California Books

I had to read and review this book for a class, and I thought it was great. I had not read any of the books referenced by Ms. Marcus, so it was difficult to tell how sucessfully she represented the authors, but thats really my problem, not hers. I would say that I don't like such heavy use of literary sources in these types of books, but it is usually because I haven't read the books.

I'm happy I chose this book to review, between the nasty review and its mention on the board, (and Ms. Marcus's rebuttal) this will be an easy book review to write.

In Apartment Stories, Sharon Marcus takes the reader on a stunning tour of the interior spaces of the nineteenth century novel. The views that Marcus offers are always exciting. Following her from behind as she weaves her way through dark regions of apartment houses is often exhilirating. Particularly pleasurable is the way she bounces around London. And although sometimes she seems to bend over to make her point, even this rewarding

There has been a recent interest in theories that undermine the undertakings of the Enlightenment and Modernism toward presenting a world made up of clear definitions and distinctions. This trend has thrown light upon those cultures and periods of history previously dismissed as irrational, decadent, or retrogressive. Further, owing to Post-Structuralist interests in language, scholars have increasingly turned towards realist novels and literature from the period being studied to unearth peculiar social environments that have remained concealed in the purely formal analyses of historical accounts.

Sharon Marcus in Apartment Stories identifies the novel as a significant mirror of everyday life. Literary criticism and cultural history, for Marcus, are intertwined disciplines that feed on each other. In Apartment Stories she uses an analysis of the nineteenth-century realist novel to illuminate a discourse about (not `on') apartment houses of the time. Employing texts that she calls `atypical', as a heuristic device for exploring the range and complexity of nineteenth century debates on domesticity and urbanism, Marcus sets herself the ambitious task of questioning conventional conceptions of the distinctions of private and public, interior and exterior, as well as masculine and feminine. She probes the text not only in terms of seeking social and physical implications of the described spaces but also in terms of the manner in which the narration itself inscribes spatial relations and establishes zones as exterior and interior, private and public, mobile and fixed.

Apartment Stories is divided into three parts. The first part, "Open Houses", discusses the apartment house as a space that refutes readability as a private, opaque, and interior space. The second part, "The City and the Domestic Ideal", discusses the cultural preference for the single-family house over the lodging houses (that resembled apartment houses) of Londoners. The third and concluding part, "Interiorization and its Discontents", deals with Paris during the Second Empire. The author claims that Paris became interiorized after 1850 and thereby challenges the established interpretation of the Second Empire Paris as one of spectacle, flânerie, and circulation. She also questions the famous notion of the Goncourt brothers that "the interior is going to die. Life threatens to become more public". Marcus, in view of the Parisian apartment house, explicates the impossibility of ever fully interiorizing the home.

Sharon Marcus's Apartment Stories provides interesting insights into the world of the bourgeois in nineteenth century Paris- though her ideas are not always convincing and not always substantiated with documentation. Her elaborate endnotes that occupy 81 pages at the rear of the book fail to provide the convincing evidence that more architectural drawings and photographs might. The book leaves the readers constantly searching through the text for `real' images of the physical character of the apartment houses to which they may correspond the analysis of the novel. In the absence of such documentation, the author herself feels the need to stop every now and then in order to summarize and locate within the overall scheme of the book what she had just written (which is also what makes the writing of the book-review easier). These impediments that occlude the understanding of her new insights are further assisted by what could be considered a methodological oversight. Her structure of discussions of the interior and exterior space rest upon the individual descriptions of interior and exterior space. The discussion does not flow from one to the other and that, I feel, strengthens the distinction between the two. A discussion of the in-between transition spaces, apart from perhaps the character of the portière, between the street and the house, that one would expect in a discussion of interior and exterior spaces, is also absent.

Marcus works from an impressive bibliography, one that partially compensates for her deficiencies in documentation and illustration. Apart from a slight error in quoting the publication date of James Stevens Curl's The Victorian Celebration of Death as 1872 instead of 1972, the bibliography, along with the book, becomes a wonderful resource for any scholarly study of nineteenth century France and England in the fields of feminist theory and criticism, geography, urban studies, architectural history, literary criticism, and interdisciplinary research on everyday life.

In an elegantly written and persuasively argued volume, Sharon Marcus uses the idea of the apartment building as a tool to comb out two sets of terms that tend to clump together in discussions about the 19th century: man=city=public, woman=home=private. In a work made pleasurable to the general reader through her clear and careful writing and her judicious use of footnotes, Marcus proposes a world of 19th century men, women, homes, and cities, that interact in more messy and interesting ways than we've learned to expect. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Can't think of anything but praise for this fabulous book. The objects selected, the color photography, the insightful introduction, the artists' info in the back ‹ all top-notch. If you think the world is doomed, this will be great antidotal weekend reading!

A visit to the De Young Museum on my last day in San Francisco turned a time-filler into an experience of a lifetime. The exhibition itself was truly amazing; the collection superb. The lighting, layout and flow of the exhibition allowed me to get lost for a couple of hours. Here was true craftsmanship in its purest form from all over the world; even an Australian artist was represented in the collection!

A visit to the gallery shop was next on the agenda to see if there was a catalogue, but since I thought a lot of the presence of place would be lost I wondered how you could put that on to paper.

But there it was. A fine book with excellent production values and fine photography. It will be a great momento of my visit and comfort me to know that there are great people who support artists and help keep the barbarians from the gate.

Dorothy & George Saxe are amongst the foremost collectors of art made from traditional craft materials...glass, clay, wood, fiber...art categorized as coming out of the Post WWII Arts & Crafts movement. This book beautifully documents that part of their collection now on view at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco.

Tim Burgard, Curator of American Art at the DeYoung Museum, writes accessably with the voice of a scholar. He contextualizes this art movement and documents the show from the Saxe Collection that he's recently installed at the DeYoung...THIS IS A GORGEOUS BOOK.

The Saxes have made a bequest to the DeYoung of 600 works of art from their collection. This book and exhibition documents more than 1/3 of these objects.

A MUST READ FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN CONTEMPORARY ART!!

If you are interested in glass, this book will be of particular interest. The Saxes have pieces by Chihuly, Lino, Flora Mace, Bertil, Therman Statom, William Morris, and many other well known glass artists. Also beautiful ceramics, furniture, wood bowls, sculpture.... If you can't make it to the exhibit, buy the book. You won't be disappointed.

A monumental reference book! The title of the book in French (I have it both in French and English) would roughly translate into Anthology of Strategy in World History. It puts the accent on the concept of Strategy rather than War. And that's how I use it. I would even call it the History of Strategic Thinking. I am a management and technology expert and this book is one of my reference books on Strategy and on my shelf it sits alongside books on Strategy.

What I like most about it, is its historic depth and scope. There is, to my knowledge, no other work on Strategy which has such a historic scope ranging from Ancient history to modern days with so much information and intelligence.

I strongly recommend it to all those interested in the History of Strategic Thinking.

I am a regular reader of Mr Chaliand and when I read his books I have the same experience as when I read Nietzsche: a feeling of freshness.

This anthology provides a wonderful history of the Art of War in a compact and readable format. Presented in the form of brief biographies and historical vignettes, there is literally something for everybody in this treatise. Whether you are a student, organizational leader, or military strategist, this book has information you can put to work today.

A wonderful edited volume that makes a great introduction to the subject of military strategy. Organized chronologically, the works of nearly all the major strategists in history appear including non-Europeans.

This book is an excellent compilation of the best military writers throughtout the ages. The book begins with authors from ancient Rome, Greece and China and progresses through history. It goes on to include the best works of about 100 military geniuses. Excerpts are from Sun Tzu, Clausewitz, Alfred Thayer Mahan, Erwin Rommel and many others. If you want a book on military history and generalship through the ages, this tome will provide it. Be forewarned though, this book is over 1000 pages and not all the early writers are easy to read. But, overall, an excellent book for anyone who loves military history.

Roger Daniels's 1962 book The Politics of Prejudice: The Anti-Japanese Movement in California and the Struggle for Japanese Exclusion is a must for all voting-age citizens. Why a must? Because at first glance this book seems like obscure, dark history of a time almost now forgotten and because of the little attention devoted to pre-Pearl Harbor treatment of Japanese immigrants (Issei)and Japanese-Americans (Nessei). More importantly, it is a book that speaks of our national character and grows timeless in its treatment of immigration which of course is hardly a new phenomenon.

It is almost like walking into a timewarp! Substitute "Japan" for "Mexico" or "Latin America" and substitute "Japanese" for "Mexican" or "illegal alien" and you'd think Professor Daniels had written this book last night! The Tancreados, the Jim Gilchrists--even the more wishy washy Schwarzenegger-types of the period are all there! (Even Fabian socialist and Lenin-admirer H.G. Wells bought into the "Yellow Peril" paranoia.) Exclusionist groups like FAIR, the Minute Men and legislation like the Sensenbrenner bill, were all present a hundred years ago! The book also covers key propagandists like the Rupert Murdoch of a century ago: William Randolph Hearst. Nothing new under the sun, eh?

This is a slight book, crammed with information. The only problems are the tiny print (for my myopic eyes) and the lengthy footnotes. Also, once in a while, Professor Daniels slips into obscure early 20th century California politics, but that said, I would purchase used copies and mail them to choice legislators. Would that work?

Trotsky was mistaken. History DOES repeat itself (for those who didn't learn from it the first time, anyway, as the ancient Greek philospher said.)

Great facts and opinions about Japanese internment in the United States; everyone should read

Nice and short (not "long and boring" like many history books!) -- a very thorough examination of the causes of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Professor Daniel's book is beautifully written and should be read by anyone who is interested in the topic!

The best part of this book is its organization. As a reader,having no background in subjects of politics nor Japanese American History, I was able to clearly understand the point of view of those people who were against Japanese immigration and how their actions effected the decisions to use internment camps for the Japanese American people during WWII.

Simple and straight forward writing, but not simple concepts. Taher tackles age old issues (revenge, redemption) with a kind of freshness that helps the reader see something new. He also gently leads the reader to adopt the appropriate cultural mindset so that the characters can be held close to the heart, not merely observed from afar. Sometimes, however, his writing is weighed down by awkward or repetitive descriptions . Since this is a translation, it is difficult to tell if the problem is the author's or the translator's. Anyway, it is not excessive and can be overlooked by the reader willing to forgive a little to get a lot.

Bahaa' Taher's short novel, following the earlier "Duha Said," and centering around the Copts of present-day Egypt, provides an engaging glance into the relations of Muslim-Christian while offering an interesting plot and narrative technique; As with the works of Naguib Mahfouz, it is not so much history as much as a well-wrought tale. While one wishes the author would write an historic novel based upon the relations of the monophysites and neighboring sects through the ages, Taher achieves something perhaps greater; creating his own byzantine while never imposing an entirely personalized view -or judgment- upon his very believable characters. This slim, taut novel is a very good answer to anyone who believes Egypt is only about Nasser, one-eyed Nefertiti idols, or political irresolve. Strongly recommend

This book deserves an official review from a known source - a review listing it as a "must read". With an introduction and a glossary starting the book, I expected a difficult book. (I rarely read Mideastern literature because I generally find it less than engrossing.) I only used the glossary once - for curiousity not meaning. And I'd quite comfortable but the introduction at the back ... The book stands quite well on its own, thankyou.

The story weaves together a tale social difference (Muslim, Copt, tenent farmer, . . .), family responsibility and social change. The characters are complex and realistic - the wise ones recognizing both the past and the future in a country just stripped of the Sinai in war. It provides a positive picture of Islam - a picture sadly needed in the West - as well as of the Copts, largely unknown in the West. Add it to your "must read" list - you'll be well rewarded

This is the first book I read for Bahaa' Taher, an author previously unknown to me. His novel is describing the life in a southern village in Egypt where Copts (Egyptian Christians) and Moslems (Egyptian Moslems) lived together in peace and harmony for centuries. Suddenly, a rumor was injected by some unknown source, in order to create hatred between the villagers. Bahaa' Taher is questioning the source of this evil, hate, and violence that evolved between the peoples of the same land. Bahaa's style reflects his tender feelings and a sense of nostalgia for the past, the 'good old' and peaceful days. This book should be a must read for all schoolchildren in Egypt to teach them about Egyptian history of tolerance and peace. The novelist's style is so tender and his words flow soft like clouds. (It would be great if he would consider writing a romance). I must acknowledge Barbara Romaine for her translation of this book, it is simply flawless. This is a fascinating novel by a fine and very distinguished writer.

In this curious autobiiography, Anthony Trollope sketches in the outlines of his life. He relates the misery of his childhood, the heroism of his mother, the tragedy and ultimate failure of his father. If not banal, at least typical material for an autobiography, and makes for good reading. The second two-thirds of the book summarizes his writings, and relate his ideas on everything from literary criticism to suggestions for young writers. Perhaps most interesting are his assessments of his own work, praising or condemning them with little emotion. Of course there is the famous analysis of his working methods, where he counts words and disciplines himself to an astonishingly regular routine of writing. He produced 47 novels, edited and wrote for magazines, all the while working full time for the post office. One distressing feature of this work is the almost complete lack of intormation about his wife and family....It is clear that he lived with and loved his fictional characters more than his corporeal family. Also, the grammar and punctuation are often awkward but this is still a highly readable and fascinating book.

If one has read a number of Trollope's novels, one would expect that Trollope would have written precisely this sort of autobiography. In fact, it is almost impossible to imagine it having taken any other form.

Trollope writes not so much of his life (though he does touch upon the major events), as of his occupation. Although employed most of his adult life by the postal service, Trollope decided to engage in a second and parallel career as a writer. He is forthright about his motives: the satisfaction of writing, but also fame, financial reward, and social standing. Looking back on his career, Trollope is proud of a job well done. The oddity is that he seems quite as happy telling us about how much he sold each work for, and the financial dealings with his publishers, as he does about his books and characters. In fact, near the end of the book he gives a complete list of his novels and how much he managed to sell each one for (with very few exceptions, he preferred to sell the rights to a novel, rather than getting a percentage of sales). What emerges is a portrait of the novelist not as an artist so much as a dedicated, disciplined craftsman. He explicitly denigrates the value of genius and creativity in a novelist in favor of hard work and keeping to a schedule of writing.

The early sections of the book dealing with his childhood are fascinating. By all measures, Trollope had a bad childhood. His discussions of his father are full of pathos and sadness. What is especially shocking is the lack of credit he gives to his mother, who, in early middle age, realizing that her husband was a perpetual financial failure, decided to salvage the family's fortunes by becoming a novelist. He notes that while nursing several children dying from consumption, she wrote a huge succession of books, enabling the family to live a greatly improved mode of existence. Her achievement must strike an outside observer as an incredibly heroic undertaking. Trollope seems scarcely impressed.

Some of the more interesting parts of the book are his evaluation of the work of many of his contemporaries. History has not agreed completely with all of his assessments. For instance, he rates Thackery as the greatest novelist of his generation, and HENRY ESMOND as the greatest novel in the language. HENRY ESMOND is still somewhat read, but it hardly receives the kind of regard that Trollope heaped on it, and it is certainly not as highly regarded as VANITY FAIR. Trollope's remarks on George Eliot are, however, far closer to general opinion. His remarks concerning Dickens, are, however, bizarre. It is obvious that Trollope really dislikes him, even while grudgingly offering some compliments. Quite perceptively, Trollope remarks that Dickens's famous characters are not lifelike or human (anticipating E. M. Forster's assessment that Dickens's characters are "flat" rather than "round" like those of Tolstoy or Austen) and that Dickens's famous pathos is artificial and inhuman (anticipating Oscar Wilde's wonderful witticism that "It would take a man with a heart of stone to cry at the death of Little Nell"). Even the most avid fan of Dickens would admit that his characters, while enormously vivid and well drawn, are nonetheless a bit cartoonish, and that much of the pathos is a tad over the top. But Trollope goes on to attack Dickens's prose: "Of Dickens's style it is impossible to speak in praise. It is jerky, ungrammatical, and created by himself in defiance of rules . . . . To readers who have taught themselves to regard language, it must therefore be unpleasant." If one had not read Dickens, after reading Trollope on Dickens, one would wonder why anyone bothered to read him at all. One wonders if some of Trollope's problems with Dickens was professional jealousy. For whatever reason, he clearly believes that Dickens receives far more than his due.

Favorite moment: Trollope recounts being in a club working on the novel that turned into THE LAST CHRONICLE OF BARSET, when he overheard two clergymen discussing his novels, unaware that he was sitting near them. One of them complained of the continual reappearance of several characters in the Barsetshire series, in particular Mrs. Proudie. Trollope then introduces himself, apologizes for the reappearing Mrs. Proudie, and promises, "I will go home and kill her before the week is over." Which, he says, he proceeded to do.

you should consider reading this too! Trollope writes candidly about his education (and about being a poor, mostly overlooked student), his lack of professional ambition (and how he finally got around to witing his first novel),and the ups and downs of his literary career (and his early rejections). He does all of this in the same conversational tone employed in his novels, making this autobiography feel more like a chat with an older, experienced friend than a learned, classic autobiography

Redolent of the Victorian Age, and beautifully written. Some of the amusement comes precisely from his occasional pedantic preaching of Victorian virtues. He is capable of being self-critical. If elsewhere he is self-satisfied, he has much to be self-satisfied about. A man who from the most unpromising beginning came to live life to the full.

Whether your a first=timer or know San Francisco well, this guide is great. I was just visiting, but my friends who live there couldnt get enough of this book. Bottom line: the best guidebook series yet for thirtysomethingsings.

This book was a great resource for twenty-somethings who want to know relevant info about the city. It combines interesting trivia (the number of people who have jumped off the golden gate bridge, the REAL character of each district -- heroin junkies and all) with blurbs on great clubs/cafes, etc. Everytime a San Franciscan said "Hey, we thought we'd take you ____ tonight," I said "Ah, yes -- that was in my Avant-Guide." The places the book recommends are actually places where local twenty-somethings go, not just tourist traps.

The information that this book provided was an excellent guide to San Francisco. For some one who has only heard about how "cool" San Francisco is yet has no IDEA where to find these "cool" places, it fantastic. My only complaint in the layout of the book. First of all, neon pink pages make it difficult to read in spots. Second of all it just does not seem all that well organized. You can't really use it as a reference - you need to read right through it to appreciate it!

I travel to San Francisco several times a year and I've read all there is to read about the city. This book speaks to me (35 yo female), and seems like the guide I would make, if I did that sort of thing. I keep finding lots of places here that are certainly not listed anywhere else. I love the attituede... and the design is amazing too.

This book takes the reader on a journey from the struggle of dealing with the deep pain that arose when a father's son was murdered, to finding the transformative power of forgiveness. For those who find it hard to imagine such a leap, this is a must read. For those who have experienced it, it is confirmation.

It was a good book, very inspirational. It was very well written, since both sides were explained very well. Such a tradgedy should be more publicized, since the young kids in the world are just going to keep on doing the same thing. It was a great book, I couldn't put it down.

I read this book after a guest speaker spoke to us about the foundation mentioned in this book. I just loved the father attutide towards all this. It was such a tragedy not just for his family but for others involved. And, I can't get over his attitudes towards the person that killed his son. I totally agree with him and not the book itself but the story behind the book really changed my life.

This book helped me. It is so heartfelt and well-written. The amazing story of the reconciliation of the grandfather of a murder perpetrator, and the father of the victim. Explains principles of restorative justice -- a whole new way of approaching violent crimes. Social workers, lawyers, teachers, police officers, judges should read this.

The experienced as well as hobby gold prospector will find this a delightful book. Dot and Jesse's adventures of ekeing out a living "gold mining" during the depression is inspiring. But the true delight in this book is finding yourself caught up in their adventure; sampling the wonderful "unfenced openness" of California's heartland, living in harmony with nature and discovering the true meaning of friendship and neighborliness. I read this book in one day. I could NOT put it down!

A great read for prospectors, full of good ideas for those of us that like to explore and find our own gold.Actually it would be a fun book for anyone.

This book was a fun read. It was full of the kind of things that a prospector needs. I found it to be a "can't put it down" kind of book.

Glen

This book is very helpful to the true hearted prospector.

A great read. Jesse recalls how he and Dot coped with the depression by "camping" in the California Gold country and mining gold. Buy it, Read it.

It's amazing that 50 years after it was published this book is still a relevant account of police work in Los Angeles. It still captures the courage, determination, and even fear, involved with law enforcement. But, it now reads like a retro "cop talk" diary from the extraordinary Jack Webb. His language and tone is a peek back into the past, when Los Angeles was a much smaller place and a sense of community still existed. I love this book and I highly recommend it for anyone that has an interest in that time and place.

On radio, in the 1950s television version of Dragnet, and in its 1960s resurrection, Jack Webb was Sergeant Joe Friday, the straight-shooting, no-nonsense exemplar of the LAPD. In this non-fiction book, Webb tells the real stories of crimes that were too violent to be broadcast on "Dragnet." Among them are the famous murder of the "Black Dahlia," a woman who was tortured for days before her killer slit her throat, drained her body of blood, bisected it and dumped her in an empty lot. Another story that made my blood boil was the murder of a 10-year old orphaned boy, whose own mother had just died days before. His father lost a wife and, senselessly, a son within weeks to a murderer who killed for the thrill of it.

Each chapter of the book is labeled with an LAPD rank, from Policeman, to Sergeant, to Lieutenant, all the way to Commissioner(s). The stories in the first few chapters are the most absorbing, as they demonstrate actual, hands-on police work. Yet, it was also interesting to read of problems which confronted, and still confront, Los Angeles and its police force at higher levels. The book particularly presents a good picture of Chief Parker, who is responsible for cleaning up the vice and corruption that marked the pre-1950 LAPD and setting rules that made officers proud to serve.

A warning to 21st century readers: This book was written in 1958 with the stereotypes -- and the language -- common at the time. Some sentences might make you gasp: i.e., in describing race relations in Los Angeles, Webb writes that "It is a dozen collisions, the Oriental, the Mexican, the Indian, the Southerner (both Negro and white), the Easterner and the Westerner; intra-racial as well as one skin pitted against another of a different color." There are a lot of sentences like that, particularly in the later chapters, where Webb was trying to argue that the LAPD of the time was cognizant of ethnic tensions and attempted to ameliorate them. (As an unabashed LAPD booster, Webb marshals evidence to make his case that the department was addressing racism.) And, from a 21st century viewpoint, the LAPD war against bingo parlors seems terribly penny-ante, although perhaps justified by the "broken windows" theory.

But the heart of this book is the stories of crimes great and small, and the police officers who solved them. A must for those interested in true crime stories, Los Angeles history, and the LAPD.

I remember watching "Dragnet" and "Badge 714" when I was a kid. I came across the book "The Badge" during my tenth year in high school, which was in 1960. I read it several times and remember being amazed by the contrast in the way Jack Webb wrote and the way he protrayed the Sgt. Joe Friday character. For some strange reason, this book has always been in the back of my mind, and so when the recent release of "The Black Dahlia" came about in the movie circuit, I, just on a whim, went to Amazon.com to see if an old edition of "The Badge" was floating around somewhere. I remembered that Jack Webb had written about this case in His book. I could not believe that, not only was it available, but available for under five frogskins, and new too boot!!!

I am now in the process of reading this book again, and am again amazed at Jack Webb's ability to write. He was so far ahead of his time, in his ability to tell a story back then that even now, his writing is beyond the typical codswample that is available today. Jack Webb was always so robotic in the way He acted, moving about like he had a two-by-four piece of lumber tied to his spine. His writing ability was another story.

I am once again amazed by this man's ability to write a story. Anyone who buys this book and reads it will NOT be disappointed. In fact, I would suggest that quite the opposite will be true.

THE BOOK GIVES A GOOD INSIGHT TO THE HISTORY OF THE LAPD.....IT LETS YOU INTO CRIMES THAT HAVE HAUNTED THE AREA FOR YEARS AND GIVES YOU AN APPRECIATION TO THOSE WHO HAVE TO WEAR THE ACTUAL BADGE.