Missouri Books

Having spent 5 semesters at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, and being a native of Jefferson County, I recognized some of the people and trials Morley Swingle wrote about and found them hilarious, entertaining, informative, and sometimes disgusting. It is a book worth reading and shows just how low some people will go or how honorable they will be. While the book doesn't necessarily flow from one chapter to the next, it makes it easier to be able to pick up anywhere in the middle of the book and read about a specific case. I only wish Swingle had referenced case and law numbers more. His simple explanations of legal lingo made reading easier and educational. Morley, if you're reading this...I sure am glad I never met you. :-)

Disclaimer: I am not objective on this topic. I bought this book, but I only read one chapter, "The Case of the Millionaire Murder", that related the murder trial of Bill Pagano. The CSI officer on the case, Jan Vessell, is my mother. As I was away at college at the time of the crime, investigation, and trial, I had never read a complete and objective telling of what happened. Now that I have, I must thank Mr. Swingle for his tenacity and talent at successfully prosecuting a case that nobody in Jefferson County expected him to win.

Sadly, I wish Mr. Swingle had stayed in town, because the story has a typical Jefferson County ending. Were the ones who investigated this crime rewarded for their efforts? No. Wally Gansmann, Jan Vessell, and three other Jefferson County detectives were demoted. In my mother's case, with 13 years service to the department as the first female law enforcement officer in Jefferson County (and all the harassment you can imagine came with that), in spite of 8 years as crime scene investigator, attendee of the same FBI Academy Mr. Swingle attended, she was demoted first to dispatcher, then to jailor. My sister and I finally talked her into resigning from the department in 1993 after she was diagnosed with a bleeding ulcer, no doubt brought on by her attempts to salvage her career from what was left of the machinery left behind by "Boss Hogg".

And this is why Jefferson County is still the laughingstock of the St. Louis Metro area. My hat is off to you, Morley Swingle, for exposing what you could. You did an indescribable service to us. I only wish you could have helped us with the aftermath.

To the writer I say hats off and what a lot of fun I had reading this treasure. Great stories that keep you glued and also make it humorous at the end of each short story to give it that neat zing of laughter. The wanting to finish the next unfortunate event for some----but the fulfillment of gratitude for others-----also to see at the end of each story what the outcome of the next Scoundrel will be and how they get themselves a room at the Hoosegow. Thank You

Swingle hits a home run with these stories of the interesting cases he's handled in South East Missouri.

Ranging from the hilarious to the not-funny-at-all, Swingle proves with his intelligence and wit why he's been re-elected as Cape Girardeau Missouri's prosecutor for many years, and will continue to be so.

The stories would be appreciated by Mark Twain, and bear a Twain-like edge along with the humor.
Ranging from a hilarious account of how a rough looking felon tried to pass a check stolen from a State Senator and got a face full of pepper spray for his trouble, to a story about a total monster who killed with no remorse, the stories are intensely interesting.

It's one thing to read a dry news paper account of the check passers efforts to cash in and something quite else to read Swingle's humorous account of a jaded pawnshop worker and a policeman with a sarcastic humor versus versus a hood who's not the brightest bulb in the criminal world but who's very willing to "discuss it" with the police.

Then too, the story of an unstoppable killer takes on a different color when I remember my frightened wife telling me that she heard something under our porch, when we lived in sight of the county jail the killer had just escaped from.
To say the least, the neighbors were not to sure what was going on while I was peering under our porch with a flashlight in one hand and an assault rifle in the other.
There's nothing at all funny about this case, but Swingle gives a good account of how he stopped the "unstoppable" murderer.

Swingle writes with skill and the ability to hold the readers interest, not the easiest job for many writers.
I've had the pleasure of both reading Swingle, reading about Swingle, and actually sitting on a jury in a trial he was prosecuting.

Swingle does the best job yet to date of describing just HOW a county prosecutor decides whether to prosecute, what to prosecute FOR, and how he prepares and presents his case.
Of particular interest is the information on why an honest prosecutor will not prosecute a case.

The man does it all with flair, and I heartily recommend reading his work.
I've been told that he hates to waste time, and when he has a few minutes on his hands, he writes.
Here's hoping there's more to come.

For years I have been watching Seamus Heaney in interviews and wondered to myself, where does all this come from? Not a poet myself, I just intuitively felt there was much more to learn from him than I was grasping. Reading this book opened entirely new avenues of understanding for me, and Ms. Moloney obviously cares deeply for the man's work. Highly recommended!!

I have never read a book of literary criticism cover to cover before, but I found Moloney's book very readable and compelling, even. I had an interest in Ireland's history and in its relationship with England before I began, and I have always enjoyed Arthurian legend. This book correlated with much of what I knew already, filled in gaps I didn't know were there, opened up new ideas, and has sparked my desire to go further in my studies in this area. I am also a new fan of Seamus Heaney's work. I look forward to other publications by Moloney. I loved the discussion on Patricia Coughlan's ideas and wonder if there will be any response from the feminist camp.

Significant works of scholarship have a value that goes beyond research. This is such a book. Professor Moloney's thorough study of Heaney's place among Irish poets and within the Irish mythic tradition actually casts a wider net that includes all of us, embedded as we are in our conflicted sexes and societies, Irish or not. As Ms. Moloney, meticulously shows, Heaney and most other significant Irish poets have been struggling for centuries to come resolve or come to terms with a deep disconnect in the Irish past, as symbolized by the "Feis of Tara," a myth in various forms in which a hag-like mother-fertility figure must be accepted and embraced (sexually) in order to be transformed into a beautiful emblem of hope and fertility that renews a wasted land (country, Ireland). Professor Moloney's work suggests--by extention--that all of us, not just the Irish poets and people--suffer from some kind of similar disconnect and contradition, particularly in our sexual identities, and--by a further extention--in our respective political and historical contexts, regardless of what country we reside in. In short, we too are cut off--from our past, from ourselves, and from members of the opposite sex especially. We all need a reconciliation that will only come if we "effectively conquer" our "fear of the feminine," and achieve "the humility vitally required in our interaction with each other." Heaney's work, and the work of other Irish poets, is central to this imperative, healing objective--which must be achieved if the whole world is not to degenerate into something like the Irish "troubles" (i.e. Civil War) that forms the context within which Heaney is working, particularly. The solution is embodied in Heaney's quest to understand, accept, and then transcend the cultural mythology he inherited as an Ulster poet, conflicted from birth by Ireland's particular and violent disconnect. According to Moloney, Heaney "is linked utterly to his Irish past even as he argues memorably for a world beyond the post-colonial" (and post-patriarchal, if truth be told). Simply put, "it is kindness, after all" that "transforms" us, that frees us from the curses inherent in our cultural inheritances. As another Irish poet, John Montague, puts it, we need to move "beyond male condescension" and "feminist reaction," to "love's equal realm." This is why Moloney's book should be read--in addition to the fact that it also provides and introduction and insight into the work of several other significant Irish poets in addition to Heaney. It is a "hopeful" book in more ways than one.

This is the fourth book of literary criticism on Seamus Heaney I've read so far. Moloney manages to say something new about Heaney's mythologem and places it within its context of Irish literature. I would recommend Moloney's work over the others I've read so far.

this book ebbs and flows like the wind of an autumn day...

Annie Dillard's Tickets For A Prayer Wheel is an impressive and highly recommended collection of lucid poetry, elegantly written in free verse, concerning the mundane, the natural, and the mystical. Matter-of-fact narrative gives way to descriptive elegance of brevity in this inspirational work. Deciduous trees/have dominion. But look on bark;/molds make fruiting bodies/out of air. Winner/take all. Grab/a handle. Earth/rolls down like dolphins dive,/headlong to dark.

Annie Dillard's collection of twenty-four poems, TICKETS FOR A PRAYER WHEEL was first published in 1974, the same year Dillard published her Pulitzer Prize-winning and best-known work, PILGRIM AT TINKER CREEK. In the thirty years since, she has written nonfiction narratives (HOLY THE FIRM, LIVING BY FICTION, TEACHING A STONE TO TALK, THE WRITING LIFE, FOR THE TIME BEING), a memoir (AN AMERICAN CHILDHOOD), and a novel (THE LIVING). By reissuing Dillard's long-out-of-print TICKETS FOR A PRAYER WHEEL, Wesleyan University Press has allowed many grateful readers to finally complete their Annie Dillard collections.

TICKETS FOR A PRAYER WHEEL confirms that Dillard is a poet at heart. In her poetry, like most of her later work, Dillard explores science, nature, time, and theology. Her poetry is related thematically to PILGRIM AT TINKER CREEK in that both books attempt to answer Thoreau's question, "With all your science can you tell how it is, and whence it is, that light comes into the soul?" Whereas we find the speaker of title poem "looking for someone who knows how to pray" (p. 50)--"Who will teach us to pray, who will pray for us now," he ponders (p. 53)--we find Dillard asking the same question in her most recent book, FOR THE TIME BEING (1999). From her first book to her last, Dillard's answer remains the same, "God teaches us to pray" (p. 60). "He has no edges," Dillard observes, "and the holes in him spin./ He alone is real,/ and all things lie in him/ as fossil shells/ curl in solid shale" (p. 61).

TICKETS FOR A PRAYER WHEEL offers both short, accessible poems ("The Clearing," "Day at the Office," "Puppy in Deep Snow") and longer, more challenging poetic meditations ("Feast Days," "Bivouac," "Tickets for a Prayer Wheel"). Wesleyan's reissue also includes an excellent Foreward by Michael Collier.

G. Merritt

Very strange stuff is contained in this hard to find book. Annie Dillard is famous for her Pilgrim at Tinker Creek novel. However, I enjoyed this earlier work much more than anything else I have read by her. The poems range from thought provoking, to totally off the wall. Hardly a one of the poems are short of enjoyable. The title poem is worthy of its place on the cover, it struck a chord with me immediately.

Jamie

I first read this book while taking a class in severe & unusual weather at the University of Illinois a few years ago. If you're into jaw-dropping weather phenomena, you really need to get this book. There are great interviews with survivors, a few astounding pictures, and some good basic science to back it all up.

There are quite a few stories, books, etc. about this event, but this book is different in a way, with newspaper accounts, and direct information from the survivors and their kin themselves.It's an easy read and one most weather buffs will enjoy.

Tornadoes are the most powerful storms on Earth. They may not be the biggest in size, but the destruction they can cause is insurmountable.

The Tri-State Tornado gives the readers the perfect example of how devestating these storms can be. Even in this day in age with our advanced technology, meteorologists have a difficult time understanding the true nature of these storms.

This was evident back in 1925 when that fateful day came when one single tornado had struck three states, killed 689 people, and traveled 219 miles at a rapid pace anywhere between 60-73 miles per hour. No one saw it touch ground or disappear.

The author does a great job of interweaving interviews from the actual survivors. Who better to explain that day than the people who saw this mile plus wide tornado barreling down in front of them.

The Tri-State Tornado remains one of the most bizarre and deadliest tornado to have ever hit the United States.

At around 1:00 p.m., March 18, 1925, a tornado touched down in Reynolds Country, Missouri. But, this was no ordinary tornado. This was an F5 multivortex tornado that proceeded east-northeast across 219 miles, 13 counties and three states (Missouri, Illinois and Indiana). By the time the tornado dissipated, it had destroyed a number of small towns, erased a number of farms, and killed some 689 people. This was one of the worst tornadoes in U.S. history, and this book tells its story.

This is quite a fascinating book. The author does an excellent job of telling the story of the Tri-State Tornado with factual reporting, but yet brining alive the horror of what happened. The book is an interesting mixture of Mr. Felknor's narration and accounts from some fourteen survivors of the tornado.

Overall, I found this to be a fascinating and highly informative book about a little known subject. If you are interested in tornadoes, then you simply must get this book about the granddaddy of them all! I highly recommend this book.

Ranking equal to or better than Where the Red Fern Grows, this book was a 1936 MGM movie with Barrymore and Maureen O'Sullivan. I wish it would be made available again. For those of us of traditional old-fashioned values and sentiments, this story is simply Great!

Written in 1935, this book was serialized in the 1950s by the Saturday Evening Post. The reader's response was totally magnificent. And that is where I first heard of Kantor and this wonderful book. I'm just rereading it and once again basking in quality story telling by a master who knew and understood his genre.

Highly recommended reading for animal lovers and those who appreciate truly fine writing.

Recently, while taking inventory (cleaning up my mess) of my library, I ran across my old copy of this book that has been with me since the mid 1950s. Being a strong believer is setting priorities, I instantly sat down, ceased the silly cleaning, and started reading the book once again. My goodness! I know it is impossible, but I am quite sure that old, really good books, get even better with age, just like wine! This is certainly the case with this one.

This work was first published in 1935. It was the first book that I had read by this author and, I must say, it hooked me. This is probably one of the greatest dog stories ever written. People constantly compare it to Where the Red Fern Grows, but to be honest, I personally feel Kantor's work is better written. The story takes place in the Ozark Mountains and is simply about the love a man has toward his dog. Now the story is much more complex than this, but this is what it boils down to in the end. Now take warning, this is a tear jerker. I remember crying when I was a little one while reading it, and the book had the same effect on me just a week ago. This author's prose is beyond equal in my opinion and he has the time, the place, the people and the era down perfectly.

On a personal note, the author names several people in this book, old time dog men and fox hunters. I had the pleasure and honor of knowing several of these old men while I was growing up and knew their sons and daughters quite well. They were a unique breed and I feel much richer for having known them and having been raised amongst them. I suppose this makes this work a bit special for me.

Now this book has fox hunting in it, although it is not a hunting book. The reader should understand this particular sport, which was not a blood sport by any means. In fact, actually killing the fox was considered very bad form and was just something you did not do. Basically it consisted of setting around a fire all night listening to your dog run a fox through the hills. I have spent many evenings doing this and could certainly relate. I do not hunt anymore, having given it up years ago, but I do make an exception anytime I have the opportunity to participate in this particular type of hunting. Probably not true, but it almost seems the fox enjoys the chase almost as much as the dogs and humans do.

If you are looking for a truly well written book, love dogs, and stories of very interesting people (the kind of people that it is difficult to find now days), then this one is for you. This particular work is on my list of top ten all time favorites. Recommend it highly. (Further note: If you happened to see the movie which was made in 1936, please do not judge the book by that viewing as per usual, the movie people missed it completely.)

The Voice of Bugle Ann is a short novel but Mr Kantor's prose brought the story to life--I could hear Bugle Ann just as her owner did and I could feel his anger and sorrow at her lose. This is a powerful book showing to what extent man will go for his best friend--I came across this book on one of the Amazon lists and decided to try it--I could not have been more impressed.

This excellent book outlines the various phases that the Democratic Party has transitioned through the ages since it's founding by Thomas Jefferson. This is a study in Jeffersonism and includes many pages of notes and references. It takes us through the period of William Jennings Bryan and Hubert Humphrey as well as some interesting facts about Thomas Jefferson.

As A Jefferson Family Historian who assisted with the Jefferson-Hemings DNA Study,I was immediately taken with the clarity and thorougness of the author's extensive research on the topics of slavery, religion and the DNA Study.

He elaborates on the first lies by a disreputable reporter and the historical and conjecture and psychological guesswork, unorthodox and questionable conclusions in a book popular among nonacademics but widely dismissed by scholars. Most historians rejected her theory concerning Jefferson and Hemings. The Nature Journal article mischaracterized the DNA results. The historian cowriting this article seemed motivated at least by a desire to excuse the sexual and legal misconduct of the then-current White House occupant. This refers Professor Joseph Ellis who was later exposed by the Boston Globe for lying to his Mt. Holyoke College students about his NON Vietnam service and other personal misstatements. His Nature article was also mistated grosely.

The author points out that an interesting and underreported twist, the DNA tests essentially disproved any genetic tie between Jefferson and the focus of the original Callender allegation, Sally Hemings. DNA proved NO DNA match and thus the long claimed Tom Woodson of family lore and misguided and biased films and TV specials are just that, FICTION. Mr. Jefferson was most adamant in his opposition to miscegenation and the debate may may be nothing more than an interesting diversion, since the scant evidence we have is inconclusive. Mr. Taylor cites referencies such as The Jefferson Myth and the Jefferson-Hemings Controversy: Report of the Scholars Commission.

Herbert Barger, Jefferson Family Historian

Read this book, and you just might join the Democratic party again, or form your own. St. Jude smiles on lost causes, and this is a book that might renew your faith in a few.

Amazon readers, I have always told you the truth and never lied to you, except for entertainment purposes and always with full disclosure. In the interest of which, please be advised that I am not the same Jeff Taylor who wrote this excellent book. I wrote two others instead; it's a common name. So far, I've tallied seven Jeff Taylors working in the fields of writing and journalism. Perhaps someday we'll gather and pool notes. In the meantime, I'd recommend this book if it were written by Joe Smith.

If you have reached a point of fatalism where your angst about politics has reached a fricking nadir or zenith, I humbly direct you to this book, written by Jeff Taylor, of whom (I hereby swear) I know not one iota of biographical data. We have never communicated in any way. Just happen to have the same name, and be authors of books.

If you want to find out how things went so far sideways and downhill after Carter and Clinton, if you'd like to connect some interesting dots,find your way out of the maze of what-happened, read this book. Buy it for those pathetic, lovable idealists who have let the Kerry/Edwards decal moulder on the back bumper of their Volvo Subaru Outwagon, and who probably feel like closet Republicans and who automatically pull green on the voting slots, out of guilt. (But they haven't read John Edwards' book, Home. Too busy working and worrying about personal death. They haven't read this book, either.)

Give it to them. Buy this book, wrap it for the holidays, and put it in the hands of your intelligent friends. Perhaps you can remake the world politically within your lifetime, by learning a little more about party history and party politics. For the first time in years, I'm registering to vote in the next election, after opting to abstain for the last few charades. Reading this book made me more optimistic; things have been terrible, even worse than now, for the Democrats before. If enough of us, whatever our names, exercise our rights to elect representatives with a life-friendly viewpoint, we just might fix the Titanic and save Troy, disarm the bomb at 11:11, and maybe build a world similar to the promised land of which Martin Luther King showed us a pure glimpse. No, you're right, it's impossible... so just read this book for pleasure and escape.

Jeff Taylor's book is a must read for anyone who is interested in answering the question why the Democratic Party has struggled so much in national elections since 1950. His analysis of the terms Liberal and Conservative and how little they truly mean these days helps to clear away the misconceptions that are perpetuated by most pundits. Taylor is able to cut through the glossy veneer of platitudes used by both parties and substantiate that the Democratic Party of today has become disconnected from its populist origins. This is an outstanding work of scholarship. As a history professor, I highly recommend this book.

Jeff Taylor's book is an excellent history of the Democratic party, exploring its history through the ideologies of Jefferson, William Jennings Bryan and Hubert Humpherey. Taylor views Bryan as the last of the populist, middle America Democrats, the type of isolationist, anti-Supreme Court, pro-direct democracy and pro-small government Democrat that is very rare in today's world. Humpherey, and by implication the usual nominees of the Democrats of today, represents a pro-globalist, pro-mass immigration (in spite of its impact on wages), often pro-war, pro-corporate pro-big government, pro-activist Supreme Court. Concerning religion, Bryan also represented a pro-Christian, albeit a populist, "social" Christian outlook that is sorely lacking among current Democratic nominees, though not among its electorate, as is proven by the votes of Democratic leaning voters in referenda and opinion polls on issues as diverse as immigration, abortion and same sex marriage.
Taylor argues that Democratic leaders of today are "Hamiltonians", believers in the concept of a strong central government. Democrats of today would argue that they might be Hamiltonians, but for Jeffersonian ends, i.e. they are for a big federal government but because of the good it will do for the common man. Taylor addresses the validity of this issue somewhat, though I'd like to see more disscussion of just who benefits from big government. I love his analysis of why Democrats have lost their way in terms of their hiding behind the activist Warren courts of the 50's and 60's to get their legislative dirty work accomplished. Taylor points out that it represents a dangerous approach, something that Bryan, with his support of direct democracy (i.e. initiative and referendum) and his opposition to what was at the time considered a conservative, anti-labour judiciary, would have shied away from.
I also enjoyed his discussion about the WW2 era, where liberals such as Sen. Wheeler of Montana, or Lafollette of Wisconsin, became "conservatives" just because they were opposed to our intervention.
Taylor argues that conservative populists such as Buchanan and liberal populists such as Jerry Brown and Ralph Nader actually have a lot in common, far more in common with each other than Buchanan would have with, say, Arlen Specter, or Dennis Hastert, or Nader would have in common with a typical DLC Democrat like Clinton. In France this has been the case in the opposition to France's deepening involvement with the European Union. There, rightist groupings such as the National Front and leftist movements from the Communist Party to other leftist splinter groups have successfully mobilized a majority to vote against the most recent European Union constitution.
I urge anyone who wonders why just because someone is pro-life that means they must be pro-Iraq war, or just because someone is pro-2nd Amendment that means they must be for tax cuts for the rich, or why someone who supports immigration reduction should be anti-union, to read this book. Taylor gives a great overview of a compelling, pro-middle America, pro-common people, pro-conservative values, pro direct democracy heritage in the Democratic party, a Jeffersonian heritage best represented in the 20th Century by William Jennings Bryan.

I have prepared many of the recipes from this book and have found all I have tried to be wonderful. They are easy to follow, and the collection of recipes is diverse and appeals to the most discriminating of tastes. This book also provides visuals on the art of artistic meal presentation. Of the cookbooks that I own, I know if a meal is prepared from this book all will be happy, especially me!

I've had this cookbook for several years and I think it's terrific. I haven't made a recipe from it that disappointed me.

The recipes are not difficult to make, so anyone should be able to cook from this book. The food turns out a bit sophisticated. You could easily use some of these recipes for a dinner party.

Two of the recipes I really enjoyed from this book were Mustard Ginger Pork Chops and Minestrone. The pork chops were wonderful - you basically add a simple marinade (pretty easy to do!). The minestrone is wonderful! It is probably my favorite soup ever. It uses ham to give it a smoky flavor, then you add a number of veggies and pasta to it, and top it off with cilantro and parmesan cheese. This is a great soup to make at the beginning of the week and have it for lunch every day for the rest of the week. I've made this soup so many times and I've even tried to freeze it (although I wouldn't recommend that). This is also a good soup to fix ahead of time if you're going to have guests. Add a salad and some bread and you have quite a nice lunch.

Besides the recipes, the photography in this book is amazing. It's quite different than other cookbooks. I would have to consider the photos as "art" because they are of the quality of framed photographic art. I keep thinking of taking this book off of my cookbook shelf and using it as a "coffee table book" because it is so beautiful.

Overall, I would recommend this cookbook to almost anyone. The recipes are simple but elegant and the pictures make the book a joy just to look through.

This book will hardly fit back on the shelf: Yellow post-it notes hang from its margins, nearly a pad-ful so far, each marking a high-taste recipe. I've only had the book a year, but it has fast become a favorite.

I was amazed to find this book so readable and well written. Pierre Epstein has written an able and accessible tribute to his remarkable father. I only wish that Abraham Epstein had lived a longer, healthier life. With his remarkable energy, drive, intelligence, and social conscience, I wonder if with another twenty years of life he would have been able to further positively influence the "social security" of our society.

As I read this book, I wondered if Pierre Epstein has ever contemplated how much his father's sense of social justice was formed by his childhood's Jewish education. Abraham Epstein's life was a constant struggle to fulfill the essential commandment, "Justice, justice shall you pursue!"

Written by Abraham's son Pierre, this book provides a fascinating look at one man's struggle to breathe life into the Social Security system. Pierre Epstein brings a unique, personal insight and passion to his work (and includes a nice, feel-good, family angle to the story).

By shedding new light on his father's often overlooked contribution to what is now a well established, although constantly threatened and questioned, part of our lives in America, Pierre Epstein not only shows the origins of our Social Security system, but helps to illuminate the present state of affairs, and offers hope for the future. With a new, more socially conscious (we hope) Congress now in session, it's only a matter of time before a Social Security debate with the White House heats up. With that in mind, there is no better time than the present to examine the roots of Social Security.

Abraham Epstein presents Abraham Epstein: The Forgotten Father of Social Security, a solid biography of the American social reformer who permanently transformed the responsibilities of the federal government and was instrumental in instituting the nigh-unassailable institution of Social Security. Written by Abraham Epstein's son, Pierre Epstein, Abraham Epstein: The Forgotten Father of Social Security is a unique blend of memoir and intellectual history. Occasional black-and-white photographs illustrate this heavily researched, smoothly presented true-life story. A welcome and recommended addition to library and private American History and biography shelves.

I have read numerous books on the "situation" in the Middle East but they all read like History books. This is the exception. Salhani writes about his memories of war with humour and yet realism that makes you understand the life of a journalist in these situations. It was a page turner and I enjoyed it immensely.I do not hesitate to recommend it to anyone.For a comprehensive look at the Lebanese civil war et al,this is the book. Enlightnening, informative, humorous and yet touching. Salhani opens his heart to us in print and one cannot help but respond.

I thought Black September to Desert Storm was a fascinating look at 15 years of unrest in the Middle East through one reporter's eyes. The fact that the author seems to be smart, funny, observant and versatile makes the book easy to read and the complex political and social situations that form the backdrop to his adventures simpler to understand. No one book can capture the entire scope of the Middle East's continuing conflicts, but Salhani is able to show the ludicrous side of these myriad struggles as well as the human tragedies they engender. He does so with compassion and empathy as well as the cold eye of a cynic who has seen too much to be easily fooled. I found myself caught up in the human stories, fascinated and amused by the bizarre cast of characters which populate these pages, but I also felt anger and frustration at the bullheadedness and stubborn pride of the politicians and military leaders whose fault it is these conflicts will seemingly never end. Also, his candid insider's descriptions of the life of a war correspondent and the antics of the foreign press corps were astonishing and often hilarious. If you want to read an enjoyable book that's easy to understand but will still and enlighten you about the Middle East and foreign journalism, I strongly recommend Black September to Desert Storm.

Black September to Desert Storm is a book about the backstage of war.

It is easy to read and instructive not only about the comlex issue of the Middle East but also about Middle Easterns themselves. Most of all it shows through one journalist what covering comlex news events could look like.

Nobody can reveal the absurd and totally surealistic face of war better than a news photographer.

One might find it hard to laugh about events that shook the world with horror, but Salhani shows you how strange enough even in the hardest situations some humour is hidden. Professionals who hop from one war to another mentally survive by cherishing that side.

One might find it even harder to imagine that the most feared terrorist, soldier of fortune or sniper,can also have a human side to him.

If you are someone who reads newspapers and are interested in knowing how news gets to you, this book is a must.

Very good book, lots of funny, inside stories on a longtime NHL team.

This was an excellent book. Bob Plager tells stories from the blues and his life like no one else. He is truly a legend. This book is a must for any true Blues fan. Bleed Blue.

This book was so good, I was dissapointed when I had finished it, I wanted to hear more tales from the Blues' Bench. Bobby Plager did a fantastic job! I can't wait for his next book to come out.