An Historical Geography of Modern Australia: The Restive Fringe (Cambridge Studies in Historical Geography)

Book Description

In this major new study, J.G. Powell presents a truly authoritative and comprehensive historical geography of Australia during the second century of immigrant occupation.

Overlook: Exploring the Internal Fringes of America with the Center for Land Use Interpretation

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Overlook: Exploring the Internal Fringes of America with the Center for Land Use Interpretation

Manufacturer: Metropolis Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

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Object to Be Destroyed: The Work of Gordon Matta-Clark
Museum Highlights: The Writings of Andrea Fraser (Writing Art)
Did Someone Say Participate?: An Atlas of Spatial Practice
Shrinking Cities: Volume 2
A Voyage on the North Sea: Art in the Age of the Post-Medium Condition (Walter Neurath Memorial Lecture)

ASIN: 1933045337
Release Date: 2006-07-01

Book Description

The Center for Land Use Interpretation is a research-based educational organization that produces public programs about the built landscape of the United States from its sites in Los Angeles, Utah and the Mojave desert, with an upstate New York location opening in 2006. The Center's aim is to increase and diffuse information about how the nation's lands are apportioned, utilized and perceived. Recent examples of their work include a two-day "Tour of the Monuments of the Great American Void" by bus and the exhibit Immersed Remains: Towns Submerged in America. This book takes readers on a tour through the strangely unfamiliar land that Americans live in, demonstrating that we can understand ourselves and the nation by examining the clues on display all around us, often clearly visible but ignored. Each chapter explores a different topic, from an in-depth look at Ohio ("the most all-American state"); through scale shifts in model landscapes, exemplified in the three largest hydraulic models in the world; and law-enforcement training environments that "simulate" public space. Readers can dive into the hidden and enchanting world of show caves, where America is on display underground; and come up into the Great Basin, a zone covering most of Nevada, and portions of Utah, California, Oregon, Idaho and Mexico, whose network of watersheds has no outlet to the ocean. Following lines and edges, through cities, suburbs, small towns and wide-open spaces, the Center guides us upstream, toward the heart of another America--the same, but different.

The Politics of Social Risk: Business and Welfare State Development (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics)

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The Politics of Social Risk: Business and Welfare State Development (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics)
Isabela Mares
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Taxation, Wage Bargaining, and Unemployment (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics)

ASIN: 0521827418

Book Description

When and why have employers supported the development of institutions of social insurance that provide benefits to workers for various employment-related risks? What factors explain the variation in the social policy preferences of employers? This book provides a systematic evaluation of the role played by business in the development of the modern welfare state. Isabela Mares studies these critical questions and demonstrates that major social policies were adopted by cross-class alliances comprising labor-based organizations and key sectors of the business community.

Shortchanged: Life and Debt in the Fringe Economy (Bk Currents)

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Socialist Rant
the underbelly of a modern economy
Intriguing, insightful, suffers only from some disorganization
Excellent Book!
Wake Up Call/Christmas gift

Shortchanged: Life and Debt in the Fringe Economy (Bk Currents)
Howard Karger
Manufacturer: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Fringe Banking: Check-Cashing Outlets, Pawnshops and the Poor

ASIN: 1576753360

Book Description

"Shortchanged" takes an uncompromising look at the corporate vultures that prey on America's working class. Made up of pawnshops, payday lenders, check cashers, credit card companies and the like, the fringe economy entices vulnerable consumers into an economic netherworld of high interest rates and ever-increasing debt. The book examines the factors behind the fringe economy's rise -- stagnant wages, rising numbers of working poor, and the 12 million U.S. households without bank accounts -- and investigates the sleazy practices -- instant credit, cash-for-your-title loans, predatory mortgage lending, E-Z home equity loans -- that result in phenomenal growth for the industry and a nightmare for the consumer. Powerful analysis is combined with moving personal stories of the mothers, fathers, and families whose lives have been put on the line for the perpetuation of this economy. Ruthless, compelling, outrageous, and often enraging, "Shortchanged" puts the spotlight on the shady side of America's economic underbelly.

Customer Reviews:

Socialist Rant.......2007-01-29

I bought this book because I love books about economics and finance. I enjoy reading about the pitfalls of credit and the dangers of an over-leveraged society. And I wish everyone could pull themselves out of this dangerous cycle and live debt-free.

What I don't love, however, is reading an author who puts the blame for society's ills on everyone but the individual. For example, it's not Joe Sixpack's problem that he makes $8 an hour, but HAS to have a $4,000 big-screen LCD television. It's Sony's fault for having compelling marketing, and the predatory bank's fault for loaning him the money, and Wal-Mart's fault for selling him the TV, and the cable company's fault for broadcasting NFL games, and the NFL's fault for allowing games to be televised. Poor Joe Sixpack -- he can't possibly live with a 20" CRT TV -- he needs an LCD TV. So he's a victim.

It's also not Joe's fault for the 32% interest, over-limit and late fees he's paying. It's the bank's fault for not letting Joe slide when he needed beer money and a cool stereo for his new car and couldn't pay his bills for a few months. Poor misunderstood Joe.

The author also rails against payday lenders. Never mind that payday lenders employ ten of thousands of people in blighted urban areas, and provide much needed access to money to buy food or heating oil. They're evil because they expect that money back! And who are they to add an interest rate to cover operational expenses and provide salaries for those inner-city employees? The nerve!

I should have read about the author before purchasing this book. If I had realized that he was a purveyor of pseudo-science (sociologist) living in an ivory tower, and not an employed, real-world financial analyst I would have passed. I did manage to sell it used for two-thirds of what it cost me though. I guess I'll just consider that interest paid.

the underbelly of a modern economy.......2006-07-02

Karger reveals what he accurately terms the "fringe economy". Something possibly unknown to those safely enscounced in the American middle class. This fringe is inhabited by working class people, which might have experienced a bout of bad luck. This can come in the form of losing a job, or having a very low paying one. Or perhaps a chronic illness, that severely restricts what types of jobs one can get.

Within the fringe economy, the book shows a range of companies that might be accurately described as predatory. Offering short term payroll loans that amount to over 100% interest on an annualised basis. Or for those unable to buy furniture, these are made available on a rental basis. Again, typically at an annual rate of over 100%. Such techniques might perhaps be aimed at those who exhibit poor personal money management. The deservedly imprudent, if you will. But the techniques also take aim at those who carefully count every dollar, and who do not squander what little they have.

Intriguing, insightful, suffers only from some disorganization.......2006-01-21

The fringe economy is a poorly-understood shadow structure operating below the surface of maintstream life, according to Karger, a professor of Social Work in Texas. His outlook is more broad than deep, but I applaud both the scope of his work and his policy recommendations. While I would disagree with a few of them (as an economist I have a slightly different perspective of the function of financial institutions), the suggested policy actions offer a launching point for further discussion that is missing in some other purely emotive works. I also applaud Karger's effort to tackle this fairly ethereal subject (much like the idea of the 'economy' itself) and put it into human terms.

I knock one star for the presentation of statistics - there's a little too much of it without enough order to support their presentation. However, these do not detract from the logic of the book, only from the continuity in a few sections. Otherwise, an eye-opening read.

Excellent Book!.......2005-12-28

"Pawn shops, check cashers, rent-to-own stores, payday and tax-refund lenders, auto-title-loans, buy-here-pay-here used car lots - what seems to be small independent storefront operations turn out to be part of an economy dominated by well-financed corporations with little-no oversight and increasingly strong ties to mainstream financial institutions" - so claims "Shortchanged" summary material. The book then goes on to provide stories of real people trapped in perpetual debt, usually starting with overpriced goods, and acerbated by high interest rates and required extra charges.

Karger admits that serving the poor can cost more, and thus would justify higher prices. However, he cites examples of pawning a vehicle for 1/3 its value and paying interest of up to and over 300%/year to get it back, depositing $100s-$1,000+ in low-interest savings accounts to acquired a secured credit card that charges 30%/year rates (and more) to use, check cashers paying 3% to cash relatively risk-free government checks - and concludes that clearly the line separating "reasonable" from "unreasonable" was crossed.

Karger's material is well-documented, providing sources for his claims - eg. "almost 10% of unbanked households' net income is spent on alternative financial services,." "consumer debt, excluding mortgages, averaged about $19,000/family in '04," "68% of EITC and CTC eligible families use tax preparers (average cost $305 in '01; total of $1.3 billion vs. $EITC payouts of $30 billion." However, sometimes these claims, despite documentation, do not seem to hold water - eg. Karger states that the "bulwark of public assistance programs cost $125 billion/year or less (low-income housing, AFDC and its successor program, food stamps, WIC, school lunch), compared to check cashers, payday lenders, pawn shops, rent-to-own growing $78 billion in '01 - the problem is that the $78 billion did not appear substantiated by the detail.

Information on how these purveyors of credit to the poor avoid usury laws is provided - eg. require a loan applicant to sell up to three household items to the lender, and then lease them back.

The material on home mortgages for the poor was particularly eye-opening - balloon payments, shared appreciation mortgages (due at maturity), extra insurance fees, foreclosure "help" that often takes the customer's equity, and high interest rates (location, credit rating). Car sales (over-priced to begin with) that allow the seller to break-even in about three months, accompanied by a 30% repossession rate for "buy-here-pay-here" and frequent profitable trade-ins upon breakdown. (They even have companies that rent tires - at high fees and rates!)

Debt counselors get about 15% from money paid to credit card companies - some counseling firms are reputable and provide good service. Others steer money towards the credit card companies, neglecting home mortgage and car payments. Only 26% complete the process.

So, one wonders, if these firms are making so much money, why don't others come in and compete down the charges. In some cases this is happening - Wal-Mart is now providing check-cashing services at far lower charges than check-cashing stores. On the other hand, there is also a problem with low-income consumers being their own worst enemies - eg. not knowing that they could cash a payroll check free at the issuing bank, or even the advantages of having a bank account. (I'm left wondering how President Bush's privatization of Social Security would possibly avoid these people being taken advantage of.)

An excellent book, even for someone like myself who thought he knew it all already!

Wake Up Call/Christmas gift.......2005-12-18

While Nickel and Dimed is an excellent read, in key ways it lacks authenticity. Barbara Ehrenreich, while attempting to live the marginal life, could always fall back on the resources of her "real" life, which she admittedly does on occasion. Her actions in these instances underscore the importance of Karger's book. Where do the actual poor, who can't step out of a temporary context, go when they need something to fall back on? As Karger so clearly illuminates, they must look to those who "have" and are anxious to give - at interest rates that guarantee the customer will be back, again and again. Karger's keen observation of the relationship between morality and economy may hit too close to home for those benefiting from the system. For those committed to reform of a predatory economy, he offers critical strategies for change. This book is an eye opener and a wake-up call to those of us who have not lost our moral center.

On a personal note, my friends and family who will see themselves in this book - lured by the "easy" money of the fringe economy - have gotten this book as a PRE-Christmas present. I hope they read it before they borrow money they'll never to really be able to pay back to buy Christmas gifts they can't really afford.

Average customer rating:

Not much to chew on

Bush's Fringe Government
Garry Wills
Manufacturer: New York Review Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1590172108
Release Date: 2006-10-03

Book Description

One of America’s foremost historians looks at the state of American democracy and the influence of the Catholic Church

How is it possible for minorities to rule majorities? An answer can be found by looking at both George Bush's Republican Party and the Catholic Church.

Bush’s Fringe Government is an inquiry into how an extremely conservative fringe in these organizations, although in the minority, have a disproportionate influence on a broad range of issues, and use their influence to govern the majority. By exploring the ways in which the election of Pope Benedict XVI has increased the influence of very conservative Catholics in the Vatican, Garry Wills offers a lucid and striking explanation of the political coalition between Catholics and evangelicals–a partnership that has been instrumental in electing Republicans in the United States and keeping conservative issues in the forefront of American political discourse. As Wills puts it, “How do you govern an apostate nation? When the entire culture is corrupted, the country can only be morally governed in spite of itself. A collection of aggrieved minorities must seize the levers of power in every way possible. One must govern not from a broad consensual center but from activist fringes of morality.”

Juxtaposing Karl Rove and the Bush administration’s political strategy to that of conservatives in the Catholic Church, Wills’s examination of extremist fringe elements is a major piece of political analysis by one of our most highly regarded commentators. Its timely publication is essential reading for the 2006 elections in the United States.

Customer Reviews:

Not much to chew on.......2007-04-25

I love Garry Wills, but this book - more of a long pamphlet-is not worth much. The book is comprised of two long essays. In the first, "Fringe Government", Wills describes similarities between the world views of George W. Bush and Pope Benedict XVI, both of whom prefer an authoritarian and fundamentalist view of the world. Wills also sees, rightly in my estimation, a threat in the collusion of fundamentalist evangelicals and conservative Roman Catholics. He also attacks faith-based science and faith-based charity in the era of Bush II. Unfortunately, the book does not give enough space to get down and dirty with any topic. It ends up sounding like a hysterical jeremiad against what was a temporary confluence of like-minded - but ultimately unreconcilable - points of view.

The second essay, titled, "Jimmy Carter and the Culture of Death," uses a review of the former president's book "Our Endangered Values" as a platform to attack "pro-life" forces and 2nd-amendment pro-gun enthusiasts. Wills argues that pro-lifers focus on abortion to the detriment of collateral deaths caused by their monomania - mothers killed by back alley abortions, continents destroyed by AIDS not prevented by condoms; opposition to sex education that could save lives and reduce pregnancies. Wills too sees the fundamentalist urge behind the very unchristian support for death penalty and pre-emptive war.

This slim volume will neither succor Wills partisans nor persuade his enemies. It is too short and broad-stroked for either job. Supportive of his views though I am, I see no reason for anyone to pick this up.

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The United States of WalMart
We have seen walmart and it is us.
Wal-Mart Exposed
fantastic
For those rich people than can afford to shop somewhere else

The United States of Wal-Mart
John Dicker
Manufacturer: Tarcher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World's Most Powerful Company Really Works--and How It's Transforming the American Economy
How Walmart Is Destroying America And The World: And What You Can Do About It
The Case Against Wal-Mart
Wal-mart: The High Cost of Low Price
The Wal-Mart Way: The Inside Story of the Success of the World's Largest Company

ASIN: 1585424226

Book Description

An irreverent, hard-hitting examination of the world's largest-and most reviled-corporation, which reveals that while Wal-Mart's dominance may be providing consumers with cheap goods and plentiful jobs, it may also be breeding a culture of discontent.

It employs one of every 115 American workers. If it were a nation-state, it would be one of the world's top twenty economies. With yearly sales of nearly $260 billion and an average way of $8 an hour, Wal-Mart represents an unprecedented-and perhaps unstoppable-force in capitalism. And there have been few corporations that have evoked the same levels of reverence and ire.

The United States of Wal-Mart is a hard-hitting examination of how Sam Walton's empire has infiltrated not just the geography of America but also its consciousness. Peeling away layers of propaganda and politics, investigative journalist John Dicker reveals an American (and, increasingly, a global) story that has no clear-cut villains or heroes-one that could be the confused, complicated story of America itself.

Pitched battles between economic progress and quality of life, between the preservation of regional identity and national homogeneity, and between low prices and the dignity of the American worker are beginning to coalesce into an all-out war to define our modern era. And, Dicker argues, Wal-Mart is winning. Revealing that the company's business practices have been shaping American culture, including the nation's social, political, and industrial policy, The United States of Wal-Mart provides fresh insight into a controversy that isn't going away.

Customer Reviews:

The United States of WalMart.......2007-08-01

I decided to read this book because I have read so much press about WalMart. I wanted to learn some more about this enormous company that has popped up all over America. If you follow the news, you know the usual WalMart stories - union busting techniques, products not made in U.S., the legacy of Sam Walton. Besides those things, I did learn some very surprising facts and information I was not aware of before such as:

The high amount of WalMart employees using public assistance for housing, healthcare and welfare. For every WalMart store in the United States that has 200 employees, it costs us an average of half a million dollars in tax money. (pg 208)

In neglected, ghetto neighborhoods with old abandoned buildings, WalMart really does provide jobs for people who can't get jobs elsewhere. In addition, people in those areas have to drive a few miles to get to a grocery store, so WalMart does help them out.

In a "Buy American" public campaign, WalMart gave contracts to American suppliers for products. However, WalMart didn't like one supplier's costs and intervened and bought the fabric from Taiwan.

Former WalMart CEO David Glass was asked during an interview about the age of some children who work at sweatshops in Asia to create products sold in WalMart. David Glass responded by saying "you and I have might perhaps define children differently" And later says it is difficult to discern the age of Asians since they are short. (pg 111)

In California; Safeway, Albertsons, and Krogers had to reduce benefits to stay competitive with WalMart

Overall a very informative book which shows different sides of WalMart. With 1.2 million employees in the U.S., all of us have seen a WalMart, most of us know somebody that works there and a lot of us shop there.

We have seen walmart and it is us........2006-10-16

Savagely funny and pointed, Dicker pulls no punches in his crystalization of the walmart juggernaut as it seeks to dominate a retail landscape near you.
Probing both the good and the bad, Dicker manages a balanced account of Walmart and is sensible enough to point out that Walmart, essentially, is a colossal version of the american consumer. It, Walmart, pursues cheap because we the customer want it that way.
Sprinkled with anecdotes, Dicker provides interesting reading for anyone who follows Walmart.

Wal-Mart Exposed.......2006-07-14

I will admit right up front that John Dicker has written a clearly biased book against Wal-Mart. He is out to expose all that is bad about Wal-Mart and is reluctant to point out any good things about Wal-Mart (if there even are any). That being said, there are plenty of bad things to write about, and Dicker covers them all. The poor wages, forcing stores on communities that don't want one, foreign sweat shops, putting local small businesses out of business, and practicing censorship by not selling CDs and other items that don't mesh with the "family-friendly" image of Wal-Mart. The quintessential problem with Wal-Mart is that with every charge that is thrown at it, it views the each problem as a public relations matter and think that they need to work on adjusting their image, not their behavior.

In the end, Dicker does briefly play devil's advocate and points out that Wal-Mart provides jobs for poor people (even if they are paid very little) and provides affordable goods in communities where other retailers refuse to go. Dicker suggests that rather than get people to stop shopping at Wal-Mart, we should ask Wal-Mart to be a better company. Easier said than done.

fantastic.......2006-07-09

wal-mart is having a profound effect on our world. this book is intelligent and well written. it's easy to read and very compelling. hopefully it will have a very large audience. keep an open mind. the life you save may be your own.

For those rich people than can afford to shop somewhere else.......2006-06-29

First let me say I DO NOT LIKE WAL_MART. What none of these reviewers think of is this, NOBODY FORCES PEOPLE TO WORK FOR WALMART. If they were not working at walmart, 99% of the minimum wage employees would be working somewhere else still getting paid minimum wage and poor insurance at some fast food place or grocery store. So cut the poor employees story. The purpose of a business is TO MAKE MONEY. IT IS NOT A NON-PROFIT COMPANY!!!!!!!!!!!!!. IT is also not the governments responsibility to take care of poor people!!!!!!! If people don't have the sense to take care of themselves it is nobody's fault but there own. These people act like walmart is the only company that makes shrewd business decisions. Companies have done it for decades, if not centuries. If it wasn't WAL-Mart it would be K-mart, if not them it would be Target. Also, I get tired of hearing about the Mom and Pop stores that get ran out of business. I will feel sorry for them when these small business owners stop riding around in Full size SUVs and Luxury cars. They have every opportunity to grow their businesses too. and if they can't then again it is their own fault!!!!! Hey IF you don't like it go to Europe Live there for a few years and see how much more things cost because of small businesses.

More Scams from the Great Beyond!: How to Make Even More Money Off the Creationism, Evolution, Environmentalism, Fringe Politics, Weird Science, the Occult, and Other Strange Beliefs

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More Scams from the Great Beyond!: How to Make Even More Money Off the Creationism, Evolution, Environmentalism, Fringe Politics, Weird Science, the Occult, and Other Strange Beliefs
Peter Huston
Manufacturer: Paladin Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Scams from the Great Beyond: How to Make Easy Money Off of ESP . . .

ASIN: 1581603541

Book Description

In his first book, Peter Huston unmasked the amazing array of paranormal con artists littering the fringes of society today. From phony psychics to crop circle hoaxers to New Age hucksters, Huston revealed exactly how these otherworldly swindlers get rich by fleecing the gullible among us. In this new book, Huston casts his critical eye further afield, exposing the latest fraudulent schemes and scams being perpetrated through such seemingly normal pursuits as the environmental movement, politics, the world of science and evangelical Christianity. He also delves deep into some truly bizarre subcultures and explores how slick operators manipulate believers in UFOs, mythical beasts, angels, the occult and more. Funny and informative!

Average customer rating:

Good idea but too much Mormon
Short story collection set in not-so-distant future
Definitely not Ender's Game
If only I had known ...
Mormons save America?

The Folk of the Fringe
Orson Scott Card
Manufacturer: Orb Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Homebody: A Novel
Wyrms
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Treasure Box

ASIN: 0312876637

Book Description

Only a few nuclear weapons fell. But in the chaos of famine and plague, there existed a few pockets of order. The strongest of them was the state of Deseret. The climate has changed, and the lake has filled up. There, on the fringes, brave, hardworking pioneers are making the desert bloom again.

Customer Reviews:

Good idea but too much Mormon.......2006-12-29

I liked the story concept but the Mormon stories are too much. Stick with the Ender's books. This book should be placed on the religious fiction shelf.

Short story collection set in not-so-distant future.......2005-02-19

The reviews to this book have not been so glowing. Obviously, you need to know what you are getting into - this is a collection of 4 or 5 short stories set in a future where a nuclear war has dramatically altered everyone's way of life. Some of the stories are very good. Some are just average. I would recommend it, especially if you're Mormon.

Definitely not Ender's Game.......2004-12-10

This book is actually a series of stories. The stories are actually well written, but the religious theme and what happens to some of the kids in them lead me to not recommend this book unless you are prepared to spend a sleepless night or two! Stick with Ender's Saga, Jay.

If only I had known ..........2004-03-21

I loved the Ender saga. I loved the Alvin books. I absolutely love apocalyptic fiction. If only I had read the epilogue, in which OSC describes this novel as LDS-fiction. Latter Day Saints fiction, in my book no more read-worthy than Christian fiction. Unfortunately, I was 40 pages into the novel and getting disgusted by the Saint this, Brother that, Lord and baptism this, before I scanned ahead to see if this was just current-character characterization. Nope. This is a religious book, not a very good one at that, and I doubt I'll bother reading the rest.

Mormons save America?.......2004-02-11

In This collection of stories, not quite short stories and not quite novellas, we see the world after a great war which has thrown the world into chaos and turmoil. Many are still dying, and outside small cities where local governments rule and help maintain order, the bandits on the roads rule with terror.

However, in Utah, the Mormons are building civilization out of chaos and forming government.

The stories were somewhat interresting, however, deeply disturbing. I can't say I cared much for the horrid descriptions of terrible child neclect and abuse in the first story, even though the rest of the story was ok, certain sections left me feeling sickened and disturbed for days afterwards and having more than usual urges to go make sure my kids were tucked in and safely sleeping at night. It also had disturbing paralells to a local case I remember of child neglect/abuse of a little girl who was locked in a closet for years.

Book Description

For nearly two years, Fringe Benefits, a team of professional artists, teachers, parents and youth, have been working to concoct Cootie Shots, a delicious assortment of plays, songs and interactive performance pieces that promote tolerance and celebrate diversity by presenting role models of people of many different races, classes, genders, abilities, sexual orientations, religions, shapes and sizes. In all, Cootie Shots is comprised of about 50 2-15 minute educational plays for Elementary School audiences.

The lessons covered are:

o Love is what makes a family
o Children should feel free to play with whatever toys appeal to them, study whatever subjects interest them and choose career paths unhindered by gender stereotypes
o Name-calling is never acceptable
o Putting people down because how they look and whom they love is neither kind nor fair.

The cast of characters includes:

Rapunzel
Rosa Parks
Cesar Chavez
Harvey Milk
Emily Dickinson
Alexander the Great
The Statue of Liberty
and more!

Customer Reviews:

Gender confusion.......2007-04-01

The real effect will be to confuse children about gender differences, and encourage cross-dressing. This could be the first step in confusing children about their sexual identity. THis is one example out of the volumes of material being produced and pumped into our schools by well-funded groups like GLSEN.

My Book Review on Cootie Shots.......2004-04-28

I rated this book 4 out of 5(with 5 being the best) becuase it had a little bit of bad language. Besides that I thought the book was great! It really made me think about how other people can be different and that you shouldn't tease, make fun, or judge them differently,when you really don't know them. I learned that you should always respect people because of who they are. I would recommend this book to bullies, people who get bullied, and people who like to read about standing up for yourself and appreciating who you are. I'm really glad I read the book.

Essential Material.......2003-01-04

This is a wonderful book for ANYONE interested in children's theatre and civics education. The writing is sensational--and the subject matter is timely, meaningful, and handled with great care. Don't miss the Islamic grandmother and the snake!

The Thinking Child's Theatre Book.......2002-10-02

This book will capture your imagination and inspire you at the same time. Every page offers a new suprise and new unexpected delight! This is the "Free to Be You and Me" for a new generation. It speaks to children and adults both while never talking down to either of them. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in bringing smart and fun theatre to children. Plus the artwork is fabulous!

Groundbreaking Book for Kids and Grown-ups!.......2002-03-20

This incredible book is not only an amazing tool for getting kids to open up about and annihilate prejudices of all kinds, it's also wildly funny, at times, very moving, and a joy just to look at. With gorgeous photos and artwork by both children and adults, "Cootie Shots" is an anthology of theatre and poetry for everyone. Some pieces are from emerging artists, some are from pros like Tony Kushner (Angels in America). When I got my copy I expected just another trite collection of writing "for kids". Finally there's a theatre book on the market for kids with DEPTH. BE SURE to check it out!

Average customer rating:

A collection, not an overview
Outdated and repetitive, but still valuable and solid
More Martin Gardner gems.
A voice of sanity in a crazy world
Some of the essays would get a 10, others a 5

The New Age: Notes of a Fringe-Watcher
Martin Gardner
Manufacturer: Prometheus Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | New Age | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Parapsychology | Occult | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Weird Water & Fuzzy Logic: More Notes of a Fringe Watcher
Science: Good, Bad, and Bogus
Did Adam and Eve Have Navels?: Debunking Pseudoscience
Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science (Popular Science)
The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener

ASIN: 0879756446

Customer Reviews:

A collection, not an overview.......2007-01-29

I reserved this book at my local public library, based on its title, which is somewhat inaccurate. The book is, as other reviewers have noted, a collection of magazine articles and book reviews, with some added comments at the end of each, rather than a historical overview of the New Age phenomenon. Gardner does richly deserve credit for his fairness in including replies from people who disagreed strongly with him. Still, much of the book is dated, describing people and phenomena it was important to challenge at the time of writing but now faded from the public eye; I skipped or skimmed many parts. I find Michael Shermer's book Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time more comprehensive; though it too is largely a collection of articles, they are longer and generally go deeper; Shermer has expanded many of them well beyond what he originally published in periodicals.

In spite of my criticisms, I find much of Gardner's book interesting -- the most useful parts for me were his devastating exzmination of L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology, and the book reviews, as a guide to further reading.

Outdated and repetitive, but still valuable and solid.......2003-02-06

This collection of essays, gathering articles written for a variety of publications (but mostly for "The Skeptical Inquirer"), covers a number of subjects: creationism, UFOlogy, television evangelists, a few borderline scientific claims, and especially spiritualism and psychic research. Gardner is brilliant, and his writing is compelling, extremely witty, and easy to understand. In many ways, it should be required reading for anyone interested in "fringe" movements, but readers should understand that, as a whole, the book has some shortcomings inherent in these sorts of collections.

Some of the articles in "The New Age" provide convincing refutations of the topic under discussion, while other essays preach to the converted. Occasionally, he hits a bull's-eye: his essay on certain televangelists, written after the revelations about the Bakkers and before Swaggart's fall from grace, provides much information that is incriminating enough to push fence-sitting readers onto the greener side of skepticism. Other articles are valuable purely for historical reasons, such as his survey of perpetual motion machines. All too often, though, it feels like Gardner is shooting ducks in a very small barrel: easy targets, but bordering on the pathetic. One might argue that these articles are necessary because so many people believe in such garbage, but I can't imagine, for example, that his mocking summaries on the preposterous metaphysics expounded by Shirley MacLaine would convince anyone gullible enough to believe her in the first place. His chapters on the actress rarely offer direct refutation of her outlandish claims or point out their many contradictions.

The second deficiency is far more serious. Like many writers who collect their essays, Gardner has opted for reprinting the essays as they were written rather than rewriting them into a coherent and fluid whole. (His concession to the reader is to publish an afterword to each essay that reprints responses and updates information.) The problem with this unenterprising approach is twofold: since many of the essays were written on related or similar topics for disparate audiences, there is a lot of repetition, and the book bounces back and forth among subjects with no sense of direction. As a result, we read no less than four times, in nearly the same prose, about physicist John Taylor's testing of Uri Geller's "spoon-bending" trick, twice about Robert Browning's skepticism towards D. D. Home's seances, and so on. Likewise, instead of one chapter on Shirley MacLaine, we get two (three if you count the chapter on channeling), repeating much of the same information and placed in different parts of the book.

The final problem with the book is no fault of Gardner's: many of the essays are simply outdated--particularly those on borderline physics (such as superstring theory and the unsupported claims of Thomas Gold and Halton C. Arp, whose fifteen minutes are pretty much up). In fact, in 1996 Gardner published a sequel, "Weird Water and Fuzzy Logic," which I'm now eager to read.

Even though I've highlighted the negative aspects of this work, Gardner's analysis is trenchant and authoritative. Reading these essays made me realize that we need a "debunker's almanac"--an annual collection keeping up with the latest scams. In the meantime, I've ordered a subscription to "The Skeptical Inquirer."

More Martin Gardner gems........2002-11-17

The material in this volume consists of essays from various periodicals, among them the Skeptical Inquirer, Nature, Discover, et al. It's a more mature work than Gardner's seminal opus, "Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science" (which I do recommend as an overall summary of the nonsense that gets MORE rather than less popular).

Mr. Gardner, I now designate you as my second favorite author, next only to Arthur C. Clarke.

Like, say, James Randi, Gardner pokes fun at various fads, most of them known as "New Age." I must say I was a little confused that the text was broken into two sections both of them entitled "The New Age." That must have been a minor editor's error and, at worst, wastes a couple of pages of paper.

The most amusing character covered at some length in the text is Shirley MacLaine. A friend of mine passes from one New Age fad to the next but he doesn't hold a candle to Shirl who communicates with the dead, the gurus from millenia ago and God knows who else. In the text to which I referred above, Gardner covers L. Ron Hubbard when he was still limited to "dianetics," before that "movement" became a religion. In this volume, he confesses that long ago he just felt Hubbard to be a b-grade sci-fi writer with delusions of literary and spiritual authority. Now he finds L. Ron a pathological liar without any moral merit to speak of; that's what happened when Gardner learned more from two biographies of that founder of Scientology.

Oh, then there's J. Z. Knight who has been responsible for a real estate boom in the Pacific northwest where her disciples are flocking to get wisdom from 35,000 years ago. And the relatively short chapter on "Prime Time Preachers" was a real education to me who remembers Oral Roberts from the early 1950s!

Anyway, many other personalties and fads are reviewed here and it would take pages to mention them all. Like Randi's "Flim Flam," I recommend this as a general overview of silly fads most of them categorized as "New Age."

A voice of sanity in a crazy world.......2002-02-02

Most of this book consists of Gardner's columns from CSICOP's magazine Skeptical Inquirer, though it's filled out with similar articles that found homes elsewhere. Overall, Gardner surveys the realm of mysticism and pseudoscience, lingering on paradigmatic exemplars like Uri Geller and Shirley Maclaine. It's moderately entertaining reading for a skeptic (as I am), but I am reminded of Joel Achenbach's comment about reading such things: there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of point since you always know what the answer is going to be before you start. Still, in a world filled with silliness and pseudoscience, it's nice to have some voices of sanity, and Gardner's is certainly one of them.

Some of the essays would get a 10, others a 5.......1998-04-28

THE NEW AGE is a collection of a number of columns and essays that Gardner has written over the years, and while it is almost impossible to maintain the highest degree of excellence over some thirty odd pieces, Gardner does a marvelous job. Many of the piece in this collection--especially those dealing with New Ageism, fundamentalism, or individuals operating on the edge of the Occult--would get a 10, while others could receive a rating as low as 5.

What I most appreciate about Gardner is the balanced perspective he brings to his subjects. Unlike many sceptics, Gardner does not succumb to universal and indiscriminate debunking. There are those who are not able to comprehend the difference between being a religous believer, for instance, and espousing Creationism and fundamentalism. Gardner understands the distinction perfectly, however, and never engages in ad hoc attacks on religion when his real target is an irrational right-wing religion. In this I find his work to be much more convincing than such sceptics as Michael Shermer and a bulk of the writers publishing on Prometheus Books. One of the best examples of Gardner's balance is his obvious liking for Shirley MacLaine despite his abhorence of many of her inane preoccupations. So, although there is an inevitable unevenness to the quality of the essays in the book, they overall stand at a very high level.

Gardner reprints many letters written to him in response to the original printing of many of the articles, and I would like to take an opportunity to quibble on one small point, though on something that he mentions several times. In writing of pentecostals, he mentions that they believe that when one is baptised in the Holy Spirit, one gift of the spirit is the ability to speak in "The Unknown Tongue." In my contact with Pentecostals, the stress has been on "other tongues," many of which are known, and some of which are not. There is no one such "unknown tongue." Some pentecostals like to recount anecdotes of supposedly uneducated people speaking in Latin, French, or German even though they have never learned the languages. A small point, but I think it is important to realize that the emphasis with many charismatics is in speaking not "the unknown tongue," but in other tongues than their own.

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