Cultural Books

Young provides a comprehensive account of the emergence of postcolonial theory and history. This book is remarkably easy to read and well worth having in any collection on postcolonialism.

This book is completely different in scope from any other introduction to postcolonialism. There is no other book that compares with it. What is innovative about `Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction' is the way in which Young for the first time traces, in great detail, the historical origins of post-colonialism to the anti-colonial movements. He shows how the earliest of these began in Europe itself during the times of the great imperial expansions, but were then superseded by indigenous movements which were particularly inspired by the appearance of the first state dedicated to the overthrow of western imperialism, Bolshevik Russia.

Young demonstrates, however, that what was characteristic of these anticolonial movements was the way in which they integrated Marxist critiques of colonialism with their own specific local cultures and social conditions (particularly, in the case of many colonies, the impoverished lives of the landless peasantry). In three brilliant chapters, Young shows how the situation in India was markedly different from that of most other colonies, particularly as a result of the influence of India's foremost anticolonial activist, Gandhi. This different history, he suggests, partly accounts for why much of contemporary postcolonial theorising has emerged from India. In a fascinating chapter on the role of women in the anti-colonial movements, Young argues that in many ways postcolonial theory has elaborated revolutionary ideas first developed by subaltern women activists during the colonial period.

Overall, this made me rethink my whole attitude to postcolonialism, showing me how it is fundamentally the product of over a century of `third world' political activism that has been engaged in rethinking as well as contesting the ideologies of western dominance. It is striking that while there are many books on colonialism and imperialism, this is the first book to provide a history of the anticolonial movements and to analyse their achievements. One long-term goal of many anti-colonial intellectual-activists was to revolutionise thinking in the academy - a process that is now on-going through the intervention of postcolonial theory itself.

Highly recommended.

There are other books on postcolonialism, but this one stands head and shoulders above them. Unlike other postcolonial writers, Young does not treat postcolonialism as one long ideological debate. All the ones I've read tend to focus on the ideas of Fanon, Said, Spivak, Bhabha while ignoring the social movements and individuals whose struggles against colonialism make the discussion possible. Actually, Fanon is the exception here, but that only proves the rule. Young traces the rise of anticolonial movements and ideologies and their development into postcolonialism. As Young shows, the anticolonialists of the early 20th century didn't simply provide a starting point for later thinkers, but took positions which are still influential today.

Young is the only author I've seen who even broaches the role of the Comintern. He does and excellent job portraying the Comintern's attempt to develop a coherent policy towards anticolonial struggles without glossing over its contradictions. Young also expands his scope to include those not ususally discussed in studies of postcolonialism: Mariartegui, Cabral,Cesaire, even James Connolly. My only disagreement is with his assessment of Gandhi. Young puts forth a creative interpretation of Gandhi's tactics and their effects, particularly in destabilizing meanings. I, however, disagree with the idea that such tactics led to the liberation of India, but that's a whole other discussion.

Overall, this is an excellent introduction to the topic which covers far more ground than any other book in the field.

This book shows both the advantages and disadvantages of the survey approach to postcolonial studies. As an overview it a valuable introduction to the historical impact the various forms of imperial rule and its aftermath had in a wide variety of locations but the best studies concentrate on one specific location at a time. Postcolonial theory is also best understood in specific context as each regions history largely determines the theory that has grown within and been responsive to its specific circumstance. Thus theory as practiced in West Africa is sharply distinct from that practiced in the Caribbean or India. The comparative survey form has the advantage of being in the best position to register global movements and historical shifts but also presents the danger of reenacting colonization by presenting a collection of exotic settings and circumstance for study in the academic setting which leads to some of the criticism of postcolonial studies and theory in particular as radical chic, ie refashioning the third world in terms that make it interesting for consumption by western intelligentsia. Recent work in the field presents an additional danger of giving the postcolonial the postmodern treatment, a convenient alliance of posts which may serve the academic communitys need for perpetual reformulation, but a perilously reductive approach. Good completely competent introduction, though there are at least four or five other choices in this category which cover the same ground.

I have been enjoying Robert Young's writing since his 1990 White Mythologies and 1995 Colonial Desire. These works are excellent critical writings covering theories of postcolonialist critics. This work (Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction) is a magnum opus covering the entire field of postcolonial study from Colonialism, Imperialism, Neocolonialism to Postcolonialism. If there is one book you want to have on postcolonialism, this is it. Only be sure that you will be guided by Young's encyclopedic mind through difficult and even uncharted areas of study. Young is no stranger to theory and he ends his book again with a section devoted to postcolonial criticism. He does not merely recap what we already know about Foucault, Said, Bhabha, Spivak, but explores how their thoughts interrelate and often influence each other directly. What is more, he situates all of this in direct relation to the leading chapters of the volume which helps the reader maintain a broad schematic view while slowly filling in the details. I found especially rewarding his demonstration of the lines that lead from Gandhi to Nandy to Bhabha, and also the line that leads (not unproblematically) from Foucault to Edward Said. Comparisons are made between the thought of Frantz Fanon and Nandy in order to lead the reader to form a clearer understanding of Bhaba's evolving concept of hybridity. Though this book is not as literary-oriented as Young's Colonial Desire, it will prove helpful background to that work. Also very noteworthy is his attention to women's voices within postcolonialism. On the whole this volume is a very worthwhile investment and I might add, a required reading for anyone interested in postcolonialism. Although there are some areas that invite disagreement, on the whole the book is not polemical in tone but consistently factual and historical.

It's impossible for us today to imagine what a frightening proposition it must've been in the mid-19th century to sell your eastern farm or business and prepare to head west to start a new life. Maps were unreliable, distances were staggering, and stories about wild animals and Indians sobering. It wasn't quite like stepping off the edge of the world, but it probably seemed like it to many greenhorns.

So in 1859, Captain Randolph Marcy, under orders from the Department of War, wrote The Prairie Traveler. Marcy, who would later serve as a Brigadier in the Civil War, was an accomplished traveler in the west, and his guidebook was packed with useful information for the determined but inexperienced pioneer taking either the northern overland trail to Oregon or the southern Sante Fe one to California.

The book is great reading--and, not infrequently, helpful even today for the camper when it comes to advice about improvising shelter or lighting a fire from damp wood. For the mid-19th century reader, it provides essential tips on provisions, wagon-packing and animal-care, first aid (large doses of whiskey are the best remedy for rattlesnake bite), identifying good water (alkaline ponds are surrounded by yellow-reddish grass), improvisation (red willow bark is a good substitute for tobacco), collapsible camp furniture, and gun safety. The food section is especially interesting. Marcy recommends carrying lots of dried vegetables (one ounce of dry vegetables, when wettened, equals an entire ration), "cold flour," a concoction of flour, cinammon, and sugar which, when mixed with a bit of water, provides a pick-me-up (not unlike today's energy bar), and jerked meat (no need for salt; the prairie sun will dry buffalo strips in short order). He also provides a rather gruesome recipe for pemmican (powdered buffalo meat saturated in raw buffalo fat, sown up in a hide bag with the hair turned outwards).

Marcy distrusts and indeed actively dislikes Plains Indians, although he admires Delawares and Shawnees, and writes quite warmly of a Delaware friend of his named Black Beaver. So he spends a fair number of pages warning prairie travelers to be wary of approaching Indians. To better prepare them, he teaches the rudiments of sign language, teaches how to track Indians (scattered mustang manure rather than whole mustang manure indicates Indians on the move rather than just a wild mustang herd), and gives detailed instructions on how to sleep with cocked and primed rifles. It never seems to occur to Marcy that Plains Indians were a diverse group, or that their animosity might've had more to do with the white pioneers' presence than with the natural meanness he attributes to them.

A fascinating read!

Read this book and you will view things a bit differently on your next drive. As you effortlessly drive across a bridge over a river at 65 MPH, your thoughts may well travel back to Captain Marcy's advice on how to cross a river with wagons pulled by mule-team.

This book is essential to any author, movie director or Living Historian who wants to "get it right". THE PRAIRIE TRAVELER is chock-full of information about overland travel in the mid-19th century, and covers almost any possible, practical, useful subject related to wilderness travel. Although it is written in 1850's American English, it is actually a fairly easy read with very little "culture shock".

For those of you with the cerebral agility to remove the mental straight-jacket of "Political Correctness", THE PRAIRIE TRAVELER will accurately picture the Frontier society as it existed at the time. It was a very good society in most ways, with the limitations that 19th century people were born into and educated with. Those pioneers did advance themselves, bit-by-bit, away from the limitations they were born into, and the result is the 21st Century America we live in today. We stand on their shoulders, advanced as far as we are today, because of the small advances they made in their generation.

A 21st century man condemning a 19th century man for being the product of his times reflects the mental and educational limitations of the 21st century man.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and bought some for friends who like history. The reading is easy, though you will find a dictionary helpful with some of the archaic words. I have relatives who crossed the prairie in 1848 to California; I have a much better understanding of what the trip must've been like.
For those who love American history, esp. the old west I highly recommend this book

A good insight into the mind of an inhabitant of the new world in the 1800s. Very unpolitically correct to the point of being amusing (section on 'Indians'). I read this book on a long camping tour and liked in a lot. There are some sections that are more like lists, and arenot as interesting, but you can skip over them.

A fascinating assemblage of facts and information for the overland emigrant of the mid-1800's to successfully complete the long, arduous journey to the west coast. Captain Marcy includes everything one can possibly imagine: from types of wagons, livestock, food, provisions and medicines to fording rivers, selection of campsites, types of saddles, packing, tracking, guides, guards, etc. and habits of Indians. The itineraries at the end of the book detail the mileages, availability of water, grass, wood, road conditions, etc. along several different routes to the Pacific. With our many modern day conveniencies traveling across the country, we tend to dismiss the hardships and sacrifices our pioneers endured while traversing the continent. This little book puts it all into focus.

This books collects many of Patrick Califia's writings from the late 1970s through the early 90s and is a real jewel of a book. I recommend the newest edition, publish in the early 2000s that includes a new introduction and new essay on the most controversial topic in the book that is well worth reading for it shows the evolution of Califia's thought on an immensely contentious subject.

Besides that essay, there are numerous others that the term 'eye opening' would be an understatement in describing. Her promotion of a sex-positive feminist and queer viewpoint is always a joy to read and her essays on lesbian sexuality, the empowering aspects of S/M, on the persecution and shaming of prostitutes by the Right and the Left, and many other works are all a breath of fresh air. Califia is definitely to be commended for fighting to put the sex back into sexuality, and in this increasingly prim, proper, and puritanically-minded society of ours, that is a blessing.

Califia takes on virtually all the great bugaboos of the more puritanical, embourgeoisized, and authoritarian elements of the feminist and LGBTQ movements which serve, in all seriousness, as distractions that prevent liberatory-minded feminists and queer activists from the pooling our resources from the urgent task of fighting for and building a more free, democratic, and substantively just world.

at one point in Public Sex, Pat Califia says that "you can still be a sex radical even if you prefer to get off in the missionary position and still believe there are only two genders." it's an important thing to remember. in this collection of essays, Califia explores -- over a period of about a dozen years -- issues of sex, politics, and where the two intersect (usually by bolstering the latter at the expense of the former). she explains why sexual freedoms and sexual responsibility are rights we all deserve, though many of us don't get them. she confronts the p.c. "feminist" positions on issues like pornography, prostitution, and S/M, and her well-thought-out points will make any reader pause. Public Sex changed my life, making me more aware than i had ever been of the sheer *perversity* of the strictures on sexual behavior in our culture today. the more people read this book, the better our chances of gaining those liberties that all of us deserve.

My first reading of Pat Califia's work was in PoMoSexuals, a collection of essays where she was one of the contributors. Her writing was so eloquent and coherent that I sought out her books. In this collection of her essays, Califia challenges the muddled thinking and hyperbole so prevalent among feminists (especially Andrea Dworkin) about pornography and sexual "deviance." Califia's knowledge and arguments are stated clearly with humor and compassion. Many quotable quotes such as: "It is true that pornography is marketed for a male audience, but there are women who enjoy it. I do not think it sufficient to say these women are brainwashed by the patriarchy, since women are socialized NOT to use erotic materials." (p. 109)

[about teen interest in sex] "Any attempt at independence and autonomy by a young person is seen as wickedness, rebellion, and evil." (p. 80) And: "It is adult outrage and shame over such perfectly normal activities that give young people the idea that there's something wrong with sex or nudity, and intimidates them out of asking the questions they need to explore their own erotic natures." (p. 81)

"Instead of praying for extraordinary talents, we should pray for the good sense to fully use the talents we have been given." (p. 259)

I found this book informative and very thought provoking and recommend it for anyone with strong feelings, pro or con, about the rights of sexual minorities.

~~Joan Mazza, author of Dream Back Your Life; Dreaming Your Real Self; Things That Tick Me Off; and Exploring Your Sexual Self.

If you have an earlier printing of this collection do not buy this version, just borrow it for the new essays. Most of the essays were earlier published in journals such as "The Advocate". The essays themselves are unchanged but the introductions are rather defensive in nature, reflecting the political climate in which this book is published. The essays are organized into their sections and within each section by the year their were written. This gives us a great sense of how Califia's own views have changed through the years.

"...and possibly change your mind about some things. At the very least, it will require you to think about some things in a way you've never done before.

This book is full of examples of brutally racial crimes that go un reported or underreported ONLY because it's Black on White. When you look at all the coverage of the Sean Bell case, the Rodney King case, the Duke "fake rape" case, the Tawna Brawley case, the Imus debacle, etc. you wonder why none of these horrible cases never became common knowledge. People like me KNOW why, but "progressives" always come up with excuses.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3HL090FZUAIMM Hi Bernard Chapin reviewing another great book. Why do I cherish so many that I review? Selection bias...as I wouldn't spend the cash if I didn't think I'd love them.

This is one of the most disturbing books I've read in a long time.

Some of the essays are chilling, and all are informative, well-written and compelling. There is little here in which one can take comfort.

A must-read for whites and open-minded blacks as well.

This was great book. The chapters always kept my attention. It provides great insight into a lot of different areas. This book seems to be comprised of logic and clear thinking.

If Horowitz and the other Neo Cons are going to rightly criticize non-whites for playing the Race Card, then they need to stop playing the anti-semite and holocaust cards themselves and stop their knee jerk lobbying for an affirmative action monstrousity like Israel.

This collection of interviews with Flanagan and his wife along with some of his creative work is a great tribute to a man who had so much to overcome and did it in a way that most of society could not understand. It would have been easy for someone to give up or to become self focused, but Flanagan used his body and his mind to push himself, push his illness, and try to educate the rest of the world about his struggle and about kink. A lot of what is written and shown will disturb you, it should distrub you, but you'll walk away thinking he was a very brave man.

Meet Bob Flanagan, devoted SM enthusiast and cystic fibrosis patient. Andrea Juno and V. Vale collected a series of intervies with Flanagan and his partner/mistress Sheree Rose about his life and their alternative lifestyle choices. Flanagan is a poet, writer, performance artist and musician, along with trying to create a 24/7 submissive and masochistic life scenario with Rose, all while trying to survive the ever increasing damage to his lungs and body from cystic fibrosis. He fights his pain with pain, and overall, has a very powerful, rich life. The presentation of such intense erotic detail comes across as natural and normal in the relaxed conversations of Vale and Juno with Flanagan, his friends and family.

Bob was definately out there. And that's coming from a musician who lives in NY. The mold was certainly destroyed when he was made.

Bob Flanagan opens your eyes to a world of pain transferred into pleasure. Just shows you not to take anything for granted, and to never give up.

the book i felt is a very good explanation of how he got into the bondage scene [not that i know bob flanagan or anything] and his felings on having cystic fibrosis if you lick the book then i suggest watching SICK: life and death of bob flanagan

The most inspiring pregnancy book I've ever read! While other books concentrate mostly on the medical aspect of pregnancy and labor this book has a diffferent perspective. It describes the maternity rituals and tradition in different cultures across different time periods. It gives a good perspective on the birth culture in modern Western world. Very recommended and inspiring, especially if you are pregnant.

It's clearly not a guide-to-pregancy book, but I have found it to be a wonderful companion to the other pregnancy books I am reading. This book, with beautiful pictures and photos of ancient artifacts, surveys birthing myths and pregnancy traditions worldwide, comparing how this common, yet miraculous, human experience is appreciated and interpreted.
The author takes a harsh view at our highly medicalized, Caesarian-obsessed state of obstetric medicine, but I believe, she is right in that regard. Obstetrics has stripped women of some of the magic and the love that countless generations of women have experienced as they give birth.
I think that not every reader will appreciate or accept some of this, but it is perfect for me. I am a woman of color, with a deep fascination and appreciation of other cultures and ancient cultures and of the goddess religions and reading this book has affirmed much of what I already believe.
If you are a woman searching for a more spiritual, more universal meaning to your pregnancy, I would highly recommend this book.

Sheila Kitzinger's book "Rediscovering Birth" is a gorgeous, lavishly illustrated book that will make you feel confident in your body's ability to weather the challenges of birth. Topics discussed include the journey to birth, birthing rituals, mythologies of birth, and the importance of informed choice today. I wish I could give this book more than five stars. It is awesome!!!

Sheila Kitzinger puts the 21st century American childbirth experience in its proper context. Reading this book breathed fresh air into my pregnancy.

Parts of this book are interesting in a "huh. i don't know that" kind of way. Others are real paradigm shifters. For example, before I read this book, one of the only reasons I could think of for not having an ultrasound was the expense. Kitzinger talked about how ultrasounds and other prenatal testing have changed the culture of chldbirth around the world (creating an atmosphere of pressure to abort girls where male children are preferred, one example). What was more directly relevant to me personally was how, in America, prenatal testing is changing the mother-child relationship from one that is exclusive to one where the mother ignores her child's direct communication in favor of allowing her child to speak to her only through 3rd parties, such as a doctor or technician. In this manner, the "authorities" can wrest even more control over women, because you "need" them to perform the tests in order to have a relationship with your own child.

The book would be worth it even without the text. The photography is beautiful.

Definitely not a substitute for a good pregnancy reference book, but a beautiful addition to your reading list while you wait and prepare.

I love Kitzinger's use of photographs, art, and ancient and historical texts in describing the social aspects of birth and mothering. She has done extensive research into the birth rituals and practices of many cultures. While she is critical of the overuse of interventions in American births, she openly acknowledges that they can be a wonderful blessing in saving the lives of mothers and babies in emergency situations.

When I first got this book, I just paged through and looked at all the pictures and quotes. They way the book is printed (double-spaced on wide, glossy pages) makes it a little difficult to read, for me anyway. After a few days, I started reading it from the beginning and am enjoying it so much I'll forgive the printing style.

A great book for mothers who are relishing this profound, defining time in their lives. It will inspire you to read more on natural childbirth (if you haven't already) as you begin to realize the power within you to give birth.

I came across this book while basically just browsing many different topics. I had read "Black Boy" and "Native Son" many, many years ago, and had kind of lumped them in with books by other black authors like "Invisible Man" and "Go Tell It on the Mountain". However, having fortunately had my consciousness raised significantly since the late 60's, I decided to read this biography - there was another biography by Margaret Walker, a former friend of Wright's, but it seemed a little bitter and so possibly not as objective. I noted right away this was what I call a "two bookmark" book - one for the text and one for the footnotes at the back (I much prefer footnotes at the bottom of the page but realize this is sometimes too awkward and voluminous). The story evolved of a man whose life somewhat overlapped with my own, beginning with his wretched and impoverished childhood in Mississippi, spent mostly with his mother and brother after his father left and started another family. Richard's family was incredibly poor, in a poor black section of a poor town in the poor state of Mississippi. Other adjectives for Mississippi at that time, and for years to come, spring to mind, like "brutal", "racist to the nth degree", "lynching addicted", "determined to maintain a questionable (and certainly not enviable) "white way of life" by harsh infliction of Jim Crow laws. However, the young Richard Wright had great artistic intelligence, as well as an exceptionally mind, and a dream for his life from which he would not waver. He could no longer live in a State where his inferiors were seen to be his superiors. He moved to Chicago ("up North") with an aunt while in his teens and was disappointed and horrified by many of the conditions he found there. There were minimally more opportunities for Negroes (as they were called at that time, also "coloreds") and "race-mixing", while widely frowned upon, was accepted in certain circles. Richard was introduced into the Communist Party, and thus began a decades old love-hate relationship with communism. Yes, he got many good opportunities to exercise his writing abilities through the Party's many literary outlets, but he resented its stifling nature and in-fighting. Eventually, he felt he had been duped by the Party and he also felt he could no longer tolerate the obvious infiltration by the FBI and CIA, who were beginning their paroxysms of anti-Communist hysteria at that time, wasting millions of tax-payer dollars scrutinizing and harassing ordinary and innocent citizens, particularly those involved in the arts and in civil rights. This hysteria, of course, culminated in the insanely megalomaniacal frenzy known as "The McCarthy Era", after the fixated, parapolitical, ranting Senator who gave this era its name. He also progressed through work he did under the auspices of the WPA. He had some close writer friends and developed close friendships with his agent and his publisher, and lived a fairly social life (although he most loved to be by himself, writing), mostly through activities in the Party, the WPA and earlier, at the Post Office where he was temporarily employed. He also lived for quite some time in New York, which was a little more progressive; however, he encountered instances of racial prejudice there, as well. His first big book, Native Son, was a huge success considering white America really didn't like to have more than one big Negro writer at any one time. Black Boy followed. He also wrote many short stories and essays. He married precipitously (actually his second choice) because he felt he should be married and have children. After considerable passport problems, he moved his family to France, where he felt much more at home, despite France's somewhat straitened circumstances following WW II. Richard Wright was keenly aware and interested in matters of a political nature, and particularly as they affected "people of color", which included also citizens of the oriental countries, Africa, Muslim countries, etc. He also traveled to Spain and some of the Nordic countries. He was fascinated by people and their reactions to their circumstances in life. He maintained close correspondences with many of the literary figures of the day, both black and white, and counted them among his close friends. In his personal professional life, he was incredibly focused and hard-working. Most of his books were required to be extensively edited by his publisher, often up to over one-third of the original book. However, he took on these tasks with diligence, resignation and hard work, as he realized that a book that doesn't sell is basically just a home decoration. During his life, he wrote fiction, biography thinly disguised as fiction, short stories, songs, plays, non-fiction travel memoirs, books of political and historical theory and, toward the end of his life, haikus. He and his wife had two daughters but eventually his wife and children moved to England, while he remained in France to write. Even when they all lived together, he often traveled for six months to a year at a time by himself researching and writing. Needless to say, he and his wife grew emotionally apart - his weakness for other women didn't help. Instead of bemoaning this turn of events, although I'm sure she did in the beginning, Ellen Wright turned to publishing, with the help of Simone deBeauvoir, a friend originally of Richard's but then later, Ellen's very close friend. His later books, written in France, did not do as well, with the possible exception of "The Outsider". His publisher and agent speculated that perhaps he had been overseas too long and was not aware of the changes that had taken place in the U.S., and particularly in Mississippi, where his stories took place, making his books dated. Paradoxically, his books that took place in France and Spain were panned as not being familiar enough to him. He never gave up, however, despite ill health that had plagued him off and on since adulthood and which had become worse in his later years, culminating in a truly scary course of treatment by his German doctor. His untimely death was a blow to the millions of people who would have been enriched by the books still in him, and of the books unpublished at this death. In particular, I would have loved to have read his book about Africa. Richard Wright was a writer of uncommon intelligence and research habits, with a gift of seeing into the hearts of people. He wrote equally well about the white races. He also comes across as a fairly loyal and interesting friend, as well as a loving father. Even in hard times, he provided for his family, despite his basic estrangement from Ellen, his wife. His untimely death was a loss for all readers, but his legacy lives on, as I, for one, fully intend to read (and in some cases re-read) every book I can find by Richard Wright. This was a fairly long book, with voluminous footnotes, but I can honestly say I was never bored, and there were never parts I felt I had to skip over. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to "meet" Richard Wright, the man and the author.

Why has it taken a half-century for a really good writer to produce a biography of Richard Wright? It had not seemed "natural" until Hazel Rowley's new book.

Far beyond crippling "racial," political, and professional cliches, Rowley has crafted easily the most comprehensive, insightful and balanced life of Wright. Her prose and understanding are unaffectedly live and clear. Her feel for Wright's accomplishment, the range of the man's life and times is superb! Her book is an enriching pleasure that ought finally to compel honest recognition of this unique American genius.

Many biographies have been written about Richard Wright but this remarkable book gives you a fresh perspective on this man who turned the publishing world upside down with his book Native Son. Unlike the other books written about him, The Life and Times focuses on the personal life of Wright and how over the years he developed as a writer.

Rowley takes us to his home state of Mississippi where we meet Richard Wright as a boy. Raised in a fundamentalist religious family in the midst of poverty, Wright was a true outsider who was not understood by his family or friends. His migration to the north (Chicago) unfolds a new world for him where his writing abilities are recognized and nurtured.

You see a Richard Wright who embraces individualism and won't allow the Communist Party or any other organization to dictate to him how to write. As time goes on Wright takes the step of permanently leaving the United States by going to France. It is there that he finds a freedom never felt before in America.

I enjoyed this book and was surprised about many facts concerning his personal life and writing career. Wright's psychological development and philosophical stances are intriguing. At times he is an outspoken voice against racism but ends up making compromises in his work and personal life. Towards the end of his life, Wright becomes suspicious of those around him. He alienates himself from his family and friends.

Rowley shows us the complexities and humanity of a man who went from poverty to fame and then on a downward spiral into spiritual poverty. What was it that made this man tick? The author does an outstanding job in answering that question and putting him in perspective of his day and time. This is an outstanding book that deserves to be in the libraries of every reader.

Wright undoubtedly is one of the most interesting figures in American literature. He was among the second generation of post-slavery African Americans and received only the most rudimentary education in the segregated South, but went on to be one of the most celebrated literary figures of his time, trading wits with Albert Camus and Jean Paul Sartre at the height of the French existentialist movement in Paris. In 1941 the eminent sociologist Robert Park summed it up upon meeting Wright, asking simply "how in hell did you happen?"

Rowley's biography is well written and thoroughly researched, and the subject matter is a fascinating one. Wright is probably more interesting as a personality and sociological phenomenon than he was as a writer (it's been argued that Native Son was his one and only true work of genius) but the story of his life makes for riveting reading. Wright's life is a study of contrasts and ironies. He grew up in the injustice and grinding poverty of Jim Crow Mississippi, spent time as a Communist immersed in Marxist doctrine, and after achieving fame and fortune went on to live in bourgeoisie luxury in post-war Paris surrounded by impoverished White Europeans.

This is an excellent biography: thorough, well referenced, and compelling. I give it four stars instead of five simply because it is somehow missing that element that is present in the best of biographies which allows the reader to look into the motives and inspirations of the subject. Rowley includes a lot of facts about Wright's early life (his influences, who gave him his first books, etc.) but I never felt like I understood the reason that this particular Black youth from the Deep South ended up reading Mencken, Chekhov, and Maupassant in his spare time and dreaming of fame as an author. In short, I'm not sure that Rowley's biography succeeds in answering Robert Park's question.

Overall, however, this is an outstanding book. Rowley is an objective and unbiased biographer. Rowley covers not only Wright the author, but also the age in which he lived. Wright was a truly original voice in the history of American literature, and was among the fist to bring the Black experience to American readers. He deserves to be remembered, and Rowley does a fine job of telling the story of his life. Highly recommended.

Richard Wright is a major American author and, as such, deserves a major biography. Up until now, this has not happened.

Sure, there have been previous attempts. Friends (Constance Webb), enemies (Margaret Walker), and scholars (Michel Fabre) have all had their turn, but only Hazel Rowley's account, RICHARD WRIGHT: THE LIFE AND TIMES, can be considered definitive.

The fact that Wright is the subject of a major book in the 21st century is in itself marvelous. Too often, Wright has been dismissed since his death in 1960 by critics, readers, and other writers. That a major publishing house (Henry Holt and Company) would even put out Rowley's work is a testament to the revival of Wright in literary circles.

And Rowley has provided us with a wonderfully balanced account. She recaps the triumphs (NATIVE SON, BLACK BOY), and is not afraid to include the faults (Wright's weakness for casual affairs and his indulgence in psychological babble in later works). What emerges is a portrait of a gifted outsider who managed success in spite of an almost crippling self-doubt.

In chapter after chapter, Rowley describes not only Wright's experience; she manages to incorporate the context of the experience as well. This journalistic tactic is especially rewarding in the passages describing Wright's travels to Spain and Africa in later life (his reactions *to* those travels make sense in the narrative as well). In fact, the book's only flaw is the quick wrap-up; I would have liked to read a summary of Wright's influence, and a few lines about his family today, in the closing.

But this is a small problem compared to what Rowley has achieved. Here, at last, is a clean, readable account of a neglected but nevertheless important figure in American literature. It is to be hoped that the book spurs renewed interest in the actual works of its subject.

I couldn't put this book down. As a tapper, who is into hoofing and rythm tap, this book was amazing. It explains not only Savin's life and his career but how he uses his shoes to do what he does. This book brings an element of percusion into the dance world that needs to be more widely used.

We've been hearing his wonderful rhythms for years, now we finally get to hear his voice. What a true inspiration! This book just makes you want to jump up and start moving your feet. Believe me, this book is not just for children. I used it as required reading for my advanced tap class at the local college.

Great design, photos, behind the scenes of one of the greatesttap dancers, Savion Glover! All the info on Savion in one quick read- great for all ages.

Thank you sir for sharing your wonderful inner world of rhythm with the world! You are an inspiration to all of us who make a living lacing up those tap shoes everyday. Your loving and pricelesss contribution to this wonderful artform are greatly appreciated and honored.

Hello to all those tappers out there - I love all of you - Including you Savion. My name is Vaughan and I am actually Australian. My mother taught me how to tap ever since I could stand on two feet. Now, I'm 19 years old. And I'm a professional tap dancing teacher in Japan. Let me just say that I could relate a lot with what Savion was talking about. His views on tap and the way he wants it to go.

It's a fun book to read - with some great action tap shots of Savion throughout his life. The layout is very original, and very creative - it was nice to take my mind off my uni degree for a couple of hours and learn about this extremely successful tap dancer. Someone who I didn't know too much about, but now somehow believe that I've known him all my life.

It's a great art - Tap Dancing. And I wish there were people who could indulge themselves in a couple of professional / guest classes. I go around all of Japan teaching in my holidays, and I try to get as many people involved. Maybe because not many people do it, thats what makes it so unique. Thanks Savion - for following your dreams and publishing this book. It was a great read.

Your fellow Tap Dancer... Vaughan

The important thing he notes about the book is that it is not a step by step quide, but rather a book about Respect. We don't need manners, we need respect for other human beings.

I loved his stories and experience. You understand that he's not perfect and he doesn't expect everyone to be. I'm not a Christian, but I'm glad he talked about what he knew as a preacher and a seminary president.

A very good read.

this is a unique,thorough. and entertaining-yet-serious description of how we should all treat others..... NOT an instruction book, nor a book of rules.....simply how to show respect to our fellow human beings. The hardback edition is much easier on the eyes than the softcover/paperback edition.

Short and sweet. For anyone who loves to get a hand-written thank you note, a birthday card in the mail, or the perfect gift just because-this book is for you. Donald McCullough first is a magical writter, and second a wise and kind teacher.

We need to get back to the nature of caring and doing the little things that make human life special. Saying please and thank you are such fundimental human feelings, the loss of these words in our language will no doubt be the loss of the very threads that help to create the weaving which is the nicer side of our human family.

The gift for all ocassions (I purchased 20 of them!) and a great place to start with the kids. Help us keep the sweetness of human kindness alive, read and enjoy "Say Please, Say Thank You...!

This is an excellent book. The author writes about how society has lost its basic manners, and how important it is that we get those back. He includes a lot of personal stories to use as good examples, and in each chapter, he talks about the way he thinks people should act in different situations. This is not an etiquette book, and Donald McCullough makes that clear. He admits that he would probably never know which fork to use at a fancy dinner party. Rather, this is a book on how we should all show proper respect for one another. He makes some great points, and at other times, will have you laughing out loud at his stories. It's very heartwarming, and I wish every human being would read this!

I wish I could drop millions of copies of this book from the sky. It should be required reading by every human being. Has the author been on Oprah? Larry King? Good Morning America? Today? Rosie? How about a PBS special? If so, I'm sorry I missed those segments. If not, then where's his publicist? Can we get rid of Dr. Laura and replace her with Donald McCullough?

It would be such a lovely world if we were all to get back to the basics of mutual respect and consideration. There would be a lot less stress in today's world if everyone followed the very simple principles in this book.

Buy it, read it, share it, and most importantly, DO IT. You'll stand out among the herd--that's for sure.

I am not sure what came first---my love of history or my love of photography but they merged together 40 years ago when I cared for high-risk infants. Part of my job was consoling parents at the loss of their child and part of that job was photographing the family....to provide proof for this fleeting moment. Life is commemorated through photographs---why not death? This book examines images of the dying and death and gives us a complete history of mourning customs in America from these paintings, photographs, tombstones, funeral cards, and newspapers. The only topic left out is mourning jewelry, dress, and tear bottles. A great book for the beginner who wants to study the Victorian time period and very useful for social workers, historians of photography, and health care professionals who work with death and mourning.

If you saw the wonderful film "The Others" you were doubtlessly exposed to one of those gloriously macabre Victorian traditions: the Mortuary Photograph. Yes, those images featured in that splendid little "Book Of The Dead" were real images of deceased individuals taken in the 19th century by bereaved relatives. The images in the film were from the collection of Stanley Burns, whose long out-of-print collection, Sleeping Beauty (and its recently re-issued sister Sleeping Beauty II), is considered the masterpiece of Mortuary Photography. However, if you can't seem to locate a copy of Sleeping Beauty, there is an alternative: Jay Ruby's Secure The Shadow. This excellent book may not pack the same photographic punch as Sleeping Beauty but the excellent text makes up for it. For many people in current times, the idea of photographing corpses and displaying them around the house seems unbearably morbid. However, Ruby does a good job of explaining the underlying philosophies of the time that made mortuary photography so popular. He uses newspaper clippings, old funerary photography advertisements, letters, and photographer's account books to explain the how the connection between photography and death developed and continues to this day, in a somewhat altered form. This book has made me want to start perusing Ebay on a regular basis looking for vintage mortuary pics. It's a tremendous hobby, really - and this is a very good book!

Interesting picture book of dead people and funerals. In the mid to late 1800s, it was popular for people to take pictures of dead loved ones (almost like that person was still alive) as a rememberance of that person. No gore, or accident scenes.

This book explains why people did, and still do, take pictures of dead people and their funerals and use those pictures of those they love to mourn their loss.

This quote was an early photography advertising slogan and is the thesis sentence for this outstanding analysis. Not as assuming or stylized as Sleeping Beauty, it has a wonderful perspective. I just love it. Makes you wish other authors would persue the subject. Having worked in the death care industry, and I think folks are just too removed from death. We are born ,live and die..and how we feel about death should be as contemplated as birth. This book allows us to do this, if you were raised removed from death, this book as well as Sleeping Beauty I&II are a good place to start feeling more comfortable with death as part of life.

this book not only provides information on post- mortem memorial photography,but early paintings as well.makes an excellent edition to sleeping beauty 1&2,as they do not cover paintings.take it from a long time hard core collector of this subject matter,sleeping beauty 1 and 2,and secure the shadow.great conceptual text as well.this is not only a book with pictures of dead people.all photos are blk&white,but there are a good number of realy fine ones.if you are interested in the subject or a collector,get it!