Book Description
After leaping off the pages with he unforgettable debut in John Berendt's bestselling Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, the unabashed personality known as The Lady Chablis now brings her irresistible charisma to the remarkable odyssey of fabulousness that USA Today calls "sassy" and "provocative...."
Born Benjamin Edward Knox in Quincy, Florida, "The Doll" always knew she was different. At a Tallahassee club, in her teens, she found the drag mother who would set her on the path to stardom. Before long, The Lady Chablis had a headline drag act replete with trademark saucy wit, down-home wisdom, and, of course, breasts. The rest is "Miss Thang" history....
Customer Reviews:
Give it up for the Lady.......2007-08-01
If you have read "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" you certainly remember one of the most fascinating and intriguing characters of the book. And now it is time to learn all her secrets!
The book starts with a wonderful introduction by Berendt where he explains how he met Lady Chablis, and from that point it is all her. The Lady entertains us with her claims, like the one about being the protagonist of the best two chapters of The Book, and leaves us in awe with some of her stories, like the ones about men's reactions to finding out about her T.
The narrative is so vivid that it feels as if we were listening to the Lady speak as in the movie. Of course, it helps having being able to see her play herself in the film, because like she says, she "...wouldn't have it any other way".
The switches in mood throughout the book help keep the reading engaging. At times we find sections with a very serious tone, in which she addresses issues like her family's reaction to her true self, the decision of losing her candy and the relationship with a variety of men, ranging from caring to abusive. At other times, she livens up the mood and starts firing funny anecdotes and jokes that make us laugh out loud.
If you have read or watched "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" you owe it to yourself to find the T behind this fascinating character. I certainly enjoyed the ride.
An Excellent Read.......2007-01-11
This is a very honest and straightforward book about The Lady Chablis. I bought this for my husband for Christmas and he couldn't put it down. He told me I "had to read this book". I couldn't put it down either. It also has a lot of humor. If you've read the book or seen the movie Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil, you can relate to Lady Chablis and the people and places of Savannah.
Lady Chablis is the real thing.......2005-08-07
After seeing Lady Chablis in "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", I was looking forward to reading her book. She doesn't hide much in this book. She gives an honest account of how he became a she and even includes some recipes at the end of the book. I found the book very entertaining, although there is some language that isn't really for young people.
Nothing to Hide.......2003-12-19
"Hiding My Candy" was so interesting. The author candidly told us her story. Chablis allowed us into her life by sharing the humor and the pain. Non pretentious, down to earth, occasionally crass, but never boring. Definitely should be on your books to buy list.
I love the Lady Chablis.......2003-12-05
I loved this book. I thought it was very funny, very interesting but the best thing about it is the theme of perseverance and being who you are.
The Lady Chablis is a wonderful character and so "down to earth" and in your face. Wonderful.
It moved me to read of all her struggles to get where she is. Very inspiring. Such strength.
I recommend you read this AND you read Midnight in the Garden of good and evil.
Enjoy!
Book Description
The U.S. Navy's PT boats became the scourge of Japanese coastal shipping in the World War II Pacific.
Customer Reviews:
Good Overview of PT Boat Stories.......2000-09-26
Historian William Breuer has produced a popular, anecdotal history of the PT Boat in WWII. It's a good, enjoyable read that gives the reader a broad overview of what the boats did and what kind of people manned them. If you are interested in PT Boats, this is an excellent place to start, but keep in mind you are skimming the surface.
Highly recommended as a companion book is Victor Chun's pictorial history of American PT Boats in WWII.
For more detailed PT stories, try Dick Keresey's "PT-105" or track down a copy of "At Close Quarters."
Customer Reviews:
Ivy leaguers and jocks trade in their daddy's yachts. .......2007-05-30
Devil Boats is a chronicle, albeit not a voluminous one, of the exploits of the men of the PT "Devil" boats of WWII.
William Breuer tells the highlights of the adventures of these Ivy league, jock sailors who traded their yachts and sports careers for the dangers of the Pacific Theater.
Breuer's story follows the course of PT boat action from Pearl Harbor and MacArthur's escape to the sad days at war's end when a indifferent U.S. Navy burned and scuttled much of what remained of the storied boats.
Devil Boats also recounts the legacies of many of the crews of the PT squadrons who in later life would go on to fill the highest offices in government and civilian realms.
Not the scholarly work that researchers often seek, Devil Boats remains however and iconic book reminiscent of most WWII stories published in the few decades that followed.
Overall, a fun and short read.
REVIEW EVERY BOOK YOU READ, AUTHORS DESERVE YOUR OPINIONS.
Amazon.com
Is there a genetic reason that African-Americans dominate professional sports? Even raising the question seems tantamount to heresy. Jon Entine not only raises the question, he strives to answer it in Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We're Afraid to Talk About It.
Entine is no stranger to controversy, having worked with Tom Brokaw on the award-winning NBC News documentary Black Athletes: Fact and Fiction in 1989. He's also willing to ask tough questions--and come up with answers that anger people on all sides of the issue. Entine starts off with some statistics indicating that African-American athletes are disproportionately represented in professional sports: for example, 13 percent of the U.S. population is black, but the NFL is 65 percent black, the NBA is nearly 80 percent black, and the WNBA is 70 percent black. He also examines cultural issues, laying to rest the long-held idea that blacks excel in sports because it is the only avenue open for advancement.
Some scholars cry foul at the idea that blacks are physically gifted, seeing this as a subtle way of saying that they are therefore intellectually stunted. Entine carefully argues that historically athletic ability and intellectual prowess were linked--with a positive bias. The "dumb jock" stereotype is a relatively recent construct--perhaps a defensive mechanism that arose when blacks began to participate on a level playing field and gain prominence in the sporting world. There's no reason to suppose athleticism and intelligence are inversely related; Entine quotes respected sports reporter Frank Deford: "[W]hen Jack Nicklaus sinks a 30-foot putt, nobody thinks his IQ goes down." The issue of physical superiority is further complicated by fears that a genetic explanation results in a belief that blacks don't succeed because of hard work, dedication, and drive, but rather (in the words of Brooks Johnson, who doesn't believe Entine's claims) "because God just gave 'em the right gene."
Is the fear of sounding racist hindering legitimate scientific inquiry? Entine believes so, noting that, "Anyone who attempts to breach this taboo to study or even discuss what might be behind the growing performance gap between black and white athletes must be prepared to run a gauntlet of public scorn, survival not guaranteed." Taboo is destined to make most of its readers uncomfortable. Hopefully this discomfort will serve as a wedge to open up discussion of an issue too long avoided. --Sunny Delaney
Book Description
Now in paperback, the book that jump-started a debate that shows no sign of ending. "Could well be the most intellectually demanding sports book ever written." -Washington Post Award-winning journalist Jon Entine's Taboo: Why Black Atheletes Dominate Sports and why We're Afraid t Talk About It created enormous controversy when PublicAffairs released it in hardcover in the fall of 1999. Rarely does a book so highly lauded by critics also elicit letters to the editor so passionately praising or damning the author for even daring to raise a subject. Drawing on the latest scientific research, and addressing all the major sports of North America, Entine persuasively shows why biology and ancestry are significant components of the stunning ascension of black athletes. He offers a gripping history of blacks in sports and a fascinating examination of the circumstances that have made addressing the facts so difficult and controversial. Artfully, and carefully, combining science, sports history, and sociology, Taboo has already proven to be one of the most controversial and illuminating books in recent memory. Paperback edition includes new Afterword by author.
Customer Reviews:
Pretty thin soup.......2006-11-26
And I might be a little generous with the second star.
I, as a few other reviewers, note two problems off the top of the bat.
One is Entine's uncritical handling of "The Bell Curve."
Two is that he ignores the many sports that don't have a lot of black athletes.
Beyond that, he gets selective within some sports that he does address, such as seeming to focus on track more, and field events less.
Also, he ignored the rise of non-American white and non-black athletes in several sports in recent years.
I think of the white Europeans in the NBA, and the non-black Caribbean players and a few Japanese in MLB.
Finally, contrary to his claims otherwise, all too many children of all colors who are lower down the socioeconomic rungs tend to focus on sports as salvation. Unfortunately, more of these children are minorities.
Surprisingly short on substance.......2005-07-17
There is some interesting information here, but ultimately much of this book is simply a history of African-American athletics, which is not exactly obvious from the book's title. Hey, I'm as interested in the story of Jack Johnson as the next guy, but does the treatment he received really belong in this book? Given that the book weighs in at 400 pages, you've got to wonder what his editor was thinking about some of these anecdotes.
On another note, I'm tired of seeing Tiger Woods be referred to as a "black golfer." For the record, Tiger is 1/2 Asian, 1/4 black, 1/8 white and 1/8 Native American. Why does his black ancestry somehow trump the other 75% of his heritage?
Misleading title, doesn't even address the topic.......2005-04-22
After hearing the controversy surrounding this book, I decided to shell out twenty bucks and pick up a copy myself. As a social scientist with a strong interest in racial inequality and identity, and especially as a major sports fan, I figured that this would be a rather intriguing book. It certainly is, but in a different way than which the author/publisher market it.
Entine provides very little evidence and data to explain to us "why black athletes dominate sports." Mostly, he gives us a collection of statistics on the number of black players at the so-called speed positions in various sports (providing a numerical relationship, but no explanation). Quite disappointing - With such an adamant title, I was expecting the author to give us the concrete, infallible scientific proof explaining "why black athletes dominate sports," but I guess my expectations were too high.
Entine has a point up to a certain extent. Body form is, in fact, a major factor in calculating competitive advantage in certain sports. For example, a 5'3" man can forget about playing center in the NBA, just as a seven-footer has no shot at being the winning jockey at the Belmont Stakes. But to assume body form to some innate, hard-wired, racial sports gene is absurd and ultimately undermines the valid points that Entine does bring up.
I half think that Entine chose such a title for this book for the sensational reaction he knew it would garner. Sports consists of much more than speed and running, and clearly, black athletes do not dominate in sports such as weight lifting, skiing, field, wrestling, gymnastics, or hockey. By the title of this books, blacks rule the entire world of sports - which is not the case.
Something else also comes to mind. I find it quite amazing how people are always quick to point out that the high proportion of African-Americans in the NBA is scientific proof that blacks are genetically gifted basketball players. However, those folks must remain oblivious to the fact that after the United States, the basketball powerhouse nations are found in Eastern Europe...NOT western Africa! If African-Americans' ancestry to equatorial west Africa was responsible for their basketball abilities, then we should expect to find the nations of Nigeria, Ghana, and Zaire winning international basketball medals over the likes of Lithuania, Germany, Russia, Croatia, and Serbia. The fact of the matter is that growing numbers of NBA players are comming out of the former communist bloc of Europe. In 20 years, I believe the NBA will be 50 percent European. Even sports reporter Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star has bemoaned the fact that African-American players are "losing their jobs" to foreign players.
Also, Entine attributes the pheonomenal success of Brazil in World Cup Soccer to the African ancestry of most players on the national roster. This is quite ironic, since Germany, Italy, and Argentina are also soccer powerhouses and have accomplished this with few African-descent players on their respective clubs. England, Colombia, and Mexico each have far superior soccer squads than any national teams from West Africa (the area of the world where the nature's most gifted athletes trace their ancestry, according to Entine). And if any sport ever relied on speed, quickness, explosiveness and agility, certainly it is soccer.
I bring up these points to illustrate the absurdity and inconsistencies in attributing innate racial abilities of any particular group of people with regards to any particular sport. If African-descended players dominate basketball and baseball for their superior speed and agility, then why does this fail to yield results in soccer? "Racial realists" can not have their cake and eat it to.
Despite the failure to produce scientific evidence for black athletic superiority, I do like this book for one big reason. Entine provides an excellent account of the history of racism and racial politics of sports, from the days of Jack Johnson and the Negro Leagues of baseball up until the steroid scandals of communist East Germany and the USSR in the 1980s. We are given chapters on Joe Louis, Jewish basketball teams, Jackie Robinson, and the social significance of all of these historical events.
The real value of this book is found in its second half, when the author provides a nice account of race in sports throughout the 20th century. The fact of the matter is the right-wing lunatics have no ability to engage in scientific debate on race whatsoever. Their only recourse is to point out correlations, and assume there is a biological explanation. Such is not the nature of science, but the nature of charlatans motivated by personal agendas. Entine's lack of scientific evidence proves he can not discuss this subject matter, and as such, makes a bold claim and then sits back, labeling anyone who challenges him as a politically correct crackpot. The truth is, Entine and his backers are the ones motivated by political agendas.
Talk about false advertising. The book implies it will provide a scientific explanation for athletic performance, and does not even come close to doing anything of the sort.
Thoughtful book.......2004-08-16
I picked this book up because I run marathons and have become aware of the Kenyan domination of this event. What an eye-opener this book is! Jon Entine has very carefully explained how evolution has shaped different body types. I finally understand population genetics. He doesn't preach and "Taboo" doesn't ignore the cultural impact on sports accomplishments. In fact, if you have little interest in genetics, this book is a gem for understanding the history and travails of the African American athlete in the United States. I was also fascinated by his history of sports in the former Communist East Germany, which built its success on pumping its young women athletes full with performance enhancing durgs. This book is truly indispensible for anyone interested in a balanced look at the range of factors that contribute to the success of athletes. Anyone who suggests this book is "racist" just hasn't read it. It's the opposite -- a thoughtful discussion of why discussing human differences doesn't mean you have to resort to the lowest common denominator. And now I understand why Kenyans and other Eastern and Northern Africans are so dominant in endurance races.
Brave and important writing.......2004-08-07
Although it's not often discussed, among those who pay attention the wildly disproportionate success of black people in major sports is a reality so obvious it's just taken for granted these days. I've been watching the NFL religiously since I was about 11, and in that time I haven't seen a single successful white running back, and even the number of black quarterbacks is increasing as the game gets faster. Here in Massachusetts, nobody even wonders what country the Boston Marathon winner will come from, just which Kenyan will finish first. And of course, whites in the NBA are virtually nonexistent, except as backup centers. As its subtitle suggests, "Taboo" poses two central questions. First, why are black athletes so overrepresented in the above sports, and several others for that matter? Is it biology or culture? And why can't we have a reasoned discussion of the facts without accusations of "racism" being tossed around?
Fortunately, Jon Entine is committed to providing a comprehensive treatment of race differences and sports, and this book covers its subject with an approach that combines anthropology, sports history, and a bit of sociology to boot. Entine represents the full spectrum of opinion on this issue, giving racial demagogues on both sides enough rope to hang themselves before getting down to the facts. It's not until late in the book, in the chapter "Winning the Genetic Lottery," that Entine really gets into the genetic differences that give blacks an advantage over their peers in certain sports. As he notes, anyone has to put in a lot of work to become a star athlete, but "all the hard work in the world will go for naught if the roulette wheel of genetics doesn't land on your number." And Entine sites all sorts of evidence that that roulette wheel has landed in Africa more than in other places: sleeker musculatures; faster patellar tendon reflexes; higher levels of plasma testosterone; higher percentages of fast-twitch fibers; and in the case of East Africans, most notably Kenyans, much higher levels of running economy.
The book's case for why black athletes dominate sports, or at least many of the more popular ones, is certainly compelling. Of course, the book's second proposition, why we're afraid to talk about said dominance, is a bit trickier. In an effort to get to the bottom of the issue, Entine provides an exhaustive discussion of American sport's racial history and the obstacles that blacks have had to overcome over the past century or so. Around the turn of the century, as Entine shows, black access to sports, and everything else for that matter, was restricted by the common belief among whites that blacks were inferior morally (ummm, probably not), mentally (the jury's still out on that one), and physically (whoops!). Detailing the struggles of legendary black athletes from Jack Johson to Jesse Owens to Joe Louis, Entine writes that while the ultimate success of blacks in sports did manage to shatter the myth of white physical superiority, blacks wound up saddled with a new stereotype: their athletic success was merely a sign that blacks were a more primitive type of human than everyone else, with more brawn and less brains.
Of course, as Entine puts it, intelligence is "the elephant in the living room" when it comes to talking about race in sports, as black athletic success has led to the stereotype that IQ and athletic ability must be inversely proportional. As the book ultimately concludes, that's why there's so much reluctance to talk about this subject. After the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust, there was suddenly a rush to emphasize the shared humanity of all peoples, and this universalist ethic has ruled mainstream science to this day. Since studies of race differences have been used by people like Hitler to justify so much hateful nonsense, the current orthodoxy goes, it's better to just ignore the evidence of differing capacities even when it's staring us right in the face. Of course, just because racists have often distorted race science for their own nefarious ends doesn't mean it's all invalid. After all, failure to acknowledge reality is itself a prejudice whether it's well-intentioned or not, and nobody benefits when the elites try to prevent an objective analysis of the facts.
Although it can get a bit too politically correct at times, "Taboo" is still largely a candid and thorough analysis of a divisive and compelling topic. Entine's writing sytle is extremely straightforward for such complex subject matter, making the often tricky science of genetics, evolution, and society accessible to just about anyone who's interested. For sports fans it ranks right up there with Michael Lewis's brilliant "Moneyball" in the pantheon of thinking man's sports books. And for those who are just interested in controversial subjects, this book is still worth reading.
Average customer rating:
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Not So Black and White.(Review): An article from: American Scientist
Manufacturer: Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society
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ASIN: B0008GRYBO
Release Date: 2005-07-28 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Human Biology, published by Wayne State University Press on October 1, 2001. The length of the article is 1426 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: Response to Marks' Review of Taboo.(Jon Marks)(Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We're Afraid to Talk About It)
Publication:
Human Biology (Refereed)
Date: October 1, 2001
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
Volume: 73
Issue: 5
Page: 771(3)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Average customer rating:
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Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We're Afraid to Talk About It.(Review) (book review): An article from: Human Biology
Jonathan Marks
Manufacturer: Wayne State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
Sports
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| Audiobooks
| Baseball
| Basketball
| Biographies
| Books on CD
| Books on Cassette
| Coaching
| Extreme Sports
| Football (American)
| General
| Golf
| Hiking & Camping
| Hockey
| Hunting & Fishing
| Individual Sports
| Miscellaneous
| Mountaineering
| Other Team Sports
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ASIN: B0008JB56G
Release Date: 2005-07-28 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Human Biology, published by Wayne State University Press on December 1, 2000. The length of the article is 1775 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: Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We're Afraid to Talk About It.(Review) (book review)
Author: Jonathan Marks
Publication:
Human Biology (Refereed)
Date: December 1, 2000
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
Volume: 72
Issue: 6
Page: 1074
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Customer Reviews:
Natural Allies: Conservationists and Ranchers .......2007-08-08
I've long held to the common environmentalist's view that cattle and sheep grazing in the arid west was an environmental disaster, destroying vegetation, habitat, and displacing wild animals. New research and books like this have changed my opinion. Sayre, a well know dry-land ecologist, profiles six ranches in Arizona and New Mexico and describes how ranchers have enhanced their grazing land with environmentally-sound techniques. This sounds like dry stuff, but this attractive book and a not-too-technical text make the subject interesting.
Traditionally, ranchers and environmentalists were sworn enemies with nothing but contempt for each other. This was silly. The threat to the open land of the West now is 2-acre "ranchettes" and galloping suburbanization. Preserving the big ranches from "development" is the best means we have to ensure that the lone prairies remain for future generations. What we now see, with books like this one, is science rather than emotion being used to evaluate how ranch land can be improved and preserved -- or at least damage minimized -- through better techniques of grazing cattle.
The New Ranch Handbook is large-format; the cover features dramatic before and after color photos of good and bad grazing; and 100 good black and white photos are scattered among 100 pages of text. It's an excellent book for the dry-land rancher, the environmentalist, or people like me who just like to know what we're looking at as we explore the great American Southwest.
Smallchief
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