Two Against One: A Novel

Customer Reviews:

A Modern Novel........2001-07-09

"Two Against One" gives a somewhat detached third-person account of the story of Edward, whose wife Elise returns after a six month absence for a not-so-tumultuous-as-you-might-think weekend. The situation is this: Elise acts as though nothing has changed between them during this time. After all, they're still husband-and-wife. She talks to friends as if the separation never took place, sleeps in his bed, talks about Edward as someone more intimate with him than even himself, etc. Later we learn that she wants to re-engage the marriage. But what that will mean and entail she leaves up to Edward. Oh, and there's a catch, she's in a relationship with another man that she is not in a position to end. So for Edward to take her back and resume an active marriage he will have to do so with a third person who he will also sort of be married to, or who at the very least he must live and share his wife with. The situation is further complicated by the appearance of Elise's pseudo-boyfriend Roscoe, Edward's nymphomaniac ex-girlfriend Kinta, and a nosy but concerned friend Lurleen. This turns both the marital situation and Edward's own existential shadowboxing into a community ordeal.

This could be handled as a modern relationship comedy, and it would be awful. But though there are lots of funny moments, and though the characters sometimes seem like they'd feel at home in a sitcom, Barthelme is a better writer than that. Instead, the characters appear to be acting the part of a relationship comedy that they've somehow walked into. At the same time there is an overwhelming sense of discomfort and a feeling that this relationship comedy may be messier than they are prepared for, and they know it.

Edward is confronted by the I suppose ever-present threat of what love may potentially require of a person, as well as the possibility that he may not be able to meet those requirements. He is confronted with his own sexual problems (never entirely specified), as well as Elise's sexual exploits with other men. He is forced to face the possibility that he may just hate women. And he has to argue his case in front of a whole cast of characters.

The novel is ambitious, and reading it I felt the weight of so many "crises of modernity" squeezing as much as could be had from the prose. Fans of Douglas Coupland (I am not one) will go mad for this. "Two Against One" covers a lot of Coupland-overused territory, addressing suburban life, consumerist living, the sexual revolution, gender politics, and morality (particularly different people's incompatible moral codes). Ultimately the book deals with the pursuit of happiness in the modern world. And yes, before you ask, I do feel that the scope and ambition of "Two Against One" detract from our intimacy with the characters, the story, and the author, and I do feel that a sense of realism is expunged in favor of functionality to a subtext far larger than the mere text. And yes, I do feel this is a problem. I came to this book after something like seven readings of "Moon Deluxe," which has the aforementioned intimacies and realism in spades. "Moon Deluxe" allows the reader to consider and judge such big issues on their own when faced with what seem like fairly unremarkable situations and realistic characters who appear, I dunno, effected by their settings, but not artifacts of it. "Two Against One" never approached heavy-handedness, but by overtly raising big issues (sometimes this is done literally in the dialogue, sometimes it is simply inevitable given the situations), even if not confronting them, it is difficult to read the characters or situations outside the context of these big issues. Maybe this is the novel's greatest strength, but unfortunately it prevents the characters from ringing true, turns the specific global, and comes off as calculated.

Average customer rating:

The series is definitely improving

Better and more devoloped than the first

A Great Fantasy Series

My opinions, which probably doesn't count for much

The Troy Game lives
Gods' Concubine: Book Two of The Troy Game
Sara Douglass
Manufacturer: Tor Fantasy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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Darkwitch Rising: Book Three of The Troy Game

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ASIN: 0765344432
Release Date: 2004-08-05

Book Description

From ancient Greece they came, remnants of the glorious Trojans. Led by Brutus, Kingman, holder of the bands of gold that wield the very magic of the Gods, these travelers are bowed but not broken, and they have come to Albion to begin anew. A vision of beauty called them to create a new Troy, and when they landed on the shores of the land that became Britain, they found an old magic that was fading. And so they began to construct a new Labyrinth, a place of magic that will bring unimaginable power to those who can control it.The temptress who brought Brutus to this land seeks to use him for her own purposes, but in that she fails, for it is the bride of Brutus who dooms the completion of the labyrinth . . . and sends all the players in this drama--handsome Brutus, his beautiful wife, Cornelia, and the sensuous and deadly Genvissa--into a hell of death and rebirth, until the Labyrinth is completed and the ancient magic is set free.A thousand years pass. Cathedrals rise in place of mud and wattle huts, hymns to saints replace odes to Celtic and Greek gods. But the magic from the dawn of time waits, and the players are not yet done with their destinies. They have new faces and new bodies, but old souls---and not all who have come back remember their parts in this drama. There are kings and princes, deadly court intrigues, and ancient powers awoken.And a warrior across the sea who only waits for his opportunity to finish what was started centuries before . . .

Customer Reviews:

The series is definitely improving.......2006-12-04

Gods' Concubine is the second book in Douglass' 'Troy Game' series, and it was definitely more engaging and enjoyable than the first. This time around, a thousand years have passed, and the characters we met in the first book have been reborn into the age of William the Conqueror. In fact, Brutus is William himself and Cornelia is the queen of England, wife to Edward the Confessor. Coel is reborn as Harold Godwinson (Harold II) and in a cruel twist of fate Genvissa has been reborn as Harold's wife. Other characters from the first book are also reborn and find themselves drawn once again into the struggle for control over the Troy Game, which has itself been lying and waiting for a thousand years.

This combination of fantasy and historical fiction is an intriguing way of presenting a time period in history. The reader is left guessing, and possibly researching further, as to which details are real and documented and which are purely the product of the author's vivid imagination.

Better and more devoloped than the first.......2006-02-21

This book is much better than the one before it. While Hades' daughter was good, the ending felt rushed and actions came so fast they were hard to follow. Not so with this book.

All the players have once again been born, this time two thousand years after the disaster that was the attempt to build a labyrinth in England. Some know who they are, some don't. Thus, most of this book is spent in yearning (which is quite affecting and very fun to read) for something. An old lover, an old friendship, an old power.

Just reading the confusion people have because of last lives is fun, but what's even more fun is the anticipation this book holds. Everyone is waiting for something.

And you'll be really surprised by what happens to Cornelia. It turns out the connection she has with the land is so much more than anyone ever thought. This is portrayed not in the almost sickening female/whom thing of the last book, but in a much more developed sense of loving the land and having a true connection to it, weather you are female or not.

Also, Brutus essentially becomes a good person. Which is nice. In fact, everyone improves their personality a lot in this book.

So read this even if you didn't love Hades' daughter. It's something you'll want to clear your schedule to finish. I guarantee by the time you're through you'll be desperate to read the next one. I know I was.

Five stars.

Three months later-in retrospect I don't think I like this series very much. It's not very well written, it has no likeable charecters and a lot of the actions are brutaly offensive. Faced with the forth book recently published I find I've just lost intrest. In retrospect I think I find Sara Douglass's writing to be very dark and depressing and gloomy-but not always in a way that works. I wouldn't advise reading her stuff, excepting Threshold, unless you can work a two week depresion into your life.

A Great Fantasy Series.......2006-02-01

The first was great... the second was better... I can't wait to read the third.

I've only read Douglass's Wayfarer Redemption series before this, and I liked it, so I thought I would try some of her other stuff. The Troy Game series I found to be a wonderful spin on some ancient beliefs. A fine, fun, read that combines love and action into a perfectly good novel.

My opinions, which probably doesn't count for much.......2005-11-25

I enjoyed the first book tremendously. One thing in that book that I liked was the fact that my sympathies for different characters kept on changing. I love that in a book! But, from other reviews on amazon I can tell that not many others liked that.

If you are in that boat, you'll be glad to know that nothing like that happens with this book :D The characters are more static. They are also learning from past mistakes, some slower than others.

It is a great book and I recommend it to all - especially because you have to read it first before the next book in the series, which is even better!!!

The Troy Game lives.......2005-07-17

In part two of Sara Douglass's "Troy Game" series, the characters from the first novel have all been reborn into 1065 England, the time when Edward the Confessor is dying and William of Normandy is planning his invasion. Cornilia has been reborn as Caela, Edward's queen. Together with Ecub (now Judith), Loth (now Seawalt) and even Silvius (Brutus's murdered father) they attempt to hide the Kingman bands from Swanne (reborn Genvissa), the Menatuar Asterion (his identity is not as well known to the others) and Brutus (ironicly, now William of Normandy). But there are many traps for Caela to wtch out for; both norman court ambitions of who will win the throan when Edward dies; but also who will gain control of the Troy Game. The one thing no one expected was that the Game would become a conscience entity itself.

The big problem I had in the first book, "Hade's Daughter" was that the characters were all so dispicable. That problem has been fixed in this book. Brutus has become a more understanding and loving husband, though to his current wife Matilda. He still holds a grudge against Cornilia. He only wants enough to do with her as to finish the Game. Caela also has grown up a lot. She is not the spoiled little brat she was last time; now she is a very intellegent young woman who willingly shoulders great responsablility to the Game, to the Land, and to Mag and Og. Gennvisa as Swanne lost a lot of authority and power, and so she was an easy target for Asterion's trickery.

The story is a good one. That is an interesting period in English history, and making the principal characters real historical figures was interesting. The parts where Caela had to move the bands through a ruined Troy was pretty cool. And Asterion's final move for power was pretty cold and also very correct. The inclusion of the child's game hop scotch was also a neat twist. What I had a problem with was that the book had little action. I was hoping to have a more detailed description of the Invasion of England, much like when Brutus seiged and destroyed Cornilia's city in the first book. Also it took a long time to get to where it was going, the court intriege took forever to get through. But it was still a pretty good bridge book, if especially bleak at the end.

I can not wait to read book 3.

God's Concubine: Book 2 of The Troy Game

Average customer rating:

God's Concubine: Book 2 of The Troy Game
Sara Douglass
Manufacturer: Voyager
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0732271614

God's Concubine: The Troy Game - Book Two

Average customer rating:

God's Concubine: The Troy Game - Book Two
Sara Douglas
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Pub Ltd.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0732271622

4-book Set; the Troy Game Series Book 1-4; Hades' Daughter; Gods' Concubine; Darkwitch Rising; Druid's Sword By Sara Douglass

Average customer rating:

4-book Set; the Troy Game Series Book 1-4; Hades' Daughter; Gods' Concubine; Darkwitch Rising; Druid's Sword By Sara Douglass
Sara Douglass
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Druidism | Earth-Based Religions | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000V4R24C

Product Description

The Troy Game Series Book 1-4 by Sara Douglass.

Book Description

Praise for The Dirt Eaters, the first book in The Longlight Legacy:
"This outstanding first title in a trilogy should have readers eagerly anticipating the next..."
- * School Library Journal, starred review

Through the lens of a dramatic, futuristic saga, Freewalker continues the stunning look at loss and revenge that began with The Dirt Eaters.

In this highly suspenseful second novel in The Longlight Legacy, one year has passed since Roan, Alandra and the children escaped from the Brothers. Now, in the haven they call Newlight, Alandra has begun traveling the Dreamfield with the children, exploring their potential. But when the children mysteriously fall into a life-threatening coma, Roan and Lumpy set off to find a cure. The remedy may lie in the hands of Roan's lost sister, Stowe. But Stowe, now the icon of the City, has become obsessed with her growing powers -- powers that threaten to overwhelm and transform her into a destructive, vindictive force.

Author Dennis Foon displays once again his great originality and unstoppable imagination. Freewalker is powerful and fast paced, with unexpected twists that await the reader with every turn of the page.

Customer Reviews:

Cost me a good nights sleep.......2005-01-27

While this book is being marketed to young adults, it is an excellent book for all levels. The intensity grabs you from the beginning and keeps the pages turning well into the night. The characters and plot line could be developed a little more, but there is enough for you to get a feeling for the characters in the story.

The excellence of this book is the it leaves you wanting more. I would recommend for every fantasy fan except that need complicated plots and characters. However, this is an excellent bridge book for teens, especially those that enjoy the Harry Potter series. This one is different, but will receive the same reaction from students.

Book Description

Cupcakes have captivated the nation, and Clare Crespo makes them like no one else. In Hey There, Cupcake! 35 Yummy Fun Cupcake Recipes For All Occasions, Crespo bakes up tropme l'oeil cupcakes for every occasion, proving they can look like balls of yarn, fried eggs, or peppermint candies-and taste just as fantastic as they look. Cute, accessible, and colorful, this cookbook contains 35 wildly inventive recipes, including: · Cupcake Burgers: Chocolate and yellow cupcakes sliced and frosted to look like a burger topped with lettuce and tomato on a sesame seed bun. · Cubcakes: Caramel cupcakes frosted to look like koala, panda, and grizzly bears. · Pollination Cupcakes: Honey-flavored cupcakes frosted to look like flowers, topped with candy bees. · Six-Pack Cupcakes: Cola-flavored cupcakes stacked and iced to look like a six-pack of soda. In her acclaimed debut title, The Secret Life of Food, Crespo created recipes that rallied families to approach birthdays, holidays, and picnics with devilish creativity. Enthusiasm for Crespo and her food creations landed the irrepressible author on Today, Good Morning America, and a raft of cable shows, including the Food Network's Extreme Cuisine, Top 5, and Roker on the Road; HGTV's Smart Solutions; and the Style Network's You're Invited. The book also garnered high praise in publications as diverse as Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Newsweek, and the Los Angeles Times Magazine, among others.

Customer Reviews:

Not your grandma's cupcakes...though you might wish they were........2007-05-24

After buying Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World: 75 Dairy-Free Recipes for Cupcakes that Rule, I was inspired and eager to try some new recipes (I'm not vegan, after all!). I was very disappointed with this book; it's very light on recipes, and heavy on elaborate, time-consuming decorations that typically involve ingredients that will either be hard to find in your local grocery stores (so you'll need to buy them through the mail), or are inconvenient (such as all-green Fruit Roll-ups). The emphasis is on using basic cake recipes and dressing them up with lots on processed candies and artificially colored and flavored additions; the resulting combination is a cupcake that looks too good to eat, and tastes like an odd mishmash of the various decorative components used when you do. In spite of the title, this is really not a recipe book, but is more of a funky home-decorator's guide to cupcakes.

Some of these cupcakes are absolutely gorgeous; others seem rather random, or as though the author was running out of ideas in the end (several pages devoted to clock-face cupcakes?). While they may be "kid-friendly" to eat, most will not be kid-friendly to make, given the precision necessary to recreate the elaborate designs. You're also going to need some new tips for your pastry bag to frost a lot of these. A big problem that I had with this book is that the designs are so elaborate that it quickly becomes impractical to make more than a few of them; if you've got a bake sale coming up, or need to make a large batch for a potluck, many of these recipes won't be practical.

Many other reviewers seem to have loved this book, but I found it to be a bit of a disappointment. The author is clearly a very creative person, and I will certainly be trying some of the "recipes" as I expand my cupcake resume'. However, the emphasis on image over flavor and the time-consuming nature of a lot of these will probably keep the book on the shelf more often than on my counter-top. Definitely give this one a test-drive at your local library first.

wow.......2007-01-04

I think I found my new favorite book. I make and sell customized cakes [...] so it is absolutely amazing to see all of these ideas I never would have thought of!

a picture's worth a thosand words.......2006-09-28

I could have made the designs by looking at the pictures.
The print is small,not even standard size type.
Then they do things like green type on green pages.VERY hard to read.
Cindy

Adorable Pics, but Slightly Too Elaborate.......2006-08-21

Excellent cupcake recipes if you bake the simple options, however some of them are SO inventive, I've not heard of many of the ingredients! I'd consider myself somewhat of a novice and perhaps that's why.

Still, the book is ALWAYS mounted in a book holder in my kitchen and turned to different pages every week, displaying the sweet and fun photographs. I'd recommend it just for the pictures alone. Clare Crespo is a masterful baker, indeed. And her photographer did the little cakes quite a lot of justice.

Great Book for Kid friendly cupcakes.......2006-06-29

Great book many good ideas, out grandchildren have enjoyed the variety of cupcakes and enjoy looking through the book and picking out which ones to make.

Average customer rating:

Good potential, but ultimately disappointing

valuable book for parrot owner!

Good information.

African Grey Handbook

Good info!

African Grey Parrot Handbook, The (Barron's Pet Handbooks)
Mattie Sue Athan
Manufacturer: Barron's Educational Series
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Birds | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Pet Supplies | Categories | Home & Garden | Birds | Cats | Dogs | Fish & Aquatic Pets | Insects & Spiders | Reptiles & Amphibians | Small Animals | Other Pets
Pet Supplies (12923371) | Refinements | Home & Garden | Color (color_map) | Flavor (feature_browse-bin) | Food Format (feature_two_browse-bin) | Leash Length (size_browse-bin) | Material (material_browse)
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African Grey Parrots: Everthing About History, Care, Nutrition, Handling, and Behavior (Complete Pet Owner's Manual)

ASIN: 0764109936

Product Description

The African Grey can acquire a larger vocabulary than most other parrot varieties?but with or without speech, it's a favorite companion among bird lovers. Here is detailed advice on nutritious feeding, caging, grooming, disease prevention, and much more. Titles in Barron's popular Pet Handbooks series instruct pet owners on health care, feeding and housing, and other facts important to owners and their pets. All books in this series have high quality, full-color photos, instructive line drawings, and run to an average of approximately 140 pages. Paperback / 144 Pages / 6 1/2 x 7 7/8 / 2000

Customer Reviews:

Good potential, but ultimately disappointing.......2007-09-22

Although this book has the potential to be useful, it is let down by a number of faults. Firstly, the authors do not explain a number of key terms that they use frequently throughout the books - for example, "Step Ups". The book never describes how exactly to perform this exercise with your bird, despite referencing it frequently as important in its own right, and as a solution to behavioral problems.

Linked to this problem, the glossary is nigh on appalling, with such definitions given as (using step-ups as an example again): "Step-up: practice of giving the step-up command with the expectation that the bird will perform the behavior." This tells you nothing of what step-ups actually are!

Other problems include references in the text to other sections which don't exist, or references to items, on the same page, which don't appear at all on the page, or on any adjourning pages.

I also found the authors' style of writing annoying at best, jumping frequently from overly colloquial to overly "scientistic". I use scientistic in the context that it seems the author is attempting to sound scientific, without actually pulling it off - instead, it comes off as cumbersome and pretentious.

I don't have another book to recommend as an alternative, but if you are considering buying this book, please consider these faults before you buy and are possibly disappointed!

valuable book for parrot owner!.......2007-09-10

Together with the other parrot-thematic books from the same author it is the hardware of information I have used. I have an african grey for three years now and at the beginning I made a search for every available information about the topic.

So it happens that this books I liked most as they are easy to understand, easy to read and enjoyable illustrated.

African Grey is a parrot which needs time and you have to keep in mind that he may outlive you by years. So what you teach him now will be remembered in 60years when your children will keep him a company.
It is a responsibility but a nice one:)

Yes, I can recommend to you.

Good information........2007-02-12

Has general good informations, but not sure about some of the writes point of view...

African Grey Handbook.......2005-10-24

This book is great! It deals with ALL aspects of the African Grey - from physical care, to emotional care to socializing with other birds and humans. Through the book I picked up valuable hints and tips which has enabled me to ensure that my Grey is happy, content and playful. I can greatly recommend this book to all. This book will enrich both the novice Grey owner (who still thinks that he is the boss) as well as the seasoned 'pet' of a Grey!

Good info!.......2005-08-28

This book has a lot of good information about the African Grey species!

Average customer rating:

African Grey Parrot Handbook
Deter Athan
Manufacturer: BARRONS (GBS)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K0CIPK

Average customer rating:

don't get a repeat...

Mostly Borders

Another Winner!

AN EXCELLENT TUTORIAL

The Art of Decorative Paper Pricking
Janet Wilson
Manufacturer: Search Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0855328673

Book Description

Janet Wilson shows how to create a stunning series of decorative pictures and cards using Victorian, Celtic and contemporary themes. Combining tracing, paper piercing, embossing, stippling, and cutwork techniques on paper, she shows how to build up borders of flowers and leaves, and how to produce delicately pierced pictures and paper lace.

Customer Reviews:

don't get a repeat..........2002-09-11

I goofed when I ordered this book at the same time that I ordered the Traditional Papercrafts book by the same author. Almost this entire booke, but 8 pages, (4 patterns) is in the second book. If you like paper crafts just get the traditional papercrafts book instead of this one, you get much more for your money. Is also a pain enlarging the patterns. None would have been so large that she couldn't have put the full size pattern in the books. Making something 125% bigger is the pits.

Mostly Borders.......2001-01-15

I recently purchased The Art of Decorative Paper Pricking and whilst it has many borders, I was disappointed that there were very few patterns for pin pricked pictures. I was also disappointed that almost everything had to be enlarged via photocopier/scanner. When I compare this book to others that I have seen I was most disappointed.

Another Winner!.......2000-07-11

I've just received my copy of Janet Wilsons paper pricking book and am absolutely enthralled. I copied a design onto parchment, copied the dots with a white pen and pricked the holes. To my delight the picture was perfect just as she said it would be. I am delighted and would recomend this book to anyone doing any paper craft. It shows you all you need to know and the pictures are very clear, especially to a novice. This book has opened avenues I never thought I would explore!

AN EXCELLENT TUTORIAL.......2000-05-28

THIS BOOK IS VERY THOROUGH. FROM TOOLS TO PATTERNS, YOU WILL HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO GET STARTED. THIS BOOK IS EASY TO UNDERSTAND AND THE EXAMPLES ARE CLEAR. YOU WILL BE AMAZED AT HOW SIMPLE, YET ELEGANT YOUR CREATIONS WILL BE.

Average customer rating:

Art of Decorative Paper Pricking
Janet Wilson
Manufacturer: Unknown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K29FOK

Book Description

To what extent does the advertising industry control what we see on TV? What is the political and cultural environment that provides for the phenomenon of the corporate shaping of the mass media? In this revised and updated second edition of Consumer Culture and TV Programming Robin Andersen addresses these questions, which ultimately intertwine with the very concept of democracy: How can citizens participate in political culture when the information they receive through their mass media is molded by corporate and commercial demands? She discusses and analyzes the impact of the consumer imperative on popular news and TV programs and talk shows, the psychology of consumer culture, the differing narratives of the 1992 presidential election, how representations of the Gulf War resembled advertisements, and the overall escalating commercial imperative of the mass media. Andersen has done a splendid job of accessibly presenting to mass audiences and students a subject of enormous gravity-the steady penetration of marketing and advertising strategies into the very fabric of both news and entertainment television.

Critical Issues in Electronic Media (Suny Series in Film History and Theory)

Average customer rating:

Critical Issues in Electronic Media (Suny Series in Film History and Theory)

Manufacturer: State University of New York Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

History & Criticism | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0791423182

Customer Reviews:

Every unanimity is also a stupidity.......2006-10-25

I'm a brazilian, agronomist and I like to read books.
A brazilian called Nelson Rodrigues, told a great sentence decades ago: "Toda unanimidade é burra".Tranlating this sentence to English we have: "Every unanimity is also a stupidity."
Borning in a very poor and negro family in Texas, Jack Johnson from the first to the last second of his life, was eugenics' victim.
At that times, to protect "The race" was so needed as to protect "The nature" today.Then racism/eugenics was so followed godless religion, as ecology is today.At Jack Johnson's times, to be against racism/eugenics was so terrible, as to be against ecologism today.
In 1910 decade, no other black was so hated as Jack Johnson.Among his foes was Winston Churchill to example.In fact in American presidential election of 1912, all three candidates were rabid eugenicists/racists.
Even showing that Jack Johnson's image was becaming better after Hitler's rise in 1933, this book shows how Johnson's death was after a terrible eugenic/racist prejudice in 1946.
**********************************************************************
On pages 145 and 146 of this book is writen:"When Ed Conkle, the son of a Protestant minister and head of United Press (UPI, caught wind of it, he shouted to his men keep that vice stuff coming in on Johnson and that white girl; "People like to read 'bout what they're doing."
Virginia Brooks and Alice Aldrich of "The Law and Order League" caught the scent too.So did the "chicken-eating" black preachers of Chicago and around the country, who saw Johnson and his antics as their only means of being quoted in the white press as "Negro leaders," upon denouncing him.Which they did almost to a ma, with few and rare execeptions, in public and in front of white folk.
Those who did not openly condemn him for his actions,which they were never sure of, simply condenmed him for his " gross and public indiscretions."
At the same time, the newspapers and the Negro leader-preachers were willing to ignore the fact that Julius Rosenwald, founder of Sears and Roebuck mail and order houses, was called before the Illinois Vice Comission, admiting that he paid some 119 "appentices," fifteen- and sixteen-years-old, $5 a week or less for an eight-hour day, along with some four thousand or more women employees than $8 a week; he was considered not nearly as guilty of the of the crime of "white slavery" as Jack Johnson was.
According to the Vice Comission, since Johnson was not white, and since they did not consider him a "philanthropist" like Rosenwald, therefore, only he and a few others like him could be guilty of committing the act of "white slavery."
********************************************************************
Failure of this book are:
1-About the last decade of Johnson's life this book is weak.
2-The deep hate against Johnson, didn't acme only from Negro-preachers , but also White-preachers and scientists.Almost all american scientist at that times were eugenicists/racists such as to example: Wilbur and Oliver Wright(the Wright Brothers), Charles A. Lindberg and Charles B. Davenport were then famous americans were rabid racists.The american public was following the line of his scientist and religious leaders.Even showing the racist nature of foreigners politics such as Winston Churchill , this book is weak about racism/eugenics of famous american presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt, Taft, Woodrow Wilson,etc.If Jack Johnson died as a convicted criminal, this happended also because of the american politicians of his era.
3-Jack Johnson was a "bible's victim".If so many negro and white preachers, were so terrible against him, this happended because of the bible or at least, because of the interpretation that the protestant/christian preachers gave to the bible.Yes, the preachers were against Johnson, but where's the source of so many hate?The bible , the rich , the powerfull or the "science" of that times?

Compared to other Jack Johnson's biographies, this can't be the best, but this book is good and easy to read.

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THE BIG BLACK FIRE
JaCK Johnson
Manufacturer: HollOWAY HOUSE PUB., CO.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000LPNRJK

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