Amazon.com
Roy Blount doesn't like being 55. But then, does anyone? Hindsight being 20/20, we're sure to notice the mammoth pile of quirks, foibles, and just plain oddball behavior--not to mention downright nastiness--each of us has accumulated at the midlife point. If there's an observer you'd want to have there with you to sort out the good you've done (or at least the funny bits) and make all those bittersweet memories melt on your tongue, Blount may be the one.
In Be Sweet, his hilarious yet deeply moving personal memoir, Blount holds up the recollections of his life for all to see, like an archaeologist uncovering something precious and rare, exposing his soul to the air. "There are various ways of being shameless in the world," he says. "One is to write a memoir." And this life's story, told in a subtle and self-effacing style, is shamelessly funny.
While exploring the maddening subtext of his relationship with his mother, Blount has written "a conditional love story," and shaped a wonderfully entertaining memoir filled with poignant truths and brilliant reflections. Be Sweet may leave you laughing, but you'll likely feel a little something welling in the corner of your eye, and find yourself looking at your own life with a smile on your face. --George Laney
Book Description
In the book his laughing and loving readers have been waiting for, our generation's master of full-hearted humor lays open the soul of his life story.
Roy Blount Jr.--Georgia boy turned New York wit, lover of baseball and interesting women, bumbling adventurer, literary lion, salty-limerick virtuoso and impassioned father--journeys into the past and his psyche (also all the way to China, sixty feet underwater and to various Manhattan hot spots) in search of the answers to three riddles that have haunted him intimately:
One: the riddle of "the family curse." Two: the riddle of what drives him (or anyone) to be funny. Three: the riddle of what so cruelly tangled his unseverable bond with the beguiling, beaten orphan girl who became the impossible mother who raised him to Be Sweet.
Roy Blount's memoir is sardonic and sentimental, hilarious and grieving, brazen and bashful, tough and tender--sometimes by turns and sometimes all at once. Almost harshly honest, yet sportively wayward, Be Sweet resonates with the complex but bouncy chords of a whole man singing, clinkers and all.
Customer Reviews:
bitter with the sweet.......1999-10-29
I was lucky enough to stumble across Roy Blount reading from this book in a Vermont bookstore. I bought it on the spot, telling him that it was the first one of his books that I had paid full price for. He thought this was pretty fun, the store employee sitting next to him didn't. This book is worth its full price.
Be Sweet in no way sets out to "make fun of the mother-son relationship". I suppose because Blount is such an irreverent goof-ball on the radio and in print, it seems fair to have that preconception. However, Blount has always let us know that some things are sacred and after you get a short way into this book you realize that family is one of them. He desperately does not want to cast aspersions on his own mother's character, but he has to acknowledge that she did drive him to distraction throughout his life.
There were several points in this book were Blount seems to be going off on a tangent. To be honest I began to wonder if he was just filling the space between the covers. Oh me of little faith! In the last third of the book I was progressively more amazed and impressed as I discovered that his seemingly unconnected threads were actually germane to the resolution of his mid-life psychic wrestling match with himself.
Bill Bryson's recent A Walk In the Woods similarly surprised me. I don't expect journalists to write deeply personal prose. Roy Blount beats Bryson hands down as far as the psychological depths that are plumbed and illuminated. If the presentation of the psychological dimension of things bores you or insults your sense of decorum, then don't read this Roy Blount book. If you want to know what is going on in the head of middle aged white Southern guys of above average emotional honesty, then this is a pretty good place to start.
A not very funny humorist!.......1999-07-02
Having roared at Roy Blount's humor on the Garrison Keillor show, I really looked forward to reading his book making fun of the mother-son relationship so aptly caught up in the title, "Be Sweet". I was terribly disappointed and found him not only lacking in humor but exhibiting a real dislike for females altogether. It was a book I easily gave away to the second hand shop.
An amazing book; very serious, but still true to past work.......1999-01-23
I was very surprised by this book on a number of levels. I've thought Blount's past works were funny, but also quite well thought out. Blount is never "funny" in the sense that Dave Berry is funny. There is no silliness about Blount; he is firmly grounded in reality.
This work is very serious. It is his attempt to displell his "family curse." He explores his relationships with his parents, sister, and ex-wives. He speculates on the nature of humor and humorists.
I thought the book was brilliant. It's like Blount is willing to talk about things that no one else will because doing so would sound stupid, but it's still what you want to say.
An added bonus is Blount's voice. He is not a particularly elegant reader. But it is hard to imagine any other voice reading this work. I compare it to Jean Shepard, who also has the perfect voice for his own work.
Ingeniously written but a little self-indulgent.......1998-12-13
By the end of this book, I knew for certain that it was worth reading although I had many doubts until then. Blount made me laugh and made me marvel at his skill, but he also bored me with his self-loathing and longueurs. The chapter on the troubles of men named after their fathers (juniors) was excruciatingly dull, and forgot to make mention of Hank Williams Junior, one of the most grandiose sufferers from this syndrome. Worse, Blount junior never really explained what made his mother so maddening. Nevertheless, he tells very well how he finally came to value what she (and his father) gave to him.
a wonderful and, yes, sweet, book.......1998-11-06
i bought this and looked it a good month or two before reading it. there was something about the way it was set up that i found off-putting. it wasn't a typical memoir or autobiography but blount's not a typical writer. once i began, though, i couldn't stop. it's funny, of course, but tender, biting and revealing all at once. we love our mothers, we may hate our mothers but we will never forget our mothers. a better book on a related subject is rick bragg's "All Over But the Shouting."
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Conditional Love: Parents' Attitudes Toward Handicapped Children
Meira Weiss
Manufacturer: Bergin & Garvey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Health o Meter HDC100-01 "Grow with Me" Teddy Bear Scale for Babies and Toddlers
ASIN: 0897893247 |
Book Description
Questioning the myth of unconditional love between parents and children, this study examines the strength of the parental bond when children are born with physical defects. The author, a social scientist, studied parents' behavior toward 1,450 children born with defects in three hospitals in Israel, and then conducted follow-up studies over a period of six years with 200 families in their homes. One of the major recurring patterns of parental behavior was a massive tendency toward rejection of deformed children. Rejection was manifested by parents' wishes for drastic separation from their children through abandonment, institutionalization, or giving up for adoption. If brought home, the children were isolated and hidden from view. Weiss found that half of the newborns with physically observable defects were abandoned by their parents in the hospital. Even when the parents were assured by doctors that their children would develop intellectually or would not require special care, the tendency to abandon remained strong. Normal children who suffered physical deformity due to burns or other accidents were similarly rejected by their parents. This study will take a major place in the literature on human behavior because through exhaustive and long-term observation of actual behavior in thousands of individual situations, it exposes the extreme importance of physical appearance in interpersonal relations. The author describes how the deformity causes confusion in the parents' cognitive system, labelling the child with a name such as monster or devil or creature, or another non-human category. Parents' reactions to their children's body image are discussed and the concept of body boundaries is analyzed. Children connected to medical apparatus or sickly children are the cause of much parental rejection. Also, territorial restrictions are placed on the deformed child in the home. These range from closeting or imprisoning in unfurnished surroundings separate from the family to demotion to servant status within the family. This study refutes most assumptions in the literature and shows that forming bonds with one's biological child is not necessarily spontaneous, automatic, or natural, and that every child undergoes a process of adoption or rejection based on external appearance and whether or not that appearance matches the parents' image of a "person." Hospital personnel, social workers, sociologists and anthropologists will be profoundly influenced by this work, as will be all others who read it.
Book Description
note# even money cannot save a person from the inevitable reality of certain gloom and doom who fails to learn the true value of self, (that self is not #1 and the most important entity but is #3 proceeded by God and others ) the true value of honesty (knowledge that honesty is the best policy and it breeds respectability and responsibility ) and the true value of friendship which is the real substance of any real relationship between humans, (the ability to care enough for another as much as you do yourself with no holds bared ) without these three main key elements assimilated into one's character, not only will the sad individual end up being disconnected from themselves (leaving pieces of their real-ness falsely protected in a secret closet somewhere) but unconnected and disassociated with every one else who ever was close or ever tried to get close enough to help or make some kind of a positive difference in their life.
Book Description
The essential guide to the world's warships
- Full-color photographs
- Completely up-to-date and comprehensive coverage on all types of warships
- Technical data
- Key recognition features
- Detailed line drawings
Customer Reviews:
A treasure of information on Warships.......2006-07-01
In a clear, concise manner, Anthony Watts has written this Book at a pivotal time. A shift is present in all Naval Forces , because of the End of The Cold War , and the rise of new types of conflicts. Due to the enormous amount of information presentd in a simple manner , anyone can understand and compare the need for, the function of and the difference between the various classes of Warships, amongst the World Naval Forces. Why and When a certain class of ship replaces What , becomes clearer and more interesting, due to this brilliant introduction and presentation.
We also get to look at the photos and the classic " black silhouettes " ( profile of ships on the horizon), permitting to ID ships more easily.
A+ and a "plus" for anyone interested in Warships as a Peace time deterrent, or as awesome power in time of War.Francois Bardol
Less Complete, but Smaller, Handier and a Lot Cheaper.......2006-06-26
Jane's guides have long been the standard book of identifying weapons systems rather they were airplanes, missile systems or ships. And because the books are so big they are expensive to buy. The result has been a series of smaller 'Recognition Guides,' based on the information in the big books. This one is obviously on warships. It's a small format book, only about 5 by 7 inches, and a bit under 400 pages. (In contrast, Jane's Fighting Ships, the big book is 9 by 13 inches, 967 pages and costs $725.)
At present the Navy's of the world are in a period of transition. The threats of the Cold War seem past, and the newer ships reflect having to operate in an anti-terrorist environment rather than a major blue ocean battle. Also stealth technology has been influencing ship design as well. The new ships don't have the cluttered look of the ships of old (where old is not that many years), but have clean lines to reflect radar waves away from the sender rather than back.
This book obviously has to eliminate a lot of the information in the big book, but is a much handier size at a much handier price.
Watts this?.......2006-04-29
I waited with eagerness for the fourth edition of Jane's Warship Recognition Guide, since from the last one there have been many changes in naval affairs. But when it arrived I was dissapointed. Until now Jane's Warship Recognition Guides were updated to include every new major warship class. Not this one. For example it does not include the new danish Absalon class multipurpose landing ships, the indonesian Tanjung Dalpele LPD, or the new russian Lada class SSK, all in service with their respective navys. It also does not include the new japanese Atago class DDG, or the south korean Dokdo LHD, both of which are only a couple months shy of starting their sea trials. Another dissapointing thing is that there is still a photo of a Typhoon class SSBN in the entry of the Oscar class, as well as the profile of the south african MEKO A200 in the MEKO 360 entry and the profile of the danish Thetis in the estonian Admiral Pitka, has nobody noticed this mistakes for four years in HarperCollins? Then there is the use of 12 profile drawings instead of photos, of which only 3 are of ships still under construction and for the other 9, there are plenty of photos around (just take a look in Jane's Fighting Ships). The last thing I want to point out are the many small photos. I can understand this in the cases where the text covers the rest of the page, but not where it is empty. I hope when this edition is revised, they will fix the above problems, since the rest of the book is very good.
P.S. I don't think that the new CVN21 class supercarriers will be only 255m long
Book Description
Memory and the Impact of Political Transformation in Public Space explores the effects of major upheavals—wars, decolonization, and other social and economic changes—on the ways in which public histories are presented around the world. Examining issues related to public memory in twelve countries, the histories collected here cut across political, cultural, and geographic divisions. At the same time, by revealing recurring themes and concerns, they show how basic issues of history and memory transcend specific sites and moments in time. A number of the essays look at contests over public memory following two major political transformations: the wave of liberation from colonial rule in much of Africa, Asia, and Central and South America during the second half of the twentieth century and the reorganization of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet bloc beginning in the late 1980s.
This collection expands the scope of what is considered public history by pointing to silences and absences that are as telling as museums and memorials. Contributors remind us that for every monument that is erected, others—including one celebrating Sri Lanka’s independence and another honoring the Unknown Russian Soldier of World War II—remain on the drawing board. While some sites seem woefully underserved by a lack of public memorials—as do post–Pinochet Chile and post–civil war El Salvador—others run the risk of diluting meaning through overexposure, as may be happening with Israel’s Masada. Essayists examine public history as it is conveyed not only in marble and stone but also through cityscapes and performances such as popular songs and parades.
Contributors
James Carter
John Czaplicka
Kanishka Goonewardena
Lisa Maya Knauer
Anna Krylova
Teresa Meade
Bill Nasson
Mary Nolan
Cynthia Paces
Andrew Ross
Daniel Seltz
T. M. Scruggs
Irina Carlota Silber
Daniel J. Walkowitz
Yael Zerubavel
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Geographical Review, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2005. The length of the article is 1234 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: Memory and the Impact of Political Transformation in Public Space.(by Daniel J. Walkowitz and Lisa Maya Knauer)(Book Review)
Author: Paul Stangl
Publication:
The Geographical Review (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 95
Issue: 1
Page: 158(3)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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- A Major intellectual Achievement
- Disappointing and Unoriginal
- Good, even with its flaws
- Promises more than can deliver
- Could have used a reasonable editor
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Within Reason: Rationality and Human Behavior
Donald Calne
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Consciousness & Thought
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ASIN: 0375703225
Release Date: 2000-08-08 |
Amazon.com
Neurology researcher and clinician Donald Calne compares defining reason to assembling an incomplete jigsaw puzzle: we don't have all the pieces, and the pieces we do have don't always fit together well. But that doesn't stop him from setting out on the ambitious task of surveying our current understanding of reason and the historical role it has played for our species.
Within Reason begins with a simple--and in some ways counterintuitive--definition of reason, calling it a mere tool, not a motivator of humanity but an enabler. A powerful and versatile tool to be sure, but one whose purpose is specific to helping us get what we want, not revealing why it is that we want it. With this supposition, Calne methodically dissects reason's role in such spheres as ethics, government, language, and religion, supporting each assertion with historical anecdotes and the writing and research of others.
If Within Reason is any indication, Donald Calne would be charming dinner company. While you might not agree with every point he makes, you'd never be disappointed by the conversation. --Paul Hughes
Book Description
It has long been a central conviction of western humanistic thought that reason is the most godlike of human traits, and that it makes us unique among animals. Yet if reason directs what we do, why is human behavior so often violent, irrational and disastrous?
In
Within Reason, leading neurologist Donald B. Calne investigates the phenomenon of rationality from an astonishingly wide array of scientific, sociological, and philosophical perspectives--and shows that although reason evolved as a crucial tool for human survival, it is an aspect of mind and brain which has no inherent moral or spiritual qualities and one whose relationship to our thoughts and actions may not be as central as we want to believe. Learned, lucid, and always illuminating,
Within Reason brings together the latest developments in the science of mind with some of the most enduring questions of Western thought.
Customer Reviews:
A Major intellectual Achievement.......2005-01-17
Following the inextriciable link of brain and mind, Calne has pursued the application of reason to language, social and individual behavior, ethics commerce, religion, art and science. This broad canvas provides the background for his erudition and for his uncanny ability to make complicated sibkects absolutely clear. Lewis P Rowland M.D.
Disappointing and Unoriginal.......2001-05-22
Calne's work is hardly deserving of the description "scholarly." Nearly all of his material is found in other introductory works on the subject and receives more detailed treatment elsewhere as well. Perhaps Calne can be forgiven for not familiarizing himself with the current literature and writing a superfluous book - after all, he is just an M.D., not a psychologist or philosopher. This book is not worth your time.
Good, even with its flaws.......2000-11-16
Look, this is not the most well-written book (Calne is a scientist after all, not a writer). It's not the best page-turner either.
But the reason this is a good book is because of its thesis and subsequent discussion of rationality and its psychological correlates. There aren't enough books out there that deal with this, so it's a swig of cold water to read this one.
Of course, David Hume came to these same conclusions almost 4 centuries ago. The insight is not what's original, but the attempt to anchor it within the scientific (rather than philosophic) framework is. The implications of the idea that Reason is just a tool for getting what we want are significant for philosophy (especially ethics and political philosophy). Read the book; skim it if necessary, but it is worth your money.
Promises more than can deliver.......2000-06-15
The introduction was intriguing, with its references to the paradoxical barbarity that had manifested itself in a highly educated society like Nazi Germany, but I had the impression that Calne tried to be too far reaching in his attempts to fit rationality in its proper place within human behavior. One of his basic premises is that rationality is not an end in itself, but rather a tool employed on the behalf of human instincts. While this certainly has a ring of truth to it, the thesis is by no means radical, which is why I wonder if abler attempts have been made to dissect the role of reason within human behavior. I would recommend skimming Calne's book if one had the opportunity to examine his major premises, but otherwise I was left dissatisfied by my sense that the topic he was trying to tackle was a much bigger fish than his line could handle.
Could have used a reasonable editor.......2000-05-24
The core argument of this book, that reason or rational thinking is a value-free activity, which we can put to whatever use we please, is indisputable. At the same time, I think there is great value in stating the argument as directly as this book does. However, the discussion in the book is often reductive, digressive at best, scattered at worst. In addition, the author's own phobias and neuroses are frequently on display (a rather morbid view of sex is an example). A good editor probably could have done wonders to focus the author's work and eliminate some of the overt weirdness.
The subject deserves a more nuanced and better edited discussion.
Customer Reviews:
Chicago's Troll King!.......2006-08-25
Yup, I too was alive and kicking during most of The Mayor's reign, and I have to agree, it's got the ring of truth to it. This book was intended as more of a verbal portrait of Daley and the city he helped shape than as a political analysis, although Daley's administration is effectively dissected. Civics classes AND journalism classes should be required to read this since not only is it an outstanding example of what is known in some circles as "Literary Journalism" but because it's more than just political theory,it illustrates the real life nuts and bolts workings of a big city. This is right up there with Caro's "The Power Broker" What's really wild is that I read this book right after I read "The Godfather" and both of the titular characters operated in much the same way!
Machine politics and corruption: Chicago style........2006-07-10
A great read (though dated) of the political machine Richard J Daley enhanced in Chicago. Though Daley himself never pursued the money end of the corruption, his machine enhanced their wealth and Daley's power in their almost total control of the city. Daley was a great politician, turning set backs to political advantage. Daley tolerated crooked cops, until he was forced to hire a reformer. After awhile he took out the reformer, and hired an enforcer as police commissioner. This is a great read about the machine that controls Chicago. This gives an interesting look into the mind of the political machine of Chicago.
This is a great book. If one wants to read further on the Chicago Democratic political machine or Richard J. Daley, American Pharoeh is another great book. This should be required reading for those who live in Illinois.
Independent Journalism at its best.......2006-03-06
This is a serious and ambitious coverage of the internal workings of Chicago government. This book didn't make me laugh as Royko's "Sez Who? Sez Me!" did, but is so insightful and well-written that this reader, not too knowledgeable about politics, thoroughly enjoyed it.
The story is important because it uncovers a truth otherwise overlooked by the media (for example, what really happened at the police riots at the 1968 Democratic Convention). Amazingly, despite the ugliness of the politics portrayed, Royko's writing is not too judgemental; any judgement of Daley is left to the reader. As Royko describes the rise of Daley's Machine, it becomes clear that the motivation behind most of Daley's actions was simply to keep his enemies powerless and keep the Machine's dominance intact, even when it means promoting inept allies to positions of power or neglecting the needs of Chicago's most struggling people.
Boss: a candid and honest account of Richard J. Daley and the city he built.......2006-02-24
Royko's classic portrait of Daley and "his" Chicago is perhaps most distinguished by its narrator. While the facts remain the same between this book and others such as American Pharoah, the profound attachment and understanding of a man who spent his professional career writing about the same city that shaped Daley creates a much more colorful and intricate perspective on mid 20th century Chicago. Presented as a journalistic piece rather than a heavily footnoted history or political science text, Boss engages the reader on a more narrative than statistical level. Through personal stories of machine "grunts" and smoke filled rooms, Royko accomplishes more in just over 200 pages than the statistical tome American Pharoah does in over 600. It comes down to one necessary and incontrovertable fact: only a Chicagoan can truly understand and synthesize the experience and leadership of his or her city. East-coasters can write about the "City with Big Shoulders" until their knuckles seize up, but they will not be able to truly appreciate the subtleties of Chicago's culture and psyche. As a highly respected voice in Chicago journalism who was at loggerheads with Mayor Daley on numerous occasions, Royko presents an honest and faithful version of Chicago and its mayor.
details of a criminal politician.......2005-01-11
A good detailed writing of the corrupt Richard Daley of Chicago and how he kept getting away and away with it
Average customer rating:
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Boss
Manufacturer: New American Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 9993776572 |
Book Description
On October 21, 1805, Admiral Horatio Nelson dealt a crushing blow to a large French and Spanish fleet, forever dashing Napoleon's hopes of dominating the seas. Edited by Tom Pocock, the world's foremost authority on Nelson, this extraordinary book gathers eyewitness accounts of the historic event, many of which have never before been published. Vivid correspondence and documentation offer glimpses of history in the making, from the two-year campaign leading up to Trafalgar, to the explosive clash itself, to the aftermath of this most famous and strategically important victory.
Customer Reviews:
Through the eyes of those who were there.......2006-04-28
This book is a masterfully edited compilation of eyewitness accounts of the Battle of Trafalgar released for the bicentennial of the battle in 2005. The descriptions of events leading to, during and after the battle range from letters written by Admiral Nelson himself to accounts by simple seamen. Taken together they reveal a horrifyingly bloody battle characterized by the incredible courage under fire of the seamen involved. Gallant acts towards the wounded, both friend and foe, abounded, both during the battle and the storm that followed. On the whole this is a necessary addition to the library of any fan of naval history. The only problem is the loss of clarity that comes from not having a single narrator tell the tale from a historically removed vantage point.
Book Description
In the century since this book was first published much has been written about the greatest sea battle of the age of sail, but very little of it in English is from the perspective of the defeated. This gives the work an enduring value to all but those with access to French and Spanish naval archives. Edward Fraser, an experienced writer on naval subjects, compiled and translated a collection of official dispatches and personal accounts by the participants, weaving his first-hand material into a vivid and eminently readable continuous narrative. This takes the story from Napoleon's strategic intentions for the Combined Fleets, through the events while it was blockaded at Cadiz, to the details of the battle itself, the storm which followed, and the terrible aftermath for victors and vanquished alike. Largely drawn from French and Spanish sources, the unusual illustrations range from contemporary portraits and seascapes to detailed maps of the action as seen from the Franco-Spanish side. Originally published to celebrate the centenary of the Battle of Trafalgar, this book is now fittingly reissued on the approach of the bicentenary.
Book Description
For hundreds of years, dictators have ruled Russia. Do they still? In the late 1980s, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev launched a series of political reforms that eventually allowed for competitive elections, the emergence of an independent press, the formation of political parties, and the sprouting of civil society. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, these proto-democratic institutions endured in an independent Russia. But did the processes unleashed by Gorbachev and continued under Russian President Boris Yeltsin lead eventually to liberal democracy in Russia? If not, what kind of political regime did take hold in post-Soviet Russia? And how has Vladimir Putin's rise to power influenced the course of democratic consolidation or the lack thereof? Between Dictatorship and Democracy seeks to give a comprehensive answer to these fundamental questions about the nature of Russian politics.
Customer Reviews:
A close scrutiny of the democratic reforms .......2005-06-05
Three expert scholars and associate professors combine their knowledge of modern-day Russian politics in Between Dictatorship And Democracy: Russian Post-Communist Political Reform, a close scrutiny of the democratic reforms that have been launched to change Russia's political workings in the past two decades. From a comprehensive evaluation of how Vladimir Putin's ascension has changed the course of the nation, to extensive charts and references packed with hard data, to diagrams and detailed walkthroughs of the transformations Russian government has undergone, Between Dictatorship and Democracy offers a crystal-clear picture of Russia's turbulent recent past, their changing present, and the possibilities of the future. Highly recommended for academic and political studies collections.
Book Description
Theodore Roosevelt, the twenty-sixth president of the United States, was not only the most famous hunter of his generation of Americans, he was among its best informed and popular outdoor writers. Edmund Heller, the well-known Smithsonian biologist who accompanied Roosevelt on the famous African expedition, said that the former president was the world's foremost authority on large mammals. He was also an avid bibliophile, and had what may have been the finest big-game library in North America in the early 1900s. He communicated with authorities-- both sportsmen and scientists-- in all parts of the world. From this lifelong study and enthusiasm for outdoor adventure came a host of durable writings, gathered together here in a collection which celebrates the natural world.
Customer Reviews:
Teddy, what a story!.......2007-01-02
I enjoied this book very much! If you love history and the great american wilderness you will too!
Book Description
1925. This volume contains Roosevelt's account of a zoogeographic reconnaissance through the Brazilian hinterland. The official and proper title of the expedition is: Expedicao Scientifica Roosevelt-Rondon. Contents: The Start; Up the Paraguay; A Jaguar-Hunt on the Taquary; The Headwaters of the Paraguay; Up the River of Tapirs; Through the Highland Wilderness of Western Brazil; With a Mule-Train Across Nhambiquara Land; The River of Doubt; Down an Unknown River into the Equatorial Forest; and To the Amazon and Home; Zoological and Geographical Results of the Expedition. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.
Download Description
Cherrie and Miller had secured a little owl a month before in the Chaco, and it was travelling with them in a basket. It was a dear little bird, very tame and affectionate. It liked to be handled and petted; and when Miller, its especial protector, came into the cabin, it would make queer little noises as a signal that it wished to be taken up and perched on his hand. Cherrie and Miller had trapped many mammals. Among them was a tayra weasel, whitish above and black below, as big and blood-thirsty as a fisher-martin; and a tiny opossum no bigger than a mouse.
Customer Reviews:
Remarkable Adventure.......2003-06-02
Theodore Roosevelt was a man's man. A New York kid whose taste for adventure was sparked in his boyhood by a dead seal for sale on a Broadway sidewalk. Harvard student, soldier, Rough Rider, youngest President ever and one who survived the assassin's bullet, maverick politician, Nobel Prize winner, hunter and conservationist, and finally the man who, at 55 years old, explored an unknown region of the Amazon river basin. Imagine one of today's former-Presidents undertaking a similar adventure. For six weeks, in 1914, Roosevelt and his party paddled and carried their canoes down a previously unexplored 950-mile river now called the Rio Roosevelt. Men died, boats were lost, food became scarce, dangerous animals and natives were about, fever borne by insects sickened many in the party (and led to Roosevelt's own death five years later). This is the stuff of "Through the Brazilian Wilderness".
Roosevelt's other works, including "The Rough Riders", are better known, and this one is not great literature. Instead, it is a remarkable adventure story by an interesting man. The book is essentially Roosevelt's trip diary, colored by his great enthusiasm for adventure and the natural world. Even before reaching the Amazon, Roosevelt stops at a Brazilian snake research lab that so captures his attention that he writes seventeen pages about it. At all times, he makes careful note of the wildlife he encounters, not quite with the depth of a professional scientist, but with the trained eye of a dedicated and experienced hobbyist. He squeezes in some amusing stories about piranha fish that he heard --and apparently believed. Naturalists of the day killed animals in the name of science, which places in context Roosevelt's joy in hunting and his comments: first on alligators ("They are often dangerous and are always destructive to fish, and it is good to shoot them") and later on conservation ("There is every reason why the good people of South America should waken... to the duty of preserving from extinction the wildlife which is an asset of such interest."). The book is most poetic in its description of animal life, and particularly in registering surprise that the myriad insects are far more pernicious than any of the better-known dangers such as alligators, big cats, or piranhas.
The book's is not perfect, and Roosevelt is not a great author in a literary sense, rather making up in enthusiasm what he lacks in prose and penetrating insight. There is no attempt at political analysis, he simply praises Brazilians as good hosts who have started down the road to democracy. He sees the land he travels through as like the United States of perhaps a hundred years earlier, so there are frequent predictions that a promising location is ripe for development. The limited foray into politics is to praise Positivism, the ideology of the Brazilian military class that emphasized modernity and structure, and that not incidentally justified the many instances of military intervention in Brazilian politics over the years. Finally, the one annoyance is the recurring theme (perhaps a dozen times in all) of the true danger of the journey. Over and over we read that the river has never been charted, that it is truly dangerous, that the explorers are not your armchair-adventurer variety, and that such voyages will necessarily be easier for those who follow in the future. We get that.
Roosevelt was an interesting man, his enthusiasm and taste for adventure are infectious. The book is not a literary triumph, but it is a fun read and an excellent journey through the Amazon
Great Writing, Great Adventure.......2002-11-02
TR's account of his expedition to explore the River of Doubt shows a lot of the reasons we still admire him. First, he was a serious scientist. He was dedicated to discovering new species of wildlife (and could rattle off their Latin names with the best of them), mapping unknown stretches of river, and observing the ways of foreign lands. We know TR as a physical character and often forget what a highly intelligent man he was.
Second, his writing is greatly under-appreciated. He doesn't breeze over his descriptions of wildlife or the landscape--it's pretty technical stuff--but he does it clearly and concisely. As someone who has labored through countless pedantic textbooks, I took comfort in his words, "Ability to write well, if the writer had nothing to write about, entitles him to mere derision. But the greatest thought is robbed of an immense proportion of its value if expressed in a mean or obscure manner."
Third, despite the above, he could still endure enormous physical hardship at an old age. Battling rapids, hauling canoes, fighting disease, and hunting game, TR had the combination of brawn and intelligence that's seriously lacking in our leaders today, especially the lightweight that now sits behind TR's desk.
This book is also a great window into a time and place forever lost to history. TR's writing projects a clear photo in your mind of undiscovered wilderness and great adventure.
Teddy Roosevelt's Last Great Adventure.......2002-03-30
As those familiar with his history know, Theodore Roosevelt was truly a unique, gifted and accomplished person. He was naturalist, historian, big game hunter, politician, statesman, conservationist and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize rolled into one. If he had followed the interests and predilictions of his youth, he would have grown up to be a naturalist rather than President of the United States. As a boy he had a vast collection of frogs, squirrels, snakes, birds, insects that he called the Roosevelt Museum of Natural History.
Science's loss was politics gain. However, T.R. never lost his interest in nature. Following his presidency, he set out on an expedition to explore and map unknown regions of Paraguay and Brazil on the 950-mile River of Doubt, a previously unexplored tributary of the Amazon River. The scientific endeavor became an ordeal to test the expedition's courage and stamina as it faced overpowering heat, dangerous rapids, wild animals, devouring ants, endless insects, fever, dysentery and more. The expedition collected thousands of species of birds and mammals, but Roosevelt would die a few years after completing the expedition. Roosevelt admired those who lived life with passion and for what he called "the Great Adventure." This story chronicles one of T.R.'s last great adventures in his typical inimitable style.
An excellent narration of T.R.'s sometimes perilous journey.......1998-01-11
T.R. was writing was very gradiloquent, and this book really gives readers a good example of this. Read about the journey that ended with T.R. having a river named after him (Rio Duvida renamed to the current Rio Roosevelt), and gave him the sickness that would eventually lead to his death less than five years later.
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