Michigan Books

Written by an Assistant Professor of Communication at Indiana University, Bloomington, Malcolm X: Inventing Radical Judgment is a scholarly, intense, and philosophical analysis of Malcom X's oratory. Scrutinizing both the speeches that Malcolm X made while as a minister for the Nation of Islam and those made after he left the Nation, Malcolm X: Inventing Radical Judgment especially focuses upon the strategies of interpretation and judgment that Malcom X fostered in his audiences. Recontextualizing the radical judgment found in Malcolm X's rhetoric according to three disparate theoretical approaches, Malcolm X: Inventing Radical Judgment strives to reveal a better understanding of one man's speechmaking power that was so great its iconoclasm transcends the limits of individual contemporary definitions.

Huxley surely was the best evolution defender of his time, even superior to Darwin and Wallace at this feat. This book is a classic to man's evolution literature and should be read by anyone interested in the early foundations of evolution. This were the kind of lectures and essays that destroy competing arguments from other theories. Something that strikes me is how updated this still is (well considering the time that has passed), and how strong are Huxley's arguments and so well founded. Huxley uses various techniques to make his point, he uses a lot of the new branch of science "comparative anatomy", and does so like an expert. Simply a delightful reading, a time travel to the origins of the evolution theory.

Eccoing Friedrich List and many others of the American system of political economy pursuasion, Carey delivers a wolley of attacks on the inconsistencies and utter lack of method of Ricardo, Adam smith and many others. Carey goes methodically through the development of society and the citizens to establish radically different conclusions on how society must be managed than does said Ricardo and his ilk. Mankind are not to be slaves to a small elite of oligarchs, nobles or whatever, man is to be free to prosper as a whole and explore the universe as god had intended us to do. The fight that can be read between the lines of this book is as relevant today as when it was written. America that before so proudly had resisted the british, has now sheepishly succombed to that very system and this book among many others could be the wake-up call urgently needed. The liberal system has brought us the current financial crisis and will ad wars on top of that. Carey and his collaborators knew that even then.
Additional reading should also include: Lyndon H. LaRouche jr. "So, you wish to learn all about economics", Friedrich List "The American system of political economy" and E. Peshine Smiths "A Manual of political economy."
-Now go bury Liberalism!

Mr. Ayoob has just done readers in the U.S. a great service by writing this book. This book is essential reading for policy makers, students and anyone who really wants to understand what's going on in the Islamic world.

The main problem with many books from the West on Islam and "Islamism" (political Islam) is that they are written from a Western perspective, and so they have inherent biases within them. This is of course a big part of the misunderstandings we have with this part of the world, the fact that we only see these societies and groups through the prism of our own standards and values which is not always concurrent with their own values. Indeed we seem to rarely ever be in synch with the realities of the area. This book puts political Islam into a vernacular that is ready for consumption by a U.S. audience.

One of the most interesting things I found was the author's discussion of the affects that contact with democracy, no matter how limited the democracy, has had on Islamic political groups. The Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hizbullah and many other groups have had contact with some forms of democratic participation with varying degrees of success. The Muslim Brotherhood went from being a group that was suppressed to being allowed limited participation in elected government. When it became clear how much support they had they were once again violently suppressed. The question becomes will they continue down the path of moderation and participation or will their suppression lead to frustration and a recurrence of violence. The Mubarak and U.S. governments have a lot to say about what happens in the future to this group, if they decide that this group is to dangerous and must be suppressed there is a good chance that parts of the organization will become disillusioned and may resort to violence, but if they are allowed to become an active participant there is a real possibility that participation will have a further moderating affect.

Of course when one looks at the example of how Hamas was treated the prospects do not look good. One of the main points from Mr. Ayoob's is just how much of a moderating affect democratic participation can have on Islamic groups as evidenced by Turkey's AKP party. In a strange twist it is now the secularists in Turkey who have become authoritarian while it is the moderate conservative Islamic parties that have become ingrained in the political system that seems to be the voice of reason and moderation. Unfortunately Hamas' experiment in democracy seems to be heading toward abject failure due to circumstances beyond their control. They have not been given the opportunity to really join in the democratic process since they have been assailed from outside from the very beginning of their electoral victory.

This hypocrisy of the West has not gone unnoticed by the Muslim world. How the West purports to advocate democratization but only as long as the right groups get elected. The U.S. especially is generating ill will from this part of the world while at the same time pursuing policies that inhibit moderation. The rhetoric that comes from the U.S. about the moderating influence of democracy may well be true, but until we honestly pursue democratic change, no matter what the outcome for us, then we will be stuck with the same illegitimate, authoritarian regimes that are breeding grounds for disenchanted and potentially violent people. Islam is not inherently violent as some would have us believe, but just like all human beings given the right circumstances they can be forced into lashing out against the objects of their torment, whether that is authoritarian regimes or governments that back those regimes.

Mr. Ayoob does an excellent in job with very few pages detailing for the reader just how divergent political Islam really is. The author speaks of how we in the West tend to think of political Islam as being a "monolith", and he does an excellent job dispelling that myth and showing how each brand of Islamism, while many times espousing a universalistic agenda, is unique to its on context. Each Islamic group incorporates different aspects and theories of Islam to suit their unique situations. While there may be some violent, extremist elements they are a small minority. Many of these groups such as the AKP have shown themselves ready to join in the representative process and attempt to achieve their aims within the system. The author has given us plenty of examples of how democracy has a pronounced moderating affect on these Islamic organizations. It is up to us to focus our attention from the vocal and violent minority and focus our attention on helping the moderate majority, even when this help seems to be in contradiction to our own interests because in the end when these groups join the democratic process we all win.

This is a fantastic book that needs to be read and reread. I am eagerly awaiting the next publishing from this author.

I completely enjoyed this book. Could not put it down. There were plenty of twists and turns to make the plot very interesting. In fact, I stayed up all night to read it. Marian was an orphan-taking in by a wealthy,kindly man and his son. But her step-father (whom she loved as a father)had a terrible secret that had haunted him for many years. On his death bed he confessed to Marian that all his money and riches , were really her's. He was richest man in Kentucky. His death bed wish was that she marry his son-so all the money would be kept in the family. She was only 16 at the time. His son was rarely at home-being raised in expensive boarding schools and traveling abroad. While Marian liked the idea, because she had been in love with him for many years-Frederic hated the idea! He was in love with a beautiful, scociety woman , and thought Marian to be, an ugly , uneducated, plain female. Marian finds out how Frederic really feels about her and runs away from Kentucky to New York. A romatic novel on the line of "Gone with the Wind".

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It's quite strange that this book, of all Trollope, is so hard to find. Reviewers didn't like it when it was originally published in the late 1800s, and it never shook its reputation as ultra-tedious. This mystifies me. The melodrama between politically radical Lord Jack Hampton and Marion Fay, a non-aristocratic young Quaker woman who's more of a lady than several of the "ladies" in the book, is flirtatious, accessible and fun (Hampton repeatedly teases Marion that he fell for her when she "poked his fire," i.e. tended his fireplace with a poker--a bolder play with innuendo than Trollope usually engages in). It then turns passionate when Marion won't marry Jack because of a secret trouble involving life-threatening illness. T. uses the situation to examine with great depth and sensitivity the desire to consummate the spiritual union of two souls via marriage. This is the most careful look at what marriage means in T.'s ideal world that I have read in his work yet. He makes it exciting and suspenseful, since we're waiting to see if Marion will really get to poke Jack's fire--or if an unthinkable separation will occur. As in all T., there is a hilarious cast of characters who toe the line that separates the comically pathetic from the dangerously antisocial--for example, will Jack's archetypical evil stepmom just grumble her way through life, or will she scheme to kill Jack? The multiple marriage and family plots are very well integrated, unlike in some other T. novels.

If you collect amate art this book is essential. For collectors of outsider art Professor Cowan provides an economic and cultural insight into the motives of the artists and the integral role they play in the culture. Highly readable, with wonderful anecdotes, what could be a dry subject is transformed into a page-turner.

Professor Zahariadis' study of privatization in Britain and France allows students of comparative politics to understand the impetus the drives countries to privatize their resources....it was very informative, but may be confusing to those who know nothing about the subject. Professor Zahariadis' writing style is perfect in terms of the subject matter; it is neither too complex nor too simple.

This book is a lovely treat.

It's also been quite a long time in the making.

These letters, compiled and edited by former Porter student Ted Leigh, served as the basis for part of John Spike's lovely book on Porter back in 1992. This fact is mentioned a couple times at the beginning of the Spike book.

Material Witness came out in 2005, so it's better late than never.

What's the difference between this, the Spike book, and Justin Spring's biography a few years back? Material Witness shows the human side of Fairfield Porter; in particular the letters to his son Laurence and his family.

The most disturbing thing is reading Porter's letters that acknowledge his increasing lack of energy over his final couple of years.

If you have the Spike book, you'll definitely want this book.