Tennessee Books

The Oilers lost the largest comeback in NFL history, tied for the best record in the league, traded the greatest player in franchise history for a fourth round draft pick, and left the city all in the course of three years. If you lived in Houston and were younger than 20, as I was, Luv Ya Blue was a myth and the Run-N-Shoot Oilers were as good as it got. To see that much genuine disappointment (expectations minus results) in your sports team, when you're too young to love, risk or sacrifice much else, is the closest you can get to personal loss and suffering. The very best mayor and one of the greatest oilmen in the Energy Capital of the World had a clash of egos, cost the county $300 million in tax dollars, 35 years of tradition, five silent autumns in the BIGGEST FOOTBALL CITY ON THE PLANET, gave the Rockets and the Astros the leverage they needed to blackmail sports fans for $400 million more and convinced me, at an early age, of the fraudulence, wastefulness and stupidity of sports fandom. Please read this book for the entire, sickening history of a FAILED franchise in spite of every social, economic and competitive advantage imaginable.

Houston Chronicle columnist Fowler, who covered the Oilers for 17 seasons, has written a forthright account of a pro football team whose ineptitude is a matter of public record. He charges the team and its management with "turmoil, intrigue, backstabbing, and buffoonery." Owner Bud Adams began his business career with a grubstake from his father, head of Phillips 66 petroleum, and later was a founder of the American Football League, of which his Oilers were the champs in 1960 and 1961. The AFL and the NFL played their first merged season in 1970, and for 27 years the Houston team has never played in a Super Bowl despite having one of the strongest rosters. But front-office interference, inferior coaching and Adam's penny-pinching spelled trouble, charges Fowler, which came to a head when the owner demanded a new stadium as the price for staying put. Failing to get it and "snarling like a baboon," he moved the team to Nashville, where it is playing its initial season this fall. This is not the account of a franchise warts and all, but of one that is all warts, at least according to Fowler.

Being a fan of pro football in general, I was quite interested in Fowler's book the first time I saw it at a bookstore.

I had an opportunity to see the Oilers, in their second-to-last year in Houston, in a pre-season game against Dallas played in San Antonio in 1995. Two things stick out in my mind from the experience: 1) The constant scoreboard advertisements proclaiming "Oilers Regular Season Game Tickets - Great Seats Still Available!",(this just a week before the start of the regular season) 2) the incredibly low number of Oilers fans there, even though San Antonio is the same distance from Dallas or Houston. All of this made me think, where does Houston get off lobbying for a new or a relocated franchise after turning their backs on the Oilers the way they did? Fowler's book answered the question, and many others.

Fowler asserts that, within years of Bud Adams' founding of the team, as well as partially founding the American Football League, Adams was already threatening to move his franchise, and his dictatorial regime would only get worse as the years went on. Fowler also asserts that, had Adams minded his own business and stayed out of football operations, the Oilers might well have made it to a Super Bowl in the '70's, and maybe even brought home a Lombardi trophy.

And although Adams and his team seem happier now in Nashville, with a new name and logo to boot, Fowler tells that moving the team there was not without its own controversy.

Fowler also explains, in plain English, the politics and math of building a new stadium. (Being that my favorite team is the New England Patriots, this section was of special interest to me.) The author asserts that Bud Adams, as well as any other owner of a major league franchise, could easily fund a stadium, and reap profits within just a few years...makes you think.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in football, the Oilers (now Titans), or big business in general...or even someone just looking for a few laughs! Fowler's biting commentary on Houston's least favorite son is hilarious.

Fick's book reveals unknown aspects of the haitian revolution: the fundamental role of the masses without witch the revolution would not have taken place. This book is for anyone who is trying to understand the haitian revolution from the people's point of view. It is the equivalent of Zen's People's history of the U.S.

How to follow in the footsteps of a great historian? One answer is found in this important successor to CLR James's "Black Jacobins." Fick effectively honors James's legacy by expanding the scope of inquiry to encompass the "self-activity" of historical actors at all levels of Haitian society. Where "Black Jacobins" stressed the key role of revolutionary leaders, Fick documents longstanding patterns of everyday resistance and marronage from which the 1791 revolution drew great strength. Her work restores popular agency to the forefront of Haiti's epic history---and James's contribution remains secure, not least due to superior literary merit.

This book is not only a great companion to CLR James' classic, The Black Jacobins, it also initiates a deeper understanding of the forces and factors that were at the root of the revolution. Whereas James' work tends to mythesize leaders, particularly Toussaint, Fick's work is more likely to detail specific battles and events with information on multiple actors. The only trouble is that Fick's book lacks some of the moral indignation that James had as well as his interest in connecting the Haitian Revolution to the political context of modern times. This makes the book more "scholarly" but less compelling. This is a small drawback, however, for those already impassioned about the subject.

A new most important aspect of Fick's book is her emphasis and redefinition of the role of the maroons (escaped slaves). Whereas many times the maroons are portrayed as only peripheral actors or precedents to the revolution, Fick's work shows that the community of escaped slave, a very broad category, was one of the main forces at work in the revolution.

This book is a must for understanding maroonage, the Haitian Revolution, and a historical investigative method that is liberating!

Eller opens the eyes of the reader as he talks about the events that formed Appalachia as we know it today. He tends to romantacize somewhat but gives the reader the hard facts that have affected the Appalachian region and its people.

Mention "Appalachia" today and the idea of a "backward" people in an impoverished region left behind by progress comes to mind. When it was published in 1982, Ronald D. Eller's Miners, Millhands, and Mountaineers: Industrialization of the Appalachian South, 1880-1930, was the first study to argue that, contrary to this common perception, modernization had not passed the region by. Until Eller's no other scholarly study had address the industrialization of Appalachia. What Eller discovered was that Appalachia had indeed passed through a dynamic period of transformation but that as a result "the mountaineers had lost the independence and self-determination of their ancestors, without becoming full participants in the benefits of the modern work." (242) What remained after the boom years was a society trying to cling to tradition but unable to afford the trappings of modern life. Profits generated from the extraction of timber and coal had flowed into the coffers of outside investors.

It is Eller's thesis that while Appalachia had undergone industrialization, the region failed to modernize. He argues that in order to understand the reasons, Southern Appalachia's industrialization should be viewed in a national context. Profits came from the extraction of mountain resources at the lowest possible cost for national markets. This view is buttressed by Gavin Wright's (1996) economic interpretation of the South as a low wage economy within a larger economy. Eller agrees with this interpretation. Like Wright, he argues industrialization was accomplished with cheap labor.

Eller's treatise spans the years 1880 to 1930. Prior to 1880 the area's remoteness and inaccessibility had delayed development. In chapter one, "On the Eve of a Remarkable Development," Eller paints an idyllic Jeffersonian agrarian scene of pre-industrial life in the mountains. Isolated by geography, "the mountain landscape favored the establishment of five forms of settlement - gap, cove, hollow, ridge, and meadow communities - but cove and hollow settlements predominated throughout the region."(8) The topography limited communication and transportation. Subsistence farming was the order and what agrarian economy existed was limited. "By 1880, Appalachia contained a greater concentration of noncommercial family farms than any other area of the nation."(16)

A distinct mountain culture shaped communities and people were self sufficient and independent. It was a patriarchal society where families depended on each other and kinship relationships determined social, religious and political order.(30) Urban centers were few and, except for the villages and towns, society was ordered according to status rather than class. Respectability was valued within the community. Unfortunately the idyllic life that Eller describes was on the threshold of destruction. Two forces were directed toward Appalachia. One, capitalistic, was aimed at the riches of the land, and the other, intellectual, targeted the people. "Businessmen emphasiz[ed] the need for economic development while most missionaries spoke of cultural change, education, and human concern - but ultimately both components were for the modernizing process."(43)

Two early Virginia promoters, General John Daniel Imboden and Major Jedidiah Hotchkiss promoted the region's coal and iron resources.(49) The earliest speculators were able to acquire expansive property rights for pennies. Virginia developers, Rufus A. Ayers and George L. Carter consolidated hundreds of thousands of acres. A Kentuckian, John C. Calhoun Mayo, bought options on thousands of acres.(61) Regional speculators like Ayers, Carter and Mayo, facilitated the influx of outside money. "By purchasing land and mineral resources from local residents for minimal amounts and transferring them to outside corporations for profit, they accumulated great personal wealth, but they handed the regions economy and its future to absentee control."(63) Absentee ownership and control of Appalachia's resources set the pattern for the future and is a major theme in Eller's study.

After timber and coal rights were acquired, railroads were constructed to extract the booty. Eller says "the coming of the railroads to the Appalachian South was almost as dramatic as the selling of the land itself."(65) The Chesapeake and Ohio was the first line constructed in the region after the Civil War. However its purpose was not local. Collis Porter Huntington, envisioned it as a critical, but ultimately unsuccessful, link in a coast-to-coast railroad.(67) When the company defaulted, Huntington sold out to the Drexel-Morgan-Vanderbilt interests which "under the management of the new president. Melville E. Ingalls, the C&O began a rebuilding and expansion program which would eventually make it one of the leading coal carriers on the East Coast."(69) When the railroads came new towns were built and existing ones expanded. For example "the population of Roanoke exploded from fewer that 400 to more than 25,000 people."(70) The changes were written about by John Fox Jr, a Harvard educated New York newspaperman, turned real estate speculator and author. His observations of the mountain people and their culture, taken from his travels and experiences in the mountains, provided him the background for his stories on mountain life. "His two most popular novels, The Trail of the Lonesome Pine and The little Shepard of the Kingdom Come, helped to confirm America's growing conception of Appalachia as a `strange land and a peculiar people.'"(78) Fox's writings highlighted the ongoing struggle between modernity and tradition in the mountains.

Selective logging had begun around 1880, but, Eller recounts that, "between 1890 and 1920 the lumber barons purchased and cut over huge tracts of mountain timberland, devastating the region's forest in one of the most frenzied timber booms in American history."(87) Railroads brought the logs to saw mills and carried the lumber out to national markets. Logging and mill locations were only temporarily situated and the transient nature of this industry and its labor did not promote settlements or local improvements. "National needs, whether they were those of the tourist, the scientist, or the industrialist, were given priority over local concerns."(114)

During the progressive era, the destruction of the forests did give rise to preservation movements. However even in the conservation movement, just like with timber and later coal, power and control emanated from outside the region. Under the Weeks Act of 1911 the federal government was authorized to purchase cut-over land to protect the flows in navigable streams and this began the expansion of government land holdings. Eller argues "this rapid growth of government-owned lands would bring the Forest Service and its sister agencies, the Tennessee Valley Authority and the National park Service, into increasing conflict with local mountain people."(119) Some critics accused the government of purposely fostering policies intending to move people out of the mountains and into cities and towns.(120) However logging had already begun the metamorphosis of farmers into wage laborers. Once the process had begun it was impossible to return to the old ways. With the timber gone, and now accustomed to wage-labor, family cohesiveness was lost. Even if they wanted to it was difficult to return to subsistence farming because the land had been altered. "In the 1920s, most of the lumber companies abandoned the mountains, leaving behind a land and a people deeply scarred by their operations."(127)

After logging, coal presented the next opportunity. Market conditions had delayed coal's exploitation, but "by 1900, coal production in the region tripled, and in the next three decades it multiplied again more than fivefold, coming to account for almost 80 percent of national production."(128) Costs were low because extraction was easier in Appalachia than other regions, bulk freight charges favored transportation over greater distances, and labor was cheap.(129) Wages were kept low by operator's resistance to labor's organizing. Nonetheless the intensity of coal production caused a concomitant rapid increase in population growth. Shortages of labor was a continuing problem. A wide net was cast to attract willing laborers to supplement mountain workers. Blacks were brought in from southern states and immigrants, primarily Italians, were recruited as well.(174)

The effect of coal extraction on mountain communities was profound. Where previously people had lived dispersed in the valleys, mining villages doted the landscape. Miners lived near the mines in company towns. "The problem of labor stability was a major concern for southern coal operators, and this contributed to the degree of social control they wielded over life in the company town."(193) Conditions varied from place to place, but housing and sanitation were generally substandard. "Completely owned and dominated by the coal companies, the mining towns also reflected the underlying transition in land ownership and social power which had swept the region with the coming of the industrial age."(162)

As the industry matured, under the influence of outside investors to promote greater efficiency in response to declining prices, companies consolidated. But with the advent of WWI demand increased which continued after the war.(156) But after 1927 demand declined forcing the region into a severe recession which proved to foretell the end of King Coal. Over production, cutthroat competition, and fluctuating demand weakened the industry. Rising freight rates, use of oil and gas, and new technologies contributed to the decline. (158-159) While timber and coal had integrated Appalachia into the national economy, earnings were withdrawn from the region along with its resources.(160)

Economic activity was restricted in the company towns and this limited development of ancillary businesses or industries.(198) Wealth, profits, power, and control all accrued to the benefit of coal operators and investors. While they did not completely ignore social conditions, their first priority was not one of benevolence. Coal barons placed a high priority on avoiding unionization. "Few American businessmen were more staunchly opposed to unionization than the southern coal barons."(209) Tight control of labor carried over into control and influence in local politics and government. Docile workers, cooperative local political leaders, and state influence combined to benefit business interests. "The pervasive influence of large corporations in state and local politics was a common problem throughout the United States at the turn of the century, but nowhere did absentee corporations have greater control over political destiny than in Appalachia."(216) When the baron's departed, "they left the region ill equipped to confront the social and economic problems of the industrial age."(224)

During the Great Depression, the department of Agriculture commissioned a comprehensive study "on the social and economic conditions of the southern Appalachians."(225) Lewis Cecil Gray's report contradicted commonly held assumptions. "The urban population had increased by over 300 percent and the rural nonfarm population more than 75 percent."(226) In effect the region had been forced into the national economy but the inhabitants had not reaped the social or monetary rewards. The here-today, gone-tomorrow logging industry and the company mining towns did not foster local business or a better society. Previously self-sufficient farmers had become dependant wage laborers.

Eller, in summarizing the effects of the modernization of Appalachia, notes that "the mountain middle class, unlike its counterparts in other American districts, never developed into a large component of the social structure."(234) Eller describes the modernization that had occurred as a "storm over the ridges."(242) When it passed "a deep and lasting depression had settled over the coves."(242)

This text was one of the first books to explore the industrialization of Appalachia. It set the field for much of the current discouse that is being developed in Appalachian History. It is very well written and provides a good list of sources for additional study.

You know what the bane of a children's librarian's life is? Well-written middle reader titles. You know what I mean. They're those charming tomes with protagonists that are young teens. These books are written with a very definite readership in mind and they are a nightmare to deal with collectionwise. If your local library has a children's section AND a teen section, where do you put a book like, "Monkey Town"? It's so incredibly well-written with interesting facts and some amazing plotting that you're inclined to put it in the children's room. Then again, the character is obviously a teen and we're dealing with some pretty heavy topics in this novel. Evolution. The existence of God. Small town life vs. big city snobbery. This is a coming of age novel in the best sense of the term, but it makes my life a misery. It would have been so much easier to catalogue had the book been badly written or boring. Then I could have just urged the Powers That Be not to purchase it at all. Instead, I'll reluctantly hand it to the Young Adult librarians in my branch and pray that tweens and early teens find it lurking there. Cause until our libraries start creating Middle Reader Librarians and rooms, books like "Monkey Town" will be straddling two entirely different readerships.

Frances luuuvs Johnny. Johnny Scopes, that is. Heard of him? Well he's the young college kid who graduated and took a post in fifteen-year-old Frances's high school. She thinks he's dreamy, but he treats her more like a kid sister than the sophisticated dame she'd like to be. Frances loves Johnny but there are other problems apart from their age difference. You see, Frances's father is Frank Earle Robinson, owner of Robinson's Drugs. One day, Mr. Robinson and some of the town leaders come up with a scheme that'll get the city of Dayton, Tennessee a little more publicity. You see, the state of Tennessee makes it illegal to teach evolution in schools. Now the ACLU wants a Tennessee teacher to be a test case that can bring this law to the courts. Mr. Robinson and his friends want that someone to be Johnny Scopes. He taught the kids evolution in the last year, didn't he? Reluctantly Johnny agrees, but only with the given understanding that he'll keep his job in the end. Still, nobody could expect the maelstrom of activity that is brought to bear on this formerly sleepy burg once the trial approaches. And for Frances, the influx of folks from out of town means that she's exposed to new thoughts and ideas. Maybe evolution and creation are not diametrically opposed. Maybe her father isn't as great a guy as she thought he was. And maybe even in a small homey town like Dayton, there's a lot of nastiness that lurks deep in the hearts of even the "nicest" of people.

"Inherit the Wind" for the kiddie set? Not exactly. The real focus of this novel is on Frances herself. Through her eyes we get to meet all the major players in the Scopes Trial. For example, she hangs out with Johnny for fun and through him meets the larger-than-life H.L. Mencken. Author Ronald Kidd really is at his best when he gives us Mencken, writ large. The man's as pompous and vile-spewing as ever, but with more ugly truths and conflicting tendernesses than you'd find in your average historical fiction for the kiddies. We also meet the great William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow, each in their own peculiar particular way. Incorporating real historical figures into a children's book can sometimes feel forced or awkward. Not here. The advantage that, "Monkey Town" has over its historical fiction fellows is the character of Frances Robinson herself. Based on a real woman of the same name, Kidd explains in his Author's Note how he came to meet Ms. Robinson and which parts of this story were true, and which his own. This lends an authenticity to the novel, to say nothing of Kidd's own skills at incorporating the believable with the possible.

Truth be told, this really is a story about Frances. It's the old story of a small-town girl curious about the greater world around her. By the end of the book you're sure that soon Frances will get out of Dayton and see the wider world. Maybe she'll go to college! It's with a bittersweet afterthought, then, that one reads the story of the read Frances Robinson. She never left Dayton but instead married the local high school football coach. After a book showing her growth and maturity, it seems more than a little sad to find that the facts of the matter don't line up with the story the author told. That's nobody's fault, of course. It just shows how inconvenient the truth can sometimes be.

What Kidd does so well with this book is allow the reader to make up their own mind on the evolution debate. He isn't preaching anymore than Frances is. We see the good and bad of both sides of the debate and are allowed to reason out how we feel as a result. Maybe that's the real beauty of, "Monkey Town". While Frances is dealing with a too too complicated world, we also are seeing the dimensions and two-sides of every character. And Kidd cleverly makes us challenge our own assumptions, even going so far as to play on our worst instincts when it comes to Frances's father. For quite some time he comes off as a particularly well-aligned villain, only to be redeemed in a wholly believable way by the end.

If I had to come up with a problem I had with the book, maybe it would involve the factual aspects of the story. I would have loved a nice Bibliography at the back. Failing that, maybe a section outlining exactly what was true and what wasn't with a little more certainty. Instead we get a nice section in which Kidd thanks a whole host of people but doesn't refer us elsewhere. Kids wanting to learn more about the Scopes Trial will have to seek out books and websites on their own, I fear. A bit of a pity.

Small potatoes, though. After all, there are plenty of well-cited works of historical fiction out there that haven't half the guts and gall of this little number. A remarkable story, a great book, and definitely a piece of worthwhile reading. Kidd really does harness the innate drama of the real trial for all he's worth. Now to figure out where to put it in my library.... hm....

When fifteen-year-old Frances Robinson becomes caught up in the famous Scopes trial, nothing--neither her town nor her parents nor her own life--will ever be the same. In his latest novel, Monkey Town, Ron Kidd touches on universal themes to recreate a world that not only is past for us today, but also is slipping like sand through the fingers of his main character. Anyone who has lived through the teenage years or is currently fighting through that confusing life stage will recognize the doubts, the disillusionments, and also the discoveries about herself and those around her that Frances encounters during one long, hot summer. In learning that people--even those closest to her--are not always what they seem, she matures from a child to a young woman ready to seek her own destiny in the world. The real strength of this novel is Kidd's portrayal of the complex characters woven into the story and the nostalgic portrayal of small town life in 1920s Tennessee. Both children and adults will thoroughly enjoy this book.

Why do reviewers persist in making these ridiculous comparisons between books that can only serve to disappoint a reader? Ignore the reviews and the book jacket blurbs--there is simply no comparison between Monkey Town and To Kill a Mockingbird, except that both have a young girl narrator who witnesses a trial and both are written using words. That isn't to say Monkey Town is bad, but it has nowhere near the richness of language, character, or plot that Mockingbird does. Neither do 99 percent of other novels which is what, after all, makes Mockingbird a classic.
So if it's no Mockingbird, what is it? A solidly likable coming-of-age novel with a nicely historical setting. Almost all you need to know is in the title: it's summer, the Scopes trial is about to begin, and the town that hosts it--Dayton Tn--is not going to come off so well.
The narrator is 15-year-old Frances, whose father managed to convince a local teacher (Johnny Scopes) to be the focus of the test case pro-evolution people were looking for. This isn't because Frances' father is a believer in evolution--just the opposite. To him it's simply a huge publicity stunt to save a town he's concerned is losing it vitality. This is the book's opening premise and from it two basic storylines emerge.
One is the trial itself, with lots of historical references and frequent appearances by acidic H.L. Mencken (who takes an endearing liking to Frances) and less-frequent appearances by other historic personages, such as Clarence Darrow. We also get some well-handled glimpses of the trial itself thanks to Frances' ability to get a good seat. There isn't much new here with regard to the trial itself, with the exception of Mencken's presence--one which adds a wonderfully biting spark to the book. What is nicely done however is the way the author connects the trial to actual living individuals, showing its impact on real lives. Usually events relegated to the abstraction of "history" quickly lose their human attachment and Kidd does a nice job reattaching this set piece.
The other story, and the main one, is Frances' coming of age. And there are a myriad of ways in which this happens. Before the summer of the trial, she moved in an innocent world filled with flawless people: Johnny Scopes, on whom she has a typically powerful crush; her infallible father who does only good; her strong mother; her ever-faithful best friend; a warm and beneficent town; God. By the end of the book, all of these people have had the patina of perfection rubbed off of them in some fashion or another. Though Frances has her resolution, mostly positive, with all these losses, Kidd shows that things will never be the same again--Frances is no longer a little girl in a bubble.
The course of the trial, of course, is well-known, though perhaps not to the target audience (depending on what they've gotten in school) but still holds some tension due to its impact on the characters. The coming-of-age story is relatively predictable--one knows Frances will have her heart broken, will see a darker side of her father, etc.--and relatively benign, but is enjoyable if not particularly compelling or insightful. The side characters, with the exception of Mencken are not truly three-dimensional, but they serve their purpose. Mencken, on the other hand, is a true delight and the book picks up greatly whenever he and Frances are together. There is one forced scene where Frances must confront the town's darker elements and here unfortunately is also the strongest connection to Mockingbird, reading as a poor person's version of the scene with Atticus guarding Tom on the porch of the jail. But this is the only truly weak scene in the book.
In the end, Monkeytown stands out more for the character of Mencken than anything else, but if it isn't an outstanding book, it's certainly a pleasing one. Somewhat recommended.

This is the kind of book that we all wish our parents would have written for us. It details the author's life and times growing up in a remote area of Tennessee in the 1940's and 50's. If you have an interest in Appalachian culture, genealogy, or life styles of the past you will enjoy this book.

"A Story of Life on Newman's Ridge" captivates the reader with the author's description of the Melungeon culture in which she grew up, giving insight into its somewhat socially isolated existence. It touches on the origin of the Melungeons in this country and their strong adaptability under the labeling of 'mix-bloods'. Their's was an envious
lifestyle, a happy, peaceful group who believed in God. They have been true survivors.

I found this book while researching the Melungeons for a book I am writing, and bought it. After reading it, I believe it to reflect a reality that allows the reader to relate to the time and place along with the author. I contacted Ms. Johnson and, with her permission, will be mentioning her book in the chapter on the Melungeons in my forthcoming book "Smoky Mountain Mysteries."

So much of the material on the Melungeons, that I found, dwells only on trying to solve the mystery of their origin, and their ill treatment. No doubt both of these items deserve attention, but Ms. Johnson's book puts these things in prospective.

This is an interesting story of the frontier life in Tennessee. The protagonist Joshua Colter finds himself alone in the wilderness. Here Judd weaves his story of these brave long hunters in the Cherokee land of Tennessee. You will find that Judd makes you feel that you are there with Joshua. It is a good read. By Ruth Thompson author of "The Bluegrass Dream" and "Natchez Above The River"

Saw this book on a shelf and was interested by the subject. But once I got started reading I couldnt quit. I felt as if I were on the Tennesse frontier with Joshua Colter. I am definetly buying the other two books in the triology. I would strongly recommed this book to anyone interested in American history, especially the colonial period.

This novel is so entertaining!! Cameron Judd uses a great cast of fictional characters to convey the history of the settling of Tennessee as well as backing it up with factual characters, places, and events. I recommend this book to anyone who hated history as a child, but has become an avid reader in old age, like me!

Having been to a few Rainbow Gatherings in my past, Niman's book caught my interest. However the book is not written only for those familiar with the Rainbow Familiy. Using a combination of participant observation and comparison to other utopian societies, Niman shows the complexity of this community of choice.

As part of a church that is ministering to Rainbow People and helping the "rejected of the rejected" come to Father God who is there for them, this gives some insights into structure and issues for understanding folks within the Rainbow culture. This is a very well researched, structured and written piece of work.

Michael Niman's book is the most objective and comprehensive study to date of the Rainbow Family of Living Light. Professor Niman utilizes numerous interviews with Family members, Forest Service officials, and other participants to present a well-rounded view of a complex social system. Of particular interest will be his comparison of the Rainbow Family to other Utopian societies of the past and present.

I got this book for my 5 year old son because he was becoming interested in Davy Crockett. This is a good brief history book, but not very exciting reading for a preschooler. He likes to read it every once in a while, but it's not something he wants to read over and over.

In the recent theatrical film "The Alamo" we were told that Davy Crockett preferred to be called "David." One of the elements of that particular movie version of the battle is how in the end the real David Crockett has to die as the legendary and bigger than life Davy. While the title of David A. Adler's juvenile biography of Crockett is entitled "A Picture Book of Davy Crockett," Adler calls the subject "David" throughout this colorful and informative introduction to the American icon's life. Adler's point is that the real David Crockett was a great frontiersman just like the legendary Davy Crockett.

Illustrated by John and Alexandra Wallner with attractive line-and-watercolor artwork this book starts with the legendary birth of Davy Crockett and then provides the historical details. The focus is on key events, such as being hired out to a Dutchman who taught David how to shoot a long rifle, serving as a scout in the Creek War, and being elected to several terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Young readers will learn as much about Crockett's two wives as they will about his falling out in Congress with President Andrew Jackson and his final days at the Alamo. Adler provides both of the conflicting accounts of Crockett's death at the Alamo without making a choice as to which is more likely to be true, which gives you an indication of the level of information the book provides (how the artwork erroneously suggests the mission of the Alamo had a roof from which defenders were fighting, when actually the roof was never completed until years after the battle in 1836).

Many of the quotations attributed to Crockett in this book are taken from his autobiography, "Narrative of the Life of David Crockett," first published in 1834. The Crockett story ends with the publications of the "Davy Crockett Almanacs" that first appeared around the time of his death and which contained the useful information you would expect in an almanac plus a collection fo tall tales (e.g., Davy was born weighing over 200 pounds and had a pet bear named Death Hug). "A Picture Book of Davy Crockett" provides a solid introduction to his life for young readers who will find more of his history as well as the tale tales in lots of other books. This book is one in a series of two-dozen picture book biographies on famous persons by Adler (almost half of which are illustrated by the Wallners) from George Washington to Martin Luther King, Jr. and from Simon Bolivar to Florence Nightingale.

As a primary grade teacher in Tennessee, I was rather surprised to learn that few of my students knew about Davy Crockett. And we live near the Crockett Tavern and 45 minutes from his birthplace.

We were exploring our Appalachian hertiage and I introduced 17 kids to the king of the wild frontier. They were mesmerized.

This book reads easily and follows a narrative format, so it's a great read aloud. We followed it up with a viewing of the classic Disney series starring Fess Parker, and then compared the two heroes.

We also determined that despite the song lyrics, he was not born on a mountaintop, but rather the foothills.

While I have used it with kindergarten and first grade, this book would also work wonderfully with older students and provide opportunities to compare and contrast, discuss exaggeration, the hero myth, and American History.

Author Thomas E. douglas did a superb job on the reknowned author Breece D'J Pancake,I just hope Mr. Douglass will hurry up stop procastinating on his biography of the reknowned author Davis Grubb.Hurry up!!!!

This is a very good job at putting together a biography of the little written about author. Pancake came to prominence after committing suicide when Jon Casey and John McPherson put together a posthumous collection of his short stories. They both contribute an essay to add to the length of this slim volume and it is published to rave reviews.

With the help of Pancake's mother, ex-University of Virginia students and faculty as well as the treasure trove of Pancake's letters, Douglass has taken the previously thin story line of Breece's life and developed a thoughtful and interesting account of a troubled, talented young man.

Whether or not you enjoy Pancake's stories, you cannot help but be impressed by the power and conviction of the author's words. Reading the biography and more importantly, the letters, you see where this power comes from. Pancake is nearly single-minded in regards to his need to write. Every life decision he makes reflects on how it will affect his writing before he makes it.

It also is very clear that this was a mentally troubled young man in need of help that he never found. It is all the more troubling for the reader of this volume, knowing that Pancake would eventually put a rifle in his mouth and pull the trigger, watching the signs of his depression grow and develop. There are also other writing tidbits included: alternate attempts at a couple of his published stories as well as beginnings to other stories, outlines of stories, and unpublished stories. While these are interesting to read, and certainly help show Pancake's development as a writer, they show that Casey and McPherson were correct in their keeping the collection of short stories slim. Barring the discovery of a decade of Pancake's personal diaries or journals, this should go down as the authoritative account of his life and work.

4 stars.

This is a satisfying book for anyone interested to learn more about the life of Breece Pancake. A thoughtful biographical account of Pancake's life provides a detail and depth of information about his past, roots and conflicts heretofore unmatched. Also, a thoughtful critique of his work is followed by a most satisfying compilation of his letters, which, for one deeply curious about this author about whom little of substance has been written, is like striking gold. This is a gem of a book for Breece Pancake admirers.

I really became absorbed in this book about the legendary Scopes Trial, which had to do with whether evolution ought to be allowed to be taught in schools. First, it is very factual and well written. Second, it has a lot of great photos taken during the trial itself. These made the subject really come to life for me. The book has made me want to go out and find more books on the subject.

This book is an excellent summary of the famous Scopes trial of 1925, in which the fundamentalists who wanted to keep Darwin's theory of evolution out of the schools went up against the great Clarence Darrow, who embarrased the opposing lawyer, William Jennings Bryan. The book is solidly researched and well written and also features some nice pictures of the courtroom proceedings.

I read this book beacause I wanted to learn more about the Scopes Trial. It is well written and provides an excellent background to the circumstances that led up to the Scopes Trial. Nevertheless, I do not agree with the popular myth advocated in this book, that evolution is factual science and biblical creation is for out-of-date, ignorant, old-fashioned people. I would recommend this book for the purpose of obtaining a solid background knowledge of the Scopes Trial. It is informing, succinct and very interesting.