Irons Books

Iron Maiden is an alternate historical story about the American Civil War. I'm actually a little wary about this genre. I tend to know just enough about the time period that the lack of historical accuracy really irritates me. Then, the aliens arrive or some other dramatic paranormal event occurs. This tends to make the situation so laughable that I start to think of the work as comedy. Usually, the authors of such works don't share my sense of merriment.

Iron Maiden is different, in a good way- a really good way. The author obviously knows his time period and has done a lot of research to make his story fit seamlessly into place. His attention historical accuracy definitely shows. Two of the characters were real people and the author's story fits very neatly with the records of their personalities and their life stories. I even felt the need to do some checking to see where the alternate history started and ended. I liked that aspect.

This book also made me laugh. The characters were so set on "going native" in the Easter Islands but they really had no clue about these islands or the inhabitants (fitting in perfectly with the knowledge that these people would have actually had at that time). The results are incredibly ironic.

Reviewed by A.J. Cooper for Reader Views (10/06)

"Iron Maiden" was about the American Civil War and building a great, war ship to defeat the south. John Ericsson was a ship builder that had a great idea he felt that would defeat all ships currently built for the Civil War. He had been in America with his wife and had great dreams of building this war ship. His first partnership prior to the war was not a success, due to no fault of his own. His plan was finally accepted by the U.S. Navy and he needed to complete the ship in a short amount of time. His wife had also left and returned to her family in England.

The South soon discovered through spies that the North had commissioned someone to build a great, war ship. The spy that was found was given threats of killing his family back in England if he did not find a way to kill Mr. Ericsson and destroy the war ship prior to sailing off to war.

"Iron Maiden" made for a great read. Even though most of the characters did not really exist by name if felt to me that they really played a huge part in history. As I read about the effort to build the ship for the North and the efforts of the South to destroy it I could hardly put the book down. I enjoyed the mix of characters that is what made it seem real to me.

All types of different people would be enlisted to help build the ship and to serve on the ship. The battle scenes made me feel like I was there close by watching everything play out and I could not wait until the USS Monitor arrived to help its sister ships in the battle.

It was very odd to me that a ship builder would want to take his wife and the people that he could enlist to go with him to an Island inhabited by natives. That portion of the story I did not find believable. I do not recall reading any history books that mentioned a naval officer wanting to go with a group of people he did not know to an island he did not have much information on.

Up until the group actually set sail for this island, I could not stopping reading the book. Once they started to sail for the island I lost interest in the book and put it down for days at a time to read something else. Overall "Iron Maiden" was a very interesting read and I enjoy reading books about history and based on history. I realize the concept of how societies survive is based on fact but I felt the book turned into fantasy writing and I really lost interest.

Iron Maiden is an eclectic collection of historical and literary subjects strangely woven together to create a unique novel-maritime activities during the Civil War; inventor John Ericsson's battleship-the Monitor; readings from and references to Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Moby Dick and The Bounty; John Wilkes Booth's attempted assassination of Ericsson; three romances; slavery; anthropological research about the South Pacific islands, Easter Island; and Plato's Republic. Quite a feat-tying it all together!

There's adventure, romance, intrigue, deception, betrayal and power struggles throughout. John Ericsson tricks the U.S. Government into buying more of his Monitor-class ships for money to escape the war with seven others to create his own version of Plato's Republic on Easter Island. To find out whether or not John succeeded, you'll have to read the book.

I generally like to include a sample of the author's writing to give you an idea of his style and for this I have chosen an excerpt from John Ericsson's Journal, pages 255-256:

"My grand experiment is going smoothly, even though the addition of Sinclair and his wife has caused me to change some of my plans. I have had time to reflect and to read, and it has been Plato who has been my ultimate salvation. His Republic has given me the inspiration to design my plan so that it will serve us well in our new environs. Combined with my exploration into the characters of my passengers, this philosophical treatise will become the bedrock upon which we will build our community on Easter Island.

"First, off, Plato's understanding of the human soul has been of great assistance to me in my own designs for the future. He believed that each of us could be categorized according to our class and according to our interest and virtues. And, beneath our surface life, there is the motivation of the soul. . . .

"I note, with pleasure, that I can place each of my new citizens into one of these three categories. For example, Sinclair and Greene are perfect candidates for the Warrior Class. They have the spirit and courage that is demanded of these `Guardians of the Republic,' as Plato calls them. I know that Green has been aspiring toward something he believes is knowledge, but the Transcendentalists are not true philosophers. Emerson never lived in Nature, about which he preaches so profoundly. And Greene has been truly fooled by the chimera of unity. It will not take me long to put him back into the class upon which his soul is truly based, the warrior of spirit and courage! As for Sinclair, he is the epitome of Platonic spirit. He even saw the South as men who were fighting for honor, and thus he became a compatriot for their cause. Sinclair will be easily swayed by the manipulations I will use on him.

"The Commoner Class shall, of course, be the natives on the island, as well as Mister Charles McCord, the Catholic. Even though McCord fools himself onboard ship, once he gets out into this pleasure-seeking wilderness, he will become his old self again. We will work on his temperance." Ah, and how power corrupts!

So now that you know a little about the book and the author's writing style, let me tell you something about the Jim Musgrave, and I quote from the back cover:

"Following reading experiences such as Camus' The Stranger . . ., James Musgrave began his own odyssey to become a published author of `radstream' (radical as opposed to mainstream) prose. His nonfiction title, The Digital Scribe: A Writer's Guide to Electronic Media (1996), was his attempt to teach techies how to write with their entire brains, and his three novels soon followed in an attempt to teach humans how to read with their brains damaged by American `bestsellers.' . . . He presently teaches collegiate humans in San Diego how to think (and hopefully write) with their brains damaged by the American K-12 system. His motto: Carpe nocto!" (Latin for: Seize the night!)

It's not a bad read and you just might learn something, one way or another.

Reviewed by Kaye Trout - August 29, 2006

A very funny black comedy. If you always suspected that money was driving the AIDS establishment, then this book will confirm your suspicions. Well worth reading.

Iron Peter is a satirical novel set in NYC, 1996. Peter is a stunning young gay man who plans to 'assassinate' the AIDS epidemic by exposing it's lies and dangerous self-deluded hypocrises. Though he experiences a number of giddy successes in upsetting the AIDS authorities' poison apple cart, in the end Peter is himself done in by the gay leather jackboots of the evil AIDS Empire. "Iron" Peter himself is a bit too 'aluminum' of a personality after all, to get the job done. He unfortunately wastes a lot of time warming bar stools and waiting for the action to come to him. Along the way Peter does discover a daring gay paper The Messenger, which challenges HIV/AIDS propaganda (clearly modelled after Ortleb's paper The New York Native), and he watches as orthodox AIDS activists do all they can to destroy it. Gay men are portrayed in mostly two caricatures: One solely driven by their sexual desire for the irresistibly gorgeous Peter, the other for their childish trust of AIDS authorities that has them swallowing every toxic treatment and inverted science thoery offered to them with glee. It's not a pretty picture here, folks. Barbra Streisand and Paul Newman will NOT be battling for the film rights. In Iron Peter, Peter comes to believe that HHV-6 is the real cause of AIDS, and that fact may make some dissidents (and othodox AIDS 'believers') uncomfortable with Ortleb and his book. Though it shouldn't -- you may believe whatever you choose to about the cause(s) of AIDS, Iron Peter can still be read as a powerful tale of skeptical courage. Some of the over-the-top depictions of AIDS rallies with gay men cha-cha-chaing while loudly chanting the latest medico-blather to each other in nursery rhyme fashion are alone worth the investment of a few hours and a few dollars. Like a child locked in his room too long, Ortleb comes charging out, kicking every shin he can find, scrawling on the walls with fire and shouting for attention. And he deserves the attention, plenty of it. The book jacket blurbs might lead you to expect a few belly laughs in all this, but there are few. Plenty of humor, satire, irony, parody, rage and over-statement, though. While I do highly recommend this book, you may wish to keep handy your favorite 'blood pressure medicine' and read Iron Peter in installments to avoid accidental anger overdose.

Iron Peter is a first novel, actually a modern day fable, written with the savvy quickness and edge of an experienced satirist. Charles Ortleb is probably the first American author who having taken a serious look at much of the orthodox HIV-AIDS establishment finds black humour the best mirror in uncovering the pranksters within the Aids establishment. The book would undoubtably be a best seller, if its subject matter weren't considered as untouchable as the Shroud of Turin. Readers who enjoy their prose quick and cunning and their narrative hip, perceptive and profound will find Iron Peter to be the most imaginative, first novel of the year.

Gord Wilson (below) asks what happened to this. Well, the reprint edition doesn't include it. I asked Michael AWB if he could put the intro online, and he has: michaelswanwick[dot]com/nonfic/duck[dot]html

I haven't actually seen the book, so my rating (required by Ammie) is the average of the other 2 reviews.

Happy reading--
Pete Tillman
Swanwick Site Committee

As always, Lafferty is unique -- you're going to like some, hate some, and go away baffled from some.

Why three stars? More Lafferty is always good, and appearances to the contrary, there is a lot more Lafferty, but you can never find it. Wildside Press has done us all a great service in (re)publishing the most unique sci-fi writer to ever wield a quill, but this book could stand some careful editing. Maybe it has since been edited, though, because my copy doesn't have an intro. by Michael Swanwick. If so, someone please note that in their review. My copy gathers fifteen stories by R.A.L., who seems to have written a million stories, other collections being Ringing Changes, Does Anyone Have Anything Further to Add and Nine Hundred Grandmothers. Lafferty in Orbit is a collection of stories that appeared in Orbit magazine, with an intro. by Damon Knight. My favorite Lafferty novel, Fourth Mansions, is out of print again, I think. But I just found Space Chantey, which ranks up there with Annals of Klepsis, Arrive at Easterwine and Past Master as his best. Not to Mention Camels is also pretty good. From what I've read, some readers liked The Devil is Dead, which was very memorable--hauntingly so--but I have no idea what it was about. Lafferty writes as if under the influence of a strong, vision-inducing drug, but it's more like the reader slips into a trance reading the story, and when you finish the story, you wake up. Lafferty delivers far more than bottom line sci-fi, and a few typos, while distracting, cannot blur his vision.

Michael Webb is arcitectural critic for a magazine owned by the publisher of Garcetti's book. Fair's fair.
This is a nice book, but the photography is well, mediocre. The building is astounding.

There were only a few architectural drawings of The Disney in the back of the book: most of this photographic tour de force deals with the iron works, the skeleton of the building. After paging through this entire book, which is on display for sale at the historic Lummis Home off the Avenue 43 exit of the Pasadena Freeway, I had a new appreciation of the new Disney Concert Hall, which I had photographed under contruction against the backdrop of a thunderstorm.

Garcetti takes you close to the massive lattice of ironwork that underlies the curvaceous and apparently delicate hall. "Lattice" , "Skeleton", "frame", none of these words capture in their sense of mere adumbration the massiveness of the iron underneath. Can I say it simply? There's really a lot. Just what you're looking for in a book entitled "Iron."

Garcetti does a great job of capturing the workers, too, with many closeup shots of them as people that really bring out their essential happiness. There's a sign of their union hall, and the wonderful holiday shot of the christmas tree being lifted up to the top on a huge steel beam.

Also shown are some huge ironworking tools.

If you're fascinated with the state of the art in iron-based construction today, I'd say this book is for you.

Something else to remember -- once a building is built, you'll never be able to take photographs of it under construction again. It may sound trivial to say it that way, but after reading this book you probably won't think so.

In his foreword, Frank Gehry calls ironworkers "the forgotten heroes of architecture," and this book celebrates their courage and skill. Nobody who saw the structural frame going up on Grand Avenue will forget its raw beauty, but most of the bones were covered in a shimmering skin a year before the hall opened. Garcetti, better known as the former DA of Los Angeles County, has captured the physicality of the work in his photos, and in the words of the people who did it. Their pride and solidarity are inspiring. (Michael Webb is the book reviewer for LA Architect magazine.)

Everything in this book is available free on the author's website. The material is so general as to be of no use.

I wanted to get into CNC but I had no clue where to start. I was piecing information together from a variety of places when I found this book. My friend turned me onto it and I'm glad he did. I went from clueless to knowing what direction to start my new CNC hobby. Although this book is informational, it also tells a story of how this person got into CNC which makes it easy and fun to read. Ivan also gives great unbiased reviews on CAD/CAM design software and breaks down GCode into terms I could understand. I'll be looking for his intermediate level book next.

I picked this book up after a buddy online reccomended it to me. I was trying to figure out CNC. I have heard about building machines in your garage to work on various projects. CNC wood routers seem to be the most popular. There wasn't a website out there that put all the steps to cnc out there and in order. I needed an overview of the entire process. That is what this book does. Gives you a clue before you jump in completely.
I like the writing style as well. relaxed and colorful. Gives you solid info and is an easy read.

The book's concept is good, a collection of oral histories of workers from Jones & Laughlin in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. However, the editing is absolutely atrocious. Typos and spelling errors abound, and at no point does the author offer to explain anything the workers are talking about. If you're knowledgeable about the steelmaking process, you will understand some of the things they say, but the author could have put in footnotes to clarify some of their points or make some things more understandable. The editing of this book greatly detracts from the overall work, and after a while, becomes outright frustrating. That's too bad; these workers lived hard lives, and they clearly have something to say. Too bad the author and publisher couldn't help them with that.

It appears that the work-The Mill utilized the vernacular of the region so that the oral histories were preserved as they were; not as an "edited" version resulting in a loss of cultural diversity and a less interesting tapestry portraying the Western Pennsylvania region.

An impressive collection of oral histories from people that worked all aspects of a stell mill. The book is smartly divided into chapters where each chapter represents a section of the steel mill operations: "blast furnace, clerical, management, union, electrical, railroad" etc, and one person is represented for each of these chapters to tell the story of his specific duties and life. It includes pictures, diagrams, and charts. After reading the oral histories, one can follow somewhat their histories by reading the layout plans and the diagrams. All these people are now old, and soon gone. Only their stories will be left. The epilogue of the book is a silent display of black and white pictures of Aliquippa today: boarded up stores, abbandoned buildings and streets, images that constrast sharply with the other photographs in the book of joyful parades and crowded streets. Amazing how a boom town was created in response to a momentary economic force such as steel industry, and now is semi-state of abbandon. Sounds almost like a science fiction movie, of lost worlds of thriving communities, but that this book brings back to life.

Simply Amazing Quilted Photography by fashion industry expert and quilting authority Tammie Bowser is a detailed and thoroughly "user friendly" instructional manual for transforming fabric into photographs, and creating wonders and satisfying projects that will bring joy and amazement. Grids, step-by-step instructions, illustrations both in black-and-white and in color, and the occasional quotable quote help make this informative "how-to" guide as easy to follow as possible and is especially recommended for the non-specialist general reader with an interest in quilting and the do-it-yourself craft of making quilted photos.

This book has many basic quilting tips and a decent system for executing the photo quilts...but...if you want to convert one of your own photos into a quilt, you have to buy a computer program . The last chapter titled "How to Make Your Own Quilted Photo Patterns" consists of just three pages and ends with a sales pitch for the software. If you have any sort of background in art, as I do, you may find the book rather elementary, especially the last chapter. But in the end it's the "product" pushing I have a problem with because not only is there software for sale but many other things you could find for a more reasonable price elsewhere...like the "distance viewer"...it's just a front door peephole you can get at your local hardware store. Actually, if you have a decent knowledge of sewing and quilting, and have a little background in art, you could use a cross-stitch pattern maker program that converts photos into charts to come up with your own quilted photo pattern.

This book does have patterns in it and excellent detailed directions for the process to make many different projects. You don't have to have the software. The patterns are in the book. It is inspiring even if you don't have the software. I saw the author on Simply Quilting and want to make several of these. I definitely got my money's worth.

I grew up in the Youngstown area back in the 50's. My Father worked in the offices of Republic Steel and took an early retirement years before Black Friday. I remember my Grandmother sweeping mill cinders from the front porch every morning when the mills were operating and how the flames from the stacks would light up the night.

The book gives a good account of the people and life styles of those that worked in the mill. It is sad that Youngstown never recovered.

Bruno's first and hopefully not his last!

You don't have to bea steelworker or from Youngstown to enjoy this book. Bruno's Yongstownis recognizable to all no mater where you live.

His portait of his hometown captures his family and neighbors who come alive in this interesting new work. Moreover, he has something to say and hesays it well!

Having grown up in Youngstown, I can fully appreciate the degree to which the author has captured the spirit of the mills and the working class. Anyone interested in labor studies will find this a book well worth reading.

good book well written and needed. i am a buggy driver/tour guide in new orleans where we have lots of wrought iron (cast iron also). gives depth to the subject.

I am an artist blacksmith doing architectural work. I use this book frequently to help with authentic design. It is filled with many good photographs and drawings. The text is helpful for anyone desiring to know more about how and why the fine ironwork of the past came to be.

I was some what dissapointed with this book because I found the author too worried about filling text rather than getting to the point. I am a welder and really was looking for a book that discussed reasons, good examples, and how to create wrought iron design. I was not looking for a history lesson. If you are looking for history on the art of Spanish, Italian design etc. and where they were used,this would be the book for you.

Writer, Eppie Taylor, lives on a golf course. When a stray ball hurtles through her window crashing into her computer, it sends sparks flying and her beloved cat fleeing the flames that level her home. With her manuscript cremated, we learn her money-hungry agent cares far more about living high on the hog than Eppie's homeless state. Then the millionaire dot-commer that hit the golf ball enters the picture through his lawyer. When all the characters come together it sets in motion a fun, rollicking read that zips along as fast as a well hit golf ball. The agent is a hoot. Before the story ends, the flames of romance are ignited. This is an intelligent read by a writer that may also make a niche for herself as a screenwriter.

The author brought to life all the different attitudes and personalities one would find on a daily basis and added spice, romance, and victory. I've learned a few new technological terms, not only is the writer imaginative, she's very intelligent.
There is a sassy money hungry literary agent that you love to hate; however her foibles will make you laugh.
Then of course Eppie who is the writer that everyone can relate to.
A very good read. I'm glad I picked it up.

I'm not a romance type reader... got this book from a friend that loved it... a woman friend... so anyway, Eppie and her pals in this book are a bit emotional, but that Chanel agent and the Lena rock chick were a hoot. Once you get past the tears and regret over cheesecake and into the action this book rips along pretty good. Heck, I took it off the plane, which is a compliment since I leave most of the books I get in that seat-back pouch for airline magazines, and finished it at home.