California Books

There's apparently nothing like a good snake bite to get a wise man thinking. And Erec Toso is a wise man.

I most enjoyed Toso's writing about the place he lives and life (and wildlife) in that region. It was also great fun to read about his father. Even when the Arizona landscape feels foreign to me I can relate to some of those family experiences .

I was wanting just a little more from the book, however. Toso makes the case that the land and wild things near Tucson are threatened by encroachment from human development. I'm left wondering what is being done to save those things? Are there positive means that could accommodate growth and preserve the wild things? Without knowing more I'm just left with a bleak feeling about Tucson's future.

I chose Zero at the Bone for a future book club discussion and, after reading it, am not disappointed in that choice. Erec Toso's language goes from being very vivid to being extremely provocative and frustrating. I think that's an outcome of reading someone's stream of consciousness. But, it's well worth the read. He hits home with me and brings all his stories into context, though sometimes slowly. Also, I love the medical stuff but doubt that everyone would. Finally, I like Erec's interpretation of the importance of snakes in our environment.

There is much to learn from Zero at the Bone -- I highly recommend it!

The book is a trip to preserve the wilderness of the great American Southwest. As a foreigner living in Arizona, I felt this couldn't be a better present to folks at home that are curious about my experiences in the Southwest. Be prepared to be swept of your feet enjoying the smells, the adrenaline, the somber colors of sharing life with the Sonoran desert.

Great book to use in the classroom!

"Zero at the Bone" has ruined my life. His writings are the words, sentences and expressions that I would like to be able to use to express my thoughts, feelings and experiences. However, I know I will never be able to do it, as well as he has.

"Zero" is the story of Erec Toso, a 40ish Tucson writing teacher and runner, who received a life threatening rattlesnake bite that affected and changed his life (for worse and better). It was one of the best written and most engaging books I have ever read. I have highly recommended it to all my male-female angst friends, aging athletes, Tucsonans, and lovers of fine writing (that covers everyone I know).

"Zero" is actually 3 books: First, before the bite, he writes of the male-aging angst: "My heart grows hard when certain subjects come up. It bars entry, switches on the security system, lets threats trigger the lockdown of emotions under siege.....There are questions I am not strong enough to entertain, that are too big to digest......" I call this part of the book - "Telling life How It Is Before a Snakebite".

Then, there is adventure and mystery, as we suffer through the actual physical trauma of the injury with him, not knowing how this will ultimately affect Erec or his family or if he will even survive.

Finally, it becomes philosophically descriptive of how his life changed and actually benefited from the snake-bite.

I can identify with Toso; He lives where I live, thinks my thoughts, shares my concerns about the world and the environment. The glaring difference is that he is able express these feelings.

And in addition to "ruining my life", his writing may have also "saved" my life by helping me realize I'm leading MY LIFE now. "This is not a practice run; there are no do-overs."

If you are scanning the reviews, trying to decide whether or not to buy this book, I can tell you this: If you enjoy reading literary nonfiction, just tap that "One Click" button and get the book on its way to you. Having read a preview of the book before it was released, I looked forward to reading it with great anticipation. In fact, when it arrived in the mail, I pulled it out, opened to the first page and was so taken with Toso's use of language that I began to read it aloud--with no audience other than my cat. I read the first 12 pages that way. There are those who make good storytellers because they know how to weave a compelling tale, follow an ebb and flow of suspense and pathos. But the true masters are those who can render those same elements using language that sings. Toso has made his mark as a master. Let's hope he's working on a second book--but that he needn't entertain Death to produce it.

As the Fleet Intellegence Officer of Admirals Kimmel and Nimitz Edwin Layton was in a unique position to see and to understand what was going on regarding the battles at Pearl Harbor and Midway. This welcome reprint to the 1985 book has to be considered one of the more definitive books of the couple of hundred on the subjects.

Layton was a language officer stationed in Japan before the war to learn Japanese. He followed Japan and the Japanese developments closely. He was at Pearl before the attack and remained there throughout the war. He was on the Missouri at the Japanese surrender.

There are a series of revisionist history books that propose such things as Roosevelt and Churchill conspiring to let the Japanese attack at Pears. Yes there is evidence that we had some intelligence pointing to the Japanese attack. But you have to look carefully at how much material there was, how many messages had been intercepted, how few had been translated and you come up with the basic understanding that it just hadn't been put together. A lot like the situation with 9/11, Monday morning quarterbacking is much easier than being in the midst of the game.

Layton was there, he knew what Kimmel and Short knew, indeed he had briefed them with the material on hand. Could they have been better prepared, yes, Layton says, if Admiral Richmond K. Turner had forwarded the information. But like any inter-departmental power struggle, Turner held the information to himself.

I was also surprised by the relatively little animosity shown towards the Redman brothers who bounced Rochefort and Safford out. Indeed Layton points out that the do it themselves style of Rochefort and Safford probably wouldn't have done a very good job of managing the Navy Radio Intelligence activities that grew to almost 8,500 people by the end of the war.

All in all, a must read for anyone interested in what happened at Pearl and Midway.

And I was there.
This is a great book by one who was there, Adm Layton. He was Adm Kimmels intelligence officer at Pearl Harbor.
He shows how the incompetence of the Navy in Washington led to the surprise attack at Pearl, by the Navy, specifically adm Stark and Kelly Turner, not giving Pearl the vital information they had about Jap intentions, but refused to give Pearl. The Navy also had 2 intelligence groups fighting for the information, and control, evaluating, and dissemination of the information. This too sabotaged the intelligence efforts, and does to this day.
Gen Marshall is also responsible for the debacle. He was reprimanded, but Roosevelt set aside the Congressional verdict on him.
Kimmel was judged not guilty of any wrongdoing by the Navy, but found derelict by Congress, a tragic miscarriage of justice, due to lies under testimony by Stark, and Turner.

The Redmon brothers are faulted too for ousting the most brilliant Navy intelligence officer, Rochefort, who correctly guessed the time and location of the Midway battle.

Another tragic aftermath of Pearl, was the loss of Wake Island. Kimmel had a carrier task force sailing to resupply and relieve the garrision that was under attack by the Japs. This would have surprised the Japs and could have sunk many Jap ships, saved Wake Island, and kept open the supply lines to the Phillipines. Unfortunaely, Kimmel was relieved, and Adm Pye replaced him Pye lost his nerve and cancelled the mission.

MacArthur is noted, as being in charge of the Phillipines, and being under orders to attack Formosa with his B17's when Pearl was attacked. He had a 9 hour warning after Pearl had been attacked, and had been told to attack. It was not until years after this book was published that the records of why Mac did nothing in the Phillipines were found. He was paid $650,000 by Pres Quezon of the Phillipines to do nothing, as he wanted to be neutral. MacArthur lost the Phillipines, a far more important strategic outpost than Pearl, as well as half the B17's we had, and 1/5 of our fighters, on the ground, just as what happened at Pearl, only 9 hours later, after he had multiple phone calls from Washington to attack the Japs.

The battle of Guadalcanal and other Pacific battles is also gone into in some detail
It was Nimitz, not Mac Arthur that devised the island hopping idea.
A great book by a hero who was there.

First and major portion of book covering Pearl Harbor is excellent. However, after Layton's death, the book was continued from his notes and descriptions of campaigns after Pearl Harbor suffer in quality by comparison.

Before you jump on some revisionist books about Pearl Harbor, like Stinnet's Day of Deceipt, you should get it from the horses mouth! Layton, et al, tell a little known side of the war in the pacific. His opinions of some famous naval personalities like Stark and R.K. Turner will really have you thinking about how war is run when powerful, ambitious officers are running the show. It's a shame that lives had to be wasted while the U.S. got its act together to finally win the war in the pacific, but Layton's tale will give you a new perspective and supports much of what was previously written, like Prang's "At Dawn We Slept", about the debacle of Pearl Harbor and the genius that followed at Midway. Buy it!

Edwin T. Layton served as Fleet Intelligence Officer for Admirals Kimmel and Nimitz. He, along with the other members of station Hypo, were assigned the task of breaking into Japan's secret codes, especially their JN-25 cypher. Through exhausting efforts by its members, they were finaly able to penetrate enough of the JN-25 code to make reasonable assumptions as to what the Japanese navy was planning. "Magic" was the term used for the intercept and decryption of these secret codes.

However, no decoding was actually done at Pearl Harbor, because there was no "Purple" decoding machine there. All intercepts had to be sent to Washinton for decryption, and Hawaii relied on Washington for their information. Layton's thesis is that Pearl Harbor was denied vital intelligence which, if issued in a timely fashion, could have alerted Pearl Harbor to the impending attack which occurred on December 7, 1941. Although I agree with some of his thesis, I also believe that the Pearl Harbor commanders made terrible mistakes of their own which also contributed to the unpreparedness of Pearl Harbor.

One message that Washington failed to send Pearl Harbor which I believe, along with Layton, could have alerted the fleet to the attack was the so-called "bomb plot" message. In a nutshell, this message divided Pearl Harbor into several sections and placed ships in each section; almost like laying an invisible grid over the harbor. Of all the messages that Pearl Harbor failed to receive, this was probably the most important.

However, with this stated, I also believe that the commanders made grievous errors of their own. On November 27, 1941, a "war warning" message was sent to both commanders at Pearl Harbor. Both seemed perplexed and unsure of the course of action to be taken. Why was this? Both Admiral Kimmel and General Short were high ranking members of the military, yet they both dragged their feet when they received this message. Short simply ordered defense against sabotage instead of ordering an all-out alert, while Kimmel failed to order any further long-range patrols, plus he didn't order the battle force to sea. They seemed incapable of making any independent judgement of their own. Instead, they needed to be told directly what to do. These omissions are unforgivable.

Inter-service rivalry also played a role in the failure. As pointed out by Layton, there was very little inter-service cooperation or sharing of messages, so most of the time, one usually didn't know what the other was doing. Further, during the Midway operation, a rivalry betwen station Hypo and the Washington-based intelligence unit nearly cost us the battle, but fortunately, Layton and commander Joe Rochefort were able to convince Nimitz that Hypo, not Washington, was correct.

I thought this was a good book, but I disagree with Layton's assertion that Kimmel and Short were scapegoats and had no clue what was happening. Granted, there was some intelligence that was definitely denied to them, but they should have been able to interpret events on ther own, namely the war warning message. This book is a good counter-argument to other works, such as "At Dawn We Slept". The information about the battle of Midway is especially interesting, plus the story of the codebreaking activities was well-done.

This is a great book about astrology for beginner and advanced student alike. Clear, precise and fairly easy to understand.

You would have to be an advanced astrologer not to benefit from this excellent primer on astrology. It has everything you will need to read your own chart and become familiar with the language of astrology (the zodiac, planets, houses, asteroids, and so on). The explanations are simple and down-to-earth, which is exactly what a beginner needs to understand astrology. The more advanced student will often refer back to it as a reference.

The authors take a very friendly approach, with excercises meant to be used to understand your own birth chart better. Upon completing the book, you will have your own interpretation of your birth chart and will be ready to read other charts and attempt more complicated analysis, such as progressed charts.

The book is free of opinions and agendas, nothing but plain astrology presented in a way that anyone can understand, given a bit of effort and dedication. This is your first stop if you are interested in astrology or know something about the subject and want to consolidate your knowledge. econ

This book is unbelievable! It is so clear and concise. It really explains the data in your birth chart. It is the best astrology book I have ever found. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in this subject.

I completely enjoyed this book. It was interactive enough to keep me busy and informative enough to keep me excited about filling out each page. I would highly recommend this book to anyone in the process of taking their astrology knowledge to the "next level."

Basically, you fill in a lot of charts, keywords and more...all about your own chart. You will end up practically memorizing keywords etc. by the time you are finished...without even realizing you have! Well, written, well laid out...big thumbs up!

This is an excellent book for both beginning Astrologers and those who have been at it awhile. Be sure to keep a pencil handy as you'll want to start filling in the pages right away.

I couldn't set this book down. He literally goes through every possibility, facing years of uncertainty, and still keeps trying - and graduates college and law school in the meantime. I cannot imagine going through what he went through in Kenya, then coming to the US as a safe haven, and facing such a drawn-out, uphill battle simply to stay.

His story is not always easy to read but it is very engaging, even if, like me, you are not a lawyer or law student. David Kenney Ngaruri and his friends and colleagues in this book are very inspirational.

This is an eloquent and heartbreaking tale of one immigrant's journey throught the U.S. Immigration system. It reads like a John Grisham novel although the story is sadly true. The author, a 7-foot tall Kenyan, was a political prisioner in Kenya for his role as a labor organizer. He faced imprisonment and torture and was ultimately able to escape Kenya via the promise of a basketball scholarship in the United States. In his quest for political asylum in the U.S. he encouters heartless judges,corrupt officials, State Department bureaucrats, a beautiful "witch", kidnapping rebels, interpid law students and a dedicated and brilliant law profressor (his co-author). I couldn't put it down and felt a mixture of outrage at the U.S. immigration system while in awe of the power of the human spirit to overcome the most dauting of odds.

My copy arrived yesterday; I may not get to read it until our beach vacation this summer. But the photo of the two authors on the inside back flap of the dust jacket may be the funniest author photo ever! It will be hard to wait until this summer to read it.

This is an amazing book that makes plain the unbelievable complexity of immigration law. Anyone with an interest in immigration policy should read this book.

For those of you looking for a good summer read to take to the beach, or just a great book to snuggle up with on a rainy day, I highly recommend opening up the pages of Asylum Denied. It is both informative and inspiring as it tells the story of David Kenney Ngaruri, the political asylee who struggled to stay in America. Although the book is currently being passed around law schools, as the new go-to-guide for asylum law, I am sure it will not be long before it makes the bestseller stands at nation-wide bookstores or grabs a spot on Oprah's booklist. Asylum Denied, written by two authors, the above-mentioned David Kenney Ngaruri and Philip Schrag, the professor of law at Georgetown University, serves both as a law manual and as a heart-warming story of adventure, perseverance, and love. Unlike most law-related books, it reads very smoothly and catches your attention from the first page. Even if this is not the usual type of book you read, I urge you to give it a try. If the face on the cover of the book is not enough to convince you to read it, then I hope this review will.

Our 7-year-old son just finished this book. He loved it. It was an exciting story that had him eager to turn the page.
We recently decided to tell him that he has Asperger's Syndrome and it quickly became his excuse for all his difficulties. Through this book, he was able to understand that he is responsibile for his behavior and he has begun to see that he can maintain control.
Best of all, he enjoyed reading it. It was the first chapter book he was willing to read. Not only was the content beneficial & fun, but book itself helped him overcome his fear of reading a 'big kid' book.
We highly recommend this book for elementary school aged kids with Asperger's Syndrome.

I was thrilled to read Baj and the Word Launcher. It is such a fun book, and a wonderful way to get inside the head of a child with Asperger's Syndrome. I think that reading this book will be very supportive for other children like Baj, who have a hard time figuring out what's going on around them and could use a bag of tools, like the Word Launcher, to help them out.

This book makes me think of the name for the Kennedy Administration (1960-63), the New Frontier. This is the New Frontier in autism/Asperger literature!

Baj is a delightful character who has Asperger's Syndrome which is the spectrum partner to autism. He embarks upon a stellar Magical Mystery Tour armed with a Communication Kit so he can learn to decode facial expressions and other nonverbal language cues. Many is the time when I've wished I had such a kit.

Readers, neurotypical and on the spectrum alike will enjoy this book and love traveling with Baj to the New Autism/Asperger's Frontier!

My son and I just finished reading Baj. My son read it first and couldn't put it down. (He really enjoyed the sci-fi theme and glimpse of life on another planet.) It is an engaging and warm-hearted read which weaves fundamentals of communication and body language into the story of Baj and his friends. This is a book for kids and adults alike who wants to improve their communication skills or just become more aware of them. And it's a great way to start a discussion with any child about these essential skills. I loved the Stop and Think boxes - which can be used to spark conversation and understanding of the concepts. We can't wait for more adventures of Baj!

I loved the story, and want more of Baj's adventures! Who doesn't need a Communication Clarifying Kit? This is a story for all kids who feel like they are misunderstood, and frustrated by trying to get their point across. The world and all its stimuli are overwhleming, and I truly understood the relief that Baj felt when he was given tools to handle the stresses of life and to navigate the tricky world of clear communication.

I think the book is a find for all parents, and that Asperger's kids are really lucky to have Pam Victor and Baj on their team!

Nice detailed reference on the battleship Arizona. Detailed history. Very useful collection of pictures. Great reference for modelers.

When the pacage arrived from Amazon, I did realise that it would be such a big book just on one Battleship! The detail for any history buff, model maker is great. A good purchase but you will need a reading table to hold it!

Mr. Stillwell has brought BB-39 to life in a way that hasn't been matched by anyone else who has attempted. His rendering of the life of the ship from her birth in the NY Navy yards to her death in the waters of Pearl Harbor is amazing in its clarity & detail.

OK, some detail might be lacking for the technical buffs but his description of the construction, manning, & day-to-day operation of a US naval vessel in the 1st half of the 20th century is superlative. He blends both the hardware & the human element so that Arizona & her crew leap off the pages as a living, breathing combination of steel & flesh.

Highly recommended for those who are interested in the Arizona herself & for anyone who would like to know many of the hows & whys of US Naval operations between the wars.

PS: Scale modelers invariably recommend "Battleship Arizona" as -the- definitive work to those who are researching details of BB-39 for their own modeling projects.

IN A NUTSHELL: AN ILLUSTRATED READER THAT INCLUDES TECHNICAL APPENDICES

One could say that the above says it all.

WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT: THE LIFE & DEATH OF THE ARIZONA AND HER CREWS

In great detail, this book begins as the ship's keel is laid, [16 MARCH 1914] with a picture of FDR who was on hand as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for the ceremony. It ends with the aftermath of Pearl Harbor. Included, after the end of the book, are 5 appendices that include all the information that modelers and naval history enthusiasts will be seeking.

FOR THOSE READERS THAT ARE A LITTLE IMPATIENT - -

The first seven chapters of the book is about the peacetime life aboard one of the U.S. Navy's super-dreadnoughts. It is an interesting and well illustrated historical reader.

This changes abruptly for Chapter 8, "DAY OF INFAMY" which details a basic reconstruction of the morning of December 7, 1941, as it pertains to the Battleship Arizona. Highlighted most of all are the individual acts of heroism and the selflessness of many of the crew in their desperate efforts to save their fellow crewmen, their ship and themselves. Also included is a sketch which illustrates where the damage to the ship occurred, which is a huge aid in understanding what happened so quickly to the Arizona on December 7, 1941. This is short, seemingly all too short, but one must realize that the Arizona's magazines' exploded only about 10 minutes after the attack began. 1177 men of the Arizona's crew were killed in that short time with only 337 survivors, many of whom were on leave so they were not there at the time. In other words, about 85% of the crew on-board were killed in basically ten minutes. Nevertheless, the detail is quite accurate and more importantly, easy to follow and appreciate.

Chapter 9, "AFTERMATH" is pretty gruesome in some places, but this is after all a rather gruesome real life disaster. This chapter does include the attempted salvaging of the Arizona and some stories about the men who remained on board [forever in most cases].

THE APPENDICES: HISTORIAN & MODELERS HEAVEN

- APPENDIX 1 - CHRONOLOGY from 1916 - 1941, 42 pages includes a great deal of day to day missions and events of interest.

- APPENDIX 2 - COMMANDING OFFICERS - DATES INCLUDED

- APPENDIX 3 - CREW LIST - 7 DECEMBER 1941, includes fatalities and survivors separately of both the Navy and Marine Corp. Includes summary at the end.

- APPENDIX 4 - A SAILOR'S LETTERS - SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES

- APPENDIX 5 - SHIP'S DATA, include detailed specs with individual breakdown of the weights of different components of the ship [eg. armor, machinery, hull etc.] both originally and after the modernization in 1931.

Within Appendix 5 there are numerous sketches [1:600 scale] which are probably copies of the ships blueprints. These are detailed to show individual compartments and components and are labeled. The alterations that were made to the ship over time have been included. A very important addition.

BOTTOM LINE:

Paul Stillwell and "The Naval Institute Press" have another winner in this volume.

I chose to read The Illustrated History of the Battleship Arizona, written by Paul Stillwell. This is not the first book of this format that he has written The Illustrated History of the Battleship Missouri, follows the same format as well. The book started in the shipyard as the U.S.S. Arizona was being built then the author takes you through the daily routine of the ship as if you were a sailor on the great battleship. You feel as though you're in the middle of Pearl Harbor looking over the Arizona as the battle is taking place. The ship was built in 1918, and was the pride of the Pacific fleet threw out the 20's. The Arizona was featured in a Famous movie called, Here Comes the Navy. After Pearl Harbor the ship was made into a now world famous memorial.

This had been one of the best books I had ever been able to read there is so much information given on this great ship, and the pictures make the ship come alive. I would suggest this book to anyone who has an interest in ships and the way they run, or a fan of history. I have not read any other books that Paul Stillwell has written, but if they are half as good as this one I would recommend it to anyone.

It's a wonderful work. More information you will ever see anywhere. Beautiful and detailed photos that help a lot in identification. I'm enjoying so much reading it.

Like a few other military books Bayonets: An Illustrated History by great author Martin J. Brayley gives us an accurate descritpion and amazing, extensive photographic material to illustrate each and every example.
For collectors and simpatizers alike this is a book worth having in any military collection.

Written by a military photographer of 24 years' experience, Bayonets: An Illustrated History offers an in-depth examination of the role of the bayonet in military conflicts worldwide from 1650 to present. More than 500 photographs enhance Bayonets: An Illustrated History. 300 different types of bayonets are closely scrutinized; almost every photograph features a capsule of notes specific to its topic. The text, while intended more for serious military historian than the lay reader, is highly accessible as it traces the design evolutions and purposes of bayonets as history passed. A welcome contribution to military and weapon history shelves.

Written by a military photographer of 24 years' experience, Bayonets: An Illustrated History offers an in-depth examination of the role of the bayonet in military conflicts worldwide from 1650 to present. More than 500 photographs enhance Bayonets: An Illustrated History. 300 different types of bayonets are closely scrutinized; almost every photograph features a capsule of notes specific to its topic. The text, while intended more for serious military historian than the lay reader, is highly accessible as it traces the design evolutions and purposes of bayonets as history passed. A welcome contribution to military and weapon history shelves.

Photography in this book is excellent and sometimes the visuals are better than the text in aiding identification. The author points out some nuances in transitions that I had not encountered before. I felt it was worth the price and very handy as a quick reference.

Fabulous book, hard to believe this is the author's first work! Each page reads like a conversation with a good friend; it has that easy cadence and believability. I'm eager to read more from this author.

I have long been fascinated by issues related to addiction and alcoholism and have read several books (fiction and non-fiction) on this subect; Beach Glass is definitely one of the best I've read. The indepth portrayal of people in the throes of and recovering from various addictions is amazing. It is great the way the author can realistically create characters from all different backgrounds (gay, straight, male, female). And I loved the way she wove the details of the locations (sounds, sights, etc) into the story. I loved this book and would recommend it to anyone, regardless of whether you are in the addictions counseling field or not.

Blackburn's book shows the tremendously rich life that's possible for the characters explicitly because they are in recovery. Life's trials were realistically approached and the characters were able to make it because they found community with one another. They seem to get to the point where they know they may not be "normal" but they understand that they are better than normal because they face life's challenges by sticking together, being their weird and wonderful selves and doing the hard work of living a concious life.
Blackburn has an incredible gift for placing you right there in the story. At moments I got little chills. There were suspenseful scenes that kept me reading when I should've really gone to bed already. Her ability to point out the absurdities of life cracked me up. And as the journey was coming to a close and the pages dwindled, I was able to really feel the sadness of the main characters as the story was coming to a close.
I would recommend this book not only for those in "the tribe" of 12-Steppers but for anyone who has had to deal with issues related to life changes like leaving home, having close friends get sick and die and all the craziness of relationships from tempting flirtations to just realizing it's time to end a relationship. I suspect everyone could relate to something in this book.

When a customer asks me 'What book would you recommend?', I ask them at least 20 questions before I even hazard a guess. Then I suggest a book that I feel most relates to their particular situation.
Gleefully, Beachglass is a book I can recommend with reckless abandon to anyone who walks into my store. ANYONE who reads this capitaving tale will be entertained and indeed educated about the recovery side of the deadly diseases of alcoholism and addiction.
I loved this book!

I could not put this book down. Delia tells her story in the present and in flashbacks. In the current time, Delia is holding the hand of her best friend while he dies. Kleenex alert!! Delia and Timothy walk this path together in an agony of loss and triumph. We meet Delia some 13 years before as a physically and emotionally bankrupt 17 year old. She comes to rehab as an 89 pound, half dead druggie/alcoholic. Faced with the choice to live or die, Delia makes the courageous leap to grab life. In the rehab Delia meets a delightfully quirky and human cast of characters who will become her friends and guides as she learns how to live a sober life. This book is gritty and sweaty and unflinchingly honest about what it is like to be in recovery. It's a story about how Delia learns to live and to embrace all the scars and challenges that polish and grow her into being a beautiful and unique piece of art, like Beachglass.

Senator Bumpers' memoir is truly a great read. The Senator is very candid about politics, honest about his life, and philosophical without trying to justify his actions while in office. In a day where it seems every politician running for office feels the need to write a book, Senator Bumpers has taken the time to write one after leaving public office.
On a personal note, the Senator took time out of his day to autograph a copy for me on the occasion of my retirement from the Army.
This is a very good book.

Dale Bumpers might be seen as a mixture of one part Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird), one part Jefferson Smith (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), and a half part Abe Lincoln (at least he got the self-deprecating part).

In his memoir, Bumpers presents his life in wry strokes from Depression-era Arkansas through the Clinton impeachment trial. When focused upon the Arkansas of his youth, Bumpers' writing rings with spry anecdotes and the merriment of a man who can laugh at what was once a scandal and present rural life with a fine eye.

Unfortunately, the broad brush strokes of his gubernatorial and senate career reeks of sterilized gaps (or perhaps, hatchets slyly buried). Bumpers becomes jaded, cynical, and cautious in writing about Washington powerbrokers, condensing his memoirs into a string of dinner parties and public engagements lacking the same confessional quality. After multiple terms in the Senate, Bumpers recalls only two meaningful debates - Panama Canal, and the battle to save the Manassas Battlefield from becoming a shopping center.

Bumpers' memoir is worth reading for the depiction of the rural South and a profile of a real-life career of a grassroots lawyer who did good and made good in the first half. However, concluding with Bumpers speech on behalf of fellow Arkansan Bill Clinton during the impeachment trial is anticlimactic, and the latter section begs for the same treatment as his earlier, less public life.

Great read by someone who knows how to paint pictures with words. Dale Bumpers is a true public servant, not a politician out for fame, ego, money, and sex. I first became aware of him in a lengthy newspaper article some decades ago that gave deep background coverage to his spoken eloquence and mastery of issues, beyond that even of most Senators. I have wanted him to run for President ever since, and I think his speech in defense of Bill Clinton shows what a loss we have endured in not having Dale Bumpers as a President, particularly in light of the actions of our current President.

The Senator describes in his book how Arkansas was always competing with Mississippi in being at the bottom of the lists of good things, and at the top of lists of bad things, and how he strove to change that. I was born and raised in Louisiana, and remember experiencing the same thing with Mississippi, but don't remember seeing Arkansas on those lists frequently. I consider that to be a testament to the Senator's success in changing things in Arkansas, as he was born about 1926, and I was born in 1963.

Lets hope a generation of Americans finds this work as inspiring as the author found the words of Harry Truman to him: "You should always remember that the people elected you to do what you think is right. They're busy with their own lives, and they're depending on you.... Get the best advice you can find on both sides of the issues, pick out the one that makes the most sense to you, and go with it.... Secondly, trust people with the truth. Politicians always have a hard time telling people the truth, rather than telling them what they think they'd like to hear. People can handle the truth, and you can trust `em with it." (p. 226).

This is an exceptionally excellent book, replete with snatches of humor and wise and poignant thoughts. It is indeed a memoir rather than an autobiography, and does not dwell much on the author's illustrious career as governor and senator. The best chapters are toward the end, when he tells of his crowning achievemnet after he left the Senate and gave his superlative speech in the trial in the Senate of Bill Clinton. I am glad he set that speech out in an appendix since I had forgotten just how able it was. This book is a great book, and one can recomment it unreservedly.

Dale Bumpers recounts his formative years with honesty, verve, and a wonderful sense of humor. Sparing us a blow-by-blow account of his years as an influential member of the United States Senate, Bumpers instead gives us the gift of riding along for the journey as he looks back on his life and remembers the lessons he learned from his father in Depression-era Arkansas. We enjoy a remarkable whirlwind tour -- through high school, college and law school; through tragedy; through the years of simultaneously serving as city attorney, family hardware-store operator, lawyer, husband, and father; through the many often-zany legal cases and clients with whom Bumpers worked; and, finally, through the decision of the young, smart, and genuine country lawyer -- inspired by his father, who comes across as a thoughtful, caring, and noble man, to commit to a life of serving others -- to launch a long-shot campaign to become the Governor of Arkansas. This is not a book for Bumpers to tout his influence on policy in Arkansas, although I discovered later that he was the only Arkansas Governor of the twentieth-century who, among Arkansas political scientists, achieved the rank of "Great." (Other Arkansas governors included David Pryor and, of course, a young man named Bill Clinton.) Nor is it a bogged-down account of Bumpers' years in the Senate, although he was for twenty-four years among the most revered members of that body. Nor is it a rumination on the trends of the times or the national character, even though Dale Bumpers was repeatedly encouraged to run for president and declined in 1976, 1984, and finally for the last time in 1988. Indeed, in an age where politicians discuss their political accomplishments and ambitions at length in their memoirs, with a cloying sense of self-centeredness that encourages one to forswear the genre entirely, Bumpers never discusses the intense-but-always-fleeting power struggles that define Washington, or why he always decided against running for the presidency. Instead, the book is a reflection a long, sometimes-bumpy, but always satisfying public and private life, full of vivid images, memorable episodes, and wonderful stories.

What makes the book so appealing is its utter lack of pretense, Bumpers' genuine and unfailing respect for those who might wander across his book in the local library and spend a few moments with it. It is little wonder he always won re-election in Arkansas, despite the fact that his views tended to be more liberal than those of the state as a whole. ("Do you want to know why you always thought I was more liberal than I said I was?" he recounts asking an assembled group back home in Arkansas, as he was finishing up his last term in the U.S. Senate. "Because I was!") In an age of insta-political memoirs, Bumpers mentioned that it took him nearly four years to write the book, and it shows.

Given our disenchantment with politics these days, we are constantly looking for a man on a white horse to save our political culture from itself. One wonders, however, what our potential would be if we moved past the cult of political celebrity, and searched for a leader who was confident but genuine, talented and humble, and most of all, good and decent, with an integrity and a generosity of spirit that reminds us of the best about ourselves. In an age where we are all looking for the next John F. Kennedy or Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton (Mitt Romney? John Edwards? Barack Obama?), you may, after reading this memoir, wonder whether we may better be served by searching for the next Dale Bumpers.

If you are a girl, know a girl or have ever been a girl, this is the book for you. This anthology of the collected writings of teenage girls and their women mentors uplifts, inspires and transforms.

Also, when you purchase a book you help support a noble cause and allow this non-profit mentoring program to continue providing its much needed service.

This is a great book filled with every emotion under the sun! It made me laugh, cry and sing. I applaud the women and girls who gave so much of themselves to make this book a reality. A definite must read!

I am one of the writers in BOLD INK and i would just like to say that i had an wonderful time working with my mentor. Writing the pieces that went into the the book as well as the ones that didnt. I would also like to thanks everyone who left a comment. Now I can only speak for myself but i enjoyed hearing good feedback about the book. Please enjoy and thank you very much.

This book is just as other reviewers have said, inspiring. I have to add something that the other reviewers haven't said, which is that the design is one of the best I've seen for this type of book. It's a real pleasure for the eye, and very imaginatively done without distracting from the reading.

This book is so beautifully put together. I was looking for a writing guide for my 12 year old daughter -- at first, I did not think this book was it, but I'm a teacher and I was curious. BOLD INK is truly amazing. there are poems and stories from young girls, but there are also little blurbs explaining how they went about the writing process. My daughter devoured this book and has written so much more than she ever has. I think that adults can teach children all they want, but it is the lessons from their peers that they really take to heart.