Kansas Books

Barnes wasn't joking when he entitled this book with the word 'pedant' in it to describe his obsession with things culinary. This text is littered with illustrations of just how particular he is, not just about cooking, but also about accuracy, both in the details of recipes and what impressions he draws from other's works or opinions and how they affect him.

"Of course, this still leaves you faced with preparing 'an excellent dinner' for 'those one is fond of'. Again, listen to Pomaine: `For successful dinner there should never be more than eight people. One should prepare only one good dish.' These are his italics, not mine. Don't they make the heart lift?" (p117)

Barnes injects humour into his preoccupation with food preparation and consumption: its ingredients, how they are sourced, their preparation, their origins and any quirky historical fact associated that might add piquancy.

In this book Julian Barnes excels at two things:

1. Unearthing interesting and slightly obscure facts about people, vegetables and the mundane experiences of maintaining a kitchen.

"But then there is the other drawer - the one where items of sporadic usefulness live, the one where everything is tangled up and furtive, into which you insert a tentative hand, not knowing where sharp edges lurk. When did I last empty it? Ten years ago?" (p121-122)

2. Analysing ideas and reflecting wittily on things other than food.

"We might as well suggest that current American military zeal is a consequence of that nation's love of fast food - in which case, an infantryman's widow would probably have a lawsuit against the nearest burger outlet. And if anyone is tempted to believe in an automatic link between protein and aggression, don't forget that Hitler was a vegetarian." (p133-134)

Barnes is an idealist and experiences angst in his desire to reach perfection in the kitchen. Gladly he recognises this and employs self-deprecation, along with sprinkles of culinary history to make this a small but satisfying dish to digest. One small quibble, there are no references to the texts he refers to. It seemed rather ironic after all Barnes' plaints about cooks not revealing all the tricks of their trade in their cookbooks, that he should leave the detail of the sources he refers to out.

Julian Barnes, most well known for his elegant novels dissecting the core human issues: love, death, the role of memory, the perils of desire has a parallel alternative career as a fine essayist. He started out as a journalist, before turning to fiction full time, but still keeps up the shorter form and does it very well. His Letters From London excellently investigate a number of issues roiling around in the early 1990s period in Britain, and this collection takes a wry look at a narrower theme: the travails of the amateur cook.

Barnes turned to cooking relatively late the day. The kitchen only became a location of tense pleasure in his 30s. He is a cook very much in the strict adherence to the recipe line, worrying exactly how large is a 'medium' onion, and what is a 'glug' of olive oil? So not the Jamie Oliver throw it all in and mash it about heartily school. In many respects, this sharp precision parallels his writing style. Neat, light and elegantly balanced. He refuses to cook a squirrel 'you're just a rat with PR' on the grounds that it, well, looks rather like a dead squirrel and indulges in a minor diatribe against Nigel Slater for a recipe of pork chop that doesn't seem to fit in the frying pan. (This essay earned Barnes more letters of complaint than his polemic against the Iraq war, such are the priorities of the British middle classes).

His erstwhile love of France is also there, with an interesting disquisition on the French distaste for root vegetables and a mention of long time food goddess Elizabeth David. The writing, while always witty and stylish, never quite reaches the high essayistic heights Barnes is capable of. The format - popular column in the Guardian newspaper - probably shoehorned each piece into a fairly predictable audience remit. Nevertheless, a fine book to be enjoyed by Barnesophiles and foodies alike.

Originally written as columns for the Guardian, this collection of foodie essays is by turns hilarious and instructive, as in how many hangman's nooses (one to five) to ascribe to a meal that is going bad fast while hungry guests are whooping it up in the living room, and how the relationship between professional and domestic cook is similar to a first-time sexual encounter ("No, I won't do that"). On every page I found something that made me holler "Comrade!" I have so been everywhere this guy has been in the kitchen.

In response to one of the criticisms of this book, it should be noted that it is an adaptation of a Ph.D. dissertation, so it does read a little more difficult than most popular literature. I was a fellow student with Wyatt Evans and remember some of the process he went through in his years of research. His final conclusions are based upon meticulous research under the direction of a very demanding graduate school dissertation committee.
So, I believe the fact that it reads a little bit difficult is a significant point in its favor. It is a thorough work, the conclusions of which are not to be lightly pushed aside.

May 25, 2005
Another attempt at being kept on; was deleted (accidentally)

Many books have been written about John Wilkes Booth's participation in the Lincoln death. It is sad that so much blame was put on his shoulders.

I have been interested in Lincoln's assassination for over twenty years, mainly because they hanged Mary Surrat, the first woman to be officially killed in this manner. It was at her boardinghouse where the conspirators met to discuss and plan killing Lincoln and others in his Cabinet.

John Wilkes Booth, from a prominent acting family, was a Confederacy sympathizer. But that in itself does not make him guilty. He was denied his right to a trial. Most of the South were more than a little upset when Lincoln was inaugurated for the second time. They refused to accept him as "our" President. We had Jefferson Davis whose daughter married Zachary Taylor's daughter. I don't believe old Zach was a Rebel.

"Killing Lincoln' as a one-man theatrical presentation, written by Amy Russell, originally premiered in Toronto, Canada. I emphatized with the young actor (who I thought was an old man, as he is such a good actor) who said, "I enjoyed playing off you." I told him the reason he held my complete attention was due to the fact that I had read so much about Lincoln and also sympathized with Booth's reasoning.

Lincoln as it so happens was a Shakespeare fan and enjoyed going to Ford's Theatre. John Wilkes Booth (Brutus) as one of the most promising young Shakespearean actors of his day. Booth considered Lincoln an "American Caesar." He is sometimes called Booth "American Brutus."

He was a very handsome man and, even though he broke his leg in the leap to the stage (instead of running down the back stairs), he eluded capture with the help of a Dr. Mudd for twelve days. He was not given a chance to tell his side and the complex, misleading reasons he did what he did. That took fortitude! He did not act alone! That's a major issue. He was cornered in that barn like an animal and burned (at the stake) by the vigilante cowards.

He was never close to Lincoln as Brutus was to Jesus so the title is deceiving. He was merely a misinformed player who ended up "on his own" after the dasdardly deed. He deserves better than to be called a devil. To some, he was an avenging angel.

I bought this book because of its intriguing cover and title and because I have a fascination, like a lot of readers, with John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln's assassin. C. Wyatt Evans' work started out a lot different than the fun, mass audience-oriented book I expected. It reads like the over-analytical, pedantic works my professors forced me to read in grad school. Evans analyzes the long-running myth (both regional and national) that Booth was not fatally shot in a barn by Sergeant Boston Corbett's nervous trigger finger as government authorities claimed but had escaped and lived out his life in various ways depending on the storyteller. The suicide death of painter and drifter David George in 1903 in Enid, Oklahoma propelled the myth. George supposedly claimed he was Booth and his embalmed remains were put on display at various carnivals and exhibits for years. Evans' introduction is extremely pedantic to the point that I had to read very carefully and slowly (and sometimes several times) to follow along. A sample sentence: "Vernacular, counter, marginal, and associated terms serve as keywords in a cultural critical lexicon that employs them in a positive sense to connote the struggle of marginalized groups to preserve their identities in the face of the dominant group's rendition of the past" (p. 15). Much of the introduction reads this way and if it continued as such, I may have given up. Fortunately, Evans drops a lot of the intellectual buzz words and the rest of the book reads more smoothly. The following briefly describes the content per chapter:

Chapter 1 takes a look at the David George story; why he was thought by some to be Booth and how his corpse ended up an attraction. In addition, Evans considers the history of Enid, OK including its famous land "runs." Chapter 2 explores the history of mummy exhibition in the United States and how the "Booth" mummy fits, for example, "Booth" represented the popular (curiosity of the notorious and horrific) and traditional (celebrated dignity) models of mummy displays. (p. 55). In chapter 3, Evans explains the northern origins of the Booth legend with a history of the assassination and press coverage. Chapter 4 shifts to the south and how many southerners regarded the assassination (relief, feigned mourning) and the legend of Booth's escape (a symbol of "white southern unreconstructedness").

Finis Langdon Bates' 1907 book Escape and Suicide of John Wilkes Booth is analyzed in chapter 5. Bates' attempt to document Booth's escape implicated VP Andrew Johnson but was done in a way to appease both North and South ("Booth" expressing regret for his deed). In chapter 6, the legend becomes a national phenomenon. The legend represented pre-modern views which clashed with the current times. He considers Lincoln's transition to national icon (p. 156), as well as Otto Eisenschiml and Izola Forrester's (who claimed to be Booth's granddaughter) contribution to the legend. Clarence True Wilson's historical and religious interpretation of the legend is examined in chapter 7. Wilson, a classic minister of reform who worshipped Lincoln, saw Booth's survival and sad existence as moral retribution for his act. Chapter 8 deals with the legend in contemporary America with the recent work Dark Union (2003) and 1977's book and film The Lincoln Conspiracy. In his conclusion, Evans states that "the legend's great lesson to the present is how subgroups in American culture appropriate deeply symbolic events for harmful purposes" (p. 218).

As a history of the myth of Booth's escape, Evans' book is thorough, insightful and extremely well researched. I think he over-analyzes the legend, however. Sure, many people through history have considered the possibility of Booth's escape and designated meaning to it. It is a curiosity and, back in the day, a political incendiary. A famous actor killing and president during a bloody war between the states with suspicious government reaction, how can this not make for intrigue and conspiracy theories? Evans makes a lot out of this legend to put forth American cultural meaning, but it seems to me that the people most obsessed with the issue are the ones hoping to profit from it either through books or by exhibiting a mummy claimed to be Booth. It is an interesting story, of course, without the analytical stuff. I'm just not convinced it is much more than an intriguing footnote to history.

For a man of whom Gen MacArthur stated "I believe that no, repeat, no officer suggested for promotion to General has rendered more outstanding and brilliant service than Kenney... Nothing that Spaatz or any other air officer has accomplished in the war compares to what Kenney has contributed and none in my opinion is his equal in ability", surprisingly little has been written about this innovative and charismatic air power proponent. Griffith changes that with this well written, fast-paced biography. While not a comprehensive biography, Griffith focuses on Kenney's leadership in the Southwest Pacific Area during World War II. Taking command of a weary, demoralized group of flyers in which MacArthur had lost confidence, and turning them into an offensive-minded, hard-charging unit was perhaps Kenney's greatest victory. Griffith clearly explores Kenney's philosophy of how to train and treat his men as well as the five point of his air power formula. Over and over again Griffith points out how Kenney stuck to his formula with resultant success against the Japanese war machine. While lacking the depth and completeness of an exhaustive biography, Griffith's book is nonetheless the best and most balanced account of General George Kenney's life to date; especially regarding his role as air component commander in the Southwest Pacific. The rather abrupt ending of the book at the conclusion of WW II leaves the reader wanting more and perhaps some future writer will examine Kenney's post-war life. Regardless, MacArthur's Airman is an excellent place for one to start any research on this superb, somewhat neglected air commander who was instrumental in turning the tide against the Japanese in World War II.

I purchased this book with high expectations, but they haven't been met. While there are some interesting facts, it appears that the author depends to a large extent on his own opinion and that of other historians. There are also contradictions - he accuses Kenney of exaggerating certain events, then a few paragraphs later will comment on his military brilliance. It also appears that the author failed to do all of the research he should have. In one instance he refers to a mission in Europe when B-26s went into Holland at low altitude as evidence that Kenney's faith in low-altitude attack was ill-founded. But while the missions - there were actually two - resulted in very heavy losses, about half of the losses were due to operational causes and most of the airplanes shot down were lost to German fighters. Such claims distract from what could have been an excellent book. The author also fails to place the Kenney's decisions in the context of World War II where casualties were expected and accepted, but rather follows the modern military aviation philosophy that casualties of any kind are unacceptable. While I would recommend the book for lack of anything else on the subject, the reader should beware.

George C. Kenney was one of the most significant air officers of the World War II generation. That is saying quite a lot because such well-known American air commanders as Hap Arnold, Carl Spaatz, Claire Chennault, and Curtis LeMay are also members of that cadre. But Kenney is less well-known than the others. This biography of Douglas MacArthur's air commander in the Pacific Theater is a welcome addition to the literature of air power, rescuing Kenney from obscurity. Born into an elite New England family and educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, rather than West Point, Kenney became enamored with flight during World War I and enlisted in the Army Air Service where he became a pilot. He flew 75 combat missions in Europe and shot down two enemy aircraft. He ended the war as a captain, and received the Distinguished Service Cross and the Silver Star for his valor.

The air arm of the Army during the period between the two world wars was small but filled with young officers fired with a vision of independence based on the possibility of strategic bombing to win future conflicts. Kenney was one of those young men. He served in a variety of positions, concentrating on aeronautical development and its application to warfare and pursuing the chimera of victory solely through air power.

In August 1942 with the United States entering the Second World War less than a year earlier, Kenney assumed command of all allied air forces in the Southwest Pacific, and worked throughout the war as MacArthur's air component commander. Kenney found that meeting MacArthur's stiff requirements was not easy. The Japanese were at first stronger, of course, but the distances in the Pacific, the unique climate, the difficulties of logistics, and the dearth of virtually all resources made every campaign a challenge. His abilities as a leader, his willingness to cut through regulations and to innovate with both tactics and equipment, and his unique conceptions on how to organize forces and mass them for victory were critical to success in the Pacific. For instance, as this biography points out, experimentation with ordnance made possible the unusual but successful tactic of skip-bombing Japanese ships. In addition, Kenney's organizational approach of composite units with bombers, fighters, transports, and all support ingredients ensured that smaller units could conduct effective warfare in the expanses of the Pacific.

In 1946 Kenney became commander of the Strategic Air Command, the central organization charged with nuclear bombardment. In October 1948 he became commandant of the Air University. While in this position in 1949 he published a significant book, "General Kenney Reports," a work available in reprint from the Office of Air Force History, which was not only a memoir of his career in World War II but also an explanation of his theories on air superiority.

All of this and more is explored in this biography by Thomas Griffith. It is well-done and fully worth the time necessary to read and absorb its lessons.

I read the book, and I must say that I was hoping for more. May be I'm the wrong demographic or may be its because I am no professor of theology, I was expecting something a little more down to earth and relevant to the everyday. I trust that some people pulled value out of the book, but I just had a hard time relating.

t5

Frank Moore is uniquely qualified to address the topic of "Life in the Spirit." A popular college professor, prolific author and lifelong scholar, Moore has a keen appreciation for the intersection of culture and theology.

Here he turns his attention to a 40-day program that connects the reader to a personal, vibrant relationship with God --- animated by the Spirit of Christ working within a redeemed life.

Moore has spent two decades crafting truth in ways that will get and hold the attention of college students --- the reader benefits from this useful and powerful experience. Written with wisdom and insight, never "preachy" or boring, this book shines with the Spirit it cites.

Dr. David Frisbie
The Center for Marriage & Family Studies
Author of Making a Marriage: 7 Essentials for a Strong Relationship

Are you one of the mllions of believers who has gathered with other believers in churches or homes across the land to discover your purpose? Have you wondered how to move from discovering your purpose to fufilling it?

You'll need power to do that, you know. And there is power in a life guided by the Spirit of Christ.

College professor and author Frank Moore leads you on this quest of discovering the power to live in freedom. This 40-day adventure will launch you into the powerful life in Christ you've longed for.
--- from book's back cover

Easy is the word that describes this book. The mile markers, bridges, towns, and other landmarks makes this text THE guide for the investigator from out of state. The museums described were excellent sources of information with plenty of friendly people to guide you toward additional landmarks. The roadcuts were full of described fossils, even my teen daughter found bags full of whole shellfish that littered the byways.
A small amount of research before hand can pay off big time in collecting the best fossils still on the back roads of America. Take this book along and the trip through Kansas will be one that you will remember for years to come.

I found Roadside Kansas by chance in the gift shop at the Old Mill in Lindsborg. I had been showing my wife and daughter some of the sights I knew about from growing up in Ellinwood, Kansas which is located right on the Santa Fe Trail (Highway 56).

Little did I know what a treasure we had found. Beginning as a geological research project by the authors the book took on a life of its' own as a very nice directory of various interesting attractions and oddities in Kansas. Its' photographs also prove to readers once and for all that Kansas IS NOT FLAT.

The first item of note we found was that we were just minutes from Coronado Heights, named after the Spanish explorer. We also found that wheel ruts from wagons traveling the Santa Fe Trail were still visible only a few miles east of my hometown. And I found that after having spent the better part of 27 years driving past and through Fort Zarah that the old cemetery still exists just north of the park out in a field only a few yards from where I had spent many evening hours with female companionship. Imagine my surprise!

Additionally, we found that about 25 miles west of Castle Rock, which I had visited and photographed many times while in college at Fort Hays, are what is known as the Kansas or Chalk Pyramids (just off Highway 83).

Needless to say I was excited and impressed. We spent the rest of our trip running the roads looking for mile markers and the treasures that lay beyond.

The book is laid out quite simply. Find the highway number you are traveling and what mile marker you are at and the book tells you what attraction is coming up with excellent directions for the directionally impaired. Oh, and I guess the geological information is pretty good too.

Since I found this text in 1995 I have wholeheartedly recommended it to anyone traveling the Land of Ahs, both visitor and resident, and all have been impressed. If you like to seek out items of interest off the beaten path, then this is your guide. I only wish those guys would do a book like this for every state in the Union.

This is like a Roadside Geology on steroids. The single-spaced typed list I made of rock stops along I-70 alone was four pages long. Most major roads in the state are covered in similar detail, including not only the rocks, but historical sidelights and local oddities as well. With it, you'll never be bored driving across Kansas.

The reason I'm only giving it three stars is that, while it provides plenty of opportunities to collect, it gives you almost no help understanding what you get. Most formations are not even assigned to geological periods. Very frustrating.

This was a gift for a friend of mine, and she was very happy with the book.

As an American Studies major in the late sixties, I understood the tale of Anne Hutchinson as the fleeting hint of a nascent feminism in the New World, a feminism that, almost 400 years later, took root and transformed American culture during my young adulthood. Michael Winship's The Times and Trials of Anne Hutchinson removes imposed meanings to reveal Anne Hutchinson as a quintessential puritan losing a passionate and destructive struggle to define piety and salvation. Because the dogmatic intolerance at the soul of of puritanism still colors the political discourse of our own day, Winship's scholarship, translated into readable and engaging prose, is a valuable contribution to our understanding of where we come from and where, without consciousness of our roots, we may be headed.

This book says Anne Hutchinson, the colonial leader, died "in August or September 1643." In fact Governor John Winthrop recorded in his journal on July 22, 1643, news of the Indian massacre in which Hutchinson had died. It's ironic that an author who describes Hutchinson as little more than a fiction of Winthrop's imagination didn't check this primary source. More important, this book claims Hutchinson's "personal influence proved ephemeral", and "most of her followers" and family "died with her" in the massacre. In fact, according to Winthrop and other contemporaries, she was survived by scores of followers in Rhode Island and Boston, five children, and many grandchildren. Her descendants include Presidents FDR, Bush, and Bush. Her lasting influence in Rhode Island contributed to the freedom of religion clause in the 1660s colonial constitution, which helped inspire the constitutional amendment guaranteeing freedom of religion throughout America.

When I first began reading The Tragic Flaw, by Che Parker, I thought it was going to be a tough read. In the beginning, there were just far too many details on the setting, but in hindsight, I believe those details were there to give the reader a feel for the setting and to prepare them for what was to come because there were points in the story where the details were so grim, I was actually screaming, squirming, sometimes repulsed and crying in my seat as I read.

By the beginning of the fourth chapter, I was intrigued by the main character, Cicero Day. Cicero is the biracial and illegitimate child of a very well-known and respected Italian mobster. As a child, his father would often take him on some of his violent outings and Cicero would stare, intrigued at the power and respect that his father had on the streets. Cicero internally took this all in and despite being formally college educated; he took on his streetwise and brutal persona into adulthood. He wanted to be just like his father--thirsted for that same type of so-called "street respect."

Cicero made plans with former college buddy, Bradley, a very well to do computer designer and Kameron, Cicero's tough childhood friend, to distribute a new drug on the streets. They end up getting financial backing from old mobsters that Cicero's father used to run with. This is the start of events that is the beginning of hell for them all. They each have a tragic flaw that may have a part in bringing them all down.

The mob backs Cicero's proposal because he has a mean reputation in the streets just like his father once had. He also has one up on his father--his education and his business sense. Little do some of the guys in the mob know that Cicero has a few tricks and agenda of his own up his sleeves. His is a highly sophisticated yet complex game of the streets that consist of brutal methods of "payback" to those that cross him.

Despite this street power and respect, Cicero's tragic flaw may eventually bring him down. He thrives on living in his father's shadow and fame. Kameron thrives on getting high. Bradley thrives on using his "smarts" to create this drug that will be distributed and thinks that he can get over on his buddies. Each of them has a demon within that they are fighting, yet their thirst for money, power and respect keep them from focusing on their battles. Cicero is the ringleader. Will he "ring-lead" his buddies, his followers straight to hell? He is tormented on a regular basis with bad dreams and nightmares that he will fall but they do not scare him. His mother prays for him and warns him, yet he somehow things he is invincible.

Will this story end like most tragedies do? Will "The Tragic Flaws" bring the characters down and they forever burn in the inferno and be punished for their deeds on earth?

I give this one two thumbs up. It read just like a modern day "urban gangster" story with a twist. I definitely recommend it to others.

Reviewed by Coulee Eidos
APOOO BookClub

The Tragic Flaw is a remarkable novel, well written and comparable to novels by seasoned authors. As a first time author, Che Parker has painted both a vivid and graphic picture of crime on the streets of Kansas City. His main character, Cicero Day, a bi-racial Black and Italian, is a multi-layered, very complex and confused young man. Parker portrays this character as a leader, someone his friends follow without questions.

This novel is both entertaining and enlightening. It confirms the old adage that you reap what you sow. Parker's ability to tell a story, keep you in suspense, have you cheer, then condemn a character, is compelling and brilliant. The Tragic Flaw is a modern tragedy that has the potential to rival existing novels to became a timeless classic.

Cicero Day is smart and athletic. His mom's refrigerator is overflowing with all kinds of accolades displaying his name. While his mom Ruth is a God-fearing woman, his father is an Italian mobster. After the murder of his father Antonio, Cicero transforms into a callous gangster himself with absolutely no fear...even from that of God.

Cicero is treated to disturbing nightmares. It appears that when he wreaks havoc in the streets of Kansas City, he's visited by one of his ghastly dreams. His mom is insistent that he needs to humble himself. Unrelenting in his lifestyle, Cicero continues to unleash hell on people who've crossed him. Is there redemption in Cicero's future?

Che Parker has written a flamboyant tale packed with torture, violence and very bizarre characters. While I was instantly put off by the overture of details, when the criminal element finally makes an appearance, it is definitely wild and worth the wait. Yet, vile creatures from hell make the story a little too warped for my own fondness. However, the message comes across clearly about the costly life of the ambitious. Remember, you will have to account for all the wrongs that you've done.

Reviewed by Nardsbaby
for Urban Reviews

Read this for graduate American history course.
Keith Olson's book "Watergate" describes the events that led up to the scandal that shook the American public like nothing it had ever experienced. When the public elects officials into office they do not anticipate such scandalous happenings as the one that tore our nation apart. The Watergate scandal left the American population feeling distrustful and pessimistic at one of the most vulnerable times in this nation's history. Everyone wondered how the nation would recover from something as tragic and polarizing as Watergate.

Nixon detested the media. He sought to control everything the press had to report about him and his administration. Nixon's turmoil began when he insisted that the Pentagon Papers stay out of the press. Despite his efforts, the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment took precedence over what Nixon maintained was a compromise of national security. While the Pentagon Papers tainted some officials' reputations, there is no evidence to suggest the papers were a threat to national security (18).

Nixon's grave concern regarding re-election in 1972 was driven by three characteristics: his concern about public image, his desire for knowledge about the plans and activities of his opponents, and his heavy reliance on public opinion polls in order to gauge public reactions and to guide future decisions (23). He relied heavily on his White House staff to obtain the information he thought necessary to attain his goal of being re-elected.

Although Nixon's aides took great initiative in attempting to thwart any chance of the Democratic Party winning the election, they crossed the fine line which separates what is acceptable and what is unacceptable. The Plumbers, who were initially formed to stop unauthorized leaks of government information, overstepped their bounds which led to the Watergate scandal (18).

Nixon was overwhelmingly reelected in 1972. This pushed Watergate out of the mind of the public. However, in January the defendants were on trial. Judge Sirica concluded that the defendants of the Watergate break in were withholding knowledge. He threatened stiff penalties if they did not cooperate. Resignations of Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Dean and the acting director of the FBI were the result of James McCord (chief security for CREEP)disclosing information. (CREEP) was the Committee to Re-elect the President.) McCord testified against dean to receive a lesser sentence. Dean turned over names and as a result wanted immunity and continued to give information.

The Washington Post was the major paper that covered Watergate. Watergate played no role in the 1972 elections. People did not yet equate Nixon to Watergate. The journalists reported that CREEPfunds helped pay for Waterate.

The Watergate break-in was initiated by the Plumbers with G. Gordon Liddy, who had been hired by John Mitchell, at the helm. Although Nixon was unaware of the events at the time they occurred, he did learn of the burglary shortly thereafter. His reluctance to handle the scandal at the beginning resulted in the beginning of the end. President Nixon was so driven by secrecy that it clouded his judgment of right and wrong. When the major participants, John D. Ehrlichman, H. R. Haldeman, John Mitchell, Charles Colson, Robert C. Mardian, and Gordon C. Strachan, had to share information with President Nixon he should have immediately done the right thing.

Instead, the cover-up began. President Nixon was in complete denial. He managed to encumber the Watergate investigation for two years with his refusal to cooperate and turn over the necessary information. By hindering the process, President Nixon only hurt the nation by not allowing the scandal to come to a close. Furthermore, the American population saw the President behave in such a manner which tarnished the image of the highest position in the nation.

Due to President Nixon's poor judgment, eighteen of his aides went to prison and he narrowly avoided impeachment. His reliance on advisors and his own poor judgment cost him the presidency. Had he cooperated initially with the judicial system the ramifications and embarrassment would have not been as damaging. The fact that President Nixon never believed he did anything wrong crippled the government. The American people lost faith in the government because no one would have suspected the nation to be susceptible to such a crime. Olson's interpretation appears unbiased and gives a complete account of the events that led to President Nixon's downfall. His inclusion of what the media believed enhanced the book by explaining to the reader what the public opinion was in regards to the Watergate scandal. He continued to include the media's reaction to the events as they progressed, which showed how the public's reaction changed as the scandal continued. I found this to be an important aspect of the book because it provides the reader with a complete view of every angle of the Watergate scandal and demonstrates how much it affected the nation.

As a graduate student in philosophy and history, I recommended this book for anyone interested in American history, and Watergate history.

Taut summary account of the Watergate tale. This era remains in memory as a series of journalistic fragments and television images half-remembered. It is useful to redo the tape to assemble a fully coherent image and this work is an excellent short history and analysis, from the Plumbers to Deep Throat to nervous breakdown and resignation, exeunt omnes, quite a few, save but one, with no get out of jail free card. The book brings in a theme by way of diagnosis in terms of the corrosive effect of the 'imperial presidency' and the covert perversions of 'presidential will' proceeding in Cold War prerogative as progressive Machiavellian disease to the Nixonesque fatal dosage. As a mere peon here not fooled for once, one is struck by the curious impudence of incompetent villainy, and the strange fortune that a picture of rank dishonesty starting as routine business as usual as if this were all presumed is what finally led to exposure. One gets the bad feeling the other smiling faces in the photo ops are less incompetent, no proof of virtue.

As someone who has read several books on Watergate, I have to ask: why was this published? It contains no new research, no new interviews, no revelations. The entire book is cobbled together from other books, which means that far too many important points and details are glossed over or ignored. What's worse is Olson's prose, so flat and lackluster that it reads like a description of a Senate Appropriations Bill, rather than as the story of the greatest constitutional crisis of the 20th century. Don't be fooled by the inexplicable raves on the cover-this is barely adequate at best. For a thorough and compelling read on Nixon's downfall, read Fred Emery's Watergate instead.

There is much good and to commend here but I have some problems with the theology and doctrinal approach.

First, it seems that books of this nature, call them Christian "self-help" books, seem to have adopted a predictable formula. The author chooses a theme, chooses examples from his ministry, and then draws parallels from Biblical narratives tying the two into a neat package that supports the point in question. This is becoming a tiresome formula and it fails at several levels.

First, the examples chosen from the ministry, the so-called real life examples, often are adapted or telescoped to fit alongside a Biblical narrative. Our lives are not those of the Biblical characters although we may face many of the same spiritual trials. Secondly, the main emphasis of the ministerial example centers around worldly things and makes the focus of the problem the selfish "I" rather than "God." Third, the outcome is usually justified by the author in terms of worldly success rather than spiritual success. The latter is noted as important but rarely or never seems to be separated from the former. The book seems to be permeated with this subliminal notion that God is the answer to your worldly as well as spiritual problems and things will work out good for you in this world if you accept God and His ways. Although this is true, the definition of "work out good for you in this world" is in terms of the "I" or "me" and not in terms if "God" to whom we are called to submit. Where there are examples of unsolved disappointment, the author associates it with a failure to follow the program. God's justice is not quid pro quo and accepting God, truly accepting God means accepting the burden of the cross and not the expectation of rewards in this life.

The last error is the most dangerous. J. C. Ryle once wrote that before one accepts Christ he or she should count the cost. The cost was God's vicarious sacrifice of making The Son sin and crucifying Him on the Cross. To be a true follower of Jesus we are warned in scripture that we must crucify the old man, be prepared to give up all worldly things WITHOUT and assurance other than our daily bread and the joy of God's care, fellowship and love. The true fact is that for most Christians in the world, accepting Christ means danger, sacrifice, hatred, discrimination, isolation, poverty, suffering and sometimes a violent death. Books such as this discuss suffering in terms of exchanging one career for another, discovering God given gifts and overcoming illness and disability or hurts. But these worldly successes, though given of the Lord, are possible because we live in a wealthy country where people have choices and opportunities and can overcome life's obstacles praise the Lord.

Any theology of Theodicy, the basic theological subject of such works, must be universal and apply to everyone, everywhere and at all times. What would the vignettes in a book such as this mean to the people who life in the garbage dumps of Mexico City and survive off the rotten trash of others? It does not hold! Yet, they worship the same immutable God whose ways are constant and perfect. The theology of books such as these are tailored to the "me" generation of Americans and not to the greater brotherhood of God's people. The person who lives in the garbage dumps of Mexico City has no realistic hope of escaping the daily grueling suffering that is their worldly lot. Yet, when such a one accepts Jesus, his worldly lot may not change but his spiritual lot has radically changed. What great saints are those that suffer in poverty and can truly claim that their only portion is the Lord!

This is the joy and transformation that scripture talks about. The cross is not something to be dressed up and made pretty. It is an instrument of relentless pain, torture and death. We are all asked to pick up our own cross and follow the Lord. That means we are asked to voluntarily crucify our old selves, and the things we hold dear, unmercifully, totally and to the death. It is a painful thing to do.

Theology such as that offered here devalues and invalidates individual pain suffering and failure in the world. It ignores the countless millions who never succeed in this life yet are rewarded in the hereafter. It ignores the fact that there are many among us that are chosen to suffer till death for no other reason that we may present an opportunity for people to do good works and be divided into sheep and goats. God's people suffer, hurt and may not see any relief in this world. But in His mercy, God sends His Spirit, ministering angels and the Church.

The suffering of Theodicy is something that must be embraced. The sufferer's pain must be acknowledged and validated. It must be understood that most of the Christians on the world experience this suffering and misery. It is the cost of discipleship.

Books such as these offer rewards without counting the cost. The theology they expound ultimately fails. When this failure is realized, true harm is done.

Finally, almost every such book uses the Jacob-Esau story as an example of Jacob's spiritual formation by surrendering his will to God. While there is much good here, most err in failing to realize that the blessing of Isaac the Blind was a worldly blessing. The Promise, God's blessing, was not Isaac's to give. Jacob fooled the wrong father. And as Jacob's spiritual eyes are opened at Peniel, he begins to be called Israel. Yet Jacob never truly fully matures to Israel and crucifies his old self. Some of Jacob remains in the final chapter of Genesis and in his decedents and in us. Commentators and such writers focus on the worldly comforts surrounding Jacob in his old age as evidence of his total transformation. If this was the case than the Bible would be one chapter and the Cross unnecessary.

It is my prayer that the authors will accept my thoughts in the CHristian Spirit of love with which they were offered

When Life Doesn't Turn Out the Way You Expect met me in the middle of extreme turmoil in my life. And the authors seem to understand what that feels like. No platitudes. No cliches. Just real words with real meaning that get to the heart of our disappointment, disillusionment and discouragement. I highly recommend this book for those who are frustrated with the life they're leading...sounds like most of us!

When Life Doesn't Turn Out the Way You Expect by Jerry Brecheisen & Lawrence W. Wilson gives real life and biblical illustrations of individuals that have found forgiveness and healing when life circumstances didn't turn out the way they had anticipated. The authors have done a great job in providing help and resources for those who are suffering from loss, abuse, rejection, failure, betrayal, pain, disability, and disappointment. I highly recommend this book.

Ever since her father drowned crossing a river the first time her family attempted to head west, twelve-year-old Willow has been terrified of water. And ever since her mother remarried and and the family headed west again, she has resented her new stepfather, Mr. Hansen. But nothing can prepare Willow for the challenges she will face in one short day. Swept out of the wagon during a river crossing, Willow is left for dead. Now she must make her way through a harsh, merciless wilderness in an attempt to find her family before they get to far ahead for her to ever catch up. This was an excellant survival story, and Willow was a well-developed character, especially considering how short this book was.

It was sickening, the amount of details used in this short book. I have three words that explain my opinion on all of that unnecessary junk... I DON'T CARE! I don't care how exactly their water looked or how exactly the pioneers stored their food. I just want to know about Willow and her quest to survive. That's why I bought the book for goodness sakes! Not to read a textbook on pioneer life! If the author is so obsessed with putting those details in, the least she could do is put them in in an interesting way. I know these books are supposed to take place in just one day, but one day just doens't work for the Oregon Trail. The only thing I liked was that Willow was a pretty good character in that she was terrified of the river for a reason and in her feelings about her stepfather. But, I mean, where was the stinking survival in the book? WHERE?

This was another great book in the American Diaries series. Willow's father was drowned the first time her family tried to head west. Now, Willow's mother has remarried, and once again the family is headed west. But when the wagon train crosses a river, Willow falls out of the wagon and must survive and search for her family. Read this book!