Average customer rating:
- False claims
- One woman's journey to the heart of herself and her place in Islam
- A Worthy Investment!
- yes,you can judge this book by its cover!
- A modern Islamic woman
|
Standing Alone in Mecca: An American Woman's Struggle for the Soul of Islam
Asra Nomani
Manufacturer: HarperSanFrancisco
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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The Chosen Shore: Stories of Immigrants
ASIN: 0060571446
Release Date: 2005-02-15 |
Customer Reviews:
False claims.......2007-01-29
Beside portraying a wrong picture of Islam and denying the rules of the religion for legitmizing somthing inexcusable, Asra Nomani also lied about her paternal connection with Allama Shibli Nomani, the historian and author of the Biography of Prophet Mohammad(PBUH)"Seerat-un-Nabi". She claimed to be the direct descendent of Allama Shibli Nomani, after whom she named the son she had out of wedlock. Infact, she is not related to him at all.
Here I copy a letter from MOMNA SOHAIL SULTAN (Karachi) published in Dawn of April 22, 2005 which claims Asra has no relation with Allama Shibli Nomani.
"Asra Nomani no kin of Allama Shibli
We were extremely embarrassed to read in 'Books & Authors' (April 17) about Asra Nomani, a controversial personality, who claims to be a direct descendant of Allama Shibli, after whom she has named her son. Asra is in no way connected to the Shibli family.
We five real granddaughters are the real direct descendants of Maulana Shibli, who had one son and two daughters, Rabia Khatoon and Jannutul Fatima. Both the daughters died in their youth in 1904 and 1909. They were married and their family lived in their ancestral villages in Azamgarh.
Allama Shibli had only one son, Hamid Hassan Nomani. He was born in 1882 and died in 1942. He had no sons but five daughters. They are: A) Dr Nasim Jehan, retired director of health, Bangladesh, died in Karachi in 1997. She was married to Dr Zafrul Huda of Dhaka University. He died in 1978 at Dhaka. They have one daughter Shahla living in the US.
B) Shamim Jehan, married to Ehtesham Ahmed, who died in Azamgarh in 1982. They have eight sons and seven daughters all married and living in Pakistan, except one, who is in Kuwait.
C) Tahsin Jehan, married to Shaukat Sultan, principal of Shibli College, Azamgarh. He died in 1986. They have three sons and four daughters, living in India, the UAE and Karachi. The above three daughters were married in 1940 at Azamgarh.
D) Mohsina Sultana, married in 1950 to Amanullah Khan, director of industries, India. They have five children, all married, one daughter and three sons living in the US and one son in India.
E) Momna, the youngest, was born in 1935 and married in 1952 to Capt. Khan Sohail Sultan, who retired as general manager of Pan-Islamic Steamship Co., Karachi in 1993, now living in North Nazimabad.
They have four sons, all married. Eldest Maj Khalid Sultan, Sitara-i-Jur'at, met 'Shahadat' at Siachin in 1992, Capt. Danish Sultan is managing director of Pac Marine Singapore, Wamiq Sultan, MD, living in the US, youngest Capt. Toaha Sultan is serving in the Pakistan Army.
Considering our sentiments and Maulana Shibli's fame as writer of Seerat-un-Nabi, we hope you will publish this clarification. "
Momna Sultan is the one of the two surviving granddaughters of Allama Shibli Nomani.
Any questions about this matter can be answered by emailing her on [...]
Zehra Wamiq Sultan
One woman's journey to the heart of herself and her place in Islam.......2006-10-27
I picked up this book just on the spur of the moment from my local library. I'll admit that the title grabbed me. Not knowing what it was really about, or what to expect, I began to read with half-interest. I was quickly gripped, however, with the honesty and heart from which this woman has told her story. Many of us choose to withold those things we consider too personal, painful, or private for public view, but Asra Nomani pushes this norm aside in her pursuit to share a journey she felt the world needed to hear.
Nomani, a daughter of Indian immigrant parents, grows up in a typical American lifestyle. At a young age, she begins to come aware of some of the tensions between that of her Islamic and American upbringings. As an adult, she becomes pregnant outside of marriage and is suddenly hurled into the heart of these matters as she struggles to find her place in a religion, which at first appears to reject her situation and struggle. Undaunted, Nomani begins a journey with her year-old son to Mecca, the holiest city in Islam. This journey parallels a travel made by both her body and her spirit as she goes physically to the heart of Mecca during the holy pilgrimage of Hajj, and spiritually as she plunges to the very heart of her spiritually, faith, and definition of self. Her honesty is both riveting and inspiring.
The only drawbacks I saw with the book: a lot of name-dropping. As an accomplished journalist and traveler, Nomani has met and built lasting friendships with numerous big names. She doesn't hesitate to sprinkle them all over throughout the book. Also, she digresses, at times, into side and back-stories that don't seem to really be necessary. But this is a biography, of sorts, so both these issues are not that bothersome.
I am forever moved by Nomani's courage and sincerity to seek harmony between all the aspects of herself, her faith, and her American values. By reading this book, you do not need to be a woman or Muslim to be inspired to take on your own journey of self-discovery and clarity. As a Muslim woman myself, I don't agree with all of Nomani's statements and views, but I don't have to. This is her story, not mine, and I applaud her heartful journey to the very soul of herself and her place in Islam and the world. This book is well worth the read for anyone seeking to better understand religion in the modern world, Islam, or women's struggle of self-definition the world-around.
A Worthy Investment! .......2006-09-06
This book is excellent! If you want to understand the moderate voice within Islam and the struggle for women's rights, this is the book to read. Nomani's story contains so many compelling themes and lessons. To me, her story was first and foremost about the difficulty of changing well-engrained traditions and how individuals can have a great impact on creating equity in their communities. Although this book is not faultless (and I agree with many of the other reviewer's critiques), I have yet to find a book that covers the topic of women in Islam in such a digestable way. Overall, I found Nomani's narrative to be a positive and inspiring story. It has deepened my understanding of Islam -both its past and its present, and it has done so in a highly entertaining manner. I highly recommend this.
yes,you can judge this book by its cover!.......2006-07-16
Their is nothing revolutionary about ms normani,her ideology is founded on two the most common psyhcological frailties of a conformist/ sell out.
1To erase my guilt i must legitimise what i have done and encourage the right of others to do so.
2)If everybody else is doing it,why cant we?..This the 21st century after all?
..yawn.....
The fact ofthe matter is that this book does not speak for muslim women,most muslim women have no issue with preying seperately from men,actually they welcome it ,just as the men do.!Dont men have a right to prey exclusivly?
Certainly the book has raised many issues that the Islamic world needs to confront ,but the problem is that she tackles these issues at a level as equallly, if not more ignorant, than her detractors.Her scholarship is of the most amateur level and just as her oppresors use the scriptures to justify their cultural conditioning,normani is manipulating scholars and scripture to find justification for her world view, a view that is formed by her western conditioning.
Anybody who believes theat western society does not condition you is absolutely conditioned and beyond help.!
In attempting to make Islam fit her world view rather than trying to understand it on its own terms,she gets a big fat zero.
Their is no attempt to understand the spirit,context and cosmological reality behind the scriptures.Their is no atttempt to answer fundamental questions about the nature of men and women or more precisely the relaitionship between man (is that sexist) and the universe in islam.Without a fundamental understanding of that, all further searching is doomed to be reactionary and equally damaging.
The fact that she wears a jilbab on the cover,but not in real life (promising a sincerity and religousness that isnt there), shows her in her true light:someone masquerading as a religionist when they arent.
Most muslim women can see through that and that is why her appeal will always be limited.
The reason why nomani recives support from certain quaters,is due to the sympathy vote,however because someone struggles,does not mean they are sincere.Struggle in fact can be the biggst sign of insincerity.
If a book could ever be judged by its cover this is it!
Their is no need for muslims to get worried about this shoddy piece of superficial religous debate.the only ones who would be are the type of people that made her what she is,and so the circle of ignornce continues.
A modern Islamic woman.......2006-03-17
In this day when Islam is so under attack and seen, sometimes, as being synonomous with terrorism, Asra Nomani's book brings us back to the faith that is what Islam is supposed to represent. It brings us into the world of a modern Islamic, American, professional woman, who in her life today is struggling against the fundamentalist forces which hold such strong sway in so many Islamic countries. If one studies the history of Islam, woman have held leadership roles for many centuries, in the past, and have been well respected in the Islamic society. As with almost all world religions, Islam has its liberals and its conservatives, and so many in between. Its a must read for those who want to know about the lives of one family who live peacefully in the US and practice their faith. It helps to understand the tenets of Islam, separate from its politics and the overwhelming publicity given those who are violent and not living by the tenets of their faith.
Average customer rating:
- More evolving faith
- One woman's honest and heart-felt journey for her place in Islam...
|
Standing Alone: An American Woman's Struggle for the Soul of Islam (Plus)
Asra Nomani
Manufacturer: HarperOne
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0060832975
Release Date: 2006-02-28 |
Book Description
As President Bush is preparing to invade Iraq, Wall Street Journal correspondent Asra Nomani embarks on a dangerous journey from Middle America to the Middle East to join more than two million fellow Muslims on the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca required of all Muslims once in their lifetime. Mecca is Islam's most sacred city and strictly off limits to non-Muslims. On a journey perilous enough for any American reporter, Nomani is determined to take along her infant son, Shibli -- living proof that she, an unmarried Muslim woman, is guilty of zina, or "illegal sex." If she is found out, the puritanical Islamic law of the Wahabbis in Saudi Arabia may mete out terrifying punishment. But Nomani discovers she is not alone. She is following in the four-thousand-year-old footsteps of another single mother, Hajar (known in the West as Hagar), the original pilgrim to Mecca and mother of the Islamic nation.
Each day of her hajj evokes for Nomani the history of a different Muslim matriarch: Eve, from whom she learns about sin and redemption; Hajar, the single mother abandoned in the desert who teaches her about courage; Khadijah, the first benefactor of Islam and trailblazer for a Muslim woman's right to self-determination; and Aisha, the favorite wife of the Prophet Muhammad and Islam's first female theologian. Inspired by these heroic Muslim women, Nomani returns to America to confront the sexism and intolerance in her local mosque and to fight for the rights of modern Muslim women who are tired of standing alone against the repressive rules and regulations imposed by reactionary fundamentalists.
Nomani shows how many of the freedoms enjoyed centuries ago have been erased by the conservative brand of Islam practiced today, giving the West a false image of Muslim women as veiled and isolated from the world. Standing Alone in Mecca is a personal narrative, relating the modern-day lives of the author and other Muslim women to the lives of those who came before, bringing the changing face of women in Islam into focus through the unique lens of the hajj. Interweaving reportage, political analysis, cultural history, and spiritual travelogue, this is a modern woman's jihad, offering for Westerners a never-before-seen look inside the heart of Islam and the emerging role of Muslim women.
Customer Reviews:
More evolving faith.......2007-07-25
The reading was slow-going for me as I tried to understand the author's point of view. The book explains that moderate Islamists are attempting to counteract the violence of the radical Islamists.
One woman's honest and heart-felt journey for her place in Islam..........2006-10-27
I picked up this book just on the spur of the moment from my local library. I'll admit that the title grabbed me. Not knowing what it was really about, or what to expect, I began to read with half-interest. I was quickly gripped, however, with the honesty and heart from which this woman has told her story. Many of us choose to withold those things we consider too personal, painful, or private for public view, but Asra Nomani pushes this norm aside in her pursuit to share a journey she felt the world needed to hear.
Nomani, a daughter of Indian immigrant parents, grows up in a typical American lifestyle. At a young age, she begins to come aware of some of the tensions between that of her Islamic and American upbringings. As an adult, she becomes pregnant outside of marriage and is suddenly hurled into the heart of these matters as she struggles to find her place in a religion, which at first appears to reject her situation and struggle. Undaunted, Nomani begins a journey with her year-old son to Mecca, the holiest city in Islam. This journey parallels a travel made by both her body and her spirit as she goes physically to the heart of Mecca during the holy pilgrimage of Hajj, and spiritually as she plunges to the very heart of her spiritually, faith, and definition of self. Her honesty is both riveting and inspiring.
The only drawbacks I saw with the book: a lot of name-dropping. As an accomplished journalist and traveler, Nomani has met and built lasting friendships with numerous big names. She doesn't hesitate to sprinkle them all over throughout the book. Also, she digresses, at times, into side and back-stories that don't seem to really be necessary. But this is a biography, of sorts, so both these issues are not that bothersome.
I am forever moved by Nomani's courage and sincerity to seek harmony between all the aspects of herself, her faith, and her American values. By reading this book, you do not need to be a woman or Muslim to be inspired to take on your own journey of self-discovery and clarity. As a Muslim woman myself, I don't agree with all of Nomani's statements and views, but I don't have to. This is her story, not mine, and I applaud her heartful journey to the very soul of herself and her place in Islam and the world. This book is well worth the read for anyone seeking to better understand religion in the modern world, Islam, or women's struggle of self-definition the world-around.
Average customer rating:
|
Standing Alone In Mecca: An American Woman's Struggle for the Soul of Islam
Asra Q. Nomani
Manufacturer: HarperSanFrancisco
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OF5EJ8 |
Average customer rating:
- Factual errors
- Good but could use more info.
|
US Army AH-1 Cobra Units in Vietnam (Combat Aircraft)
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AH-1 Cobra in action - Aircraft No. 168
ASIN: 1841766062
Release Date: 2003-09-25 |
Book Description
Bell’s AH-1 Cobra was the first dedicated helicopter gunship to reach frontline service anywhere in the world. Developed as a private venture by the manufacturer, and based on the mechanics of the ubiquitous UH-1 Huey, the Cobra proved a huge success once introduced into combat with the US Army in 1966. Built as a key weapon in the Advanced Aerial Fire Support System concept of 1965, the AH-1 was one of the few aircraft to reach the combat zone after actual combat experience went into its design. The AH-1 helped reduce the losses being suffered by vulnerable troop transport helicopters by providing effective fire suppression during airmobile operations. This book explores its history, technology and crew.
Customer Reviews:
Factual errors.......2007-08-09
I was actually a "contributor" on this book, and I am "quoted" in the book. However, much of the information about me and my unit in this book is not accurate. I would recommend not taking anything in this book as "factual" unless verified elsewhere.
Good but could use more info........2005-05-15
This book follows the model of other books in the Osprey series, and while it is full of useful and interesting information it still lacks something.
I am still waiting for the day when we will get a book that fully details the units, markings and history of Army Aviation in Vietnam.
For those who have little to no knowledge of the AH-1 this book would be a great place to start. Overall a good book for what it is.
Average customer rating:
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Bell AH-1 Cobra - Walk Around No. 29
Manufacturer: Squadron/Signal Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0897474384 |
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Ah-1: Cobra (Modern Fighting Aircraft)
Doug Richardson
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0130207519 |
Customer Reviews:
Cobra.......2006-10-27
This book is a classic of the Cobra literature. In great format it is one of the most detailed books on this heli. It is a dated book, but very interesting in the historical point of view.
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Ah 1 Huey Cobra
Lindsey Peacock
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Customer Reviews:
Bad research.......2007-10-05
This is an older book that I have only recently seen. As ith some other "Osprey" books, the research is way below standard. The list of factual errors in this book is way too long to even begin to list. As with other Osprey offerings, do NOT accept anything in this book as fact unless verified from another source!
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AH-1 Cobra in action - Aircraft No. 168
Wayne Mutza
Manufacturer: Squadron/Signal Publications
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Product Features:
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ASIN: 0897473825 |
Product Description
At only 36 inches wide, the AH 1A might be the skinniest helicopter ever developed. The thin face presented less area for opponents to see or fire on, and led to the Cobra's success. Fitted with 2.75 inch rockets, mini guns, and TOW anti tank rockets, Cobras still serve today. You will see detailed photos of cockpits, weapons systems and markings, as well as combat photos. Squadron publications provide modelers with in depth developmental histories of famous military aircraft, armor and ships. The books are particularly valuable in determining paint schemes.
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Aviation Fact File Modern Fighting Aircraft AH-1 - Bell AH-1 Cobra: The World's First Custom Built Attack Helicopter
Doug Richardson
Manufacturer: Salamander Books Ltd.
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Average customer rating:
- The most informative book you'll find on the AH-1
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Bell Ah-1 Cobra (Osprey Air Combat Series)
Mike Verier
Manufacturer: Osprey Publishing (UK)
ProductGroup: Book
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The most informative book you'll find on the AH-1.......1998-12-11
Absolutely the best! This book gives a complete detailed history of the AH-1 Cobra from the prototype stages to the current model (AH-1F). This book also goes into other attack helicopter prototypes that Bell built along with the SuperCobra - the twin engine Marine version of the AH-1.
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Famous Airplanes of the World #34 May, 1992: AH-1 Cobra, AH-64 Apache
Unknown
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- Decent for what it is.
- Sadly true
- What You Suspected About Politics But Didn't Know How To Ask
|
Constructing the Political Spectacle
Murray Edelman
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
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Book Description
Thanks to the ready availability of political news today, informed citizens can protect and promote their own interests and the public interest more effectively. Or can they? Murray Edelman argues against this conventional interpretation of politics, one that takes for granted that we live in a world of facts and that people react rationally to the facts they know. In doing so, he explores in detail the ways in which the conspicuous aspects of the political scene are interpretations that systematically buttress established inequalities and interpretations already dominant political ideologies.
Customer Reviews:
Decent for what it is........2004-06-07
The background of the book is quite interesting. One would normally expect a Chinese professor to write in Chinese, not English. The book is just one volume in a book series entitled "The United States and the World: Foreign Perspectives". The series is intended for American readers in the hopes that Americans will gain the perspectives of people around the world and how, in particular, they view the United States. Thus, Jiang had some leeway in not reciting the "party line" of Communist China of Chinese/American history, but instead give his own views on the subject. Jiang knew he was writing to American readers and therefore used both American and Chinese sources in writing his book
Jiang starts the book with saying that, after the American Revolution in 1783, Boston merchants immediately sought trade with China. He studies this relation up to 1978, when full diplomatic relations were established between the United States and Communist China, a full ten years before he finished and published his book.
The only problem with this book is that you need a primer in Chinese history first in order to get anything out of the book. One needs to understand the overall trends in Chinese history to fully appreciate the nuances of America's relationship with China, and Jiang, unfortunately, overlooks this.
Sadly true.......2001-03-13
This book is a clear and thorough analysis of one of the worst shortcomings of contemporary politics, democratic or tyrannical: the transformation of the public sphere into a mere show, a spectacle for audiences, not for citizens. Substance is always constricted by the spectacle. Hard, evident truths can not be expressed for fear of enraging the audience. Irrelevant debates obscure the issues our societies should be discussing. Politics as spectacle is what explains the kind of political leaderships, enmities and controversies that exist. Murray Edelman is very good at telling some of the hard truths I mentioned, one of the most important being that new political leaders, right from the start of their careers, have to follow the rules of politics as spectacle, otherwise, their careers get to nothing and they are unable to accomplish anything anyway, talented and brave as they may be. Politics as spectacle is the cause that a whole nation is for years focused on the sexual errands of a President, while other important things are happening to that very nation, with seldom anybody pointing at the real issues. Politics as spectacle is the cause that a crazy Marxist with a pipe and a ski mask marches around a nation (Mexico) with supporters who know nothing about the issues in discussion.
Summing up, Edelman has written a very good argument about how politics is the construction of a big spectacle in which every actor plays its role. One very interesting point brought up by Edelmann is that ethnic and religious conflicts are usually the result of manipulative politics by skilled but immoral politicians. That is, if those potential conflicts have nothing to give to political leaders, most likely they will not erupt, but will be solved in time. I think this book is a must read for anybody interested in knowing how contemporary politics (and, I would say, politics in all yimes) are constructed. Once you know the truth, you will be far harder to deceive.
What You Suspected About Politics But Didn't Know How To Ask.......1999-05-01
Normative theories of democracy presume political process to be more or less rational. However, we have accumulated so much evidence to the contrary that perhaps the time has come to view these basic assumptions in a critical light and - to get rid of them. If mass democracy is a spectacle, as Guy Debord put it, why not make this the point of departure for our analysis?..
I was both delighted and a bit frustrated to find that somebody else (Murray Edelman) has done this already, obstructing somewhat my plans for that matter. And yet it is a brilliant book, crisp and clear, both simple and persuading, making complex issues .
The idea is elaborated thoroughly. Political spectacle is the logic that stands behind the construction and use of political leaders and political enemies, that elevates this or that political `problem' in the spotlight.
Political problems are the constructs of existing ideologies and political language. The main characteristic of political problem is that it is not to be solved (e.g. unemployment). It is a narrative that is used for mass arousal. This explains why substance is always eagerly sacrificed for drama, raising support for political leaders but also creating a huge gap between political agenda, everyday experience and personal well-being. Political apathy is, according to Murray, the silent resistance of citizens to the imposing rhetoric of political leaders, struggling over irrelevant issues.
Political leaders are constructed and employed by the political spectacle. They have to act in the environment with so much structural and actual constraints that there is not much they can do. The only criteria for selection of political leaders these days also seems to be not their administrative talents, but their ability to compromise and deceive. A person with clear political message could never become a political leader, because he would lack vagueness necessary to attract various groups of voters.
The existing bureaucratic system is so complex and so much involved with various interest groups and industries that putting together a coherent policy is practically out of reach for any political leaders. The impotence of political leaders makes them desperate to substitute tough stance for tough action, enemies for adversaries and opponents, foreign affairs for domestic policy. They start to look for enemies abroad, small enough to be incapable of retaliation.
Forget inner-city ghettoes and gun laws - let's bomb Belgrade, Yugoslavia ( or Baghdad, Iraq, or Grozny, Chechnya, or whatever). There is nothing like this in a book of course - it features strictly theoretic approach and, by the way, it way published well back in 1988, when the power structure was much more stable thanks to Cold war long-term threat, the PR 'trick of the century'.
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Campaign 2004: Volume 3: The Political Celebrity Spectacle: De/Constructing Image Meaning/Mongering (Volume 3 of 4) (Topical Issues of American Behavioral Scientist)
Manufacturer: Sage Publications, Inc
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1412938007 |
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The 2004 American Presidential campaign was a watershed event for many reasons, but especially because the line between statesmanship and showmanship became extremely blurred. Because of the importance of this American election,
American Behavioral Scientist is dedicating four issues, entitled
Campaign 2004, Volumes 1-4, edited by J. Gregory Payne of Emerson College, to analysis of Campaign 2004, both Presidential and Senatorial, and contemporary issues and dynamics in political communication.
According to public relations guru, James Grunig, political communication is more and more about meaningful relationships the public has with candidates who try to mirror their values, beliefs, and attitudes. Campaign 2004 was unique because of the use of new technologies such as cable television talk shows, the Internet, Web pages, blogs, and VNRs (simulated video new releases) enabled candidates to target their messages and communication images to smaller groups. The new media challenged the traditional mainstream media by providing a venue for unrestrained, less commercial, and sometimes more global information. Campaign 2004 also shamelessly used staged pseudoevents and celebrity spectacles as "infotainment,' and spent over $620 million on mostly negative political advertising to spell out issues and to try to set the future political agenda. The four volumes of
Campaign 2004 evaluate the successes and failures of Campaign 2004 and offer some practical insights for future campaigns.
Volume I of
Campaign 2004 concentrates on campaign rhetoric and the battle for attention in the campaign primaries. Volume 2 changes direction by focusing on the effectiveness of presidential debates, political advertising, and leadership, as well as showcasing the Senate races in South Dakota and Illinois. Volume 3 considers trends in new media, mediated reality, and the politics of pseudoevents and celebrity/spectacle, while Volume 4 offers international reflections and perspectives on democracy, and elections in the Middle East and Europe.
Campaign 2004, Volumes 1-4 belongs in the library of every one interested in political science, political communication, international relations, mass communication, mass media, journalism, sociology, marketing/advertising, discourse analysis, and rhetoric.
Volume 1: Constructing the New American Ideals/Idols in Democracy (ISBN: 1-4129-3921-6)
Volume 2: De/Constructing the Mediated Realities of Presidential debates, Political Advertising, and Showvase Senate Races (ISBN: 1-4129-3922-4)
Volume 3: The Political Celebrity Spectacle: De/Constructing Image Meaning/Mongering (ISBN: 1-4129-3923-2)
Volume 4: Style versus Substance in E-Politics and International Perspectives on Democracy (ISBN: 1-4129-3924-0)
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Constructing the Political Spectacle
Murray Edelman
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OP5TTS |
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Constructing the Political Spectacle:
Murray Edelman
Manufacturer: University of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OP5TOS |
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- For anyone truly curious about what it feels like to fly
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America from the Air: An Aviator's Story (American Land Classics)
Wolfgang Langewiesche
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
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Similar Items:
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Stick and Rudder: An Explanation of the Art of Flying
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Inside the Sky: A Meditation on Flight
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Cutting for Sign
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FLIGHT OF PASSAGE: A TRUE STORY
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Fate is the Hunter
ASIN: 0801878195 |
Book Description
"I am no helmeted, begoggled hero of the skies; picture me bookish, bespectacled, unable to hold even a teacup without rattling it. As a pilot, I am merely an amateur, and I know it.... I shouldn't be talking. But I can't help talking. For you take the air: the thin, substanceless air that can be made to bear a man; you take America; and you take an airplane, which of all the works of man is the nearest to a living being -- you take those things and mix them up, and they will act as a drug which will knock all proper reticence right out of you. And so, here I go talking..." -- from America from the Air
In 1927, Charles Lindbergh made his historic solo flight across the Atlantic; Amelia Earhart became the first woman to do so in 1932. And so was born the golden age of flying. Aviators became the era's new heroes and the airplane its icon. In early 1930s Chicago, a German-born graduate student became fascinated by the airplane and its usefulness as a great geographic and sociological tool. Wolfgang Langewiesche sold his car and used his meager salary to pay for flying lessons at 25 cents a minute.
With the same passion America had taken to the road a decade earlier, Langewiesche took to the air. He eagerly inhaled the landscape and breathed observations about the country, writing a series of books that describe the heady excitement and freedom of flight and the stunning views of his adopted country from an entirely new vantage point -- the sky. This new edited volume revives the writings from two of his now out-of-print books. America from the Air draws from Langewiesche's classic account of his early experiences as a pilot, I'll Take the High Road (first published in 1939 and praised by the New York Times as "a stirring and revealing story, told with sensitiveness and lucidity and with the warmth of a modest personal charm"), and selections from his 1951 memoir, A Flier's World, to create a distinctive book that provides a pioneering look at the American landscape as seen from the cockpit of a light plane. Langewiesche's photographs from his cross-country flights circa 1939 evoke the era.
Wolfgang Langewiesche is revered among pilots for his 1944 flying primer, Stick and Rudder, currently in its seventieth printing. Considered the bible of aviation, it tells us the "how" of flying; America from the Air tells us the "why." Here his descriptions of the country offer unique perspectives on New England, the Midwest, and the Atlantic Coast from Virginia to Key West, at a time before the country was paved over by multilane expressways, suburban tract housing, and strip malls. His bird's-eye view of America takes in small farms, deserted seashores, busy railway lines, and cities in which skyscrapers were still engineering marvels. With the keen eye of a surveyor and an uncommon talent for conveying the physical sensation of flying, he describes landscape in all its beauty and detail as it rolls out beneath him, unveiling its mysteries. Langewiesche is revealed here as an infectiously enthusiastic aviator and an unrivaled observer of the American landscape. In a new foreword, Langewiesche's son, writer William Langewiesche, describes his father's love of the view from above. Hokanson and Kratz's introduction and biography update the reader, incorporating stories gleaned from recent interviews with the author.
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For anyone truly curious about what it feels like to fly.......2004-06-03
Collaboratively edited and with introductions by Drake Hokanson and Carol Kratz, America From The Air: An Aviator's Story is the memoir of Wolfgang Langewiesche, a German-born test pilot, writer, and editor famous for his series of classic books that describe his adopted home of America from the sky. America From The Air collects selections from his classic accounts, "I'll Take The High Road" and "A Flier's World", first published in 1939 and 1951 respectively. Both give a talented perception of the physical sensation of flying, seeing small farms, deserted seashores, busy railway lines, and the general awe and wonder of lookind down from on high. An engrossing read for anyone truly curious about what it feels like to fly, encompassing memories of America through time and the author's own true passion for aviation.
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Langewiesche, Wolfgang. America from the air; an aviator's story.(Young Adult Review)(Book Review): An article from: Kliatt
Raymond Puffer
Manufacturer: Kliatt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
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ASIN: B0007URCLS
Release Date: 2005-04-19 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Kliatt, published by Kliatt on September 1, 2004. The length of the article is 365 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: Langewiesche, Wolfgang. America from the air; an aviator's story.(Young Adult Review)(Book Review)
Author: Raymond Puffer
Publication:
Kliatt (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2004
Publisher: Kliatt
Volume: 38
Issue: 5
Page: 42(2)
Article Type: Book Review, Young Adult Review
Distributed by Thompson Gale
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