John Reed Books

I thought this was going to be a book of funny and interesting items about the south and southerners. What it turned out to be is a text book! I tossed it into the trash, but pulled it back out so I can donate it to Goodwill.

John Shelton Reed does it again in this hilarious book. I have finally become addicted to his writing which is some of the most accurate and funny I have seen in quite some time, since I have been in academia for most of my life now. Anyone living in the South or those who have left and remember it well (like myself) will love this gem of a book.

I am from Brooklyn, New York and spent four years in a rural Virginia town. I was informed I was the third Jew to have lived in the town. Too bad, this book didn't exist when I lived down there. I just read it and couldn't put the book down and stop laughing. I learned about Professor Reed from the book Culture Shock USA, The South. An invaluble book for those who want to do business with Southerners, or move down there and become "Damn Yankees" (as my Alabama cousins call them). (You know you are liked, when you are promoted to Damn Yankee). To the reviewer from Birmingham, England. Explore the South and enjoy!

A Brit like me needs all the help he can get when it comes to understanding the South - and John Shelton Reed is the man to supply it. Readers may find the review from a reader in Vermont a little misleading - this book is not written for laughs although it is often very amusing. Reed is no Bill Bryson - but neither is Bryson a John Shelton Reed.

The book is a wonderful collection of short esssays that illuminate and explain "Southern-ness". Pinning down Southern characteristics - or indeed even where "The South" begins and ends - is like trying to nail Jell-O to a wall. However, that does not prevent Reed making the attempt with humor and considerable scholarship.

Most of the chapters have previously appeared in journals or are based on such papers. Reed's tone is light and entertaining even though the underlying purpose is serious. Perhaps the most overtly scholarly is the opening chapter that deals with the geographical extent of "The South". It is well adorned with plates taken from a very wide range of academic journals showing the incidence in the contiguous states of various factors suspected of reflecting Southern-ness. All the usual suspects are here: self-perception, cotton cultivation, incidence of lynchings, members of Baptist chruches, and 'Southern Living' readers. However, Reed has other less familiar indicators of Southern-ness such as where kudzu grows, ratio of active dentists to population, states mentioned in country-music lyrics, ratio of homicides to suicides, or chapters of the Kappa Alpha order.

It makes for fascinating reading and a shifting pattern of where the South is. Other chapters deal with such disparate issues as the depiction of Southern women in Playboy magazine, violence in country music, the Southern diaspora, and life and leisure in the New South. Reed's real achievement is to disguise his scholarship as an entertaining and informative read.

This is a very different kind of book from Reed's 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About the South. That was more an eclectic collection of facts, both familiar and unfamiliar, grouped loosely around broad themes. It was more for dipping into than reading straight through. The present book is more limited in its aims and obliquely explores a few specific questions in greater depth.

All in all, this is an immesely enjoyable book that is full of surprising revelations about the nature of Southern-ness. Some of the material on which it is based is getting a little dated (the bulk of sources are from the 1970s and early 1980s) and we can only hope that Reed is moved to bring out a new edition.

When a man in one of 'the dirtiest businesses' (copyright Ian Brown) around, manages to come out the other end of 20-odd years of it, after three sucessful incarnations, countless hit singles and albums, and still has his integrity intact, what better subject for a bio can you get.

As for the book, the author remains unobtrusive in the story telling, which helps no end (see the Stone Roses bio) in the reading.

A great (continuing) story, parts of which have been well told before (A Beat Concerto, Mr Cool's Dream), but sucessfully well told again.

I have been a fan of the enigmatic musical and lyrical creations of Paul Weller for quite some time. His second band - The Style Council - put out some great music and perhaps more significantly did so in a way that defied categorization and confused mainstream US audiences outside of the coasts.

This book is exhaustingly detailed, and looks at his career with the Jam, his Style Council days, and his solo work, with a level of inside detail not seen elsewhere. We have details about his political leanings and often misguided attempts at making political statements against Thatcher's England. The truth behind the self effacing humor that gave rise to the multitude of artsy and socially leading publicity and album shots is included, which everyone apparently took way too seriously and in the process missed the joke.

However, what are missing are the real insights from the artist himself. Of that we see very little. One is left with the continuing impression we are on the outside looking in. Aside from the smattering of quotes, the book is more a retrospective and journalistic report "on" Weller, as opposed to a book "about" Weller, or "by" him. This distinction was disappointing in that I expected it to be more autobiographical than it was.

Overall, a great oversight of his career, but for fans only. There are too few insights into the person behind the music to appeal to the average reader. While the content is exceptionally well written, researched and compiled, it will in the end likely please a narrow population of those already interested in the details.

I feel that it behooves anyone with impeccable taste to seek out and listen to the essential recordings of the subject of this book. Paul Weller is a remarkable songwriter, a fine musician and an involuntary icon. Reed's product of research articulately underscores these points and also sheds light on other attributes. As an American, it's tough to find other "enlightened" individuals-however, those who have been exposed to Weller's body of work have subsequnetly become converts. In short, if you consider yourself a well-versed appreciator of excellent contemperary music and haven't heard of Paul Weller, I highly recommend that you seek out his recordings and read books like this one.

From the moment I picked this book up, I couldn't put it down again (which was hard because it's really heavy). It's packed with more detail than an encyclopedia and is an absolute must for any Weller fan. Reed's writing talents are clear and focused, his use of descriptive imagery immaculate and the research that went into this book is exemplary. Though Weller doesn't talk directly to the author, the book is incredibly well written and includes hundreds of quotes here from friends, family and the Modfather himself to enrich and complement Reed's excellent biography. There's not much more I can say except go out and buy it!

This is a very detailed but also a very complete description of what we know of how the Tetons were formed.
I expect to take it, or pages into the Tetons to help me better understand what I'm seeing on my next trip. The Tetons are some of the most beautiful landscape out there and David Love is one of the most knowledgeable geologists around.
There are about 60 pictures and graphics and they reference specific areas. I'm looking forward to finding as many of the places as I can, and see how much I can learn.
I'm reading Annals of the Former World by McPhee who references this book and the complete descriptions and many pictures and graphics have helped me not only understand what David Love is saying but better appreciate the McPhee text

I have to agree with the previous reviewer. Creation of the Teton Landscape by David Love is a wonderful book in terms of illustrations and describing the massive earth forces that have produced the Grand Teton Range and Jackson Hole. There is a good description and illustrations of the plate movements and erosion that have created one of the best mountain vistas in the United States.

The book goes on and becomes very thorough in its description of geology and plate techtonics in shaping the earth. Probably too technical for the average reader interested in just learning more about how the Tetons were formed. If you're interested in geology, however, this is a pretty good tome.

This book does exactly what it says it will do. The authors are three senior geologists with extensive experience studying Jackson Hole and the Teton Range. The authors intend this book for a general audience, and it is full of many beautiful pictures of the geology of the area. It also includes many helpful diagrams, and will enrich your visit to the area.

The authors do a very good job explaining the most obvious features: the Teton fault, glaciation, moraines, and the like. However, this is of limited usefulness since these features are explained in many other sources, from National Park Service handouts to other guides. Beyond those simple features, they also provide a good explanation of a few other geologic features - the - Absaroka volcanic field, Potholes and other channelways, to name a few.

Unfortunately, they gradually lose sight of their target audience in much of the middle parts, providing too much geologic description for the general reader. For example, the later chapters might describe certain rock layers in the region and then stop. At that point, the reader needs the author to say what the implications of these layers are for what the layman sees.

In short, the second half of the book would doubtless be useful for an undergraduate field trip to the region but it isn't helpful for the lay tourist. It needs a lot more story telling, and I can only hope that the second paperback edition provides that.

This is clearly an examination done by a sociologist. His previous works demonstrate what the reader ought to anticipate. He has done useful research in bringing PH pamphlets to light, but reinterprets the Ritual movement in terms of something akin to the 1960's protest movement of counter culture. It might provide some soclological insight to 'some' followers of ritualism but it says nothing about the heart, mind, soul, and theology of the leaders. It falls far short of giving an apologetic, history, and theology to ritualism

High church? Evangelical? Broad church? As a relatively recent (4 years) member of the Reformed Episcopal Church, these terms have been a matter of both great interest and great confusion to me. Reed's book is a terrific history of the Anglo-Catholic movement in England, but touches many other bases along the way. His prose is lucid, his style humerous. This book was difficult to put down except during periods of helpless laughter. It should be of use to any Anglican wishing to become better informed about the history and development of our "via media."

In the Spring 1915, the American journalist John Reed and a companion took an extended trip to Eastern Europe. They began their trip in Serbia, which had recently repulsed two Austro-Hungarian invasions. Reed then moved onto the Galician Front. This was not a good time to be on the Russian side of the disintegrating Front. The Russian armies were in retreat and Reed was never able to reach the front lines. In order to get permission to visit the front, he travelled to St. Petersburg and Moscow. He was held as a spy and never received his accreditation. Unsucessful in this endeavor, Reed returned home via Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece.

One generally reads these types of journalistic accounts to get an up close account of the Great War. Unfortunately, Reed never really makes it to the front lines. Most of the book takes place on railway cars and various Grand Hotels. His book is rich in period details and atmosphere but he never really gets to cover the main story. I loved John Reed's "Insurgent Mexico" and "Ten Days that Shook the World". Unfortunately, "The War in Eastern Europe" is not of the same quality.

John Reed is also the author of the much more famous 'Ten Days that Shook the World' about the Russian Revolution, which was the base of the same movie with Warren Beatty.

'War in Eastern Europe' is a impressionist account of the fighting in Serbia late 1915 and, after having traversed neutral Romania, of the characteristics of the Russian Army fighting the Austrians and Germans. What I really liked was that the book was great on atmosphere, less on historical fact.
I concluded that Reed must have landed with thte first troops at Saloniki and travelled north all the way up to Belgrade immediately, sharing with us vivid description of a confident Serb Army (WW1 Serbian Army is a favourite subject of mine, so I'm partial) holding off the Austrians with superb disdain, only weeks before the German/Austrian onslaught forced it to withdraw out of Belgrade, South, over the Albanian mountians to Corfu. After visiting the front at Belgrade Reed crosses over into neutral Roumania and through to Russia where he runs into very colourful, inventive and likeable Russians, many of whom seem not afraid at all to take on the German military powerhouse, in spite of some earlier setbacks, confident that in the end the inexhaustable Mother Russia will prevail.
I enjoyed every page of it.

This book thoroughly explains each commonly used electrotherapy modality, the physiological indications for its use, and gives thorough guidelines and principles for the dosage and application of each.

It is presented in traditional textbook style and makes use of clear diagrams and graphs to aid one's understanding of concepts. After reading each chapter you will be able to apply principles in a logical way to decide on appropriate treatment for your patient's specific condition.

It is however not an "quick reference" book where you can quickly find the dosage to use for a particular modality. The book is aimed at giving the reader a thorough understanding of why and how to use a chosen modality and would not be easy to use at a glance in a busy practice.

Recommended for students and those with time to read chapters thoroughly.

This is a great little book, full of photographs and detailed descriptions. It also seems to be the only guide to New Zealand alpine flora I could find. It is a little bit dated in publication but of course the plants haven't changed much in my lifetime!

You can currently buy this book at John's website for $29.95 NEW. Let this be your first lesson in finance.

This book is a good beginners guide to how to use this older version of Cobol. I have used it in the past and it seems to explain how to do the most of the functions that I needed to do. However, the software that it describes in the book only runs well on a Windows 3.1x machine and not well on anything newer than that. But the book does do a good job of explaining the software.

Perhaps you can get an appreciation for the complexities of language, and why language makes us human, by seeing what happens when children have problems with it. Reed describes in detail the numerous types of learning disabilities that a teacher can face.

Some kids might have underdeveloped lexical accumulations, giving rise to a sparse vocabulary and diminished knowledge. They might fixate on literal meanings of some words. Other kids could possess poor word retrieval.

Of course, all difficulties with spoken languages invariably ripple through to problems with writing. The foundations of writing stem from those for speech. Various countermeasures are suggested; ie. remedial pedagogies that have been tried by researchers and educators.