Amazon.com
Any talk of The Namesake--Jhumpa Lahiri's follow-up to her Pulitzer Prize-winning debut, Interpreter of Maladies--must begin with a name: Gogol Ganguli. Born to an Indian academic and his wife, Gogol is afflicted from birth with a name that is neither Indian nor American nor even really a first name at all. He is given the name by his father who, before he came to America to study at MIT, was almost killed in a train wreck in India. Rescuers caught sight of the volume of Nikolai Gogol's short stories that he held, and hauled him from the train. Ashoke gives his American-born son the name as a kind of placeholder, and the awkward thing sticks.
Awkwardness is Gogol's birthright. He grows up a bright American boy, goes to Yale, has pretty girlfriends, becomes a successful architect, but like many second-generation immigrants, he can never quite find his place in the world. There's a lovely section where he dates a wealthy, cultured young Manhattan woman who lives with her charming parents. They fold Gogol into their easy, elegant life, but even here he can find no peace and he breaks off the relationship. His mother finally sets him up on a blind date with the daughter of a Bengali friend, and Gogol thinks he has found his match. Moushumi, like Gogol, is at odds with the Indian-American world she inhabits. She has found, however, a circuitous escape: "At Brown, her rebellion had been academic ... she'd pursued a double major in French. Immersing herself in a third language, a third culture, had been her refuge--she approached French, unlike things American or Indian, without guilt, or misgiving, or expectation of any kind." Lahiri documents these quiet rebellions and random longings with great sensitivity. There's no cleverness or showing-off in The Namesake, just beautifully confident storytelling. Gogol's story is neither comedy nor tragedy; it's simply that ordinary, hard-to-get-down-on-paper commodity: real life. --Claire Dederer
Book Description
Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies established this young writer as one the most brilliant of her generation. Her stories are one of the very few debut works -- and only a handful of collections -- to have won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Among the many other awards and honors it received were the New Yorker Debut of the Year award, the PEN/Hemingway Award, and the highest critical praise for its grace, acuity, and compassion in detailing lives transported from India to America. In The Namesake, Lahiri enriches the themes that made her collection an international bestseller: the immigrant experience, the clash of cultures, the conflicts of assimilation, and, most poignantly, the tangled ties between generations. Here again Lahiri displays her deft touch for the perfect detail -- the fleeting moment, the turn of phrase -- that opens whole worlds of emotion. The Namesake takes the Ganguli family from their tradition-bound life in Calcutta through their fraught transformation into Americans. On the heels of their arranged wedding, Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli settle together in Cambridge, Massachusetts. An engineer by training, Ashoke adapts far less warily than his wife, who resists all things American and pines for her family. When their son is born, the task of naming him betrays the vexed results of bringing old ways to the new world. Named for a Russian writer by his Indian parents in memory of a catastrophe years before, Gogol Ganguli knows only that he suffers the burden of his heritage as well as his odd, antic name. Lahiri brings great empathy to Gogol as he stumbles along the first-generation path, strewn with conflicting loyalties, comic detours, and wrenching love affairs. With penetrating insight, she reveals not only the defining power of the names and expectations bestowed upon us by our parents, but also the means by which we slowly, sometimes painfully, come to define ourselves. The New York Times has praised Lahiri as "a writer of uncommon elegance and poise." The Namesake is a fine-tuned, intimate, and deeply felt novel of identity.
Customer Reviews:
Started out good, but fizzled.......2007-10-16
I read Jhumpa Lahiri's "Interpreter of Maladies" and very much enjoyed it, so I was looking foward to "The Namesake". This book started out good, but by the time Gogol started dating, I was bored. There is too much detail about Gogal and his girlfriends. All that information about Maxine and her family was pointless. There are other times in the book where too much time is given to mundane stuff.
I found myself rushing through the second half of the book just to get done.
This from a Pulitzer winning author?.......2007-09-28
I have to admit I was surprised at the accolades heaped on this book...it is simply a bland but well-written description of an immigrant family experience in America, a theme previously touched by numerous Indian-American authors (such as Bharati Mukerjee). I felt that the writing was very passive and disinterested, as if the author didnt feel the need to engage the reader with a more compelling storyline, and who instead felt that a quaint description of an exotic cultural experience would suffice to make it a worthwhile read.
And I couldnt help comparing this book to another novel released at the same time which also delves into immigrant experience but within the context of a gripping, heartwrenching story--The Kite Runner (which has received over 200 reviews in Amazon). There, the reader was able to appreciate the Afghani culture and historical context as the author deftly combines it with his storytelling. In the Namesake, the reader is put in the position of an anthropologist, curiously observing a culture from outside. An Indian friend of mine, majoring in Sociology, jokingly referred to the Namesake as a dissertation in immigrant experience. Interestingly, none of my Indian-American friends thought highly of the book!
Heavy on sensory description, light on story.......2007-09-23
Lahiri has created an evocative masterpiece, a minutely detailed world that the reader can imagine tasting, smelling and hearing. The description begins in the first paragraph with a vivid account of a heavily pregnant woman and her unusual cravings. Other reviews cite Lahiri's gift for chronicling the outsider experience; I have never lived anywhere other than the US but I think everyone has felt slightly different at times, and she captures that sentiment perfectly. It is remarkable that the more specific a piece of writing is, the more universal it can feel. On the whole, lovely description of a family's experience; the reader should expect no cliffhangers here.
Caught between two cultures.......2007-09-15
"The Namesake" is the story of Gogol Ganguli, a man born to Indian parents who moved to America shortly after they were married. Gogol's name has always been a source of deep resentment for him, as it is neither Indian or American. Eventually Gogol opts to have his name legally changed before he leaves for college. In addition to adjusting to his new name, Gogol continues with a struggle he's faced his entire life: How to relate to and maintain his Indian culture while living on American soil. Gogol rejects most things about his heritage, preferring to lead a more "Americanized" lifestyle. His choices create a barrier between him and his family, but try as he might, Gogol never feels completely at ease within the American culture, either. He establishes a successful career for himself and has has several serious relationships, but Gogol never really finds a comfortable place for himself in this world. Eventually he finds happiness with an Indian woman, of all people, who relates to him on so many levels. However, Moushumi has her own way of rebelling, and at the end of the novel we find Gogol back at the very place his life began, where he begins to rediscover himself.
I fell in love with this book after reading the first few pages, and I couldn't put it down. I enjoyed it even more than author Jhumpa Lahiri's collection of short stories, "Interpreter of Maladies." Lahiri writes in a simple yet emotional style that is rich in detail. Although the novel revolves around Gogol, Lahiri occasionally shifts perspective and gives the reader a glimpse of the story from the eyes of Gogol's parents and Moushumi. All of the characters make a lot of mistakes, but I was able to easily relate to and empathize with each of them.
This is a book about family, identity, heritage, and self-discovery. You don't have to be the child of immigrants in order to relate to the process of pulling apart from your family and discovering the person you're destined to become. I think this book has something to offer everyone, and it also happens to be a beautiful, poignant story. "The Namesake" is a must-read.
the struggle with traditions.......2007-08-31
I just finished reading "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri and I am still trying to figure out if I liked it or not. There was no story, per say. There was no mysterie to solve, no one to really root for, no hero. The story is a 30 year slice of life of the Ganguli family - how the husband and wife married, how the wife joined her husband in America while he was in school, them having children and the children growing up. The book was slow, sometimes even boring and it was easy for me to not like the main character, Gogol (the son), because he was never happy about anything and he was always whining to himself about something. But through all this, Lahiri is illustrating the importance of traditions and how they can be simultaneously comforting, necessary, burdening and sometimes hated. This, I believe, is what Lahiri is trying to show her readers. I ended up really liking this book, but it didn't move fast enough for me and at times felt like a chore. The content of traditions and family values and relations is in there - in fact it is quite strong at times, however the way that Lahiri presented it was too slow for me to want to seek out her other works. One thing that stood out for me with this book though, was the food. Lahiri made me so hungry in the way she described the food in how it was prepared and what was in it, describing how it tasted and what it looked like. I wrote down some of the foods so that I can look them up and try them out.
Book Description
This new Readers Circle edition includes a reading group guide and a conversation between Firoozeh Dumas and Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner.”
In 1972, when she was seven, Firoozeh Dumas and her family moved from Iran to Southern California, arriving with no firsthand knowledge of this country beyond her father’s glowing memories of his graduate school years here. More family soon followed, and the clan has been here ever since.
Funny in Farsi chronicles the American journey of Dumas’s wonderfully engaging family: her engineer father, a sweetly quixotic dreamer who first sought riches on Bowling for Dollars and in Las Vegas, and later lost his job during the Iranian revolution; her elegant mother, who never fully mastered English (nor cared to); her uncle, who combated the effects of American fast food with an army of miraculous American weight-loss gadgets; and Firoozeh herself, who as a girl changed her name to Julie, and who encountered a second wave of culture shock when she met and married a Frenchman, becoming part of a one-couple melting pot.
In a series of deftly drawn scenes, we watch the family grapple with American English (hot dogs and hush puppies?—a complete mystery), American traditions (Thanksgiving turkey?—an even greater mystery, since it tastes like nothing), and American culture (Firoozeh’s parents laugh uproariously at Bob Hope on television, although they don’t get the jokes even when she translates them into Farsi).
Above all, this is an unforgettable story of identity, discovery, and the power of family love. It is a book that will leave us all laughing—without an accent.
Customer Reviews:
I LOVED THIS BOOK!!.......2007-09-15
I PICKED THIS BOOK UP AT THE LIBRARY, JUST RANDOMLY A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, AND LET ME SAY, THIS WAS THE FIRST BOOK TO EVER MAKE ME LAUGH OUTLOUD! THE ONLY PROBLEM I HAD WITH IT WAS IT WAS TOO SHORT!...IT TOOK ME 1 WEEK TO READ IT ONLY BECAUSE I TOOK MY TIME SAVORING IT..OTHER WISE I COULDHAVE FINISHED IT IN A COUPLE OF DAYS..I WAS SO ENDEARED WITH IT, I HAD TO PRCHASE MY OWN COPY..IM JUST WAITING FOR HER NEXT BOOK.
Funny in Farsi.......2007-08-24
It was a cute book, and I would rate it between 3 and 4. Some of it was cute and funny but overall, I was a little disappointed.
A perfect read.......2007-08-23
The book was great, I actually laughed out loud a couple of times. The book runs stacatto, so you don't have the time to get bored with long, drawn out chapters. I think anyone can relate to this book.
A must read.
FUNNY IN FARSI.......2007-08-01
Delightfully funny, FUNNY IN FARSI is an excellent journey into what it is like to assimilate into another culture. It is not often we get this type of story told with delicious humor, the range of experiences, or the perspective from having lived in each of her home countries twice. As an insight into what American culture is like to the foreigner, Firoozeh Dumas deserves much praise.
My recommendation is strong enough that I will be using this book as required reading for my eighth-grade International Baccalaureate students this year when we look at the subject of Cultural Influence. I expect that they, too, will find her story fresh, hilarious, and eye-opening. To walk in someone else's shoes is necessary for understanding; this book accomplishes a lot towards that goal. Also, the serious discussion of what it's like to be a Muslim in America should hopefully open a few minds.
That said, I do have a BIG problem with how this book is structured. More of a collection of essays than the story of her learning how to be an "American," the author (and editor) have given us a scattered approach to the story of assimilation that seems to pooh-pooh any dedication to chronology. In one chapter she is ten-years-old and in the next she discusses her French husband. Huh?! The erratic organization of this book is frustrating for the reader, because Dumas's editor could have solved this problem easily, but failed to do so.
If possible, I would have given this book four and a half stars instead of five.
Nevertheless, this book will make you laugh out loud...more than once! It's a delightful collection of essays (about the size you'd find in a magazine) about a family of Iranian immigrants who experience life in a new country told perceptively by a writer who really should become a regular magazine humorist/essayist. This is a book you can really enjoy one chapter at a time.
Funny in any language!.......2007-07-26
What a great read! This book was required reading for a Sociology course on Minorities in the United States. This book was a delightful surprise from the usually dull assigned books.
Ms. Dumas is cleaver and witty as she tells the tale of her family's immigration from Iran to the US in the early seventies. I definately recommend this book to all.
Book Description
A vivid, funny, and viscerally powerful memoir about childhood, assimilation, food, and growing up in the 1980s
As a Vietnamese girl coming of age in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Bich Nguyen is filled with a rapacious hunger for American identity. In the pre-PC era Midwest, where the devoutly Christian blond-haired, blue-eyed Jennifers and Tiffanys reign supreme, NguyenÂ's barely conscious desire to belong transmutes into a passion for American food. More exotic seeming than her Buddhist grandmotherÂ's traditional specialties—spring rolls, delicate pancakes stuffed with meats, fried shrimp cakes—the campy, preservative-filled “delicacies” of mainstream America capture her imagination. And in this remarkable book, the glossy branded allure of such American foods as Pringles, Kit Kats, and Toll House cookies become an ingenious metaphor for her struggle to fit in, to become a “real” American.
Beginning with NguyenÂ's familyÂ's harrowing migration from Saigon in 1975, Stealing BuddhaÂ's Dinner is nostalgic and candid, deeply satisfying and minutely observed, and stands as a unique vision of the immigrant experience and a lyrical ode to how identity is often shaped by the things we long for.
Customer Reviews:
candid memoir of 70-80's American food in the midwest.......2007-09-11
"Stealing Buddha's Dinner" is as much Ms. Nguyen's story as it is mine. Ms. Nguyen reflects back on her childhood memories of TV commericials of Kool Aid, Carnation Instant Breakfast, and Hamburger Helper; her Dutch neighborhood of pork chops and shepard's pie; her grandmother's canh chua and bo xao voi hanh; and as if that wasn't enough, her stepmother Rosa's sopas. Throughout it all, Ms. Nguyen tries to find her identity in all these clashing cultures, desperately wanting to fit in, only to find solace in solitude, TV, and books. But perhaps the greatest mystery is what happened to her real mother.
It's truly a touching story of what it means to be an American with Asian eyes and black hair.
Is it more a problem of poverty or lack of substance?.......2007-08-29
This book is non-commital yet oddly angry and unsympathetic toward the narrator's kin: an ill-fitting immigrant step-mother, her ill-suited marraige and their whole patchwork family hold much potential for warmth and growth...but achieve none. Through the book I hoped for some grace, beauty or forgiveness - that the young narrator might find a connection to her family, her community or her nation(s).
At times there are glimpes of a connection, but in the end all of her self-pitiful assessments remain: her sisters were mean, father was distant, step-mother was an overly ambitious, class-confused control freak.
I'd hoped to learn that these fabulous, interesting people- her father, sisters, step-mother, and so-called friends (nothing more to her than ineffective stepping-stones to social success) actually had valid motives and had made valiant efforts, but in the end it was simple: they had not understood her and she had not understood them.
Most importantly, I learned that through her young life she'd been miserable. She'd wanted a lot of foods and other things she couldn't have, which was startlingly familiar to me because I was a kid at this time and I was poor too! I wanted all of those fabulous things like potato chips and soda-pop and barbie dolls, and I didn't get any of it either.
So perhaps this book is most eloquent as a story about growing up poor in America. Perhaps the difference between being a second generation immigrant and a fourth generation immigrant isn't so great as the difference between being poor and not being poor.
Or perhaps I read too much into this book, which may in fact just be about an angry girl who didn't know or get what she wanted.
If you're looking for an introduction into this time period and into an overlooked American population, or if you want an overview/example of the history and experience of Vietnamese/American refugee/immigrants, this is a good start...very simple and skimming the surface.
But for some really excellent and available Vietnamese literature, try "Novel without a Name" or "Paradise of the Blind" and for the Vietnamese-American experience, consider Le Ly Hayslip's "When Heaven & Earth Changed Places", for starters...for those who want to start with a little depth.
Awesome Book.......2007-08-23
This is an excellent book about growing up as a first generation american. I really identified witht the authors story. I also really enjoyed her style and all the awesome discriptions of food. Every time I finished a chapter, I wanted to get some pringles or a hostess cupcake. However, the thing I liked the most was that after reading this book, I realized that I was not alone. As a child I always felt different, but now that I am college I have learned to embrace who I am because being different is ok. Buy this book! Its great!
Great book!.......2007-07-05
I thought this book was excellent! Bich's memories of food, books and life in the 80s brought a ton of my own memories back to me. I may go back and read the Little House series again! :-) Very well written and compelling. I immediately passed it on to my mom who enjoyed it as well.
a fun, educational and interesting read.......2007-06-09
Growing up in Wisconsin I remember very well when many Vietnamese came to live in and around our city. Bich Ninh Nguyen brings her experience to life from the immigrants perspective and I felt as if I was there with her all along the way. This is an excellently writen book.
Average customer rating:
- Calculations are only as good as your numbers
- Pants on fire?
- Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
- Very Interesting
- History as Science Fiction
|
History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
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Similar Items:
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History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
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History: Fiction or Science? Astronomical methods as applied to chronology. Ptolemy's Almagest. Chronology III
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ASIN: 2913621058 |
Book Description
Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.
Customer Reviews:
Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03
Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.
Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19
Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09
There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.
For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.
Very Interesting.......2007-03-07
It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.
History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10
Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.
I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.
Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.
Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.
I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.
This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.
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Andrea Levy's award-winning novel, Small Island, deftly brings two bleak families into crisp focus. First a Jamaican family, including the well-intentioned Gilbert, who can never manage to say or do exactly the right thing; Romeo Michael, who leaves a wake of women in his path; and finally, Hortense, whose primness belies her huge ambition to become English in every way possible. The other unhappy family is English, starting with Queenie, who escapes the drudgery of being a butcher's daughter only to marry a dull banker. As the chapters reverse chronology and the two groups collide and finally mesh, the book unfolds through time like a photo album, and Levy captures the struggle between class, race, and sex with a humor and tenderness that is both authentic and bracing. The book is cinematic in the best way--lighting up London's bombed-out houses and wartime existence with clarity and verve while never losing her character's voice or story. --Meg Halverson
Book Description
Winner of the 2004 Orange Prize for Fiction
A Picador Original Trade Paperback
Hortense Joseph arrives in London from Jamaica in 1948 with her life in her suitcase, her heart broken, her resolve intact. Her husband, Gilbert Joseph, returns from the war expecting to be received as a hero, but finds his status as a black man in Britain to be second class. His white landlady, Queenie, raised as a farmer's daughter, befriends Gilbert, and later Hortense, with innocence and courage, until the unexpected arrival of her husband, Bernard, who returns from combat with issues of his own to resolve.
Told in these four voices, Small Island is a courageous novel of tender emotion and sparkling wit, of crossings taken and passages lost, of shattering compassion and of reckless optimism in the face of insurmountable barriers---in short, an encapsulation of that most American of experiences: the immigrant's life.
Customer Reviews:
Bittersweet with funny moments.......2007-09-17
This is a part of British history that the UK is only admitting to, its something that happened in our lifetime only 60 years ago, how the non white immigrants from the New World were treated by the Mother country.
This story concentrates on two immigrants from Jamaica, the four main characters are complex, neither totally likeable or totally characters that you would hate.
Hortense - a mixed race Jamaican, with a white father in a society that worshipped the fair skinned, due to her white heritage (tho illegitimate) she manages to get a reasonably good education but things don't go exactly as planned with her career so believes England is the answer to all her problems. She is the character I sympathised with the least but she does become almost likable in the end.
Gilbert-her husband, a match made in convenienece, with the same background but he is legitimate,a young man who sees the war as an adventure and a new life in England better than the life in Jamaica
but characters are in for shock when they realise Mother England may want them but their English 'siblings' do not.
Queenie/Bernard - the english couple in the story, who represent the different treatments that the immigrants recieved when the arrived. One welcoming and the other hostile.
The book meant a lot of me it was like getting a glimpse of the things my grandmother must have experienced back in the day. 2008 will be the 60th anniversary of the Windrush experience, I look forward to hearing their story told more often, they deserve it after what they had to go through.
A Great Summer Read.......2007-08-10
This book was a surprise. I had a slightly difficult time at first due to the Jamaican dialogue, but quickly got absorbed in the characters. Ms Levy's description of the war was excellent. This is the first time I felt like I understood what happened in England and India. I could feel the blast, smell the smells, feel the dirt and grime- when Queenie found herself in the middle of it. In some ways it was a tough read because the descriptions of war were so graphic and the racial prejudice so sickening.
Ms Levy pulled everything neatly together towards the end. I really enjoyed this book.
One Great Read!!.......2007-05-30
I so enjoyed this marvelous book [by a new author, for me]. Characters are so likeable -- especially Gilbert & Hortense. I especially liked that they spoke in their voices [chapters devoted to each character]. Learned much about Jamaica, emigration to England from Jamaica, the RAF, as well as the enormity of the human spirit & heart. This terrific read has alittle of everything -- including how true "newly weds" behave/adjust, mystery, etc. Another eye-opener [shamefully so!] regarding racism. The book is well orchestrated. Buy it & enjoy!
Falls short of earlier promise.......2007-03-27
This book is about the 2 small islands of Jamaica and Britain and has a good start but it's all downhill from there, the book fails because the characters are for the most part unlikable it was hard to care about any of them. The premise of this book seems to be that racism exists everywhere even in the small predominantly black island of Jamaica. Where Levy loses her footing is when she claims one form of racism is better than another. How this book won any prizes is beyond me, I am baffled by all the glowing reviews. The story centers predominantly around the characters of Hortense, Gilbert and Queenie.
The bulk of the book focuses on Hortense, a light skinned black woman living in Jamaica. Because she is lighter she has opportunities and is given breaks that she does not deserve(ie she is given high grades in cooking and it is shown in a comical way later that she obviously cant cook). Hortense glides through life as a light skinned woman in Jamaica and looks down on darker blacks as being "rough" or "coarse" but when she arrives in England and the tables are turned she is viewed with the prejudices that she had reserved for others. Because she is black most of the English people she meets thinks she is dirty, and lower class. Does all of this force Hortense to rethink her earlier views and prejudices that she had for other darker Jamaicans? Sadly the answer is a resounding No! Instead Hortense cries and feels sorry for herself because of the discrimination and racist attitudes she faces in Britain conveniently forgetting what went on in Jamaica. She feels it's okay for her to benefit from skin color discrimination in Jamaica but it's not okay when discrimination is used against her in England. Hortense never comes to any self-awareness but goes on to the end of the book with the same small minded attitudes and prejudices that she had when the book started. It was very hard to care at all about this character as she is also very selfish, narrow minded, and never experiences any personal growth or enlightenment. She goes through the book thinking the world revolves around her, she uses her friends, and when things don't go her way she cries and feels sorry for herself at what she see as the horrible injustice of her not always getting her own way.
Gilbert, Hortense's husband, doesn't fare much better. He also glides through life, and doesnt seem very bright. He puts up with a lot of Hortense's crap and seems pathetically grateful when she is nicer to him. Hortense only warms up to her husband when he gives her what her friend wanted(a nice home in London). Which goes to show how pathetic Hortense is as a character she doesnt even have her own dreams but is content to steal the boyfriend and dreams of another.
Queenie is the most likable character, but her story is the most absurd. She marries her husband Bernard for reasons that are not entirely clear. She doesn't love him, doesn't particularly seem to like him and is relieved when he goes off to war. Then inexplicably when he doesn't return to her after the war she is desperate to have him back. After the war she takes in black boarders because she knows her husband wouldn't like it and is hoping he will hear of it and come back to her. A few chapters later however, it is revealed that she doesn't love her husband but is in fact in love with another man whom she is desperate to be with. This contradicts what was said earlier but it only gets worse from here.
The whole baby part of the story was completely unbelievable. An overweight woman could hide the fact that she was pregnant but Queenie is described as very thin. Bernard even says when he sees her after the war that she is much thinner than he remembered, there is no way that she could hide the fact that she was in her last few weeks of pregnancy. I don't care how tightly you bind yourself the belly is going to show. It's also pretty silly because Bernard comments on her flat stomach when he sees her in her nightgown and then two weeks later flat stomach Queenie has a baby. When liberal minded Queenie rejects her baby because he is too dark, considering her earlier views and the fact that she claims to be madly in love with the baby's father, was just too silly for me. It was also unclear why she didn't leave for Canada like she wanted to when she found out she was pregnant. The time frame also didn't work. For the whole England part of the story to take place in the space of 10 months was also not believable.
Bernard is given a few chapters in the book but he is not very bright, more of a caricature than a character. He is the stereotypical British man, who is sexually repressed, racist, and a bit on the stupid side. Thankfully only a small section of the book is devoted to him.
Levy is a good writer and the book is at least readable even though her characters are not likable. Unfortunately Levy's message seems to be that Jamaica's racism and prejudices that has a darker underclass is better than Britains prejudices that views all blacks, regardless of skin tone the same, but that Britains racist attitudes is better than Americas racism because America has institutionalised racism. It would have been a much stronger book if the message was you shouldn't judge someone based solely on their skin tone. Hortense is upper class in Jamaica because she is light but lower class in England because although light she is still black. Racism is racism and one form of it is not better than another.
Small Island Review.......2007-03-21
This book was interesting and thought provoking but was unfortunately dragged out so that I found myself wishng she were less wordy
Average customer rating:
- A memorable book
- Lovers of Classic Literature
- Even better when it's not required reading in school
- A story of deceit and redemption
- Simply a marvel
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The Scarlet Letter (Penguin Classics)
Nathaniel Hawthorne , and
Thomas E. Connolly
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Hawthorne, Nathaniel
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ASIN: 0142437263 |
Book Description
Set in the harsh Puritan community of seventeenth-century Massachusetts, this tale of an adulterous entanglement resulting in an illegitimate birth engendered the first true heroine of American fiction.
Introduction by Nina Baym
Notes by Thomas E. Connolly
Customer Reviews:
A memorable book.......2007-08-21
I read The Scarlet Letter when I was in 10th grade more than 14 years ago. This was one of the three novels, the other two being Beowolf and Great Gatsy, that I remember reading, which tells you how boring high school curriculum was and also how outstanding this book is among its peers.
Lovers of Classic Literature .......2007-07-23
I have made it a point to read as many classic novels as possible. I just recently read this version of the Scarlet Letter and say it is a must read. The book itself was in great condition, it even smelled new!
Even better when it's not required reading in school.......2007-07-16
Wow, I can't even put into words how good this book was, and so much better the second time around. The classic tale of Hester Pryne, forced to wear The Scarlet Letter as a sign to all of her adultery, but she refuses to name her lover who is then forced to bear his guilt in silence.
Enough reviewers have recounted the story better than I could. Suffice it to say I loved Hawthorne's prose, it was very dense and lyrical at the same time, and you have to pay close attention or you might have to backup and reread a paragraph or two. His descriptions of the scenery and people came alive, especially the character of young Pearl. And I very much enjoyed the scenes in the forest -- it was amazing how Hawthorne brought it all to life, even the sounds of the babbling brook.
Highly recommended to anyone looking to discover (or rediscover) an old classic. Side note to some of the young misses who clearly weren't happy at having this book as required reading in school -- you really really should try to work harder on your spelling, punctuation and grammar when criticizing a great masterpiece such as this.
A story of deceit and redemption.......2007-06-12
I highly recommend this book for those who wish to escape from the real world through this alternate reality! Witness strange old fashioned punishments and let your ethics be applied to this imaginative play. The Scarlet letter illustrates the message of being honest and embracing your flaws and your talents or else it will lead to your downfall. When Hester is punished to wear her scarlet letter and to be publicly ridiculed for her sins, Hester chooses to avoid as much human contact as possible. Whenever she had to go into public she described her goings as torture, for every single person in town was looking down at her with shame and disgust. As Hester deals with her punishment and her troublesome child, Pearl, Hester learns to use her skills with crafts to help those in need. Honesty is also shown as an essential lesson in Scarlet letter as seen through the downfall of Pastor Dimmesdale, who refuses to tell anyone that he was Hester's partner in sin, in fear that it would ruin his prestige. His evil secret eventually drove him mad and he soon became cursed with visions and serious health problems. He eventually was unable to take the guilt of lying to his congregation and confesses to his followers who became shocked at such an unbelievable confession of such a "holy" man. Read this book and experience the plot come alive with its dark imagery and masterful writing! I highly recommend this book for those who are interested in historical fiction, and the message of the book will never be forgotten, it encourages the need of forgiveness for the regretful and proves that redemption can be found by anyone.
Simply a marvel.......2007-06-05
Written in 1850, The Scarlet Letter is a work of art and brilliance. Hawthorne's intricate writing and entrancing plot make this novel a classic in American Literature. The characters and the symbols they represent can keep even the most critical readers lost in thought. The book itself seems not to be written as merely a story, but rather as a lesson for the reader, often leaving one lost in thought for days after finishing.
The book opens with a long, somewhat unnecessary introduction. If you are an impatient reader, skip this. It is not necessary to the overall plot. However, once you move into the actual story, the novel is hard to put away. I spent two weeks reading a novel that I usually could read in two days. The language is dense and the ideas masked and I often found myself re-reading the same paragraph, page, or even chapter just to ensure that I had found the real meaning.
The main character, Hester Prynne, is found to have had an adulterous affair with an unknown and unannounced lover and to be with child. Living in a puritan society, her punishment is harsh since the Bible is their law. She is forced to stand on a scaffold with her illegitimate child and bear the discrimination of the town. Furthermore, Hester is required to wear a letter "A" on her breast to show the extent of her sins for the rest of her life. The priest of the town, the Reverend Dimmsdale, takes pity on her and tries to console Hester and her daughter Pearl. To further complicate things, Hester's husband, a man now known as Chillingworth, returns to the town after a two-year absence. Disgraced by his wife's actions, he pretends to be a physician to avoid any relation with Hester's scandalous acts. The novel progresses through the drama and effects of the psyche on the characters.
Overall, the writing style, while sometimes dense and difficult to comprehend, is unique and entrancing to read. A bit forward in his approach, Hawthorne lavishes in detail and thought of the characters, acting as God and narrator. The book, admittedly, is hard to read and often simply confusing as to what Hawthorne is trying to get at. Despite all of these shortcomings, I still find that the novel is one worth reading over and over again. It is one of those books that can be read thirty times, yet still manages to hold another surprise the thirty-first.
Average customer rating:
- I had to force my self to finish...
- Enchanting
- How to grow old disgracefully
- Memorable characters
- A MUST READ
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A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
Marina Lewycka
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0143036742 |
Book Description
“An amusing, astonishing debut . . . about how a family learns to let go of the past and live and love in the present.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With this wise, tender, and deeply funny novel, Marina Lewycka takes her place alongside Zadie Smith and Monica Ali as a writer who can capture the unchanging verities of family. When an elderly and newly widowed Ukrainian immigrant announces his intention to remarry, his daughters must set aside their longtime feud to thwart him. For their fatherÂ's intended is a voluptuous old-country gold digger with a proclivity for green satin underwear and an appetite for the good life of the West. As the hostilities mount and family secrets spill out, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian combines sex, bitchiness, wit, and genuine warmth in its celebration of the pleasure of growing old disgracefully.
“A charming comedy of eros... A ride that, despite the bumps and curves in the road, never feels anything less than jaunty.” —Los Angeles Times
“Lewycka is a writer with a fundamentally optimistic vision of the future and a healthy curiosity about the past.” —Chicago Tribune
“Charming, poignantly funny.” —The Washington Post Book World
Customer Reviews:
I had to force my self to finish..........2007-10-09
I had heard only praise for this book. I started with high hopes, but after about the second chapter I already hated it.
For me, perhaps the most annoying thing about the writing, is the authors usage of explanatory details in parentheses. She uses them a lot, way way too much. It becomes annoying and stupid when the same joke about a bit breasted Ukrainian or how someone pronounces English appears every other page in parentheses
As for the book allegedly being funny, I don't think I laughed once. The jokes are childish.
In the end, I have no idea how this book has won so much praise.
Enchanting.......2007-10-02
I found this book enchanting and different. It's not just about a foolish old man who thinks he has found love with a calculating much younger woman from the Ukraine; but about two sisters who have been estranged since their mother died. They learn to understand and like each other through their efforts to help their father (who doesn't often appreciate their efforts) escape from the ridiculous relationship.
I've known several much younger people who have been silly enough to get themselves in relationships similar to the father's. You don't have to be old or crazy to want "love".
How to grow old disgracefully.......2007-09-22
Lewycka, who has written several nonfiction books about senior citizens' issues, has written a lyrical and engaging novel about growing old disgracefully and the bonds of sisterhood.
This book, first and foremost, is hilarious. There are dozens of scenes that made me laugh out loud. First are the relationship between Nadezhda's father, Nikolai, and his tarty Ukrainian bride, Valentina. Valentina is a scene stealer. She is gruff and greedy, venal and violent. She is a larger than life character, and the white whale to the sisters' Ahab. Nikolai himself is given to melodrama and long winded speeches about tractors and engineering. Vera, Nadya's big sister, also provides a great deal of comic relief, with her jaundiced and acerbic takes on the situation with Valentina and her father. It is a bit like reading a toned down version of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding".
Lewycka also explores sibling rivalry and the relationships of estranged siblings. At the beginning of the story, Nadezhda and Vera are fighting like cats and dogs. Every encounter ends in harsh words and slammed phones. As the book progresses, the sisters steadily get closer, having been united by the common desire to get Valentina deported. As Vera and Nadezhda talk more and more, they get closer. Nadezhda finds out why her sister is the way she is, and ultimately becomes close to Vera. By the end of the book, they are cordial and even a little warm towards each other. Lewycka masterfully handles this relationship, never letting it become cloying or saccharine. It is a touching undercurrent to the outlandish events that take center stage.
Finally, Lewycka explores the differences in first and second generation immigrants. Nikolai and Vera are first generation Ukrainian immigrants, while Nadezhda is firmly British in her outlook. The sisters have had markedly different childhoods. Vera endured life in a camp during World War II, while Nadezhda was born in the U.K. It is this difference that causes the chasm between the sisters. But, Lewycka does a good job of showing how Nadezhda slowly but surely begins to understand her sister's life and her outlook on life. We also get to hear the story of Nikolai and Ludmilla, the womens' parents. Their lives in the Ukraine, through pre-Stalin days and the horrors of the purges are explored in depth. It speaks to Lewycka's skill as a writer that these interludes perfectly fit into the narrative and help the reader understand Nikolai's motivations.
A great book for someone looking to laugh and learn about immigrants.
Memorable characters.......2007-09-10
This is the story of an old Ukrainian man who decides to get married to a much younger Ukrainian divorcee and the struggle of his daughters to get their father back. This was a funny book (although not knee slapping funny) with memorable characters. The readers are told the story of family history and the father's description of the developments in tractors from the agricultural to the industrial economy. The family history presented to the reader in installments, provides insight and depth to the characters. And the information about the development of tractors helps the reader to understand and appreciate the differences between the characters.
A MUST READ.......2007-09-08
An amazing novel. Starts off light and fun but really has a deep message. She is a great author and it's one of those novels you just don't want to put down. The story is captivating and her writing style is genius! I just picked it up for a quick fun read and now it's one of my favorites! A must read!
Book Description
The finest photographic account of Jewish life in America.
This extraordinary volume features classic photographs of the history one has learned to associate with the Forward—Lower East Side pushcarts, Yiddish theater, labor rallies—along with gems no one would expect. The premiere national Jewish newspaper has opened up its never-before-seen archives, revealing a photographic landscape of Jews in the twentieth century and beyond. From shtetl beauty contests and matchmakers caught mid-deal to the streets of the New World; from diaspora communities and mandate Palestine to the Holocaust, the Soviet Jewry movement, and the emergence of Jewish suburbia; from Paul Muni and Barbra Streisand to Woody Allen and Madonna—this book is a kaleidoscopic array of modern Jewish life. Original essays are included by leading intellectuals and historians, including Leon Wieseltier, J. Hoberman, Roger Kahn, and Deborah E. Lipstadt, plus an introduction by Pete Hamill. A great gift book in the tradition of Roman Vishniac's A Vanished World and Frederic Brenner's Diaspora: Homelands in Exile. 531 duotone photographs.
Customer Reviews:
Jewish Insight.......2007-09-28
Beautiful book, well written. A book for anyone to share with their children to teach them an important part of our US history.
Genetic Memories.......2007-09-12
As the grandchild of Polish / Ukraine immigrants who read the Forvitz, this book lovingly captures the memories of a time long gone.
Outstanding.......2007-09-08
Earlier this year, I had participated in a tour, including the old Forward Building in Lower Manhattan, with our guide being one of the photographers for this beuatiful book. I was so happy with the book which arrived in exellent condition.
Thank you.
Renate Stone
AMAZING PICTURES.......2007-08-05
I found this book very informative and very interesting. I enjoyed reading all the Jewish history in it. I was very interested in the information about Poland because my father's father was born there and I have a lot of his papers from when he was born in what was called Austria-Poland (even his birth certificate). It brought back many memories of my grandmother, who would take me to the Lower East Side of Manhattan where my father was born and we would shop in the specialty stores there and to the Jewish Theatre when I really didn't understand Yiddish but kept asking what they were saying and I did enjoy going. I have been recommending this book to friends and neighbors and have it on the coffee table in my living room and anyone who picks it up is fascinated by it, regardless of religion.
CAROL ESGAR
Leftist Jews Carry On the Tradition for All Immigrants!.......2007-05-14
The Forward captured and related news for the new Jewish immigrants, and for some of them not so recent, in both a special political and social way.
Obviously, with my name as a Christian Irishman, I did not live the experience, but my significant other grew up in the rare environment of a Leftist (read, Socialist) community in the Bronx that continues to enrich the American political experience, as well as the peculiarly American, secular Jewish experience.
As a fourth-generation Irish-American, I am obviously somewhat removed from immigrant issues. On the other hand, the family oral tradition very strongly pointed out why my ancestors fled Ireland during the potatoe famine of the mid 1840's and how English political suppression of the Irish led to my family's connection to events in today's Ireland.
This book, specifically the photos and 'back stories', enable all of us of whatever immigrant background to re-live some specific moments in the American immigrant past that led to the building of a great community and to our country, whatever its faults.
While new immigrants arrive from the Caribbean, Africa, Eastern Europe, India, etc., and have their own stories to tell with their own ethnic language newspapers, The Forward will continue to stand as a model of 1) helping new immigrants adjust to their new homeland; 2) keeping them informed of news of their former homeland(s); 3) providing advice as to how to adjust to their new land. These are, perhaps, timeless topics in helping new immigrants adjust to their new land and circumstances.
The book and photos should serve as a rich tribute to striving immigrants of whatever religion, regional, or racial background to show how almost every new arrival wants to 'fit in' and contribute. Maybe this book, in some small way, will add a few "positives" to the current, embarrasing, and rediculous controvery over immigration.
Book Description
Here is authentic Italian home-cooking at its best.
Customer Reviews:
Best Authentic Italian .......2005-12-21
I love this cookbook!!! Her recipes are just like my Grandmother used to make. Unfortunately all of our family recipes are not written down. So whenever I am unsure of how to make something I check with Elodia!
Buy the Book for the Manicotti Crepes alone.......2004-05-07
My sister had this book and made the Manicotti Crepes and meatballs for a family dinner. I liked it so much, I bought my own copy of the book. Elodia's recipes are great, they are old-fashioned good but suited to the busy working cook.
Neighborhood recipes.......2004-04-19
Mrs. Rigante and my husband's grandmother were aquaintances in her Brooklyn neighborhood; they lived just a few blocks from one another. Grandma didn't write down a lot of her recipes, so Mrs. Rigante's cookbook is a lifesaver. Their recipes are so similar it's like having a bit of home every time you open up the book. We can't look through it without getting hungry! Every recipe we've tried is excellent, and I love the family anecdotes and pictures. This is a staple for every cookbook collection.
The Best Italian Cookbook you can buy! Period!.......2004-01-08
I borrowed the cookbook from my Sister inlaw and loved it. I had to get a copy and luckily I found one! The recipes are fantastic I really love the book. I am italian and these recipes remind me of my Grandmothers cooking. Elodia is the best! Buy it if you can find a copy.
Butter Cookies.......2003-12-16
Page 172 recipe does not work. A waste of time, ingredients and $$$.
Book Description
One of the few case studies of undocumented immigrants available, this insightful anthropological analysis humanizes a group of people too often reduced to statistics and stereotypes. The hardships of Hispanic migration are conveyed in the immigrants' own voices while the author's voice raises questions about power, stereotypes, settlement, and incorporation into American society.
Customer Reviews:
Clerical error.......2007-04-21
Reading this book I could not get past the fact that my own parents stories are far more compelling. My father fleeing the communist Rushkies and my mother joining him from Italy. Proud hard working people who embraced America. Learning to read, write and work here as well as teaching themselves to drive. Both have told me that they would never have come here illegally. My father fled Lithuania due to persecution under threat of imprisonment but still would not have come here illegally. How could he flee lawlessness only to enter a country by breaking the law? The writer and readers of these books can't grasp this type of character and courage.They hide from the truth by using terms like undocumented workers. Leaving the incorrect impression that their lack of citizenship is only a clerical error. Decieving only themselves. My parents are the real thing and those who enter under a cloak of darkness are mere law breakers no matter how you spin the truth.
Best ethnography on undocumented aliens ever written.......2006-02-20
Anthropologist Leo Chavez presents a very descriptive and detailed account that takes readers into the lives and experiences of illegal immigrants living and working in the farms and orchards of San Diego County. Chavez avoids the technical and complex jargon so common among contemporary audiences, so this book will be readable by anyone. Detailed accounts are given concerning peoples' decisions to migrate, their experiences of crossing the border and living in the United States without documentation. Although the entire book is great, the best chapter by far is the Epilogue, where the author contextualizes the lives of undocumented immigrants within the larger political and social environment that has recently sought to crack down on illegal aliens.
This book is important reading for anyone with an interest in illegal immigration and the experiences of people who have actually crossed the border. I strongly recommend reading this book along with watching the great 1983 film "El Norte."
A case study of human survial.......2000-11-23
Chavez provides a clear unbiased look at the harsh and often dangerous life of undocumented immigrants mainly in Southern California. Chavez engages the reader through accurate portrayals of people who remain on the fringes of American society for fear of deportation. Their stories are moving; their tenacity amazing. North American readers will be reminded of just how protected and sheltered they are by the virture of living in America. A must read for anyone trying to understand the complexities of illegal immigration or in the postion to make policy on the topic.
Books:
- The Scalpel and the Silver Bear: The First Navajo Woman Surgeon Combines Western Medicine and Traditional Healing
- The Terror: A Novel
- The War for American Independence: From 1760 to the Surrender at Yorktown in 1781
- The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West
- They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan
- Thirteen Moons: A Novel
- Thomas Paine : Collected Writings : Common Sense / The Crisis / Rights of Man / The Age of Reason / Pamphlets, Articles, and Letters (Library of America)
- Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West
- USS Ranger: The Navys First Flattop from Keel to Mast, 1934-1946
- Victorian Lace Today
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