Washington Books

Vanity in Washington by Peggy vanHulsteyn, published in December 2000, couldn't have been more purr-fectly timed. Yes, it was making its way to booksellers just as gift-givers were making up their minds about what to get the cat-lovers in their lives. But it was the embattled race for the White House that made anything with a Washington, D.C. dateline in demand...

VanHulsteyn's cat Vanity provides both the inspiration and the voice. Vanity's trials and tribulations of touring a particular city are from the feline's unique perspective. Through Vanity's travels, we humans get a tour of our Nation's Capital's hot/top spots. One of my favorites is when Vanity coughs up a fur ball in the cab when the fare seems excessively high because the driver didn't understand English and took them needlessly out of their way. She also pokes fun at bureauCATS and fat cats and other political animals...

Vanity in Washington is light-hearted, and vanHulsteyn's humor makes this a fun and funny read...Its 112 pages make it an easy one- or two- sitting reading for the cat-lover in your life -- you or someone you know. Susan Bard Hall, Pet Times

This delightful book is my choice of a gift for every one of my cat-loving friends. Van Hulsteyn knows cats, their idiosyncracies, their foibles, and their lovingly inattentive ways. Cat owners will readily see their own pet in Vanity and her antics. Upon receiving the book as a gift from me, my friend in Seattle, a 3-cat owner, e-mailed, "I can really relate to her description of Vanity getting into her suitcase that's open on the bed....Just what mine do before I go on a trip. They camp out in it and leave cat hair all over whatever I have already packed!"

And cat owner or not, everyone will spot their favorite bureaucrat in the Washington characters van Hulsteyn deftly delivers, along with enough cat puns to keep them in puurrspective. Her eye for distinctive details, as well as the charming illustrations, enhanced my pleasure as I chuckled through her droll descriptions of Vanity facing the frustrations we all deal with daily, from weather-challenged traffic to rude parking attendants to power-hungry "friends." Few of today's manners, mores and tastes escape her sharp wit.

I had met Vanity in van Hulsteyn's first book about her, "Diary of a Santa Fe Cat," and was pleased to find I could continue my acquaintance with this witty kitty--and have a second round of gifts that please my friends so thoroughly!

"Vanity in Washington" is just the prescription to laugh our way out of our recent national political quagmire. (Shall we at least all agree we could use a good laugh about Washington?) Imagine "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" with a feline cast. No, it's more sophisticated, more light-hearted than that. OK. Imagine "Auntie Mame" as a cat. That's closer to the level of hilarity. Readers will be "amewsed " (this book is chock-full of cat puns) no matter which political party has their support.

"Vanity in Washington" offers up a charming view of our nation's capitol through the eyes of an adventurous calico named Vanity (thus the title) recounting her attempts to navigate the metro, take in an Orioles home game, attend a formal state dinner, and become the Czar of Snooze as the new director of the FBI (Federal Bureau of Inertia). It's a timeless send up of bureaucracy and a great gift for those who accept that cats already run the world and we humans are just here to open cans. Recommended.

Though 4 years younger than the author, Frank Wetzel, I knew many of the people he talked about in Victory Gardens & Barrage Balloons and experienced many of the same places and events he writes about. The girl used as the model on the cover lived not too far away from my family during WWII. I would definitely recommend this book for all Bremertonians but especially those living there between 1930 and 1945. Others may enjoy it as well

Former editor Harwood of The Post has written a 3-page review of the book in the health section re: the importance of oral history. Good reading

I was not too familiar with the life of Marian Anderson, so it was
with some degree of anticipation that I listened to THE VOICE THAT
CHALLENGED A NATION by Russell Freedman . . . it did not
disappoint.

Anderson began her career, singing in church choirs . . . because
she had to quite school after her father died when she was in
eighth grade, she did not get to complete high school until
she was 24 . . . yet she continued to sing, helped along by
members of her church who constantly came together to raise
money for her lessons.

She eventually sang to sold-out concert halls throughout Europe . . . yet
the book's most moving part described her return to this country in
1939 . . . when she was denied permission to perform in Constitution
Hall in because she wasn't white, she staged--with help from
Eleanor Roosevelt--a breathtaking outdoor concert at the Lincoln Memorial.

I would have liked this CD to have contained some of the performances
of her actual songs . . . yet for that, I guess I'm just going to have to
spring for another CD of her music . . . it will be my pleasure to do so.

Writing a biography of a private person who led a public life is, by definition, difficult. So it only stands to reason that writing a children's biography of a private person who led a public life would be ten times as hard. Children's biographies cannot speculate over the sex life of the subject. They can't delve into shoddy rumors or dredge up conspiracy theories related to the person's sordid background. None of this is to say that Marian Anderson had such sketchy rumors floating about her person, of course. By all accounts she led an exciting life, had a fabulous career, and is regarded as a great American hero. But she was also a private person, which places Russell Freedman in a difficult position. As the author of, "The Voice That Challenged a Nation", Freedman's job is to tell Anderson's story while relying on as many good, strong, clean facts as he can get his hands on. Fortunately, we're talking about the premiere biographical children's author here. Alongside fellow genius James Giblin, Freedman knows exactly how to present a life this interesting and detailed. The book will not charm every child assigned it in school. But if you've a kid who's open-minded and able to get into Marian's struggle, this is an excellent resource. Even if, prior to this book, they couldn't tell Marian Anderson from Ella Fitzgerald.

The book opens with what is inarguably Anderson's greatest moment in the public eye. She stands on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial with a crowd of 75,000 people below her, waiting to hear her sing. The date is April 9, 1939, and Anderson has been refused the chance to perform at Constitution Hall. Anderson is black and the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) is inherently racist. With this concert, under the shadow of Lincoln himself, Anderson gives a heckuva performance that stands as a dignified response to racism in America. It goes very well and from here we shoot back and see Ms. Anderson's life in full. From her early days as a choir member in Philadelphia to her triumphant European tour in the early 30s. Certain aspects of Marian's life repeat themselves. She was wholly dedicated to her mother and took her everywhere. She was uncertain of her own talents at times but continued to sing and conquer. Freedman expertly weaves fascinating aspects of Marian's life (example: her high school boyfriend waited some twenty years to marry her) with factual information about the times in which she lived. Kids who read this book learn just as much about Jim Crow laws and deeply imbedded segregation as they do about Ms. Anderson's life. By the end of the book you find yourself emerging with a fascinating look at a truly great woman.

Freedman follows up this book with an extensive bibliography (which gives props to fellow fabulous child biography, "When Marian Sang" by Pam Munoz Ryan). There's also a discography, a series of picture credits, and a wonderful index. It seems petty to demand that an author (or publisher) bend even farther backwards after producing such a gorgeous book, but I was a teensy bit sad that "The Voice That Challenged a Nation" didn't have a small cd accompanying it. When you read a quote, like the one from opera and concert singer Jessye Norman saying that, "If the planet Earth could sing, I think it would sound like Marian Anderson", you want to hear that voice. Not just read about it. But as I said, them's small potatoes. As it is, this may be one of those few children's books that inspire kids to search for Marian Anderson recordings on itunes (which has a lovely selection, by the way).

With some authors, you know to trust them. You pick up their latest work without a smidgen of doubt in your mind that what you're about to peruse is going to impress you. After Freedman won my respect with his glorious, "Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery" (Eleanor shows up quite a lot in this book as well, I'm pleased to report), I expected nothing but the best from his Marian Anderson bio. And the best it is. A fine selection for any library, whether personal or public, anywhere.

"This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, 'My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.'
"And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

"Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

"Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

"But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

"Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

"Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring..."

--Martin Luther King, Jr., August 28, 1963

Dr. King must surely have had a thought or two of Marian Anderson as he stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on that historic afternoon and delivered those words.

Many of us know Marian's basic story:

Marian Anderson was a helluva singer.

Despite being celebrated in Europe as the voice of a century, and despite having the strong support of the President's wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, Marian Anderson was denied the opportunity to perform in Constitution Hall in Washington, DC because it was owned by the Daughters of the American Revolution, and those ladies didn't allow no black folks to be singing in their hall. That refusal led to Marian performing instead from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for a crowd of 75,000 people on the Mall and a nationwide radio audience.

She stood up tall where Martin would stand a quarter-century later and led off her performance with a rendition of My County 'Tis of Thee.

Her performance is seen as a historic event at the dawn of the modern Civil Rights movement.

Two years ago, Pam Munoz Ryan and Brian Selznick created the stunningly beautiful 40 page picture book, WHEN MARIAN SANG (Scholastic Press, 2002), which won all sorts of awards including a Sibert Honor.

Now Russell Freedman has written a beautiful and more detailed biography of Marian Anderson which will similarly captivate readers with its engaging text and its clear, oversized photographs of the singer herself and of supporting characters in the story of Marian Anderson.

The most precious of those supporters were also some of the earliest. Through the chapters focusing on her earliest years, I was moved by Freedman's portrayal of how Marian's childhood community came through time and time again to insure that her dreams would not be in vain:

"Again there was no money for lessons. Most of Marian's earnings from concert appearances went to her mother, who was still taking in laundry and scrubbing floors, and to her sisters, who were still in school. And again the congregation at Union Baptist Church came to Marian's aid, organizing a benefit concert that raised $566 so that she could study with Boghetti."

Equally moving is the subplot of her life that involves Orpheus Fisher:

"I don't wanna wait in vain for your love" --Bob Marley

Having had to quit school after eighth grade in the wake of her father's death, Marian did not complete high school until she was twenty-four. It was during her delayed high school years--back when America was engaged in the First World War--that Marian met Orpheus Fisher who, "like her, was still in high school. He fell for the shy singer with the soft laughter and huge sparkling eyes who was almost as tall as he..."

Decades later, America was midway through the Second World War when Marian finally relented and married Orpheus, who has tirelessly and faithfully pursued her all those years, while she was single-mindedly focused on her career.

And what a career it was:

"During one ten-month period she gave 123 concerts in fifteen different countries, performing a repertoire that included over two hundred songs and arias in German, Italian, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Finnish, and other languages."

It must have been amazingly disheartening for Marian Anderson to return home from entertaining European royalty and once again come face to face with Jim Crow. Like black sports stars of that era, Marian faced dangerous and humiliating conditions when traveling and performing around some regions of our "sweet land of liberty." And yet, in photos, she appears both to have left that all behind and to be channeling some kind of higher power as she sings.

" 'It was music-making that probed too deep for words.' "

Marian Anderson remains a symbol of the historic fight to let freedom ring for all Americans. In VOICE THAT CHALLENGED A NATION, Russell Freedman goes far beyond the symbolic to provide us a memorable look at the life of a singer whose talents knew no bounds.

Costco originally featured this cd set with book in their monthly booklet...I searched for it at 3 different stores...they finally told me it was probably only in the southern states...so dumb...but good old Amazon came through once again...I ordered 2 sets...awesome purchase! Thanks!

For many too young to remember him, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is, unfortunately, seen simply a figure from "ancient" history for whom we have a day off from work or school. And for many who did live through the Civil Rights Era, Dr. King is frozen in time in 1963, roaring "I have a dream!" to 200,000 people in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Dr. King deserves much more than either of these views.

As the 40th anniversary of Dr. King's death approaches, this handsome book-and-CD boxed set provide a highly-readable and highly-listenable history lesson for some - and a bittersweet reminder for others - as to how his life changed our lives. It helps to explain why Dr. King is (as New York Times editor Howell Raines puts it in the book) "a fully credentialed member of the American pantheon that starts with the Founding Fathers."

As the title discloses, this is largely a collection of "reflections ... through words and song" on Dr. King's life and work. Placed in context by brief, well-written narratives and references to key events in the history of the Civil Rights Movement, the collection includes personal remembrances and moving observations not only from legends and luminaries (such as Dr. Dorothy Height, Rep. John Lewis, Marian Wright Edelman, Julian Bond, Rosa Parks, Harris Wofford, Norman Scribner, Roy Wilkins, Bobby Kennedy, Archbishop Desmond Tutu) but also equally eloquent words from less extraordinary people and even schoolchildren. These reflections are organized into five musically-themed sections: "Discord" (1954-59), "Crescendo" (1960-63), "Harmony" (1964-67), "Elegy" (1968-69), and "Symphony of Brotherhood" (1970-present). Each section includes wonderfully evocative photos of Dr. King and his world.

My favorite section, "Crescendo," builds to the triumphant August 1963 March on Washington. Among other entries, poet Nikki Giovanni recalls Mahalia Jackson urging Dr. King to abandon his prepared speech and just preach spontaneously: "Tell them about the dream!" she says. The chapter ends, chillingly, with the deaths of four young girls less than three weeks later in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama. (For a much more comprehensive, but fully readable, account of the era, I highly recommend Diane McWhorter's Pulitzer-winning "Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution," available from Amazon.)

As a Birmingham native who witnessed part of this history, I eagerly read "Voices" while listening to the accompanying 75-minute CD that well complements the book's words and photos. The 17 songs - each recorded live at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts during 19 years of annual MLK Choral Tribute concerts - are performed by the Grammy®-winning Choral Arts Society of Washington, as well as by various church choirs that each year comprise the MLK Tribute Choir, and talented youth ensembles. The CD appropriately begins with "Lift Every Voice and Sing" (often called "The Negro National Anthem") and ends with Thomas Dorsey's "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" - one of Dr. King's favorite hymns which, just moments before he was killed, he requested be played at an event he was to attend that evening. Between those two are 15 selections that include spirituals, classical choral pieces, hymns, and a solid dose of foot-stomping gospel. The live recordings of this diverse "symphony of brotherhood" are moving - sometimes exuberant, sometimes mournful -- and often make the listener want to join the audiences' cheers.

Recalling Dr. King's "I Have A Dream" speech, Atlanta Constitution editor Gene Patterson observes in the book: "He might as well have been singing." It's an apt metaphor, given the powerful role that music played in the Civil Rights Movement. Indeed, the book's introduction quotes Dr. King as saying, "The freedom songs are playing a strong and vital role in our struggle. They give people new courage and a sense of unity. I think they keep alive a faith, a radiant hope in the future, particularly in our most trying times." In our own "trying times" of today - when peace eludes us and genuine heroes seem especially difficult to come by - this book and CD "sing" of just such a hero's ideals of non-violence, faith, dignity, basic humanity, righteous struggle for a righteous cause, brotherhood and sisterhood among all peoples, and peace.

The release of this book and CD comes at a particularly good time to help keep Dr. King's legacy and ideals alive in the public consciousness. For an affordable 16 bucks, the book and full-length CD offer a great choice for those who would like to give inspiring, meaningful gifts to family and friends - whether for Christmas, Kwanzaa, Chanukah, or even MLK Day - to genuinely celebrate and promote peace on earth and goodwill to all.

For many too young to remember him, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is, unfortunately, seen simply a figure from "ancient" history for whom we have a day off from work or school. And for many who did live through the Civil Rights Era, Dr. King is frozen in time in 1963, roaring "I have a dream!" to 200,000 people in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Dr. King deserves much more than either of these views.

As the 40th anniversary of Dr. King's death approaches, this handsome book-and-CD boxed set provide a highly-readable and highly-listenable history lesson for some - and a bittersweet reminder for others - as to how his life changed our lives. It helps to explain why Dr. King is (as New York Times editor Howell Raines puts it in the book) "a fully credentialed member of the American pantheon that starts with the Founding Fathers."

As the title discloses, this is largely a collection of "reflections ... through words and song" on Dr. King's life and work. Placed in context by brief, well-written narratives and references to key events in the history of the Civil Rights Movement, the collection includes personal remembrances and moving observations not only from legends and luminaries (such as Dr. Dorothy Height, Rep. John Lewis, Marian Wright Edelman, Julian Bond, Rosa Parks, Harris Wofford, Norman Scribner, Roy Wilkins, Bobby Kennedy, Archbishop Desmond Tutu) but also equally eloquent words from less extraordinary people and even schoolchildren. These reflections are organized into five musically-themed sections: "Discord" (1954-59), "Crescendo" (1960-63), "Harmony" (1964-67), "Elegy" (1968-69), and "Symphony of Brotherhood" (1970-present). Each section includes wonderfully evocative photos of Dr. King and his world.

My favorite section, "Crescendo," builds to the triumphant August 1963 March on Washington. Among other entries, poet Nikki Giovanni recalls Mahalia Jackson urging Dr. King to abandon his prepared speech and just preach spontaneously: "Tell them about the dream!" she says. The chapter ends, chillingly, with the deaths of four young girls less than three weeks later in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama. (For a much more comprehensive, but fully readable, account of the era, I highly recommend Diane McWhorter's Pulitzer-winning "Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution," available from Amazon.)

As a Birmingham native who witnessed part of this history, I eagerly read "Voices" while listening to the accompanying 75-minute CD that well complements the book's words and photos. The 17 songs - each recorded live at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts during 19 years of annual MLK Choral Tribute concerts - are performed by the Grammy®-winning Choral Arts Society of Washington, as well as by various church choirs that each year comprise the MLK Tribute Choir, and talented youth ensembles. The CD appropriately begins with "Lift Every Voice and Sing" (often called "The Negro National Anthem") and ends with Thomas Dorsey's "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" - one of Dr. King's favorite hymns which, just moments before he was killed, he requested be played at an event he was to attend that evening. Between those two are 15 selections that include spirituals, classical choral pieces, hymns, and a solid dose of foot-stomping gospel. The live recordings of this diverse "symphony of brotherhood" are moving - sometimes exuberant, sometimes mournful -- and often make the listener want to join the audiences' cheers.

Recalling Dr. King's "I Have A Dream" speech, Atlanta Constitution editor Gene Patterson observes in the book: "He might as well have been singing." It's an apt metaphor, given the powerful role that music played in the Civil Rights Movement. Indeed, the book's introduction quotes Dr. King as saying, "The freedom songs are playing a strong and vital role in our struggle. They give people new courage and a sense of unity. I think they keep alive a faith, a radiant hope in the future, particularly in our most trying times." In our own "trying times" of today - when peace eludes us and genuine heroes seem especially difficult to come by - this book and CD "sing" of just such a hero's ideals of non-violence, faith, dignity, basic humanity, righteous struggle for a righteous cause, brotherhood and sisterhood among all peoples, and peace.

The release of this book and full-length CD comes at a particularly good time to help keep Dr. King's legacy and ideals alive in the public consciousness. This very affordable book-and-CD combo offers a great choice for those who would like to give inspiring, meaningful gifts to family and friends - whether for Christmas, Kwanzaa, Chanukah, or even MLK Day - to genuinely celebrate and promote peace on earth and goodwill to all.

Compiled and organized by Mary Houser Caditz, "Wandering & Feasting: A Washington Cookbook" offers more than two hundred tempting and tasty dishes reflecting the culinary heritage of Washington State. Spiral bound so as to lay flat upon the kitchen table or counter, "Wandering & Feasting is a regional collection organizing dishes from the Olympic Peninsula (Halibut with Macadamia Nut Crust; Whole Baked Salmon with Medley of Three Dill Sauces; Filet of Sole Turbans with Shrimp Sauce), Southwest Washington (Individual Salmon Wellingtons with Dijon Cream Sauce; Cream of Carrot Soup with Marsala; Chocolate Hazelnut Decadence with Rum Cream), North Puget Sound and San Juan Islands (Dungeness Crab Stuffed Mushroom Caps; Strawberries in Raspberry Sauce with Orange Cream; Easy Apple Raisin Chutney), Puget Sound (Fried Calamari in Beer Batter; Cheese Puffs with Smoked Salmon Filling; Steamed Clams with Tomatoes and Herbs), Cascades (Flank Steak with Blue Cheese, Mushroom and Sun-dried Tomato Stuffing; Baked Pears in Apple cider and Cinnamon; Trout with Chive Cream Sauce), Central Washington (Beef on Skewers with Peanut Sauce; Spinach Salad with Apples and Ginger Vinaigrette; Minted Cantaloupe Soup), and the Inland Empire (Venison with Juniper Berry Sauce; Bulgar Wheat Pilaf with Mushrooms; Asparagus napoleons with Orange Hollandaise Sauce). Occasionally illustrated with historical photography, and featuring appendices that include 'Basic Recipes', 'Low-Fat Suggestions', Glossary, 'Selected Bibliography', and an Index, "Wandering & Feasting" is an ideal and strongly recommended addition to any personal and family cookbook collection.

Well written book with fascinating information about Washington State. The book includes recipes which highlight different regions in Washington. Ms. Caditz, a Washington native, weaves interesting stories and features throughout the book. A must have if you enjoy cooking and enjoy Northwest cuisine

This cook book is informative, useful, and inspiring. The recipes are yummy and well worth the effort. Be sure to try the Walnut Torte with Chocolate Glaze!

The book is divided into regions of Washington State, with an interesting narrative about each region in each section. There are historic photos, too, so Wandering and Feasting is a book to read, in addition to cook book as reference.

The presentation is crisp and appealing.

A great gift for gourmets, people who cook, NWophiles, and those who like to eat others' good cooking!

This book is very helpful. It provides a world of information that will help anyone be able to get around and get involved in their community.

This is one of the greatest resource books I've ever used! It is so comprehensive, in that it provides resource information for everything from professional associations to book clubs. I'm a Guidance Counselor for the US Army, and I've used it on several occassions in counseling women on career matters. What was really astounding was that all of the phone numbers I called were correct! Many of the organizations are National and therefore are not only helpful to women in the Washington area, but for women throughout the country as well. The only other thing that I could say is thankyou , to the author for providing such a valuable tool for women. It has enriched and enhanced my life in many ways.

This book relenquishes a wealth of information and services that are available in the Washington D.C. area.

As a General Surgeon and Surgery teacher in a residency I appreciate the value of this manual. I may get quick, truthful and current answers in my job and with my medical's residents.
Thank for this gem.

If you need quick information, or to reforce your knowledge in the Emergency Room, this manual could help to solve almost any problem. This is not a text book, is a reference where you can find a quick answer.

During my internship this book and the Washington Manual of Medical Therapeutics were the 2 books I couldn't live without.They give you quick information to solve almost any problem.

This is a very handy book to have on hand as you're reviewing slides, and trying to come up with a complete and useful diagnosis. It gives all the pertinent information you need to get the job done including diagnostic features, staging and grading. As it fits in your pocket, it's a nice quick reference to have as you're signing out, and is much more useful than baby Robbins.

I liked this book very much. It is small in size but has a great fund of UPDATED knowledge. It doesn't have pictures or images in its printed format because I think the authors want to make the size of the book small to be handy and not heavy :-). It fits into the pocket of your lab coat. They put all the images in an electronic image bank. I liked the text part of the book as it is very comprehensive and contains the information I need on the sign out and when I want to check for some information quickly. It is really a great book for pathologists.

Get this.....especially if you are studying for boards (either USMLE or path boards). A great tool to have at the scope side. Make sure you register for the web site...the image bank alone is worth the price and the entire text is available online.

I humbly suggest that anyone who likes the work presented in "Washington on $10 Million a Day" also peruse the political newsletter "Counterpunch". I am not affiliated with any of the above mentioned entities just an interested reader eager to spread the truth about our sham democracy. For those of you who have not read this title and would like to investigate the sordid inner workings of our nation's capital; purchase this book. You will not find the commercialized, sanitized B.S. so pervasive in mainstream media. Educate yourself about the dissolute triad, comprised mainly of lobbyists, corporations and P.R. firms which in aggregate are known as the "4th" branch of government. I also suggest reading "Derailing Democracy" by Dave McGowan. Thank you.

Ken Silverstein is the co-editor of the newsletter Counterpunch and one of the best investigative journalists in the US. In this book he exposes some of the ways in which corporate money and lobbying corrupt our political process and make sure that public policy serves corporate interests, not our own. A pair of examples will illustrate. In one particularly telling account, Silverstein reveals how Philip Morris connived to set up a phony public interest group called Contributions Watch, the purpose of which was to smear trial lawyers as "the most powerful special interest group" in the country. In another section, he describes various types of "astroturf" lobbying activities, where corporations create phony "grassroots" groups to provide cover for their interests.

Much of the book is based on reporting Silverstein did for Counterpunch. Given Silverstein's talents, one wonders why he is working for a small-circulation newsletter. Surely our major newspapers have need for investigative journalists of his talents. But then one remembers that the big papers are themselves corporate owned, and unlikely to want to shed too much light on the misdeeds of large corporations or the excesses of unrestrained monopoly capitalism.

The one flaw I can find with the book is the absence of any detailed notes on Silverstein's sources.

Yes, it truly is the age of retail politics. And Ken Silverstein's new expose, Washington on $10 Million a Day, shows the high price that must be paid to the lobbyists of K Street to get troubled corporations and Third World dictators out their various jams. Silvertein introduces us to the likes of Tommy Hale Boggs, the brother of ABC news diva Cokie Roberts, who charges $500 an hour to help oil companies boot Indians off potential drilling sites, bail out the interest of big banks, vouch for the character of butchers like Baby Doc Duvalier and tirelessly tread on his intimate relationship with President Bill. Then there's the noxious Edward von Kloberg, the man who fell for a Spy Magazine spoof when he indicated he would be willing to represent the interests of a German neo-Nazi group. Among van Kloberg's other clients: Saddam Hussein and Romanian thug Nicolae Ceausescu. With this new book, Silverstein goes right to the corrupt heart of the Beltway, where forgiveness for almost any crime against humanity is for sale at the right price. Silverstein is one of the nation's finest investigative reporters and this book proves he is also one of the funniest. Jeffrey St. Clair

For the last five generations this has been the book every British parent wanted their sons to read, and Tom Brown is the mold which every parent wanted their sons to fit. He loves his parents. He attends church. He is a good student. He is kind to his juniors and respectful of his seniors. He is a true sportsman, and always plays fair. He is the beloved of his headmaster at Rugby school, Mr. Arnold, and Arnold himself is elevated by his mentorship of young Tom. He has an unbounded future, like Britain herself. Yes, it is an idealistic view of youth, but part of a parent's responsibility is surely to instill idealism, along with everything else.

To more effectively enshrine his protagonist in glory, to place in relief his exceptionalism, to show the depravity of his antognist, and to put a human face on the Devil, Hughes also gives us Harry Flashman. While it was Tom's popularity which created the book's commercial success for the last five generations, my guess is that it will be George McDonald Fraser's references to Tom and Arnold, in his series of Flashman books, which will draw the contemporary reader's attention. Harry cheats and lies; he's a bully; he drinks, and is ultimately expelled from Rugby School for drunkeness. Please refer to Fraser's book, "Flashman," and the rest of the series of Flashman books to see how young Harry turned out. Not so bad actually. The Victoria Cross, highly respected, and extremely wealthy.

Naturally, this is far from Hughes' intent in creating a counterpart to the ideal child, but the existence of such a child as Tom Brown creates a disequilibrium in nature, which requires remedy. The reader will need to decide for himself whether the prototype of good or evil is more compelling. "Tom Brown's School Days" was a book of idealism for young boys at the turn of the 20th century. "Flashman" is a book of realism (okay, of humor, too) for the modern rogue at the turn of the 21st. Read both for the clash of perspectives.

I am often amazed that this wonderful classic is so often overlooked. The author's style and syntax is pure Victorian, through and through with wonderfully convoluted sentences, and indeed, paragraphs. This work, which takes place during the mid 1800s, circa 1840, is the story of a young man in a English Public School (which, unlike in the U.S. is actually a private school to which only the elite can afford to attend) and his adventures at this school. This of course is a boarding school. While not absolute, this work is obviously autobiographical in nature. When this work is read, the reader must keep in mind when it was written, the society in which it was written and most importantly, the attitude of the society in which it was written. I was first introduced to this work well over forty years ago and have given it several reads since that time. I strongly suspect that many young readers of today may find the syntax difficult at first, but if they press on, there is so much to learn from this book. As another reviewer well pointed out, some of the events addressed here are not what you would call "politically correct" by our standards to day in this country, but then we must remember when and where it was written. Any student of the history of literature or a student of our language will most likely be fascinated with this work. I highly recommend.

"Tom Brown's School Days"?, That's junenile fiction. That's a kid running down a merry lane in England with a satchel on his back, right? So wrong. How could this classic piece of little literature have escaped my attention? A stunning book about a boy's life in boarding school in mid 19th Century England, it tells it's adolescence tale with all the discipline of a Cub Scout Manual and whimsy of a comic book. Author Hughes frequently stops the action and intercedes on behalf of himself, commenting on the progress of the story as a teacher might. His defense of boys boxing with hard fists and fractured skulls is so socially incorrect it becomes amusing in it's conviction. Maybe skulls were harder then. A good knock-a-round is good for a boy. But school-yard fights aside, this is an adult piece of classic literature with a deeply moral narrative and a devoted sense of well-being. In it's second century of publication, it is a breath of fresh air.