Amazon.com
By any standard, Jay Bakker has had it rough. The son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, Jay was only 11 years old when his parents' empire collapsed and his family was vilified as the epitome of televangelism's excesses. Jay Bakker's autobiography, Son of a Preacher Man, unflinchingly addresses all of his family's major scandals, including his father's affair with Jessica Hahn and his mother's battle with drug addiction. Bakker also reveals that by age 13, he had developed a serious drinking problem, and that was only the beginning of a long period of rebellion that intensified during his father's years in prison. After his father's release, Jim and Jay began to rebuild their relationship, and Jay, though still struggling with alcoholism, discerned a calling to ministry. After several false starts he built a ministry to young people in Atlanta called Revolution. As a minister, Bakker's main interest is in the kids that churches overlook--the pierced, tattooed, smoking, drinking kind. The message of this ministry, like the message of this book, is simple: "Jesus loves you for who you are, not who you can become." Bakker says that he still works every day to learn that lesson, and to pass it on to others, as he does with some eloquence in Son of a Preacher Man. --Paul Power
Book Description
In Son of a Preacher Man Jay Bakker, son of famous televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, tells the compelling story of growing up in the glaring lights of a television studio. It's all here: the Bakker family's public disgrace, the fall of the PTL (Praise The Lord) media empire, and Bakker's subsequent plunge into a morass of anxiety and selfdestruction. But Son of a Preacher Man is more than a tell-all -- it is a story that dramatizes the human toll of this tragedy on the Bakker family, with insight into the seismic shifts that nearly destroyed his father and wrecked his parents' longtime marriage. It is the story of a prodigal son's return to the true meaning of God's love and acceptance. It is the story of a boy who was lost, but on the journey back from ruin finds a better way to understand and live life. It is the story of discovering God's grace and of becoming a man.
Despite years of disillusionment, alcoholism, and heartbreak, Bakker managed to continue on his spiritual quest. First he worked to redeem his father...then his faith. Bakker began his service with Revolution, a ministry for skateboarders, punk rockers, and hippiesthe street kids he knew best. He shared the message that saved his life -- the message of Jesus that God's love is infinitely generous. Now Bakker has a large and growing ministry among the tattooed and pierced of downtown Atlanta who feel rejected by the traditional Church yet flock to hear his message of grace and love.
Ultimately, Son of a Preacher Man is a story about resurrection -- of one lost young man, of his disgraced and imprisoned father, and of the hope that can't be destroyed by the machinations of power-hungry preachers, The long, lonely road that Bakker traveled taught him that you can't earn or make yourself worthy of the love of God, but if you are willing to let go and open up, that infinite love is waiting to welcome you home with open arms.
Customer Reviews:
God Uses No Perfect People.......2007-09-26
My title was a statement made by Jay Bakker. Those few words are true enough to be scripture. 'God uses no perfect people'. Reading those words stops me dead in my tracks. So profound. It is what makes a Christian carry on when they feel defeated, unworthy and doubtful. I need to remind myself of this constantly. Jay found it out and it was revolutionary to him and he even became a part of a church called Revolution. It's all because of God's grace. Thank you Jay.
I found his book VERY interesting reading and finished it in a day. He really had a difficult time and struggled so much. I'm glad he overcame the difficulties of growing up in the PTL scandal and made it through the years of drinking and drugs and back 'into the fold'. Not the fold as most know it, but a much different one which I hope is doing some good in spreading the Gospel. He has a very radical way of doing it and I wonder, but he wouldn't want me doing that. I'm just not so sure one wants to share the Gospel through just being there as opposed to by example. But if it is working for them and changing lifes then I'll stay out of it.
I would have been interested in knowing why Jay got SO into tattooing and piercings. I know it is a phenomonen today but I can't ever find a person who can really explain WHY they do this other than that is is popular, they like it, it looks good, it defines them, etc., etc. But how? Why? I don't think they are going to like this as they age. I would have liked him to explain why he got all the tattoos that he did and why. Did he really think it out for the long term or was it a short made decision?? Is this supposed to appeal to young seekers of Christ?
Jay communicates the love that Jesus has for you no matter what organized religion says .......2007-06-30
"Son of a Preacher Man" gives a candid glimpse inside Jay Bakker's life. As you may know, Jay Bakker is a Christian minister and the son of televangelist Jim Bakker. He discusses his father's religious dynasty that lasted from the 1970's through the mid 80's. He discusses his parents ministry, PTL (I learned that PTL stands for "Praise The Lord.") And he also explained his father's arrest and how it painfully effected him.
Mr. Bakker also frankly discusses his addictions to alcohol and other illegal narcotics. Although his father's absence severely diminished who he was inside, he does not blame his father (or his mother) for any of his vices. I found that very refreshing because Jay was willing to admit his shortcomings without having to blame anyone else which is only too common.
Mr. Bakker also explains how Christian fundamentalists totally turned him off to modern-day Christianity. His family was more than blackballed after his father went to prison. And again, I would think that anyone treated like this would not allow organized religion into their lives but Jay Bakker is a fighter and he kept up the good fight. He helped form his own church (Revolution) which was in total contrast to what the fundamentals did. His church welcomed anyone that would listen. In fact, Jay preferred to preach to the all the "sinners" that the world had already thrown away.
I never knew too much about Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker. I remember the SNL sketches with Dana Carvey and I saw Tammy Faye on talk shows but I didn't know why she was famous or why her husband went to prison. Earlier this year there was a very informative reality program on the Sundance Channel about Jay Bakker that got me very interested. Unfortunately his show disappeared before I really got to learn very much about him; but luckily I found this book.
After reading this book I learned that Jay does not judge or condemn his congregation and feels it is more important to preach the universal word of love. I recommend this book to anyone that is questioning their faith because Jay will communicate that Jesus loves you.
A touching autobiography. .......2007-06-25
For someone who grew up in a glam and glitzy tacky lifestyle, Jay Bakker has really been through it all and has experienced a lot. Watching your family torn apart, seeing someone you love being put into a hard situation, and trying to deal with it all as a teenager is hard to do and it nearly killed Jay Bakker.
As a Gay Buddhist, I find Jay Bakker impressive and I commend him for facing his demons and finding his true faith. I find his work for the gay community and the punk rockers to be what Christianity should be about. If you ever want to know what it's like to struggle with life and judgment to rise above it all, this is truly the story for you.
Eloquent, heartfelt and honest.......2007-06-18
Jay Bakker's memoir about his experiences as son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker and his emergence as a minister himself is an engaging portrait of the phoenix rising from the ashes. Bakker does not shy away from any part of the painful scandal that engulfed his family in the late 1980s-90s. What emerges is a portrait of a young man with a spiritual calling, to minister to the young people who have no where to turn to for spiritual guidance because of their looks, dress, or affects. "Son of a Preacher Man" is a brief, well-written memoir that shines light on how courageous it is to persevere against all odds, and finding the integrity and spiritual sustenance to do so.
He's a REVOLUTIONARY with the RIGHT idea !!.......2007-03-25
Simply put... Jay Bakker has taken the hate & judgement out of Christianity and actually put back the love, understanding, tolerance & forgiveness it was meant to have. How amazing that he not only lived through the scandals of his parents PTL days & his own substance abuses... only to rise above it all to become a genuinely compassionate human being full of the loving spirit his father only seemed to pay lip service to. I only hope his Revolution impacts more and more people as time goes on. Jay & his wife deserve all of the happiness & blessings this life has to offer...and if it exists... in the hereafter as well. Read this book... you will be inspired!
Average customer rating:
- Good addition to the series...
- I love Mallory...
- Even better than the first...
- The Unwinnable Gender Wars
- This series just keeps getting better and better
|
The Man Who Cast Two Shadows (Kathleen Mallory Novels)
Carol O'Connell
Manufacturer: Jove
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
 Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Women Sleuths
| Mystery
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Police Procedurals
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Thrillers
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
O'Connell, Carol
| ( O )
| Authors, A-Z
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Fiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Mystery & Thriller Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Authors, A-Z
| Mystery & Thrillers
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
| ( A )
| ( B )
| ( C )
| ( D )
| ( E )
| ( F )
| ( G )
| ( H )
| ( J )
| ( K )
| ( L )
| ( M )
| ( N )
| ( P )
| ( R )
| ( S )
| ( T )
| ( W )
Women Sleuths
| Mystery
| Mystery & Thrillers
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Police Procedurals
| Mystery & Thrillers
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
General
| Thrillers
| Mystery & Thrillers
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
All 4-for-3 Deals
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Mallory's Oracle (Kathleen Mallory Novels)
-
Stone Angel (Kathleen Mallory Novels)
-
Killing Critics (Kathleen Mallory Novels)
-
Dead Famous
-
Shell Game (Kathleen Mallory Novels)
ASIN: 0515118907 |
Book Description
The same 3-hour quality performance for less.
2 cassettes / 3 hours
Only $8.99
Read by Kate Burton
With prose that cuts like a knife, resonant suspense, and characters as inventive as they are compelling, O'Connell proves that she is a master of the art.
At the heart of
The Man Who Cast Two Shadows is NYPD Sergeant Kathleen Mallory, a wild child whose intelligence is matched only by the ferocity with which she pursues her own vision of right and wrong. She now is faced with a case that strikes close to home - a young woman is found dead only a few blocks away, her skull and hands crushed, her neck snapped, and a label in her jacket which reads "Kathleen Mallory".
Nothing can prepare Sergeant Mallory for what she finds in her investigation - a cradle in a closet; a concerto filled with silences and creams; a cat that dances without warning; and three men, each with a great deal to hide and a great deal to lose . . .
Customer Reviews:
Good addition to the series..........2006-12-15
O'Connell knows how to write mysteries. I have found surprises and suspense galore in all of the Mallory books. But I have never understood the characterizations in these books. Everyone is basically an idiot around the amazingly beautiful, intense and threatening Kathleen Mallory whose mere stare can reduce most people to quivering jello. Only Mallory -- don't call her Kathleen if you value your life -- seems to know what's going on. Staying just inside the law, or at least not getting caught, Mallory is a very strange NY police officer with her own troubling ideas of right and wrong.
Once, just once, I would love to see a character in these books who doesn't completely wilt in Mallory's presence after meeting her. In fact, I have repeatedly resolved never to buy another Mallory book because of this quality. It's hard to get into a book when the core characters are so completely unlikeable. But, ultimately, I love mystery novels. And O'Connell knows how to churn out some deft plotting. So I return. Maybe that's why I like O'Connell's Judas Child so much. No Mallory. She's ruthless. We get it.
All in all, a solid addition to the series. If you liked the first one, Mallory's Oracle, you'll like this one. If you didn't like that one, you will definitely not like this one since Mallory is even more of a black hole in this one. Not too many happy endings in the Mallory series.
I love Mallory..........2006-01-08
but this one is too tangled for me. Jumping around among a large number of principals, it gets a bit scattered for my enjoyment.
(Perhaps it's just that I've got a bad cold & can't concentrate.) O'Connell gave us a brilliant debut in "Oracle" and regained her footing in "Stone Angel." "Crime School" and a couple of others also outshine this one, so I shan't give up the series.
Even better than the first..........2005-06-02
Carol O'Connell's The Man Who Cast Two Shadows is the second Kathleen Mallory mystery, and it's even better than the first.
Mallory is a detective in New York City's Special Crimes Unit. Her colleagues all fear she has been killed when a body is found in a park, similar in appearance and wearing a blazer embroidered with her name. Mallory quickly identifies the victim (whose fingers have been destroyed to hamper a positive ID) and she is given the case. The detectives only have three clues to work with including an unpublished manuscript, a missing computer file and a cat who knows the murderer. The clues point to three possible suspects who all live in the same building. Mallory starts baiting them with computer messages in an effort to flush out the killer. Unfortunately, Mallory herself becomes bait.
The Man Who Cast Two Shadows is interesting in that it provides more background into the lives of those characters introduced in book one including Mallory, Riker, Coffey and Charles Butler. The reader gets a better understanding of their motives and their actions. These characters all have major flaws, yet they bring a brilliance to the job of solving crimes and seeing that justice is done. Mallory always seems to be one step ahead of everyone-maybe because she has the ability to think like a criminal.
Unfortunately, as in book one, The Man Who Cast Two Shadows contains a strong subplot of magic, and I'm beginning to tire of this angle. It's not always believable. Also, I prefer books with shorter chapters, and this 278 page book only has seven. But despite the magic and the long chapters, O'Connell is a thoughtful writer and I'm definitely a fan.
The Unwinnable Gender Wars.......2004-09-09
When men fail to realize is that for every woman they have envisioned as maid, there are a significant number of women who view them as butlers or caddies. Not well publicized, however, the gender reverse of Cinderella is the illusive conquest that represents the commitment that Prince Charming was after. Far too many women treat kings as caddies, and caddies as kings, for their to be any semblance of logic in the love game. But, the studies are required to be made so that both men and women know the difference of when love is possible and when it is not. Since the distinction is more real than not, generally, the male has little to gauge the relationship upon except the perceptions of relatively new relationships, and the example that is visible between the woman's parents and the way in which they relate, often duplicated or expected to be duplicated in most relationships. So, logically, visiting inlaws has much to do with the framework of how, when love is older, the reality replaces the fantasy. Wise words of caution to most males is that treating a woman as a maid often comes back to haunt him many times over, and becomes the misery from which it is difficult to extricate himself, and needlessly, since he always had the choice to begin with. If men don't want to be treated as caddies, they would not contemplate treating or thinking of women as maids. Logic is Logical, not fantasy.
This series just keeps getting better and better.......2004-07-11
First off let me say that if you're looking for a touchy feely maiden in distress kind of heroine - you won't find it here! When a young woman is found murdered and mistakenly identified as Mallory, our Mallory moves in and uses her expert computer skills to try and trip up three suspects who all live in the same building. Some creepy moments ensue until all is resolved at the end. The whole gang reappears and their characters are further developed to this reader's delight. Once again the author serves up a fascinating suspense that I hated to see end. Some reviewers seem to think that Mallory is this inhuman character that makes the story and author heartless and if you have one shred of decency, you won't like this book. Ummm, what version were they reading? Mallory is a little ruthless and heartless at times (she certainly maintains a "ends justify the means" mentality) but don't mistake that for having no emotion. Knowing her background of having to survive on the streets as a very young kid, the death of her foster parents who kept her somewhat grounded, and you begin to see the tight control she maintains over her emotions as a necessary function. Mallory is so intricate a character that she seems to be a real human being, albeit a flawed one, and not on of those cookie cutter females that pass as heroines.
Average customer rating:
- Waste of money and time - one of the worst of the genre
- Great New Author!!!!!
- $7 down the drain, just like that...
- 1 Part Thriller, 1 Part Emo = Over the Top Entertainment in need of an Editor
- It's an OK book, except for Honey-love.
|
Shadow Man
Cody Mcfadyen
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Thrillers
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Suspense
| Thrillers
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
General
| Mystery & Thrillers
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
General
| Thrillers
| Mystery & Thrillers
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Suspense
| Thrillers
| Mystery & Thrillers
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
All 4-for-3 Deals
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Face of Death
-
The King of Lies
-
Echo Park (Harry Bosch)
-
True Evil: A Novel
-
Bad Luck and Trouble
ASIN: 0553589938
Release Date: 2007-03-27 |
Book Description
Once, Special Agent Smoky Barrett hunted serial killers for the FBI. She was one of the best–until a madman terrorized her family, killed her husband and daughter, and left her face scarred and her soul brutalized. Turning the tables on the killer, Smoky shot him dead–but her life was shattered forever.
Now Smoky dreams about picking up her weapon again. She dreams about placing the cold steel between her lips and pulling the trigger one last time. Because for a woman who’s lost everything, what is there left to lose?
She’s about to find out.
In all her years at the Bureau, Smoky has never encountered anyone like him–a new and fascinating kind of monster, a twisted genius who defies profilers’ attempts to understand him. And he’s issued Smoky a direct challenge, coaxing her back from the brink with the only thing that could convince her to live.
The killer videotaped his latest crime–an act of horror that left a child motherless–then sent a message addressed to Agent Smoky Barrett. The message is enough to shock Smoky back to work, back to her FBI team. And that child awakens something in Smoky she thought was gone forever.
Suddenly the stakes are raised. The game has changed. For as this deranged monster embarks on an unspeakable spree of perversion and murder, Smoky is coming alive again–and she’s about to face her greatest fears as a cop, a woman, a mother…and a merciless killer’s next victim.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
Waste of money and time - one of the worst of the genre.......2007-10-10
I only gave a 1 star because there's no "zero" star option. The story lack of credibility. Bores you to death with the "feelings" and "memories" of Smoky Barret (What a name) and irritates you with "Honey Love". How could this team be the best in dealing with serial killers when they do not look at the obvious connection to all of them. Ridiculous, bad investment, after the first couple of chapters started to jump over most of the pages just to see where it was heading. Should have thrown it away unread. I do not understand how so many people liked it.
Great New Author!!!!!.......2007-08-25
What a ride!!!!! This author will go far - great plot, great characters - you feel their pain and the ending leaves you hungry for more books from this author.
After the disappointment of the newest books from Patricia Cornwell and Karin Slaughter this book was a true 5 star in a run of some really bad writing.
$7 down the drain, just like that..........2007-07-27
I rarely buy a book based on Amazon reviews, but I was hard up for something really good to read, so I gave "Shadow Man" a shot. Jeez, people, what book did you read? I threw this across the room after 60 pages. Paper cut-out characters, stilted dialogue, you name it. Its only saving grace: it'll make a perfect Lifetime movie. Oy. Any REAL thrillers out there??
1 Part Thriller, 1 Part Emo = Over the Top Entertainment in need of an Editor.......2007-07-12
At this point you know the story, so I'm just going to get right into it:
The Story was good enough to keep me interested. I thought it had it's moments where the image in my head was far worse than any movie could capture (which is part of the reason I enjoy books so much!). I couldn't imagine being tied to my dead mother for 3 days as a child, and the image of the Shadow Man's demonic smile & thumbs up as he finished killing on the videos was seared into my brain. As a result, I cared enough about what was going to happen to see it through to the end.
However...
McFadyen tries to balance the over the top violence with over the top emotion from his characters. I was annoyed by such insipid images as Smokey's "Train" spiel or her violent side she refers to as "The Dragon". I would be willing to overlook it if it happened only once or twice, but McFayden constantly comes back to these chestnuts over and over again. The same holds true with the emotions. Yes, I get it, Smokey's grieving - now get on with the story, or at least offer something more than weeping. With all the crying in this book, it's amazing the FBI finds the time to solve the case! Oh and all of Cali's "Honey Loves" got to be EXTREMELY annoying over the course of the book.
If you're looking for something better, I'd recommend The Ruins by Scott Smith. THAT was a horrific page turner & it beats this book hands down!
It's an OK book, except for Honey-love........2007-07-01
Cody Mcfadyen has a good, if disturbing, imagination and the guy can write. However, have you ever worked with someone who whistled all day? How about someone who calls everyone "Honey-love"? Wouldn't you, at some point, either ask her to stop it or, if you lived in Smoky Barrett's world, simply shoot her? It was difficult enough to get used to a character named,"Smoky Barrett."
But, yeah, I ordered the next book. The guy can write a page-turner. As irritating as these two points are, I couldn't stop reading this book. Cody, if you read these things, enough of the honey-loves. Or, if you must continue, how about a serial killer who hates being called "Honey-love"?
Book Description
Efraim Halevy joined Israels secret police in 1961 and eventually became its director. For the first time, Halevy writes about the turbulent Middle East from his powerful vantage point at the top of the Mossad. Having served as the secret envoy to Prime Ministers Rabin, Shamir, Netanyahu, Barak, and Sharon, Halevy was privy to the regions most sensitive information. Informed by his extraordinary access, he writes candidly about the workings of the Mossad, the Prime Ministers he served under and the other major players around the world: Yasir Arafat, Saddam Hussein, Hafez Assad, Muamar Qadaffi, Presidents Clinton and Bush, and former CIA directors Jim Angleton and George Tenet. Looking forward, he writes frankly about how the world might achieve peace. Much of what he has to say will surprise and shock even those readers well-versed in the complexities of the region. Sure to be one of the years most talked-about books, this fierce account of the Middle East will be a must-read for those seeking a functional and intelligent roadmap to peace in the Middle East and the world. For the first time, Halevy will open his private dossier on: What the Mossad did and did not tell the CIA before the attacks of 9/11 Giving George Tenet the information about weapons of mass destruction and his feelings about Tenets dismissal A candid discussion of his misgivings about the report of the 9/11 commission, the new structure of intelligence services in the United States, and his feeling that we have not seen the worst of what the radical Islamic terrorists are capable of The assassination attempt by the Mossad on the life of Khaled Mashal, now the leader of Hamas The Israeli-Jordan Peace Accord His criticisms of the road map that is currently being followed by the U.S. and Israel for peace in the region The negotiation that brought the Jews of Ethiopia to Israel.
Customer Reviews:
A disappointment.......2007-09-16
I bought (or got) this book 'cause I've always liked spy stories (I'm a John LeCarre man myself)and I had some expectations of a "show and tell" book by a former head of the Mossad. I also had some respect, as a citizen consumer of the news, of this official who had,somehow, something more European and dignified than the "average" Israeli macho security hero. Halevy was also Israel's ambassador to Jordan and very instrumental in brokering the peace agreement with Jordan.
I found the book rather tiresome with a great deal of muted self-glorification and almost no revelations or juicy bits. Halevy comes across as a very loyal and careful technocrat with clear views (which I don't subscribe to) about the "War on Terror" being the central stuggle of our times.
An interesting book.......2006-08-05
This book consists of some interesting recollections from Efraim Halevy, who served as the director of Israel's Mossad.
We readers see how the First Gulf War, in 1991, Israel fared poorly. Yes, the United States helped defend Israel from Iraqi missile attacks. However, Halevy makes the point that most knowledgeable Israelis "did not believe that the United States was doing its best to apprehend the missile launchers" and for that reason, many Israelis are very suspicious of how much help the United States will ever give Israel should its survival be at stake.
Israel did indeed agree not to join in the attack on Iraq, which may have saved the coalition against Iraq but the author shows that this did Israel very little good. While Iraq, a serious enemy of Israel, was indeed weakened, Israel quickly came under severe pressure from its friends to appease its remaining enemies.
Israel has always needed peace, and this has made it susceptible to bogus offers of peace. Halevy explains how this affected negotiations that involved covert channels. As he says, rather than being a way to discuss issues regarding Israel's future, keeping Israel's interests in mind, the covert talks "evolved into a strategy designed to enable the devoted negotiators to engage in dreams of peace rather than to confront the true facts of life and to grapple with them."
There is a long and interesting section on how Israel and Jordan managed to sign a peace treaty. And we also see what Halevy thinks of several famous people of the region. One is the notorious Yassir Arafat, who Halevy mentions was a "compulsive liar" who "would never honor a commitment and rarely would have anything but contempt for his peers." I remember being flabbergasted by the fact that rather than arresting, trying, and executing this thug, leaders of Western nations often showed esteem for him. But Halevy says that Arafat did pay a political price in 2000 and 2001 for refusing to make a deal at Camp David and then for lying about the Karin A arms smuggling to the president of the United States. Once again, I'm shocked that it took all this to discredit such a horrible person.
We also see Halevy's puzzlement at Israel's acceptance, even under pressure, of the infamous "road map" proposed by the quartet of the United States, Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations. This document "was deemed a nonstarter and a real danger to Israel's interests for a variety of reasons." And these reasons included allowing the quartet to determine if the Arabs had fulfilled their obligations on issues such as ending terror. That would pretty much let the Arabs do what they pleased.
In this book Halevy often makes the point that one ought to honor one's word and build up one's credibility. I agree. And I think that means needing to resist pressure to make agreements that one can not or will not fulfill.
I enjoyed reading this book and I recommend it.
"My War Against Shimon Peres".......2006-07-08
Efraim Halevy could as well had added the following subtitle to his book: "My War Against Shimon Peres". The leitmotif of the first part of the book is the constant popping up of Shimon Peres's name in every possible circumstance where Shimon obstructs, deceives and schemes against literally everybody to assuage his thirst for glory. There is little doubt that Shimon richly deserved the overt animosity coming from Efraim Halevy. One can only sympathize and empathize with Halevy since the object of his dislike continues to scheme to this day.
It is by no means easy to write a book on intelligence, especially so soon after leaving office. Everything you write may be used against your country. Therefore Halevy writes about people who are out of office or dead (the exception being Peres) , his contribution to the Israeli - Jordanian Peace Treaty and about general principles that are applicable at any time and therefore do not divulge anything of immediate value. His portraits of Israeli prime ministers are interesting in that he rehabilitates Shamir, is complimentary of Netanyahu, Rabin and Sharon, much less so of Barak and the premiership of his nemesis Peres does not even register. The ultimate snub.
Halevy's observations about the work in intelligence are logical : "On issues of life and death the intelligence officer must always err on the side of the threat and not on the side of the optimist".
To me the most significant part of the book are the last two chapters in which Halevy talks of WWIII, i.e. the war against Islamic terror. This is the part in which his weight as the ex head of the Mossad may have some impact on the `powers that be' of today. He correctly defines it as Islamic terror and not `war on terror' and warns that the West does not cooperate enough to confront the common threat. He is fully aware of the dangers of Al Qaeda and the way things may eventually turn: " Government and their senior executive officials will take action, the like of which has rarely ever been dreamed in the past." Halevy should be given credit for being one of the rare ex government officials who does not obfuscate in naming the enemy.
But two aspects of his recommendations are questionable. The first is to squeeze in anti- terror legislation as soon as possible while the country is recovering from a major terror attack. Would it not be more reasonable to be entirely frank with the population, stop avoiding the truth and minimizing the threat, and educate the population so that it can support anti- terror measures in full clarity of what is being done?
The second is his differentiation between Al Qaeda on the one hand and Hamas and Hezbolah on other. Hamas is, according to Halevy, different because "Hamas is not solely a terrorist group. It has political and social interest" "`In their own way, they aspire to be part of the system and not as Al Qaeda aspires, to destroy it ".
Yes, but part of what system does Hamas want to be a part of? Exactly the same one Al Qaeda is fighting for! Allegiance to Islam tops any local self interest. Efraim Halevy and the intelligence community in Israel should be well advised to read up on Islam in the works of Ibn Warraq, Bat Ye'or, Serge Trifkovic , Robert Spencer and Daniel Pipes.
a bloody history in abloody regeion.......2006-06-25
i love this kind of books .as a person who is living in the middle east which lived a lot of wars and conflicts between the arabs and the israeles i alaways search on the books talk about such a topic . this man mr halevy because his possision as a post leader of mossad explains and clears every thing about the middle east crisis. in a good degree of objectivety in a way that gives the reader who does not no any thing about the middle east a good background he is simple , clear , no complcations as he is chating with you or as when our moms told us stories before sleeping when we were young . it is a book you can read in the week end , in the holiday , in the tunel before going to the work >
Excellent read.......2006-06-04
It is true that this book is not riddled with "cloak and dagger fireworks" but, it is not at al true that it is nothign more than a self-glorifying account of a man's own actions, as one reviewer has said.
Halevy describes how events over the last 10-20 years have unfolded in the middle east, and in the process relates how the individual characteristics of the various leaders invovled helped to shape them. His accounts of the larger than life life people he describes are plain, to the point, and overall extremely insightful. He recounts, with much insight, the victories and successes of the last 2 decades. He furthermore, does not shy from describing, in detail, both his own failures and those of others.
This book is an excellent read for those truly interested in the actuall manner and circumstance of the unfolding of history.
Book Description
James D. Doss's latest engrossing mystery marks the return of Charlie Moon, tribal investigator on Colorado's Ute reservation, whose sleuthing skills get some unlikely help from his Aunt Daisy Perika's shamanistic intuition.TROUBLE SPREADS ITS WINGSDr. Manfred Blinkoe is one orthodontist with a very checkered past. So when a fellow diner at Cedar Creek's poshest restaurant drops dead from an unseen assailant's bullet, he can't help thinking that he was the intended target. Desperate for help, he turns to the one local who's up to the job: renowned tribal investigator Charlie Moon.AND A KILLER COMES TO ROOSTCharlie already has his hands full with two cattle ranches to run, ornery Aunt Daisy's wanderings in the spirit world, and his sparring matches with the alluring FBI agent Lila Mae McTeague. Now he's got an eccentric client with more money than sense and too many enemies-at least one of whom is willing to resort to explosive measures to settle an old score."Highly entertaining....big money, big gambles, and a surprise ending will keep readers turning the pages."Publishers Weekly
Customer Reviews:
Shadow Man.......2007-09-02
This is my first book by James Doss. Not particularly impressed. Probably will not order any more in that series.
Patches
Shadow Man (A Charlie Moon Mystery).......2007-01-26
The chief characters in the book are Charlie Moon, a Southern Ute Tribal Investigator, his Aunt Daisy who happens to be a Ute Shaman and Charlie's best friend, Police Chief Scott Parris. The tale begins when a woman is murdered in a restaurant in a small town in Colorado. There were only two diners at the restaurant and the survivor, an orthodontist by the name of Dr. Blinkoe is convinced the bullet was meant for him.
Dr. Blinkoe ends up hiring Charlie Moon to investigate and things start to heat up. Charlie's Aunt Daisy manages to get in on the action and provides us with some very funny moments.
Doss mixes mystery, humor and the supernatural to come up with a story that is entertaining and fun to read.
If you haven't read any of his books before, I'd recommend reading his earlier ones, such as: The Shaman Sings, The Shaman Laughs, The Shaman's Bones and the Shaman's Game. The Night Visitor, Grandmother Spider, White Shell Woman, Dead Soul and The Witch's Tongue are later works and I enjoyed reading all of them.
/shadow Man-James Doss.......2006-11-06
Ihave the complete collection of James Doss (I think). This is the funniest one yet
If only we were allowed negative stars..........2006-09-10
Got a free copy of *Shadow Man* and it's no surprise, for me at least, that nothing has changed in James Doss' appalling goulash of sophomoric humor, unbelieveable plotting, and comicbook characters.
There's more of that special sensibility that spews food over, "I know you are, but what am I?" The chief of police is asked if he was "discreet" about coming to a restaurant, and he says, "Yes, I came in down the chimney" and then, in case we don't get it (These are the jokes, folks!), muses that the restaurant owner doesn't get it. I laughed 'till snot got in my ears. And then, and then, there's that one other part, it's Sooooooo funny!!!!!
A woman falls in love at first sight with the hero, who of course falls back at once, at least until the scene is over. Muses she, after exchanging four or five words with him, "If only I had met this wonderful human being before I gave myself to my oaf of a husband!" But face it, every female human in Dossland falls in love at first sight with Charlie Moon (used to be Scott Parris, but the franchise took off when Charlie got to be head cutout), who obligingly falls in love with them, not just stupid ole' lust, understand, but gut-wrenching, weeping eternal love. Just like real life. Why only last week at the market, a woman looked at me and I looked at her, perfect strangers, and we both thought, as if coincidentally, "Him/Her! The one I've always wanted. Oh my glory. My eternal love!!!! Darling!!!!!!! No wait! That one, next to him/her!"
A murder occurs to get things rolling that is so hopelessly stupid and predictable you will groan repeatedly for a good ten pages after. A woman is shot to death in a restaurant, and the restauruant owner, discovering this unfortunate incident, worries that the other diners might be upset if they see the corpse. No doubt. First thing any Doss human would think of upon noticing that one his customers had been shot right between the eyes and gotten icky brains on the walls. And the police chief to whom he expresses this emotional commonplace simply accepts it as normal. And there is some confusion because the "crack marksman" who shot her precisely between the eyes actually meant to kill a diner at another table. No, I can't explain that more clearly. Well, let me try. He was aiming at someone else and hit her as if she were the target, a perfect bull's eye.... No, I give up.
The "conclusion" of this farrago is so utterly unsatisfying that you will dread, among other things, the possibility that Doss thinks his new villian is so neato that he should be brought back in another book. The "other book" is out, and one can only hope that Doss' attention span is as mature as his sense of humor.
The popularity of these moronic novels is a sad commentary on contemporary literacy. Read Kirk Mitchell, Margaret Coel, and the master even in his failing years, Tony Hillerman. Give this crud a flush.
get better all the time.......2006-08-11
This is the funniest of this series that I have read. The central character is really Daisy Perika, not Charlie Moon, or at least I find her more interesting than Charlie Moon. I don't usually like books with an emphasis on the supernatural, but in this series it is integral to the plots and well-done. Aunt Daisy has more contact with spirits than with living people, and she is comfortable and natural in that atmosphere. As for Moon's romances, they are banal and not especially interesting, but I appreciate the author's discretion. Very few people really write sex scenes well - the only one I have read recently that was authentic and well-written was in an Anthony Bourdain novel - so I like it when the author spares the readers and doesn't include sex just because he/she feels it is obligatory.
I also like the twists and turns of the plots in Doss's books, this story has them as well, and they are great surprises. His characters are more enjoyable than Tony Hillerman's, less earnest and stressed, more fun to spend time with.
Average customer rating:
- Brilliant
- Chimp-man continuum
- I loved it!
- Super-de-duper!
- Great Reading
|
In the Shadow of Man
Jane Goodall
Manufacturer: Mariner Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Research
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Research
| Education
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Methodology & Statistics
| Experiments, Instruments & Measurement
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| History & Philosophy
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Primatology
| Zoology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Primatology
| Zoology
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Through a Window
-
Gorillas in the Mist
-
My Life with the Chimpanzees
-
Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey
-
Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind
ASIN: 0618056769 |
Book Description
This best-selling classic tells the story of one of the world's greatest scientific adventures. Jane Goodall was a young secretarial school graduate when the legendary Louis Leakey chose her to undertake a landmark study of chimpanzees in the wild. In the Shadow of Man is an absorbing account of her early years at Gombe Stream Reserve, telling us of the remarkable discoveries she made as she got to know the chimps and they got to know her. This paperback edition, illustrated with 80 photographs, includes an introduction by Stephen Jay Gould and a postscript by Goodall. During Goodall's forty years of studying chimpanzees, she has become one of the world's most honored scientists. She tells of the later years in THROUGH A WINDOW, also available in Mariner paperback. AFRICA IN MY BLOOD: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN LETTERS tells the story, through her letters, of childhood through the early years at Gombe.
Customer Reviews:
Brilliant.......2007-06-27
Jane Goodall's first popular book, and worth every penny. It does not become outdated with time -- it becomes more interesting. Follow this work with her "Reason for Hope" and you will be blown away by the spiritual journey Goodall has taken over the decades.
Chimp-man continuum.......2006-01-25
"In the shadow of man" reads like a recently published book, not published in 1971. The argumnets are strong that it is hard for dispute theory of evolution and our intimate relation to other animals. This book, and others, made me quit my religious beliefs that my parents instilled in me long time ago. I hope other people whill enjoy the book the same way I did.
I loved it!.......2005-08-09
I had to read this book for school, and I loved it! It really made the chimpanzees feel like human characters. I wish I could go live at the research center!
Super-de-duper!.......2004-11-16
Like another reviewer, I'm an anthropology student and I had to read this book for a class I'm taking. Never has a book, meant for education, made me both laugh and cry out loud. It was simply wonderful. You will learn a lot about chimpanzees, and I promiss you will never watch them in the zoo, in the same way, again. Even if you are not looking to learn about chimpanzee developement and behavior, the book is excellent on a purely entertainment level. Even though this book is was a required reading, I was so impressed that I'm going out to buy her other books... just out of interest.
Great Reading.......2003-09-16
I read this book a long time ago and have looked into it many times since. It's an entertaining read that teaches us not just about chimpanzees but also about human nature and behavior. If you pay attention to this book, you'll be a better person for it!
Customer Reviews:
Walking in the Shadow of a Rainbow........2005-07-07
I have read many wolf books, but this one brings a feeling of bondage between Man and Wolf. But the story is not goody-goody. There are bounty hunters and trappers as there are in real life. This book refers to a map in the beginning of the book a lot, but you can manage to do without it, its not vital. Though this is a slightly shorter book it still has all the action and emotions as if you were really there. It is a really good buy and would recomend it to any wolf or animal lover.
Absolutely Incredible.......2003-10-25
Just finished reading this and it is truly the most powerful factual story I have ever read. It has a similar thread to a fiction novel by another Native American author, Ghost in the Rainbow. There is a ghost wolf Indian spirit in that story, and I couldn't read this story without referring back to that one. The Native Americans know something about wolves, and this book touches upon that something...are wolves spirit creatures? I am of the opinion, because of these two books, to believe wolves are a lot more than animals. I can only encourage people to read this story. You will never be the same.
"Shadow of a Rainbow": Silver Screen for the Silver Skin?.......2002-07-24
There are three non-religious books I read and re-read constantly. "In the Shadow of a Rainbow" is one of them. Man and wolf become alive before our eyes, with unexpected depth and dimension, as does the land of BC itself - and my life has become the richer.
I despair of ever seeing this story done properly on film, but there is one person who could do it justice - Hayao Miyazaki, master storyteller from Japan, known the US for "Totoro," "Kiki's Delivery Service," and "Princess Mononoke." (He could also do a worthy animated "Diary of Anne Frank." With the eye and heart of a spiritual magician, and artist's touch to match, I wait for him to bring Nahani alive on the screen. In the meantime, I'll just have to keep reading the book itself...
Connections.......2002-02-05
What a lovely book. Leslie has captured the remarkable story of a young Indian man, who is befriended by a wolf, in living color. Greg (the Indian) and Nahani (the white wolf) meet when Nahani brings her pack into the area where Greg is prospecting for gold . Thanks to Greg's willingness to watch and learn from the wolves, along with his inherent respect for their boundaries and ways of doing things, the leader of the pack (Nahani)gradually comes to trust him. Eventually she sits by his fire, allows him to scratch her back, and pull ticks from her skin. This mutually satisfying relationship ends when the first snows of winter arrive and Greg must return to town.
Back in civilization, Greg discovers that Nahani has earned a reputation as a killer. There is a large reward being offered to anyone who can kill her and bring in the skin. Greg is naturally upset by this, and tries to convince people that the wolf is not a threat. He is opposed by a trapper named Dan who does all he can to stop Greg from helping the wolf. Concerned for Nahani's safety, Greg embarks on a 3-year quest to locate the wolf and save her if he can.
The story of how Greg manages to locate and track Nahani through one of the remotest and most inaccessible regions of the country is as inspiring as it is fascinating. Better still is the story of what happens when Greg eventually locates the wolves.
This story, which ends on a very positive note, is said to be true. It was told to the author (Robert Franklin Leslie) by Greg himself. Aside from the few places where human motivations and emotions are attributed to the wolf, the story rings true. It is a real treat for anyone who believes in the interconnectedness of all living things.
One of the best that I've read!.......2001-01-09
I have read many books, both fictional and non-fictional, about wolves. This book was truly one of the best. It was refreshing to read a story about a wolf where it did not end up dead by the end of the story yet, the story is realistic. If you love wolves, you will be amazed at the friendship that is possible between a human and a pack of wolves. I will re-read this one!
Customer Reviews:
Finally, a book that I had to read every single page of!.......2000-12-14
This trilogy by Maggie Shayne contained the first of her work I had read. How sorry I am about that! I am ill a lot and to add up my book bill by the end of each month even makes me wince, let alone my husband. :) But I gotta have more of Maggie Shayne.
The first story, Miranda's Viking, was refreshingly new in concept. The fact that Rolf Magnusson's character was portrayed as extremely intelligent is believable to anyone who knows a little of the history of the Vikings at that time. They were great strategists and indeed had settled much of the coastlines of northern Europe.
The second story was a bit more predictable with an amnesia victim, but with surprising suspense twists and turns that made it very riviting. Ms. Shayne's 'people' (it's hard to call them characters they seem so human) have the same doubts, hurts and misunderstandings that happen to us all.
Finally, I loved the third story the most. Janella was alien; from another world similar to Earth. It actually follows what I believe may be true. And her doctor, Thomas Duffy, also exhibited those very human feelings that I spoke of above. Truly believable, and absolutely a fantastic read. I could not speak more highly of an author.
Thank You!.......2000-09-21
I am so glad the they are finally republishing this trilogy! It made me such a fan of this author. The bats of the night trilogy is great! I read all of them over and over. Now that they've been out of print for a while they've been hard to find. But now! I can't wait to get this. For those who love the vampire genre this is an absolute must buy. And for those who love Maggie Shayne this is a great chance to get the books that really jumpstarted her career. ENJOY!!
Great Compilation.......2000-09-20
The three stories in this compilation are fun and different.
In the first story, Miranda's Viking, Miranda O'Shea finds a 500-year-old Viking perfectly preserved in a glacial cave. When Rolf Magnusson comes to life after an accident reanimates him things become complicated for Miranda, and murder and mayhem ensue. This was a fun novel, with a great plot line and likable characters.
<- Great Story
In Kiss of the Shadow Man Caitlin Rossi loses her memory after a near fatal car accident and she and her husband are granted a second chance at love. That is if Caitlin can stay alive long enough. This story was filled with suspense and love.
<- Great story
In Out-of-this World Marriage Thomas Duffy is a doctor who has lost his faith in his vocation after one hopeless case to many w3hen his faith is restored by an alien who loves him.
<- Mediocre story.
This is definitely worth the 6.99 that I paid for it. All of these stories are reprints.
Amazon.com
For a so-called "Catholic novelist," the revelation that her father was born a Jew qualifies as something of a literary bomblet; that his past was a tissue of fabrications, that he became an anti-Semite and reactionary, is a revelation that haunts this unusual book. Gordon's search for her father, who died when she was seven, leads her to libraries and archives, to interviews with his associates, to family birth records and finally to the extraordinary project of disinterring and reburying her father's remains. The search becomes a literary quest in which Gordon transforms herself by transforming her images of her father.
Book Description
In The Shadow Man, the bestselling author of Final Payments and The Company of Women elevates the memoir into an uncompromising and unforgettable art form as she seeks to learn the truth about her lost father. 20 photos.
Customer Reviews:
Commonweal Magazine.......2007-08-29
For a lengthy review of this book written by Marjorie Steinfels O'Brien in the prestigious magazine Commonweal, go to the magazine's archives. The review is truly sui generis !
An Electra Complex Unrestrained.......2006-01-12
Much as this reader enjoyed Mary Gordon's other writing, especially Final Payments, he must fault the writer for this maundering, meandering piece of work. Bloviated with rhetorical questions, she plows the same ground over and over again, bemoaning her fate, and crying out, "Why? Why?" One is tempted to respond, "Because. Because." Without the self-conscious and self-serving rhetorical questions, this book would be 1/3 shorter, and it would be improved. If you've ever fantasized about being a psychiatrist, wondering what it would be like to listen at length to someone who refuses to accept life, this book should satisfy you. For the rest of us, let's hope that Gordon finally accepts herself. Frankly, Kathryne Harrison's The Kiss was more fully honest and better written.
Too much self-pity.......2000-03-09
Author Mary Gordon's intimate biography of her father is told as an account of the author's own adventure in researching and recalling the embarrassing facts of her father's real life. Most of the drama comes in the author's feelings of betrayal, guilt, and disillusionment, so the book functions more as an autobiography, as is emphasized by a lengthy addition describing the author's mother's life.
Gordon has an engaging, lucid style, and the first half of the book has some suspense as she pores over records and searches out witnesses for the truth about her father's unusual life. But ultimately the self-pity becomes wearying, and one wishes the author could gain some perspective and be grateful for her blessings.
Fascinating memoir of ambivalence.......2000-01-28
This book is very much in the same vein as Geoffrey Wolff's Duke of Deception... a man who was a failure as a person yet a loving father. A chilling portrait of the ambivalence of knowing one's imperfect parent.
see above.......1999-02-10
A reader , July 10, 1997 5 stars A Daughter's Search for Her Father :
This person has got to be an insider!
Average customer rating:
- Not Free SF Reader
- a pamphlet
- Five Genders, One Humanity
- Better even than "left-hand side of darkness"
- Interesting issues rather than exciting action
|
Shadow Man
Melissa Scott
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Scott, Melissa
| ( S )
| Authors, A-Z
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
General
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Dreaming Metal
-
Night Sky Mine
-
The Jazz
-
Dreamships
-
Point of Hopes
ASIN: 0312858000 |
Amazon.com
In the future, humanity has developed five distinct sexes due to the effects of a drug that allows faster-than-light travel. The Concorde worlds have officially recognized all five sexes, but on the isolated planet Hara those in between male and female are considered mutations who must choose to live as one of the two traditional sexes. When Hara regains contact with the Concorde worlds, it's an opportunity for Warreven--a "herm"--to break the long-standing role society has forced on him. But it will also put him in the center of a political battle that will span the stars.
Shadow Man won the 1996 Lambda Award.
Customer Reviews:
Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03
A story of a planet where the environment has caused the human race to mutate into several different sexes, so there are spectrums of gender to deal with. This can be a bit mind bending, and I had to write to the author for help with an explanation at one point!
Definitely very interesting, with one character hiding what they are, and the political consequences of the decision.
a pamphlet.......2005-08-13
(I'm not a native speaker, please overlook my style)
This book truly represents a coming of age but not for the main characters, for the readers.
Ms Scott creates an extended but simple metaphor: in a universe where there are five officially acknowledged and accepted biological sexes and a mathematitian knows how many combinatorial possibilities the law and custom of one single planet deny the biological reality in the name of an undefendible, aggressive, obtuse tradition.
It is easy to recognize our own little Earth and reality (despite intelligent crabs that are as affectionate as lapdogs, purr like kittens and spin useful silk) under this thin disguise; in the struggle of Warreven to be officially, legally recognized as a person despite his/her/who knows sex, one recognize the everyday problems of people who happen to be unlike the majority.
As a political pamphlet, an apologue, this book is a masterpiece and should be read as textbook in any secondary school; as a novel it is less so.
Ms Scott strives to mimic real life and she does it, perfectly, but the result is sometimes quite dull, just as our own petty lives can often be (think about commuting to get to work or boring evenings among collegues and you shall know what I mean).
The characters and situations are fully drawn and believable, and in the end the good does not win over evil, exactly as in our own lives.
Despite an appendix with a glossary, some fictional concepts, such as "trade" or the details of gender behaviour remain utterly unclear. Ms Scott has probably tried to avoid extensive boring explanations but confronted with such an exotic creation the reader must necessarily fill in the voids.
One may wonder, is this still SF? In a sense it is. Do not read this novel if you just want an easy SF pastime. Do it if you welcome food for thought and are in the right mood for it.
A note: sex is necessarily mentioned in such a book, but it is never graphic or vulgar: teens can read it freely provided they have the right attitude toward demanding books.
Five Genders, One Humanity.......2004-02-20
At 18, Warreven was presented with an offer most men would have gladly accepted: Marriage to the only child of the Most Important Man on the planet Hara. The problem was, Warreven wasn't "most men." In fact, he wasn't a man at all, but a herm or, as Haran slang went, a "halving." And Temelathe's only child, Tendelathe, was a man.
For the Most Important Man, Warreven's sex was a non-issue: Warreven would simply classify himself as a woman and become Tendelathe's wife. This was a common arrangement, as herms did not live their lives as herms, but as men or women. It was up to them to choose. Warren would not choose, however; while he would willingly have married his long-time friend, he refused to be forced into declaring himself female. He was comfortable living as a man and that's how he wanted it to stay. He refused the offer. The decision ultimately changed his life.
The story point is one of the keystones in Melissa Scott's 1995 novel Shadow Man, a book which explores human gender and what life might be like if things were not as "simple" as we (perhaps wrongly) view them today.
The planet Hara, where Warreven, the Most Important Man and his son live is one of countless human colonies founded at a point in the future when humans have mastered faster-than-light (FTL) travel and have spread across the galaxy. As the story opens, Hara is in the process of slowly but surely being re-connected with the colonial network, after a few hundred years' separation.
The reason Hara was cut off is the same reason it's now so different from other human colonies. FTL travel, as boundary-breaking as it was, was in large part made possible by the development of specialized drugs, which prevented the side effects of the travel, keeping humans healthy and sane. However, these drugs themselves had a major side effect, one which no one had expected or even noticed under it was too late: The drugs affected human DNA and caused a large upswing (as high as 25%) in intersex births. There were no longer men and women, but men, women... and several other sexes. This discovery was so shocking and devastating to the human space colonization movement that all FTL travel was put on hold. Chaos erupted, arguments ensued, and it was during this time that the group making its way to the planet known as Hara were cut off.
People on hara developed the same genetic"abnormalities" as the rest of those who had taken FTL drugs. Not only their children, but their children's children, and on down the line, were born into one of five gender categories: woman, fem, herm, men, or man. The crucial difference on Hara, as opposed to within the human colonization effort and humanity as a whole (the "Concord"), was that the people on Hara chose to deny that this change had occurred. Almost all Concord humans had finally embraced the sexual differences and all the new sexual orientations and identities that came with it. They "moved on " with the change and re-started FTL travel. Harans were different. Fiercely traditional, they clung to concepts of men and women, and those who did not fit those categories were, officially, made to fit.
Despite the decision he made at 18, Warreven has made a good life for himself. He's got a job as something like an attorney, part of a three-person team. One of his partners is a man, the other a herm, like himself, only more politically outspoken (having fought a court battle to have legal status as "herm," not one sex or the other). Their firm often handles cases involving the "odd-bodied," those Harans who do not conform to Haran sexual standards. Warren is a skilled negotiator, and thanks to his continuing friendship with the Most Important Man (who still talks wistfully of his would-have-been "daughter-in-law"), he has a comfortable life. In his off time, Warreven's life isn't quite the savory life of a lawyer, however. He enjoys going to "wrangwys" bars, where fems, herms and mems mix amongst themselves, along with men and women who come to experiment in ways which are, officially, either forbidden or strongly frowned upon. In these bars, "wrangwys" become "trade"; Warreven has been "trade" himself.
In Shadow Man, we see Warreven's life change from something mostly stable and secure, where he is happy to remain within the status quo, to one in which his entire life is turned upside down and Hara is on the verge of a minor revolution. The story takes off when one day Warreven meets an offworlder named Tatian. The offworlder has come on an assignment from one of the big pharmaceutical companies trading with Hara, and at first he's strictly business. But after he meets Warreven and is introduced to Haran's rather different social set-up, he can't seem to get himself untangled from a budding revolution among society's oppressed. He finds himself encouraging Warreven and eventually assisting him. It's hard for him to believe the "odd-bodied" have allowed themselves to be oppressed at all, and even harder for him as he watches Warreven struggle with his role in the new revolution, especially when things get out of control, with attacks on bars, beatings, and riot police.
One of the things Scott does in Shadow Man is set up an allegory for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights movement, and one of the things that makes the book work is that this allegory isn't done in a heavy-handed way, but one that makes you understand the nature of social movements and those caught in the crossfire. Warreven doesn't want to be a revolutionary. He doesn't want to be a hero. He doesn't really want to be a herm -- not the way humans on Concord are herms. He doesn't know what any of that is about. However, the way events unfold, he has no choice, morally, but to press on and become a revolutionary, become a hero, and eventually, to become a herm. Change has to start somewhere and it just so happens that it starts with him.
Shadow Man is a wonderful, thought-provoking book which, although somewhat dissatisfying in the fact that it doesn't tie up the book's conflicts in a neat bow, makes you wonder about the nature of being human and being part of society, whether accepted or not.
Better even than "left-hand side of darkness".......1999-06-10
An intelligent social scifi-fantasy book, which does not forget action as well. The topic of gender is more earth-life adapted than U.Guin's book and the observations of transgender and intersex and gay problematics highly accurate.
Best book I read last year. Absolutely recomended and I hope they reprint it!
Interesting issues rather than exciting action.......1998-04-30
I found the sexual/ social issues in this book very interesting. Nowadays there is very little SF I can handle- it all seems to be cookie-cutter adventure series. Shadow Man sets itself apart by looking at something I haven't seen before, namely the social issues facing humans who have been split into five sexes rather than two. My interest was also held by the society described in the book, which is an unusual mix of technology and a more primitive lifestyle.
I admit that the plot wasn't the most exciting- it was basically a vehicle for the book's social issues. However, I found the issues discussed in the book more than enough to keep me reading to the end.
I have since read two more by the same author, Trouble And Her Friends and Night Sky Mine, which are more traditional cyberpunk adventures. While they're OK (and are unusual in that their heroines and heroes are mostly gay), they don't center around the same kind of ideas that made me think while reading Shadow Man. It's definitely the most interesting of the three.
Books:
- The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers
- The Chromaffin Cell: Transmitter Biosynthesis, Storage, Release, Actions, and Informatics (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences)
- The Endless Enigma: Dalí and the Magicians of Multiple Meaning
- The Feel-Good Diet
- The Genius Within: Discovering the Intelligence of Every Living Thing
- The Hippocampal Region of the Domestic Pig: A Histochemical, Immunocytochemical, and Morphometrical Study
- The Kissing Hand
- The Little Wide Mouth Gecko
- The Magic of Thinking Big
- The Orang Utan: Its Biology and Conservation (Perspectives in Vertebrate Science)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Beyond Initial Response: Using the National Incident Management System's Incident Command System
- Tile Style: Creating Beautiful Kitchens, Baths, and Interiors with Tile
- The Psychotronic Video Guide To Film
- The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
- The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts
- Varney's Midwifery, Fourth Edition
- The Lilies of the Field
- Excel Working Papers for Use With Principles of Financial Accounting: Chapters 1-17
- The Memory Jogger 9000/2000: A Pocket Guide to Implementing the ISO 9001 Quality Systems Standard Ba
- Customer Engineering: Cutting Edge Selling Strategies
I Will Survive... and You Will, Too!
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
I Was Wrong: The Untold Story of the Shocking Journey from PTL Power to Prison and Beyond
One Punk Under God: The Prodigal Son Of Jim And Tammy Fae
Jim Bakker: Miscarriage of Justice?
