Father Joe: The Man Who Saved My Soul
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • I think Father Joe Saved my soul too!
  • A Great Book: Beyond Judgment and Revisionism
  • Father Joe--a disappointment
  • The long-lasting relationship of a layman and his spiritual mentor
  • Disgusted with the lie.
Father Joe: The Man Who Saved My Soul
Tony Hendra
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0812972341
Release Date: 2005-05-31

Amazon.com

How I met Father Joe. I was fourteen and having an affair with a married woman. These are the opening lines to the first chapter of this outstanding memoir by former National Lampoon Editor Tony Hendra. How could we resist diving into this deliciously satisfying story about a lifelong mentorship with Dom Joseph Warrilow, a.k.a. Father Joe? After the devout Catholic husband catches the illicit couple in the kitchen, the husband does not attack Hendra. Instead he decides the young boy needs salvation. Amazingly, the husband leads Hendra to the one man who could save his soul: Father Joe. This is a tribute to a spiritual mentor, written in an easygoing, guy-talk style. It is no small feat to be brilliantly funny, ruthlessly honest, and spiritually profound at the same time, but Hendra has the winning combo. For more than 40 years Hendra would return to this mesmerizing old soul to tell him everything---from the details of his first sexual encounter, through questioning the social value of satire, to his crisis in faith after losing two children through miscarriages. But it's not just the North Star wisdom of Father Joe that captivates readers; it is the chance to follow Hendra as he gradually matures into a humble and spiritually solid man who can still crack a wicked good joke. Such a gift. Thank you, Tony Hendra. --Gail Hudson

Book Description

A key comic writer of the past three decades has created his most heartfelt and hard-hitting book. Father Joe is Tony Hendra’s inspiring true story of finding faith, friendship, and family through the decades-long influence of a surpassingly wise Benedictine monk named Father Joseph Warrillow.

Like everything human, it started with sex. In 1955, fourteen-year-old Tony found himself entangled with a married Catholic woman. In Cold War England, where Catholicism was the subject of news stories and Graham Greene bestsellers, Tony was whisked off by the woman’s husband to see a priest and be saved.

Yet what he found was a far cry from the priests he’d known at Catholic school, where boys were beaten with belts or set upon by dogs. Instead, he met Father Joe, a gentle, stammering, ungainly Benedictine who never used the words “wrong” or “guilt,” who believed that God was in everyone and that “the only sin was selfishness.” During the next forty years, as his life and career drastically ebbed and flowed, Tony discovered that his visits to Father Joe remained the one constant in his life—the relationship that, in the most serious sense, saved it.

From the fifties and his adolescent desire to join an abbey himself; to the sixties, when attending Cambridge and seeing the satire of Beyond the Fringe convinced him to change the world with laughter, not prayer; to the seventies and successful stints as an original editor of National Lampoon and a writer of Lemmings, the off-Broadway smash that introduced John Belushi and Chevy Chase; to professional disaster after co-creating the legendary English series Spitting Image; from drinking to drugs, from a failed first marriage to a successful second and the miracle of parenthood—the years only deepened Tony’s need for the wisdom of his other and more real father, creating a bond that could not be broken, even by death.

A startling departure for this acclaimed satirist, Father Joe is a sincere account of how Tony Hendra learned to love. It’s the story of a whole generation looking for a way back from mockery and irony, looking for its own Father Joe, and a testament to one of the most charismatic mentors in modern literature.


From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars I think Father Joe Saved my soul too!.......2007-09-01

The Pope's Private Prayer Book : Words of Inspiration from Pope John Paul II
An Invitation to Prayer (Private Prayers of Pope John Paul II (Audio))
I think Father Joe Saved my soul too!

This audio book is a great listen.The difference between other books about religion is it is not about religion.Tony like many people growing up was searching for the meaning of life.The seven deadly sins effected Tony,lust being his first attack on his mortal soul,led him to confession to Father Joe.This first confession led Tony to
have a lifelong confessor in Father Joe.Tony believed as a boy that he was going to join the Benedictine Monstery.
St.Benedict was the Founder of Western Monasticism,he
founded a collection of rules in which became known as the Benedictine Rule.These rules are used to guide the monks who follow St.Benedict.The rules are loosely based on the old saying "a person not busy is the devils workshop".
Father Joe did not think Tony should be a monk, and guided him to be in the Arts.Tony went on to write theatrical stories in hopes to make people laugh.Tony was told at the end of Father Joe's life,by father joe why he sent him to school an guided him thw way he did.
The biggest thing a person can get out of this story is everyone serves God in his
or her way.A priest serves God, no less then a dad or a mom and or visa versa.We are all in vocation that serves the creator, the way the creator created us to be.This is a very good book,read, Father Joe: the Man Who Saved My Soul, by Tony Hendra...
Work Cited
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintb02.htm

5 out of 5 stars A Great Book: Beyond Judgment and Revisionism .......2007-04-01

I came to Father Joe recently as an innocent, and I loved it. It's the true story of an all-too-human soul and his rocky-road journey. I knew nothing of the later scandal and controversy involving his daughter's accusations of molestation--accusations that have clearly skewed the more recent reactions to this wonderful work. Not "perfect," but nonetheless wonderful. What I would ask the now-judgmental and harsh critics of this work is this: are you willing to allow that people who do "bad things" actually can change, which does not imply that they/we then become perfect? For the quibblers, the book is called Father Joe, though it's Hendra's memoir, precisely because the monk's profoundly simple, sublimely wise and supremely compassionate presence casts such a long shadow over the entire work--and Hendra's life. As a memoir, it is funny, poignant, moving, honest....and at times exasperating, as we read about Hendra's descent into narcissism and his ill-treatment of others. That he does not discuss his first marriage and the children thereof in great deal may well be due to a deep sense of shame and a desire to protect, not just his own back, but all of his family. Of course he is responsible for his actions. But given the drug-and-alcohol haze in which he spent many years, his recollection of events is no doubt impaired. Be that as it may, God bless him, and all of his children, particularly those from the neglected first marriage. And may the Father Joes and "everyday angels" of this world continue to bless all of us with forgiveness and acceptance despite our failings.

2 out of 5 stars Father Joe--a disappointment.......2007-03-23

This book is more about Tony Hendra than Father Joe. The few times Father Joe appears in the book might be said to be "inspirational" in how he interprets or views certain situations. However Tony's "soul" is not "saved" until his middle age years--the time when many of us reflect on how we have progressed in life. A major disappointment...

3 out of 5 stars The long-lasting relationship of a layman and his spiritual mentor.......2007-03-09

I absolutely adored the first part of Father Joe, centering on the likable narrator's childhood and the beginning of his religious awakening as a Catholic in England. The second part I despised. The 'saint-child' who so wanted to become a monk like his mentor Fr. Joe turned into an incredibly selfish and depressed person who even in his highest successes was nowhere near as interesting as the boy he once was. But for the second part of this work, It would likely have given this book the highest rating. I understand the purpose of the latter half was showing Tony's fall from faith into secularism and then an ultimate return, but I really had to push myself to finish the book. Still, worth reading even if the title character is far more intriguing than his sad, corrupted friend.

1 out of 5 stars Disgusted with the lie........2007-01-15

I just finished reading this book this evening, and I loved it for the reasons mentioned by other people, but then I went online and found out about his daughter's accusations of sexual abuse. I read articles about that and became convinced of the veracity of the allegations. If this truth wasn't so heinous and immense it could be deflected as not being pertinent to a well-written book, but the reality gives the lie to the whole book, and completely ruins it. If Hendra still so callously lies about that, even to the point of slandering his daughter, no fabrication is beyond him.
Father Joe the Man Who Saved My Soul
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Father Joe the Man Who Saved My Soul
    Tony Hendra
    Manufacturer: RANDOM HOUSE @ TRADE
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

    GeneralGeneral | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Christian Living | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
    ASIN: 0241143152

    Download Description

    A key comic writer of the past three decades has created his most heartfelt and hard-hitting book. Father Joe is Tony Hendra's inspiring true story of finding faith, friendship, and family through the decades-long influence of a surpassingly wise Benedictine monk named Father Joseph Warrillow.

    Like everything human, it started with sex. In 1955, fourteen-year-old Tony found himself entangled with a married Catholic woman. In Cold War England, where Catholicism was the subject of news stories and Graham Greene bestsellers, Tony was whisked off by the woman's husband to see a priest and be saved.

    Yet what he found was a far cry from the priests he'd known at Catholic school, where boys were beaten with belts or set upon by dogs. Instead, he met Father Joe, a gentle, stammering, ungainly Benedictine who never used the words "wrong" or "guilt," who believed that God was in everyone and that "the only sin was selfishness." During the next forty years, as his life and career drastically ebbed and flowed, Tony discovered that his visits to Father Joe remained the one constant in his life—the relationship that, in the most serious sense, saved it.

    From the fifties and his adolescent desire to join an abbey himself; to the sixties, when attending Cambridge and seeing the satire of Beyond the Fringe convinced him to change the world with laughter, not prayer; to the seventies and successful stints as an original editor of National Lampoon and a writer of Lemmings, the off-Broadway smash that introduced John Belushi and Chevy Chase; to professional disaster after co-creating the legendary English series Spitting Image; from drinking to drugs, from a failed first marriage to a successful second and the miracle of parenthood—the years only deepened Tony's need for the wisdom of his other and more real father, creating a bond that could not be broken, even by death.

    A startling departure for this acclaimed satirist, Father Joe is a sincere account of how Tony Hendra learned to love. It's the story of a whole generation looking for a way back from mockery and irony, looking for its own Father Joe, and a testament to one of the most charismatic mentors in modern literature.


    "Tony Hendra has accomplished one hell of a lot in his life, and doubtless has many achievements ahead of him, but this memoir of his spiritual journey, and the monk who guided it, will almost certainly be his masterpiece."
        CHRISTOPHER BUCKLEY

    "I picked up Father Joe intending to read just a couple of pages before bed—and found that I couldn't put it down until I'd finished it. The nature of a wise man, and the true nature of what wisdom feels like in action, is beautifully captured in Tony Hendra's portrait of Father Joe, who is one of the few convincing saints in recent writing. The book's last episode, when Hendra brings his son to meet Father Joe, brought unexpected tears to my weary eyes."
        ADAM GOPNIK

    "Father Joe is a many-layered memoir of a god-driven Englishman, Tony Hendra. When I read passages to my wife and my voice began to give way she said, Keep going, keep going. I really didn't need much urging. I could easily have read the whole book in one sitting but it's too rich, too powerful, overwhelming. Even when he's describing his days of wine, roses and rock and roll Mr. Hendra gives himself no quarter. There are furious paragraphs where he echoes Hamlet's 'Why, what an ass am I.' But w
    Father Joe, the Man Who Saved My Soul.(Book Review): An article from: Catholic New Times
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      Father Joe, the Man Who Saved My Soul.(Book Review): An article from: Catholic New Times
      Phyllis Levert
      Manufacturer: Catholic New Times, Inc.
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      ASIN: B000ALTCW6
      Release Date: 2005-07-25

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      This digital document is an article from Catholic New Times, published by Catholic New Times, Inc. on June 19, 2005. The length of the article is 572 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: Father Joe, the Man Who Saved My Soul.(Book Review)
      Author: Phyllis Levert
      Publication: Catholic New Times (Magazine/Journal)
      Date: June 19, 2005
      Publisher: Catholic New Times, Inc.
      Volume: 29 Issue: 11 Page: 16(2)

      Article Type: Book Review

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      One sinner's story.(Books)(Book Review): An article from: Commonweal
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        One sinner's story.(Books)(Book Review): An article from: Commonweal
        Grant Gallicho
        Manufacturer: Commonweal Foundation
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        ASIN: B00096ST1W
        Release Date: 2006-07-14

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        This digital document is an article from Commonweal, published by Commonweal Foundation on September 24, 2004. The length of the article is 1459 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: One sinner's story.(Books)(Book Review)
        Author: Grant Gallicho
        Publication: Commonweal (Magazine/Journal)
        Date: September 24, 2004
        Publisher: Commonweal Foundation
        Volume: 131 Issue: 16 Page: 27(2)

        Article Type: Book Review

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        Dresden: Tuesday, February 13, 1945
        Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
        • The Raid That Went Horribly Right
        • Dresden Denial.
        • Thorough, Readable and Illuminating
        • Military logic - or military minds run amok?
        • did we all read the same book?
        Dresden: Tuesday, February 13, 1945
        Frederick Taylor
        Manufacturer: HarperCollins
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Hardcover

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        4. Firestorm: Allied Airpower and the Destruction of Dresden Firestorm: Allied Airpower and the Destruction of Dresden
        5. The Fire: The Bombing of Germany, 1940-1945 The Fire: The Bombing of Germany, 1940-1945

        ASIN: 0060006765
        Release Date: 2004-02-03

        Book Description

        The bombing began shortly after 10:00 P.M. on February 13, 1945. In the fifteen hours that followed, 1,100 American and British heavy bombers dropped more than 4,500 tons of high-explosive bombs and incendiary devices, leaving the ancient city of Dresden -- "the Florence of the Elbe" -- in flaming ruins and claiming the lives of thousands of its citizens. Twelve weeks later the German surrender was in hand, signaling the end of World War II.

        Yet today the bombing of Dresden is embedded in our collective consciousness not as the toppling blow to Nazi Germany but as one of history's cruelest wartime atrocities, a vicious and militarily unjustifiable act of vengeful retribution against a peaceful, beautiful, defenseless city somehow removed from the war-making machinery that had otherwise consumed all of Germany.

        What really happened at Dresden -- both the facts of the events themselves and the reasons behind the remarkable legacy of propaganda that has left us in the dark about those events for nearly sixty years -- is the subject of Frederick Taylor's ground breaking study. After careful research into British, American, and German archives (including recently discovered documents, now available after decades of communist censorship) and interviews with both bombers and survivors, Taylor -- a bilingual scholar, translator, and writer -- has created the most complete portrait ever assembled of the city, its people, and those involved in its fate. Many of his findings require a revelatory shift in how we understand these events. For instance, he demonstrates that

      • the numbers of dead -- frequently cited in excess of 100,000 -- were greatly exaggerated, for propaganda purposes, by Josef Goebbels (Taylor estimates the actual death toll at between 25,000 and 40,000)
      • charges that Allied pilots overhead shot down German civilians as they fled toward safety were patently false
      • contrary to popular belief, Dresden was a city of considerable military importance, both as a transportation hub and a major producer of armaments and military provisions.
      • Dresden: Tuesday, February 13, 1945 is the first truly informed and fair-minded history of the bombing that lives in infamy. Frederick Taylor's book, a responsible and long-overdue corrective to a sixty-year-long legacy of misinformation masquerading as fact, will be remembered for generations both as a work of enduring scholarship and as a moving, compassionate narrative of a human tragedy of historic significance.

        Customer Reviews:

        5 out of 5 stars The Raid That Went Horribly Right.......2007-05-10


        " .... much of what has been thought and said about Dresden since its destruction (February 13, 1945) owes a great deal to the efforts first of the Nazi and then Communist propagandists." In this book, author Frederick Taylor attempts to present the known facts of the Dresden raid in the context of the date of the raid. He notes that while Dresden didn't deserved to be destroyed, by the standards of the time it was "....a legitimate military target."

        The first four chapters outline Dresden's history from the thirteenth century to the twentieth century. A historic and magnificent city, Dresden was known as "Florence on the Elbe." The Nazi regime took power in 1933. The text gives an excellent, brief outline of life under the Nazi. British Bomber Command was ill prepared to begin offensive operations following the 1939 German invasion of Poland and suffered heavy losses. The Luftwaffe's November 14, 1940 raid on Coventry resulted in 568 civilian deaths. Amazingly, this raid showed that area incendiary bombing destroying infrastructure had lasted far longer and caused long-term difficulties for war production than the actual bombing of the industrial plants."..."From September 1940 to March 1941 the Luftwaffe launched raids on Britain killing more than forty thousand civilians. These Luftwaffe raids became the model for British strategy. Commander of Bomber Command Arthur Harris noted "It would have taken Bomber command much longer to learn how to attack Germany if it had not been for the lessons of the German attack on Britain."

        Taylor covers the history of aerial bombardment and outlines the allied WWII strategic bombing campaign against Germany. Most interesting is the text's explanation of the strategic value of Dresden. Dresden had the big Zeuss-Ikon complex employing over ten-thousand workers on war contracts, the city also contained 127 critical factories and it was a strategic rail center. At the beginning of the war, Dresden was considered beyond the RAF's range and was thought immune to air raids. The text devotes five chapters to describe the actual February 13, 1945 bombing of the city by the British and American forces. Mixing with the text narratives, first-person accounts of the air crews and those of the German soldiers and civilians, the book paints a gruesome picture of the hell in Dresden during and after the raid. Except for minor variances, the raid went horribly right operationally! German propaganda proclaimed a distorted casualty figure of 250,000 for Dresden as opposed to the actual number killed of approximately 25,000. When the communist overran Dresden they continued to proclaim the erroneous casualty figures.

        The closing text is devoted to the post war discussions and moral questions of the city's fate. The author notes that "The macabre argument over the death toll at Dresden still continues." Taylor continues that "The fact that one of Europe's finest cities was almost entirely destroyed--while much, though by no means all, of what made it a legitimate target for bombing survived--can be criticized and condemned."

        While countless works have been published on the bombing of Dresden, Taylor uses several German and Allied sources to write an account in English that both the historian and history buff will find informative and interesting.

        1 out of 5 stars Dresden Denial........2007-02-13

        This book demonstrates that the British are still having trouble confronting their guilt over England's WWII attrocities.Fortunately for Mr.Taylor Dresden denial won't get him thrown in prison like holocaust denial will in most of the world.In this book Taylor tries to explain away and excuse one of WWII's greatest crimes,the burning to death of 50,000+ civilians in the city of Dresden in Feb. 1945.It's a rather pathetic effort that pretty much comes down to nothing more than a horrifying "they deserved it".It is sad and frightening that there are still people out there who deny the reality of such attrocities.What is their purpose?Is it nothing more than simple Germanophobia or is it a sinister effort to rehabilitate the reputations of Arthur Harris and Winston Churchill? As frightening as this kind of hate literature is, I am sure few intelligent people will be fooled by it's absurd assertions and that in the near future the British people will finaly learn to accept and deal with their guilt and learn from the past so these terrible crimes will never be repeated.

        5 out of 5 stars Thorough, Readable and Illuminating.......2007-02-11

        This is how I like my history: intensely readable, balanced and thoughtful. Taylor excels himself in writing about this controversial subject. His thorough grasp both of the historical context in which Dresden existed and of the events that led to its destruction never falters.

        Frederick Taylor is a writer who is passionately engaged in his subject and it shines through on every page. I cannot recommend this absorbing and complex book highly enough.

        3 out of 5 stars Military logic - or military minds run amok?.......2007-01-15

        `Dresden' - the book - is Taylor's contribution to the revived controversy surrounding the 1945 firestorm bombing of the city of Dresden. While extremely interesting and recounted in great detail, I still had mixed feelings about some of his conclusions. Taylor who is out to dispel the "myths" surrounding the notorious saturation bombing totes a questionable fine line as to whether he is arguing a case for military target legitimacy... or for complete annihilation.

        He spends much time building a case for why Dresden was a legitimate military target. Nearly every German city had by this time been conscripted to the war effort, and yes, Dresden may have had legitimate targets, but the destruction inflicted upon the civilians was so ferociously excessive contrasted with the relatively minor damage done to military infrastructure, that it makes the argument almost moot.

        The first RAF bombing raid excluded the Marshalling yards, Hauptbanhof, Marienbrücke railway bridge and troop barracks... obvious military targets if you are bombing to disable troop movement. It was -only- during the 2nd bombing raid, seeing that the Altstadt was completely engulfed in flames, that the RAF bomber leader made a snap decision - on his own - to target the fringes, otherwise the second target drop would have been exactly as the first.. the Altstadt itself. This is as much of an admission as you are ever going to get that the 1st and 2nd RAF raids were sent not so much for its military targets but for sheer chaos or "dehousing" as it was called.

        The author however, does an excellent job revealing the lack of preparedness for a possible all out air raid, and shows how Dresden was truly undefended that night. When the author, who in no way seeks to minimize the horrors, is finished recounting the devastation inflicted on the inhabitants (told mainly through survivor first hand accounts), and you realize that there is still more come by way of the USAAF,... you are in disbelief.

        Taylor is less successful at dispelling the "myth" of strafing. His method is to give credence to anyone who did not witness strafing, and to dismiss accounts of those who did as being "confused and traumatized" people. Yet there is documentation of an order to strafe and Taylor even prints it in his book. There are far too numerous recollections of this happening ( in many cities ) to dismiss out of hand. The official RAF Bomber Command web site page for Dresden 1945... still reads:

        "Part of the American Mustang fighter-escort was ordered to strafe traffic on the roads around Dresden to increase the chaos and disruption to the important transportation network in the region."

        Anyway, what Taylor spends most of his time on is counting the dead .. and since no one ever went to jail for reducing the number of Dresden victims, his final number is far lower than the 100 to 200 thousand often claimed.Taylor's final number of 30,000 seems low considering the number of refugees in the city, but it appears he has covered every angle on this based on documents that are known to exist.

        The dense writing style of the book comes across as impenetrable but it is not without it flaws or manipulations.There are several carefully crafted statements throughout the book which while true on their face, are given in a near vacuum without addressing coherently the history of the economic and political turmoil of not only Germany but all of Europe in the years prior to Hitler. Statements such as "Dresden was a Nazi stronghold even before Hitler" are simply torn from their essential historical and political context, insinuating that in Dresden the early Nazi party rose to power on a wave of anti-Semitism rather than being the counter-revolutionary byproduct to massive destabilizing movements by communist/socialist forces.

        While most people regard WWII as a `just war' it is also a war filled with mutual slaughter and atrocities with each nation bearing the weight of its own moral transgressions. To call it `strategic bombing' is merely a label and if a nation were to commit such an atrocity against a civilian population today that nation's leaders would surely be branded as war criminals.

        Taylor may have been successful at some things, but he is by no means that last word on the subject. His greatest contribution is showing us how military minds run amok. Dresden was neither the first nor the last German city to be firebombed with devastating civilian casualties - but the Saxony city still manages to arouse both controversy and curiosity and Dresden still holds its place in history as a symbol of wars devastation and ruthlessness.

        4 out of 5 stars did we all read the same book?.......2006-10-26

        I found this first and foremost a page turner, which is a blessing with any work of history. I found the author laid out the facts in a very compelling manner, and most often left the moral judgements to the reader. Of course it was mass murder, but in the context of that awful war the lines of moral right and wrong often seem very blurred. The Allies HAD to win, the war wasn't yet over. It's a very clear decision in hind-sight, based on the death toll, that it shouldn't have happened, but, at the time...
        Dresden, Tuesday, February 13, 1945.(Book Review): An article from: First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          Dresden, Tuesday, February 13, 1945.(Book Review): An article from: First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life
          Darrell Cole
          Manufacturer: Institute on Religion and Public Life
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Digital

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          ASIN: B00082FMRQ
          Release Date: 2005-08-01

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          This digital document is an article from First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, published by Institute on Religion and Public Life on August 1, 2004. The length of the article is 451 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: Dresden, Tuesday, February 13, 1945.(Book Review)
          Author: Darrell Cole
          Publication: First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life (Refereed)
          Date: August 1, 2004
          Publisher: Institute on Religion and Public Life
          Issue: 145 Page: 81(2)

          Article Type: Book Review

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          Dresden: Tuesday, February 13, 1945.(Book review): An article from: Air & Space Power Journal
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            Dresden: Tuesday, February 13, 1945.(Book review): An article from: Air & Space Power Journal
            Paul G. Niesen
            Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
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            Release Date: 2006-11-28

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            Citation Details
            Title: Dresden: Tuesday, February 13, 1945.(Book review)
            Author: Paul G. Niesen
            Publication: Air & Space Power Journal (Magazine/Journal)
            Date: September 22, 2005
            Publisher: Thomson Gale
            Volume: 19 Issue: 3 Page: 122(3)

            Article Type: Book review

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            Dresden: Tuesday, February 13, 1945
            Average customer rating: Not rated
              Dresden: Tuesday, February 13, 1945
              Frederick Taylor
              Manufacturer: HarperCollins
              ProductGroup: Book
              Binding: Paperback
              ASIN: B000OEIVO4
              Dresden: Tuesday, February 13, 1945
              Average customer rating: Not rated
                Dresden: Tuesday, February 13, 1945
                Frederick Taylor
                Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
                ProductGroup: Book
                Binding: Paperback
                ASIN: B000OEIVTY

                Land of Desire: Merchants, Power, and the Rise of a New American Culture
                Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
                • Interesting story, not enough analysis
                • Snooze
                • Leisure as Consumerism
                • perfect
                • Brilliant, scholarly, beautifully written
                Land of Desire: Merchants, Power, and the Rise of a New American Culture
                William R. Leach
                Manufacturer: Vintage
                ProductGroup: Book
                Binding: Paperback

                Shopping & CommerceShopping & Commerce | Reference | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
                Turn of the CenturyTurn of the Century | 19th Century | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
                GeneralGeneral | 20th Century | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
                GeneralGeneral | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
                GeneralGeneral | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
                Similar Items:
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                2. Advertising the American Dream: Making Way for Modernity, 1920-1940 Advertising the American Dream: Making Way for Modernity, 1920-1940
                3. Fables of Abundance: A Cultural History of Advertising in America Fables of Abundance: A Cultural History of Advertising in America
                4. The Monied Metropolis: New York City and the Consolidation of the American Bourgeoisie, 18501896 The Monied Metropolis: New York City and the Consolidation of the American Bourgeoisie, 18501896
                5. Captains of Consciousness: Advertising and the Social Roots of the Consumer Culture Captains of Consciousness: Advertising and the Social Roots of the Consumer Culture

                ASIN: 0679754113
                Release Date: 1994-09-06

                Book Description

                This monumental work of cultural history was nominated for a National Book Award. It chronicles America's transformation, beginning in 1880, into a nation of consumers, devoted to a cult of comfort, bodily well-being, and endless acquisition. 24 pages of photos.

                Customer Reviews:

                4 out of 5 stars Interesting story, not enough analysis.......2004-06-06

                W.R. Leach writes about the beginning of consumerism in the U.S. around 1910/20. He writes with much verve about his theme, which makes the book an ageeable read.
                But for my taste the book is somewhat short on analysis. For example: there is much talk of the connection between selling and religion, but if this connection was by random or if there were some deeper links is left open.
                If you are new to the subject of this book and you want an interesting read: get it. But be aware, the answers for a lot of questions this book poses are not to be found here.

                1 out of 5 stars Snooze.......2003-02-06

                This has got to be the most boring book in the world!!!! I have to read it for one of my college courses and it is very nauseating. 30 pages on the history of window decorations!! Give me a break! If you're into analyzing the advertising industry, try Social Communications in Advertising by Leiss. Its a much better book and its much more interesting!

                4 out of 5 stars Leisure as Consumerism.......2001-12-09

                In William Leach's Land of Desire: Merchants, Power, and the Rise of a New American Culture the author ignores the topic of leisure by making it self-evident through consumerism. Leisure, and in turn consumerism, became actual businesses to the likes of the Straus Brothers and Marshall Field, as well as to by-products of consumer industries such as banks, hotels, and museums. Leach's book brings the nature of leisure full circle, from Veblen's Leisure Class to leisure of the working class, whose consumption boosted businesses that used working-class techniques based in the theatre and vaudeville as "showmanship" in the shop window.

                5 out of 5 stars perfect.......2001-07-09

                Leach has written a wonderful book on the true roots of modern American society. Ever wonder why the only public meeting place extant is the shopping mall? Because "they" want it that way. Find out who they were - and are. But beware. You're probably one of them!

                5 out of 5 stars Brilliant, scholarly, beautifully written.......1998-08-24

                Ostensibly a history of the department store in America, this book is a revelatory primer for those wishing to understand the origins and growth of the culture of comsumerism in the United States. As Leach convincingly documents, consumerism is an artificial, carefully crafted construct clearly traceable to particular people and places in our history. Their paradigm of consumption, Leach further shows, is one that has come to consume American culture in general--and, increasingly, world cultures beyond it.

                Die Deutschen Vogelnamen: Eine Wortgeschichtliche Untersuchung
                Average customer rating: Not rated
                  Die Deutschen Vogelnamen: Eine Wortgeschichtliche Untersuchung
                  Hugo Suolahti , and Seebold Von Elmar
                  Manufacturer: Walter De Gruyter Inc
                  ProductGroup: Book
                  Binding: Paperback

                  BirdsBirds | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
                  LinguisticsLinguistics | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books
                  GeneralGeneral | Reference | Subjects | Books
                  GeneralGeneral | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
                  GermanGerman | Foreign Language Nonfiction | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
                  NonfictionNonfiction | German | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books
                  ReferenceReference | German | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books
                  All German BooksAll German Books | German | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books
                  ASIN: 3110168839

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                  1. Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72
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