The Sins of the Father: Joseph P. Kennedy and the Dynasty he Founded

Customer Reviews:

Enjoyable and well read audio work........2005-12-31

Kessler details the life of Joseph P. Kennedy, the father of Robert, Teddy and Jack Kennedy and the founder of one of the largest political dynasties in America. JPK is not given a very favorable look in this book. He is listed as an adulterer, a swindler, a crook, power hungry and unscrupulous. And that was just on the first side of the first tape. Because I don't know how much of this book is truly factual, I can't give it a proper review. Frankly, I bought it out of a discount bin for a long trip I was taking. However, it's a fascinating look at one of the people that isn't closely examined in history. It is an abridgement of the source work; it runs three hours and is read perfectly by Frank Langella.

A Stunning and Tragic Family.......2004-11-04

Kessler does an excellent job writing, truly, about the sins of the father, Joseph P. Kennedy. I had heard many stories about the man, but I didn't realize to what extent these stories were myths or real. Kessler certainly dispels that these stories are myths. He tells us what a manipulative, conniving, scheming, deceitful man that Kennedy really was.

We are treated to the stories of Kennedy's manipulation of the stock market for his own personal gain; his illegal importation of scotch to pad his growing millions; his manipulation and theft of Gloria Swanson's monies. It doesn't stop there. Kessler tells about how Joe wanted to avert war since he was afraid he would lose millions of dollars.

Kessler tells us how much Joe manipulated and controlled his children so that they would conform to his standards; and how their political life was formed in order for Joe to pursue his own dreams via his children's lives.

After reading of Joe's death, one has to wonder whether Joe's cruel and deceitful life was worth it in the end - two assassinated children; Rosemary's lobotomy; a family myth built on lies. A simply incredible book - first rate from start to finish.

good investigative work !!.......2004-06-30

A very fine book exposing the Kennedys. I am somewhat surprised that such immoral things could happen in free and democratic U.S. In any event, justice has been done. No Kennedy is likely to be President in the near future. Jo's manipulative and power-hungry character did not serve him well. The early and untimely deaths of his three sons gave him more sorrow and grief than anything else.

A bit too uncharitable; okay read.......2004-04-01

I have read a few books by Ronald Kessler. It is a recurring theme that I find myself irritated by how uncharitable Kessler is...unless Kessler honestly believes that The FBI ("the Bureau") did nothing right and that Joseph Kennedy was an absolute villain. Kessler has a tough time saying anthing good about Joseph Kennedy, The FBI or most of his other topics. I think Kessler's novels need balance and fairness. Maybe only the negative and scandalous is stimulating or salable but the novels leave me feeling annoyed.

Essential to know the Kennedys.......2004-02-25

It is a good and fair book, well written and researched. To read this book is so essential to know and understand - really - an important american family like the Kennedys, apart from the mith that this cool man, Joseph Kennedy, helped much more than anybody else in the family to create and foster. There are some dark sides, but the truth is one thing and the legend is another and of course if you prefer the latter leave this book on the shelf and go on dreaming.

Book Description

How does a sensible middle-aged family man suddenly find himself clinging to the tiller of a runaway sailboat and shouting for joy? The answers are found in this highly entertaining account of one man's late-blooming love affair with sailing.Froncek got his first taste of sailing in college, but it was not until he was staring mid-life in the face that he was tempted to try it again. Before long, he was swept away by an unexpected passion. Many of his new sailing buddies were also late-bloomers — and just as loopy as he was about all things nautical. Together they endured many rites of passage, from learning the difference between a sheet and a scupper to getting home safely after a big blow, and from finding an equilibrium between wind and water to balancing need and desire, boat and family, love and obsession.A Splendid Madness will stir fond memories among old sailing hands and newcomers alike. It will encourage those who dream of someday sailing their own boat, and will enable puzzled friends and family to better understand the strange obsession that grips those who adore boats and sailing."Candid and observant.... By putting his finger on his own pulse, Tom Froncek has recorded other sailors' heartbeats as well." Karen Larson, editor of Good Old Boat

Book Description

"This book is an exciting, well-organized overview of the evolution of a cultural icon: the nun-ensign Catalina de Erauso. . . . It will be of interest not only to Hispanists, but also to students of gender, theater, and film." -Anne J. Cruz, Professor of Spanish, University of Illinois, Chicago Catalina de Erauso (1592-1650) was a Basque noblewoman who, just before taking final vows to become a nun, escaped from the convent at San Sebastián, dressed as a man, and, in her own words, "went hither and thither, embarked, went into port, took to roving, slew, wounded, embezzled, and roamed about." Her long service fighting for the Spanish empire in Peru and Chile won her a soldier's pension and a papal dispensation to continue dressing in men's clothing. This theoretically informed study analyzes the many ways in which the "Lieutenant Nun" has been constructed, interpreted, marketed, and consumed by both the dominant and divergent cultures in Europe, Latin America, and the United States from the seventeenth century to the present. Sherry Velasco argues that the ways in which literary, theatrical, iconographic, and cinematic productions have transformed Erauso's life experience into a public spectacle show how transgender narratives expose and manipulate spectators' fears and desires. Her book thus reveals what happens when the private experience of a transgenderist is shifted to the public sphere and thereby marketed as a hybrid spectacle for the curious gaze of the general audience.

Product Description

Thirty-two perforated pages of high-quality music-writing paper. This manuscript book features 10 wide-spaced staves per page. A perfect book for daily assignments or for any student use. Black ink on white, regular-weight paper. Some basic information is included on key signatures and on major and minor scales. An excellent value!

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Mel Bay's Big Manuscript Book: 10 Stave
Inc. Mel Bay Publications
Manufacturer: Mel Bay Pubns
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0786664967

Book Description

Here is the manuscript book for people with a lot of music to write. It features 160 tear-out pages (80 double-sided sheets) of off-white 10-stave manuscript paper. Perfect for any instrument or student assignment.

Spiral Book No. 74: 10-stave (Passantino Manuscript Papers)

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Spiral Book No. 74: 10-stave (Passantino Manuscript Papers)

Manufacturer: Passantino
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0825690749
Release Date: 1998-12-31

Book Description

With nearly three years of research utilized to compile game lists and thousands of hours used to play and review the games listed within, Video Game Bible is the most comprehensive source of information on video games released in the U.S. since 1985 ever created. Prices are based on realistic figures compiled by interviewing hundreds of large collectors and game store owners, and offer a realistic guideline to be followed by both collectors and video gamers looking to complete their collections. While numerous guides have been compiled on the subject of classic video games, this book offers coverage of video game consoles releases after 1985, known as the "neo-classics". With 39 systems in total, Video Game Bible offers the largest guide to date.

With the recent proliferation of video game collecting into the mainstream, it is necessary to have a standard by which games are valued. This is the first installment in a series of guides intended to offer full coverage of every video game ever made worldwide. Video game consoles are grouped together by the company that made them for easy reference. In addition to the table of contents, which lists each section separately, there are corner tabs to make browsing the guide even more convenient. Thousands of new facts are offered within the pages of this book, as are thousands of reviews and overviews. Written in a lighthearted manner, chapters of this guide that may not pertain to a particular collector will still be enjoyable for intelligent readers.

An easy to use reference guide suitable for any age, this guide is sure to be an invaluable resource for anyone interested in video game collecting, video game history, and even for the casual video game fan interested in learning more about the hobby.

Editor-In Chief: Andy Slaven

Staff Writers: Micheal Collins, Lucus Barnes, Vincent Yang

Contributing Writers: Charlie Reneke, Joe Kudrna

Customer Reviews:

black & white & Low res.......2006-08-01

just black & white printed, no color
and product pictures are low resolution
all pages look like photocopy
too expensive to pay

Laughable at best.......2004-04-21

I had high hopes for this huge undertaking, and ended up sorely disappointed. Opinion is passed off as fact, lots of information is incorrect, and the typos and grammatical errors are HORRIBLE! This is what happens when you reach for the stars, and fail. Save your money.

Worth every penny.......2003-08-21

Instead of a page-for-page read, this thick piece of literature is more for reference. With every video game console released between 1985-2002, except for Sony Playstation (possibly due to the fact that the system's life hasn't ended entirely, and these systems' have), it surprised even an aficionado on the matter such as myself. W/ a rarity/price rating system (price is based on rarity), anyone can see what potential gems their collection happens to bear. It's interesting to read about the inside stories each console holds (who knew that the 3DO actually made Trip Hawkins money?) At any rate, this is a must have for anyone who's a video game fanatic such as myself.

Book Description

This is not just another "how-to" book. Rather, it's a "why-not" book. You'll learn simple strategies and get lots of practical advice on turning your finances around. But more important, when it comes to determining whether or not you really can turn things around and become completely free from the burden and bondage of financial problems and debt you'll be motivated and inspired to say, "why not!"

Customer Reviews:

Excellent responses.......2006-08-24

Several people have now read through the book, and have commented how eye-opening it has helped them to be become.
We hope to offer a class and use this book as a basis for financial management. We are very pleased with the book.

Bad Biblical Interpretation.......2005-06-11

This book has two goals (explicitly stated):
1. To get you out of debt and to live reasonably.
2. To tithe at least 10% of your income to the church, blindly.

Goal 1 is noble. Goal 2 severly misrepresents the Bible and the Gospel. According to Pastor Cameron, if you don't blindly tithe at least 10% to your local church, you are:
1. Robbing God
2. Under a curse

Why? Because of a faulty understanding/interpretation of Malachi Ch. 3.

He also preaches the evil "give-to-get" scheme/gospel that is getting ever more popular with some Evangelical preachers (again, based on misinterpretation).

(...)
Christians should be practicing stewardship, where 100% of their time, treasure, and talent belongs to the Lord (not just 10% of their income). Also, the rich should give much more than 10%, and the poor and needy should actually RECEIVE (not give) tithes. That's the way it was practised in the Old Testament. It's a shame to extract money from the poor, in the name of God, with the "give-to-get" rationalization.

MANDATORY READ FOR AMERICANS TODAY!.......2001-12-18

In the fast paced, I need it now, lifesyles that we all seem to live today, this book will help you refocus the importance of over extending our finances. Barry Cameron points out the clear biblecial reasons about debt and how it can affect our lives.
If you are in debt and want to get out, get this book. If you are not in debt, get this book and give it to someone, it will bless their life.

Book Description

“Nothing yet published about her so totally contradicts the legend of Virginia Woolf.... [This] is a first chance to meet the writer in her own unguarded words and to observe the root impulses of her art without the distractions of a commentary” (New York Times). Edited and with a Preface by Anne Olivier Bell; Introduction by Quentin Bell; Index.

Customer Reviews:

Writer's Diary to Read........2006-08-17

I am learning a lot about writing by reading this book. I have peeked at it because I'm reading another book right now, but I have liked what I have read so far.

Revealing Genius.......2006-02-15

I have a feeling I wouldn't like Virginia Woolf if I met her, any more than I'd like any of her friends in the Bloomsbury Group, but I love her novels and her diary is a wonderful insight into the mind of someone who wrote novels of genius, especially Mrs Dalloway and To The Lighthouse. I'd recommend this to anyone who wanted to get into her novels.

Into Virginia Woolf's world........2005-11-15

"The Diary of Virginia Woolf, Volume One: 1915-1919" was truly magnificent. I never was so interested in every day, mundane goings-on as I was while reading this diary. As a journal keeper, I was in awe over the way she expressed her thoughts and explained her day(s). I've never read anything by her, but in reading this has really sparked my interest. Editor Oliver Bell put much time and hard work into this book, but I found the footnotes on the bottom of the pages bothersome, and it took me a while to get used to them being there. If you're interested in Virginia Woolf, then read her diary. I recommend.

Sublime writing.......2000-05-18

Woolf is fascinating, even when describing the most mundane details of daily life. Her writing style is as beautiful here as in her fiction, and so the diary is well worth reading for that alone. Plus, nearly every page contains a reference to Lytton Strachey, Dora Carrington, or some other Bloomsbury luminary. She isn't always completely truthful or straightforward, but she is always supremely entertaining. However, despite a number of very helpful footnotes, the editor cannot provide explanations and clarifications for every entry, so it helps to be somewhat familiar with Woolf's life before reading her diaries.

The Diary of Virginia Woolf: Vol. 1, 1915-1919

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The Diary of Virginia Woolf: Vol. 1, 1915-1919
Virginia Woolf
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Book Description

Expertly researched, it is the only book focused on the subject. Was it merely a propaganda device, or was it truly a defensive system of considerable proportions? The answers to these questions should help us derive a better understanding of Germany's western defensive system.

Customer Reviews:

Same as the old edtion, little fort detail.......2006-02-13

This is basically an updated version, but is mainly a history with little description of the various types of fortifications that made up the great German defensive barrier.

A very good overview of Germany's strategy in the West.......2004-10-14

I decided to buy this book despite the bad critics it received and I was not disappointed. The author has a clear argument regarding the construction of the Atlantic Wall, the strategic and operational reasons behind this decision and the German command arrangements and frictions in the West. The books does not go in great lengths regarding the details but it uses the kind of first hand information that applies to me: the microfilmed archives of the Wehrmacht High Command (OKW) and a welth of other German sources. The writing style is very good albeit with a few mistakes due to bad editing and the information is presented in a very clear chronological way which captivates the reader. I had never before pay attention, for example, to von Rundsetdt's 50 pages report of October 23, 1944 and the consequences of his estimations, nor had I read in such a clear form about the German plans and moves regarding the possible Allied attacks in Portugal, Spain and Southern France. Although very few pages are devoted to the actual operations of the D-Day landings, the subsquent Normandy campaign and the 15 August landings in the French Mediterranean coast, and almost none to the Allied planning and intentions, I think that Alan Wilt has made clear his point that Atlantic Wall did achieve a part of his objective by keeping the Allies out of the important Atlantic ports and thus causing the great logistics crisis of September 1944. "The Atlantic Wall" is a very good book which will be useful as a quick reference to anyone interested in the German strategy in the West during the 1940-44 period. The reader must be warned though that the subtitle "Rommel's plans to thwart the Allied Invasion" is rather deceptive, as Rommel is not the central figure of this study nor the only one. The book is easy to read and contains some good general maps, among them a precise map of the German order of battle in June 1944 and although it does not avoid a few reptitions along the way, it is worth the money.

Disappointing and dull.......2004-06-24

This book is a narrative of the plans and construction of defenses on the French coasts, both Atlantic and Mediterranean, as well as the German war plans for defending against the Allied invasion they knew was coming. The Germans did a great job of building formidable defenses for the seaports, which the Allies bypassed. Obviously, the Germans could have done a lot more to defend the Normandy beaches if they had only known the Allied plans.

The basic problem with the book is the author's fondness for the passive tense and vague rhetoric, and the lack of a theme. The maps are excellent and numerous. The writing style is smooth but the lack of specificity makes much of the book meaningless.

The book's purported theme seems to be that the Allied invasion could have failed. Given the success of the Allied deception and their total domination of the air, and given also the lack of mobility of the Germans with most bridges out and constant air attacks during the daytime, the thesis seems unlikely, or at least not supported by the facts presented in this disappointing book. The author has done a lot of research but to what end?

Book Description

Every month in every neighborhood in Chicago, residents, teachers, school principals, and police officers gather to deliberate about how to improve their schools and make their streets safer. Residents of poor neighborhoods participate as much or more as those from wealthy ones. All voices are heard. Since the meetings began more than a dozen years ago, they have led not only to safer streets but also to surprising improvements in the city's schools. Chicago's police department and school system have become democratic urban institutions unlike any others in America.

Empowered Participation is the compelling chronicle of this unprecedented transformation. It is the first comprehensive empirical analysis of the ways in which participatory democracy can be used to effect social change. Using city-wide data and six neighborhood case studies, the book explores how determined Chicago residents, police officers, teachers, and community groups worked to banish crime and transform a failing city school system into a model for educational reform. The author's conclusion: Properly designed and implemented institutions of participatory democratic governance can spark citizen involvement that in turn generates innovative problem-solving and public action. Their participation makes organizations more fair and effective.

Though the book focuses on Chicago's municipal agencies, its lessons are applicable to many American cities. Its findings will prove useful not only in the fields of education and law enforcement, but also to sectors as diverse as environmental regulation, social service provision, and workforce development.

Book Description

This Annual Edition is a compilation of current articles from such sources as World Watch, Audobon, The Atlantic Monthly, and Scientific American. These selections explore the global environment, the world's population, energy, the biosphere, natural resources, and pollution. Includes a listing of related Web sites and access to the student support site Dushkin Online (www.dushkin.com/online).

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Annual Editions: Environment 03/04
John Allen John L. Allen
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill/Dushkin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OGSDUO

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