Smith Books

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as Mormons or LDS, revere Joseph Smith as a modern-day prophet. In 1820, at 14 years of age, he took the Bible's advice and asked God for enlightenment regarding his confusion over the many churches, religions, and doctrines. What followed was a vision of God and Jesus Christ, the translation of additional scriptures to join with the Bible, and the establishment of a Christian church which has enjoyed exponential and worldwide growth ever since then. This book is a look at Joseph Smith, his life and personality, which grew from Truman Madsen's original lectures at BYU Education Week.

I consider Bro. Madsen to be one of the most approachable historians on Joseph Smith, and the book is well-organized and informational. It is not an extensive academic study (although it is well referenced) but is written rather to be an approachable read for a wide audience. I've read it twice now as well as heard some of his lectures and enjoyed it very much. He points out that Joseph Smith never claimed to be perfect but he did what he was called to do and did it well and set the kind of example that is worthy of both reverence and emulation. He was a witness of the divinity of Jesus Christ and endured brutal persecution, eventually giving his life as a martyr to this cause. The book is, of course, written for members of the LDS Church, who will find it uplifting and inspirational, although it's possible some of other faiths seeking to know more about Joseph Smith may find it useful as well.

Truman Madsen here draws on a deep well of primary (and other) sources to bring the reader to know the prophet Joseph. Madsen writes, "If my elementary shifting of documents and sharing of impressions moves others to look not simply at Joseph Smith but through him to the Master - and, with those efforts, to take a searching look at themselves - my efforts will have been more than worthwhile" (p5).

This book is the written adaptation of Madsen's famous Joseph Smith tapes, recorded from a series of lectures at BYU's Education Week. I heard these tapes when I was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1994 or 1995 and was deeply inspired. A few years ago, I borrowed a copy of the tapes from my brother and had a very different reaction: I found Madsen's wildly dramatic delivery of the lectures distracting and annoying. But the stories were still powerful, so I obtained a copy of the book. I'm very glad that I did.

The book could be subtitled, "Marvelous and powerful stories you don't know about the prophet Joseph Smith and his friends," for ultimately - beyond the structure Madsen places on them - that is what the book entails. Much of the deliciousness appears in the footnotes, where Madsen gives his sources (again, most of them primary) and tells stories that don't fit in the lectures.

The book starts from the assumption that Joseph Smith is a prophet and a good man. For a more historical and thorough treatment of Joseph Smith (also by a member of the Church), try Bushman's Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling.

I found it very inspiring. It indeed led me to look beyond Joseph and the other early members to the Savior: their love for Him and for His work inspires me to seek to do and to be better.

Madsen, through extended research and study, has written a concise, factual history of Joseph Smith, Jr. the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Without all the vitrolic, twisted truths and outright lies of many of the books about Joseph Smith, this book takes the reader through the events of Joseph life as well as his beliefs. It is honest. It is truthful. It is a breath of fresh air amongst the numerous books on this religious pioneer.

You can instantly tell after picking up this book the great love and devotion of the author, Truman G. Madsen, for the Latter-Day Prophet, Joseph Smith. This great knowledge and love really made this book a fantastic read that was hard to put down.

The chapters are actually different lectures that he gave about the prophet which where later compiled into this book. Each lecture focused on a different aspect of Joseph Smith's life. Truman G. Madsen has a lot of knowledge about him as he told many stories that I had never even heard of regarding Joseph Smith.

If you love Joseph Smith then this is a wonderful book to pick up. It will increase your love and understanding for the prophet.

This is the written form of Brother Madsen's first tape series on The Prophet Joseph. The book will be found to be easy and fulfilling reading. He references all of the stories that he tells on the tapes to make for eaiser research. The book is well done and is a great refrence for the causual reader or the soon to be Joseph Smith scholar.

This book by Wilson Smith is a little gem. He has written bravely and honestly about events in his life that will make the reader laugh and cry and just wonder how on earth he ever lived to tell the tales in Just Dirt.

It is amazingly touching and and not without humour. I think every teen who is thinking of running away should read this book. In fact every teenager should read this book and if I had a say I would put it on all reading lists in High Schools.

Just Dirt is not just for kids. Mr. Smith has recalled events that touched his life, his family and those around him. Every person reading this book will be moved in some way.

Mr. Smith has written the book in a really casual style, if I may say that. While reading Just Dirt, the reader feels as if he/she is sitting with a good friend while he is recalling episodes from his eventful past.

Wilson Smith, Just Dirt (Lulu, 2007)

I'll start off by saying there's no way I can write an unbiased review of this book. I've been reading Wilson Smith's writing for nigh on a decade now-- as hard as it is for me to believe that stockboy recruited me old pal Mike Burns and me for xnet membership almost ten years ago, such is the case-- and, like most of the list folk, I am well aware that Smith can spin a mighty fine tale when he takes the mike. And I have heard a number of these tales before, either just as they are here or in somewhat rougher form. Besides, I'm actually thanked in the credits. Me? Unbiased? Are you [censored] kidding?

I should also start off by saying that memoirs generally drive me up the wall. And that, interestingly, perhaps what I value most about this book is that Smith nailed why, on the head, in a brief digression in one of these stories. And then went on to write the first truly readable memoir (as opposed to those memoirs-passed-off-as-novels that are far easier to bear, witness Bukowski or Exley or even Jay McInerney's Ransom, his best and most underrated novel) I've come across in... longer than I care to remember. I consider this just payment for having forced myself though 100 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed.

Part of what makes it so readable is that this isn't a memoir in the way you might think of memoirs. It reads more like a collection of short stories. (As a side note, the book's main weakness also comes into play here; there are some times when pieces of a story are repeated. Remember in the Encyclopedia Brown books, where Donald Sobel's first few paragraphs were startlingly similar in every story? You get that here, but only once or twice.) The end result has a sort of concept-album kind of impressionism, a feeling that you're not getting the whole story, just the pieces that matter. Would that a number of other memoirists had thought to do such a thing.

But what really nails it for me is something I found completely surprising. In this scene, Smith finds a number of old stories (from a long-abandoned first draft of the title piece) in his attic, and is re-reading them:

"The stories, though, were non-stop "Show, don't tell" (the first rule of writing, eh?), to a degree of which I'm now mostly incapable. It makes me feel like a hamster on a wheel to try to write that way now."

Now, I'm a big fan of "show, don't tell." A huge fan. It's by far the best way to approach fiction. It's the only way to approach poetry if you want a poem that your public won't laugh at. But when I read that bit, I looked back on all those memoirs I've hated over the past few years, since they got so huge, and I realized that they were all trying way too hard to show (and to show every excruciating minor detail), whereas Smith is just sitting there like the guy next to you at the (juice) bar talking about all the stupid [censored] we did as kids. Well, some of us did as kids. (If you can't find anything in here to identify with, I envy you.) And, wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, it works. I'm not sure it would work in a longer manuscript-- Smith's book weighs in at a light, easy-to-digest-in-one-sitting 132 pages-- but it works here like a charm. (Which begs the question: how well do charms work? And what do they do? My mom's just dangled from her bracelet.)

This may sound like, well, it's just some guy sitting there telling you a story. Anyone who made the mistake of signing up for a first-year psychology class in college knows just how boring that can be (especially if you had my professor). Smith's self-deprecating wit coupled with the basic insanity of the times keep it from ever being boring. (Note: Smith does assume something of a knowledge of those times. If you're not familiar with, for example, the sixties hippie counterculture, you might find yourself confused. Be warned.)

Also, something else of note. As I mentioned; this is a one hundred thirty-two page manuscript. I grant you, I wasn't reading with a proofreaders' eye, but I noticed a total of two typos in the entire book. I can't think of the last book I came across from a major press with two typos. It's unheard of in the realm of print-on-demand books. That alone is reason enough to pick up a copy of this, even if the book itself had sucked. And this one doesn't, not by a stone's throw followed by a world-record chaw spit.

End result: even if you loathe the entire memoir genre, check this one out. It may just change your mind (though, I rush to add, just about itself. The rest of those memoirs? Yeah. Still garbage). *** ½

"Harrowing" is an over-used word in pop culture criticism, but I can think of few places where it is better and more aptly deployed than in a review of Wilson Smith's "Just Dirt." This loosely chronological memoir is crafted as an integrated series of short, near-still life vignettes (painting brutally honest and specific pictures of moments and places in time) and longer tales of transition (where thing/place/person A becomes thing/place/person B, and where the process, the crucible, is key).

In less deft hands, such a tale could have been ponderous, self-indulgent and dire, but Smith's story-telling skills are sharp, and his language and characterization are rich and evocative, drawing a reader into the emotional peaks and valleys that frame his psychological landscapes. He paints his self-portrait with brutal candor, and does a tremendous job at building tension in some of his longer works. You just know that something awful is going to come of all this, but you can't stop reading until Smith shines the spotlight on the shortcoming or mistake that wishes to expose or expunge, at which point you generally find a hidden element of beauty and grace, where you least expected it.

And ultimately that's what makes this book so lively and lovely: these are dark and troubling tales, but grace and transcendence and growth (and the desire to find them all) permeates the narrative, palpably. There's no treacly ending, no easy answers, no pat wrap-up, just an uplifting sense in the end that, hey, even though we're often our own worst enemies, and even though we may not always like ourselves, we're still something finer and grander than the sum of our molecular matter, and we're not just dirt, not by a longshot.

"Just Dirt" regales the reader with wonderfully disturbing stories, stories painfully familiar to many of us -- except we didn't have the balls to make them public. Smith has a refreshingly honest style of writing, sort of "in your face," witty, intellectual, anti-intellectual and hip all at once. Part journal, part personal journey, part freak show, it's a lurid, sensational look into the very deepest, darkest corners of not just Smith's world, but certainly mine and probably yours.

"Just Dirt" is a gloriously readable collection of events that may make you draw comparisons to your own experiences or may make you aware of your own relatively uneventful life. The style Smith employs is highly personal, and while he doesn't glorify the dysfunction, he embraces it in a way that helps explain how he has become the man he is today.

His ability to step away from himself and look back with remarkable clarity is impressive.

As a reader, I felt some guilt because I wanted MORE, even though reading his memoirs resulted in a level of discomfort. To say I "enjoyed" the book seems inappropriate, but I couldn't stop reading it, and it's been a long time since I can recall being so captivated.

For anyone who owns or loves setters, this is a wonderful book. Beautiful pictures and a lot of interesting information.

The pictures are beautiful and if you are a person like me who loves setters this book is for you!

Now I understand why the author put so much information and pictures of English Setters; he owns some. The author's love for English Setters is evident page after page after page, even in the sections 'dedicated' to Gordon Setters and Irish Setters. I cannot understand why the author would bother writing a book that included the Irish and Gordon if he seemed to have trouble fiinding good things to write about them. I was shocked to read his harsh and sometimes cruel opinion on the lovely Irish Setter.

All of the pictures are of the highest quality and are, of course, adorable. However even in the pictures, the author's love of English Setters comes through again, with almost double the amount of pictures there are of the Irish Setter.

Would I recommend this book? To an English Setter fancier - yes. To a Gordon Setter fancier - sure, if you have some extra money to toss around. To a Irish Setter fancier - Look at the pretty pictures while you browse through a bookstore then immediately put it back in the shelf.

O.K. its a dog book. But for all those folks who share their life with a setter this publication will give you an hour or two of smiles - more if you keep it on your coffee table. I have enjoyed my copy and feel the writing caputures both the regal hunting dogs and the personality of those who love them.

When I received my copy of this book, I was more than pleasantly surprised by the coverage and photo's! I was elated! It's an absolutely beautiful pictoral and the author truly captured the soul of the Setters! The history and antics of our dogs presented were excellent! Kudo's to the author!

I usually shy away from POD or self-published books, but this novel shone with refreshing, gritty honesty and a thoughtful treatment of real life issues. Though the story line of a minister's wife (herione Katie Means) becoming a burglar to save a school for children with autism screams unbelievable, I couldn't argue with the author's careful characterization of the protagonist. Cher Smith's easy writing style and snappy dialogue had me sailing through the book in no time.

For those who normally read "Christian" or biblical worldview fiction, you may find some content offensive. Or, this may just be the kick in the pants you need. For those who normally read general or ABA fiction, welcome to a well-written yet convicting story about people just like you and me, trying to find our places in the world.

Bravo.

The book is outstanding! It's a fast read with so much thought, you'll want to read it twice. It talks of life, love, sacrifice, sex, nudity, God, the Church, lying, stealing, and learning to be honest with yourself (& with God). I appreciate how it keeps your interest the entire book. This book would be a great movie.

A quick and entertaining read. Katie Means is the perfect character to fall in love with. The reader will feel her pain, anxiety, and pleasure at each and every moment.

The author has an amazing knack for telling a story and utilizing characterization.

Especially recommended for all those stuffy, staunch, over-conservative Christians who think if you follow God perfectly, nothing bad will ever happen to you. Think again!! Bad things happen to everyone, and this book shows how one woman overcomes that in her own way and mends her relationship with God.

Justified Means is the story of a woman dealing with a disabled child. It's also the story of a pastor's wife who steals. Those contradictories make for a very enjoyable read. Her honesty about being angry at God is refreshing, especially for those who are more used to black-and-white characterizations of churchgoers.

It's about time a writer used her wit, intelligence, and craft to create a delightful and meaningful novel. "Justified Means" is one of those novels that has you crying one minute and then laughing the next. I highly recommend this for anyone who's tired of the trite, silly chick-lit that's out there. I promise you will not be disappointed. (Also, if you are lucky enough to find a copy, check out Cher Smith's other novel, "The Falcon and the Serpant." Another great read!)

I never enjoyed reading as a child, but found this book to be so engaging and heart felt. I couldn't wait for each of the books in the series to come out. If you can get a hold of them I would highly recommend it! I always felt these books would make a wonderful television series (if they kept with the integrity of the books).

This novel, and its sequel, Glory in the Flower, spoke deeply to me when I was 14 (a scant 6 years ago), and are still worth reading. It is compelling without melodrama and familial without schmaltz. Buy this for any bat mitzvah, confirmation, or junior high graduation. Better than Little Women, even.

The entire series is wonderful, and its a crime that they are out of print. "Keeping Days" and "Flower" are on a lot of school reading lists, and rightfully so. Ranks right up there with the "Little House" series-Tish Sterling is a wonderful heroine!

Handles coming of age more realistically than Little Women, and much more intelligently than the modern teenage series. I don't know how Johnston remembered what it's like when everyone else forgets, but The Keeping Days, its sequel Glory in the Flower, and also the Johnston's Bridget Vandever books spoke directly to me when I was about 12 or 13. It's comforting when *someone* else in the world goes through the same things, even if she is fictional.

This is a long series, most of which Amazon doesn't offer, but if you're lucky enough to read it, you will not be the same. No cheesiness, nothing typical, it is the quintissential growing-up story of one amazing woman. The tales she tells of family, love, and writing will stay with you forever. BTW, the second book in the series is "Glory in the Flower."

The lucid and careful telling of Ms Smith's story is a great contributions to understanding our time and place. The hidden issues of race and injustice continue to plague our country. So much of it seems incomprehensible because it is wrapped in Christian Theology. Ms Smith reveals the secrets that keep the evil and pain alive.

I had a History professor who assigned this book for reading no matter what course he was teaching. I didn't understand why until several years after I finshed college. Ms. Smith describes the "ghosts" of the consciousness of the American south, the mythical fears that separate the races, in a way that is literate, poetic and unflinching. If you want to understand the history of the South, this book will fill in the gaps for you.

Ms. Smith's honesty and eloquence in telling a profoundly American story about the perfidy of the South of her childhood is a literary tour de force about an immensely important slice of American history. It is a profoundly American tragedy fashioned from the most basic of human materials, human fallibilities, many of which still consume us as Americans--black or white, north or south. This book is the most sombering account of who we Americans are--as opposed to who we wished we were--anyone is likely to ever encounter. Unfortunately, since her death, Ms. Smith's story of about race, sex, religion, politics, economics and deception in the south has become the American way of life, writ large.

Upon reading the very first page, I knew I had a very special book in my hands. This is one of the most beautifully written and insightful books I have ever read, with an honesty and moral awareness one would find in the writings of Robert Coles.

Part One, "The Dreamers" chronicles Ms. Smith's life, as well as what she observed of the South as a Southerner herself.

Part Two, "The White Man's Burden," Ms. Smith explains how segregation shuts out not only blacks, but also whites.

Part Three, "Giants of the Earth," discusses how the powers to be, men in politics and business leaders, created the current situtation of segregation in the South and the reasons they wish to maintain the status quo.

Part Four, "The Dream and Its Killers," explores how the very future of humanity, "the Dream," depends on a willingness to embrace positive change and challenge those aspects of the status quo that aim to keep that from happening.

I'd give it more than five stars if it was possible. What a courageous woman to have published this in 1949! I am so glad it was re-issued in 1994!!!! Smith provides insights on, and discusses in depth, things that are basic underpinnings of race relations in this country, but are rarely mentioned. The book is a must for anyone trying to gain insight into the foundations of white privilege and its implications, as well as improving race relations. An absolutely *incredible* book.

This book should be read by anyone considering a career in the academy. It should also be read by virtually all college students, who have a right to know that the academic world is cheating them.

Review of Page Smith, _Killing the Spirit_

This is probably the best of the many books on the state of higher education in America, being a critical history and case study of our colleges and universities from the beginnings up to ca. 1990. It describes in detail the development of the flight from teaching, the vacuity of most academic "research," the specious notion "social science," the disintegration of the academic disciplines, alliances of universities with the non-academic Powers, the corruptions of big-money inter-collegiate sports. Smith's target is the elite universities. He emphasizes the value of the lowly community colleges, which for the most part have escaped the undesirable trends he speaks of, and where "thousands of able and intelligent men and women take their teaching opportunities with the greatest seriousness and give more than value received." (p 19) The history itself makes up the greater part of the book.

What does Smith mean by his title? No systematic argument is offered; Smith speaks rather vaguely of "higher things... a realm beyond the immediate existence, beyond the material world." The spirit is killed by what Smith calls "academic fundamentalism" which is defined as "the stubborn refusal of the academy to acknowledge any truth that does not conform to professorial dogmas." (p 5) "You cannot indefinitely omit one-half or more of human experience without paying a heavy price." (p 294) What is being omitted is religion, a term which Smith intends in a broad sense -- perhaps "the spiritual dimension."

_Killing the Spirit_ is, perhaps predictably, short on specific remedies. Smith speaks of a sort of Hegelian synthesis of "Classical Christian Consciousness" (p 29: "The founding fathers were all more or less orthodox Christians, the majority of them Episcopalians...") and "Secular Democratic Consciousness" (the results of the Enlightenment peculiar to America) both of which would need to be revived before they could be synthesized. Smith rejects Hutchins and the Great Books, because he says he does not know what a "trained intellect" is; he also rejects the concept of the "well-rounded person." But Smith himself offers us the likes of the "true person" and the ideal of "being at home in the world" (pp 202-3). One has the strong impression that Smith means quite a lot more than he says. Alfred North Whitehead is quoted: (p 297): "The essence of education is that it be religious... A religious education is an education which inculcates duty and reverence. Duty arises from our potential control over the course of events... And the foundation of reverence is the perception that the present holds within itself the complete sum of existence, backwards and forwards, that whole amplitude of time, which is eternity." He eloquently advocates the imparting of "courage" and attention to the physical body. He invites us (p 209) to imagine a campus where members of the "academic community - faculty, students, and even administrators - gather together to dance and sing and dine! Is that so bizarre, so unacademic, so `emotional' that it cannot even be imagined?" This is followed immediately by what is to me at least a rather astonishing line: "How are we to learn to celebrate life and lift our spirits in festivals if we are not taught? How are we to get `in tune with the world'?"

This last question is not untypical of the intellectual eclipsing stance one finds in many books of this sort. We are told (p 144) that "without some knowledge of [the past of the human race] a man or woman cannot be fully human; he or she cannot be truly a person or at home in the world." It seems to me that such writers cannot have thoughtfully interacted with very much of humankind to make such assertions, even with the best of intentions.

For its abundant factual information alone, this is a fine book; I have been through most of it twice and recommend it very highly.

Ken Miner

I read this book because it was recommended in _Bear's Guide_. Having been a graduate student and a teaching assistant I knew that something was profoundly wrong with higher education. This book outlines just what that something is.

Briefly, Smith's criticism centers around 1) "academic fundamentalism" and the vitriolic politics that thrive in academia, 2) The emphasis on research (much of which is generated for it's own sake and is of absolutely no use to anyone), 3) the increasing dominance of government and big business on the campus- often in direct conflict with students', or the ordinary citizen's, interests, and 4) the application of scientific method and statistical analysis to fields in the humanities where they literally kill the spirit of the discipline. Overall, Smith emphasises the essential deadness and ossified sterility of a system that has not fundamentally changed for well over a century.

From my own personal experiences it all rings true. Indeed, I've come to the conclusion that the American public has been sold a bill of goods concerning higher education. Most of us have been brainwashed into thinking that a person who lacks the "relevent" academic credentials cannot possible know what they are doing- not only is this way of thinking dead wrong, but it is dangerous, destructive, and anti-American. If anything, the best and brightest minds are simply refusing to sit through year after year of mind numbing lectures and busy work just to get a degree. No, just because the people hired to do the important work in this society must have the appropriate academic credentials does not mean that those credentials are the cause of their competence or success. All too often they are competent INSPITE of the handicap of their academic background.

If you like this book try reading _An Alternative History of American Education_ by John Taylor Gatto.

Killing the Spirit, by Page Smith

Page Smith taught at UCLA and wrote an eight-volume "People's History" of America. This book analyzes the sources of the current crisis in higher education by giving its history. The 'Introduction' tells of Smith's experiences in education, and his following of the writings of Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy. In Chapter 1 Smith lists his theme: the impoverishment of the spirit, the flight from teaching, meretricious research, the alliance with the Defense Dept., and the corruption from "big-time" collegiate sports. This book focuses on the "so-called elite universities". "Academic fundamentalism" describes the closed minds of academia. What kind of university is one where teachers hate teaching (p.6)? The "vast majority of the so-called research ... is essentially worthless" (p.7). It is busywork that robs students of a very costly education. Federal research funds corrupt the universities (p.10). Who pays the piper calls the tune. The real scandal about intercollegiate athletics is their function to support the multi-million dollar illegal gambling rackets (p.14). Was Brooks Adams right (p.13). Smith praises the community colleges where teachers do their job (p.19).

Chapter 2 has the history of colleges in America from the 17th to 18th centuries. The founding fathers desired a practical education (p.33). Costly colleges were an attack on democracy (p.34). New states began state colleges (p.36). The modern university is based on three conditions. The desire for post-graduate work as in Germany; the vast fortunes created by the "robber barons"; and the notion of education as an end in itself and a way to "get ahead" in life (pp.49-50). Johns Hopkins University was the first devoted exclusively to graduate studies (p.50). There was a belief that scholarship would lead to social reform (p.56). The tycoons who created universities also wanted football teams (p.59). The Ph.D. degree was created to keep workers in line (p.60)! The Morrill Act gave states hundreds of square miles to fund state colleges (p.61). State colleges were designed to benefit "the whole people of the State" (p.63). The goal was to improve society (p.69)/ But the Ruling Elite soon put an end to this (p.69). Pages 74-75 describe undergraduate life in the 20th century.

Chapter 6 begins by telling of the political oppression practiced at the Universities (p.77). It explains the meaning of "unscientific" or "objectivity". These were attacks on democracy or "state or federal intervention" (p.79). Smith draws the contrast between small denominational colleges and universities (p.85). The best students come from small towns: individualistic, pragmatic, democratic, rationalist (p.87). Chapter 7 tells about the new colleges to educate women after the Civil War. Missionary woman were college graduates (p.93). Chapter 8 discusses the war between Science and Religion, the rivalry between the universities of tycoons and small colleges. Chapter 9 has William James' criticisms of the Ph.D. invention. It shifts responsibility from the institution doing the hiring to the institutions doing the certifying (p.109). Wasn't that the plan to let tycoons control teaching? Smith has his own criticisms (pp.110-113). He compares the tenure ritual to human sacrifice (p.122). "The Revolt of the Youth" is explained by their exploitation (p.156), and a protest against the university as a tool (p.157). Their charges are on page 163. The greatest judgment against schooling is the number who joined cults (pp.168-171). [What about drugs?] "There is no direct relationship between research and teaching" (p.178). Research is mostly decadent, leading to poor teaching and higher costs (p.179). A researcher is a poor teacher, generally. University publishing is often "madness" (p.181). [The Internet allows lower costs (p.182).] Time wasted in research could be better used in teaching (p.191). The plague of research has spread to other universities (p.194). Bad research (unimportant or irrelevant) buries the good research in a pile of mediocrity (p.197). Courage is very important for a scholar (p.205). Smith tells of the need for physical activities for students (pp.206-207).

Chapter 15 discusses social sciences. Sociology was designed as a secular religion to explain the social experiences. Some sociologists were missionaries for social Darwinism (p.227). Was America ever "a classless society" (p.229)? Or is it self-hypnosis? Is sociology a scheme to control the masses (p.231)? Anthropology has been identified with colonialism (p.234) Psychology is the study of a "soul" or human behavior. Introspection is endemic to America, as is "stress". Its is a secular religion (p.239). Psychologists as expert witnesses seem to be government employees whose judgments have little scientific validity (pp.240-241). The "social sciences" cling to that name in the hope that their opinions will be taken as objective truth (p.252). Chapter 16 tells of the attack on history in the late 19th century (p.260). The hidden agenda of history by monograph is to deny the historical reality gained from looking at the "big picture" of understanding the past. Pages 272-273 explain the false assumption of academic history: new events result in a reappraisal of old events. Chapter 17 offers his thoughts on "Women's Studies", which bring back passion and enthusiasm to the university. Chapter 18 sums up this book. You should read it if you won't read the whole book.

I read this book because it was recommended in _Bear's Guide_. Having been a graduate student and a teaching assistant I knew that something was profoundly wrong with higher education. This book outlines just what that something is.

Briefly, Smith's criticism centers around 1) "academic fundamentalism" and the vitriolic politics that thrive in academia, 2) The emphasis on research (much of which is generated for it's own sake and is of absolutely no use to anyone), 3) the increasing dominance of government and big business on the campus- often in direct conflict with students', or the ordinary citizen's, interests, and 4) the application of scientific method and statistical analysis to fields in the humanities where they literally kill the spirit of the discipline. Overall, Smith emphasises the essential deadness and ossified sterility of a system that has not fundamentally changed for well over a century.

From my own personal experiences it all rings true. Indeed, I've come to the conclusion that the American public has been sold a bill of goods concerning higher education. Most of us have been brainwashed into thinking that a person who lacks the "relevent" academic credentials cannot possible know what they are doing- not only is this way of thinking dead wrong, but it is dangerous, destructive, and anti-American. If anything, the best and brightest minds are simply refusing to sit through year after year of mind numbing lectures and busy work just to get a degree. No, just because the people hired to do the important work in this society must have the appropriate academic credentials does not mean that those credentials are the cause of their competence or success. All too often they are competent INSPITE of the handicap of their academic background.

If you like this book try reading _An Alternative History of American Education_ by John Taylor Gatto.

After reading this, I can see why literate local cowmen want to own their own copies. It reminds of the real and complex characters who work the range around here. The ending snuck up on me. What a bonus

It seems so rare that you come across a book suitable for all ages. Last Buckaroo has no bad language and no torrid sex. It's simply a funny book that almost anyone can enjoy. I also liked the glossary in the back for us city folks who are not use to a lot of the Western terminology.

Mackey Hedges takes you into a world that most of us could never do or even experience, yet he makes you feel like your right there. His tails of the overzelous young Dean and the wild and woolly Tap kept me in stiches for days. As my husband read the book he would call to me to read to him because he was laughing to hard and his eyes were watering. I wish I could read more books like this. Am ordering five copies for my friends. A book like that I could never lend out.

I bought this book two years ago for a father's day present. My father read it and has been rantin' and ravin' about it ever since so I thought I would buy myself a copy. I began reading and couldn't put it down. The story telling is fantastic and I was continually laughing out loud at the witty dialogue and wild antics of the characters. I highly recommend this book. One of my favorites.

Finally, a "real cowboy" story by a real cowboy. None of this make-believe Hollywood bull-puckey here! Having ridden in the same saddle as Hedges many years ago, it is refreshing to read a well-written and true-to-life tale of two migrant buckaroos as they work and play in some of the most beautiful and off-the-beaten paths in the Great American West. One of the few books that makes me laugh out loud! A must for any serious WESTERN fan (Never use country and WESTERN in the same sentence!). A tip of the ol'Stetson to Mackey Hedges. Here's to the next book!

I bought this book in 1994 when I had absolutely no clue about programming. It was a real eye-opener, and to this day it's my reference bible with regard to PostScript. Highly recommended.

Simple, concise, yet by no means limited. I learned essentially all the postscript that I needed to know for my job in about 3 hours reading this book. Excellent examples, easy to follow, what could more could you ask for?

This is a wonderful starting point for learning postscript. It takes you step by step through a very complex topic in a way that is easy to understand as well as offering opportunities to practice what you are learning. I recommend it highly!

This book is useful to people employed or interested in graphics, desktop design, document engineering, or programming. It will help you better understand any of these topics. PostScript, developed by Adobe, is the language "under the hood" of PDFs, many layout programs, and a category of printers. It's a full-fledged programming language that's pretty much dedicated to graphics, letting you get at the elements of lines, shapes, shading, and color. And it is becoming even more relevant. Before a document can be made into a PDF, traditionally it has had to be converted into postscript (.ps), and even Microsoft has given a little territory in that direction by their attempts to include automatic creation of PDFs in Office 2007.

PostScript is relatively easy to learn and can also diversify your understanding of programming concepts. Unlike varieties of C or Java, PostScript is a "reverse Polish notation" language, which means that the parameters are stated prior to the relevant commands. Like "144 144 lineto" will draw a line to the coordinates listed. It is also "stack-oriented," so I find that it's a little easier to visualize what is happening as I work through the code. Because it's so graphics-directed, PostScript obviously lends itself to the "visual approach." Most of the basic commands resemble actual everyday words, so you can learn rapidly before you even know you are programming. In other words, you don't have to be a programmer or script writer to learn PostScript.

And this particular book makes learning PostScript basics easy. It gives code on one page and then shows what happens next to it. It starts with the basics of positioning on the page, and then adds commands that extend the complexity and richness of the illustrations. It also does a good job introducing the programming concepts such as RPN and stack arithmetic. Over the years, PostScript has evolved into a more complex language, incorporating numerous commands that extend the language and concatenate groups of simpler commands (such as a command to draw a box rather than 4 commands to draw the sides). But the book sticks with the basics, and slowly extends your knowledge and skills. Like other programming languages, PostScript includes techniques like recursion, definitions of variables, definitions of complex tasks, mathematics, etc. PostScript is not object-oriented.

As a graphics description programming language, PostScript needs some type of compiler for you to see what your code actually draws. This traditionally involves an accompanying program called "ghostscript" that allows the user to see the results in nearly real time. I personally don't care much for ghostscript and often used Adobe Distiller and created PDFs to see the results. Those who don't have Distiller can install and use ghostscript, and that is covered in the book.

Since PostScript is a relatively mature technology, there are a lot of older books available, as well as a plethora of web sites and a couple discussion groups. Adobe has some excellent books that can be downloaded for free. They all have something to contribute, but I found this book to be the best of the lot, the easiest to read, and generally the most useful. Improvements? Well, occasionally the author works a new term into the code and doesn't really explain it. That happens more frequently later in the book, and by then you can sort of guess what the term accomplishes. At a certain point, things like this are probably unavoidable, since it's a very rich and complex language, and you can't be treated like a "dummy" all the time. I would also like to see more discussion about PDFs and how to work my written code into existing PDFs, but this book - like many of them - was written more for the era of the PostScript printer than the current period where PDFs are so prominent.

This book offers clear, simple examples and covers the basic Postscript concepts in a way that makes it easy to apply them to real-life situations.

I borrowed this book froma friend, and I have GOT to add it to my library -- a must-have!

If you love the architecture of post-war America, then this is the book for you. I am a huge fan of Wayne McAllister's work and this book gives you the lens with which to view the progression of his buildings which began early on and literally exploded in the 1950's.

We all remember restaurants and hotels and some homes with this man's 'signature' all over them: rock exteriors, large sheets of glass, inset lighting, and brick planters. Some decry this look as cheap and tasteless. But in reality it wed form and function with a certain aesthetic quality that will never be duplicated.

Today, everything from buildings to cars all look alike. That 'certain something' is missing. Still, it is great to look back to a time when restaurants, hotels, motels, and cars looked cool. This book is a walk down memory lane and I return to it often. Well done, Chris Nichols!

This book was a delight to read. The illustrations are beautifull and informative. The research that has been put into this book is of great value. This book is of great lasting value for Baja California history as well as California and Nevada.

If you are into architecture books, books about Vegas, 1950s car culture, or anything retro, this book will be one you enjoy. I really like it as a coffee table book, because it has great pictures, but it is also a great read and seems well researched.

Nichols presents an interesting look at many of the historic landmarks of Los Angeles and Las Vegas, painting the picture of times since forgotten. Being in my 20s, many of the landmarks I knew in name only, although I have seen and been to some, but in both cases, Nichols' book manages to evoke feelings of nostalgia and longing. The book is obviously painstakingly researched, and the sheer number of rare and hard-to-find photographs are enough to make any architecture or food history buff go ga-ga.

Nichols gives a nostalgic retrospective on the long live and prodigious output of Wayne McAllister. In no small part, the book walks the reader back through the last 60 years of urban commercial architecture in the southern California region. McAllister lived a very long time, and he was responsible for designing iconic landmarks that at least in the hazy afterglow of memory, epitomise a classic time.

The book is replete with many photos and illustrations, the cover being an example of the latter. The most common image, if not exactly the most enduring, is Bob's Big Boy. I remember in the early 80s, when I arrived in Los Angeles, how these fast food restaurants and their mascots were everywhere. Even getting a cameo role in Terminator. Alas, as the years wore on, the Bob's Big Boys got steadily deprecated. Not many left.

Another type of McAllister's work has also fallen into the tar pits of history. He designed many of the drive-ins that dotted Los Angeles. And which were an indelible part of many teenagers' experiences. Sadly, most are long gone, brought down by the VCR and its successors. At least in the book, you can see several as they once were, at the peak of their glory. Actually, no matter how pretty the architecture, the sound was often bad, the food dreadful, the movies second rate and the nearby cars often had loudmouths.

Great book. But for some readers old enough, there is a certain bittersweet tinge to all this.