Customer Reviews:
From family forsakeness to media maven.......2003-05-24
This is an excellent book about Katherine Graham, former owner and publisher of The Washington Post. Katherine is initially, for all intents and purposes, ignored by her family throughout her youth. Little attention is bestowed upon her as her father, Eugene Meyer, runs The Washington Post and her mother, Agnes Meyer, socializes with every powerful individual she possibly can. Katherine perseveres through these harsh circumstances only to have her husband, Phil Graham, blow his brains out in the bathroom of one of their homes during a respite from an insane asylum. Katherine takes control of the newspaper (and company behind it), makes it the most influential paper in the nation, and becomes the most powerful woman in the world in the process. I recommend this book for any individual seeking a source of inspiration. This book should, and will hopefully, inspire many downtrodden people the world over for years to come.
The single most useful book about the Post........2002-01-06
I've read every book I could find about Katharine Graham and the Washington Post -- and if you're only going to read one, this is it. Complex business dealings are explained clearly, people are approached evenhandedly, and scandals (public and private) are discussed without either shirking or sensationalism (and with a lot of citations.) The book focuses on the personalities of these fascinating people, making for a riveting story.
How To Become a Successful Businesswoman.......2001-11-24
Biographer Carol Felsenthal turned her fine talents ro Katherine Graham and produced a top-notch bio, one which the reader can easily understand, and feel for, the housewife-turned-Fortune 500 businesswoman. What sticks in my mind is how Graham's distant mother finally decided to talk to her daughter about menstruation, to which Kay replied, "I started that last year."
Rich detail such as this makes it easy to see why Readers Digest condensed the book, and opens up a controversy over just how much of Felsenthal's research was co-opted by Graham herself to write, or have ghostwritten, her "Personal History." Felsenthal's objectivity adds to Graham's life story in a way only a detached biographer can. If one wants a map of how a shy woman can succeede in the business world, one can do no better than to read Felsenthal's illuminating text.
a balance of gossip and substance.......2001-05-14
Ever since I read Halberstam's the Powers that BE, I wanted to read more in depth about Kay Graham. She is a fascintaing character: taking over the Post after the suicide of her manic depressive husband, she was the one to bring it to greatness. Not only did she overcame fear and terrible personal insecurity, but with Watergate and the Pentagon Papers she earned a place in history. That is not bad for an heiress that everyone dismissed as a figurehead when she took over.
Unfortunately, Felsenthal brings few new revelations to her well researched and long book. The facts are there, as is much of recent US history. Instead, what she adds is more on the level of back-biting gossip, such as the tales of her dysfunctional children, her fickleness at the office, or her insensitive quips about money ("you mean you have to live on your salary" she is quoted as asking a reporter.) At times, the book has the flavor of personal pique: you can tell that she doesn't like her subject. Felsenthal even seems bent on undoing the reputation of her star editor, Ben Bradley, whom she portrays as a capable courtesan manipulator of Graham. While this perspective is useful, it appeared biased to me, too consciously against the grain of popular image.
However, if you don't know the story of Kay Graham, this is a solid introduction. Recommended with reservation.
Average customer rating:
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Wicked: The Prince Naseem Phenomenom
Gavin Evans
Manufacturer: Robson Books
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- Playful, yet serious Description No.1-100
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Peter Greenaway: Fear Of Drowning By Numbers
Peter Greenaway
Manufacturer: Dis Voir
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Peter Greenaway: Drowning By Numbers
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Drowning By Numbers
ASIN: 2906571075
Release Date: 1991-06-02 |
Book Description
By Peter Greenaway.
Customer Reviews:
Playful, yet serious Description No.1-100.......2000-11-25
What I enjoy most about the Film "Drowning by Numbers", is its multi-level complexity. This film can be seen over and over again, and new clues, deatails, innuendo, and games can be found. Judging from this book, Greenaway spent years thinking about its creation. In one hundred short chapters, sometimes really only paragraphs or lists, he gives us the viewers, readers, and players, thirsting from more information, almost more than we can handle. Not only are we given the locations of the Number Count in the Film, (but not defenitely, otherwise it would not be a game) but also the Names of the 100 Stars the Skipping girl counts. This will obviously do nothing for those who do not like this film and dismiss it as Overblown, Anglocentric and Self-indulgent. Too bad for you. But if you do enjoy this Film, then you will really enjoy all of the little, and not so little insights, and games. Or are they? If you read this, you will never see the Film again in the same way, and you will probably see it again, several times, perhaps 100 times. After that it does not matter, because all 100's are the same...or are they?
Book Description
Outrageous parties. Brazen drug use. Fantastical costumes. Celebrities. Wannabes. Gender-bending club kids. Pulse-pounding beats. Sinful orgies. Botched police raids. Depraved criminals. Murder.
Welcome to the decadent nineties club scene.
In 1995, journalist Frank Owen began researching a story on Special K, a designer drug that fueled the after-midnight club scene. He went to buy and sample the drug at the internationally notorious Limelight, a crumbling church converted into a Manhattan disco, where mesmerizing music, ecstatic dancers, and uninhibited sideshows attracted long lines of hopeful onlookers. Owen discovered a world where reckless hedonism was elevated to an art form, and where the ever-accelerating party finally spun out of control in the hands of notorious club owner Peter Gatien and his minions. In Clubland, Owen reveals how a lethal drug ring operated in a lawless, black-lit realm of fantasy, and how, when the lights came up, their excesses left countless victims in their wake.
Praised for his risk-taking and exhilarating writing style, Frank Owen has spawned a hybrid of literary nonfiction and true crime, capturing the zeitgeist of a world that emerged in the spirit of “peace, love, unity and respect,” and ended in tragedy.
Customer Reviews:
Fascinating.......2007-06-09
This book is a fascinating look at the underbelly of New York night life in the 1990s.
Good Reporting .......2006-06-01
There was a time, that I sat in my mid Atlantic hometown and read Interview, subscribed to the Village Voice, and partied at local night spots that couldn't hold a candle to the New York club scene when it came to sheer decadence but they tried-- oh, how they tried. This was long before the Clubkids though. In fact I seemed to have missed this phenomenon entirely-- never even saw them on television-- until I ran into the movie Party Monster via a radio interview on NPR with Seth Green who starred in the 2003 movie Party Monster based on the documentary, that was based on the events surrounding the death of low level drug dealer at the hands of a party promoter.
Owens has done a fine job as a reporter. As a true outsider though, I have to admit that I wasn't all that surprised at the drugged out antics of the club goers (for some reason urine is always used for shock value) which really weren't that different from the earlier period or probably even now. It was the violence of the family connected thugs that I found disturbing.
Owen did well not to concentrate on Alig's murder of Angel. The information about the Florida club scene was interesting. There were things Owen talked about that I would have liked him to have expanded on, such as his theory about the fascination that mobsters and entertainment stars have for one another.
There were also some potentially hilarious scenes in the book such as when one of the informants takes two burly male DEA agents -- one of them in a dress with a slit up the side.
On the down side, though, the book seemed to end rather abruptly with some rather lightweight, but mercifully brief sermonizing about how the dance clubs were built on cruelty.
Well worth the read.
Some of the best reporting available on the seedy side of 1990s nightlife.......2005-12-24
During the 1990s, Frank Owen made a name for himself as a chronicler of the darker side of Manhattan night life, focusing especially on the always outrageous, often seedy, and occasionally criminal exploits of a small cadre of club owners and party promoters. His articles in the Village Voice managed to combine both some truly commendable journalism with a disarmingly naive dismay at the excesses of the scene; many of us read his pieces at the time with both uneasy recognition and palpable shock.
"Clubland" is the summation of this reporting, focusing on a trio of truly larger-than-life characters: promoter Michael Alig, who spearheaded New York's "club kid" scene; club owner Peter Gatien, who owned the Tunnel, the Limelight, the Palladium, and Club USA; and Chris Paciello, who fled New York to preside over the burgeoning Miami nightlife. Owen broke many of the stories and scandals surrounding Alig and Gatien; his reporting on Paciello is largely after-the-fact for the Miami period, but it's still remarkable how much new material he reveals and assembles.
Owen's coverage was and is superb and, for the most part, even-handed; he treats with an equally skeptical eye the abuses and foibles both of "clubland's" then-presiding influences and of overzealous law enforcement authorities. He also writes well, providing page-turning accounts of the murders, assaults, blackmail, drugs, and even government malfeasance that plagued Gatien's clubs and employees. Impressively gaining the confidence of nearly every party involved with the crimes and misdemeanors he describes, Owen skillfully fills in many of the details that were missing from the newspaper coverage at the time. Overall, then, this is a fascinating and well-researched book.
Where Owen stumbles, however, is his occasional (but thankfully sparse) tendency to use the examples of a few bad eggs to paint a tawdry picture of all of New York's nightlife. [Full disclosure: I knew or know a number of the people mentioned in this book.] As a result of his experiences, Owen is "more likely to view discos as institutions constructed on cruelty," and there are a number of other similar sentiments that pepper the book. It should be unnecessary to point out that dozens of owners and managers, hundreds of DJs and promoters, and thousands of club employees and patrons have never seen the inside of a courtroom, much less a jail cell. It's sad to see Owen, who is an excellent reporter, succumb to this sort of moralizing overreach; it is as simplistic as viewing Jayson Blair and Judith Miller as emblematic of all journalists, or as holding up a few rogue cops as examples of an "institution constructed on cruelty."
Another recurrent theme of Owen's book is the "fall" of clubland. Of course, many New Yorkers older than either Owen or me argue that the night scene fell after Steve Rubell went to jail and Studio 54 closed its doors (or, for that matter, after the heyday of the Copacabana or the Cotton Club). And it can't be news to Owen that there are still thriving, crowded, exuberantly joyous dance clubs in New York that a younger crowd surely believes is the best thing that's happened to entertainment. Even now, if a journalist like Owen were to scratch the surface, he'd doubtlessly find a few Mob-controlled elements and the scourge of drug abuse--only now, crystal meth has replaced Special K as the problem "party favor," just as ecstasy had supplanted cocaine two decades ago.
In fact, the scene described by Owen had moved past Alig and Gatien long before the duo's downfall in the mid-1990s. Except to a relatively small number of devotees, Alig had become embarrassingly passe as quickly as any other trend in this city; he and his peers often had difficulty filling even the smaller clubs. Many of us fled Alig's "Disco 2000" parties years earlier, moving to clubs dominated by a different set who spent their days working out in the gym and their nights (and mornings) dancing in abandon. And now, in Astoria, there is a more art-conscious and ethnically mixed "club kid" scene, presided over by some fresh faces as well as a few surviving denizens of Gatien's clubs.
In spite of these quibbles, Owen has no peer as a chronicler of the primeval "club kid" scene; what his reporting lacks, then, is historical perspective. "Clubland" is, however, a book of journalism, not of history; as such, it succeeds admirably at describing a comparatively narrow but inordinately visible slice of 1990s nightlife.
The Dark Side of the NY City Club Scene.......2005-12-08
Clubland: The Fabulous Rise and Murderous Fall of Club Culture, by Frank Owen
Being from Westchester NY and having been to all the clubs mentioned and knowing some of the people mentioned and at least knowing of most of them, the book sort of gives me the creeps. Reading about the craziness that went on behind the scenes puts the darkness of the NY nightlife in a different kind of light.
It is quite interesting to learn about Peter Gatien's twisted rise to NY City club mogul, especially being from a small Canadian mill town. The characters seem about right. For anyone that's been to the Limelight, Sound Factory or any other NY City underground type club during the time frame in the book can attest to the almost cartoon like figures lurking in the shadows and loosing it on the dance floors. The ambulances would line up out side the Sound Factory just before sunup and the doors would finally close around 2pm the next day.
I enjoyed the look into some of the players of the era and have to hand it to Frank Owen for the time and effort spent sniffing out the story, no pun intended.
By Kevin Kingston, author of: A 20,000% Gain in Real Estate
My Blog: The Real Estate Investors Blog
At Bloglines
A Book You Truly Can't Put Down.......2005-04-25
The pace of this book was amazing. It's unfortunate that a poor movie like "Party Monster" prevented Clubland from being made into one. With the right director and cast, there is no doubt in my mind that this would have been huge. The cast of true characters in this book are people you find yourself rooting against. It reminds me of "Goodfellas" one of the best movies of all time.
Book Description
Wordsmiths rush to sharpen their pencils and their minds with this inventive collection of seek-a-word puzzles designed to improve word skills and vocabulary. In over 150 puzzles ranging from quick and easy to mind-boggling, players are challenged to find hidden words by going up and down, backward and forward, and diagonally. This easy-to-tote collection provides hours of intriguing entertainment for people on the go or on vacation.
Book Description
In the marketplace of the 21st century, the critical form of customer communication will be broader than advertising and promotional messages. Customers have relationships with the brand, combining all the forms of communication that give meaning to products and services. Brand communication creates an interactive relationship between the product or service and consumers, which is a major change in the way advertisers and marketers have traditionally viewed customer communication.
Authors Don Schultz and Beth Barnes have built on the foundation of their best-selling text, Strategic Advertising Campaigns, to create a book that embodies this new approach to advertising and marketing communication: Strategic Brand Communication Campaigns.
This innovative text focuses on the messages and incentives customers receive, rather than what marketers send out, which differentiates brand communication management from advertising management. The brand will drive the 21st century marketplace, and students need to develop the skills necessary to plan and execute brand communication campaigns.
Strategic Brand Communication Campaigns shows students how to produce successful campaigns in the dynamic marketplace of the future. The book
- Emphasizes the identification and management of the many ways customers come in contact with a brand and how they relate to it.
- Explores the interactive relationship between customers and the marketing messages and incentives that are created through brand communication.
- Provides students with the fundamentals of developing and executing comprehensive and contemporary campaigns with an emphasis on brand building.
- Reflects changes in the marketplace, consumers, technology, media, marketing, and advertising to keep students' knowledge current and applicable. Addresses the role of advertising planning as a part of brand communication campaigns.
- Features more real-world examples so students can see how professional advertisers and marketers conduct effective campaigns.
- Presents practical guidelines and applications for preparing successful campaigns in a concise, visually appealing text that will capture students' attention.
Parts 1 and 2 of the text introduce students to the brand concept, how it has evolved, and why it is critical to successful marketing in today's environment. Students also gain an understanding of the relationship between consumer behavior and brands and discover how to apply brand-building concepts to achieve brand value.
Parts 3 and 4 provide a handbook for creating, implementing, and evaluating cohesive brand communication campaigns. Advertising, media, public relations, direct response, and sales promotion strategies are examined. Students learn how to deliver forceful messages and incentives and how to measure their effectiveness.
Customer Reviews:
A useful university textbook.......2000-10-04
The 16 chapters with 30-50 pages per chapter make for an easy semester workload. The 80 exhibits include clear models, showing how the customer interacts with the brand. The inclusion of two chapters to the importance of the brand in the communications strategey and the linking of brands to each of the marketing communication tools in subsequent chapters reflects the appropiate modern approach.
I would have liked to see a little more than the few pages offered on the use of interactive media but those offered did include examples of web pages and other useful visual information. As the authors rightly point out, not all communications will be interactive in the future and students must not lose sight of other forms of communications.
Overall I found the short paragraphs and clear layout easy to use during lectures.
A really useful textbook.
Too theoretical-- not practical!.......2000-09-30
Probably the worst book ever written by the integrated marketing communications guru, Don E. Schultz -- an IMC professor at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern.
It is too conceptual and theoretical. The real world does not really do IMC quite like that. IMC is still both art and science. The author(s) tend to look at IMC, from a branding perspective, in a dry,boring, and uncreative fashion.Many jargons have been invented in the book. But are they really practical? The book has not thrown in enough cases or examples to explain or illustrate most of the untested theories or concepts convincingly.
Personally, I guess Beth E. Barnes did most of the writing, and Don E. Schultz did most of the so called new concepts or theories invention.
I recommend books like Experiental Marketing, Experience Economy-- they are far more interesting, and practical!
Product Description
Explains how to create and implement an advertising campaign, discusses marketing plans, research, budgets, pretests, media planning, sales promotion, direct marketing and campaign evaluation, and shares eighteen case studies. This completely revised and updated edition of the leading campaigns text provides the fundamentals of formulating and implementing comprehensive and contemporary communications campaigns. Chapter topics include: 1)Understanding the Changing Marketplace 2)Brands and Branding 3)Consumers and Advertising
-A New Model for Advertising 4)How Consumers React to Advertising 5)Consumer Research 6)Consumers and Marketing 7)Communications Solutions to Marketing Problems 8)Advertising
-Consumer Sales Promotion 9)Channel Messages and Trade Incentives 10)Marketing Public Relations 11)Direct Marketing 12)Media Planning 13)Implementing Campaign Plans 14)Measuring Campaign Effectiveness 15)Selling Management on Campaign Strategy 16)Ethical Issues in Marketing Communications. With a new focus on integrated communications strategy and consumer behavior, Strategic Advertising Campaigns reflects changes that are rapidly transforming the advertising industry. A proven, comprehensive guide for both the beginner and the communications professional.
Book Description
Imagine running away to the Mexican Caribbean and never coming back. That dream became a reality for author Jeanine Kitchel and her husband who traveled to the Yucatan in 1985 and a decade later, left their jobs in Silicon Valley to pursue a relaxed lifestyle in Puerto Morelos, a small fishing village on the Quintana Roo Coast south of Cancun. Chance links them with a contractor who offers to build them a beachfront house, and this is where the true story begins. After side-stepping disaster on several fronts, they build their home, settle into Mexico, and then travel deep into the heart of Yucatan to explore the Mayan ruins. Share their dreams, their heartaches, but most of all, see how they cope with buying land, building a house, and retiring in a foreign country. This evocative adventure is a cockeyed love letter to Mexico, thier adopted homeland.
Customer Reviews:
Entertaining, Informative, and Inspiring.......2007-09-24
I ordered this book prior to a trip to Puerto Morelos thinking it might be an interesting read. It WAS an interesting read, and much more! The author is an excellent writer and has created an almost suspence-like page-turner out of her very informative and entertaining book, Where the Sky is Born. The book is also inspirational as it leads the reader to understand that when you have a dream that is important enough, you will find the means to accomplish it. I devoured the book in one day and enjoyed every minute of it.
Puerto Morelos was also wonderful. A special treat was meeting Ms. Kitchel while we were there. She is an extremely interesting and kind woman. Looking forward to additional books in the future!
Good Read.......2007-06-27
Good book to get a feel for the rhythm and flow of living in Costa Mayan Mexico - encounters that you can expect with government employees, natives, other expats, etc. Nothing real deep or enlightening, but gives a good sense of what to expect. This was a quick read - it goes by fast.
A Delightful Account...........2007-06-23
I want to let others know how much I enjoyed this book.
When I began reading, I was immediatly transported back to the Yucatan, to many of the places we had just visited; Coba, Puerto Morelos, Valledolid, Ek Balam, Chichen Itza (of course), and Merida. Jeanine's candid narrative hit home with me and my impressions of the people and the places she wrote about. To me, Yucatan is vastly different (and much more comfortable) than other parts of Mexico that I've visited - and her book paralleled and reinforced my experience while adding the depth of her experience. She colorfully described the perils and pleasures of building a house in the Yucatan - which encourages me to think more about retiring there. We must also share an appreciation of wonderful Yucatecan food, although I would have enjoyed longer descriptions. Jeanine clearly writes from the heart. A good read by an interesting lady who, with her husband, dreamed, planned, then lived the adventure. Perhaps, in a future edition, Jeanine will write a sequel. I certainly hope so.
Enchanting Adventure.......2007-05-17
What an enchanting adventure. This is a true story that kept my attention focused through the whole book. I wish it had been longer. It was easy to put myself in Jeanine's place and a few times I wish I had been there with her doing what she and her husband were doing.
This is about building a house, not the Mayans.......2007-02-28
I was assigned this book for a class on Mayan Culture and Civilization, so that certainly impacted the lens through which I read this book. I was expecting a book on the Mayans, and that's not at all what this is. It's really a book about buying property and building a house in Mexico - if that's what you're looking for, great. If you want to learn about the Mayans, don't waste your time with this one.
I still only gave this two stars because I felt the writing could have been a lot better.
Customer Reviews:
Didn't want it to end.......2003-02-07
This book is great. Very informative and well written. I learned a great deal about my cultue, heritage and ancestry. It left me with a thirst for more.
Opus Magnus.......2002-05-11
When writting this book, Dr. Rouse put a lifetime of research and studies on the Indians of the Caribbean into one work.
Since Rouse is considered the "Dean of Caribbean Archaeology", this book is a "must have" for anyone interested in the region and its native inhabitants.
Very few people have worked for so long, in so many locations and with such dedication as Dr. Rouse.
Exceptional Book! A MUST READ!.......2000-05-27
There were so many things of the Taino Indians I didn't know about and this book gives such a wonderful view of their lives and heritage you think they were your neighbors next door! This book makes you realize how important it is to keep your heritage alive.
Este libro es la Biblia del tema taino.......2000-03-28
Irving Rouse, nos presenta un libro muy completo y bien investigado sobre el tema taino. Todos aquellos estudiosos que quieran aprender sobre esta etnia, la etnia amerindia que tuvo el primer fatal encuentro con Cristobal Colon , debe leer este libro.Este libro es la Biblia sobre el tema taino.
Customer Reviews:
FILE THIS BOOK UNDER FICTION.......2000-09-10
As much as I appreciate the intent of their book, social workers have no place in the political process -- and, other than as citizens, they shouldn't. Social work is not a profession. Social workers have sold their souls to becomes second-rate psychotherapists. Their advocacy days are long over. Schools of social work pay lip service to social justice issues (in fact, social work organizations have not been able to define the word "justice," much to their collective embarrassment. Social workers should just get back to case management and leave the other work they attempt to lawyers, policy analysts, and well-educated psychologists. (Of course, I'm a Columbia U. Schl. of Social Wk. grad, the most unjust school imaginable, so I'm knowledgeable and bitter)
Very Informative and Easy reading . . ........1999-02-03
I want to hear others' opinions . . . e-mail at "thankavet@angelfire.com"
Average customer rating:
- A must-read classic
- Largely outdated, but provides good historical information.
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Wild Echoes: Encounters with the Most Endangered Animals in North America
Charles A Bergman
Manufacturer: University of Illinois Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Power: A Novel
ASIN: 0252071255 |
Book Description
In Wild Echoes, environmentalist and photographer Charles Bergman chronicles his experiences tracking down and interacting with the few remaining members of nine of North America's most endangered species. Bergman soars in the company of two of the last remaining California condors, swims with manatees, assists in the capture and release of a Florida panther, and comes face to face with the last remaining dusky seaside sparrow, a species now extinct.
As he relates these and other poignant encounters, Bergman describes the factors, both manufactured and natural, that have led to the animals' endangerment. He also examines the efforts of those who hope to pull species back from the brink of extinction. Wild Echoes was originally published in 1990; this 2003 edition contains a new introduction and substantial updates on the good news and the bad concerning the current status of the species Bergman discusses.
Customer Reviews:
A must-read classic.......2006-07-01
I've read Bergman's book twice over the past decade. It is beautifully written, and demonstrates detailed research as well as a real love of the environment and animals. Anyone who cares about nature should read this book. Bergman was ahead of his time when he wrote it.
Largely outdated, but provides good historical information........2004-04-08
I'm not sure exactly how to rate this one - I've been hedging between a 3.5 and a four, but I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt and going with a four. For the time it was published (originally in 1990), it's probably a four-star book. What Bergman has done here is compiled his personal experiences with nine different endangered species (all North American). He's devoted a chapter to each: the wolf, the dusky seaside sparrow (now extinct), the California condor, the Florida Panther, the manatee, the Puerto Rican parrot, the black-footed ferret, the North Atlantic right whale, and the ivory-billed woodpecker (possibly extinct in North America). In each chapter Bergman gives us both a personal account (he has seen all of the above listed species in the wild except the dusky seaside sparrow, the last individuals of which were in captivity at the time, and have since died), and then explains both the history and current status of the species and what, if anything, is currently being done to help save it.
However, having been written in 1990, much of the "current" information is vastly outdated (particularly on the wolf and condor), so if you want the latest news, you'd be better off looking elsewhere. Steve Grooms's "Return of the Wolf" is an excellent and comprehensive text on wolves, and while it too is a bit outdated, having been written in 1999, it is more recent than "Wild Echoes" by far, and much more factual. Lots of the information on wolves that Bergman provides here is either no longer true, or wasn't true at the time and has since been proven false (and, ironically, Bergman concentrates almost entirely on wolves in Alaska - the only place in America where wolves are NOT endangered). However, the historical background provided for each animal is very good (and quite interesting!), making this book more suited for historical study than as a reference on current events.
One other thing that concerns me is the philosophical side of Bergman's writing. He often writes in circles, and while I can understand and empathize with the gut responses he has to certain animals' situations, in the text he frequently contradicts himself. He says that when humans talk of "saving endangered species," it separates humans from other animals and gives us power over them, and he rails against this mentality, and yet he still emphasizes most strongly that we need to save them. He both rails against biologists, and alternately praises them hightly. Bergman also argues that starting captive breeding programs for severely endangered species is just another power-trip for humans, but does (almost grudgingly) admit that they do some good. And the most contradictory, he says: "I don't want more commonness. I want more of the rare" (pg. 240). He does not seem to recognize the fact that, once we have more of the species that are now rare, they will no longer be rare and will then be "common" themselves. Bergman also states in one chapter that today's culture is responsible for all endangered species. I understand what he meant, but it was poorly stated, considering that many, many species went extinct for various reasons before humans even existed.
But as I said before, outdatedness and philosophical loops aside, this is still a very worthwhile read for anyone interested in the history of these endangered species. Bergman has obviously done a great deal of research. The author's personal encounter stories are also interesting. The book is well-written and easy to read, with vivid and touching imagery (though I must admit I found Bergman's description of the right whale's body shape as "unavoidably phallic" (pg. 216) to be a less-than-attractive analogy, though he seems to have meant it as a compliment). The book also includes black-and-white photos of some of the species discussed, an appendix listing extinct species of the United States, and a second appendix with contact information for many wildlife advocacy groups. Though this is certainly not a definitive work on endangered species, it is nonetheless informative, interesting, and well worth the read.
Average customer rating:
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Wild Echoes: Encounters With the Most Endangered Species in North America
Charles Bergman
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 007004922X |
Books:
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- Right Worthy Grand Mission: Maggie Lena Walker and the Quest for Black Economic Empowerment
- Roughnecks, Drillers, and Tool Pushers: Thirty-Three Years in the Oil Fields (Personal Narratives of West Series)
- Roy D. Chapin: The Man Behind the Hudson Motor Car Company (Great Lakes Books)
- Selling Ben Cheever - back to Square One in a Service Economy
- Shaping the Skyline: The World According to Real Estate Visionary Julien Studley
- SOROS: The Life, Times, and Trading Secrets of the World's Greates Investor
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Beloved
- Between God and Man
- A Single Pebble
- A Guest in My Own Country: A Hungarian Life
- A Prairie Home Companion: 25th Anniversary Collection
- Applications = Code + Markup: A Guide to the Microsoft Windows Presentation Foundation
- A Morning for Flamingos
- The Jahangirnama: Memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India
- What Mad Pursuits: More Memories of a Yale Librarian
- Illustrated Flora of the Pacific States Volume 2
Personal History
Katharine Graham's Washington
Katharine the Great : Katharine Graham and Her Washington Post Empire
Katharine Graham : The Leadership Journey of an American Icon
The Georgetown Ladies' Social Club: Power, Passion, and Politics in the Nation's Capital
