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Radio Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

Radio
Radio replies
Published in Unknown Binding by Tan Books and Publishers (1979)
Author: Leslie Rumble
List price:

Average review score:

Taught Me A lot
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-13
I learned so much from these books. (I have all 3) They are amazing! Very easy to read and understand, just great!

Filled with real conversations
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-09
While these volumes are now online, I love having them in print because I can't read for long periods of time in an electronic format. These books are great for every day real questions that people ask about the Catholic Church, from the most common to the most absurd. The two fathers always answer in a frank and honest manner - they do not mince words, but they are charitable. Well in the top 100 Catholic books.

Simply the Best
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-10
These books are probably the best resource available for someone wishing to learn about Catholicism and faith in general. The authors respond to the toughest questions posed by Protestants, Agnostics, Atheists, and other non-Catholics. The answers are simple, brief, and logical. The only downfall is the fact that they pre-date the Vatican II council; otherwise this set captures the faith quite well, and is indexed by topic. If you are a Catholic looking to expand your knowledge of your religion, or are questioning the beliefs of the Church, I challenge you to read these books. Also, I challenge any Protestant to read the responses of the authors on any doctrine you find difficulty believing. Every question has a strong and complete answer. These books are a must-have!

The evidence is overwhelming!
Helpful Votes: 11 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 2002-09-03
This three-volume set is considered a classic text of Catholic apologetics. The writing is clear, concise, and relentlessly logical. The arguments put forth are a remarkable combination of common sense, logic, and Scriptural reference. Not only does the book give Protestants, agnostics, humanists, and atheists a lot to think about, it is a fantastic resource for Catholics who desire a full understanding of our religious beliefs and practices, top to bottom. The big difference between Volumes 1 and 2 is that the latter responds to far more challenging questions, delving deeper into the same general topics covered in Volume 1.

Definitive Apologetics
Helpful Votes: 13 out of 13 total.
Review Date: 2002-12-06
I covered Volumes One and Two under those listings, so this is about Volume Three. As the series progresses, the questions get harder. Volume Three covers Church dogma and morals in great detail. In particular, the sixty year-old commentary on morals is eerily, sadly prophetic. The consequences of a drift toward complete moral relativism are described as a nightmare scenario, yet how much of it has come to pass--steadily rising divorce, abortion, alienation, violence, division into smaller and smaller groups dedicated only to the advancement of some self-proclaimed social imperative. Undoubtedly, to a non-believer, the prophetic quality of the arguments is the strongest point in their favor. It is not hard to see the moral quagmire we live in (if one only bothers to look), but to see it so clearly when it was just forming--that requires a true vision, a true perspective. For the believer, the truth of the Fathers' arguments is self-evident, for it is simply the Word of God.

Radio
Say Again, Please: Guide to Radio Communications
Published in Hardcover by Aviation Supplies & Academics (1995-08)
Author: Bob Gardner
List price: $19.95
New price: $9.99
Used price: $6.71

Average review score:

A must-have for the aspiring pilot!!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-09
This book is the best way to learn the lingo expected of you, once in an aircraft. It will inform and educate you on all aspects of talking with towers, ground crews and the likes. As an aspiring pilot, I wouldn't have tried figuring it all out in the plane. Great read, and great instruction.

Very helpful
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-22
I've been working with _Say Again, Please_ while studying for my US private pilot certificate, and it's been great. I live in a rural area, and there are no towered fields nearby for frequent radio practice. The book makes the different types of radio interaction much easier to understand.

Gardner breaks down communications by airspace class, which seems pretty sensible. One thing I liked was its discussion of how to interact with Flight Watch, restricted areas, Military Operations Areas, etc. It has a chapter on IFR communications, though I'm not ready for it yet.

The book explains clearly the reasons for saying things a particular way, and gives examples of correct practice. It's easy to understand, and well worth the price.

Gardner scores big!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-07
I bought this book to prepare myself for my first flight to Class Charlie in years. I wrote a script from the information Bob has in the book. The communications with SPI went perfect. Low cost and high content make this a slam dunk.

This book really helped
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-23
I am much more comfortable using the radio now. This book explained things that had been frustrating me for a long time.

Great--but not for a total newbie
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-12
Excellent book but it does require that the student pilot have some stick and radio time. Otherwise there will be information that simply doesn't make much sense.

My one early beef with the book is that he doesn't talk about the essential mnemonic for radio communication with a tower: 1) Who are you calling? 2) Who are you? 3) Where are you? 4) What do you want? and, possibly, if you're taxiing, or inbound for landing 5) what ATIS information do you have?

He does address these issues in a piecemeal fashion but I found the above memory device from my instructor extremely helpful.

Radio
The Art of Column Writing: Insider Secrets from Art Buchwald, Dave Barry, Arianna Huffington, Pete Hamill and Other Great Columnists
Published in Paperback by Marion Street Press, Inc. (2007-11-01)
Author: Suzette Martinez Standring
List price: $18.95
New price: $11.71
Used price: $11.98

Average review score:

Exceptional resource for columnists...
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-06
I have a pet peeve. Well, I suppose truth be told, I have several pet peeves. But the one most relevant to this book review is the trend of "how-to" and "you-can-do" books, often written by people with dubious credentials, or occasionally - no credentials at all.

"The Art of Column Writing" is NOT one of those publications. Suzette Martinez Standring approaches her topic with ample credentials, and innumerable anecdotes on the craft of column writing, collected from her own first-hand experiences, and contributed to from an A-list assortment of the nation's best-read columnists.

Peppered throughout with her own rise throughout the ranks of a Boston newspaper, to national syndication of her own column, Standring has collected nuggets of wisdom from the likes of Dave Barry, Art Buchwald, and Arianna Huffington to name a mere handful of the book's contributors. Practical, honest, and in some instances outright spellbinding- "The Art Of Column Writing" is a blueprint for anyone hoping to either enter or improve their skills in the ever-changing landscape of the newspaper column.

Standring has also picked up tips and tricks from her many years of association with the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, The Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop, and any newspaper columnist she met with, that was willing to give her a few moments of their time. Like picking an overflowing basket of fresh strawberries, Standring has gathered journalistic gems and anecdotes in abundance. The end result is a frank, comprehensive and entertaining overview of what it takes to be successful as a columnist, right from the source.

Or sources, in this case...

Dan St.Yves
Columnist/Author

Get Those Insider Secrets!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-30

This book is a valuable resource for any aspiring columnist. It is concise and well organized and would help anyone aspiring to become a columnist anticipate and overcome hurdles. Ms Martinez is sensitive and yet humorous and entertaining. She addresses all potential issues including online rules for today's high tech world. Get those insider secrets!

Famous Columnist School
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-15
The reviewing trade has a law that a critic doesn't write up works created by friends. Also, a critic cannot fairly consider a book in which he's quoted or has contributed to, even a tiny bit. Excellent rules, designed to provide objectivity to a deliberately subjective practice. An exception, to both counts, follows.

This is not the usual writing-instruction book, and few have been published on columns. Standring's focus is on teaching, not being The Authority: She knows that lots of examples and guests in the class are effective. Standring covers the main categories of columns, their construction and idea generation, as well as blogs and ethics 101. She reprints a number of columns, by others and herself -- even one to show where she messed up -- as well as quoting at length the best columnists explaining themselves. By her own experiences and learning from others, she has figured out not only how to create and market good work but to explain it to people already in newspapers and aspiring columnists.

Her from-scratch views on principles, research and structure refresh longtime journalists. The Art of Column Writing is valuable to budding columnists. Reader reviews in Amazon already demonstrate this. What journalists do, what the branch called columnists do, is by design transparent, but that can be confusing. Columns with facts have to be absolutely certain. Commentary must be bolstered by reporting and ethical uses of rhetoric. Humor must be grounded. It's tempting to drop a star in this review because this is a tough endeavor and Standring is so upbeat -- but when thumbing back through it, this book does not shirk from the realities of writing columns in the 21st century. At just 200 pages, it's a how-to that explains how-to.

A Must Read for All Who Enjoy Excellent Writing
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-31
I am a novice at column writing, and this book inspires me and provides me with so much good advice and information. I had the distinct pleasure of meeting the author, Suzette Standring, and she not only is an amazingly great writer, but ditto as a person. She is my inspiration, and her book is well deserving of major kudos. Her columns are also well worth reading. She's a wonderful addition to the world of writing.

This is a Bible for Procrastinating Writers
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-16
As a columnist, it's embarrassing to tell you that I didn't know too much of what Suzette Standring reveals in this light volume. It has so much heavy information tamped down on each page, it's amazing her book doesn't plunge right through the table.

An easy, smiling read the first time; second time, get out your yellow highlighter.

That so many popular writers willingly contributed their secrets is a tribute to Ms. Standring's ability to ask the right questions. Her own secrets of successful column writing are simple: Velcro your butt to the chair; A fresh angle is a sharp foot in the door; and Assigned to cover county news was like being plunked into a pilot's seat and told "Land this thing!"

Many different writing styles are given, some by writers who use words that sashay across a page, some use words that slither or stride. Sandring's strut.

A must read for journalism students and homemakers who want to communicate on a larger scale than husband and kids. After all, Erma Bombeck had to start somewhere. Standring tells you how.

Radio
Breaking into Television (Breaking Into)
Published in Paperback by Peterson's (1998-08-14)
Author: Weaver & Siegel
List price: $14.95
New price: $10.95
Used price: $0.01
Collectible price: $38.95

Average review score:

A book for every intern
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 1999-04-29
This book is incredible. My class will be required to read it, learn it, live it! EVERY STUDENT SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO READ THIS BOOK.

It's conversational, practical, and not only do you get great advice from the authors, but from TV professionals all over the country.

The Bible for Anyone Looking to Find and Ace an Internship
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 1999-07-23
Siegel and Weaver's book walks you through the entire process of finding an internship and then how to make the very best of the opportunity. Resumes, interviews, and successful phone manners are just a few of the many topics this book covers. After reading this book I found a great internship in LA and even was hired full time! Make sure to pick one up!

Useful and easy to read!!!
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 1998-09-27
This book is a useful source for everyone in need of advice regarding interning in the media industry. From day one of looking for your dream internship Breaking Into Television holds your hand. This book guides you from the interview to your first day, and then into making your internship into a potential career. After reading this book you feel motivated and informed to become a "super intern".

Reassuring and helpful
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2000-05-30
If you are a college student majoring in television production, you know that internships are the only key to getting a career in the field. This book will be a vital asset to anyone fighting to secure an internship in the field of broadcasting.

While many of the suggestions on actions one should take and how one should behave were things I found to be common sense, it was reassuring to read them being suggested in this book, not only by the authors but by the countless TV professionals that they quoted throughout the book.

There were also several suggestions made that I wouldn't have thought of. I'm so glad that I read this book before I began my search for an internship. Now that I am in the middle of working as an intern for a local PBS station, I continue to find the book's suggestions helpful. I consult it every once in a while for new ideas.

Very good book
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 1998-09-23
Breaking into Televsion is one of the most useful books I have ever read. I just started an intership working for my local Senator. My friend who wants to get into television gave me this book to read before I started. Wow, this is great imformation! There is advice from just about everone in the television business who stated out as as interns. There is also advice from people who now are incharge of inters. If you are an intern or are planning on interning this is a very useful book.

Radio
The Complete War of The Worlds
Published in Hardcover by Sourcebooks MediaFusion (2001-04-01)
Author:
List price: $39.95
New price: $13.94
Used price: $5.99
Collectible price: $49.95

Average review score:

Invasion Never Felt So Good!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-07
After finding this book in a local library and checking it out, I soon realized that I had to have my very own copy. So, I jumped onto Amazon and thankfully found one! For those who love classic War of the Worlds, this book is a huge slice of wonderful. I was thrilled with the CD that came with the book, too. This is a great resource and it would make a fine product for a Sci-Fi literature and / or media class.

Martians everywhere! The Invasion comes to you in the book and in the sounds. Worth the price!

A good overview
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-11
i bought this book as a gift for a war of the worlds fan and he liked it a lot. The CD was good and the book contained both the script and original HG Wels novel. So all in all the book was a good purchase that contained everything that you have ever wanted to know about the beginning of War of the Worlds saga.

Book is decent, CD is disappointing
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2005-08-15
I ordered this book after hearing the 1940 radio interview where both H.G. Wells and Orson Welles appeared together. That was an amazing program as both men discussed the war that was looming in Europe--and that they felt would soon envelope the United States. Orson even mentioned that he was working on a movie called Citizen Kane.

Unfortunately, only about two minutes of that hour-long interview is contained on the CD. The same is true for Orson Welles' press conference where he answered some of the controversy about his broadcast--the CD only has a couple of minutes of it. This was a major disappointment, because both recordings are fascinating and I was left wondering why we only get to hear short soundbites from them rather than the entire thing. Seriously, why bother at all?

The book is much more comprehensive and worthwhile.

THE edition to buy
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2005-07-08
With Spielberg's new film adaptation of WAR OF THE WORLDS in theatres, more attention is being paid to both the original Wells novel, and the infamous 1938 Welles radio broadcast. If you're interested in both, why not treat yourself to the best presentation of either version available today?

THE COMPLETE WAR OF THE WORLDS is an excellent book. It reprint the complete, unedited novel; prints the entire script to the radio play; and comes with a CD containing the entire radio play broadcast, plus archival materials such as the only interview Wells and Welles did together on the topic. [The recording sound quality is the best I've ever discovered for this play, BTW.] In addition, the book has lots of great historical and biographical material, including articles looking at the lives of both Wells and Welles; the story of the radio broadcast and the panic it caused; and a survey of the many incarnations of WotW in literature, film, and television.

If you have any curiosity about the book or the radio play, do yourself a favor and buy this book. It's worth it!

Incredibly full of everything War of the worlds
Helpful Votes: 9 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2005-06-27
This book is incredible. I got it for my birthday 5 years ago and I still love reading it today. It holds everything about war of the worlds you could want. it has the original story with all the pictures, it has the writing of the terrifying 1938 Orson Welles radio broadcast, (as well as peoples reactions to it), biographies of orson welles and H.G. wells and much more observing every movie, book, musical you could imagine. it also includes and audio CD where you can hear: orson welles horrifying radio bradcast, the only meeting between orson welles and H.G. wells, the press conference the day after the broacast with orson, another radio bradcast by a different station 30 years later, and much more. when i got it, it cost 40 dollars. you should buy it from amazon cuz its a lot cheaper. its a really excellent book that any fan of anything war of the worlds would love for many years. buy it today, you wont regret it!

Radio
Dear Mom, Dad & Ethel: World War II through the Eyes of a Radio Man
Published in Hardcover by iUniverse, Inc. (2006-03-03)
Author: Mark Stuart Ellison
List price: $30.95
New price: $29.57
Used price: $18.95

Average review score:

Anthony Carlino
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-28
A beautifully written story, Dear Mom, Dad and Ethel shows us how, in the face of war's uncertainty, man naturally seeks to form and sustain relationships, and savors them all the more. A timely piece.

Recommended, great read!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-10-10
This book is a treasure. With the numbers of this generation (my parent's generation) dwindling before our eyes, the importance of books such as this which capture the mind set and feelings of this era cannot be over-emphasized. A special thank you to the author and to Mom, Dad and Ethel! Read it, you will not be disappointed!!!

Technically Fiction but Mostly True
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-24
I am the surviving co-author of Dear Mom, Dad & Ethel: World War II through the Eyes of a Radio Man. Dear Mom, Dad & Ethel combines wartime letters, a love story, and six years of historical research. It is based on the experiences of my late father and co-author, Eli Ellison, who was an air corps radio truck operator in the 327th Fighter Control Squadron in Western Europe from 1943 to 1945.

A previously posted review, subsequently deleted for other reasons, indicated that the reviewer thought Dear Mom, Dad & Ethel was non-fiction. It's hard to see how she could have reached that conclusion. The cover image at the top of the main page clearly indicates that it is "a novel." A review posted by Midwest Book Review says that Dear Mom, Dad & Ethel "blends fiction and history." An endorsement by Belgian historian Jacques Wynants in the Editorial Reviews Section notes that Dear Mom, Dad & Ethel "mixes fiction and history." Finally, the word "Fiction" prominently appears on the back cover of Dear Mom, Dad & Ethel.

That being said, Dear Mom, Dad & Ethel is about 90 percent true. The wartime correspondence in Dear Mom, Dad & Ethel was transcribed from original V-mail letters written by my father to his parents and sister Ethel while he was overseas. Most of the remaining text is a synthesis of my father's strongest memories, library research, research of trusted historical websites, and considerable material provided by Mr. Wynants and other authorities. Additional sources and consultants are given due credit in the Preface. Over 35 pages of endnotes and references appear after the main text. In addition, there are nine pages of wartime photographs provided by my father, The Imperial War Museum in London, and Belgian sources. Two images of original V-mail letters in my father's handwriting, with army censor's stamp visible, are included in the book's photographic section.

Dear Mom, Dad & Ethel could not be told as non-fiction because there were some factual gaps in my father's memories, and we wanted to protect the anonymity of certain people. Some names, ranks, and/or physical descriptions were changed. However, the overwhelming majority of events depicted in Dear Mom, Dad & Ethel actually occurred.

The plot summary of Dear Mom, Dad & Ethel appears below. The real-life Eli Ellison was the model for the Don Quix character.

PLOT SUMMARY

On October 7, l942, Don Quix enlists in the Air Corps. He's slated to be an aerial gunner, but his flying dreams are shattered when he's caught AWOL with buddy Ken Jackson. Don manages to become a radio truck supervisor in a fighter control squadron while Ken goes to a demolition unit.

As an army engineer, Ken barely survives D-Day on Normandy's "Bloody Omaha." During a baseball game in a French forest, Don moves his head slightly, saving himself from a sniper's bullet.

Arriving in Verviers, Belgium in September 1944, Don and his fellow radio men endure frequent buzz bomb attacks. Due to a miscalculation in army strategy, they find themselves on the front lines during the Battle of the Bulge.

Don's reunion with Ken, now a tech sergeant with a bomb disposal outfit, is marred by tragedy, dampening Don's torrid love affair with beautiful seamstress Denise Vervier. Denise's husband, sent to a forced labor camp in 1940, is presumed dead. When he unexpectedly returns, Don and Denise face a heartbreaking choice.

Follows a would-be air gunner as his hopes are broken one by one
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2005-08-13
Dear Mom, Dad & Ethel: World War II through the Eyes of a Radio Man is a novel that blends fiction and history. Set during the deadly battles near the end of World War II, it follows a would-be air gunner as his hopes are broken one by one. When caught AWOL with a friend, his military ambitions are reduced to being a radio truck driver. In Belgium of 1944, he experiences tragedy, and falls in love with a beautiful seamstress whose husband was sent to a forced labor camp in 1940 and presumed dead - then unexpectedly returns alive, forcing a heartbreaking choice. A handful of black-and-white photographs enhance the vivid story, brought to realistic life through the memories of veteran and co-author Eli Ellison, and collaboratively enhanced with the skills of his son, attorney, reporter, and co-author Mark Stuart Ellison.

Follows a would-be air gunner as his hopes are broken one by one
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2005-08-08
Dear Mom, Dad & Ethel: World War II through the Eyes of a Radio Man is a novel that blends fiction and history. Set during the deadly battles near the end of World War II, it follows a would-be air gunner as his hopes are broken one by one. When caught AWOL with a friend, his military ambitions are reduced to being a radio truck driver. In Belgium of 1944, he experiences tragedy, and falls in love with a beautiful seamstress whose husband was sent to a forced labor camp in 1940 and presumed dead - then unexpectedly returns alive, forcing a heartbreaking choice. A handful of black-and-white photographs enhance the vivid story, brought to realistic life through the memories of veteran and co-author Eli Ellison, and collaboratively enhanced with the skills of his son, attorney, reporter, and co-author Mark Stuart Ellison.

Radio
Lost City Radio
Published in Kindle Edition by HarperCollins e-books (2007-01-30)
Author: Daniel, Alarcon
List price: $19.95
New price: $6.49

Average review score:

Haunting, realistically ambivalent
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-09
This has been one of the most engaging works of fiction I've read recently. Beginning with a made-up country and a fictitious civil war, in simple language Alarcon takes us through what feel like real dilemmas of people involved in a time of crumbling government and rural flight. But beyond this, the story is intriguing - a radio host, a hidden history, a mysterious boy. Enough to drive the story. Unlike many other books read recenly this doesn't just start well - it keeps the momentum going through the end of the book.

Fantastic
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-01
I was astonished by this novel. I thought it started off a bit slow, I thought the main characters Norma and Rey a bit dull at first, and some of the main plot twists were foreseeable. But even if the main characters didn't enthrall at first, many of the secondary ones did. Adela, Trini, Rey`s father and even the ambiguous Zahir and Manau are touchingly rendered. For me, the book really started to pick up during the first full chapter in "1797" - the jungle village were key events involving Adela and and her son Victor happen. But towards the final chapters the tension builds and even Norma and Rey grow in humanity: the last chapter in particular is devastating. The at times semi journalistic style with which the wartime events are described is also very effective.

All in all, this was a fantastic book. I look forward to more by Alarcon. Readers who enjoyed this book are encouraged to try Nathan Englander's "The Ministry of Special Cases" - an equally engaging, impecabbly written and emotionally gripping novel set in somewhat similar context of Latin American political instability.

Totalitarianism in Peru?
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-12
Daniel Alarcon's debut novel chronicles the lives of three people -- Rey, Norma and Victor -- in an unnamed country, probably Peru, where Alarcon was born, during the monstrous 10-year civil war in the 1980s. Norma works at a radio station where she hosts the program "Lost City Radio," which lists the names of people lost in the brutal conflict. Rey is her husband who goes missing when the police nab him for not carrying ID. Victor is a street urchin who gives a list of the missing to Norma. Alarcon's prose is very well written, terse and visionary. The chronology of the novel is nonlinear, which makes it difficult, at times, to follow what happens and when. And since the name of the country and time period are not given, the historical context of the story cannot be provided. Of course, if this novel is meant to be applicable to all such conflicts throughout the world, who needs a context? However, I wanted one, though this is not necessarily a failing in the novel. Altogether, it was refreshing reading an American novel(Alarcon was raised in Alabama and graduated from Columbia University) with little or no figures of speech, slang or cliches. The best praise I can give the novel is that it could be considered "literature." Look for more material from this very talented young man!

Great Book!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-23
This is a very good book, is easy to read and catches your interest as soon as you start reading so that you cannot stop! I had to read it in a couple of days cause I needed to know what came next in the plot...
When you have lived in Peru during those years, you get the feeling of this story, it has also used an actual radio program as a model but the mastership of the author is to join all those stories and create a new one that have a little bit of multiple stories but is in itself different but very nice. I highly recommend it.

"What does the end of a war mean, if not that one side ran out of men willing to die?"
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-20


Set in an unspecified South American country, "a nation at the edge of the world, a make-believe country outside history", people are still reeling after ten years of war between the government and guerillas, their spirits broken by incessant violence, legions of the disappeared unaccounted for. In one small place of hope, the Indians in the mountains and the poor of the barrio listen with rapt attention to Lost City Radio. The voice of consolation to her devastated listeners, Norma reads lists, the endless names of the missing, hopeful that some may be reunited with their families. But in the last year of the long absence of her husband, Rey, one of the missing, Norma's advancing grief and impending hopelessness has grown burdensome, the expectations of the audience weighing on her every waking moment.

Hugely popular, Lost City Radio flourishes in spite of a repressive government, spies everywhere, questions rebuffed by officials who allow no independence of thought. The prisons are filled with the captured insurrectionists, their leaders all but buried in the smothering confines of underground cells. Norma hopes to find Rey in one of these prisons, but it is impossible to discern him in a sea of gaunt, determined faces. Other than his profession as an ethnobiologist, Norma has no idea of Rey's other interests, his life carefully compartmentalized. They met under romantic, mysterious conditions, Rey hinting at a more obscure identity. By the time they are married, Norma accepts her husband's eccentricities; but when he fails to return from the jungle village 1797 (names have been replaced by numbers), Norma has no way to track his activities or learn of his fate.

Then one day, ten years after the end of the war, his teacher delivers a young boy to the radio station, eleven-year-old Vincent from village 1787, perhaps a key to Rey's location. Certainly, as time and events unfold, Norma is confronted with the unthinkable: "She had a husband, he was dead or gone... the war had ended, or perhaps it had never begun." Norma's memories are fresh, alive with the spirits of the lost, some of the names still too dangerous to mention on the air. Wracked by loss, clinging to the child, Norma blindly navigates the present, the forbidden names whispered into the dark night. The emotional journey of a grieving wife and an innocent orphan permeate the novel, their stories shadowed by Rey's duplicitous past and devotion to his wife. This otherworldly tale of strength in the face of a confusing war speaks to the vital issues of out time. Such a scenario no longer seems the stuff of fantasy, given the human faces of these poignant characters, Alarcon's novel a grim reminder: "People disappear, they vanish. And with them the history, so that new myths replace the old." Luan Gaines/2007.




Radio
Radio Free Dixie: Robert F. Williams and the Roots of Black Power
Published in Paperback by The University of North Carolina Press (2001-02-05)
Author: Timothy B. Tyson
List price: $19.95
New price: $17.00
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A must, also read is Blood Done Sign My Name
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-27
As one reviewer notes, Robert Williams name is not noted in other books about this era. This is a great loss to history. Also reading "Blood Done Sign My Name" will give readers a more complete picture of life for Blacks in the South in the 60's & early 70's.
However, as Timothy Tyson told me in February, "desegregation is not complete". "Blood Done Sign My Name", is in production as a major movie at this time. It is being filmed entirely in North Carolina.

still relevant
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-03
A compelling look at a fascinating figure of the modern American civil rights movement whose story continues to be relevant. Particularly interesting is the nuanced and thoughtful treatment of the complex dialogue and tension between "nonviolence" and "self-defense" in the history of the Black freedom struggle in the US.

The period of Williams's life following his exile is only very tersely outlined (as the author himself admits), giving the book a bit of an abrupt end. More analysis of Williams's decision to renounce public life, of his scepticism about the later direction of the "Black Power" movement that had claimed him as one of its icons, and of his decision to seek an "understanding" with the US gov't enabling his return from exile, would probably make for most interesting reading.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2006-12-27
Mainstream history seemingly gets real nervous about who is carrying a loaded weapon and who one associates with. Combine the two and it will take an outstanding historian like Timothy B. Tyson to bring to life the tireless work and controversies surrounding civil-rights activist Robert F. Williams.

Williams brought the element of armed self-defense in seeking equal rights, especially in his hometown of Monroe, N.C. Though Williams, a military veteran, stressed that the specter of self-defense was necessary - and proven successful in confronting the KKK and other racists - his stance drew the ire of the NAACP's national office, the FBI and other government agencies & those in the civil rights movement who stressed non-violent actions no matter what the situation.

The book is more than a biography on Williams. It shows how his demands for equal rights meant something different to various individuals and groups, though Williams would not politically "fall in line" with any movement. It was the perceived idealism that drew many to Williams, but it was such a coalition - including Malcolm X and the Socialist Workers Party - that made him particularly dangerous in the eyes of federal officials.

While in exile from the U.S. after being erroneously charged for violating several federal laws, Williams was in Cuba after the revolution, North Viet Nam during the war, China as the Cultural Revolution caught fire and travelled to Africa. His independent thinking got him in trouble in Cuba; a radio show he conducted to the U.S., Radio Free Dixie, along with public comments he made, found Williams facing the wrath of Cuban government officials and ultimately led him to China.

The book also shows how his wife, Mabel and women in Monroe & in other cities not only demanded civil rights, but were willing to defend themselves and their families from violent attacks through the barrel of a gun. Mabel Williams was also an important person in the writing, editing and publishing of a newsletter that gained national and international attention.

Williams was an important catalyst for Huey Newton and the Deacons for Defense in their quests to skillfully confront the haters on the streets. In yet again another example on why we must continue to look past the history as it is written in textbooks, Robert F. Williams showed what can be accomplished when the intimidators become the intimidated while trying to perpetuate the myth of white supremacy.

Beyond the Headline Makers
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-05
The civil rights movement was not created by, lead by, or moved forward by the dozen or so media heros whose names we all now know. The civil rights movement succeed because so many ordinary people decided that they could no longer stand to live in the midst of injustice, and decided to step out of their daily lives and do something about it.

Robert Williams did just that. An ordinary working class guy, he used his people skills to form a network of working class black people who did not have the patience of the old line leaders of the local NAACP chapter in his hometown. He got himself elected president of the chapter, and backed by dozens of local people, formed one of the most activist chapters in the country. The national NAACP never was comfortable with Williams or the work of his chapter, and at best held them at arms length.

Inevitably, Williams' hard pressure on local structures of racism lead to a backlash. When he was attacked and his family threatened with death, the local police did nothing. When he and his community defended themselves, by taking up arms to combat the armed violence of the white racists, he was charged with murder, and became the subject of a massive FBI hunt. Escaping to Cuba, he operated a radio station, beaming the "truth" along with progressive jazz and blues which would never be played on corporate radio in the south, to Dixie.

Ultimately, Williams' stance of self-defense was taken up by Stokley Carmichael in the South, and by the Black Panther Party in Oakland, and is now well known as the "Black Power" movement. But at the time, it was simply a slightly more hardline version of the NAACP. Local chapters of the NAACP, building on long traditions of mutual support in black communities throughout the south, supported by thousands of ordinary people, formed the backbone of the civil rights movement. Anyone who thinks otherwise should read the statements by Bob Moses and the other SNCC organizers, who readily admitted that they could never have accomplished anything at all if not for the decades of groundwork done by the local NAACP chapters throughout the south.

Great book, which everyone interested in the history of the Civil Rights movement, or just interested in the way social changes really happen, should read.

Armed Resistance to the Viciousness of Jim Crow
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2005-06-11
Ultimately, the notion of white supremacy and the so-called glory of the Lost Cause always devolved to the use of violence and intimidation against black people and any one who sided with them. Williams' is an amazing story of courage and determination as he challenged the KKK and assorted white rabble of rural North Carolina in the 1940s through the 1960s in his quest for racial justice.

Williams, a soldier during WW2, came back to Monroe, NC after the war and took on the clowns and goons of the KKK and the local and state white government. When they fired on his home, he shot back, upsetting the applecart of segregation.

Tyson's book is a powerful portrayal of a man quite willing to die for his rights, a man fed up with the violence degradation inflicted on him by southern society, and a man willing to kill to protect his property, his person and his family.

Tyson's realistic and entertaining portrayal of the stupid and inane actions of white southern racists in North Carolina is another reason to read this book. The local thuggery is almost comical, until one remembers they are well armed and prone to alcholism and violence. Tyson goes into great detail about a 1958 case where two black boys, 10 and 8 were BEATEN and IMPRISONED for kissing a white girl.

Williams and his wife are not well known heroes of the Civil Rights struggle. This book gave me a greater appreciation of the vicious hatred, violence, and stupidity they were fighting, and how disciplined and determined the Civil Rights struggle had to be in the face of overwhelming white resistance.

Radio
There is No Box!
Published in Paperback by Trafford Publishing (2003-04)
Author: David P. D'Eugenio
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A Step by Step Guide on How to Sell
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-12-17
"There is No Box" takes the reader through the entire sales process in step by step order. One would have to read and study multiple Sales and Motivational books to get what is contained in "There is No Box." This book is great for both new and experienced sellers. I carry "There is No Box" in my bag with me everyday for easy and quick reference.

High School Student
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-08-22
My dad purchased There Is No Box for me and it helped me with my buisness class. I suggested this book to my friends and they LOVED it! I'm looking foward to getting and reading the updated version.

Dr. Michael J. DiLauro, Ed.D.
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2005-09-16
THERE IS NO BOX should be required reading for all college freshman. It is more than a sales and marketing text.

THERE IS NO BOX is a must read for minds that strive for ongoing personal growth.Optimism and mental toughness are overriding themes in the book which translates into long-term self improvement.

A quick read
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2004-05-03
I found "There Is No Box" by accident while surfing for new management books on sales and marketing. (I didn't expect a book on sales to be titled; "There Is No Box".) But it was the title that actually got me interested. I have had excellent success for years in sales and marketing. Now as a manager, I wanted a reference book, a quick read reminder to keep me and my sales department fresh without long examples or boring material. This book did just that. Each subject is concise and easy enough to bring into a sales meeting and talk about for a few minutes. The techniques are proven and the author doesn't impose his way, but instead credits others that along the way have contributed successful selling ideas. I strongly recommend this book for those who want a reference to keep in their briefcase of on their desktop. If you're new to selling, this book will give you an excellent start by developing your personal skills as it leads you through the selling process. I also agree with another reviewer that this is excellent for students.

I've used this reference and found it excellent!
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2004-05-15
I have read a lot of sales books and have attended more than my share of sales seminars. Seldom is the content clearly written by sales managers, for sales people. In THERE IS NO BOX, the information is of "how to" rather than "one should" of real examples rather that philosophies about what should work and answers a lot of tough questions where others have failed to go.

Radio
The Valley of Fear (BBC Radio Collection)
Published in Audio Cassette by BBC Audiobooks Ltd (1998-03-02)
Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
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best sherlock holmes story
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-05-19
I read all of the Sherlock Holmes stories (short stories and novels) in a relatively short period of time (good for comparisons), and this was by FAR my favorite of them all. _Nothing_ is as it seems to be, not in the presenting murder mystery, nor in the background story. Both of them are fascinating stories in themselves; combined, it's truly amazing.

Classic Doyle
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2003-07-13
The last of the four Sherlock Holmes novels, and one of the two best. It contains more detection in its first section than The Hound of the Baskervilles, with Holmes (off-stage for much of The Hound) actively investigating the murder at Birlstone, and drawing his ever-fascinating deductions from raincoats and dumb-bells; indeed it is the only pure detective story among the four, with the reader given every opportunity to solve the crime. Although the solution is justly famous, it is but a variation on "The Norwood Builder," at much greater length. The second half of the tale concerns the doings of the Pinkerton agent Birdy Edwardes in the eponymous Valley, terrorised by the Freemasons, a gripping and powerful account which is perhaps of greater interest than the detection.

Valley Of Fear
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2004-04-03
The story is a report on the actual events surrounding the arrest, conviction, and hanging of the Molly McGuyers in Schuylkill and Carbon Countys, Pennsylvania at the end of the 19th century. In the story the Mollys are like the gansters. In the Pa. coal region they are folk heros who fought and died for workers wrights. See the movie, "Molly McGuyers" staring Sean Conrey, it's an exact match.

The actual Pinkerton, McGowan, Died of old age in California.

THE VALLEY OF FEAR
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2002-01-16
'The Valley of Fear'. A real page turner but what makes it most memorable for me is not that Holmes is at his best, but Conan Doyle is. After reading this book I recommend you to read this book because it was a suspense story. The whole story moves around Mcginty who was a big criminal in the valley of vermisa also called the valley of fear. There was only one person who could face to that criminal and his name was Jack McMurdo. He behaved as a gangster and he had taken many risks in his life and he was not afraid to take more risks. Don't miss 'The Valley of Fear'. It's terrifying, exciting, and best of all, real.

Second best Holmes novel
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2005-06-21
I liked this book a lot and it's right up there behind The Sign of Four as the second best Sherlock Holmes novel. Though it's well known that Conan Doyle was growing tired of the character by this point.

The story is of a brutal murder in a mansion house in the English countryside. There's not much sense-making evidence to work on so Holmes and Watson go down to investigate along with Scotland Yard and the local police. Sure enough, Holmes solves the case rather quickly and all is revealed. But it's here that Conan Doyle uses the same split narrative he used in A Study in Scarlet. The story jumps far back in time and details the long, sinister plot leading up to the murder in the mansion. It's a good story and quite addictive. But I'm afraid I saw the plot twist coming (though it's an imaginative surprise) and only because there were no small revalations at any point, therefor I knew I big 'un was coming and deduced the logical conclusion.

And is it just me or is there a major anachronism in the story? Holmes speaks of Moriarty as if he is still alive. But didn't he chuck him of the Reichenbach falls and watch him fall to his death? Unless this story is set before then. And who is this mysterious Porlock? It was never cleared up. Perhaps in a future story eh?


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