Paper into Pots and Other Fun Objects Using Hand-Made Recycled Paper and Papier-Mache Techniques

Book Description

"There is a bit of Imelda Marcos in many women," begins the fascinating, energetic text of Shoes. This chic book taps into the obsession, the fetish, and the fashion of footwear, from the pump to the sneaker, the boot to the stiletto. There are no ancient Roman sandals in this book. Instead, noted author Valerie Steele speaks directly to modern shoe enthusiasts and delves into their soles.

Highly illustrated with cutting-edge photos and filled with quips and quotes from Tom Ford, Manolo Blahnik, Ann Magnuson, and other aficionados, this book stirs up the debate over high heels, bows to the joys of athletic footwear, and probes the power of shoes to convey status and sex appeal. This is an exuberant, often irreverent, contemporary history of shoes for the well- shod of every "style tribe."

Customer Reviews:

for photos..........2003-01-26

well... it's a hard cover.. nicely designed... neat book..
nice to have at home... to flip thru look @ different shoes..
for that purpose, a very nice book.. for the sheer joy of looking at the photos.... and i think that's enough..

but certainly not a book w/ extensive info on shoe history and all that.

Another Disappointed Reader.......2001-07-11

Although I rate this book somewhat higher than one star, I would have to agree that, given Valerie Steele's reputation and credentials, I had hoped for something more than a composite of fashion magazine photos. Particularly disappointing since this book was loosely considered a catalog in conjunction with the small, but interesting, exhibition held at Fashion Institute of Technology. Like the two earlier reviewers, I would agree that it contributes little to the scholarly history of footwear, still, I am glad to have it in my collection.

Another Disappointed Reader.......2001-07-11

I agree with the May 23 reviewer from Manhattan.......1999-12-24

The review from dated May 23rd from Manhatan expressing a disppointment expressed my feelings exactly.

Shoes- a contemporary look.......1999-12-06

This stylish book has more of a contemporary focus than most books on shoes, making it a "must-have" even if you already have several shoe books on your shelf. Stunning photographs by top fashion photographers, like Helmut Newton and Mario Testino, depict playful, sexy, sometimes fetishistic shoes by today's most innovative designers, including Christian Louboutin and Manolo Blahnik. The text explores the link between clothing and shoes, showing shoes by Bella Freud, and other fashion designers and exploring the role that trainers, sneakers, and sports shoes have on our contemporary conceptions of `cool.'

Book Description

This updated glimpse into the life and career of Brad Pitt offers more photos and 32 new pages. Robb details Pitt's career from Thelma and Louise to his work in films as diverse as Seven Years in Tibet and Meet Joe Black. The author discusses how Pitt's dislike of Hollywood blockbusters continues to push him toward challenging roles.

Customer Reviews:

Warning! Beep!..........2003-02-20

I'm not going to lie to you. Reading this book, I felt like a real ballerina boy, head stuffed with cream puffs and dandylions in my hair. I said I wasn't going to lie. If you have this book on your bookshelf, you may pursue the "Greek love." No lie. You may want to have sex with another man (unless you are a woman, in which case it is fine, not that it's not fine the other way, but you know what I mean).

This bildungsroman follows young Pitt (Pitt the Younger) from his carefree days in the corn fields of Iowa to desinger satin sheets and Jennifer Aniston's tang. I don't want to give too much away, but here are some of my favorite bits:

*Brad turning to acting after a boring two-years as Asst. Deputy State Comptroller of Iowa.

*Hard drinking, sweet loving.

*In Brad's debut (Thelma and Louise) he actually suggested they ride off the cliff at the end.

*Harrowing dance with heroin culimnates with near-fatal OD outside of the Viper Room.

*Really bald.

Good readable text accurate info and good pictures.......1998-11-04

This book is well illustrated and gives the available info on Brad's life in a readable format, and a decent size. Could benefit from an index. Some of the pictures I have not seen elsewhere. It is now a bit out of date, and some of the stuff mentioned as future projects has not in fact materialised (whatever happened to the idea of Brad playing General Custer for example? That would have been fun!) The best of the Brad Pitt books I have seen so far.

Average customer rating:
Hymntime Piano Book #2 Children's Piano
Fred Bock
Manufacturer: Fred Bock Music Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0634011855

Book Description

Continuing where Book 1 leaves off, Book 2 covers many of the early problems encountered by the young pianist. Dotted rhythms are effectively taught through familiar titles that the pianist will love to play. Again, a listing of problems and correlating pieces is provided for the teacher's convenience.

Book Description

Buried within this seemingly simple game is a mathematical puzzle so complex, the game has long been considered unsolvable by the mathematical world. But now the code has been broken and an optimal strategy discovered for playing Yahtzee. Advantage Yahtzee shows you how to improve your results with a powerful score-enhancing strategy--based on the best possible way to play--that's been simplified for easy recall and use. Beat your friends, your kids, and anyone else who doesn't play according to the Advantage Yahtzee Strategy.

Also included in Advantage Yahtzee: • Special "Yahtzee Advantage Play" tip boxes that take you step-by-step through the important points. • A strategy for maximizing results against other players. • A unique distribution breakdown that lets you compare your scores with the universe of possible scores to see how well you've done.

Customer Reviews:

From the Board Games Editor at BellaOnline.com.......2005-11-28

For some reason, I had always thought of Yahtzee as a game of mostly luck and a little skill. Then I read Advantage Yahtzee, by Olaf Vancura, Ph.D. The book is cheap (only 6.95) and a relatively quick read, but I guarantee that your Yahtzee scores will improve dramatically after reading it just one time.

This book, however, was written in such a manner that even someone who has virtually no math skills and has only played Yahtzee once will be able to read it easily and benefit greatly.

Between the strategy tips, the book is filled with fun facts. Did you know that the highest possible score in Yahtzee is 1,575? That would mean you'd have to roll 13 straight Yahtzees. Or did you know that on every first roll, there are 252 possible outcomes? You'll learn this and so much more if you read this book. Pick it up, it's well worth the cheap cover price and will improve your game vastly.

Yahtzee Advantage - A must for serious fans of the greatest game ever made.......2005-09-20

It wasn't long ago that many of us hardcore yahtzee
fans believed that the optimal strategy was well out
of the reach of mortals. Well, the esteemed Olaf
Vancura, PhD has thankfully proved us wrong. Yahtzee
Advantage is certainly the most ground breaking book
in the history of Yahtzee that ever was and certainly
ever will be. After a short history of Yahtzee,
Vancura discusses Yahtzee rules and even clarifies the
dubious and complicated 'joker rules.' He then moves
on to how he unravelled the secret of Yahtzee. The
next few chapters address how to simulate the optimal
strategy in beginning, mid, and end game. There are a
number of useful graphs that summarize what play to make
during different rolls in the game; he even
includes the Yahtzee distribution given perfect play
and provides a few case studies. Without Dr.
Vancura, we never would have known the golden benchmark - the optimal score under perfect play. Advantage Yahtzee is a must for serious fans of the greatest game ever made. Because of Yahtzee Advantage, and its counterpart - the online Yahtzee Proficiency Tester- , I expect that we will see human yahtzee scores to rise dramatically over the next decade.

Nails two out of the three topics I wanted........2004-05-03

This book includes a decent set of rules, a standard score sheet and a crystal clear explanation of the one rule that most people misinterpret. Neat, but, in and of itself, not worth a book unless you're a purist who wants to know if they are in the "wrong" camp. Imagine my surprise when I found out I was.

Of course, it also includes a reasonably small set of guidelines that will enable you to approximate "perfect" play. Given the "stupefyingly" large number of possibilities, you'll never play "perfect" Yahtzee. If this is what you want, five stars. If you have a penchant for numbers, you may well be playing close as it is. Again, I was.

Personally, I wanted a book with three sections: the two above and the third consisting of the mathematician's/programmer's point-of-view. Of course, the book tells you the approach Vancura used. Without it, the problem explodes. It took Vancura two months to go from "it can't be done" to "did it." But the distance from "here's how" to actual implementation is huge. Would have loved to have access to source code in at least pseudo-code if not C/Perl/some other popular language - preferably somewhere on the web.

Customer Reviews:

Not pragmatic. Too much talk........2007-07-28

The ratio of talk to concrete examples is 85% to 15%. I like straight to the point books, that can and should reinforce important points but keep the fluff to a minimum...

Option Trading for the Conservative Investor.......2007-07-21

Great book if you are considering doing options in your IRA or Roth. Author is very straight forward in pointing out pit falls with a number of option stradegies that could get one into trouble and on the flip side those that work that will build your portfolio over time. I also liked that the author spent some time on tax implications of Options that other authors never speak about. Author could have spent some time on how one searches for stocks that fit the conservative option stradegey, i.e. how to use filters and screeners in various web sites.

Not so conservative.......2007-06-17

Overall lots of information, but Thomsett does not fully explain the risks involved with selling covered calls. Essentially all of his model portfolio would have been in the money after selling the Leaps wtih in weeks. Rolling would not be practical as one could only roll up for the 27 month Leaps. Selling a Pepsico 27 mo. Leap at 50 with a current price (in Sept of '02) of 48.48 netted a $4.30 premium. The stock hit $50 within a month or so and was at about $63 by expiration. The only way out would be to roll up (at an ever increasing cost), hold for two years, or buy back the call. For the average investor (including myself) seems a bit complicated. If after selling a call, the price falls, the risk is even greater. One would need to close out the call by purchasing it back before selling the shares or risk having a naked call. The stradles described later in the book may reduce risk but for most trading accounts managing margin is not for the faint of heart. Definitely read this book with a large grain of salt and thourghly understand the risks associated with such options trading.

Conservative in Some Respects.......2007-05-28

Essentially a book that attempts to frame options trading in a world where your fundamental analysis of a company will drive strategy. The basic assumption of this book is that you can effectively analyze the fundamental strength of a stock and that you can execute several options strategies to increase the income generated from the stock. However, many of the strategies presented still require one to utilize technical analysis (e.g., choose strike prices based on support-levels), as well as provide little in the way of strategy modiifcation if the company's fundamentals change during the life of a call. This is a good book for developing some new investment strategies, however the reader will benefit if they have a good understanding of technical analysis as well.

Good advice but too repetitive.......2007-05-20

This is one of those books that while it has good advice and might actually be nice for someone not knowing that much about options (of which I am one) the book repeats itself over and over. The same ideas could have been presented in one fourth the number of pages. The author's other book "Getting Started in Options" covers more basics, gives better examples, is much better for beginners, and is a much much better way to spend your money.

Options Trading for the Conservative Investor: Increasing Profits Without Increasing Your Risk (Financial Times Prentice Hall Books)

Average customer rating:

Options Trading for the Conservative Investor: Increasing Profits Without Increasing Your Risk (Financial Times Prentice Hall Books)
Michael C. Thomsett
Manufacturer: FT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OHZDTM

Book Description

Beloved novelist and playwright Thulani Davis takes a journey through her ancestral history-and finds tartan plaid, unlikely lovers, and Confederate soldiers

Starting with a photograph and some writings left by her grandmother, Thulani Davis goes looking for the "white folk" in her family-a Scots-Irish family of cotton planters unknown to her-and uncovers a history far richer and stranger than she had ever imagined.

When Davis's grandmother died in 1971, she was writing a novel about her parents, Mississippi cotton farmers who met after the Civil War: Chloe Curry, a former slave from Alabama, married with several children, and Will Campbell, a white planter from Missouri who had never married.

In this compelling intersection of genealogy, memoir, and Reconstruction history, Davis picks up where her grandmother left off. Her journey takes her from Missouri to Mississippi to Alabama, back to her home town in Virginia, and even to Sierra Leone. The Campbells lead her to locate not only their pioneer history but to find the previously unknown roots of her mother's family; to Civil War archives, where she discovers the records of the Campbells who fought with Confederate troops; to the Silver Creek plantation in Yazoo, Mississippi, where the two branches of her family history became one; and to a county near her Virginia hometown where both families started their American journey, completely unknown to each other.

My Confederate Kinfolk examines the origins of some of our most deeply ingrained notions about what makes a family black or white and offers an immensely compelling, intellectually challenging alternative.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting personal historical.......2007-06-19

A beautiful and very accessable history on the pre and post civil war period.

What made it easy was it's grounding in Thulani Davis family.

A learning experience for me.

It's Mostly About the Confederate Kinfolk.......2006-12-16

Just as it says, this book is mostly about the author's Confederate kinfolk. As she says, it's easier to find out information about them. A lot of them left diaries and letters. I kept waiting to learn more about her tremendous great-grandmother, but by the end of the book, I realized that it truly was about her white kinfolk. She'll have to write another book to detail the story of her black kinfolk. I was fascinated by this book because I have relatives of that same era that I am trying to find out about, but there is so little documentation. Only one of my great grandparents could read and write. He was a Union soldier, but since his future wife could not read or write, there would have been no point in him writing to her, and so there are no existing letters from him to her from which we could learn about their experiences at the time.

This book goes into great detail about the comings and goings of her white ancestors, at least some of whom tried to write "family" histories. Of course, they made little direct acknowledgement, or at least written acknowledgement, of their non-white kin, namely the author's grandmother.

I love family pictures. Unfortunately, we don't have pictures of some of the people in our family that I would most like to see. There are pictures of the author's white kin, and of her great grandmother, and oblique references to her by the white kin, but it is difficult to document the story of people who were prevented and penalized from reading and writing. The oral history died with the participants, and some stories that were passed down sometimes went no further than a hearer who declined to pass those stories on. This, for me, is one of the saddest legacies of American slavery.

I enjoyed this book because I have been in the same boots as the author trying to find out family history with very little documentary information to go on, and deep regret that I was not interested enough, or old enough, or knowledgeable enough to ask the oldest family members about their memories of those who went before while they were still alive.

Disappointed........2006-07-19

My Confederate Kinfolk was extremely hard to read. It took me three trys to read the first three pages. I felt the writer was not writing about her people as the title indicates. I felt the beginning of the novel had nothing to do with the author's kinfolks. I only finally completed the book because I was required to do so; otherwise I would not had. The last three chapters is what I wish I had only read.

Black Liberation Struggle is More Than Just the Civil Rights Movement.......2006-07-14

When most of us think about Black liberation struggles, the first thing that comes to mind is the American Civil Rights Movement of the `50s and `60s. Numerous women and men used their creativity and ingenuity to challenge nefarious Jim Crow laws and the de facto segregation that permeated every aspect of life in this country. In doing so, they often endangered their lives, and the lives of those who loved them - a risk they deemed ultimately worth the reward of social, political and economic equality they were fighting for.

Although this is a period of history which certainly deserves our attention, writer Thulani Davis suggests that the history of American Reconstruction is just as, or even more deserving of study, because of the world that the newly freedmen and freedwoman tried to form, against opposition that was many times more formidable and vicious than that of their descendants a century later.

In her new book, My Confederate Kinfolk: A Twenty-first Century Freedwoman Discovers Her Roots, Davis writes, "The first women and men to walk away from bondage reinvented the race, redefined the terms of American citizenship, and spread the blend of African and EuroAmerican culture created in bondage in the American South. Never has one group of people acted on such a large scale in so many regions of the country at once to push the society to honor its foundational principles. They taught the rest of us how to do it and yet there is no cultural memory of those millions," (pg. 6).

It is this cultural amnesia that Davis seeks to cure, through an in-depth exploration of the tangled cords of her own family and ancestors, many of them freedwomen and men, some of them White planters, all of them striving to reach their individual, familial and societal goals through the often contradictory terrain of nineteenth century America.

"Researching family history in this country puts you face to face with that seminal American habit of leaving the past behind for a new self, new wealth, new chances, and all their complications - name changing, multiple migrations, and the constant repetition in the naming of towns, churches, graveyards, and slaves," (pg. 9.), Davis writes, in an introductory chapter filled with brilliant insights and revelatory connections.
She adds in a later chapter, however, that finding information about her White ancestors was infinitely easier than finding information about the Black ones. "My dogs have more documentation of their existence than most of my forebearers. Considerably more," (pg. 69), says Davis. While this didn't surprise her, it did take its emotional toll. "I have been extremely lucky [in my research], and luck is important, yet sometimes I have had to just cry when five minutes on the internet can turn up over 500 Mississippi lynching victims on one site, and days of research can result in no information whatsoever on the individuals who were lynched," (pg. 71).

Although the narrative sometimes gets overburdened by the weight of too many names, third cousins, small Mississippi towns, and incidental Civil War skirmishes, Davis succeeds in her task to lay out the daily struggles that both her White and Black ancestors faced during the Reconstruction period. In doing so, she simultaneously reveals how the options these people faced were absolutely over-determined by their race, and how the category of race in America is largely false.

"One cannot be completely explained by anything, thank God, but it would be easier to build selves less fictional and community less mythical if the truth of American heritage was accepted. This country has been crazy to make people black or white ever since Thomas Jefferson thought a system should be devised and made law," (pg. 12), writes Davis, whose grandmother was the product of a rich White Mississippi planter and his Black house "servant."

True to her stated intent, the bulk of My Confederate Kinfolk centers on the African Americans who strived to make a life for themselves in the wake of Emancipation - specifically those freed people in Mississippi gained political power in the "reformed" state legislature, only to be killed for it in what the White elite of the day termed "the Redemption." Indeed, Davis narrates a shocking and gruesome story of the state elections of 1875, in which "all the black office holders were hunted down or run out of town," (pg. 38). Local organizers, teachers, church leaders, and even state representatives were lynched, shot, stabbed and/or beaten. Some narrowly escaped this fate. One man, James G. Patterson, a Republican member of the Mississippi House of Representatives (one of its first Black members) is suspected of being lynched at the home of one of Davis' ancestors.

Davis argues that the history of Mississippi, and many other Southern states that faced a similar backlash from white racists after emancipation would have been quite different if Blacks had been able to keep office there, and build up some political and economic power. She also says that not knowing our history is what keeps African Americans, and other marginalized groups, continually at a disadvantage.
"If I told someone tomorrow that white supremacists ran black people on their tickets in 1875 to get black people to sign on for the worst possible agenda of their lives, most people wouldn't believe it. Do we even know black people in Mississippi could vote then? If I said it happened in Chicago this year, they would. These scenarios continue to be utilized because we continue to ignore our past," (pg. 14), she writes.

Davis' book, although digging in deeply to just one moment of American history, could go a long way towards making that past real to this generation. I certainly have not encountered a story as mutifaceted and vital on Reconstruction as the one Davis puts forth in My Confederate Kinfolk. The lives and determination of the freedwomen and men she documents are as inspiring as they are tragic. Still, the only hope for their ultimate redemption would seem to lie in the here and now.

A memoir and a history.......2006-06-24

When author Thulani Davis' grandmother died in 1971, she was writing a novel about her Mississippi cotton farmer parents. Her grandmother left a photo and writings, prompting Davis to look for the 'white folk' in her family: a genealogical odyssey which was to uncover many riches. MY CONFEDERATE KINFOLK is at once a memoir and a history: it tells of a journey across the South to uncover truths, connections, and a rich set of roots, and reveals many political insights as well.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

The face in the mirror: a writer's search for the Confederates in the family tree leads to some unexpected discoveries.(My Confederate Kinfolk )(Book Review): An article from: Black Issues Book Review

Average customer rating:

The face in the mirror: a writer's search for the Confederates in the family tree leads to some unexpected discoveries.(My Confederate Kinfolk )(Book Review): An article from: Black Issues Book Review
Thulani Davis
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000EDWML8
Release Date: 2006-05-02

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Black Issues Book Review, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2006. The length of the article is 1427 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The face in the mirror: a writer's search for the Confederates in the family tree leads to some unexpected discoveries.(My Confederate Kinfolk )(Book Review)
Author: Thulani Davis
Publication: Black Issues Book Review (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 8 Issue: 1 Page: 44(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

Having already allied with his father, the Scots’ acceptance of Charles II as king in 1649 caused deep suspicion in England. In July 1650, Oliver Cromwell led a powerful force across the Scottish border to remove the problem. For six weeks Cromwell waged a frustrating campaign against a Scots enemy that refused to meet him in battle. By the beginning of September Cromwell’s army, poorly supplied, exhausted and ravaged by sickness, was apparently trapped at Dunbar by a powerful Scots army. On 3 September he won his greatest military victory just outside the town, but in this book Stuart Reid suggests that his triumph may in fact have begun as a breakout attempt.

Customer Reviews:

Better than Auldearn 1645.......2004-10-10

Stuart Reid's latest Osprey campaign volume, Dunbar 1650, is a considerable improvement over his last volume on Auldearn 1645. Not only is Dunbar 1650 supported by better research than the previous volume, but Reid's prose has returned to its normal control of the subject. While the question of whether Dunbar was Cromwell's "most famous victory" may trouble some readers, this volume does address this less well-known campaign in some detail.
Reid's initial sections on origins of the campaign, opposing plans/leaders and armies are decent. The illustrations of Scottish uniforms are much better in this volume than the previous volume on Auldearn, although there are far too many illustrations of Scottish regimental flags. The five 2-D maps are: Scotland 1650; the Carbisdale campaign April 1650; Cromwell's initial advance on Edinburgh; Cromwell's second advance on Edinburgh; Dunbar endgame. The three 3-D BEV maps are: the ambush at Carbisdale; two on Battle of Dunbar. The three battle scenes are: the fortified lines at Leith; the cavalry action at Musselburgh; last stand of Lawer's brigade at Dunbar. The author provides an unusually lengthy order of battle for Dunbar, particularly for the Scottish army.

While Reid's campaign narrative is solid and informing, the Dunbar campaign is unlikely to be very intriguing for military readers. Cromwell massed his forces and smashed the Scottish right wing, then rolled up the rest of their army in short order. The battle was so incredibly one-sided, with the Scots losing perhaps 6,000 men against 30-40 English, that military readers will find little advantage in studying this affair. Thus, Reid's volume is best suited for readers interested in 17th Century warfare (from the point of view of heraldry, units) or Scottish history. However, while reading Reid's account, I noticed that there was no mention of Borthwick Castle, located south of Edinburgh. In 1995 I visited Borthwick Castle and was struck by the damage caused on one side by Cromwell's artillery (as related by the staff there). Apparently, the castle was attacked by Cromwell's forces in his initial drive on Edinburgh. Why is this incident not related in these pages?

Book Description

This innovative and lively book is quite unlike any other introduction to postcolonialism. Robert Young examines the political, social, and cultural after-effects of decolonization by presenting situations, experiences, and testimony rather than going through the theory at an abstract level. He situates the debate in a wide cultural context, discussing its importance as an historical condition, with examples such as the status of aboriginal people, of those dispossessed from their land, Algerian rai music, postcolonial feminism, and global social and ecological movements. Above all, Young argues, postcolonialism offers a political philosophy of activism that contests the current situation of global inequality, and so in a new way continues the anti-colonial struggles of the past.

Customer Reviews:

Helpful book........2006-11-05

This book is a general review of the postcolonial literature. It's realy easy to understand because the use of language is not complex and the concepts are very well explained. After rreading this book you will have the required knowledge to read a postcolonial piece of work. I recommend this book for someone who is reading postcolonial literature for the first time. :)

Unhelpful.......2006-08-18

I found this book very unhelpful. I agree with the reviewer Luiza about its shortcomings.

Political, Passionate, Engaging and Effective.......2006-06-05

In the introduction the author tells us that "Postcolonialism is about turning the world upside down and looking at it from a different perspective, that is, from the perspective of the disenfranchised people, a majority of whom come from the developing world" (2). The author then proceeds to show us the world from "their" eyes. His approach is unconventional; he presents "a montage" in which we see the bombing of Baghdad from an Iraqi's perspective, the plight of the homeless peasants in Brazil, the rape and torture of Algerians by the French in colonial Algeria, the forced unveilings of Muslim women under the American imposed Shah in Iran, the displacement of 200,000 Adivasi villagers because of the World Bank sponsored construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam, the CIA's overthrow of Patrice Lumumba, the president of the newly liberated Congo, and mass starvation in countries with surpluses of food. These slices of the lives and struggles of the disenfranchised peoples make the reader feel their pain and suffering. We experience the injustices of the world and view the imposition of Western culture and values as a form of violence and oppression; we come to understand the Third World's ambivalent, if not hostile, feelings toward the West.

This may seem radical since the Western world prefers to ignore the harsh realties that exist in developing nations and within its own societies. The prosperous are taught that current systems (political and economic) promise equality, justice and prosperity for all and that our interventions overseas have been of a benevolent nature. Thus, by showing another perspective, a perspective in which all these ideas are turned upside down, may strike the uninitiated as subversive. But, that's precisely the point. Postcolonialism specifically seeks to subvert the West's understanding of itself (as good), of different cultures (as inferior) and of its relation to these cultures (as kind and beneficial). It argues that all understandings of historical relations, as well as all forms of knowledge, are inherently political as they authorize one group's view of reality over another's.

A previous reviewer claims that this work reads like a pamphlet. I think this is because it has an emotional impact on the reader, which can be particularly disconcerting for someone who has never seen the world from this perspective and is resistant to giving it any validity. But, this glimpse of the world through the eye's of the Westerner's Other is also what makes this introduction so unique and effective. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in becoming acquainted with this subject on an intellectual and emotional level. However, if you're looking for a critique of Postcolonialism, this is not the book for you.

A brilliant book--it could change your life.......2006-04-13

If you don't want to have any of your views challenged or at least put in question, then don't read this book. You can learn from this book: it tells you about a different world, which is probably not your own. If you just want someone to tell you about the world you already know, then there are many many other books around that do that. This book takes you on a journey of discovery around the earth, showing you what it looks like, how it feels, when the third world comes first, not last. It will be different, it may make you feel uncomfortable, you may feel that it is turning your world upside down, but its an amazing, positive and heartening experience you will never forget.

A pamphlet of the crudest sort.......2006-02-07

Entirely useless for those who need a quick, encyclopedia-like idea of what this multivalent word actually means. For a reader looking for what the series promises - an introduction - it appears as a confusing hodge-podge of quotes from works of fiction, information about Algerian rai music which the author raves about like a teenager, all-too-familiar diatribes about pet causes of Attac and their ilk (evil companies exploiting hapless Africans etc.). It drips with political correctness of a mind-numbingly simplistic sort, embraces the rallying cries of postcolonialism (as a political movement) without the slightest hint of distance or criticism or, indeed, without even as much as discussing the merits of the claims in question. This book is a pamphlet of the crudest sort, by no means a work of scholarship.

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