Morrison Books

..that it wasn't 500 pages longer! What a fun read about often tragic stories. I haven't lived in Fresno all that long, so ALL of these stories were new to me. I am a history and a crime buff, so this well written book was right up my alley. Now I need to take a Saturday and go on a self guided "ghoul tour" using this book as a sort of road map.

Just one glimps at the cover, and a quick skim of the first few pages was enough to draw my family into this book. My wife and I read the book out loud, taking turns every few pages. This book has a little of everthing suspence, history, etc. I reguad this book as esential reading for anyone who lives in the central valley, and a must for lawenforcement.
jason

This book is of interest to me because I live in the Corcoran, CA area and am impressed with the attention to detail given to these historical crimes. The pictures were superb for being as old as they are and the author worked very hard collecting all this data. I am a fan of mystery/crime novels and was enthralled all the more since it is a true account of actual happenings. Hats off to all who made this publication possible!!!

I cannot begin to describe how much I enjoyed Scott Morrison's new book, "Murder in the Garden." Who would have guessed, when walking to school as a child near the corner of Cedar and Dakota Avenues, that a grizzly murder had occurred there. Or, riding down Gettysburg Avenue on a family outing passed the site of another murder. Living far away now so many years later, what fun it is to read of events that once shocked Fresno County citizens. Great reading! I hope more stories will follow.

Justine Tally's "Paradise" Reconsidered: Toni Morrison's (Hi)stories and Truths is the first monograph exclusively devoted to Morrison's most recent novel, Paradise. The reader finds a comprehensive and thoughtful discussion of history in Paradise, history of Paradise, history and Paradise, and the book concludes with an examination of Paradise in the context of Morrison's other prose works. A contribution to the Forum for European Contributions to African American Studies, a new scholarly series produced in collaboration with the international Collegium for African American Research, this concise book impressively combines close reading with a thoughtful examination of the role of memory in historical fiction and with pressing questions on isues of race and gender.

Paradise Reconsidered is an elegantly written and tightly argued analysis of concepts of history, memory and narrative in Toni Morrison's Paradise. This will be an invaluable teaching resource for those of us who have included Paradise in our course lists, given not only Tally's knowledge of the field of African-American literature but also her ability to discuss complex concepts in lucid intelligible language.

Justine Tally's brief and insightful study of Toni Morrison's Paradise (1998) is provocative and multi-dimensional. It usefully situates the novel in relation to Morrison's oeuvre especially to Jazz (1992) and Beloved (1987) the two earlier novels in her trilogy about post-emancipation African American culture and society and to Morrison's own critical writing which suffuses her discussion. This makes the book as much a summary of where Morrison has taken us to at century's end as a specific critique of her latest novel. There is a welcome use of Morrison scholarship from Europe, too often ignored by Morrisonians in America, although there are some surprising Stateside ommissions. Philip Price's wonderful Dangerous Freedom (1997) is not cited and Jill Matus's Toni Morrison (1998) with its interesting work on trauma which could have illuminated aspects of the discussion here is ignored (too late to use?). Meanwhile, Linden Peach's rather derivative discussions - in Toni Morrison (1995) - are afforded too much space. As would be expected considering the novel's recent provenance, there is much use of newspaper and magazine reviews that Tally skilfully uses to show the often narrow nature of their concern with Morrison and their inability to deal with the complexity of a difficult novel. Tally astutely foregrounds "History" in its numerous guises as key to a discussion of Paradise giving the reader useful contextualisation and yet showing the limitations of a traditional literary historical approach to such a demanding postmodern novel. Most interestingly she discusses how important arguments about essentialism are to understanding this novel, making what is often an arcane discussion, clearcut and stimulating. Morrison is often accused of being difficult, Tally's clearly written and sensitively argued monograph supplies some dynamic answers to these postmodern puzzles.

Justine Tally's richly textured analysis of Toni Morrison's Paradise (1998) offers to both specialists in literary studies and scholars from other disciplines a clear and highly insightful introduction to that most complicated of Morrison's texts. Paradise Reconsidered: Toni Morrison's (Hi)stories and Truths places the novel within the larger context of Morrison's concerns with language and narrative strategy as well her wide reading in African American history and lore. Indeed, as Tally makes clear, Paradise constitutes the final part of a trilogy: "Whereas Beloved [1987] focuses on the role of memory, and Jazz [1991] is centered around the development of story, Paradise is devoted to the cultural production of History/history and its unstable relationship to both memory and story." (p. 14)

Tally's impressive survey of text and context provides a brief but illuminating account of the publishing history of the Morrison trilogy. Additionally, it looks at the novels in light of the author's literary, social and cultural criticism, especially Morrison's challenge to the what has been considered canonical in U. S. literature found in Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination (1992). The analysis of the text itself elaborates on themes presented by other literary theorists. Tally draws upon theorists such as Walter Benjamin and Walter Ong, and at the same time addresses the questions raised by African American scholars such as Trudier Harris and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. But it is her own reading of the text and its meanings that stand out. She qualifies, or modifies, the notion of "magic realism," using Morrison's own objections as well as her own understanding of the theme and ultimately offers the phrase "psychic realism" as a more precise alternative. Tally goes through the vast number of characters in Paradise and nicely unravels the complicated web of relationships, plot turns, and narrative strategies that make Morrison's text difficult as well as exciting. Tally also gives us clues about some matters that Morrison leaves ambiguous or unexplained. Who among the occupants in the convent was the lone white girl? How do we understand the 'reappearances' of characters that we had thought were killed?

Tally highlights issues of gender and color in Morrison's texts, carefully assessing Paradise from its key first sentence, "They shoot the white girl first," through the layered stories of the women in the Convent and the population of Ruby, Oklahoma. The founding of the town by "8-rock" black families(the reference is to a mining term and the color of coal) is central to the text, but so is the subtly changing historical interpretation of the town's origins, as perceived by various newcomers. In attending to changing beliefs across generations, from the Reconstruction era to the aftermath of the Vietnam War, Tally also provides a chronological guide--as Morrison seems to do--to shifting modes of race-consciousness among African Americans. This is accomplished both through minute readings of the text and through expansive sections, such as those concerning Religious Ideology as Narrative Strategy and the meanings of feminism and racial "essentialism" in Morrison's novels.

The interdisciplinary nature of Tally's examination of Morrison sets it apart from many other readings. Tally surveys the literary aspects of Paradise with precision, but she also sees Morrison's writing as part of a larger pattern of African American culture and consciousness. The black Exodus to Oklahoma and other places in the 1880s already has its historians. But how Morrison has rendered these "matters of fact," and how Tally discusses history and memory and storytelling add richness to the other accounts. Tally writes with enormous insight. Other scholars will need to read her appraisals in order to advance their own interpretations of Morrison's cultural contributions.

Patrick B. Miller Department of History Northeastern Illinois University Chicago, Illinois

Remember, the journey to school integration is both a powerful and beautiful book and a strong reminder of how fresh (should I say present?) discrimination is, and also how the determination and strength to face violence and incomprehension can overcome deep prejudices.
Toni Morrison, (whom I thank every day for opening for me a window into de black world and way of thinking) with her fluent, elegant and sober writing, leads us to remember a time of struggle and advancement into an equal society, which is a goal we are still far from attaining.
This is a book to see, read and keep near at hand in order to be able to keep watch against prejudice and lack of tolerance. We can strive for a better and more just social world.
Javier Olmedo
Mexico City, Mexico

On May 17, 1954 the US Supreme Court declared segregated schools unconstitutional, sending the nation on a path of integration whose ramifications are being felt today. In Remember: The Journey To School Integration, author Toni Morrison presents archival photos depicting the events surrounding school integration processes, accompanying photos with a fictional text recounting the dialogue and emotions of students of the times. A fitting tribute to a volatile period in history which should never be forgotten.

Morrison has captured an era in her skillful hands and held it out for all to see, a remembrance and a memorial as well. She presents reality, but has smoothed the harsh edges, so that the truth stands out plainly and clearly. Her gaze is focused upon progress toward equality, respect, dignity and non-violence.

The pictures that accompany Morrison's deceptively simple text add great depth to the meaning of the book. They add a touch of poignancy that makes it personal.

This book is a poetic experience, inspiring and uplifting - no matter what your age.

When I was younger I used to love going to antique stores to buy old photographs. Usually these stores would have huge bins of old shots of families, individuals, and places. Finding the ones I thought were the most original, I bought them and gave each one its own name and history, entirely of my own making. I could pore over a single photograph for hours, enlivening it with a background that I myself would never be able to prove or disprove. But each photo was a staged affair. Its participants knew that they were being photographed. How different it would be to do the same thing, only with photos that highlighted a particular historical moment in our nation's history. In "Remember: The Journey To School Integration", authorial god Toni Morrison does just that. She takes photos that highlight the struggles and heroism of the civil rights activists (and their children) during the early years of southern integration and gives many of them their own little comment or story. Taken individually the photos are eye-opening affairs, even for adults that lived through those turbulent years. Taken as a whole they tell a tale that we should never forget.

The book is, in its own words, "a unique pictorial and narrative journey that introduces children to a watershed period in American history". In many children's books, such a title would begin with an Author's Note that speaks to adults about what the writer is attempting to accomplish. Morrison takes a different route. She speaks immediately to the child readers of this book. "This book is about you", she explains. She tells the kids about this dark period in American history. She gives them a briefing in the history and the multitude of reasons why we should never forget that this occurred. Then the pictures begin. They're all black and white images of a time long past. Segregated schools, dilapidated and far from equal. Small children like Ruby Bridges being led past screaming mobs of white people. Sit-in protesters smashed with eggs and glasses of water by red faced restaurant employees. Some of these pictures are familiar. The white and colored drinking fountains, for example. Some of them you'll have never seen before. White boys chasing a black one on the first day of integration at Central High School. An angry mob overturning a car containing black passengers. Children in Ku Klux Klan robes. But best of all are the photographs of the schoolchildren in the schools. The wary glances shared between white and black students (as displayed on the cover). The hand holding and learning under a single teacher. You can tell by looking that there's still a long way to go but that first step has already been taken. And Toni Morrison has helped to bring you there.

Morrison's words usually fit each picture perfectly. I thought she might have been giving a white boy carrying a boy carrying an anti-segregationist sign with his two friends a bit of a benefit of the doubt when she wrote, "I don't know. My buddies talked me into this". But it's nice of her to show that perhaps not all the white people presented here were evil. She also shows photographs of white people marching in protest with black, so you've a sense that the civil rights movement spanned all races and creeds. Her words give the child reader a chance to think and ponder what they see. Everyone here has a voice. Whether the reader agrees with that voice is not always a given.

"Remember" is an excellent way to introduce kids to a harsh moment in our nation's past. This type of format works perfectly with the subject matter. Better still, this is one way of showing to kids how children were the battleground of one of the nation's most contentious movements. Toni Morrison does their memory proud. A must for every library.

As one of many people now moving their programming to the wireless world of Java 2 Micro Edition, I found this book to be excellent.

It contains numerous, real world examples - from getting simple text off a server, right through to reasonably complex game design and even sprite manipulation.

In fact I'm sure many of the applications in this book will be converted into real world code by cut and paste coders!

The book does require some limited knowledge of Java2 but I was at home very quickly.

With plenty of exercises, and a CD of all the source and latest Sun Forte/SDK I was delighted with my purchase.

Perfect if you're targeting Motorola cellphones or Palm development (note though doesn't cover the new Nokia J2ME SDK)

I knew a little bit of Java, and I found this book very good. J2ME is explained pretty good, and the examples are easy to follow. I have developed several applications that I use after reading this book.
If there is anything that is missing in this book, it would probably be an Appendix with a better description of the different APIs.
It is a very good book for anyone that wants to learn J2ME, but might be a little boring if you already have J2ME experience. However, if you buy a "Teach Yourself .... in 21 days" book, you are probably not an experienced programmer in the language anyway.

Very good tutorial text ... with a nice hands-on approach
and a working example on every chapter. Strongly recommended as your first book on J2ME. Simple graphical interfaces, persistent storage, connecting to the internet, personal information management..and even a few chapters on game development, which is great since , honestly speaking, is there any of us who wants to use Java on cell phones to make boring contact managment programs?

Bad news first: This book has a few typographical errors in the
explanatory texts but none in the source code listings. It also
has a few misplaced words reversing the meaning of what the
author intended to say. But if you're a beginning Java
programmer and understands basic code optimization, you'll find
yourself correcting the texts with a note on the margins.
Example: on page 273, "... it takes longer for MIDlet code to
access local variables than ... member variables..." The "local"
and "member" words should be interchanged.

I had to re-read Chapter 17 "Creating Animated MIDlets" because
the author uses a different Sprite / Sprite Management classes
that I'm used to (I write my own). Chapter 19 is probably the
most difficult chapter to read because it uses artificial
algorithms without fully explaining them (in fairness to the
author, he did mention the names of the original algorithm
developers, the general term of the algorithm and one possible
source for AI research).

The author could have used this chapter to create a multiplayer
game (as a perfect combination of his prevous game programming
chapters and networking-I/O chapters). Example: A two-player
first person turn-based boxing game could have been a good
tutorial.

Also, the last two chapters were not necessary. He could have
put them in appendices. The space could have been used too for
more complicated examples.

Good news: Nevertheless, Chapters 1 to 16 were an excellent
J2ME tutorial altogeter. The author wrote very clearly and he
reinforces previous lessons implicitly. As this is not a game
programming book and despite the minor issues above, this books
served its purpose of teaching me J2ME in 5 days (not 21 sorry).

This book is remarkable. It is very apparent that Mr. Morrison did his research well. A must read for any history buff.

In his introduction the author tells us "this book examines the relationship between the territorial issue in the origins of the American Civil War. This story is familiar; this telling has not.... The debate between Democrats and Whigs over Texas in 1844 were based on economics and divided the parties along national lines. By 1860, the struggle over westward expansion and settlement issued in sectional arguments and a fragmented political system. This transformation is the story here and told.[p. 4]"

The expansionists quickly realized that the problem with moving the boundaries of this country westward was going to be slavery. And not so much slavery itself, but demagoguery, used by radicals on both sides to inadvertantly hinder the progress of the westward movement. The author quotes the extreme expansionist Thomas B. Stevenson, "it is not, I fear, either the actual status of the actual settlement of the slavery question that the antagonistic agitators really wish to effect. It is the use they can make of it as it exists."[p.1] The acquisition of Texas and the subsequent territory obtained through the Mexican War became the hobbyhorse of the extremists during the 1840s. The 1850s opened a decade of extreme agitation on both sides of the question of opening territory or closing it forever to the peculiarinstitution. "Republicans [the North] used slavery to define broadly remaining and limits of freedom not only within the North's free labor economy but, more important, within the nation's republican political state."[p. 167] In the South the European class system was extolled by some of the most radical proslavery elements. A major portion of the expansionist program was the example to be set by a union of the nation reaching from sea to sea. It is because the South felt so strongly toward the Union that states rights activists were compelled to remind their southern cohorts, "the Federal Union is not a god -- it is a human institution. So long as it answers the hands of its creation, it should be and will be carefully preserved. When it fails those ends, it should be discarded."[p. 184]

In 1856 James Buchanan, the second worst president this country has endured, entered the fray. Stephen A. Douglas, the famous Chicago politician of the Lincoln Douglas debates, decried the sectionalism of the Republicans. He maintained that the founding fathers, recognizing the diversity of economics and social institutions of the several states, and established a union of the fundamental right that every state could do as he pleased without his neighbors interfering. The Compromise of 1850, the Dred Scott decision by the Supreme Court, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act all reaffirmed the right of the state to settle its own local problems and decide what is best for its free existence. The Democratic Party attempted as far as possible to allow this operation. And Douglas, one of the major proponents of expansionism, defeated his own goal by not recognizing the importance of the slavery issue to the westward movement. Most people wanted a union as extended as possible, but half of them, not especially for humanitarian purposes but rather economic conditions, were dead set against the expansion of slavery into these areas, these new territories to be carved for the Empire.

The author goes on to state, "because secession had transformed the sectional conflict over the territories into an ominous controversy over the preservation of the Union, Republicans refuse to sustain the latter by conceding their principles on the former. It is a view that, the issue of 1860 -- 61 was 'not union or disunion; but new guarantees to slavery or disunion.'"[p. 274] this comment pretty much sums up what the author has said In the whole book. His promise in the introduction to connect expansionism and slavery can probably be written off as poetic enthusiasm. He writes a very good book combining the two subjects but offers nothing really new. Readers who are already acquainted with this period in our history won't find anything very new. Someone new to the field will find an excellent introduction to the general subject of slavery and its effect on the westward movement. It fails to separate the political, economic, social aspects of this time in American history.

I give this book 4 stars because it is well-written, well researched, and the author faces the same problem that we all do in writing on a time has been so well covered by so many for so long. The fifth star is withheld at the fault of the publisher. The format of the book and the text make it very difficult to read this book without strain I hope when a reissue the book is our hope that they will continuously something will be done to correct this fault.

It is apparent that Mr. Morrison spent many long hours slaving over this book. It is well written, interesting, and a must have for civil war buffs. I only wish Mr. Morrison would write more books. It's heartwarming to see that Mr. Morrison credits his parents Al & Joan Morrison, and his siblings - Chris, Nancy, Jim, and Tony with the fortitude, intellegence and support to get this book completed. Keep up the good work, Mr. Morrison. I want to read more of your books in the future!

An incredibly well researched, well written account of the causes of the American Civil War! It's actually worth the high price!!!

FYI, my thumb nail says this is by Stacy Morrision; she wrote the forward to the book. Rita Arens wrote the chapter introductions, several of the essays, and gathered the rest of the essays together.

I really enjoyed this book and showed several of the essays to friends and coworkers. I have recommended it to several people. The essays are posts from mommy-bloggers written over the last several years. The essays are very real and discuss the good, bad, and in between of motherhood. At turns it made me tear up, question my own mothering, feel I had a co-conspirator, made me go eehhk, and uhg, and ohhh, and snort out load in laughter.

Sleep is for the Weak is a great read for any mom. You will identify with so many of the situations. And the ones you don't identify with will give you more perspective on your own experiences.

I rarely laugh out loud when reading a book, but I certainly did when I read the first chapter. Hilarious! And because the book is a collection of stories, it is easy to read a few, put the book down, and then pick up again later -- which is so essential with the inevitable distractions a mommy reader will have.

As a fan of the blog, Surrender, Dorothy and so many of the other blogs that contributed to this book, I found it to be a wonderful collection of essays.

That being said, you don't need to read any of these blogs to enjoy this book. I wish I had read it prior to having my kids. Helps you realize you are not alone in this struggle called parenthood and that there are ways to see the funny side to almost any parenting situation.

Super read!

I purchased this book over the weekend, and was lucky enough to have it signed by several of the phenomenal women who contributed essays.

Wow. Instead of spending time with my husband (whom I haven't seen for three days), I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning laughing and crying. These women GET IT. It is so refreshing to read REAL stories from REAL moms---the good, bad, dirty, and hysterically funny.

Rita did a fantastic job of picking the best of the best, and I look forward to many more volumes.

This is a superb gift for any woman, anywhere. I am terribly pleased to have Christmas completely taken care of!

I just loved this book ... and all the books in The Keltiad series. PKM is a very talented writer - this story is just so creative, the description of Keltia and all the worlds is so clear, and the characters are so well defined you feel you almost know them. The storyline is quite complex yet so effortlessly comes together and I loved the rituals and blend of magic/futuristic elements giving a fantastic story and ending.

This story can appeal not just to sci-fi readers - anyone who loves a great adventure story would love it.

Please PKM ... continue writing more books in the series. It's just great.

The mythic quest - in space this time. Following the clues written by Keltia's greatest Bard, Aeron goes off to gain the tools and knowledge needed to reclaim the Keltic throneworld - and gains allies and an empire in the process.

Loved it! This book proves what many readers know but seldom see; a book CAN have complex characters and plot; one doesn't have to be sacrificed for the other. Plus detailed cultures, and lots of action. You get a real FEEL for the places and the people. Character and location names were a bit difficult, but don't let that faze you; read it!

I thought this was a great follow up to the previous book, the copper crown. Aeron's journey ties this trilogy and the tales of Arthur trilogy together while advancing the story. I can't wait for the next Aeron book.

My best friend and I have loved this since the third grade and we are now going into the seventh grade. In the third grade when we discovered this book we put a yellow paper clip on the page with the sweetest poem and since then we have both left the school that the book belonged to. The paper clip is still there today and most people in the school know about the paper clip so they don't move it. They all know the story.

I thought that this book was well thought out. Though, this book gears to middle and elementary aged children. If you want to have a cute little autograog signing inside a yaerbook or autogragh book, this is the book to use. Inside the book are 11 different sections such as, "I Love You, I Love You", and "Forget-Me-Not".I'd recommend this book to any middle school aged child to read.

I had this book in the fourth grade and was delighted to find it available used on Amazon.com! It was just as wonderful as I remembered it and my kids love it, too!

Let me start out by saying that my mother had this book when she was little. She loved this book and still remembers many of these little verses. Such as: "You love yourself, You think you're grand, You go to the movies and hold your hand, You put your arm around your waist, And when you get fresh, You slap your face!"

"Grandma has a habit, Of chewing in her sleep, She chews on Grandpa's whiskers, And thinks it's shredded wheat."

Compiled and organized by Elaine Morrison Fitch, The 1848 Boston Cultivator: Marriages, Deaths, And Miscellaneous Readings presents articles abstracted from the Boston Cultivator weekly newspaper, carefully arranged in chronological order for the year 1848. A straightforward presentation accurately indexed for quick reference, The 1848 Boston Cultivator is a superb primary source for genealogists, historians, and non-specialist general readers curious to read anecdotes of life and death in a bygone era of American history.

This book is a terrific read for the history buff! Reading the stories truly brought 1848 America to life for me. It was nice to have all the information in chronological order as you read through them. There is a wealth of information in this book. It has a huge index with over 8,000 names making it easy for those people researching family histories. I particularly enjoyed reading the articles concerning westward expansion. It is incredible to relive those moments recounted in this book. An enjoyable and informative read!
Highly recommended to anyone interested in history, society or genealogy. Can't wait for her next one!

This is a truly excellent resource for anyone doing research on this time period, you just cannot find this information anywhere else. There are thousands of names in it. This book has birth, marriage and death announcements for the entire New England area for 1848. I found the stories so interesting, actual accounts of shipwrecks, fires, accidents and crime as they were reported in 1848. I highly recommed this book!

I am a beautiful black woman.

I have read many hair care books and this one is the best for relaxed hair. It is a text book. It has great pictures and step by step instructions. If you want to know how to wrap, fingerwave, make a basic roll, how to apply a relaxer, color etc, this book is for you. Better than a hair care magazine that shows mostly weaved hair. I'm a natural curly girl but I don't have a problem with healthy relaxed hair.

As we all know, these people who write these books are'nt going to share every secret of the industry, but this book will bring you closer to those well hidden secrets. I have never bought a book that was so detailed in every aspect from hygiene, nails, hair braiding, weaving, cutting, and styling. I was very much so satisfied with the photos, illustrations, and information given in this book. Its is in fact all worth every penny.