Whatever Happened to Justice? (An Uncle Eric Book)

Average customer rating:

Flawed but helpful enlightenment thinking

page for page, maybe one of greatest books of all time

Liberty Verses Democracy - Common Law Verses Political Law

I really loved this book but...

Number Four in the Series is Another Hit!

Whatever Happened to Justice? (An Uncle Eric Book)
Richard J. Maybury
Manufacturer: Bluestocking Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? A Fast, Clear, and Fun Explanation of the Economics You Need For Success in Your Career, Business, and Investments (An Uncle Eric Book)

Are You Liberal? Conservative? Or Confused? (An Uncle Eric Book)

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ASIN: 0942617460
Release Date: 2004-05-01

Product Description

"Whatever Happened to Justice?" shows what's gone wrong with America's legal system and economy and how to fix it. It also contains lots of helpful hints for improving family relationships and for making families and classrooms run more smoothly. Discusses the difference between higher law and man-made law, and the connection between rational law and economic prosperity. "Whatever Happened to Justice?" introduces the Two Laws:
1) Do all you have agreed to do, and
2) Do not encroach on other persons or their property.

Can be used for courses in Law, Economics, Business, Finance, Government and History.

To improve the student's learning experience, also purchase the student study guide for "Whatever Happened to Justice?" titled "A Bluestocking Guide: Justice", also available through Amazon.com.

Table of Contents for Whatever Happened to Justice?
Study Guide Available
Note to Reader
Author's Disclosure
About Richard J. Maybury
Author's Introduction

1. The Cause Is Law
2. A Higher Authority
3. A Higher Law
4. Two Kinds of Law

5. The Two Fundamental Laws
6. Enforcement of Early Common Law
7. How Do We Know If It's Law?
8. Logic and Atoms

9. Ambient Encroachment & Tacit Contracts
10. Economic Calculation
11. Force or Fraud
12. The Lawless West

13. Natural Rights
14. The Human Ecology
15. How Things Get Done
16. Political Law

17. Discovery vs. Enactment
18. Our New Religion
19. Common Law Wasn't Perfect
20. Liberty vs. Permission

21. Instability, Nuremberg and Abortion
22. Democracy and the Constitution
23. The Constitution: Highest Law of the Land?
24. Competing for Privilege

25. The Great Mystery
26. The Privilege and the Thrill
27. The Fun Is In the Playing
28. The Lessons of Simon Bolivar
29. Eating the Seed Corn
30. Origin of Government

31. Are Lawyers and Judges Corrupt?
32. So Why Do We Have a Government?
33. Unsolved Problem: Risk
34. Unsolved Problem: Capital Punishment

35. Unsolved Problem: The Environment
36. Unsolved Problem: Drugs
37. Unsolved Problem: War
38. Unsolved Problem: Irredentism

39. Unsolved Problem: Poverty
40. Unsolved Problem: Consumer Protection
41. Unsolved Problem: Are There More Rules?
42. Summary

Appendix
A Memo from Richard Maybury (Uncle Eric)
Table Comparing Scientific vs. Political Law
Systems of Law Chart
Standard of Living Chart

Agreement Between Parent & Child
Agreement Between Teacher & Student
Thought-Provoking Movies About Law

Bibliography and Suggested Reading
Glossary
Index

Suggested Supplemental Reading:
"Whatever Happened Penny Candy?"
Maybury says, "In my opinion, you and your family and friends will avoid a lot of trouble, and find success of every kind much easier to achieve, if you adopt these two models, Austrian economics and common law."

"Whatever Happened to Justice" explains the Legal model. Read "Whatever Happened to Penny Candy" to understand the Economic model (also available through Amazon.com).

Customer Reviews:

Flawed but helpful enlightenment thinking.......2007-02-17

Mr. Maybury does a wonderful job of explaining the differences between natural "scientific" law (also known as "common law") which can be discovered because it is universal and given by God, and resides universally in the hearts of men, and "political law" which is created by men and which almost always violates Maybury's Two Laws (which form the basis of scientific common law): 1) Do all you have agreed to do; and 2) Do not encroach upon another's person or property. Maybury then illustrates how much of the current social and even economic problems we now experience are due to the erosion of natural common law. I agree with him wholeheartedly.

I subtract one star for the following reason: Maybury is close to greater light, but loses it by embracing the enlightenment thinking that exalts the reason of man to such a degree that it shares the throne or even eclipses the acknowlegment of God. When we forget God, and cease to be grateful, our downfall is assured. I believe enlightenment thinking was our first unwitting step down as a nation. The two laws which Mr. Maybury advances are very good ones, but they are less than the two laws upon which all else hangs: 1) Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength; and 2) Love your neighbor as yourself.

I do not think Mr. Maybury has forgotten God, and he cannot be accused of being ungrateful - for he loves this country and recognizes our unique blessings, but his enlightenment thinking is slightly off the mark. As an example of this, I cite Mr. Maybury's correct assertion that right-to-life questions are of utmost importance - as the ultimate violation of encroachment against another's person. However, and true to his enlightenment thinking, he grounds our natural right to life in our intelligence (which is surely one of the attributes of God we share, but which is fallen). Logically, Maybury goes on to question what degree of intelligence would be required before our right to life would no longer be protected by common law! I quote from page 117 of Maybury's book: "Rights seem to be attached to intelligence. But we don't know what level of intelligence, or how to measure it. To be within the protection of the law, how smart is smart enough?" This sums up the weakness of the book to my mind. I would argue that the right to life is not grounded in our intelligence, but in our humanity created in the image of God.

Incidentally, I am a lawyer and also the mother of a child who suffers from autism. Under Maybury's reasoning, my child's right to life is more questionable than his siblings and mine because of his reduced mental capacity. If I have learned anything from my autistic son, it is that human life is valuable because it is made in God's image, even though the image is marred by our fallen state.

Still, I am grateful to Mr. Maybury for his valuable book and I intend to use it in the education of my children.

page for page, maybe one of greatest books of all time.......2006-12-19

I'm not kidding. I've read mises, hayek, rothbard, dawkins, and many other great writers and influential works. But page for page, with its clarity and ability to transform an average uneducated person to almost genius... The logic, peppered with awesome bits of history... This is one of the greatest books of all time. The one-two punch of Richard's Whatever happened to penny candy(about economics) with this book, is perhaps the best gift one can make to a young person just starting out in life and to an adult as well. Just awesome, all the books in the uncle eric series are must haves period. No sequence of easy to read pages can do so much to educate a human being as the uncle eric series.

Liberty Verses Democracy - Common Law Verses Political Law.......2005-06-12

I have enjoyed this book very much! I had entered a search engine on Amazon.com books to study the differences of liberals and conservatives and purchased this book along with two other books, one from USA Today, by Victor Kamber and Bradley O'Leary, and the other on Moral Politics by George Lakoff, I then read Richard Maybury's book. I next bought Maybury's book on Ancient Rome and then ordered five more. My next book to read was this book, Whatever Happened to Justice?, apparently not the revised version. I really found convincing this book as accurate in historical truth in regards to the original political model set by Hamilton, Jefferson, Henry, Adams & etc. This is the first time I've read a critical difference between democracy and liberty and the argument for the later. While Democracy is majority rule, it is whatever the mob or majority decides, where as Liberty is based on the two eternal, multi-religious, multi-culture laws of "Do all you have agreed to do," and "Do not encroach on other persons or their property.". Now that's ecstasy for me.

The information on the differences between the old British Common Law and Political Law. Now this is significant, as Common Law is based on the above two maxims, while Political Law is on whatever the government decides, whether it be a monarchy, fascist, socialistic or democratic - the government creates the laws. Common Law, the two maxims, are historical science, laws higher than man's; laws of nature itself.

This book lucidly and simplistically explains the origins of government, that is, the thoughts and conceptions of the founding American government; Jefferson, Hamilton, Adams, the ideas of the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists, are some of the most lucid and clearest explanations I have ever read on this subject. I can't help but agree that the unregulated free trade, with limited government, employing the two multi-religious, multi-cultural maxims - two basic common laws - would bring the founding fathers ideal towards the reality of a Pythagorean harmonious exchange of prosperity and liberty. The ideas of liberty takes precedence over democracy.

And so now I'm very interested in reading Mr. Maybury's books on WWI and WWII. As I found a review on the bluestockingpress website from one reviewer named Harry Browne. Now that's got to be the Harry Browne who ran for President (Libertarian)! A person whose thoughts I happen to admire. And I have read many of his online articles on WWI and WWII in the past and was always so impressed. It appears that Richard Maybury's book has been the excellent source.

I really loved this book but..........2003-07-12

I thought this book was really interesting and I felt that it presented a logical explanation of why our legal systems are the way they are. I gave it a four because I know some lawyers who told me that the premises in the book are bogus... but they could be wrong.

Number Four in the Series is Another Hit!.......2002-12-30

The learning just continues with this installation of Mr. Maybury's books. I learned a great deal about the economic arena in the first three and now he has taken us on a ride through the successes and failures of nations, governments and social entities that fail to follow the most basic rules of good government.

Mr. Maybury is fabulous in bringing complicated issues down to a level where average Americans and even our youth can understand them.

The sad truth about the world is that society itself is allowing young people to loose sight of the true and significant moral model of the world that they should have. Is this a direct result of a planned attack on the basic principles Mr. Maybury indicates are esential for a free people to survive or even the concept of freedom itself? Perhaps.

It is interesting to find that the absense of morality being intertwined with government has caused the downfall of so many economies in the past and contribute to the loss of the freedoms, civil liberties and individuality so cheerished by other countries and Americans for over 200 years.

It would appear that the world is sliding into a more barbaric time where we will depend only on our own devices and our own intellect to save us. But when we turn so abruptly away from the inspiration of Divine Law we actually digress in our dealings with others rather than progress.

This book should be a wake up call to all who turn away from history and the facts of life in this area. Justice made and enforced only by men or women and their own prejudices is not justice at all but mere Choas.

All we have build and all we have achieved stands on the brink of destruction brought about by our own egos and ignorance of histories lessons.

Product Description

Mr. Maybury presents an idea-based explanation of the Second World War. He focuses on events in the Second World War and how our misunderstanding of this war led to America s subsequent wars, including the Korean and Vietnam Wars, the Iraq-Kuwait War, and the "war on terrorism" that began September 11, 2001.

To improve the student's learning experience, also purchase the student study guide for "World War II" titled "A Bluestocking Guide: World War II" also available through Amazon.com

Can be used for courses in World History, U.S. History, International Relations, Economics, Business, Finance, and Government.

This is part two of a two-part series on the world wars. For part one, check out 'World War I: The Rest of the Story and How It Affects You Today' also available through Amazon.com

Table of Contents for "World War II"
Author's Disclosure
Cast of Characters
Timeline

Part One: Who Were The Good Guys?
1. The Main Theater of the War
2. Good Guys Against Bad Guys
3. Not Six Million
4. World War II Was Nothing New
5. Millions
6. Britain Was A White Hat?
7. British Conquests
8. P.T. Barnum Knew
9. British Area Bombing
10. Two Questions

Part Two: First Rumblings
11. When Did The War Begin?
12. Appeasement and Comparative Brutality
13. Carving Up Central Europe

Part Three: The U.S. Enters the War
14. The French versus the French
15. Significance of the Higgins Boat
16. Only Genghis Khan Did It
17. The Solution
18. Events Leading to Pearl Harbor
19. Hiding Facts about the Brawl
20. The Great World War II Myth
FDR's Pearl Harbor Speech
21. A Secret Agreement
22. Why Did The Japanese Attack?
23. Pearl Harbor: FDR's Deceit
24. The Flying Tigers and B-17 Bombers
25. "Caught With Their Pants Down"
26. Planes Parked Too Close Together
27. The Prokofiev Seamount
28. The Necessary Sacrifice?
29. You've Seen The Photos

Part Four: The Economics of the War
30. The Myth of German Might
31. Focus On The Eastern Front
32. Of Photographs and Weather
33. German Production of Weapons
34. Germany's Unknown Second Army
35. Tank Treads, Trucks and Submarines
36. Germany's Wonder Weapons
37. Oil and Rifles
38. Americans Were Less Intelligent?
39. The Bookings Revelation
40. Russia Invaded by Keystone Kops
41. Omaha Beach, Bravery versus Heroism

Part Five: The USG Makes It Worse
42. The German Underground
43. Unconditional Surrender
44. Why Did Roosevelt Do It?
45. Rarely Questioned
46. Why Was Nagasaki Bombed?
47. 105 Aircraft Carriers
48. Surrender Near
49. Fierce Fighters
50. The Russians React
51. The Soviet Uprising

Part Six: Effect On Us Today
52. Arm Any Gangster
53. September 11th and the Destruction of the World Trade Center
54. Blowback
55. MAD
56. Policeman of the World
57. Summary

Part Seven: Final Thoughts About War
58. The Needless Deaths of 35 Million
59. The Normal Conditions of Humans
60. The Cause of War
61. Minor League to Emperor of the World

Appendix
Bibliography and Suggested Reading
Suggested Listening
Suggested Viewing
Glossary
About Richard J. Maybury
Index

Index of Maps
Map of Europe
British and Russian Empire
Expansion of the Russian Empirev Conquered by European Regimes
Washington's Pacific Bases in 1940
San Diego, Pearl Harbor, Japan
Japan, Bungo Strait
Prokofiev Seamount
Rebel-held Territories during WWII
Axis versus Allies

Customer Reviews:

Penetrate the Propaganda.......2007-04-29

It's funny--there's a stereotype that politicians are all liars, yet anytime someone suggests that the government is lying to us, we quickly dismiss that as a ridiculous conspiracy theory.

Well, this book is not about a conspiracy theory; it's about World War II. And as the title says, it tells the other side of the story--the side you don't get from mainstream history books, most of which have been tainted by propaganda and thus offer only a very biased view of the facts.

As the author points out, no book is unbiased. If you're looking for pure objectivity, you'd better stick to math and science; you sure won't find it in history. Maybury is admittedly biased, and he explains right up front what his bias is so that the reader won't be deceived.

Some books may be more "patriotic" than this one, if your idea of patriotism is "my country, right or wrong." But, to borrow a scene from the movie The Matrix, you can choose the red pill or the blue pill: keep your blinders firmly in place, or dare to open your eyes to what's really going on.

For anyone who wants to take a sober look at the facts and make up his own mind, this book is a great place to start.

So, why not 5 stars if I love it so much? Well, it's an "Uncle Eric" book, ostensibly targeted to the narrator's twelve-year-old nephew. That means that if you're much older than twelve, it may sound like the author is talking down to you. If you can get past that, though, you'll find a clear presentation of oft-ignored facts about World War II. Lots of good food for thought.

Impetus for Thought.......2006-07-02

If you truly believe that questioning the ultimate motives for war is unpatriotic, then do not read this book. If you have the courage to accept there actually are two sides to every story, then this book is for you. The previous review takes quotes from this book entirely out of context ... whether you agree or not, this book does actually warrant investigation.

oh no, another anti-government book.......2006-02-09

If you are a homeschooler with a deep distrust of your government, then this book is for you. I am a homeschooling mom. I do not deeply distrust my government. The basic premise of this book may have slight credibility, (yes, Stalin did kill more people than Hitler). Yet, "Uncle Eric" makes some pretty over-the-top claims. Claims such as, "The Jewish Holocaust gets the publicity because it is regarded as the justification for Jews to have a Jewish state (Israel) in the Mideast.",(pg 36), and in regards to Pearl Harbor, "Few are willing to face the possiblity that the President and his cronies planned it all." (pg. 162).

If you are looking for facts and the whys and wherefores of WWII, look elsewhere--it'll save you having to pay to ship this book back.

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? A Fast, Clear, and Fun Explanation of the Economics You Need For Success in Your Career, Business, and Investments (An Uncle Eric Book)

Average customer rating:

Good Intro
Focuses on Facts
Even better than "Economics In One Lesson"
Great Book on Money and Inflation
What every American Needs to know

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? A Fast, Clear, and Fun Explanation of the Economics You Need For Success in Your Career, Business, and Investments (An Uncle Eric Book)
Richard J. Maybury
Manufacturer: Bluestocking Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0942617525
Release Date: 2004-05-15

Product Description

In "Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?" Richard Maybury uses historical events from Ancient Rome to explain economic principles. This clearly written book about economics is a remarkably easy and fun explanation of investment cycles, velocity, business cycles, recessions, inflation, the demand for money and more. Essential for every student, businessperson and investor. Recommended by former U.S. Treasury Secretary William Simon. It is also on many recommended reading lists.
Can be used for courses in Economics, Business, Finance, Government and Ancient Rome. To improve the student's learning experience, also purchase the student study guide for "Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?" titled "A Bluestocking Guide: Economics" also available through Amazon.com.

Table of Contents for Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?

Acknowledgements
Study Guide Available
Preface
Note to Reader
A Note About Economics

Smart
1. Money: Coins and Paper
2. Tanstaafl, The Romans, and Us
3. Inflation
4. Dollars, Money, and Legal Tender
5. Revolutions, Elections, and Printing Presses
6. Wages, Prices, Spirals, and Controls
7. Wallpaper, Wheelbarrows, and Recessions
Boom and Bust Cycle Since the Civil War
8. Fast Money
History Repeats
9. Getting Rich Quick
10. The Boom and Bust Cycle
11. How Much is a Trillion?
The Roaring 90s
Federal Debt Chart
12. What's So Bad About the Federal Debt?
An Interesting Exercise
One Reason Governments Spend So Much
13. Summary
14. Where Do We Go From Here?
15. Natural Law and Economic Prosperity
Nations and Legal Systems

Appendix (not a complete listing)
Supply of Dollars Chart
Real Wages Chart
Quotes
Median Income Chart
The Oil Myth
How to Invest in Gold and Silver
Measures of Money Supply
The Truth About Inflation
Real Investment Value
Resources
Internet Addresses
Book Suppliers
Distilled Wisdom
Bibliography
Glossary
Answers to Exercises for Real Investment Value
Index

For Further Study (also available through Amazon.com)
Economics: A Free Market Reader
Contains articles by noted economists that expand on the concepts presented in Penny Candy. Study questions/answers included.

Capitalism for Kids
Explains the philosophy of entrepreneurship. Excellent information for both kids and adults. Includes a test to help kids determine if they have the personality to become an entrepreneur

Common Sense Business for Kids
Explains common sense strategies behind basic business principles. Gems of wisdom for the businessperson (young or experienced) conveyed through real-life stories and anecdotes. Though written with young people in mind, this book is engaging and beneficial for adults as well.

Whatever Happened to Justice? rev. ed.
Explains the common law model. Maybury says, "In my opinion, you and your family and friends will avoid a lot of trouble, and find success of every kind easier to achieve, if you adopt these two models, Austrian economics and common law. 'Penny Candy' explains the Economic model. Now, read 'Justice' for the Legal model. Underlying common law are two basic rules: 1) do all that you agreed to do and 2) do not encroach on other persons or their property."

Customer Reviews:

Good Intro.......2007-08-25

Good introduction to the value of money; or what government does to decrease the value of money. Written to be accessible to youth and does a good job of putting economic ideas into readable prose.

Focuses on Facts.......2007-08-17

This treasure of a book rises to the top amongst the scant Economics courses available for home education. Along with the Bluestocking Guide available to accompany it, Penny Candy provides all that is needed in a high school economics course and spares the reader the unnecessary fillers. Written in the creative format of correspondence letters, all the meaty issues are presented in a highly understandable writing style.

The Bluestocking Guide gives additional writings to amplify the chapters. Questions, essay assignments, and a list of supplemental movies and books make this a thorough and well-rounded course.

Even better than "Economics In One Lesson".......2006-06-27

I think this is the best book out there to help quickly spread a basic understanding of economics and therefore how the world works. The knowledge and importance per page ratio is the highest I have ever read. Even better than Harry Browne's intro to economics from his famous first 80 pages of "How you can profit from the coming devaluation" .

Pages 13 - 90 are the heart of the book. That is 77 pages that in less than 2 hours can take your average person from unfortunate ignorance to economic genius compared to your average economics college graduate.

Somehow someone needs to reach Bill Gates and Warren Buffet and get them to read this book and put a copy in every american household. That would really be the most charitable thing they could do.

Great Book on Money and Inflation.......2006-04-28

The great thing about this book is that it's a great explanation of inflation. The bad thing about this book is it's a great explanation of inflation. Yes, I said the same thing twice.

When it was first written-1978-inflation was the major thing in American economics. Today it is still a major threat-but the social urgency over it has declined as the rate of inflation has waned over the years. Yet, I still give this book a 5 star rating because understanding inflation requires explaining money. This book explains money better than any other book I've read.

Understanding money is VERY important. It is not only the key to explaining inflation, but it is the context in which almost all business activity plays out. A good understanding business requires understanding this context. This book does a great job a laying out that context.

The writing style is down to earth and simple. The book is short, very entertaining (for an economics book), and has clearly defined chapters. The author has some good illustrations. I don't really mean the expected graphical illustrations-although it has some of them too. I mean historical illustrations: stories of how societies have used (and abused) money in the past. These stories not only buttress the author's arguments, but also anchor the lessons in tangible human drama.

I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in learning economics and/or business.

What every American Needs to know.......2006-02-17

Absolutely marvelous and clearly explained! I am a science teacher certified to teach all the major science disciplines and have read many books concerning economics. This one trumps them all! Common sense is throughout.

Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into Texas (Bathroom Reader)

Average customer rating:

A bowl-side companion

Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into Texas (Bathroom Reader)

Manufacturer: Portable Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1592231128

Book Description

Especially for armchair (or throne room) travelers and trivia buffs, Uncle John has compiled over 300 pages of interesting stories, little known facts, and gossipy tidbits about the Lone Star State. This outsize state has no shortage of tall tales, colorful characters, and strange tourist attractions, and readers in any room in the house will be fascinated with the doings of Ima Hogg, George and George W., the Great Mosquito Festival, the first oil well, the Confederate Air Force, Larry McMurtry, LBJ, ZZ Top, Nolan Ryan, the Cadillac Ranch, the Dallas Cowboys (and Cowgirls), and much, much more.

Customer Reviews:

A bowl-side companion.......2006-01-31

The UNCLE JOHN'S BATHROOM READER series presents collections of one- and two- page trivia that are perfect for reading when diversion is required.

The PLUNGES INTO TEXAS volume focuses on a wide range of Texas lore, covering history, celebrity, food, politics, travel, and other bizarre bits of esoteric information. There are smidgens about the origin of Big Tex, the down-and-dirty personal life of Sam Houston, the ghostly cat who haunts the capitol, and the legality of dinning on road kill.

From LBJ to Red Adair to ZZ Top, stories about the movers and shakers of the Lone Star State offer the reader quick snippets to amuse and entertain while other business is at hand. No Texas home should be without it.

You Must Remember This (A William Abrahams Book)

Average customer rating:

A Great Oates Novel With a Touch of the Tawdry
Couldn't finish this book
Inconspicuous Virtuosity
A great read
The 1950's Is The Real Main Character

You Must Remember This (A William Abrahams Book)
Joyce Carol Oates
Manufacturer: Dutton Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0525245456

Book Description

Joyce Carol Oates's epic novel of an American family in the 1950's probes the tender division between the permissible and the forbidden, between ordinary life and the secret places of the heart. Set in an industrial, working-class town in upstate New York, this book chronicles the frustrating marriage of parents Lyle and Hannah; the idealistic political journey of son Warren, and the passionate, obsessive relationship that develops between 15-year-old Enid Maria and her uncle Felix, a professional boxer twice her age. While brilliantly re-creating a decade that worshipped conformity, You Must Remember This presents the lives of family members that break every convention in the search for meaning and fulfillment.

Customer Reviews:

A Great Oates Novel With a Touch of the Tawdry.......2007-09-03

This novel from 1987 by Oates hits many of Oates's strengths with a touch of Lolita or incest, but without the mental obsessions of Nabokov's famous novel. All in all, it is one of Oates's most interesting novels and I recommend the book.

Joyce Carol Oates was born in 1938 in upstate New York State and is a distinguished Professor of Humanities at Princeton. She gained fame with her first novel With Shuddering Fall in 1964. Now four decades later, she is the author of scores of novels, many short stories, essays, plays, and poetry. The present novel from 1987 is somewhere near the middle of the chronological order of her body of work and we see the polished prose of an experienced writer.

I have read a number of her works from different time periods in her career and set up a Guide to Joyce Carol Oates Listmania list. Compared to her early novels, this is a straightforward and almost a "light" read. It contains some drama but there are a few intense scenes, but less than in some other works. The novel has a good story structure and easy prose, and the reader is spared the "too much prose" found in some early works such as The Assassins. The read is mostly compelling.

Oates is known for her emotional and dramatic stories, often with women or even poor women such as students or teachers caught up in stressful situations, and often set in her native upstate New York (Niagara River - Syracuse - Erie,PA. triangle). Actually, some of her best work is found in her 10 to 20 page short stories, which are often dramatic, sometimes very intense, and many involve off-beat characters, and they include rapes, murders, and people with serious mental health issues, etc. People who have not read her collections of short stories should take a look at those. The present novel contains many of those off-beat elements. It is a story set in a town in upstate New York. The story is about a middle class family and their uncle, a retired fighter, who is about 20 years younger than the father. The father runs a used furniture store. The story is set in the post WII years and the fifties, and contains some political and social elements from that era including the development of nuclear weapons, peace protests, bomb shelters, the McCarthy hearings, citizens being arrested for being suspected communists, Cadillac cars with big fins, etc.

The story is mostly about the youngest daughter, Enid Stevick, who is a young teenage student and their flamboyant uncle aged 30 or so, Felix. As mentioned, he is their father Lyle's step brother. They live in the industrial port town of Orinskay, New York, a town similar to other American industrial towns on the Great Lakes.

This is a relatively compelling read, but lacks the intensity of some of Oates's short stories. As a work by Oates it is a well balanced and interesting work. It is about the characters and how they change as they age, and particularly but not exclusively the interaction of Uncle Felix and Enid. This is one of her better novels, on par with We Were The Mulvaneys, a more recent novel.

Couldn't finish this book.......2007-09-01

I wanted to like "You Must Remember This" especially after reading all the great reviews + the plot sounded interesting. I couldn't finish the book . It got boring. Maybe I'm just going through a "reader's block" spell where I can't get into anything I read.
Something about the way the story was written was dull.

Inconspicuous Virtuosity.......2006-04-29

I read this novel many years ago, and remain to this day struck by the author's ability to: (1) place herself inside the bodies and personas of her characters; (2) to narrate the passage of events-- and her characters' subjective responses to those events-- from within the perspective of those personas, and (3) to depict the makeup of her characters-- especially of their darker sides-- as both inherently human and as embodiments of the environment that shaped these individuals.

More specifically, I've never encountered a female author who could so convincingly assume a male identity and point of view-- not only psychologically, but even bodily and kinesthetically-- and had the technical skill to bring it to life through the pages of a novel. THAT is an astounding achievement and alone makes this novel worth reading.

Not less noteworthy is this novel's depiction of time and place-- both in history and on a map, as well as within the collective American psyche.

I think I may revisit this book soon ...

A great read.......2006-01-18

Joyce Carol Oates does it again in this poignant book. Highly recommended.

The 1950's Is The Real Main Character.......2005-08-28

Oates, my favorite writer, refuses to give in to those who would have us think the 1950's were a placid, contented decade of plenty for everyone. In truth they were fraught with perils, economic and social, and under the surface of post-war calm, the decade boiled with tensions that underlay the fears of the American psyche. In these pages, behind the tale of an incestuous love story of a teenaged niece and her half-uncle, a boxer who might merit a title shot, is the Red Scare, the fear of the bomb, the social intolerance of McCarthyism, and the terror of the consequences of straying from the norms the American culture had set.

My favorite scene in this book, and also its most frustrating, is when the father of the family at the heart of this energetic, moody novel, is taken into custody and ruthlessly interrogated by governmental agents, after he is reported for possible "Red sympathies". The cause of this detention? The man had opened an atlas at his store to show an ignorant, argumentative "true blue red-blooded patriotic American" that China, against which the US was at war in Korea at that time, was geographically larger than the United States.

In the '50's, that could be all it took to ruin someone's life.

You Must Remember This IS also the tale of a secret sexual affair between a teenage girl and her own father's half-brother. It begins with one of the most compelling and addicting ten pages in literature, as the girl undertakes a suicide attempt in her family's presence, in the dead of night. This action funnels any worthy reader in for at least the next hundred pages, at which point it becomes too late to turn back: Oates has already woven her spell.

You Must Remember This does not set out to be all things to all readers, but in its tale of tragic love, political intimidation and nuclear fears infiltrating the country's subconscious, it is very nearly that.

World War I: The Rest of the Story and How It Affects You Today, 1870 to 1935 (Uncle Eric Book)

Average customer rating:

Taught me more about US history than any course in school.

World War I: The Rest of the Story and How It Affects You Today, 1870 to 1935 (Uncle Eric Book)
Rick J. Maybury , and Jane A. Williams
Manufacturer: Bluestocking Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0942617428
Release Date: 2003-08-01

Product Description

The explosion of the battleship Maine in Havana Harbor in 1898 was the beginning of a chain reaction that continues today. Mr. Maybury presents an idea-based explanation of the First World War. He focuses on the ideas and events that led to World War I, events during the war, and how they led to World War II. Includes the ten deadly ideas that lead to war.

Can be used for courses in World History, U.S. History, International Relations, Economics, Business, Finance, and Government.

This is part one of a two-part series on the world wars. For part two, search for "World War II: The Rest of the Story and How It Affects You Today" also available through Amazon.com

To improve the student's learning experience, also purchase the student study guide for "World War I" titled "A Bluestocking Guide: World War I" also available through Amazon.com.

Table of Contents for "World War I"
Uncle Eric's Model of How the World Works
Author's Disclosure
Cast of Characters
Timeline

1. The 58-Year Persecution
2. The Grim Statistics
3. Is Now the Time to Learn About War?
4. First Ideas, Then Battles
5. Whose Truth?
6. Why We Fight
7. Conquest Creates Weakness Not Strength
8. Typical Garden-Variety Wars
9. Deadly Ideas Lead to War
10. The Pax Romana
11. Fascism
12. What Date Did the World Wars Begin?
13. Franco-Prussian War
14. Ancient German Ambitions
15. Political Power
16. Global Protection
17. Interests
18. Cost Externalization
19. Manifest Destiny
20. The Splendid Little War
21. Guerrilla War
22. Guerrilla War Examples
23. Never Surrender
24. Killing Women
25. Take No Prisoners
26. The White Man's Burden & The Ugly American
27. The Great White Fleet
28. Up Close and Personal
29. The First Casualty of War
30. Stealing Panama
31. Helping Crooks and Tyrants
32. The Usual Suspects
33. Boxer Rebellion and Russo-Japanese War
34. Choosing Up Sides
35. The Morocco Crisis
36. Alliances
37. The Glory of War
38. America's Entry Into World War I
39. The Third Choice Ignored
40. They Will Fight Over Anything
41. The Treaty of Versailles
42. The Sound of Reloading
43. Hitler's Rise
44. U.S. Invades Russia
45. Desperation and the Neutrality Act
46. Summary

Appendix
Quotes About War
Bibliography and Suggested Reading
Suggested Viewing
Glossary
Index

Index of Maps
Map of Europe 1914
Old World New World Map
Europe showing France and Austria-Hungry in 1870
Areas Conquered by European Regimes
Switzerland in the World Wars
Conquests of the Christian European Powers
China's Territory Held by Invaders in 1897
Morocco Crisis Map
Map of the Balkans
Major Mutinies Map

Customer Reviews:

Taught me more about US history than any course in school........2004-04-17

This book treats history as an interconnected series of cause and effect, unlike the "isolated events" approach that your high school teacher used.

The spine of the book is Maybury's Ten Deadly Ideas That Lead to War:
1. Pax Romana
2. Fascism
3. Love of political power
4. Global protection
5. "Interests"
6. Cost externalization
7. Manifest Destiny
8. The White Man's Burden (now Washington DC's Burden)
9. Alliances
10. The glory of war

Some other things I found interesting about the book:
- People often say that there is no way to win a guerilla war. Maybury shows that there is a way, and the US Government used it to win the war in the Philippines.
- Who made the first move of aggression, the US Government or Japan?
- How did the US Government get the land to build the Panama Canal?
- Why were the German people so supportive of Hitler after WWI?
- Why was the US Government (particularly Woodrow Wilson) responsible for prolonging WWI and creating the conditions for WWII.

Maybury draws a distinct difference between America as a country and the US Government and he states that unfortunately "patriotism" is often seen as support for one's government instead of love for one's country. It reminds me of GK Chesterson remarking that "My country right or wrong" was like saying, "My mother drunk or sober."

After reading this book, you'll never be able to hear phrases like "make the world safe for democracy" and "project power" again without feeling nauseous. Maybury shows how the propaganda for interventionism developed in the late 19th century and has continued up to the present. It's amazing how much Bush's current rhetoric sounds like Woodrow Wilson's before WWI.

Maybury describes the book as "anti-war letters written by an extreme militarist." He does not take the view of Orwell's pacifist who thinks that the enemy will treat him well because he did not put up a fight. But he also is not ready to fight other nations' wars and get involved with their land grabs. "The best defense is a good offense" is only true when you're keeping score on the football field, not when you're talking about killing people.

Some people get indignant at the phrase "American Empire," but a quick look at history shows how accurate it is. Only God knows how much longer we'll be able to keep the wolf by the ears.

Average customer rating:

Uncle Eric

Excellent Personal and Practical Advise For Financial Security

Short and sweet

Maybury plants the seed of curiosity and makes you want more

Uncle Eric Talks About Personal, Career, and Financial Security (An Uncle Eric Book)
Richard J. Maybury
Manufacturer: Bluestocking Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? A Fast, Clear, and Fun Explanation of the Economics You Need For Success in Your Career, Business, and Investments (An Uncle Eric Book)

The Money Mystery: The Hidden Force Affecting Your Career, Business, and Investments (An Uncle Eric Book)

Whatever Happened to Justice? (An Uncle Eric Book)

Are You Liberal? Conservative? Or Confused? (An Uncle Eric Book)

Ancient Rome: How It Affects You Today (An Uncle Eric Book.)

ASIN: 094261738X
Release Date: 2004-04-01

Product Description

In this extensively revised and expanded second edition of "Uncle Eric Talks About Personal, Career, and Financial Security", Uncle Eric introduces the concept of model. Models (or paradigms) are how people think; they are how we understand our world. Models help us recognize and use the information that is important and bypass that which is not. To achieve success in our careers, investments, and every other part of our lives, we need sound models. In this book, Mr. Maybury introduces the models he has found most useful (Economics and Higher Law). This is the first book in the Uncle Eric series and, while designed to stand alone, provides an excellent foundation for Maybury's other books. To improve the student's learning experience, also purchase the student study guide for "Uncle Eric Talks About Personal, Career, and Financial Security" titled "A Bluestocking Guide: Building a Personal Model for Success", which is also available from Amazon.com.

Table of Contents for Uncle Eric Talks About Personal, Career, and Financial Security

Uncle Eric's Model of How the World Works
Study Guide Availble
Author's Disclosure

Part One: How the Mind Works
1. How We Understand Our World
2. Building Mental Pictures
3. Sorting Data
4. Where is the Evidence?
5. How to Learn or Teach Models
6. Two Highly Important Models
7. History Without Models
8. A Model for Selecting Models
9. Does it Predict?
10. A Way to Test a Model You Are Not Qualified to Test
11. Beware of Tautology
12. How to Control People
13. Cognitive Dissonance
14. How to Stop Learning
15. Automatic Evil
16. Models Tend to Merge
17. How to Get Started Learning Models

Part Two: The Best Model for Success
18. What is Success?
19. A Short History of Models for Success
20. Another Mouth to Feed
21. A Model Born of Desperation
22. Making Your Model Work
23. How to Acquire a Business
24. What Kind of Millionaire Do You Want to Be?
25. Savings and Investments
26. Social Security
27. Real Estate and Debt
28. Investment Advisors
29. Negative Real Interest Rates
30. How to Keep What You Have Earned
31. Summary

Appendix
Bibliography and Suggested Reading
Glossary
About Richard J. Maybury
Index

For more on the Economic model, read "Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?" The clearest and most interesting explaination of economics around. Explains the Austrian economic model, the most free-market of all economic models, and the one that is most in agreement with the ethical principles on which America was founded.

For more on the Legal model, read "Whatever Happened to Justice?" Explains the common law model. Underlying common law are two basic rules: 1) do all that you agreed to do and 2) do not encroach on other persons or their property. Maybury says, "In my opinion, you and your family and friends will avoid a lot of trouble, and find success of every kind easier to achieve, if you adopt these two models, Austrian economics and common law."

Customer Reviews:

Uncle Eric.......2005-10-14

Best Book I've ever read on Economics. Should be in every school system.

Excellent Personal and Practical Advise For Financial Security.......2005-08-20

Maybury begins in discussing mental models or paradigms and how all data we obtain used to support or work with our internal models and how everyone has them and the failure of many educators to understand when obtaining data. We build models, sort data and there's an excellent outline of rules to weigh the evidence. Rather than simply trust the experts, we need to look more towards the hard sciences at least in business and financial security. Now to learn and teach models, in many cases simple stories are more effective than technical data.

Two important models of Maybury are the Austrian economics, which can be read in F.A. Hayek's book, "The Road to Serfdom" and Ludwig von Mises, "Planned Chaos," and the model of old British common law, which can be read in Maybury's "What Ever Happen To Justice." While most educations do not include models, the advice is to determine models, and in doing so, Maybury gives excellent advice or steps to obtain one and gathering evidence and a working hypothesis. I've read just about the same method in a more philosophical tone by others such as Ken Wilber and find this significant advice. And see if the model predicts to some accuracy and that it can be tested against other models you already do know.

The warning is given to avoid tautology and circular reasoning, which many fall prey to. To watch our for cognitive dissonance or emotional blockage to anyone that challenges your model and to always refrain from absolutism and certainty so you can refrain from the trap of cognitive dissonance with the flexibility and ability to grow in paradigm shifts or model changes. When noticing bad and/or evil actions it is the model behind the actions and data that you need to question. The idea here is that models can merge and become integral as in alchemy and wisdom. In this the LLC or limited liability company represents a bad model, an artificial privilege at the expense of others and distorts the stock markets.

Then there is excellent advice on how to acquire helpful models in business and personal character. And since the prosperous employee model has since folded from today's large government and taxes, owning a business can more advantageous, as well as a college degree, developing skills, staying clear from dept., owning assets free from debts, that is better to own a smaller estate free from debt that a large one in high credit, recognizing investments average 4% for stability, investing in short term, watching the world situations for stability, and most important is never to assume your models are complete, always be ready to refine them and consider new models.

Short and sweet.......2002-08-19

This is the kind of book you'll want your kids to read. It's short, sweet and simple. Maybury points out how we build mental "models" to understand the world. The two best ones for economics and law (and the ones that Maybury uses) are the Austrian School of Economics and the British Common Law. Essentially they're two sides of the same coin, so they reinforce each other. If you understand the basics of both of these models, then you'll have a leg up on 99% of the people in the world in understanding how things work. You'll be doing your children a great favor by teaching these models to your them. They certainly won't learn them in public schools, which pour masses of facts into students heads but don't tell them how to related them to each other, and the world. Maybury shows you how to correct this major--and tragic--error in education.

Maybury plants the seed of curiosity and makes you want more.......2002-07-29

Do not confuse the 3 star rating with a negative evaluation. Quite the opposite is true. However when reading a series like this one must put them all into perspective.

I thouroughly enjoyed this book. It was just too short, it was overpriced for the length of the text and it is simply the tip of a much larger iceburg of political, social and historical thought that makes you close it saying "is that all there is, I want more, give me MORE!" Very well done actually, because it draws you into the other eight books in the series, and if you do not have them I highly recommend getting them all before you start.

I began by reading Mr. Maybury's "Are you Liberal or Conservative, or just confused?" Which I rated at five stars and was instantly hooked. I ordered the rest of the collection (the other eight) in one batch so as to get them all together so I could get started reading them in his recommended sequence as soon as possible.

This book however was no more than an hour read or so and left me starving and anxious to get into the rest of the soup.

His books are actualy fun to read and easily pull you into the world of "Uncle Eric." His considerable talents to educate, fasincate and bring the subject down to a desktop level of understanding, helping you to contemplate what was, what is and what should be in poltics, the economy, morality, education, justice and many other subjects is refreshing.

I have since moved on to "What ever happened to penny candy?" and am just as captivated by it as the last two. This first book sets the basic foundation for all his others, which is that there are models out there that we each react to. Regardless if it is moral, social, poltical, educational, family life, community standards and the like. There are good ones and there are bad ones. There are historically proven models and there are new age individuals who want to tear many of the existing models down and rebuild them sort of speak in their own image or opinion of how things should be. This can be good or it can be devistating on our citizenry and our children. So it is vitally important to understand models in general and to create beneficial models for ourselves and society. Needless to say we are not doing very well in many areas, but fair in others.

In any case this is the starting line and the finish line is eight books away. I highly recommend Mr. Maybury's books for anyone from any background, persuasion and/or political party. If nothing else they make you think. Aristotle said, or was it Socrates? In any case one of them said, "an unexamined life is not worth living," so read these books and ponder his simple assertions against your own beleifs and ideals.

I understand he is writing more books along this same line about the world Wars and such, for our future enjoyment, I will more than likely order them as well.