Arkansas Books

As other reviewers have noted, the photographer was obviously not a professional, but in this case, that's ok. In my opinion, it is better to have scores of imperfect pictures of many barns than to have scores of perfect pictures of just a few. Barns represent an architectural history of regions and ways of life that are rapidly changing. Few farmers today will choose to build beautiful, gigantic wooden barns when prefab steel buildings are cheaper, faster, and easier to maintain.

It does appear that many of the photos were not originally taken with the intention of featuring the barns, but they nevertheless warranted inclusion in the book simply because of the presence of the barns in the frame. And while it is true that powerlines could have been removed to improve the quality of the image, to me they serve as a reminder of the encroachment of modernity into the simpler ways of life that barns represent.

My only serious complaint about the content in general is that there is no record provided of where the barns are located. Some I recognized, and could therefore place, but others were unknown and offered no clues.

More experienced photographers could certainly produce better work, and if they are interested in documenting barns and other interesting structures before they vanish, then by all means I encourage them to do so. In the meantime, though, we should all appreciate and praise the efforts of amateurs.

I don't enjoy doing bad reviews, really, but this is the WORST picture book I have ever seen!

Many of the pictures are blurred, some HORRIBLY so! I would list page numbers but there are none. Mr. Patel has no understanding of depth-of-field. In one shot the foreground grass is in focus but the barn, i.e. SUBJECT of the picture, is completely out of focus! Quite a few barn pictures have power lines running through the image that could have been composed out of the frame by an observant photographer or, at the very least, edited out in post. The vast majority of images are set against the ugliest white skies I've ever seen published in such a book. I won't even mention the typography!

It is the perfect example of how bad an ego trip can get. This is a self-published book. The author is an engineer who photographed barns during weekends of his three-year stay in Arkansas while working on a chemical weapons arsenal that is being destroyed. I'm glad he got around and saw more of the state than our chemical weapons stockpile, but as a life-long resident of the state, I find this book insulting. The only positive thing I can mention is that I'm glad I only borrowed the book from the library and didn't pay money for it.

new smaller size and revized format inside makes the book much less reader-friendly.

The book has good information but the publisher has change the states included. The most Southeastern state, Florida is not in the 2001 edition (a separate book 16.95). With the additional states Arkansas, Louisiana, North and South Carolina the book is too thick over 750 pages, a new narrower page size and semi hard backs make it difficult to use.

I bought two copies of "Benchwarmer" to give to my 20 year old grandsons. I read it first and it had so many "F" words that I would not give it to them. So, I have two books that I don't need. I think it should have told that "F"words were all through it. Other than the "F" words, it would have been an entertaining book for young adults and teenagers. The "F" words ruined the book, and did not add to it at all.
Peggy Carey

Author Joe Fenley presents us with a one-sided view of Richard Bennett, who happened to be my uncle. I am the Lyn Marker that is mentioned in this almost true crime novel. While many of Mr. Fenley's statements about my Uncle Dick's early years are factual, he is highly swayed by the Good family in the majority of this work. His relationship with Marcia Good's first husband at the Dayton Daily News makes for highly prejudicial reading. He did not, however, misrepresent any of the information that I offered to him. It was not mentioned in his book however that my uncle was finally convicted in Arkansas the same year that Bill Clinton was bidding for the presidency. The GUILTY verdicts in his case had been overturned by the Arkansas Supreme Court twice, but overturning it the third time would have reflected badly on the Governor's bid for Democratic nomination. I feel that this one-sided view of a man who I knew for over 45 years was highly biased.
Lyn Marker

The Hunter's Heart by Judy Carole Rhodes didn't keep me on the edge like I think books should. It was about an orphaned girl who cannot find her father. On her search she meets Benjy, a young farmer who is friends with her father, but Benjy doesn't know it's him. After many months, Benjy finds Sara and brings the two together. It drags on in parts when Benjy talked about life, and I couldn't keep focused. I would only recommend this book to those who like long extensive books about hunters.

the way the book was written to lay your life and future out the way they did is such in poor taste i myself am very displeased with this book. you should really get your prioritys striaght befoe bad mouthing and resenting someone who you may have crossed paths with one time in your life.

Overall, I am very disappointed with this book. I will be teaching a high school creative writing class and I was looking for books that would guide me. The activities are very basic - they would probably work better for elementary and junior high students. The main source of disappointment is the lack of substantial content. The book is only 69 pages (with a lot of blank space on each page). I would have been happy to spend $3-4 on this, but $18 seems like a complete rip off.

Along with Gov. Huckabee, the author of this book shares responsibility for the murders Dumond committed after being released from prison in Arkansas. It is a perfect example of the toxic nature of partisan politics, and especially the GOP focus on Clinton, that anyone accepted this story hook, line and sinker.

after reading others reviews i thought i needed to say some things are correct and others not. for example wayne dumond did not live in a trailer he lived in a 3 br red home. how do i know? well, i am married to his son.

Far-right gadfly Guy Reel's fact-challenged propaganda screed recycles and expands the equally frothing serial smear by tabloid-writer and fellow fringe-case Steve Dunleavy. Ranging from distortion to huge dollops of outright falsehood, this book is guaranteed to annoy anyone to the left of Attila the Hun. For the small minority of troglodyte extremists who eagerly lap up each new tortured Clinton conspiracy tome, this book contains nothing not already covered in the plethora of bilious (and probably bibulous) Dumond-worshipping diatribes on Free Republic.

Some interesting facts:
1) Wayne Dumond was not exonerated by DNA evidence - no DNA tests were ever conducted.
2) Contrary to the whitewashing claims of Dunleavy et al, Dumond had a substantial and serious prior criminal record - murder (1972), sexual molestation of a teenager (1973), and ... wait for it ... rape (1976). He dodged the murder charge by ratting out his buddies, and a rape conviction when the victim dropped charges because "she feared for her life" - after which Dumond claimed his earlier confession had been "coerced". He pled guilty to the 1973 molestation charge, for which he received 5 years probation.
3) Two years after his 1999 parole (the result of heavy pressure from governor and current presidential wannabe Mike Huckabee), Dumond raped and murdered Carol Sue Shields, of Parkville, Mo. He was convicted, and recently died in prison.

But because Dumond's first (and luckier) rape victim happened to be a distant relative of Bill Clinton, this serial rapist and murderer became a saintly martyr in the eyes of Reel, Dunleavy and their Freeper groupies. And these are the people (check out some of Guy Reel's anti-Democrat diatribes) who bash liberals for being "soft on crime".

CD was created using public search results. Contains copious amounts of junk. Recommend using Google instead and saving your money.

The blurb on the back of this collection is highly misleading, since most of these letters were translated into English long, long before their publication in this book. It was originally published in Russian in 1990, so the "newly translated" might refer to the 1995 publication in the US. If you're really interested in Chekhov's letters, read Karlinsky and Heim's book...it can't be beat.