Kansas Books

A chilling book about Germans of Jewish ancestry serving in Hilter's military amid fears for their own survival and the desire to serve the Fatherland. The book provides great documentary evidence of some of those who served while detailing ethnic cleansing in Hitler's Germany. An excellent choice for those wanting to know more about the Holocaust and the struggle of the human soul.

Judaism is a religion/culture, not a "race."
How can Jewishness be a race when so many millions of Jews throughout
the centuries have renounced their Jewishness-and become non-Jews?!

Look at all the Jews marrying in churches-and raising their children
as non-Jews. This has happened throughout the centuries in Europe,
North and South America and elsewhere. (Many of these same people
became virulent Jew-haters.)

Jews account for nearly 50% of America's Nobel Prize-winning scientists
-and for a great many of Europe's(especially Germany's)as well.
In fact, Olivia Newton-John's grandfather was the great German-Jewish
physicist Max Born.

Sylvester Stallone, actress Joan Collins, Jane Seymour,the late Pamela Harriman, Sen. John Kerry, Palm Beach's Pulitzer family, Caroline Kennedy's children, Ali MacGraw, Olivia Newton-John, Diane von
Furstenberg, President Sarkozy of France are just a few examples
of people who are descendants of formerly-Jewish families.

The Jewish "brain drain" continues...

Jo Rueber

I read both of Bryan Rigg's books. I was amazed that so much well researched history could be told so well. If my college history text books had been so well written I might have actually enjoyed history.

I think both Rigg's books are MUST reads for everyone who wonders how the Third Reich happened and want to understand the pschy of that time in history. Bryan's excellent work adds an other element of understanding to the era. If we don't know and remember we will repeat it, or something like it or something worse, somewhere, sometime in our and our childrens' lifetime. Never again!

I am a life-long Gentile-Christian, and a 3rd Generation ethnic German-American.
Proud of it.

In terms of the January 1942 Wannsee Conference, how does a person
"act Jewish"?
How does one becoming a Jew "terminate Germanic- Aryaness"?
Read the book.

Bryan Rugg's book is an excellent treatise on "how to hide
one's Jewishness, of whatever degree" and still serve the German
Fatherland.

Air Marshal of the Third Reich, Herr Milch, had a tough road to navigate.

Buy this book.Again: an excellent treatise.

Take the word of this German-American Gentile,and a Christian, this book ist seir gutte.

Excellent Historiography.

It's more than worth the money. You have your orders. BUY THIS BOOK!!

Tell him Herr STAGE sent you.

I have always been more interested in Jews that were/are fighter than with the view of Jews as victims. Jews have been fighters since the days of the Maccabees thousands of years ago and even during the holocaust the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto held off the German army longer than the entire country of Poland. That is also why Israel is so feared by Arabs and Muslims when they occupy prob less than 1% of the middle east. The Jews and Germans of Jewish ancestry who fought for the 3rd Reich were courageous men and had a double challenge on their hands. They saw them selves as Germans first just like the Jews of the US civil war who fought for the South. They were Southerners first and Jews 2nd. This has always been a difficult thing for both Jews and non-Jews alike to understand but I feel that Dr. Rigg's book has really bridged that gap. The book does have a textbook feel to it but the information and research that has gone into it will make it seem like you are reading the Da Vinci Code. I loved it!

After all is said and done, just read the thousands of pages that the U.S. government, through the FBI, the U.S. Attorney's office and court records, was forced to release about this case. It is their own words about their own deliberate withholding of evidence, fabrication of evidence, deliberate perjured testimony and numerous other violations of U.S. law, rules of evidence, and other assorted felonies.

This book, along with almost 50 fawning reviews, merely illustrates the effectiveness of propaganda in spreading mass ignorance. The reviewers are so sure that Peltier is innocent that the facts don't seem to matter. They would just get in the way, as in Peltier bragging about shooting a man in the head who was begging for his life (heard by four others), as in 15 federal judges affirming the original conviction (not one dissenter), and as in incontrovertible evidence that linked Peltier's rifle to the crime scene. I doubt these people are even aware that six months before he murdered two injured and helpless Federal Agents, Peltier put a gun in AIM member Anna Mae Aquash's mouth while interrogating her about being an informant. AIM leaders later had her executed (gun to the head again) partly because she was one of the four who heard Peltier's boast. Anna Mae knew too much.

Yes, ignorance is truly bliss, but truth can cure ignorance. If you want to discover the truth about what happened that day, read American Indian Mafia.

This is a true story of an Indian who is in prison
just because he's an Indian. I real eye opener and
interesting facts about the Indians here today.

The rhetoric of the other reviews aside, Prison Writings would make for a compelling story had Peltier included some truth to support his allegations surrounding the events of June 26, 1975 on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota.

By way of a brief background, Peltier was represented by capable and experienced counsel and during his trial the jury heard that FBI agents Jack Coler and Ron Williams were following who they thought was another wanted person. They actually followed Peltier and two teenagers who began shooting at the agents who were then trapped and exposed in an open area. Peltier was joined by several others, including Dino Butler and Robert Robideau who also fired on the agents from another direction. Both Coler and Williams were severely wounded and unable to defend themselves. Peltier's jury heard that Peltier, Robideau and Butler went down to the wounded agents and shot them both in the face at point-blank range with a high powered rife. The jury believed the testimony they heard and Peltier was convicted for, among other things, aiding and abetting and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. He later received an additional seven year consecutive sentence for an armed escape from Lompoc federal penitentiary. (In a separate and earlier trial, Dino Butler and Robert Robideau were acquitted of the murders. However, this review relates specifically to how Peltier portrays the facts surrounding these events in Prison Writings. There is much more to the entire saga.)

It's important to place Prison Writings in its proper chronological context. Prison Writings was published in 1999. An important related book touted by Peltier and the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee (LPDC) that "immortalizes Leonard Peltier," In The Spirit of Crazy Horse (ITSOCH) by Peter Matthiessen was first published in 1983 and in 1992. A film, Incident at Oglala (Incident), narrated by Robert Redford was released in 1992. Collectively, these sources, in addition to the many public statements made by Peltier, Butler and Robideau, demonstrate that Peltier is not only fabricating the history of his own case but knowingly lies about certain events.

There are many more, but for example:

The scene:
Peltier initially claimed he was in the AIM camp to the south of the Jumping Bull property, heard shots, responded and "I fired off a few shots above their heads, trying not to hit anything (p.125)." And also "I didn't see their agents die, had no hand in it..." (p.127). Yet in a CNN interview in October, 1999 Peltier admitted being there and told interviewer Mark Potter "I don't know, just two people laying there. I mean, the car door--the car door open and stuff."

The alibi:
For the better part of nearly two decades Peltier had offered only one alibi about who was responsible for the final killing shots to the agents' faces. He claimed that someone they all knew but would not identify (Mr. X), had driven to the reservation that day in a red pickup truck to deliver dynamite and that it was Mr. X who engaged the agents initially and then, once wounded and unable to defend themselves, killed the agents and drove off. In Incident Robideau is filmed pointing to the area where Mr. X murdered the agents and drove off in the red pickup truck. This claim was so far-fetched that not even Peltier's trial lawyers wanted to go near it, but they did their best to create confusion with the jury over the alleged red pickup truck. Matthiessen, although skeptical himself, spent a great deal of time on Mr. X in ITSOCH. However, in a 1995 interview with News from Indian Country, one of the three participants, Dino Butler, publicly said that the Mr. X story was a lie; "Well, there is no Mr. X. There was no man coming to our camp that day bringing dynamite." "To create this lie to show that someone else pulled the trigger." " That is totally false. Totally untrue. That never happened."

It should come as no surprise that Mr. X. and the red pickup are never mentioned in Prison Writings.

Aiding and abetting:
Peltier tries to convince the reader that the "vague crime of aiding and abetting" (p162) was somehow later added to the charge of murdering the agents. Yet, during one of the many appeals (one dealing with this specific issue in 1993), the appeals court stated that "Peltier's arguments fail because their underlying premises are fatally flawed. (A) the government tried the case on the alternative theories; it asserted that Peltier personally killed the agents at point blank range, but that if he had not done so, then he was equally guilty of the murder as an aider and abettor."

Preplanned assault:
Peltier lays the groundwork for claiming that according to a document obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, the government "...had been gathering in the area for a preplanned paramilitary assault on the Pine Ridge reservation," (p.129) comprised of "...dozens, maybe hundreds..." (p.127) of law-enforcement personnel. The document (dated April 24, 1975) he refers to (the noted "sanctioned memo") says nothing of the kind and related to the 1973 takeover by AIM of Wounded Knee. Ironically this memo was still being circulated around FBI headquarters in Washington D.C. even after the murders of agents Coler and Williams with a date at the bottom of the memo of August 11, 1975. This memo is not even in the same universe as Peltier claims. This assertion was so outrageous even Matthiessen shied away from it by claiming after all his research that the initial shooting at the agents was spontaneous, neither a pre-planned government event nor premeditated ambush of the two agents. "...if there is another persuasive explanation of the location and position of their cars, I cannot find it." (ITSOCH p.544).

Further, it was well documented that when the agents were first pinned down in the open field, Agent Williams made desperate calls for help and assistance over his FBI radio. These transmissions were overheard by a number of individuals who all confirmed how quickly the shooting started, and ended, and that the nearest agent was about twelve miles away. That FBI agent, Gary Adams, responded with a BIA officer, the first two to even reach close to the scene. They were also shot at and had to back away to Highway 18 and await more assistance. In the meantime, Coler and Williams were murdered and Peltier and the others escaped.

Robideau:
Robert Robideau who has been assimilated and rejected by the Peltier organization several times over the years has made damning admissions. Robideau stated publicly on numerous occasions, and in emails to this reviewer, that he's the one who actually killed the agents:

"As far as I have ever been concerned the killing of the agents was justified..." "They were shot in the head at close range..." "I have no remorse..." "I am "Mr X" (which is no lie) and I did kill them with honor befitting a warrior, but they died like worms." "I thought I already told you that I killed the agents."

Of course Robideau has the constitutional protection against double-jeopardy, but this reviewer believes he is even too much of a coward to shoot two severely wounded and incapacitated human beings. But whether he killed the agents himself is immaterial; the Peltier jury heard and accepted the testimony that the three older Indians, Robideau, Butler and Peltier went down to the wounded agents and murdered them by shooting them both in the face.

Of course, Prison Writings suggests none of this but hides behind fabrications and outright lies to further the folklore surrounding Peltier and perpetuating The Myth.

What it does do however is firmly establish that Peltier did not remove himself from the scene of the crime.

Prison Writings is self-serving drivel and should not be used to document in any fashion what happened that June day at Pine Ridge. Anyone interested in going beyond The Myth should spend some time reviewing the very detailed appeals that cover every aspect of this case.

[...]

Leonard Peltier, United States Prisoner 89637-132, has been imprisoned since 1977 for the deaths of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation of the Lakota Indians during the 1973 siege at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. Most likely the scapegoat for the deaths during a blundered surveillance attempt, Peltier has been a cause celeb during the final throws of every president since Jimmy Carter as many supporters - including the U.S. Prosecutor that put him in jail in the first place - come together to call for his parden.

There are other sources for an in-depth understanding of the events that led to his imprisonment such as Peter Mathiesson's *In the Spirit of Crazy Horse* and the Robert Redford film *Incident at Oglala*. But Prison Writings is a must read in any study of not only the Wounded Knee incident, but the American Indian Movement as a whole and native issues throughout the country.

This book weaves Peltier's life as a prisoner in the U.S. prison system with his account of the events of 1973 and his views on the state of affairs for Native Americans as a whole. Peltier's life evolved from an aimless youth on the reservation to a political activist, and at times it seems that his life sentence is a natural extension of this progression - as if his destiny was to suffer for the cause.

When you look at the evidence of all that transpired at Wounded Knee in 1973 and the years that followed, including what happened to other activists such as Annie Mae Aquash, and the now revealed manipulation of evidence by the FBI and the all-out war against Native American activism in the 1970s, Leonard Peltier's *Prison Writings* become somewhat of a manifesto and call for a better future.

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A Guide to my Book Rating System:

1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.
2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.
5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.

Dorothy Gael as an abused child, the childhood of Judy Garland and her estranged mother, a young actor dying of AIDS obsessed with Oz, and his therapist who becomes wrapped up in the entire thing are all elements of this brilliant meditation on reality, fantasy and what it means to be human. Although I had a problem with the ending, which dissolves into a hodgepodge of imagery and sentiment, I loved this intense novel. Geoff Ryman is one of my favorites, and he does an amazing job with Was.

The idea behind this novel is an interesting one:

Was there a real Dorothy, where did all of the other characters come from, and what happened in the rest of her life?

Along with the OZ story, comes the story of Judy Garland (AKA Frances Gumm) and how in many ways her life was as destructive as Dorothy Gale (in the OZ books) WAS. Judy's life was loveless from childhood (because she was the family meal ticket) and slowly spiralled downward through bad marriages, drugs and alcohol. She always remained sixteen to the american public which set her on the same path as Elizabeth Taylor and Mickey Rooney, except that the yellow brick road had a lot more potholes.

Ryman rights about the darkest novel you can have without being one of Stephen King's bad dreams. Jonathan, a Canadian, who grew-up to become an actor, is tantamount to the scarecrow in this story. He is gay and dying from AIDS, and displayed autistic tendencies as a child. Strangly though in the main character he plays in horror films...which he says is based on Boris Karloff, he seems to be an evil Patchwork Girl (from the later OZ books) called the "Child Minder" (whose face is a patchwork due to being cut up with a knife by his father.

The unfortunate part of the book is the last section which is like a bad Timothy Leary, Hunter Thompson LSD trip/dream from the sixties. It adds little to the book and makes a non-ending ending which there is no need for. The epilogue at the end, by Ryman, is almost an apology for the whole book itself, which weakens the story even more. His editor should have done a better job of convincing him that the death of Jonathan made a fine ending on it's own.

So maybe you can go home again, just don't expect everyone to be that happy for you to be there, after a week or so, you CAN easily wear-out your welcome.

'Was' is my favorite Ryman novel (and since I love sf, that's saying a lot). Although I enjoyed Maguire's 'Wicked,' 'Was' does something more complex than retelling 'The Wizard of Oz' - it uses it as a springboard to tell a much more compellingly human story - one of incestuous rape, loneliness, fractured families, lost desire and AIDS. Weaving 3 main alternate storylines into a fascinating whole, Ryman nonetheless arrives at a destination that's far more positive than the desolation my last sentence implies.

Ryman's WAS is an heartbreaking and honest story of how important the imaganation is. True to historical facts, Ryman hits his readers both in the imagantion but also in histornical collective memory. He covers the true living conditions of Kansas in the later 1800's perfectly. Yet most importantly, unlike the author of Wicked, Ryman internalizes his Oz characters. The powerful images reminds one of the film Return to Oz. Ryman, understands how OZ lives within the American psyche. Was is a matter of memory, and written for each person who is too sentive, too dreamy, to loving to fit into grey and crushing world. Was is at the core of the Oz inside of us. Wicked will never, come close to the work of honest art contained in Was. Was stands as a testment to Frank L. Baum's orignial tale how truly powerful the imaganation is. Amen.

"Was" is author Geoff Ryman's fascinating yet disturbing twist on the classic "Wizard of Oz" story. This novel shifts back and forth between several characters who are all connected to the Oz saga. First there's Dorothy Gael, an orphan growing up on a Kansas farm with her Aunty Em and Uncle Henry. However, Dorothy's home life isn't identical to the way it's portrayed in the iconic film. Aunty Em isn't a loving, maternal figure at all: she's cold and methodical, occasionally bearing a striking resemblance to the Wicked Witch of the West. Uncle Henry is a smelly old farmer who shows little interest in Dorothy until she becomes a young woman, which is Henry begins molesting her. These tragic experiences transform innocent little Dorothy into a vile, wicked girl who is unable to be saved. In addition to Dorothy, "Was" also tells the story of the young Judy Garland and her depressing rise to fame, and Jonathan, an AIDS patient who has had a strong attachment to Oz that dates back to his miserable childhood.

Ryman puts a brilliant new spin on one of the most famous stories of all time, but "Was" isn't exactly pleasant reading...and it's not intended to be. This is a very dark, gritty story that forces readers to reexamine popular characters from fiction and real life and reconsider what life was truly like for them. "Was" is an interesting story, one that I highly recommend for all "Wizard of Oz" fanatics. Also, this novel was turned into a wonderful play, which I saw produced in Chicago in the 1990s. I wish it was performed more often, but my guess is that it's probably too disturbing for most audiences.

My six year old daughter loves the Oz books and this one is no exception. I was hesitant at first to buy a hardbound version of this when I could get a free e-book version on the web. However, the illustrations and the easy to read type are well worth it as my daughter follows along and learns to read.

This is the best Oz book I have read so far with my son. That being said, I have only read 3 as I am going in sequential order. Nonetheless, it is much better than Book 2 and marginally better than the original.

The chief difference between Ozma and the prior two books is a streamlined narrative which focuses primarily on a single event (journey to the Nome King) with a tangible goal (free the royal family of Ev). Excluding the small section on the Wheelers and Lunch Pail trees, the fantasy elements tend more towards the traditional as opposed to Baum's imagination. You can even see a bit of the old "Mountain King" myth in this story. The net effect is that this story is more concise and less tied to the early 20th century than the preceding novels.

Another big change from the second book is a drastic reduction in the turn-of-the-century chauvinism on display in book 2. Jinjur even goes so far as to give her husband a black eye for milking the wrong cow. I am not sure if a double-entendre is intended here or not, but this is light-years away from the housewives in the prior book.

I highly recommend this as a good read to your children before they go to bed.

I've just started reading the Oz books with my 7 year olds sons and this one is so far our favorite. Bill the hen (aka Billina) is a great addition to the cast of characters, as is the Nome King. Each night as I close the book I have two boys begging me to read just one more chapter. Now that's the sign of a good book!

As the Oz series of books progresses, the reader can see certain changes taking place. Dorothy starts to leave certain letters out of her sentences, humor begins to appear, and I swear the target audience gets younger and younger. This becomes very evident in Ozma of Oz when the Oz crew runs into the mystery of discovering which ornaments in the decorated palace hold prisoners. Not even a crew of thirty Oz-ians can figure out that the color of the ornaments determines whether or not a prisoner is held inside. Hmmm... Not good. A plot device that doesn't impress anyone over the age of four. "Green ornaments are people from Oz." How hard can that be to figure out?

Yet, despite the move toward overbearing simplicity, Baum's books continue to be great. Old friends are brought back for us to love once again - the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Woodsman, the Scarecrow, and my favorite, the Sawhorse. The addition of the Hungry Tiger is a delightful treat too. This poor fellow figures he might as well not eat other creatures and cause them to suffer since he's just going to be hungry again later on.

All of the best elements of this book are embodied in the movie Return to Oz, which I'd sure like to rent some day. In the meantime, I had a lot of fun with Ozma of Oz, and I won't be surprised if I end up reading the fourth book of the Oz series sometime in the future.

I still treasure the battered copy of this book I received in second grade. As a child, this series absolutely captured my imagination and contributed heavily to my growing love of reading. John R. Neil's illustrations are an important part of the book, drawing the reader into the world of Oz.

Ozma of Oz is one of the most fun books in the series. Brave, plucky Dorothy is a character any young girl could relate to and admire. The story itself is imaginative and full of surprises.

Highly, highly recommended! If you want your little girl to love reading, share this book with her.

'If Walls Could Talk' by Vincent R. Alexandria is an excellent introduction to anyone who never experienced the mystery genre. It draws you in from the very first scene and keeps you wondering. Page after page you want to know who did it and why until the very end.

Throughout this book, you see characters dealing with crime, justice and real life issues. Meet Detective Joe Johnson and his partner, Detective Vernon Brown, as they investigate the murder of an old acquaintance of Detective Johnson. Raymond Tyler, an old crony and former school chum of Detective Johnson. Under suspicious circumstances Raymond Tyler turns up dead and forces Joe to search within himself to look beyond the obstacles their friendship faced to solve the case.
As the story unravels, a scandal and political corruption rears its ugly head leaving you to wonder what happened and why. With so many perspective suspects, the motive behind the crime does not become obvious until the story climaxes. All I can say is "Don't expect the obvious".
Vincent R. Alexandria has caught my attention and opened my eyes to a genre I will definitely look forward to reading more of in the future.

Stephanie Wilkerson-Hester, Founder/Reviewer
Literary Essence Views

Vincent Alexandria kicks open the door with Chapter 1 and doesn't close it until the last word is read. In between, you'd better strap on your seatbelt cause this is one WILD read! From the too possessive girlfriend, the mother of the fiance of the dead man who we later finds out is also his lover and soon to be baby mama; to the new girlfriend who is the sister of the fiance of the dead man (does this sound like incest yet?); to the revelation of the dead man's "switch hitting" ways...do you see what I mean. It will keep you reading and reading and reading until the end. Then you're pissed. Refreshingly delicious, you won't be dissappointed!

"If Walls Could Talk" by Vincent Alexandria 4 Stars
ISBN: 0-9749564-3-0
We Must X-L Publishing

An enjoyable mix of characters and an exciting plot awaits you in "If Walls Could Talk". Detective Joe Johnson former friend, Raymond, is murdered in his bed and Detective Johnson is determined to find the killer. Could it be Raymond's pregnant fiancée, his business partner in crime or the sleazy politician who wanted Raymond out of his way? As the clues mount up, Johnson's life becomes increasingly difficult as he realized that someone very close to him may be responsible for the murder. In the end, he's faced with a decision which can change his life and career forever.


Vincent Alexandria created two memorable characters in the form of Johnson and his older partner Detective Vernon Brown. Reminiscent of a great buddy movie, their dialog is filled with banter. Completely enjoyable, their conversations brought much comic relief for a book knee deep in scandal. I was completely thrilled with this murder mystery. With a great ending men and women alike will enjoy this great murder mystery.

WOW!!! What can one say, If Walls Could Talk-what an amazing story. I was able to start the book late one afternoon, and was unable to put it down. Not since I read Chester Himes' Cotton Comes to Harlem, can I remember being sucked into a story of this nature.

Many words come to mind; Superb! Outstanding and Excellent are but a few. Vincent Alexander is truly a natural wordsmith. Taking the English language, and sculpting a timeless masterpiece. I found the book to be immensely captivating, from beginning to end, word for word, line for line, page for page; in fact it was as if I was watching an actual movie. A fluent, intriguing, intelligent plot, the twist and the turns were magnificent. I am truly lost for words to praise this work.

If Walls Could Talk, encompass all the hallmarks of a national best-seller and, a Hollywood blockbuster: murder, seduction, intrigue, sophistication, comedy and romance, together with an enchanting hero, who rides of into the sunset.

If Walls Could Talk, truly Bravura!

Alexander's If Walls Could Talk is a drama-filled, romance/mystery novel that opens with the murder of a well-known businessman, Raymond, who happens to be the childhood friend of one of the book's central characters, Detective Joe Johnson. Joe takes an obvious personal interest in the case and vows to find his friend's murderer regardless of the cost. During his pursuit, he meets a variety of suspects ranging from Raymond's very shady ex-gambler business partner to his beautiful, pregnant fiancé. The level of complexity and intrigue is heightened when Joe falls in love the with fiancée's equally beautiful and seductive twin sister, Sierra. During the investigation, relationship drama unfolds between Joe and his ex-girlfriend, Joe and Sierra, and is taken to another level as Raymond's "other" lifestyle is exposed. Comical relief is sprinkled throughout the book as the good cop-bad cop, old cop-young cop relationship is exposed. Joe prevails, despite all the sub-plots, and eventually nails the murderer in an unsuspecting twist at the end.

This is my first time reading Vincent Alexander's work and although the book was enjoyable I deducted points because of the slow start and some disconnects in the plot that contributed to the `choppiness' of the story. I think Mr. Alexander is off to a great career as a writer and I look forward to reading his other works.

Reviewed by Phyllis
APOOO Bookclub, Nubian Circle Book Club

Great fun. Highly informative. Terrific read. Although the story is set in the early part of the 20th century, it's relevant today - shockingly and amusingly so. People haven't changed. The scams haven't changed much either. Where there is a buck to made off the plight of some poor soul, there is always a line to fleece them. Dr. Brinkley was at the front of the line for almost 20 years, not only fleecing, but often butchering or killing his patients in the process. Dr. Fishbein, a man on a mission, to stop Brinkley from practicing, pursued him for decades. He finally had his day in court. Along the way, Brinkley's innovations in radio, marketing and political campaigning, are going strong today. A truly wonderful book.

Very timely and funny. I read it in one sitting. Could not put it down.

By the end of the book, I really didn't know what to think of John Brinkley. This is a great biography and case study of a man who was viewed as the greatest medical doctor, a man ahead of his time, a genius, a charlatan, a people's man, an innovative politician, and a mass murderer. Who he was depends on who you ask.

Back in the early 1900s snake oil doctors were common. People flocked to such doctors for all kinds of remedies, and had faith in the cures they were given. Most if not all such cures did not work. If some worked, it was the result of the `placebo' effect. In other words, when a person believes that a medicine given to him will work, in some instances the patient's belief alone makes him feel better.

Dr. John Brinkley noticed that goats were very sexually active. He therefore concluded that if goat testicles were implanted in humans, humans will turn into sexual beasts. In other words, goat testicles would be a cure for all sexual ailments, such as impotency. Without ever publishing his findings or doing serious research, he started implanting goat testicles in his patients. As later court testimony would show, in most cases he simply put the goat testicles in his patients without grafting them surgically. Many of his patients died as a result of this procedure, and many others were maimed for the remainder of their life. But nobody could stop John Brinkley for years, not even the government or the medical board. He became a multi-millionaire as a result of this bogus procedure, and lived a lavish life with a private yacht and a private aircraft. Remember this was the early 1900s!

The book reads like a John Grisham novel. The book starts off with John Brinkley's life as a youth, and what motivated him to become a charlatan. It describes all of his medical procedures, and the fortune he amassed as a result. It describes his stint as a candidate for governorship, and how he changed the face of voting. He actually invented the strategies used today by running candidates. This chapter was very interesting and captivating.

In order to have his ideas widespread, Brinkley built his own radio station in 1923. When this was closed by the government, he went across the border to Mexico and opened a radio station there. He was a very stubborn man, but very intuitive. He easily surmounted challenges, and was not afraid of the US government. The chapters on his radio stations were interesting and funny, and made for excellent reading.

The book then goes on relating the court cases that finally exposed Brinkley as a fraud. As a result, his former patients sue him, and he is ruined. The medical board removes his license, and the government charges him with manslaughter. He soon dies thereafter, having never appeared in court to answer the manslaughter charges.

This book will captivate you. Snake oil doctors are still among us today, and many of us still fall for their folly. The actor Steve McQueen believed that a Mexican healer had the power to cure his cancer that he flew to him to Mexico. Many today use the power of Shamans and other sorcerers to cure their ailments. Some of these cures work. But do they work because they are genuine cures or because of the `placebo' effect? In reality, no one knows.

How many of us buy beauty products thinking they would actually rejuvenate us? Do all those supplemental vitamins work? The vitamin industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, but many doctors today would tell you that supplemental vitamins do very little good, and at times, might in fact be very harmful. Our vitamins should derive from a balanced diet, and not from the intake of pills. But by in-taking pills, we make many people very rich!

This is a great case study of a character still very alive today! And our folly is still as alive!

John R. Brinkley is the man of the title, who was one of a handful of pseudo-scientists and medical hucksters who laid the groundwork for Viagra and its competitors by experimenting with methods to improve male potency. Operating in the 1920s through the 1940s in small towns like Greenville, South Carolina, Mitford, Kansas and Del Rio, Texas, Brinkley was basically a small-time hustler who stumbled on sexual dysfunction as fertile ground for his talents.

So he began operating on the fringes of medicine, with a small smattering of training and dubious degrees from what we would now call "alternative" sources (alternative to the now much stronger American Medical Association, which derived much of its current cache and strength from battles with Brinkley and his compatriots on the fringe). Among other methods, he implanted goat testicles! Fringe medicine, indeed; without specific numbers (the true totals are probably unknown), Brock cites Brinkley as one of if not the most prolific of American serial killers based on the death rate from untested and insane techniques like these.

Pressed by the AMA, Brinkley expanded into mass marketing, politics, franchising of pharmaceuticals (at least one of which was found to be pure water with a tiny amount of coloring) and the fledgling field of radio. Brinkley's downfall, as Brock describes in a rather abrupt coda, came at the hands of a civil court when he sued Morris Fishbein, the AMA's head huckster hunter, for libel, and lost, finally (for the unsuspecting public) and disastrously (for him) exposing himself as the fraud the AMA claimed.

While the book was an enjoyable and easy-to-read introduction to this bizarre character (proof, yet again, of the truth-stranger-than-fiction axiom), I am only giving the book three stars for these two reasons: First, while a few primary sources are cited in the bibliography, the notes rely most heavily on a small handful of secondary sources, which makes me wonder if these earlier secondary sources may tell a more complete picture of the era. Two of the secondary sources cited:

The roguish world of Doctor Brinkley
The Bizarre Careers of John R. Brinkley.(Book Review): An article from: Journal of Southern History

And secondly, while the truth indeed is strange here, Brock sometimes seems afraid to let the story tell itself, and tries too hard to pump it up with purple prose and overdone dramatics.

Enjoy Brock's book, but if you are really interested in mining the details of Brinkley and his era, use the bibliography and notes as a reading list for digging deeper.

I got this book after seeing the author on C-SPAN II's "About Books", and as an amateur medical historian, decided to purchase it when the library didn't have it. It seems that all the factors came together to make John Brinkley a rich and famous (and later broken) man, and that he introduced the Western Hemisphere to some fabulous music didn't hurt his cause either.

I was completely surprised to read that the respected surgeon Max Thorek, who now has a hospital in Chicago named after him, was a participant in this scam! But unlike Brinkley, he knew what he was doing, surgically, and abandoned this project when it proved worse than useless.

His wife's story appears to be at least as interesting as his, too.

I agree with several other reviews. The first part of the book was good. However, it became a CHORE to finish. I finally gave up, skimmed through the last few chapters to get to the end which was so pollyanna ridiculous I was disturbed that I even bothered to finish it.

I have read Years and Hummingbird by Ms Spencer and really enjoyed them. This book does not hold a candle to either of them.

THE GAMBLE is a story about Agatha, a prim and proper lady whose green eyes gave away her true feelings and of Scott who was happy to do what pleased him, whether viewed right or wrong. They were on opposite sites of the battlefield when it came to drinking in a saloon, but became friends when a small child needed their help and love. Together they found common ground and love bloomed.

THE GAMBLE is a great story - one of my favorite Spencer novels! Set back in the 1800's in Colorado, it is a typical western, with a little more flavor thrown in for good measure. Spencer writes a romantic story without going over the boundaries of propriety. This is a book that you could recommend to your mother or your grandmother, and not be embarrassed. Definitely enjoyable for all ages!

I work in a library and when someone asks me to give them a title of a book to read I always suggest The Gamble. This is one of my favorite books and every time I read it I cry at the same spots. The main chacters are so great you can't help but fall in love with them. I keep holding out hope that they turn it into a movie. I would love to see this book come to life in a tv movie.

Even though I don't read much in this genre anymore, this still has to be my all time favorite book. The characters are written with such life to them that I could picture them clearly in my mind. With each page I fell more and more in love with the story of two such total opposites finding each other. It's a heartwarming tale about a bunch of misfits that come together to form the strangest family you ever wanted to meet, from the prim and proper milliner to the rakish saloon owner, to the former prostitutes, and let's not forget the old, superstitious mammy.

I let someone borrow my copy years ago, and just couldn't get this story out of my mind, so about two years ago I found a copy in a local bookstore and nabbed it up. My "new" copy is just as tattered as the first one was, and I'm not lending it out this time. I highly recommend this story for someone who is looking for a true "romance" or "love story".

The first half of the novel was FANTASTIC!!!! I was desperate to find another Spencer novel that equaled Hummingbird and after reading the first couple of pages of the Gamble I thought I had found it, only to be incredibly disappointed after the second half of the book.

After Scott left Agatha in Kansas to go back to his hometown Mississippi, the story fell flat and became gratuitous. There were only a couple of passionate interactions between Scott and Agatha in the first half, which were paced perfectly and made you salivate for more. However, when Scott invited Agatha to Florida to offer her a proposition, Spencer left the relationship stagnant and platonic, which completely confounded me!!! Where was the sexy, daring, impatient and utterly adorable male hero I have come to love in the first half of the book????? Spencer changed Scott too drastically and suddenly became a sweet and patient gentleman that was not conducive to Agath's prim and proper character.

You were left with the feeling of utter confusion and impatience for the romance and passion-verbal or physical- to start between them again, but to no avail. Spencer just kept writing so much of the peripheral environment-and hardly incorporating any heat between Agatha and Scott-that you felt the novel falling apart from its promising start. Finally when the romance began to pick up slightly it ended before you even knew what hit you when they confessed their love for each other and then getting married. Even the love-making ending was flat and nowhere near as passionate as you would have liked.

After finishing the novel I was still confused and felt cheated as to how Spencer could have written such different halves of the same novel-especially when it came to Scott's characterization. He started off like Jessie Dufrayne in Hummingbird and ended like a complete different person-too sweet, too patient, and too boring.

I am still sighing over the ending of the novel in utter and sad disappointment. I have not read all of Spencer's novels and I hope one day I will hit upon one of her books that come close to Hummingbird or the Fulfillment.

I just happened to run into Bob Graham today in western Maryland. He wouldn't answer my question-- "Just what were you and the Pakistani Intelligence Chief talking about in DC on the day of 9/11 and for another week thereafter?" Remember that General Ahmad was the guy who supposedly wired $100,000 to the so-called lead high jacker Mohammad Atta just before 9/11. You remember, the guy whose passport they "just happened" to find intact amid the smoldering wreckage of the World Trade Center.


When I mentioned to Graham that a Boeing 737 airliner traveling at 400 mpg cannot physically get any closer than 60 or 70 ft above the ground because of the tremendous up-draft, and that the U.S. government wants us to believe that a Boeing 737 literally skimmed the surface of the earth for a half mile at 400 mph before smashing into the Pentagon at ground level-- Graham just sat there looking in another direction and did not comment.


This guy is just another propagandist trying to steer people away from the truth of a joint U.S. and Israeli Intelligence black operation, and toward the "safe" and "feel good" conclusion of "Intelligence failures" relating loosely to the Saudis. Hey folks, the Saudis don't control U.S. corporate media and this massive disinformation campaign--the CIA and the ADL (the U.S. arm of Israeli Intelligence) control U.S. corporate media.


There are plenty of other books available which will give you an ACCURATE picture of what happened before, on , and after 9/11. To name just a few: "The Road to 9/11" by Peter Dale Scott; "Crossing the Rubicon" by Michael C. Ruppert; "War and Globalisation: The Truth Behind September 11" by Michel Chossudovsky; and "The War on Freedom" by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed.


This Bob Graham guy is just another member of the top 1% American fascist class. It's like a big organized crime syndicate. The Democrats are the Gambino family and the Republicans are the Genovese family and the real brains behind the syndicate are in Israel.

This book provides some good information about the events leading up to 9/11 but nothing so new that it is a revelation. It fails when the Bush bashing and hindsight bias starts. If Graham is going to bash Bush that is fine but he should also bash Clinton for all of his documented failures for neutralizing bin Laden. Graham talks about all the missed opportunities to prevent 9/11 but fails to mention, even once, how Bill Clinton could have prevented 9/11. Graham seems to "connect dots" after the fact which is the easy part. Yes, there is plenty of blame to go around regarding the events of 9/11. The FBI, CIA, Republicans and Dems can all take some blame. Let us keep one thing in mind. THERE HAS NOT BEEN ONE ATTACK ON THE U.S. SINCE 9/11! While any failure of the intel community is tragic we only hear of the failures of the intelligence community but we do not hear of the successes.

Nearly every page is riveting. Highly readable account of the missed opportunities before and after 9/11 and the failed Iraqi War. Senator Graham's expertise is validated by the fact that all his predictions about Iraq and al-Qaeda from 2004 when the book was published are now reality. He even broaches the subject of impeachment at a time when Bush was riding high and on the way to reelection.

The good senator doesn't pull punches. Intelligence Matters is full of shocking revelations of Saudi funding of 9/11 hijackers, numerous instances of the FBI and CIA not seeing the forest for the trees, and the Bush administration's obsession with Iraq blinding them to the immediate threat of the greatest attack on our homeland since Pearl Harbor.

A highly patriotic and useful account of the latest greatest challenges to our nation's survival. We overcame a civil war and defeated ruthless enemies from different continents in WWII, but are we prepared to win a global jihad, one that could last well into this century and involve dangerous weapons falling in the hands of stateless terrorists willing to martyr themselves for a cause? As Sen. Graham relates, we're off to a troubling start.

It's hardly reassuring that a man with such a grasp on foreign policy isn't still in the throes of power directing our response. What a missed opportunity that Sen. Graham, who never lost an election in Florida during his nearly 40 years as an elected official and briefly ran for president in 2004, wasn't at least selected for VP.

By the way, the double-entendre in the title is apparent, although I can think of a third possible interpretation - can you? [Hint: Think 'intelligence' in terms of our woefully feeble leader.]

Very educational, and well presented for the lay reader.

Although slightly partisan and carrying a slight self-congradulatory tone in parts, this is a fairly good presentation of the facts. His recommendations are well-thought and should be given serious consideration.

I have read this book cover to cover & I've read all 24 reviews. I don't doubt the intellect of any of these authors. It's apparent that Senator Graham is a noble American patriot & that the reviews of this book have expressed serious concerns.

Senator Graham points out 12 INSTANCES before 9/11 in which the 9/11 plot could have been discovered. He points out that at least one alleged hijacker was being housed by an FBI informant. (The FBI DENIED SENATOR GRAHAM ACCESS TO THIS INFORMANT FOR QUESTIONING!.) He describes the circumstances under which Arizona FBI Agent, Kenneth Williams, a seasoned 10-yr terrorism veteran wrote a memo, now known as the Phoenix Memo, in July of 2001 to the Counterterrorism Division at FBI Headquarters. Declassified segments are quoted beginning on page 44, "The purpose of this communication is to advise the bureau [headquarters] and New York of the possibility of a coordinated effort by Usama bin Laden to send students to the United States to attend civil aviation universities and colleges. Phoenix has observed an inordinate number of individuals of investigative interest who are attending or who have attended civil aviation universities and colleges in the state of Arizona...". Agent Williams included 4 specific recommendations as to what to do about it. On August 7, 2001 the intelligence operations specialists decided that this lead should be closed with no action taken.

In excruciating detail Senator Graham tells the story of Zacarious Moussaoui and how suspicions of him at the Pan Am International Flight Academy were so acute, that authorities notified the FBI on only the 2nd day of Moussoui's training. Yet permission to search Moussoui's computer was denied. Incredibly Senator Graham tells us about the August 6, 2001 Presidential Daily Brief received by President Bush entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.", and that Bush did nothing with the warning.

Senator Graham tells of the lies he was told by Dick Cheney, John Ashcroft, the intelligence agencies, the White House, as well as many instances of stonewalling and deceit. Senator Graham tells of hearing personally from Tommy Franks that only 4 months after the Afghanistan invasion, the military resources were redeployed to Iraq (February of 2002) quoting Franks as saying, "This is not a War on Terror, this is a manhunt".. Senator Graham tells us that most of the deficiencies in our national security remain, as of the time his book went to press, broken and unfixed despite increased budgets for counterterrorism. The most revealing comment in the entire book is on page 202, "...the more we learned, the less curious the administration seemed about what had happened on September 11". And, "the more discoveries we made, the more the administration's obstructionism intensified." And page 166, "...the White House was directing the cover-up."

And then, we're all supposed to believe that these ignorant incompetent intelligence agencies were able to come up with the identities of all 19 alleged hijackers just hours after the attacks. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

THERE'S MORE. Despite all the death and horror and destruction on 9/11-all attributed to "intelligence failures", senator Graham discovers, as disclosed on page 113, "It amazes me to this day that no one-not one single person-has been held accountable for the intelligence and other lapses that contributed to the failure to inderdict the attack...it is important that people be held accountable. None have been."

Unfortunately, the investigative committee on which Senator Graham co-chaired was NOT equipped with a "smell test". Based on the voluminous examples of administration malfeasance related to 9/11, Senator Graham's conclusions simply do NOT make sense. Therefore, they must be rejected!

We all have our own internal evaluation process in determining what does and what does not make sense. And at some point what is perceived as incredulous ignorance & gross incompetence becomes so overwhelming that one has to realize that explaining everything away as ignorance & incompetence is itself ignorance & incompetence.

You see people, all of the findings of Senator Graham makes perfect sense! The problem is HIS CONCLUSIONS DO NOT MATCH HIS FINDINGS! Therefore, the round hole premise in which he is trying to hammer his square peg of findings MUST BE CHANGED! Since the intelligence agencies lied to Senator Graham and his investigative committee about everything else, doesn't it make sense that they also lied about the identities of those responsible for the 9/11 attacks? And sure enough, soon after 9/11, various sources in the foreign press (obviously such stories are supressed in the U.S.) were reporting that at least 6 of the alleged 19 hijackers were still alive and well! (The BBC reported that Waleed Al Shehri is protesting his innocence from Casablanca, Morroco). It's been discovered that there were NO Arab names on any of the flight passenger lists. The USA Today reported that Osama bin Laden denied 9/11 involvement, AND the December, 2001 Osama "confession video" has been proven to be a fraud.

So there you have it America. Google "9/11 Truth" and you will see that nothing you have been told about the attack is true. And then ask Keane and Hamilton how they could be so void of conscious as to play along with such skullduggery in their 9/11 Commission Propaganda Report. We have lost our country, folks, and our gutless and clueless congress is worthless to a democracy.

You see people, despite all of Senator Graham's findings, it never occurred to him that the intelligence agencies were all working fine and were in tip top shape as they made sure that all 19 hijacker patsies were going about their business of building a "terror" legend and were NOT in custody on 9/11. These agencies were not born yesterday and they know that a little "international" flavor will create more distance from U.S. complicity (Pakistan's ISI had also funded $100,000 to Mohammed Atta.) Disinformation & propaganda is their specialty and accountability is not part of their charter. And in the end, the power of our intelligence agencies lies not in their ability to get away with secrets, but rather their power lies in their ability to get away with...murder...

You'd never guess from meeting him that his book is selling in Urban Outfitters all over the country. Davy is a rockstar, and The Lone Surfer is completely mesmerizing. It takes you from a cornfield to a border town, from a prisoner's cell to grandma's condo in Florida, all with a perfect combination of comedy and irony. I finished the book a week ago and continue to feel that kind of connection and identification that unsatisfyingly makes me wonder how his fictional characters are now. More please!

It's a good collection of stories. He writes in a voice that fills a room.

Anyone who has heard or seen Rothbart as part of This American Life or in his appearances for his magazine "Found" knows that his voice and demeanor are inviting and unassuming, perfect for narrating the kind of stories he likes to tell - those that revolve around the everyday and mundane. One of the stories from this collection, "How I Got Here," takes the form of a found essay - an inmate's response to a writing assignment. This story probably comes closest to achieving what Rothbart's more familiar work does, but some of the other pieces here fall a little short of the mark.

There is definitely promise in this collection, and Rothbart has a fantastic eye for the great moments of the everyday, but unless you allow yourself to "hear" him read these, you might find them a little disappointing.

A decent but not terribly impressive or memorable werk; I think there is a spark of talent buried in there and I hope it matures. This little collection has a few fleeting moments of brilliance but overall doesn't linger with much substance. For every passage that suggests depth and insight, there are two on each side that feel vapid -- heavy on the style, like he's searching for his voice and spends too much time imitating others.

I loved this book, my only complaint was that there was not any more chapters. I bought this book after hearing the author on NPR several times. He is adorable, clever and so beyond entertaining and all of that comes out in this book. I highly recommend this book. Not only I am buying copies for my friends now but I am looking forward to and hoping for more books from him.

This was a very good book about the way God can STILL work wonders, even in small ways. However, if you have ever read Janette Oak's book, "Love Come Softly", you already have a GREAT idea of how this story will come out. "Waiting for Summer's Return" & "Love Comes Softly" have ALMOST the exact same plot. There isn't much difference. But it is still a great book & I would recommend it wholeheartedly!

This is the first book I've read by Kim V. Sawyer, but it's not the last. I'm working on the sequel now and have read another of hers between. Kim's writing style is incredibly fluid, smooth, entertaining and believable, all at the same time. I enjoy a good story, but the most important element in any type of fiction (for me) is the characters. If they become real to me as I move through the story, and stay with me after it's done, the author has done their job. Summer, Peter and Thomas blossomed into very real people, gaining my sympathy right from the start. Thank you, Kim, for a lovely story and heartwarming characters. Job well done!

Summer is a young woman who has just buried her husband and four precious children. Alone and heartbroken, she takes a temporary job teaching in a home. She is not welcomed by the grandmother. The townspeople are Mennonite and do not want an outsider to reside in their town. Summer turns to God and to the only few friends she manages to make, and finds that God is, indeed, the God of second chances.

Set on the early 1900's mid-western prairie, "Waiting for Summer's Return" is masterfully written. A glimpse into the old Mennonite way of life, a sprinkling of German, a handful of elegantly crafted characters, and Sawyer's attention to detail makes for delightful historical fiction.
With delicate skill, Sawyer lays out the clear plan of salvation and a God-ordained prescription for coping with and overcoming withering grief. However, do not be deceived by the book's weighty topics. "Waiting for Summer's Return" is well-rounded with an enchanting plot complete with touches of gentle humor that break the tension at just the right moments.
This is one of the better books, I have read recently. Recommended.

Kim Vogel Sawyer created a believable story of a mother and wife suffering the pangs of grief after the loss of her four children and husband.

Summer Steadman finds herself alone in a small Mennonite community in Gaeddart, Kansas during the fall of 1894. So deep in mourning that she finds food repugnant, she has allowed her body to become weakened. Her soul has become as emaciated as her body. No longer sure that God loves her or anyone else, Summer's only real wish is to join her family in death. It seems God has other plans for her, though.

Peter Ollenburger, a local gristmill owner, is in need of a teacher for his son, Thomas. Since the young boy is housebound after an accident resulting in broken ribs and can't ride his horse to school, he is falling behind in his studies. Peter's wife, Elsa, would be the logical choice to be his teacher, but she died six years earlier. Peter needs someone to live on his property and give the boy his lessons until he is fully recovered. After learning that Summer Steadman has lost her family to illness and has need of a position, he proposes that she come live in his home as Thomas's teacher. When objections to the impropriety of the situation are brought to his attention, Peter agrees that Summer could live in his shariah rather than in the house with the family. Wanting only to be close to the graves of her family, Summer accepts Peter's proposition and moves to his property.

What awaits the reader of Waiting for Summer's Return is a journey of relationship renewals. Summer and Peter both travel the path toward new knowledge of people and God. The trip is filled with bumps and ruts much like the road to the town of Gaeddart. As Thomas grows to know his temporary teacher, his affection for her grows to become the love of a child for a mother. Neither Summer nor Peter had planned on this complication. What are they to do? How will God orchestrate the symphony of their lives?

Kim Vogel Sawyer's writing is a joy to read. Her characters catch the reader's heart. It is hard to put the book down in order to carry on with life. Waiting for Summer's Return is one of those books you will want to keep reading to the point where the dishes will stack up in the sink and the laundry will go unwashed because you have to read just one more chapter. And that chapter leads to another and then another. Go ahead read those chapters. The dishes and the laundry will be there when you finish the book.