Book Description
Lucius Beebe said that "The nearest thing to a royal family that has ever appeared on the American scene was the Vanderbilts … their vendettas, their armies of servitors, partisans and sycophants, their love affairs, scandals, and shortcomings, all were the stuff of an imperial routine."
Stasz reveals new facts and insights into the fascinating lives of three generations of Vanderbilt women who dominated New York society from the middle of the eighteenth century through the twentieth. Of special interest are the discovery of unpublished letters and a pseudonymous lesbian novel that shed light on the complex character of the most currently famous Vanderbilt woman, Gloria Vanderbilt.
Customer Reviews:
very enlightening.......2007-04-04
I HAD NO IDEA HOW INDUSTRIOUS THESE WOMEN WERE. I LIVE NEAR THE BILTMORE AND THIS INSPIRED ME TO FOLLOW UP ON THE HISTORY OF THIS FAMILY. THE MEN ARE INTERESTING BUT THE WOMEN FANTASTIC. THEY DID IT ALL AND WERE A GUTSY BUNCH. I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN ANTICIPATING THE NEXT ROUND.
Oh how they spent.......2007-03-26
Though the men built the fortune, their women spent. They also took up social causes not always popular @ the time..... Their standing memoirals are the Mansions and gardens they created.
Very thorough and entertaining history of Vanderbilt Women.......2000-06-23
This is a must read for anyone interested in the Gilded Age. The Vanderbilts were a huge part of it, and the women of the family are as dynamic as the men, in spite of the Commodore's opinion of them. Included in the book are little known figures, such as the Commodore's much put-upon wife and daughters. I found this book hard to put down and highly recommend it, especially in the newly available paperback form.
Average customer rating:
- Scaz Doesn't Fulfill The Promise of The Book
- Whines as Much as McEnroe
- Good News for Tennis Fans
- Advantage Scanlon!
- A good read, but accuracy problems
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Bad News for McEnroe: Blood, Sweat, and Backhands with John, Jimmy, Ilie, Ivan, Bjorn, and Vitas
Bill Scanlon ,
Sonny Long , and
Cathy Long
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
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Jimmy Connors Saved My Life: A Personal Biography
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Break Point: The Secret Diary of a Pro Tennis Player
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The Player: The Autobiography
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You Cannot Be Serious
ASIN: 0312332807
Release Date: 2004-07-29 |
Book Description
In the golden age of tennis, when players were just learning how to become media personalities, men like McEnroe, Connors, Borg and Lendl ruled the court . Now in a tell-all memoir, former top 10 seeded tennis star and chief McEnroe rival, Bill Scanlon, presents an unfettered look at the good old days of tennis when some of the most colorful (and infamous) players in history went head-to-head and the game was changed forever.Bad News For McEnroe is in part a revelation of the feud between McEnroe and the author that began when they were teenagers, but the essence of this book are the wonderful and surprising on- and off-the-court high jinks of such notable players as Vilas, Borg, McEnroe, Nastase and Connors, all of whom Scanlan played and knew intimately, from locker room fights to on-court breakdowns and blow-ups. A story that could not have come from anyone but a true insider, Scanlan's tale of life on the pro tennis circuit will shock and delight tennis fans everywhere.
Customer Reviews:
Scaz Doesn't Fulfill The Promise of The Book.......2006-01-14
When Bill Scanlon played on the professional circuit, he was a solid player. The only time you'd hear him mentioned in the same breath as McEnroe is on his book. The obvious animus he has for McEnroe is really uncalled for. It seems to be merely there to sell the book. Plus, the book is filled with factual inaccuracies--it was Vitas who said, "Nobody beat Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row." It was Barazutti's mark that Connors erased in the Open semifinals, not Vilas'. He has Connors turning to his box with Marjie Wallace and Gloria Connors, while Gloria was in Illinois.
Scaz is a tennis Forrest Gump who injects himself in situations in which he really wasn't a part of. The first 49 pages, though filled with inaccuracies, represent the best part of the book. After that, the reader wants Scaz to pee in the cup, for what he discusses sounds like drug-induced rantings.
He repeatedly says Connors had two bodyguards at the Open, when the two friends Connors had only appeared together with Connors at 2 Opens. But I guess Scaz needed to sell his book by exaggerating minor points like this. Unfortunately, sensationalizing trivial points subtracts from the overall book--for it begs the question what else is he embellishing?
After much ballyhoo, I expected more. This book is Bad News For Avid Tennis Fans.
Whines as Much as McEnroe.......2004-09-17
As an avid tennis player and reader I looked forward to his book. While I enjoyed watching McEnroe and enjoy his broadcasting ability, I can't say I'm much of a fan of his outsized ego. You'd think this book would therefore be much to my liking. Unfortunately, I only found this book mildly entertaining. There are a lot of subjects I liked but nothing that makes this a compelling exciting read for the average fan. Tennis aficionados may still want to read however.
After a brief background Scanlon supports his book title by attempting to hook the reader by blasting McEnroe's gamesmanship in their matches. But unlike Brad Gilbert's book with quality matches against McEnroe and Becker, Scanlon's case is weak as he RARELY beat McEnroe. It almost projects an image of envy spending so much time commenting on McEnroe and frankly, using it in the title to sell the book. Well, it worked in getting my money. OK, McEnroe's an @ss. Now let's move on. But he keeps coming back to it to where eventually it's pitiful.
The book really isn't about Mac other than in a tabloid manner. That's just an excuse to write a memoir about tennis in its greatest era. There is a very good chapter on the evolution of racquets and how that unnerved players who began with wooden racquets. Also, a chapter on fitness focusing on Navratilova and Lendl are quite interesting as well as a chapter on coaching and the evolution of the tennis entourage. But another dear subject to Scanlon which tends to lose the reader is the evolution of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals). Substantial time is spent here with a chapter on the controversial head Hamilton Jordan. Then we have a complete retelling of the battle inside the tennis establishment. This will be interesting only to people with interest in the business side of tennis.
Would I read this book again? Yes, but I love to read and love tennis. For the casual fan, I couldn't recommend this book. It covers subjects of interest to Scanlon but not in my opinion in a cohesive manner to entertain a casual fan. And, at the end of the day, I found the constant whining about the whiner McEnroe to be beneath the type book Scanlon was trying to write.
Good News for Tennis Fans.......2004-09-15
Bill Scanlon has brought back the good old days of great tennis. I was only unhappy that the book wasn't longer because with every chapter I found myself reminded of another great tournament or match between McEnroe and Connors or Borg or Lendl.
I found it interesting to learn some of the behind the scenes maneuvering in the politics of the game but far and away the most fun I had was reliving the rivalries between Borg and McEnroe and Connors and Lendl.
This book is written in a very fun way and I even get the impression that Scanlon has an underlying respect for John McEnroe and the contribution he made to the sport, even if the contribution was made in a way that caused fits for Scanlon and other players.
Definitely a fun read and highly recommended!
Advantage Scanlon!.......2004-09-01
This is an excellent book. The book is short and very well written. As a result, it reads as easily and quickly as just a few long articles from a tennis magazine. It is a lot more than just a rebuttal to McEnroe's book "You Can't Be Serious." McEnroe's book, although greatly entertaining was pretty much about McEnroe and not much more. Given whom McEnroe is, that still made for fascinating stuff. This book is not so much about Bill Scanlon, an extremely talented but unknown name outside tennis. Nor is it so much about McEnroe. It is much more about what Scanlon describes as the Golden Era of tennis (70s and 80s) in which he was privileged to participate.
Scanlon, in the shadows of the titans of the sport, had an incredible career that crossed paths with most of the superstars of the modern era. When he got started, he faced a mature Ilea Nastase (10 years his elder). Near his twilight, he faced the new teenage wonder - Andre Agassi. In between, he played against all the demi gods of the games, including Borg, Vilas, Connors, McEnroe, Gerulaitis, Lendl, and even the younger generation of near mythological characters: Becker, Edberg, Wilander.
This book is extremely insightful. The chapters about the fights for the control and governance of the game between the WTC, MIPTC, and the emerging ATP are fascinating. Some of these absurd fights culminated back in 1973, when 79 players boycotted Wimbledon, and Jan Kodes, an athletic East European better known for his clay court performances won Wimbledon due to a truly impoverished men's draw.
Chapter 4 on equipment is also very interesting. It discloses how in the late seventies and early eighties modern graphite racquets took the tennis world by storm. This caused a near crisis for most of the existing stars whose game had been developed with wood racquets. Scanlon shared that none of these stars adapted well to the change. And, this included both McEnroe and himself. The oversized stiffer racquets facilitated the modern power game that left touch players behind.
Scanlon noticed that while Nastase's tantrums affected his results, McEnroe's tantrums helped his. McEnroe's tantrums were well timed just to break an opponent's hot streak. More often than not, McEnroe's tantrum strategy worked. It allowed him to regain his footing in a match and beat his opponent. Thus, contrary to what McEnroe suggested in his own books, that is tantrums were outbursts of his own angered perfectionism; Scanlon suggests they represented an unfair strategy to beat opponents. I have little doubt that Scanlon is right. Thus, while McEnroe's theatrics were often hugely entertaining for the crowds, they must have represented a real pain in the neck for all his tennis opponents.
There is also a lot of entertaining stuff, including the exploits of Vitas Gerulaitis with the ladies. This is one aspect that both McEnroe and Scanlon books have in common. Both players/authors were quite awed by the amount of energy Vitas could exhibit on and off the tennis courts. Apparently, Vitas could easily handle a near sleepless night and win the Australian Open the next day. I am not so sure he could do that today. Marat Safin and Mark Phillippoussis are trying Vitas hedonistic route to success. But, so far they have frittered away their respective immense talent. And, they are both running out of time.
The book includes many more themes and topics equally interesting to the few I described above. If you like tennis, you'll love this book. I obviously have to also recommend McEnroe's "You cannot be serious." It is an excellent book too, even though it is narrower in scope than this one.
A good read, but accuracy problems.......2004-08-22
Bill Scanlon has a place in tennis history as the only player to win a set without the loss of a point in a tour event. He also was a nemesis of John McEnroe's, as much as Brad Gilbert ever was.
While providing a nice glimpse of the Borg-Connors-McEnroe era from the inside, Scanlon's book puts forth the theory that McEnroe's enmity toward him was based on a case of mistaken identify. Wow!
Unfortunately, as Scanlon asserts that McEnroe's memory is faulty, he raises credibility questions by revealing some memory problems of his own. This book is an extreme example of Walsh's Rule, which is that if you know anything about a subject, you'll find errors in just about any article or book on the topic.
Among Scanlon's dozens of errors are some doozies. He incorrectly recounts two anecdotes that are so well known it's almost a cliche to even mention them.
It was Connors, not Borg, who lost to Vitas Gerulaitis for the first time at the Masters, prompting Vitas to quip that nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis [number of losses plus one] times in a row. (In fact, Borg never lost to Gerulaitis on the pro tour.)
And it was Corrado Barazzutti, not Vilas, against whom Connors rubbed out a ball mark at Forest Hills.
I could go on. Scanlon misspells Lleyton Hewitt and Henri Leconte. His recollections about rackets are particularly error-filled.
Still, this is a book that hardcore tennis fans should read.
Average customer rating:
- Amazingly average book
- superficial, innacurate, boring... bad.
- Superficial at best
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Steven Spielberg: Close Up: The Making of His Movies (Close-Up Series)
Perry
Manufacturer: Thunder's Mouth Press
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Francis Ford Coppola: Close Up: The Making of His Movies (Close-Up Series)
ASIN: 1560251956 |
Customer Reviews:
Amazingly average book.......2005-06-17
With enough books chronicling the life and works of Steven Spielberg, this brief and sketchy tome hardly qualifies as one of the best. But I'm a hardcore Spielberg fan and have almost all the books written about him. Regardless, this is simply to fill a niggling itch, not necessarily for a good read. If you're looking for quality and sincere Spielberg books, Neil Sinyard and Ian Freer's excellent bios are great reading.
superficial, innacurate, boring... bad........2004-05-24
If you've read a Profile on Mr. Spielberg in any magazine or seen one of the very bleak "behind the scenes" documentaries in one of his DVDs... you're more than qualified to write a better book than this one.
The back cover refers to the "book" as a "fascinating behind-the-scenes account of how Steven Spielberg really makes movies"... an utter LIE!! The chapter on "Jaws" for example, is only 4 pages long. I mean, the movie took forever to shoot, was plaged with trouble and was the first ever blockbuster... you could easily write a whole book with the creative process involved, not 4 pages.
I see that there's an used book priced at $ 0.93 it is expensive, don't buy it.
Superficial at best.......2000-01-15
If you know nothing at all about Steven Spielberg, this book might be a good summary of his career. But if you are looking for personal insights, new depth or detailed film analysis, invest your book-buying money elsewhere. I was also put off by the fairly frequent denigrating remarks about various actors, screen writers and directors many of whom have careers that would seem worthy of some degree of respect.
Book Description
Sacrae cantiones (Venice, 1555)
Average customer rating:
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The Moderne Motet Anthologies and Girolamo Carli and Giulio Ciccarello.(Review) (book review): An article from: Notes
Richard Freedman
Manufacturer: Music Library Association, Inc.
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Release Date: 2005-07-28 |
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This digital document is an article from Notes, published by Music Library Association, Inc. on March 1, 2001. The length of the article is 2767 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 Moderne Motet Anthologies and Girolamo Carli and Giulio Ciccarello.(Review) (book review)
Author: Richard Freedman
Publication:
Notes (Refereed)
Date: March 1, 2001
Publisher: Music Library Association, Inc.
Volume: 57
Issue: 3
Page: 724
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Customer Reviews:
Comprehensive.......2001-07-27
This book is a great how-to. Starting out with information on basic sewing techniques, it continues on with stitching, pattern making, dying fabrics, and sewing and stuffing dolls. The doll patterns are for 16 1/2" dolls, and the clothing patterns are for 1) Little Red Riding Hood, 2) Little Bo Peep, 3) Hansel & Gretel, 4) Goldilocks, 5) Cinderella, 6) Fairy Godmother, 7) Witch, 8) Pinocchio, 9) Little Mermaid, 10) the Three Bears, and 11) Humpty Dumpty. Each section includes patterns, and step-by-step instructions.
Everything you could want is in this book, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.
Customer Reviews:
The Best Cloth Doll Making Book I've Seen.......2007-01-08
This book is written very clearly so that the directions are easy to follow. The dolls look great when completed. The clothing fits well and the sewer is able to create many different looks using the same basic doll. The patterns are full sized, so that there is no need to try to expand pattern pieces. My homeschooled teen aged granddaughter used this book for some of her "home economics" sewing projects and made several very attractive dolls. She was somewhat of a beginning sewer and was able to follow the directions and make very nice dolls.This is a very good book for both the experienced doll maker and the beginner at this fun craft.
Wonderful; very complete.......1997-02-02
This is a great book for people who like variety without complicated patterns. There is one doll that can be outfitted with many different outfits that are provided here. You can also make rag, baby, and ethnic-style dolls. It's a great book for those with little experience who want to learn more
Book Description
A direct sales superstar offers his tips on how to manage and grow quotabusting sales teams
One of today's fastest-growing enterprise sectors, direct sales employs 10 million people. Of that number, 2 million are managers. The most respected name in the business and a living legend, Michael Malaghan has done more than $2 billion worth of direct sales business over the past decade. In Making Millions in Direct Sales, he shares what he knows about assembling, managing, and motivating supercharged sales teams. Managers and those who aspire to become managers learn:
- Eight essential activities every direct sales manager must master
- 14 great motivators every sales manager should know
- How to combine sales contents and commissions in a unified motivational system
Download Description
A direct sales superstar offers his tips on how to manage and grow quotabusting sales teams
One of todays fastest-growing enterprise sectors, direct sales employs 10 million people. Of that number, 2 million are managers. The most respected name in the business and a living legend, Michael Malaghan has done more than $2 billion worth of direct sales business over the past decade. In Making Millions in Direct Sales, he shares what he knows about assembling, managing, and motivating supercharged sales teams. Managers and those who aspire to become managers learn:
- Eight essential activities every direct sales manager must master
- 14 great motivators every sales manager should know
- How to combine sales contents and commissions in a unified motivational system
'
Book Description
ROCKET SCIENTIST KILLED IN PASADENA EXPLOSION screamed the headline of the Los Angeles Times. John Parsons, a maverick rocketeer who helped transform the rocket from a derided sci-fi plotline into a reality, was at first mourned as a scientific prodigy. But reporters soon uncovered a more shocking story: Parsons had been a devotee of black magic.
George Pendle re-creates the world of John Parsons in this dazzling portrait of prewar superstition, cold war paranoia, and futuristic possibility. Fueled by childhood dreams of space flight, Parsons was a leader of the motley band of enthusiastic young men who founded the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a cornerstone of the American space program. But Parsons's wild imagination also led him into the occult- for if he could make rocketry a reality, why not magic?
With a cast of characters including Howard Hughes,
L. Ron Hubbard, and Robert Heinlein, Strange Angel explores the unruly consequences of genius.
Customer Reviews:
Modern Alchemy, Lost Soul and Troubled Genius.......2007-08-20
If you ever read about John Dee, Leonardo DaVinci, Sir Issac Newton and many others, then you will recognize their 20th century counterpart in the genius, Jack Whiteside Parsons. The key factor in his life that drove him to the top of the scientific world for a brief period, from the late thirties to mid forties of the last century, was his Vision of space travel and the medium of the rocket as a means to get to space. In my mind, he was a supreme innovator using the trial and error process to attain more and more positive results. He was also not college educated which left his mind uncluttered with theorems and accepted truths of academia. He was above all a cultist. In the beginning of the story rocketry is a cult and a sub-genre of science fiction. In religion he was a Satanist, although the word in never mentioned in the book and a follower and devotee of the Great Beast, Alistair Crowley. In the nineteen thirties in Los Angeles, these various cult worlds overlapped with fellow science fiction writers (and religion founder)such as L. Ron Hubbard playing a role in Parson's life - he also stole the love of his life in the process. It is a very interesting read for anyone interested in the genesis of the USA space program. This book shows that it started in the teenage dreams of Jack Parsons. I finished the book realizing that the author had only touched upon briefly the many aspects of his life story. Given the excesses of the OTO cult, it can be still be read by adults and teenagers without any qualms. There is no detail given about the various sexual rituals and in that respect it is PG rated. There are many famous individuals who die young - Alexander the Great, Elvis, James Dean, Mozart and a host of rock stars. I would place Jack Parsons as a compatriot of young geniuses who flame out because of other obsessions whether it be drugs, alcohol or other addictions. In many ways I liked the person of Jack Parsons, especially his friendly nature and his scientific accomplishments but I was frankly repulsed by his personal life. This is a tale of a rich,pampered Mommy's boy who never really grew up emotionally. The lack of childhood discipline and his self love led him to become a leader of a cult whose creed was the Supremacy of the Self. In the end his lack of an education allowed him the birth the field of rocketry but at the same time blinded him the dangers of the occult.
The author's prejudice writes the story.......2007-01-30
The story of the odd life of John Parsons, self-educated powder expert and Satanist. The biography of a man who taught himself about explosive chemicals and how he dreamed of launching his own rockets. Simultaneously, Parsons lived in a world that existed only in his weird and self-aggrandizing thoughts. Parsons dreamed of magic and other dimensions. When he lost control of the world around him, he withdrew to the world that he tried to control through magic. Parsons knew Theodore Karman and Alister Crowley, studying from one world to its polar opposite. Unfortunately, the author is so amazed with Parsons that he cannot be objective about the man's contributions and what they truly meant to rocketry. The author romanticizes Parson's dangerous nature and demonizes those who tried to help re-route Parsons from the danger to more safety aware experimentation. Some of the author's historical facts are wrong as well. An interesting attempt, but a discredited book. NOT a book I would recommend to anyone. A book written more from the POV of history rather than playing up the strangeness of Parsons would be more helpful.
Outstanding!.......2006-12-01
This is a fascinating read on jack Parsons and a group of his friends and fellow rocket experimenters. Sadly, these men who were at the foundation of rocketry, are now "cut out of the picture". The entire picture is included, giving all the background of the community and times. The book reads easily, even though it is about a facet of science. I highly recommend it to anyone whose interests fall within the scope of Jack Pasons!
Strange adventures of a curious rocket man.......2006-11-14
It's the true story of the high school dropout who helped launched the space program, John Parsons. But this is no screw-up does good and become Lee Iacocca bullpuckey. Parsons was a WACKO, as well as an interesting footnote in the history of religious chicanery, serving as a bridge between the Victorian Old World flim- flam of Aleister Crowley and the Space Age Yankee flim-flam of L. Ron Hubbard (who makes a last act appearance as a dastardly villain, fleeing on yacht with Parson's lady and a good chunk of his life savings.)
Parson blew up sheds in and around Cal Tech by day, and ran a Gnostic free love freakshow in an old Pasadena mansion by night. (LA was very, very weird in the forties. Full of racial strife, institutionalized corruption and flakely cults. The more things change...) Parson was Crowley's man in LA, running the local temple of Crowley's order, the OTO. He was also a member of the underappreciated international network of amateurs that ushered in the rocket age.
Rockets were written off by the scientific establishment as goony kids stuff, not worthy of study, especially as propulsion for spacecraft. Some physicists, who should have known better, even argued rockets would not work in a vacuum.
It was only through the efforts of a bunch of obsessed misfits existing outside academia that the US eventually had any sort of rocket program. The Nazis, on the other hand, became very very interested in what their nerds were up to rocket-wise and as a result 3,000 V2s later rained on London and Rotterdam. Rockets worked.
The sadly ironic result for Parsons is that once rocketry became respectable, weirdos like him were pushed aside for degreed professionals.
What's interesting is watching Hubbard, at the time a fairly successful Sci-Fi writer, out-Crowley Crowley, creating a global religion with not a little cribbing from Crowley's playbook. Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein and L. Sprague de Camp (Conan's co-creator) even make a brief appearance to comment on the audacity of their fellow pulp-spieler.
The prose is a bit dry, but the subject matter more than makes up for it.
A fascinating look at early rocket history.......2006-08-12
In June 1952, John Whiteside Parsons, one of the founders of the Jet Propulsion Lab and of Aerojet Engineering Corporation, was killed in an explosion in his home laboratory. The first news reports described him as a Caltech scientist, and described his accomplishments at JPL and his work with other early great rocket scientists. Over the next few weeks, though, a rather different story emerged.
Jack Parsons, one of the pioneering rocket scientists of the pre-war and WWII years, had led a life that could fairly be described as "interesting." He was a "Caltech scientist" and a founder of the JPL, but he had no education past high school. He was a devotee of black magic and a follower of Aleister Crowley. And he was a science fiction fan, a semi-regular visitor to LASFS, friendly with Robert Heinlein, Jack Williamson, and other sf writers for years, and for a time had L. Ron Hubbard as a housemate. (This last proved to be a serious mistake.)
Pendle reconstructs Parsons' life, from his wealthy and privileged childhood in Pasadena, his discovery of both science fiction and rocketry, through his increasingly strange explorations of the occult, and how these three strands became ever more tangled. The loss of the family fortune in the crash of 1929, when Parsons was fifteen, complicated his pursuit of rocketry and put an end to transatlantic phone calls to talk to Werner von Braun (also a teenaged amateur racketeer), but didn't divert his efforts. In high school, he met Ed Forman, who became his partner for most of the rest of his career. Blowing up rockets in the Arroyo Seco, working long hours at jobs with explosives manufacturers, and gradually making contacts at Caltech (including meeting Frank Malina, who became the third member of the Suicide Squad triumvirate, the only one with the formal educational background, and the Caltech access, for what they were doing), they gradually built the foundations for transforming rocketry from a subject of mockery and ridicule to something capable, a few years later, of making a real contribution to the war effort when the army wanted a way for military planes to take off faster and on shorter runways. Parsons also became a recognized explosives expert--despite the low regard for rocketry and the Caltech administration's distaste for Parsons and the Suicide Squad, it was Parsons who was recommended when the prosecution in a notorious LA car-bombing asked Caltech for a scientist to examine the explosives evidence. Parsons testified in the trial, and at twenty-three, was far too poised, confident, and effective for the defense to cope with.
But it was also during these pre-war years that Parsons discovered the Ordo Templi Orientis, the cult founded by Aleister Crowley, and became fascinated with magic and the occult. Wilfred Smith, head of the local branch of the cult, was equally fascinated with Parsons, believing that he was the much-desired wealthy enthusiast who could be induced to pay the cult's many expenses, including especially funneling funds to Crowley himself, now aging, ill, and dependent on funds from his supporeters. That Parsons was not in fact wealthy (the family fortune having vanished in the stock market crash) didn't become apparent until later, but he was a far more charismatic figure than Smith, and that had its own ramifications later.
Parsons also began attending political meetings that were in fact a recruiting tool for the local Communist Party at Caltech. This was of little significance at the time, especially since, when finally pushed to join the Party, he dropped the meetings instead, but it came back to haunt him later, during and after the war, when his work for the military meant that he needed a security clearance. It was also during the years that Parsons was dropping in on LASFS meetings (initially, he was invited to talk about rocketry), meeting and to some degree both influencing and being influenced by the sf writers who were also regularly or occasionally attending. Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and Jack Williamson all figure to a greater or lesser degree in Parsons' story. Jack Parsons' life is odd and fascinating, and it's very well told here, capturing the early triumphs and the frustration, sometimes desperation of his later years (his thirties!) as his life spins further and further out of control.
Highly recommended.
Average customer rating:
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The magical father of American rockerty: Jack Parsons, burning out his fuel up there alone.(Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John ... )(Book Review) : An article from: Reason
Brian Doherty
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
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ASIN: B000E1OAWY
Release Date: 2005-12-29 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Reason, published by Thomson Gale on May 1, 2005. The length of the article is 1084 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 magical father of American rockerty: Jack Parsons, burning out his fuel up there alone.(Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons )(Book Review)
Author: Brian Doherty
Publication:
Reason (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 37
Issue: 1
Page: 64(2)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Average customer rating:
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Rocketry and wizardry.(Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons)(Book Review) : An article from: Skeptical Inquirer
Howard Schneider
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
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ASIN: B000E4FNCW
Release Date: 2006-01-09 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Skeptical Inquirer, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2006. The length of the article is 1053 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: Rocketry and wizardry.(Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons)(Book Review)
Author: Howard Schneider
Publication:
Skeptical Inquirer (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 30
Issue: 1
Page: 61(2)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
These compelling letters of two young enlisted men coming of age in the midst of war read like a good historical novel, complete with plot, character development, suspense, tragedy, and even more than a little romance, offering both a vivid picture of war at the battlefront and the texture of the home life of a Southern family during the Civil War.
Customer Reviews:
Long lost history.......2007-07-23
I must admit to being slightly prejudiced about this book. I stumbled on it during an ancestor search and found some of my relatives within the pages...Taliferro and Broyles. It was a great read and provided so much first hand insight into what it was like to live during the Civil War.I am so thankful that the authors thought the material was worthy of a book. I am sharing it with other family members.
Far, Far From Home.......1999-12-19
This happens to be my fathers book, however I am compelled to comment despite my potential bias.
Firstly, the authors are Edward W. Simpson Jr. and Guy R. Everson (ie. not R.W. Simpson - he was a historical figure in the book). Dad found the letters hidden in a storage chest. He transcribed them over a period of four years and both authors spent another 3 years documenting the accuracy of the movements. Secondly, I am pleased to say it is truly one of the most wonderful bits of history that actually reads like a novel (important for me because I am not a Civil War buff). The story was a compilation of letters, written by a soldier dipicting everything from grand strategy, individual combat, to challenging personal experiences. The Simpson brothers (ie. the letter writters) served in Longstreets Corps under Robert E. Lee, in the Army of Northern Virginia. I am amazed at the courage that war required and how the letters capture the essence, the struggle, and the pathos of our Civil War.
Average customer rating:
- A Conservative Reader's Encyclopedia
|
The Concise Conservative Encyclopedia: 200 of the Most Important Ideas, Individuals, Incitements, and Institutions that Have Shaped the Movement
Brad Miner
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0684800438 |
Customer Reviews:
A Conservative Reader's Encyclopedia.......2000-12-01
As far as I know, this is the only book of its kind. There are books of quotations (Right Thinking), anthologies (The Portable Conservative Reader), and histories (The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America), but nothing else which does what this book's subtitle describes.
The editor, Brad Miner, is a former literary editor at National Review and has based his book on Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia, a popular reference book for literary and cultural matters. He has included terms, authors, a few historical essays, a top ten book list, an extensive bibliography, and his own attempt to outline the principles of conservatism. Each entry contains items which are underlined if they are referred to elsewhere in the text, like hypertext links on a web page. The entry ends with a relevant quotation and suggestions for further reading.
In keeping with the notion of an encyclopedia, Miner has chosen to be accurate rather than opinionated. This is reasoned, thoughtful conservatism, not the firebrand of talk radio. Miner begins his survey in the 1800s, with Edmund Burke, in itself a sign of deep reading. Not everyone appreciates the origin and intellectual roots of conservatism as Miner does. I also applaud his recognition of the importance of Russell Kirk to the formation and development of the modern conservative movement.
This small gem is a handy reference book for various matters related to conservatism. As a one-volume sourebook for further reading, it is unsurpassed. It belongs on the shelves of school libraries, public libraries, and of anyone with even a passing interest in politics or intellectual history.
Average customer rating:
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Coming into McPhee Country: John McPhee and the Art of Literary Nonfiction
O.Alan Weltzien
Manufacturer: University of Utah Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0874807468 |
Books:
- Tina and Harry Come to America: Tina Brown, Harry Evans, and the Uses of Power
- Tips from the Top: Advice for a Young Person from 125 of America's Most Successful People
- Today I Am a Ma'Am: And Other Musings on Life, Beauty, and Growing Older
- Trumped-21.95
- Trumped!: The Inside Story of the Real Donald Trump-His Cunning Rise and Spectacular Fall
- Trust No One: The Glamorous Life and Bizarre Death of Doris Duke
- Turn Left at the Sleeping Dog: Scripting the Santa Fe Legend, 1920-1955
- Verdura: The Life and Work of a Master Jeweler
- Wealth Well-Given: The Enterprise and Benevolence of Lord Nuffield (Biography, Letters & Diaries)
- Whims of Fortune: The Memoirs of Guy De Rothschild
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