GIS Means Business Volume 2

Book Description

Written for both business managers and GIS professionals, this guide reveals the ways that GIS can revolutionize the effectiveness of the 21st-century business enterprise. Demonstrating how a wide variety of businesses and business-related organizations such as chambers of commerce and commerce-friendly cities are using GIS to bolster the bottom line, detailed case studies analyze companies that overcame obstacles to profitability and efficiency by using the geographic and spatial analysis provided by GIS technology. As the technology has expanded, so have the number and diversity of companies that demand GIS capabilities. Such industries include real estate firms, insurance companies, food distributors, and casinos -- all applying GIS solutions to logistics, marketing programs, and supply chain issues.

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GIS Means Business Volume 2
David Boyles
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MU85ZA

Book Description

This bibliography presents a comprehensive compilation and categorization of resources on gender and economic globalization. It provides an overview of existing literature and identifies main research and advocacy institutions. The bibliography highlights literature on Latin American and Caribbean women.

Book Description

McGuire's study fills a major gap in social histories of the Second World War by placing Hastie's role in proper historical perspective. He demonstrates that, although he is largely ignored in the published literature, Hastie did more to effect changes in the placement, training, and promotion of black soldiers than any other single individual in the history of the American armed forces prior to World War II. Throughout, McGuire makes liberal use of primary source materials and comments from soldiers and other key figures to reinforce his argument.

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Excellent series of books

Whatever Became of: Updated 8th (Eighth Series)
Rh Value Publishing
Manufacturer: Random House Value Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Whatever Became of...? Ninth Series

Hollywood Diary

Whatever became of ... ?: Second series

Manhattan Diary

The Hollywood Book of Scandals : The Shocking, Often Disgraceful Deeds and Affairs of Over 100 American Movie and TV Idols

ASIN: 0517548550
Release Date: 1985-01-02

Customer Reviews:

Excellent series of books.......1998-01-04

The series is very informative with pictures of then and now.We learn of life after stardom and on occasions the toll stardom has taken on the lives of it's stars, a fact no other book I have read informs us of.It also reminds us of stars who have often been forgotten, many from B Movies I recommend this series of books as an essential read for all movie fans.

Whatever Became of: Updated 8th (Eighth Series)

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Whatever Became of: Updated 8th (Eighth Series)
Richard lamparski
Manufacturer: Crown publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000TSLVIS

Amazon.com

Given the amount of emotional injury poet James Dickey (1923-1997) inflicted on himself and his family, it's a remarkable achievement that in this surprisingly tender memoir, Christopher Dickey not only discovers new love for his father but imparts it to readers as well. Arrogant, alcoholic, unfaithful to his wife, and manipulative with his children (he boasted of Christopher, "I made his head"), James Dickey emerges here as an all-too-human figure whose weaknesses are partially redeemed by his fierce passion for his art and by a late-life attempt to make amends for years of careless, destructive acts. His son's book is, among other things, a cautionary tale about the temptations of fame and money: Dickey's bestselling novel Deliverance (1970) pushed the poet to a level of commercial success he was ill equipped to deal with. The drinking got worse, the affairs more flagrant, the writing sloppier, and after Christopher's mother died in 1976, father and son seldom spoke. They reconciled in 1994; this book began as their mutual project to describe the making of the Hollywood film version of Deliverance. Good though those chapters are, it's the author's unflinchingly honest yet compassionate portrait of his father that stands out. Noted for his journalism, particularly covering Central America's gruesome civil wars of the 1980s, Christopher Dickey proves that he can plumb the intricacies of the human heart as incisively as the horrors of military conflict. His father would be proud. --Wendy Smith

Book Description

Summer of Deliverance is a powerful and moving memoir of anger, love, and reconciliation between a son and his father. Hailed as a literary genius of his generation, James Dickey created his art and lived his life with a ferocious passion. He was a heavy drinker, a destructive husband and father, a poet of grace and sensitivity, and, after the publication and subsequent film of his novel, Deliverance, a wildly popular literary star. Drawing on letters, notebooks, diaries, and his explicit conversations with his father, Christopher Dickey has crafted a superb memoir of the corrosive effects of fame, a moving remembrance of a crisis that united a family, and an inspiring celebration of love between father and son.

Customer Reviews:

solid, but flawed, like the subjects themselves.......2007-09-12

A difficult read. Like the House of Atreus, James Dickey caved into fate and tragedy while also famous. It is all too easy to blame drink, when what was really at the root of it all was character and genius meted out in unequal measures. This biography resembles "Long Day's Journey Into Night" but the nearness of the real-life characters and the unflinching AP-journalism style of Christopher Dickey's dual biography of himself and his father removes the comfort and distance of art in this engaging book.

Still, the pain and hope mixed here leaves something missing which I cannot quite identify. Perhaps it is the worn faux-Puritanism of partially blaming alcohol when irresponsible human behaviour is the true and fully and singularly guilty culprit. There are also some backhanded and unnecessary slurs levelled at the South that only the son of a prominent Southerner who has rejected his father and taken up with the attitudinal glad rags of snooty pseudo-elite would dish out. The tiresome implied superiority of the cosmopolite over those who actually embrace a nation, culture and heritage is so accepted today as know-nothing provincialism it is always given a pass, and Christopher Dickey falls into that trap.

"never meet the sons of your heroes".......2005-11-03

I think Deliverance is an excellent book, and when I saw this memoir, I couldn't resist giving it the once-over. Much like James Dickey's poetry, which was both introspective and irreverent, this memoir is a mixed bag. Christopher entwines the more well-written of his father's poems with his own memories to create stirring, bittersweet passages. But while Summer of Deliverance begins promisingly, it gradually slips into a low, persistent hum of anger until even poignant recollections seem tedious and shallow. At forty-odd years, Christopher projects his insecurities and anger onto others. He longs to be the battered child he never was: James spoils his son in return for "molding his head," and when daddy's life grows too volatile, Christopher bails out.

The anecdotes about the making of Deliverance pick up the middle of the book. To my chagrin Christopher makes little mention of why Dickey was banned from the set, alluding to some clashes between the big "D" and Burt Reynolds. According to Christopher, James Dickey lost it when his artistic vision was compromised and distorted by Hollywood. Bite the hand that feeds you? Will do.

James Dickey is portrayed as so unwittingly cruel, and so consumed by a god-complex, the reader can't help but feel cheated by Christopher's emphasis on his halcyon days and his trivial upsets that all teenagers experience. These memoirs of the specious Dickey and his social-climbing son, no doubt meant to milk Christopher's association with his famous pop and the bestseller Deliverance (cough *title* cough), are okay. Some of the more revealing passages work, and some may find them memorable, but in the end C. Dickey just isn`t the storyteller D. Dickey was. If you are considering this book, try Philip Roth's Patrimony instead, a superior memoir with a humor and insight that this one can't match.

Son of a Showman.......2005-06-02

I picked up this book thinking that it would be a good gift for Father's Day (coming up June 19, boys and girls), and after finishing it I concur. This is the kind of book that shows fatherhood for what it really is.

In Chris' case the experience of being James Dickey's son was pretty painful, and one feels that he has never gotten out of his dad's shadow. Chris' mother, Maxine, was more beautiful than Elizabeth Taylor, and yet Jim Dickey treated her shabbily, calling her "Miss Chubby of 1956" and other high camp names. Chris ascribes her drinking problem to the rough treatment Jim meted out. Hard to say, but Jim wins no prizes as husband of the year. The funny thing is trying to recall back to a time when James Dickey was popular--not only popular but critically acclaimed and, as Chris, points out, the critic Peter Davison published an article in Atlantic Monthly that posited that either Dickey or Robert Lowell was then (1970?) poised to assume the throne as greatest American poet. Oh, what a long time ago it seems. Chris' defense of his father's poetic legacy is a strong one, and his selection of quotes from his father's poems drove me back to the big Wesleyan collected poems which I hadn't visited in a hound's age. I'm getting to like Dickey all over again and I can see that some of his poetic devices eerily forecast ones that are popular right now. He must have been a spellbinder on stage; one of the best sections of SUMMER OF DELIVERANCE is all about Chris fuming in the audience while Jim launches into a self-important poem called "Adultery" in which he boasts about cheating on Maxine with Robin Jarecki (a young woman with whom Dickey became involved in the 1960s).

Dickey's second marriage was even more troubled than the first, and issues of elder abuse, the latchkey children phenomenon, and crack cocaine addiction reared their heads in this one. The full-length biography of Dickey that came out after this book told more of the story, but what Chris has to say is pretty bad.

The title of the book I didn't care for. It sets you up thinking that the whole book will be about the "summer" in which John Boorman made the film of DELIVERANCE. Far from it, that account occupies only a sliver of the book. It is the best part of the book, but buyer beware, you have to trudge through a lot of Buckhead mud to get to the good part.

Duography.......2002-01-28

This book has some excellent parts, but I was frustrated by some aspects of this book.

The best reason to read the book is the relation of James Dickey's apparent last lecture on writing soul stirring poetry...not lifeless verse. This section alone is worth the price of the book.

But looking at the book as a whole, when I start to care about Christopher Dickey and his adolescent fears, he turns to glossing over his coming of age into distant generalities. He gives us just a taste of the distant places where he expunged his fears by immersion in danger. These omissions make the book not a biography of Christopher.

So is the book a biography of James Dickey?

While he gives much insight into his father and his father's rise to prominence, again, he switches to a distant view, and a rather uninsightful one, of the personal pain of alcoholism and exploitation by others his father experienced and nearly brought about his father's demise. Maybe the distant view is because Christopher insists on telling James' story only from Christopher's own experience and doesn't elaborate on the reports of others.

Christopher becomes a reporter because he values "the truth" rather than exageration, bending the truth, or bold face lies, like his father practiced. Yet, Christopher seems to relate the truth from too much of a distance at critical times. The ultimate, semi, and belated rescue of James is admirable. But Christopher could relate some of his feelings at being told by his finally sober dad that he loved Christopher. Although Christopher experienced a lot of pain, he seems to prefer to pick at those scabs, and not rejoice in the good aspects of his relationship with his father.

Another irritation is the way Christopher so often lists off the places he was happy with his father and his family. These are names and situations that carry a lot of meaning for him, but evoke little in me, without some gripping imagery for each place from prior parts of the book. A few such tales and imagery exist, but not for all and those are frustrating.

I suspect Christopher appreciates both the accurate reporting of scenes, and the magic of poetic license. I think that he should turn to fiction for his next book. He could shine by putting accurate detailed images strung in a new order to move the soul. He should step out from his father's shadow.

RECOLLECTIONS OF A SON.......2001-04-16

Parents all to often suffer from the dis-ease of not being perfect in their childrens eyes especially when that child becomes an adult. Fathers in particular carry this burden. Christopher Dickey, a journalist, and the son of one of America's greatest poets, James Dickey, offers us his recollections of his father, who was not that perfect.

Summer of Deliverance takes us into the mind of an adult son as he comes to terms with the impact of his father on his life. We see the best and worst of James Dickey as a father through the eyes of his elder son. Christopher's insights move beyond the "tell all" memoirs of other adult children attempting to "kill" the celebrity parent. You see the deep love that these two men had for one another. James Dickey loved his children despite his imperfections. Christopher shares with us his own life as he grows and becomes a father, a wordsmith and a reconciler for the family.

Christopher moves beyond the ugliness in his fathers life and accepts the man for who he is and what he could have become for the family. Celebrate the triumphs of the Dickey family as they move through the the decades of their lives. See both Dickeys, James and Chris butt heads but come to a mutual respect of one another. See how both men grow to appreciate one another.

This is a good book in presenting a son's perception of his father. It is not a detailed biography of James Dickey. Share in the insights of the son whose father's words impacted a generation of poets and writers.

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Summer of Deliverance A Memoir of Father and Son
CHRISTOPHER DICKEY
Manufacturer: Simon Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JZSWHE

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Summer of Deliverance...A Memoir of Father and Son
Christopher Dickey
Manufacturer: NY Touchstone 1998.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000QUWZ0C

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Memoirs.(Review): An article from: World Literature Today
William Pratt
Manufacturer: University of Oklahoma
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Classics | Comic | Contemporary | Literary
General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | e-Docs | Formats | Books
ASIN: B00098UBUW
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from World Literature Today, published by University of Oklahoma on March 22, 1999. The length of the article is 625 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Memoirs.(Review)
Author: William Pratt
Publication: World Literature Today (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 1999
Publisher: University of Oklahoma
Volume: 73 Issue: 2 Page: 333

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Summer of Deliverance: A Memoir of Father and Son.(Review)(Brief Article) : An article from: The Antioch Review

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Summer of Deliverance: A Memoir of Father and Son.(Review)(Brief Article) : An article from: The Antioch Review
John Kennedy
Manufacturer: Antioch Review, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Antioch Review, published by Antioch Review, Inc. on March 22, 1999. The length of the article is 982 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Summer of Deliverance: A Memoir of Father and Son.(Review)(Brief Article)
Author: John Kennedy
Publication: The Antioch Review (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 1999
Publisher: Antioch Review, Inc.
Volume: 57 Issue: 2 Page: 246(2)

Article Type: Book Review, Brief Article

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Summer of Deliverance. A Memoir of Father and Son.

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Summer of Deliverance. A Memoir of Father and Son.
Christopher. Dickey
Manufacturer: N.Y.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000R0TPSG

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Summer of Deliverance. A Memoir of Father and Son
Christopher Dickey
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NUICES

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Can't Wait for Vol. 2!

You have got to read this one!

You have got to read this one!

Destined For Nostalgia: Remembering The 1950s The Experience Of A Boyhood Dream
Russell P. Vecchio
Manufacturer: Authorhouse
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Family & Childhood | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1418454435

Customer Reviews:

Can't Wait for Vol. 2!.......2004-11-12

Vecchio did a marvelous job in resurrecting my boyhood dreams, memories, and yes--horrors. Although I grew up in the chaotic sixties as opposed to the fabulous fifties, I was able to reminisce fully in the cultural offerings of that bygone era--from television programming to catholic nuns to youthful indescretions. This book has it all: humor; wit; and even sadness. If you grew up around the '50s or '60s, I highly recommend "Destined For Nostalgia". Vecchio reports that Vol. 2 of his 1950s experiences is in the works--I'll be first in line to buy it!

You have got to read this one!.......2004-07-13

This book will have you reliving your childhood memories over and over and over again. I can't wait for another book by this author. It is a must read!

You have got to read this one!.......2004-07-13

This book really takes you back in time. You will be reliving your childhood memories over and over and over again. Can't wait for another book from this Author!

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Reflects changes in technology and business management

The New Office Professional's Handbook: How to Survive and Thrive in Today's Office Environment

Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Product Features:

Contains current information on new technology in the workplace, coverage of office procedures and traditional business concerns, and on using the Internet for career development.

SOLD BY THE EA

ASIN: 0618036083

Product Description

Contains current information on new technology in the workplace, coverage of office procedures and traditional business concerns, and on using the Internet for career development.

Customer Reviews:

Reflects changes in technology and business management.......2002-02-06

This fourth updated edition of a classic reflects ongoing changes in technology and business management, providing an important tool for modern offices and home business users alike. From a comprehensive coverage of modern office procedures and Internet resources to advice on conducting meetings and using basic accounting programs, this is packed with practical tips.

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Solid on most facts, but weak on presentation and feeling

SoLiAh, The Symbionese Liberation Army in the 21St Century

Soliah, The Sara Jane Olson Story

From Terrorist to Soccor Mom

The Biggest Chill

Soliah: The Sara Jane Olson Story
Sharon D. Hendry
Manufacturer: Cable Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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Murder & Mayhem | True Accounts | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Every Secret Thing

Glensheen's Daughter, The Marjorie Congdon Story

The Way the Wind Blew: A History of the Weather Underground (Haymarket Series)

My search for Patty Hearst

Anyone's daughter

ASIN: 1893088359

Customer Reviews:

Solid on most facts, but weak on presentation and feeling.......2007-08-06

I would give this a 3.5 star rating if Amazon allowed me to do so. This book contains interesting and useful information about the Patricia Hearst/SLA/Kathleen Soliah story, and yet somehow does not truly capture the "feel" or atmosphere of the times and events it describes. Hendry's explanation of opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War is both oversimplified and overly brief, which limits her ability to analyze and explain the appeal of the New Left in general, much less the desperation and rage of the extreme, militant, revolutionary left of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Without such analysis, members of the SLA and Weatherman factions seem nearly inexplicable in their attitudes and actions, and this in turn limits Hendry's ability to make readers comprehend all that was at stake, or seemed to be at stake, in the SLA's worldview. Hendry could have explained this more effectively without, as one reviewer put it, "romanticizing" the violent, fringe New Left at this time.

This book is most useful as a supplement to Patricia Hearst's memoir, _Every Secret Thing_, and to a good overview and analysis of the 1960s student and New Left movements, such as Gitlin's _The Sixties_ or Kazin and Isserman's _America Divided_. But no reader should pick up this book expecting to get a full or sophisticated explanation of how the New Left's early commitment to democratic socialism and participatory democracy morphed, for some activists, by the late 1960s and early 1970s, into an honest conviction that no peaceful solutions for change truly existed, that the U.S. politico-economic system was hopelessly corrupt and doomed, and therefore that electoral politics and working within the system were utterly pointless. Only by understanding such a worldview can readers truly begin to comprehend both the "logic" and the extremism of groups like the SLA. And only then can readers begin to understand what's at stake in the Soliah case and aftermath.

SoLiAh, The Symbionese Liberation Army in the 21St Century.......2002-06-22

The Last book on the Symbiones Liberation Army was written 20 years ago (Every Secret Thing, by Patricia Hearst, released in 1988 paperback as "Patty Hearst" in conjuction with the movie by the same name). Beyond this the books seemed to stop in mid to late 1970's so excluding Hearst's autobiography, the first book in a quarter century on the SLA. Opinions on the SLA and Hearst have often been politically charged with the strongest opinions often held by those who have limited knowlege of the subject.

Sharon Darby Hendry, like myself, is a very long term Minnesota resident. We were both here back in the 1970's. Quite frankly, the SLA wasn't a significant Minnesota story in the 1970's. Even though I lived among the lefties in Dinkeytown all during the 1970's, and even though I had a loose connnection to SLA member Cammillia Hall I had to take a crash course in the SLA after the June 1999 arrest of Kathlenn Soliah here in Minnesota. I followed the case since the June 1999 Soliah arrest through my website ... reading more than a dozen old books on the SLA. Most are rare and unavailable so the first part of the book SoLiAh is a good primer on this era. It upsets the romantic view of the SLA by including the unpleasant realities, such as the assasination of Oakland's first Black School Superitendent Marcus Foster by the SLA, which, ironically, preached an anti-racism credo.

The portion of SoLiAh dealing with the June 16, 1999 arrest and aftermath explained the dramatic events and they unfolded from a Minnesota perspective. With nine trial delays, at least five lawyer changes and the plea "flip-flops" the book had to follow events as they were unfolding. The last dramatic event was the January 2002 arrests in the Myrna Opsahl murder (the "Harris's" and Borton have since made bail, Soliah-Olson is serving time for the LA plea). Is they story and the book SoLiAh open ended?

Absolutely! It looks like the Opsahl murder trial won't start before 2003 at the soonest. Has justice been done and will it be done? That is for the reader to decide but they can better ponder it with information and background on the case. The Opsahl murder was long considered unprosecutable even though it was obvious that the SLA did it. Just getting the January 2002 indictments is one of the greatest cold case revivals in modern history. Reading SoLiAh with an open mind will help the reader, especially those, not "there", or with a romantacized view of the old far left to understand it and to also understand the roots of the domestic terrorism threat facing the USA now.

...

Soliah, The Sara Jane Olson Story.......2002-06-21

Soliah captures the in-depth history of the 60's and 70's and wraps the story around Kathleen Soliah. It is difficult to understand how this woman could create a false identy for herself. Particularly because she lied to her three daughters about her name, age, and her deceitful past. She activily participated in the events of the SLA and should pay the price for her criminal actions. I would recommend this novel to the true-crime seekers and everyone who lived in this time era. Also, to the younger generation who are interested in the Patty Hearst / SLA saga.

From Terrorist to Soccor Mom.......2002-06-20

What brings an obviously bright young woman to an obviously corrupt organization like the SLA and then, even more mysteriously, has her completely change her stripes and become, inexplicably, a soccor mom. Because Sarah Jane lived in my back yard, so to speak, I wanted to know who she was: the soccor mom or the terrorist. The book refused to answer that question for me, as it should, but rather than making judgements it told her story, using facts and the voices of people in Soliah/Olson's life. This book was better than a summer mystery and reads like a novel: I couldn't put it down. I heartily recommend the book.

The Biggest Chill.......2002-06-13

As a song of the era said: Something happened here. What it is ain't exactly clear.

Kathleen Ann Soliah ("pronounced SOH lee ah - accent on the first syllable") was born January 16, 1947 in Fargo, North Dakota. She was involved with the "Second Team" of the Symbionese Liberation Army in California in the 1970's. (Most of the "First Team," who kidnapped Patty Hearst, was killed in a shoot-out with the LAPD in 1974.) There were bank robberies. There was a bomb placed underneath a police car.

Time passed.

In Minnesota on June 16, 1999, Sara Jane Olson, community activist, community theater actress, and doctor's wife in Highland Park, "one of St. Paul's most upscale neighborhoods," was arrested by a cadre of law enforcement personnel while driving her minivan, and extradited to California to stand trial as Soliah for alleged sins of the 70's.

This is an intriguing part of Americana. But this book does not do it justice. Nor is the reader left, in the end, with a clear picture of whether justice has been done.

Ms. Soliah is introduced in the beginning of the book, but then she all but disappears until "Act III" at page 113. In this interim, the author attempts to offer an historical context of the times.

From her picture in the back of the book, suburban Twin Cities author Sharon Darby Hendry looks like she might be a part of the Baby Boomer generation- but from the way she describes the era, this reader did not get the sense that she was THERE. If she was alive during these turbulent times, one gets the impression that she was busy procuring pedicures at the Edina Dayton's and attending Tupperware® parties. It's in the nuances and simple things. For instance: Arlo Guthrie's anthem "Alice's Restaurant" is directly quoted as "you could get anything you wanted there" (p.12) Uh, not exactly. I guess you had to be there. Ok, all you Boomers out there, Start singing! "You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant."

Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley's version of the 1968 Democratic National Convention is unquestioningly set forth, even though it is later reported that "Attorney General Ramsey Clark was reluctant to enforce the new provisions [of the 1968 U.S. Civil Rights Act, which made interstate travel with the intent to incite a riot a federal crime] and viewed the Chicago violence as a `police riot.'" (p.22)

To approximate the historical context, I suggests that you would be better informed getting Reunion: A Memoir, by Tom Hayden; In Our Time: Memoir of a Revolution, by Susan Brownmiller; and Father Andrew M. Greeley's novelized retrospective: September Song.

I wanted to learn from this book by a local author. But the slant and downright mistakes caused me to view the entire work with a skeptical eye. The book ends with the 2001 pre-trial Sacramento court "reunion" of those accused in the robbery of the Carmichael Bank - in which Myrna Opsahl, who was there to deposit the weekend's Church offering - was slain. Yes. Something happened here. But what it is ain't exactly clear in this book.

Book Description

This pop culture history takes 12 legendary songs and, with a staggering wealth of detail and unprecedented understanding, provides an extended history of each. The circumstances under which each was written and first performed are explained and their musical and lyric content are explored. Those who were responsible for making these songs famous and performers who have left their unique marks on them are also identified. Variations in style, classic and obscure versions, brilliantly original interpretations, and ghastly travesties in the performance lifetime of each song are discussed. Also included are revelations of facts, such as Herman Hupfeld, who wrote "As Time Goes By," had a much bigger hit with "When Yuba Plays the Rhumba on the Tuba"; Billy Strayhorn wrote about "a week in Paris" in "Lush Life" when he was a teenager and had never been to any city larger than Pittsburgh; and the first-ever public performance of "I Got Rhythm," sung by Ethel Merman, featured Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, Jimmy Dorsey, and Glenn Miller.

Customer Reviews:

A Classic About Classics........2007-06-04

I don't have time to write a full-length review, and I bought and read this book some time ago. Suffice it to say that it's a treasured part of my library and should be much more widely read. These songs are deathless little works of art, no less fine for being popular and having their roots in the quirky, funky realities of American life. Friedwald gets it.

Book Description

Cairo, 1937: French-born Colette Rossant is waiting out World War II among her father's Egyptian-Jewish relatives. From the moment she arrives at her grandparents' belle époque mansion by the Nile, the five-year-old Colette finds companionship and comfort among the other "outsiders" in her home away from home -- the cooks and servants in the kitchen. The chef, Ahmet, lets Colette taste the ful; she learns how to make sambusaks for her new friends; and she shops for semits and other treats in the Khan-al-Khalili market. Colette is beginning to understand how her family's culture is linked to the kitchen...and soon she will claim Egypt's food, landscape, and people as her own.

Apricots on the Nile is a loving testament to Colette's adopted homeland. With dozens of original recipes and family photographs, Colette's coming-of-age memoir is a splendid exploration of old Cairo in all its flavor, variety, and wide-eyed wonder.

Customer Reviews:

Love It!.......2007-03-09

This was one of my favorite all-time books. I purchased one as a gift for my sister also. I love to read about other cultures, and this was an enjoyable read.

very engaging.......2006-02-02

I really enjoyed reading this book - even though I will probably never try the recipes. I read the whole book through in one sitting (although, to be truthful, it's a small book.) Besides being an interesting memoir of the author's childhood in Egypt during WWII, in a wealthy Jewish family, it's also an honest account of her alienation from her mother, which really spoke to me. The author is a good writer, which makes the book easy and rewarding to read.

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