Book Description
"A lot of people seem to have the wrong idea about me. In fact, pretty much everything I read about myself is totally ridiculous.... I've finally decided to let the world know: Okay, I get it."
Paris Hilton has a lifestyle most girls dream about. Her name is on everyone's lips, but can she help it if she was born rich and privileged? Now, with a sly sense of humor and a big wink at her media image, Paris lets you in for a sneak peek at the life of a real, live heiress/model/actress/singer/it-girl and tells you how anyone can live a fairy-tale life like hers.
Featuring more than three hundred fabulous color photos of Paris, Confessions of an Heiress is a look at life from the unique perspective of a young woman who has the whole world at her stiletto-clad feet.
Customer Reviews:
Horrible!.......2007-08-20
It's true what another reviewer said . . . there are people who live only for image, without substance, then you've got those who are intelligent and stay out of the limelight. And like the reviewer said, the first type of person, the "image" type, "gets old" fast -- both literally and figuratively. What is left once the person gets old and has nothing left to show? Answer me that. It is very disconcerting to me that young girls look up to this creature or humanoid named Paris, whatever term you prefer. It makes no sense. When I was younger there were no such crass and base people to be idolised, and thank God for that! We idolised Joan Jett or The GoGos or even Cyndi Lauper -- these were truly creative and interesting women. Things then seem so innocent now, don't they? I feel so sorry for young people today, they are bombarded with Paris Hilton and other forms of cheap, worthless entertainment daily, without respite.
Paris the Heiress/Author.......2007-08-08
This book was awsome! People writing bad reviews either just hate paris and were just trying to down her overall book reviews (and most probably didnt even read the book). Or they read the book expecting some philisophical journey.
Hello, people, it's paris hilton!!!
Her book is really good. I read it cover to cover and couldnt put it down! She gives advice on how to channel your inner heiress while giving you a look into her personal life. The book isn't like some books about celebrities that just restate tidbits about their lives from magazines. It's original material i've never read before.
Some people might say the reason she didnt put in a whole long chapter about the sex video is becuase she's scared. The truth is, she has a lot of young fans whose parents probably wouldnt let them read the book if it had sex-related things in it.
She stats at the beginning of the book "I haven't tried to correct whats been written about me so far because, well, gossips believe whatever they want anyway."
I love that because it's so true!
Even if she did try to say "I didnt do that." or "that's not the whole story." or "That's totally ridiculous!" Most people wouldn't beleive her anyway because everyday we've got things shoved at us from the media about how horrible she is. Everyone loves to trash Paris and yet she goes about her life, not hiding because of what people think about her but embracing it and laughing along with us about her screw-ups and hook-ups.
This book is definatly on my Favorites list. Paris keeps things fun, light-hearted, and glamorous and if you are so-serious-you-walk-around-all-day-with-a-scowl-on-your-face-reading-the-New-York-Times-and-constantly-checking-the-stock-market, you probably won't appreciate this book. But if you love-life-and-ridin-in-your-car-with-the-top-down-putting-on-lip-gloss kind of thing, this book will soon become a fav. for you.
Give it a chance. Give Paris a chance.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!
I'd give it a billion stars if possible!
A transcendent scrumptulescent chef d'oeuvre.......2007-07-11
This was a great literary work. It really stimiulated my mind, it reminded me of the complex converging story lines of Charles Dickens best works. Her use of the full lexicon of the English language rivals that of William Shakespeare. In fact, she was even able to invent some new vocabulary, that was not in any dictionary. Her marvelous use of metaphor recalls that of the great Russian master Dostoyevsky. There were even some clearly outragously allegorical chapters, in the style of Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal." By the last chapter the mastery of Paris brought me to tears! I RAN OUT OF TISSUES!!!!!!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGG I WISH I COULD GIVE IT A MILLION BIGIZILMONION STARS!!!!
I'm 14, not under 13........2007-06-21
I LOVE Paris Hilton so I thought I would give her 5 stars to increase the book rating. This book is definately worth $15.00 if you are a true Paris Hilton fan.If you just know of her, then this isn't the book for you. I figured she would really go into her life and say things that we could learn from her.She puts useless and (I hate to say this BUT...) ridiculous things in her book.For instance, on her top 23 steps to being a Heiress she puts that you should be born into a rich and famous family. She says if you can control everything in your life, why not control which family your born into? That is really stupid...there is no way on earth that you can choose that. She talks about the simple life and everything. It is a real page turner and it's kinda addictive no matter how stupid and useless it is. It kinda reminded be of a little girl's diary, because she really just puts things that happened in a childish way.Her grammar and everything is really bad, because it's hard to get into a book whenever the things the person is saying is stupid.Hopefully, Nicole Richie's book will be better. Some people say that Nicole didn't really write hers, but I know for a fact that Paris wrote this.If she didn't, the person who DID write it must be just as ditzy as her. If I were you, I would stick to watching the Simple Life if you wanna know more about Paris Hilton. This book won't really do much for you.
This book is hot!!!!.......2007-06-12
Well, actually I'not saying this cause I'm a Paris fan, I wasn't when I read this book. It was from a cousin and I started to read the front page, and then the next, I simply couldn't stopped! I started to read the whole thing and it's one of my favorite books ever! Now I see her TV show, I have the DVD's, I haver her 3 perfumes for men, I have her record, I buy every single magazine in where she appears,'I'll buy a watch soon and can't wait for her world tour and her new stuff. She's releasing shoes, a clothing line, new handbags, jewerly, sunnies, wigs, new perfumes, OMG this gir is amazng, she's gone so far...
so haters, better start liking Paris because SHE CAME TO STAY!!!!!!
Amazon.com
Taking a more extensive view of the American war in Indochina than have many other historians, Robert Schulzinger begins his well-crafted account at the end of World War II. The collapsing Japanese and French empires had created a political vacuum that could be filled only by a nationalist movement--one that, in Vietnam's case, was also communist. American involvement, he writes, was questionable from the start. He quotes Dean Rusk, an architect of Kennedy and Johnson administration war policies, as saying that his greatest mistake was overestimating the patience of the American people and underestimating that of the Vietnamese. That was but one in a long series of miscalculations over three decades, and Schulzinger's book admirably relates the sad history of that conflict.
Book Description
Even after two decades, the memory of the Vietnam War seems to haunt our culture. From Forrest Gump to Miss Saigon, from Tim O'Brien's Pulitzer Prize-winning Going After Cacciato to Robert McNamara's controversial memoir In Retrospect, Americans are drawn again and again to ponder our long, tragic involvement in Southeast Asia. Now eminent historian Robert D. Schulzinger has combed the newly available documentary evidence, both in public and private archives, to produce an ambitious, masterful account of three decades of war in Vietnam--the first major full-length history of the conflict to be based on primary sources. In A Time for War, Schulzinger paints a vast yet intricate canvas of more than three decades of conflict in Vietnam, from the first rumblings of rebellion against the French colonialists to the American intervention and eventual withdrawal. His comprehensive narrative incorporates every aspect of the war--from the military (as seen in his brisk account of the French failure at Dienbienphu) to the economic (such as the wage increase sparked by the draft in the United States) to the political. Drawing on massive research, he offers a vivid and insightful portrait of the changes in Vietnamese politics and society, from the rise of Ho Chi Minh, to the division of the country, to the struggles between South Vietnamese president Diem and heavily armed religious sects, to the infighting and corruption that plagued Saigon. Schulzinger reveals precisely how outside powers--first the French, then the Americans--committed themselves to war in Indochina, even against their own better judgment. Roosevelt, for example, derided the French efforts to reassert their colonial control after World War II, yet Truman, Eisenhower, and their advisers gradually came to believe that Vietnam was central to American interests. The author's account of Johnson is particularly telling and tragic, describing how president would voice clear headed, even prescient warnings about the dangers of intervention--then change his mind, committing America's prestige and military might to supporting a corrupt, unpopular regime. Schulzinger offers sharp criticism of the American military effort, and offers a fascinating look inside the Nixon White House, showing how the Republican president dragged out the war long past the point when he realized that the United States could not win. Finally, Schulzinger paints a brilliant political and social portrait of the times, illuminating the impact of the war on the lives of ordinary Americans and Vietnamese. Schulzinger shows what it was like to participate in the war--as a common soldier, an American nurse, a navy flyer, a conscript in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, a Vietcong fighter, or an antiwar protester. In a field crowded with fiction, memoirs, and popular tracts, A Time for War will stand as the landmark history of America's longest war. Based on extensive archival research, it will be the first place readers will turn in an effort to understand this tragic, divisive conflict.
Customer Reviews:
Solid historical overview of Vietnam and U.S. involvement .......2005-08-19
This is worth while reading for anyone interested in how the U.S. and it's political leaders, step by step, led the country into the tragedy that was Vietnam. The antecedents really go back to the end of WW II and is a long complicated story that involves the administrations of six presidents. Although this book is a fairly high level look at Vietnam (it would take more than one book to do otherwise), the author does do a good job of pulling the many threads together in to a fairly coherent story. The war in Vietnam generated strong emotions then and still does for some people, but I appreciate that the author tells the story of the war in a fairly straight forward manner. I have over 30 books on Vietnam in my book collection (I'm a Vietnam vet) and this book is a solid addition to that collection and I would recommend to anyone who is interested in the subject.
Revisionist History With Right-Wing Bias.......2004-12-06
In his account of the war in the last months of 1963, the author contradicts himself and reveals a right-wing bias. He acknowledges that Kennedy never committed combat troops to Vietnam, and never committed to commit them, and says rather that Kennedy simply "retained the option of ordering just such a deployment at a later date." But the author then contradicts himself and reveals his anti-Kennedy bias by asserting that "Kennedy bequeathed a terrible legacy to his successor, Lyndon Johnson. The United States was committed to participation in a civil war in Vietnam without guarantees of success." This opinion is rubbish. The United States was not committed to any course of action in Vietnam when Johnson took over. Johnson, not Kennedy, bears the responsibility for the decisions Johnson made as President.
The author recites but ignores the fact that, when Kennedy was assassinated, there were only 16,000 U.S. military personnel in Vietnam--all advisors or support personnel, no combat troops--as opposed to the 565,000 combat troops Johnson committed. The author acknowledges that, shortly before he was killed, Kennedy told a top aide and the Senate Majority leader that he intended to withdraw completely from Vietnam after the 1964 election. The author dismisses these statements as "represent[ing] more the musings born of the frustrations of dealing with Diem than an acceptance of a communist triumph." Absolutely no factual basis is provided for this assertion.
If you hate Kennedy and enjoy revisionist histories, buy this book. Otherwise, keep looking for a real history.
Good, depending on what you're looking for.......2001-06-27
This book is a very good political (not military) history of the war. It's based on U.S. archives, so it's told entirely from the perspective of U.S. policymakers, even when discussing French or Vietnamese events. Also, although the book is about as objective as possible, you really can't leave politics behind when you write about Vietnam. Schulzinger believes that the United States could not have won the war; that we got involved out of misguided good intentions rather than evil motives; and that the Vietminh and Vietcong were homegrown liberation movements, not puppets of the Soviets or Chinese. Those are common and reasonable views, so I'm just saying know what you're getting. Overall, I preferred Karnow's Vietnam to this book. Karnow's politics and focus (U.S. policymakers) is similar. Schulzinger, a historian, has better command of the written source materials, but Karnow, a journalist in Vietnam during the war, is a better writer and rounds out the story with his own observations. Still, with all those caveats, this is a very readable and informative book.
A much-needed study of the Vietnam War.......2000-07-10
The conflict in Vietnam was one of the most divisive foreign policy issues in our nation's history. The events which led up to full-scale American involvement in Vietnam vividly illustrated this divisiveness; a divisiveness which would change politics in America and the way in which Americans would look at their government. Robert D. Schulzinger's book, "A Time for War:The United States and Vietnam, 1941-1975", presents a comprehensive and analytical narrative on a war which is still hard for historians and the public to fully understand and interpret. Schulzinger brilliantly portrays U.S. involvement in Vietnamese affairs by analyzing how presidents and their national security teams from Roosevelt to Ford handled foreign policy concerning Vietnam. The objectivity of the book is very important and refreshing and interestingly points out how so many politicians and foreign policy experts predicted the eventual outcome of U.S. military involvement. Schulzinger's analysis of Johnson and his relations with advisors such as Robert McNamara, Walt Rostow, and McGeorge Bundy, tell of a president who knew what he was getting the country into but could not look beyond the short term effects of his decisions. By 1967-68, the war totally consumed Johnson and a point of no return was reached. Schulzinger also points out that the various South Vietnamese regimes failed to give proper support and encouragement to U.S. efforts. U.S. involvement in Vietnam was much too often taken for granted and this was a serious flaw in relations between Saigon and Washington. Unity and sense of nationalism were severely lacking in South Vietnam. Schulzinger's book provides a well-rounded and comprehensive analysis of a difficult time in American history. His primary source research was well done and the objectivity of the book was truly refreshing. The only drawback to the book is that one can easily get lost in his discussions of politics and diplomatic maneuvering. It also might have behooved the author to cover the American soldiers' experiences a little more as well. But, overall, this is a book which definitely stands out among Vietnam historiography.
A clear-cut history of the rationale for the Vietnam debacle.......1998-09-16
Dr. Schulzinger's book is the first of a two-part series on the history of Vietnamese resistance. While A Time For Peace is still being written, the prequel, A Time for War clearly describes the hows and whys that caused, first the French, and then the Americans to become embroiled in a controversial conflict that would divide their nations. Although some of Shulzinger's conclusions can be considered suspect (who could ever say that President Diem was not corrupt?), overall, the treatment is well-done.
Book Description
This Âgrandly illuminating study of two centuries of anti-Western ideas (Foreign Affairs) traces the historical roots of a virulent set of stereotypes about Westerners and the West, a cluster of notions and prejudices that Ian Buruma and Avishai Margalit call Occidentalism. The path does not lead back to Islam but, in fact, back to the West itself. From nineteenth-century Germany and Russia to twentieth-century Japan, China, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, Buruma and Margalit track the spread of these noxious ideas. Drawing on their formidable range and gift for synthesis to place modern terrorists in a long continuum of enemies of Western liberal society, Buruma and Margalit have written a book of extraordinary clarity and wide-ranging relevance.
Customer Reviews:
Two wrongs don't make a right.......2007-01-25
Having read Buruma's Murder in Amsterdam, I was disappointed by what amounts to little more than a cut and paste attempt to explain militant views toward the West over the years. For lack of a better word, he Margalit call these militant views "Occidentalism," which doesn't really seem to fit. If we look at "Occidentalism" as the flip side of "Orientalism" then one would expect a little more academic grounding to these extreme views. Instead, Buruma and Margalit draw from sources of far right literature of various cultures to piece together an anti-Western philosophy that has emerged over the years. They sample Imperial Japan, Nazi German, Stalinist Russia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the Wahabbist government of Saudi Arabia, to name a few. At 176 pages, minus index, it is by no means exhaustive, as was Said's polemic on "Orientalism." What we get here is a narrow sampling of extremist views toward North America and Europe, which has come to represent the West.
The authors seem to feel that these views are largely a product of extreme nationalism, which tries to give itself legitimacy by villifying the "other." They explore some of the metaphysical aspects of this xenophobia, by looking into the origins of Manichaeism, and the creation of a bi-polar universe. But these are for the most part shallow references, meant more to elicit discussion than to offer a serious study.
There isn't much exploration into the roots of these extremist views, such as the reaction to Western imperialism over the years or the continuation of neo-colonial attitudes in the Middle East and Africa, which gave rise to al Qaeda and other radical Islamic groups. Instead, Buruma and Margalit choose to focus on the propaganda of the East, and how it has come to be such a dominant force in Eastern nationalist politics. The book lacks a solid focus, as was the case with Murder in Amsterdam, which revolved around the death of Theo van Gogh, presenting both sides of the cultural divide and how extremist views on both sides often lead to violent confrontations.
Brilliant.......2006-12-21
This is a brilliant book and a helpful opposite to 'orientalism' which argued that the 'bad' West dared to judge other cultures. Here we see that the world also judges the west and is racist against westerners and de-humanizes them based on false assumptions. But the most incisive comment of the book is showing that most anti-western views are themselves products of the west's own pre-occupation with self critique and are also products of wars of ideas within the west. For instance the ideas of the German intellectuals in the 19th century that claimed that the 'bad civilized' west was destroying the German soul later transmogrified itself to others. The Romanitc 'return to the communal land' also influenced others. The Soviet struggle against the west helped inform others that the west was not the 'best'. In addition old extreme anti-secular notions among Catholics and others helped influene Islamism. This is not to blame the west, once again, for why people hate the west. However it makes an interesting point. By hating the west, those who hate in fact accept the west and are themselves products of the west, thus Islamism as a political ideology is baseically western. Those intellectuals who condemn the west are usually educated in the west, thus they are also western and their condemnation is begetted by western concepts of self-critique. To be truly anti-western one must forget the west, brilliant.
Seth J. Frantzman
no Gold Gospel Glory?.......2006-09-27
its absolutely a good written book. But it miss a wider discussion about Gold Gospel Glory as a comparison to jihad issue.
Failure to Effectively Engage the Reader.......2006-03-13
Accomplished professors Ian Buruma and Avishai Margalit essentially bit off more than they could effectively chew in this book. In a brief work, less than 150 pages they endeavor to effectively discuss, as they note in their subtitle, "The West in the Eyes of Its Enemies". In summary, they just do not deliver the insights anticipated by the subtitle.
A missed goal is the least of the problems in this work. In my view, their greatest shortcoming was simply this - they failed to engage the lay reader. While a short work, this book needed the skills of an experienced editor. For example, their fourth chapter, "Mind of the West" opens with this "THE ATTACK ON THE WEST IS AMONG OTHER THINGS an attack on the mind of the West. The mind of the West is often portrayed by Occidentalists as a kind of higher idiocy."
Reading this book is a long hard slog. If you are willing to devote serious effort, some occasional insights can be found. However, if you seek a skilful tight argument concerning "others" view of the modern West, your time can be better spent elsewhere. I was disappointed, it was an opportunity lost.
Why did I read this?.......2006-02-27
This book should have either covered a narrower base, or covered it's broad base more carefully. Halfway through I realized that about the only point I really was getting was "the East hates the West, in particular the Muslims hate the Jews." There were lots more specifics, but I didn't feel as if there was enough context for them to help. Instead the specific examples clouded the meaning for me and distracted me from the real theme. I had to finish it because I read if for a class, but unless you have to read it...don't. You can find much better writing.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from International Bulletin of Missionary Research, published by Overseas Ministries Study Center on April 1, 2005. The length of the article is 425 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: Occidentalism: The West in the Eyes of its Enemies.(Book Review)
Author: J. Dudley Woodberry
Publication:
International Bulletin of Missionary Research (Refereed)
Date: April 1, 2005
Publisher: Overseas Ministries Study Center
Volume: 29
Issue: 2
Page: 109(1)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from International Bulletin of Missionary Research, published by Overseas Ministries Study Center on July 1, 2004. The length of the article is 427 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: Orientalism, Occidentalism, and Christian mission.("In Occidentalism: The West in the Eyes of Its Enemies")(Book Review)
Publication:
International Bulletin of Missionary Research (Refereed)
Date: July 1, 2004
Publisher: Overseas Ministries Study Center
Volume: 28
Issue: 3
Page: 97(1)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
The richness and diversity of Cuban birdlife features 354 recorded species that represent 20 orders and 60 families. The 21 living endemic species include the charming Cuban Tody, the striking and elegant Cuban Trogon (the national bird), the colorful Cuban Green Woodpecker, and the smallest of all birds, the Bee Hummingbird. This compact and portable field reference will help Cubans, visitors from abroad, and bird enthusiasts identify and enjoy the island's avifauna. The 51 color plates and 662 images accurately illustrate male, female, and juvenile plumages (in some cases for the first time). Many migratory species are depicted in both winter and breeding colors, providing a glimpse of many common North American birds as they appear when away from northern surroundings. In the comprehensive Field Guide to the Birds of Cuba Orlando H. Garrido and Arturo Kirkconnell share their vast wealth of knowledge about birds--and habitats--that are too little known.
Field Guide to the Birds of Cuba contains:
* Species accounts including habitat descriptions, similar species, range, status, nesting and feeding habits, and vocalizations.
* Checklists of endemic species and subspecies.
* Background on the geography, climate, geology, paleontology, and natural history of Cuba.
*144 maps that show regional boundaries and vegetative habitats as well as the local distribution of each species.
Customer Reviews:
Just what I needed.......2005-07-20
Good illustrations: excellent detail, good colour and size. Really helpful identification tips for an amateur,(me)without being patronising. Interesting geographical and historical information. And a manageable size for a field guide. I'm really looking forward to using it and am enjoying doing my "homework" before the trip.
Buy in advance.......2002-03-20
Excellent and vital piece of work for the average bird watcher in Cuba. Please purchase before travelling to Cuba, as in the country itself you'll be unable to find ANY fieldguide on birds!
What is that bird again?.......2001-08-27
Excellent and very scientific guide. The descriptions are excellent and all the information extremely useful. It's obvious that the authors are experts in their field. I found the plates top notch and, I'm sure, they will allow quick identification of any bird we see. A couple of defects: The common Spanish name should be included in the plates. Imagine the guide telling you "That's a siju platanero" while the plate only calls it Cuban Pigmy owl!But that is minor compared to the lack of cross-reference from the plate to the text. The other guides I have state the page with the information about the sighted bird. Here you must go through the index or leaf your way to the correct text. Other than that I really enjoyed the book.
The long-awaited Field Guide to the Birds of Cuba.......2000-08-31
Garrido and Kirkconnell's new field guide to the Birds of Cuba fills a niche that has needed filling since Thomas Barbour's The Birds of Cuba, 1923 (not a field guide). This book, however, goes far beyond where Barbour left off. Although untested by most birders, this new work has the potential to be one of the leading birding field guides. If the species accounts, range maps and illustrations prove to be accurate, it will be. The geographical information will be a great aid not only in finding the birds, but also in selecting transportation and appropriate attire. The section, Bird Habitats, (page 10) gives brief but informative treatments on the eco-zones of Cuba mentioning some appropriate plants and the birds found in these habitats. The Endemic Species list (Appendix) gives us insight into a fascinating avifauna. The Endemic Subspecies list that follows could include English names for the sake of parallel structure. I have a feeling that "the splitters" will in the near future add to the species list. The beautiful illustrations by Roman F. Company are enhanced by tantalizing vignettes of the Cuban countryside.
As a student of Cuban natural history for over 35 years, this book whets my appetite for Cuba even more. My first trip to this enticing archipelago, known collectively as Cuba, lies ahead and it will be with my copy of Field Guide to the Birds of Cuba under my arm.
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