Alabama Books

I absolutely love this author but I had put off reading this book due to it being about "football" which I have very little love for, except for the SEC. I was so pleasantly surprised. I should have know that this author would not disappoint! She is awesome & the book was great. I highly recommend this book.

Love love love this book. I am a huge Nanci Kincaid fan, but this is the best of the bunch. If you are Southern, you will feel as comfortable as sleeping at your grandma's. If you're not, you'll have an insight that is real, not people trying to imagine what the deep South is like. This book chronicles twenty-odd years of Dixie, a SEC football coach's wife, whose identity is so entwined with her husband, Mac, that she is oblivious, by choice. She outgrows this identity, molasses-slow. Kincaid transitions seemlessly minutes, days, weeks and years page-by-page. I was completely satisfied with the novel.

When I started this novel, I thought Ms. Kincaid was suffering from a bad case of hyperbole gone to seed. Surely she was exaggerating in her portrayal of Mac Gibbs and his obsesssion with coaching football to the exclusion of everything else, including his wife and children. On the Sunday I finished this hilarious but ultimately sad novel, however, the esteemed newspaper of the east, the NEW YORK TIMES included a book about a football star in its book review section; and a football news story made its front page. I now suspect Ms. Kincaid may have been too kind. Her bio indicates that she has been married to two football coaches so she probably knows firsthand about that which she writes.

BALLS is set in Alabama, begins in 1968 and is told from the viewpoints of multiple women characters including Dixie Gibbs, Mac's long suffering wife; her mother Rose; her mother-in-law; other coaches' wives; a maid; et al. No males ever speak. They wouldn't have time anyway since they are too busy with the game of football. Ms. Kincaid divides her book into sections labelled "Pregame," "Kickoff," "First Down," "Second Down," "Third Down," and "Punt." She gets the times and accents right and certainly knows the lay of her land. You as coach certainly must recruit black athletes to play on your team, but what do you do when one of them gets your white daughter pregnant? Kincaid's universe is filled with cheerleaders, prom queens, Tastee-Freezes and the Baptist Church of course. (Although Mac's mother believes "the Lord" is working in his life, Mac opts for a career in coaching rather than in the pulpit.) His brother Marvin who is "different," has moved up east and rarely returns to Alabama. He doesn't want to embarrass his successful coach brother but does give his sister-in-law advice on hair: "'I mean, damn, girl, you got the same hairstyle you had back in high school. That pageboy is tired. You need a change.'" Dixie's mother Rose worries that her daughter is too smart, the daughter who thought her life was ruined when she was sick the week of cheerleader tryouts. She was elected homecoming princess anyway. "It was like you got to be commander in chief without having ever been a soldier."

Sometimes the constant changing of narrators gets in the way of the flow of Ms. Kincaid's story, but that is a very minor flaw in this often very funny tale. You can like BALLS even if you do not have the slightest interest in football since it is about anyone who sacrifices a family for a career.

BALLS, the 1998 novel by Nanci Kincaid, tells the story of Mac and Dixie Gibbs, high school sweethearts in Alabama. Mac plays quarterback for the Birmingham University football team during college and, after not being picked in the NFL draft, he turns to coaching as a means to stay connected to the game with his new bride by his side. He starts as a high school coach and gradually works his way up the ladder until he is the head coach of his college team, the HamU Black Bears.

The story, which begins in 1968, chronicles the relationship of Mac and Dixie through all of its stages: from the rosy beginning when living in a rundown duplex didn't matter, as long as they were together, to the later days, when Dixie and her two children begin to play second fiddle to Mac's team. The story is told in the voices of the women who surround Mac: Dixie, her friends, her mother, mother-in-law, and daughter, the wives of other coaches and the mothers of Mac's players.

BALLS is a novel about the Southern football tradition, where the sport is a religion in itself, where the holy day is Saturday and players are nicknamed "Miracle." Kincaid not only reveals what it's like to be a woman caught up in this tradition, always coming second to the game--she also reveals a darker side of the sport, where race relations are strategically upheld and corruption reigns supreme. Her female narrators touch on all of these issues in their narratives: love, marriage, sex, race, illegal activity. Their voices are exhuberant, their insights raw, poignant, and surprising. "I learned long ago that the big 'W', so sought after and revered, does not stand for 'wife,'" Dixie muses at one point late in the book.

BALLS is not just about the game--it's about what goes on before and after the game, from the perspective of the women in the stands who live the life of a coach's wife. It's about the politics of the game--recruiting, staffing, bribery. And foremost, it's about Dixie, who transforms from an inept new bride to a seasoned wife and mother and finally refuses to be second anymore. And it's about Mac, a good man who lets the job overtake him. And it's about all of the women who surround Mac, and the stories they have to tell. Kincaid balances her narrators successfully; her Southern women's voices are dead-on, and she is clearly writing about a topic that she's familiar with since she herself has been married to two college football coaches. Her insights about pressure from fans are also accurate--I know this because I myself live in a football town, where our hometown coach is alternately God or the devil, depending on if he puts a 'W' or an 'L' on the board for the team. Overall, BALLS is an energetic, sad, funny, and honest portrait of the life of a coach's wife, from first down to punt.

Being a fan of Nanci Kincaid, I am working my way thru her books with reluctance ONLY due to the fact I will soon run out of her reading material!

BALLS is a great book. The title may be a little misleading as when I first saw it I thought it would be a total sports book. How wrong! There are sports moments, but the story revolves around the women involved. READ THIS BOOK!!!

This book tells the story of Dixie and Max, childhood sweethearts who marry. Max becomes a college football coach and Dixie is left to tend to the children, home, and, sadly, herself. I loved Dixie and her Southern charm and Southern style. Her girl friends, mother, sisters-in-law, mother-in-law, friends, and daughter all help make the story flow and go.

This book is told in the narrative form, but what was most interesting was the fact that every woman involved in Max's life tells her story. Some of the "chapters" are one-half page long. This made the book so much more interesting and exciting being told from sooooooooooo many points-of-view. However, this form of story-telling DID NOT make the book confusing in the least.

As a NBA fan, I am constantly aware of coaches, their coaching staff, the job changes, the media, the love/hate affair that the public has with them. However, this book is from the WOMEN in their life's perspective and it is so good. When I see a coach standing on the side lines now I will think HIS POOR WIFE! There is SO much social status, politics, and CRAP involved, not to mention the toll it has to take on their personal lives. HATS OFF TO ALL COACHES AND THEIR FAMILIES!!!!!!!!!!

The women telling their stories are smart, wise, rich, poor, black, white, educated, uneducated, happy, sad, you name it -- how Ms. Kincaid was able to make each and every character DIFFERENT and have her own style and voice was amazing to me.

Don't miss this book. It IS good, as are all of Ms. Kincaid's writings -- check them out and read them. You will not be disappointed.

I was startled to see how long it has been since this book has been reviewed. Hopefully, people will find this book, read it, and enjoy it as much as I did!

Thank you! Pam {go PISTONS!!!}

My review refers to the audio-book version. The audio book is just three hours and all one hears is names being shot at you like a machine gun. After the first five ten minutes I was completely confused as to who is who. It just kept getting worse as the book went on.

However, the last third of the book was interesting as everything was explained.

All I read is non-fiction. I thought this book was ok but had a difficult time getting thru it. I had to put it down and read it in small setting. He is a good writer but repeats himself to many time thru out.

When I first heard about this book, I initially thought that it was just another slanted story about an author who was trying to twist facts to fit his belief. Later on, when I started digging into the book, I became overwhelmed with the level of injustices that took place to Walter "Johnny D." McMillan. What is really sad is that, what happened to Johnny D. was not an isolated case of justice gone bad, but was rather a small part of a sickness that has permeated this society for over two hundred years - a black man falsely accused of raping and murdering an innocent young white girl in the South. Everything Peter Earley talked about in his book was verified by other facts and deserves the highest recognition possible. I highly recommend this book to anybody who wants to see a modern day "To Kill A Mockingbird" story.

Many years ago, a friend who is a lawyer, gave me this book to read, and I thought it was one of the best non-fiction or fiction books I had ever read. I am rereading it today and I find I still feel that way.

It is captivating, engrossing and so well written you feel as though you are looking over the shoulder of every character. It puts you right into the heart of the murder investigation and you ache to solve it.

This book has SO many twists and turns you won't be able to put it down. It's a true life story that follows a murder in a small Southern town in the 1980s. The town is racist, and a black man gets sentenced to death on circumstantial evidence for the crime. The book doesn't reveal who may have really done the murder until the last few pages! Meanwhile, a million different scenarios are offered by low lifes cutting deals with the police and the D.A. to get out of prison early. All of the scenarios seem plausible, so you spend half the book wondering if this person or that person may have done the murder. Very exciting book. Also reveals the dark side of our justice system.

Many Christian High school students graduate and their parents send them off to college, even a Christian college. There they face challenges to "the faith of their fathers." The faith they profess is not the faith they possess. Soon they face challenges such as evolution, lack of credibility in the Bible, as well as temptations to sin or follow other religions. They will not survive on secnd-hand faith. This book will help them to develop and maintain a Christian lifestyle while away from home. It will help them to realize that they're not the "only one" out there.

Welcome to College: A Christ-Follower's Guide for the Journey

How to Stay Christian in College is a clearly written and useful primer on some of the key issues college students face. It is unique in that it is written from the perspective of a successful and thoughtful Christian professor at a large state school. Budziszewski offers helpful advice to students on issues such as politics and morality. College is a time full of opportunities and challenges for Christians and this book will help them begin to prepare for both.

this is a must-read for anybody who is heading into college or is already a college student. professor budziszewski understands the challenges of living the Christian life after high school and his insights will equip many to face each challenge with GOD's wisdom and help.

J. Budziszewski's own personal story is one of losing his childhood Christian faith in college, and not just in the sense of casually drifting away from it, but becoming openly opposed to it. So thoroughly had he deconstructed God and the meaning of existence, that he considered himself a wholehearted nihilist. In other words, there was no God, no purpose or meaning to existence.

He writes this book for Christian students going to college, those already in college, and for their parents (I might add teachers, pastors, and mentors). His purpose is to prepare them for the challenges to the Christian faith that they will face spiritually, intellectually, and socially--both in the classroom and among their friends. He breaks down the various worldviews and blends of them that occur in society and especially in college, such as naturalism, post-modernism, and what he calls "Do-it-yourself spirituality."

The section on "Campus Myths" is particularly good, and he writes with his usual compelling clarity and simple logic. The section shows how professors under the commitment of their particular worldview may show bias and inconsistency about how we engage in the search for truth, and the possibility of arriving at "truth" and "Ultimate Truth". The discussion of myths about sex, love, and marriage, would be a great basis for a high-school youth group study on the topic. Using a Biblical context, he shows how love is a "commitment of the will to the true good of another person. That means that its (love's) adult expresssion is not sex but the binding promises of marriage." He also demonstrates how sex outside of marriage can actually be damaging to relationships, and why God wants us to wait.

Advice for finding a solid campus ministry to get involved with is also given, and Budziszewski also gives the important advice that these campus groups or small groups ought never to take the place of regular Christian worship with a gathered congregation of believers. This is where the body of Christ as a whole meets to be fed by Christ's Word and Sacraments, and there we receive the much needed forgiveness of sins. Budziszewski writes with a boldness that he readily acknowledges might offend some, but he is unapologetic about the truth. And as he himself discovered, knowing the Truth (Jesus Christ) will set you free (John 8:32). This book prepares the Christian to be alert and open-eyed about the challenges that may face them (often even in private Christian colleges), and to engage in their learning and enrichment in the college years with wisdom and with the love of God. It doesn't turn them to be adversarial or antagonistic to professors or institutions, but to be equipped in their faith so they will not be surprised or caught off guard by attacks to their faith, and know how to handle them. I highly recommend this book for high school and college students and their parents.

I've made it to page 92, and every page has made me laugh. He makes it seem as if unless a non-believer is asking, "How can Jesus save me what should I do." that they are blowing smoke and trying to divert your thought. He paints the non-believer as rude, and unintelligent on pages 70 and 71, where as the believer is portrayed as being calm, wise, and mannered. A lot of this book is written so that young Christians have a way to combat atheists, or those that might argue contrary beliefs. I am an atheist, I have heard Christian arguments some of them are well formed, this book tries to mimic them but fails horribly. His comparisons and descriptions are weak, and the author shows he has little understanding of alternate views, and his views on Christianity are also shaky depending on your denomination. I beg you for the sake of good argument, don't add this book to your arsenal. I would simply laugh, and end any conversation about religion with someone who would try to argue the way Budzisewski does.

I was raised and confirmed in the Lutheran church, my uncle who sent me the book is a Lutheran Pastor. If you want a way to defend your faith talk to your church leader, or research opposing views and think of them yourself. But don't use this book, you wont be taken seriously, and you'll seriously insult both yourself and the other person in the debate.

After being captivated by My Last Days As Roy Rogers and passing it along to a chain of avid readers hungry for good fiction, I was thrilled to see another offering by Pat Cunningham Devoto. When I find an author who knows how to weave narrative and dialogue expertly so that I am swept into the story, I clamor for more. I devoured this book within 2 days and sent it on it's way down the reader chain of freinds.
Treat yourself and escape into Out of the Night That Covers Me.

Out of the Night That Covers Me is a wonderful, magical book. Ms. DeVoto's lyrical style has captured the essence of the time in a way that draws you right into the story and never lets you go. The characters--whom I loved--are so real, I'd know them if I met them on the street. This book should win prizes.

Before she's through, Pat Cunningham Devoto may take her place along side Harper Lee as one of the premier novelists of the South.

This is outstanding work, sharing with keen insight and experience, the emotions, personalities, loves, hates, fears, prides and joys of life in the South at the beginning of the Civil Rights Era.

It was a complicated time, but Pat Devoto distills it down into a wonderful read with likeable, even loveable characters. Much more than a "coming-of-age in the Civil Rights Era" book, this is one of the books that is truly about life in the Soutn at that time, its goodness, its horrors, its hopes, its dreams, its fears, with people of all races and social strata caught up in something they didn't understand, feared, yet sensed it was right and inevitable.

Pat Cunningham Devoto has a gift, and she shares it in this book.

(FYI: The Judge is a real person...msking the story even more remarkable...)

I rarely write a review, though I read many. The review that takes the book almost page by page is not a helpful review to me. I would rather see that the reader was totally captivated by the book, the words, the story. "Out of the Night That Covers Me" is such a book. Ms Devoto's first book "My Last Days as Roy Rogers" was the same. A delicious read.

The name put me off and I still do not understand the title in relationship to the book and titles are important. But when I saw it was the same author I knew I wanted it.

Stories of the south are interesting because of the different lifestyles that southern's seem to have had (or so it seems to me) It is a thought provoker. I personally like a book that has substance that stays with me, one that makes me think not only of the past but of the future.

When I have a book that I don't want to end, I know I have read a book that I would recommend. This one is that and then some!

I have read many best selling and award winning novels and found them wanting. One wonders sometimes - "Why did this book get an award." My question about OUT OF THE NIGHT.... is "Why didn't it get an award?" As a student of the South, this book gives an interesting look at the South of the 1950's and the changing social norms. Change is a major theme in the book and it would be interesting to discuss with a book club or with students the examples of change. The characters are well developed, although I thought some of the black characters were not as well developed. It would be interesting to do a comparison of Aunt Nelda and Mrs. Vance. Although they appear much different, they have much in common. And likewise between John and Little Luther. The book is magical and a wonderful read and would be excellent for a book club. It could give rise to great discussions and the edition I have has questions included. Don't start it unless you have time to read the whole thing. For those who liked TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD it's a must read.

this is a truly fascinating read, and i recommend it to anyone curious. i read this at the suggestion of my psychology professor, and am still surprised by my prior ignorance to the study. bad blood is well-written and amazingly well-researched. bad blood is so intriguing that it reads like a novel, although it is actually a critique and record of a study that almost single-handedly brought about the current rules of ethics for human experimentation.

very thought provoking...a must read for people who really want to know about public health and how the system (government) treated ( and perhaps to this day) treat the less privileged

One of the least known facts of U.S. history is the government sponsored syphilis experiment conducted upon 399 African-American men from 1932 to 1972. Over the course of these five decades, the U.S. Public Health Service exploited African-American sharecroppers in its effort to determine if the long-term affects of syphilis were different for black people than it was for white people. During the trials, the doctors who conducted the experimentations intentionally denied these men treatment; never informed them of syphilis' destructiveness to their health; and ignored the fact that these men were infecting their respective wives and sexual partners with the disease. As the experiments continued, doctors calculatedly deceived the subjects, informing them that they were suffering from what was categorized as: "bad blood". As the disease ravaged the minds and bodies of these unsuspecting men, no effort was made by the physicians of the Public Health Service to either inform them regarding the disease or provide them with treatment in an effort to curtail its devastating effects.

Jones presents a detailed, non-sensationalized writing that delves into the ignorance, racism and outright inhumanity that was entrenched throughout the United States; the medical arena; and society in general prior to and during these horrific experiments. He provides a plethora of documentation to substantiate the bigotry and callousness of the medical field during the era, and acknowledges the data provided by individuals who participated in the experiments or who conveyed valuable information. By the end of the experimentation, at least 28 of the men had died of syphilis; over 100 died of related complications; at least 40 of their wives had been infected, and over 20 of their children had been born with congenital syphilis.

Bad Blood should be read by all those who are of the opinion that the upper echelons of U.S. society (in this case, the medial profession and the government itself) are above despicable acts that border on genocide. Clearly there is no conspiracy "theory" here...instead we find conspiracy FACT! Perhaps former U.S. President Bill Clinton's statement regarding the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments encapsulates the incident best in his speech to the last eight survivors of the experiments in 1997: "The United States government did something that was wrong-deeply, profoundly, morally wrong. It was an outrage to our commitment to integrity and equality for all our citizens...clearly racist".

Bad Blood points out that the US Surgeon General at the time was Hugh Smith Cumming. In 1939 he was responsible more than any other person for creating the system we now have in place that controls narcotics and other banned substances which San Jose Mercury News journalist and Pulitizer Prize Winner, Gary Webb, said was controlled by a handful of power elites through the CIA.

Fearing a race war when Webb's information was exposed, Bill Clinton, who apolgized for the Tuskegee Experiment, also sent CIA Director John Deutsch to LA to quell a groundswell of complaints among blacks who feared (rigtly) that their goverment was poisoning inner city youth with drugs.

Hugh Smith Cumming's close kin married Chase Untermeyer, the US Navy Officer who became the Texas State Representative from the exclusive Tanglewood area of Houston where GHWB had his disputed Texas address while in office. Untermeyer's bride is from the Hugh Smith Cumming family and was on the staff of GHWB's legal counsel. Untermeyer is now Ambassador to Qatar.

Webb's work shined a light on the Reagan/Bush backed CIA Iran-Contra drug distribution in the US. Webb's book DARK ALLIANCE, when combined with BAD BLOOD shows how close we have come to a Fascist State.

Remember that next time CNN, FOX or the rest report on the White House's interest in bugging your telephones.


Corpus Christi, TX

During the 40 years of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, the school had threee usa negroid ethnic presidents...

Dr. Robert R. Moton
Dr. Frederick D. Patterson
Dr. Luther H. Foster

Interesting, also is the little mentioned fact that more than 200 USA Negroid ethnic medical students and 600 USA Negroid ethnic nursing students did clinic rounds within the Syphilis Study...

Why did not one of these "professional and educated" Negroes sound the alarm that something was ethical wrong about what was being done to those 200 or so "sexually diseased "poor country" negroes"?

This story is less to do with so-called "white racism" but rather humankind's condition since it "climbed out or fall out" of the trees of that "misty and forever lost" Eden...

Which is the reality that...

Educated, powerful, "cold and greedy" human beings (dark pale or otherwise) will always screw "illiterate, materally poor and mentally weak" human beings - when the "High/Holy with little moral character" feel that they can get away with it.

Blues at you

I just finished reading this book, this morning. And, I read "Roots," 2 weeks ago. In both of these books, I was able to vicariously be there, and emotionally travel with each person in these stories.

And it gave me a sense of peace that I had not had before about being African-American. It helped me to come up with the most empowering responses to not only suttle racism from Euro-Americans, but also suttle responses to African-Americans who seem to be bound by expecting to just get by (who also believe that empowered African-Americans somehow owe them endless worthiness).

To me, even though this book is titled "Queen," it has many stories: politics; narcissism; racism; boys growing into manhood; belonging; the price of not having someone to verbalize your pains to; and, how whites turned their outrage over their motherland into what drove them to do the same to blacks, in this country.

During the entire time that I was reading these 2 books, as I conducted my day to day responsibilities, I felt like I had a secret weapon against being held back. And I saw things that I might not have seen before in what I could do to turn suttle racism into my opportunity to expect mutual respect between myself and my interlocutor.

I recommend this book, and "Roots" to any who is looking for a means to grow beyond your wildest expectations. You will cry with these stories, laugh, and feel every possible emotion, knowing that you are breathing new life into your life.

This book is a travesty. The guy who wrote it isn't even American. He plays fast and loose with historical facts. The potato famine is in the wrong century. Napoleon invades Ireland before he even rose to power. There are at least two chapters that are totallly irrelevant. Why does he feel the need to give us a history lesson on Andrew Jackson and the Indian removal? Does he think the Indian removal and slavery are the same issue?
On the other hand, the parts written by Alex Haley are exceptional. It is very easy to pick out which parts Alex Haley wrote. They are well-written and historically based. It is just such a shame that Mr. Stevens was allowed to add to Alex's work. Mr. Stevens cannot not write anything but cheap, historical romance. He should be writing for Harlequin, instead of, ruining the work of a great American writer.

Ethnic novels really are not my thing. But this one had me interested after seeing pictures in a book on the civil war titled 'Slave Children of New Orleans' featuring mostly mixed race children of near caucasion appearence I became curious about them. Having read a great deal of the civil war there really isn't that much. So when I found this book I quickly took to reading it.

The main character is what is called 'A child of the plantation', the offspring of a slave owner and a slave woman the product not of love but of exploitation who are so casually discarded as to be a disgrace. In the beginning, she is very naive and optimistic. Regrettably, life doesn't treat her that well.

An interesting story. Admittedly I would have done things different but since this one is based on fact I can't rightly complain. I liked reading about the main character and how she was treated by all parties. Certainly I do not like that she was mistreated by many. Her ability to move among white circles was interesting only when her heritage is revealed do things get bad which disgusts me.

Overall, I take people at face value and wish everyone else would do the same. People should be judged by their behavior rather than by pseudo scientific nonsence.

This is one of the best books I've read in my life. Alex Haley was such a skilled writer. "Queen" deals with many harsh facts of the antebellum South without becoming vulgar. It is also an inspiring tale of an American family.

One of my complaint with "Queen" is the blatant misuse and fabrication of facts by David Stephens, who finished Alex Haley's posthumus masterpiece. The writing of Mr. Stephens also doesn't measure up to that of Haley. While it is a great book as it stands, I wish I could see what this book would be if Haley had been alive to complete it.

Alex Haley & Dave Stevens' QUEEN is a rare gem---the story of an american family that touches many lives. Queen is the main focus of the book but her story spans past & future generations from Ireland to America. Some of the characters are tragic but all have hope for a better tomorrow. The heartbreak of Easter's love for her "master", Queen being taught to read by her grandpa and the Haley family's quest to get a better education for their youngest son are just some of the heartbreaking stories in this novel. I enjoyed the book very much and I now hope to finally read ROOTS.

even if "southern fiction" isn't your thing, this book will sneak its way into your mind, and then stay for a while. written with superb detail, it makes our modern day life come up a little short. it's a quick and easy read, but has so much depth in the substories. much much more than a simple book about a well or a mine, this is definitely worth your time. what an impressive debut novel.

This lovely book typlifies what is characterized as Southern fiction -- a beautiful story told without irony. The difference is that four points of view are employed, each a distinct voice. Told from a perspective of years in some cases, this tale of a family in Alabama in 1931 breathes vibrancy into the landscape and its inhabitants. Daily lives are examined. And it's refreshing to meet a family that really cares about one another, realistically.

a well written and interesting book. wish there were more like this one. a must read.

Very well written. This is a book for people who not only enjoy southern fiction, but GOOD southern fiction. Excellent read!

"The Well and the Mine" is a book that you will want to treasure like a family heirloom. Like an old pocketwatch your great grandfather gave you or a locket you keep close to the heart, this story is a rare gem. Even though short at a respectable 250 pages, this novel easily stands beside the classics of Steinbeck, Faulkner, or Welty. Told with multiple first person narratives and without one spare word, it rolls along effortlessly. Reading it is like spending the evening on the front porch with a friend you haven't seen in a long time. Sprinkled with humor, the charm of old Alabama, and a touch of mystery along the way, you won't be able to resist Tess Moore and her unforgettable family. This literary gift is a welcome addition to our most loved Alabama writers such as Vicki Covington, Fannie Flagg, and Rick Bragg. Buy it now!

An inspirational story about the life of Rosa Parks, a mulatto woman who refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery AL on Dec 1, 1955. Her courageous act became known as the beginning of the Civil Rights movement in the United States. Her quiet and non violent action sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycot, provided the NAACP with a model case to end Jim Crow laws in the South and gave opportunity for young minister, Martin Luther King, Jr. to display his enormous leadership potential. The story reveals little known facts about the quiet and demure seamstress. It tells of her personal struggles with racism, poverty and chauvinism. It is a heroic story of an ordinary person with incredible inner strength.

I do not think this is a very good book for a book report on Rosa Parks. Despite the fact the title is "Rosa Parks", I received more information on other things that were happening at the time and about other people than you did about Rosa Parks. However, this is a good book if you are doing a report or want to learn about African American History in the late 1800s and 1900s.

True Life: Rosa Parks
By: Mariah Sanchious

This book states all the facts about Mrs. Rosa Parks and how she basically struggled to be equal her whole life. Mrs. Parks didn't really understand in her young years, why they happened to be separated by color. As she grew older she began to learn why. Why did she make such a difference in the south? Come experience her growing up memories with me and how she had a huge impact on today's society.

I enjoy this book because it notified me that people struggled to get what I have. Even though Mrs. Parks isn't before Irene Morgan or Claudette Colvin she made her stand up for her rights famous. She went through things like getting kicked out of restaurants to getting threating phone calls. She also cost her husband Raymond Parks his corner barbershop job. She also had KKK mobs running up and down the street throwing fires. She worked all the way on the opposite side of town and she walked six miles everyday until justice was served. As this happened to her, her close friend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's house was burned down. His church also got burned down while two little girls were in the bathroom. She later lost her job and her husband was abused by policeman. She was also aware that her friends got raped and murdered by policeman and nothing would be done about it. A lot of pregnant women would walk a great distance just to protest with the bus boycott. People really believed separate but equal but a lot of African American leader strived to make that change.

I also enjoyed how the book gives specific details on her childhood years. Rosa McCauley was born on February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama. She had a mom Leona that was a rural school teacher, and she had a dad James that was a carpenter. In her toddler years her mom and dad separated and Rosa, her younger brother Sylvester, and her mom moved into a farm. They moved in with their former slaved grandparents in Pine Level, Alabama. She was home schooled until she was old enough to realize how the law was. At age eleven she went to an all girl's school with her friend Jonnie Carr. She continued that all girls school until she went to college. She went to Alabama State College for Negroes but had to dropout because her mom and grandmother were diagnosed with a terminal illness. That's when she got a job and married a local barber named Raymond Parks.

I also enjoyed how they showed how much awards she received and how much honor she received when she died. after the Montgomery Bus Boycott,In 1979, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People awarded Parks the Spingarn Medal, its highest honor, and she received the Martin Luther King Sr. Award the next year. She was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 1983 for her achievements as a civil rights activist. She was aslo asked to welcome Nelson Mandela from is imprisoning in South Africa. She also received rthe Rosa Parks Piece Prize in 1994 in Swedan. She also received the highest award given by the U. S Executive Branch in 1996 called the Presedintal Medal of Freedom. She also received the highest award from the legislative branch in 1999 called the Conggressional Gold Medal. Sha also got the Windsor-Detroit International freedom award that was pesented to her at the Windsor-Detroit International Freedom Festival. She died in Detroit, Michigan at age 92.

In conclusion, I would like to say that Rosa Parks stood up for a lot of coloreds . Her and all the civil rights activist led us to vitory and achieved their goal. Those 382 days of that bus boycott proved that we are strong and can do and be anything that we want to be. I would recommend this book to anybody who enjoys learning about black history. I also would like to say that this book makes you apprciate everything you have. It also has makes you feel that your in the obsticles that happened to african americans. I think that people would enjoy this book a lot .

Walking into restaurants and shopping malls, I see short and tall people, young and old people, and black and white people. You may be thinking, "Well, DUH!", but think about it for a minute...were black people always allowed to eat with and shop where white people did? I don't think so! I mean if it weren't for certain people such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, black and white people wouldn't even be able to drink out of the same water fountain, let alone shop and eat among each other.

After reading the book entitled Rosa Parks, written by Douglas Brinkley, I realized that life today isn't at all the same as life was 50 years ago.

Rosa Parks is mainly an autobiography of Rosa Parks. It does although mention other great people such as Susan B. Anthony and Sojourner Truth. All these people helped create equality throughout all of the human races.

On December 1, 1955, a 42-year old black woman, named Rosa Louise Parks, refused to give up her seat to a white man. You see, back then, white people had the privilege of sitting in the front of the bus, due to their so-called "superiority" over blacks, and blacks were sent to the back. Rosa Parks' refusal set off a 381-day boycott led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and is now considered to have been the beginning of the American civil rights movement.

Rosa Parks' case was different from many other people who disobeyed the laws. Rosa Parks had this biblical quality, which made her a saint, somewhat divine. Also, Rosa Parks only spent 2 hours in jail, while others were in for days, weeks, perhaps even months.

This book not only recognizes some of the most influential people of all time, but also tells exactly how black people were treated and how they reacted.

If you are interested in finding out more about Rosa Parks and other interesting people, I highly recommend this book.

Douglas Brinkley brings out the essence of Rosa Parks' humanity and her role in the Civil Rights movement. This short, highly-readable book provides useful background on Mrs. Parks' parents, early childhood, and introduction to the NAACP.

The impact of Rosa Parks' actions on her family and friends was among the most revealing aspects of the book. The web of support, before and after her refusal to give up her seat, is truly inspirational.

The author explores in detail the involvement of Mrs. Parks in the NAACP, church groups, and other activist organizations during the early-to-mid '50s. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s first national exposure in the movement is interesting for those not having read "Parting the Water..." and other such works.

Douglas Brinkley's telling of the Rosa Parks story is not the first - and certainly not the last - but is the best!

I read Stewart Mandel's stuff in Sports Illustrated. I like his take on college football. When he wrote this book, I knew that I had to have it. I was not disappointed.

He tackles all the weirdness that is college football. He makes as much sense of the BCS as a person can. He writes about rankings. He tells stories about the great programs and even delves a little bit into history.

All college football fans like to this that they are knowledgeable. Few of us are as knowledgeable as Stewart Mandel. After reading his book, I am a little closer.

I am very pleased with the book and the service provided!

Thanks

I have been reading Mandel's columns and Mailbags for 3 years now and love his writing style. His book BP&TS has all of what makes his writing great on [...] plus even more detail than you can get into an online column.

The book provides a wonderful inside look at the politics of college football. You understand (kind of) the motivations of the bowl system after reading this book. It makes for fascinating reading.

I really like the snarky asides he puts into the book. The footnotes are almost more entertaining than the regular text.

Overall, an excellent buy and a good Christmas present for anyone on your Christmas list that loves college football.

"(NFL) scouts are to football what the third base coach is to baseball - an excuse for a whole bunch of old-timers to stay a part of the fraternity and collect a paycheck to boot." - Stewart Mandel

There are two U.S. sport seasons: Football and No Football. As far as I'm concerned, it's even a finer point than that: College Football and No College Football. BOWLS, POLLS & TATTERED SOULS tells me more than I thought I wanted to know about the collegiate game. But, now that I've read this book by "Sports Illustrated" writer Stewart Mandel, I'm so very glad that I did. It's a completely absorbing volume that I devoured over two days. I wish it was longer.

Mandel examines ten of college pigskin's greatest ongoing controversies, one per chapter:

1. The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) - how we got to this impasse, who supports it and doesn't, and why it's not likely to change dramatically anytime soon.

2. The team ranking system - its evolution, politics, and how it's affected by the BCS.

3. The Heisman Trophy - its history, and why it's become a media exposure contest not necessarily based on playing ability.

4. The hiring and firing of coaches, particularly the latter - the growth of their salaries and the precariousness of their tenures (or "What have you done lately?").

5. Notre Dame - what makes this independent university so damn special that it has BCS equality with the Pac-10, Big 10, Big 12, SEC, ACC and Big East?

6. The recruiting of top high school players - the stand-alone spectacle it's become, and the impact of the Web.

7. The formation of, and school re-alignments with, conferences - it's all about money, particularly TV revenue $. (Say it ain't so, Joe!)

8. Post season bowls - their history, why there are so many, and the team motivation (or not) to participate.

9. NFL recruiting - the joke that it's become.

10. Scandals - who the perps are and why the NCAA doesn't necessarily have jurisdiction (much less care).

Mandel being an ultimate insider himself, his book should be required reading for all the insider-wannabe fan(atic)s who populate the off-field margins of the sport and who come off their couches in droves to demonstrate vociferously with torches, pitchforks, tar and feathers whenever their favorite teams, coaches, or players are perceived to have been criticized unfairly or gotten a raw deal in the polls or BCS standings. While BP&TS won't make such partisans more reasonable, it will perhaps raise their stridency level and make the collegiate football season even more deliciously confrontational and loud than it already is. I love it!

I myself have followed USC on and off - mostly off - since the late 60s when I numbered among my friends several who graduated from the university and got me interested in the Trojans' game at the time OJ was still a hero and not a bum. I've never been a fan(atic), but rather now follow the extraordinary career of Coach Pete Carroll and his gridiron squads much as one would intellectually admire the craftwork of an expert glass blower or master stonemason. In the doldrum years of such head coaches as Ted Tollner and Paul Hackett, I couldn't be bothered. I'm a Fair Weather Adherent, and proud of it. (Would I switch allegiance to the UCLA Bruins if their new coach proves as succesful as Uncle Pete? Most assuredly not. Who can root for a team whose colors include powder blue for Chrissakes!) But even I found BP&TS enormously satisfying and interesting for the insider knowledge it imparts and will better appreciate the moment at the beginning of the 2008 season when USC charges onto the field to beat the Bandini out of its first opponent, Virginia.

Fight On!

This book is for the true college football fan.It is a rehash into the deeper issues that pertain to this sport. For someone not familiar with the recent bowl situations, the history of the game, or the nuances of college sports, i would not highly recommend this book. It can get a little tedious with numbers and poll rankings, but more than makes up with that with the insightful observations of the author.Mr.Mandel is an excellent journalist who has a very sarcastic tone, and doesn't take himself too seriously. Especially worthwhile were the stories pertaining to the holier-than-thou Notre Dame football factory. It was a pleasure to read an honest appraisal of the college sports climate from an astute observer.

This is an eye-opening, gripping account of mental institutions during the Depression and after. It is well told and keeps the reader hanging. I could not put it down. Once I connected with Della Raye, I had to know what would happen next.

Della Raye is only one of hundreds of children from age 2 through age 21 who were shipped off by one or both parents to Partlow who simply did not want to care for them any more. Fortunately she, and others whom I personally know, came through it, although they will never forget the nightmares of being locked in a 4 x 4 room for a month for stealing a piece of cornbread, or worse yet, beging stripped naked and taking turns for showers until all patients in that building were finished. No personal clothing, no books, no radios, or newspapers, when a relative of mine was released after ten years, she did not even know how to dial a phone or how to apply for a job. This book is a true story of one person's hell, replicated thousands of times over at least 50 years, and must be read to be believed. Believe me, it is all true.

I drive by Partlow every night on my way home from work. As a resident of Tuscaloosa, you sometimes forget that Partlow and Bryce are there. As you head towards the bridge to cross the river, the top of the main building at Bryce is easily seen from afar, and I'm sure visitors to the area probably think it to be an antebellum home. Instead, the sprawling grounds of Partlow and Bryce speak of the sad state of "care" in this state, in the past and in the present. I truly loved this book, and I always hoped after I read it for the first time that I would run in to Della Raye somewhere in town and get to meet her. I know she's gone now, but what a testament she left. I hope many more people will read this story. She never became famous, but she showed courage and perseverence and forgiveness and love to the world, a world that locked her away and demeaned her existence.

On Saturday, September 20th, 2003 @ 3:00AM Della Raye Hughes became one of the most celebrated angels in the Heavens. I love you and will miss you terribly Della Raye. Right now you are probably flitting from angel to angel doing comb outs, setting perms and trimming locks. I wish you well on your journey.I am honored to have known you. Please look down on me from time to time. Lord knows I need all the guardian angel help I can get, oh, and it wouldn't hurt if you put a good word or two in for me (insurance...you know). Thank you for all the inspiration, encouraging words,laughs,long distance hugs and for the trust you placed in me. You will always be in my thoughts with much love and respect.

This book is about Della Raye Rogers who at age 4, along with her mother and some other relatives, was committed to the Partlow State School for Mental Deficients in Alabama. It was 1929 and Della Raye's Uncle Richard was too poor to shoulder the burden of caring for himself and his "feeble-minded" relations so he had them institutionalized. At the state school the patients were classified as "morons", "imbeciles" or "idiots". The staff was mostly untrained and uneducated so the "school" was more of an underfunded warehouse for those who were unable to care for themselves. After suffering 20 years of horrifying physical, psychological and emotional abuse, Della Raye was finally released. She found that she not only had the spirit & intelligence to live her life fully, but also the grace to forgive those who had treated her so badly. A heart-warming, inspiring story of the power of love and faith.