Mozart: A Cultural Biography

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Readers who think of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) as the shrieking vulgarian depicted in Peter Shaffer's hit play (and movie) Amadeus will be astonished by the man they meet in this biography by music historian Robert Gutman: "affectionate and generous ... an austere moralist of vital force, incisiveness, and strength of purpose." Without scanting Mozart's often maladroit handling of his patrons or his earthy way with words ("Let the whole company of patricians lick my ass," he declared in a 1777 letter), Gutman portrays a musical genius who slowly and painfully achieved personal maturity as he emerged from the shadow of his domineering father. The rich cultural life of 18th-century Europe forms a vivid background for Mozart's professional and artistic evolution. And Gutman's descriptions of Mozart's work are models of music writing for the lay reader: they capture the brilliance and beauty of the great composer's art in easily accessible language, as in the analysis of The Marriage of Figaro's place in "a new aesthetic of surging movement ... the vocal and orchestral lines twine, separate, and reunite in confrontation, opposition, and accommodation, an ever-changing, effortless interlacing." The prose delineating Mozart's complex personality is just as full-bodied and perceptive. --Wendy Smith

Book Description

This major work, the result of years of careful study and analysis, places Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's life and music in the context of the intellectual, political and artistic currents of eighteenth-century Europe. The result is a fresh interpretation of Mozart's genius, as Robert Gutman shows the great composer in a new light. With an informed and sensitive handling, Mozart emerges as an affectionate and generous man with family and friends, self-deprecating, witty, and winsome but also an austere moralist, incisive and purposeful. The major genres in which Mozart worked-chamber music, liturgical, theater and keyboard compositions, concertos, operas, symphonies, and oratorios-are unfolded to reveal a man of luminous intellect. Mozart is an extraordinary portrait of a man and his times and a brilliant distillation of musical thought.

Customer Reviews:

Mozart complete.......2006-12-12

I am 260 pages into this 839 page book and my impression is that this has to be the definitive Mozart biography. It is heavily leaden with pertinent footnotes, asides and culturally important context; what is more important is that Mozart is given the respect due to a grown man, to a blessed genius, to a cultural icon second to no one.

When the movie "Amadeus" came out those many years ago, I watched it and was horrified at how Wolfie was depicted. Worse than a comic book character, he was reduced to a sexually perverse adolescent who just so happened to have music poring through his dim-wit brains. Gutman has burned away all the disappointment and distortion that the admitedly bogus Shaffer play/movie created and what remains is a fantastic story that grips from beginning to end. One of the most impressive bits of trivia, by the way, is just how often Wolfie (and his entire family) was deathly sick and how he lived as long as he did. I simply could not fathom how he survived those many illnesses as a child; perhaps (what we term his immune system) was so demolished as a child that as an adult, facing more sickness, his body simply could not take any more?

A really great book that I am savouring every day.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Have finally finished the book. Totally worth the effort to read such a huge book (note: the footnotes although so many are worth reading). This is a book that has the depth that Mozart deserved. What I found outstanding was the richness of knowledge, of the labor of research the author put into arriving at clarity, at dispelling of myths. This later issue for me was the antidote I had always been craving since watching "Amadeus" for the first time. There have been many silly and inaccurate things said about him; this book just about covers each and every myth. The wisdom we absorb in the process makes Woolfy so much more human. How much more can we love this man who was at the peak of his creative energies, his public success, his power as a husband and father.

A word must be said about his father. Although it is tempting to judge Leopold in a harsh way, he was a product in many ways of his times; his character was wracked with insecurities and paranoia. That he took advantage of Mozart and in the end by disinheriting him made him look like a nasty and bitter man, we still have to admit that he encouraged and taught Mozart as best he could. That he could stoop to very low levels (accusing Mozart of being the cause of his mothers death, is but one of many examples) must be seen in contrast to how far Mozart evolved away from those clutching and grasping hands. Sad too is the polluting mindset his sister absorbed from their father. However, we might not have done any better given the tumultuous times they all lived in.

His final sickness came out of nowhere and took him very rapidly. With his wife at his side he slipped into a coma and died. We are only left to ponder what sort of music he would have made had he lived, living as he did as Beethoven was emerging out of his own chrysalis. Imagine the clashes of styles and musical agendas as the two would have vied for space. Perhaps Mozart had done all he needed to do? Finally, it should be pointed out that he and Constanze lived in a lot of luxury and although always at a certain level of debt, he always managed it because he kept on writing for lucrative commissions. The world was left with a brilliant addition to it's culture; we would have been so much less without his music. A great book for those who really want to know the real Mozart. A tour de force.

Too Much Mozart?.......2006-10-27

I give the rating above with some misgivings. I've no doubt that Mr Gutman has analyzed every aspect and nuance of Mozart's career and the events that shaped his life. In great detail he shares that information with us, then goes on to give us a graduate level treatise on 18th century music theory and development, a serious discussion of the players and philosophy of the Enlightenment, and a comprehensive romp though the politics of 17th/18th century Europe. I've no doubt that he has accomplished all he set out to do, particularly if his audience is already reasonably fluent in the subjects mentioned. A working familiarity with Mozart's Operas also seems to be expected.

I am not that audience. My problem is twofold. First, there is just more about Mozart in this book than I care to know. I just wasn't ready for the depth of the analysis and the often extraneous(to me) subject matter. However, I may have been able to cope with these objections, except that I found the book an excessively daunting read. Amazon's reviewer, Wendy Smith notes in her review that "..Gutman's descriptions of Mozart's work are models of music writing for the lay reader: they capture the brilliance and beauty of the great composer's art in easily accessible language". Bless her, but as a lay reader, I find she is giving me way too much credit. To refer to his writing as "easily accessible" is a monstrous stretch as far as I'm concerned. His excessively long compound sentences, volumes of sesquipedalian(long) words, and obscure and often untranslated quotations and phrases did me in.

So, if you want to delve into the life and mind of Mozart at great depth, this book is probably the one for you, as attested by the many favorable reviews. However, if your goal is just a reasonably complete look at possibly the greatest musical genius that ever lived, then I would recommend that you look elsewhere. I have.

A comprehensive biography by an incomprehensible writer.......2006-09-07

The story is superb and told in minute detail. However, I don't like books in which the writer often seems to be more intent on displaying his own scholarship and range of vocabulary than on informing the reader. Unfortunately, this is the case with this book - it reads like a thesis and not like a biography. Admiteddly, it will tell you all you need to know about Mozart but you are likely to need a thesaurus at hand.
If you are into Mozart but want something more accessible, I'd recommend Mozart: a Life by Maynard Solomon. Gutman's book is more informative, but far more verbose and inaccessible. Gutman is quite unlike Peter Gay, Hobsbwam, Richard Ellmann in the sense that his text does not share a characteristic of fludity displayed by these writers. To sum up: only buy this book if you are truly interested in the story AND motivated enough to struggle through its 700-odd pages.
Well, come to think of it, I've never learned so many new words from a single book...

Lux Perpetua.......2006-02-09

This is a superb biography: dense, profound, vast, and multi-faceted. As its subtitle promises, it provides a fascinating cultural framework to the most complete (and myth-shattering) portrait of Mozart's character I've read so far. Without the use of a single cheap device, it put me so close to the events that I felt I was in the houses and theaters witnessing them. The poisoning plot is relegated to where it belongs: a dismissive footnote.

I agree with another reviewer about the revelations concerning Leopold. Far from the one-dimensional Mother of All Stage Fathers he's been so often depicted as, at some moments he comes off as admirable, an authentic figure of the Enlightenment. His eventual self-destruction - the pettiness and jealousy that poisoned his relations with Wolfgang and the role he played in estranging Nannerl from her brother - is nothing short of tragic.

For my one quibble I'll paraphrase Emperor Joseph's apocrypha: Too few notes, Mr. Gutman. The book has not a single musical quotation, which the author explains in the preface by citing the abundance of scores and recordings available. This made for somewhat choppy reading (along with the too many footnotes, Mr. Gutman). Still, the inducement to go beyond the text led to a few discoveries, both by the Apollo incarnate himself and by some of his contemporaries - all of which added immensely to the enjoyment of this book.

So Much Mozart.......2005-01-06

Until now, my only exposure to Mozart was the acclaimed film, Amadeus. While I do love that movie, this book offers a much more textured, nuanced view of Mozart's life. I think it's a must read for anyone who has watched that movie, offering a more well-rounded and worthwhile view of the music mastermind. Mozart's music is brilliant, and so is this book.

The Other Mozart: The Life of the Chevalier Saint-George

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The Other Mozart: The Life of the Chevalier Saint-George
Hugh Brewster
Manufacturer: Abrams Books for Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0810957205

Book Description

Joseph Bologne was one of the most famous men in 18th-century France. The son of a slave and a French nobleman in Guadaloupe, the ambitious Joseph moved to Paris, where he was christened the Chevalier de Saint George. During his extraordinary life, he conquered every limitation by becoming a champion swordsman, violin virtuoso, composer, and military commander in the French Revolution. From the plantations of the West Indies to the palace at Versailles, The Other Mozart details the true story of a remarkable man. Illustrated by original paintings and archival materials, the Chevalier de Saint GeorgeÂ's inspiring and affirming story lives on.

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The choice biography of Mozart
A bit murky but fascinating nevertheless.

The Life of Mozart
Edward Holmes
Manufacturer: Tantor Media
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 1400100984

Book Description

Edward Holmes, a schoolfellow of Keats, provides the first complete account of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based upon Mozart's own letters and memoirs.
In this biography, written long before the significance of the Mozart's work was fully realized, Holmes reveals the musician's character and genius, his struggles, his influence on art and the brilliant reputations that surrounded him.

Customer Reviews:

The choice biography of Mozart.......2007-08-19

This book was originally published in 1845 and remains to this day a work of reference. It portrays all the essential stations in the life of this composer of great genius. The reason why Holmes's biography is so valuable is no doubt the fact that the author uses large excerpts of Mozart's correspondence and his letters give precious information about the man himself. Edward Holmes then adds precious data concerning dates, names, musicians, places and customs of the late 18th century.
There is also an appendix listing all of Mozart's works and their date of composition as well as a useful index.
The book is masterfully read by David Case for Tantor Media.

A bit murky but fascinating nevertheless........1999-08-19

I am currently listeing to this novel on tape and have found it fascinating. While it is complicated, and as I said a bit murky, I strongly reccomend it to anyone interested in this composer's history.

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Mozart A Cultural Biography
Robert W. Gutman
Manufacturer: Harcourt Brace & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000P5G4EG

The Mozart-Da Ponte Operas: The Cultural and Musical Background to Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Cosi fan tutte

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A clear and concise treatment of a complex topic

The Mozart-Da Ponte Operas: The Cultural and Musical Background to Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Cosi fan tutte
Andrew Steptoe
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 019313215X

Book Description

Mozart's collaborations with the librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte led to the composition of three of the great masterpieces of opera. This book, designed to guide the reader to a deeper understanding and appreciation of these enigmatic works, charts the musical, cultural, and social context in
which they were written--the tastes and expectations of the contemporary opera audience, Mozart's intentions and aspirations in a period of rapid intellectual and political change, Da Ponte's views of opera, and the practical logistics of opera production at the time. Together, these strands
provide illuminating insights into Mozart's creative process and the functions of eighteenth-century opera.

Customer Reviews:

A clear and concise treatment of a complex topic.......2003-03-25

Any complete study of the life and works of Mozart would take thousands of pages and hundreds of recordings just to crack the surface of this subject. Even merely the operas of Mozart cannot be adequately handled in a single volume (let alone the number of recordings involved). So on a much more modest scale, we have Andrew Steptoe's "The Mozart-Da Ponte Operas" from the Clarendon Paperbacks division of Oxford University Press (1988, reprinted 2001).

For those wondering about that title, Lorenzo Da Ponte was the fascinating character who wrote the libretti to three of Mozart's greatest operas. In fact, the subtitle of this book is "The Cultural and Musical Background to 'Le Nozze di Figaro,' 'Don Giovanni,' and 'Cosi fan tutte,' but the book does not even get to those works until page 98. Roughly the first third of the book gives us an excellently organized and clear background to the works and the chapter titles will tell you exactly what I mean: "The Social Context: Vienna and Her Ruler," "Musicians, Audience, and Opera in Mozart's Time," "Mozart and Vienna," and "Mozart and His Personal Circle." The next chapter deals with Da Ponte and the opera buffa tradition, and we finally have what we need to understand more fully what Mozart's audiences saw in these works that are all but lost to us.

The sixth chapter talks about "Cosi fan tutte" and how it reflected the moral climate of the day, while the next one discusses how Mozart treated the buffa plot from the musical standpoint. The remaining three chapters handle each of the Mozart-Da Ponte collaborations, and there are detailed synopses of the works in the appendix.

Book Description

Operas are about the meaning of love and life, and also very much about the meaning of death. Opera as a form, however, might even be dead itself. The last great operas are said to be those written around 1900.
But, the psychoanalytic critic and philosopher Slavoj Zizek is quick to point out, 1900 is also the year in which Freud 'invents' psychoanalysis. Can this be a coincidence? Opera's Second Death is a passionate exploration of opera---the genre, its masterpieces, and the nature of death. Using a dazzling array of tools, Slavoj Zizek and coauthor Mladen Dolar explore the strange compulsions that overpower characters in Mozart and Wagner, as well as our own desires to die and to go to the opera.
Mozart's understanding of psychoanalysis and Wagner's sense of humor are but two of the many surprises in Zizek and Dolar's operatic tour de force. Opera's Second Death is an extended aria on a subject that is far from dead.

Customer Reviews:

leads you backstage into places opera don't know.......2005-05-01

Opera is perhaps the most perfect subject for Zizek's gaze with Hegelian negations and Absolutes Lacan's "object petit a,"Four Discourses" in the Master Signifier, the divided self,desire, don't be scared away for the cloistered world of opera can use such insights to help clarify its own anxieties self-indulgences and excesses throughout its histories. In fact opera now cannot live without someone speaking about it deeply as Zizek does, especially the self-conscious dimensions in Wagner's dramas, the negations of the negations(from Hegel) as "Parsifal" a redeemer redeeming the redemption,or dealing with "Other" those aspects that we wish we could do without but are there anyways, like feminist extremism not wanting man to be around,as in Carmen, or Tosca, or Wotan not wanting to be responsible for his pacts carved on his staff. Zizek and Dolar both bring a formidable array of concepts to opera to make some illuminations clearer I think. If you simply want opera to go on as it is without comment, simply sit back and let it wash over your brain, well this is not a book for you.

Opera on the Couch.......2002-04-02

To those who love opera and know nothing about psychoanalysis or philosophy this book will be challenging and probably incomprehensible. Still, if anyone can get an Opera Queen to think, it might be Slavoj Zizek and Mladen Dolar. Dolar's is a more conventional and comprehensive treatment of the history of opera as a history of ideas. It is excellent and one can almost read the copious notes as a separate and equally enjoyable experience. Zizek uses particular operas to explain profound and fascinating ideas about love and death, narcissism and self-destruction, through the ideas (among others) of Lacan and Hegel. Ever since Zizek's seminal books explaining the complexities of Lacan and Hegel through popular entertainment he has accrued fame in intellectual circles without ever becoming pompous or complacent. He makes for enjoyable and provocative reading and chances are, after you've read him, you'll be keeping an eye out for his next book.

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Mozart: A Cultural Biography
Robert W. Gutman
Manufacturer: Bt Bound
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding
ASIN: 141776855X

Mozart: A Cultural Biography.(Review): An article from: Notes

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Mozart: A Cultural Biography.(Review): An article from: Notes
Mario R. Mercado
Manufacturer: Music Library Association, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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This digital document is an article from Notes, published by Music Library Association, Inc. on June 1, 2001. The length of the article is 1645 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: Mozart: A Cultural Biography.(Review)
Author: Mario R. Mercado
Publication: Notes (Refereed)
Date: June 1, 2001
Publisher: Music Library Association, Inc.
Volume: 57 Issue: 4 Page: 893

Article Type: Book Review

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The fifteen Sioux (and one Cheyenne) who speak in Lakota Recollections of the Custer Fight witnessed Custer’s Last Stand. Their testimony sheds light on what happened at the Little Bighorn on the bloodiest of Sundays, June 25, 1876. Flying Hawk, Standing Bear, He Dog, Red Feather, Moving Robe Woman, Eagle Elk, White Bull, Hollow Horn Bear, and other Indian survivors of the Custer fight were interviewed during the early decades of the twentieth century by men genuinely interested in the historical truth, including Judge Eli S. Ricker, General Hugh L. Scott, John G. Neihardt, and Walter S. Campbell. The interviews are collected here with introductions and notes by the editor.

Customer Reviews:

Another Hardorff Triumph of Research and Writing.......2005-05-09

Written by a long-time student of the Little Big Horn, a gifted writer who is sympathetic to the Indians, this is another of this author's great contributions to the understanding of that event. Sprightly writing is so necessary and you will find it here, just as in CUSTER, TERRY AND ME, a creative (semi) nonfiction coverage of the tragedy of June 25, 1876. The latter was hailed by premier Custer Publisher and historian Richard Upton as worthy of the notice of scholars, and I'm sure he'd say the same of this book, since the author is a scholar of note in his field.

Highly recommended.

Inciteful & Passionate Recount of a Very Misunderstood Event.......1999-06-24

Richard "Dutch" Hardorff is one of the most thorough and objective students of General Custer's "last stand". His love of the truth and respect for the Indian tribes and their homeland is inspiring. His writing is captivating and fresh, especially considering the extensive treatment of the subject. Mr. Hardorff provides a lively and thought-provoking perspective that one would never get from the 'history' books. Truly an exceptional book and consistent with his fine other writings.

Book Description

Contents

Rogues' Gallery: Who Qualifies?
Rogue States
Crisis in the Balkans
East Timor Retrospective
"Plan Colombia"
Cuba and the US Government: David vs. Goliath
Putting on the Pressure: Latin America
Jubilee 2000
"Recovering Rights": A Crooked Path
The United States and the "Challenge of Universality"
The Legacy of War
Millennium Greetings
Power in the Domestic Arena
Socioeconomic Sovereignty
Notes
Index

An Excerpt from Rogue States by Noam Chomsky

The concept of "rogue state" plays a pre-eminent role today in policy planning and analysis.

The current Iraq crisis is only the latest example. Washington and London declared Iraq a "rogue state," a threat to its neighbors and to the entire world, an "outlaw nation" led by a reincarnation of Hitler who must be contained by the guardians of world order, the United States and its British "junior partner," to adopt the term ruefully employed by the British foreign office half a century ago. The concept merits a close look.

[...]

A secret 1995 study of the Strategic Command, which is responsible for the strategic nuclear arsenal, outlines the basic thinking. Released through the Freedom of Information Act, the study, Essentials of Post-Cold War Deterrence, "shows how the United States shifted its deterrent strategy from the defunct Soviet Union to so-called rogue states such as Iraq, Libya, Cuba and North Korea," AP reports. The study advocates that the US exploit its nuclear arsenal to portray itself as "irrational and vindictive if its vital interests are attacked." That "should be a part of the national persona we project to all adversaries," in particular the "rogue states." "It hurts to portray ourselves as too fully rational and cool-headed," let alone committed to such silliness as international law and treaty obligations. "The fact that some elements" of the US government "may appear to be potentially 'out of control' can be beneficial to creating and reinforcing fears and doubts within the minds of an adversary's decision makers." The report resurrects Nixon's "madman theory": our enemies should recognize that we are crazed and unpredictable, with extraordin

Customer Reviews:

Another classic from the Ministry of Anti-propaganda.......2005-08-27

"The Republicans have a problem. The economic program of American Conservatives, if enacted in its entirety, would devastate the middle class while helping the American overclass [aka the ruling elite]. Income would be redistributed upward, while taxes would be redistributed downward.... How can conservatives expect to win votes for an economic program so inimical to the middle class? The answer is they cannot--and they know it. Therefore, most conservative ideologues... have done their best to change the subject from the economy to what they like to call, 'the culture'..."

"If further proof is needed for my contention that much of today's conservative political theory is merely Marxism with the substitution of `bourgeois' for `proletariat' and `culture' for `class,' it can be found in [the] call for enlisting art and literature in the service of Republican conservatism, a program that is indistinguishable, except in its content, from the aesthetic orthodoxy of American [communist] communities during the 1920's and 1930's..."

"American conservatism, then, is a countercommunism that replicates, down to rather precise details of organization and theory, the communism that it opposes..."

Michael Lind, UP FROM CONSERVATISM
From Chapter Three, "The Triangular Trade: How the Conservative Movement Works" and Chapter Ten, "Soaking the Middle: The Conservative Class War Against Wage-Earning Americans"

"Similar questions [to Woodrow Wilson's WW I writings that "most men are (now) servants of corporations" in an America "very different from the old"] are very much alive in the international arena today....A century ago, corporations were granted the rights of persons by radical judicial activism, an extreme violation of classical liberal principles. They were also freed from earlier obligations to keep to specific activities for which they were chartered. Furthermore...the courts shifted power upward from the stockholders in a partnership to the central management, which was identified with the immortal corporate person. Those of you familiar with the history of Communism will recognize that this is very similar to the process that was taking place at the time, very much as predicted, in fact, by left-Marxist and anarchist critics of Bolshevism. People like Rosa Luxemburg warned early on that the centralizing ideology would shift power from working people to the party, to the central committee, and then to the maximal leader, as happened very quickly after the conquest of state power in 1917, which at once destroyed every residue of socialist forms and principles..."

"It's quite natural that a dismantling of the post-[World War II] economic order should be accompanied by a significant attack on substantive democracy--freedom, popular sovereignty, and human rights--under the slogan TINA (There Is No Alternative). It's kind of a farcical mimicry of vulgar Marxism. The slogan, needless to say, is self-serving fraud. The particular socioeconomic order that's being imposed is the result of human decision in human institutions. The decisions can be modified; the institutions can be changed. If necessary, they can be dismantled and replaced, just as honest and courageous people have been doing throughout the course of history...

"The propagandists on both sides prefer a different story for self-serving reasons, but I think that's the more accurate one."

Noam Chomsky
ROGUE STATES
From essays "Power in the Domestic Arena"
and "Socioeconomic Sovereignty"

This Chomsky book, as another reviewer mentioned, may be best suited for those already familiar with his work. I still however recommend it highly to everyone, regardless of experience or educational level.

The deeply detailed and voluminously footnoted structure of Chomsky's seventy other books is a practice continued here religiously. (The sources of his findings, facts and opinions-much of which come from declassified files from our own government-are more disturbing than he is.) This is obviously done, in part, him knowing to what degree the very concept of evidentiary/factual truth must be defended by charlatans in intelligentsia in the modern world. However, despite the complexities of his subject matter and his research/source material, he writes in such a clear and intelligible way that anyone can be gradually educated on the specifics and profoundly enlightened on the true meaning of the general topics simultaneously. Noam is essentially riffing here. Much of ROGUE STATES consists of transcriptions of papers and speeches he has given over the past five to seven years. Make no mistake, however; we are still talking about Noam Chomsky (Scientific Linguistics icon of MIT). An intellectual jam session by him consisting of solo improvisations on paradigm-shifting themes is not only worth reading but seriously worth owning.

ROGUE STATES is split up into fourteen essay chapters totaling approximately 215 pages of more truth about the real world than you are likely to find anywhere else. They are all built upon the introductory essay chapter from which the book's title is derived. Like a world master linguist can be expected to do, he devotes a considerable amount of the book to the deconstruction of recycled slogans in the media and political world. Slogans that, when looked at their actual world application, would make Orwell spin in his grave. "Rogue State" and "Humanitarian Intervention", for example, when deconstructed in the light of day by Chomsky--who again, always uses a slew of government, Pentagon paper and international sources to prove his point--reveal an entirely different meaning from the one you may think you know.

Using the basic principal of universality underlying both human language and law as a context for the definition of political terms and international socioeconomic realities (without which both language and law become irrelevant), what is a "rogue state", and what modern states actually qualify as one? Chomsky proves that our United States routinely fits the description of one better than our enemies--when looking at actual history, not propaganda. He shows, with brilliant clarity and detail, the principles of military and covert economic warfare practiced by strong countries against the resource-rich weak. And, how such structural principles of parasitism and force are used as the facilitators of neo-colonialism. Masquerading, via Information Society technology, as "globalization".

A shocking; infuriating...redemptive book.

Great Chomsky.......2004-09-13

Quite impressive as ussual. I suggest also to read The Bewildered Herd: Media Coverage of International Conflicts & Public Opinion.

Chomsky: The Ever-Knowing.......2003-12-14

Chomsky is fabulous at pointing out stinging ironies in the American political landscape, not to mention the media landscape. Those are indeed his two main topics, and he makes you think about these things as you watch your local or national news, (which gets harder to do after reading Chomsky). For instance, if you watch CNN right now, you'll be watching a lengthy report and analysis on a woman from North Dakota who is missing and believed to have been kidnapped and furthermore believed to be dead. The images of this young woman splash across the screen, then there's a shot of the suspect, then a shot of a hundred people scouring a field looking for clues, then a shot of the local sheriff hugging the woman's dad, and finally another image of the woman followed by a picture of the parking lot where it is supposed she was kidnapped. It's a tragic story to be sure, and many people must find it interesting, but not by any definition can this be news. All of the cable news companies are doing this, and while it is simply a device to boost ratings and appeal to the lowest interests of the masses, it also creates a massive distraction from the huge tragedies and ironies in the world.

Anger management.......2003-05-31

So. You're angry. Here's someone who's just as angry and is willing to take on the causes of all the anger. Read up before you get read down.

Engaging Perspectives on U.S. Foriegn Policies.......2003-02-20

This book is packed with information regarding everything from Saddam Hussein to NAFTA. Haiti, Cuba, Laos, the former Soviet bloc states, the EU, Afghanistan, Guatemala, Vietnam, Israel, East Timor... Chomsky seems to touch on everything, but with good reason. He articulates U.S. foriegn policy and its affects on numerous countries around the world, the effects these policies have on governments, citizens, and corporations.

Chomsky demonstrates points he tries to convey by breaking down and analyzing past events between the U.S. Federal- and other governments, the effects of their actions on a variety of things, and how these events fit Chomsky's description of why the U.S. chooses the policies it does. His perspectives are thought-provoking.

At some points in the book the literature tends to lose its smooth transitions from one point to the next by jumping from one event to an entirely different event. For instance, some pages will make mention of U.S. policies and effects among the former Soviet bloc states, relationships with Israel, and cause and effects in Latin America all on the same page. Though they are all related, it makes for difficult reading at times, especially for the laity.

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of Contemporary Asia, published by Journal of Contemporary Asia Publishers on August 1, 2001. The length of the article is 1255 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: ROGUE STATES: THE RULE OF FORCE IN WORLD AFFAIRS.(Review) (book review)
Author: Frederic F. Clairmont
Publication: Journal of Contemporary Asia (Refereed)
Date: August 1, 2001
Publisher: Journal of Contemporary Asia Publishers
Volume: 31 Issue: 3 Page: 421

Article Type: Book Review

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Observational Aspects of Pulsating B and a Stars: Proceedings of a Workshop Held at University of Brussels, Brussels, Belgium, 24-25 July 2001 (Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series)
Jennifer Wyner Morgan
Manufacturer: Astronomical Society of the Pacific
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 158381096X

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