Cameron Books

If you have an interest in the infamous circus factions of the ancient Roman world--those much-maligned proto-sports-hooligans in blue and green--this book is an absolute must-read. A volume of impressive research, heavily referenced and footnoted, this book is the ultimate source on the subject. The author reviews every primary source we have on the factions and in the process, challenges some of the most common theories associated with them. The idea that the factions comprised a sort of urban militia for the cities of the Roman East is dismissed, as is the notion that the colors had religious significance. The now-archaic marxist theory that the factions were the manifestation of the urban proletariat is completely exploded.

Instead, Cameron draws a picture of the factions as they most probably were in reality--a relatively small (1,000 or less per color) group of lunatic sports enthusiasts and theater-maniacs. Though occasionally called upon to participate in the momentous events of the day, they most often spent their time wholly wrapped up in the microcosm of the Circus. When law and order broke down, they were often the first to take advantage of the situation, but they were rarely the cause of the breakdown in the first place.

My only minor quibble with this book is its treatment of the Nika Rebellion. I was left hoping that Cameron would have had more to say about this major outbreak of factional violence which nearly resulted in the abdication of the Emperor Justinian I. While Cameron does mention it, I came away feeling that his discussion of the Rebellion was superficial compared to the in depth analysis he provides for other events.

CWA literature is overwhelming, dense, and confusing. This book is a refreshing change - the progress under the Clean Water Act is presented in a very simple manner. Good for basic technical and legal understanding of the subject. EPA and state-level programs and reports are brilliantly critiqued (no wonder, the book is produced by NRDC!). The text is supported by excellent research of legislative history of the CWA.

Only Chapter 2 (out of 8 chapters) is a little dull. In Chapter 2, the figures could have been more illustrative, and the discussion of numbers could have been livelier. Overall, the most interesting and understandable book on CWA.

Thanks to the peaceful resolution of the Cold War, massive archives of Soviet material have become accessible to the serious historian. One of which is the author. He takes us into the Soviet Union and the heart of the Kremlin, in the early years of the Cold War, till Stalin's death.

If you are conversant with Cold War from the American vantage (perhaps you lived through it?), then the book can be gripping reading. A parallel universe, from the Kremlin looking out and perceiving a hostile world. To be sure, given the searing Soviet experience during World War 2, a certain level of paranoia might be expected and justified.

The events Mastny described, pulled from Soviet documents, outline a weird worldview. It was on this basis that Stalin acted as he did, during the Berlin blockade and the Korean War. American historians have at times criticised Truman and Eisenhower for some of their actions, based on these presidents' imperfect knowledge of world events. This book tells that the other side suffered from far worse distortions.

This interesting book was written for the 75th anniversary of Northern Baptist Theological Seminary. It begins with the roots of the seminary, beginning with the Baptists of Illinois and the controversies that underway at the time. And then, the book moves through the history of the seminary, providing a lot of information on the controversies and personalities that filled it, and the way that it changed and grew over the years.

Overall, I found this to be an interesting book, one that is sure to please anyone who wants to know the history of Northern Seminary or just something or someone in its history.

Cameron Crowe does a great job of getting Billy Wilder to "open up," for certain. There was many interesting anecdotes and facts I previously did not know, so this book is the page-turner everyone proclaims it to be. Crowe does a good job at kibbitzing an answer out of the somewhat stubborn Wilder. However -- since Crowe consciously based the format of this book on the Hitchcock/Truffaut interviews of 1966 -- it is lacking in certain areas.

Firstly, many of the photographs are horribly transferred stills from the movies, which were taken from video, not film. The pixelization is sometimes so horrible as to wipe out almost half of the information. As there are many more photos done by this makeshift method (most of the others are publicity stills or of Wilder, Hollywood movie stars, etc, not from the actual movies), it would seem to me that the publisher (not some dinky independent, but Alfred A. Knopf, major player over here) could have gone the extra mile and made some high-quality stills from the studios' answer prints. Since they didn't, however, this volume appears "rushed to market."

Second, Crowe's organization is horrible: Unlike Hitch/Truffaut, it sort of meanders from movie to movie and then back again. It's organized chronologically (by interview session, not movie), and often goes back over movies already discussed, because Crowe forgot some question or another. Also, Crowe doesn't go much into the bit players and character actors at all. I mean, HOW COULD HE GO AN ENTIRE VOLUME ON BILLY WILDER WITHOUT EVER MENTIONING SIG RUMAN (who was to Wilder as Leo G. Carroll was to Hitch) or Cliff Osmond?

Perhaps, it's because Crowe spends more time dropping the name "Jerry Maguire" every other page or so (as long as he was shamelessly self-plugging, why not "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," a much better movie?). Tom Cruise -- who's never been in a Wilder movie -- is listed in 10 different pages in the index. Also (unlike Truffaut) Crowe goes to great lengths in order to insert himself into the text, including going over a house call by Wilder's doctor, a lunch with Wilder and his wife, phone calls Wilder is taking , etc. (in Hollywood, these are called "gratuitous scenes").

Lastly, the end notes list (with big backdrops of those horrible pictures from VHS) the credits, but they are very incomplete, and don't list most of the technicians or supporting cast.

All-in-all this book is very good, but heavy editing is needed to give it a semblance of chronology, and Crowe's gratuitous and voluminous self-referencing really could do with a ruthless editor's red pen. That, and some quality stills, would have made a good read a classic.

It was a Cameron conspiracy plain and simple! Maggie's extended and very opinionated family urged her to move in with Chase Britton. Temporarily, of course...and only to tutor Chase's rebellious teenaged daughter. What possible harm would the wealthy, sexy-as-sin womanizer be to a respectable widowed schoolteacher? Maggie was afraid to ask -- and about to find out!

I got this book shortly before the oral boards and thought it was a good review. It does not have enough details for the writtens.

This book was a very good one. It was about a little girl named June Cameron growing up along the B.C. coast. Her discriptions of the area are extremely well written, considering i am her grandaughter and visit the area she grew up in every year. This might not be a good chapter book for younger children, because it is a little hard to read. However, the book is filled with interesting facts and bits of humor.

Despite the subtitle, this is not a typical folklorist collection of myths. Cameron modifies these stories and imbues them with her literary style and philosophy of life. She ably merges contemporary themes with the traditional tales of the Pacific coastal Indian of Canada - which is another refreshing aspect of this book, as most published Native American myths and legends focus on Plains and Southwest nations. The result of Cameron's masterful storytelling is a set of alluring, eerie and sometimes humorous stories. Particularly interesting is "The Bearded Woman," something of a feminist fable. Also fascinating is the central story "Dzelarhons," which is an epic spanning many generations and several different yet somehow related women named Dzelarhons. Among other things, this story serves as something of an allegory for history and human relations in general.

I bought this book and its English translation, "The most beautiful place in the world." The story is heart-wrenching, with great insight into daily life in Guatemala among the poor. I had hoped that my Spanish 2 students could read it, but the vocabulary and grammar are probably a little beyond them. Would be good for Spanish 3, or native speakers past Grade 3.