New York Books

I enjoyed this account of Al Ettinger's travels with the 69th infantry during WWI. It's interesting to find that he held so much detail in his mind so many years after the events, and after many years of not talking about it- finally opens up and recounts everything in such great specificity. I also appreciated that the accounts were checked out by his son in such detail to verify specifics before publishing- after all, no one's memory is perfect. The book is interleaved with historical maps and summaries of allied strategy, giving the reader a yardstick as to where the events fit in history. I really got a good feel for the deep sense of camaraderie that Ettinger developed with the people there in the ranks, and his heroes, especially concerning Father Patrick Duffy, a guy anyone would want to know in whatever place in history that he or she was born in. The only shortcoming of the book (and it is slight) is that it leaves out the outcome of Lt. Quirt (a pseudonym) in the epilogue. Great reading.

"It is enthralling and difficult to put down before completion." --Military Images

"A vivid portrait if a colorful outfit, DOUGHBOY places its emphasis on the human factor ... an invaluable and entertaining firsthand portrait of leadership, loyalty and morale -- the soul of any U.S. Army regiment." --Military History Magazine

"This well organized book becomes one of those rare war memoirs that has been back-checked for facts, that has such meticulous evidence of accuracy, it transcends the normal colorful remembrance to become a true work of history." --Gannett News Service

"Don't let 'A Doughboy With the Fighting 69th' escape you. It is destined to be a classic." --Irish Edition, Phila.

"An eye- witness account of World War I doughboy experience from a less than model soldier...a lively, personal account of both courage and realistic Army life." --The Bookwatch

"Although I have read many autobiographical accounts of famous generals and their bloody campaigns, few have touched me with the same effect as this story of one of America's true doughboy heros." --Ronnie Shimron, Curator, Jewish War Veterans

"It is enthralling and difficult to put down before completion. Afterward it is to be savored." --Military Images/ "A vivid portrait of a colorful outfit...an invaluable and entertaining firsthand portrait of leadership, loyalty and morale ... --Military History/ "This well organized book becomes one of those rare war memoirs that has been back-checked for facts, that has such meticulous evidence of accuracy, it transcends the normal colorful remembrance to become a true work of history." --Gannett News Service (John Hanchette)/ "Don't let [Doughboy] escape you. It is destined to be a classic." --Irish Edition (Philadelphia)/ "... a lively, personal account of both courage and and realistic Army life." --The Bookwatch

Private Ettinger, in his brief military career, managed to experience the battle of the Argonne Forest, survive four close shell bursts, a personal strafing by a German pilot, and some spectacular crashes on his dispatch-rider motorcycle, to provide us with one of the most engaging memoirs of the American Expiditionary Forces.
His very readable and entertaining reminiscences, augmented by some first-rate research by his son, are enhanced by rare photos, interesting appendices, and details of organization of a unit with some of the most colorful characters in American military history, such as "Wild Bill" Donovan, Father Duffy, Joyce Kilmer, and Douglas Macarthur (who personally delivered the author from incarceration).
Ettinger's story is highly recommended as a vivid window into the world of the doughboy, and a fine unit history as well.

(The "score" rating is an unfortunately ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)

A wonderful read. Well-documented and beautifully presented. It realistically evokes a time when honor fueled men to do their perceived duty without hesitation and with great patriotism.

The book via letters and diaries creates a true emotional atmosphere of World War I and those committed to serve. It would make a superb film!

Not to be forgotten the men of L Regiment. Thank you Mr Harris for the insight to a time before I was born and frankly of a different type of men who had so much to give and so much to lose but honor and duty were so important to them all. This was a wonderful book and if you lived as I did in the Hudson River Valley the memories of all of this are so important to me.

Being a native New Yorker and a lover of history I was pulled into this book. With few "unit histories" of the Great War, this one is a must for any serious reader. The unit, made up from the elite of NYC, and men of more humble backgrounds from upper NY, forged a unit while not heralded, most certainly worthy of this book. The story, while never quick moving, will be interesting for the serious reader. The unit saw serious action in breaching the Hindenburg line while attached to the British. Good for the serious student.

This book is well written, well researched and well titled. I devoured it in three sittings. While the First World War has been eclipsed by the Second World War for most Americans, this story captures a fascinating piece of America's earliest military history as a world power. I particularly enjoyed the vivid descriptions which the author used to recreate the past. The arduous conditions the men experienced in South Carolina, where they trained at a partially built national cantonment, are so well drawn it unfolds like a movie. Their surroundings in the U.S. and abroad are brought dramatically to life. The troopship's approach to the French sea coast and entry into Brest harbor, the march through the city and the French countryside complete with the smells of tree blossoms, the troop trains, the billets, etc. were all wonderful. The graphic descriptions of life in the training areas, the reserve areas, marching to the front, entering the trenches, enduring incessant bombardments, making nighttime forays into "No Man's Land" and fighting the big battles was gripping.

The author's diligent research makes this a good read and good history. This reader became convinced that what was known as the Silk Stocking Regiment was far more than spoiled rich boys playing war. When they entered the war they may have been naive, but they rose to the challenges they faced with great courage. Despite suffering terrible casualties they fought valiantly. Their parent unit, the 27th Division, did not fight with the main American forces, the A.E.F., in France. It was assigned to the British Expeditionary Forces (B.E.F.), ultimately under the command of an Australian General, but that did not dampen their fighting spirit.

These soldiers enjoyed broad public support of the people of New York, both upstate farmers ("apple knockers") and New York City socialites, because it blended men from both. The book goes to great length exploring the pedigrees of many of the men of the historic old New York 7th Regiment. It leaves no doubt that many of the men came from the highest class of American society. We are also introduced to some of the "apple knockers". The story proves to be a very interesting social history. The trials, accomplishments and valor left this reviewer feeling very proud of these American soldiers. That feeling of pride is tempered with sadness for the many lives of these fine men which were given so unselfishly.

EVER TRUE sweeps the dust off history, reading makes one look forward to the next letter as if we were waiting for the postman.

A really great read for the Civil War history buff. Highly recommended, very readable and hard to put down. Excellent work by Lisa Saunders.

I started reading yesterday and could not put it down. It is so interesting to have a look at the Civil War through the eyes of those that lived it, and Saunders' historical notes are facsinating. It amazes me to think that those letters were waiting for her to find and bring back out to the light of day. I am eagerly looking forward to being able to read more later today!

"Ever True" is a stunning account of ordinary folks in extraordinary circumstances, folks who never lose their down-to-earth qualities while they learn the ways of a more sophisticated world.

David Sisson, Professor of English and avid genealogist

Lorca had a pessimistic and dark impression of the New York during the Great Depression years. Lorca describes a city populated by ghosts and nightmares. This is one of the most shocking poetic works of the XX century.
I recommend the CD 'Omega'. It is an experimental 'flamenco' work by the `cantaor' Enrique Morente, based on the poems of `Poet in New York'. This music album will help you to go deeper into the book.

Federico García Lorca is among the most celebrated Spanish poets of all time. The beauty of his writing has given him a place in the gallery of the best Spanish writers. This book he wrote when he was a student at Columbia University relies on the influence he got from the surrealistic movements that were running on Europe at the time. Thus, it gets far from the poetic language used in his other books, most notably in Romancero Gitano: verses leave the regularity of the romance to explore new and rich arrangements; the metaphors grow more complex and ellaborate, making a delicious challenge to the reader; one can read a poem time and again for days and will still be unsure of its real meaning. Besides this some of the poems reach a new height on Lorca's poetry. To anybody just seeking to discover Lorca and his world, Romancero Gitano seems to be a best approach in my oppinion, but if you know it and like it, I can't help recommending Poet in New York as a new horizon to discover. If your approach to this book is open-minded, you won't be disappointed.

After reading "Poeta en Nueva York" I found out that it was really worth learning spanish. I am not exaggerating but some of Lorca's verses make me cry. They have so much emotion and fantasy in them, and they talk about experiences that take place deep inside me. The poems are surrealist but that is also what makes them amazing. The best poem is probably "Fabula y Rueda de Los Tres Amigos" where Lorca beautifully conveys his feelings towards his relationships with others and the struggle he sees within them. Strangely enough at the end of the poem he describes a lot of events concerning his death which actually coincided with his murder a few years later. Lorca's relation with the moon reflected through his simple yet overwhelming words is also charming and inspiring. I discovered through them that there was a lot more in that celestial body orbiting the earth than what I used to see before. You will feel that poetry is just flowing out of Federico. He didn't to exert a lot of effort to sound that marvellous and that right.

After reading "A Poet in New York," I can say this much:
"I don't think I am planning a trip to New York very soon." Lorca's account of the city was so visceral, raw and cruel, I could feel the hauntingly dead interactions between people, and those people's relationships to the material world around them. The accounts of violence in the streets are equally as cold and boldly unapologetic as his observations of the early morning hours when the city is first waking up.

Gabriel Garcia Lorca truly shows that when it comes to the movements as a city with ties to industry, capitalistic gain and material wealth, there is no division between the life of the human being and the life of the machine. There is almost an automated, "conveyor belt" feeling to the mechanical movement of life in the city. As soon as energy is poured into an endeavor, it is also poured out just as easily. People are as disposable as sheet metal. Their blood, their organs and their instruments of movement could be ripped away and demolished as quickly and non-emotionally as one would destroy the framework of a building and it would be of no concern to anyone else.

I believe that Lorca's observations and journal entries are a reflection of not only the mindset of one of the most well known cities in the world, applicable to the 1930s, but is also quite accurately a reflection of the state of the world today.

I completed this 369 page "story book" in two days. It had been so interesting that I just could not put it down.

It's no exaggeration to regard it as a story book. Somehow the reality is more harsh and crueler than fictitious TV drama and movies, and the history of the investment world is surely no exception.

Back to the book. This is in fact an excellent collection of writings from books, journals amd newspapers of different witnesses to the author's selection of major debacles of the past four centuries. There are twelve parts of unequal period, with a timeline of critical incidents in the beginning of each part, followed by selected witness reports as mentioned above. Certainly, not everything could be accounted detailedly (so I would like to recommend "Devil Take the Hindmost: A History of Financial Speculation by Edward Chancellor", a book that dug deeper but not as wide) but readers certainly would have a very correct idea of what went wrong.

As a CFA charterholder (not yet, passed all three levels of exam but not paid the fees), I strongly recommend AIMR to put this book into the required list of reading to warn its members of the limitation of the financial techniques or theories or calculations or integrity stuff we try to preach. Anyway, a must read for anyone, especially serious players!

p.s. One minor drawback: Soros was not there. He should have been.

this book gives you a window look into the brilliance of wall streets finest players , as well as the big scammers. this book gave me a better knowledge of how the market works and how the economic cycle is always repeating itself. it gave you a nice history into how wall street was established and how it evolved into the market it is today.

Editor David Colbert collected a multitude of printed source material - diaries, private letters, memoirs and articles - that spans 400 years, and, as the title promises, provides plenty of accounts from eyewitnesses to Wall Street. Organized chronologically, the book also includes Colbert's timelines and his original introductions for each piece. Divided into sections that reflect every era, the book is an insightful and often hilarious romp through financial history. We [...] recommend this book to all readers - there's something here for everyone, even if you don't think you give a hoot about the stock market. Colbert's collection is a sweeping, unusual look at social, economic, political and cultural history.

I don't work in finance, but I found Eyewitness to Wall Street very enjoyable and informative. It's a sweep of stories that captures the impact of Wall Street over the centuries -- and this subject seems even more relevant after the terrorist attacks that attempted to end the Street's intense vitality. This book does a wonderful job of defining and explaining, and thoughtfully celebrating, that vitality.

This is a must read for hispanics and non-hispanics alike. A treasure for any individual interested in the immigrant experience. An excellent read!!

This book takes you on a journey from a small town in the rural sector of Puerto Rico to the struggles Puerto Ricans faced and still face in the U.S. Rivera captures experiences so vividly, one can have a clear mental picture of what ia going on. This book captures your emotions and ties you to the story-line and lives of these characters.

I met Ed Rivera personally two years ago. He taught creative writing at a college in New York City. I've just read this book now, almost six months after he passed away and it is incredible how inspirational he can be, both in person and in the written word. In Family Installments, Ed Rivera has set the example for future writers. He has done something that not even Piri Thomas, with all due respect, did in his novel, Down These Mean Streets. Ed Rivera presented a story that truly captures the Latino's experience, from the native country all the way to life in the United States, mainly in New York City. Ed Rivera tells this story with a clever blend of grimness and humor that is difficult to imitate. His characters are powerfully vivid and his prose is rich and sharp. These details are what bring the story to life. But what adds to the charm of the story is the way Ed Rivera can make even the most difficult and embarassing situations very humorous. The book is a real treat for Latinos and non--Latinos alike. I give it five stars.

Rivera has opened the window to the world of what struggling Hispanic families had to endure just to become an almost invisible dust particle on the sill of America. This book captures the true essence of latin struggle and desperation to find a better life, the rigors of the ruthless yet merciful city (New York), and the good times though turbulent times. This book captures the pain, and frustrations of the Hispanic community coming to a newland, seeing it through the eyes of a developing juvinile into his manhood. This is a small nich in the historical carvings of being Hispanic. Thank you Mr. Rivera for writing this autobiography. As a young hispanic youth growing up in Corona, Queens during the early 80's, I can relate to the struggles your family and yourself have undergone. I was born in New York, but my father shared the same sufferings your father had upon migrating to America for a better life. He told me stories of living in the Dominican Republic and seeing pure poverty, then coming to America to work like a mule for close to nothing, saving every penny to bring my mother over and their new born daughter. We survived in a one bedroom apartment for 14 years...we were seven kids then. "My father also wears glasses fit for microscope". This is a great book, I hope you enjoy it as I have.

Note: I offended an immature person by giving negative reviews to books attempting to "prove the Book of Mormon." Rather than answer my criticisms, that person gives my reviews negative votes. Oh, well.

Your "helpful" votes are appreciated, and please remember that a short review (recommendation in this case) is good if it leads you to a great book.

I own this edition, and I would highly recommend it. I agree with the other reviewers. This is a must-have book for anyone with an interest in art.

My copy is from 1997. That edition (p. 112) contains the most wonderful scene of two children and a dog running up a hill with a beautiful valley in the background. It's from the cover of the "Saturday Evening Post" of May, 1960. Done in light greens and yellows, this painting is very evocative of an innocent youthful world.

I wish that painting had been larger. If someone knows where I could obtain a copy, please leave a message here.

"Famous American Illustrators" is full of large-format pictures that give the reader an appreciation for the talent and imagination that has gone into these paintings. What a wonderful world these artists created.

Thanks, and you will enjoy this book. Highly recommended.

The Walt Reed book referred to by the other reviewers contains many more artists, but it has far smaller reproductions because there is so much packed in. By contrast the present book has some magnificent large and colourful illustrations that allow the reader to gain a better appreciation of each of the artists. The colour balance is wonderful (unlike some art books) and the selection of illustrators is great.

Books on illustrators, from the golden age to the present, with their vast sample illustrations are in constant demand these days due to titles going throught out-of-print listings. One excellent reference source-The Illustrator in America:1880- 1980 by Walt Reed contains hundreds of works by illustrators from the late 19th century to the 1980's. The book unfortunately, is now out-of-print. Now, a new recent addition has been published-Famous American Illustrators. The various listings and samples of illustrators from the book are all elected members of the American Society of Illustrators. The book is an excellent supplement for Walt Reed's title where the readers can view more samples of each of the illustrators' unique styles.

The book is an excellent supplement to one of the title by WaltReed-The Illustrators in America: 1880 to 1980. The book containnumerous sample illustrations by elected members of the American Society of Illustrators.

This book explores both generational and cultural aspects of Indian families transplanted to and from the U.S. It is a delightful read on its own merits, but can also be applied to any immigrant experience. The expectations from the originating country and the dilution which occurs over time is portrayed with great understanding.

Just finished Robbie Sethi's novel FIFTY-FIFTY. Enjoyed the voyages per chapter. I felt i have just returned from a world that I am happy to know more about, especially because I am intent upon trying to open myself to what may be exotic, foreign, or so much like what i know that I am blind to sameness. What branching lineage for each chapter. What a tour de force of novelistic orchestration! Seventeen main characters interacting or ignoring or judging and showing up and disappearing. I feel my first and strongest and most lingering impression is how different the expectations are when families are internationally mobile and also realistically skeptical about how secure life and status can be where ever one lives. Of course, the novel intends to show that, but I feel for the first time I came to understand why, frankly, I have so often been intrigued by and alienated from recently arrived immigrants--and even those who have settled close to me in New York City. At least in the Punjabi heritage it was made clear how dependent relatives are and also thwarted, made proud, and confused. Felt the love affair between Natisha and Lalita was finely drawn, and the author captured the attitude and dilemma of the African-American father of Kunti's baby devastatingly accurately based on my experience. Too many young men now handle their lives just as he tried to. Captured Kenya well also, a rather schizophrenic society I was not comfortable in--and for some of the same reasons as the Kaurs and Singhs!
I thought a lot about the Indian and Pakistani students I have taught and how what is occurring at home and in their communities shapes how they may think and behave. They are often the most mysterious group in my experience--and the novel enabled me to comprehend how social and economic and cultural pressures and expectations distinguish them from many other ethnicities. I am being rather sociological in my appreciation, but that is how I was most directly impacted. Robbie Sethi can enter into other cultures so confidently and empathetically? empathically? I admire that very much. I wanted to thank her for writing FIFTY FIFTY, and I hope she reads these comments.

Sethi's second novel is a clever, daring, and sharply insightful panorama of a family's struggle to transcend the inevitable entropy of the family structure as a result of time, distance, and tradition. The children of Biji have, by choice or obligation, traveled disparate paths, spanning continents and generations, and through their darkly realistic struggles to satisfy both their roles as members of a family and their individual desires, we are given not only a powerful and profound lesson on culture, spirituality, and imperialism, but a carefully sharp and gripping portrayal of the universal struggles that all humans share. Unlike the conventional novel, Sethi's tale is told through a series of stories, each presenting a unique's character's perspective in his or her own voice. From the compelling story of young Rosa Gill's attempt to identify in a suburban California culture that treats "the other" as a form of boutique cataloguing, to the dark descents into self-destruction of cousins Kunti and Rajit, and even the tale of Biji herself, a political refugee and dominant head of the family, these tales intertwine in a way that is brilliant and wholly fulfilling. No stone is left unturned, and the reader is left with a mosaic of human existence that is much more than a "multicultural" tale, but a beautiful and frightening commentary on the universal struggle against loneliness, responsibility, identity, and alienation. The expansive scope at the book does, at times, create a somewhat off-putting separation between character and reader, but Sethi's ability to mold, color, and develop a versatile stock of voices is brilliant enough to bring you into a universe that crosses continents, cultures, and personalities, and shows that the deepest emotions are those that do not know such boundaries.

In her first book, THE BRIDE WORE RED, Robbie Clipper Sethi established herself as a skilled cultural translator as she explored the lives of three American women and the families of the Indian men they married. Now, with FIFTY-FIFTY, she introduces her readers to yet another Punjabi Sikh family, this one spread over four continents and struggling to adapt to their adopted lands. Told with startling compassion and insight, this novel offers a complex and realistic view of what it means to be an immigrant.

Like Sethi's first book, which was described as a "novel-in-stories," FIFTY-FIFTY is told through multiple voices, each with its own titled chapter. From the Gill family matriarch Biji to her four children to her grandchildren, they each tell their part of the family history. Although the chapters could stand alone as short stories, their real power comes from their compilation. The best chapters are "Exile," "Three Sisters," "The Curse of Life," and "Double Mind." Sethi writes with a no-nonsense style; however, the moments she chooses to reveal are lyrical. I could not help feeling for every one of these displaced individuals. By the time I finished FIFTY-FIFTY, I did not want to leave these self-exiled characters who, despite all that they have suffered, continue to harbor hope.

I highly recommend this for readers of literary fiction and those interested in cross-cultural and immigrant issues.

Lots of action that makes you read this book more than once! I hope they make a movie out of this!

This book is great. It has a lot of twists and turns. It keeps you reading right to the end. There was a couple of times where I felt bad for bad guy and thought that he was going to prove victorious over the good guy. It really is suspense filled. Read it.

John Lutz and David August did an unbelievable job at writing Final Seconds. I was blown away by the suspense and mystery of this novel. They should make more books together. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a good read. (Final Seconds would make a great movie!)

If you want a good, entertaining book, you could not choose a better one than this

NYC Island Hopping made easy

Flashmaps is a wonderful guide to carry with you when you are trying to find that fabulous restaurant in "The City". All of my friends love this book and have bought one for themselves.

Flashmaps '98 is a very easy to use guide. There is a special map for every subject like a college map, a hospital map, a sightseeing map and much more. Almost like a two-in-one guide.

If you want a small lightweight book that has everything about New York, this is your book. Since New York has lots of sidestreets, and you can easily get lost there, you will love the maps and directions. The shopping section even has street maps with every single store on every single street! This book is great for shopping information.