Indiana Books

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The Complete Dinosaur edited by James O. Farlow and M.K. Brett-Surman is a comprehensive book about dinosaurs. There are many contributors that have written chapter for this book, so you get different writing styles and information is duplicated at times.

This book is divided into six parts and each has chapters written by the various contributors. The parts are as follows:
Part One: The Discovery of Dinosaurs
Part Two: The Study of Dinosaurs
Part Three: The Groups of Dinosaurs
Part Four: Biology of the Dinosaurs
Part Five: Dinosaur Evolution in the Changing World of the Meszoic Era
Part Six: Dinosaurs and the Media

What I found that was very interesting was that at the end of each chapter there was extensive references. So, if you find something that piques your interest you have something else to read about, to either clarify or strengthen your viewpoint. Also, this makes the book easy to use when dealing with technical material.

This book summarizes the current knowledge about dinosaurs at the time written (1997), and currently there are only eighty professional dinosaur paleotologists in the world. This book is written like professional scientific literature, but that doesn't make it difficult to read. Reading on you will find this book is not without controversy, as vigorus disagreements among the specialists over topics of contention will be found here as they hash out these sharp divergences of opinion.

I must say, that there is some very fine artwork, with bone of skeletons, muscle structure and complete complete fleshed out dinosaurs giving the reader a full grasp of what a dinosar looks like from the inside out. Also, questions as to what dinosaurs ate, how they raised their young, and the question that was the turning point that made the movie Jurassic Park... can we isolate dinosaur DNA are just some of the many questions that have answers in this book.

All in all, the technical jargon is at a minimum and there is a glossary of terms making your reading much more fruitful. I found the narrative easy to read and the information from this book to be exceptional.

This is a great intermediate level dinosaur book. It has a lot of details, but not enough to prevent non-experts from following it. It has 43 chapters divided into six parts. The chapters were written by experts in the individual subjects. This has the nice feature of making the chapters fairly independent, however it also makes the presentation a bit disjointed at times.

The first part deals with the process and history of discovering dinosaurs. The history of science isn't my favorite topic, so I just skimmed this part and can't really comment on it.

The second part describes the tools and techniques used to study dinosaurs. This includes excavations, the study of bones, taxonomy and cladistics, morphology, biomolecular techniques and exhibiting dinosaurs. There is a lot of interesting information, this material is fairly fundamental to the study of dinosaurs. Some of it is pretty easy to follow, some (like data management techniques) is a little more difficult to follow (for me anyway). None of it is prohibitively difficult.

Part three is a collection of chapters covering archosaurs, early dinosaurs and the various dinosaur families. Given that they were written by different authors, there is no consistent format for the chapters. I would have liked to have seen more material on how the families are related to each other. On the whole, I liked the level of detail.

Part four describes dinosaur biology. It contains a fascinating set of topics. A partial list of them is: plants in the Mesozoic, dinosaur diets, dinosaur dynamics, dinosaur eggs (covered in a nice amount of detail) and dinosaur paleopathology (a topic that doesn't often seem to get covered in this level of detail). In my experience many of these topics are somewhat neglected (either covered only lightly or not at all), this, and the quality, made it my favorite part of the book.

The fifth part deals with dinosaur evolution, including the way their environment changed thru time. It concludes with a discussion of dinosaur extinction, presenting both gradualist and catastrophist arguments.

The final part is one chapter covering how dinosaurs are portrayed in the media and how they are perceived by society.

Although the book had many authors, the quality is uniformly excellent. I generally liked the selection of topics. I wouldn't consider this an entry level book, but it's definitely readable by non-experts, I enjoyed the level of detail.

This book is very dense and covers almost anything related to dinosaurs. It is clearly intended to non-pros but it does not lack scientifical value. However, because the book was written by many authors you'll find some chapters less well written than others and some information is duplicated. My advise is to not hesitate to buy this as your first dinosaur book.

Do you want to get "into" Dinosaurs? This is the place to start. The Complete Dinosaur is a comprehensive introduction to what is currently known about dinosaurs and how it is known. From the history of the earliest fossil hunters to dinosaur biology, paleogeography and even an overview of dinosaurs in the media throughout the years.
The book is organized into chapters, each of which contains a deep look at its subject and yet is perfectly readable by laymen (such as myself). Even though many contributors wrote for this book, there is a sense of cohesiveness through the entire book. At a massive 768 pages, it is a very long read but seldom does it get tedious except perhaps a few chapters on dinosaur biology that get a bit too technical.
The book contains abundant references at the end of each chapter and a huge index a the end so it serves as a very useful reference on your library.
Other books that compare to this one are "The Scientific American Book of Dinosaurs" edited by Greg Paul and "Encylopedia of Dinosaurs" edited by Phil Currie, both renown paleontologists. "The Complete Dinosaur" is more comprehensive than the first one and is arranged in a more readable format than the second one which arranges its articles in alphabetic order.
The only weakness of the book is its age. Written in 1997 it is probably due to a revision given that the fiels of paleontology has been progressing by leaps and bounds in the last few decades.

Highly recommended.

James Whitcomb Riley is one of the few poets to deal with the death of youngsters and oldsters alike. His poems give comfort to any who have experienced loss. He is little known today for these poems but they appear throughout this magnificent book. In these complete works there are love poems, grief poems and humorous poems told with such lyrical expertise and wisdom from someone who has experienced every emotion he writes about. Although his style is old fashioned rhyming poetry it is truly delightful.
I applaud the publishers of this great book (I have three copies and send it to friends and family)and recommend it to ALL who love poetry whether it be contemporary or otherwise.

When I was a kid, we had a friend who would recite "Little Orphant Annie" to us before we went to bed. I'll be damned if that poem didn't scare me into being a good kid! I plan on reading it to my 3 year old tonight with the hopes of scaring her straight enough to start being nice to her baby brother! One can dream, right?.....

Folksy Hoosier James Whitcomb Riley (1849 - 1916) is America's premier poet of the sentimental. The Complete Poetical Works Of James Whitcomb Riley brings together over 1,000 touching, humorous, easy to read, and intelligent but non - intellectual poems, many filled with longing for irretrievable childhood innocence, freedom, and joy. Today's readers will find the volume a genuine time capsule into the past; these poems will evoke not only the reader's own memories of childhood, but also a simpler and perhaps more innocent and joyous America. The ambitions and expectations expressed by the speakers, narrators, and characters in the poems are humble, the horizons of their world near. One of the secrets of Riley's backward - glancing poems is that his reflections are only partially regretful; the joys of the past are equaled by the child - like joy still present in the adult poet's heart. Dozens of the pieces included here are suitable for reading to and sharing with children.

Titles 'The Swimming Hole,' 'The Noble Old Elm,' 'Company Manners,' 'When Mother Combed My Hair,' 'Us Farmers In The Country' 'My First Spectacles,' 'Blooms In May,' 'Two Sonnets To The June - Bug,' 'The Land Of Used - To - Be,' and 'Our Boyhood Haunts' offer a good indication of the book's content. There are numerous nature poems and celebrations of the seasons, summer meadows of "clover to the knee," August moons, lazy rivers, "the twitter of the bluebird and the wren," and, in one of Riley's most famous, the frost "on the punkin." There are tributes to William McKinley and Abraham Lincoln, to Tennyson, Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Joel Chandler Harris. Famous characters 'Little Orphant Annie' and 'The Raggedy Man' are here; Puck makes an appearance "under a low crescent moon" in a poem of his own, as do Pan, Santa Claus, pixies, and goblins in others. Odes to boyhood best friends abound. People lived on closer terms with death in Riley's time, and, appropriately, a number of the poems address the subject, all of which express either blissful faith in the afterlife or sadness for the living left behind.

Riley was endlessly inventive within the limited sphere of his talent, or, perhaps, within the limitations he purposefully set upon it. Oddly, there are relatively few poems celebrating romantic love and marriage. Riley, who never married, apparently held the adult world and women in particular in no little suspicion. In his poetry, eligible women are generally kept at what Riley must have felt was a safe distance, though there are numerous tributes to mothers, aunts, sisters, and little girls - even stepmothers are embraced lovingly. But when Riley wrote about single women and imagined wives, his poetic vision generally darkened.

In 'The Werewife,' the volume's 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci,' Riley portrays the speaker's "fluttering, moth - winged soul" helplessly caught and mesmerized by his wife, a white - skinned, red - cheeked seductress who is also a murderous vampire. In 'The Mad Lover,' the narrator lives in a state of grim emotional paralysis after falling in love with 'Miriam Wayne,' though whether "fate" or Miriam herself is the cause of the "evil" and the lover's madness is not made clear. In 'Oh, Her Beauty,' the poet sings the praises his beloved's transcendent loveliness, but the last lines find him on his knees in thanks to God for revealing her spiritual ugliness at the eleventh hour. The plucky woman in 'Her Choice' is asked by her lover to chose his "love or hate," and she chooses "your hate, my dear!" The cuckolded man in 'The Lovely Husband' fans his wife and cold creams her face upon command, ignores her plucky unfaithfulness, and is every way a "handy hubby" and "lovey - dovey" until he cheerfully takes a shot gun and shoots her. The lover of the imprisoned killer in 'Life Sentence' is "false, while he was true," "the mistress of all siren arts," and "the poor soulless heroine of a hundred hearts!"

Riley and Carl Sandburg were kindred souls; admirers of Sandburg will find that Sandburg's work was partially a progression of Riley's. Both poets' verse is filled with anecdotes, homey bits of wisdom, funny stories, songs, folk truisms, and legendary characters. Riley's poems are snippets of life, fireside tales, and reflections; unlike Sandburg, politics are occasionally touched upon but never the pivotal focus in Riley's work.

How readers react to John Whitcomb Riley will depend on how they respond to the overtly sentimental and the character of the times in which he wrote, for these poems effortlessly evoke it. Though warmly sentimental, Riley was also bright and witty and full of spark, a dreamy, reflective, pre - urban poet of the small town and the home, of the sun porch and the rocking chair, of back fence gossip and street corner news, and of the American dream as it was conceived in his era. Potential readers may think themselves too sophisticated, cynical, or highbrow to enjoy the happily middlebrow works of James Whitcomb Riley. But such readers may be pleasantly surprised at how completely they find themselves immersed in Riley's detailed, frequently timeless, invigorating, and ingenious work. Despite its overall simplicity, Riley's work comfortably rests within the grander tradition of American literature, and makes for visionary reading in its own unique, whimsical manner.

After mulling over volumes like the "Viking Portable Library" it is refreshing to have an entire volume of light-hearted, folksy fun. Of course, Riley's works aren't ALL in that vein, but favorites like Ragedy Man and Little Orphan Annie are, and that's why I like him. Being from California, I hardly know how to use the type of speech inflections and what-not that Riley hasn't written into these rhyming tales. But the closer I get to being able to master such speech the more it entertains my kids! Great collection, get it!

Twas struck with words as ne'r b'fore,
those gentle flowed from a poet of yore.
Each letter 'round our hearts was wrapt,
melodies of beauty lovely tapt.

Who'd er'er thunk that a pokety ole' man,
could know our thoughts and understan.
There ain't any we'd recomand as highly,
as Indyanna's James Whitcomb Riley.

A great deal has been written about the United States Army during the Civil War. But tales of the postwar army can be just as thrilling as stories from the war, though this portion of military history is, sadly, often overlooked. Robert Utley attempts to correct this oversight in this excellent book, which deals with the nature, structure, and activity of the portion of the army engaged on the frontier from immediately after the Civil War until Wounded Knee. Arranged in an order that is easy to follow and is logical if not always strictly chronological, each major military operation against the Native Americans is handled with skill and sufficient detail. The result is a fascinating look at the army as a whole.

The main value of this book lies in the fact that it provides an outstanding overview of military operations as a whole (as opposed to books that treat just one battle or campaign). The work fills in many holes that will undoubtedly exist for anyone who has studied a part of the Indian Wars, and who would like to have a more general overview available to them. Anyone who has studied the Little Bighorn, for example, will find in this book a wealth of information that will explain in great detail many of the factors that led up to that action and also many of its ramifications. This book is essential to any study of Western history, especially military history.

Robert M. Utley offers the sequel to his _Frontiersmen in Blue: The United States Army and the Indian 1848-1865_. In this second installment, Utley attempts to eradicate the myth of the frontier Army as blazing a path of glory westward that has been portrayed in Hollywood movies. Rather, he argues the frontier regular Army was only one of several contributing factors to the subjugation of the Native Americans. Other determinants such as westward expansion by waves of immigrants, and professional buffalo hunters attributed as much, if not more, to the Indian demise as did the soldiers. In a sense, Utley offers the antithesis to Dee Brown's _Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee_. The author highlights the Army's role as a frontier police force carrying out civilian policy that lacked cohesive strategy against the Native Americans. Utley begins with a general survey of the United States Army in the post-Civil War years. The author outlines the relationship between the War Department, its near autonomous bureaus, Congress, and the Executive Branch, with brief discussions into the tenures of Generals Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, command-staff functions, and logistics. Chapters on weapons & equipment, and outpost life round out the first half of the book. Utley remains objective and unsympathetic at times to Blue Coat and Indian alike. For example, in his discussion of General George Armstrong Custer's defeat at the Little Big Horn, Utley, a noted Custer scholar, blames the boy general for the debacle. The author cites several reasons for the defeat of the 7th Cavalry. On the surrender of Geronimo in 1886, Utley credits both Generals George Crook and General Nelson Miles equally for their improvisations in overcoming logistical hardships in the harsh Sierra Madre Mountains. Acknowledging that the elimination of the Chiricahua Apache from Arizona was the prerequisite for re-establishing peace to the area, Utley does not sympathize with Geronimo's plight. It was only after the removal of the Chiricahuas, hostile and neutral alike, argues Utley, that peace was finally brought to the Southwest. In the final episode of the Indian wars: Wounded Knee, Utley engages in mere semantics. The author depicts Wounded Knee as a "tragedy" not a "massacre," the term generally preferred by the Indians. Utley feels the idiom inappropriate because "massacre," points to "deliberate and indiscriminate slaughter" which, he feels this occurrence was not. Utley believes, the soldiers tried to restrain from firing on women and children, however, in the melee, hitting innocent non-combatants was unavoidable. In the chapter titled "The Problem of Doctrine," Utley sees the Indian wars of the late nineteenth century through lensesmirroring the war in Vietnam (this book was first published in 1973). Utley observes the U.S. Army applied conventional tactics in an unconventional war. He illustrates how hostile Indians were oftentimes indistinguishable from peaceful reservation Indians. The hostiles utilized guerrilla tactics-hit and run raids and disappeared into the night. By day, the warrior factions would easily blend back into the general Indian population. If this be the case, it can be argued that the United States military had learned nothing from its own history. Robert M.Utley, often seen on the History Channel, and preeminent military historian of the period, has once again consulted a vast array of archival material. His evidence is equally balanced between primary and secondary sources, with endnotes after every chapter. The author consults an impressive collection of Government documents including a detailed list of Congressional and Senate papers in an impressive bibliography. Generous, easy to read maps, and a peppering of period photographs make this an essential addition to any library.

If you are not a Robert Utley fan you soon will be. This second in a two volume series, Utley shows once again why he is the king of frontier US history. This is an excellent piece of scholarship and writing.

Recounting the final, massive push by the Regular Army to subdue the American Indians, this volume covers the 25 years after the Civil War when control of the Plaines was wrested from the Indians, from the first skirmishes with the Sioux over the Bozeman Trail to the final defeat and subjugation in 1880.

Proud of the Unites States Army and is accomplishments while simultaneously sympathetic toward the Indians, Utley traces the campaign directed by Major General William Tecumseh Sherman. The result is a very evenhanded account resting comfortably between the "the barbaric band of butchers depicted in the humanitarian literature of the nineteenth century and the atonement literature of the twentieth." The people we meet are simply a group of ordinary men doing the very best they could under remarkably trying circumstances that were often under equipped and ill supplied.

Utley does an excellent job of showing what post-Civil War Indian fighters faced. First was the transition from the Union Army fighting Confederates to the U.S. Army fighting Indians.

Utley documents how that work was made much harder by the cheapness of the War Department and Congress. Downsizing the Army drastically to save money wasn't enough. Congress stuck most the infantry with leftover muzzleloaders rather than repeaters, meaning that their Indian foes usually (Winchester-armed themselves) could bring superior firepower to bear.

Meanwhile, the frontier Army had to go through the twists and turns of War Department, or Interior Department, twists and turns on Indian dealings, and in different high-level officers having different approaches not just to Indian fighting but to Indian truce and treaty negotiations.

Meanwhile, the grunt work, as typical, was to be done by the infantryman, not the cavalryman.

Read the whole story of his struggle to do his job in this book.

This is a good book about the US Army, Indians and the early west after the civil war. It follows events and gives points of view that are not clouded by the normal politics or attitudes. It is a clear account with facts, the probable intentions based on facts, and the actions. It allows the reader to get a good sense of the period and actions. The book gives enough detail to back up the facts but does not go overboard. This is a good start at studying the time period and the US Army at the time. Being into history, it was highly informative. It is a great book for those who want to read about the period but not get heavily into research. It goes deeper than just a brief summary but I think it gives just enough to allow understanding. It is easy to read and flows from chapter to chapter.

Marcel Tabuteau: How Do You Expect to Play the Oboe If You Can't Peel a Mushroom?

A superb glimpse into Classical music in the 1950's. Interesting autobiographical notes and an intimate look at that icon of American oboe playing, Marcel Tabuteau, by a long time student, colleague and friend.

While I'm not through reading this book, I'm amazed at it in many ways. Tabuteau was perhaps the most important orchestral musician of the 20th century in that he taught and found employment for many oboe and other woodwind players. This book covers many details of his life in a readable fashion by the great Laila Storch, a student and worker of his. As a woman, she was not readily accepted by the orchestral community, but she persevered and became an outstanding oboist and musician as a result of his teaching. His methods are not readily understood by many players and I admit to some confusion at times, perhaps because of his choice of words.

Included in the book is a CD of lessons with a Danish student after he had retired. I'm eagerly looking forward to listening to it and, perhaps, learning more.

This book is a must for oboists. It is a great bargain!

Marcel Tabuteau is a name any wind player of my age (60+) has been familiar with for many years. As a teenager, I purchased the "First Chair" album with Tabuteau and other pricipal players of the Philadelphia Symphony soloing. This is a very well written and thorough book on his life that any musician, and certainly any wind player, should read.

The book offers a much needed portrait of one of the most influential woodwind players in 20th century America. All students or teachers of music should have this in their library. The historical references and personal insights are fascinating and inspiring. Ms. Storch was lucky to have had such a great teacher, and M. Tabuteau was even more lucky to have had such a dedicated, respectful student who writes well.

This is a magisterial biography of one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. It is meticulously researched, beautifully written and brings to life a remarkable man for those who never had the opportunity to work with him. For those of us who were fortunate enough to have done so, it is a wonderful and lively memory bank, bringing together the reminiscences of a large number of people who studied with him or were colleagues. I recommend it most highly to anyone interested in Tabuteau, and anyone interested in how one person can affect the style of playing of an entire nation.

I grew up in neighboring Illinois not far from `Pig Boy'. So, in reading this lovely memoir I found myself transported back into my own childhood memories of growing up. I was tired of reading at the time and therefore hesitant to give this memoir a chance. When I finished, I found that the author had reignited my passion for reading. This memoir will make you want to read again...to write again. The author truly captured the very humorous and.... yes poignant business of growing up, families and the unique value that every person brings to this world. Get this book, you will be glad you did.

There is a distinct nostalgia in Pig Boy's Wicked Bird. The peculiar power in this depiction of an American family is relevant to anytime, place, or condition. The author uses beautiful language and rhythmical sentences to creat a compact telling of this humorous and poignant memoir. The business of living can be lonely. The reader can make profitable use of the insights illuminated throughout this story.

First of all, I really enjoyed this book. I was skeptical going in, thinking it was just another outbreak in the rash of memoirs that has erupted on the best seller lists. This one is different. On the surface, it's a coming of age story, a story about self worth, self awareness, and the impact of family (the family in question being "the seven D's" - all of Doug Crandell's brothers, sisters, and even his parents have names that start with D.) But it turns out that what the story is really about is the three D's: disability, disfigurement, and just being different.

Two of the author's fingers are essentially severed in a childhood farming accident, leaving the boy disabled, disfigured and different. This leads to an awareness and an appreciation of those three D's -- that turn out to be everywhere in young Crandell's world: his mother who is "no longer a woman" due to a hysterectomy, a man with cerebral palsy who connects with the author, the runt pigs destined to be destroyed but saved by Crandell, a grandmother with a humped back, a sister with scoliosis, even the oldest brother is left changed by a never fully explained abduction reminiscent of Mystic River. (Most everyone in the book is marked in some critical, defining, and not always obvious way. Some, like the landlord's son, are, to quote John Lennon, crippled inside.)

Sherwood Anderson and his collection of grotesqueries, Winesburg, Ohio is the influence pointed out by Doug Crandell for helping him sort out his confused world of being marked different as well as leading him on the path to becoming a writer. What I noticed were the influences of William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, and in particular Carson McCullers. For a story of the Midwest, Pig Boy's Wicked Bird has a distinct Southern Gothic feel. (One person's physical characteristics are described as "crooked," "twisted," and "warped" in the space of a single paragraph). Like The Member of the Wedding, or even Truman Capote's Other Voices, Other Rooms, these disabled, disfigured, and different people will live with you forever.

There is a wealth of people out there who have grown up in a family that doesn't seem just right. Television for a lack of decent material exploits the dysfunctional family as it exaggerates the flaws of family life in America. "Pig Boy's Wicked Bird" by Doug Crandell tells a different side of the story. Yes, life is full of absurdity and tragedy but what comes out of this book is a recollection of our own past growing up and as weird as it seemed...it was wonderful too. Intelligently written and a delight to read I give it 2 thumbs up and a nub for good measure! This is a great life story!

Doug Crandall, former little Pig Boy of the Heartland, brings us a heart-rendering, oftentimes snorting food-out-the-nose-from-laughing memoir of friendship with farm animals and dealing with life's tragedys. Poetically written by the now grown up Mr. Crandall, even city girls like me can appreciate his love of family, roots and Jimmy Carter. If you love crusty old men, goofy dogs and little piglets, you'll love this story as I did.

Bought this at suggestion of park naturalist. Well organized so you can search by color and size. Very pleased with this compared to some other books. Delivery was timely.

good and easy to understand. sectioned to types of trees so you dont have to look thru the whole book to find your tree. lots of good pictures and info in a hand size unclunky type field guide. good author (also has "birds of indiana" which is an excellent book).

My favorite feature is the Compare section. Look up a bird, and the compare section advises you to look at other similar colored birds to ensure you have correctly identified the bird. The author took special pains to include page numbers for the birds, making it very easy to jump from page to page.

The author gives females their own page, which means you can thumb the book looking for a muted colored bird and be able to identify it.

Wonderful photos, easy to use color guides. I really love the quick info on how to tell the difference of similar birds. My 8 year old son and I checked this book out of the library first to be able to identify our backyard visitors but loved it so much and he quickly was able to use it we just had to buy our own copy. I would highly recommend it.

This is a well organized, easily accessible guide covering the most commonly encountered birds. Something like The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America might be in order as a supplement to this fine volume, but on the whole Birds of Indiana will suffice for most backyard bird watching. A great gift for the budding ornithologist, or just to learn what that bird is you see at the feeder so often.

This well-written book took me back to Shelbyville IN in the 1950s, when every barber shop displayed a picture of the 1947 championship team and every patron knew all their names. No one would question the effect Bill Garrett had on his home town, but few could have predicted the impact he would have on collegiate sports for years to come.

The little town of Milan provided great sports drama for the movie "Hoosiers," but the life of Bill Garrett is more than a sports story. He did for NCAA athletics what Jackie Robinson did for Major League Baseball. Young people of today would be shocked to learn what he endured just a couple of generations ago.

Thanks to Tom and Rachel Graham Cody for this great read. As a Purdue grad, it pains me to praise a book that casts such a positive glow on Indiana University!

This is a good book and a good read. If you're from small-town Indiana (like me) and old enough to understand what single-class "Hoosier Hysteria" really meant, then you'll like this book.

However I respectfully offer that it's not a 5-star book. It may be a 5-star story in search of a 5-star telling.

I just finished the book yesterday, and I find myself wishing the authors had been less dispassionate. Or more passionate? Whatever.

So who was Bill Garrett? The book talks a lot about his life and times, and provides some ancedotes, but always left me wanting more about Bill. Sadly, Bill wasn't available to be interviewed, but his teammates, friends and wife were all sources for the book.

Here are some examples:

We learn a lot about how Bill came to enroll at IU, but we don't learn about the man himself. Bill left Tennessee State after enrolling, and took a bus to IU. No one was available to meet him there! How did he feel about this?

Bill was on the road and separated from his wife for several years while he knocked around the fringes of professional basketball. How was their relationship affected? We don't know.

Finally - the authors talk about the changes in college basketball in the 1950's (pp 169-175), Branch McCracken's sporadic recruitment of black players, yet fail to mention that IU WON the NCAA championship in 1953!

Sorry 5-star raters...it's a good book and a story worth telling, but could be a lot better. Probably a better movie than a book.

Seldom have I been so touched, entertained, and educated by a book as I was by Getting Open, which I read in two days. It is truly a masterpiece and something I will keep on my bookshelf for the rest of my life.

Although born and raised in Indiana, I didn't know much if anything about Bill Garrett before reading this book, but I was just blown away by his story. Not knowing the story, it was almost like reading a well-crafted novel and I hung on every new development the authors revealed. I also didn't know much about the racial intolerance of the times. My neighborhood and high school were all white, so I really had little if any contact with blacks before I went to Indiana University as a freshman in 1963. It hardly seems possible that such racial intolerance existed in the Midwest so recently before then.

This book exceeded all my expectations and I highly recommend it to anyone, whether you're a basketball fan or not. If you have any ties to the Hoosier State or to Indiana University, you will love it all the more.

At the pinnacle of his high school career - leading Shelbyville High to the Indiana state championship; a team that had three black starters - not one college scout in the arena attended the game to recruit Bill Garrett or his two teammates due to the color of their skin.

At the pinnacle of his collegiate career - leaving the court to a standing ovation that lasted several minutes - Bill Garrett was refused service in a restaurant days later; one that had on its marquee that it welcomed fans of Indiana Unniversity basketball.

And when Bill Garrett was ready to launch his pro career, the team in his home state did not draft him.

But Bill Garrett was stronger than those who attempted to keep those doors closed. And we are better because of him.

For author Tom Graham - with his co-author/daughter Rachel Graham Cody - the book took seven years of reseach, and certainly a lifetime of not denying the facts from the past and understanding the urgency in the present to set the record straight.

Getting Open is more than a biography on Garrett and how he integrated Big Ten basketball by playing and starring for IU. It is a history of institutionalized racial hatred in the State of Indiana - at one point in the 20th Century, the KKK essentially controlled all essential government offices - and the tireless work of person's from different sides of the tracks to fight the good fight.

Graham is a Shelbyville native who was old enough to vividly recall the times, which certainly helped as he meticulously did his research to cut through the fiction that builds from facts as the years tumble on.

It is a book from the heart that will make you realize how we must celebrate those who had the courage then by continuing to challenge those who want to forget - or rewrite - the past.

This book is an incredibly well written and well documented story that should be more widely read. It is an important history that many sports fans, and non-sports fans, will enjoy tremendously. It is an inspiration to us all, and offers many lessons and insights about overcoming racism. Thank you to the father-daughter authors for getting out this story!

If you carry around a list of books you must find, if you've ever hidden new (or used) books from someone who thought money could be better spent (!) on food or electricity, if you've ever fantasized about meeting your favorite authors .... you will have found a kindred spirit in Michael Dirda, book lover and essayist, who has collected 46 of his Washington Post Book World articles here for you.

Wide-ranging but never overextended, Dirda impresses me not only for his erudite commentary but because he manages to rattle off titles and lists and names without ever seeming patronizing; he discusses a multitude of literary concepts without ever being condescending; and he relates a remarkable and far-reaching knowledge without ever sounding arrogant.

Dirda is knowledgeable and funny, intelligent and affectionate, as he considers Wodehouse, maxims, criminally-bad retention, Chesterton, Irish and French novelists, children's books, vacation reading, comedic novels, Beerbohm, Oulipo, the Internet, death, genre reading, Benson's Lucia, private clubs, teachers, autobiographies and getting in shape. And he reveals some interesting information about pre-presidential Jimmy Carter!

If you love books, you will thoroughly enjoy these observations. But beware! When you are finished you will have drawn up a LONG list of books that you did not know existed but which you cannot now live without.

Stimulating. Thought-provoking. Fun. All learning should be so enjoyable!

I spent the afternoon reading, smiling and occasionally laughing out loud. I have always imagined I was the most addicted reader I knew -- but, Dirda gets the prize.

He tells us about pouncing on a find like a "rabid marmoset" and sneaking books into the house to hide them from the "Beloved Spouse."

His taste is catholic and he is a good writer. I think any reader will enjoy his essays.

This is a wonderful book of short essays by Michael Dirda, book reviewer for the Washington Post. Dirda appears to have read everything ever written, from literary fiction to science fiction to history to books that are just plain funny.

One of the things I particularly like about him is his enthusiasm for all kinds of books and his love for making truly eclectic lists (e.g., the "100 funniest books ever written", but with no more than one book per author; otherwise he said the list would be little but books by P. G. Wodehouse). He is also an aficionado of lost treasures (e.g., "The Autobiography of Augustus Carp, Esq.," at once one the most humorous books ever written and devastating account of true hypocrite--a man who would give Pecksniff a run for his money--or "Ashenden," Somerset Maugham's interconnected stories of a British secret agent in WWI--and the inspiration for other writers in the spy genre). He's also big on the Lucia series by E. F. Benson, which are hilarious representations of the battles for social supremacy in small town Britain--they are comedies of manners that compare well to Jane Austen's incomparable novels. No one is as good as Austen, but Benson is very, very good.

Dirda has also re-introduced me to science fiction (in particular Jack Vance).

This is an entertaining and highly varied set of essays with one central theme--the love of reading good books.

I'm a life-long book lover and reader. To my wife's chagrin, Dirda has reinforced all of my antisocial tendencies. He's given me the names of a pile of new treasures to read. I loved the book and I appreciate Dirda's infectious love for books. Read it.

Dirda is a critic and editor at the Washington Post, notable for his erudition, his enthusiasm, and his wide-ranging reading--not just in respectable, "literary" fiction but in mystery and science fiction as well. It's common to make a distinction between "reviews" (ephemeral, plot-focused, intended to attract or warn off readers) and "criticism" (intellectual, in-depth, insightful, aimed at people already familiar with the works in question)--but Dirda's columns often blur this distinction in the most welcome way.

Readings collects these columns, including pastiches of Wodehouse and Pepys, appreciations of comic masterpieces, articles on soft-core porn, hard-boiled thrillers, science fiction, fantasy, forgotten classics and not-quite-classics, The Tale of Genji, the obsession of bookcollecting, and much more. Reading the book felt like making a new friend: Dirda offers a delightful mix of appreciations on books I know and books I always meant to try and books I'd never even heard of. Above all, he manages to convey the heady *pleasure* of reading--that we do this, really, heretically, hedonistically, not for our greater good but because it's just plain fun.

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Michael Dirda is one of the main reasons I read the Washington Post Book World every Sunday. In his book, "Readings: Essays and Literary Entertainments," Dirda assembles forty-six of his best essays (all of his Book World editorial columns are good) to delight the reader who, like him, is an incurable book aficionado.

Although the idea of reading a book about reading books may sound a bit redundant, Dirda's exciting, humorous, wide-ranging, and engaging narrative will not lose the reader's attention. He is a scholarly bibliophile in every sense of the term, minus any pretension. His love of books is infectious, and there is no escaping Dirda's charm and wit. The chapters "The Crime of His Life," "Listening to My Father," "Mr. Wright," "Commencement Advice," "Clubland," "Turning 50," and "Bookman's Saturday" are especially good.

For the reader who finds himself (or herself) swamped with reading wish-lists, tirelessly hunting for a first edition, obsessing over collecting all of a particular author's works, finding unparalleled solace in the library, and generally spending more time reading than doing anything else, this is the book for you. I have seen Mr. Dirda speak about this book on C-SPAN2's "Book TV" and on open university's "The Writing Life," and he is just as enthusiastic about reading in person as he is on paper. I highly recommend this book to everyone who loves to read.

I have read this book many times. It is a wonderful story based on true stories about the authors Great Aunt. I think that every girl will love this book.

Rutheis Gift is about a girl that has three older brothers and three youger brothers ,pluss her mom is prengnant.Ruthie feels traped because there are so many boys and no girls, and at scool she is the only purson in thired grade.when she findes out that her mom is pergnant she prayed day and night that the baby is a girl.
Some people don't always get what they want but fineds something better instead. I think that anyone that likes historical fiction sould read this book because I dont even like historical fiction and i loved it.
so I really recommend this book to everyone.

This book starts with Ruthie on her farm in Indiana in 1916. Ruthie is an 8 year old with long black hair and a tom boy. She lives in a family with 6 brothers.I like how Ruthie tries so hard so hard to be what her mom wants her to be a"lady". But Ruthie Can't help it she said she needs a special doll she thinks that it will her become a lady. Its hard for cause she she has no friends and she's the only in her grade.Untill some Friends move in near her. With help from them she may be able to become one.If you want to find out what her speacil gift is you should read this book I recommend this to people who like people fighthing for their rights.

I read this over 2 years ago, and I still remember very well what happens. It is great book for 8 to 11 year old girls. I guess really anybody would like it.

I liked how I never knew what would happen next. I also thought Ruthie's Gift was the best written book I have read. I hope you will love it as much as I did. I read it in my third grade class. I recommend this book for everyone.

Very exciting to see the new paperbook edition of this superbly researched and compassionately written military history profile of General Creighton Abrams, for whom the Abrams tank is named. A real soldier's soldier, Sorley captures the essence of Abrams' outstanding leadership, and celebrates his unswerving commitment to his troops, particularly in the face of increasingly difficult circumstances in the Viet Nam war. Abrams' role in the conflict is explored further in Sorley's Pulitzer Prize nominated book 'A BETTER WAR'. A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America's Last Years in Vietnam To glean an insight into one of the early influences on Abrams' leadership style, and the shaping of the ethics of command, see Sorley's latest title 'HONOR BRIGHT', a history of the West Point Honor Code. Admittedly biased, I am eagerly awaiting my copy! Honor Bright: History and Origins of the West Point Honor Code and System (CPS2 - USMA)

GEN Abrams was responsible for the quality of the Army today and since he was the Chief of Staff. His wisdom and insight into soldiering, leadership, and combat ability is what won the Gulf War. Dr. Sorley is right on the money. It is obvious that Dr. Sorley really admires GEN Abrams and he has done his homework. It's a shame that GEN Abrams died so early, he tranformed the United States Army into the force it is today, or was at the time of the Gulf War.
...

Sir Robert Thompson, a British counter-intelligence expert, called Abrams "the best U.S. General since Grant." Reading Sorley's terrific account of Abram's life, it's hard to argue the point.

Abrams was an armored warfare genius. His gruff, no-nonsense exterior masked a big heart and an abiding, deeply rooted love for his men and his country. His selfless devotion to duty is a model for us all.

For a more in-depth analysis of Abrams'considerable (though largely overlooked) post-Tet, post-Westmoreland successes in Vietnam, read Sorely's "A Better War."

GEN Abrams was responsible for the quality of the Army today and since he was the Chief of Staff. His wisdom and insight into soldiering, leadership, and combat ability is what won the Gulf War. Dr. Sorley is right on the money. It is obvious that Dr. Sorley really admires GEN Abrams and he has done his homework. It's a shame that GEN Abrams died so early, he tranformed the United States Army into the force it is today, or was at the time of the Gulf War.
I met GEN Abrams in 1973 in Germany as a young Corporal and he spoke with me for a few minutes, but he struck me as unpretentious and humorous. I met Captains and Majors who had a bigger ego that him.

Creighton Abrams may have been the greatest American soldier of the second half of the 20th century. He served as a tank commander under General George Patton at the Battle of the Bulge, in occupied Germany and wartime Korea, as commander of United States military forces in Vietnam, and as Army Chief of Staff. It was a remarkable career! Lewis Sorley's admiring biography of General Abrams narrates the principal events in appropriate detail. In the prologue, Sorley asserts that Abrams was "the quintessential soldier," explaining that Abrams "demonstrated strategic and tactical skill and audacity," extraordinary physical bravery and intellectual courage, the capacity to lead and inspire men, [and] talent in dealing with complex and ambiguous managerial challenges." The measure of the value of this book lies in whether Sorley effectively makes that case. I believe that he largely does, as the result of which this is a very good, if not great, professional biography.

Although Sorley's approach to biography is conventional, he demonstrates on several occasions that Abrams's views could be very unconventional. Early in his chapter about West Point in the mid-1930s, for instance. Sorley asserts: "From the beginning Abrams was alienated by some aspects of the cadet experience." According to Sorley, Abrams was highly self-motivated and self-disciplined, and he resisted the petty tyranny of cadet life. After Abrams graduated and was commissioned, Sorley writes that he "was tolerant of his soldiers' having fun." (Sorley quotes one Abrams subordinate that the general, if Abrams had a weakness, "he sometimes was too easy on some people.") After World War II, while Abrams was serving in the Plans Section for Army Ground Forces in Washington, D.C., he was assigned to prepare a study on the future of the horse cavalry and quickly concluded that there was none. In 1965, shortly after President Johnson ordered American forces in Vietnam out of their advisory role and into combat, Abrams was briefing a civilian official about the sociological impact of the draft and stated that "the only Americans who have the honor to die for their country in Vietnam are the dumb, the poor, and the black." According to Sorley, "[o]ut in the field Abrams disliked briefings, especially of the canned and rehearsed variety," and "[o]ne of [Abrams's] favorite ways [to find out for himself the truth of what was going on] was through small groups of young officers he would have in for dinner." And when Abrams left Vietnam, Sorley writes that "he went as he had come - no bands, no ceremonies, no flags, no fuss." Similarly, when he arrived back in Washington, according to Sorley, he got rid of the Chief of Staff's ""big black Cadillac limousine...using instead a small Chevelle from Pentagon motor pool that was painted robin's egg blue. No amenities, not even a star plate."

Sorley occasionally offers significant insight. For instance, Sorley writes that Johnson's decision not to call up the reserves at the beginning of the expansion of the war in Vietnam was "perhaps the most fateful decision of the entire conflict." (Abrams explained the impact of this decision: "We decide[d] to use the Army in Vietnam, minus the National Guard and the Army Reserve.") In addition, according to Sorley: "A pervasive atmosphere of mistrust and antagonism characterized civil-military relationships in the Pentagon of the 1960s." Sorley describes the battle of Tet in 1968 as a "true watershed," which is not penetrating analysis, but he proceeds to explain: "Before Tet, America was seeking a military victory in Vietnam, but after it she was seeking to get out." About Abrams's appointment to the position of Army Chief of Staff, Sorley writes: "Creighton Abrams returned from Vietnam to head an Army that was widely viewed, both by the nation and from within its own ranks, as dispirited and desperately in need of reform. His appointment was the first step in getting on with the job of rebuilding."

In other places, Sorley's approach to his subject approaches hagiography. For instance, although Abrams' performance during the relief of Bastogne was heroic, Sorley's assertion that this made Abrams "the most famous small unit leader of the war" is debatable. And Sorley's assertion that "Abrams command in Vietnam was...arguably the most difficult any top American soldier in the field has ever had to face" seems extreme. But Sorley may well be correct in writing: "In terms of prior experience Abrams was probably the best-qualified man ever to assume the duties of Army Chief of Staff."

This biography concludes with Abrams's death. I would have much preferred for Sorley to devote a few pages to placing Abrams's accomplishments in the context of American military history from World War II through the middle of the Cold War. But Abrams had an extraordinary career, and this is a very good narrative of it.