New Jersey Books

I STARTED THIS BOOK AND DIDN'T WANT TO STOP. IT IS WELL WRITTEN AND THE RESEARCH APPEARS TO BE VERY THROUOGH. THE ONLY REASONS I DIDN'T GIVE IT 5 STARS IS BECAUSE I WOULD HAVE LIKED MORE INFORMATION ON THE CHILDREN AND THE TRIAL. THE BOOK IS FACINATING AND KEEPS MOVING AND DOESN'T GET BOGGED DOWN WITH FLUFF. NOW FOR THE UNTHINKABLE CRIME--- HOW CAN A MAN DO THIS TO ANYONE, OH YEAH, THIS WASN'T JUST ANYONE, IT WAS HIS OWN FAMILY!! THIS MAN WAS A COLD, CALCULATING MONSTER!! I HAVE SOME AWFUL THOUGHTS OF HOW THIS MAN SHOULD HAVE BEEN PUNISHED! AND TO THINK HE GOT BY WITH IT FOR 18 YEARS AND THEN SAYS TO BE ENJOYING HIS LIFE AND SAD THAT HE GOT CAUGHT! HE WAS EVIL, AND EARLIER THIS YEAR HAD TO FACE GOD. NO MAN THAT TRUELY HAS JESUS IN HIS HEART COULD COMMIT SUCH A CRIME. HE DIED ON GOOD FRIDAY, BUT I BET IT WASN'T SUCH A GOOD FRIDAY FOR HIM. INHUMAN ACT OF COWARDICE.

This is a good book so far BUT I'm within the first fifty pages and I've already found a handful of grammatical and spelling errors which irritates me immensely.

8/6/08 I'm about half way through it and it is quite good. It's an excellent look into how a killer is constructed.

John List and Family were certainly not your typical family living during the turbulent 60's and early 70's. His Mother was a Christian Fundamentalist who interpreted all fun as being sinful and his wife's venerial disease must have surely created much heartache for the family as well as the children living in this household. If only List would have focused on the ceiling with the Louis Comfort Tiffany stainglass instead of on his demented, mentally unstable view of life; he could have paid off his mortgage and recouped his losses. This is a story once again of the terrible effects of "Brain Washing Faith" on the human form and the terrible fate awaiting an unsuspecting family.

I grew up in Westfield, NJ and belonged to the same theater group Pat the daughter (one of the victims) in this tragedy did. This event deeply affected my life. My sister's best friend lived accross the street and my father had the same occupation John List had, I lived two streets away. The judge in the case noted that this had a profound impact on the youth in Westfield as the kids contemporary's must have felt that perhaps they too could suffer the same fate as the List children. I remember this event being the wake up call of lost innocence and our idyllic hometown was forever changed. The desperation Mr List experienced was unbearable, but his selfish act is still unthinkable. An even more compelling read when it is part of one's personal history.

On November 9th, 1971 a monster came alive in an elegant mansion in an exclusive New Jersey town called Westfield and cold-bloodedly murdered his entire family. Then, with the corpses for company, he had a little dinner, washed the dishes, and went upstairs to sleep.

'Righteous Carnage' is the true story of John Emil List, a quiet and mild mannered accountant who systematically murdered his mother, his wife, and his own three children. He walked away the next day, and managed to elude police for eighteen years before the TV show 'America's Most Wanted' flushed him out of his hiding place. While his family rotted, List created a new life and even remarried, enjoying his freedom.

One of the more gruesome pieces of evidence in this case is a letter left by John List addressed to his pastor, in which he confesses to killing his family. This book contains that entire letter, plus the lengthy sentencing by Judge Wertheimer, along with eight pages of black-and-white photos.

While the story is extremely interesting, and the authors cover all the angles, there are times that the prose drags and some of the writing takes on the feeling of being "filler". Overall, if you're a fan of true crime, this book is a must-have for collector, being the story of a true monster who walks among us. Enjoy!

We all know the saying, "When life serves you lemons, make lemonade!" And that is what Kristen Buckley does. I laughed from Page 1 through the end of Tramps Like Us. In my own dysfunctional family (in another state), I had 4 brothers with the same style of wit and humor. Laughing at life become part of the home fabric. Many kudos to Kristen Buckley for her ability to bring these very real, quirky and fun families to others!

i was really disappointed with this book. i thought between the outstanding reviews on this page and being a bergen county girl myself that i would get a kick out of this book. however, i felt it really dragged and wasnt all that interesting. i also felt the ending was abrupt. i definitely forced myself to finish it just hoping it would get better but it never did.

The childhood memoir done with more smarts, warmth, and decidedly more laughs than usual. On more than one occasion, I literally had to put the down down until my laughter subsided a bit. The most strange and wonderful paradox about Buckley's world is that it seems at once both completely familiar and completely original. It is her skill at storytelling and her fantastic knack for details that win the day. Very funny and smart, smart, smart!

This book is hysterical. Buckley deftly mines her family's stories to great comic effect, while still presenting a warm and affection portrait that always rings true. Everyone is quick to jump on the "dysfunctional family" bandwagon. Finally someone can make us laugh about it! There are parts of this book that are so funny that you'll just have to share with someone. I've been reading whole sections of the book out loud to the assistants in our office and they cannot get enough of it... Funny, funny read and perfect for anyone who was a kid in the 70s or 80s...

I blazed through this hilarious book faster that anything I've read in ages! And then, as I began the final chapter I realized my remorse at gobbling up the book -- I hated the idea of finishing it! Buckley's heartfelt, wry and oh-so-wise observations and recollections about her wacky family and their beyond colorful Jersey world repeatedly, successfully took me right back to my own 80's teen life...from the Stouffer's Frozen French Bread Pizza mention to her passion for meeting Sting and The Police, I found myself completely charmed and absorbed. I've told all my high school friends this is a can't miss...right down to the special Index of terms and book lists, which is one of the coolest aspects of the book. What a fun read! Perfect for the beach this summer.

This book grabbed me from page one and I could not close it until I finished it. Dinah Lenney is a magnificent writer -- clear and truthful and observant. It's as good as "The Year of Magical Thinking."

This is a very deep and beautiful read. By the end of the book, I felt I personally knew the characters in her life. I especially loved Lenney's devotion to her children and her quest to make sense of the tragedy so she might offer them hope. There's some really beautiful scenes in the book and it's worth checking out.

Several times I wanted to put the book down and start something different but I kept sticking with it. There are parts of the book that just drag and other parts that captured my full attention. I really couldn't rate this more than 3 stars. I have read other memoirs from the series "American Lives" and I liked them a whole lot more. I also have several that I have not read yet..so I will give them a try.

Great, honest, brave memoir, wonderful writer.
The chapter on Christmas is unforgettable.

This book is brave, funny, honest and insightful. The murder of Lenney's father is a jumping-off point for a post-mortem examination of her dysfunctional family, and in this sense it is about all messy American families and the pleasures and pain found therein. Lenney is all voice - she riffs and rants, deftly weaving a story that keeps you hooked. Her prose is a delicious, shiny candy shell for the softer, sweeter stuff within: her deep affection for her children, her husband, her trying first family and the father she struggled to know and love.

Very good read. It's funny sad and sweet at the same time. I read it in one day. I could not sepparate from it until the end.

This is an excellent book...one of my favorite memoirs. It was hard to put down and I was sad when it ended. I am surprised it didn't more "buzz" when it first came out. It is light-hearted, funny, and very interesting. It reminds me a little of A Girl Named Zippy. I wish he would write a follow-up book. Definately worth the read!

A BOY NAMED PHYLLIS is a wonderfully hilarious, touching, and original coming out memoir about the pains of growing up VERY gay in an Italian-American household in suburban New Jersey. Witty, raucous, peppered with one-liners, wacky situations, and even wackier characters, this debut book is a minefield of belly laughs. Whether he's discussing true love in Coordinate Geometry class, true lust for David Cassidy, the enduring pains of sissy torture, the unrefined glories of 70s pop culture, or the idiosyncrasies of his family, Frank DeCaro has created a frothy memoir readers aren't likely to forget. This memoir is one that paved the way for the tres-gay, silly, and shamelessly confessional works of David Sedaris and Augusten Burroughs - so if you love their work give it a try.

Several times when reading this book of reminiscences by a man who escaped uniform suburbia to become an openly gay New York writer, I laughed out loud. I appreciate any book that can inspire a reader to do that; the author has a very funny, succinct writing style. I also appreciate books about people who are other than "mainstream," so I mostly enjoyed this one. However, as a heterosexual female, I didn't appreciate the writer's graphic descriptions of just what he likes (or liked as a teenager) to do with his male partners. When readers are trying to broaden their minds by choosing books about people not exactly like themselves, that kind of detail isn't what they're normally after. If this author has a second book, hopefully he's gotten that type of thing out of his system.

This is a very well told story of growing up different. I also loved his rememberances of being part of the 70's disco culture.

Autobiographies live or die based on the "tone" and how much the writer shares with the reader. Here the tone is humorous and refreshing - the details are moving.

This is a great book and deserves more attention. I have had my friends all read and love it. :)

I have read the first four books and was in awe of all. I thought that each one was the best book that I have ever read. I especially liked the fact that it was based in Newark. ( I was raised there during that era.) She is an excellent writer. Her books have everything that you are lookng for, romance, comedy, mystery, all rolled up in one. I'm hitting the store for the latest in the series.

I first read this author's work with Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do, and thought she was primarily a romance writer, until I found the Tamara Hayle Mystery series. I liked her character...smooth and thoughtful. I could SEE the secondary characters brought to life as well.
I can't wait to read the next one.
When reading a mystery I always like to have little clues that you are supposed to catch and file away. Like the boy with the gun and light eyes in the beginning. You just don't know HOW big a part until you read on...but you KNOW he has a part. I really like the realness of Tamara... seeing that gun pointed at her was scary. Enough to change her mind on the sandwich. That was great!

I have read the first three Tamara Hayle novels, and this one was no exception. NO HIDING PLACE, while slightly confusing, still retains the mystery and sharp humor that follows each book. Tamara Hayle and Easy Rawlings (a Walter Moseley creation) are my favorite dectectives and I can't wait to finish EASIER TO KILL, so that I will be ready to grab her brand new offering, THE DEVIL RIDING. By throwing the lifestyles of a hoodlum and combining them with Tamara's ties with her dead brother, out came a story that was complex, sad, and hopeful for a brighter tomorrow for the remaining cast of characters.

I've read all of the Tamara Hayle mysteries. I'm amazed how each story is better than the last. They just get more exciting. After each one I think to myself, 'now you can't top that one'; however, Ms. Wesley keeps coming back with more. The characters are so earthy and real. Everyone can relate to these characters in some way or another.

I was not a mystery reader at all, until I read Ms. Wesley's first book. I enjoyed it so much I wrote her a thank you note. I have enjoyed everyone of Tamara's adventures and always look forward to the next. I admire what Ms Wesley has accomplished with her main character. She portrays such strength while remaining very female. If you have not read a Tamara Hayle mystery then you must treat yourself. You won't regret it.

Outstanding book! I am fortunate to know Dr. Davis. No wonder why this is such a great story. A great man with an incredible outlook on life. He spent some time mentoring my nieces while they were attending Rutgers University and inspired them to do great things. Doc, They both graduated and are attending grad school:) Thank you! I also had the opportunity to meet Sharon Draper(Co-author)when she came to the middle school where I am now a teacher. The school love all of her books.

My nieces and I are also products of Newark, NJ and the Bronx, NY. "We Beat the Street" is a voice for those inner city kids and every kid that have dreams but yet do not have the resources immediately available in their homes, community and in their every day life. A great story of how to overcome obstacles, stigmas and how to give back to a community.

We Beat the Streets by three doctors, Sampson, George, and Rameck, is a nonfiction book. This story is about three friends that go to a medical school and they wanted to be different doctors. I learned that people should hang out with the people who want to bring you higher to a higher grade. I like this book becouse it has a lot of adventure and mystery.Other will like it because it has magnificent stories that will make you want to read more. -by Kevon Pierrot

This book is an excellent read aloud book for teachers of young African American males. It encourages and helps them realize that no matter how badly one's life begins, it doesn't have to stay that way. It's a great discussion starter to help young people voice their concerns in a format that normally would not be available to them.

Chris Cummings


We Beat the Streets

This book "We Beat the Streets" can show people, it doesn't matter were you come from. You can always become something even if you live in the ghetto.

This Book is about three doctors, George Jenkins, Sampson Davis and Rameck Hunt, and all three of them come from a New Jersey city, Newark. All three of them fulfill there dream and go to college. In the book there are incidents from the lives of all three doctors about them living in the bad areas of Newark when they were kids. They did some bad things at first in there lives but then they realized later on in there life that the street life won't pay off in the end. As the reader reads this book they will follow Sampson, Rameck and George as there journey from first grade through medical school. See them achieve there goals. In this book "We Beat the Streets" it shows tragedy of street life and how still living in bad communities you can always achieve your goals.

The content of "We Beat the Street" was edited really good for such young readers, making it a want to read book for this age level. The style of this book was simple but also attractive which will catch reader's eyes. Also the message was to the reader is excellent. It puts a warning to readers and also it's a inspiration, and encourages higher education, especially for those who doubt their ability to achieve there education goals. "We Beat The Streets" was one of the best books I have ever read on a subject like this. I extremely recommend this book to readers.

In this work three African American doctors tell the story of how they used their brains, loyalty, and few good chances to escape their tough urban neighborhood, go to college and medical school, and become doctors. The book is targeted for an adolescent audience, although there is an adult version, called "The Pact" available. At the end of each chapter, the doctors give some advice to young people who want to achieve more than those around them expect.

Quote: "Young people need positive role models and guidance in their lives. There is no underestimating a positive figure in a child's life."

I picked this book up because it is the only one recommended by more than one of my ninth graders. I enjoyed the anecdotes about the childhood and teenage years of the young men, but mostly I appreciated their frank discussion of the challenges their lives presented, the choices they needed to make, and the belief of many in their neighborhood that they would never get out. I think young people would enjoy the work even more than I did, since the authors were careful to target students.

I couldn't put this book down. Wolff goes into great detail about this town, yet it's never boring. I also loved the way he tied in the thoughts of Stephen Crane and Bruce Springsteen to the political and social happenings of the town. While he uses the insights of these writers to great advantage, he also makes marvelous insights of his own. If you are interested in Asbury Park, or American social history in general, this is a must-read.

Not a Bruce Springsteen bio or critique and not advertised as one, 4th of July, Asbury Park: A History of the Promised Land by Daniel Wolff fits its eponymus title exactly.

Please excuse any hubris - it is not intended - but you will enjoy this book a lot more if you have an aquaintance and familiarity with Asbury (the only name by which it was referred). And, while my title aptly describes what this book addressses, I have to admit to being stunned by the history author Wolff presents.

Key to that is the knowledge that Asbury Park did not develop as city through what I'll call natural means. There was no influx of population that arrived and, other time, established roots and the attendant need for a municipal structure to meet public needs. Instead, it was the creation of a individual who in this day and age would be called a fundamentalist Christian but was profit-minded enough that he wanted to work on Sundays.

The creation was named Asbury Park after noted Methodist Francis Asbury and its mission, if you will, was to provide beach-related services to the quasi-rich. This is did with notable success to its customer-base while providing virtually nothing to the population that worked there. Its municipal government was based on the premise of "of the influencial, for the wealthy, supported by the down-trodden." This precept cannot be better depicted than by the fact that the blacks who worked in the city's nyriiad hotels and business not only lived literally on the wrong side of the railway tracks but also lived in an area not incorporated into the city until the 20th Century so that the administration did not have to provide services to them.

The Administrations also subscribed to the "no honor among thieves" doctrine by engaging in perpetual internicine warfare among themselves to win the mayoralty and patronage dispensations. But, irregardless of whomsoever was in power, there was adherence to the notion that public funds were - after appropriate skimming - only to be spent on the tourists. This left the city with an elegant ocean facing facade backed by a rotting infrastructure.

With the advent of cheap airfare in the 1960s, tourists ceased to come to the Jersey Shore, choosing instead sites in the Caribbean and Mexico. With the slowdown in revenue, the city collapsed inwardly and, by the 1970/1980 period devolved into the Beruit cum Baghdad appearance it has to this day.

Wolff portrays this history in a clear, concise fashion and does name the names and cite the crimes. His appraisals are scrupulously honest and fair. He points out that the tendency to fortget anything more than, say, five blocks from the boardwalk was not limited by race, color, creed or place of national origin; in a way, he provces that corruption is the best example of diversity.

All in all, an excellent book. It broke my heart to read it.

I am offended by this book.
It is politically correct,which in itself is a turn-off,but the author,Daniel Wolff,seems neither to understand the history of Asbury Park,nor appreciate the fact that that history CANNOT be viewed through a politically correct microscope.
To begin with Asbury Park,as well as nearby Ocean Grove were begun as strictly conservative religious communities...Wolff either does not understand the importance of this fact,or is himself offended by its implications.Furthermore,both communities were begun not as public,but as PRIVATE communities.Absbury park,unlike Ocean Grove,was not wholly owned by the Methodist church but was,instead,owned and operated by one man,james Bradey,himself a strict Methodist ...
To understand Asbury Park and not understand that THINGS WERE VERY VERY DIFFERENT IN THE 19th century is to not understand anything at all...Wolff seems intent upon grafting 21st century values and thinking upon a 19th century canvas,something that just does not work..
Take,for example,the problems caused by the black population of that time,who neither owned any property in Asbury Park,nor even lived within that communities borders..These people were,for the most part,employed as "menials",i.e.porters,cooks,maids and suchlike...It was a time when the sort of equality that is commonplace today was NOT commonplace..And Asbury Park,like any other BUSINESS VENTURE,depended upon a monied customer base in order to both thrive and expand...and in the 19th century that monied customer base,like it or not,was white,AND not a little bit bigoted against blacks..Sure,by today's standards such behaviour would not be tolerated,but it is apparent that Wolff does not understand that 1880 is not 2007,and that what today would not be tolerated in 1880,1890,1900,ect was both tolerated and commonplace.So instead of understanding this fact,and writing about Asbury Park AS IT WAS,Wolff instead makes his focus the fact that blacks,who were employed at various businesses in Asbury Park were nonetheless not wanted as paying customers whose presence tended to deter the monied white from coming there..
Wolff celebrates defiance..Instead of appreciating that the 19th century,for the most part was a far different,more conservative place that almost anywhere is today,he istead tends to deride the values that were prevailing and glorify the critics..One of these was author Stephen Crane,famous for the novel"The Red Badge of Courage"but,at that time,a relentless critic of everything Brady's Asbury Park represented..Most people who came to Asbury Park at that time had little problem with theprevailing atmosphere of conservative,religiously oriented standards(otherwise how could either Asbury Park of nearby Ocean Grove thrive,as they most certainly did?)but Wolff chooses to ignore this fact and instead zero in on the rebels,like Crane,who apparently felt that it was his job to spit on the status Quo..
Throughout the book Wolff makes the saga of Asbury Park one great big "civil rights"saga..Which,of course,it was not...Further,Wolff fails to understand why Asbury Park became the washed up slum that,until only recently,it was..Like it or not,the monied interests,both in terms of capital and the tourist trade,were largely dominated by whites who deserted Asbury Park when other more"exclusive"getaways presented themselves(in the more modern era of automobile and airplane travel),leaving the town largely to its black population,under which like every other big city in New Jersey,quickly degenerated into a slum...
Does this sound a tad bigoted?Maybe,but bigoted or not the fact remains that when whites fled the inner-cities and the old shore resort towns,the new black majorities there no longer attracted tourists or industry..
Wolff fails to understand that tourists WITH MONEY do not have to go to places like Asbury Park...They do not have to mingle,on an equal basis,with those whom they employ to cut thier hair or shine thier shoes..Sure,in a"perfect"world everyone would not only be"equal"but accepting and considerate towards everyone else,but unless you have been living with your eyes and ears closed,ours has never been a perfect world,not today,and certainly not in the 19th century,which was Asbury Park's heyday...So Wolff,failing to understand reality,instead paints his word-picture of Asbury Park in strokes that have little in common with reality..
Another one of Wolff's heroic figures is Bruce Springsteen..Wolff celebrates Springsteen's lyrics about the working man,and all of the rest of his contrived twaddle,as if the songs that have made it possible for Springsteen to enjoy a lifestyle far removed from just about anyone he ever encountered in Asbury Park somehow has meaning with regard to the city itself..Surely if Springsteen's lyrics did have any real relevance to the real Asbury Park,then Springsteen himself would still be living there..Instead he lives(at least part of the time)in Rumson,new jersey,the sort of rich beach community,populated mainly by rich whites like himself,that,in his book,Wolff so denigrates...
This book is trash..It has no idea what reality represents,either way back when,in the 19th century,or now,in the politically correct 21st century..Springsteen,wolff's anti-hero from Asbury Park,may sing about the disenfranchised,but like the white people of that long ago Asbury Park,he doesn't live among them..

This book is a great resource. As a person who grew up "down the shore" adjacent to Asbury Park, I've learned a tremendous amount about the area's history. Interesting read with a great level of detail and chapter notes. I had borrowed it from the library but wanted my own copy to add to my shore book collection.

Who knew that the history of a town that I had never heard of in New Jersey would yield such an interesting read? The town is set up in such a way that it resembles some of the seedy racist behaviors that all of us would like to believe don't exist anymore but need to come to terms with.
There is plenty of talk about Springsteen, but there is also plenty of well-researched information on the rest of the love-to-hate-'em characters in the town.

Perhaps only Showdown at Gucci Gulch matches The System for a true focus on how big-time policy really gets enacted - or doesn't as the Clinton health care drive shows. Whereas the Gucci Gulch focused on Reagan's 1986 tax policy overhaul success, The System follows President Clinton's efforts to revamp healthcare in America. What makes The System more representative of the political process than Gucci Gulch is that healthcare reform failed. Because of Clinton management inexperience, and Gingrich "coagulation" and scare tactics, healthcare reform never happened. That may be for the better. Clinton's plan left little to be desired, though it was not the "socialized medicine" that the right claimed it was. Still, that does not mean it was a worthy plan. The real problem, however, that scoring political success for both sides trumped the search for wise policy. Most everyone at the outset agreed that there was something wrong with healthcare, but change failed to occur. And no one is absolved of blame by Johnson and Broder: the President, First Lady, the wider Administration, Congress, the press, interest groups, and the public all allowed this to happen. Again, that doesn't mean that Clinton's plan should have been adopted, but something could have been done to better deal with the many healthcare problems plaguing the nation.

Regardless, The System is a must-read for anyone who wants to see American politics as it really exists.

If you read this book in the wrong frame of mind, you won't like it. The wrong frame is to believe that it consists of honest reporting about the U.S. health care system, and the Clinton health bill of `93. It's mainly not reporting. It's advocacy.

The key is found in the intro, where the authors define "The System" that rules USAmerica -- which includes the Presidency, the Congress, the media ... AHH! The fact that they think the media is part of the govt., just not elected, is itself worth the price of this volume.

Taken in this vein, it is quite good. We must have a national health system like a European country's , because ... well, because they feel embarrassed that we aren't like Europe. That the U.S. was settled, predominantly, by people who WANTED NOT TO LIVE IN EUROPE is unimportant to Johnson and Broder, who know better than to take the this self-govt. nonsense seriously.

What is serious is that the USAmerican public rejects 'socialized medicine.' So instead Clinton wrapped it up in his mess of a bill, and then tried to scare us into panic over our health care, saying the system would collapse if we didn't give control of it to the govt. Not true, and Johnson & Broder know it, but hey, can't let truth stand in the way of ruling.

Frequently THE SYSTEM is unintentionally funny, too, as when the authors take a break from reporting the `horse race' political aspects of the story to criticize the media for concentrating on the `horse race' instead of the policy substance, after which they trash the only attempt ever made to discuss the policy substance (Elizabeth McCaughey's famous piece in The New Republic) and go back to reporting the horse race. You sort of wonder if they read their own manuscript.

But have some sympathy. They do mention the policy substance from time to time -- our rulers think we spend far too much money on foolish things like attempting to save the lives of premature infants. Those resources should go to more important things, like health care for "homeless, drug abusing gay and bisexual men of color." I mean, would you want to defend THAT openly?

It's also very useful in assessing the nature of liberal bias in the press. The last chapter of the hardcover first edition, on sale in 1996, told us about good Pres. Clinton's attempts to `save' the federal budget before runaway health care spending wrecked it, and evil House Speaker Newt Gingrich's attempts to `cut health care spending,' when in both cases they were trying to do the same thing -- cut the rate at which spending on health care would increase in the future. That's one way you bias coverage -- describing things in such a way as to create the desired reaction, which in this case was to get us to run out and vote Democratic.

The last chapter of this paperback edition mentions the Kassenbaum-Kennedy bill, passed by Congress and signed by Clinton. All mention of it was carefully left out of the first edition. That's another way of biasing coverage -- leave out the `unimportant' stuff that might confuse the citizenry.

And if you practice your critical thinking skills as you read, you will learn a lot about the chaotic way Clinton ran his administration, how the Democrats lost control of the House after twenty straight wins, why the bill was so complex, and other fascinating stuff.

What you won't learn how the Clinton health plan would have worked, of course. Obviously, they were afraid of your reaction if you found out. That is probably the most important information in the book.

I read this book a few years ago as a requirement for my Master's degree in public administration. I read along with interest because the story that unfolded read like some sort of sordid drama, like something you might see on prime time television. It had suspense, intrigue, and some of the most stunning ups and downs. And all this from a book that attempts to comprehensively explain the hopeful beginnings and hopeless endings of the Clintons' (both Bill and more specifically Hillary) attempts to implement universal health care in the United States. Think back, if you will, to the campaign promises Bill Clinton made in his first campaign. He vowed to fight for universal health care. Many Americans like this idea, but when it comes right down to it, most Americans do not trust the government to provide their health care and also feel that government intervention in private health care makes the system... socialist. Bill wanted to change this, and when he was elected, he appointed his wife, Hillary, to chair a committee to research and implement this new universal health care system. However, this was his first mistake. The American people at that time were very suspicious and skeptical of Mrs. Clinton, feeling that she did not embody what a First Lady should be. They also felt that she had demonstrated no real qualifications for this appointment. The writers of this book document the controversies and problems brilliantly. I felt confident about the facts... until I was happily reading along (the book, despite its daunting length, reads through smoothly and quickly) and found a most glaring and heinous error. The writers were discussing the positions of Fred Grandy, who, after leaving television, went on to represent his home state of Iowa in Congress. We all know Fred Grandy as Gopher on the tv show Love Boat. But this book said that he had been a star on the show Gilligan's Island! I started to exercise real doubt and skepticism about a book that managed to get through all stages of editing with such an easily spotted error on its pages. Whatever the case, if you want to know how the plan was formed and how it was unraveled quite easily not just by opposition Republicans but also by Hillary herself, you should indeed read this. Hillary and her policy wonk friend Ira Magaziner had many opportunities to compromise on some of the points in their health care plan which would have made it an easier sell to Republicans. In fact many Republicans offered to work with Hillary and Magaziner, but the stubborn duo insisted on having the plan intact... and ended up getting nothing. As did the American people.

This is an excellent book for any student of the political process.

The authors are biased. They believe the Hillary Clinton health care plan should have been enacted and present their study from this point of view. Their slant is annoying. However, it ultimately does not detract too much from a very able telling of the conceptualization, selling, manuevering and strategy employed by both sides over the struggle to socialize medicine in the United States.

Although never pretty or highminded as we are taught in civics class, the book shows a democratic (small "d") system at work. Both sides had true believers who were guided by philosophy and were trying to do what was "right." Both sides had craven opportunists driven by darker more mercurial instincts. The American Congress worked to examine the issue and resolve the dispute as the framers had intended: by providing a forum for parties on both sides of the debate to hash out their perspectives and come to a resolution (one must always keep in mind that an equally legitimate action of any legislative body is to say no to proposals that are unwise or do not have sufficient political support.)

This book will educate the average citizen and fascinate the political junkie.

The Clinton Health Care plan was a bold, dramatic attempt to transform the American health care system to take into account the fact that while America may provide the best health care in the world, far too many of its citizens are unable to afford it. Clinton's attempt, probably the most dramatic attempt at a government program since the Great Society, failed miserably and helped to elect a Republican Congress.

The battle the voters didn't see was the important one- the battle which nearly sank the Clinton Presidency and destroyed its ambitious health care proposal. The powers arrayed against the Clinton plan were formidable and well-financed, aided by the Administration's mind-numbing blunders.

"The System" has the entire story- the high hopes, the stunning reversals, the industry's toxic reaction to reform. The Clintonites quickly found that the old adage is true. No good deed goes unpunished.

"The System" is a very good book at who really calls the shots in American government and how little power people really have against the special interests. More valuable than ten years of civics lessons.

Great book. Nice references about Ocean City, NJ and the beach scene. It's fast paced and humorous at parts- all of the situations Meg Daniels finds herself in. Reminds me of Stephanie Plum, Janet Evanovich books. I want to read the other Meg Daniel's mysteries right away!

Jane Kelly's unique style made Killing Time in Ocean City an enjoyable read. Meg Daniels, a very amateur sleuth with an unusual sense of humor, had my sympathy from page one as her vacation, begun in a blenderful of punch, is interruped by the police and accusations of murder. And while I'm not entirely sure I like Andy Beck, the author's physical description of him certainly held my interest!

Killing Time is filled with Meg's often laugh-out-loud internal dialog, such as when she is looking at a frog clinging to her pants, and thinks "...but stared at me with eyes that would have been far more attractive on a much larger animal."

I look forward to the next two Jane Kelly books I have on my shelf and hope there are more to follow.

I am only on page 30 and I am finding this impossible to read. Chapter 1 she is identifying the body and then in Chapter 2 the police come to get her to identify the body??? Every paragraph has at least 3 questions, but no story telling. There is possibly some editing errors with grammar and missing words, but the story is so poorly written, I'm just not sure it wasn't intentional. I live in Ocean City and already have logistic problems. I assume she is in the Gardens (only place where she could be at the beach and have tall grass), but travels through downtown 4 miles to 34th street to make a phone call. I could care less about any of characters I have met so far. I wish someone would kill Meg Daniels so the book would end.

Visiting Ocean City since I was very small, I found this book very relaxing and entertaing. It took me back to the place my heart will always be, in Ocean City.

I enjoyed the book immensely. Ms. Kelly's character development and wry sense of humor are both excellent. She obviously knows Ocean City well because her settings are accurate. I hope she has another book out in the near future; I will definitely buy it.

Part I of this book contains entirely too much introductory material. In fact, you've read a considerable amount of the book before you realize that she actually experienced abuse. I did not think I was going to be able to read the entire book. However, once I got to part II the book really picked up and becomes an interesting read. At that point, I didn't want to put it down. The author parallels her abuse to the history of slavery which is a unique and interesting touch, but it goes overboard at times. Finally, the book opens with a very dramatic scene and by the book's end, you're not sure what happened that led to that scene or what happened after, a tad frustrating.

Stacey Patton is a remarkable and inspirational person who endured years of physical and verbal abuse by her adoptive mother, Myrtle. Ms. Patton was placed in the foster care system at the age of two by her biological mother as a way to escape her dysfunctional biological family. Only to be adopted by equally dysfunctional people. After seven or eight years of living with abuse, Ms. Patton demanded that her adoptive parents contact DYFS so she could leave their home.

Ms. Patton sets her life on a path to rid herself of the stigma associated with being a ward of the State of New Jersey. With no encouragement from her house masters, she applies and is accepted into a prestigious prep school with a full scholarship. While at school, she is united with her biological family.

Ms. Patton does an excellent job of displaying the similarities between slavery and her childhood. Slave children were beaten into submission. Ms. Patton was beaten for the most trivial mishaps. Slave children were taught to be emotionless. Ms. Patton did not know how to be angry.

Thanks to Ms. Patton for sharing details of her childhood. This novel should be read by everyone as well as used as a training guide for social workers. Ms. Patton is a survivor, who did not let hurtful and mean spirited words and actions limit or shape her destiny.

Stacey Patton writes with the power of a Claude Brown, and her story of her childhood as a ward of the New Jersey foster care system is just as wrenching, and ultimately hopeful, as Manchild in the Promised Land. Ms. Patton has a remarkable gift in being able to step aside of her own brutal treatment and place it in a much larger, historical context -- the legacy of slavery. It is quite brilliant the manner in which she moves the story from the beatings she suffered at the hands of an adoptive mother, who was not poor at all, but the wife of a Christian minister. Whippings, supposedly intended to raise a good child, physically and emotionally scarred Stacey, but they could not destroy her amazing resiliency,spunk and vision. Her escape from a cruel and violent housefold was accomplished despite the bumblings of agents of the State's foster care agency. It is fair to ask how far can the thesis of a link between slavery and the everyday violence of some families and communities be carried. And one can also fairly ask, how can we get this book into the hands of every public servant who has to serve as the last protector and intermediary for children who become wards of the state?

I found it hard to put the book down. Disturbing. Heartwrenching."Makes me want to holler" --- but inspiring!!
I met Stacey when she was 14 and just starting out at The Lawrenceville School. She was our babysitter. My husband is part of her story. I knew her life was challenging but I didn't know the depth until reading her book.
Stacey adds a historical perspective to her story which opens the possibility of great discussions and conversations.
This is an important book. Pass it on..

In slavery times, the master would beat slaves into submission. Their whippings discouraged slaves from running, rebelling and slothful. In turn, slaves beat their own children so the master would not have to. Whippings and beatings are a learned behavior. One that should have ended with slavery, but someone became the punishment of choice for Africian Americans. When Stacey Patton penned her memoir, of her life as the adoptive child of Myrtle and G. Patton in That Mean Old Yesterday, she compared those turbulent eight years to the life of a slave. Stacey was the slave who endured beatings, displacement and abandonment and who eventually runs away from the abusive massa.

At age five, Stacey's short life is changed with just a visit from the social worker. She is informed by the only mother she knows that she is a foster child and she is just a temporary visitor in the only home she knows. She is eventually placed in the adoptive home of Myrtle and G. Patton, a couple who by all appearances are loving people who cannot have their own biological child. With so much love to give they chose Stacey. And they were the perfect family until the adoption was complete. Then, the first slap, then beatings with a belt, extension cord, shoe, hands and fist began by this loving adoptive mother. In Myrtle eyes, this was done in love, after all, it would be better for her to beat Stacey than the police and the Bible says "The blueness of a wound cleans away evil" and "Spare the rod, spoil the child." So for eight years Stacey endured the beatings for simple infractions such as her shoes being crooked in the closet, saying "yep" instead of yes. Until at the age of 13, she could not take it anymore. Rather than sit passively and wait for Myrtle, her massa to beat her to death, Stacey ran.

I sat with my mouth wide open in horror reading Ms Patton's story. Not because of the abuse she suffered, because as a former Child Protective Services worker I had seen it before, but because Ms Patton was so horribly wronged by those who were supposed to protect her. G and other family members knew what was happening and condoned Myrtle's behavior. School teachers and administrators saw the bruises and did not report it; doctors and nurses treated her injuries and did not report them, and the police placed the blame on her and sent her back to her abusers. Through all of this, Ms. Patton had an inner strength and a strong will that could not be broken. When she got tired of the abuse, she ran away and steadfastly refused to return to her adoptive parents' home. Where many would have thought that life ina group home or the system would have been her demise, she excelled in school and sports. She received a full scholarship to a prestigious boarding school, despite the naysayers. She was one of the kids who beat the system. She refused to let the title "Ward of the State of New Jersey" hold her back. She had dreams and she did not let her dreams be deferred.

That Old Mean Yesterday is not an easy read and I would not recommend it to everybody. Those who read the Darkest Child by Delores Phillips, Neecy's Lullaby by Cris Burke, The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, Somebody's Someone by Regina Louise or A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown might be able to relate to this novel. It is hard to believe a child could overcome all the obstacles placed in front of them, but Ms. Patton did and is to be congratulated for her tenacity and accomplishments.

Jeanette
APOOO BookClub