Book Description
Micah Jenkins, a product of the Edisto Island plantation culture, developed into one of the outstanding regimental and brigade commanders in Lee's Confederate army. Jenkins took part in the action at First Manassas, Williamsburg, and Seven Pines, commanding the Palmetto Sharpshooters in the Seven Days' battle. After the Battle of Chickamauga, Jenkins's brigade arrived in Georgia, where Jenkins commanded Hood's division and then resumed command of his South Carolina Brigade. He later returned to Virginia, where he was tragically slain by friendly fire in the Battle of the Wilderness. In Prince of Edisto, Swisher presents a picture of this brave, intelligent leader, whose skills have often been overlooked. Using contemporary writings alongside Jenkins's letters, Swisher shows a range of events and well-researched material.
Average customer rating:
- Goodbye Jumbo a Funny, Sad, and Inspiring Book
- This is a great book about all types of additions
- Excellent, Entertaining, & Eating too
- Wonderful, sad, emotional
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Goodbye Jumbo...Hello Cruel World
Louie Anderson
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0670837660 |
Customer Reviews:
Goodbye Jumbo a Funny, Sad, and Inspiring Book.......2004-07-29
Louie Anderson continues to battle the demons of his dysfunctional upbringing in this second of his three books. In his first book, Dear Dad, Louie focused on his abusive father's alcoholism and the impact it has had on the comedian's life and overall psychological well being. In this book, he tries to come to grips with his own obesity and the negative impact it has had on his life. He largely attributes it to his father's alcoholism and the lack of love he received as a child. Anderson's reflections are often laugh out loud funny. Yet, throughout the book, there is an overall sense of pain. As somebody who grew up battling obesity (I eventually lost 150 lbs), I can understand the psychological abuse that fat people receive on a daily basis. They are insulted, ridiculed, and treated like outcasts. This leaves the victim feeling angry, bitter, and very lonely. He or she turns to food to ease the pain, which only makes the problem worse. For anybody who has battled obesity, this book will be very therapeutic. If you've never had a weight problem, this book will no doubt give you more compassion for those who have. The 250 page book is an easy, quick read and is very inspiring.
This is a great book about all types of additions.......1998-11-21
Louie Anderson once again brings the struggles of his life to print, and opens up his heart and soul. I found this book even better than his first. I hope he decides to keep writing, he is very talented at bringing the reader into his situation.
Excellent, Entertaining, & Eating too.......1998-07-10
Funny and poignant, from Anderson's heart and stomach are a guide to life, coping, eating, love, comedy, and performing. Also manages to be downright hilarious with straight-ahead stand-up comedy. Somehow it all works. And very nicely, too. Inspired and inspiring.
Wonderful, sad, emotional.......1998-04-16
Louie Anderson does a wonderful job of revealing the true self. Especially the dialogue where he becomes Jumbo the elephant. He never mentioned a Love interest (human, not food) who could be support he so needed during these transitions he struggled with, the treadmill, death of his mom, selling the home, etc. Louie remains a real human, down to earth, complete with dysfunctional family. It was difficult to see him as the superstar wealthy comedian image we see. Whether it is food or some other controlling addiction, low self-esteem, children of alcoholics, pained school years, many can relate to his struggle. A good book by a funny man!
Book Description
Deputy Chief Coleman has taken a basic, no-nonsense approach toward helping you understand and implement the incident command system in a methodical and effective way, beginning with an introduction to the system and an explanation of command operations. Staging and sectors are discussed to ensure that adequate personnel are available to command and arrive at the scene in an organized manner. Mission statements are covered to help explain the responsibilities of the various fireground sectors and the integration of "command" into their operations.
Customer Reviews:
easy reading.......2007-09-01
this book offers good advice to the newly appointed fire officers/acting officers for fire incident managment.
one of the best.......2007-07-13
This book is helpful in every way. The writing is clear and information is realitive to day to day work.
Incident Management for the Street-Smart Fire Officer.......2000-05-14
A very good book but Mr. Coleman relates a little too much about his department (Toledo Fire Department)when providing examples. I understand that's the way they do it in Toledo, but in other areas of the country things operate differently.
Amazon.com
In Nightly Specials Michael Lomonaco, former chef at Manhattan's Windows on the World and Le Cirque, offers 125 easy dishes--food for everyday enjoyment. Avoiding complication and fussy invention, Lomonaco focuses principally on old favorites, like Maryland-Style Crab Cakes and Chicken Pot Pie, to which he often gives a satisfying twist. (His meatloaf, for example, contains pecorino cheese, tomatoes, and oregano.) Included also are "original dishes" like Hacked Chile Lobster, Corn Cakes with Smoked Salmon, and Beef and Porter Stew, also uncomplicated to prepare. The Lomonaco approach extends to tempting desserts like Triple Berry and Pecan Crunch Pie, Silky Coconut Flan, and a particularly good flourless chocolate cake. Recipe variations called Nightly Specials--you can, for example, exchange grilled chicken breast for the roast beef in a hash with mushrooms--round out this very attractive collection. All the dishes celebrate an improvisatory spirit that leads cooks to create menus based on what's freshest in the market--your own nightly specials. --Arthur Boehm
Book Description
Have you ever wondered why restaurants have nightly specials? There are many reasons, actually, but they all have one thing in common: spontaneity. Nightly specials are a way to cook with seasonal fruits and vegetables, the catch of the day, unexpected leftovers, and spur-of-the-moment market finds. They are also a way for chefs to experiment with exciting new ingredients, develop their own signature dishes, and road-test new ideas that may eventually become regular menu features.
If these reasons sound familiar, that's because they all apply to home cooks as well.
Because there's no set menu in a home kitchen, every dinner is a nightly special. But all too often, home cooks find themselves in a rut, recycling the same meals week after week. Nightly Specials shows home cooks how restaurant and home cooking can meet. Acclaimed New York chef and host of the Travel Channel's
Epicurious, Michael Lomonaco, along with award-winning food writer Andrew Friedman, offer up 125 recipes that use fresh and spontaneous ingredients to create innovative starters, salads, entrees, sides, and desserts. All the recipes are simple, loosely improvised dishes that will inspire home cooks to be flexible and remain open to each day's culinary possibilities. Best of all they can be selected at the last minute and cooked successfully in relatively little time.
No matter what the season or occasion, you'll find the perfect recipe in Nightly Specials. Toss together salads like Cool Roasted Beets with Mint or Mango and Red Onion Salad with Basil Vinaigrette. Warm up with a bowl of Curried Pea Soup with Frizzled Ginger or Moroccan Lamb Stew. Main courses include everything from quick-comforting favorites such as Supermarket Mushroom Risotto to show-stoppers such as Hacked Chile Lobster and Boneless Roast Leg of Lamb with Feta Cheese, Olives, and Eggplant. Desserts range from holiday classics such as Pear-Cranberry Upside-Down Cake to peak-of-the-summer favorites such as Plum and Peach Cobbler and indulgences such as Baked Alaska with Coconut Sorbet and Chocolate Ice Cream and Chocolate Truffles.
Customer Reviews:
The spirit and themes of a restaurant's special dishes.......2005-02-13
Executive chef and host of "Epicurious" on the Travel Channel Michael Lomonaco collaborates with veteran cookbook writer Andrew Friedman to present Nightly Specials: 125 Recipes For Spontaneous, Creative Cooking At Home, a cookbook celebrating the spirit and themes of a restaurant's special dishes: to take advantage of the catch of the day, or the time when certain fruits and vegetables are in season; to experiment with new ideas that may become menu staples; to enhance culinary creativity; and much more. Full-color photographs illustrate such vibrant dishes as Linguine with Manila Clams and Spicy Sauce; Maryland-Style Crab Cakes; The Best Fries You've Ever Made!; Gingered Green Beans, and a great many others. More than just a cookbook, Nightly Specials is a gateway to inspiration and imagination for any personal professional chef interested in trying something new.
Very Good Book for Frequent Cook. Lots of Variety.......2004-12-07
`Nightly Specials' is written by Michael Lomonaco with an assist by ace New York City celebrity chef co-writer Andrew Friedman and with photographs by the Rothstein husband and wife team who also did Eric Ripert's `Return to Cooking' opus. Michael Lomonaco was the head chef at the Windows on the World recipe on September 9, 2001. By pure chance, he was not in the World Trade Center when the terrorist attacks occurred.
The premise of this book is clear made clear in the title, as it focuses on the restaurant chef's practice of constructing daily specials from either what is especially good in the market today or ingredients which may be left over from a dish yesterday which did not move as well as expected. While this is a great lesson for home cooks, Lomonaco cannot take a lot of credit for revealing and elaborating on this practice, as Tom Colicchio did it brilliantly in his first book, `How to Think Like a Chef'. Colicchio's book did not impress me greatly when I first read it, but constant repetition of this principle by countless other chefs have revealed exactly how important this technique is to the professional chef. And, as my skill in cooking grows, I find myself going more and more to this way of thinking in deciding what to make for dinner today.
Almost all celebrity chef books strive to either present the very best techniques from their fine dining restaurant or make a genuine attempt to adapt their favorite home and restaurant recipes to the skills and budget of a home kitchen. The very best of the first type are, for example, `The French Laundry Cookbook' by Keller and Ruhlman and `Tru' by Rick Tramonto. These books make no pretense that you will be able to duplicate their dishes. The purpose of these books is to show you how it is done in first class restaurants and possibly give you some ideas in general for improving home cooking. This is not to say that none of these recipes are possible at home, it is just that the author does nothing to simplify them, and makes no apologies for that fact. The very best of the second type of book are, for example, `Wolfgang Puck Makes it Easy' and `Charlie Trotter Cooks at Home'.
Lomonaco's book is much closer to the second type than to the first, as he is teaching a common professional practice to the amateur cook with recipes they should have no difficulty in doing in the home kitchen. Lomonaco adds to the utility of the book to the home chef by providing several recipes for `Snacks, Sandwiches, and Pizzas'. This seems to be a trend, as Wolfgang's new book does exactly the same thing.
When I was an information systems professional and just as much an inveterate book buyer as I am now, I would consider a $50 book on a programming language, database system, or design technique worth the cost if it had but a single technique capable of improving what I did in some systematic way. My attitude towards cookbooks is very similar in that all it takes to turn my opinion from `ho hum' to `oh boy' is one unfamiliar and interesting recipe which is easy to make, yet can make a big impression on fellow diners. Recipes for risotto or polenta or spaghetti or ceviche or braises or chowders or roast chicken or gratins or pizzas or paellas or even sandwiches really don't make a big impression, as I have whole books devoted to each of these subjects. In some cases, I have a whole shelf of books which covers the subject. So, what can chef Michael tell me which is new under my personal sun. As I am a sucker for both new cookware and for squid recipes, the thing which caught my eye was a squid casserole in a Spanish cazuela, a low porcelain dish with a strong family resemblance to a Tart Tatin pan, except that it's sides seem to be a bit lower.
So what about this book will turn on those of you who do not have 300 cookbooks? First, the chapters cover the full range of dishes from salads, soups, and sandwiches to shellfish, fin fish, birds, and beasts and berry desserts. So, this book touches all the bases, with lots of stops at traditional stations with recipes for all those risottos, polentas, and pastas I cited above. Then, there are the variations Lomonaco gives to each of his 125 recipes, so that, in practice, the author is really giving suggestions for up to three times this many dishes. So, if you find one you like, you get two or three ways of changing it around to fit the market or your pantry on any particular day.
My hunch is that this aspect of the book will be more valuable to a home cook who cooks often, at least three times a week, but who still does not have an extensive cookbook library. I cite experienced cooks because the `Nightly Special' variations given by chef Lomonaco do not say a lot about how much of the substitute ingredient to use, so there is some danger of overdoing it. And, as Mario Batali reminded me last night on his Christmas special, it's all about the balance of ingredients.
Another aspect of the book's offering is that it offers substitutions for ingredients that may not appeal to everyone. If, by chance, you happen to dislike scallops, yet you like shrimp, the book will tell you how to make the dish with both. This is how the book will be valuable to the occasional cook. While I have not read Pam Anderson's book, I suggest Lomonaco's volume would be a great companion to `How to Cook Without a Book'.
Recommended professional recipes and a big lesson in the use of the pantry for the home cook.
Go To Nightly Cookbook for Special Food!.......2004-11-09
Many great restaurants have their wait staff announce when taking orders: "Tonight's special are ....." I'm one of those that attentively listens and asks questions and frequently orders from specials.
Turns out my thinking is like Lomonoco's: this is where chef's creativity is being experimented with, usually to highlight an ingredient just found, or use up ingredients that are around, or to try something new to see how it catches on before making it on permanent menu.
He believes this nightly special concept is an important intersection for the home chef, since the restaurant chef has little time to get too exotic with the line chefs and must provide clear and not-too-detailed steps to get these specials out.
Here in this creative and sizeable collection Lomonaco of TV fame (FoodNetwork and Epicurious) and 21 Club and Windows on World has had background and experience to let his imagination and zest for food to be displayed in over 125 "spontaneous and creative" recipes for the home chef.
They are nicely broken into usable groupings, i.e. soups, salads, fish, beef, etc. What is nice and usable is the concept being adapted by lots of wonderful chefs such as Ming Tsau and others is that of basic recipe with tradeoffs and substitutions of both ingredients and techniques. These options make it superb for home chef who wants to do more with food than simply micro or heat up in pan, but wants to minimize labor over stove and prep area. These still take some time to prepare and only addition would have been nice is estimates provided of prep time and baking/cooking time.
What is provided are creative, scrumptuous food that we have come to expect and appreciate from Lomonaco: "Roasted Summer Vegetables with Blue Cheese"; "Open Faced Swordfish Portobello, and Pancetta Club"; "Alpine Baked Pasta"; "Toasted Barley and Butternut Squash"; "Ceviche of Bay Scallops and Blood Oranges"; "Pan Roasted Halibut with Asparagus, Fava Beans, and Thyme Broth" (here is example of his options: not wild about fava beans, substituted french green beans with great results); "Grilled Whitefish Salad with Yellow Tomato and Tarragon Vinaigrette"; "Grilled Pork Chops with Coffee Barbecue Sauce"; "Triple Berry And Pecan Crunch Pie."
A beaut that many will not find if they are not familiar with this exceptional chef, who has a flair and energy for great food which certainly has caught my menus. I have stacks of his recipes from TV and now am delighted to have this sizeable, beautiful collection with nice size and great color photos.
Book Description
Remember life with a newborn, tripping over toddlers' toys, surviving car trips, being a soccer (and baseball and basketball) mom. Anyone who is a parent, has parents, or had parents will chuckle in recognition at the situations Paula Schmitt describes in "Living in a Locker Room: A Mom's Tale of Survival in a Houseful of Boys". Although Paula is telling it like it is - and was- in her own family, other mothers (and fathers, and grandparents, and older children…) will find bits and pieces of their lives aptly described in the day-to-day events she chronicles.
Customer Reviews:
Mediocre... you will get some smiles but no out-loud laughs.......2007-07-10
As a mom of three boys and after seeing the reviews I was really excited to read this book. But I was disappointed. It's not that the book was flat out bad, but the writing style was VERY simple and elementary. While reading the book I got a few smiles, but no out loud laughs. The sense of humor through out the book was very clean and lacked good wit and humor. The humorous comments seemed forced and the author tried too hard to sound funny. Not to sound harsh -- but comments that were meant to be humors basically sounded like lame jokes. If you like clean, elementary humor, that could be sold in a church book store then you may very well like this book. However if you are looking for a great laugh out loud book with hilarious wit and humor try one of the following books:
1. What's the Matter With Mommy?: Rantings of a Reluctant Stay-at-home Mom
2. The Perfect Stranger: The Truth About Mothers and Nannies
SOOO Funny, I read it to my son and he loved it!.......2007-03-06
I intended to read this book after the kids went to bed, but my eight-year-old son was struck by the title, figured out it was about sports, and I ended up reading it out loud to my little guy. We thoroughly enjoyed it, laughed page to page, and if I had been allowed to read this one my own would have enjoyed it just as much.
Paula Schmitt captures the exasperating notion of raising boys and fully plays up the potential for hilarity of having, feeding, clothing and finally simply enjoying children.
This book is a happy journey on Highway Mommy. It stays on my nighstand.
Mom writes while boys thrive.......2006-05-21
Rebeccasreads recommends LIVING IN A LOCKER ROOM as a fast, light & funny book of reportage from a writing Mom.
From the delivery room of her first son & initiation into the post-birth hospital farce -- complete with leaking bosom & "notes to self" -- to the joys of changing diapers -- complete with a Warholian description thereof -- to her first child's milestones complete with hopeful sappiness until... along comes Boy #2 & this Mom's getting the hang of it until... along comes Boy#3. Now she has a season ticket to the pediatrician & grocery shopping resembles Dante's Inferno... until -- yup! -- along comes Boy #4.
This All Sport Mom touches on most everything including testosterone, estrogen, PMS, potty training, sports & much, much more goings on in this madcap household.
Read it & weep tears of terror & humor, then give it to everyone you know who's expecting for the first time... or the second... or the third...
Living with four boys -- Oh My!.......2005-07-12
As a mother of two very active little boys, I can't even imagine what it would be like to raise FOUR of these testosterone producing beings. Fortunately, this book gives me great insight and some great laughs, too. Thanks for sharing!
don't buy this book!!!.......2005-07-03
I've never read such drivel! How did this book get published? It's sarcastic and not at all funny and the typos would make your head spin. Save yourself the money!
Book Description
With Hit Me, Fred, sensational sideman Fred Wesley Jr. moves front and center to tell his life story. A legendary funk, soul, and jazz musician, Wesley is best known for his work in the late sixties and early seventies with James Brown and as the leader of Brown’s band, Fred Wesley and the JB’s. Having been the band’s music director, arranger, trombone player, and frequent composer, Wesley is one of the original architects of funk music. He describes what it was like working for the Godfather of Soul, revealing the struggle and sometimes stringent discipline behind Brown’s tight, raucous tunes. After leaving Brown and the JB’s, Wesley arranged the horn sections for Parliament, Funkadelic, and Bootsy’s Rubber Band, and led Fred Wesley and the Horny Horns. Adding his signature horn arrangements to the P-Funk mix, Wesley made funk music even funkier.
Wesley’s distinctive sound reverberates through rap and hip-hop music today. In Hit Me, Fred, he recalls the many musicians whose influence he absorbed, beginning with his grandmother and father—both music teachers—and including mentors in his southern Alabama hometown and members of the Army band. In addition to the skills he developed working with James Brown, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, and the many talented musicians in their milieu, Wesley describes the evolution of his trombone playing through stints with the Ike and Tina Turner Revue, Hank Ballard, and Count Basie’s band. He also recounts his education in the music business, particularly through his work in Los Angeles recording sessions.
Wesley is a virtuoso storyteller, whether he's describing the electric rush of performances when the whole band is in the groove, the difficulties of trying to make a living as a rhythm and blues musician, or the frustrations often felt by sidemen. Hit Me, Fred is Wesley’s story of music-making in all its grit and glory.
Customer Reviews:
Right On, Fred: The Truth Is The Light.......2007-02-14
I am a 57 year old Washington, DC trombonist with many years of "chittlin circuit" experience. Reading Fred Wesley's account of his life as a sideman really hit home with me. So far, I have purchased (at last count) twelve copies of this fascinating book and distributed them to fellow musician friends who I know would also appreciate it. This really feels good and also therapeutic that our story is being told and documented. Older musicians always used to talk about paying dues. Well it seems that we never stop paying them, and Fred really spells it out in a clear, brutally honest, and what I find to be a very humorous and entertaining fashion. I would highly recommend this book to musicians young and old and to anyone else interested in learning what it is really like for the majority of us in this bizarre and crazy business.
Lincoln Ross
[...]
Incredible Book.......2007-01-03
Fred wesley's book takes you on a Journey of the Music industry that you seldom every get on the whole un-cut real. this Man is responsible for some of the Baddest Jams known to the Human Ear Drum. He is a Multi Talented Instrumentalist, Producer&Arranger. He Grew up Down south&dealt with so much,but that was just the start upon entering the Army, then His Exposure to the Music Business under the Controls of Ike Turner. back when Ike&Tina Turner were together. then Fred going over to James Brown's camp which alone makes this Book a Must have. He doesn't pull no punches about JB's Camp&How He ran&did things. then fast forward to George Clinton and the Whole P-Funk Mob&operation. you move on to Count Basie. this Book deals with Inflated Ego, Sex,Drugs,Music, Race, Politics of the Industry&so many other details that you just can't even imagine sometimes that go on behind the curtains. very detailed&a Must read.
Fred's Funk.......2004-04-26
Fred Wesley is "THE MAN". Here is a musical funk legend who has really paid his dues. He was the glue that kept the Funk going strong despite of James legendary (and at times... annoying-as-hell) super-ego and his abusive (mental, emotional, and sometimes physical) tyranny ways that interferred with the indivdual creative freedom of the most talented musicians the God has ever put on earth. James invented Funk which I'm not taking away from him, but he definitely didn't do it on his own (thanks to the talented musicians of Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker, Alfred 'Pee Wee" Ellis, St Clair Pinckney, Waymon Reed, Richard 'Kush' Griffin, Jimmy Nolen, Al 'Country' Kellum, Clyde Stubblefield, John 'Jabo' Starks, Melvin Parker, Fillyau Clayton, Bootsy and Phelp Collins, Bernard Odum, Sweet Charles Sherrell, Johnny Griggs; the talented singers of Marva Whitney, Vicki Anderson, and the late great Lyn Collins; last but definitely not the least, I can't forget Bobby Byrd because if not for him, James life would have taking a bleaker turn since Byrd and his family not only helped James get on parole from his stint in prison, but got James into Byrd's gospel group which he later became the frontman of and would led him to becoming the well-known legend that he is today. There are other James Brown musicians names that I can't remember but had a major influential impact on builting the structural foundation on the sound we now know as 'Funk'. I know the list was long but these singers and musicians deserve far more credit than what they're getting now since some of the musicians have already passed away while not getting their proper dues that James was (please forgive me...) too egotistically selfish and arrogant to do so which upset me deeply (I'm sorry James, I tried to hold it in since I have alot of respect for you but somebody had to give you a reality check). Had James at least shown some respect, appreciation, a little more recognition they more than deserved, and mostly important, knew how to at least control his ego, he and the rest of the band could have easily overthrown the 'Motown Dynasty'.
Anyway, this book honestly puts everything on the table with his experiences as a professional musician as well as how shady the music industry really is.
Straight Up.......2004-04-17
"Hit Me, Fred" by Fred Wesley is one of the most honest and engaging autobiographies I have read. Honest in that Fred gives us uncolored insight into to the world of the music industry with all of the inflated egos, false hype, drug abuse, and intense politicizing. Also honest in his love and appreciation for his mentors, his unabiding affection for his fellow sidemen through out his career and his sense of awe when the James Brown band or Parliment or the Count Basie band were playing at their best. "Hit Me Fred" is engaging for all of the reasons above with the addition of Fred being a gifted story teller in general. This book is a must read for funk enthusiasts and aspiring musicians.
Quality memoirs from a great musician.......2004-03-02
Despite being a big Fred Wesley fan, I must admit I was skeptical about any entertainer writing an autobiography with no co-author and no credited editor. In fact, I got a copy of this from the public library first because I just couldn't imagine that the book would really be worthwhile reading.
I was wrong. This book won't win a Pulitzer prize but Fred writes a very readable and entertaining memoir. It's particularly enjoyable to those of us who believe Fred is one of the most important musicians of the latter 20th century, but reads well enough that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to someone who had no idea who the author is.
Book Description
For nearly three thousand years, the black Jews of Ethiopia–known as the Falashas–maintained their faith and their identity in the face of drought, famine, and tribal war. They were indeed the lost tribe, tracing their ancestry to King Solomon and the queen of Sheba. Then in May 1991, these Ethiopian Jews staged a miraculous exodus. With Ethiopia exploding around them in brutal civil war, some fourteen thousand Falashas were safely airlifted to Jerusalem by the Israeli air force over the course of twenty-five harrowing hours. Told by the Israeli ambassador who made it happen, this spellbinding book is the story of that incredible rescue–as well as an extraordinary history of the Falashas, the remarkable people whose faith never waivered, even when confronted with enormous atrocities.
Asher Naim knew practically nothing about the Falashas when he was posted to Addis Ababa by the Israeli government in the fall of 1990, but he instantly found himself swept up in their plight. As rebel forces advanced against Ethiopia’s savage dictator, Mengistu Haile Meriam (“the Butcher of Addis”), it became clear that the Falashas would be slaughtered unless they could be snatched from the violence overwhelming their country.
Naim set to work on several fronts simultaneously–negotiating with Mengistu and his deceptively charming right hand man, coordinating logistics and strategy with the Israeli military, frantically raising money through contacts in America. On May 23, Naim realized it was now or never, and word went out to the Israeli air force: Operation Solomon must begin at once. With twenty thousand Falashas crowding the Israeli embassy compound, the first Israeli planes landed at the Addis airport and a team of crack Israeli commandos took position with instructions to protect the operation “at any cost.” Four hours later, the first planeload of Falashas took off for Israel.
For Asher Naim the rescue of the Falashas became a kind of personal quest–a quest not only to free his fellow Jews from tyranny but also to uphold the sacredness of human life. In helping the Falashas realize their three-thousand-year-old dream of returning to Jerusalem, Naim came to a profoundly new understanding of the nature of faith, identity, and the struggle to endure. Saving the Lost Tribe is a magnificent achievement, a story of hope in the face of chaos and redemption on the brink of disaster.
Customer Reviews:
ETHIOPIANS HAVE NEVER BEEN JEWS!!!!.......2007-08-15
What on earth is the point of inventing Jewish roots concerning these deceptive Ethiopians when everybody knows too well why they became Jews: only because it was the only possibility for them to immigrate to Israel only for economic reasons (to flee their undescribable poverty).
Were these Ethiopians Jews in Ethiopia? NO! NEVER EVER!! They were Christians! A significant number of them in Israel returned to their Christian faith even though most of them decided to keep being Jew because they felt it was safer for them to do so in Israel (despite the fact that there is freedom of faith for Christians and Muslims)!!
In the history of the Jewish people, there has never ever been members of the Jewish people who were black. Never! Blacks can become Jews today through conversion if they convert without inventing false stories but there is not a group of Jews in the history of the Jewish people who were black Jews! NEVER!
I already hear some people reading my comments who might be tempted to say that I am racist but I am telling these people that I am fine accepting blacks who convert to Judaism without inventing false stories in order to convert. To invent false stories in order to convert renders the conversion process completely invalid!!
To have converted Jewish Orthodox these Ethiopians do not make them Jews in any way simply because they used deception to convert to Judaism with the goal of immigrating to Israel ONLY FOR ECONOMIC REASONS. They converted only to flee their awful poverty that they were suffering in Ethiopia where they were living in mud huts and nearly all of them, except their leaders, were completely illiterate (they could not read nor write and they did not have access to the simplest books or writing items!!). Later on, these American Jews who have pushed them to convert gave them books, taught them how to read, and more.
Why did they become Jews? American Jews who did not want to move to Israel felt guilty by their lack of willingness to move to Israel. They were working on outreach projects in Ethiopia and saw that these people were potentially ready to convert in order to move to Israel with the only goal of fleeing their poverty. They made them Jews by teaching them Judaism, giving their leaders Old Testament books to read and so on. Worse, they invented for them Jewish roots, telling the Jewish world that these Ethiopians were Jews!!! What a shame!!
Then, they showed movies of them with Jewish items and praying and they told the viewers of these movies that they have kept Jewish traditions for centuries!! What an awful deception!
All these books on the so-called Ethiopian Jews and the movies about them, they are all completely invented stories where these Ethiopian are given completely invented Jewish roots!
This book deserves a zero because it is based on pure lies!! That is as simple as that!!
A diplomat's memoirs.......2003-02-13
Over the course of three years in the early 1980s and just over a day in 1991 the Israeli government conducted two efforts unprecedented in human history, Operation Moses and Operation Solomon, respectively, that together rescued well over 20,000 Ethiopian Jews from a country ravaged by famine and civil war. Asher Naim was the Israeli ambassador to Ethiopia who negotiated with the regime's warlords and bureaucrats for their cooperation during the 1991 operation. He opens the book with a brief synopsis of the West's discovery of the Beta Israel ("house of Israel," as the Ethiopian Jews call themselves), an expedition so recent as the nineteenth century in which British missionaries found a mysterious tribe of black-skinned Africans with Semitic features who practiced a pre-Talmudic Judaism, dreamed of returning to Jerusalem, and thought they were the only Jews remaining in the world!
Readers, however, should regard this book not as a work of history but as Naim's memoirs chronicling his role in the months preceding May 25, 1991, when a fleet of 35 planes completed Operation Solomon after just 25 hours. His first-person perspective limns the personalities of the major players with an articulation difficult to achieve in a work with more historical depth, but this approach has serious limitations. Naim provides little historical background to the 1991 operation -- Operation Moses is nearly elided from his account altogether, as is the history of the Ethiopian Jews themselves, which is a shame, so fascinating is their story. Moreover, Naim's substantial ego pervades the narrative as he liberally seasons the text with self-congratulatory tributes to his own compassion and clout (going so far as to include an entire non-sequitur chapter claiming credit, perhaps justly, for the United Nations' rescission of its vile resolution equating Zionism with racism). At the same time, he manages to distract the reader's focus from the breathtaking acts of righteousness and grace at the heart of Operation Solomon as he effectively converts a tale of human kindness into a tale of diplomacy. I suspect more readers would have been interested to learn about the Beta Israel and their deliverers than about the internal machinations of ambassadorial politics. Example: the Ethiopian regime demanded a ransom of $35 million for the release of the Jews. Naim dedicates more words to the precise means by which Israel wired these funds to the relevant bureaucrats than to the captivating story of how the ransom was raised in no time at all from just a few dozen American philanthropists. They are not even named.
Naim does bring a refreshing objectivity to the story, declining to whitewash the difficult integration of the Ethiopians into Israeli society and duly noting some religious hardliners' long resistance to the acceptance of the Beta Israel as bona fide Jews. Among the most moving passages is Naim's lamentation for the priceless traditions the Ethiopians forgot as they assimilated into both mainstream Judaism and a secular Western society that brooks no cultural stasis. Given that a decade has elapsed between Operation Solomon and the publication of Naim's book, however, one would have expected more than three short chapters depicting the Beta Israel's communities after the aliyah. This deficiency would be less bothersome if Naim's account of Operation Solomon were more captivating and thorough, but the rescue operation itself does not begin until page 215 and fills only ten pages. I am compelled to conclude that Naim's book is destined to accomplish little more than provide some trivia for a better chronicle of the Exodus from Ethiopia that has yet to be authored.
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