Georgia Books

Deadly Deception is a great mystery novel, a real page turner, by first novelist, Susan P. Mucha. Compelling and intriguing from start to finish, her characters are well developed and real and the plot with it's twists and turns keeps you eagerly engaged to the conclusion. Mrs. Mucha ranks right up there with some of the best female mystery writers of our time and I look forward to her next novel with great anticipation!

Apparently this is Susan Mucha's first novel, but you couldn't tell by the quality of her writing. Deadly Decpeton is a beautifully written, fast-paced mystery/thriller which whips the reader from exotic Peru to the stately grounds of the Augusta National in Georgia. It's obvious Ms. Mucha didn't get her facts from an encyclopedia; she knows Peru and the Augusta area quite well, and readers are transported to wherever this talented writer chooses to take them.

I'm sure we'll be seeing more of this author's work. If her first book is any indication of what's to come, we're all in for a treat.

Not being much of a reader of fiction, I have to say that
"Deadly Deception" grabbed and held my attention from beginning to end. It's obvious that the author has thoroughly researched
the subjects and locations in her book. Ms. Mucha's writing
style is clean and easy to read. Her descriptions are so vivid
she makes you feel as if you are right there, in the moment, in Peru, seeing everything just as the main characters are viewing their surroundings.
This book is a page-turner...and I could be persuaded to become
a reader of mysteries now. I can hardly wait to see what Ms. Mucha plans to do with her fascinating characters in her next book.
A+.

For first time author it was a very good read. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of places and food of Peru. It made me want to return. She was able to keep the reader involved and made it a real page turner.It reminded me of the old love stories that let your imagination take over rather than have every kiss and "heaving bosom" be described in detail. I am anxious to read her next book.

I began this book with skepticism; I finished it with admiration and awe. Susan Mucha did a marvelous job with this novel. I couldn't wait to read each new chapter, breaking my own rule of one chapter a night. I can't wait for the next novel, and expect it to be as good as this one.

I've dove Cuba a lot and this is the only authoritative Dive book on Cuba that I have ever seen.

Bill Belleville's Deep Cuba book is part Cousteau adventure tale, part natural history, part cultural history, with a smattering of Hollywood documentary drama. It is enjoyable and engrossing to read- a must for those interested in protecting our fragile environments. Belleville's sensitivities and attention to detail give us greater understanding of the pristine waters and lands of Cuba, a place that seems so far away, yet is in reality right next door. Like many readers, I have grown up during a time when Cuba has been "off-limits." Ironically, this embargo has in many ways protected the environment by keeping masses of American tourists away. How lucky we are to be able to visit this magical place through Belleville's enlightening account.

When the author climbed aboard the research boat hired by a Discovery Channel film crew bound for Cuba, he gained entry to two engrossing stories. One covers the exploration of Cuba's coral reefs, sunken ships, and sharks, whose mysteries are elucidated live-on-location by Discovery's consultant scientists and cultural experts. This story is by turns exotic science, pure travelog, and just plain spooky - expedition members in a submersible find two complete sets of diving gear hundreds of feet below the safe diving range, in an area where divers were known to have disappeared. Belleville's deep dive in the little sub hangs in mid-book like a luminous bubble of science, poetry, and spookiness.

The second story is a weird tale of the making of a documentary film. It's unnerving to see the innards of the "documentary" process exposed. For instance, Belleville watches as the camera bypasses scientists who lack sex appeal or sound-bite savvy. Or, although Fidel Castro's visit to the expedition's ship makes great reading, it evidently makes bad vibes in Filmland, and is cut. And Belleville's account of the debate over whether the word "forbidden" should be used in the film title is hilarious.

These two narrative lines intertwine to weave a fascinating path around, and even into the throbbing and troubled heart of - gasp! - the forbidden island of Cuba.

The title of this book seems straightforward and explanatory enough. Yet, the content is far more complex, and thankfully, the author is more than up to the task of explaining broad concepts of oceanography, of documentary film making, and the oddball politics that have embargoed Cuba over the last 40 or so years. But more than anything, this is just a really well-told story that takes the reader along on an expedition to a place that few Americans have ever seen. Belleville seems to have a lot of experience as a scuba diver before this trip, and his acumen as an 'underwater naturalist' is much appreciated by this reader. So too is his exacting descriptions of daily expeditionary life---which at time is hilarious, enlightening, dangerous, and at times downright ironic.

The chapter describing Castro's visit when the expedition is in Havana is refreshingly candid---and quite a hoot, as well. Belleville knows how to craft a good story, and has the stylistic tools to do it.

Thematically, the author tries very hard to make a solid case for the need for more funding for ocean research---as well as for diplomatic relations that will finally let the leaders of the U.S. and Cuba manage their regional waters under one umbrella. As an educator specializing in marine sciences, I think the ecological connection between our country and Cuba is one of the great under-reported stories of our time. My deepest gratitude to Belleville for having the fortitude to tell it---and to tell it with great style.

Bill Belleville, author of "River of Lakes: A Journey on the St. Johns River," again takes us down to the water to quench our thirst for adventure. In "Deep Cuba," we set sail with him aboard an expedition vessel for a journey that plies the waters of both politics and discovery.

Through his poetic telling, the island's previously unexplored waters come to life, populated by everything from mysterious bioluminescent creatures and toothy sharks to the simple souls whose livelihoods come with the tides. We meet a variety of Cubans, among them a harbor master who boards the ship and skillfully guides it to port, two scientists who join the expedition in a rare show of cooperation between Cuba and the U.S., and a group of boys who frolic among the watery mangroves of a distant island during a break from their studies of becoming boat captains. And late in the book, there is Castro himself, who boards the ship with his inquisitive intellect.

We witness, too, the dynamics of an expedition driven by filmmaking -- in this case, a documentary for the Discovery Channel, which funded the voyage. Belleville lets his keen observations of the personalities of the expedition ebb and flow through the narrative, and it soon becomes apparent that relations between the filmmakers and scientists are at times as chilly as those between the U.S. and Cuba. We learn first-hand how science can take a back seat to the wants of filmmakers, even on such a rare expedition as this.

Throughout the book, there is much high adventure. Belleville descends 2,000 feet under the surface in a mini-sub, and he dives reefs and plunging ledges that teem with fish. In one harrowing chapter, he even loses his way during a night dive in open water.

The book is a page-turner, to be sure. But along the way there is much to be learned as Belleville weaves scientific findings and cultural observations seamlessly into the telling.

At the very least, this scientific expedition has found a happy marriage in word, if not on film.

I couldn't put this book down, I was drawn into the pages with this story. How exciting to find a book that I liked so much, they are so few and far between. If you like some drama and suspense this is well worth the read.

I loved this book. It is smart, surprising and great fun. If you love history, mystery, magic, or just a good old fashioned page turner, you will love it too. It will keep you guessing from beginning to end.

Dundury is an excellent book! This book captures love, excitement, and adventure as you follow the characters through the southern, gothic town of Dundury.

Read two thirds of the book in the first sitting. The only reason I put it down was because I had to be up for work in 4 hours. Intriguing characters, facinating plot. Well worth the read. Looking forward to book two.

This book is really, really fun! I enjoyed reading it and couldn't put it down. It is a book mixed with magicand begs to be read! It is very thought provoking! I can't wait for the author to get the next book out!!!

This book is riveting and excellently crafted. Jaclyn Weldon White is a gifted writer as well as a knowledgeable law enforcement professional.
Move over Patricia Cornwell-White can take TRUE stories and present them as well as you write fiction.
Anne Jones

This reviewer learned of "The Empty Nursery" by checking reviews posted by an Amazon "friend". EN is set in Gwinnett County, GA in the early 90's. Readers will be drawn into the story immediately: Kathy Hardwick is interrupted at work by her husband, Kenny. Their baby has been kidnapped! According to the bizarre tale, Kenny stopped to help 2 disabled motorists-and they stole baby Haley. Readers, not to mention the cops, will be highly skeptical. In fact, the investigators never give credence to Kenny's tale. He is the picture of a shiftless, good old boy loser. And yet....and yet authoress White effects a superb writing job in maintaining suspense far into EN. Could Kenny actually be on the level? Will all those volunteer search parties find Haley's body? By some miracle will Haley turn up alive? Suspense aside, there are also 2 other main elements to EN: The first is the palpable anguish of poor Kathy pining for her baby. Readers will identify with the grieving mom. The other is the patient, steadfast, by-the -book investigative work of the local Georgia Law. These guys never trust Kenny from start, but they stay the course. What happens? A good review reveals no resolutions but readers should not be disappointed. As for that "Ann Rule rule", it is not in effect. The photos, which are not in the centerfold, do their job of illuminating characters while yielding no clues. The back cover likewise reveals nothing. If EN has a weakness, it lies in its' cost. Authoress White's works are all priced aggressively. Ms. White is a fine true crime author. Would not a new $$$ structure open her works to a wider range of readers? That consideration is insufficient to lower the rating above. EN remains 5 star True Crime reading. Recommended!

The deaths of babies and children are always the most difficult
true crime readings for me. It unnerves me to believe there are people out there who would take the life of any child,
especially one of their own. There has to be an absence of conscience for someone to commit such a cowardly act. As in this
case, Haley's death was the result of a cruel, senseless, cold-blooded murder. The death penalty serves a purpose for people like Kenny Hardwick. After the first two chapters of the book, I was so angry with Hardwick that had Haley been my child I would have probably strangled him myself. The author, Jackie White, does a superb job of reseach and writing Haley's story. Since she was so close to Haley's mother, I am certain it took great restraint for Jackie to curb her own anger and emotion and not allow her feelings to color the story. Honestly, I was kept on the edge of my seat until I finally finished reading the book, and confirmed what everyone had already suspected-Kenny was the culprit of this horrible deed. I highly recommend An Empty Nursery and label it a 5 STAR book!!!!!

I am the author of Roseflower Creek, a novel which tells of the short life and death of ten-year-old Lori Jean Dodson, who dies at the hands of her stepfather, in l950's rural Georgia. But Jackie Weldon's story is not one of fiction. It is the heartbreaking true chronicle of a crime which tortured a young mother, her family and all of Atlanta during the sweltering summer of l992. Written with the skill of a true word artist, it will keep you reading long into the night. Though the narrative will break your heart and haunt your soul, you'll find it concludes with the birth of hope, literally and figuratively. Don't miss this story or this gifted author's ability to tell it.

One look at the photo of baby Haley Hardwick will lure you into reading the story of a child gone missing. Assume nothing with
The Empty Nursery! Interesting twists and turns develop throughout the telling of this case. Jaclyn Weldon White writes from experience as former police officer in Gwinnet County Georgia, where this crime occurred. She gives the details of a baby's death without being lurid. The reader can feel the aching despair of young Kathy Hardwick, the baby's mother. She bravely endures weeks of not knowing where Haley is only to discover that her husband Kenny has lied to her. The reader is given an inside look at how investigators have to follow protocol even when they have a prime suspect. You will not be disappointed with this heartbreaking story of grief and courage.

I remain fascinated by Gullah and Daufuskie cooking. This book is a welcome addition to my ever-expanding collection. I'm glad I found it.

I have tried to catch Ms. Robinson's t.v. shows when I was able. Having grown up poor and having to make ends meet by stretching the food, you appreciate any attempt to liven up the meals. Ms. Robinson has done this very well. I enjoy her, and I enjoy the book.

I grew up in St. Helena Island (Frogmore). Having and using this book brings back those memories

One of my favorite episodes of Sara Moulton's cooking show featured the author and included a visit to her childhood home. I was THRILLED that Ms. Robinson washed her green leafy vegetables in warm water. What a shame such wisdom (do Americans even know the term "nightsoil" anymore???) has been disregarded in the wake of carnival barkers who demonstrate their cooking ability by ripping open a bag of greens (prewashed, My Aunt Fanny!) and cooking raw meat straight from their styrofoam and plastic packaging. Ewwwww, you know no amount of cooking heat can clean that up. EWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

Thank you, Ms. Robinson.

This was the perfect gift for my sister who lived on Dafuskie island for several years. She personally knew Sallie Ann and was sad to leave her east coast home and the lovely people she met there. The book brought back memories of a delightful period in her life.

I didn't grow up in South Georgia, but I've lived here for over 25 years, and Mr. Lightle's book is one of the best pieces of work I've seen which explains some of the mystique of Southern males. This area of the country has given a disproportionate number of its youth to the military, and you can see why when you read about the kind of qualities fostered in summer football camps in South Georgia. The story encompasses comradery, the shared misery, the eventual acceptance of other young men without regard to background or race: of course, the racial integration of the football camp was a major component of the story. This book is a must read for the history of the area and the South in general.

...Years later, the memories are still with me about Graves Springs (football camp) - some good, and some not so good. Bill Lightle's memories are a true treasure of that hallowed ground called Graves Springs.

Duck Wall, sports columnist for the Albany Herald and former sports director of WALB-TV in Albany, Georgia.

...Years later, the memories are still with me about Graves Springs (football camp) - some good, and some not so good. Bill Lightle's memories are a true treasure of that hallowed ground called Graves Springs.

Duck Wall, sports columnist for the Albany Herald and former sports director of WALB-TV in Albany, Georgia.

As a kid we just wanted to play ball. We didn't care what color the guy beside us was. We didn't realize all that was going on outside of our little world in those trying and changing times. I look back now and see what our parents went through, but in that stadium on Friday nights they cheered for Orange and Green!
As I read this book I realized what a difference in my life Graves Springs and sports in general made. "Made or Broken" reminded me of the many Fourth and Ones that life deals you on a daily basis.
I laughed and I cried while reading. This book is a must read not only if you are familiar with Southern Football Tradition, but if you are interested in the flavor of the times in the Old South.

I grew up in Pennsylvania and have lived in South Georgia the last 26 years. This book illustrates as well as anything how the South has managed to produce such a disproportionate number of young men who have answered the call of the nation and made the ultimate sacrifice for their country in times of national crisis. More than just a football book- actually, very little is about football- it tells the tale of young men molded by shared hardship and miserable conditions in the woods of South Georgia. Racial strife in the outside world is handled differently here, where young black men and young white men had to put aside their predispositions (a kinder word than prejudice) and learn to judge others by standards that did not include race. This book is a worthwhile addition to any personal library of works that deal with history and social progress in the New South.

Bruce L. Jordan's "Murder In The Peach State" is a compelling work and, quite rare in such works, important. This is the first published book, I think, to document something of the Moore's Ford lynchings of 25 July 1946 in Walton County, Georgia. Four adult African-Americans and an unborn child were lynched at Moore's Ford that day. They were Roger and Dorothy Malcolm and George and Mae Dorsey. Dorothy was said to have been seven months pregnant at the time. The victims were not merely shot dead. According to the coroner's report, the bodies were mutilated by over sixty bullets being fired into them. Mr. Jordan has rightly mentioned Eugene Talmadge and the racial tensions excited by him toward African-Americans during 1946. That Eugene Talmadge was in large measure responsible for the lynchings at Moore's Ford is documented by his words and actions during his 1946 campaign for governor. Mr. Jordan's record of George Dorsey's splendid military service during World War II is touching and appropriate. However, it is Mr. Jordan's useful additions to the general knowledge of the Moore's Ford lynchings which make his work important. It was not widely known that Roger Malcolm was not immediately charged with the stabbing of Barney Hester. According to Mr. Jordan's account, Roger Malcolm ran back to his home after the fight with Hester. Later that night he was dragged into his yard and there beaten by a group of about ten men. It would appear that it was only at this point that Sheriff E. S. Gordon was notified. He arrested Roger Malcolm for the stabbing of Barney Hester. A second attempt on Roger Malcolm's life, according to Mr. Jordan, took place on 15 July 1946, when a mob came to the jail and demanded that Sheriff E. S. Gordon release Malcolm to them. Gordon refused to do so, and somehow convinced the mob to leave. The information which Johnnie Burdette gave to officials of the NAACP, placing Deputy Sheriff Lewis Howard at Moore's Ford shortly before the lynchings took place, and the fact that there were no records in the sheriff's office showing that Loy Harrison had indeed paid the six-hundred-dollar bond for Roger Malcolm's release from jail, is highly important. Little by little the parts of the complex Moore's Ford puzzle are finding their rightly place. Mr. Jordan's book is helpful. Mr. Jordan's work has also touched the well-known Clinton Adams story. Alas, what Clinton Adams has said would now appears to be quite untrue. During his interview with the FBI, Adams stated that he and Emerson Elder Farmer were at Moore's Ford during the afternoon of 25 July 1946 and saw the lynchings take place. Adams then went on to tell the FBI that his close friend, Emerson Elder Farmer, was never interviewed by the FBI. Emerson Elder Farmer, aged 12, was indeed interviewed by Special Agents of the FBI on 28 July 1946, and he also testified before the grand jury in Athens, Georgia, concerning what he saw during the afternoon of the lynchings. Among other things, Emerson Elder Farmer stated that he was on the front porch of his home just above Moore's Ford when the death convoy of five cars passed with the victims. Shortly, he heard many shots. Importantly, Emerson Elder Farmer yet has three close relations in life who were with him at his home that day. All three have confirmed that Emerson Elder Farmer was at home when the lynchings took place and have stated that Clinton Adams was not at Moore's Ford on 25 July 1946. Further, in his statements to the FBI, Adams says that shortly after the lynchings he was told to keep quiet about what he had seen by Deputy Sheriff Lewis Howard and Doc Sorrells, clearly indicating that they were then the Sheriff and Deputy Sheriff of Walton County, Georgia; however, this was not the case. Sheriff E. S. Gordon was in office until his death in June 1948, a year and eleven months after the lynchings. Only then did Lewis Howard become the sheriff of Walton County. Again, "Murder In The Peach State" is an important work.

Putting the book down was next to impossible! I have known Bruce for nearly ten years through our law enforcement affiliations and can state absolutely that he brings the reader along side the investigators in telling these stories. He doesn't use the infamous "police lingo" but keeps the story in every day language. The stories are gripping and told in a way that makes this book one of our state treasures. Do yourself a favor and get this book. You will not be disappointed!

Bruce Jordan's book" Murder in the Peach State" takes you right to the heart of the story. You feel as if you are right there with the ladies of Columbus, feeling their terror and wanting their stalker caught.You feel for Frank Leo in his last minutes and want to make it right.Mr Jordan gives you a feel for the times and the history of each story as it unfolds. Much like the A&E series "City Confidential". I was left wanting more stories when I feached the end of his book.I am awaiting his next book with much anticipation.

Bruce L. Jordan's "Murder In The Peach State" is a compelling work and, quite rare in such works, important. This is the first published book, I think, to document something of the Moore's Ford lynchings of 25 July 1946 in Walton County, Georgia. Four adult African-Americans and an unborn child were lynched at Moore's Ford that day. They were Roger and Dorothy Malcolm and George and Mae Dorsey. Dorothy was said to have been seven months pregnant at the time. The victims were not merely shot dead. According to the coroner's report, the bodies were mutilated by over sixty bullets being fired into them. Mr. Jordan has rightly mentioned Eugene Talmadge and the racial tensions excited by him toward African-Americans during 1946. That Eugene Talmadge was in large measure responsible for the lynchings at Moore's Ford is documented by his words and actions during his 1946 campaign for governor. Mr. Jordan's record of George Dorsey's splendid military service during World War II is touching and appropriate. However, it is Mr. Jordan's useful additions to the general knowledge of the Moore's Ford lynchings which make his work important. It was not widely known that Roger Malcolm was not immediately charged with the stabbing of Barney Hester. According to Mr. Jordan's account, Roger Malcolm ran back to his home after the fight with Hester. Later that night he was dragged into his yard and there beaten by a group of about ten men. It would appear that it was only at this point that Sheriff E. S. Gordon was notified. He arrested Roger Malcolm for the stabbing of Barney Hester. A second attempt on Roger Malcolm's life, according to Mr. Jordan, took place on 15 July 1946, when a mob came to the jail and demanded that Sheriff E. S. Gordon release Malcolm to them. Gordon refused to do so, and somehow convinced the mob to leave. The information which Johnnie Burdette gave to officials of the NAACP, placing Deputy Sheriff Lewis Howard at Moore's Ford shortly before the lynchings took place, and the fact that there were no records in the sheriff's office showing that Loy Harrison had indeed paid the six-hundred-dollar bond for Roger Malcolm's release from jail, is highly important. Little by little the parts of the complex Moore's Ford puzzle are finding their rightly place. Mr. Jordan's book is helpful. Mr. Jordan's work has also touched the well-known Clinton Adams story. Alas, what Clinton Adams has said would now appears to be quite untrue. During his interview with the FBI, Adams stated that he and Emerson Elder Farmer were at Moore's Ford during the afternoon of 25 July 1946 and saw the lynchings take place. Adams then went on to tell the FBI that his close friend, Emerson Elder Farmer, was never interviewed by the FBI. Emerson Elder Farmer, aged 12, was indeed interviewed by Special Agents of the FBI on 28 July 1946, and he also testified before the grand jury in Athens, Georgia, concerning what he saw during the afternoon of the lynchings. Among other things, Emerson Elder Farmer stated that he was on the front porch of his home just above Moore's Ford when the death convoy of five cars passed with the victims. Shortly, he heard many shots. Importantly, Emerson Elder Farmer yet has three close relations in life who were with him at his home that day. All three have confirmed that Emerson Elder Farmer was at home when the lynchings took place and have stated that Clinton Adams was not at Moore's Ford on 25 July 1946. Further, in his statements to the FBI, Adams says that shortly after the lynchings he was told to keep quiet about what he had seen by Deputy Sheriff Lewis Howard and Doc Sorrells, clearly indicating that they were then the Sheriff and Deputy Sheriff of Walton County, Georgia; however, this was not the case. Sheriff E. S. Gordon was in office until his death in June 1948, a year and eleven months after the lynchings. Only then did Lewis Howard become the sheriff of Walton County. Again, "Murder In The Peach State" is an important work.

This is one of those books which I would think of later and then realize, with disappointment, that I had already finished the book. I'll let a little time pass and then read it again. Although I was familiar with some of the stories, I found some interesting items in each of the stories that I didn't know before.

This is a terrific memoir of a Philadelphia family with ties to the deep South. Lise Funderburg's portrayals of her father and family are heartwarming, sincere and very, very funny. I don't read this kind of book very often, but Pig Candy is the kind of book that grabs you and doesn't let go. HIGHLY recommended.

Lise Funderburg wrote a moving memoir in tribute to her dying father in Pig Candy: Taking My Father South, Taking My Father Home--A Memoir. The author of Black, White, Other details the last few years of her father's life and the dynamics of their relationship during their travels to rural Jasper County, Georgia, George Funderburg's hometown. Funderburg had a distant relationship with her father for most of her life. She always felt she had to walk on eggshells around him, even as a little girl. George was a demanding, sometimes impossible man who intimidated those around him. Funderburg made the trek with her father several times to his Monticello, Georgia farm from the East Coast where the layers of his life and legacy were revealed to his daughter, peeled away like an onion, sometimes with tears.

George's father, Frederick Douglas Funderburg, was the town doctor who served both the black and white communities beginning in the 1920s. His illustrious climb from rural roots in Alabama to entry into the Columbia University medical program and then tenure in an all-white medical corps in the U.S. Military was possible because of his white-looking appearance. The Funderburgs were of the elite Monticello African American community because of Dr. Funderburg's stature and his keen business acumen at a time of Jim Crow racism and perilous race relations.

George Funderburg attended segregated schools and attended Morehouse College, a men's black college in Atlanta, married twice and had a family while accumulating wealth through lucrative real estate and business ventures in Philadelphia. The matter of race was not a discussion topic George broached with his three daughters and became less of a priority after he and their white mother divorced when Lise, the youngest, was twelve years old. Yet race evidently permeated George's psyche, so much so that he warned his daughter of "Klan Sneaks" referring to the time in his youth when the KKK would make surprise attacks on unsuspecting blacks.


Monticello proved to be quite an education of sorts for Funderburg as she learned to decipher her father's hometown amongst a colorful cast of relatives, friends, employees and associates in the new millennium juxtaposed against the era of his childhood. Although the town had taken down the visible symbols of segregation, the "White Only" signs and now black and white residents easily intermingled in most cases, some becoming successful landowners and part of the community's political infrastructure, there were the underlying subtle signs of yesteryear---self segregation in eating facilities and social situations. When George and his entourage would roll into town, he was the catalyst for the mixing of races with his impromptu parties where the food was plentiful, including the Pig Candy, aptly named for the whole pigs roasted in a specially concocted seasoning mixture. As an adult, Funderburg came to think of her father as a "race man"; perhaps, yet it was difficult for me to get that in this discourse as it is written. I kept waiting for that final layer to be peeled, to reveal the naked core of George's life; there seemed to be so much more to be said. However, this is a worthy read, well-written and well researched of Jasper County's geographical, economical and social/racial history. I recommend for those who enjoy memoirs that delve into the intricacies of familial relationship, especially fathers and daughters.


Dera R. Williams
APOOO BookClub

A must read. Especially for the healing professions. Medical students. More. Deserves a place in the "end of life" literature. Those who teach memoir-writing will also be inspired. First-rate family saga of a first-rate family.

no plot review could do the magic of this book justice--because it's not so much what happens: pickling peaches, say, or, visiting doctors, diners, and rib purveyers. it's the comedic timing, the brilliant, telling details and writing so fine that you can't get through more than a dozen pages without underlining a sentence or two. also, lise is a reliable and honorable narrator who helps you now only understand her relationships but create your own with the complete and complicated characters in the book. it's just too good not to read.

George Newton Fundenberg is a cantankeous, opionated, black man from rural Georgia who married a white woman, moved to the North, became a successful real estate broker and is the proud father of three daughters. He is difficult to get along with and even more difficult to please. His daughter, Lise, is determined to do just that, get along with and please him before he dies. In the process, she is introduced to the Southern tradition of roasted pig (pig candy), Southern hospitality and Jim Crow laws. This is a beautifully written, vividly painted memoir and a worthwhile read in its own right. Anyone who has dealt with an aging, ailing parent will identify with Lise's struggles and preserverance to bring her relationship with her father to a healthy but loving closure for both of them.

Portrait of an Artist is just that - a portrait of a powerful, unique artist. Refreshingly, for those of us who have an interest in art and some knowledge but are not familiar with technicalities, the book is very direct and honest. One comes away with the feeling they have met and experienced a fascinating woman - one who is not always pleasant and kind, but one who is always open and honest. Her art is used as a lens into her deepest feelings, although the only representations of her art are in photographs where she is posing in front of one of her paintings. Her devotion to her art was inspiring, although it seemed to overwhelm everything and everyone that surrounded her. I walk away from this book very glad to have met and experienced Georgia O'Keeffe, but also glad to have experienced her from a distance and not had to endure her intensity personally. This is a great compliment for a fascinating book.

For so many years to me, Georgia O'Keeffe was just a well-known woman artist who painted flowers. Thanks to this book I came away feeling that I got to truly know and admire this artist and now I can look at her pictures differently with a deeper understanding and appreciation for them. Thanks to this book I think I have learned to look at the beauty in nature in a different way and feel that this book has taught me much about people and truly opened my eyes in many ways to the world around me and made me curious about different areas of our wonderful country. Very enlightening in many ways and definitely worth reading.

There are parts of New Mexico that, if you know of the woman, just scream This is Georgia O'Keeffe Country. This honest and admiring biography lays out the story of this incredible woman who lived to age 99. That's a long, long, long life. Her life found its trajectory when, in 1916, a friend sent some of her drawings to renowned photographer Alfred Stieglitz. He proclaimed her to be "a woman on paper." Furious (as only O'Keeffe could be furious), she confronted him, became his lover, and eventually married him, initiating an emotional and artistic collaboration that endured until his death.
O'Keeffe became a feminist before the word was even invented. When she realized that it would be impossible to become her own person while working in his shadow, she established the pattern of spending 6 months with him in NY and 6 months on her own in New Mexico, a place she always referred to as her spiritual home. Stiegitz died in 1946, and O'Keeffe lived on for another incredible half a century.
If you have the opportunity to visit New Mexico, don't miss the O'Keeffe museum in Santa Fe - and my all means visit her home in Abiqueque. To say it's Georgia O'Keeffe country is to put it far too mildly.

When author Laurie Lisle advised the artist, Georgia O'Keeffe, that hers was a story Lisle "wanted to tell," O'Keeffe, as was her wont, elected not to participate but told Lisle, "you are welcome to what you find." ("Forward and Acknowledgments.") Lisle, equipped with a passion for her subject and steadfastness of purpose - qualities similar to those governing O'Keeffe's own work and life - pored through museum bulletins and exhibition catalogue notes, magazine and newspaper articles, memoirs about O'Keeffe's artistic peers (including her husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz), and O'Keeffe's letters preserved in Yale's Beinecke Rare Book Library. She spoke with O'Keeffe's schoolmates, in-laws, and friends. And, of course, she viewed O'Keeffe's creations.

There is not one spot of color in this book except for the auburn and gold lettering on the jacket of my paperback. The sixteen pages of photographs in the book, only four of which show O'Keeffe posing with her art, are black-and-white. One imagines, had the artist participated in this project and accepted that a literary work, with an artist as its subject, could be as beautiful and fascinating as the flowers, skulls, rivers, and stones she captured in her own paintings, O'Keeffe would have appreciated the lack of color. For much of her life, O'Keeffe's signature garb was black with a touch of white, due to a belief that admirers ought to focus on the art, not the artist.

While reading this book, one obviously is tempted to take occasional breaks from Lisle's gorgeously plain, non-effusive prose to google O'Keeffe's paintings. After I read about O'Keeffe's initiation into the jet age, where she was surprised to peer down from her airplane window and "see so many rivers, tributaries, and deltas undulating through the earth's deserts" ("Chapter 13: Clouds"), I just had to view "It Was Red and Pink." However, this book clearly is not an art critique. Paintings are discussed insofar as they provide insight into O'Keeffe's mind, heart, and soul. Most of the time, while reading, I stayed far away from the computer. I was riveted by tales about family, femininity, marriage, the artist's apparent struggle between remaining dedicated to painting and perhaps having a baby, the conflict between how she and the public perceived her work, intimations of mortality, and a devotion to the splendors of New Mexico even after her eyesight failed.

I would recommend this book to anyone who relishes art, history, New Mexico, femininism, humanity, or just would love to read a great book.

Having just seen the Georgia Okeeffe exibition at the Phillips Gallery in Washington, DC, I had to run out and buy a biography to learn more about this incredible artist. This book gives deep personal insight to Ms O'keeffe's life and work.

Contrary to other information, this book is a good neutral source to the history of the middle east in maps.

The book does not take a stand on the issue of what land was and was not promised to arabs during the first world war. Anyone who claims they found an easy answer to that question in this atlas is misrepresenting the material.

Further maps show patterns of Jewish popluation growth. But none of the maps claim to show: 1) the price at which the land was sold, 2) that Palestine was a waste land, 3) the motives for land sales to Jews during the mandate and pre-mandate period.

Other maps show conficts between the communities within what is now Israel. They show a pattern of consistant and growing resistance of local people (palestinians) to the creation by force of a Jewish State around their homes.

The book also does not claim that Transjordan was ever a part of any intended jewish homeland, consistant with history. Any suggestion that the league of nations had ever sought to incorporate lands east of the jordan river into a jewish state is false. See the text of the mandate, the discussions of the negotiation of the mandate...etc. It is further false and not suggested by the book that the 1920-21 riots by palestinians against the mandate ended any jewish immigration.

The atlas shows the growing violence between palestinians and jewish settlers throughout the mandate period. What maps cannot show however are movements among the settlers to economically exclude all arabs from their lives. Movements such as hebrew labor which attempted to create economic segregation within palestine are not easily shown in maps.

The facts as shown by the book are that Palestinians resisted the creation of the mandate and a jewish homeland since the start. And that as the pace of jewish migration increased, violence and resistance increased in parallel. And throughout the mandate period there were deaths on both sides. The book also clearly shows the increasing violence that ended in civil war in 1948.

The peel commission did not find that Jerusalem was a predominatly jewish city. But it did use the example of the forced removal of greeks from Turkey in 1922 to suggest all non-jews be removed by force from the jewish state proposed by the Peel Commission. During the late 1930s, the Palestinians insisted on one country for all people. Every British proposal for division of the country involved large-scale explusions of Palestinians and a continuation of british rule over a large part of the remaining land (so-called international rule).

The book finally shows the war of 1948 and its disasterous results for palestinians. The flight of palestinians away from their homes during the war, the destruction of their villages by Israel and Israeli massacres like Dier Yassein of Palestinians are all shown in great detail. It also shows the patterns of settlement following the 1967 occupation of the west bank and gaza.

And while some will use the book to apportion blame, its better to look at the book and get a sense of who has lost what. Palestine, in 1921 was denied national existance and turned over to the british for colonization by europeans. In 1948, Democratic Israel was created by driving what would now be a non-jewish majority out of their homes within the new state of Israel. And after 1967, the clear intent of the Israelis to take all the land through settlements is more than visible.

Beyond that, arguments about what might have been in 1937 are utterly worthless today. The situation is that a huge population of Palestinians today lives in the west bank under Israeli military rule with no rights. That situation must change if there is to be peace. 1948 cannot be undone anymore than 1917 can be undone. But rather than apportion blame or point fingers or rehash the past, what needs to be done is to find a way to give the palestinians in the occupied territories a national state once and for all.

History can provide a source of facts, but it cannot make a peace. Peace can only be made by looking at the grim reality of the current situation and finding a solution.

My 1993 edition of this classic reference contains 147 maps imparting great wisdom, and a depth of understanding rarely presented in the evening news. Only three maps concern periods before the twentieth century. The third shows the Turkish conquerors' vilayet re-districting of the Holy Land in 1888, plus areas of Arab-Jewish conflict during the last three decades of Ottoman rule.

The book's fourth map clearly outlines the areas excluded in 1915 from the independence promised by the British to the Arabs, and requested by Hussein of Mecca for Arab cantons. Neither side mentioned southern Palestine, the Mutasarriflik of Jerusalem or the Jewish people--at all.

Further maps also evidence the eagerness of Arab property owners to sell waste land to Jewish settlers at very high prices, for very large tracts were made available.

Still others show the locations of Arab attacks on Jewish communities beginning in 1882. Through 1914, bands of Arabs assaulted at least 10 Jewish settlements between Jaffa and Jerusalem and in the Jezreel Valley.

From 1920 on, the maps show progressively more attacks, in which Arab assailants destroyed the new landowners' forests, wheat fields, orange groves and cattle, burned and stoned their shops and factories--and murdered unarmed Jews.

A March 1920 attack by a large number of Halsa Arabs on the Jews in Tel Hai killed six; an April 1920 attack on B'nai Yehuda killed one. In May 1921, Arab riots prompted Britain, the League of Nations' trustee of all Middle Eastern Mandates, to end Jewish immigration and "close settlement of the land" throughout Transjordan, both of which the League had sought, with Arab approval, only a few years earlier. Only these attacks, and the Arab 1929 riots that killed 20 Jewish children and elders in Safed, 7 in Hacarmel, 6 in Motza, 1 in Hulda, 6 in Tel Aviv, 2 in Beer Toviya--and 59 in Hebron-- persuaded previously passive Jewish farmers to take up arms, thereby defying British prohibitions against Jewish self-defense.

The fact is, Arab riots occurred well in advance of Israel's creation. They took scores of Jewish civilian lives. And then (in 1921)--as now--the only Arabs killed by Jews were killed in counter-attacks that followed the initial Arab assaults.

All this shows clearly on the maps readers reach page 14.

From here, the pictorials exhibit the precise dimensions of the 1936 Arab riots, with one page devoted to each of four months. The casualties to Jewish life and property were massive and nationwide. More riots in 1937 and 1938 followed.

Most enlightening of all, however, are those maps detailing the various partition plans over the years. The first of these, which the Jewish people accepted, and the Arabs rejected, was the 1937 Peel Commission proposal. The Peel Commission envisioned a tiny Jewish State, an L-shaped affair perhaps 6 or 8 miles-wide along the Mediterranean coast, from south of Rehovot to a few miles north of Acre with a northern corridor no more than 30 miles deep running from the coast, and inland on a border south of Afula to Beit Shean. Even this, the Jewish people accepted, and Arabs rejected.

But the Peel proposal was most remarkable for something else it inherently acknowledged: Jerusalem was not a "traditionally Arab city," as modern-day news repeatedly misinforms us. Its population--which was centered in the Old City--was predominantly Jewish. Christians and Muslims were minorities.

Thus the Peel Commission assigned Jerusalem, Bethlehem and a roughly oval-shaped area surrounding them, to an international trust to be managed by Britain for the League of Nations.

When that plan foundered on the Arab refusals, two subsequent 1938 partition plans proposed assigning even larger areas to the international trust. The more significant of the pair was the British Woodhead plan, as it was none too sympathetic to Zioninsts. Nevertheless, Woodhead expanded the international area encompassing Jerusalem and Bethlehem to include "traditionally Arab Ramallah" as well.

It is a lot more difficult after consulting this book, to lay blame for the Arab Israeli conflict solely on Israel's doorstep. The pictures tell the story. While the Camp David II final settlement offered in 2000 and 2001 is not shown, the book does contain maps of the "peace enclaves" as the future Palestinian Authority areas were then called. Moreover the later proposals almost seem unnecessary, given the illustrations of intense anti-Jewish attacks that began even before Israel was a state.

In short, Israel could and would have been much smaller than it is today if only Arabs had in 1937 accepted any Jewish state. They didn't, although none of the current issues even existed in 1937. But then, they had begun attacking Jewish farmers decades before Israel had any borders at all. These points are very telling indeed.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

Professor Gilbert may know more about this subject than any other scholar, and despite some inherent difficulties has reconstructed geographical areas with great precision. Even those who disagree with his views (occasionally expressed in the explanatory captions) must acknowledge the consumate scholarship underlying his maps--which have no "attitudes," only facts.

The Arab-Israeli conflict is a fiercely debated topic with numerous accusations constantly being thrown back and forth. For someone just beginning to study the Arab-Israeli conflict, it can be overwhelming. This book is a collection of maps drafted by a professional cartographer to show the real dimensions of treaties, ceasefires, boycotts, and other historical moments in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Would you like to know exactly which land the Oslo Agreements included?

Would you like to know which parts of the Middle East belonged to biblical Israel?

Would you like to know which parts of Britain's Palestine Mandate they forbid Jews to dwell or buy land on?

This resource can answer all those question and more graphically showing you the exact boundaries of, countries involved in, and other important aspects of the Arab-Israeli conflict. I particularly found this resource helpful in disputing allegations by people that "such-and such a percentage" of the land was to be given up in a treaty such as the original U.N. plan for Palestine or under the Oslo Agreements. After showing my fellow debater the actual maps, the arguments were ended since I was in possession of hard fact thanks to this fine reference book.

Sir Martin Gilbert is a well-acclaimed British scholar, who has written numerous titles in the Historical Atlas series, extensively written about the Arab-Israeli conflict, and was also officially appointed to write the biography of Sir Winston Churchill.

I have reviewed the 1984 Fourth Edition, but several editions have since come out with updated information and additional maps to reflect more recent developments. I recommend getting the most recent edition available.

I highly recommend this outstanding resource for anyone studying the Arab-Israeli conflict, whether pro-Arab or pro-Israeli.

Review by: Maximillian Ben Hanan

Very informative. Gives a good understanding of the conflict by one of the best historians alive right now. Buy it.