Tennessee Books

I found this very useful. I have seven different Blue Ridge Pottery books that I used to identify over 1000 pieces I owned. Now I have dispursed my collection and have no use for my books so I will sell them.

This book is a wonderful follow-up to their first book! The pictures are clear; as are the names, descriptions and prices. What more could you ask for to assist you in making knowledgeable decisions about Blue Ridge Pottery? We have used this book and their previous book to help us price new pieces for our collection and have found them both to be invaluable! This book is especially good at showing some of the harder-to-find Blue Ridge pieces! Another "must-have" for any serious collector!

This book has been extremely helpful to me. I couldnt find half of the patterns in the other Blue Ridge book written by Betty and Bill Newbound. I buy and sell Blue Ridge so I am constantly looking for the names of patterns. Frances and John Ruffin are WONDERFUL people. When I cant find a pattern in their book, I email them with a picture and they tell me the pattern name. It cant get better than that! :))

I have every book published on the subject of Blue Ridge china & Southern Potteries. This is the one that my friends and I use on a daily basis, rarely looking at the others. This book is the first one that we pick up and the one we find the easiest to use and the most beneficial. The authors show hundreds of samples of Blue Ridge in an organized fashion that offers assistance with pattern names, shapes and pricing. The authors obviously used their own collection as well as photos from the collections of others. They have shown Blue Ridge as it is found today (many times with defects). It is a tremendous help to me and I could not do without it! I highly recommend that anyone interested in Blue Ridge dinnerware or china pieces purchase this book. You will not be sorry.

You would have thought that these authors with the resources at their disposal (collections they visited and chances to take picures of real good pieces)would not have used so many bad pictures. Teapots, candy boxes etc. with mismatched lids. Pattern names placed with wrong plates etc. Would not recommend this book!!!!!

I started reading this book as something I would look at a chapter at a time for few weeks, while I digested my lonely meals. However, the day I read it became the day I finished it. I couldn't put the book down, and amid the many tasks I had that Saturday, the one priority was to read this book. I didnt go out of the house all day, just got this book read.

What we have is an honest confrontation with family and family history. As someone who majored in writing memoir in Creative Writing School, I have come to find this genre usually divided between halcyon memories of a great childhood, a wonderful family, and a sacred past on one side, and the survival stories of folks who had tragic childhoods on the other hand. This book has none of that; it seems like the real thing right down the middle.

At the same time, the writer's ability to tell about herself, but keep the subject squarely on her family, and the larger spiritual quest that her search for her family put her own, was really interesting to me as somone who has attempted to write memoir.

What I learned in this book was about how family is an open and closed book but that book is about more than who did what when, but about history, not only the history in the books that tell us how slavery, reconstruction, desegregation etc. unfolded, but the history why one cousin smiles that way and another look that way, why one cousin I have who is in and out of jail walks and talks the same way that another cousin he has never met who is both a dean at a major university and a fanatical holiness believer.

If you are of my generation, 58 in 2005, you will settle in to some memories, although you will realize that you're somewhere between the author's parents and the author.

Besides all that, there is just some really good writing here. There are very tight metaphors that smack you into wondering why you didnt know what she is saying with them all your life. She is able to write quite sensitive, complex, and sophisticated things while being clear as a bell.

Best of all for memoir, this is a very accurate and honest book. Even if you don't share the spiritual beliefs that the experience leads the author to, you will find yourself never thinking about your family, and if you are African American, never thinking about our history the same way after you read this book.

Sometimes we discover who we are out of curiosity and other times life slaps us in the face and forces us to confront the reality of who we are. After the death of her father, Afi-Odelia E. Scruggs seemed to have found herself asking questions that she could not answer. These questions led her on a journey that would span over twenty years, and I suspect still continues today.

The book begins with a description of one of the authors few recollections of her father. This opening scene is a pleasant memory, yet it leaves you with a bittersweet feeling because even as the author is sharing this memory, you feel her sense of loss. Although it is clear that part of her loss is centered on the fact that her father has died, there is an even greater sense of regret at the loss of an opportunity to build a stronger relationship with him. She comes to the realization that even though she grew up with her father in her home, his quiet nature and her lack if interest kept her from really knowing him. Her now deceased father is a man that carried the story of his life to his grave.

The author then begins a journey. Her initial goal was to learn about the events that shaped her father into the man he became with the hopes that it would help her better understand him. What she found were just as many questions as answers, and what began as a desire to learn about her father's past turned into a full blown genealogical study of her paternal ancestry. As with many African Americans researching their genealogy, she found herself coming against roadblocks, such as poorly kept records from a time where African Americans were considered property instead of people. Additionally, she would encounter deeply protected family secrets, and the fact that much of the information she was seeking could only be retrieved from the few living relatives that were aware of it. But slowly, she was able to connect stories with what had previously been only a name of someone she had never met.

Claiming Kin is an emotional story that describes a project that was just as spiritual as it was analytical. As the author uncovers more and more of her family history, she also develops a better understanding of her own identity. Further, she is better able to understand how slavery shaped her ancestors. More importantly, she gained a deeper appreciation for the fact that her ancestors were more than just names that fit in boxes to make up her family tree. Claiming Kin is a touching and enjoyable read that will inspire anyone to dig deeper into their own family roots and to try and preserve not only the names, but also the stories from their past.

Reviewed by Stacey Seay

The author's journey is told in a straight-forward style nurtured by her journalistic background, but her search for connection to a spiritual past adds a lyricism that makes reading a delight.
It rings true. Although my Irish-Catholic upbringing was very different, the author and I were born in the same year in the same part of the country, and some of her memories were familiar, as were parts of the journey itself.
Best of all, the author manages to avoid false nostalgia, and neither sentimentalizes nor sanitizes her "characters".

I thoroughly enjoyed Scruggs' book. She truly possesses the gift of language. "Claiming Kin" is more than a found-my-roots book. Her own story -- changing her name, journeying far from her Tennessean roots and embracing a spirituality that spoke to her soul -- is just as compelling as discovering one's enslaved forebears. She interweaves all of these aspects, which lead back to her relationship with her father. The result is a gift to unborn Scrugges, as well as readers.

Sometimes we discover who we are out of curiosity and other times life slaps us in the face and forces us to confront the reality of who we are. After the death of her father, Afi-Odelia E. Scruggs seemed to have found herself asking questions that she could not answer. These questions led her on a journey that would span over twenty years, and I suspect still continues today.

The book begins with a description of one of the authors few recollections of her father. This opening scene is a pleasant memory, yet it leaves you with a bittersweet feeling because even as the author is sharing this memory, you feel her sense of loss. Although it is clear that part of her loss is centered on the fact that her father has died, there is an even greater sense of regret at the loss of an opportunity to build a stronger relationship with him. She comes to the realization that even though she grew up with her father in her home, his quiet nature and her lack if interest kept her from really knowing him. Her now deceased father is a man that carried the story of his life to his grave.

The author then begins a journey. Her initial goal was to learn about the events that shaped her father into the man he became with the hopes that it would help her better understand him. What she found were just as many questions as answers, and what began as a desire to learn about her father's past turned into a full blown genealogical study of her paternal ancestry. As with many African Americans researching their genealogy, she found herself coming against roadblocks, such as poorly kept records from a time where African Americans were considered property instead of people. Additionally, she would encounter deeply protected family secrets, and the fact that much of the information she was seeking could only be retrieved from the few living relatives that were aware of it. But slowly, she was able to connect stories with what had previously been only a name of someone she had never met.

Claiming Kin is an emotional story that describes a project that was just as spiritual as it was analytical. As the author uncovers more and more of her family history, she also develops a better understanding of her own identity. Further, she is better able to understand how slavery shaped her ancestors. More importantly, she gained a deeper appreciation for the fact that her ancestors were more than just names that fit in boxes to make up her family tree. Claiming Kin is a touching and enjoyable read that will inspire anyone to dig deeper into their own family roots and to try and preserve not only the names, but also the stories from their past...

When I was at University back in 1988, I first heard that there was an alternative to the official story that Lee Harvey Oswald shot Kennedy (source: The Kentucky Fried Movie). As an immigrant, this was news to me, and it absolutely fascinated me. I headed for the library to read more, and amongst some rather dubious books, I discovered this gem. As a mathematician, my instinct was to try to find the out the truth, rather than confirm my own theories. This was the only book I could find where the author seemed to share my objective. I recall he presented all the facts he could find, even ones that may have supported the lone gunman theory, and debunked some ludicrous conspiracy theories as well. (I think that perhaps some of those really off the wall JFK conspiracy theories are hatched by the lone gunman support group to discredit conspiracy theorists in general.)

So after reading this book, you have all the information you need to see that Lee Harvey Oswald couldn't have been the lone gunman, and that the government and media didn't want you to know that. It won't tell you who killed JFK, you'll have to read "Plausible Denial" by Mark Lane to find that out, another excellent book based wholly on facts. OK, it was the CIA. I'm just waiting for a book that will tell me why.

I had the pleasure of having Mr. Kurtz as one of my Pre-Law professors, and like his teaching, this book is precise, informative and exact.

In this wonderful expose' on this crime, Mr. Kurtz takes the time to look at all subsequent angles and areas that have been questioned ever since the start. Every path and avenue is explored, leaving the reader more informed as to the time and events surrounding this horrific tragedy.

If you are looking for a book that will give you an unbiased and straightforward approach and singularly inform you to all that is needed to form your own theories, then this is the book to get.

Thank you Mr. Kurtz. You are a wonderful professor and historian, and the book is a treasure.

Drawing upon numerous books, scholarly articles, newspapers, magazine articles, and the few publically released primary documents, Dr. Kurtz does an excellent job analyzing the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He has his own theory as to who killed President Kennedy, but he points out that there is NOT ENOUGH evidence to say EXACTLY who masterminded and carried out the assassination. He tells the readers that there was DEFINITELY a conspiracy to kill President Kennedy. This book is a good starting point for people who want to learn about the Kennedy assassination. Kurtz's endnotes and bibliography will point serious Kennedy assassination students to other sources on this subject.

I've read a few dozen books on the assassination of JFK, and this isn't one of the better ones. Kurtz claims to be objective, but his treatment of the Warren Commission's conclusion smacks of excessive nitpicking. Just about any theory, no matter how sound, can be poked and prodded to death, and Kurtz uses this method to justify the conspiracy he sees behind the Kennedy murder. To be sure, the Warren Commission wasn't perfect either, but they did the best job they could under the constraints imposed on them. Kurtz simply takes certain facets from the Warren Commission and HSCA reports and criticizes them for what he perceives as sloppy work and the like. It's as if the only thing that would satisfy Kurtz is if some future JFK investigation looked into everything that occurred in Dealey Plaza, right down to the wind direction, sunspots, alignment of the planets, amount of ozone layer remaining, etc. In short, when your mind is set to find a conspiracy, nothing will convince you otherwise.

I feel that if Kurtz did see Oswald and Banister together that it would mean some relationship existed contrary to the Warren Commisions' findings.
Kurtz also claims that Oswald was with David Ferrie at the LSU campus and that Ferrie spoke out about Kennedy. I think that both of these examples are of importance and that I find it curious that Kurtz was never called before the Warren Commision. His book is one of the best on the assassination itself and is a great tool for studying the assassination.

I recently purchased DISCOVER! Volume 3 and I want more! Please send Volumes 2 and 3!

I recently purchased DISCOVER! Volume 3 and I want more! Please send Volumes 2 and 3!

While planning for yet another summer of rides on the motorcycle,
my wife and I had this book sent as part of our research.
We were very disappointed, it has 5 stars. So what is the problem?
For one thing it is not well written nor does it seem up to date.
We travel a lot, all over the USA and the world.
It is like asking about a good cafe, first you need to know the people who felt it was great. Do they know good food?

We know well done books and this is not one. I move it to the waste fill.

Rolling on the River.......... In a few weeks, it'll be road-trip weather, and we have some of the nation's prettiest highways at our fingertips--US Hwy 61 and several other state and county highways form the parkway known as AMERICA's Great River Road. Making that drive even easier is a new guide: "DISCOVER! AMERICA'S GREAT RIVER ROAD, Volume 1." This 240-page guide highlights the heritage, natural history and recreational activities available along the Mississippi River from St. Paul, Mn., to Dubuque, Iowa. It includes maps, historical and geological points of interest, bike trails, bird watching spots and short features on small towns, parks, and villages. ----STAR TRIBUNE, Minneapolis, Mn. April 1997

Having traveled and lived in the areas described in Vol.3, The Lower Mississippi, from St. Louis, Missouri to Memphis, Tennessee, and descended from a family of river rats, I can say that I've "Been there, done that, got the T-shirt."

Reading Pat's book is like traveling along with her as she explores the Great River Road along the mighty Mississippi River. I was especially impressed with the with the book's scope and readability. Pat has included personal insights from area inhabitants, collected geographical, historical and societal information and spread it all liberally throughout the travelogue. This is one hard book to put down, and if you ever decide to visit the area you'll have plenty of reference material to use. You will feel like you know the place already, and have gotten your own t-shirt.

Jim Pankey USN (Ret.)

I checked this book out of my local library and found it to be the most informative book on the AT. The sections of the AT that I have personally hiked were very well covered in this book.It is very difficult to find accurate maps with tons of land marks and information the terrain. As well as a well thought out itinerary so you may better gauge your time and enjoy the trail, rather than worrying about where you are going to find water and shelter. So now I'm on amazon.com to buy this book to use on my next visit to the AT.

I'm probably spoiled by the AMC guides for New England, but I found this book to be somewhat uninvting and lacking in some key areas. The maps weren't all that great they clearly aren't for a guy from the north east who's trying to find his way through the red dirt maze that is North Georgia. Directions to the trailheads could be markedly improved, as some (particularly the ones I used) use forest service roads that park rangers (let alone easily purchased maps) don't know well.

The copy and descriptions are good once I got to the trailhead, and organized linearly along the trail. I really enjoyed the plots of trail elevation over distance.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE are NOT 170 hikes in the book. The whole series must contain that many.

I own 3 books in this series. The Southern Appalachian, the Virginias, and the Mid-Atlantic States guide. I have found these books to be a great aid in planning hikes, especially 2-3 day backpacking trips. Since most of these hikes are either one-way or round trip (as opposed to circuit hikes) you either need to have two cars or plan on seeing the same sites twice. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but other books have better circuit hikes.

This series IS very informative, not only with regards to the actually hike, but also the history both natural and otherwise of the area you are hiking in.

I have not used this edition as much as I have the other 2 guides that I own in this series, but it did come in handy during a spur of the moment trip to NC/TENN. The maps could be a little better, as they are topographical maps with a green line for the trail.. They are adequate, but I've seen better.

All 45 hikes come with a description, a map, an elevation profile, and an itinerary, as well as various other information.

When planning for a hike I do tend to use this book in conjunction with other books, but I usually take this book (or copies of the pages) on the actual hike itself. The fact that the pages are so small allows for easier handling and storage of the laminated pages during the trip.

So if you enjoy hiking and are near the AT while in the 'Southern Appalchians', you may want to take a look at this book. It is well worth the money.

I used this book to plan my first trip to the AT with a group of Boy Scouts. It was extremely useful in selecting my route. Especially useful was the trail summary in the beginning of each chapter. Also equally useful was the hike itinerary, giving distances between significant points. I found, however, the linear trail profile to be slightly misleading on a few sections of the trail. (More useful was the profile found in The Appalachian Trail Official Map from the Appalachian Trail conference.) This day hike book was perfect for my 5 day trip because each hike begins where the other left off. This was vital in my planning and I would highly recommend it for anyone needing a detailed description of the trail. Oh, and don't forget your hand lens. :)

If you're planning to hike a small day or two-day section of the Appalachian trail in or around NC, this is the book for you. I wanted to hike a small section of the trail, but I only had two days and had to finish at a very specific point. I used the book to help me plan the hike and it was amazingly easy; none of the obstacles I expected caused problems. The hike went off without a hitch, thanks to the brilliantly organized hiking guide. Aside from the planning aspect, the topographical maps were priceless along the trail. I considered doing the hike without a planning book, but I'm thankful that I used such a quality source.

This book is an excellent account of a man who learned from his mistakes in his early life and used those experiences to control himself and attain recognition as one of the most accomplished men in history.

George Washington is probably a pretty tough person to write a biography about. He wasn't really an intellectual and there are not voluminous writings by Washington with insights into his personality like historians have for a Thomas Jefferson, or a James Madison.

This biography is very even and insightful about the personality and life of George Washington from his upbringing, his early military career, the Revolution, and of course his Presidency. Washington emerges as a somewhat vain man but one who, over time, appears to have gained wisdom with age and experience.

The primary quibbles I have with this biography is the author at times may make too many leaps of judgement about Washington's motivations and personality without enough evidence to support it. Secondly, there is not a lot of in-depth analysis about Washington's generalship or his decision making process as an army commander and President.

For example, did the wily Alexander Hamilton manipulate an overmatched President to get his way on economic policy, or was Washington, if not fully understanding Hamilton's scheme, fully in charge and in agreement with it? While the author seems to think it's the later-he doesn't really offer evidence to prove it.

Also at times it appears Washington was a bumbling over achiever who things ended up working out well for in then end, especially his early military career and early in the Revolutionary War (sometimes by Washington deflecting blame on to others). The same could be said about his Presidency. At the same time Washington appears to have become more mature and a better decision maker as he grew older and gained more experience. More could have been said on these matters.

But overall, this is a well done one-volume biography.

In an apparent attempt to present a balanced view of Washington, Ferling attempts to psychoanalyze the first president and goes far afield of the materials he has. Often his conclusions are pure conjecture and he frequently criticizes "other historians" for thier conclusions and then draws his own unsubstantiated conclusions.

Ferling does provide a nice historical accounting of events and details during Washington's life. However, he frequently tries to determine the mindset of Washington and here he repeately fails. Often these attempts are little more than cheap shots. He even criticizes the President for not writing his feelings in his diary when he found that a relative was dying, saying that Washington was afraid to appear "unmanly." This is little more than the insertion of 20th century thoughts and values into an 18th century mind. It does little to shed light on Washington and much to shed light on Ferling's mindset.

Undoubtedly there are biographies which are equally detailed without the repeated and distracting psychoanalysis.

This book was an assigned text in one of my college classes, and that's how I came to read it. I originally wanted to read Flexner's or Randall's biography of Washington, but Ferling's version didn't disappoint me.

What struck me about this biography is its objectivity. Ferling neither romanticizes about Washington as a demi-god, nor does he try to debase him. In the first hundred pages or so, I felt that Ferling was rather harshly critical of Washington, but by the end of the book, I felt that Ferling had highlighted many of Washington's good qualities as well. Ferling doesn't sugar-coat Washington's faults, but he doesn't ignore Washington's remarkable achievements, either. I liked how Ferling contrasts the brash young Washington of Fort Necessity with the mature Washington of Valley Forge. The father of our country certainly wasn't born with the dignity that later was his trademark, and it was interesting to see how Washington developed his character over the years. This gave me a more realistic admiration of Washington than I previously had.

An excellent biography about a tremendous historical figure.

Ferling writes a comprehensive story of one of the greatest persons in history. Although it is long (500 pages) it is well-written and very readable. He avoids the tendency in recent years to drag Washington down to a common level, and yet the author is honest with his subject's faults. The book contains a helpful index and not a few illustrations. This reviewer holds a graduate degree in history and currently teaches college history.

This book does what it's supposed to do. It tells you a lot about Flannery O'Connor, her likes and dislikes, her influences, how and where she spent her time. It's not meant to be a critical study. There are plenty of those. Most readers will find here details on a fascinating creative artist whose life was cut short by illness.

Flannery O'Connor is arguably one of the most important writers of the twentieth century. She was passionately Southern and passionately Catholic, dedicated to her craft and a consummate professional.

This is why I think she would have scorned her recent biography, written by Jean Cash.

Cash's work is merely competent. She has all the facts straight. The book is well-researched, and well documented. Cash has flipped over every O'Connor stone, but there are so few unpublished gems at this point, that the project seems to be simply one of repetition.

What makes Cash's biography especially defective is that she seems afraid to make qualitative judgments regarding O'Connor or her work. I suppose this can be good in other biographies of lesser-known literary figures. The biography falls short, in other words, precisely because of its attention to detail, and its lack of synthesis. There are times when it reads like a shopping list of O'Connor things, places, friends and relatives. Cash's prose falls lifeless into the annals of poorly-written biographies.

I only recall Cash voicing her opinion three times. She defends O'Connor's relationship with Maryat Lee as a perfectly heterosexual one. On another occasion, she defends O'Connor, who, throughout her life and private letters, made a few controversial statements regarding the Civil Rights movement: these have since tagged her as racist to some scholars. Cash also frequently asserts that O'Connor was not a reclusive person, a kind of 1950s Emily Dickenson. Of these assertions, only the second seems to have any direct bearing on her writing. It seems that her focus should have been directed to other facets of O'Connor's life.

Cash's thoughts often read like terse journal articles that have been assembled into a book as an afterthought. It is sometimes difficult to read her rather fibrous prose, which fails to synthesize multiple tellings of any particular O'Connor account into a single cohesive narrative.

Robert Fitzgerald's introduction to _Everything That Rises Must Converge_ accomplishes in about 25 pages what took Cash over 300. Besides, Fitzgerald's introduction was written by somebody who knew O'Connor, and who considered her family. But the best part about buying _Everything that Rises..._ is that instead of being forced to read a synthesis of quotes, the reader can actually look at 9 pieces of O'Connor's short fiction.

Cash's FLANNERY O'CONNOR: A LIFE is a noble attempt to define and to find the Southern Catholic writer Flannery O'Connor. However, though the biography is full of facts and details about O'Connor's studies and speaking tours and friendships, it is a book that features conclusions drawn from one or two events or incidents. This problem is particularly evident, it seems, in the opening chapters about O'Connor's early years.
Another nagging problem is the frequent errors in editing or writing: extra words, missing words, odd punctuation, and a strange abundance of parentheses when a simple revision would clarify the sentences. This reviewer wonders why such mistakes coat the book like red Georgia dust. If the book ever has another edition, it will need plenty of attention to bring it up to professional standards.
It's all too bad; the basics of a good biography are there, and the subject is fascinating.
Best advice: read O'Connor's works and save the biography for occasional filler if you have the interest.

This biography does what any good biography of a writer should: It invites you to run to the shelf to revisit the writer's work. As wickedly witty and charming as she was devout, Flannery O'Connor comes fully alive again in Jean Cash's careful detailing of her tragically brief life. Readers--including scholars and students--should welcome this rich portrait of the artist, particularly as it challenges some of the rampant misperceptions of O'Connor and her work.

Better than *Publisher's Weekly* suggests, Jean Cash's life of Flannery O'Connor still it isn't all it could be. Its strengths are its fidelity to the events of O'Connor's largely unexciting life as a practicing writer and Catholic and, in this age of the doorstop biography, its modest length. Cash mines *The Habit of Being,* Sally Fitzgerald's 1979 collection of letters, and the archives she dutifully has read through. O'Connor's brilliance, orneriness, intractibility, deadpan humor, courage, honor, talent (at least by repute), and doggedness come through. In some ways, that's enough--four stars. However, one who finishes this book may still want more.

What is missing? An extended understanding of the interplay the fiction and the life, for one. Why did Hazel Motes and Julian and Tarwater and Rayber come out in just that form? When Cash discusses the connections between O'Connor's mother, Regina Cline O'Connor, and Mrs. Hopewell (in "Good Country People"), her book takes on life. More, more! Again, without naming it or discussing it at any length Cash points to the self-loathing that was the other side of O'Connor's spirituality and selflessness. The presentation needs pointing up, development.

For another, a sense of O'Connor's achievement as an artist. The fiction, which is what counts or we wouldn't be reading the life, is almost not there. My own judgment is that the two novels matter much less than and are ungainly compared to half a dozen stories, in which form perfectly embodies vision--with humor, intellectual force, and the many-sidedness of a great writer. This text needs more engagement with O'Connor's text.

Finally, Edward F. O'Connor, the father. His death, when his daughter was fifteen, surely underlies what Cash describes as the "matriarchal" world of the fiction. If it bears on Flannery O'Connor's own atrophied love life and even for her choice of *What Maisie Knew* as the work of Henry James that most interests her, those connections should be made. Cash has the facts, but the figure in the carpet needs highlighting. Otherwise, one might as well read Sally Fitzgerald's nineteen page biographical sketch at the end of the Library of America volume on O'Connor.

It is unfair to blame the author for this, but the decorative peacock feather ovals make the page numbers hard to read!

This is a refreshing and informative look at Richard Ewell, before, after and of course during the Civil War. Often described as a failure after succeeding Jackson and becoming leader of the Lee's new 2nd Corp, Ewell has suffered severe criticism for the first day of Gettysburg and for his emotional response to the breach at Spotsylvania. Pfanz provides a fair and colorful look at the dependable soldier that fought the second half of the war with a wooden leg and overall served much better than superficial history would lead you to believe. Pfanz profiles Ewell's early life efficiently noting that Ewell's family as a whole were eccentric and Ewell himself a very thin and balding man who spoke with a lisp. Although lacking in military forbearance, Ewell completes West Point and serves gallantly as a dragoon officer in the west occasionally fighting Indians with high praise. Pfanz provides a full perspective of Ewell as a brave soldier who initially though Jackson crazy and in a rather amusing historical telling, Pfanz describes how at one point several generals in Jackson's command think each other unbalanced. As Pfanz describes, Ewell fights extremely well for Jackson particularly at Cross Keys and at Winchester. Although literally pegged as an officer that follows explicit orders, Pfanz clarifies that Ewell fought extraordinary well particularly in the initial stages of the Gettysburg campaign in capturing Winchester and marching virtually to Harrisonburg. He also fought brilliantly at the Wilderness and for the most part at Spotsylvania. As Pfanz notes, Ewell saved Richmond during Butler's great onslaught attack in the fall of 1864, which is a little appreciated fact. After Butler captured Fort Harrison his attack is stymied by Ewell who masks his small force by using the woods to limit the view of his small defiant band. Richard Sommer's writes of this wonderfully in his book "Richmond Reeemed". Pfanz notes Ewell's one quality that may have not worked in his favor; he frequently asked the opinions of others in contrast to Jubal Early who frequently gave opinions. At Gettysburg, Lee's directives were not precise to Ewell who contended with his July 1 victory with rounding up 5,000 union prisoners, waiting for Johnson's division along with a report of union troops appearing on his left flank. On top of that, Early would not support an attack on Cemetery or Culp's Hill. Nor would Early support shifting Ewell's corps to the right to pull the lines together as Lee wished. Pfanz notes that communication failures appear to be the biggest command problem at Gettysburg along with a lack of forceful leadership from Lee along with the union's will to fight. Ewell also suffers a slight from Gordon, whose self serving personal history make him a questionable source, stung Ewell in Lee's eyes as Gordon relates how Ewell virtually squandered a surprise attack on the union right. Acting judiciously, Ewell orders the attack but may have looked inept to Lee after his brilliant attack and defense in the Wilderness. The almost humorous episode of Ewell trying to stop retreating soldiers at Spotsylvania, cussing at them and slapping them on the back with his sword appears too much for Lee and Ewell's ill advised attack that was suppose to be more reconnaissance in nature virtually keys Lee's decision to replace Ewell with Early when Ewell is momentarily ill. Unfortunately, Ewell's romance with his old flame and new bride caused a huge negative reaction with his staff particularly when she intervened with staff activities and her husband's time raising doubts about his focus. Pfanz provides fascinating detail on the correspondence between Ewell and Lee where Ewell sadly tries to return to command while Lee gently tries to tell him he is not needed at the front. Ewell finishes his confederate career in charge of the Richmond defenses finishing the war on the road to Appomattox at Saylers Creek when he is cut off and alone with Anderson's division. Pretty amazing story after the war that the man missing a leg, with several horses shot out from under him, and two horses roll over him, survives to live a life as a vigorous business man. Ewell was a modest man who, unlike Longstreet, died before Jubal Early rewrote his version of confederate history.

I disagree with a line written by Mr. Pfanz in his biography of Ewell.
On page 326 of the book he discusses the failure of General Robert Rodes to attack Cemetery Hill the evening of July 2.This has been discussed in every book I have read on Gettysburg. However, Mr Pfanz has decided to put his own spin on an old subject. He states "he(Rodes) tried to deflect his failure onto his subordinate Stephen D. Ramseur." This is the first accusation of disloyalty and pettiness that I have ever read of General Rodes.
I would ask the reader to check Rode's Official Report on the battle and try to discern how Mr. Pfanz could have come to the conclusion that the General was guilty of something so dishonorable.
Too bad Rodes is not here to defend himself. It is easy to malign the dead.

Pleasant reading but nothing really new on Ewell- a kind,brave and generous man who was very good at being a general until he was so severely wounded at Groveton.

There are three impressive aspects of this work. First, it is quite readable. The battle scenes and other events are as lively as a full color film. The historic characters are full dimensional figures who inhabit the book rather than being referred to. Even minor Ewell family members are brought to life realistically.

Second, the terrain is imaginatively and graphically depicted. The author has a real sense of the places and the climate of the times. This is also supported by good made-to-order maps of important locales.

Third, practically every assertion in the book is backed up by solid primary and secondary historical sources. This is done with no intrusion on the readability of the text. No judgment is made without balancing all extant points of view. A real work of moderm scholarship.

Finally, I was surprised at how much I learned about historical personages and battles with which I though I was familiar.

Pfanz offers a most credible account of the life and times of one of the "lesser" lights of the Confederate pantheon. While indeed "Baldy Dick" lacks the nobility of Genl Lee or the exciting eccentricity of Thom Jackson, this offering serves the good general well. I found the author pretty balanced in his recitation of Ewell's trials and tribulation, be it in the realm of military action or his personal life. While this text is 500+ pages of small print, those with a particular interest in Confederate military lore will appreciate author Pfanz's efforts to bring Richard Stoddert Ewell to life...

Gen. Richard Ewell. A figure from history that has been all but ignored until now. While many blame Ewell for the loss at Gettysburg, One finds a different side of the story. The reading flows smoothly. I have really enjoyed reading this book and getting to know Gen.Richard Ewell. The author expolores his background as a Dragoon, fighting Indians and his faithful service to the Confederacy. Also mentioned is his conversion to Christainity as a result of his rubbing elbows with Stonewall Jackson. I suggest you add this book to your library!

Skylar begins with a fun, sexy younger character. I think he's 19 or 20. Skylar is a southern guy who spends his time making love with his childhood friend Tandy or working on his family farm with his friend Doofus. My descriptions lack the wonderful nature of all these characters they are written exceptionally well and full of life and fun. Skylar's family is being visited by his cousin "JONTHAN" while Jonathan is recovering from Mono. Funny thing is that Jonathan walks in full of upper crust bravado and snobbery into a down home country welcome.
That is not even best to describe the fun in this book when the girl that everyone thinks is Skylar's girlfriend is murdered. The town is turned upside down as all fingers point to Skylar for the murder.
From the beginning this book is full of heat with the chemistry of Skylar and Tandy to the off beat comedy of the local police deputies whose ineptness is hilarious. Add in a jail with a roof that comes off to a serious murder mystery. This story manages to have a little of it all wrapped up in one.

This isn't a serious read it's FUN and meant to be fun! 5 stars for it and now I'm off to read the sequel Skylar in Yankeeland.

This book was fabulous! Written in the spirit of the "Fletch" series, this book introduces us to the character of Skylar Whitfield, a Southern boy accused of the murder of one of his oldest friends. Throw in his snooty Yankee cousin, Jon than, Skyler's good-ole-boy charm and intelligence that rivals Albert Einstein, and you have a wonderful, easy read with no idea whodunnit. A must read for "Fletch" fans, and a real page turner for new McDonald readers.

Skylar Whitfield conjures up memories of a younger, less savvy I.M. Fletcher (see "Fletch")as he careens around his redneck hometown trying to clear himself of murder charges. His interplay with his Harvard trained cousin seems forced and phony at times, and the "smarter than the average redneck" attitude has been seen before in "Son of Fletch". If you haven't read the "Fletch" series, "Skylar" can be a fun read, but for "Fletch" and "Flynn" fans, the book is a case of been-there, done-that.

I love the work Gregory McDonald has over the years with "Fletch". Well, Gregory is back bigger than ever with another page turner. Skylar starts a little slow, but within three chapters the night light was going to stay on until this book was finished. Skylar is a great character, in the Fletch mold. This book had me guessing and changing my mind on whodunit on nearly every page. A great finish. Look forward to more Skylar

As a longtime fan of the "Fletch" and "Flynn" series', I can understand other reviewers' excitement about the appearance of the "Skylar" books; it represents Gregory MacDonalds' departure from "literature" and return to what he does best - writing crime novels starring quirky, likeable characters who view the world through humorous eyes.

However, just because MacDonald is leaning back in that direction, it doesn't necessarily mean he's put his heart into it. "Skylar" is a partially-realized novel full of stereotypes (some offensive), caricatures and cardboard cutouts. Nothing here seems anchored in the real world.

The story: Jonathan Whitfield, stereotypical yuppie relative from the north, appears in quaint, southern (cardboard cutout) Greendowns County, Tennessee, to visit his Uncle and family, including sharp-as-a-tack, hayseed caricature, cousin Skylar, a youthful Matlock-clone.

In terms of mystery, MacDonald had me going to the end, even throwing in a shocker of a twist that both surprised and saddened me. Basically, someone beats Skylar's sweetheart to death and Skylar is the only suspect. Because the local Sheriff & deputies are hayseed caricatures of Southern cops, Skylar knows it will be up to him to solve the murder and clear his name. Cousin Jonathan is along as an observer, someone to represent us, the reader, goggle-eyed and confused by all the southern charm.

As characters go, Sheriff Culpepper was the only fellow I really liked. Everyone else is so damned self-absorbed they may as well be carrying around mirrors to talk to instead of each other.

MacDonald can be a great writer when he wants to be, but with "Skylar", I got the impression that he just needed to toss off another book so no one would forget him. Don't kid yourself for even an instant that this book is written in the "Fletch" mold.

It's an unusual story, but I don't find it nearly as moving as Streetcar or Night of the Iguana.

Love the movie and wanted to read the story in the play form. It is a complex story with many twists and turns.
You wonder about the many references to food. " Her eyes are a delicious color" and such.
After reading the play version you can relate to how the movie was embelished upon to make the story even more complex.

Great!

This play of Williams' (originally presented with the one-act "Something Unspoken" as "Garden District") pulls together a number of themes that ran through his earlier works -- violence, sexual exploitation, cannibalism, alienation -- and combines them in a work that is both powerful visceral and hypnotically dream-like. The story concerns Catherine Holly and the strange story she has to tell about her cousin Sebastian. Her tale wreaks havoc within her family, particularly with her Aunt Violet, who places the girl in an asylum and wants her subjected to a lobotomy. However, the action of the play is negligible; where Williams places the chills are in the various stories told by all the characters, filling in a portrait of the bizarre, sinister Sebastian Venable. The effect is all the more disturbing for the fact that we see the events in our imaginations rather than onstage. An true original from an American genius.

Loved the movie and wanted to read the book version. Was disappointed when I received the book and it was the "play" version. Buyer beware.

I am a playwrite, and this is my favorite play.

Most people asssume Tennessee Willams' master opus to be 'A Streetcar Named Desire', or perhaps even 'The Glass Menagerie'.....But even these masterpieces seem overdone and overbearing when compared to this short, seemingly insignificant little play.

Here's the story: Catherine Holly, a beautiful and outspoken young woman, has been stuck in an insane asylum for the last few months. She has been put in there due to the stories, the awful, violent stories, she forces herself to tell......Stories concerning the death of her cousin, the poet and socialite Sebastian Venable.

She had been vacationing with him on that last summer of his life, and was indeed with him when she died.......But the version of Sebastian's death which she presents is too horrible for those who knew him and loved him, namely his mother, Violet Venable, to accept.

Violet wishes for her niece to stop repaeting these awful stories....She wishes for Catherine to be lobotomized. The play takes place in Violet Venable's house, where Catherine is examined by the young doctor who will decide whether or not she should be operated on or not, and thus we get to hear first hand, her hideous story of what had happened, Suddenly last Summer.

I will not spoil it further.....You simply must read this play. It tackles the subjects of Death, sexuality, mortality, and most importantly, the suffering and the shame that comes with and is the fruit of complete and utter honesty, with such skill....It is amazing, when you think of it, how underrated this play is.