New York Books

Beautifully written, WHERE SHE CAME FROM is also the product of very serious and exhaustive research. It is a magical and haunting book. It brings alive a period of Jewish women's history that is only now being written about in English. Travelling through pre-Holocaust Central Europe with Epstein is an amazing experience: the reader follows both the process of investigation of family history and the emotions this opens up for the writer.

I taught the book several times both in the US and Mexico in classes on Memory and Autobiography. My students loved the book. Many of them bought several copies to give to relatives and friends as gifts. My graduate students (in History and Literature) were impressed by the rigor of Epstein's research, and the skill with which she weaves historical information into her prose.

This is a fascinating chronicle of three generations of the author's female ancestors. It is probably the only book in English that tells the story of Jewish women in Prague in the the first half of the twentieth century. Helen Epstein has a special talent for recreating social history and bringing it alive.

This book was a beautiful personal tribute to the author's ancestors.

I was engrossed in this book from the first page...although it was a slow read for me, because I wanted to grasp the intensity of the generational saga, and grasp the historical facts, correctly. Epstein has more than proved herself in this dramatic memoir of family generations, identity, and history, weaving us through time, each piece of family fabric a part of the final tapestry. The reader is given remnants and squares of fabric in a familial tapestry, of sorts, through history and time, through the horrors of war, and how it affects all the generations, from past to present. From assimilating into society and racial and religous identity, to how one views themselves and what they identify with, Epstein manages to stitch a tapestry of her family, each stitch in time adding to the fabric of her own identity. Bravo for a wonderful read!

In WHERE SHE CAME FROM, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based award-winning author Helen Epstein has penned a meticulously-researched memoir to the four generations of Czech and former Czechoslovak women in her extensive family, from her mother's side of the brood.

While today she associates her public persona to the proud and extensive line of former Czechoslovak Epsteins (see Ms. Epstein's fabulous Amazon Short available off of this site, SWIMMING AGAINST STEREOTYPE: The Story of a Twentieth Century Jewish Athlete), the writer stakes her claim to a noble and illustrious family line which once proudly sported famous Viennese and Prague-based surnames such as Rabinek, Solar, Weigert, Sachsel, Furcht, and Frucht.

Like an experienced batsman for a World Series-winning major-league baseball team, Epstein managed to hang in that old batter's box, waiting for just the right pitch to slug out of the ballpark. In the book world, the analogue was when all the right moments fortuitously transpired to assist Ms. Epstein in securing many essential clues of research which she utilized handily in crafting this excellent book's narrative. Even she'll tell you, the process was far from easy.

Thanks to a dedicated coterie of like-minded collaborators based in points all around the globe as you'll soon read (the former Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic, Israel, South America, and the United States), Ms. Epstein succeeded in cobbling together one of the most comprehensive Czech geneological histories on the public record.

The work is not only emotionally remunerative for Ms. Epstein, to the extent that those missing links in her family chain were finally sewn together, but it's additionally a fine account of several strong women, renowned in their various fields of endeavour, who persevered during the best of times and the absolute horrorific worst of the 20th century.

Starting with Helen's great-grandmother Therese Sachsel, nee Frucht (Furcht), who lived during the reign of Franz-Josef in the last of the Habsburg-ian thrones, passing through her grandmother Pepi's life story during the turbulent First World War and the First Czechoslovak Republic, and finally overlapping the history of her own mother Frances Epstein, Helen pored over hundreds (if not thousands) of archival sources in constructing this cogent tale.

Collectively, these three noble upstanding women belonging to the author's colourful past outlived the worst of the 20th century's ravages, passing fads, and tragic downfalls.

We swoon with Therese Sachsel during the euphoria of Tomas Garrigue Masaryk's (TGM) storied first Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938), when all seemed possible for the Central European remant of the former Austria-Hungarian powerhouses of Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, and Slovakia. Our hopes and dreams are temporarily crushed alongside her grandmother Pepi Rabinek as we witness the invasion and subsequent occupation of Prague by Nazi hordes, who sweep unchallenged through the former Czechoslovakia's borders after the West's perfidy of Munich. We agonize alongside Pepi's daughter, Frances Solar/Rabinek/Epstein, the paragon of the family and Helen's stalwart mother, as she is dispatched to the Teresienstadt (in modern-day Terezin, Czech Republic) concentration camp, or in the colloquial Czech, the "koncentrak." We also rejoice when Frances is extricated from the hellhole of Auschwitz, and tranported the West in wartime Germany as part of a labour brigade, towards the oncoming Allies from the West, liberated in Bergen-Belsen by British forces at the end of WWII. Finally, we are shocked to discover the insensitivity, sheer apathy, and in many instances -- outright hostility -- that Praguers demonstrated towards the surviving returnees from the Nazi camps, to which Frances and her future husband, famous former Czechoslovak Olympian swimmer, Kurt Epstein, counted themselves.

Helen Epstein's lines draw us inexorably into this story, and once you start you'll have a difficult time finding excuses to stop.

What staggered me as I made my way through this read was Ms. Epstein's formidable discipline. The sheer single-mindedness with which she approached the colossal task of the near-vertical climb to reach the bottom of her family's history. I read with awe how solace was found towards the end.

WHERE SHE CAME FROM will stand as one of the foremost examples of the self-researched memoir. If you need any reason at all to read this book, then let it be thanks to the iron-willed determination which the answers gracing its pages were unearthed by Ms. Epstein.

A book like this needs to be savoured for its significance, appreciated for its illumination, and respected for its purity. There isn't a single letter which graces these pages that wasn't typed, written, or transcribed in the absence of a labour which can only be termed love.

I sit back and wish we all had the staying power of Ms. Epstein. The book is laudatory in the extreme.

As if Ms. Epstein's family history were not enough, there are other benefits to this book too. For those with a keen interest in the past two centuries of life in Prague and the experiences of Bohemia's and Moravia's Jews and its Czech peasantry, WHERE SHE CAME FROM is chock-a-block with painstaking factoids and historical tidbits that'll nudge you gently towards further reading. It will also supply its readers with a glimpse towards the increasingly-distant Czechoslovak past, which, with the passing of the years and the keener integration of this country with the rest of the EU, slips further and further away from the grip of Czech youth.

This book is more than just a reminder, it's a testament to a time which no longer exists. In that respect, it is now part of the permanent historical record.

WHERE SHE CAME FROM is written in a language at once accessible and magnetic. For all ages, for all backgrounds. I can't do anything less than award this superb work of history my highest rating of 5-stars.

I know you will too.

-- ADM in Prague

Although this book has a slow start with a lot of historical information, once you get to the Holocaust section, you will not be able to put this book down. I read it while in Vienna and after I visited Prague. I felt so connected to my surroundings and the author that I literally felt like I was in the book. Makes the enormity of the Holocaust personal and understandable. A MUST READ FOR EVERYONE!

I was in high school (in London) when the original "Adrian Mole" books came out. In fact, we read them in English, went to London's West End to see the play etc etc. The books were original. The sequels worked, at least for a while and I don't believe that there is anyone who was a teenager in the UK in the 1980s who doesn't remember Adrian Mole.

It was by chance I came across this latest addition to the collection while browsing in a very well-known bookstore. I was further surprised to find it here in the US. I'd always thought that the situations and characters were very "English" and wouldn't translate well. Besides, I'd read the original book as a teen, so why buy this one? But the book was on sale so I picked it up...and devoured it, quite literally and found that Adrian had grown up too.

Adrian is now in his 30's. He's a little more worldly-wise but still has the air of "naive nerd" about him that we knew two decades ago. Ms. Townsend has worked in all the characters from books past so, if you're looking for a little trip down memory lane, welcome back. Pandora, Adrian's only true love is now a successful politician, his mother and father...heck even Nigel is back!

The political overtones are there for all to see and the author makes no attempt to hid them. The book is titled "Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction" and the underlying current in the book is Adrian's devotion, continually tested and challenged to "New Labour" and Tony Blair. He firmly believes that the "coalition" will find the WMDs as they prepare to invade Iraq. Perhaps this undertone is a reflection of Ms. Townsend's personal beliefs. In previous books she brought current events and figures into play and relevent as part of the background. In this book, she seems to be trying to make a bigger statement, while "keeping it funny" and I'm not sure it works this time because it's a little too close to be comfortable.

However, that doesn't detract from the story. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself chuckling as I reminisced with an old friend who I'd left in the UK many years ago. I found that I wasn't out-of-touch and many of the stereotypes, situations and characters were as relevant today as they were back then.

If you're an A.M. fan then you should definitely read this one. It's nice to find a book you don't have to think too hard about.

So, why only 3 stars? Because it's an "okay" book. Perhaps I'm being a little harsh, but I don't think I'd have bought it if it weren't on sale. Maybe I'm not such a great friend after all...

Dave

Is it the last volume of the Adrian Mole saga? Of course not. I doubt it very much. There is no end to a good recipe, a ratatouille or a beef and kidney pie. But we'll see. This volume is extremely interesting. For our Adrian Mole is still Adrian Mole. He is naïve and he is sending to us a very simple-minded vision of the world that is absolutely disarming - a must with the title we know - in naivety and vanity. This vain naivety or naïve vanity is his trademark and it is marvelously refreshing. It could probably not break a man's arm, but it can break, even smash, a man's despair. And this here volume is still a perfect example, at the age of 35, nearly middle-aged, of this entertaining village philosopher from Leicester. The book is also fascinating because we are in 2002-2004 and the central problem is the war on Iraq and Blair's support, till the day when he acknowledges there were no WMDs. The political question is systematically shown through the opinions of various people. Adrian is pro-Blair and he supports his own son when he is sent to Iraq, though he is frightened by the prospect of his son's death for and with no cause, and actually the son's best friend is killed by shrapnel. Pandora is against the war and she resigns from Blair's government. And between the two we find all kinds of shades. The dramatic dimension of the problem is strong because of the son's position in the armed forces. At the same time the book criticizes all kinds pf shortcomings of Blair's policy and of capitalistic greed. Adrian and his father are confronted to the National Health Service, and Adrian is suddenly thrown into bankruptcy by greedy banks and various store- or credit-card providers as well as by his vain desire to live over his means. The book is also fascinating because of the love life or rather non-love and/versus love lives of Adrian. He finds himself trapped by a false pregnancy and ends with a real third child born in love. Finally the book is fascinating because of the numerous vignettes it provides on various characters and situations: the independent bookseller, the local would-be or wanna-be writer, the protection of Her Majesty's swans, the Koran, Chinese restaurants, baby-boomers, vegetarian or bio-friendly people, etc... There you feel a high level of irony, humor, sarcasm, and that is so English, so brilliantly English.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines

Firstly I wanted to clarify for people that might want to know, exactly how this series runs. I have bought and read all the books in the Adrian Mole series and I was dissappointed not to find anywhere to tell me which ones to get. So as a result I have them all.

US Versions
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4
The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole
Adrian Mole: The Lost Years
Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years
Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction

British Versions
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4
The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole
True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole
Adrian Mole: From Minor To Major
Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years
Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years
Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction


So, as for the review these books are great. I love the entire series and I just couldn't stop reading them all the way to the end. The one thing I might suggest is to keep in mind that with most series of books the first is always the best, which is probably the case here too, but if you like it and are a fan of Adrian Mole, there is no reason why you wouldn't want to read the rest.

I like the fact that is it written in diary form for easy reading and it is very clever how the story is told from the point of view of Adrian himself but you can see things about his life that he cannot.

Overall an excellent read for all ages from teen to adult.

Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction by Sue Townsend was one of those library books that attracted me due to the quirky title and unusual cover. Having no background with Townsend's work or any other Mole novels, I really didn't know what to expect. What I found was an incredibly funny English novel that I was unable to put down until I was finished.

Adrian Mole is a 34 year old single guy living with his parents and working in a second-hand bookstore. He has a couple kids by different women, but the relationships didn't work out in the long run. In order to live the style of life he envisions for himself, he buys a flat on Rat Wharf and proceeds to spend himself into an incredible crushing load of debt using credit cards. His life starts to spiral downhill when he dates a mousey "organic" lady by the name of Marigold Flowers. Her parents are into "natural living" to the extreme, and he quickly figures out that this is not the family and lady he wants. But he has a hard time saying no, and pretty soon he's engaged to be married to a woman he doesn't love and that is apparently with child. To complicate issues further (as if they weren't already warped), he's madly in love with Marigold's sister, a fashionable public relations woman who is as wild as Marigold is sedate. He knows what he needs to do, and everyone else can see what he should be doing. But knowing and doing are separated by an ever-widening gap...

This story is told in diary fashion, with Mole writing in the first person. In many ways, it's like watching a reality TV show. Mole has a much more important view of himself than what really is the case, and it's a hoot watching the train wreck unfold. There are a number of current event themes running through the couple of years covered by the diary, mainly centered around the start of the Iraq war. I'm sure having a good grasp of British life would make a few of the things more clear to this American reader, but it really doesn't matter. It was all too funny and felt all too real...

My next step is to check out the first four Adrian Mole novels... If they are anything like this, I'll be losing a couple more weekends to these pages.

The Adrian Mole saga which began with Adrian's secret diary (aged thirteen & three quarters) continues, as the famous loser moves into his mid-thirties. He's still wildly grandiose, his grip on reality is shaky at best, but life is starting to grind him down. He's living in a posh flat he can't possibly afford. He's still hopeless infatuated with Pandora, he finds himself (somehow) engaged to Marigold, who he can't stand, and he's falling hopelessly in debt. Oh yes, he's been writing to the British Prime Minister about those weapons of mass destruction. He needs the evidence for--well, never mind. Just read the book.

Improbable and depressing as all this might sound, it works. It's not knee-slapping comedy, but it's funny, and it's also sad, as Adrian's failures and mistakes accumulate and haunt his present life. He's still trying to get his life together, and this time he might just make it. Somehow you come to like Adrian Mole in spite of everything.

Sue Townsend is a brilliant comedic writer, with a flair for character development and social commentary. How she manages to keep this series going, with its improbable cast of characters, is simply amazing. She's just good. I enjoyed this book immensely and I recommend it highly. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.

Undoubtedly, this book took me back to the New York of my childhood. I grew up on Jewish, Italian, Chinese, Greek food and Corned Beef and Cabbage. My ethnicity is none of those, but I treasure this book and all the memories it brought me. The recipes were magnificent! Thanks for the very nostalgic walk and knowing I can taste a little of New York no matter where I am!

New York City Food is a cool combination of a food history of the greatest city in the world combined with recipes for those of us who hate the fact that we can't get to NYC often enough! It's NOT a restaurant guide, so careful not to try to use it as such. But it's a great read and can help you navigate the Apple's neighborhoods on your next trip. Thanks to this book, I found the "holy grail" of half-done pickles on the lower east side on my last trip!

Everybody knows about Junior's cheesecake, Mama Leone's, Ebbinger's Bakery, Lundy's (not Lindy's) the Stork Club, 21, etc., But this books brings it all together in a wonderful compendium of insights into the history of great dining in the restaurant capital of the world. No place on earth offers the variety and quality in both Haute Cuisine and everday fare as does NYC. Mr. Schwartz, unlike some actually recognizes that there is more than one borough in NYC and finds the best of the best in all of them. There are beautiful recipes, amusing stories, wonderful pictures in a book that really captures the spirit of the many places it describes.

If U LUV NY and U LUV NY DINING, then you have to have this book.

You needn't have ever boiled water to love this book. What a gift! Thank you, Arthur Schwartz. Not only is this a fabulous, true-voice book for anyone who draws breath and has any interests past the tip of his or her own nose, it is a rarity to find such a soulful history. Schwartz somehow manages to make you feel you were there when it all happened -- where it continues to happen. (And I was not fortunate to live in the City). And the recipes are quintessential.

This book should be considered collectible as one of the finest examples of this unique genre. It is 'Pruniers' a thousand times over. You won't read it once and shelve this book; you will reread passages and quotes, so wonderfully complemented by Chris Callis' photographs and all the archival images, and take a little trip into New York City and the world.

This is a great book, written by someone with impeccable credentials ... former chief food columnist for the New York Times, and a NYC born and bred native.

The author delves deeply into the history of NYC, and then works his way forwards to the present era - but he spends most of his time and energy covering the topic from the gilded age of the 1890's through the late 1980's. Between those dates he overviews all the most well known and influential restaurants of the day, along with information on who the movers and shakers were, what was served, and how they influenced the trends of the day. The author also includes about 100 classic recipes, from a wide variety of sources, directly relating to the names that he covers.

The author does the job credit - the historical information is meticulous, the recipes authentic (and he even included a recipe index in the back), and the book is well organized and well packed with classic photos and anecdotes, and plenty of New Vork verve and originality.

Want to know the origins of Steak Diane" ? Porterhouse Steak ? Lobster Newberg ? NYC Pizza ? It's all in there.

Just a few minor nits, in no particular (there are really just my own notes, to serve as a memory jog for eventually writing a letter of feedback to the author).

* Seafood (chapt 2): This chapter was already obsolete at the time it was first published. There are no photos of the Fulton Fish Market (gasp), nor is there any significant coverage of it's recent relocation to uptown. That section DEFINITELY needs update and expansion, both text, photos, and recipes.

* Porterhouse: very interesting and nicely done, but it could be expanded a tad to better clarify the distinction (in modern usage) between the Porterhouse, T-Bone, and Sirloin steaks. Many people are confused by those terms, and usage varies from region to region & country to country, so it's important to clarify the New York usage of those terms. The first two (as I'm sure you already know) are cut from opposite ends of the same "short loin" primal, and the third is from the sirloin primal just behind (rumpward) of that.

* Pictures: the pic of a bagel with lox & cream cheese in the front matter should have been repeated on p.119.

* Italian: the Italian section, at 24 pgs, is only given half the page count as the section on Jewish, at 44 pgs. Understandable I suppose, given that the author is Jewish, but it could use some expansion in a future edition ... the section on pizza, for instance, lacks a recipe, and sausage & peppers is given short shrift. Both can be made easily at home, from scratch, either with or without fancy tools & casings.

* Other nations: the sections on more recent contributions by immigrants from other nations could all be expanded by at least a page each, and include a recipe or two ... Japanese (ex: Nobu), Korean (the name of a top restaurant I went to in Queens escapes me ATM), etc.

* Restaurants: Loved all the historial info, but a few of the blurbs end a bit abruptly, without mention of whether or not they were still open at the time of this book's publication.

* Recipe Index: I wish that more authors remembered to include them. Minor editorial nit - it should have started on a new page, and been clearly differentiated from the main index with a header of some sort.

Edward Zanni is a gay 20 year old aspiring actor, who is thrown out of drama school for being ... well ... too dramatic. With his professor's advice to "experience life" for a year, then reapply, he takes a series of strange jobs, ranging from personal office assistant to a sadistic tyrant, to a host for preteen parties (masquerading as a Brit host of the UK's version of MTV, which doesn't exist), as an usher at a Broadway theatre, and as a party facilitator for fancy corporate events. In the context of that last one, Edward gets involved in an insider trading scandal, feeding overheard conversations about companies to a securities broker he develops a serious crush on.

Although Acito provides enough background info for this to stand on its own, this is essentially a sequel to his hilarious "How I Paid For College," and is best enjoyed if you read that other book first. Back are his colorful friends, including the conniving, nerdish Natie, the outgoing student thespian Kelly, and Edward's straight-but-not-narrow (and soooo hunky) crush, Doug (who is now headlining a Bruce Springsteen cover band.) Like that first book, "..Theatre People" is a delightfully "over the top" comedy of errors, involving the Shah of Iran, a 13 year old stalker, the SEC, a high speed chase across a Broadway stage, a politically charged staging of "The Music Man," posing as a dead man to rent an apartment, the wrath of Edward's insane stepmother, and a flamboyant wardrobe designer known as Hung (That's a name, not an adjective!)

Suspend all normal channels of belief, and hang on for the ride! Five "jazz hands" (stars) out of five!

Marc Acito is nothing short of a genius. He has an intelligent, witty writing style that so few authors can pull off because he never sounds like he is trying too hard.

If you haven't read his first novel, How I Paid for College, I suggest you start there before reading this book. It contains the same characters and is just as great (this book will also make more sense if you read College first).

This book is absolutely hilarious and I am so pleased he wrote something else. All the characters are completely loveable and you never stop rooting for Edward. I will spare you the plot summary, but suffice to say this book is well worth the $11 and will keep you laughing time and again.

One of the book reviewers said of How I Paid for College that one hopes there is more where this came from. Well, they got their wish and I certainly hope there is more where Attack of the Theater People came from also.

It leaves you craving for more, just like the first book did. Clever, fun, and masterfully filled with the unexpected.

Two thumbs with arms included up!

From the first page, you never have a chance to wander from the antics of great characters tap dancing around hilarious trials and disasters of their own making. This book delivers on the promise of "How I paid for college" and kicks higher.

After reading Marc Acito's first book (How I Paid for College), I was ecstatic to find that he had a sequel coming out (Attack of the Theater People). Just as fast-paced and laugh out loud as the first, I couldn't put this book down.

After going through so much trouble to get into Juillard in the first book, we find Edward Zanni kicked later kicked out for being "too jazz hands." A teacher recommends he go out and get some life experience to improve his acting ... and hence, we have a whole new set of adventures contained in this book.

Once again, the cast of characters (many from the first novel) is what really makes this book so great. We get to see where everyone is in their lives after graduating high school ... and how they're all willing to come together once again when Edward needs them.

Ed Zanni, after landing a job as a party motivator, accidentally gets involved in insider trading ... will he be shipped off to prison by the feds? will he be arrested b/c of 13-yr-old stalker girl's outrageous lies? will he finally get his straight friend in bed? will he prove to his dad he's not a failure? And will he ever get back into Juilliard and show them he's not "too jazz hands" after all?

Pick up the book to find out! I can only hope that we see these characters again in future work by author Marc Acito.

It is always difficult and challenging to pick up what is regarded as a classic and read through it in a naive manner, not as a specialist but as an amateur who just wants to learn. There are always surprises.
In contrast to the looser Herodotus, his near contemporary, Thucydides sought to record an "objective truth" of the great war between Athens and Sparta, in the 5C BC. He consulted multiple sources and carefully judged what to include and what not to include, ito establish an idea of what really happened. While some of the forms, such as elaborately made-up speeches as a study in rhetoric, differ from what we would do today, he set a new standard for accuracy. THe result is a work of genius, the first serious attempt at writing history rather than merely storytelling.

Reading this is not always fun. There are long sections that are lists of occurences, with references to individuals who appear and disappear without followup. But there are also penetrating analyses of remarkable characters, such as Perikles, Alcibiades, and other great generals, who became reference points to the present day. Thucydides also broached the subject of political science as history - how institutions actually functioned - in new ways, with demonstrations of how the unleashing of passions led to their corruption or distortion. Finally, there are chilling sections with timeless insight in human conduct in war, with the full horror of the breakdown of all order and law.

THis translation is also sufficintely readable, far better than the turbid one I first read in college. THucydides is quite eloquent in this version.

Recommended as one of the great classics of Western literature. It is a work of genius so great that it is still relevant and vivid.

I used this book for an introductory History class. It is a great supplement to the study of the Greek periods. It has a nice glossory in the back for unusual terms, as well as helpful maps. Some of the text is a bit dry, but the reading is not very difficult.

The history of the Peloponnesian is a brilliant account of a classic war that began as a preemptive attack on Athens by Sparta to prevent the domination of the Greeks by the Athenians. The war began in the year 427 BC and ended 27 years later with the defeat of Athens by Sparta. This history however is only up to the 21st year of the war. Although there are several translations of the work I selected the translation by Thomas Hobbes the 17th century philosopher. It is the first done in the English language. Thucydides was a soldier on the Athenian side which in a sense puts a lie to the common notion that it is the winners of war who write history. The war was finally won by Sparta, powerful on land, and an oligarchy with a communal outlook on life defeating Athens with the strongest navy in the world, and a democracy with an individualistic outlook on life. Ironically it is Sparta's eventual mastery of the sea that defeated the Athenians. Whether or not this bodes ill for America remains to be seen. History is not over.

Thucydides relates not only the battles of the war in some detail describing tactics and the individuals involved, but also the strategy and the politics. There is intrigue, treason, broken alliances, and hubris. The winners of a battle rarely show mercy and treason is dealt with harshly with often entire towns put to the sword or enslaved. Among the combatants there is respect for the strong and contempt for the weak. Truces are often held to bury the dead because the dead are respected by all.

Unlike Homer's Illiad written about one thousand years earlier Thucydides does not mention the gods as having a say in the outcome of the war. While religion is a factor it is not a determining factor in the conduct and outcome of the war. One could argue that Thucydides is a secular account of history whereas Homer is a more religious account.

Thucydides should be mandatory reading and study for all white males between the ages of 16 and 18 of above average IQ. The History will prepares them for war and instill in them the desire and willingness to defeat the enemy. It teaches contempt for the enemy which is a valuable attitude in war. Pericles funeral oration to the Athenians is the most inspiring and most moving speech ever given. The resemblance of this speech to the Gettysburg address is obvious and leads one to conclude that if Pericles could inspire Abraham Lincoln in his thinking then Thucydides' History did so likewise and influenced the strategy and the eventual outcome of the Civil War including the period of reconstruction. The contrast between the Spartan outlook on life and that of the Athenians to the adversaries in all subsequent wars up to the present war on terror is striking indeed. There are lessons still to be learned from the Peloponnesian War and woe to those that fail to learn these lessons.

The greatest of all Greek historians was the Athenian general Thucydides (455-400 B.C.E.). Thucydides' classic work, "History Of The Peloponnesian War", provides us with the historical framework for 5th century Greece, a golden age of intellectual achievement and creativity rarely equaled in human history. This history is by far the best account of the bitter war between Athens and Sparta as well as the only surviving contemporary record of the rise of the Athenian empire. Thucydides as a master storyteller does not just cover the battle scenes; he records the great political speeches of Pericles, leader of Athens, and Lysander leader of Sparta with great acumen. He is recognized as the first historian to actually go and get eyewitness accounts, visit battlefieilds and research documents and records. This work took him over 20 years and it shows!

The lessons he teaches about imperial over reaching and unreasonable peace settlements are prescient today as they were during his times. President Woodrow Wilson, read this book on his voyage across the Atlantic to the Versailles Peace Conference and vociferously fought the other Allies in making unreasonable demands of the Germans. Wilson learned the dangers that the world would be placed in by backing the Germans into a corner politically and economically from Thucydides book.

As a graduate student in philosophy and history, I heartily recommend this timeless classic to anyone who is interested in political philosophy, and history. I also recommend you read it with David Cartwright's "A Historical Commentary On Thucydides."

No book has kept me up at night or occupied my thoughts in the past decade more than Thucydides. The story told here is stunningly and disturbingly relevant for any American. Sparta vs Athens seems an allegory for the conflict between traditional America, of our first hundred years or so, and modern, progressive America from about 1900 onward. Its no allegory of course, and the realization that history repeats itself gives the work an importance that no book can match.

I recall in college taking one of those Intellectual History survey courses required of incoming freshman. We were all assigned to read Perikles funeral oration as an example of how like our society Athens was and of course, how noble that likeness made the two societies. We weren't, of course, assigned the entire book, just the oration out of context. When I finally got around to reading Thucydides years later, I thought back to that course and wanted my tuition money back!

Read the original text. Political writers and propagandists of all stripes make reference to Thucydides to give weight to their views. Don't trust their interpretations. Read for yourself and decide. Skip the commentaries and translations and go right to page one of the text.

One Tuesday Morning & Beyond Tuesday Morning, book series by Karen Kingsbury excellent books relating to
September 11, 2001 - highly recommended

Received this book within a few days of ordering. Like new condition. I am very satisfied with this purchase.

It is an awesome book. I stumbled on to Karen Kingsbury kind of accidentally and it was one of the best things I have ever done. She is an excellent writer. This book must be read after One Tuesday Morning.

Great. A must if you have read One Tuesday morning.

Karen Kingsbury did it again. Another fantastic story. Another, I can't put this book down until I finish it. I loved it! Great Christian fiction!

I finished "The Brave" this weekend; I closed the book with a tear in my eye and a lump on my throat. I was deeply moved by the story and it was sad to see a 20 year chapter of your life end on such a sour note with the inappropriate accusations from that Chief. The book did a wonderful job of revealing all of the different emotions, triumphs and defeats that you and many others were faced with on a day-to-day basis. It showed the deep compassion that the fire fighters have for those they could and could not save while enduring the jeers and lack of respect from the very people they were charged to protect.

I, and I am sure the public in general, was truly unaware of how little rest these men really get and how often they are hurt, only to rush back into the fight and be chastised at any point when they failed to be absolutely perfect. I can see where you, the fire fighters would truly be a "Band of Brothers".

"The Brave" would make an excellent movie; in fact you could make a movie out 1/3 rd of the material in the book.

Thanks for enlightening me,

Joey Lee

WOW!! The Brave is full of action from start to finish and would make a great movie! The Brave keeps your attention and makes it hard to set the book down. It gives a great picture to how challenging life is as a NYFD firefighter. The storey is compelling and truthful and I'm sure will be around for a long time. Congratulations to George Pickett on this GREAT book!

A page turning account of life as a New York City firefighter. A little slow at the start, but captivating and exciting by the second chapter. George Pickett does a great job of taking you along on the big red trucks, down the burning halls and into the mindset of the men, who New Yorkers call The Brave. Not only a great story but an important history lesson for anyone who wants a better tomorrow for us all. A Great read! 5 Stars!!! Thanks George!!

Few books have captivated my attention as much as George Pickett's "The Brave: A Story of New York City Firefighters". Both as a native New Yorker growing up in the 60's and 70's in the Bronx, and a volunteer firefighter in Westchester County, NY, I can rerlate to the many references in this action packed book.
Pickett brings the reader into every fire call, every dark smokey hallway and heat searing room. The reader is there, holding the irons, the nozzle or climbing the ladder.
Above all the book is truthful. Clearly, the author;s integrity and honest is eveident during each story-both the flattering and humiliating. George Pickett should be proud of his career, family and work on the compelling effort to document the life of a New York City Firefighter. Bravo!!!
-Michael J. Deegan

The Brave takes you right into the Heart of Firefighting in 70's New York. As a fellow Firefighter who loves to put pen to paper I am always keen to read the experiences of other Firefighters in this vastly underrepresented market.

Every book shelf these days seems to be full of Celebrities, Politicians, Soldiers or sports personalities telling us their stories. It make a refreshing change when a Firefighter, Medic or Policemen puts pen to paper, these people are fighting a never ending war every day on the Streets of our Countries.

The Brave tells the story of Life in a Firehouse on the Lower East Side of New York City in the 1970's, a period now remembered by the Veterans of those days as 'The War Years'. Recession, social unrest, poverty and crime were the catalyst for may Fires in many run down cities in the World. Very Few Cites saw the Fires that New York saw in that period and fewer Still Firemen saw the Fire Duty that the Men of the FDNY saw at this time.

George Pickett has an ability to drag the reader down the stinking burning hallways of the tenements. You can feel the heat searing your skin and the smoke choking your lungs. Time and again you follow page after page wondering will the heroes of the FDNY reach the victim before the room erupts all around them, more often than not they do...frequently with seconds to spare.

I finished this book in 24 hours, such was the draw of the story unfolding before me. I found every possible excuse to pick the book up and start reading again. If action is what you want then give the jungles of South America or the Desert of the Middle East a rest..opt instead for the action in the Blazing sweatshops, tenements and flop houses of New York City in the 70's.

I picked up the book a little skeptically, even though I admire the author, because I was afraid it might glorify a murderer. Richard Jacoby has a simpler goal. He humanizes the Capeman and makes him understandable.

The Capeman was a 16 year old involved in a gangfight in which he stabbed two other teenagers and they died. Sentenced to death, Governor Rockerfeller commuted the sentence under heavy pressure.

Meantime, Richard Jacoby was doing a thesis about whether people on death row had life changing experiences. He got in touch with the Capeman, letters were exchanged, then they met in person and a deep friendship started. The author also got to know the Capeman's family very well. The original goal was for the Capeman to write his life story, but as it becomes clear, after he's paroled that he won't really do it, Jaocby uses all of his notes to put the story together.

Meantime, Paul Simon wrote a musical based on parts of the Capeman's life. It's a story of redemption, but to Richard, that's only part of the story. He uses this book to tell the whole story, not just about the Capeman's life, but about our prison system and about our insane asylums. He's very careful to let the fact's speak for themselves.

The biggest surprise is how hard the book is to put down. You get inside the head of the Capeman and his relatives and his story becomes an American story and yet, still a very individualized story. The book can perhaps best be summed up by Jacoby's encounter with a racist cop, where, referring to the Capeman, he tells the cop "Yeah, but he's still a human being" At it's most basic, that's what the book is about. Without glossing over his crimes, Jacoby shows us the Capeman as a human being. It's a moving, well balanced portrait that is completely compelling reading. Highly Recommended.

I have cerebral palsy and I know that for those of us with disabilities, we are very often seen and not heard. that is we are given roles to play by normal society. this is especially true for people with developmental disabilities, from birth or the first few years.

one of those roles is "inspiration." another is "dangerous." and a third is "tabula rasa" on which the nondisabled person projects his or her anxieties.

Paul Simon fell victim to a combination of all three of these, imo, in his unfortunate musical The Capeman. We are supposed be inspired. to learn some unspecified lesson about sin and redemption via the musical. Something that Agron's life does not support.

then the "dangerous" one. This author states that Agron more than likely did not commit the murders. I think that is extremely likely b/c I was a victim, age 12, of a violent physical and sexual assault. (the abusers were white as I am.) and no one "owns" the violence and then - an abuser who is weak but not murderous can be set up to take the fall, if there are consequences for the abusers.

Agron was 'weak' in kind of an odd way. he lacked insight and he lacked awareness of how his thoughts and actions impacted other people, and how theirs impacted him. in other words, I don't know what a diagnosis would be but Agron was very intelligent but naive in a way that reflected the very severe abuse and neglect he grew up with.

when I was 12, I was abused by 6 boys/grown men, ages ranged from about 17 to 25 or so. Drinking and other drugs were involved. That was another point Paul Simon failed to bring out in his musical. And for me, one of the young men became horrified and put a great deal of effort into stopping things, which he was not able to do, and then he tried to get help. lack of modern communication technology made this impossible.

and then he devoted a great deal of effort to getting me out of there alive, which he did.

and - there were no legal consequences, I was very very very ill for a long time. but he was 'guilted' into believing it was all his fault by the other abusers.

my recollection is that he was tormented by guilt and committed suicide.

while the other abusers, they went their merry way, perhaps they were upset at times, perhaps not but....they weren't worrying.

I think it is very quite extremely likely that something like this happened with Agron. that he "confessed" b/c he felt remorse that he had participated in an assault. that he wrote a bunch of fiction b/c he was upset, in danger, lacking insight, and then he did not understand the impact of his words - either a verbal or written confession.

the other perpetrators went on to ignore him and then Agron did time in jail.

that is the "weak" part. Group violence is still very very taboo and for an abuser who has a sense of morality who finds him or herself in that situation - group abuse, which gang violence and group rape are, it can escalate like wildfire.

a perpetrator who is moral who has been there and maybe done terrible things or maybe not done much, but seen them - the taboo nature of the abuse means that the general population reacts with FEAR and horror and then the immoral perpetrators dismiss the consequences of their actions.

the moral ones kill themselves or they 'take the fall' for things they didn't do b/c they were confused, they didn't know better, they were......

I had some very expert help from some of the top psychiatrists in the nation a few years later, in 1985, and this is what I heard from them.

the final error that the nondisabled make is to project their thoughts on us b/c we are often speechless, or denied the opportunity to speak. and imo, the musical did this by having a vague lesson about 'sin' and 'redemption.'

Agron was virtually silent, a nonentity, in that musical. for example, every song released was either so general to be useless "I was born in Puerto Rico..." or it was from a perspective that was not Agron's.

Simon only tried to 'get' Agron in Trailways Bus.

That silence, the lack of listening to us in the midst of what is supposed to be productions about Our Lives, it is very very very typical. and it goes far beyond Paul Simon. in fact it is the standard status quo.

which reinforces something very perceptive that Jacoby quotes Agron as saying. Ironically enough, Agron wrote a paper on the song 'the sound of silence.' he analyzed it through the prism of racism and then he said that Paul Simon's music reinforces conventional morality.

I agree with this. but not b/c he is 'sanitized.' I see nothing 'sanitized' in making a musical about a vulnerable person without getting even very very basic facts on the nature of group abuse. I see that as aggressive, quite frankly.

Paul Simon is a good writer who tends to use cliches in his music, rhetoric to the contrary. that is, he avoids 'standard' expressions but he describes 'standard' feelings. He's made some good music, but he tends to be very unfocused and vague. that means that it is EXCEEDINGLY difficult to discern his point, beyond the obvious cliche, and then conventional morality is reinforced.

Paul Simon repeated that error in his musical. it is very very VERY VERY VERY cliched to "write" something about a disabled protagonist and then make him or her silent b/c what you are writing is actually about - YOU.

the vast majority of "inspirational" literature on the disabled contains this error. and I can tell you that that is something that makes many of us disabled people very angry. eventually we learn to be resigned and tune it out.

I am doing a compare-and-contrast here though b/c I think to understand how good this book is, it is necessary to understand that the musical was very badly done.

Richard Jacoby showed Agron as a real person. a person who had intelligence and morality as well as the effects of severe abuse and neglect, and there was some sort of disability that seemed to be poorly understood.

This is an excellent book. b/c Agron was not a Suffering Martyr either, although he did suffer far too much. He was a human being.

His humanity is captured here.

Richard Jacoby works with severely disabled children who are often speechless. This is an experience he understands. He understands the need to respect our speech when we can offer it, and not put words in our mouths.

which Paul Simon did by literally xeroxing Agron's letters to Jacoby and crossing things out and rewriting them. that is, marking up his copies. as if Simon were back in college English class and Agron was just another student.

that was a scene that turned my stomach. Jacoby is very charitable towards Simon in this book. I am glad he got it published.

I want to say as someone who has been very disabled for a long time, we know who our friends are. it may not always seem like it but in the end we figure it out :)

Jacoby is a compassionate person and I am very glad Agron knew *him* and not Paul Simon. :)

Conversations with the Capeman is an absolutely stunning, beautifully written book about the life of convicted murderer Salvador Agron. Richard Jacoby weaves a brilliant and sensitive memoir of his real-life interviews and relationship with Agron. Jacoby paints a compelling, unbiased portrait of a tragic life; from Agron's youth as a member of a violent New York street gang to his conviction for a murder that he may not have committed, to life beyond prison. This impossible to put down book reads as if one is watching a motion picture. It involves all the elements of a modern-day epic; heartbreak, mystery, deception, love, friendship, redemption, and ultimate tragedy. This novel, of all the books I have read, has had the biggest impact on me...Simply amazing.

Each page of this beautifully written book brings raw emotion to the surface. Richard Jacoby paints a vivid picture of the poverty stricken, abusive childhood that surer than any court sentenced Salvador Agron to a life of alienation and despair. Yet despite being the youngest person ever sent to New York State's electric chair, Agron possessed a spark of human spirit that would not die. It is Jacoby's great accomplishment that he lets Agron's story speak for itself as he takes us through the dark alleys of Puerto Rico, the doo-wop drenched streets of New York and the cold corridors of state prisons where despair is plentiful, yet hope lives. If you want to know why we should treat our kids better and why giving people in trouble a second chance is NOT some mushy-headed idea, read this extremely engaging book.

This insightful, sensitively written book which brings to light Salvador Agron's life that was imprinted by race, sexual abuse and the condemnation of society gave me not only a new awareness of the criminal justice system, but of human redemption as well. Reading Conversations with the Capeman was a powerful eye-opening experience.

My husband uses a lot of recipes from this book and we've been happy with every one. Definitely try the meatballs. I'm not a good cook at all, but I tried making the chicken cacciatore. It came out surprisingly well, but there were a lot of leftovers since I didn't realize the recipe was for way more than 2 people.

This is definitely one of my all time favorite cookbooks. The butternut bisque is to die for, and all of the other recipes I have tried are also fabulous. Beware though - these recipes cook for a firehouse so it makes food for several people and the food is rich and hearty. I just freeze the leftovers and they last for a little while - they get eaten before too long...

My son is the cook at the firehouse on his shift. We purchased the book for him, and he is so pleased with the book and it's great recipes.

Eshel Travis

I recieved this Cookbook as sort of a joke for x-mas because "I LOVE FIREMEN" and it has been the greater present I have ever gotten. There quick and very easy recipes to follow and use. My cookbooks looks like it has gone to hell and back I use it constantly. I wish Keith would come out with another book soon. Watch out Rachel Ray move over for a FIREMAN.G

For beginners and veteran cooks, this book is packed with wonderful recipes sure to become family favorites. I'm giving this copy to my son who is just beginning to learn the joys of cooking for himself.

Anyone who has ever owned a classic car knows there is a bond between man and machine that comes with it, whether it is Corvette or a classic of lesser prestige. That bond can drive one to extremes when thieves try to separate the two. The extremes Berkson went to would be perfectly understandable--anywhere but New York, where the fate of a stolen car is usually sealed within hours of its disappearance. Yet he refused to accept the idea that his car was never going to be found in one piece, and his determination to find it by appointing himself chief investigator in the face of police indifferance put him on a path that your average New Yorker would never have the guts to follow, especially with the odds of success being somewhere around zero.

Berkson writes in a straightforward, fast paced style that makes this book both a quick and compelling read. And -- oh yeah -- he got the car back, but you'll have to buy the book to find out how. Highly recommended.

While visiting our local bookstore, I had the good fortune to come across Terry Berkson's book: "Corvette Odyssey" on the shelf of the transportation section. Being an old car enthusiast, the title caught my eye. After I read the first few pages, I was hooked. I sat right there in the store and read it from cover to cover, then I bought the book so I could read it again at home. I found it easy to relate to the emotions and attachment evoked in Mr.Berkson by his beloved roadster. A fantastic read!

As a woman who has never learned how to drive it feels odd to be touting a book titled Corvette Odyssey. Yet it's so much more than a story of a lost and found car. Yes, we're astonished by Berkson's miraculous recovery of his Corvette after his frantically obsessive search for it. But foremost, for me, the book is about values which, to our great detriment, no longer seem as important as they once were: a sense of connection to one's roots (for Berkson it's Brooklyn and Upstate New York)and to family (notwithstanding his delinquency during the search), and a relationship to possessions which is now foreign to us. In our mad rush for the newest, the most state of the art, the trendiest, we no longer know how to cherish what we have. We learn from Berkson's book the art of cherishing--not only a vintage Corvette, but the connection to his personal history which it represents. An inspiring read for anyone!

There's a great story at the heart of this book, but what really makes it compelling is the way the author places the story in the context of a whole life... all the various connections with family and friends, and even with people who begin as total strangers but get pulled in some way into Berkson's quest. I could have read this in one sitting but preferred to dole it out over the course of three nights just to savor the experience.

This is a straight from the heart book about a man's quest to find his stolen car and almost loses his family. A really great book about how possessions can be symbolic of what's missing in one's life, and how we should instead be grateful for the people who are present in our lives.