Sherman Books

This is the first book I've read by Singer. Right from the start of the book, he reveals himself as a master craftsman of character and dialogue. His characters are incredibly real and complex. They defy categorization, as real individuals tend to do. Their struggles are very human and believable. The characters are the delicious part of the book. In that respect, it is only towards the last third or fourth of the book, as it becomes obvious that most of the characters are "spinning their wheels" and inadequate character development is taking place, that the book gets rather tedious (and the feeling dawns that this book could have been made shorter). The denouement of Grein's fate is also quite improbable and a let-down.

One thing that will probably prevent me from reading other Singer books, despite his evident skill at character composition, is the "atmosphere" the book is permeated with - the underlying philosophy. The book is rather depressing, filled as it is with characters who experience personal angst, obsessive compulsiveness towards immoral actions, and a personal hollowness and despair. And in the end, there is no redeeming joy or hope to be found. While Grein's alteration could signal hope in something greater, it is arguably portrayed more as the permanent escape from reality of a man in despair, rather than a true conversion filled with genuine faith in greater meaning.

Having been in jesuit school during my primary and secondary, I distintly remember a priest who told me I should marry a jewish girl for you have the sort of character that requires it.. he was not mistaken, but the unfolding of that story rivals a novel of IBS... so my wife gave it as a girft and I found a novel in some parts as to be similar to Dovstoyeski, yet modern is some others as Saul Bellow's.. and even humorous as Woody Allen.

Its a story of survivors, of the melting-pot phenomenom of the USA, of the drift of generations and the loss of traditions, of the eternal contradictions, and the difference between a world separated by the holocaust.

"Shadows on the Hudson" is an excellent novel, even better than Singer's similiar but more compact "Enemies, a Love Story". Few writers have ever been able to involve the reader in the inner lives of fictional characters the way Singer could, and fewer still would have been able to make their stories so fascinating when they're all so cynical and often downtrodden, bemoaning God's silence and the corruption of modern man. Singer had a singular talent for exploring the chasm between expectations and reality, how we're almost always let down (and the post-WW2 Jews moreso than practically anyone in history), and how, for some totally inexplicable reason, we keep going. He made the absurd palpable for the modern reader, far better than even Camus and Sartre did, because he was an entertaining storyteller first, and THEN he was a philosopher.

This long, convoluted story of the lives of a half-dozen Jewish intellectuals and businesspeople in New York immediately after the second world war must be Singer's masterpiece. He often explored the same ideas in his novels---the point of existence and the role of the Jew in modern society---and in fact he often used philandering husbands and bitter wives and mistresses as primary characters, but he pulled it all together here into a riveting, beautiful story of obsession, regret, pain, and penitence that you simply don't want to end. That these people, and their endless torturous questions, aren't really important in the long run is precisely the final point of Singer's big novel: we make a tiny, swift ripple in the river and then we're gone, possibly forever; but it is how we grapple with the desires of the body and the needs of the mind and heart that gives our lives substance and form. Without this questioning and searching, without this rending of our spirit by apparently random or viscious events in our lives...without all of it, we would never turn to God. And then our small lives ARE meaningless.

At least, that's what I think Singer is trying to say. In the end, he was a fantastic writer who drew you into the story and kept you guessing until the end. Just like life itself...

Had it been published in English when it was written, shortly after WWII, it would have been ignored as the story of a mere milieu. Today it is the story of Everyman. These Jewish refugees in New York after the Holocaust, relatively prosperous since the truly poor had no means of escaping Hitler, display all the Angst, ambivalence, rootlessness and indecision of modern mankind. They cannot decide between reason and faith, modernity and tradition, America and Europe. Their God is no comfort and his non-existence no release. All that is real is Hitler -- and Hitler stands for what the modern world has to offer.

This novel is exasperating because it is always easy to despise the despicable characters it develops, yet reflection after each portion read forces one to admit a sympathy, albeit reluctantly. Very Dostoyevskian to be sure. Dostoyevsky is no pleasure to read either.

Singer deservedly got the Nobel Prize for Literature years ago and before this masterpiece ever saw the light of day except in Yiddish in serialized form.

For fans of Singer's writing, there is little new here. All of his classical narrative concerns are on display. But this novel, unpublished during his lifetime, is far more of an immense and deep exploration of his concerns; there is the feeling, when reading this sprawling novel, that he has found yet another angle to explore his fictional concerns, and it is one that is subterranean in its aesthetic. Shadows is staggeringly dark; its vision of humanity, both in the past, present and future, is unremittingly tragic and sorrowful. Singer never lets up, and reading this novel can be fatiguing because of its unrelenting stance toward despair. What saves the novel from perdition, what makes it more than a catalog of gloom, is that it is uttering extremely simple truths, even if they are hard to swallow.

I bought this for my niece but did not realize it was a play not a book. She did not like it and has not read it

I teach this play in high school, and students just love it. If you use the book with the movie, they can study the texts and learn a lot about what is the truth and the value of fighting for it and overcoming our laziness. It also explains well the jury system and racism in the 1950s. Overall you teach them a lot about character and a lot about America. The movie is also excellent.

On April 24, 2008, I was fortunate enough to see a mesmerizing production of "Twelve Angry Men," the professional Equity touring company of the Roundabout Theatre's 2004 rendering of the play. The road company starred Richard Thomas as Juror Number 8, but this play is an ensemble acting piece, not a single star vehicle.
In the play the all-white jurors have no names:
#1 is the foreman, a high school football coach
#2-a fairly neutral guy whose kid has the mumps
#3-sadistic, has had run-in with his own son, nasty, says of the defendant, "He's got to burn."
#4-a methodical note-taker who wears glasses
#5-grew up in the slums
#6-an ordinary Joe, a house painter
#7-rabid sports fan who wants to be at his ball game, will change his vote just to get out of the jury room
#8-an architect, man who has doubts, has courage to buck the crowd, without his kind, justice would perish
#9-an observant old man
#10-a racist who spouts his venomous bias about "them"
#11-an immigrant with a German accent who has more faith in democracy than some native-born Americans
#12-an advertising man who goes along with the crowd
Jurors Numbers 3, 7, and 10 are the "bad guys."
The jury is asked to render a death sentence verdict for a sixteen-year old troubled kid who is accused of killing his father. The first vote reveals eleven are in favor of a guilty verdict, and Juror Number Eight votes "not guilty" because he has doubts. The play is about the jurors' lack of understanding of the legal concept of "reasonable doubt." These are not impartial jurors. The boy's defense counsel did a poor job, but the jurors acted more on prejudice than on fair-mindedness. They were too quick to pull the switch on a human life.
It's a melodrama in which everything happens too quickly. The audience has to suspend its disbelief for this play that was performed without an intermission when I saw it. The author uses gimmicks, but they work.
Though the action of the play took place in 1954, it could take place today, because juries still haven't learned to grapple with "reasonable doubt."

Nine Lives Too Many
The Daemon in Our Dreams
The Rice Queen Spy
Clawed Back from the Dead

Long before any John Grisham novel, there was Twelve Angry Men. I had to read this play in grade school, and it is the reason why I am hooked on both mysteries and plays to this day. As you read, you imagine yourself sitting in that jury room and how you would be thinking and reacting in the same situation. The movie, too, is just as superb!

Based on Reginald rose's teleplay, which then became an Academy Award nominated film, TWELVE ANGRY MEN is dynamite listening. The cast is stellar, including Dan Castellaneta (remembered for the voice of Homer Simpson); Jeffrey Donovan (to be seen in Sundance's Come Early Morning); Hector Elizondo (Pretty Woman and the Princess Diaries); Robert Foxworth (who played juror #3 on Broadway); James Gleason (The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd); Kevin Kilner (Shopgirl); Richard Kind (Spin City, Curb Your Enthusiasm); Armin Shimerman (Star Voyager); and Joe Spano (Hill Street Blues).

As they've shown in the past, LA Theatre works presents the best in audio drama, always offering award worthy performances by gifted actors before a live audience. Twelve Angry Men is one more amazing dramatic experience.

As most know, the Twelve Angry Men comprise a jury that is charged with determining the fate of a 19-year-old boy who stands accused of murdering his father. The action takes place during one afternoon as their deliberations reveal the biases and character of each man. This is a drama that has stood the test of time, speaking to us as eloquently today as it did some 50 years ago.

Riveting listening!

- Gail Cooke

SCHOOL OF FIRE(1998) is the 2nd book in the STARFIST series of Miltary SciFi stories, set in the 25th Century... and, like the first book in the series FIRST TO FIGHT(1997), it is an overall excellent book that is marred by some minor but glaring faults.

There are certain passages that are simply outstanding, parts where I laughed out loud, like when PFC Godenov comes up with a quick explanation for his different method of training his troops; or parts that were extremely sad, like the cemetary scene at the end of the book.

However, while most of the outrageously long list of 70's Philadelphia Flyer characters that were introduced in the first book are not mentioned, there are still enough around that it continues to be a bit of a bother - and, again, none of them EVER seem to get killed off by the author... missing this time, are 'UAV operators "Cowboy" Bill Fleet' & asst., fine that two of the Philly Flyers characters are gone, but what happened to the UAVs? They would have been really useful in this story... and most extremely annoying is that "Extreme Solar Activity eliminated long-range RF comms by affecting the ionization layer" just at the right moment in the story... when, the fact is, such a situation would have been more likely to aid long-range military beyond LOS (HF) comms, not hinder it.

In any event, I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

A great yarn that moves out at a steady double time from start to finish. We get enough back story to set the stage, and then send in the Marines! The authors fill in the gaps as needed as the story progresses w/o making look like an "oh yeah" add in. It flows well.

The day to day humdrum scenes are brief enough so as not to bore, but still vivid and informative enough to clearly paint the necessary picture. The political workings in the background (to the main characters) are likewise short, concise and to the point. As for the combat, not surprisingly they also do a very good job capturing the "20 years of boredom punctuated by 5 minutes of abject terror."

I have seen some reviews state the characters are shallow, lack depth etc. While this may be true of the auxiliary characters (personally I could care less about the life story of the baddie + supporting staff) their main protagonists all but jump off the pages at me. This was especially true in the scenes where they are placing some of the junior Marines into leadership positions in the local forces to train them. As they describe the thoughts and actions of the trainers during their first leadership experience they hit the "oh crap" of someone young and unsure of himself right through the exhilaration an experienced soldier gets when given the chance to train others.

They explain the oddball (some say unbelievable) tactics of the local forces with the "politically appointed leadership," and while it may be a stretch it works when you remember that in every major action our own military has been in we have had to relearn what we should have remembered from the last war and then some. So 200 years of no military + political appointed leadership = volley fire. Ok.

If you can turn off your nit-pick gear and just relax and be entertained then grab this book.

Why did I buy this book? Again the same arguements. I don't really care for Marines, the cover was stupid, too much hoo-haa. I think these books lace their pages with some kind of narcotic. They're really not that good but I keep going down the series. Who knows, maybe sometimes I just want a cheap stupid read?

I give this book 2 out of 5 stars. Same problems as the first.

In the original installment of the Starfist series, the marines were sent to a backwater, neo-barbarian planet to lay down the law. In this one, they still get sent to a backwater but it is supposedly a relatively civilized place. The problem is that the upper crust, who called the marines to begin with, are as bad a lot as any of the insurgents the jarheads have been called on to fight. Fighting, however, is not their primary job description. Instead, they are to train the local forces how to do it for themselves. In short, they are advisors and we all remember how dangerous that can be.

The marines have their work cut out for them. The "elite" troops they are to train are good at the parade ground stuff but their war fighting doctrine leaves a bit to be desired. Can you imagine firing by platoon volley while standing in straight ranks while the bad guys fire at you from concealment? It's one of those situations where the powers that be are more interested in a good appearance than in effective troops. After all, the peasants who fill the ranks are pretty cheap to replace.

David Sherman and Dan Cragg do a good job of capturing the military mindset and it makes for enjoyable reading. They are never going to get literary prizes but I, for one, am glad that they would rather tell a compelling story.

The first book of the series (Starfist: First to Fight) was great. This one is, in my opinion, even better. It will keep you guessing all the way to the end. It is a must read for warfare and science fiction lovers. The writers' style is great for keeping you hooked. All in all, it is one of the best books I have ever read.

Somehow this book found it's way to the Wayne County Jail in Detroit.
The jailers saw a lot of the prisoners reading and ordering this book. There's an entire chapter that depicts life inside of the Wayne County Jail in Detroit. It has become a must book to read for both the inmates and staff.

Back in the Daze is a wonderful story about a tough black woman who overcomes Old School Problems in a New School setting.
The author experienced both sides of the street to come up with this street story gem.

The author of Back in the Daze contacted me last week. He assured me that the reviews were indeed ligit. I retract my statement, but still give the book 2 stars. It needs an overhauling. Back in the Daze has a good story line and a strong main character. It's destined to become a movie or play, but I don't see it winning an Oscar.

Having read the book before it went into print, I can say that it does not surprise me or the author that some readers see the movie potential of the material. The lead character IS a star making vehicle for any black or hispanic actress who'd be lucky enough to be cast in the title role. Halle Berry, Jada P Smith and others would be great in this role, although the story cries for an unknown actor (ala Sly Stallone in Rocky, Al Pacino in Godfather) And, even JLO could have considered a piece of material like this instead of the Julia Roberts knockoffs (Maid in Manhatan = Pretty Woman, Enough = Sleeping With the Enemy, etc) One of the best things about the work is the great character arcs which occurs for the main protagonists. What makes a good book? STORY. What makes a good movie? STORY What makes a good stage play? STORY. Bottom line: This is a good story.

Back in the Daze is an informative and entertaining story that deals with addictions and recovery.

I have only read two books, in my twenty five years, from cover to cover. Both took nearly two months to complete, I'd read ten minutes at a time, or more.

I had been browsing through Borders, on Saturday evening, looking for Candy Bombers. They didn't have it. While I was faux browsing, waiting for someone to move, something popped out on the shelf. Medic! I work as an EMT in a small town, very rural, area. That had nothing to do with my interest, I just threw it in there. Members of my family had been in every way, for the past 150 years. Literally. They were killed at Five Points, Virginia, in the Civil War; Sainteny, France; and Cambodia. The last, was a feature of a thirty-years later, letter, that made national news. I'm fond of Military history, battlefield medicine, that laid the path for my career today, in Emergency Medical Services.

I'm a picky reader, and I'm critical of authors, their style either grabs me, or pushes me away. I have hundreds of books that I bought, only to use a paragraph, dozens that pushed me away, two that I enjoyed. Thousands in all, enough to have a library, in my home. I'm an author myself, co-author, I've written hundreds of articles and essays, and publish two books. I'm not great, I just have a really good hobby, and I can type.

Nearly ten hours ago, I sat down to finally read my September copy of JEMS. The Journal of Emergency Medical Services. I wasn't comfortable, I looked around, and laid down JEMS. I picked up Medic!, and now it's quarter to three on a Tuesday morning.

I read Medic!, in just under ten hours. Good book, skilled author. I'm posting it to a friend that is stationed over seas in the morning. Good literature must not sit on a shelf, it should be passed on.

When I first started reading this book I couldn't put it down and was disappointed that it wasn't very long. Since I finished it, I have reread parts of it because I like them so much. "Medic" is written like a novel (as was mentioned in previous reviews), which makes the book extremely easy to read, since it's more than a list of what the author did. The fact that the book seems like a novel is not a fault. It allows you to get into the book and I don't think that the historical value of the narrative was diminished by it. I got into all of the characters in the book, all of whom were portrayed in good detail. The characters and their plights gave good insight into how war affects those involved emotionally. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a good book or who is interested in Vietnam War literature.

I found the book to be a pretty sharp criticism of the U.S. Army and how it treated its own soldiers. The fact that Sherman was in more danger from his fellow G.I.s than the Viet Cong is very troubling but we hear these stories all the time.

Ben Sherman was a conscientious objector who nonetheless served in Vietnam as a medic. As a combat medic myself, much of what he retells here is spot on. However, parts of the book seemed a bit contrived, hence the 3 stars.

Sherman's courage is beyond reproach - to go into a combat zone unarmed (even as a medic) takes real stones. The fear, apprehension and constant wondering if he was "good enough" to do right by his soldiers was eerily familiar. His anguish and self-blame at those he could not save speaks volumes about his character. The descriptions of Vietnam and of his experiences in (and out) of combat are vivid. However more than once I couldn't help but think that he was retelling sea-stories or dramatizing - particularly in the epilogue where he retells meeting the family of a fallen comrade. While this may have happened, it seems inplausable and feels as if it were written for emotional impact.

Volumes have been written about Vietnam, many of them memoirs from those who served on the ground. While _Medic!_ offers a new perspective (from that of a CO - conscientious objector), it is not among the better of the lot.

Reviewer Mazza (11.15.04) mentions that the book "reads more like a novel than a memoir." Exactly, and that's the problem---which is it? As reviewer Bunch (1.24.06) notes, there are several events that don't ring true. For example, in 1985 the author and a friend visited a deserted Wall at 10 o'clock at night. As he knelt and wept in front of the name of a soldier whose life he had been unable to save in `69, who should appear but that same man's mother and brother (to whom he apparently said nothing). There are many books written by Vietnam vets. Read this one if you aren't troubled by repeated dramatic coincidences.

This is a good book about Sherman and the civil war. If you like Sherman is book is for you. Worth your money.

The difficulty for those of us interested in studying the American Civil War is that the available bibliography is overwhelmingly large. One could begin reading as a child and reach adulthood and continue reading until death or senility interrupted the exercise without completing all of the published titles! Life is too short to read poorly written books!

With that observation in mind, it is a welcome experience to occasionally come across a worthwhile one volume biography of a major historical figure and "Sherman: A Soldier's Passion for Order" fills the bill perfectly. The author, John F. Marszalek, is a history professor at Mississippi State University.

While it may strike some as odd that a historian employed on a campus located in the Deep South chose to write about General William T. Sherman, it is worth remembering that "Uncle Billy," himself, was a man of contradictions. Sherman tried and failed at many occupations during the antebellum period. One of the few successful and easily the most satisfying positions that he held was as the superintendent of a military academy located in Louisiana. But for the crisis of secession and war, Sherman would have been pleased to remain at the academy as a Southern gentleman and an accepted member of local society. The war came, however, and Sherman resigned his position and donned the blue Federal uniform. As a Union general, Sherman became the scrouge of the same South that he had so admired and enjoyed.

Sherman was adopted into the family of a prominent Ohio politician following the death of his father. This was the first of many disruptions in his life. His adoptive parents compelled him to change his actual first name from "Tecumseh" (after the celebrated Indian leader and warrior) to William. Marszalek sees many of Sherman's subsequent choices and decisions as part of a determined effort to create and maintain continuity, stability and order. As much as he loved the South, Sherman viewed secession and disunity as a form of anarchy that needed to be crushed. Similarly, the Indian tribes threatening the settlement of the frontier needed to be suppressed. Late in his life, Sherman resisted his wife's repeated entreaties to have him convert to Catholicism.

Marszalek also treats Sherman's friendship and eventual estrangement from Ulysses S. Grant. Sherman was devoted to the military and grew disillusioned when Grant chose to pursue a political career during the Reconstruction Era. Although both Grant and Sherman lived long enough to write memoirs, Grant's memoirs are better known on account of his superb ability as a writer. Unlike Grant, Sherman's own book generated more controversy than praise upon its publication (Grant defended Sherman's book, however, as providing accurate accounts and descriptions of events) and is not read as often today.

I have had the good fortune to have visited Grant's residence in Galena, Illinois and the former Galt House (the hotel still exists, but it has relocated to a much larger building several blocks away) in Louisville, Kentucky, where Grant and Sherman studied their maps and plotted the strategy that resulted in the eventual Union victory. Marszalek's book helped bring some of these same details to life for me as a reader. Recommended.

In this book, the author takes us on an in-depth tour of the life and times of William Tecumseh Sherman. In doing so, he lets us see Sherman as a boy living in poverty; as a nine-year-old foster child; and as a student, young soldier, husband, father, failed businessman, Civil War General, and aging military hero. In the end, we find that Sherman was very much like the rest of us: a man with hopes, dreams and fears of his own, and certainly not the crazed and often despised General who, according to legend, burned Atlanta to the ground and wantonly ravaged, pillaged, and plundered the South.

True, Sherman did order that all inhabitants of Atlanta be evacuated [705 adults (few men), 860 children, and 79 slaves], but that was to prevent snipers from killing his soldiers. And he did order that all facilities which could be used to support the war effort be destroyed (e.g., the railroad station; factories producing uniforms, munitions, railroad tracks; etc.). But that only amounted to about one third of the structures in Atlanta. And he did march the bulk of his 60,000 man army to Savannah living off the land. But he did so to help bring the Civil War to a speedy conclusion with minimum loss of life by severing the logistic supply lines across the South. And his orders were not to burn or destroy any private property, no matter what the inhabitants "said", as long as they were not fired upon.

And finally, and most revealing: When Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston was given the authority to surrender all remaining Confederate armies to General Sherman, Sherman met with him and developed what he thought were acceptable surrender terms. He forwarded them to Washington to obtain the necessary authorization only to find that his terms were considered much too soft on the South by then Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. Stanton went so far as to send a letter to the New York Times accusing Sherman of TREASON and then attempted to have General Grant relieve him of his command. Grant met with Sherman but avoided doing so.

According to the evidence, then, William Tecumseh Sherman wasn't the crazed villain many in the South consider him to be. And maybe, just maybe, he was the best friend the South ever had, or at least he tried to be. In any event, after reading this biography, one can only wonder how many people now living in the South, who vilify Sherman's memory, owe their very existence to the fact that he decided to make war on property rather than on their forefathers.

"Wars are not all evil; they are part of the grand machinery by which this world is governed; thunderstorms which purify the political atmosphere, test the manhood of a people, and prove whether they are worthy to take rank with others engaged in the same task by different methods." - Gen. William T. Sherman

As a casual student of Civil War history, i.e. returning to it periodically after bouts with trashier fare, I've heretofore lost sight of General Sherman in General Grant's shadow at Shiloh, Vicksburg and Chattanooga. Even the commendable Nothing but Victory: The Army of the Tennessee, 1861-1865 failed to correct this failing. SHERMAN finally forced the man into my awareness.

This book by John Marszalek is an extensively researched, comprehensive, and solid summary of the General's life from boyhood to death. I would love to have seen what the late, great Shelby Foote could've done with the material, but that's neither here nor there.

SHERMAN includes all of the elements of the man's private and public life that you'd expect in a biography. What stood out for me were the elements that I never suspected: his sojourn in California from 1848 to 1857 both as a military officer and a private banker, his position as the first superintendent of the military academy that would later evolve into Louisiana State University, his eventual post-war falling-out with Grant, and his controversial views on race. Indeed, Sherman's personal view of slavery was akin to that of a Southern slave owner; he thought it consistent with the natural order of things. Furthermore, he opposed the abolitionists of the pre-war period believing their efforts conducive to the growing national disorder that eventually resulted in the Civil War. Sherman once said:

"The negro should be a free man, but not put on any equality with the Whites ... the effect of equality is illustrated in the character of the mixed race in Mexico and South America. Indeed it appears to me that the right of suffrage in our Country should be rather abridged than enlarged."

The chapters on Sherman's Civil War career make clear that he was significantly more successful as a war strategist than as a battlefield tactician as evidenced by his failures as a corps commander at Chickasaw Bayou (1862), as army commander when his Army of the Tennessee was repulsed at the north end of Missionary Ridge at the Battle of Chattanooga (1863), and as an army group commander at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain (1864). His claim to fame is, of course, his brilliant march through Georgia and the Carolinas during which his forces occupied Atlanta and Savannah, GA, and Columbia, SC, unopposed after skillfully maneuvering enemy forces out of all three cities beforehand.

SHERMAN includes three photo sections, but no battlefield maps which otherwise might have been usefully illuminating.

What drove Sherman was his deep antipathy for disorder, whether it be military, social, familial, or political. He would've made the consummate military dictator if given the opportunity. He was a great commander and man for his time and place. In today's politically correct and "enlightened" times, he would be shunned.

"I look upon war with horror, but if it has to come I am here." - Gen. William T. Sherman

Sherman made war on women and children. He had his troops burned houses to the ground, turned a blind eye to the looting his men did, burned crops to the ground, destroyed any livestock he couldn't use and left the civilian population to starve to death everywhere he went in the South.
Sherman had town halls burned so there were no accruate records as to how large the population of the town he burned was. Sherman also removed large numbers of civilians (women and children)who worked at the New Manchester and Roswell, Georgia Mills, North; where many of them died of exposure or starvation. On the trip North many of these New Manchester, Roswell, Georgia Mill women workers were raped.
I am not a sympathizer for the Southern Cause during the American Civil War. However, I do believe that Sherman is a war criminal and shouldn't be idolized which this book does.

STEEL GAUNTLET (1999) is the third book in the STARFIST far future military SciFi series. The first two books in the series were quite good, but this entry falls flat - mainly due to the anachronistic military technology desribed in the book, which doesn't hold up well, now that 9 years have passed since it was first published.

Supposedly this story takes place in the 25th century, yet the Confederation (Star-faring Earth-centric Alliance) doesn't even have UAV attack technology... something that has ALREADY existed for at least 5 years, and a technology that is rapidily advancing... all of the attack aircraft in the story are MANNED and as such are extremely limited in the G-Forces they can pull. And then there is the need to actually verbally and cumbersomely call in Artillary and Close Air Support strikes - 400 years in the future, computers STILL won't be able to wirelessly and immediately communicate this information, once it is entered into a soldier's handheld computer? Another idiosynchrocy is that the 25th century Tanks don't have any DU (Depleted Uranium) enhanced Armor... something that was widely available in the 2nd Gulf War just a few years after the book was written... yes, the Tank Penatrating weapons in the book use DU technology - but not the tanks themselves?! It is as if we are stuck with year 2000 technology, in a book that is supposed to be about 25th century technology.

The first two stories in the series involved smalltime skirmishes involving company or battalian sized Marine groups involved in peacekeeping activities on other planets, but this story involves an actual small-scale war... and that is probably why the technology becomes so glaringly bad in the this story... in small-scale skirmishes, the advanced technology isn't as important as in a wide scale war.

Another reason this book is so dissapointing to me is that I'm a big fan of Armor, and this book tries to infer Infantry's "long-term superiority" over Armor, leading to Armor's demise - when Armor's recent demise in importance is really due to the USA/UK Armor's success over USSR Armor (there is nobody left to fight an Armored battle with!), not because of Infantry's superiority over Armor (although infantry certainly has an advantage in urban environments - but that is not what the book infers, just that handheld bazooka like weapons of the future would lead to Armor's demise in importance).

We also have the silly 70's Philadelphia Flyer character names back in force in this book (after getting a bit of a rest from them in the 2nd book), and this just adds to the absurdity.

But, the bottom line is that this particular book has become unreadable, directly due to all the poor military technology predictions that show up page after page.

Like others have stated in past reviews, I'm now less impressed with this series after having read this entry... but I'm still going to move on to the next book in the series, and hope things improve again - the first two books were so good, that it is worth giving the series a chance to get back on track.

One thing I like about this series is how each book is different from the others. The portrayals of military life are good, and the foibles of the high brass are well played out. Good sense of humor where needed.
Books are rather gorey, so not for the faint of heart.
But lots of fun. Good for a quick weekend read.

34th FIST Marine have a real challenge with the armor division from Diamunde. They are in competition against a force that is superior to them and are going in a the tip of the sword with old weapon. Amazing and riveting as the storyline goes. It might be a bit slow to start but once started, it gets hot.

As much as I like the Starfist Series, Steel Gauntlet is probably the worse book in the series, for the reason mentioned by nzjohn in his review. After Sherman and Cragg go to great lengths to prove that MBTs are obsolete, their villain has to make an elementary mistake (one that the very research into military history that led him to build tanks in the first place would almost certainly have prevented) to keep the "useless" panzers from wiping out our heroes. Feels like the authors got two-thirds of the way through the story and then realized that they'd screwed up. Read through this one quickly.

I enjoyed the first two installments of the Starfist series. They were not my very favorites but they did keep my attention. I guess that's why I'm a bit disappointed with this installment. It seemed a "situation normal" type of read. It was a fair story and kept my attention but did not do so to the degree that the earlier two did. Since there are many more left to go in the series, there is still hope.

In this story, the 34th FIST is deployed as part of a larger force in a full scale war against a planet led by a maniacal sadist who has reinvented the doctrine of armored warfare. These jarheads are going to fight tanks, something they have not trained to do in several centuries. The marines are to make an opposed landing, establish a "planethead" and hold for relief by the army. The overall commander is a political admiral who has a talent for making bad choices. A major bad choice is the site of the landing. Things just get worse when the army fails to reinforce the marines on schedule. That's bad enough but, when corrupt politicians get their oars in the water, things really go to hell. As I said to begin with, Situation Normal, All Fouled Up or SNAFU.

I still plan on reading the rest of the series but it is not as high on my priority list as it was.

"Shared universe" collections are usually haphazard at best, but the essential Borderlands is brilliant all the way through. Some touching, some funny, all imaginatve, wild, and evocative of a place we all wish to be lost in. Elves, drugs, and rock and roll, with a very literate twist. No need to have read prior books, this one will sweep you up and carry you away. The only short story collection in my "best books" list.

Written by some of the biggest authors in fantasy, particulary urban fantasy, this anthology is incredible. It is edited and has inserts by Terri Windling, one of the biggest names in (good) fantasy. The stories are all incredibly written and the character's on the grimy streets of Soho are easy to relate to. The Border is waiting, can you make it there?

Not into sword and sorcery but secretly adore magic and faeries? Then this is the one for you. I have never seen a stronger "shared world" anthology, each story will stay with you long after you have finished reading, each for a different reason. A gourmet selection of short stories.

Most of the short stories in this collection have been written for teens, and older readers might find many of the stories a little trying.

Bordertown is a shared universe created for those people young enough or naive enough to imagine that being a homeless, unwashed, aspiring Artist automatically makes someone interesting. Nearly everyone in Bordertown, it seems, is a runaway, a musician, a member of the SCA, an elf, or [dear me] all of the above. Still, the stories are fun, and most of them are readable. "Argentine", by Ellen Steiber, I thought the best of the bunch: a wonderful love and redemption story set in Bordertown's El Barrio. Other notables include: "How Shannaro Tolkinson Lost and Found His Heart" by Felicity Savage, an amusing story that makes it known that B-Town and Faerie may not really be all they're cracked up to be; "When the Bow Breaks" by Steven Brust, which takes place not in Bordertown at all, but on the Mad River; and "Rag" by Caroline Stevermer, whose writing style quite reminded me of Tim Powers. If you can't stomach any of the other stories, at least give those four a try.

Going by other reader reviews of this book, some fans of the series were disappointed by The Essential Bordertown--they felt the stories "just weren't the same" or something. Of course they weren't the same! It has a different character than other books in the series, but that's only to be expected from an anthology, and I enjoyed it immensely. One of its best features, to my mind, is the way "guidebook" excerpts are placed between the stories--for those unfamiliar with Bordertown, they provide excellent background material, and for fans, they're full of little jokes and references to familiar locations/people/events. They also make good transitions from one story to the next. The book contains 13 stories (how apropos) by Patricia A. McKillip, Midori Snyder, Delia Sherman, Donnard Sturgis, Ellen Kushner, Michael Korolenko, Elisabeth Kushner, Charles de Lint, Caroline Stevermer, Steven Brust, Ellen Steiber, Micole Sudberg, and Felicity Savage, of which four particularly struck me.

I loved Patricia A. McKillip's "Oak Hill" for many reasons, but one of them is that its protagonist reminded me of myself in junior high--a lonely girl with bad skin looking for magick. I particularly liked the fact that the girl has no terrible reason to come to Bordertown; she just wants something better--something more--than what she has. McKillip's prose is beautiful as ever, and the ending, though of course I won't give it away, is simple and powerful. "Dragon Child" by Midori Snyder is largely set in Dragontown, which has always been one of my favorite areas of Bordertown. Eli, half elvin and half human, escapes from his cruel elvin father to Bordertown, where he struggles to fully free himself from the aristrocratic father who has controlled him all his life. The story doesn't offer any easy answer to Eli's problems; it may be about a boy who blurs the border between the World and Faerie, but it's realistic.

"Changeling" by Elisabeth Kushner I admit I was already predisposed to like--young lesbians desperately trying to build a happy life for themselves have always had a special place in my heart. "Oak Hill" shows Bordertown as a place to run to; "Changeling," like "Dragon Child," shows it as a place to run away to. Selkie/Seal (neither her given name, of course; people who come to Bordertown frequently give themselves new names, in the hopes of new lives) is trying to find a place where her "difference" won't stand out, and comes to Bordertown--where it might not be easier, but it might also be better. The final member of my top four, Ellen Steiber's "Argentine," is about an elvin girl who didn't run anywhere--she was banished, her memory erased, to Bordertown, where she does what she seems to do best: steals. Argentine seeks out things that matter to people, and takes them, to feel the love they contain. But no thief's luck lasts forever, as the ghost of a dead man is only too happy to remind her when she takes his living lover's necklace. Steiber makes Argentine a sympathetic character, despite the things she does, and Roberto, already dead, is tragic. This story makes me cry almost every time I read it.

The Essential Bordertown definitely holds its own within the series, and I highly recommend it--and if you like it, you should try to find the others, although some are out of print and hard to get ahold of.

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This book immearse u into some of the most memorable stories that Disney ever Produced. The infomation is wriitten perfectly and with lots of transition words too. But even though the title says ".. theme parks" only a few attractions are showed/ written in the book. This book is great for a movie triva fanastic but not good for a theme park fanastic *_*

You could say that David Koenig's tone is unvarnished and unsympathetic, or you could say it's cranky and cynical. Either way, Mouse Under Glass proves undeniably refreshing, full of compelling information and insights--provided in part by Disney animators, writers, composers, and Imagineers. It's an instant trivia treasure trove from a man who has watched Disney movies far, far too many times.

Whereas most Disney authors salivate all over themselves attempting to convey the pure genius of Walt's legacy, Koenig discusses each film's flaws, often-convoluted origins, behind-the-scenes battles, and just plain bad habits with a much more dry sensibility. Yes, Disney makes magic, but they also make movies, and the book analyzes each film on its cinematic and storytelling merits. Each story is researched to compare its original form to the "Disneyfied" version, often with enlightening and surprising results; tales and insights from the folks who helped make the features and related theme-park rides merge with Koenig's own tight prose for an air of authority. Amusing and educational sidebars (such as a Disney Tragedy Trivia Quiz) and a few illustrations help break up what could have been a very long list of factoids.

Koenig's platform is that "Disney has the recipe for success," but the use of cooking quotes and analogies before each chapter comes off as an awkward, out-of-context device. Also, the book is marred by a few typos--nearly hypocritical considering the attention paid to Disney's own minor mistakes. And while Koenig clearly respects the work he's discussing, his tone is one of tough love--from urging to prodding to nearly provoking and harassing the studio to do things better. He rather enjoys sticking it to the House of Mouse when the chips (and presumably dales) are down, which will likely alienate some hardcore, soft-hearted Disneyphiles. But this book is not written for those who live in a fantasy world, only those who appreciate a good one when they see it. With excellent, relevant research and precise, entertaining writing, Mouse Under Glass is as fresh and fair an analysis of Disney magic as you're likely to find.

I liked David Koenig's "Mouse Tales," so I bought this 1997 book as soon as I learned of its existence. "Mouse Under Glass" is subtitled "Secrets of Disney Animation and Theme Parks" and covers 30 Disney animated features in detail. I quibble-5 of those movies covered are mixtures of animation and live action.

"Mouse Under Glass" is divided into ten chapters and examines the Disney movie formula using this outline:
Original Tale
Disney Version
Plot Holes
Attraction Offspring
Bloopers
Cutting Room Floor
Hidden Images
Strange Reactions

The Original Tale and the Disney Version barely resemble each other. This isn't unusual in Hollywood-take a look at "The Ten Commandments" or "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." Even the Disney Version mutated from initial treatment to finished product. I found out about this first-hand in 1983 when I made a movie. I planned for a 45 minute mix of live actors and animated special effects and wound up with 7 minutes of stop-action animation and cheesy narration. Walt Disney sought the best possible story within the limits imposed by economics and technology-then expanded the technology envelope to make the story better. Art isn't rocket science-and look at all the mishaps in rocketry!

Koenig wrote "...the most logical attraction (for a Bambi Ride) would be the shooting gallery." How about combining elements from other existing Disneyland rides to replicate Bambi's experience? There's the change of the seasons. Yes, a "shooting gallery" would be part of the ride-just like the shooting gallery in the Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland, with us guests as the target. Don't forget the forest fire-if Mr. Toad winds up in Hell and the Pirates of the Caribbean light up the town, a forest fire should be easy! End with the Great Prince of the Forest leaving Bambi as us guests exit. Child's play! Not to be, of course-"Bambi" is over 60 years old-not fresh enough!

Hidden Images and Strange Reactions were two of the most enjoyable parts of the book. One of the many sidebars explains the Hidden Mickeys. A Disney Treasures DVD shows a Hidden Mickey in the Enchanted Tiki Room about the year 1964-the practice of inserting images in Disney movies is as old as Mickey Mouse. Animators are a bunch of overage kids, fun loving kids. Strange Reactions begins with "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves," but the public went ga-ga over a talking mouse and three pigs. The movie, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," kicked off a series of anti-Disney boycotts by organizations concerned that the Disney Company was following an agenda to corrupt America's children-and Roger Rabbit popularized looking for hidden images in Disney movies and theme parks. It is almost like looking for Alfred in Hitchcock movies.

Throughout "Mouse Under Glass" Koenig sprinkles sidebars such as Disney Tragedy Trivia Quiz, Top 10 Disney Oddities, and Orphan-O-Meter. Peter Pan got no sympathy!

Crisis has always faced the Disney Animated Features department. Behind-the-scenes action in the Disney Company has sparked dozens of books such as Koenig's three. Walt Disney almost left the animation business several times. If not for the success of Snow White and "Cinderella," Walt might have left the field twice. The failure of "Fantasia," "Alice in Wonderland," and "Sleeping Beauty" were hard blows to Walt. Given the success of Walt's television series and Disneyland, it's possible that Walt would have shut down his animation department himself if he had lived. After Walt's death, Disney animation coasted along. Stagnation led to a corporate raider bid to take over the company (detailed in "Storming the Magic Kingdom") and sell off the parts for a quick buck. Outsiders came in and saved the company-Michael Eisner and his team. They were in charge during the Golden Age of the 1990's-and brought new problems to Disney. "Mouse Under Glass" ends with the decline of Disney Animation. Today, Disney no longer has a traditional 2D animation department.

Koenig nails the key to Walt's success-audience focus. Walt Disney didn't always succeed, but he was in the story-telling business to have satisfied customers. Most of Hollywood views us movie goers as unnecessary baggage.

Too bad the Disney Company executives didn't read and heed "Mouse Under Glass." David Koenig's observations could have saved the Disney Company and Michael Eisner much grief.

This book is different than the two "Mouse Tales" books that David Koenig wrote about the interesting and naughty little things that have happened at Disneyland.
This time Koenig has done exhausting and intense research to find out how Walt Disney drastically changed and re-created original tales into Disney movies. Ideas, storylines and characters that never made it into the film are revealed.
Mistakes that actually were either originally unseen or just left in the final print of the film.
To make the film more fun to watch, David Koenig has even discovered "Hidden Extras" snuck into the films by Disney Animators.
Can you find:
Peg and the bulldog from LADY AND THE TRAMP (1955) in the film, 101 DALMATIANS (1961) and the 7 unspotted dalmatians?
Characters from SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937) are traced and disguised into ROBIN HOOD (1973). You will also see disguised from THE ARISTOCATS (1970), the Chinese drummer cat be a rabbit drummer. Scat cat as a horn-blower, and the hippie cat become a guitar playing shaggy dog wearing sunglasses.
Can you find a bubble-blowing DUMBO (1941) in THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE (1986)?
OLIVER & CO contains Peg, Trusty and Jock from LADY AND THE TRAMP (1955) and you may see 30 product logos like Coca-Cola and Kodak in the background in gray.
This is also "hidden stuff" in THE LITTLE MERMAID (1989), BEATY AND THE BEAST (1991), ALADDIN (1992), THE LION KING (1994) and THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1996).
What movies and characters became Disney park rides and those that would have, but they never made it.

Teaching this novel to 10th graders in Chicago has not been the easiest task but the storyline is the draw...that and my constant reminders that "This is the hardest book you will read all year...it's a book I read in college...If you can get through this book you can get through everything else we do this year!" And it's true...most students did well in the unit and the course which forces them to step outside their confort zone when looking and talking about the origins of race and racism. I use this in conjunction with RACE & MEMBERSHIP (by Facing History & Ourselves- collection of readings related to Eugenics Movement in USA) and with the film, "Imitation of Life" (the color version, not not the original black and white). Be mindful that it's high-end vocabulary as the author, like many Black writers of the day, sought to not only show that the main character wanted to impress those he came in contact with but that the author himself may have been trying to prove his own intelligence in writing the novel. James Weldon Johnson is best known for his song, "Lift Every Voice and Sing" - the Black National Anthem.

I am taking a class on Harlem renaissance literature and this was the first book assigned. It is easy to read and an enlightening story, the background information provided was interesting as well.

Many novels of the African-American experience in the United States use the theme of "passing". These novels generally involve a light-complexioned African-American who can "pass" for white. Among other things, novels based on a theme of "passing" allow the character and the author to comment upon black-white relationships in the United States from both sides -- from the black experience and from the white experience.

Both white and black authors have made extensive use of the theme of "passing". The earliest novel involving "passing" of which I am aware is by William Dean Howells in his short 1891 book, "An Imperative Duty" which dealt with an inter-racial marriage. The African-American novelist Nella Larsen wrote a novel titled "Passing" set in the Harlem Renaissance. More recently, Philip Roth's novel "The Human Stain" involves the story of Professor Coleman Silk, a distinguished academic and student of the classics who passes for many years as white.

Coleman Silk is the successor to the protagonist of James Weldon Johnson's only novel, "The Autobiography of an ex-colored Man" written in 1912. The unnamed protagonist of the book is an individual, like Roth's character Coleman Silk, with great intellectual and artistic gifts who is torn between the opportunities open to him as an, apparently, white person and his strong sense of black identity. Like Coleman Silk and the characters in most novels involving the theme of "passing", Johnson's protagonist marries a white woman and lives a life plagued with guilt regarding his abandonment of his heritage as an African-American. Johnson's short novel is, to my mind, the best written on the theme of "passing", and it is a fine novel indeed. The book initially was published anonymously. The writing is so powerful and believable that many readers took the book for a true autobiography until Johnson acknowledged his authorship in 1914. Many years later, Johnson wrote his own autobiography, titled "Along This Way" in part to show that the story of his own life was not the story of the protagonist in the "Autobiography".

Johnson's story shows how his protagonist goes back and forth, both internally and in the outward events of life, about whether to make his way in the white or in the black world. He ultimately finds himself successful but unhappy. In addition to the story line of the book, Johnson uses the "passing" theme to allow many reflective passages by characters in the book on racial relationships in the United States early in the 20th Century. The most famous such scene occurs as the protagonist travels in a "smoking car" for whites on a train in the segregated South. He participates in a discussion among several white men of varied backgrounds on the "race question" as it was viewed at the time. There is also a chilling scene in the book involving a lynching, the burning alive of a black person. Johnson worked fervently in the latter years of his life to secure the passage of anti-lynching legislation in Congress.

But Johnson's novel includes a great deal more than a consideration of race issues. The book offers an outstanding picture of life in early twentieth Century America -- in the South and in Johnson's beloved New York City. The book is filled with pictures of dives and gambling dens and of the trade of cigar making in both South and North. It is filled with the love of the piano and of classical music. Most strikingly, the book has the spirit and feel of ragtime, which reached the height of its popularity during the years in which the book appeared. Johnson shows great appreciation for this product of American culture.

The book also illustrates some universal themes. The protagonist is troubled, specifically, by the conflict between his identity as an African-American and his wish to succeed as a white person. But the broader themes of the book are the consequences of lack of self-knowledge, the role of chance in human life, and the consequences of a certain sense of purposelessness and frustration, which plague many individuals separately from any consideration of race. Johnson develops these themes eloquently and ties them in well with his theme of "passing".

Johnson's novel is an important work of American fiction which deserves to be read.

James Weldon creates a story line of unimaginable magnitude! This complex book makes the reader almost sympathetic for a character who may not deserve it!

I absolutely loved reading this book, and would eagerly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn of Johnson's America through the eyes of a man caught between two worlds. The sometimes humorous passages and vivid details held my interest and fueled my imagination. I have countless sections of the book underlined in red.

Though written years ago, it is highly relevant to life in America today, and the self-effacing nature ('invisibility') of the narrator makes it even more intriguing as you follow what goes on in the class and race-defined society through his eyes.

A short but captivating (one of my favorite autobios) 'must-read'.