News and Reviews Books

I love Ghettopoly it takes board games to a new level. You get to pimp hoe's buy machines guns. Drugs are in this games. I love building the crack houses and buy stolen goods. Monopoly thinks they can just sue the people who made this game.

An excellent guide for film buffs and a recommended pick for enthusiasts of George Lucas' cinematic accomplishments. Howard Maxford's George Lucas Companion covers not only Star Wars, but all of Lucas's film and television work. Black and white photos pack chapters which discuss his products, film company, and industry conflicts and achievements.

EVERY mother should have this book. It is a wonderful way to tell your story for your children.

I must confess I'm fascinated by lists. Especially movie lists. So I couldn't resist a book that promised me an essential 1,001 movies to see before I die. What a disappointment! Classic movies received rather short shrift in that book, so I created my own list of the top 400 must-see classic films. And here it is! Some of the selected films receive extended treatment in my book, but I also draw attention to a number of fine pictures that, while they could not be considered the top of the best (or anywhere near the top), are nonetheless so vastly entertaining they will delight every classic movie fan. And there are also a couple of also-rans that seemingly had all the makings for success--great cast, gifted writers, capable directors, lavish budgets--but failed.

I'm beginning to become addicted to these little neglected treasures that the NYRB Press is reissuing. Not only are the editions themselves little marvels (with beautiful and well-chosen color covers and gorgeous paper stock), but whoever is making the choices for which books are reissued has near-infallible taste.

A HOUSE AND ITS HEAD, like so many of Ivy Compton-Burnett's novels, reads something like a modern updating of a Greek tragedy: most of the novel is told through dialogue, there is a kind of chorus that comments on the action of the principal characters, and the plot involves murder, incest, and familial cruelty. Yet for all these borrowings Compton-Burnett paradoxically remains wonderfully sui generis: no one else has ever mastered her capability for evoking such extreme subtlety in manners that the merest cruel nuances can become evoked (if one reads carefully enough). She is also a master plotter: just when you think you've caught up with the characters' schemes, she allows the other characters in the novel to make similar realizations, and then jumps even further ahead. This is a real page-turner as well as a subtle commentary on Edwardian manners and moral monstrousness.

This is a fine article by Keith Windschuttle. It begins with a quote from Chomsky, where he says that since a hypocrite is one who refuses to apply to himself the standards he applies to others, the entire commentary of the War on Terror is pure hypocrisy.

Well, that's interesting. Just who is Noam Chomsky?

Chomsky has made some fine contributions to the field of linguistics. He helped restore a rationalistic approach to linguistics that has basically replaced the behavioralist approach of B. F. Skinner.

Chomsky came up with the concept of context-free grammars, and developed many of their properties. He showed the equivalence of regular grammars and finite automata, he showed the equivalence of context-free languages and push-down automata, and he showed the equivalence of grammatically computable functions and Turing-computable functions. He has backed the idea that language acquisition in humans is largely innate, and the evidence for this idea seems to be increasing. He's a very bright person who has made many genuine scholarly contributions to society.

In my opinion, even Chomsky's approach to social issues has had some positive aspects. While many people have addressed national policy issues principally in pragmatic terms, Chomsky has emphasized moral issues. He has wisely advised us to avoid resolving debates on moral issues purely on pragmatic grounds. And he has advised us to be wary of the role of the media in obtaining popular consent for dubious policies.

As Windschuttle explains, Chomsky is not a relativist, but one who advocates pursuit of truth and knowledge about human affairs. Chomsky supports his claims on the basis of evidence. By the way, I'm this way myself: I also advocate pursuit of truth and knowledge about human affairs, I'm not a relativist, and I support my claims on the basis of evidence.

Well, when the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia, Chomsky welcomed it. I myself was very slow to realize the differences between Cambodia and Viet Nam, so I'm not too surprised that Chomsky had some of the same problems. The point that Windschuttle makes, however, is not merely that Chomsky acted as an apologist for the Pol Pot regime but also failed to admit that he'd been wrong and that the Pol Pot regime had been genocidal.

Windschuttle then says that Chomsky's pattern of behavior has continued into the present century, as his response to the events of 9/11/2001 was that no matter how bad the terrorist actions were, the United States had done worse. And Windschuttle also quotes Chomsky as saying that "virtually everything Israel is doing, meaning the United States and Israel are doing, is illegal, in fact a war crime. And many of them they defined as `grave breaches,' that is, serious war crimes. That means that the United States and Israeli leadership should be brought to trial."

Of course, I understand the attitude of wanting outlaws to be brought to trial. I always wanted Arafat to be brought to trial for his many terrible crimes. But I never noticed Chomsky ask for Arafat to be brought to justice! And Windschuttle points out that neither has Chomsky asked for communist leaders of China, Cambodia, or Vietnam to be brought to trial.

Windschuttle concludes that Chomsky has been guilty of hypocrisy. Chomsky has said that it is the responsibility of an intellectual to pursue truth and expose lies. But Chomsky has not hesitated to suppress truth and perpetrate falsehoods on behalf of regimes he has admired. He is "a mandarin who denounces mandarins."

I agree. I recommend this article.

I read this book while I was doing a research paper on immigrant women and their experiences in America and I was quite impressed by the amount of information it has. Unlike some books on this subject I've read, it has a nice flow to it and it reads well. I really liked the way the author organized it because it follows the immigrant women from the old country to America and very nicely describes their transition into Americans and the struggles they faced while doing this. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in this subject.

this book has had an enormous effect on my life, I have read it in one day and reflect on it since. highly recommended for anyone who is still facinated by the simple things in life.

"Mea Culpa"- I have to confess, I never watched The Discovery Channel's television series, Monster Garage. Then again, for that matter, I have refrained these days from watching television altogether!

Monster Garage, as I have been informed by several television mavens, is one of the hottest realty shows, and after reading the fan book Inside Monster Garage,written by Ken Vose, I can fully understand why people are attracted to this fascinating series.

Relying on glossy and detailed photos combined with Vose's crafted words, this 175- page soft cover book show- cases how these unbelievable feats are accomplished.
It is as if readers are given a backstage pass where they can witness what goes on behind the scenes, listen to the interviews with some of the principal characters, and savor tidbits of trivia mentioned in the pleasurable sidebars. The trivia will surely come in handy at cocktail parties.

The book traces various episodes, wherein readers are privy to the workings of a group of skilled, imaginative and creative individuals, who nearly do the impossible by transforming an automobile into something outrageous.
Bear in mind that their budget is limited to three thousand dollars, and the time frame to accomplish the feat is five days.

Without doubt, readers who have seen the series, will vividly remember some of these mind boggling inventions such as: the school bus pontoon boat: the Lincoln Town Car Limousine turned into a fire truck: the Chevy Suburban transformed into a wedding chapel, where a couple actually performs their wedding ceremony: turning a Ford Mustang into the world's fastest lawnmower.

In addition, each episode lists the members of the crew, the specs, and comments made by their leader Jesse James pertaining to the objectives of the transformation, his final remarks, as well as some intriguing information concerning the vehicle or the project.
An example- I bet you did not know that in 1939 the official color for school buses was changed from Omaha orange to chrome yellow. How about this tidbit-the largest pipe organ in the world is located not in a cathedral in Europe, but in a department store in Philadelphia.

As an added bonus, the book includes interviews with some of the "movers and shakers" of the show.

One that is particularly interesting is with Jesse James, whom the book states "may well become the first blue-collar television hero who actually works with his hands for a living. He is not an actor, singer, or an entertainer. He's definitely not a talking head. He's a welder and a fabricator, one who makes awesome machines that look great, work the way they should, and go fast."
James comes off, as a down to earth guy who maintains all he wanted to do was to focus on people making something out of nothing. As he says, "people dig that."

Vose successfully achieves a delicate balance between the stunning images and his words that are so critical in creating this memorable, solid, and sumptuously illustrated book.

Inside Monster Garage is moreover a fun read, and to re-quote James, "people dig that." I am sure one day the book will even become a collector's item.

The above review first appeared on reviewer's own site:

Everyone who loves children's books, no matter what your age, should snap up this novel while it is in print. The writing is superb, and the flavor of the western islands of Ireland is irresistable. Add to that the unbeatable combination of adventure, sailing, and horses, and you have a book no reader of any age can put down. Homeschoolers looking for books for teenagers that are fascinating, yet devoid of a lot of the less savory aspects of modern teen novels, take note.