Customer Reviews:
Eh.......2006-12-15
While this book is an asset in learning about lesbian history it is seriously lacking in connecting ideas and seperating fact from oppinion. While some points are made well there are some that are so far off that they devalue what ever point the author was trying to make.
Wonderful survey of lesbian history.......2005-06-21
I read this book when I was newly out and went through the "read everything remotely queer" stage. This is truly a gem. It is everything a work of history should be: engaging, informative and well-crafted.
I recommend this to GLBTQ folks who are lacking knowledge about our history, as well as people with an interest in women's studies and feminism. Good photos, too.
Empowering and Engaging.......2002-04-24
Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers is a fascinating work that traces the cultural history of lesbianism in the United States -- providing a broad and thorough overview of lesbianism's diversity, its relationship to feminism, and its evolving forms of resistance in relationship to the oppressions of the dominant culture. Perhaps what is most impressive about this book is that while it is an impressively researched and intellectually stimulating piece of scholarship, it is also an extremely engaging read. Faderman draws the reader into lesbian cultural history in a way that is never clinical, but compellingly human--under her treatment, the lesbian subculture emerges in all of its varied complexity, its celebratory subversiveness, as a fascinatingly rich and vibrant culture of historical, political, and sexual significance. This book is a marvelous introduction to lesbian culture and history . . . it is entertaining, empowering, and utterly engaging.
An important work.......2001-04-09
Lillian Faderman has written some of the best works on the lesbian experience throughout the ages, and "Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers" is no exception. She covers every facet of the subculture from the turn of the 20th century to the present day with impeccable scholarship, and her writing is engaging and highly readable. She examines everything from 1950's butch/femme, 70's lesbian feminism, and the resurgence of trendy "lipstick lesbians" with equal attention. This book is a must-have for every queer library, and is an important contribution to the cause of lesbian visiblity.
Interesting book.......2000-03-18
I'm taking a class in sexual communities history and this is one of the books I have to read. I've found it to be an excellent supliment for the class. The only thing lacking is that it sometimes will make a really great point, then a few sentences later make a completely off the wall one. Overall a great book, and if you're looking to learn a lot about lesbianism in the US...this is a wonderful book to do so.
Book Description
Known for its provocative and engaging issues approach, topical organization, and economical length, AMERICA AT ODDS explores the current conflicts that truly define America as a nation while involving students in discussion and debate. The engaging content and pedagogical features throughout AMERICA AT ODDS support two main goals of the text: to encourage students to read about American politics and government and to participate in the political system. In every chapter of the text, the foundations and systems of political history, behavior, institutions, and policy are presented within the framework of issues oriented debate, making AMERICA AT ODDS truly unique as an approach to teaching the Introduction to American Government course.
Customer Reviews:
Government is cool!.......2003-11-05
This book is very helpful and in good shape. Nothing is missing, but you can tell it has been used.
Gotta love Big Ed.......2003-10-31
Ed Sidlow is one of our foremost minds in American Government today. I have had the pleasure of having both him and Dr. Henschen as instructors, and believe you me, if you could talk to Dr. Sidlow for 10 minuets about Robert Byrd, you would be in stiches!
Good intro text.......2000-12-18
North Dakota State Univ uses this in its intro to American Gov't course. It is an easily readable text that covers everything that a government text should. Lots of links to the Internet are included as well, and the info is very up-to-date. Covers impeachment and everything else. I'll bet that the next edition includes the whole 2000 election fiasco. I only noticed one error, but that's probably due to the fact that I live in the state referenced.
Book Description
The latest volume in the New American nation series, this major work on the South provides a comprehensive look at the growth and development of this distinctive region during the 20th century.
Customer Reviews:
A well cut, well combed, well coifed view of the South........1998-12-01
If one can view history as if it were groomed with a fine toothed comb, Dewey W. Grantham has viewed and displayed it as such. In The South in Modern America A Region At Odds, Grantham clips and styles his interpretation of history into a well-coifed account of the complex post-Reconstruction history of the South. Packing an extensive body of data into four hundred pages, he adds insight to a confusing era in American history. Although his point, counter-point style of comparison tends to be confusing, and his considerable use of statistics is coupled with plentiful politico name dropping, his knowledge of the era is evident in his work. Beginning with the sluggish economy that followed Reconstruction, Grantham describes the contrast between North and South and the differences between their industrial and agrarian societies. The industrialized North gained control of the limited southern corporations and industries and the resources that supplied them. The poor farmers of the South were, according to Grantham, "poorer than other Americans. Those who farmed -- the great majority of the region's inhabitants -- were steadily more landless" while workers in the South had fewer vocational and industrial skills during the era. The "Lost Cause" became the myth of the region through the declamation of men like Confederate hero, General John B. Gordon. By linking religion and Confederate images together a "civil religion" formed in the minds, hearts and legends of the southern populace. "This mythology," Grantham claims, "became a powerful factor in shaping southern politics during the next half-century." Quoting economist Gavin Wright, Grantham describes the South as a "colonial economy" in the control and coercion of the society to the north. Railroads, mines, financial corporations furnaces and many distribution institutions in the South were owned and controlled by northerners. The Spanish American War of 1898 brought northerners and southerners together to rally around the American flag. Nationalism superseded sectional diversity while political realignment in the late 1890's helped to "disfranchise most blacks..., and create the Solid South. The Populist movement grew in the region. Southern politicians gained influence and domination of the Democratic party in Washington. The economic outlook brightened while racial freedoms diminished. "By the turn of the century," Grantham states, illustrating the nation's passivity concerning African-American rights, "some southerners were contemplating a new role for the South in American life, a role made possible by the North's... ultimate approval of the southern mission to preserve the nation's racial purity." Moving into the era of Woodrow Wilson's presidency and World War I, Grantham slides into a deluge of political names -- McLemore of Texas, Swanson and Tillman of the Senate Committee on Naval Affairs, Kitchin of the House Ways and Means Committee, William Jennings Bryan. On and on he seems to name the entire congress and presidential cabinet of the Wilson period. His accuracy is obvious, but his prose is lost and adrift in the sea of names and political positions. With the rise of Franklin D. Roosevelt to power, regional differences were tolerated. Roosevelt's use of local political power, however, did little to change the structure of politics and racial freedom in the South. Nevertheless, "it did a good deal to change the political outlook of southerners," by creating "a politics of class and economic interest in the South...." The South began to catch up with the other regions of the nation. After the Second World War a "South within the North" was generated by the lower-class job-searching transients moving into northern ghettos. With the outbreak of rioting of the 1960's in northern and western cities, the inequality of blacks and their demand for change stood preeminently in national political debate. The Civil Rights movement gained momentum and force in violent as well as non-violent expression. "Many white northerners viewed the ghetto riots as evidence of black ingratitude," Grantham explains, with light sarcasm, "since they themselves in large numbers had supported the earlier objectives of the equal rights movement. But now the reformers were going beyond the overthrow of Jim Crow to demand things like jobs, open housing, and better schools." Into Americana came the terms "busing" and "affirmative action," terms frowned upon by "most whites, North and South." With the southern strategy of Richard Nixon the end to the "Second Reconstruction" of the South was complete. Nixon's opposition to busing and "excesses" of the civil rights movement satisfied demands of conservatives of in the South. As the era waned, the stereotypical view of a racist South began to dissipate as the "Sunbelt South" emerged. No longer was the region a "colonial appendage" of the North and Midwest. North and South intermingled in the industrial parks and retirement Sun-Cities that flourished below the Mason-Dixon Line. Grantham concludes by stating, "The South has been almost as essential to the North... [as] North to the South in shaping of national character and mythology.... The reciprocal effects of this regional interaction reveal an important aspect of the national experience." It was, he says, integral to the shaping of the nation. The South modified the direction of the North as much as the North did in redirecting the South -- two parts of the whole. The inter-regional compromises accommodated the economical, ideological and political interest in both regions. Grantham's work is a valuable lesson in Southern history. The span of time and the enormity of information needed to explain the post-civil-war South can excuse one obvious shortcoming in his text. In background information for his readers he omits the adequate and full definition of various terms; Jim Crow, progressivism and populism being examples. These exclusions can send one searching through the closest, convenient encyclopedia or reference on the history of the region. One can conclude that Grantham has the assumption that the reader has previous knowledge of the expressions. A newcomer to southern history can become lost in the immensity of the work -- but it's a good work in which to find oneself lost. -- James D. Byous
Book Description
Despite the Odds poses an important question: How can we account for successful policy reform initiatives when the political cards are stacked against change? Theories of politics usually predict that reform initiatives will be unsuccessful when powerful groups are opposed to change and institutions are biased against it. This book, however, shows how the strategic choices of reform proponents alter the destinies of policy reforms by reshaping power equations and undermining institutional biases that impede change.
In many countries, the political path to reform can be daunting. Antireform interests are powerful and support for change is, at best, lukewarm. Centrally important institutions strongly defend the policy status quo. Despite these political odds, reformers have seized the initiative in promoting reform, weakening and marginalizing opposition groups, and marshaling political patrons and networks to advance their initiatives.
Despite the Odds opens the "black box" of decision making in five initiatives designed to enhance the quality of education services in Latin America. The book addresses the strategies used by reformers to manage the political process of change and those adopted by opposition groups and institutions resisting their efforts. Individual chapters consider how leaders set national policy agendas for education, how policy design teams created the content of reform initiatives, how they dealt with the messy and public confrontations that greeted reform proposals when they were announced, and the carryover of political conflict when they were implemented.
Book Description
Pulitzer prizewinner Carl Degler has written the first general history of women in America for our generation. The book brings into historical perspective one climactic question: How is woman's right to equality of opportunity going to be reconciled with the demands of the family? The modern family, Degler writes, has been shaped by women's search for greater autonomy within the family. "At Odds" shows how that evolution took place, beginning in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
Average customer rating:
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Against All Odds: Holocaust Survivors & the Successful Lives They Made America
William B. Helmreich
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
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Binding: Hardcover
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Customer Reviews:
Laymen's opinion.......2007-09-17
I find this book to be very well written, researched and valuable. It tells the immigrant story with grace and compassion, delving into the motivations, disappointments and successes of the generations. Not only those of Norwegian descent will understand the challenges and victories of immigrant people. It is a book that addresses common fears and the ways the community rises up to overcome adversity. It is worth rereading several times.
Book Description
The inspiring autobiography of one of America’s wealthiest entrepreneurs. John H. Johnson rose from the welfare rolls of the Depression to become the most successful Black businessman in American history; the founder of EBONY, JET, and EM magazines; a member of the FORBES 400. He has had dinner at the White House under seven Presidents. Like the man himself, Succeeding Against The Odds is brash, inspirational, and truly unforgettable. “I believe that the greater the handicap the greater the triumph.”
Customer Reviews:
a Great Book:RIP to Mr.Johnson.......2005-08-15
I bought this Book way back in 1992.I always Admired Mr.John H.Johnson for all that He overcame&also for providing Ebony&Jet into my early childhood all the to the present. what He overcame&what He Accomplsihed is truly incredible. He created magazines that spoke&gave Black America a Fair shake at the Newsstand&also showed our world in a up-lifting light. John H.Johnson is a true Pioneer who trail-blazed so much for the better.RIP&this is a Must have Book.
Inspiring true story of African American success.......2005-06-08
This book uplifted the self esteem of me and many other African Americans. It was the story of a black man raised in rural Arkansas who had a dream. He figured out at an early age that African Americans wanted to know about what was happening in their community. There where only so many if any stories about us in Life Magazine. And if they did publish something about us it was negative. Why couldn't African Americans have a magazine of their own? One that told stories, positive stories about our lives, our heroes, and our history. This book gave me hope to know that even a lower middle class, African American boy from the Bronx like myself could grow up and strive for greatness amongst our people and the rest of society. John H. Johnson's publications are over 50 years old now and are still giving us stories that uplift our minds, bodies and spirits. Reading this book is not only a joy and a honor but it should be required reading for all African Americans and focal point of reading for all others.
The advantage of the disadvantage.......2000-07-18
In his book, Johnson states "There is an advantage in every disadvantage, and a gift in every problem" and "I believe that the greater the handicap the greater the triumph." By this he means to say that disadvantage creates opportunities and forces one to do more with less. He believed that disadvantages were "...challenges to be overcome and not facts to be accepted." A disadvantage provides a challenge that, with the proper motivation and mindset, forces one to try a little harder and work a little smarter.
Two distinct disadvantages that Johnson cites are early in his life: 1) Arkansas City (his birthplace) did not provide a high school education for African Americans, and 2) The economic depression stemming from the Great Depression. These two disadvantages, when taken together, provided a sort of "critical mass" that propelled Johnson on the trajectory that is his story -- his move to Chicago and subsequent business endeavors.
The fact that the disadvantages cited above were realized so early in life is worth note. There is a scientific discipline known as "Chaos Theory" that, among other precepts, states that the time evolution of a series of interrelated complex events is extremely sensitive to the system's initial condition. The analogy that may be drawn to Johnson's life is this: had he not moved to Chicago due to his ambition and his Mother's tremendous sacrifices for her son's education, it would have become increasingly difficult for Johnson to have succeeded to the extent he did, as chronicled in his autobiography.
This statement is supported by the many references he makes in the book about the seemingly random events that led to his success as a businessman; Johnson states, "I'm scared someone with pinch me and wake me up." Thus, it seems that the many disadvantages the author faced throughout life, most notably (in his words) early in life, created an advantage, which led him to great wealth and notoriety.
Faithful guide to the weary traveler........1999-10-14
I could definitely related to Mr.Johnson's story. It is inspiring, insightful, and truly a guide to those of us on the often obstacle laden road to success.
Never allow your personal feelings or emotions to close the doors of oppourtunities. Where the is a will there truly is a way. His story is remarkable and his book enables you to understand that yours is too.
Think and Grow Rich...
perfect.......1999-01-13
I like this book very much,for I used to be a officer that rank is major,I admire his method (or skill) to solve every different problem.
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- On Liberty and Other Essays (Oxford World's Classics)
- Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution
- Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them
- Political Ideologies and the Democratic Ideal, Fifth Edition
- Political Philosophy: A Beginners' Guide for Students and Statesmen
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- Politics in States and Communities (12th Edition)
- Politics of Nature: How to Bring the Sciences into Democracy
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