Michigan Books

Having come from this area of west Michigan, Idlewild has always intrigued me. Stephens' book is the definitive work so far, and is well documented and researched. The photos are priceless. I would recommend this book for any student of black America.

This book is an exceptional and accurate account of historical Idlewild. Although it is slightly slanted based on the authors assessibility to information (a wide variety from one or two sources) they are execellent sources. Having grown up in Idlewild on Idlewild lake and gone to the local schools from pre-school through high school, I would recommend this book for any scholar or novice who is interested in the development of Black America in small towns; the rise and fall of the Black entertainment industry; and Black resort towns and Black Ghost towns.

Edited by historian David Lee Poremba, If I Am Found Dead: Michigan Voices from the Civil War presents written letters that comprise firsthand testimony of the Civil War from four Michigan soldiers. Of the four, one perished during the conflict; one returned to a normal life; one was accused of murder and tried three times; and one invented a brand of ginger ale that remains famous in the region to this day. Though the four were of disparate backgrounds, their letters each provide an equally vivid glimpse of wartime life through a soldier's eyes, from observations of officers' leadership abilities to the suffering of residents who lived where the war was waged to the omnipresent threat of death on the battlefield - many of the letters were penned just before or just after an armed conflict. A welcome addition to private and library collections of primary sources and testimonies of the Civil War, highly recommended.

Even though this book is made up of the journals and letters of Michigan Civil War soldiers, it's not necessarily a book strictly for Michiganians. The words that these four men wrote pertain to all who fought in that awful war, including camp life, long marches, and invlovement in the battles themselves.
Here's a few entires from May of 1861:

29th Wednesday - drilled and paraded and received our shirts, drawers, and socks from the government.
31st Friday - I was Colonel's Orderly; received our coats and pants.

June 1861
3rd Monday - the 3rd regiment of Michigan Volunteers had a banner presented to the by the Ladies of Grand Rapids. A large crowd of spectators on the ground, the largest ever known.

Here's a snippet of a letter from James Vernor to his father from 1862:
"We...passed Perryville afternoon. 300 Rebels dead on the battlefield of last Wednesday. I asked some of the folks why they were not buried & the 'oh they are Secesh.' I think if I lived around there I should want to get them out of sight for they are anything but pleasant to look at."
James Vernor, by the way, would eventually make his fortune in Vernor's Ginger Ale.

This is one of my favorites that shows life as a soldier in 1861:
"I have ten dollars in gold in my pocket & I would give half of it for a quart of water & the other half for a loaf of bread. I had nothing but hard bread and raw pork. I went without and today I have had no time to eat. I have had no water today, only what I sucked up out of a mud puddle..."

The details these folks wrote in their letters and journals tell the tales of the Civil War far greater and with more impact than modern historians could ever muster. And the maturity level of these young men (ages late teens / early 20's) were far beyond those of the same age today.
I will say this, however, if you are just looking for a book on the Civil War, this may not be for you. It's not a concise history. But, if you are already a scholar of that war and are looking to add to your knowlegde then you just might want to check this volume out, as there are, in well over 200 pages, many tedious details presented here in first person not found elsewhere that will heighten your image of the CW soldier.
Engulfing reading throughout.

Cancer is not simply an "opportunity for personal growth" writes Dr. Kathlyn Conway in this timely, lucid, and provocative book. Conway knows her subject first-hand. Five years ago she wrote: "I'm a 47-year-old woman with one husband, 2 children and 3 cancers." She was diagonsed with Hodgkins disease at 26, with brast cancer at 43 and lymphoma at 45. Her 2002 memoir, "Ordinary Life" told the story of agonizing decisions, physical incapacitation and medical mistakes. (They aimed the radiation too high, which destroyed her hearing in one ear. They then aimed it too low which caused cancer in the other breast.) As she eventually returns to "ordinary life" her young daughter, Molly, asks: "Is breast cancer over, Mom." She replies reassuringly, "Yes, honey, breast cancer is over." In "Illness and the Limits of Expression" Conway lets us in on a secret. Just as the galleys of her previous book arrived in the mail, her doctors discovered another cancer. Should he re-write the ending or stop on a positive note. Deciding that all memoirs need to end somewhere she chooses the latter but with significant ambivalence. As she recovers from her 4th cancer, she begins the project of reading every illness memoir she can find. Conway discovers that her decision to tend the book on a positive note reflects a major trend in American books on the subject. A huge number tell of "doing battle" with cancer, "showing great courage in the fight" and ultimately "winning that war"--what she refers to as the "triumph narrative." She quotes William Dean Howells to good effect. "What the American public wants in theater is tragedy with a happy ending." The New Age authors can be particularly troublesome, asking patients why they "invited" cancer into their system. Deepak Chopra seems to believe that serious illness is caused by hostility, resentment-- a bad attitude. New Age thinking offers comfor to millions because it offers a sense of supreme control over our bodies. (This is in contrast to the Buddhist view, for example, that teaches: Life is suffering.) The notion that we are in charge of everything is something worth examining. In refreshing contrast to New Age triumphalism, Conway assures us that despite having a wonderful husband and supportive family and friends, she was grumpy and unheroic most of the time and that her illness had "no redeeming value." She writes: "We long to hear from someone who admits that even enormous love from others does not erase the essential loneliness of illness." Conway attributs her recovery not to positive thoughts but to the fact that her cancers were caught early and that she could afford health insurance. (INcidentally, anyone who might imagine that being a famous writer, a celebrated journalist, a respected physician or all of the above might result in fewer medical nightmares or better bedside manner needs to read the illness memoirs of Audre Lorde, Barbara Ehrenreich, Anatole Broyard and Oliver Sacks--each summarized in her book.) What illness does is shatter belief in a unified self, and language offers a means to construct coherence. Language must also fail, however, because it can only approximate the experience of having body parts--breasts, feet, tongues--lopped off. She concludes by pointing out that this very failure of language and of literature "paradoxically allows us as readers to approach the ground of desolation where consolation will or will not come to each of us in our own time and in ways of our own making and unmaking." This is not the language of victory, and yet in its clarity and authenticity there is a kind of overcoming. "Illness and the Limits of Expression" then points to a worldview that is less sunny, a self whose coherence is always greatly exaggerated and to a psychology that might embrace and map rathern than turn away from our basic brokenness. This book is an intelligent, loving guide for the journey.

What a magnificent, literate and thoughtful book. We all will face the terrible fact of debilitating illness at some point in our lives and how we do it and what it means will become especially important to us then. We'll turn to the bookshelves of our local Barnes & Nobles only to find books that entreat us to "act normal," to "live life to its fullest" and to "think positively," all homilies written by those who don't know -- or can't write -- any better. This book, the second masterpiece written by Conway, gives us a deeper look into why we, as Americans, desperately want to avoid the true nature of illness and its devastating consequences. It also looks at the very structure of our language, our literature and our lives to dig into the deeper literary reasons why we can never confront the true meaning of disease.

In its simplest terms, Conway maintains, the very structure of our language and our literary traditions make it all but impossible to really describe what serious illness is rtruly like. She plumbs the literature to find examples of writers who can capture even a little bit of the experience in words. From Virginia Wolff through Andrew Solomon she selects those few examples to examine the broad literature and the common culture of illness. It's an astounding and thought provoking -- and beautifully written -- read!

I read "Imagine a Woman" ten years ago. Its stories still haunt me today. I find myself pondering "Poe's Lighthouse" and "Linder Man" at the strangest times. Seltzer brings a depth of humanity and emotion to his stories that I am powerless to describe. Each story is so very original, so very intimate. I cannot recommend this collection highly enough. Read it. You won't regret it.

This series of short stories literally sparkle and overflow with emotion, yet the writing is tempered, measured and always intelligent. What I liked best were the quirky plots and the still quirkier people. But quirky should not imply "funny" - these tales contain sadness, depth and heartbreak. "Lindow Man" is one of the best - an archeologist is studying a recovered body from the bogs, a prehistoric man, when he meets his future wife. Upon marriage she becomes ill and dies. He is drawn to the bog and attempts suicide only to choose life at the last moment. "Pipistrel" is also a tour de force. A boy who has sonar abilities (like a bat) enters a cave and his mother goes in after him...eerie but satisfying.

There is an art to writing short stories and make them both interesting and "complete". Richard Selzer has perfected this style of writing into an artform. Highly recommended.

This book eloquently describes the events of Burma immediately after independence. The account here is vivid and captivating! The book is essential to understanding political events in Burma and reflects similar conditions in other newly independent countries. A must read for those interested in the history of Burma after independence!! And to any interested in learning more about a resilient society and post-colonial struggles. Everyone from authors researching this period to those who have never read anything about Burma will be SHOCKED by the story of this small district which reflects the situation of the entire country.

It is surprising to know that the government vanished in a single day!! The rebellion by various creeds brought Burma almost to dismemberment. The book shows the suffering of the Burmese people from both the insurgents and the government officials who attempted to establish normalcy.

This book eloquently describes the events of Burma immediately after independence. The account here is vivid and captivating! The book is essential to understanding political events in Burma and reflects similar conditions in other newly independent countries. A must read for those interested in the history of Burma after independence!! And to any interested in learning more about a resilient society and post-colonial struggles. Everyone from authors researching this period to those who have never read anything about Burma will be SHOCKED by the story of this small district which reflects the situation of the entire country.

It is surprising to know that the government vanished in a single day!! The rebellion by various creeds brought Burma almost to dismemberment. The book shows the suffering of the Burmese people from both the insurgents and the government officials who attempted to establish normalcy.

I picked this book up not knowing what it was and not sure if I would like it or not. After I finished the novel, I went back and re-read my favorite chapters. I enjoyed everything--the characters, the sense of place on the reservation, and the writing style.

Indian Summers ranks with Winter in the Blood as one of the finest examples of Native American literature yet written. The plot-threads flow together beautifully, echoing the best of what is done in the genre of urban fiction, yet transposing this technique onto the detailed world of a reservation. Gansworth is sure to become an important writer. One of the best first novels I've read in years.

Frank Russell is an incredibly intelligent man, which is quite evident by the thoroughness of his book. His work is the first full volume on the subject, and he has pieced evidence after evidence to unveil the details and characteristics of military intelligence in the Classical era. As a student of Dr. Russell, I can further vouch that the reader will find this an excellent source for information and research. It includes in-depth footnotes, which often cover most of the page, and it has a very large and useful bibliography of sources for further research. This is a true must for Classical and military historians.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in either antiquity in general or a specific interest in espionage and intelligence work. It is clearly written, and while it possesses a depth that specialists in the fields would appreciate, it is still accessible by a general reader, particularly those with a taste for military history. Another thing to appreciate is the layout--footnotes along the bottom allow the reader to see fully the breadth of source material used without having to constantly thumb back to annoying endnotes. A great effort and well worth a read.

It's great to see Baldwin's later novels finally being given the scholarly attention they deserve. To me Just Above My Head is his masterpiece, but is often disparaged by critics. By contrast, while I'd always thought If Beale Street Could Talk was an artistic failure, this well-written and attentive work has made me want to reread & reconsider it. Lynn Scott is a perceptive critic, & shrewd at analysing the critical context in which each novel first appeared. She makes one particular point, which is that Baldwin's essays were always better-received than his novels because the essays barely mention homosexuality, whereas in the novels it is often present as a key theme, & invested with humanising & redemptive potential.

James Baldwin's Later Fiction: Witness To The Journey by Lynn Orilla Scott (Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of American Thought and Language, Michigan State University) is a tour de force literary analysis of one of the great African American authors of the twentieth century. Close readings and a thoughtful study of Baldwin's "Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone," "If Beale Street Could Talk," and "Just Above My Head" compose this literary analysis and commentary that examines how African-American artists and writers have fought to change how race, sex, and gender are represented (and sometimes stereotyped) in American popular culture. James Baldwin's Later Fiction is highly recommended for its solid focus on James Baldwin, who as an African-American writer, reflected and incorporated the upheavals in society as reflected in the civil rights and black power movements of the 1950s and 1960s.

This book helped Jewish Detroit come alive for me. I felt like I was there, celebrating each moment. I would recommend this book to everyone, even if you are not from Detroit because it allows you to be apart of a community's special history.

WoW! The Jewish Community of Metro Detroit, MI, 1945-2005 is a fine source of information on our community! I strongly recommend this book. Mr. Stiefel's insights are first rate.
Al

Nora Faires (Associate Professor of History) and Nancy Hanflik (Co-Curator of the Sloan Museum exhibition "A Century of Jewish Life in Flint") deftly collaborate to present Jewish Life In The Industrial Promised Land 1855-2005, an examination of the history of Jewish families and daily life in Flint, Michigan, an industrial boomtown famous for its decay into rustbelt poverty when General Motors slashes jobs and closed plants. The Jewish community of Flint was comprised of many strains, including immigrants from a variety of nations; collectively, they were not invested directly in the automobile-driven economy but rather worked as storekeepers, entrepreneurs, and professionals; and they were affected as severely as everyone else when General Motors' closings caused the local economy to crumble. Black- and-white photographs illustrate this detailed chronicle of all aspects of an enduring and faithful community.

The century and a half time frame covers Flint, Michigan, from its origins as a major industrial city, through the prosperity its inhabitants enjoyed in the decades when the automobile industy was the centerpiece of the American economy, until the last decades of the 20th century when Flint along with other major industrial centers fell into decline with the success of foreign automakers. During this long time, the lives of Flint's Jewish inhabitants reflected the general condition of the other residents. While Jews never participated in the well-paying and long-term factory work for the automobiles, they took part in the ups and downs, promising prospects and economic worries, affecting those involved in auto manufacturing and their families as shop owners, doctors and other professionals, and entrepreneurs in the areas of services for other city residents. Fairies and Hanflick's history of the Jews of Flint using their "own analytic framework and interpretive lens, but using the community's words and perceptions to help guide the analysis...and give shape and substance to the story" entails ecletic content. This ranges from oral history, many photographs from all periods, profiles of leading Jews, and social and economic history. All this is brought together coherently and informatively in this combination of regional, urban history and minority, Jewish study following mainly the assimilation and fortunes of the generations of the city's Jewish community. Both authors are connected with Michigan universities.