is?" is used in multiple books. Dick won the Hugo award for an early book "The Man in the High Castle" in 1963. Ubik was written in 1969 and is much better, in my opinion, although it won no awards.

Dick's novels suffered from a sameness once the originality of alternate and unknown realities wore off. His greatest failing was his characterization. Most of his characters are one-dimensional and unlikeable. Ubik, however, has the best characterization and several characters are fleshed out rather well. Another Dick characteristic was to look at relations between men and women as purely mechanical sex and almost no romance. He also didn't do extensive re-writes or revisions, leaving finished works that were self-contradictory and senseless in some aspects. Many people judge Dick on the movies made from his writings - particularly "Blade Runner" with Harrison Ford and "Total Recall" with Arnold Schwarzenegger. These scripts were written by others, cleaned up, changed and forced to make sense, so they are really not Dick's work at all.

In Ubik, as in his other writings, much of the plot doesn't make sense or contradicts earlier occurrences. In part, Dick was trying to make reality fuzzy, but mostly Dick himself didn't know or care whether each plot occurrence made sense and agreed with what was already written. Some claim this is what makes them good, but I personally think these people are on mind-altering chemicals themselves.

At any rate, Ubik is compulsively readable. In most of Dick's other books there are stretches that are simply boring. But Ubik has a relentless pace and a mind-twisting ending that makes pretty good sense - at least I think it does - kind of - well maybe not - but I still liked it.

The plot of the book should probably not be known before you read the book, so if you haven't read it skip this next part. Briefly, in a future where the dead are frozen in a kind of half-life, a tragedy between a good and evil group of characters immerses them in this same mind-bending half-life.

I enjoyed this book in spite of its weaknesses. You can either buy it singly or as part of the new Library of America anthology containing Hugo award-winning "The Man in the High Castle", "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch", "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" (the source of "Blade Runner") and Ubik. Either way, it is an interesting and influential book.

Testing Reality.......2007-09-07

As usual, Dick tests the boundaries between reality, and . . . something else. One reason I was really interested in this book is a research paper I was working on. The data came from my psychological interviews, using the ZMET method. In this type of consumer behavior study, we find that what people say and what they actually do are often very different. People even make up elaborate descriptions and explanations to justify their imaginary behaviors. Ubik really fits this context well, because here Dick references a consumer product called Ubik, that is everywhere. Everyone wants Ubik, but no one seems actually to obtain it.

The best I've read from my favourite author.......2007-08-22

Excellent! If you like reality bending stories you will thoroughly enjoy Ubik. My copy did not have a plot spoiling description on the back, but I agree with the other reviewers and suggest that you just dive in.
My second favorite PKD book may be Maze of Death, both books I have read multiple times, and have given away copies of. Would really like to see someone like Spielberg tackle this one as a film.

One of his very best.......2007-08-18

I'd read several of Philip K. Dick's novels, and many of his short stories, before picking up UBIK. Even so, nothing could have prepared me for the wild roller-coaster ride of this story.

I don't think I've ever been quite as gripped by a book as I was by this one. I was accustomed to Dick's writing style and his inimitable strangeness, but I think he surpassed himself in this one. I read feverishly and after I was done, I sat there, stunned. I thought about nothing else for days.

Fortunately the Bantam Books edition I read said nothing about the plot or even the premise, which was a wise decision. If you pick this one up, I recommend not reading the blurb. Current editions have massive spoilers. Accordingly I'm avoiding describing the story in any way here.

Now that Dick has become massively popular, it's become more fashionable to critique his sometimes clumsy writing style. His writing does have its flaws but few authors can equal him for sheer readability. Some of his earlier 60s novels, such as MARTIAN TIME-SLIP, THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE, and THE THREE STIGMATA OF PALMER ELDRITCH, were not as hastily written and the prose is more polished. UBIK was written in the late 60s about the same time as DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? and these novels are hastily written. Still, as with H.P. Lovecraft (whose prose is far worse than Dick's), it's the quality of his vision that makes him great, and Dick was a natural storyteller, even though he lacks the polish of Jack Vance or Robert Silverberg.

UBIK is based on ideas first developed in a PKD short story, "What the Dead Men Say." To some extent UBIK is an expansion of that story but it goes way beyond. This is the ultimate metaphysical SF novel.

Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America

Average customer rating:

For Everyone
Bloom: Journalist, or Embarassed Jew?
Read between the lines of this book and learn some of the reasons why Jews are hated
Disappointing in every way
Badly written ant-Semitism

Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America
Stephen G. Bloom
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Discrimination & Racism | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Look Inside History Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Religion in America, Seventh Edition
World Religions in America: An Introduction (3rd Edition)
Unchosen: The Hidden Lives of Hasidic Rebels
Boychiks in the Hood: Travels in the Hasidic Underground
The Rebbe's Army: Inside the World of Chabad-Lubavitch

ASIN: 0156013363

Amazon.com

Postville, Iowa (population 1,478), seems an unlikely place to find a sizable Jewish population, let alone an ultra-Orthodox Lubavitcher population. It is, after all, in the heart of pork country, and the world headquarters of the Lubavitchers is far away in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. But when the Hygrade meat processing plant, just outside Postville, went belly-up, threatening the town with decline, Sholom Rubashkin bought it and turned it into a glatt kosher processing plant, complete with shochtim and a rabbinical inspectorate. By the late 1980s, "Postville had more rabbis per capita than any other city in the United States, perhaps the world."

The enterprise was a huge international success, with its kosher meats exported even to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The Jewish population grew to 150, and they were rich. The town was saved, and the people were grateful. All's well that ends well? Not quite. The Hasidim kept to themselves, did things their own way, and basically had no interest in integrating into Postville. And why would they? Their laws are strict, their mission clear, their community defined by race and religion. They are not interested in watermelon socials or coffee klatches at the diner. Their little boys do not swim with their little girls, are not educated together, and do not go on play dates with goyim. Small-town Iowans, on the other hand, are very friendly. They know each other's news, they support each other's businesses, they wish each other Merry Christmas, they want you to feel at home. They don't like that the new townspeople stomp up the street hunched over, talking in a foreign language and looking straight through them when greeted. They really don't like it when one of the newcomers drives around town with a 10-foot candelabra strapped to his car playing music at full volume for eight consecutive winter nights. They don't actually know about menorahs or Hanukkah.

Into this comes secular Jew Stephen Bloom, a professor at the University of Iowa. By the time he arrived in Postville, the town was riven along religious lines. One of the townspeople was running for mayor on the sole platform of annexation of the land on which the plant stood. Rubashkin was threatening that he'd shut the plant and leave if that came to pass. Bloom closely considers both sides, and the result is a wonderful book. It is a fascinating tale of culture clash in the American heartland: the John Deere cap meets the black fur hat. It is a book about identity and community and what it means to be American. It covers all the things you aren't supposed to talk about at the dinner table--religion, politics, and even sex. It is full of suspense: Will the plant be annexed? Will the Jews leave? And it is also Bloom's exploration of his own sense of belonging. --J. Riches

Book Description

In 1987, a group of Lubavitchers, one of the most orthodox and zealous of the Jewish sects, opened a kosher slaughterhouse just outside tiny Postville, Iowa (pop. 1,465). When the business became a worldwide success, Postville found itself both revived and divided. The town's initial welcome of the Jews turned into confusion, dismay, and even disgust. By 1997, the town had engineered a vote on what everyone agreed was actually a referendum: whether or not these Jews should stay.

The quiet, restrained Iowans were astonished at these brash, assertive Hasidic Jews, who ignored the unwritten laws of Iowa behavior in almost every respect. The Lubavitchers, on the other hand, could not compromise with the world of Postville; their religion and their tradition quite literally forbade it. Were the Iowans prejudiced, or were the Lubavitchers simply unbearable?

Award-winning journalist Stephen G. Bloom found himself with a bird's-eye view of this battle and gained a new perspective on questions that haunt America nationwide. What makes a community? How does one accept new and powerfully different traditions? Is money more important than history? In the dramatic and often poignant stories of the people of Postville - Jew and gentile, puzzled and puzzling, unyielding and unstoppable - lies a great swath of America today.

Customer Reviews:

For Everyone.......2007-07-16

What is cultural identity? Matzoh ball soup or holy scripture? John Deere caps or yarmulkes? Postville is a wonderful book because it isn't written as a traditional news report that pretends to be objective and removed from the subject at hand.

Stephen Bloom's book is worth reading because he makes clear that every observer brings predjudices and what Postville reveals is the author's discovery and coming to grips with his own set of beliefs. Are deeply religious people more moral than others? Are American values of freedom really available to everyone?

As an author of a memoir myself (Typo: The Last American Typesetter or How I Made and Lost 4 Million Dollars) that deals with culture clash in Iowa--I couldn't get a flat fixed on my rental car because "Men should know how to change a tire."--I can report that Bloom has nailed the difficulty outsiders have in small towns.

I have also seen first hand how people portrayed in a book will find the worst thing the book says about them and lock onto it. You can see that in the reviews of Postville here on Amazon. Jews think Bloom is an anti-semite. Iowans think he is a snarky city boy.

But Bloom does his best to show all sides of everyone in the story, which makes his narrative more, not less, believable.

Like the book The Seventh Million: The Israelis and the Holocaust that talks about the poor reception for some European Jews by their bretheren in Israel, this book is honest.

Read it, and learn what Bloom has laid out so clearly: all of us are ready to blame someone else for our problems.

Bloom: Journalist, or Embarassed Jew?.......2007-04-17

Firstly, I enjoyed and was fascinated by Postville. Second, I'm a non-Orthodox, yet identifying Jew who hails from the Midwest and who attended University of Missouri-Columbia, quite similar to Iowa City. So yes, Bloom's descriptions were accurate and yes, the stereotypes are lived up to (feed commercials on TV, little in the way of ethnic culture). I also have had contact with ultra-Orthodox Jews; specifically, I have Lubavitch relatives. So I'm qualified to "judge", as it were, all sides involved, or at least no less qualified than Bloom.

Secondly, I too "came down on the side of" the Iowans. In fact, because of Bloom's descriptions of the Lubavitchers -- so antithetical to the behavior that I've come to expect from them -- I began to suspect that perhaps they were not actually Lubavitchers, but posing as Lubavitchers, or some sort of spinoff sect a la those Mormons you read about from whom the church hurries to disassociate itself. In any case, the Postville Lubavitchers certainly didn't resemble any Lubavitchers I've met.

Mostly, a seemingly trivial detail bugged me the entire way through; I say "seemingly", because it actually encapsulates (as does Bloom's stay in Iowa) what I call the American Jewish dilemma, i.e., must we be chained to an urban existence in order to remain Jewish? I'm referring to several instances wherein Bloom went out of his way to tell us that he ate treif food. Not just treif, as in "We stopped in at McDonald's for burgers on our way home", but specifically pork. The minute I read this, my respect for him dropped several notches. What was he thinking by deliberately spelling out to the reader his non-observance of kashrut? That this would endear him to gentile readers? This matter angered me far more than his unsavory descriptions of the Lubavitchers; while he can't control their behavior, he can control his own, or at least not "diss" Jewish observance from the rooftops.

The reviewer who pointed out that the locals' anger at the Lubavitchers' deserting their businesses for Wal-Mart may have been displaced anger at Wal-Mart was on target. After all, we all know what Wal-Mart is doing to small-town America's economy.

I also liked how Bookaholic put it regarding the Lubavitchers' behavior feeding into stereotypes. Indeed. However, the leap that some reviewers make to such behavior explaining anti-Semitism and pogroms -- whoa! That's forbidden territory. Don't even attempt to go there. That's where my intercultural tolerance ends, people. I had assumed that folks who read books are more incisive than that. Or do you, too, believe that an Easter newspaper headline reading "He Is Risen" is actually jounalism?

Read between the lines of this book and learn some of the reasons why Jews are hated.......2006-11-29

Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America looks at how tensions gradually erupt between locals and hasidic Jews who opened a kosher slaughterhouse in a rural farming community. This book was written by a secular Jew from the west coast who had moved to Iowa to take a job as a university professor.

While the author certainly has issues of his own (he actually cites the scoutmaster mentioning Jesus Christ at his sons Boy Scouts meeting as an example of anti-semitism he has experienced in Iowa!) I don't think the most rabid Jew hater could have done a better job of making the Hasidic Lubavitchers look bad. After being taken under the wing of Lubavitchers who wanted to convert him, as a secular Jew, to their Hasidic sect, Bloom in the end exposes the Lubavitchers worst traits. From their petty haggling over prices in local stores over the smallest of items, to their racist attitudes towards "goyim" and "schwartzs", while simultaneously accusing anybody who disagrees with them of being anti-semitic, to their refusal to pay debts and honor contracts in business dealings and other bullying business practices, their importation of illegal immigrant riff raff to this once homogenous crime free town to cheapen their labor costs, even their cruel way of slaughtering animals to make the meat kosher are brought to light. All of these factors, along with the Hasidic Jews refusal to participate in the community other than by using it to make themselves rich, gradually over a period of time caused major tensions between multi-generational locals and the Lubavitchers. On the other hand he does show some of their admirable traits also, like being family oriented and their obsessivly strict adherence to preserving their own culture and customs.

Overall this a very good book that I would recomend to anybody interested in Jewish culture, or anybody that wants to delve into reasons why Jews, who seem to never be able to see the reasons themselves, are often disliked, throughout the world and history, by people of many races and cultures. You can also learn a lot about the tensions and infighting that goes on between secular Jews like Bloom and the Orthodox Jews too.

Disappointing in every way.......2006-09-29

Although the author purports to take an objective view of what he calls the clash of cultures in Postville, his portrait of the conflicts in the town are in no way nuanced or thoughtful. Clearly his ambivalence about his own religious identity has shaped his perception of life in Postville. The author has not taken the time to learn about the Orthodox Jewish traditions he so smugly and sanctimoniously dismisses as "guilt-producing." He manages to reduce his concept of meaningful Judaism to bagels, lox, and pastrami. By the end of the book I found myself wondering why he had bothered to identify himself as Jewish since his view of the religious traditions he derides seem so superficial to him. To me the book failed the basic test of intellectual honesty and clarity of thought. It was in addition, poorly written.

Badly written ant-Semitism.......2006-08-03

I found this book wholly disappointing. It was an extremely narrow and one sided view of not only the Lubavitch community but also Judaism itself. Like the author, I too am Jewish, however, I found the references to common day Jewish practices (such as donning tefillin) offensive, as this was seen as alien whereas in Judaism this is commonplace. Anyone who has had any contact with the Lubavitch community will find them nothing short of extremely hospitable, charitable and welcoming. With regard to their suspicion of the secular world: I think this book is proof, if it were required, that this type of suspicion is justifiable. In defence of the Postville community specifically, I'm amazed that there is little mention of the employment capabilities which the factories bring and the significant number of non-Jews employed by the family. I'm saddened that a Jew insecure as he must be with his own faith, feels it necessary to write a book like this. The book is at best badly written anti-Semitism and at worst a very dangerous attack on a religion to which Mr Bloom claims to belong, as is shown by some of the sadly anti-Semitic comments posted here. At this time in our history, Jews should be rallying to support each other instead of factionalising openly.

Average customer rating:

Excellent dairy handbook

Dairy Cattle Science (4th Edition)
Howard Tyler , M. E. Ensminger , and Ani Sci Iowa State
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Animal Husbandry | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Science Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Arts & Photography | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Science | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Nutrient Requirements of Dairy Cattle: Seventh Revised Edition
The Ruminant Animal : Digestive Physiology and Nutrition
Farm Management
Getting Started with Beef & Dairy Cattle (Getting Started With)
You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Start & Succeed in a Farming Enterprise

ASIN: 0131134124

Book Description

A fundamental source of information in agricultural education, this book is extremely reader-friendly and organized into specific, short topics within broad general sections. Its coverage encompasses the skills needed to be competitive in today’s industry, and emphasizes the need for possessing a healthy balance between understanding the scientific principles of dairy science and the practical art of implementing those principles. A nine-part organization covers the dairy industry, genetic improvement, dairy nutrition, dairy feeds, reproductive physiology, lactation physiology, dairy health and disease, dairy cow comfort, and integrating disciplines: dairy management systems. For individuals interested in the agricultural field.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent dairy handbook.......2000-03-30

Dairy Cattle Science is a excellent handbook reviewing most aspects concerning dairy farming and consulting. There are very good chapters on nutrition, management and reproduction (breeding) for instance. Ofcourse this book is mainly for US situations but very useful for other parts of the World.

Country Property Dirt Cheap: How I Found My Piece of Inexpensive Rural Land...Plus My Adventures with a $300 Junk Antique Tractor

Average customer rating:

A great guide by example
Well written and easily read
Low density but valuable information
READ ME! A good argument for land
Very entertaining and lots of great ideas!!

Country Property Dirt Cheap: How I Found My Piece of Inexpensive Rural Land...Plus My Adventures with a $300 Junk Antique Tractor
Ralph C. Turner
Manufacturer: Index Legalis Pub.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Real Estate | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Sales | Real Estate | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Finding & Buying Your Place in Country (Finding and Buying Your Place in the Country)
How I Turned $50 into $5 Million in Country Property--Part Time and How You Can Do the Same
Mortgage-Free!: Radical Strategies for Home Ownership (Real Goods Solar Living Book)
Buying Country Land: Storey Country Wisdom Bulletin A-67
How to Survive Without a Salary: Learning How to Live the Conserver Lifestyle

ASIN: 0945959524

Customer Reviews:

A great guide by example.......2007-09-09

For those that are looking for an A-B-C, follow the list type guide to finding cheap land, keep on looking. Though there is a list of the steps used, it takes only a couple of pages near the end. If you are too lazy to read the rest, and instead skip to the list, you will miss out on a lot of good advice.

Now for the rest of you that are smart enough to enjoy Mr. Turner's tale of how he found it, and glean the tidbits of information bestowed throughout the tale, you will walk away with invaluable information that will let you find the land that you want at a price you can afford.

Well written and easily read.......2007-04-30

This book is an excellent and quick read- I finished it in one day. Although not directly suited to my purpose, the book contains great advice on finding a small acreage (4-12) property in the country.

Most of all the book made me feel even better about our opportunities- as the writer repeatedly commented on how much easier his search would have been if he was looking to buy 40 or more acres of land. Wouldn't you know it, that is what we are looking to do.

The author has a flowing and folksy writing style, that doesn't get bogged down with too much technical real estate jargon- and footnotes are provided in the rare instances where technical terms occur. This book is in many ways much more than a book about how to buy property cheap, it is the author's life story- his dreams and aspirations for a place in the country since his boyhood.

I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to purchase land in the country.

Low density but valuable information.......2007-02-26

The information in this book is worth the price you pay for it. I had fumbled around looking for land and only found a couple of the many tips he offers for finding and buying land. The author presents the information as his experience finding and buying a piece of land to be used as a get away and week end home. He explains why small parcels of land are more expensive per acre compared to large parcels of land.

His tips on buying land are summarized in a two page appendix. I think the one thing he left out of his summary was "get lucky and stumble across someone who will sell you land for cheap". If this was a "how to" book, it would be a pamphlet.

While not an exciting story, it is engaging. I found that I lost track of time while reading it. I have no need to be as thrifty as the author, however.

READ ME! A good argument for land.......2006-11-15

This book and another book made me re-think about land. In the past, people considered it as dangerous, but sometimes investing in land isn't such a bad thing, especially if you want to keep it for long term or for your children.

I would also suggest buying this book on how to purchase land below market value:

Investing Without Losing (ISBN: 0978834607 NOT on amazn, on other stores)

Very entertaining and lots of great ideas!!.......2006-03-14

I couldn't put this book down after I started it. A quick entertaining read, it was exactly what I was looking for! We just bought 7.5 acres of rural undeveloped mountain land ourselves, and are in the midst of learning more about how to prepare it for use. I had such a great time reading this book because it matched what we are doing exactly, from searching with plat maps and using aerial photos (as we did to find our property), to figuring out what's the best type of structure to put onto the land to be able to go out and enjoy it. I love the escapades about the tractor too, and the ending is just great! You won't be disappointed.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books