Johnston Books

Magic Weapons: Aboriginal Writers Remaking Community after Residential School is a survey of what writings by Canada's indigenous population have to say about the destructive legacy of its residential school system, including the system's attacks on native culture and its negative repercussions as embodied in domestic violence, poverty, alcoholism, drug abuse, and high suicide rates. The individual writings studied include Anthony Apakark Thrasher's prison compositions, and Tomson Highway's "Kiss of the Fur Queen". A harsh indictment of the weaknesses of "assimilationist" policy, noting the incidences of "survival narratives" among those who made it through residential school, Magic Weapons is an invaluable political as well as literary commentary, persuasively arguing that indigenous life writings are culturally formative in ways beyond simple disclosure. A highly recommended addition to Native American studies shelves.

This is the funniest book I have read in AGES! I laughed nonstop while reading this--literally, page after page after page is freaking hilarious! Dave Johnston is the most talented humor writer I've read in a long time and I can't wait to find other things of his to read. I highly recommend this book for yourself, as a gift--whatever. It's super funny and a very gratifying read.

Brethren,
This is a very good book if you like to see how the craft has changed in the past 50 years. I really like this good. Well worth it.
Bro. Harrington
Level Lodge
Shrewsbury, Ma

..."It is easy to see why the Venice police thought I might be responsible for that death in the Belzoni's crumbling but proud old house. First of all, I was a stranger, an American spinster of almost twenty-four, who had arrived alone in a country where no wellborn woman travels without the protection of a husband or servants. What was even more damning, I had left my native New England under the sort of circumstances often referred to as a cloud." So begins the story of Sara Randall, who fled to Venice in the 1880', almost penniless.

Expertly edited by Bob Gilmore Reader in Musicology, Dartington College of Arts, England), "Maximum Clarity And Other Writings On Music" is a collection of writings on music by Professor Ben Johnston who taught theory and composition from 1951 to 1984 at the University of Illinois School of Music at Urbana-Champaign. Utilizing intonation, Professor Johnston reconceives familiar idioms ranging from neoclassicism and serialism, to jazz and southern hymns. This body of Professor Johnston's writings spans the whole of his professional career and documents him as a truly literate composer who was able to write about his own music as well as the music of others with accuracy, insight, and eloquence. "Maximum Clarity And Other Writings On Music" conforms to the highest standards of scholarship while being completely accessible to students and non-specialist general readers with an interest in music interpretation and criticism. Enhanced with a discography of all commercially available recordings of Professor Johnston's music, "Maximum Clarity And Other Writings On Music" is enthusiastically recommended for academic library and music department reference collections.

".....In this fourth edition, the vectorial character of mechanics has again been emphasized.
The concept of vectors and the laws governing the addition and the resolution of vectors into components are DISCUSSED WITH CARE AT THE BEGINNING OF STATICS.
Throughout the text, forces, velocities, accelerations, and other vector quantities have been clearly distinguished from scalar quantities through the use of boldface type....."
[from the book of the preface by Ferdinand P. Beer, E. Russell Johnston, Jr.]

As someone who purchased her book in search of a quick handle on the basic theories and practica of media relations, I benefited greatly from Ms. Johnston's work. It told me what I needed to know in a straightforward, thoughtful fashion, and it enabled me to get to the meat of the issues that concerned me with lightning speed. I had reviewed a number of other introductory guides to the field and was consistently unimpressed. Ms. Johnston's book, to my great relief and satisfaction, broke the mould.

This is a great book for those who love the organ combo, "soul jazz" sound. Fans of Pat Martino, George Benson, Kenny Burrell, Wes Montgomery,and of course, Randy Johnston, will find a very clear presentation of this style. Randy plays logical, memorable blues-drenched lines that you will want to learn and incorporate into your own thing. Especially useful because he includes solos over slow blues, medium blues, minor blues, and such standard progressions as It Could Happen to You, Polkadots, Solar, Killer Joe, Speak Low,and Tune Up. A fantastic vocabulary builder.

Written in 1943 by Allison Butts of Lehigh Univ., this book is a classic. I purchased this book to help in review and prep. for the PE in Metallurgical Engineering. WHY WASN'T THIS TEXT USED IN COLLEGE?!!!!

This is perhaps one of the THE BEST, PRACTICAL metallurgy teaching texts I have ever seen. Yes it was written in the 1940's - but the problems presented were the stuff I was having to do on the job at Republic Steel from day one. The format is terrific - with straightforward presentation of the concepts and theory -- with loads of practical examples - worked out (how many texts can you say that about?).

Contents are:
The Chemical Equation
Combustion
Manufacture of Coke
Thermochemistry
The Iron Blast Furnace
Beesemer, Open Hearth and EAF
Blast and Draft
The Heat Balance
Calculation of Smelting Charges
Alloys
Mass Law and Equilibium in Metallurgical Reactions
Roasting and Sintering
Copper Smelting
Electrolytic Processing
Hydrometallurgy
Aluminium and Magnesium
Heat Transfer
Distilation
Vapor, Pressure, Temperature Relationships
Thermodynamics in Metallurigcal Reactions

Do yourself a favor, and get this book!

Just how interested is the government in your everyday life? You may or may not be surprised. Patrick S. Johnston gives readers something to think about with his work of fiction, "Mission Accomplished."

John Hudson is a college student, exploring his views of politics, the Gulf War, and life in general on the campus of Louisiana State University. In a specified area, students are permitted to get up on the soapbox and share. John captured the attention of a particular student as she smacked him with a soda can for mentioning, in the heat of the moment, that he'd kill President George Bush if he could. Only this student wasn't a student, she was an undercover agent planted to identify threats to national security. John's fate was sealed that day and his life would never be the same.

As time progressed, John was brought to "meet" President Bush Sr. where he discovered that his "girlfriend" was an agent and his life a lie. Refusing to be brought in under the wing of the government and take an offered job where he can be controlled and closely monitored, John seals the fate of his loved ones. His father meets with an unfortunate demise, and later his mother is in grave danger, all in the name of national security. John does eventually take a job with the government where he begins to research what is really going on right under our noses. Did presidential hopefuls die at the hands of those in power? Was there a plot to kill his father simply because he'd mentioned killing the President?

When Bush Jr. takes office, John is still a blip on the Bush radar. He becomes a tool to help the current president look good in the eyes of the people. In a most elaborate and detailed scheme, involving plastic surgery, falsified backgrounds and identities, and a seemingly domestic terrorist plot wherein the Trade Exchange Building in Chicago is imploded, full of daily workers, John is set up to take the fall.

Told in flashback style, as John is led to and undergoing lethal injection, the story is captivating right from the start. Just what would our government do to "protect" national security? How far do "we" go before lunacy is proclaimed? Patrick S. Johnston is likely standing on that soapbox trying to draw readers' attention and insight questions of the supposed truth as it is reported to us. As a work of fiction the book unfortunately falls right in with our current events. A conspiracy theory at its best! - Note to Homeland Security: this is simply a book review and nothing more.
Review by Heather Froeschl.