Illinois Books

I'm not much of a writer of reviews but do want to heartily recommend this book to all and especially anyone interested in the Appalachian area, history, media, or law.
I did truly find it to be a page-turner.
I'm a native of the area but this case was a little before my time and I had not heard a word about it. I was hooked from the first page.
I do think most people would like this book for one reason or another. I was so surprised to see how Wise County was a bit before its time in some of the legal aspects of the trial.

The Depression era saw its fair share of sensational murder trials in the United States: Winnie Ruth Judd (the 'Trunk Murderess'), child-killing cannibal Albert Fish, and Bruno Richard Hauptmann (accused of kidnapping and killing the Lindbergh baby), to name a few. They all received extensive press coverage, provoked controversy, and went on to become the subject of more than one best-selling book. Although her two trials in connection with the death of her controlling father were cause celebres for their durations, Edith Maxwell has never received a book-length examination of her case until now. And that's what makes Sharon Hatfield's "Never Seen the Moon" such a fascinating read and important social document.

It's more than just the reporting of a young schoolteacher's now-forgotten battle for her life and then her freedom. Sharon Hatfield exposes 1930s America's prejudice toward Appalachian culture in general and 'hillbillies' in particular, political restrictions that forbade women from sitting on the Maxwell jury and allowing her to truly be judged by a collection of her peers, and the younger generation's fight to challenge violent paternal authority.

"Never Seen the Moon" can be read and interpreted as an exciting piece of True Crime or a sobering social document. Highly recommended.

I have only read the first two pages of this book, but I already give it five stars for the joke on page two. In his critique of Kaufmann's (whom he calls a soft Nietzschean) critique of Nietzsche, Green says something to the effect that one gets the idea from Kaufmann that the overman could very well be a Princeton philosophy professor! I have still not quit laughing.
I just hope the rest of the book is this good!

Green's work deserves a prominent place in contemporary Nietzsche scholarship for several reasons. Firstly, he refuses to shrink back from the many weird or odd things that Nietzsche says; Green isn't interested in "domesticating" Nietzsche so that he sounds just like another analytic philosopher. Secondly, he insists on the connections between Nietzsche's thought and the philosophy and science (both natural and social) of his day, thereby making Nietzsche look like less of a Wunderkind and more like a serious philosopher, deeply engaged with the thinkers and issues of his day. Thirdly, by placing Nietzsche's epistemology in relation to Kant and neo-Kantianism, Green succeeds in showing both that Nietzsche does in fact have an epistemology (which both traditional analytic philosophers and more "postmodern" thinkers have doubted) and that his epistemology has little in common with the "pragmatism" and "empiricism" with which English-speaking philosophers are comfortable. In short, Green demonstrates that Nietzsche not only believed very strange things, but that he had excellent reasons for doing so, and those of us who are attracted to both Kantianism and to naturalism should follow Nietzsche's lead in working through the consequences of these positions.

My primary criticism of this work would be that "the French Nietzscheans" (i.e. Derrida, Foucault, and above all, Deleuze) are rudely dismissed early on. Green implies that Nietzsche should be read as a "naturalist" and not as a "postmodernist". But why accept this false dichotomy? Given the ways in which Nietzsche radicalizes traditional (i.e. Kantian) categories by way of his Heraclitean naturalism, it at least seems plausible that the post-structuralists are following Nietzsche's lead quite faithfully. One of the origins of "postmodernism" would then be seen to lie in the conflict between Kantianism and naturalism that animates Nietzsche's work.

My comments will be brief, as the fine review already provided by James Heidel is accurate and complete. I intend only to convince any of those who are unsure of buying this book that this really is a great value. Simply excellent writing combined with ample information has resulted in the best book I have read about railroading.

This publication covers the complete history of the Chicago & North Western Railway from the initial charter of the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad in 1836 through the final years before the C&NW was absorbed by the Union Pacific in 1995. This work is one that a reader will come away having learned the evolution of the former C&NW and the reasons for its prominence in railroad history. It is a must have reference text for any fan of Midwest rails. Professor Grant has included numerous illustrations and b&w photographs from his personal collection and from others that have been crisply reproduced and concisely captioned. The generous footnotes and ample bibliography provided are illuminating and will offer any student of Midwest rail history an excellent starting point for a research endeavor of their own.

Dune provides a reasonably objective account of the October Revolution and the Civil War without embellishment or historical name-dropping (Lenin and Trotsky are hardly mentioned). The editors have done history a service by making his writing available in this format.

Dune provides a reasonably objective account of the October Revolution and the Civil War without embellishment or historical name-dropping (Lenin and Trotsky are hardly mentioned). The editors have done history a service by making his writing available in this format.

In CATCHING LIGHT, Kathryn Stripling Byer weaves yet again her own brand of poetic magic. Poems in the voice of an aging woman named Evelyn take us into the life and imagination of a woman who refuses to give up, refuses to let go of life. In lyrics with delicate yet strong movement and closure, she gathers her reader into the web that only language well used can weave. Byer continues to grow as a poet, and I look forward to future volumes. The terms Southern and Appalachian no longer apply to such work; it has moved beyond the regional and into a realm accessible to anyone who cares about poetry, regardless of its regional roots. All good poems begin in the particulars of their worlds, of course, but too often poems termed regional, especially Southern or Appalachian, are met with condescension from the more entlighted literati in NYC, Provincetown, and else where. Byer's poems rebuke such a constricted view of American poetry.

When the Southeastern Bookseller's Association selected this book for their 2002 Book of the Year in Poetry, they knew what they were doing. Kathryn Stripling Byer's fourth book of poetry takes on the subject of a woman's old age, her last days, and how she reacts to them. By turns stark, witty, lyrical, elegiac, these poems seem determined to rise to the challenge issued by Eavan Boland in several of her poems and essays that writing about an aging woman is difficult if not downright impossible in the Western poetic tradition. In the voice of a woman by the name of Evelyn, and growing out of a collaboration with photographer Louanne Watley, whose Evelyn Series illuminated the last days of an eccentric old woman, these poems take the reader into Evelyn's interior world, her fears, her sexuality, her memories. It's quite a journey and one well worth taking, not only for its insights but also for the beauty and clarity of its poetry.

This book is a much needed contribution to the historical record, to undo all the mindless junk that's been said for years about what the Hollywood Ten was all about. Dmytryk's memoir is candid, honest and gets to what the heart of the matter was all about. And because he was the only one of the Ten who recognized that, he is treated now as a pariah by those who seem to think that fealty to the American Communist Party is more noble than "naming names", even when in Dmytryk's case it forced him into prison in the name of beliefs he no longer held.

Probably the best memoir of one man's break from American communism since Whittaker Chambers's masterpiece "Witness."

In 1947 Edward Dmytryk, a rising young director of such films as "Murder, My Sweet" and "Crossfire," along with 11 other Hollywood writers and executives, was called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee, known to history as HUAC. HUAC's stated purpose for calling these 12 men was to expose the corrupting presence of communists in the entertainment industry and, it hoped, bar them from further employment in Hollywood. Ten, the famous Hollywood Ten, did indeed testify, were found in contempt of congress for their unwillingness to fully cooperate with the House committee and were duly punished for their intransigence. Subsequent to his appearance before congress in 1947, Dmytryk was sentenced to spend six months in a minimum security federal facility.

"Odd Man Out" is Dmytryk's story of that time. It is a unique story. Most if not all of the people who were banned by the HUAC influenced Hollywood blacklists were indeed communists, or had joined the party at some point in the past. As Dmytryk writes, naming names was the ultimate sin. And, although "HUAC was out to expose a movement rather than nail a tiny group of individuals, and in that, however illegal, unethical, and un-American it was, they obviously succeeded," the blacklisted individuals were supposed to maintain a united front. After prison and a couple of years in the wilderness, though, Dmytryk had a change of heart. Never a True Believer, it seems, it became obvious to him "the Ten had been sacrificed to the Party's purpose as a pipeline for the Comintern's propaganda... and ... if I were going to be a martyr, I wanted the privilege of choosing my martyrdom, and making my family suffer to protect the American representatives of a foreign agency would certainly not be it." And so, as a condition for reinstatement, in 1951 Dmytryk testified again for HUAC, this time as a friendly witness.

Time has exposed the communist witchhunt as a dark blemish on America's record, and those who were blacklisted have become noble martyrs. Dmytryk started out a hero but became the turncoat villain in this story. His second testimony in 1951, even though he named no new names, was never completely forgiven. Towards the end of the book Dmytryk recounts an encounter with another blacklisted director, Jules Dassin, who refused to share a stage with him and yet felt free to excoriate him during a round-table discussion of the blacklist era. Dassin's reaction wasn't untypical, and even today the blacklisted individuals are revered without quarter. Save for the turncoat Dmytryk, who, unfortunately, was forced to deal with the devil and testify against his former friends and denounce his past involvement in the communist party in America. "Odd Man Out" convinced me that he did the right thing, and reminded me that history is rarely a clear-cut matter of Right and Wrong. If you're interested in a different perspective on this difficult time I strongly recommend this book.

An outstanding book that communicates the joy of childhood. Well written, and outstanding art work. The story of pretend play and childhood adventures while growing up in a poor setting inspires children today. Adults will note that the gentle story honors a wonderful mother who had to overcome her own difficulties. This book makes me long for my own childhood. Great job, Mr. Stark!

What a wonderful book by Ken Stark!!! This is a great story about two brothers growing up in small town Illinois in the 1950's. It is about a simpler life than we all lead now and that is so refreshing! The illustrations are a wonder! Just gorgeous! The themes of friendship and brotherly love are so comforting! Get this book!!

If you are a fan of Robert Frank this is your new American photographer . Where Frank ushered in his vision of America from across the country Stochl captures his vision on the seeming lonely streets of Chicago . Focusing his leica on the almost but never touching human figures he leaves you with powerful images of our loneliness in daily commute. A true reason to call this city Shy Town.

Stochl appears to think in black in white, lending the gravity of the form to the people and streets of Chicago he captures here with such memorable directness. The often stylish, but always competent, compositions seemed intuitively matched to their subject matter in each case, often highlighting the subjects' sometimes dramatic, sometimes disjointed relationships to their surroundings. Stochl seems to effortlessly combine bracingly direct naturalism with appropriate, innovative composition. You will not find more substanial or more accomplished contemporary U.S. photography.

Gilpin et al. aptly depict and identify what has made Yale's workers and the movement they have created so vibrant and strong. This book is all the more pertinent given last month's strike of all four unions.

I had to read this book for a US Labor History course at the University of Colorado. It was absolutely incredible. The authors trace the events leading up to the strike but, more importantly, they describe how the community of New Haven came together in order to defeat "Corporate Yale." I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in labor history and the struggles faced by American workers.

Many books on "the separation of church and state" tend to revolve around the issue of was America founded as a "Christian nation," a question that is loaded with a lot of political and religious baggage. McGarvie weaves through that debate and poses a simple question--how did the transformation of American law affect the separation of church authority and state/government authority in the early republic?

The question may seem a bit abstruse, but McGarvy's answers are enlightening. One Nation Under Law looks at the disestablishment struggle not as a pro- or anti-religion issue (although there is some of that from the times), but as an issue of how legal structure affected politics. The distinction is important, as it frees the debate from the perils of the "Christian nation" question. McCarvy finds that many people supported the privatization (through incorporation) of religious institutions as the US transformed from a colonial communalism to a republican ideology based on Enlightment principles of individualism. Only after this took effect did the "separation of church and state" as we know it begin to form as a response to legal changes during the country's founding generation.

Well researched, with copious mention of other legal and history scholars, and packed into a manageable 191 pages. Will not lose the attention of the lay reader, useful to scholars of history, law and religion

McGarvie explores an important topic, and addresses issues which we are currently discussing during this election year. He presents a readable text, a well researched analysis, and a thought provoking study.