Truman Books

Surely as Birds Fly is a collection of uniquely inspired free-verse poetry by H. L. Hix. From laments written on behalf of various body parts to the dark contemplations in the second section under the general heading "Thistle, Clover, Rape", Surely As Birds Fly offers a voice apart from the crowd, blending elements of sexuality, sadism, grief, and a navigation of the human soul. Among Trees And Stones: Souls wince. They glow in mist./Constant to their suffering, they hide themselves/in circadian rhythm, hoping only, like dry leaves/at autumn's end, to fall quietly to the grass./Still, the will cannot be wholly sacrificed:/periodically in the dark mist two souls/blunder into each other's burning footprints/calling god as their sole witness.

Reading this book offers you a unique experience: suddenly you begin to think you're like you're being in a room with Harry S. Truman, or like you're strolling through town with him. Of course, mr. Truman does most of the talking, accompanying with loud laughing, grinning and gesturing. He is outspoken in his likes and dislikes, in his judgements of people, places and events, and yet modest about his own important role in history.

A delightful man, humourous, and sharp, but also a highly intelligent one, made all the more so by his down-to-earth ordinary-citizen-common ense. He really had that, it was not some gimmick or spin-doctored image-trick. In my opinion Harry S. Truman was the last American statesman of whom one could truthfully say: what you see (and what you hear) is what you get.
And even such a statement, doesn't cover it, because Truman gave his country more than his farmer's wit, his snappy one-liners, and his plain-spoken common sense. He turned out to possess true and profound wisdom: he devised, shaped and carried out new foreign policies, new internal policies and proved to be a great and visionary president in a time when America and the world really needed one. He took some tough decisions which, in the end, all turned out to be the right ones (dropping the bomb on Japan, sacking MacArthur, getting involved in Korea, desegregating the armed forces).

He truly was, from 1945 to 1952, the right man for the job, more than that, he was the best man for the job. In 1952 the best man of all possible candidates in the American politicial landscape did not win the presidency, but a far better man than many did lose it.
Having lost, Truman did not fret, brood and rage, but with dignity handed the reins of power over to Eisenhower and simply went back to Missouri.

Hearing mr. Truman, reading his words, one realizes people of his stature are sadly lacking in today's world. One can't help but shiver in pained horror thinking of those power-hungry intellectual and moral pygmies who govern your country now, or when thinking of the unprincpled and egotistical intellectual and moral pygmies who are trying to get to govern your country in two years time. Mr Bush and Mr Cheney, but also you Mrs Clinton: you're not even fit to wash Mr Truman's car, walk his dog, or shine his shoes.

A great book about a truly great man. I raced through the book and at the end was left wishing it to be longer.
So now I started in David McCullough's "Truman". A 1000 pages of Harry, his life and times. That should keep me a while.

Buy "Talking with Harry"!! It's well worth the money, the time and the effort. Be educated, entertained and touched by the words of the 33rd President. Highly recommended.

As its blurb suggests, TIMFTSPBB is a throwback to the edgier comic cartoons of Johnny Hart and B Kliban (especially the latter); at the same time, it is firmly rooted in the paranoid post-911 culture of modern day America.

Like most successful comic writers, Truman's strength lies in his refusal to spare any philosophy or belief or way of life. His series about racism in the cartoon realm (an example of which includes stick figures running Munch's "The Scream" out of town) is particularly cutting and clever.

What if the universe was much different than what mythology and science had supposed? What if the eternal balance was determined by the never ending war between... sentient beavers and rats?

This is the great and epic tale of the time beavers, the eternal guardians of the time streams. It is they who maintain and protect the Great Dam of Time. It is this cosmic structure, containing power objects from countless worlds and realities, that regulates the dimensional timestreams. Should the great dam fail, all would be swept away by the chaos that it holds in check. It is within this chaos that the rats thrived....

One dark day a party of sappers from the dimensions beyond the dam managed to penetrate the structure and steal three key artifacts. As strange as it may sound, all three artifacts came from an obscure little planet called earth. It is now up to to the legendary Timeguard to recover those artifacts before the great dam fails.

Yes, this is a "funny animal" comic book. However, this is the first funny animal comic book of epic and cosmic proportions!

The author has had a long and distinguished career in American publishing, including being president of the Book-of-the-Month Club and an editor, and seems to know personally about everybody engaged in American publishing between 1946 and the early 1980's. It is his contention that the post-war period until the early 1980's was at least as much a golden age of publishing as were the 1920's and 1930's with figures such as the legendary Max Perkins. Whether or not one agrees entirely with this assertion, the book does focus upon an extremely fascinating period and group of folks. The author simply went out and interviewed 120 "eyewitnesses" who had been engaged in publishing during this period at a variety of publishers: Knopf, Atheneum, Viking, Doubleday, Harper, and Little Brown to name just a few are discussed in individual chapters. The major paperback houses also are included. Because the author was interviewing his "own", he is just wonderful at filling out his pictures of what publishing was and how it operated during this period with insiders' perspectives. My only problem with the book, which despite its nearly 500 page length moves quickly, is that it is hard to keep all the large cast of characters and companies straight as you pass through the chapters. I also longed for a bit more of an explanation of exactly how editors "edit." His portraits of some key players, such as Alfred A. Knopf, Robert Gottlieb, and George Braziller, add enormously to the richness of the narrative. A small bibliography and some interesting photographs are included, as well as a solid index. A valuable book that is also quite interesting to read.

Time, Space, and Women's Lives in Early Modern Europe is an anthology of essays by learned authors concerning how women's life experiences changed in early modern Europe (roughly the 1300's through the 1800's), though these changes were different according to region and social class. The writings also reveal that the private areas in women's lives were not enclosed in an isolated bubble from the public spaces in which men circulated. Individual essays include "Women's History and Social History: Are Structures Necessary?", "Daughters, Mothers, Wives, and Widows: Women as Legal Persons", "The Dimensions of the Cloister: Enclosure, Constraint, and Protection in Seventeenth-Century Italy", "Eighteenth-Century Marriage Contracts: Linking Legal and Gender History", and much more. A welcome contribution to women's studies and European history shelves alike.

This book is a wonderful introduction to the life and work of Truman Capote. Especially for those that only know of the "In Cold Blood" period of his life from the Phillip Seymour Hoffman film a couple years ago. Robert Emmet Long does a fantastic job of painting a complete portrait of Capote's life, his work, and their contexts.

The best book about the Truman presidency. The books outline of Truman's power to prusuade is marvelous. There are many books about his Presidency. This book is about his power. It is a must read for Truman buffs or those who enjoy reading about the Presidency.

The Truman Years is an insightful, surprisingly readable analysis of a defining era in American political history. Byrnes has certainly expended considerable effort in bringing the Cold War to students of history in an entertaining yet scholarly fashion. Even those readers not receiving academic credit will enjoy this fascinating study.

I searched high and low for this book after reading it on holidays at an old fortress-turned-library in the Middle East. I had such a good time reading it under palm trees that I wanted the book for myself, and I couldn't find it for years. I finally got it a few years ago through someone at AIPAC, and paid dearly for it, but it's a cornerstone of my Middle-Eastern Affairs library.

Snetsinger researches Truman and his cabinet during the time of the Israeli decleration of independence. He outlines Truman's state of mind, how he was torn between his State department's and his White House staff's advice. He outlines the reasons behind Truman's decision to get behind the Israelis and help them recognize their nation within a few minutes of their independence declaration.

Overall, it's a fabulous book, and a must-read for anyone interested in modern middle-eastern history.