Book Description
Meet a genuine American folk hero cut from the homespun cloth of America's heartland: Sam Walton, who parlayed a single dime store in a hardscrabble cotton town into Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the world. The undisputed merchant king of the late twentieth century, Sam never lost the common touch. Here, finally, inimitable words. Genuinely modest, but always sure if his ambitions and achievements. Sam shares his thinking in a candid, straight-from-the-shoulder style.
In a story rich with anecdotes and the "rules of the road" of both Main Street and Wall Street, Sam Walton chronicles the inspiration, heart, and optimism that propelled him to lasso the American Dream.
Customer Reviews:
Sam Walton Tells His Success Story.......2007-10-17
Made in America is the Sam Walton success story, published in 1993 just shortly after Walton's death and told by the man who is responsible for founding and building one of the world's largest corporations. Wal- Mart, as we know it today, was borne of humble beginnings, much like its founder. Through hard work, perseverance, and a good deal of stubbornness, Walton grew and expanded his retail network larger than anyone expected, achieving great heights in the retail business that stunned many of Wal- Mart's competitors and Wall Street analysts alike.
I have always been curious about Wal- Mart, its foundation, and its policies. I have had many questions about the company and after reading this book, I finally have some answers. First, I had always wondered if Wal- Mart borrowed part of its name from retail giant K-Mart. The truth is, there was no such borrowing of names on either side. Both businesses were founded in the same year- 1962- and neither had any knowledge of the others name. Also, it wasn't Sam Walton who came up with the Wal- Mart name- it was one of his business associates. Another thing I often wondered about was the growth and expansion of Wal- Mart and why I had never heard of the business until the 1980's. I now have my answer: The Wal- Mart concept was originally intended only for small cities and all of the early stores were built in small towns. It wasn't until the company had grown and matured that it started to expand into larger cities and into the Northern United States. This explains why I knew nothing about the Wal- Mart business and didn't see any of its stores until the early 1980's.
Besides answering my many questions about Wal- Mart, Made in America serves another important purpose: To educate the reader on the foundations of the Wal- Mart business and to demonstrate how the business principles that have helped Wal- Mart succeed can be used to help most any business grow and thrive. Made in America is primarily a business book, and it offers many useful tips on business growth, employee relations, community involvement, and the like. Many of the tips are obvious, but even those that were considered pioneering at the time are still useful for most companies, both new and old.
Sam Walton writes this book in a conversationalist style. It reads like a tape recording of a person speaking. Because of this, the writing skill demonstrated isn't always at the level one would expect from an educated person. The book was co- written by John Huey, but it is still full of grammatical errors, wordiness, etc. I assume that Huey left the book this way because he wanted it to sound as much like Sam Walton as possible. The book is easy enough to understand, but English majors and others will have a field day with all of the grammatical errors and other writing mistakes.
Because this book is intended as a business guide, there is little material that covers Sam Walton's extended family. His wife Helen is mentioned more than anyone, but even she takes a back seat to the business associates that Sam Walton has worked with over the years. The same is true of Sam's four children. He doesn't talk much about them at all, making the reader wonder if the Walton children played any significant role in the Wal- Mart Company's early rise to retail prominence. Each of the four children helps run the business now, but there is little discussion of how they influenced the company in its formative years.
Overall, Made in America is a pretty good book about the Wal- Mart phenomenon and its tremendous growth and influence in the retail sector. I would have liked more discussion on the external pressures (like the labor union issue) pushing Wal- Mart in different directions, but these are touched only briefly. I would also like the book better if it was written in a more professional manner. But this is still a good business book for all to read. It tells the story of how one man turned his love of the retail business into something far greater than he or anyone else imagined. Through hard work, and some smart business maneuvers, Sam Walton helped grow Wal- Mart into a mammoth business. It is a good book that grows on you as you read.
Surprisingly entertaining.......2007-08-05
This book was given to me when I probably wouldn't have bought it myself.
It turned out to be one of the strongest most entertaining entrepreneurial stories I've read. You hear Sam in the pages and you walk away with a greater respect for the man, the store and the story. A fun entertaining read.
Outstanding story of one of our greatest entrepreneurs.......2007-07-12
Outstanding story of Mr. Walton and his vision for affordable retail shopping in America. Chronicles the struggles of this great entrepreneur, and loyalty of his wife thru the process. She lived in fear that they would be penniless because Mr. Walton had so much debt. Story proves that if you have faith in yourself and your vision, your goals can be accomplished. As an entrepreneur myself (see my book Stay-At-Home Mom's Guide to Successful eBay
® Selling ), I found this book very inspiring and full of motivational ideas. Highly recommend to anyone who either has or wants to start his own business.
fast and excellent state.......2007-05-28
the book was in perfect state, sent quicly in a good packaging: perfect!
Fascinating.......2007-03-26
"Made in America" chronicles the meteoric rise of an unlikely billionaire: Sam Walton, who founded Wal-Mart and changed the way of doing business in thousands of small towns in America. The book is candid, enlightening and even funny, a real treat for any would-be entrepreneur. And you don't have to agree with all of Mr. Walton's conclusions about the Wal-Mart effect to learn a great deal from his memoir. Kudos to John Huey, the co-author, for writing a compelling book that maintains Sam Walton's voice.
Amazon.com
Conservative talk radio host, lawyer, and frequent National Review contributor Mark R. Levin comes out firing against the United States Supreme Court in Men in Black, accusing the institution of corrupting the ideals of America's founding fathers. The court, in Levin's estimation, pursues an ideology-based activist agenda that oversteps its authority within the government. Levin examines several decisions in the court's history to illustrate his point, beginning with the landmark Marbury v. Madison case, wherein the court granted itself the power to declare acts of the other branches of government unconstitutional. He devotes later chapters to other key cases culminating in modern issues such as same-sex marriage and the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill. Like effective attorneys do, Levin packs in copious research material and delivers his points with tremendous vigor, excoriating the justices for instances where he feels strict constit utional constructivism gave way to biased interpretation. But Levin's definition of "activism" seems inconsistent. In the case of McCain-Feingold, the court declined to rule on a bill already passed by congress and signed by the president, but Levin, who thinks the bill violates the First Amendment, still accuses them of activism even when they were actually passive. To his talk-radio listeners, Levin's hard-charging style and dire warnings of the court's direction will strike a resonant tone of alarm, though the hyperbole may be a bit off-putting to the uninitiated. As an attack on the vagaries of decisions rendered by the Supreme Court and on some current justices, Men in Black scores points and will likely lead sympathetic juries to conviction. --John Moe
Book Description
Mark Levin throws the book at our own judicial system--in particular, American judges who ignore the Constitution and dismantle the rights of American citizens in everyday court proceedings. He shares jaw-dropping examples of judicial power grabs and liberal power plays by judges.
Customer Reviews:
Are we simply sheep being led astray?.......2007-09-19
The first thing I would suggest doing before reading this book or any other political book is to actually read the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights. It can be found for free on the internet.
When discussing one of my favorite issues of our time, the interaction of government and religion, invariably the phrase of "Separation of Church and State" is put forth. My simple retort is to then challenge the individual to find that phrase in the U.S. Constitution. It's my belief that if you asked the entire population of the United States, 80 - 90% of the people would say that phrase could be found in the Constitution. But alas, those words can be found nowhere in the Constitution or the first amendment specifically. It isn't all that surprising that people hold that belief based on the fact that the phrase is uttered ad nauseam through the media, politicians and judges. This simple fact alone leads me to suggest actually reading the entire document before moving on to books regarding the Constitution.
The above being said, whether you are a middle of the roader, left wing loony or a right wing nut job like me I think Mr. Levin's Men in Black is a valuable read. It gives accounts on how the judiciary has usurped power that isn't specifically given it in the Constitution.
For people that applaud judicial activism such as Roe v. Wade, rulings against religious activities, etc. they should take pause and consider that someday the result may be widespread judicial activism from the right. Neither being a good thing. Legislating belongs in Congress where politicians are accountable to the people by election. To me Mr. Levin shows the danger of when judges take power not given them in the Constitution and use it to get their personally desired results enacted.
The book is specifically broken out in chapters that discuss specific topics, such as role of religion, rights to privacy, social policy enacted from the bench as well as several others. While I felt the arguments could have at times been better developed, I do believe this is a valuable book to read to gain a better understanding of our current judiciary climate and how we got to this stage.
Courts out of control .......2007-09-13
The constitution, federal law, and American culture dictate in the most extreme manner that the power of the government belongs to the people through their elected ombudsmen in Congress.
The US Supreme Court took it upon themselves to state what the law says, and where the power is to be held, which is not what the founders or the constitution clearly states. In fact it is up to the court to police themselves and define where their power is and where it is not, just look at Marbury vs. Madison.
The power of government belongs to the citizens of the United States through the honestly elected congressionals, not to a bunch of elitist left wing thugs who have the OVER privilege to sit on the bench and decide how we the people should live.
Court decisions like Roe vs. Wade were completely unconstitutional where the court erroneously cited the right to privacy where the Constitution itself says nothing about abortion and thus the document left the issue and other social issues to be independently decided by state governments and state voters, not some liberal elitist thugs in Washington.
American power belongs to the people themselves through direct voter participation, elected congressional figures, and the honorably elected executive in the White House when it comes to issues of Terrorism and national emergency in the 21st century.
Issues such as Miranda rights, Map Verses Ohio, Roe vs. Wade, and other unjust rulings should be decided by state voters, state legislatures, and sovereign state governments not a bunch of elites in the Federal government.
The states have a large amount of power, and should have that power over numerous social and legal issues; Federal power is granted through the consent of the states, not the other way around.
The jaws of the American Supreme Court must be defanged, their power must be checked, and judges on all levels of the law should be held accountable to the people.
The law serves the people; the people do not serve the left wing elitist snobs who took it upon themselves to declare that they are the law.
America must remain democratic, constitutionally republican, and free for all time.
God bless the USA.
Finally the TRUE story of what has been going on in the Supreme Court.......2007-08-28
I was shocked to read the real story of what has been going on in the Supreme Court all these years. Thanks to Mark Levin to bring it out in the open.
This made the best sellers list?.......2007-08-19
Wow. I guess the way to the best sellers list is to: 1. ignore logical consistency; 2. ignore competing arguments; 3. distort history; 4. bash your opponents with heat, but no light. What a formula. For those interested in a serious work about the same themes, take a look at Kermit Roosevelt's book on Judicial Activism.
Supreme Court is SUPREME POWER....scary...........2007-05-31
The antics of the Supreme Court (Supreme God ?) were quite eye opening, and who better to tell the story.....
Our population needs to start marching in front of the court building and making our opinions known.
This book points out the problems when people are appointed for life and then have NO ACCOUNTABILITY.
The detail about the cases cited and researched is amazing....the facts are scary, but important for everyone in America to understand that the Court can and does regularly take away in some way every liberty we think we posess.
A must reading......I highly recommend it.
Book Description
The Geography of Nowhere traces America's evolution from a nation of Main Streets and coherent communities to a land where every place is like no place in particular, where the cities are dead zones and the countryside is a wasteland of cartoon architecture and parking lots.
In elegant and often hilarious prose, Kunstler depicts our nation's evolution from the Pilgrim settlements to the modern auto suburb in all its ghastliness. The Geography of Nowhere tallies up the huge economic, social, and spiritual costs that America is paying for its car-crazed lifestyle. It is also a wake-up call for citizens to reinvent the places where we live and work, to build communities that are once again worthy of our affection. Kunstler proposes that by reviving civic art and civic life, we will rediscover public virtue and a new vision of the common good. "The future will require us to build better places," Kunstler says, "or the future will belong to other people in other societies."
Customer Reviews:
luddite indictment of a car .......2007-05-22
The book is well written and provides a lot of facts, though many of these may be known anyhow. However, the author's pet idea - that the car is THE reason for aberrations in suburban development - begins to be more and more irritating as we read on; there is one large chapter devoted to the car and road planning, but if this were not enough the point gets reiterated every few paragraphs. Perhaps indeed the car is the ultimate evil of modern civilization; if only we didn't have to reread this again and again.
As a form of compensation, we get very limited look at the social, economic and demographic causes of all landscape changes during past century. Yes, there is a mention of some historical events, such as WWII, but it disappears under the weight of all those cars blamed for commercial strips, parking lots and suburban housing. Somehow, the population growth, which the strips, suburbs, parking lots and cars try to accomodate, gets overlooked. But then, we get also a healthy dose of nostagia after the goode olde times, when towns were small, kids could play in the streets without a risk of traffic accident, and farms were the base of economy. I could not escape the impression that the author's leading motive was to lament the lifestyles gone.
A Worthy Rant.......2007-02-08
This is book is largely a rant--well-researched and eloquent--but a rant nonetheless. Overwrought with cynicism, it is hard to distinguish Kunstler's reasonable concerns from his own sense of nostalgia. He draws some erroneous parallels (e.g. holding Disney World to the standard of anything but an amusement park) but does make an effective point regarding how U.S. citizens were ill-prepared for the after effects of the heyday of the automobile.
Fundamentally, Kunstler's cynicism aside, he's an advocate for renewed interest in civic planning, decreased dependency on fossil fuels, and models of sustainability. He presents Portland, OR as the best model for a city and the community of Seaside, FL as the model for a smaller town. He sees urban planning as the opportunity to develop while respecting the present landscape and enriching sense of community and public space.
The weakness of the book lies in the author's bitterness, which disguises his very real passion for the topic. The saving grace is that given most of his likely readership, he is preaching to the choir who understands his anger. This choir will understand that Kunstler embeds important lessons in his bleak diatribe--lessons worth embracing.
Kunstler's Gift of Entertaining While Informing.......2006-11-29
I have little more to add to the many thorough reviews already posted, so I'll just note what grabbed me: it was the rare book that was fun to read, even while dealing with serious societal problems in a thoughtful manner. A great introduction to community development issues.
highway to hell.......2006-02-01
Last night in his State of the Union speech, G. W. Bush pointed out the obvious fact that America depends far too heavily on oil to support its lifestyle. Whoever programmed him to say that must have been reacting to the mounting unrest over the crises associated with big oil: war, pollution, corruption, and extreme flabbiness.
Most of the problems associated with oil are problems associated with cars, and cars are the focus of J. H. Kunstler's book. Published in the early 90s, The Geography of Nowhere describes the impact of automobiles on the development of the U.S. Apparently, things started to go south during the Depression, when people were driven out of cities by poverty and the diminishing quality of life in the tenements. Fueling the flight to the suburbs were New Deal programs to build roads and cheap houses. In the ensuing decades the American landscape was built to serve cars rather than people, and that is what Kunstler is angry about. His main criticisms are:
1) A lot of the architecture, both residential and commerical, is very ugly. Buildings are constructed quickly and cheaply, and without regard to their surroundings. After all, what's the point of worrying about your surroundings if people are just going to drive directly to their destination? On this point, Kunstler is angry and sarcastic, though often funny. However, his tone is unfortunate, because ugliness is ultimately a matter of opinion, and I would bet that most people would say they are quite happy living in their suburban boxes. Kunstler argues that people are happy this way because they don't know any better, and he's probably right, but as far as I know there is no good way to force people to appreciate beauty.
2) When you step back from the individual buildings, and look at the organization of towns and cities, things start to look really grim. Here Kunstler's got a good point. Throughout most of America, the landscape is zoned into residential and commercial districts, which are separated by long stretches of four-lane roads. The residential zones are further divided by income (and to a lesser extent, by race and ethnicity), impeding the development of anything like a genuine community. The result is a weird mix of intolerance and paranoia that pervades the culture of what has historically been a relatively progressive nation.
3) At an even larger scale, the impact of cars on the nation and on the world seems absolutely dire. The Geography of Nowhere was written before car companies had figured out how to trick yuppies into buying pick-up trucks, and by now there is a broad scientific consensus that the Earth's climate is getting warmer as a result of human activities. Yet people continue to buy bigger and bigger SUVs, and to drive them longer distances to get to work or to buy their microwaveable burritos. It's like a hideous inversion of the idea of public transportation, in which every individual drives his or her own bus to work. Here it's not merely a matter of personal preference -- it's only possible for an individual to drive an SUV if other people subsidize the cost of cheap oil and environmental degradation. In all likelihood these other people haven't been born yet.
Ultimately, someone has to make decisions about the development of towns and cities, and there's no reason in a democratic society why these decisions have to be based on short-term economic interests. Although most suburbanites are probably not miserable in their surroundings, I doubt if anyone would consider their dependence on cars to be ideal. The Geography of Nowhere is a good way to start thinking about kicking the habit.
The Rise and Decline of Humanity.......2006-01-01
I believe that many of the ways we view our lives and live it is directly related to the relation of space, especially where our homes are and what we do daily.
Kunstler points out very cunningly and sometimes with anger how horrible America has set up its cities - cities of which I usually refer to as 'Suburbia World' and America, for a large part, really has turned into a world of suburbia, of endless homes stacked next to each other in a large sea, of which all its inhabitants commute to a Office park some 30 miles away.
Anyway, although Kunstler does not cover as in-depth as I believe he should, he points out many architectural and planning elements that even I, as an architecture student in Los Angeles, have never truly observed. He so well argues against suburban development that I am, even more than before, inspired to work on architectural projects that have nothing to do with suburban qualities (although this shall be very difficult).
If you are looking for a book to explain how horrible our cities really are (especially in the suburban world) and have never had the vocabulary to express that please read this book, it is something I wish everyone could understand and react to.
Amazon.com
Readers from Toad Suck, Arkansas, to Idiotsville, Oregon--and everywhere in between--will love Made in America, Bill Bryson's Informal History of the English Language in the United States. It is, in a word, fascinating. After reading this tour de force, it's clear that a nation's language speaks volumes about its true character: you are what you speak. Bryson traces America's history through the language of the time, then goes on to discuss words culled from everyday activities: immigration, eating, shopping, advertising, going to the movies, and others.
Made in America will supply you with interesting facts and cocktail chatter for a year or more. Did you know, for example, that Teddy Roosevelt's "speak softly and carry a big stick" credo has its roots in a West African proverb? Or that actor Walter Matthau's given name is Walter Mattaschanskayasky? Or that the supposedly frigid Puritans--who called themselves "Saints," by the way--had something called a pre-contract, which was a license for premarital sex? Made in America is an excellent discussion of American English, but what makes the book such a treasure is that it offers much, much more.
Book Description
Bill Bryson, who gave glorious voice to The Mother Tongue, now celebrates her magnificent offspring in the book that reveals once and for all how a dusty western hamlet with neither woods nor holly came to be known as Hollywood...and exactly why Mr. Yankee Doodle call his befeathered cap "Macaroni."
Customer Reviews:
Remember the Story of the Past.......2007-05-31
I believe Bill Bryson did a magnificent job in his book Made in America with outlining some points in history that we may not have as much of the whole story as we think we do from school. While he illustrates some untold truths of people and events we have for so long put on such a high pedestal his main point is to analyze the English Language in the United States. It is interesting how he manages to tie these to points together and helps one understand how the book flows and the history. My family has always taught me to think for myself and to keep an open mind because history is written by the victor and may not always be the whole truth. I do not think most people grow up with that kind of support and idealism and I think Bill Bryson points this out to many who seem to think that what they learned in school is the God spoken truth even if all the evidence in the world and common sense point otherwise.
I found that my theory of this seemed to be true on many occasions on where I had to interact and converse with my fellow classmates. Many had a hard time believing that there could be anything bad about certain historical figures that have been for so long up on a pedestal that they didn't believe that the people could have even errored. These historical figures are looked upon as Gods, not flawed humans. I noticed a conversation of two of my classmates on Thomas Edison, I believe, and they couldn't believe that all his inventions weren't his. They refused to believe that he could have even possibly have stole the ideas, and the reason for their disbelief, and I'm paraphrasing here, "Because I've never read anything like that in school" apparently they didn't realize that this class includes this book and is school, and "I didn't know him, so I'm just going to go off of what I've been told, and he's good in my book." It seems that people can be confronted with almost unlimited evidence and still say the sky is green.
However, this wasn't the first time I have experienced such things, my Grandmother makes a common example. She refuses to believe even under, again, almost unlimited evidence that Columbus was a bad guy. I have told her he was evil, and she gives me a cocky `I'm not going to believe anything you say because I'm older and know more' smile and says "Why? Because he discovered a country" And that is word for word what she said. Then I try to explain to her why he was evil, and all I get is her shaking her head and saying "Well, I don't believe that. I've never even heard of anything like that."
Of course, after taking a year of psychology I understand why all this is. It is hard for a human being to let go of great ideology of someone after being indoctrinated for so long. I myself have done it; I love my grandfather and for the longest time thought he could do no wrong, and I wouldn't listen to my mother when she tried to warn me it wasn't true. I found out the hard and very disappointed way that he is a racist. But I was a little surprised about my classmates' reaction. You see, the law of psychology in this case is that it is nearly impossible for a human being to let go of this kind of ideology after being indoctrinated for so long, so I expected it with my grandmother, but not young people who were still learning and were still supposed to be open minded.
In school we are often taught just the more wonderful things of the past and our often filled with lies to make everything seem golden as well. A good example of this was the story of one of my favorite professors, Professor Loewen. Professor Loewen was a college professor for American History at a state college. With his first lecture he would ask all the students a bunch of questions and every year he would get around the same statistics of about only an 11% minority being correct. The questions would mostly be on the false superiority of the white man and the opposite of the black man. Well, he began to wonder how they were all getting this false information. It turned out that the textbooks used very old data, and were not much younger themselves, and contained the false information. Well then, he set out to make a new high school text book that would be more accurate. He was very proud of his work and sent this text to the school board for approval. He was turned down 4 to 2. There were four white men on the board and two black men, guess who voted what. In the end he went to court because they wouldn't say why it was turned down. So when the judge finally asked the board why, the board turned to a certain page of a very old, very blurry photo and not very graphic photo of a lynching of a black man. The Boardman said he was afraid the picture would start riots in the school, and it happened so very long ago, why bring it up? The judge decided to answer the question and said "Well, it is a history book, and our state has had more lynchings than any in the country." Professor Loewen won his case.
Bill Bryson did a great job of tying language and history together, but he also tied in psychology, whether that was planned or unknowingly done I don't know. Either way, however, knowing the language at the time of the events gives us some clues into the minds of the people living in the times. He starts all the way from how a nursery rhyme will stay within a culture long after it's meaning has been forgotten all the way to the almost present day America where we are the richest country and European descent is quickly becoming a minority but far from this being a bad thing and most immigrants believe that if you live in America you should speak English (in other words, like everyone else) and become a productive citizen no matter what.
Bill Bryson points out tragedies of the past and almost present, but he all presents the hope in both. Yes, there were things that we shouldn't be proud of in the past, but it doesn't mean all of the past was bad. And yes, even in recent times we've done wrong, but that doesn't mean all our people are bad or the world is coming to an end. Bill Bryson simply points out that there were good things in the past, there were bad things in the past, there were things in between, some even comical, but this doesn't change who we are. It does change our perspective on ourselves and our nation though, in a sense we are no longer glorifying ourselves and godlike, but we are flawed and real. As long as we acknowledge the past we can move forward and we can progress individually and as a nation, because now we are no longer ashamed and we no longer hide. You weep for the victims of the past and you smile unto the survivors, but the most important thing is to not forget their story.
Myth buster.......2007-05-21
I had read several of Bryson's magazine articles and enjoyed them. This book, while full of fascinating information and facts, was a little too much of a good thing under one cover. Fortunately, the chapters were easily devoured in one sitting and the book could be returned to after several days without losing track. An enjoyable, easy read.
funny.......2007-03-16
Bill Bryson has a unique and interesting writing style. You just can't put his books down. Makes you understand the little nuances of his travels.
A re-hash of other people's originality . . ........2007-01-29
This popular history of the American version of the language is better written than most of his other books -- even though, as usual, he spends half his time in digressions. First, there are several chapters about the early history of North American settlement, with language covered almost as an afterthought, then several chapters on our early national history, then on the westward movement, then on the effects of immigration on the development of English, and so on. Later chapters cover the influences of politics and war, of technological change, and of advertising and the movies. All this is interesting, in a anecdotal way, but those reviewers who touted this book as "scholarly" are dead wrong. He scatters lots of words through each chapter but seldom discusses their provenance. There are a great many footnotes and a lengthy bibliography, but not one bit of originality.
For the Etymological Nerd.......2007-01-21
Made in America is recomended especially for the etymological nerd at heart. Bryson takes a look at word development specifically in America and how various countries/cultures influenced American English and word origins.
Portions of history are interspersed as well which provide a nice respite from a purely etymological perspective on words. Bryson's humorous writing style makes learning the history of words somewhat fun. At times, one needs to wade through monotonous parts and using a skimming reading technique is advised.
Book Description
Blithely flinging aside the Victorian manners that kept her disapproving mother corseted, the New Woman of the 1920s puffed cigarettes, snuck gin, hiked her hemlines, danced the Charleston, and necked in roadsters. More important, she earned her own keep, controlled her own destiny, and secured liberties that modern women take for granted. Her newfound freedom heralded a radical change in American culture.
Whisking us from the Alabama country club where Zelda Sayre first caught the eye of F. Scott Fitzgerald to Muncie, Indiana, where would-be flappers begged their mothers for silk stockings, to the Manhattan speakeasies where patrons partied till daybreak, historian Joshua Zeitz brings the era to exhilarating life. This is the story of America’s first sexual revolution, its first merchants of cool, its first celebrities, and its most sparkling advertisement for the right to pursue happiness.
The men and women who made the flapper were a diverse lot.
There was Coco Chanel, the French orphan who redefined the feminine form and silhouette, helping to free women from the torturous corsets and crinolines that had served as tools of social control.
Three thousand miles away, Lois Long, the daughter of a Connecticut clergyman, christened herself “Lipstick” and gave New Yorker readers a thrilling entrée into Manhattan’s extravagant Jazz Age nightlife.
In California, where orange groves gave way to studio lots and fairytale mansions, three of America’s first celebrities—Clara Bow, Colleen Moore, and Louise Brooks, Hollywood’s great flapper triumvirate—fired the imaginations of millions of filmgoers.
Dallas-born fashion artist Gordon Conway and Utah-born cartoonist John Held crafted magazine covers that captured the electricity of the social revolution sweeping the United States.
Bruce Barton and Edward Bernays, pioneers of advertising and public relations, taught big business how to harness the dreams and anxieties of a newly industrial America—and a nation of consumers was born.
Towering above all were Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald, whose swift ascent and spectacular fall embodied the glamour and excess of the era that would come to an abrupt end on Black Tuesday, when the stock market collapsed and rendered the age of abundance and frivolity instantly obsolete.
With its heady cocktail of storytelling and big ideas, Flapper is a dazzling look at the women who launched the first truly modern decade.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
Fun Read!.......2007-10-02
This book was such an enjoyable read. I was excited to get it after reading the good reviews and was not disappointed. I highly recommend it.
Interesting, but leaves some things out.......2007-09-26
I found this book extremely fascinating. I often read literature about feminism and women, but hadn't ever read much about the 1920s. Although this book does center on F. Scott Fitzgerald for the first one-third or so, most of it deals with women of the so-called "flapper" era.
Something that took me by surprise was the detail the author goes into regarding fashion of the day. The surprising part was that I found it fascinating! I'm not a big fashion buff, but think the idea of cultural critique via fashion is a very interesting one.
The book is divided into thirds, with the first one-third being about, as I said, F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, the "quintessential flapper couple," as well as various prominent figures of this era, including Lois Long, a writer for the fledgling "New Yorker"--which, interestingly, was not always as highbrow as it is now. These people had lives which could (and probably do) all fill books individually, so some of the mini-biographies feel a bit superficial, but I'm sure a book that was exhaustive would be several hundred pages long. The second portion of the book is devoted to fashion, and the final one-third of the book is dedicated to the films of the era. An epilogue describes the eventual fates of each of the book's main players.
This is definitely a book well worth reading, but it has a couple of flaws. It does get dry in some portions, and you have to just "power through" to get back to the interesting parts. Obviously, these will vary from reader to reader, as I'm sure not all people would be as interested in the fashion portion as I was. One other fundamental problem, though, is that this could be subtitled "A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the WHITE Women Who Made America Modern." The author alludes to the fact that the flappers looked down on black women as not being "true" flappers--indeed, he derisively describes an article in which Lois Long mentions that black women in Harlem were doing the Charleston, and doing it not as well as white women, although African-Americans invented the Charleston themselves. He also includes a picture of an Asian-American actress who, according to the caption, "challenged the notion that flappers had to be white and native-born." That is as much of a mention as other cultures get in the book. It seems strange to touch on this subject of non-white flappers and then never say another word about it. If he was going to focus on whites, that's fine, but to bring up other races and not delve into those cultures seems strange. Better to leave it out entirely.
This book is rarely dull and I learned a great deal about an era which has always had a degree of fascination for me, but about which I had never read. You will be entertained and you will learn something--what a great combination!
Good, but maybe take it with half a grain of salt.......2007-08-10
I picked up the hardcover of this as a fun, quick, summer read. I wasn't disappointed; it's very much like _Only Yesterday_despite the 75-year difference in publishing dates.
I think that, overall, this is a good book, and I think that it makes many valid and interesting points about what made the 1920's so "revolutionary" and why the decade marked the beginnings of modern American culture.
My two minor complaints were that--and this is mostly a matter of taste--I wanted a little more in-depth information, and I was disappointed that the section describing women's clothing of the preceding century was either carelessly researched or carelessly generalized. The description of the layers was inaccurate and, at best, reflected only that of the closing decades of the century. There was quite a lot of variation in dress between 1800 and 1910 and it was both unfair and misleading to lump the relatively comfortable clothing of the Regency era in with the extremely restrictive clothing of the second half of the century and the early 20th century. Regency women did wear corsets but they were not the waist-crushing monstrosities to which later generations were subjected; many were not even boned and served to smooth out the body beneath the dress rather than torque it into an entirely new shape, not unlike the Spandex foundation garments many women wear today. Regency clothing and undergarments in many respects had more in common with 1920's clothing than with that of any other era in recent history.
It does make you want to run out and bob your hair, though!
Everything you ever wanted to know about the history of the Flapper.......2007-07-17
This book is basically a history book of the FLAPPER Era, and also of the people that were part of the Flapper trend.
If you ever wondered where the term came from, and why it had evolved as such, then this well-written history book will fill you in.
There are not many photos, because this book is mainly a history book. Each Chapter is filled with loads of information relevant to the Flapper Era.
Not only does this book explain the Flapper trends, but also the book talks about all the people that made the Flapper Era so interesting and so broad in the 1920's (eg: F.Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda, Dorothy Parker, etc).
Excellent Overview of the Era.......2007-06-20
This reads almost like a novel, and is great about putting the whole era for women in perspective.
Book Description
Gates reveals the guiding genius behind the unparalleled success of the Microsoft Corporation-- the biggest and most profitable personal computer software company in history-- and exposes the intensely competitive tactics that help it dominate the desktops of America.
Chairman and co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates is the most powerful person in the computer industry and the youngest self-made billionaire in history. His company's DOS and Windows programs are such universal standards that more than nine out of ten personal computers depend on Microsoft software. Under the "Microsoft Everywhere" rallying cry, Gates intends to expand his company's worldwide dominance to office equipment, communications, and home entertainment.
Vivid and definitive, Gates details the behind the scenes history of the personal computer industry and its movers and shakers, from Apple to IBM, from Steve Jobs to Ross Perot. Uncovering the inside stories of the bitter battle for control of the expanding personal computing market, Gates is a bracing, comprehensive portrait of the industry, the company, and the man-- and what they mean for a future where software is everything.
Customer Reviews:
The golly-geewhiz boyscout version of the early Gates.......2007-04-07
This is the version of Microsoft and the rise of Gates that you should read if you think that computers are utterly wonderful and fascinating things in themselves: it is full of breathless excitment, multiple exclamation points, and minute personal detail. The tone of the book would suggest that the development of software for the PC is as fantastic a technological achievement as putting men on the moon, or even, if you go along with the quote that precedes the introduction, as godlike as the creation of the universe. (I kid you not on that quote.)
However, if you think of computers as a flawed, though useful tool that you want to use, that you want to work for the task at hand and do not care to coax it through innumerable design flaws and bugs, that kind of ga-ga view is preposterous and indeed superfluous. I found reading this a dreary task of wending my way though a proliferation of silly adjectives and presumptions about the significance of what was being achieved. Don't get me wrong, I love my computer and its instant info access (particularly as a writer), but I do not equate it with anything as significant as the invention of movable type. If you never felt like a god while programming a hobbyist computer or shared kid geeks' excitment at telephoning a mainframe in the late 1960s - what these first programmers were achieving is never even explained, as the book assumes the reader should know - this gets pretty tedious after a few hundred pages of hyperbole. Unbelievable as it may seem, there are those of us who want their computers to work as reliably and simply as toasters (as an acquaintence, who is an employee at MS, characterised me).
That tone aside, you get a fairly good idea of how Gates did what he did up until the early 1990s. At building a great company, there is no question he was a genius. Moreover, it is interesting in that he understood and contributed to the early technology's development, yet had the guts, self confidence, and business smarts to do it all. Now that is something I deeply respect. He was lucky to be sure, but he was able to do what a lot of others couldn't. Gates made a huge number of path-breaking decisions about licensing, pricing schemes, intellectual property questions, etc., which are complex and extremely innovative and savvy.
Nonetheless, this book covers much of the same ground that "Hard Drive" does, and in fact offers much less than that book. In particular, the book does not question how Microsoft does business, i.e. whether it is unfair or unethical. As such, it is wholly admiring hagiography, even if it portrays Gates as an abrasive and very difficult person. You get virtually no insight into the FTC anti-trust case or the supposed unfair advantages the MS got from selling both the operating system and higher-level application which forces competitors to share their technology, while MS does not have to do so. These are tough questions that need to be asked and debated.
As such, behind the florid razzle-dazzle rhetoric, this book fails to dig deeply. Indeed, I think they got a lot of what motivated Gates wrong: they imply that because he discovered people of equal talent at Harvard and so went into computers and business instead. They explain little that you find in Hard Drive about his ruthless competitive spirit or how he incessently read about great conquerors as well as the hard core business press. He wanted to build an empire from an early age, and he loved computers in a way I will never comprehend.
With these criticisms in mind, I would not recommend this book for critical readers who want to understand the company. The authors, in my reading, unabashedly worship Gates and assume the reader shares their unbounded enthusiasm for software and computer technology. There is more to it than that, far more.
Not recommended.
Very informative and well written.......2007-03-16
If you want to know more about Microsoft's early history, Bill Gates' life, and the history of personal computers, you will find this book highly appropriate for the job. Gates book reads more like a novel, as it's full of anecdotes, personal accounts, and photographs. This is a great book.
A Detailed History in the Making of a Monoply..........2003-06-04
I won't get wordy here but I read this book twice and enjoyed it both times. It goes into the life of Bill Gates; his thought process, his work ethics, his childhood and how Microsoft established it's dominance. It's a good read even though it's over 500 pages. I highly recommend this book along with the book "Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire". This is the way it really happened. Not the way the movie "Pirates of SV" incorrectly portrayed it.
Great history of PC computing.......2003-02-02
I bought this book expecting to skim through it to find out a little more about what Bill Gates was like. But it's a wonderfully readable history of the growth of PC's, from the early days when the best a school kid (Bill himself) could do was to try to get access to a teletype time-share system, on through the first home "computers" that amounted to little more than a bunch of switches and LEDs (no keyboard or monitor), to IBM coming out with the PC and Microsoft's amazing good fortune at supplying the OS (great story! Bill just cared about programming languages, mostly BASIC, and saw the DOS manuever mostly just as a way to ensure that BASIC would run on the new IBM machine!), on thru the OS/2 vs. Windows battles.
It even has a lot of inside detail on the development of the Apple Macintosh. I recently read "Accidental Empires" (the basis for the TV documentary "Triumph of the Nerds"), and found Gates to be a far better and more readable history of the PC's startup.
The book is packed with interviews and amusing or interesting anecdotes. It's well written and well edited. One drawback for some people will be that it hasn't been updated since 1995, but for the two main things that have happened since then - the anti-trust suit against Microsoft and the rise of the Internet - there are plenty of other sources.
An interesting account of Bill and the evolution of the PC.......2002-11-18
This very readable book provides a candid overview of the rise of Bill Gates and Microsoft. I found it interesting and insightful. Like much of the material about "billg", I find it a little sycophantic -- but it is not over the top. Key success ingredients: early signs of selfishness, million dollar trust-fund from his grandfather (which no doubt provided safety and leverage at the start), an early passion for an incredibly important technology at the critical period and a shrewd, single-mindedness. I suspect Bill is not a particularly compassionate, polite, happy or fair person -- however I bet he is really efficient!
Book Description
The globeÂ's first true world war comes vividly to life in this “rich, cautionary tale” (The New York Times Book Review)
The French and Indian War —the North American phase of a far larger conflagration, the Seven YearsÂ' War—remains one of the most important, and yet misunderstood, episodes in American history. Fred Anderson takes readers on a remarkable journey through the vast conflict that, between 1755 and 1763, destroyed the French Empire in North America, overturned the balance of power on two continents, undermined the ability of Indian nations to determine their destinies, and lit the “long fuse” of the American Revolution. Beautifully illustrated and recounted by an expert storyteller, The War That Made America is required reading for anyone interested in the ways in which war has shaped the history of America and its peoples.
Customer Reviews:
Solid History devoid of Dogma.......2007-09-25
Anderson has put together a real gem here that many people -- many besides Americans -- should get a lot of meaning out of. The themes he develops are very germane but overlooked in the standard New World View of history. Although most Americans see it as self-evident that America should have revolted from Britain, twenty years prior to the beginning of the revolution America was solidly British. The mere thought of revolt would have provoked a laugh.
Indeed why should America revolt at all prior to the revolution: it enjoyed the lowest taxes and was heavily subsidsed by Britain; it was more properpous and the standard of living much higher than Britain. The reason was simply that since the British triumph in what the Americans came to call the "The French-Indian Wars" the security threat to America had been removed. With differing security interests the Americans chaffed as defence taxes (against no real enemies), and treaties with natives designed to protect the tribal rights confined the growing westward drive of the American spirit. This uncontained spirit would later ravish the west and deprive and despoil the Indian nations.
Anderson traces the early threads of these interests. The Canadians had the finest frontier light infantry in the pre-revolutionary era. They regularly took on and beat the British and Americans. But with only 1/10 of the population, whatever early advantages they gained -- and there were many -- only put off the inevitable reckoning. Finally the British gathered strength and defeated the French in classic field maneuvres of pitched battles and sieges. For all the romance the myth of harrassing infantry and slow death in the winderness woods, the ranger fronteirsman played no strategic role in the engagements to conquer North America. The deciding battles were more classic set-pieces, akin to what to was happening in Europe, than many would like to realise.
The Americans and British also unleashed a paranoid warlike anger on the Natives of North America. As Anderson states, prior to this war the Iroquois nation was a true nation and regarded so by the British and the French. It was the third party to be negotiated, placated and coopted in any measurement of power. Natives were no peaceful savages, but nation- state actors cognizant of their rights and ability to win of loose through hitching their cart to the right or wrong alliance. In 1750 they could stand their own against both the British and the French. By 1760 Native tribes would never again be considered state actors in American history. Although Britian tried to hold the line on white encroachment, Americans thought otherwise and the war at last gave full vent to those who looked upon it as a time long in coming to expand and slaughter natives to make way for white settlements.
Once the French were defeated Britain and America no longer enjoyed a common enemy. Hence cooperation and community of interests diverged. Paying taxes (and none really existed except a nominal one for tea) was seen -- some my argue irrationally -- as reason to part ways. But why should American's pay tax for protection against a enemy that no longer existed by 1760.
British agreements with North American Natives protecting them from White encroachment, were also seen as denying the American manifest destiny. It is how this war at first fused and then disolved interests that Anderson tells in an amazing narrative.
I also was profoundly impacted by Anderson's treatment of the Iroquois nation. The traditional notion of Native Americans (both within and outside of Native history) has seen their actions as being ones of enlightened savants at best and unnoble savages at worst -- in tune with nature, but not able to think about their own self-interests. Anderson dispels such foolery and supplants it solid academic research that very much butresses the rational nature of the North American Indian -- oh but if traditional White and native "culturist" historians could do the same. Anderson restores the Native North American to his rightful place -- as a rational nation state actor in international relations. A nation state that was also destroyed by the American nation and ironically more or less protected in Canada (which saw no Indian wars).
A fine book and a wonderful read. Good details in this slim volume.
Fantastic.......2007-03-11
I've read many books about the American Revolution, and they generally concentrate on events after about 1770. This book gives you a good history of what America and Canada were like between 1720 and 1770. I've picked up more history about the role of the American Indian tribes with respect to interaction with the French, British and colonies than any other book I've ever read. The book is very well written, and moves right along. The author takes you through the alliances with various Indian tribes and the French, British and Colonists. Who knew that Pennsylvania basically hired the Iroquois to act as enforcer and protector against other tribes. The author also takes you through the massacre at Fort William Henry, which was the backdrop to Last of the Mohicans. Reading this book makes me want to see the movie again. Lots more to like in this book including the rise and influence of William Pitt and the impact of events in Europe on the conflicts in North America. Enjoy.
Superb balance of narrative, scholarship and originality.......2007-02-03
The French and Indian Wars are generally treated as a subtheme in the wider context of the war between Britain and France that in a single year -- 1759 -- gave Britain its Empre -- Wolfe's capture of Quebec, Clive's victories in India which provided the treasures that funded the Industrial Revolution, the capture of the sugar islands that createdSilicon Valley wealth for the new political class, and Hawke's and Boscawen's naval victories that began the ownership of the oceans that soon was extended by Cochrane and Nelson as the consequent protagonists of an entirely new style of sea battle.
The American colonial part of this triumph is generally seen as at most a sideshow, although one of the well-known and great ironies of history is that the entire war was launched -- after a long build up -- by the blunder of a young British officer, George Washington that gave the French the excuse they needed to start what was indeed the first global war.
This excellent, well-written book with, from my own knowledge, its impeccably researched and balanced scholarship, shifts the focus from Europe to the complex four-sided relationships and intense politics of the Iroquois Six Nations, very sophisticated and key to the British success, the British administrators/military commanders, the Colonial players and their French equivalents. It helps explain better than any other book I have read how it was this period and this war that is at the roots of the American Revolution and perhaps made it inevitable.
It is strong in bringing to life key personalities -- not Washington, who is a constant background presence -- but Amherst, Johnson, Montcalm and Vaudreil and their competition and conflicts, and also the extent to which alliances with the Indians who controlled the territories of the Ohio "West" and the betrayals on both sides were fundamental to the war. It also and undramatically shows how the anti-Indian racism emerged and how the Indians were hardly the "Noble Savages" of romantic myth.
It's a great story if you are not familiar with the era and the War. If you are, I think it offers a thought-provoking new slant on an old subject. It is compact and subtle. It does not push any pet topic or thesis.
I recommend this unreservedly.
Nasty "three party" war ........2006-12-20
This is a fast read, packed with colorful military figures, political developments, important battles and conflicts in North America linked to parallel war in Europe. We have three nations involved: French, British (including land thirsty colonists) and oscillating between them undecided manipulated and confused Natives. Too bad for North America Indians they could not consolidate and fight as a one Nation, but this is typical among humans - short term goals are more important than meaningful, potentially long lasting ones. Indians lost off course, British won mostly due to superior Royal Navy. While reading I constantly tried to assess which nation was truly "savage". In the end my opinion has been firmly made. If you want to find out how ugly this lengthy war was and why we have North America the way it is now, I recommend "The War That Made America" by all means.
Fred Anderson explains the French-Indian War in this book companion to the PBS series.......2006-12-14
A few years ago I read Fred Anderson's excellent and detailed history of the French and Indian War (1755-1763). This new book is a much shorter and less detailed account of the war. The Seven Years War was a world war fought in North America, the European continent and the high seas. The war pitted the British against the French in a bloody conflict. Britain emerged the victor winning North America. The war set the stage for the American Revolution as colonials grew sick of being ruled by the haughty British government in London.
Anderson's work is a brief overview of the war in America. It is intended for general readers and is short on detail. The book is copiously illustrated with period art and pictures of the weapons used in the war.
Fascinating people were involved from the young George Washington to the
fatuous Edward Braddock; James Wolfe and the French general Montcalm.
Anderson tells us of the importance of the Iroquois Six Nation confederacy whose expulsion of the Ohio country Indians from their lands added to the complexity of the conflict. The Iroquois generally sided with the British while the Ohio country tribes favored their French trading partner allies.
This is an important and largely neglected chapter in American history.
The Seven Years War was a major eighteenth century war. It's importance to building the foundation for the British Empire is key.
Anderson has done a good job with his limited objective of giving a survey of the war. His bibliography is impressive. I consider him as the leading living scholar on the war.
Average customer rating:
- Powerful!!!
- Depressing to Say the Least
- A book worth reading.
- Enigmatic Story
- A Special Kind of Dawn
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House Made of Dawn (Perennial Classics)
N. Scott Momaday
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Momaday, N. Scott
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ASIN: 0060931949
Release Date: 1999-06-23 |
Book Description
House Made of Dawn, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1969, tells the story of a young American Indian named Abel, home from a foreign war and caught between two worlds: one his father's, wedding him to the rhythm of the seasons and the harsh beauty of the land; the other of industrial America, a goading him into a compulsive cycle of dissipation and disgust.
Customer Reviews:
Powerful!!!.......2007-10-06
N.Scott Momaday like myself is a Native Oklahoman, and that makes me proud. His work is a work of Native power; it breathes in and breathes out as if it were a living being. The Pulitzer Prize was definitely well-deserved in the case of this book.
There is an almost magical sense of being to the characters. Like the overwhelming majority of the people in this state, I am a mix of several Native Bloods and White. Momaday's work speaks in a strong, honest voice to all who will listen. The characters are real; I have known them, lived among them, went to school with their children and watched the way of life Momaday seeks to capture fade into another realm.
His words are words of power; they hold truth and strength and they weave a story as expertly as the tribal storytellers of that lost generation. His voice is the voice of Native America. It carries the heartache and sorrow of a people relegated to change brought on by another culture. It relects the nature and the understanding that so many aim for but never reach.
I have read this work multiple times now and never fail to be moved by its strength and definition of character. I will read it again, and I will continue to recommend it to all who want to hear an authentic Native voice. This is a people speaking through Momaday.
Depressing to Say the Least.......2006-06-04
This book was assigned as a college reading assignment for an American Literature course, so I knew right off that I wasn't in for a real literary treat. The criteria for a reading assignment are: a main character must suffer and then die, and language and plot must work to confuse the reader. If you're looking for an entertaining read, do not choose this novel. If, however, you are looking to read something for the sole purpose of telling others that you have read it, and wish to brag at dinner parties and other things of that nature, this is probably the book for you. Personally, I like to believe that I have better things to do than read something that is depressing, boring, and poorly written.
A book worth reading........2004-10-04
In Momaday's Pulitzer Prize winning novel "House Made of Dawn," a young Native-American Indian named Abel, returns to Walatow Reservation in New Mexico from World War II. Only to discover that he is caught between two worlds. This book is a great example of Native-American fiction, it reveals the hardships of the Native-Americna people. Anyone who loves a good book based on storytelling and myth will find this book a must-read. It draws the reader in, with it's vivid description of the landscapes and ceremonies. At first I was a bit apprehensive in reading this book, because I have been told this is not a good book to read if you're reading Momaday's work for the first time. Yet, I enjoyed reading it, I apprieciated Momaday's effort to draw the reader in with the struggle of Native-American Indians living in industrial America. I recommend this book to anyone who is in search of a good book.
Enigmatic Story.......2004-05-07
This novel is a fascinating, albeit challenging, read. The basic plot and the main characters do emerge upon a first reading, but the book needs to be read at least twice for one to see its richness. I find it especially interesting to read _House Made of Dawn_ along with _Way to Rainy Mountain_. Reading both books makes each of them clearer and yields a richer understanding of Momaday's artistry. It also would be useful to read a great about Kiowa folklore and history between different readings of both books.
A Special Kind of Dawn.......2004-04-09
This 1969 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel alternates between vivid observations of nature coupled with intense word pictures which are a joy for the reader to enigmatic sketches that can leave the reader with a sense of bewilderment as to the possible symbolic meaning. This patchwork construction of the piece begs a second reading of the work even by the careful reader. This is not a work to be undertaken lightly but will be most rewarding to the careful reader.
The Author takes us on a journey through the life of Abel from his beginnings on the reservation through his tragic life in urban society to his eventual return to his roots on the reservation.
Book Description
Hailed as the definitive work upon its original publication in 1975 and now extensively revised and updated by the author, this vastly absorbing and richly illustrated book examines film as an art form, technological innovation, big business, and shaper of American values. 80 black-and-white photos.
Customer Reviews:
Out there.......2007-09-02
I have only read the first 3 or 4 chapters so far, but the editor has no linear stream of conciousness. He meanders along in his thought process with no logical structure in mind. Interesting take on the history of American movies.
A Grand Discourse on Filmdom and Society........2006-12-10
The author shows how movies not only reflect our society but influence it as well.
Are you a film buff, a history buff, or both?
Then this book will fascinate you from start to finish.
Interesting Course Reading.......2005-09-28
This is a great book that was required reading for Steven Ross' "Film, Power, and American, History" course at USC. Not only was it very relevant and well organized, but genuinely interesting too!
Great Classic work.......2005-02-15
This is a must read in the social and cultural history of American cinema.
Perfect.......2003-12-05
Sklar's Movie Made America was assigned as my textbook for a film class I just finished here at UCLA. At first I thought it to be a bit boring, especially because I thought it was just repeating what the professor had discussed in class. However, when I truly began to appreciate this book and take the time to read every word, I realized that Sklar not only presents the facts, but synthesizes the history of American cinema in innovative and interesting contexts. He discusses the way that film, from its start, has changed America as a social body, as a political body, as an economic body, and as a body in of itself.
Certain chapters were intriguing because they took standpoints different than any other author. And while the words are a bit dated, last revised over 10 years ago, it still has a spooky sense of relevance.
Overall, a wonderful book. If you're interested in the history of American film, here you go. I'm not selling this one back to the bookstore during Buy-Back time. That's for sure.
Average customer rating:
- I Love This Book!
- You don't need wanderlust to love this road trip!
- Not a great book for guys.
- Immediate, funny, haunting, and real
- two journeys
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Chick Flick Road Kill: A Behind the Scenes Odyssey into Movie-Made America
Alicia Rebensdorf
Manufacturer: Seal Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1580051944 |
Book Description
As a child of the 1980s, Alicia Rebensdorf was raised by TV and movies. But when she, like so many of her generation, found herself a bored twentysomething, waitressing and wondering why life wasn't as she imagined it would be, she devised a plan: She'd visit the locations of the shows and movies she grew up with and try to come to terms with her nostalgia for places and scenes that purported a real America.
Chick Flick Road Kill explores Rebensdorf's relationship to popular culture and media mythology. From the streets of Fargo, North Dakota, to the bleachers of the still-intact field from The Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa, Rebensdorf learns that her generation's sense of America is, indeed, as flat as its two-dimensional TV screens.
What's more, she discovers the America behind the Hollywood myth — one that's far more exciting when freed from the mystique and power of pop culture's romanticism.
Customer Reviews:
I Love This Book!.......2007-04-11
I couldn't put this book down. It was laugh out loud funny and honest. The beautiful, witty writing lead me on a trip across the county to places I have never been to, but I had seen many times in the familiar movies I grew up with. It made me want to visit the river of Deliverance and a magical spot in Georgia. I could relate to the author's searching, her expectations and her doubt.
You don't need wanderlust to love this road trip!.......2007-04-10
Part of it was that I knew of the places she wrote about, either because I'd been there, or had seen them in the movies, but mainly because it was just such beautiful writing!! I was captivated seeing things through her eyes, the depth of her responses, the honesty. Here are JUST a few of my favorite descriptions:
"Here, like pictures drawn in grade school, land and sky meet in a thin-lipped line. The sky is absolutely all over - I can't look anywhere it's not - yet it feels light as tissue, as if I could poke through it with a finger.
Being in the presence of the Mississippi, so shiny and big and alive, feels like how I imagine it would be to be next to a whale, astounded so much mass can move.
In the sky, homing pigeons do laps, their bodies angling at the same moment, disappearing like a knife turning on its side, then turning back, black and bodied again.
I navigate the road's rare meat, the loose bloody heaps of deer and raccoon, others as stiff and whole as furniture.
The warm air rushes in as if it's about time. The humidity makes me feel lovely and grimy and young.
It's unfair how everything is striking when it's fleeting. Yet all my attempts to thwart this, trying to prolong a moment by stopping to savor a town or a view, tend only to prove it true, the high ache of passing a place collapsing the moment I try to capture it.....So now, as I drive, I try to ride that heartbreak, accepting that the very thing that makes this moment spectacular is that which will make it end."
But this book is more than just mesmerizing metaphors. It's full of self-deprecating wit, personification of cars and other inanimate objects, terrifying situations, and soul searching insights that helped me understand why I both love and hate this country.
Encore!! What's next?! I'll be waiting.
Not a great book for guys........2007-04-07
The Stand By me chapter was the only thing readable about the book.
Immediate, funny, haunting, and real.......2007-03-17
Rebensdorf's inner journey outdistances her 13,000 miles on America's roads. This girl's got the pedal to the metal of her mind and heart, and she doesn't let up on herself, not for a minute. I was pulled along on her trip, impatient for the next adventure while savoring the current one, each sentence a pleasure due to her deft phrasing and acute eye. During the few days I was reading, I felt disembodied from my own physical location, felt I'd escaped along with the writer as she drove along. I grew dismayed, towards the end, at how few pages were left for me to experience. She asks the questions I've always asked myself as well: what matters? how can I matter? Her book's both sassy and soulful, and it builds towards some lessons that are both profound and eloquent.
I cannot imagine anyone who wouldn't enjoy this book -- the America she writes about is the one that's shaped or shaping us all.
two journeys.......2007-03-11
This author takes the reader on two journeys. As she travels the country seeking out the sources of the movie myths with which she grew up, she also introspectively looks into herself as she has to cope with new situations and deal with loneliness, self-image, romantic fantasies, fear, preconceived notions, men - all under the shadow of 9/11. The result is a disarmingly honest, intelligent and witty book which will elicit chuckles and tears. The reader is led into the consciousness of a Gen X-er and emerges with a better appreciation both of the younger generation and how the media affects our perceptions. This is a great read!
Books:
- Spanish the Easy Way (Easy Way Series)
- Speak English Like an American (Book & Audio CD set)
- Sydney (Eyewitness Travel Guides)
- Tanzania (Lonely Planet Tanzania)
- Teach Yourself Brazilian Portuguese Complete Course Package (Book + 2CDs) (Teach Yourself Language Complete Courses)
- Thai: Lonely Planet Phrasebook
- The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- The Challenge of Effective Speaking (with CD-ROM and SpeechBuilder Express/InfoTrac )
- The Chicago Manual of Style
- The Complete Keller: The French Laundry Cookbook & Bouchon
Books Index
Books Home
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