Amazon.com
In Throwim Way Leg, Australia-based mammologist-raconteur Tim Flannery recalls scientific expeditions in the wilds of New Guinea that convey both the thrill of discovery and the negotiations necessary to bridge huge clashes of cultures. A world expert on New Guinea's fauna, Flannery has discovered 20 new species during his two decades of research. Yet his ability to convey unalloyed adventure in his taletelling makes these scientific expeditions read more like hair-raising, funky Redmond O'Hanlon-style travels than disciplined, scholarly field trips. Energy and danger run high.
Terrific thunderstorms and aircraft mishaps rattle Flannery during his travels. Yet the most memorable quality of Throwim Way Leg is Flannery's incorporation of humans into the natural world he writes about, often contrasting the jungled New Guinea denizens with stark modern technologies. He writes rich profiles of those he has met, and his images are memorable and meaningful: crowds of people gaping at a single television set; the remote landscape of Mt. Albert Edward dotted with cattle, Swiss chalets, and the smoky fires of the Goilala people; the malnourished Yapsiei greeting him reeking of the "sweet, sickly smell" of grile, a form of ringworm.
Ultimately, Flannery looks ahead and sees that the age of discovery is not at all complete in New Guinea, as so much remains unknown. But, in an often-told tale, modern political forces are at work, reshaping those unique natural and cultural environments that Throwim Way Leg explores with such vigor. --Byron Ricks
Book Description
Flannery travels to the unexplored regions of New Guinea in search of species that science has yet to discover or classify. He finds many -- from a community of giant cave bats that were supposedly extinct to the elusive black-and-white tree-kangaroo -- and along the way has a wealth of unforgettable adventures. Flannery scales cliffs, descends into caverns, and cheats death, both from disease and at the hands of the local cannibals, who wish to take revenge on his "clan" of wildlife scientists. He eventually befriends the tribespeople, who become companions in his quest and whose contributions to his research prove invaluable. In New Guinea pidgin, throwim way leg means to take the first step of a long journey. The journey in this book is a wild ride full of natural wonders and Flannery's trademark wit, a tour de force of travelogue, anthropology, and natural history.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting story - biological and anthropological.......2006-08-20
Flannery is the Principal Research Scientist at the Australian Museum. This book recounts several of his expeditions in Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya in the 80s and 90s.
He's the opposite to Douglas Adams. In approaching some similar topics in his `Last Chance to See' Adams was primarily a writer. Flannery is primarily a biologist - the writing came second. Thus there's not the wit, and the style is often understated. In some cases this is quite charming as he pretty casually relates some harrowing incidents (such as getting stuck alone in an underground crevice). In contrast his vocabulary can get a bit ostentatious: he'll use always use a word like `ossuary', for example, rather than graveyard, and in one case he used a word I've forgotten now that from the context must mean something like overeating, but didn't even appear in my complete Macquarie dictionary. (Ah, another amazon reviewer had the same problem, although they were impressed by the obscure vocabulary, while I was unimpressed by same: 'farcarted' gets nothing from any online dictionaries - the only place it turns up in a google search is in these perplexed amazon reviews. Maybe it's an in-joke.)
These are exotic places and creatures, and Flannery capably recalls some real adventures. Part of the strange appeal of this book is shaking your head at some of the near-insane deprivations and risks his biological obsession has entailed (hence the insightful description of another reviewer, `bloody mad scientist'). Moreover half the fascination is anthropological. He generally does very well walking the line between eulogising and demonising the tribal Papuans. He ably conveys some of the dilemmas of contact between ancient and modern, such as the time when in all good faith he acceded to requests to sharpen all the knives in a village, but then was appalled to see several villagers accidentally cutting themselves deeply because they'd never had anything but blunt edges. He does tend towards the assumption that any loss of traditional culture is automatically bad, but honestly allows us to see some ugly things that challenge this assumption.
Towards the end of the book, as much to his chagrin as ours, we're not able to merely enjoy the excitement of discovery of species because of the context of ugly mistreatment of Irian nationals by their Indonesian conquerors. I got the feel that none of us wanted this to be a `political' book, particularly not a partisan one, but in telling his story it becomes unavoidable. Flannery again to his credit is very careful not to say `all Indonesians', or `all the mining company workers', but sadly his biological expeditions are somewhat overrun just at the end by encounters with some brutal racism, at times incidental, at others structural.
Amazing scientist, unexceptional writer........2006-05-16
Without a doubt Tim Flannery ranks with the world's greatest scientist/explorers. He has a wealth of fascinating and valuable tales to tell from his travels to New Guinea. However, the book has little coherent structure. It's just a series of (mostly) unrelated stories, like he might recount over dinner. The details of his trips are incredible, but by the time I was half way through, I began losing my interest and felt I was re-reading previous passages.
Breathtaking, humorous and poignant.......2004-09-09
Flannery is one of a kind. He is to New Guinea what Perry and Amundson are to the poles, a first-comer .... one of the first to explore and document the stone age peoples of the mysterious island wilderness in the last days of its age of innocence.
Yes, there are cannibals, with bones in their noses and gourds worn on their penis, yet Flannery somehow manages to get the reader to empathize with these people, to understand their foibles and traditions, and to feel regret that their ancient ways are going, going, gone ... forever. Take the chapter where he goes in pursuit of the Bulmer's Fruit Fly Bat -- you suffer with him the agonies of failure and the desperations of the search, and the exhilaration of success. Or follow along with his learning experiences among the native tribes and come to actually understand the hows and whys of the way the led their lives, even to discovering there were (to the natives) valid reasons for their rare acts of cannibalism.
Although he describes some of the most spectacular natural wonders of the world, the reader comes to know that Papua New Guinea will never rate very highly as a tourist destination, but you'll have to read this book to appreciate the reasons why.
Think you couldn't possibly be interested in such things? Try twenty pages of this charming book; the images will lived in your memory forever.
Hooroo, Tim! Bonzer yarn, mate!
Exciting and sometimes hilarous natural history book.......2003-05-26
I thoroughly enjoyed this wonderful book! In it, mammalogist Tim Flannery regales us with tales from his many years in New Guinea, searching for new species of mammals on the island, the second largest in the world. A difficult island to work in - highly mountainous; extremely few roads, most villages so isolated that they can only be reached by small planes flying to landing strips hacked out of the jungle; parts of it some of the rainiest spots on earth, some areas receiving 11 meters or more of rain a year; possessing many dangerous animals ranging from crocodiles to snakes to huge spiders; tropical diseases and parasites a real problem in many areas (including malaria and scrub typhus, from which Flannery almost died from when bit by an infected tick) ý Flannery had his work cut out for them as he spent over two decades on the island, both in the eastern half, the independent nation of Papua New Guinea, and the western section, Irian Jaya, part of Indonesia.
Flannery is a highly accomplished scientist, having discovered 16 new species of mammals in Melanesia, many of them in New Guinea. Many of these and others are described in the book, and make for fascinating reading. We meet the Black-tailed Giant-rat, the bite from its two centimeter long razor sharp incisors much feared by the inhabitants of the island. The Three-striped Dasyure, a vividly marked rat-sized marsupial predator, one of New Guinea's few mammals active during daylight hours. The Snow Mountains Robin, one of the rarest birds in the world, found in the high alpine regions of the Meren Glacier in Irian Jaya, one of the very few equatorial glaciers in the world. _Antechinus, a small carnivorous marsupial notable in that the male only lives for 11 months, existing only to breed. The diminutive, dingo-like New Guinea singing dog, which arrived in the islands some 2,000 years ago. The six o'clock cicada, a tremendously loud insect that received its name from its trill it emits roughly 6am and 6pm daily. The famous Birds of Paradise, breathtaking in their beauty, several species of which are extremely rare. He also describes the Long-fingered Triok, a black and white skunk smelling possum with the fourth finger of each hand a great elongated probe for finding insect larvae; you never know what he is going to find next lurking in the barely explored misty peaks and dripping jungles of the island.
Three of the most remarkable animals are ones that Flannery discovered or in one case rediscovered. One is _Maokopia ronaldi_, an extinct marsupial herbivore that once dwelt in the high mountain forests. Panda-like in appearance, size, and probably habits, Flannery named this new genus and species from fossils he found in Irian Jaya. Bulmer's Fruit-bat, a bat though extinct for 12,000 years, the largest cave dwelling bat in the world, Flannery was elated to have found them alive in extremely rugged western Papua New Guinea. The one though that Flannery is the most proud of discovering was the Dingiso, a new species of tree-kangaroo he found in the alpine areas of Irian Jaya, a beautiful black and white animal, surprising tame, threatened but fortunately partially protected by native taboos against harming them.
However, as remarkable as all of that is, one could argue that the real stars of this book are the people of New Guinea, particularly the indigenous Melanesian peoples that Flannery spends a great deal of time with and clearly loves. Much of his time researching in the field he was based out of the villages of such people as the Wopkaimin, the Telefol, and the Goilala where he became fast friends with many throughout the island, in both countries, viewing them not as savage barbarians, but as noble, often quite kind people, their older generation vast repositories of cultural and natural history lore. One of the most enjoyable aspects of the books were the many stories about life in those villages, some of the tales tragic, others heartwarming, and many hilarious.
Particularly fascinating was what he wrote about the history of cannibalism on the island. Apparently it did exist in the not too distant past, actually in the living memory of some of the villagers he encountered. Though not an every day occurrence by any means, cannibalism was an important part of New Guinea life; indeed, one group Flannery spent some time with, the Miyanmin, were once avid raiders, and actually referred to the neighboring Atbalmin people as ýbokis es bilong miplea,ý which more or less translates into something like ýour refrigerator.ý Though cannibalism is now a thing of the past, its effects are still felt he writes, as villages once got some of their population from raids of other villages, the adults of that village were consumed and the children raised as their own; now, that is no longer a source of new people for villages and some are facing some depopulation as a result.
Flannery sounds several cautionary notes in his book. Several species of New Guinea mammals and birds are in serious danger of extinction from over hunting. Though New Guinea is still a land largely without roads, more and more appear all the time, opening up virgin lands for hunters, loggers, and miners. Indeed in Irian Jaya the latter two are devastating ever larger sections of the island; the massive Freeport mine, which exports over ten million dollars worth of minerals daily, has destroyed large sections of forest with waste mine tailings.
He also worries about the future of the people, particularly in Irian Jaya. He believes that in an attempt to make that land more like the rest of Indonesia it is causing not only environmental damage but also cultural damage. Indeed there are concerns over human rights abuses in Irian Jaya, of dissidents disappearing, of remote villagers forced to wear modern clothing and abandon their pig eating culture by distant Muslim politicians, who often find native culture abhorrent.
Recommended.
Heights of discovery.......2002-06-12
If Tim Flannery isn't the luckiest biologist in the world, then perhaps he's the hardest working. He possesses a spirit of adventure that may exceed both. His twenty years of exploring the mysteries of New Guinea are superbly outlined and related in this engaging account. Although a mammalogist by profession, his interests range far beyond any academic discipline. We follow his efforts to meet and gain acceptance by the remote peoples of the New Guinea highlands. They are a diverse lot, and every new contact is fraught with uncertainty. He introduces us to the teasing pleasures of New Guinea pidgin, a language adopted by indigineous peoples to cross the nearly 1 000 languages that exist on the island.
Throwim' Away Leg, New Guinean pidgin for a journey, is an appropriate title for this book. Flannery's 15 long-term expeditions took him over most of the island, meeting the people, tracking animals and assessing the changes in the ecology. It is difficult, in this jet travel age to comprehend the impact of "remote people," but Flannery has done it. He's adept at sharing the wonder he felt in his travels. We feel his fears, his joys of discovery, his sadness at the incursion of industrial civilization in an unprepared land. Flannery's account is given with an astonishing detachment. He recognizes the needs of both the indigenous people and the invaders. Cannibalism, so abhorrent to "civilized" readers, is placed in its true framework as viewed by the New Guinean mountain peoples. He's aware of the population pressures on local resources among the tribes, not excusing, but imparting rare understanding of the reality of life in wilderness.
The author's love of wildlife is made clear throughout the book. An encounter with three-metre-long python that tried desperately to throttle him is related with incredible compassion. One can only sympathize with the pilot and passengers who shared the cockpit of a small aircraft with it on its journey to Port Moresby. Flannery's real feelings, however, are for the varieties of tree kangaroos living on the island. He asserts the high point of his travels was the classification of a rare black and white species of this creature. High point, indeed! Three
thousand metres up in the New Guinean highlands, local hunters brought him the chewed remains of two "Dingisios" - enough to identify and describe this rare animal.
Flannery's enthusiasms and vivid desriptive powers make this book an unforgettable read. His descriptions of the impact of outsiders, from both East and West, portray a land under immense stress. Not only Western mining and lumber companies, who have seared the landscape with roads, mines and felling, but Indonesia's settlement programmes come under his penetrating gaze. He recognizes their needs, but urges better forms of accomodation are required. The biological story is conveyed well integrated with social, political and environmental issues. An all-encompassing study, this book will give the reader many fresh insights and topics for further reflection.
Book Description
Horse racing has a way of wrapping itself around some people's souls. For George Rowand, that moment came watching Secretariat win the 1973 Preakness. From then on Rowand knew he wanted to be in horse racing. Diary of a Dream chronicles his failures and successes in the sport he loves.
Customer Reviews:
An "I, me and my" book.......2006-08-07
George Rowand's "journey in thoroughbred racing" rewarded him far beyond what he deserved. Entering race horse management on the basis of his obsession with race horse pedigrees and little understanding of horse confirmation or psychology, he parlayed the production of one good mare to "success." In his eyes, success was winning stakes races, a goal that did not well serve several of the horses he bought with other people's money. When the stream of foals from his few mares ran out Rowand did not recreate his success with other horses. Instead, he lost interest and wrote a book. The telltale remark comes at the end of the book when Rowand writes "When I reread this book in its entirity, I discoverd to my dismay I had not fully credited my sister, Bonner Young and her husband, Tom, for the success of Bonner Farm ..." Rather than go back, rewrite and add the experience, passion and insight Bonner Young brought to the venture, Rowand seems to feel he's covered his debt with this slight mention. This is a dry, self serving book about a sport that doesn't need any more vanity careers. Thank God this man was fortunate enough to hire a competent trainer (Barclay Tagg). Otherwise, the lives of his horses would have been doomed.
Diary of a Dream.......2006-05-10
A memoir of the ups and downs of Thoroughbred breeding and ownership.
Rowand had a quixotic dream: to breed his own Thoroughbred stakes winners. He went about this by buying yearling fillies, trying to race them, and then, when they didn't do much on the track, breeding them. One essentially unsound filly, bred to a succession of inexpensive stallions, amazingly produced one stakes winner after another.
An engaging account, but the concept of breeding on unsound horses, at least one of which could never even make it to the races at all, left me with a sense of lasting discomfort.
For racing fans and racing newcomers.......2006-01-20
This book is full of the vocabulary and the realities of breeding and racing horses - an intriguing world few of us understand.
Rowand gives us a story of success but also of the nature of risk and of perseverance - had he given up in year six then the following decade of against the odds success would not have happened.
Want inspiration to follow your dream? Read this book.
The Vicarious Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat.......2006-01-12
As one who has daydreamed about owning racehorses, I got great vicarious enjoyment from Diary of a Dream. George Rowand is "one of us," a 30-something guy who didn't like his job and didn't have much money, but who had a passion and a dream. He bets everything on getting Bonner Farm off the ground, and through hard work and tenacity he keeps it going through some lean, frustrating years. When his horses start scaling the heights of Grade I racing success, it all seems like just retribution to the racing gods who had punished him for so long. Rowand's style is straightforward, compelling and highly readable. He brings you in on the intricacies of race management, the careful selection of races for a given horse, along with the complexities of dealing with trainers, jockeys, investors and other breeders. He also puts you through the agonies of an owner's race day, the glacial pace of time before the race, the rush of events in the moments before post time and then the insupportable excitement or heartbreak of the race itself. This book will remind you of Jim Squire's Horse of a Different Color and Jane Smiley's A Year at the Races. A fun and educational read.
Diary of a Dream.......2005-10-09
Diary of a Dream is a well-told story about the toil, tension, and exhilaration of owning and racing thoroughbred horses. Rowand begins his account in 1991 at the grade I Gamely Handicap at Hollywood Park, California, as the beloved Miss Josh, "our girl, the one whose mating we had planned, whose birth we had eagerly awaited, and whose career had been so iffy because of her lousy feet, put her nose on the wire." With humor and candor, he goes on to recount his entire journey in thoroughbred racing which began with the dream--"truly ludicrous" as he admits--of owning champion racehorses.
Horse lovers will find much to like about this book. I was caught up in Rowand's precise descriptions of every race, and the implications of every race, which his horses ran. Something else I liked: this is a "we" book. The dream belonged to Rowand; the support of family and friends made it real.
Book Description
Blockbuster Plots Pure and Simple (BBP) shows plot rather than talking about it. Using two unique step-by-step visual tools for developing and deepening scenes and plot, BBP shows how the pros layer three distinct yet overlapping plotlines - Character Emotional Development, Dramatic Action, and Thematic Plot. When the dramatic action changes the character at depth over time, the story becomes thematically significant.
BBP uses the Scene Tracker as a visual tool to track the seven essential elements of scene, side-by-side from the beginning to the end of any project. BBP uses the Plot Planner as a visual place to plot out the action, character and thematic plotlines. Both parts are intended as a step-by-step interactive guide for writers interested in maximizing their scenes and providing depth to their stories.
BBP is unique because of its hands-on, down-to-earth multi-sensory approach to learning. BBP provides specific activities linked directly to each writer's individual project. The book is divided between explanation and activity forms.
By analyzing scenes and plots from classic and contemporary writers such as Twain, London, and McCarthy, writers learn how to add a dynamic, effective twist to their work.
BBP provides writers with the tools and resources to get from where they are - stuck and unable to begin or stuck and unable to finish - to where they want to be - holding a finished project. BBP effectively demonstrates the relationship between scene and plot and explains the principles involved in the art and craft of developing sizzling scenes and compelling plots and story design. BBP offers techniques to help writers maintain faith and enjoy the process of creation.
Customer Reviews:
A Great Tool to Have!.......2007-09-30
This is my first time giving a review for a book. I was compelled to do so because my expectations for the book were high based on past ratings. Was the book and the author's tools for plotting helpful? Yes and No. Let me explain my take on it. The scene tracker, although simplistic, listed some areas that one should chart in order to be aware of gaps that one may have in certain scenes. I especially liked the concept of tracking the emotional change and how important it is to have "change" and "conflict" in each scene or it needs to be reevaluated or discarded. I give the book 2 stars just for learning that aspect/tool in scene tracker. There is more to scene tracker, however, I will not give it away. You'll have to buy the book. The scene tracker makes the purchase of the book worth it.
On Plot Planner, the only thing I found helpful was connecting individual scenes together above & below the plot planner to make a line if only each consecutive scene can be connected thru cause and effect. If not, then again, those scenes need to be reevaluated or discarded. For bringing that "Aha" into light, I give the book another star.
However, the book notes under the PLOT PLANNER section on how to plot THEME and EMOTIONAL Development. The author only records those aspects under scene tracker. SHE DOES NOT track it under the PLOT PLANNER. Unless I failed to understand her diagrams; theme and emotional development are not tracked on the PLOT PLANNER. She refers back to her SCENE TRACKER for those 2 aspects. So in essence, it is not the PLOT PLANNER that is tracking them but Scene tracker. I guess that would be fine with THEME, as you can make a connection with all the Theme points for each scene and come out with an overall sense of what the theme is or what scenes support the theme. But I fail to understand how the Emotional Change in each scene can demonstrate the protagonist's character arc or journey of emotional changes on the whole through the scene tracker (although it works for each individual scene). But the author's premise is that it is tied into the PLOT PLANNER and I didn't see where she connected those aspects into that tool.
What is recorded under PLOT PLANNER is just a visual of individual scenes divided by the beginning, middle, and end sections of the story. All in all, still a valuable tool, but I already had some knowledge of this.
However, throughout the book, the author spreads out tidbits of basic information on plot and the such which is helpful for the novice which I would have liked if she had delve into more detail. She tickled my palette for more knowledge.
I guess the supposed beauty of the book lies in it's simplicity. However, she gets off tangent in several areas (saying that she has gotten ahead of herself) and if you seek clarification of what she is talking about she refers to you to her DVD or website or she just barely touches the surface on it. In fact, almost every other page, along the side bars, her DVD is mentioned. The book at times seems like a disguise for marketing her DVD. I understand that authors need to self promote, but the amount of self promotion in this book became distracting. Perhaps just putting a footer on each alternate page with her website address would have been more appropriate than on the sidebars.
In addition, she left alot of white space on the sidebars which could have been utilized more efficiently to dispell more information.
If anyone has seen her dvds, please post a review and let me know how you liked it. I'm tempted to buy one, hoping that she does go in deeper with her tools. I think she made a very good attempt to what she was trying to accomplish when she started the book with the SCENE TRACKER (EXCELLENT tool that can be really tailored to suit your needs and she does emphasize that). But once she got into the PLOT PLANNER, I think she needs to clarify it a bit more and make the examples at the appendix more coherent in the sections of theme and emotional development.
Overall, its a good book to have for a reference. The scene tracker is excellent and having more developed examples of the plot planner with more detailed explanations would have been golden.
Her website and Blog has a wealth of information that is basically a reiteration of about 1/3 of her book.
I have emailed her requesting clarification on some of the above and will update my review according to her response.
***********UPDATE - October 12th***********
Martha Responded to me on her Blog! She explained how the Character's Emotional Development & Theme can be tracked through the plot planner. It was so simple that I simply overlooked it. Along with her website, her book delivers! It is great to see an author who supports what they have written in such expedited fashion. If Amazon would give me the ability, I would upgrade my rating from 3 to 4 stars. Not 5 you may ask? Well, the self promotion needs to be cut a bit (lol) and it would be more helpful to have color examples of her tools to see how she tracks the different aspects of plot, and for her to expand a bit more on what she delves in the book (like how she does on her site). There's just so much good stuff in her book, but she doesn't go into it as deeply as I would have liked. But overall, I am very pleased. Any further explanation you might need, you can find on her site and blog. Her tools are excellent. I highly recommend.
2 other books that I would also recommend to supplement with the Plot Planner is Dara Mark's "Inside Story: Power of the Transformational Arc". Also, a great book on Endings which also gives an overview to story structure is Drew Yanno's "The 3RD Act". It is simple and to the point and the 30 question checklist at the end of the book makes it a good investment!
Happy Plotting!
No plot is a BIG problem.......2007-04-08
Any artist worth their salt has to have a solid working understanding of the rules of their craft. A painter has to know about brushes, colors, shapes, lines and light. An oboe player has to know how to cut a reed in addition to learning to read music and play with others in the orchestra. For some reason, though, writers seem to start out thinking they don't need to know anything more than how to put words together, that the story will simply come out of their imaginations full-fleged and wonderful.
Baloney.
Whether you're just starting your novel, or working on the third draft, you need this book. Ms. Alderson has a great system to teach writers the complex struture of good plots. She's also an incredible teacher. If you get a chance to come to California or to attend a writers conference where she'll be speaking, I highly recommend her class.
Midwest Book Review, March 2007.......2007-03-02
Have you ever been deep in the writing of a novel - only to discover that you've lost the thread, that the plot doesn't square up the way you thought? Do you find yourself swimming in deep water - or perhaps completely over your head - when you think about plot? Even worse, have your initial readers told you that your plot doesn't make sense? If so, this is the book for you.
Whether you plan your plots in advance or improvise as you go along, Martha Alderson's two major tools, the Scene Tracker and the Plot Planner, will improve your overall writing product. By the time you finish this book, you'll have learned seven major ways to improve your novel, and you'll have a much better grasp of the plot and structure of any book you choose to create.
With the use of Scene Tracker, Alderson artfully explains how to break down your work to identify scenes, then determine when to use scene and/or narrative and decide how to keep track of flashbacks, the timeline, character development, goals, conflict, theme, and change, all in an organized and effective manner.
In the second half of the book, the Plot Planner is used to work through beginning, middle, and end, with careful focus upon cause and effect, character emotional development, and thematic significance. Step-by-step guidance is provided. To demonstrate the principles throughout, the author uses examples from the work of authors like Ursula Hegi, Cormac McCarthy, and Billie Letts. Appendices are included breaking down scenes and plot from the work of Mark Twain, Ernest J. Gaines, and John Steinbeck.
This book will assist the budding new writer and the already-published author. It's easy to follow, the tools are accessible, the text is filled with good advice, and the book is laid out so that there is plenty of space to make notes or to use it as a workbook. Students of the Craft need this book, but writing teachers will also find the book useful. Highly recommended.
A Great Tool ...Even For a Plodder.......2007-01-27
I'm not much of a plotter...but more of a plodder. I'm prone to just getting all my thoughts down with no clear idea of how these ideas fit into the big picture--or even if they do. But one week, my computer crashed and I couldn't just write stuff. I took out Martha's book and gave it a try. Martha's book is not only full of inspiration, but it was helpful to see all my ideas charted out into a big picture.
A Tremendous Tool for those who Author their work........2007-01-05
I doubt you will find a better tool. As many who set out to create their literary work can atest to, plotting can be a real bear. This is not always the case, there are a lucky few of us who have no problems plotting, but a great many who do. Essentially what this book does is give you a way to structure your work and plot it chapter by chapter. It by no means is the only way, but a very fine one. It also can be an aid to those of us who have published or authroed work in the past, because if allows us a new and successful approach.
The author does pitch some products here and there (and who doesn't these days), but that aside, they do have a support site that adds a greater value to the book. I own many writing and literary research books, and this is one that focuses primarily on the art of plotting, and it does so extremely well. My advise after authoring since 1975, to newer authors, authors who are stuck and even established authors, is this is a tool that can only help. Since I find there is never enough writing books, I highly recommend this as you will never know some time if you are stuck in your literary endeavors, that a chapter might help you out, and that is certainly much cheaper than hiring outside help or worst yet, doing nothing!
Book Description
Although bad eyesight kept him from receiving a commission in the U.S. Navy when he graduated from the Naval Academy in 1933, Draper Kauffman became a hero of underwater demolition in World War II and went on to a distinguished naval career. Today Admiral Kauffman is remembered as the nation's first frogman and the father of the Navy SEALs. His spectacular wartime service disarming enemy bombs, establishing bomb disposal schools, and organizing and leading the Navy's first demolition units is the focus of this biography written by Kauffman's sister. Elizabeth Kauffman Bush, who also is the aunt of President George W. Bush, draws on family papers as well as Navy documents to tell Kauffman's story for the first time.
Determined to defend the cause of freedom long before the U.S. ever entered the war, Kauffman was taken prisoner by the Germans as an ambulance driver in France, and after his release joined the Royal Navy to defuse delayed-action bombs during the London blitz. After Pearl Harbor his eyes were deemed adequate and he was given a commission in the U.S. Naval Reserve. With his experience, he was asked to establish an underwater demolition school in Fort Pierce, Florida, where he personally trained men to defuse bombs and neutralize other submerged dangers. His men were sent to demolish the obstacles installed by the Nazis at Normandy, and Kauffman himself led underwater demolition teams at Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. His men remember him as an exceptional leader who led by example. He trained and fought alongside them, impervious to danger. Because of the high standards he set for those who became "frogmen," thousands of American lives were saved in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. Draper Kauffman's early established UDT traditions of perseverance, teamwork, and a lasting brotherhood of men of extraordinary courage is carried on by Navy SEALS. This is his legacy to the U.S. Navy and his country. Kauffman's life is recorded with a historian's attention to detail and a novelist's flair for storytelling.
Customer Reviews:
A real American hero.......2006-11-14
We have three sons, all of whom have decided to serve their country, and Draper Kauffman is one of their heroes. What an exciting story! And it's more engaging because it's told by his sister, who has the unique insight to blend his military experiences with his family life. It's a well-rounded account of a man who served our country with honor and distinction.
The title is unfortunate, because younger people have no idea what a "frogman" is. It would have been better to refer to the Navy Seals.
A Modern Hero for all.......2005-08-14
BOOK REVIEW OF: America's First Frogman, a biography of Admiral Draper Laurence Kauffman by his sister Elizabeth Kauffman Bush. Released by Naval Institute Press 2004
America's First Frogman is an exciting war story of one of America's great heroes, Rear Admiral Draper Laurence Kauffman, the flamboyant young "father" of America's famous Underwater Demolition Units, now called the Navy Seals or frogmen.
As told by his sister, the aunt of Jeb and George Bush and God Daughter of the former Duchess of Windsor, the biography spans the "heroic age...of individual prowess and fantastic risks" through several World War II battlefields and back home in the US. It is the colorful Homeric odyssey of a young Annapolis graduate who persists, despite bad eyesight, to prove his courage and ability to serve his country and follow his father, Vice Admiral James Laurence Kauffman, into the US Navy.
Vividly the author reports how her brother, after initially failing the Navy's eye test, continues to successfully "test his nerve... from one nasty job to another" (from ambulance driving in northern France and bomb disposing in London's blitz) to return to the US and slowly prove his genius at pioneering and implementing new ideas and strategies. Quoting from his own letters, as well as those of other contemporaries, the author reports how Kauffman gains the respect from all for his contagious courage and leadership, especially in attracting and training volunteer "frogmen" to join him in their exceedingly demanding work preparing battlefields, often by swimming miles at night under enemy fire, supporting enormous backpacks full of ammunition.
Although the book focuses on Kaufman's founding of the first US Naval Bomb Disposal and Combat Demolition schools, it also follows him through his very significant post war period acting as captain of several ships and chief of many pivotal naval offices including the Defense and Protection Section of the Atomic Warfare Division and Aide to Secretary of the Navy Thomas S. Gates and the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington DC. Ironically, in 1965 he also became Superintendent of the place where he first began his naval career, Annapolis.
The well researched and colorfully depicted battle scenes are taken from his own letters to his father whom he sensitively cautions to hide from his worried mother and sister back home. This stateside backdrop of glamour and courage in the lives of both the Kauffman and Bush families adds to the dramatic scope of the book. Photographs portray both Admiral Kauffmans, as well as many other famous military, political and family personalities. The forward is written by the author's brother in law, former President George H.W.Bush.
The reader will grow to admire the mischievous and bold, but sensitive, hero even as his sister does. Watch for this newly released biography to become a very exciting movie all of us can enjoy. Young and old can learn self disciplined focus, wisdom, wit and service from reading America's First Frogman.
TerryAnn Reed, former history teacher, Sarasota, Florida, January 30, 2005
The biography of the father of the American Navy SEALs.......2005-01-11
Written by Draper Kauffman's sister Elizabeth Kauffman Bush, and featuring a foreword by President George H. W. Bush, America's First Frogman: The Draper Kauffman Story is the biography of the father of the American Navy SEALs. From surviving his time as a prisoner of the Germans, to his acclaimed wartime service disarming enemy bombs and establishing bomb disposal schools, to the underwater demolition teams he led at Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, America's First Frogman is an amazing true story of skill, courage, dedication, high standards, and excellence under extreme pressure. A handful of black-and-white photographs illustrate this fascinating story of a great man's life and resolute determination.
A hero of our time.......2004-12-14
Draper Kauffman is one of the heros of the modern navy. 'Thrown out' of the US Navy shortly after graduating from the Naval Academy for bad eyesight, he first joined the French fighting the Nazi invasion, and then the British Royal Navy as a bomb disposal officer.
After Pearl Harbour the Navy decides that maybe his eyes weren't so bad after all. (It helps of course if your father is an admiral and Chester Nimitz drops by for a drink one evening.) Then too there was the unexploded Japanese 500 pound bomb just outside the door of the ammo depot at Fort Scofield.
From unexploded bombs Kauffman moved to Underwater Demolition where he set up the first UDT school. This was, of course, the forerunner of today's Navy SEALs.
Note the name of the author, she is Draper Kauffman's sister, and President George H.W. Bush's sister-in-law. Ex-president Bush wrote the introduction for the book.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Naval War College Review, published by Thomson Gale on March 22, 2006. The length of the article is 618 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: Bush, Elizabeth Kauffman. America's First Frogman: The Draper Kauffman Story.(Book review)
Author: Robert G. Kaufman
Publication:
Naval War College Review (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 22, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 59
Issue: 2
Page: 175(2)
Article Type: Book review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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