Missouri Books

The world is a fortunate place when there are two people alive -- at the same time -- who understand Plato. Eric Voegelin was clearly one of those people in the twentieth century. This material was originally published as Volume 3 of Order and History, the core of the magnus opus that Voegelin chose to publish during his life time.

I met Eric Voegelin once as a graduate student, and asked him, "why'd you publish all this stuff?" I've been digesting his answer ever since. It was "to resist totality and totalitarianism."

Particularly, seen from this standpoint, a clear core of this book is his articulation of the Platonic concept of "metaxy," or the in-between character of life. In philosophical terms, this refers most directly and fully to "in-between" the Agathon (e.g., see myth of the cave and the Divided Line in the Republic) and the apeiron (explored most directly and deeply in the Timaeus). For the philosophically uninitiated, it is possible to speak of this in more mundane terms.

An unstated corollary of Plato's notion of the "metaxy" is that life is always larger than our categories. From a Socratic/Platonic perspective, this may include but will entail more than the epistemological recognition that every way of seeing is a way of not seeing. The notion of the "metaxy" is most fundamentally a linguistic indice pointing to ontological plenty as the ground of life, albeit lived within bounds of existential scarcity. This is a notion commonly shared by the great civilizations of East and West. The notion of the "metaxy" underscores that life is lived within a tension between the "transcendent" and "immanent" dimensions of being.

When we lose track of this tension, as we have to a great extent in the modern world, and subscribe to reductive ideological notions/understandings of life -- and most particularly, when we imagine that we can encapsulate life within the pride of our own "enlightened" categories -- on a political plane, there may be little to constrain the prideful actions of ideologies, irrespective of whether their clothing is Red or Black, or whether it is "left" or "right." Irrespective of the political stripe, repression and murder become "justified" in the pursuit of an ideological aim -- which in Voegelin's philosophical terms is to dissolve the "metaxy" in the usual modernist mode, through immanetizing the transcendent "eschaton."

Voegelin's philosophical terms may sound remarkably abstract to the modern ear (recall Robert Dahl's silly review of Voegelin's The New Science of Politics for the American Political Science journal). Facile critiques such as Dahl's typically focus on the unfamiliar language while overlooking the elementary fact that what Voegelin is asking us to do in every aspect of his work is to take a journey that precisely allows us to see the world in terms other than that of our inherited climate of opinion. For those willing to be thorough scholars rather than merely play at it within the context of given suppositions, Voegelin's scholarship offers new vistas and incredibly rich fields of study. His scholarship offers the capacity to reflect upon and act in the world in a substantively grounded mode with implications for every discipline (see e.g., A.G. Ramos' New Science of Organizations).

I submit that a key to understanding this text and the greater body of his work at large is to grasp the central significance of the "metaxy" -- not as a concept within the history of ideas -- but as a life referent of perennial relevance to the recurring challenge of resisting sophistic pretensions and the inherited or emergent ideologies of any time and place.

This text demands a great deal. You'll develop insights into Plato and Aristotle available no where else. But for Voegelin, such studies were never a matter of antiquarian interest. They were a matter of developing meaningful referents for life. The value in this text is precisely in its yield, capable of resonating throughout your life and offering far more than the initial effort it will require of you.

The Other Missouri History: Populists, Prostitutes, And Regular Folk explores Missouri history and its effects on all levels of society. A variety of essays by learned authors include "Race, Citizenship, and the Origins of Organized Labor in Antebellum St. Louis", "Survival Strategies of Farm Laborers in the Missouri Bootheel, 1900-1958", and "Prostitution and Reform in Kansas City, 1880-1930". Written with a keen knack for detail and explaining complex socio-economic fluctuations in plain terms, The Other Missouri History is a welcome contribution to state history collections especially for its revelation of the side of Missouri most traditional historical accounts overlook.

Written by historian Larry Wood, whose articles have appeared in "Blue and Gray Magazine" and "Missouri Historical Review" among other periodicals, Other Noted Guerrillas of the Civil War in Missouri is a close study of the more overlooked guerrilla fighters in Missouri. Most such studies focus especially upon Confederate leader William Quantrill and his close associates; Other Noted Guerrillas of the Civil War in Missouri scrutinizes fifteen guerrilla leaders who were not close to or had no association with Quantrill. From desperados and gangs to "The Notorious Sheriff Clem" and Bloody Bill's brother Jim, Other Noted Guerrillas of the Civil War in Missouri offers biographical information, highlights of major attacks and incidents undertaken by the guerrilla fighters, and a handful of black-and-white photographs. A welcome supplementary resource for Missouri Civil War reference libraries, due to its in-depth focus on fighters who carved their mark on history even though they received less renown for it.

An excellent tracing of an entire family lineage with an abundance of information as well as accuracy!!!

Outside Shooter: A Memoir is the personal autobiography of professional basketball player Philip Raisor. The pressure of serving in a team sport in the 1950's is aptly recalled (especially since this was an era when American society first took steps toward integration in professional team sports), steps as hotly resisted in the area of athletic competition as anywhere else. Both Philip's physical struggles and difficulties of conscience are astutely and honestly detailed in superbly insightful work which is especially recommended to the attention of anyone interested in the history of basketball as seen through the eyes of a player on the front lines.

I just finished reading Childress's new book this afternoon. I should have been doing other things for most of the past two days, but I just couldn't put the book down for very long. I've liked Childress's poetry from the time I first started reading it back in about 1997, and I've enjoyed articles of his that I've read, but this memoir is just wonderful. So well written, by turns folksy, wise, self-deprecating, insightful, touching. Childress has lived a hell of a life, and it is a measure of a great heart that he has come through it without letting the hardscrabble harshness get the better of him. This is a book very much worth finding and reading.

Coming from an english professor, this book is a masterpeice. Hawkins writes short stories beautifully. I highly recommend this book. If you are familiar with some of his other works, such as "Wedding Night," you will not be disappointed. In "Wedding Night," Hawkins creates a character that can be related to all people. He uses symbolizes remarkably.

This seemingly little book is packed with smoking and charcoaling recipes that will fill a lifetime with exellent meals, easy and fun techniques to produce delectable dishes. When you've tried them all, you'll be delighted to start over! Three sections each provide a comprehensive range of cooked meats with various degrees of preparation and time required. The rubs and marinades included are themselves worth many times the price of the book. This is so much fun!

I'm planning on it! And I am sure it will be awesome because I know the author and she is an amazing lady. She inspired me to be a writer.

Peacekeeping On The Plains: Army Operations In Bleeding Kansas by Tony R. Mullis (Assistant Professor of History, United States Air Force/Air Command and Staff College, Montgomery, Alabama) examines a violent microcosm of American history that served as a precursor to the civil war. Examining the useage of the army to conduct police and peacekeeping duties in the newly formed Kansas and Nebraska territories, Peacekeeping On The Plains offers a meticulous analysis of facts and records, regarding the true story of human greed, desperation, ruthlessness, and military efforts to contain potential riots with a strictly scholarly tone. Highly recommended, especially for American history and reference shelves.