Amazon.com
To call Janis Joplin the Judy Garland of the Woodstock set is in some sense a fair characterization. The brassy, carnal, extravagant, and ultimately pitiable queen of psychedelic rock is indeed a cultural icon. And while Joplin reveled in her own ballsy, boozy legend, its needy, inebriated, real-life equivalent was a shadow that darkened her short life and, in the decades since her 1970 drug-induced death, has come to eclipse the party-girl persona.
To her great credit, author Alice Echols reconciles the two faces of Joplin in this ambitious, thoroughly readable biography. She does so by tracing Joplin from her youth as a natural-born libertine in dreary Port Arthur, Texas, to her emergence as the sole female rock superstar of her era--a period when beneath-the-surface sexism hampered Joplin's progress even while women's liberation was being widely touted. The author does not shy away from sordid sex-and-drugs episodes, and there's plenty of raw material---the singer was promiscuous, bisexual, and, at various times, an alcoholic, a speed freak, and a junkie. Echols, however, elevates this biography above run-of-the-mill rock profiles by painting her subject against an elaborate and ever-changing cultural backdrop. Here is Joplin the aspiring folksinger, the white-picket-fence wannabe, the wayward daughter, the hit-and-miss recording artist, and, finally, the ill-starred spirit with nothing left to lose. --Steven Stolder
Book Description
Janis Joplin was the skyrocket chick of the sixties, the woman who broke into the boys' club of rock and out of the stifling good-girl femininity of postwar America. With her incredible wall-of-sound vocals, Joplin was the voice of a generation, and when she OD'd on heroin in October 1970, a generation's dreams crashed and burned with her. Alice Echols pushes past the legary Joplin-the red-hot mama of her own invention-as well as the familiar portrait of the screwed-up star victimized by the era she symbolized, to examine the roots of Joplin's muscianship and explore a generation's experiment with high-risk living and the terrible price it exacted.A deeply affecting biography of one of America's most brilliant and tormented stars, Scars of Sweet Paradise is also a vivid and incisive cultural history of an era that changed the world for us all.
Customer Reviews:
the best Janis biography.......2007-09-10
This is my fourth biography I've read of Janis' and by far the most well-written and informative. Instead of being filled with personal judgements and opinions it seems to document the happenings in Janis' life and the lives of those around her in a very easy to follow manner. Lots of history about other San Francisco bands and connections in the music world. Photos are great!!
An Overdose Janis.......2006-04-03
Oh Lord, won`t you buy me a Mercedes Benz, my friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends," Janis Joplin sang so outragedly, if it would be seriousness and not satire (knowing very well, that, occasionally, some wishes are not fulfilled). Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends," - that does not matter anyway and applies to God (if there is one) not as an argument: Proof of it is clear to find. Janis Joplin has slaved away and lived, intensive as a lunatic -- this has not changed the mind of God to let her get 100 years old. Perhaps it was not God, however, who set forcefully a final stroke to this style of protesting impudently (Oh Lord, won`t you buy me a colour TV, ...I wait for delivery, each day until three"), it seems, that Janis arrived at the dead end, because she once took pure, separate heroin (her main dealer was just on holiday). Oh Lord, won't you buy me a night on the town, I'm counting on you Lord, please don't let me down, prove that you love me, and buy the next round..." There was not any next round, after she had taken this song ("Mercedes Benz") in the studio - a capella - the instruments should get mixed the next day. But in the night of October 4th 1970 Janis Joplin died. Eric Burdon commented: "Janis did not die of an overdose heroin. She died of an overdose Janis"
Times are a Changin'.......2005-01-03
I found this book to be quite interesting on the level of an historical and cultural analysis of Janis's life. Echols manages to write an objective biography on Joplin that does not get too sentimental or depressing, as have other biographies on Janis. This biograpy provides one with an education on the late 50s/ early 60s (on the level of history and lifestyle); however, it is not as personable as other biographies. Overall a very good book.
Brilliant biography and counterculture history.......2004-12-16
This brilliant book is both a biography of Janis Joplin and a cultural history of the 1960s. Scars Of Sweet Paradise is a very thorough and in-depth look at Joplin's life and times and at the same time an exploration of the quiet suburban life versus the lure of the counterculture. The bohemian underground, unlike some idyllic portrayals of it, had its share of cynicism and destructiveness.
Much of this book deals with this evolving underground as it relates to the music, gender relationships and the merger of art and commerce. It is the story of a generation's restless and reckless life on the edge, from which Janis and many others never returned. The author conducted over 150 interviews and spent 5 years on research to produce this comprehensive work on Joplin and her era.
The Janis that emerges is a complex, multi-faceted personality that inspires admiration and sadness. The story begins in Port Arthur where Joplin's early life is described, including her first exposures to rock and folk music. It follows her to college and her first taste of the bohemian life then on to her first visit to San Francisco and eventual return to Port Arthur.
She went back to SF and her career began to take off. It is fascinating to read about the colourful personalities that she mixed with in San Francisco: the friends, the lovers and the musicians. Echols is a skilful narrator, seamlessly blending Joplin's moves and her relationships with the rise of her career. There are plenty of quotes from contemporary musicians that really illuminate this mythologized period in history.
My only minor complaint is that the author does not seem to share in the excitement as Joplin finally makes it big with Big Brother an the Cheap Thrills album - this story is just given clinically as part of the larger narrative. The various bands, Big Brother, Kozmic Blues and Full Tilt Boogie, are discussed in detail, as well as the recording process of each of the major albums: Cheap Thrills, I Got Dem Old Kozmic Blues and Pearl. The personalities behind her success, like Abert Grossman and Linda Gravenites, are sympathetically portrayed.
Echols explores Joplin's influence on various performers and notes that the heavy metal crowd picked up on her style but that she didn't directly inspire any clones. Ultimately, Janis appears as a brave, wild and very vulnerable human being who was quite likable, if somewhat volatile. There are 35 black and white photographs and the book concludes with a discography, copious notes and an index. Almost scholarly in its depth, Scars Of Sweet Paradise is yet a gripping read that will please her fans and all who are interested in the 1960s counterculture and the evolution of rock music.
Excellent.......2003-11-14
Alice Echols skillfully weaves the cultural nuances of the complicated '60s with the life and times of the great Janis Joplin. Informative and painstakingly researched. This book is far superior to Myra Friedman's overrated "Buried Alive," which is a vast pile of stinky doo-doo rather than a definitive biography. Avoid "Buried Alive" and get this book instead.
Average customer rating:
|
Battle Over Bavaria: The B-26 Marauder Versus German Jets -April 1945
Robert Forsyth
Manufacturer: Classic Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Aviation
| Military
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Military
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| World War II
| Military
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Germany
| Europe
| History
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0952686740 |
Book Description
Almost a private battle, the Marauders of the 17th, 323rd and 344th Bombardment Groups took on the unique Me 262 jet fighter unit JV 44, one of the Luftwaffe's most controversial and mysterious units. A series of fierce and bitter battles over Germany pitted some of the Reich's best pilots and most revolutionary planes against the crews of the much-maligned Martin B-26.
Customer Reviews:
Highly recommended!.......2003-09-03
A well-researched and well-written effort which puts the reader in the cockpits of Me-262's, B-26's, and P-47's alike in the final desperate days of the battle for Germany.
After thorough overviews of the individual units involved in the last battles, and a nice look at the operational development of the three main aircraft involved, the book dissects each encounter.
Too little, too late for the Me-262's? It doesn't appear so: the aircraft was burdened by so many operational problems (touchy turbines, difficulty in training pilots, difficulty in developing tactical applications) that it doesn't seem likely that even large numbers of the fighters would have changed the outcome of the airwar. Jets had to slow down to make the best use of their weaponry against slow-flying bombers, and with the loss of speed the jets were very vulnerable to conventional fighters. The early Jumo turbines did not provide the instant acceleration that modern jets have, leaving the aircraft dangling helplessly in the sights of Allied fighters.
A very good book!
Book Description
This book examines whether mechanisms of accountability characteristic of democratic systems are sufficient to induce the representatives to act in the best interest of the represented. The first part of the volume focuses on the role of elections, distinguishing different ways in which they may cause representation. The second part is devoted to the role of checks and balances, between the government and the parliament as well as between the government and the bureaucracy. Overall, the essays combine theoretical discussions, game-theoretic models, case studies, and statistical analyses, within a shared analytical approach and a standardized terminology. The empirical material is drawn from the well established democracies as well as from new democracies.
Book Description
Parliamentary democracy is the most common way of organizing delegation and accountability in contemporary democracies. Yet knowledge of this type of regime has been incomplete and often unsystematic. Delegation and Accountability in Parliamentary Democracies offers new conceptual clarity on the topic. Taking principal-agent theory as its framework, the work illustrates how a variety of apparently unrelated representation issues can now be understood. This procedure allows scholarship to move well beyond what have previously been cloudy and confusing debates aimed at defining the virtues and perils of parliamentarism. This new empirical investigation includes all seventeen West European parliamentary democracies. These countries are compared in a series of cross-national tables and figures, and seventeen country chapters provide a wealth of information on four discrete stages in the delegation process: delegation from voters to parliamentary representatives, delegation from parliament to the prime minister and cabinet, delegation within the cabinet, and delegation from cabinet ministers to civil servants. Each chapter illustrates how political parties serve as bonding instruments which align incentives and permit citizen control of the policy process. This is complemented by a consideration of external constraints, such as courts, central banks, corporatism, and the European Union, which can impinge on national-level democratic delegation. The concluding chapters go on to consider how well the problems of delegation and accountability are solved in these countries. Delegation and Accountability in Parliamentary Democracies provides an unprecedented guide to contemporary European parliamentary democracies. As democratic governance is transformed at the dawn of the twenty-first century, it illustrates the important challenges faced by the parliamentary democracies of Western Europe.
Average customer rating:
|
Democratic Dilemmas of Multilevel Governance: Legitimacy, Representation and Accountability in the European Union (Transformations of the State)
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Politics
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Relations
| International
| Politics
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Political Science
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Government
| Political Science
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
International Institutions
| Political Science
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0230500773
Release Date: 2007-10-30 |
Book Description
Ten original essays analyze current patterns of civil society consultation in thirty two inter-governmental organizations and regimes, concluding that while civil society consultation has great potential, most institutional arrangements developed so far fall short of realizing its democratizing capacity.
Average customer rating:
|
Holding Power to Account: Accountability in Modern Democracies
Richard Mulgan
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Democracy
| Government
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Federal Government
| Government
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Politics
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Political Science
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Democracy
| Political Doctrines
| Political Science
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0333987683 |
Book Description
This book provides a general overview of accountability, a key concept in modern democratic governance. Richard Mulgan draws on examples and analyses from the United States and the United Kingdom as well as other 'Westminster' countries. Major topics discussed include the contrast between accountability in the public and private sectors, the effects of public management reforms on accountability, accountability for collective actions, accountability in networks and the limits of accountability.
Average customer rating:
|
Horizontal accountability and new polyarchies (Working paper)
Guillermo A O'Donnell
Manufacturer: The Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies, University of Notre Dame
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
General
| Systems Of Government
| Political Science
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Democracy
| Political Doctrines
| Political Science
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: B0006R0U52 |
Book Description
How important is water to humans and other animals? This title explores many of the features of water, including where it can be found and the benefits it has for all living things.
Average customer rating:
- The gift of water
- A Simple Look at the Issues Concerning Better Use of Water
- Appreciated. Comment on infant baptism is inappropriate.
- Water, The Drop of Life by Peter Swanson
|
Water: The Drop of Life (A Companion to the Public Television Series)
Peter Swanson
Manufacturer: COWLES CREATIVE PUBLISHING
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Conservation
| Environment
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Water Supply
| Environment
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Living on the Land
| Ecology
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
| Architecture
| Hunting & Fishing
General
| Conservation
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Water
| Conservation
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Environmentalism
| Conservation
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Reference
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Natural Resources
| Nature & Ecology
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Water Supply & Land Use
| Nature & Ecology
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1559717823 |
Book Description
- Stunning photographs vividly show how water is used around the world. - The book is a companion to the Public Television Series of the same name that will be seen worldwide.
Customer Reviews:
The gift of water.......2001-08-31
"Water: The Drop Of Life", is a companion book to the PBS series about water. The book is well written, and also stands well on it's own describing water usage in much of the world today. Water is a precious resource, but it is often not thought of in that way. Instead, water is often wasted and misused in many places. Contaminated water is also the source of great tragedy and suffering. Millions of people die every year from water borne diseases, including a huge number of children. This book tells the story of the consequences of bad water, and of ongoing efforts to improve the quality of water everywhere. With continuing increases in the world's population, water resources are being strained as never before. Something has to be done on a worldwide scale, or there is going to be a massive water crisis in this century. This book helps to bring the problem into clear focus, and provides possible solutions for the future. It helps us to understand one of nature's greatest gifts; a gift that is far too often taken for granted. This book provides valuable insights and information into the many uses of water.
A Simple Look at the Issues Concerning Better Use of Water.......2001-03-14
Television by its nature usually focuses on a low education level and works fast, before interest fades. Translated into a book, that means all the facts are there . . . but in highly summarized form.
If you follow water at all, you know that we have a severe shortage of clean water in many of the most populous parts of the world. Rapid growth in population means that the pressure is increasing, and that we have to put more effort and innovation into solutions. The ways we use water can stand some reforming along the way. In other areas, too much water causes horrible problems related to floods. Our past conservation efforts have often been misguided and caused new problems.
The book does a nice job of briefly alluding to the most common issues -- people in water-rich areas treating water wastefully, the lack of capabilities to clean up rivers that millions use like the Ganges, and the tremendous problems of desert areas. You also will find a section on the most important part of the rain forest in Ecuador, which is the home of the most biodiverse jungle population on the planet (because it was spared in the last Ice Age).
Some of the technologies are very interesting because they mimic nature (dew nets), the practices of aboriginal ancestors (for farming), and common sense (reuse water where there is no downside). Advanced technologies are also described.
I have not seen the show, but the appearance of worldwide celebrities in the book will certainly help make the message more meaningful to teenagers and young adults. It was nice these people made themselves available for the program.
Mikhail Gorbachev's foreword is brief, but nicely summarizes where we are. "Water, like religion and ideology, has the power to move millions of people." "But we stand today on the brink of a global water crisis." In thinking about this he urges us to see that "access to clean water is a universal human right . . . ." He also calls us to action, "Just as we are moved by water, we must now move in order to save it." His comments about the geo-political effects of water were sobering, that no nation can have security without an adequate supply of pure water for all of its inhabitants.
The book has many beautiful photographs, but almost all of them are reproduced in very small sizes that diminish the enjoyment and benefit you can gain from them.
Rather than making the book as a simple companion to the television show (which I have not yet seen), it would have been better to have made this more seamlessly into a book. Now, it seems to "jump" from one sound bite and quick pan to the next in a scrapbook-like way.
I think this book would make an excellent gift to a young person who has not yet had much chance to travel and learn about global water issues.
What can you do to make more appropriate use of water in your life, household, community, and nation?
May you always have all the clean water that good health requires!
Appreciated. Comment on infant baptism is inappropriate........2001-01-15
I am trying to keep current of water supply and quality issues and found this book, though not a gusher of information, perhaps because only 143 pages, refreshing. I believe I hadn't previously known about "DRiWATER," (pp.136-137), a gel which, as it is slowly eaten by soil microbes, slowly releases water to the soil. I had previously read of fog catchers (pp. 42-43), but the photographs really impressed me with the utter simplicity of the technology. Two things annoyed me bit. First, the photographs should be captioned to identify the location and perhaps give more detail about the scenes. Second, the author seems to have some theological preoccupations. This might seem overly sensitive, but on p. 109, he wrote: "...the Roman aqueducts were not infallible." I've no problem with that mildly witty diction. But on p. 31, we are told that "[t]he practice of infant baptism did not become a normal practice until the fifth century, and there is still a debate today as to whether or not this constitutes a proper baptism." While I have elsewhere encountered a perhaps respectable argument against infant baptism, I remain convinced that it is better to baptise infants than to defer their baptism. I believe infant baptism harmonizes better with the biblical data. I understand that infant baptism was widespread even in the sub-apostolic era (first and second centuries) without criticism, and that even though he was baptised as an adult, St. Augustine (354-430) reported that infant baptism was an apostolic teaching. The author seems to have pulled the fifth century out of thin air for the establishment of the normalcy of infant baptism. Why commentary on infant baptism is dropped into a short book on water, I don't know.
Water, The Drop of Life by Peter Swanson.......2001-01-09
This book is a companion to the PBS series by the same name. To date, the program has not been available in our area but the book has enhanced my desire to see the program. The book describes water issues throughout the world in words and pictures. I was left with the desire to conserve water in my daily life. The book certainly makes it clear that we have a problem with water now that will get worse in the future. We must work to protect this vital resource for future generations. Water, The Drop of Life is a book I would recommend to everyone.
Average customer rating:
|
Water, a drop of life
Inga Brynildson
Manufacturer: Dept. of Natural Resources
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
Groundwater
| Environmental
| Civil
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: B0006XY7JG |
Books:
- Shot in the Heart
- Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar
- Stepin Fetchit: The Life and Times of Lincoln Perry
- The Amateurs: The Story of Four Young Men and Their Quest for an Olympic Gold Medal
- The Basketball Diaries
- The Best Day the Worst Day: Life with Jane Kenyon
- The Best Year of Their Lives: Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon in 1948: Learning the Secrets of Power
- The Colonel and Little Missie: Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, and the Beginnings of Superstardom in America
- The Country Under My Skin: A Memoir of Love and War
- The Day I Turned Uncool: Confessions of a Reluctant Grown-up
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- My Life So Far
- In Pharaoh's Army: Memories of the Lost War
- Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant: A Novel
- From Here to Paternity
- Flotsam
- Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things
- J. Edgar Hoover: The Man and the Secrets
- The Ransom of Russian Art
- Cosmic superimposition;: Man's orgonotic roots in nature
- The Acanthaceae of Columbia
Love, Janis
Buried Alive: The Biography of Janis Joplin
Piece of My Heart: A Portrait of Janis Joplin (Da Capo Paperback)
Nine Hundred Nights - Big Brother and the Holding Co. with Janis Joplin
Women in Modern America: A Brief History
