Love in the Time of War : A Remembering

Book Description

Set against the backdrop of World War II, authentic letters and historical narrative interweave the love story of two people, whose marriage is irrevocably shaped by the harsh realities of a war that makes no exceptions. As H. adjusts to the altered circumstances of her life as a young bride, nurturing their marriage, as well as caring for a small baby, a semi-invalid mother and coping with rationing, shortages, loneliness and sublimated fears, L. trains as a soldier, flying as a navigator in the Troop Carrier Command through seven major campaigns in the European Theatre of War. Meeting the challenges of a war-dominated present - the only time they have to live and love - H. and L. seize the day, and prove their commitment to their country and each other. The letters that sparked this remembering are nestled in the battered cardboard box that has survived twenty-four moves over two continents during the life L. and H. have shared. They have weathered life's cruellest slings and arrows, have done significant work in the world, and have touched and been touched by many lives. Could anyone have foreseen this fruitful journey on October 10th, 1941?

Customer Reviews:

An impressive true story and a really good read.......2003-02-04

Wow! Harriette S. Sherman (H) and her loving and beloved L are amazing, impressive, inspirational people. Abruptly separated by World War II immediately after their marriage (they returned from their honeymoon to find his draft papers waiting), they wrote copious letters back and forth to support each other and to continue their relationship in the only ways they could. They saved the letters, and over 50 years later the author cleaned out their closet, pulled out the box of letters, and decided to arrange them into a book to share their story. I'm so glad she did! The letters and the bits of connecting narrative gave me eye-opening, enthralling insight into some of the personal struggles of the times. Their joint story is not just informative, it's also really good and gripping and tender, and I've loaned my copy out to friends so many times that I got some extras -- one to use as my loaner in case it ever doesn't come back, and a couple to give as gifts. Thank you, H and L, for this terrific book, and also for your steadfast services to the country through this awful war. I admire your strength and courage and perserverence and love.

Love in the Time of War.......2002-03-09

Love in the Time of War,by Harriette S. Sherman, is a beautiful and inspiring book. I found myself laughing and crying as I identified with her through the trials of the war-time separation from her newly-wed husband. The letters and narratives evoke the rhythm of the war both at home and overseas in remarkably vivid language. I want to thank the author for the gift of her courage and generous spirit in sharing this very personal and touching story.

War and Love.......2001-12-14

Love in the Time of War:a Remembering is a beautiful book that centers around the letters written between 1941 and 1945 by two young American newlyweds whose marriage was disrupted by the call of the author's husband to war. Harriette Sherman reminds readers that the successful battlefield struggles of those men who have come to be called "America's greatest generation" were made possible by the wives, mothers, and other family members who held the pieces of daily life together at home. The intimate letters that the author and her young husband exchanged were the only way they stayed "connected" during their forced separations as war raged in Europe. In their honest and straight-forward manner, the letters reveal much about what it was like to be a young bride to start married life alone in the early 1940's. Equally satisfying are the letters sent from the battlefields which tell much about the transformation that every successful soldier must undergo from new recruit to seasoned veteran. The book gives the reader a fine exampleof how love can ripen and mature under the strains of life, even the horrors of war. For history buffs, the book evokes in very clear images what it was like to live through this time and how the battles were fought and won, both at home and overseas. For the generation that is now fighting the war against terrorism, the book offers valuable lessons of hope.

A successful and very inspiring memoir........2001-12-01

It's amazing what one can do with a battered box of old letters! After the gripping first paragraph of the prologue: "I trembled. My whole body seemed to come alive with his first gentle kiss. Twenty-two years old and engaged to another man, I felt a thunderous jolt as L's quiet "I love you" wrenched my life into a 180 degrees turn-about toward a different, unplanned road...," I was hooked and the book became a page-turner. The letters flow so well into each other that they read as a novel and what a love story indeed! Though not just mention of hugs, kisses, and I-love-you's. Their letters, with some detailed added pages by the author where she saw the need for it, give a lot of insight what life was like during those days in the army, and how a young wife, left behind a few weeks after her wedding, not only survived on a meager income (or sometimes no income at all) but managed to save for trips, some 3000 miles away, to be with her husband for a mere one or two days. I reveled along with them in those short moments of happiness.

In their letters they try to be reassuring, but you are aware of the constant fear and tension they had to endure, especially when 'L' is injured in Normandy during his participation in the D-Day landings.

Some of their letters are of special significance to me as I was myself a WW-II victim. After reading the book, I felt the urge to thank 'L', albeit very belatedly, for helping to liberate Holland, where my family and I were about to succumb to malnutrition.

A very memorable and loving memoir!

Saving Letters.......2001-11-29

From 1941 to 1945 Harriette Sherman's married life existed for the most part via the postal system. Although separated by war, she and her new husband communed, joked, loved, and even fought and made some of the toughest decisions of their lives through the most simple medium - pen and paper. A byproduct: Their correspondence not only documented an extraordinary era in an engaging fashion, it also explored the profound nature of love and commitment.

Sherman's epistolary memoir, "Love in the Time of War: A Remembering," astounds with its honesty and its precious details. One feels as though one is peering in on Sherman through the open window of her home, watching her at her desk scrawling the words she will send off to her husband, waiting eagerly with her for his return, or at least for his response. This type of intimacy is a gift. But it is when Sherman connects the text of these letters with the context of her life, revealing her growth and development as an individual and as a partner, that the letters truly sing with life: its joys, sorrows, struggles, and overall, its sustaining love.

Although it is about a period and a war more than half a century ago, reading this book during a new period of devastating warfare, I found an unexpected comfort and perhaps even some courage from this enduring testimony to survival and devotion. I recommend "Love in the Time of War" to young readers (junior high) as well as adults because it engages history in a way that history books rarely can. It tells it from the inside out, from the individual daily lives that make up an era, their innermost feelings and tribulations. Like love itself, something to treasure.

Book Description

Servant of the Lotus Feet: A Hare Krishna Odyssey is the true story of an adolescent's quest for spiritual meaning. Enchanted by the wisdom of the Orient, Sidd drops out of his freshman year of college in the early 1980's to join the Hare Krishnas while visiting Boston. During the course of four years in New England and New York City, Sidd struggles as a fund-raiser for the cult. As an initiated Brahman priest, he gains privilege and responsibility.

Sidd's innocent question posed to the spiritual master in a room of hundreds of curious guests and devoted followers shakes the foundations of the temple walls, engaging the "holy man's" wrath. Disillusioned by the contradictions and deceits perpetrated by the elders of the Indian religious cult, including his and other allegedly "pure" spiritual masters, Sidd gradually backs out of the movement. While visiting his family for a holiday reunion, Sidd is abducted and compelled to review the facts about the religious cult he had embraced.

Customer Reviews:

Unanswered questions for Gabriel Brandis.......2005-07-20

Gabriel Brandis's book is paradoxical - he gives in many ways a very intimate look into the life of a Hare Krishna temple resident in the 80's - the rituals, chanting, temple worship etc. He also portrays accurately the focus of that era on fundraising, and the questionable morality employed by some devotees. He accurately portrays his spiritual master. He fails to tell us enough about his inner struggle with his sexuality, with his comprehension of bhakti-yoga and instead resorts to discredited anti-cult stereotype responses. In addition, referring to a devotee as " Asti Spumanti das " or "Rasta Farian das " is insulting to Hare Krishnas - as is his failure to note that in the 20 years since he left the movement, that the guru excesses have been eliminated, that his spiritual master Bhavananda Goswami is no longer a guru. The Hare Krishna movement is mainly composed of congregational members (like me) who have often never ben in a temple ashram to live. We aren't brainwashed zombies. The saddest indictement of this book is the acquiescence to the abusive and illegal kidnapping that he suffered at the hands of deprogrammers whose triumph in ripping off his neckbeads and getting him to eat chicken is appalling. Hare Krishna's do not need to answer forever for the sins of the few who abused the responsibility that His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada gave them before he died. We are a legitimate spiritual tradition, recognised by Hindus across the globe, committed to inter-faith dialogue, committed to respecting the rights of all people. Gabriel's deprogramming was an act of violence - physical, spiritual and psychological abuse, far worse than he experienced trying to deny his sexuality as a Hare Krishna monk. Gabriel struggled with his own inner demons and felt compelled to leave the ashram - his departure was inevitable, even if the deprogrammers hastened it. Nowadays our movement has thousands of householders, and for those lacking a vocation as a monk, spiritual life and material life can and do co-exist. It is a pity Gabriel didn't research that, because his book is caught in a counter-culture time-warp.

Good insights into the lives of Krishna devotees.......2005-01-31

Apart from a few editorial glitches, this is a well-written book that takes the reader right inside the experience of being a Hare Krishna devotee. The strange manner of their dress and unfamiliar customs to Westerners may make them seem much more alien than they actually are. In fact, I recognized much of what Brandis went through, because I was once myself a member of a high-demand group, and even though the doctrines were very different between the two groups, the lifestyles were strikingly similar. I was a member of the Unification Church (the 'Moonies'), so it was amusing to read at one point what Brandis, who was then hawking wares for the Krishnas, thought of a Moonie whom he encountered who turned out to be engaged in a similar activity. He recognized him at once as "spaced out" and brainwashed, but failed to notice the strong parallels with his own situation. Eventually, Brandis burned out on the devotee lifestyle, as many cult members eventually do, and with the help of his mother, who engaged deprogrammers to speed his exit, he was able to make his escape.

Dream-like reflections on a counterculture.......2005-01-24

Like any book dealing with experiences in a counterculture, Gabriel Brandis' book Servant of the Lotus Feet is worth reading to gain insight into a way of life so out of the ordinary and otherwise concealed to the general public. However, to my personal perception as an ex-Hare Krishna sympathizer, for a book examining the community from an ex-members' point of view, the book comes along oddly uncritical and un-distanced, without suggesting any process of detachment, which, for a four years membership within the movement, certainly must have been long, painful and complicated. On the last pages, Servant suddenly comes up with some rationalist analysis on mind-control, probably a result of some hastily-undergone process of de-programming, which contrasts drastically with the book's overall sentimental style. Great parts of the book are written in a narrative style which either shows that the author might not have really dealt with his cult experience or reflects it in some dream-like, hallucinatory way. The book's greatest plus is its strikingly detail-rich description of Hare Krishna rules, behaviours and prayers, thus catching well what being a Hare Krishna feels like.

Average customer rating:

not for beginners

Cute and useful

Disappointed by the line art

I did a headstand today!!!

Great for Beginners

OM Yoga: A Guide to Daily Practice
Cyndi Lee
Manufacturer: Chronicle Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound

General | Exercise & Fitness | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Yoga | Exercise & Fitness | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Hatha Yoga | Hinduism | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

OM Yoga Today: Your Yoga Practice In 5, 15, 30, 60, And 90 Minutes

Yoga Body, Buddha Mind

Ashtanga Yoga: The Practice Manual: An Illustrated Guide to Personal Practice

Yoga Mind And Body (DK Living)

Jivamukti Yoga: Practices for Liberating Body and Soul

Accessories:

Tanita BC533 Glass Innerscan Body Composition Monitor

ASIN: 0811835138

Book Description

Too busy to attend yoga class but can't be bothered to read the endless instructions in the latest yoga book? In OM Yoga: A Daily Practice, celebrated yoga instructor Cyndi Lee brings the rigors and reqards of yoga class to the home with a totally unique method of teaching. Instead of wordy directiosn and minimal pictures, each series of asanas is communicated entirely through easy-to-follow illustrations and tips. Designed in a practical, concealed Wire-O format that lays flat on the floor while being used, OM Yoga is organized in tabbed sections for each day of the week. Monday is devoted to the Sun Salutation to welcome the week's start. Thursday's practice focusses on sitting poses, when the week's energy is dwindling. When joined together, each day's recipe cultivates a yoga practice that is challenging, energizing, and restorative. Including sections on meditation, breathing, and do-it-yourself yoga "recipes" for all levels, OM Yoga: A Guide to Daily Practice creates the possibility for a meaningful yoga practice in the privacy of the home.

Customer Reviews:

not for beginners.......2006-05-25

if you're a beginning yogi without any proper instructions beforehand, this books is not going to be helpful.
if you already know the proper way to do poses then it's a great addition.
i'm not blaming the book. a book is not the best way to teach yourself yoga.

but the pictures are surprisingly helpful and the instructions are straightforward.

Cute and useful.......2006-05-24

I like this book in part because of the cute illustrations instead of real photos. Besides, there are captions in case you get confused. I try to "study" the lesson before doing it so that the flow doesn't get disturbed but i still have to refer back to the book. I guess that's true with any book - it isn't as easy as being in class and having someone verbally tell you what to do. I'm guessing it will get easier with practice. I would not recommend this book to a complete beginner as there are complicated inversions that I believe would require some supervision and mentoring in person. Also, it's easier to figure this stuff out if you've done it before. I'd suggest this if you've had a few months of yoga class and want some guidance to keep you at it. I was trying to keep doing yoga after I left my job with workplace yoga, but it wasn't as nice and flowing as a class. This book really motivates me to do yoga each day since there's a session for each day of the week - in binder/tab format.
Also, I made the mistake of buying it for $20 at the store - gee it's only $8 here!

Disappointed by the line art.......2005-09-21

We all know that Cyndi Lee is a guru in the industry. So, I was very disappointed that she chose not to use actual photos to depict poses and correct postures, but rather line art.

I did a headstand today!!!.......2005-01-29

I would consider myself a dabbler in yoga. I have never taken a formal class, but I have followed along with yoga shows on tv and really enjoyed the results.

Lee's book gives you the variety of a television show (7 different workouts, one for each day of the week) PLUS you don't have to tune in at the right time or remember to record it. Just grab the book and your mat when you have time! I actually look forward to my yoga practice every day - something I could never say about aerobics!

The book is beautiful in its simplicity - not a bunch of words to bog you down. You only need to spend a few minutes reading before you can start your practice. You'll start feeling stronger within a week and you'll be doing headstands before you know it!

Great for Beginners.......2003-09-25

I bought this book while deployed in Kosovo and I absolutely love it. The spiral binding makes it easy to look at while performing the exercises and the tabbed sections make for quick reference. I had never done Yoga before and this book really made it easy. I'm still not perfect at some of the exercises, but even though I sometimes stumble while trying some of the balancing poses, I still am able to laugh at myself and realize it's going to take work and dedication to become proficient at it. This book makes Yoga fun and uplifting. Don't hesitate to try it!

Average customer rating:

Om Yoga: A Guide to Daily Practice
Cyndi Lee
Manufacturer: Chronicle Books Llc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000K2GFQG

Average customer rating:

Om Yoga: A Guide to Daily Practice
Cyndi Lee
Manufacturer: CHRONICLE BOOKS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000WTK6UI

Average customer rating:

Great Italian Cookbook!

Trip down memory lane

Real Italian recipies

Just Like Mama Julia Made

DISAPPOINTED!

Preserving Our Italian Heritage
Sons of Italy Florida Foundation , and Florida Foundation
Manufacturer: Wimmer Cookbooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Plastic Comb

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Italian | European | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Cucina Classica: Maintaining a Tradition

The Sicilian Gentleman's Cookbook

Sicilian Feasts

Celebrating Italy: Tastes & Traditions of Italy as Revealed Through Its Feasts, Festivals & Sumptuous Foods, The

La Cucina Siciliana di Gangivecchio: Gangivecchio's Sicilian Kitchen

ASIN: 096293030X

Customer Reviews:

Great Italian Cookbook!.......2007-01-09

I lost this cookbook during a divorce recently and just HAD to buy another one to replace it. It is a collection of wonderful authentic Italian recipes compiled by a community of wonderful authentic Italian cooks.

Trip down memory lane.......2005-08-23

I nearly wept the first time that I read through this cookbook. So many of the dishes were variations on meals--and treats--that my Italian-American great-aunt and grandmother had cooked for me as a child. Admittedly, few of the recipes are especially sophisticated (Italian home cooking tends to rely on good ingredients and simple preparations rather than on special techniques), and nearly all require some tweaking to taste. But for the experienced home cook, they are a gold mine of memories and inspirations from the first and second generations after the immigration boom.

Real Italian recipies.......2001-12-24

These are great authentic Italian recipies. Some are straight from Italy, some are recipies made after people immigrated here using what was available. I'm Sicilian, and I grew up with homestyle Italian cooking, and this is it.

I don't know how the person who was disappointed with it could claim it wasn't "authentic". Maybe they were comparing it to restaurant food. Well, Italian restaurants are like Chinese restaurants in what they cook for the customers is usually much different than what they would cook at home. So, maybe the misconception stems from there.

Trust me. It's authentic. The only better book I've seen is The Sicilian Gentleman's Cookbook (of course, being Sicilian I'm biased) which I believe is out of print. My Scottish-German wife now cooks like my grandma used to :-)

This book reminds me of an Italian version of The Joy of Cooking. Straightforward recipies from Nona's kitchen. No frills, just good eats.

Just Like Mama Julia Made.......2001-11-15

This book brings back wonderful memories for me! I was fortunate enough to grow up two doors away from an Italian lady, Julia, who made wonderful homemade pasta dishes. She made huge family meals and would share the leftovers with my family! I have been a lover of Italian food ever since. I don't live near Julia anymore, so she suggested that I buy this book and make my own Italian meals. I am happy to report that the recipes are simple, delicious and reminiscent of the Italian cooking I grew up with. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves authentic Italian food.

DISAPPOINTED!.......2001-10-31

My Italian recipes have been supplied by older Italian immigrants and have been just wonderful. After I read the reviews of this book, I thought I'd actually gain more in enjoyable Italian cooking. I was wrong...this book was a great disappointment to me. My business is baking, I own a wholesale commercial bakery and supply local establishments, and I'm a really terrific chef...making REAL Mexican, Italian and Greek foods for my husband, but this book didn't live up to the reviews. I've better recipes in my own stash than supplied in this book. I'm sorry I wasted the money on it.

Average customer rating:

Long awaited fingerweaving book

A Manual of Fingerweaving
Robert J. Austin
Manufacturer: Book Publishing Company (TN)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Needlework | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Weaving | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Finger Weaving: Indian Braiding

Card Weaving

Weaving Without a Loom

Beginner's Guide to Braiding: The craft of Kumihimo (Beginner's Guide to Series)

Fingerweaving Basics

ASIN: 192957200X

Book Description

This book describes the methods and rules necessary to create beautiful fingerwoven articles in various traditional patterns. Covers the lightning, chevron, arrowhead and diamond patterns, as well as sections on sash variations, twilling and beading, borders, interface, weaving, applique, and fringe. Includes color photos and illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

Long awaited fingerweaving book.......2000-10-05

The long wait for new material on Indian fingerweaving has finally paid off. This manual not only picks up where Alta Turner's Indian Fingerweaving left off, but pretty much covers everything she wrote some 20 yrs ago (save for the peruvian braiding). This manual is great for the beginners as well as more advanced weaver who want to pick up a few tips and tricks to create beautiful warp face and oblique woven sashes. Color plates and bountiful instruction are presented in the lessons and as well for those who are interested in learning the selvedge edge methods. There are many color plates as well as illustrations to help with comprehension. In the back you will find a slew of old b&w pics of the old-time pow wow straight dancers in their regalia and sashes. It features a color plate of the earliest extant example of warp face weaving from the late 18th century, not to mention all the other awe inspiring beauties! It doesn't just stop at weaving it includes instructions on how to weave in the tiny white beads (as opposed to sewing them in), beading the fringes, and the twisting and braiding of the fringe itself.. This is the perfect book that both modern style and historical style weavers will not want to miss.

Average customer rating:
The boxwood at Stratford Hall
Archibald Gray Smith
Manufacturer: Robert E. Lee Memorial Foundation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006BO5IQ

Average customer rating:
The Boxwood St Stratford Hall
A.G., Jr Smith
Manufacturer: Virginia: The Robert E. Lee Memorial Foundation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PFHQ2A

Book Description

Put everything in its place-with God at the center.

A guide to conquering clutter at home, on the job, and with the kids, this book is full of tips to help make way for the things in life that really matter. It has room-by-room instructions, advice on organizing receipts, policies, and insurance information to make sure your family finances are in order-and simple, helpful suggestions for creating a serene environment that cuts down on the stress and soothes the soul.

Customer Reviews:

gabba gabba hey.......2007-01-07

Great read on the Ramones. Very few good books out there this is one.

Jason's Review.......2006-02-10

I loved this book. The Ramones are my favorite band. It was full of facts I didn't even know about the Ramones. So I really liked this book.
This book is full of Ramones facts. It tells you about their albums, band members, and everything important that happened to them! It tells you of moments like when they were fighting, when they got along, why some people left the Ramones and how some people got kicked out. Some things I didn't know before I read this book is that Joey Ramone teamed up and did a duet with Deborah Harry from Blondie. I also learned C.J., Richie, and Elvis Ramones real names.
I think someone who would like this book is a Ramone's fan. Someone who really likes the Ramones. Because it's about the Ramones.

The Good, The Bad, and the Bessman Book..........2005-01-21

I have to say, Jim Bessman did a pretty good amount of research to get some of the information in this book. But the data does not compare to all the stuff featured in the book "Hey Ho, Let's Go: Story of The Ramones", but it doens't fall flat all together.

I originally got this is in mid 2003, but didn't take up reading it until late 2003. Anyways, it does have a fare amount of info- the only Ramones book to talk about the hidden demo "Succubus". And since it was the first Ramones book I read, I learned that the show Marky missed in 83' do to being drunk, was actually at my hometown- Virginia Beach, VA. Though other books said it, this was the first of my hearing of it.

Bessman goes over all the usual subjects- forming of the band, band members, and etc. He does include a nice array of hard to find, or only found in this book pictures. He includes lyrics from songs and such, but ironically, he lost most of the money he made from this book because he included the lyrics with getting permission! (Nice one Jim) And unlike a few other Ramones books, he goes over the short (2 show) lived band member-Elvis Ramone, AKA- Clem Burke from Blondie. Though, he doesn't cover to much of Richie, or the pre-Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, Tommy grouping- Richi. But if you read Dee Dee's autobiography, he explains some about Richi, and the "Hey Ho Let's Go" book mentions him to.

After reading all English written Ramones books, I've classified them all as "Band Related"- mainly diving into what went on between everyone as time's went by, "Media Related"- primarily focused on what happened around the band before it came about, while they were together, and what they influenced in this world; also tapping in on record sales, videos made, and such. And finally: "Mixed"- these are the best types of Ramones books, including the inside of the band and the outside.

I classify "Ramones: An American Band" as "Media Related", but close to "Mixed". It tells of the band's upbringings and such, but focuses more on the songs themselve than the creaters.

In relation to this book, I recommend "On the Road With The Ramone"- really great mixed book. Provides more inside info than I've seen any other book about The Ramones have. Plus, a vast collection of photos. Also, "Hey Ho, Let's Go: Story of The Ramones" was very well documented.

Though, to finish this up, I have to say that Bessman released this a bit early- making it seem as though The Ramones would have kept touring at least another 10 or so years. But, they broke up about 4 years after this books publishing.

Thanks for reading and have a nice day,

Mikey.

Fannish & dated but still worthwhile.......2005-01-17

Bessman wrote this book in collaboration with all of the Ramones while they were still alive. Because of the Ramones close involvement, it predictably skirts some sticky issues -- like Joey losing his girlfriend to Johnny and Dee Dee's teenage hustling -- but tackles others head-on, like Dee Dee's substance abuse. It does come off as fannish; there are a lot of sentences that end with exclamation marks!

While not as great as the other documents of the 70's New York punk scene -- Heylin's "From the Velvets to the Voidoids" or Kozak's "This ain't no disco" or especially McNeil's "Please kill me" -- this does have a lot of information about the Ramones that is missing from the aforementioned books. However, the better and more up-to-date book is Porter's "Ramones: the complete twisted history."

the american band.......2004-03-20

Book Title: Ramones an American Band
Author: Jim Bessman

Have you ever heard the song Rock n' Roll Radio? Do you know who wrote it? The Ramones, the band that everyone thought was a joke has lasted almost twenty years. This book is about an American band that started a new era of music.
Jim Bessman wrote the book with the Ramones and describes how a couple of kids from New York began playing a kind of music no one had ever heard. The critics either loved or hated the Ramones, but they developed a strong fan following. There were bands that played similar music but not with the fast tempo or chainsaw guitar licks. The lyrics were rough and told about hard times and struggles in New York.
The band started in 1976 with four rough looking characters dressed in ripped jeans and leather jackets. The first concert was played at CBGB, short for Country, Bluegrass and Blues. Their style of music was far from what those fans were used to hearing.

They're formin' a straight line.
They're goin' through a tight wind.
The kids are losing their minds.
The blitzkrieg bop.

That was one of the songs that change punk rock forever. Some even think it was the best song the Ramones had ever written. It wasn't always easy for the band. Some critics hated them and album sales were low, but they never strayed far from their original style.
The book was very well written. I learned a lot about the history of the band and a lot of songs that I haven't heard. You never really know how a song is thought of until you read it on paper and hear the story behind it. That's exactly what this book achieved.
You don't have to be a Ramones fan to read this book, but you might be when you finish it.

Customer Reviews:

Take Care of Josette, a book to fill your heart with emotion.......2005-02-02

My grandmother actually wrote this book, when i was just a baby, back in 1981. So i guess i am a little partial to loving this book. BUt it is a true story about how a young girl, at the age of 14 was brutally uprooted from her life in Epinal France. her parents were taken to concentration camps by the gestapo right in front of her, and left her standing on the road. This story is about her journey to keep her 4 year old sister safe, as they traveled and hid as hidden children to keep themselves alive. There is something different about reading a book, a story, that is 100% true and about someones life. I recommend everyone to read this story, for it shows you how strong one young woman can be. It is a very sad story, and no matter how many time i read it, i end up crying. I can't imagine the pain these people went through during WW2, but it inspires to see someone related to me with so much strength and courage. Please read and enjoy this book. My grandmother is no longer alive and i would love to share her story for her. thank you!

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books