Minnesota Books

Tempest in the Caribbean would amount to a tour de force if it had been written by a lifelong scholar of Caribbean literature. Given that most of Jonathan Goldberg's previous work is on the English Renaissance, it's both a tour de force and a wonder. Placing issues of sexuality at the center of his readings without displacing the centrality of race, gender, and colonialism, Goldberg offers exact and startling articulations that I hope will inspire many further projects.

this book is for the person that drank alcohol to promote his or her self and his or her business...it expresses how fitzgerald got caught up in the martini lunches, wine lunch, evening cocktails, and the no-excuse necessity for entertainment of the people that called the shots in his industry...he takes the gloves off to tell how he feels about AA, and how he will not be belittled by anyone for his alcoholism, but freely admits he was trapped. The book is not for those who adhere to a strict resolution of the alcoholic by the means of the intervention...fitzgerald would probably outlaw that use in new york...and bless him for it if he could...he is smart, realizes his problem and faces it...his wife is the old fashioned pioneer woman, standing by him, never leave him attitude...his children are sort of namby pamby, its not my problem sort of kids, or so it appears...he seems to want his son to be stronger....enough said...if you drink, like to drink, but should quit, read this book and listen to ed fitzgerald...a war hero besides...e.wood

The primary purpose of the occupation of defeated Germany after World War II pursued by American political and military leaders was replacing that country's attachment to the militaristic, dictatorial form of government with democracy. More so than simple institution of democratic forms of government such as legislatures and political parties, democracy as regarded by the American leaders was "a type of behavior, a public attitude, and affective relationship to the state." Gestures, equality among all persons (replacing the Nazi concept of the Master Race), styles of clothing, individual identity, and even types of food were all entailed in this. American leaders aimed at nothing less than a thorough overhauling of German culture, including the German psyche. The media of popular democratic culture of magazines, newspapers, radio, and public talks were the favored agencies for the desired change in post-War Germany. Movies were foremost in this mix of media intended to inculcate the German public in American behavior down to gestures, relationships among citizens, imagery, and so on.

But as Fay--codirector of film studies at Michigan State U.--uncovers, the message American leaders presumed Germans would take from the movies which were supposed to have a major role in the transformation was not the one Germans got. Fay goes behind the celebrities, images, story lines, and ideals and mythologies believed by most Americans to be portrayed in the films to the "hard facts and slippery truths" communicated in them. Among the films Fay critiques for the different messages they sent to the different audiences is the John Wayne 1939 Western classic Stagecoach. To the large majority of American eyes, the movie depicts a band of diverse (white) men and women coming together despite their differences to fight off barbaric Apaches. To the majority of German eyes however, as Fay tenders, the whites were invaders of the Indian lands and had mores and engaged in activities that could be seen as racist; and 100 years following the time white Americans aggressively implanted themselves in New England, as seen in the movie Drums Along the Mohawk also shown to German audiences, Americans were continuing to invade Indian lands and slaughter or relocate the Indians. The ambivalences in such movies, let alone how they could be seen to reflect ideas of racial superiority, needless to say were lost on the American authorities.

Fay critiques not only other Westerns, but also comedies, mysteries, and films with domestic settings and occasionally individual stars such as Greta Garbo for how they cut against the very messages, values, and behavior American leaders thought they were evidencing. In many cases, the lesson German audiences would draw would be the very opposite of the ones the Americans thought they were putting forth. Although the book is essentially one of film criticism, Fay closes it with the unavoidable comparison of the miscalculations American authorities made in the occupation of Germany and similar miscalculations and effects in the occupation of Iraq.

This is THE book for those of Finnish heritage that are interested in a nearly forgotten time in our history. Mayme gives us a gripping tale about her time in Soviet Russia after being moved there by her communist agitator father Oscar Corgan. Oscar was one of the primary proponents of American Finns moving to Russia to begin a new life there. This time is called "Karelian Fever". Mayme's description of her life and times in Russia is harrowing. Even though her father was taken and killed by soviet authorities she remains unapologetic. This is a fine companion piece to "No Home for us Here" and "Karelia".

I was impressed with the main character, Clara Mintz, who was a self-sufficient woman who met every "challenge" with determination to keep her life moving forward. She was always learning new trades to help support her children. She was able to enjoy the moment without living in the past. She did, however, draw strength from happy memories, which helped her face new hardships of the present day.

Excellent pictorial history of the City of Thief River Falls and surrounding area, with some scenes being the only recorded pictures known. A well thought out and organized book.

It is unfortunate that this book is out of print, for it is one of the best written books on the origins and explanations of logical atomism. I had the distinct pleasure of sitting in a class on realism and idealism that was given by the author, wherein this book was used, and it was probably one of the best overviews of these two schools of thought that I have experienced. The author explains the history behind the linguistic turn that began early in the twentieth centuryand discusses in detail the attempts by Moore and Russell to refute idealism with their arguments evolving into the theory of logical atomism. The author does not hesitate to use the logical symbolism of first order predicate calculus when needed to clarify the issues. Such symbolism appears in the book in many places, and serves the reader well in the statement of the problems that Moore and others were attempting to solve. Some examples of this include the discussion of the argument of Moore on the existence of objects of direct apprehension. These are to occur, contrary to the idealist position, independently of any act of apprehension. The way the author constructs the logical proposition to elaborate Moore's position differentiates it from the idealist position with great clarity.

Moore has been known as the "common sense" philosopher, and the author in his discussion brings this labeling to light in the book in detail. It is also interesting, when reading the book, to reflect on positions taken by philosophers in later decades, particularly by Jean Paul Sartre. The issue of negation for example, is discussed in the book, and Sartre's view is that one "experiences" the negation. This move by Sartre of how to handle the negation is expoused in great detail in Sartre's works, and this book gives a greater appreciation of just why the problem of negation was so important to Sartre.

The issues in this book are, interestingly enough, very important in fields such as artificial intelligence and are currently hotly debated in the attempts to build thinking machines. A field called "ontological engineering" has been evolving over the past two decades, and the logical and programming issues that arise in this field are ones that are similar to or identical to the ones addressed in this book. We are lucky to be in age where one can speak of "applied philosophy", in the attempts to bring artificial intelligence to reality. The excellent elucidation by the author in this book of these issues is, unintended by the author no doubt at the time of writing, of great assistance to those working to develop machines that can think, that can gather facts, and that can reference. These machines, when they are developed, will put forward their own unique arguments about their abilities to do this.......

This book was a lot of fun to read. Pictures are fun and gives you a sense of the past. I would recommend this book for a fun read and also for the history value.

I originally ordered this book to give to my brother as a Christmas gift. But after reading through it, I may keep it for myself! It brought back so many memories of the Twins teams I grew up watching. A delightful book with great photos.

If the title interests you, then you'll find what you expect inside. It's good.