Civilizing Rituals: Inside Public Art Museums (Re Visions : Critical Studies in the History and Theory of Art)

Book Description

Public art museums have become necessary fixtures of every city or country with any claim to importance. Yet we have still to understand what happens in them. Civilizing Rituals treats art museums from a new perspective--as ritual settings in their own right and as cultural artifacts that are much more than neutral shelters for art.

Drawing from both anthropological and philosophical literature, Carol Duncan begins by exploring the idea of the art museum-as-ritual. She examines specific musuem rituals in the US, Britain and France including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Musuem of Modern Art, the National Gallery in London, the Louvre and several donor memorials including the Frick Collection and the Morgan Library, not only in relation to their political and social contexts but also paying close attention to the details of the museum settings themselves.

Duncan illuminates the ways in which musuems engage their visitors in the performance of ritual scenarios and, through them, commmunicate and affirm ideas, values and social identities. Art museums emerge as significant objects of historical and art-historical inquiry, sites on which political power and social interests and the history of cultural forms visibly intersect.

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic.......2007-09-30

The boook was for my academic course..... and I was surprised by the reponse of amazon. They delivered it to me so fast. Thanks a lot. And the quality of the book is good too.....
Book is basically related to museum culture and importance of rituals in those spaces.

Duncan the hateful.......2006-04-10

As the title of Miss Duncan's book suggest, she sees the museums as almost religious institutions that entice the visitor to "enact a performance of some kind". Their very identity and meaning are constructed through this ritualistic practice, which is neither natural nor neutral. In the introduction the author states that she has no ambition in propagating what an art museum should be. In fact she does not indicate if she has such a clear cut ideal thought-out at all. The purpose of her research is to see, decipher and describe. There are, it turns out, two ways - two ideals in fact - a museum is presented to the public: the educational museum and the aesthetic museum. The first type proposes to educate the visitor, treating the exhibits as "art-historical objects", while in the second they are unique, original works of art to be reflected upon by the sophisticated guest, sheltered by the museum. Duncan insists that either way, all this happens in a "ritual-like" atmosphere, and that is what she wants to prove in her book. She deals with this aspect specifically in the first chapter. The older museums were practically all built in a style that consciously copied the architecture of old Greek and Roman temples and were often compared to them. The visitor, already mentally prepared for an enlightening experience, would receive (in a seemingly "objective" and disinterested package) rational and verifiable knowledge - a truth that is so obvious as to be irrefutable, when in fact it is highly subjective and hierarchical.
In the second chapter, Duncan traces the development of the museum from the princely gallery into today's public, secular space, and maintains that this space is neither quite as clearly public, nor secular as it would like to be seen. Here, the Louvre and the National Gallery in London are primary examples. The museum here serves particular needs of the bourgeois state and its ideology.
The third chapter follows the "museum boom" in the United States that begun in the late 19th century. Duncan sees it as a pretentious attempt of the new republic with no history to boast to be seen as civilized and a part of wider Western culture. She follows the mushrooming of "American Louvres", museums that ideologically support White Protestants' view of themselves and their political power. Here, an American museum equals money.
Private museums that once belonged to rich collectors are dealt with in the fourth chapter. The characters of the often ruthless and predominantly white men are vividly brought to life, together with how they saw themselves, and how they wished their collections to reflect this.
The final chapter deals in great length with the nature of modern art, and its use in today's museums.

The premise that museums are ritual sites is highly problematic and on closer examination cannot be supported by facts. The argument that older museums were built in the style that closely followed that of the temples of antiquity is a hollow one, for in the late eighteenth and throughout the nineteenth century, all structures of significance were built that way. Banks, schools, parliaments, city markets, private houses, ch?teaux, family crypts, public baths and indeed museums were built in that style. Does it mean that all of these were ritualistic, temple-like places? Hardly. Duncan either doesn't know it or doesn't grasp the significance. Instead she tells us that in art museums, it is the visitors who perform the ritual. And I think therein lies the problem. While it is perfectly reasonable to say that a great majority (if not all) of people attending a mass in a church are there for a specific - ritualistic - reason, such assumption won't work when studying the behavior of museum-goers who may be there for a number of causes. First of all, there is absolutely nothing about timing one's visit to a museum that would suggest this. There is nothing regular about the visits and such a visit is often accidental as much as planned. Once inside the museum, I have never seen anything that would suggest any shared patterns of the visitors' conduct that would support this `ritual' theory. I have always interpreted what is more-or-less silence or only quiet talk as a mere politeness towards people around, rather then any sort of `ritualistic behavior'. I am silent in a hospital too. Whether one wants to admire one particular work of art or even see it as such is one's free choice. No museum in the world could force me to look at something longer then I want to. I have seen people, particularly in American museums, to behave no differently the they would elsewhere. Museums can place all manner of things for us to see in every way they can, to represent whatever they want them to represent, but in the end it is up to us to accept it or not. If someone wants to worship, why should I care?
Duncan quotes Goethe as he impatiently waited for the opening of the Dresden Gallery in 1768 and using his exaltations as a proof of the ritualistic nature of gallery visits. She probably doesn't realize, that if this was the very first day of a gallery functioning, in the 18th century when there were almost no public museums or galleries, there could be hardly any talk of an established ritual. Duncan states that the origins of the evolution of the museum from the princely gallery lie in the discourse "in which bourgeois and aristocratic modes of culture were pitted against each other" and that the museums such as the Louvre stand as monuments to the new bourgeois state as it emerged at the time of revolutions. Yet later in the second chapter she says that conversions of this type happened before revolution in Dresden and Vienna. Why aristocratic and ultra-conservative regimes such as Saxony and Austria had at the time, would promote a monument to bourgeois state remains a mystery our eager writer could not be bothered to explain. After all, even Bourbons were considering opening the Louvre to the public before the revolution. Between 1789 and 1871 France experienced several revolutions, was run by three monarchies, two empires, three republics, directory and a consulate, and went through the Paris Commune, yet none of these widely varied governments thought of closing down the museum. If the new type of museum was simply a monument to the bourgeoisie, then why was it kept on in Soviet Russia and the entire communist bloc? Little details like that could not bother Duncan. Her overall historical scholarship is below that of an eight-grader, and so she cheerfully states that by 1825 all western capitals, monarchical or republican had a national gallery. Obviously, the fact that in 1825, there was no republican government in Europe escapes her. It is the complete lack of in-depth knowledge on Duncan's part that allows her to arrogantly write that the countries of the third world have museums just so that they can receive western military and economic aid. It is not just that it is plainly insulting, but what is implied is that getting money and weapons from the west is as easy as building a museum. And why, then, do some third world countries that refuse aid from the west still build museums? If a major argument in (what I take for) a serious book is built on hot air like that, than the book is perhaps not as serious as we might think. Duncan, as is painfully obvious by now, has no taste. It is therefore no surprise that she hates those who do. With misplaced sarcasm she derides the practice of basing museums on `national genius', claiming this to be the governing pattern in the west by 19th century. I seriously doubt that, if only because hardly two, perhaps three countries in the west could possess such wealth of cultural heritage as to claim a genius and not be laughed at. British art galleries, for example, could hardly build their identity on such shaky ground. But Duncan does not care about facts. Or logic. She unworriedly states that museums were seen as instruments of "social change capable of strengthening the social order", without realizing that it is a contradiction in terms. Now the plot has been completely lost, and by chapter three Duncan doesn't talk about ritual anymore. What she wants is to hate and deride. To her, public museums set up in the United States in the second half of the 19th century are nothing but nests of hypocrisy, thinly veiled racist institutions, run by and for the white male, the root cause of all evil. Uncouth terms like the `WASP' are standard here and one is left wondering if all white male Protestants really are pathological liars. The impression one takes from this is that museum founders, donors and curators are twisted, dangerous psychopaths. Perhaps we should keep them under lock and key as soon as they even start rambling about museums. When talking about lives of museum donors, Duncan approaches something resembling mildly appealing writing, but only because the subject is interesting. Predictably, another pearl awaits us at the end of the fourth chapter where she idiotically writes that Andrew Mellon's refusal to have his name associated with the National Gallery "is an act, however, that also obscures the deep contradiction on which the National Gallery is built: that one man, single-handedly, was able to dictate, pay for, and carry out the creation of so potent a symbol of the nation's spiritual and material wealth". I don't see Duncan's point. So what if one man can do all this? One man was behind building of the Suez Canal, one man led India's independence movement, a single sixteen year old French girl in the 1420's saved her country, yet no one would claim there to be some "deep rooted" contradictions. One prefers to admire the courage and persistence of an individual. Duncan does not. To her, anyone out of the ordinary, above the average, is an elitist.
It all finally falls apart in the final chapter on modern art museums. These are places frequented by sexual deviants, all male. In fact, Duncan is convinced, all (!) of the modern art is about sex. This is just one of her bizarre beliefs, based on her strange, shamanistic psychoanalysis. I was, let me admit, a bit surprised to discover that as a man I had feelings of inadequacy and vulnerability in front of mature women (like Duncan, I presume) and was frightened of the vagina. Throwing in Latinisms just for good measure is apparently Duncan's idea of maturity.

Review.......2005-10-04

Excellent working with seller, received item very fast! Would definitely recommend business with this seller.

Informative and Easy to Read.......2000-06-04

Dr. Duncan's books discusses the history of art museums and focusses in on some notable, present day museums. Her approach combines the traditional art historian view with a sociological view. Art is not created in a vacuum and reflects the society it lives within. Duncan's approach gives us insight into why some artwork is accepted while other artwork is not.

This book was required reading in my undergraduate studies. It is one of the few I choose to have in my personal library as well.

Carol Duncan's book is small in size and easy to read. However, just because of its ease and size, don't mistake its value to art history. It is well researched and well edited. It is short, sweet and to the point. Too bad other art history books cannot be like that.

Informative, Easy To Read.......2000-06-04

Dr. Duncan's book was required reading in my undergraduate studies. She writes from two angles - first, being the traditional fine arts view, and second, a sociological view. Art is not created in a vacuum and is directly affected by the society it lives in. There is a value to looking at art from this combined point of view. You have a clear picture why some art is considered valuable, while some is not.

Carol Duncan's book delves into the reasons why we have art museums and then focusses in on some notable museums of today. The small book is an easy and quick read. However, its relative ease and small size does not mean it does not inform. It is well researched and well edited. It is short, sweet and to the point. Too bad more art history books are not like that.

Book Description

Now, at last, an antidote for all those smarmy self-help books that tell you deep breathing and love will pull you through any ill-health ordeal. You know that's crap. As an alternative measure, this book purports to contain highly inspirational anecdotes listed from the confidential medical files of a Dr. Silas Bonnefiglio, who successfully evades any questions regarding his education or training. If you have a sick friend or relative with a sense of humor, they'll adore this tiny tome. You'll feel better reading it even if you are not sick.

Book Description

Discussions by 15 prominent music authorities From anonymous 10th century troubadors to world-renowned 20th century composers, A History of Music of the Western World explores the roots of the most influential music genres of our time. Essential listening for students and lovers of great music, the collection includes stimulating discussions by 15 prominent music authorities, including Christopher Hogwood and Dr. Wilfrid Mellers. The collection includes 1) New Arts for Old: Medieval Music 1100-1480 2) Musick's Feaste: Music of the Renaissance 1480-1600 3) "A Pearl Distorted": the Baroque Period 1600-1750 4) Sonata and the Creative Ideal: The Classical Period 1750-1830 5) Expressions and Extravagance: The Romantic Period 1830-1900 6) Reaction and Revolution: The Modern Period 1900-1945 7) Contemporary Music 1945-1980 8) Approaches to Popular Music 1960-1980 9) From Cave to Cavern: The History of Percussion Instruments 10) Islands in the Sun: The Story of Reggae and Calypso 11) A Jug of This: An Introduction to English Folk Music 12) Instruments Around the World

Customer Reviews:

Optimistic title . . ........2007-09-04

but I think this set delivers, especially upon repeated listenings. In my box set there is a seemingly insignificant little booklet that contains the Music Credits. If you order these cd's, do not discard that booklet!!! It's the very thing that the previous reviewer seems not to have held on to. What a difference it makes to know that the first piece you hear is La Bassa Castiglya, etc.

Good content, disappointing packaging.......1998-06-25

I have the compact disc version, which is longer than the cassette version. I really like the discussions, but the packaging is skimpy. There should be a detailed description and table of contents in each jewel case. A small timeline and glossary would be wonderful. But it has none of these, and for the price I expected better. But the recordings are well done, and although I would have liked more talk about musical forms, the set does live up to its title.

Book Description

WINNER OF THE 1999 JEFFERSON DAVIS AWARD

Complementing Confederate Tide Rising, this detailed account focuses on the military campaign itself. Antietam languishes in the long, obscuring shadow cast by Gettysburg and Harsh advocates rethinking the Maryland campaign. He promotes the argument that Antietam was one of the most interesting, critical, and potentially enlightening episodes in U.S. history.

Customer Reviews:

A new idea.......2007-08-19

Joseph Harsh brings a very different but logical view to the Antietam Campaign in this book. This is NOT your first book on Antietam; you need to have an understanding of this critical event to really understand this book. In a very logical, systematic manner, we walk thru the campaign not as history but as the events take place. This approach puts the reader in the position of Lee or McClellan making decision with imperfect knowledge.

Starting with a full review of the CSA position after Pope's army escapes into the Washington forts to the return to Virginia on the 21st, the author display an astounding knowledge of this campaign. What he has to say about the Lee and McClellan will challenge many of the historical assumptions and make you think.

This is not an "easy read" BUT it is one that every student of the Civil War needs to read.

Terrific Challenge To Conventional Wisdom!.......2005-03-02

This book takes a totally fresh look at the 1862 Maryland Campaign and the Confederate strategy. This is by far the best book I've read on the campaign, and there have been some good ones in the past 40 years (Murphin's Gleam of Bayonets and Sears' Landscape Turned Red, for example). The book is fascinating because the author exposes numerous myths about the campaign. I was impressed with the rigor and objectivity of his investigation and analysis. What I especially liked was his philosophy toward history set forth in the introduction, wherein he explains the dangers of relying too heavily on 20/20 hindsight. I was impressed that the author showed great fairness to General McClellan--judging his actions based solely on what he knew at the time, and what he had been ordered to accomplish. McClellan was far from perfect, but the relentless trashing he has taken from historians has alway struck me as excessive. The author, among other interesting assessments, points out that the Army of Northern Virginia was much larger than what we've always been told-- 75,500 troops rather than the 40,000-55,000 number that we've often heard. I highly recommend this book - the story is terrific and the footnotes alone are worth the price!

Best study ever of the Sharpsburg Campaign.......2003-09-08

Other histories of the critical 1862 Sharpsburg campaign pale in comparison to this masterwork. Nobody else's work---nobody---can come close to Harsh's study.

Do not miss this; it is the standard by which all studies of the Sharpsburg campaign must be measured.

A most painful book to read!!.......2002-08-23

I just finished reading "Taken at the Flood: Robert E. Lee and Confederate Strategy in the Maryland Campaign of 1862"
by Joseph L. Harsh.

Ouch!!!! Talk about painful!!! Harsh (a history professor who grew up in Hagerstown) simply cannot write!! Some people can write well; others write poorly. Harsh is at the bottom of the latter group. (I feel sorry for his students -- they probably suffered severe ear and brain trauma from his lectures. And he writes as if he were lecturing!!)

He LOVES R.E. Lee. (According to Harsh, everything that went wrong was someone else's fault -- without exception!!) Then there are Harsh's numerous "moments" when he tells you what a particular person MUST have been thinking at any given time -- as if Harsh (or anyone else!!) could know! Finally come are his analyses of various events and situations. In Harsh's eyes, all ideas that contradict his opinions OBVIOUSLY MUST be wrong -- it's just plain "foolish" to think otherwise.

It's too bad that Harsh just didn't tell what happened and allowed us to form our own judgements. (By the way, he plays pretty "fast and loose" with the facts. Plus, he omits vital information that doesn't correspond to his interpretation.)
In his preface, Harsh even has the audacity to state that, besides his book, there are only one or two other books that cover the Maryland Campaign in depth. Well, I have been studying Antietam for over 35 years, have been there several hundred times, and have read literally thousands of books, articles, and documents about Antietam. Harsh is full of it!!

If you were thinking of buying this book, don't bother. You can gain just as much by pulling out all your teeth with a pair of pliars, then dropping a 200-pound lead weight on your foot.

Well Done.......2002-04-16

I agree with much the prior reviewers have said. Although I am not a Civil War buff, I found the book readable. I appreciate his methodology also. Harsh attempts to reconstruct the intelligence available to Lee when he made crucial decisions and to assess his decisions based on the moves he could have made given what he knew and in light of his strategic aims for the campaign. All historians should stick by this method. He also does a very creditable job in his attempt to ascertain what Lee knew. On balance very well researched and well argued. I especially enjoyed the end in which he places his argument within the context of existing historiography on the subject. One criticism I have relates to the maps, which is discussed in the review of one of Dr. Harsh's other books. I bought Landscape Turned Red as the result of reading Taken at the Flood. And the maps are much more helpful in that Sears's book. When you are dealing with a lot of different place names and different corps moving around, it makes the flow a lot easier.

(Disclaimer: I sat in on a few classes of Dr. Harsh's as an undergraduate).

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An Important Book That Should Be Read

The ABSOLUTE Truth

Obessive Secrecy

I finally agree with him completely.

Reader's Digest version of Dean's latest diatribe against all things Republican

Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush
John W. Dean
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Amazon.com

The most facile presidential comparison one could make for George W. Bush would be his father, who presided over a war in Iraq and a struggling economy. Some "neocons" reject the parallel and compare Bush to his father's predecessor, Ronald Reagan, citing a plainspoken quality and a belief in deep tax cuts. But John Dean goes further back, seeing in Bush all the secrecy and scandal of Dean's former boss, the notorious Richard Nixon. The difference, as the title of Dean's book indicates, is that Bush is a heck of a lot worse. While the book provides insightful snippets of the way Nixon used to do business, it offers them to shed light on the practices of Bush. In Dean's estimation, the secrecy with which Bush and Dick Cheney govern is not merely a preferred system of management but an obsessive strategy meant to conceal a deeply troubling agenda of corporate favoritism and a dramatic growth in unchecked power for the executive branch that put at risk the lives of American citizens, civil liberties, and the Constitution. Dean sets out to make his point by drawing attention to several areas about which Bush and Cheney have been tight-lipped: the revealing by a "senior White House official" of the identity of an undercover CIA operative whose husband questioned the administration, the health of Cheney, the identity of Cheney's energy task force, the information requested by the bi-partisan 9/11 commission, Bush's business dealings early in his career, the creation of a "shadow government", wartime prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, and scores more. He theorizes that the truth about these and many other situations, including the decision to go to war in Iraq, will eventually surface and that Bush and Cheney's secrecy is a thus far effective means of keep a lid on a rapidly multiplying set of lies and scandals that far outstrip the misdeeds that led directly to Dean's former employer resigning in disgrace. Dean's charges are impassioned and more severe than many of Bush's most persistent critics. But those charges are realized only after careful reasoning and steady logic by a man who knows his way around scandal and corruption. --John Moe

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Nobody knows more, both from first hand experience and legal expertise, about the abuse of presidential power and their dangers than John Dean, former counsel to President Nixon. In WORSE THAN WATERGATE, Dean delivers a stunning indictment of the current Bush administration, and issues an urgent alarm to the nation: the Bush team's obsession with secrecy and their willingness to deceive make them even more dangerous than Nixon's. Dean brilliantly explores Bush's emphasis on image over substance; his angry, mistrustful personality; his excessive fear of leaks; his reversing the work of his predecessors in opening up government; his imperial governing combined with deeply flawed decision making; and his serious abuses of national security secrecy. From refusing to explain the precarious health of the powerful vice president to hiding the identity of those setting the nation's energy policy, from obstructing 9/11 investigations to unprecedented secrecy in the name of fighting terrorism, Dean exposes the dangers of a presidency that is using weapons of mass deception against the American public.

Customer Reviews:

An Important Book That Should Be Read.......2007-10-11

The first in a trilogy of books by former Nixon counsel, John Dean, "Worse Than Watergate - The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush" is a must read book for every American today who wants to understand the mechanics at work in the current administration. Mr. Dean, a life-long Republican and a Washington insider for most of his long career, is fully qualified to delve into the inner workings of the White House. It was John Dean who had gone to President Richard Nixon and advised him that the activities surrounding the watergate activities were illegal and that they should be stopped. When Nixon refused to do so, Dean went to the authorities and turned himself in. It was Dean's testimony that ultimately led to the investigations and the resignation of Richard Nixon from office. It is with this insight and perspective that Dean examines the current Bush administration and draws a comparison between them.

The contents of this book are very well researched and presented in a clear, concise and non-inflammatory manner. This is not a book based on character assassination or slander. Rather, what you will find are coherent and publicly available facts outlining the activities of the Bush administration. Dean begins by drawing the comparison between the Nixon administration and the Bush administration by showing the similarities in patterns of behavior and policies. He then begins to unfold in a methodical fashion how the Bush administration has, from day one, systematically engaged in a campaign of stone walling and secret agendas designed to keep information away from the public eye. The hidden agendas and obsessive secrecy employed by this administration are exposed for examination. Some of the activities revealed are downright shocking and disturbing to say the least. For those who are skeptical of the contents of the book, almost every sentence in the book is footnoted and referenced back to the source material from where the information came. So it is extremely easy to check and verify if the information is accurate.

The book is well paced and easy to read and engaging which makes for a very quick read. Unfortunately, the information contained within it's pages is quite disturbing. Nevertheless, it is information that all Americans should be aware of no matter how unpleasant it might be. The Bush administration has done an excellent job of sweeping important facts under the rug and out of sight and this book contains very critical information that should be understood by the electorate. President Bush, as Nixon, has operated outside and above the law and has pursued an agenda that has thrust this country into a diabolical war that is now pushing a price tag of almost $600 billion with no signs of stopping. Dean makes it very clear that the purpose of his book is to educate the population and to make it clear that President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney should be impeached for their willful misconduct, outright lies, and obsessive secret agenda that has now attacked the very foundations of our democracy and civil liberties.

The ABSOLUTE Truth.......2007-09-06

If there was any question or doubt that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were and are sleaze-ball gangsters, you the doubter, will abandon your doubts once you read this book. They are truly frightening men, without morals and without conscience. Yes, they and all they have done is much worse than Watergate.

Obessive Secrecy .......2007-06-01

I finished this book in 2 days because I was so intrigued at not only the shocking comaprison's between Bush and Nixon but that the actions of the Bush-Cheney administration would make Nixon roll over in his grave upset he had not thought off executing his plan in the precise fashion the Bush-Cheney administration has. Ironically after I finished reading this book I was reading an article in the paper about Cheney not allowing the public to see his visitation log at his executive residence (which is customary for this information to be public)citing executive privilege (which never included VP's until Bush amended the law). Why can't the public see who has been to his home? Another article was on Bush not going along with the EU's plan to reduce emissions in the environment in an effort to stop global warming. He says he was going to think of another more efficient plan. Just reading those two articles after this book just confimed everything I read in this book which is very scary in terms of where our nation is headed.

I finally agree with him completely........2007-03-28

Dean is on the right track in so many ways, but honestly, it's only slightly worse than Watergate, as described in this book. With enough sleazy lawyers, they have managed to find a legal justification or distorted precedent for most of this stuff. All the Family Jewels investigations in the `70's is not quite dwarfed by what the Bush Administration had done by `05. In the last year and half, though, things have changed. Congress is not allowed to further investigate how much the NSA was ordered to violate the FISA in its eavesdropping on the orders of the President? Karl Rove and the Justice Department lie to Congress to get the Patriot Act altered in March '06 to give the President sole authority to appoint interim U.S. federal attorneys, without Senate confirmation of candidates, and without a requirement for moving to permanent replacements? Then they immediately use it to replace unbiased federal attorney's with ones that will be "loyal Bushies and play ball" so they can try and rig the run-up to the '08 elections by only allowing corruption investigations of democrats and overturning elections that don't go their way? I mean, what the hell?! That is FAR worse than anything Nixon did. That is a downright attempt to subvert the republic. Is it possible NSA and FBI illegal conduct has also been used for political purposes? Is the Bush Administration now worried if another Republican doesn't get the presidency that the true extent of their corruption will finally be investigated? Quite simply, the behavior of the administration right now amounts to Guilty Demeanor. They appear to be in a panic, attempting to hold control by whatever means possible, even if it means invoking executive privilege and classifying the hell out of everything they can. Dean has good instinct, but it's only recently that his posit has been proven out.

Reader's Digest version of Dean's latest diatribe against all things Republican.......2007-01-08

"I hate Bush because he is a Republican" by John W. Dean.

Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush

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Great book of a horrible subject

Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush
John W. Dean
Manufacturer: Little, Brown & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Conspiracy Theories | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0681303700

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John Dean knows what happens behind closed doors at the White House. As counsel to President Richard Nixon, he witnessed the malignant influence of excessive secrecy and its corruption of good intentions. Pundits and partisans can point fingers. Only Dean can reveal with true insider knowledge the dangers of a presidency that has crossed the line. In Worse than Watergate, Dean presents a stunning indictment of George W. Bush's administration. He assembles overwhelming evidence of its obsessive secrecy and the dire and dangerous consequences resulting from a return to Nixonian governing. Worse than Watergate connects the dots, explaining the hidden agenda of a White House shrouded in secrecy and a presidency that seeks to remain unaccountable.

Customer Reviews:

Great book of a horrible subject.......2007-02-28

I almost wish I hadn't read this book. Mr. Dean describes a corrupt administration that it seems almost unbelievable to be true. Yet, since Mr. Dean documents his facts (in a bibliography, not in the text so it doesn't stop the flow - thanks!), only his conclusions are debatable. But, with the given facts, I don't see how you can reach different conclusions.

Mr. Dean has a great perspective for this book, and therefore some authority. To have him come to these conclusions is just awful. Yes, I'm NOT a bush fan at all, but even if I had any tolerance for the guy, after reading this I couldn't.

Unfortunately, I wasn't terribly surprised by the revelations, but I almost felt better before knowing the contents of this book.

What I really am disappointed at is that Kerry or Gore did not use any of this information in their campaigns (or even any of the other Republicans). Almost all of the info in this book is based on published items dating before Kerry's presidential run. This information should have been used by him, it should be covered better by mainstream press (although not many Americans seem to care about truth or facts any longer), and it should be investigated by the new Democrat congress.

Worse than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush.(Book Review): An article from: Reviewer's Bookwatch

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Worse than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush.(Book Review): An article from: Reviewer's Bookwatch
Thomas Fortenberry
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
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Release Date: 2006-10-06

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This digital document is an article from Reviewer's Bookwatch, published by Thomson Gale on November 1, 2004. The length of the article is 539 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Title: Worse than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush.(Book Review)
Author: Thomas Fortenberry
Publication: Reviewer's Bookwatch (Newsletter)
Date: November 1, 2004
Publisher: Thomson Gale
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Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency Of George W Bush
John Dean
Manufacturer: Warner Books Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OPRPX6

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Little Wild Duckling (Look-Look)
Golden Books
Manufacturer: Golden Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0307118991
Release Date: 1985-02-16

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The Little Wild Ducklings
A Golden Book
Manufacturer: Western Publishing Co. Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K07JLI

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The little wild ducklings photographs
Angelo Lomeo Sonja Bullaty
Manufacturer: Goldencraft
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OSTNLA

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The little wild ducklings: Photographs (A Golden look-look book)
Sonja Bullaty
Manufacturer: Golden Book
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: B0006EFK3C

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