Caldwell Books

In "A Series of Unfortunate Events," Count Olaf (dressed as Stephano the assistant) replies to the question "Are you good with children?" by saying, "Children are strange and foreign to me. . .I never really was one . . .but I understand that they are an important part of the ecosystem." This book is the antidote to that attitude. Holt analyzes the classroom situation--in detail--taking care to think of the children, where they are coming from, decoding their emotions, understanding their fears. If you care at all about nurturing children and giving them every opportunity to learn, this book is essential.

Having studied education and seen first hand the detrimental affect teacher-centered classes have on a child's potential, I have to say it's refreshing to read a THINKING person's view on pedagogy in the 20th century. Sadly, I'm not sure we've improved much in the close to 50 years since this book/journal was written. Though the journal thoughts in the first part of the book show the direction Holt's thinking is leaning, the section on "Real Learning" is where the real gems are to be found. In fact, it has spurred me on to purchase "How Children Learn" as my preference is to approach education positively and constructively. This is a definite classic and I think new educators as well as old should be encouraged to read it and use to rethink their approach to teaching.

After spending a year volunteering weekly in my sons class and then reading this book I found that what the author observed was exactly what I too saw in the classroom. If you've never spent alot of time in a classroom you would find many things in this book hard to believe. The sad truth of the matter is that it's all true. This book provides a wonderful insight into the classroom, but it is hard to get through. This is the sort of book that will put you to sleep if you aren't fully alert, but if you can get through it you will be glad you did.

Another exceptionally good book from John Holt. A real eye opener and an insight into the ways little knowledge on the part of the educator and negative learning atmosphere could really mess up a person for life. Almost 20 years out of school and I am still afraid of anything math. I could definitely recognize myself in his descriptions of children and the tricks they use to "get the right answer". This book is an easy read as well. I borrowed it from the library and as soon as it was finished, I bought most of his other books right away. Very highly recommended book and author.

All the years I've been "against" public school, they were for reasons I'd researched, or came from my own bad experiences and those of my child, and other reasons I just "felt" inside but couldn't explain... I'd certainly built a case for myself as to what was wrong with the whole environment. But I still had never seen or imagined what Mr Holt saw through the eyes of a teacher (yet I could relate it to my entire experience at public school and knew he was speaking the truth). As I read his book it just filled in so many of the vague holes I'd felt as to why I didn't like public school but couldn't explain why. What invaluable insight into what really goes on! It was truly a turning point in my resolve to homeschool. I wish I'd read this years earlier.

As a son of the south, reading another child of the south is always an interesting adventure, and "Tobacco Road" was one of the great forbidden books of my childhood, along with "To Kill A Mockingbird," and forms a fairly neat flipside for that enduring and endearing tale of justice and innocence. "Tobacco Road" is that story from the Boo Radley house, plus some.

Caldwell's grotesques (you can hardly call them characters) are clearly cartoons and yet speak to a sad Southern truth that those of us who grew up in the 1950s and 60s knows always dwells there right below the surface ... that maddening ability to hear at astounding and intricate length grand designs for success while the shingles fall off the house, as well as the tendency to blame every misfortune on everything short of one's own rotten front door. The sultry sexuality, which Caldwell no doubt used to move mountains of books, is about as natural and animalistic as it comes, while also having an odd whiff of indifference and inconsequent confusion to it. Caldwell takes his particular variety of stereotypes (that die-hard defenders of the South yowl long and hard about) down the same steamy, dusty, bloody road that such other great Southern writers as William Faulkner and especially Flannery O'Conner do, but at a wholly different kind of remove that lets you know this is the wellhead for this school of writing. It's lean, taut writing (imagine Hemingway reborn into the Piedmont) counterbalanced by a keening repetitiveness when the characters run up against the same old fences that they have day-in and day-out for years. Menace always hangs slightly above the ground like spring-burning smoke, and that is a genuine Southern thing. It doesn't play the same in the North or the West. Caldwell finds that distinct Southern nerve, and hits it with a ballpeen hammer.

You may love it, you may hate it, but you cannot deny that with "Tobacco Road" you're at the very start of something lean, mean, and cruel in its unvarnished honesty. Mayberry be damned, this is the real South.

Note: Your "helpful" votes are appreciated. Thanks

My comments are only a recommendation, but I promise you will be well-rewarded. Jeeter Lester with his dirtwater family of 17 kids sets
near the throne of southern literature.

It's been a lot of years since I read "Tobacco Road," but I thoroughly enjoyed it. "This Very Earth" and "God's Little Acre" are two other great reads. These are all short novels about down-and-out families, or those living at the edge of society in the South.

You'll love Erskine Caldwell--very rewarding.

I find it rather humorous to note that not only do the majority of the people getting offended by this work of literary brilliance hail from south of the Mason-Dixon, but also that no one seems to have a clue of Caldwell's primary intention. His always-controversial characters, particularly the men, represent not a backwards view of the South or an attept to persist a stereotype, but the abstraction that humans are little more than hairless animals. Caldwell reminds us that man is capable of regressing to a feral state when pushed to the very brink of survival. As we all have differing breaking points, so does each Lester, and each is depicted in varying states of "mental regression."

If you're interested in a book that you can read at face value and take a story and then go on to another book, look elsewhere. Someone else said it earlier: if you want a read that is basically a compendium of the post-depression South, read Steinbeck. If you want to take a look at the true, ugly, primal nature of man, pick this book up, especially if you're writing a paper...lots of material here!

I'm not easily offended, but found Tobacco Road obscene. Not for the sex, for the protrayal of poor, white Southerners without compassion, or, in my opinion, any real understanding. Is making the same joke about physical deformities again and again and again satire or even good dark comedy? Not in my book. In well-drawn humor we are able to see our own wekanesses reflected and recognize the human link between ourselves and the most foolish. But Caldwell's characters are so devoid of humanity that poking fun of them just seems juvenile and cruel. Additionally, I found whole passages of the book poorly written and repetitious. I confess to being a Southerner and from poor stock and perhaps that colors my view. But I love Faulkner and O'Conner. I think Caldwell is best forgotten.

Don't waste your time on this book!

While I certainly didn't expect it to be cheerful, given its look at the life of subsistance farmers in the depression in the deep south, I was unprepared for the utter lack of redeeming quality in any of the characters, the plot, the themes, or the writing.

The characters in this book are utterly selfish, coarse, and debased. They are barely human beings, seeking only to satisfy animal needs. They kill and maim and destroy thoughtlessly. While out on a joy ride, two of the characters kill a man; they later kill a family member. There is no remorse. The characters repeatedly make fun of physical deformities. They revel in destruction of property. They're racist and ignorant.

This could be thought of as a type of satire, a hyper-exaggeration to produce comedy (as others reviewers have suggested) except that there is a problem with that. The writing, 99% of the time, isn't funny. Humor comes from the same word as "human" and with such grim material, there's little there to recommend it.

Still trying to purge this from my memory (sadly hard to do) and I'd suggest you pass this one by. Literature is suppose to uplift, or if it cannot uplift, it should educate, or illuminate. This just debases. Read Steinbeck instead.

I'm a Christian who's been practicing abstinence for religious reasons, and wanted to do some further reading on the topic to help clarify my views on the issue. I read several books on the topic (the others were Sex for Christians by Lewis B. Smedes, Boundaries in Dating by Henry Cloud & John Townsend, and When God Writes Your Love Story by Eric & Leslie Ludy), and this was among the better ones, though not the best (Smedes' book takes those honors).

Winner has a few interesting ideas in her book. She recommends limiting physical activities to only what you would be willing to be seen doing in public. She encourages the church to form an active community of accountability to help support and encourage people in their dating lives. She also takes a very pragmatic approach to marriage, but lauds the role of sex within that marriage.

It's an interesting read, but not the best text on the subject that I found (again, the best was Smedes' Sex for Christians).

As a young twenty-something year old female, I truly was in a bind as to what priorities I should be putting, especially with regards to romance- since our modern day society likes to remind us that it is NOT good to be single...
As the only single gal amongst a sea of couples.. well, I was feeling quite intimidated. I found myself lowering my standards, and I made a bad error (or three). I prayed for God to help me grow more mature with regard to my ideas of sex and love. He granted my prayer, without me even realizing it initally: with this book.

Real Sex is everything I could've ever wanted in a Christian Sex book, and more. Winner does not shrug sex off as a mortal sin that must be tamped down, nor does she suggest rolling in the hay with as many individuals as possible (something that is suggested by many Romance-help books out there). Instead, Winner walks with you through each step of sexual/romantic recovery/discovery, with Biblical references acting as neat little touchstones to God. She quotes everything from the NIV to the Simpsons (tv show)... and just about everyone/anyone in between. On top of all this- she is a prolific writer.
One point that I really enjoyed was how she handled the "No Kissing Before Marriage" contracts that many Christians decide on. I won't tell you her views; just read it. I was impressed with her examples of how to handle the situations of courtship, and temptation, especially since I wasn't feeling Joshua Harris' strict rules of intimacy. I feel like Winner is much more in touch with the average gal who.. hey, has a high sex drive.

Oh, she doesn't shy away from pornography, either- something that much of the Church is still too paranoid/naive to talk about.

All in all.. this book really helped me out on my walk, and I highly suggest it to any single Christian out there looking for some guidance from an author who has "Been there, done that", knows about sex (in all of its allure), and also knows about God's forgiving love... and how to get there.

A friend recommended this book and I have passed it along to others. A book that is thoughtfully written from the perspective of someone who has certainly not lead a "model" existance. However, it does show how God can really change us literally from the inside out.

I liked what the book had to say. I did have a bit of an issue with the way it was written, so parts were just longer than should have been.

As an adult convert to the Christian faith, I found out real quickly that the `sin' Jesus died for was very real and doing quite well in my life.

I appreciate Lauren Winner sharing her own personal struggle because I can relate to her experiences, particularly her anger with the contemporary church. We do seem more interested in fighting the sins of the world than with the sins of our own heart.

I also agree with Lauren and can not understand why leaders in the church do not publicly address human sexuality from a biblical world view. The idea of sex had its origin in the mind of God. According to the Bible, it pleased God to make us male and female. The Bible also makes it clear that the first order of business was to populate the world and subdue it. SEX was God's idea and the bliss and pleasure were not necessary for procreation. Much can be said about Christian hedonism but I would refer anyone interested in ultimate pleasure to read John Piper's books Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist or When I Don't Desire God: How to Fight For Joy.

Lauren approached a lot of issues in her book. Some books, like this one, are inadequate for bringing resolution to a troubled heart. I have found that the Holy Spirit is often a disturber before He is a comforter. I am sure some readers felt the tension that comes with being convicted or provoked. I remember reading Pamela Paul's book "Pornified: How Pornography Is Damaging Our Lives, Our Relationships, and Our Families: and being incredibly disturbed for things I had done and how they effected me and my family. A book I found very helpful to deal with my past is LOVE WITHOUT SHAME by David B. Wyrtzen. While all of these books are good resources for self examination, they can not substitute for what sinful people really need, and that is to be forgiven by a Savior who is just as real as the sin and subsequent guilty feelings. Healing for the soul can begin here ESV Thinline Bible, Premium Bonded Leather, Black, Red Letter Text.

BURNING THE MAP sounded like the perfect book for a day at the beach. Three girlfriends on a trip to Europe having fun on the Eurorail and staying in hostels - sounds great, or at least so I thought before I started to read this book.

The main character Casey has been neglecting her girlfriends for a while now because she spends most of her time with her boyfriend John. So the trip was a good idea to get the friendship rebound.

Well, Casey is displayed as a rather selfish kind of person who prefers to go on dates with guys she meets during their vacation in stead of hanging with the girlfriends. She finds someone in Rome and then she doesn't seem to mind hooking up with a guy in Greece that one of her girlfriend had a crush on first; not to mention that she has a boyfriend back home.

Then in the end John shows up declaring his love and proposing, she said no to him and decided to stay on the Greek island becoming a bartender and quiting her lawyer job that was waiting for her back home.

What a major boring and disappointing story, what should I learn from that? How to loose my friends, break someones heart, quit my job and totally fail in life?

I really enjoyed this book from the very beginning. I found it fast paced and hilarious at times. I could relate to the main character and I love books about traveling. This is my first book by this author but it will not be my last!

Contrary to popular opinion, I thought this was a great book. I love 'armchair travel' books, and I enjoyed the fictional story this plot wrapped around as opposed to a nonfiction traveler's journal. I have backpacked around Europe and this book was reminiscent of my early twenties, where your whole life is ahead of you and you're not sure what direction you want to take. It hit home for me the way the main character imagines a life of her own in each place she visits with her friends. It spoke to my inner desire to leave it all, travel the world and start all over again. I give it four stars because I didn't like the ending - pretty much from the time her boyfriend shows up it went downhill for me.

Despite a growing rift in their friendship, college pals (and now career gals) embark on a girl's only vacation in Europe. Casey is about to settle down in a new law firm and with her longtime beau, John; Kat is a bit of a ho, out to have a really good time (despite the living conditions and lack of privacy); and Lindsey wants to trio to spend time together.

Casey knows that the three have grown apart, and that things are not that great at home with her boyfriend, new job, or her family. Instead of spending time with her best buds in Rome, Casey spends the day with and Italian paramour. She realizes that she misses the romance of the beginning of a relationship, and that she and John are in a rut.

While in Greece, the gals clash as Lindsey chases after an Irish bloke who is interested in Casey, and they are caught in a compromising situation after Casey gets bad news from home. Rather than pursue the relationship further, Casey agrees to go to another island with her friends and manages to somehow find herself.

There is also a secondary story regarding Kat and her relationship with her stepfather, though it is not fully developed.

I liked the storyline - and I pride myself on guessing what is coming next. This is one of those times where I was not right, and it was kind of nice to be surprised. I did not like the ending at all. Far too ambiguous - not the epilogue most readers are hoping for to wrap things up.

Normally, I am a big fan of Red Dress Ink chick-lit books. This was a huge disappointment.
The concept was cute (last-hurrah holiday prompts overworked law student to contemplate life - if only someone else had written it!) but the characters were never really developed, the progression of the story was predictable... which happens in a lot of chick lit, but this lacked any clever dialogue or anything to make up for it.
If you need a travel chick lit book, go for Backpack, Wanderlust, or Bridget Jones the Edge of Reason over this one.

This is a very interesting true scientific mystery and good bio on Walter Reed.

This book presents an overview of the (still unfinished) fight against yellow fever from the time it was a mysterious, dreaded illness until the present - when we know more about it, but the disease remains incurable. The author does an excellent job of pulling together seemingly disparate information and showing how it all coalesces to form the pattern of the disease. Even though the reader may know that the disease is spread by mosquitoes, the scientific search for that breakthrough information is described step by step with the author using this century's hindsight to illumine the efforts of scientists over a hundred years ago to try understand and thus control this disease. The experiments that were done to try to isolate the causative agent were creative - and dangerous - and the book does an excellent job of helping the reader to understand how heroic those early scientists were.

Thank you Crosby for writing this amazing piece about how an infectious disease has shaped our history.

Crosby's writing made me feel like I was there in every scene. She emphasized the heroic acts of people who volunteered to help combat yellow fever. I cried a few times during the book too because I became attached to some of the heroes.

Crosby's organization of the book was wonderful and she had great word use. I have had to look up plenty of words! Haha.

I'm touched by this book. If you're a history, science, or infectious disease fan you MUST read this!

This is a book for those with a strong stomach. Crosby is very detailed in how the epidemic spread through Nashville and how the disease manifests itself. She is great at describing the characters who helped solve the Yellow Fever mystery. However, at times, she is over dramatic and personifies the virus. She says the virus hunts the scientists down, which is kind of silly to say since they are working very close to the virus. It was at times like this I wanted to put the book down. But she kept me reading for hours somehow. The book cover talks about how the capital of the United States was moved because of Yellow Fever, yet in the novel there is hardly a mention of the story. That was the main reason I purchased this book.

This is prose by which the adjective "purple" is defined. Turns out Molly has a degree, a Masters degree, from Johns Hopkins, mind you, in non-fiction writing, where apparently they teach such. Or perhaps Mrs.. Crosby added them all on her own.

Well, this is hardly an untold story, as Crosby references many secondary sources about plagues, yellow fever, American yellow fever attacks and research, and the Memphis epidemic itself. To be fair, Crosby does mine a goodly number of primary sources to tell the Memphis story in detail, but if you review the source notes you realize how little of her writing is research based, and how much is narrative.

At one point in the body of the book, she describes a yellow fever patient (one of the doctors who was key in discovering the link between mosquitos and yellow fever, in fact) who has be restrained by bounds at the ankles and wrist. But in the notes, she points out (to her credit) that the primary source only said that the patient had to be restrained, and that the ankles and wrists part was her own assumption.

Well and good. But why make up spurious facts? Let the facts speak for themselves. Less is more, people, imagination is stronger than fiction. Report the doctor restrained (in that spare shack that you have accurately described from your primary sources), and let the reader imagine in their minds what that scene must have looked like.

Another concern is that the Memphis part of the story takes up only the first third of the book, and from the jacket publicity and the author's bio informing the reader that the author lives in Memphis, the reader is lead to believe this story is all about Memphis. This misbelief led me to suspect that the last two-thirds of the book, about Walter Reed and yellow fever research in Cuba, and about how a modern yellow fever plague is still possible in the Americas, was after-the-book-deal filler to turn a long magazine feature piece into a book-length story. This perception is also enhanced by the greater reliance on secondary sources for the last two-thirds of the book, which are apparently well-documented elsewhere.

In all, I think if Crosby learns to trust her sources, and turn down her writing, she has a chance to be a good popular historian.

Judging a book from the cover, I expected a story about a little girl feeding chickens and helping Ma and Pa. What I got was a beautifully written account of someone who grew up in Texas, now in her 50's looking back on the settling smoke and dust of her years as a rebellious child. (I rightfully did get some chickens in the latter part of the book as she became more mature, so the book was not a disappointment to me.)

This book is "required reading" for anyone who is in their 50's. I was born in 1948 in California - I can relate to this fellow time traveler. I am father of a daughter of similar temperament. Gail's lucid thoughts about her father are insightful for this father in understanding myself and my daughter. I judge the best part of the book was about her father.

I appreciate how carefully written this book is. She writes of the years from the perspective of what was important to her at the time. She glosses over her family in the early years as "annoying people" - but later in her account she goes back to them with the maturity of years to seek them out and treasure them, not as care-givers but as links to who she is and to appreciate them for who they are and what struggles they had to endure. The book shifts from "me" to "them".

Any book that makes me cry real tears gets 5 stars.

A Strong West Wind: A Memoir. By Gail Caldwell. 228 pp. Random House. Caldwell has been in the northeast for some decades now, along with her Pulitzer Prize for book reviews in the Boston Globe. Her own words are the most compelling invitation to read her volume on her life, especially her Texas home. She writes that "my want for Texas was so veiled in guilt and ambiguity that I couldn't claim it for the sadness it was. I missed the people and the land and the sky -- my God I missed the sky -- but most of all I missed the sense of placid mystery the place evoked, endemic there as heat is to thunder. You can be gone for years from Texas, I now believe, and still be felled by such memories." Then there's "Mine is a story that begins with the fragments of dreams on the most desolate of prairies, where a child came of age listening to the keening of dust storms drown out the strains of Protestant hymns." Listen to this one, "The past has no compass. I know this now as surely as I know that the land itself has a voice, capable of keening. Anyone who finds this a pathetic fallacy has never lain on a rock in high wind. It's hard listening, God in the vortex and all that, because the answers there usually have nothing to do with the questions posed. You have to walk out into it to learn anything."
Further on, while unloading her father's shotgun for his protection she "realized how I must look -- a barefoot woman in the yard with a rifle in her arms -- and I remembered where I was and thought, Oh hell, it's Texas, no one would even care." Place this one on the shelf for literature.

Ms. Caldwell from the beginning states clearly the purpose of her narrative: "How do we become who we are? What shapes our mind and heart?"

A tough and complex question for sure. One that is reflected in each page of a necessary mosaic that comes together at the end when you stand back and realize there is no pure answer or explanation, for our becoming (I think) never ends. This for me is the beauty of the story. For it leaves, and in a way, exposes us, to our ourselves. And, the strange mystery of who we are, or possibly who are we meant to be.

Enough of us run, or avoid in one way or another as best we can for years, the toughness of that question. We do not stand alone in this world. We are not the masters of our fate. Ms. Caldwell with courage
confronts the question as honestly as she can, presenting her story. And without imposing any imperatives or final solutions leaves the rest up to us.

The author states she wrote the narrative to 'fill the hole in her heart'for a lost friend. A hole she has filled with love and understanding that can harvest a grain to feed others in their hunger for meaning, beauty and, I think, even with my limited sight, for those who want to see, a purpose in life.

I grew up one street over from Gail in Amarillo. She was in my sister's car pool (at Tascosa High) for a while. My strongest recollection is when she would get in the car, although my presence was rare, she always had a big smile for me--as opposed to the usual grimace I got from my sister's other friends as they charmingly asked "what's your little brother doin' here?". Yes, I was a little smitten with Gail--albeit 40 years ago--so my review may carry a certain bias....

This book amazingly evokes the Amarillo of many years ago. Yes, the winds were/are horrific. Yes, the political climate was/is ultraconservative. I could not help but have an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia for many of the feelings, landmarks, and memories she, in my opinion, lovingly conveys. I was taken aback that some of the other reviewers appear somewhat offended by the author's rendition of the city. However, Amarillo is not for everyone. Because Gail chose not make it her permanent home, I viewed this as a testament to her desire and courage to outstandingly succeed (come on, people, we're talking the Pulitzer here) in a world and profession probably unavailable to her in the Texas Panhandle.

Broad strokes rather than brass tacks. For those unacquainted with the northern plains of Texas, the prose is beautifully evocative. I was fascinated with the successful combination of lyricism, southern "down hominess", and, yet, the in-your-face bravado of a Texas Panhandle native. It was very telling to see how her world of books/reading shaped her life/outlook in tandem with the Caldwell family dynamics. Viewing one's youthful world more through a parent's eyes is hardly specific to the South, even if it is, perhaps, more of a mainstay. The fierce independence attributed to most Texas natives comes later in life--bent and shaped by a tribal sense of--if not "us against them", at least "we are unique"--as one begins to formulate views of his/her relationship to the rest of the country and world.

Bravo, Gail. I look forward to another book. Congratulations on your many achievements.

Memoirist Gail Caldwell is unable to make up her mind in "A Strong West Wind," her recounting of the Texas panhandle influences that formed her character. A distinguished Pulitzer-Prize winning literary critic, Caldwell repeatedly emphasizes the role of books in childhood. In so doing, however, the author never establishes a relationship with the reader. Instead, Caldwell uses a ham-handed approach by showing off just how many books she has read and how many literary allusions match her life's experiences. Making readers scurry for either a dictionary or a compendium of "Who's Who" in literature, she is little more than a pretentious, self-obsessed show-off in more than half the book. When Caldwell dispenses with her need to prove to the world that she has read every important book ever printed and focuses on the significant events and people in her life, her memoir comes to life. Caldwell's treatment of family, social upheaval and war rings with courage, truth and sensitivity.

Has lots of tidbit info for someone who loves superman. A great "encyclopedia" and awesome gift idea.

I grew up as a fan of Superman, but I never really read the comics. Recently I have gottn back into following the exploits of the Man of Steel, but there was so much I missed. This book has helped explain a lot without me having to go back and buy all the back issues of the comics. The layout is wonderful, and the information is top notch. If you're a Superman fan, I think this would make a worthy addition to your collection.

In "Superman- the Animated Series" Brianiac is a computer from Krypton. I would've gone on assuming that was true in the real Superman comic if it wasn't for this book. It was definately wonderful and nesscessary for me to buy this book.

Superman: The Ultimate Guide to the Man of Steel has been out for a few years now, but with the latest Superman film, "Superman Returns" just hitting theaters, DK has revised their fantastic guide to the first and greatest superhero of all! This 144 page, oversized hardcover book contains just about everything you ever wanted to know about Superman. Written by comic industry pro Scott Beatty this is a fun and informative walk through Superman's long history as we meet friend and foe alike.

The book begins with a long look at the history of Superman's home world of Krypton and its long history which incorporates many of the modern concepts devised by both John Byrne and Dan Jurgens during their runs as the writer of Superman's adventures. This includes a large map of Krypton, one of several two page maps in the book. From there the book moves to Superman's early life in Smallville after being taken in as an infant by the Kents. Included here is a complete rundown of all of Superman's powers from his laser vision to his super hearing. There is another great two page map of Metropolis with important buildings such as the Daily Planet, Lexcorp Towers, and S.T.A.R. Labs noted for the reader.

Next up we have lengthy chapters that highlight Superman's major foes such as Lex Luthor, Doomsday, Brainiac, Metallo, Darkseid, Mongul, Imperiex, The Cyborg, and many more. These give a brief history of the villain along with their powers and some of their previous plots. The issue with their first appearance is also noted. Next we get the same for Superman's friends and allies like Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Supergirl, Steel, and the Eradicator.

The last chapter is actually my favorite and takes a look at Superman's career from the Golden Age right up through the present. This chapter shows how the character has evolved over his nearly 70 years of existence. Complementing this chapter is 16 page timeline spanning his first appearance in Action comics #1 in 1938, right up through the end of 2005. This year-by-year rundown notes important events and issues in Superman's career and is invaluable for both fans and comic book collectors.

As with all DK's Ultimate Guides, the Superman book is a visual treat with stunning art and an eye for detail. A welcome addition to the library of any Superman fan!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

This book deals with the new Superman of post-1986, the hack reworking of the character by that hack John Byrne. I would have loved a complete guide to the man of steel that was truly complete. I don't like most of the art in this book, which has been done by someone lacking any real knowledge of anatomy (and who seems to love musclebound pinhead bodybuilders). But for all its faults (and the thinness of the book is another big one), for those of us who don't know a lot about the new Superman, it is informative. As with all DK books it is very heavy on illustration, short on text. I could have used a bit more detail.

This book, the first in a series of three by the authors, looks at significant trials in American history. What I found interesting as a teacher of trial advocacy is the ability to read closing arguments from a wide variety of lawyers that took place in the context of interesting trials. Is the collection of closing arguments the greatest in history? Who is to say unless you were in the courtroom. But that does not take away from the fact that the book provides a unique glimpse for lawyers to see how other attorneys handled difficult issues in their closing arguments.

Of course this book is going to be subjective simply because there is no way to determine (via a point system or rating scale) which cases have the best closing arguments. With that being said, in response to Jerry Saperstein's review of the book, I have to say that it only takes a 2nd year law student to identify the genius involved with Vincent Bugliosi's closing arguments - in ANY of his cases. The only reason why his closing argument in the Manson case isn't considered one of his greatest is because for any competent lawyer it was a slam-dunk case (for the most part). But there is a reason why Bugliosi is considered the greatest trial lawyer that ever entered a courtroom........the man never makes mistakes and his closing arguments are second to none. Read about some of his other trials and you'll agree. (I recommend 'Til Death Us Do Part' and 'The Sea Will Tell'. I will agree with Saperstein that these entries cannot seriously be considered the greates in history, but they are good representations of above average, even memorable closing arguments.

This book is a compendium of great trial arguments from notable lawyers. I think it is a must read for trial lawyers.

The authors claim that these "greatest closing arguments in modern law" were chosen for the "quality of [their] summation, as well as for [their] historical significance." The immediate question is who is judging the quality of the summation and, more importantly, their historical significance?

The view here is obviously that left-wing causes have the most historical significance, though some cases, such as Nuremburg, are politically neutral. Clarence Darrow's summation in behalf of two young men who brutally murdered another is an argument against the death penalty. Many would consider the resulting verdict an injustice, compounded by early release of one of the murderers. Also, the fact that the case was argued in a Cook County, Illinois courtroom, one of the most corrupt jurisdictions in the nation, casts the power of this closing argument into doubt since the parents of the murderers were wealthy and in Cook County, money has always spoken loudly even when passed in silence from one hand to another.

Gerry Spence is without a doubt one of the most eloquent and effective litigators in the nation. But the science his Silkwood argument rests upon is, to some, suspect as were the alleged facts.

The closing arguments are presented with a wrapping of context, though it is a bit on the light side. With that in mind, the closing defense argument in the John DeLorean case is truly great, cataloging a series of government misdeeds. But the reader searching for political balance may be troubled by equally meritorious closing arguments in the Rosenberg and Alger Hiss cases.

Vincent Bugliosi's closing in the case against Manson and his followers is competent, but isn't great. It is a narrative that virtually any competent prosecutor could have put together. The Manson case involved celebrities, but otherwise wasn't much different than many murder cases of the same nature: groups of people motivated to murder. Johnny Cochran's closing in the O. J. Simpson case was far more powerful, in my opinion, far outclassing Bugliosi in persuasiveness.

The inclusion of Robert Jackson's closing at Nuremberg is puzzling. It was not an American trial. The guilt of the accused was beyond doubt, though law underpinning the tribunal was not. From the commentary, I derived the feeling that the authors were trying to rescue Jackson's reputation from his disastrous cross examination of Hermann Goering.

William Kunstler, in the opinion of many, was a living insult to the practice of law. The authors describe his closing in the Chicago Seven case as a "four-part clinic in how to excel in persuasive argument." Others might see it and Kunstler's behavior in a circus presentation of how to flout the law. All of Kunstler's clients were convicted: so much for the persuasiveness of his argument. The convictions were overturned owing to the trial judge's behavior. Again, this was in Cook County, Illinois where for many years both the state and federal judiciaries were of abysmal quality, products for the most part of the Democratic political machine. (Many of the "murderers" convicted under the current Chicago Mayor, Richard M. Daley, had their convictions overturned because DNA testing became available. At least one Cook County judge accepted bribes to free a murderer. Great place.)

The authors note that it is probably "terribly presumptuous" of them to choose the ten greatest arguments - and they are correct. They admit to choosing only "noteworthy" trials . . . and it is there that they blinded themselves to a far wider range of great closing arguments.

All the arguments are interesting and all the lawyers who made them were clearly eloquent, so more so than others. But to call these ten the greatest in modern law? I think not.

Jerry

After years of arguing caseslaw, motions, picking juries, interviewing witnesses, going through all the day to day protocol that trial work demands, one may forget at times how important is the job of a lawyer. But this book reminds the practioner that he/she is a part of a wonderful system of justice. Not many cases will go down as "The Greatest" but to your clients, it is often the defining moment of their lives. And this book helps you reconnect to the reasons why you sought a lifetime devoted to the noblest of professions.
Reading about the great lawyers of in our history is humbling and worthwhile. Reflection is helpful as you try to regain a little lost idealism. And if you are a new lawyer and have all of you ideals from law school still in tact, reading this book will help you realize how important it is to never lose them. Great book for lawyers and non-lawyers alike.

I've loved this book for so many years and read it every once and a while for a sort of tune-up. Its so beautifully written. The lead character Aspasia is such a fascinating creature. Its inspiring to see her rise through life, using her talent and ability. The courtesan life is not only interesting to look into, but its also of interest to view the male-female relationships of the time (ancient Greece). If you haven't read this, and you have a penchant for delightful historical novels, this is one of the very best.

Taylor Caldwell's "Glory and the Lightning" is the tale of Pericles and Aspasia. It's the only telling I've found of the two, but there may be others. Caldwell bored me so silly with this that I haven't bothered finding anything else on them.

"Glory" is the perfect example of what not to do in a novel. Caldwell's Aspasia is a paragon of womanhood; she's wise, understanding, beautiful . . . she might as well be toast. She encounters first a Persian nobleman, equipped with all the sinister henchmen and servants money can buy (I have never cringed while reading a book, but after encountering the eunuch guard, I could not read any passage he was mentioned in). After fleeing his household, Aspasia turns up in Athens. She meets Pericles, a man who is searching for the perfect woman, the woman of his dreams, and of course Aspasia is it.

Now the historical Pericles was a paragon, an upstanding man whose only fault was his affair with Aspasia. Caldwell follows that description to the letter, and unfortunately her Pericles is about as interesting as toast crumbs. He never fails to meet a challenge; his enemies are presented as so slight and one-dimensional in their hatred of him that his triumph is assured the moment he opens his mouth. His romance with Aspasia is the stuff dreams are made of . . . if your dreams are fueled by Harlequin.

Caldwell wrote some entertaining books, but if you're after historical romance with teeth (and intelligence), look harder. This is silly stuff; it is high-school devotional folly dressed up in costume, and the historical stuff is trotted out solely for decoration.

A friend who knew that I wanted to write about the same subject told me about this book. With much trepidation, I acquired a copy and forced myself to read it. What a relief! A mediocre book that seems to have been written to meet the author's obligation to her publisher.

Anyone who makes a serious study of Athens in the fifth century BC will realize how little research went into this novel, in spite of Ms. Caldwell's statement in the forward about not including a complete bibliography because "...all students of Greece and Pericles know them too well, and have read them as carefully as I have read them." From the contents, I'd guess that she no more than scratched the surface of this fascinating history.

Since my original review, I've acquired other novels using the same characters and setting. Neither are totally satisfactory.

"The Immortal Marriage" by Gertrude Atherton. This book was published in 1927, so it is understandable--if irritating--that the author underplays the [physical] dimension of the characters to such an extent (in a love story!). However, this is much to be preferred to Ms. Caldwell's [detailed] descriptions of child [physical] slavery and sadomasochism.

"Darling Pericles" by Madeleine Dimont. This book was excerpted in an issue of Cosmopolitan magazine and in fact Ms. Dimont's Aspasia seems to be a modern "Cosmo Girl" transplanted to ancient Athens.

Having first read this book over 25 years ago, and many times since then, I'm really happy to find others who who have read and enjoyed it. Edith Hamilton's "Greek Mythology" was interesting thru grade school and junior-high, so when I picked this book up in high-school, I already had a keen interest in ancient Greece.

"Glory and the Lightning" is told in three parts: First, the upbringing of Aspasia; second, the upbringing of Pericles and finally, their life together. Remember, though based on real people, this is fiction. It's not meant to be a definitive biography on any of the characters, including peripheral characters like the famous Socrates (I can't help thinking of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure "So-Crates" - he he). Some of the descriptions of life during that time are stark and disturbing, often revolting, and by extension very convincing. Caldwell does not spare anyone's sensibilities about slavery, misogyny, political and familial rivalry, murder-for-hire, depravity, and any number of other topics.

Regarding the characters, yes, Aspasia is depicted as uncommonly beautiful. So has Helen of Troy been thru history, so what? Nobody blames storytellers in ancient times for their discription of the fabled Helen. There's no point in condemning Caldwell for depicting Aspasia as a paragon of beauty and intelligence. Pericles was looking for the perfect woman, so what? What man doesn't have a vision of the perfect woman in his mind? It's just a plot device to get them together - Caldwell can't know the real circumstances, she just wrote it the way she wanted. But still it's an interesting read about two people in the public eye who find a small measure of happiness despite the vagaries of family, friends, enemies and the population at large. I found the movie "The American President" with Michael Douglas and Annette Benning struck a similar chord. Just an observation, not really a comparison.

I found the story highly engaging and often brilliant. It's too bad it's categorized as a romance; I think it could be enjoyed by anyone, not just romance readers. Highly recommend; and if you get a chance to go to Greece, the Parthenon is still fabulous, even though it's now about 3000 years old and is missing pieces. Reading a fictional account of it's conception and construction makes you appreciate it the more.

I'm in disbelief that certain reviewers were displeased with this book. There is nothing "high school" about it. Caldwell's characters are complicated and intelligent. I've read it several times since I was a teenager and it is always inspiring and intellectually satisfying. Caldwell doesn't shy from the imperfections of the human condition but her characters maintain a strong sense of selfhood and integrity that would be gratifying to see reflected in the real world -- and they sometimes are. This is my favorite book; it's glorious.

I read most of Taylor Caldwell's books when I was a freshman in high school. I discovered Mary Renault in my sophomore year. Guess which author's earned more of my appreciation and respect . . . and if you guess Caldwell, I will have to entreat you to read Renault. Please.

That's not to say that Caldwell wasn't entertaining, and her view of history offers an alternative perspective. But she could not resist showing us her interpretations of famous people through her dark glasses of right-wing American politics and Christianity. "A Pillar of Iron" is no exception; its very title comes from the Book of Jeremiah.

Caldwell presents Cicero's birth and childhood as the appearance of a grand prodigy; whether any of it is based on fact (aside from the fact that the Cicerones did move to Rome from Arpinum to give the young Cicero a good education) is something for which I've never found proof. His young life and career veers into Caldwell's apparent foundation that Marcus Cicero was Rome's first spiritual Christian. (Marcus Cicero is probably still laughing his head off at that one). She glosses over Cicero's greatest faults, namely his immense egotism and his timidity; she presents him as the heroic defender of the Republic during the Catilinian conspiracy, but sees nothing wrong with the fact that he denied those conspirators executed at Rome the right to a trial; and she resolutely turns every opponent he has into a villain. Although her portrayal of Catiline is over-the-top fun--let's face it, people have loved mad, bad, beautiful people since the dawn of time--Caldwell can't make anyone else equally entertaining. Julius Caesar especially suffers, shown as one-dimensional and annoying, the sort of politician and public presence who in Rome would have been laughed out of Italy, not opposed by some of the mightiest men Rome had produced.

One figure that keeps popping up (so to speak) is the "Unknown God", Caldwell's milking of an altar in Greece dedicated to, well, an unknown god; her decision to make that god Jehovah was hers to make. I can't say I agree with it, but who knows? It might have worked if Caldwell hadn't laid it on so thick. After a while it palls. The Romans were religious expedients; they prayed to different gods to cover all the bases. Monotheism wasn't something they agreed with; they may have referred to a single god in later writings, but it's a good bet they had a particular deity from the pantheon in mind.

"A Pillar of Iron" is an interesting way to pass the time, but it's riddled with inaccuracies down to its tiniest conceit. It's a shame. Cicero is a fascinating man and deserves to have a decent book written about his life.

I did not care much for this book. In fact, there is a lot not to like about it. First of all, the novel is historically inaccurate in so many ways that one does not know where to begin. Cicero was not a worshipper of Jehova (the Jewish/Christian/Islamic God) as this book would make it seem. In point of fact, this book makes a conscious effort to make Cicero seem more "American." It does so at the cost of both historical accuracy and pleasure of reading. In my opinion, the best books about Rome are those that make Rome seem, well, Roman. This one fails. Except for the togas, the Roman Senate in this book could be the one in Washington DC.

The book makes other pompous analogies between Rome and the United States. I found none of them to be insightful. The writing here, by the way, is at about an eighth grade level. This one might be OK as a novel to get children interested in Roman history; a worthwhile goal. But this novel is not itself a good source of Roman history and the discriminating reader will pass it by. Try McCullough's "Masters of Rome" series (novels) or Tom Holland's superb "Rubicon" for an analysis of late Republican Rome.

You know, I do agree with the rest of the reviewers that this book is flawed in historical accuracy, in more ways than one. However, this is classified as historical fiction, therefore, I do not expect every detail to be perfect.

Rather, I wish that they could appreciate this book for its literary value. Caldwell does a wonderful job of writing in a coherent way that most should appreciate (since that can be rare, nowadays!), and learn from. She wrote her interpretaion of Cicero's life, and the city in which he lived.

By all means, do not stop learning your Roman history here! Read from different authors about different people. Is that not the beauty of our world? To enrich our minds with many sources, so as to draw our own conclusion?

I admit, I loved this book. It was an exciting and interesting read, about one of the most well known men Rome had ever seen. Try also reading "The Flames of Rome" by Paul Maier, or "The Roman Way" by Edith Hamilton. Those can give one a broader view of Roman society!

I believe this is a very good book, the author describes rome like no one else. The life of Cicero is written very objectively. I believe Caldwell found the way to let us see Cicero as a common man with all of his thoughts and feelings. I think that anyone who knows a little of roman history would enjoy this book.

Excellent book based on the author's original translations from the Latin. Brings the life of Cicero and his contemporaries to life.