Books

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Average customer rating:

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction
Provocative, appealing and controversial
pharaohs lived in the 3rd century AD

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
Discovering the Mysteries of Ancient America: Lost History And Legends, Unearthed And Explored
Before the Pharaohs: Egypt's Mysterious Prehistory
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They Cast No Shadows: A Collection of Essays on the Illuminati, Revisionist History, and Suppressed Technologies

ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Provocative, appealing and controversial.......2006-08-02

Fomenko has succeeded to convincingly demonstrate the misconception about what "history" factually is... It is fiction and -like we can read and judge for ourselves- no science. It indeed is "make belief" only. I "discovered" Fomenko while studying the "old" history of Al Andaluz, Spain. Having found too many contradictions in available data, having seen too many forgeries as to pretend the importance of christianity for its decline, I ventured out to find Fomenko, who convinced me that we know little if anything for sure of the epoch before the XI-century. However, the integration of the Arabic-Islamic cultural history into the heavily distorted Western fails... There are some attempts to fit "the budding new religion" (Islam) into Fomenko's scheme, but they are too weak to be taken seriously and too often focussing on Turkey as the region where things started to influence the West, which is untrue at all.
Islam certainly was no "new religion" in the X-century. That the highly cultivated Al Andaluz ruler Mohammed-I could have been "mirrored" down in time into some myth about the "illiterate" founder of Islam itself is highly speculative. Nevertheless, Fomenko convinces me about the processes that were involved in forging a christian history. Intriguing and controversial as his books are, I recommend them as to rethink our current position in time and space and simply verify what was claimed. It is a "good" book, but not for bedtime reading... Mundus vult decipi, the world wants to be cheated. Fomenko's readers will understand why.

pharaohs lived in the 3rd century AD.......2006-02-16

Traces of white wine were found in Tutankhamen's tomb however there were no record of white wine in Egypt until the 3rd century AD, 1600 years after the young pharaoh died according to the traditional chronology. http://www.newscientist.com/channel/being-human/mg18925395.400
It can be interpreted as a contribution towards New Chronology theory that pharaohs lived in the 3rd century AD.

The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother

Average customer rating:

Great Book should be required in high school
The Human Condition
Proud to be a member of the human race
The strength of one woman, the power of family
An Incredible Book!

The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother
James McBride
Manufacturer: Riverhead Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1573225789

Amazon.com

Order this book ... and please don't be put off by its pallid subtitle, A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother, which doesn't begin to do justice to the utterly unique and moving story contained within. The Color of Water tells the remarkable story of Ruth McBride Jordan, the two good men she married, and the 12 good children she raised. Jordan, born Rachel Shilsky, a Polish Jew, immigrated to America soon after birth; as an adult she moved to New York City, leaving her family and faith behind in Virginia. Jordan met and married a black man, making her isolation even more profound. The book is a success story, a testament to one woman's true heart, solid values, and indomitable will. Ruth Jordan battled not only racism but also poverty to raise her children and, despite being sorely tested, never wavered. In telling her story--along with her son's--The Color of Water addresses racial identity with compassion, insight, and realism. It is, in a word, inspiring, and you will finish it with unalloyed admiration for a flawed but remarkable individual. And, perhaps, a little more faith in us all.

Book Description

This is a book that will "make you proud to be a member of the human race," says Mirabella, and countless readers have already discovered its power. Written in remembrance of his Polish-born, Southern-raised Jewish mother-who married a black man and raised twelve children, all of whom completed college-The Color of Water is a classic of the memoir genre, a testament to love, and a truly American story.

Customer Reviews:

Great Book should be required in high school.......2007-06-08

This book is one of the best books I've ever read in regards to required reading for a class. The book is wonderfully written has great little short stories as well as values that go throughout the book. The book should be required in high school and they need to get rid of the worthless drivel spewed from To Kill A Mockingbird.

The Human Condition.......2007-05-26

McBride's work is quoted to be "A Black Man's Tribute to is White Mother". I feel that this does not do his work justice. This book touches on what it is to lack a clear, defined identity in a society that demands labels. McBride speaks of the very essence of what will ease racial tensions in our country. This book was utilized in a 3 state reading comparison in university and high school classes.

Proud to be a member of the human race.......2007-04-24

I really liked this book. It was a beautiful story about a woman and her life, and all the people and morals in it. A white mother with 12 half-white, half-black children, she endures many memorable experiences, from being a Jewish, overworked, underappreciated child in the south, to a brilliant, white mother of 12 children. Her story is very inspiring, and makes you want to belive that one day, perhaps tomorrow, or perhaps never, will we be able to achieve no prejudiced against another person. The book is all about lessons that people learn about each other, and about humans as a race. The way Ruth, the mother, lives her life to please herself and her children, with education and morals coming first, and anything else having to do with physical identity, makes you remember that we are all one being. It makes you proud to know that people are breaking the barrier and living a life filled with morals far superior and maturer than the time period in which they live. This book gave me alot of excellent images that I will carry with me, and as it said on the cover, it made me, "Proud to be a member of the human race."
James Comiskey

The strength of one woman, the power of family.......2007-03-13

The Color of Water is one of my all time favorite books. I've read it again and again and each time, I marvel at the strength and determination of McBride's mother. This story is a testimony of God's grace and fortitude. As a single mother, I find it amazing and inspiring how one woman (on her own mostly) could essentially raise 12 successful, hardworking, creative citizens. It was through her unselfish rearing and unwavering faith in God that she and her beautiful family survived and ultimately thrived. MUST READ!!

An Incredible Book!.......2007-03-06

I love this book because it is quite shocking to read about a Polish Jewish woman who falls in love with an African American and marry him. They parent twelve successful children including the author. The love story is quite remarkable despite the obstacles. Many people have condemned the interracial and inter-religious relationship between people from different walks of life. McBridge provides a world where love can conquer all and survive such obstacles such as race and Religion. I remember reading this book which had an enormous impact on my life. It makes you look at the world a little differently. McBride learned a lot about his mother. At the end of the memoir, they are coming back from a Jewish wedding and McBride says to his mother "That could have been me." if she had chosen to maintain her Jewish culture but somebody replied "Where would that leave me? if I recall. Anyway, it's a beautiful tribute to a remarkable woman.

Average customer rating:

"Don't worry. It's pretty safe inside Leeandra."
excellent!!
Marvelous!
pendragon
GET THEM ALL

Black Water (Pendragon, Book 5)
D.J. MacHale
Manufacturer: Aladdin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0689869118

Book Description

Breaking the rules

Just when fifteen-year-old Bobby Pendragon thinks he understands his purpose as a Traveler -- to protect the territories of Halla from the evil Saint Dane -- he is faced with an impossible choice. The inhabitants of Eelong are in danger of being wiped out by a mysterious plague. The only way Bobby can stop it is to bring the antidote from another territory. Since moving items between territories is forbidden by the Traveler rules, if Bobby chooses to save Eelong he could endanger himself, his friends, and the future of every other being in Halla.

Customer Reviews:

"Don't worry. It's pretty safe inside Leeandra.".......2007-06-06

I need to buy this book, if only because I'm mentioned on 76 pages of it, mostly in phrasings that Freud would have a field day with.

Thank you, Amazon, for the Search Inside! feature.

excellent!!.......2007-03-02

My son got me hooked on these books. We recently moved to India and I was dying for something to read. His friends introduced this series to him and after watching him chose to read these books over video and computer games, as well as TV, I knew I had to give it a shot. I was impressed. It constantly keeps a good flow of movement and action. Like my son, I had a hard time putting this down. We have always been Harry Potter fans, and I dare say I think this series is even better.

Marvelous!.......2007-01-29

This book is really imaginative and fun to read. I think this book delves more into the nature of the Travelers. It just makes you want to come back for more!

pendragon.......2006-10-11

Bobby Pendragon traveled to another territories. He went to find to see what Saint Dane is doing. Mark and Courtney found out what was happening to Eelong. Then they traveled to Coral to get the cure. Bobby finds the new traveler of Eelong. During the time Bobby found out that Gunny was there with the human gars at Black Water, he helped to get the gars safe to the rest of the gars at Black Water.

The Eelong traveler helps Bobby defeat Saint Dane. The book is okay, but from inside-people I heard that the other books are better. There were other books that I liked better. The other book I liked better is Small Steps (creator of HOLES). This is my first time reading the series, so I don't know everything that happens before Black Water.

GET THEM ALL.......2006-07-31

I gave the books I bought to my godson - He LOVES this series - he and his friends are constantly rereading the books I bought him all 7 books and he went thru them in less then a week - anything that gets kids reading I think is GREAT

Black Identities: West Indian Immigrant Dreams and American Realities (Russell Sage Foundation Books)

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Black Identities: West Indian Immigrant Dreams and American Realities (Russell Sage Foundation Books)
Mary C. Waters
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0674007247

Amazon.com

New York City, the melting pot of the United States, contains the nation's largest West Indian immigrant population. Since the immigration explosion of 1965, the Afro-Caribbean influx has impacted the social dynamic of the United States and its native-born African Americans, often with volatile results. Black Identities, an important sociological work by Mary C. Waters, explores the question, "How similar or different is it to be a black immigrant or descendent of immigrants in Brooklyn in the late twentieth century from what it was like to be an Irish, Italian, or Jewish immigrant in the earlier part of the century?" Waters interviews blacks from Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad, and other islands and deconstructs the mutual myths, truths, allegiances, and distrusts between these communities and whites (as well as African Americans with deeper family roots in the U.S.). Among the stereotypes Waters addresses, the most dangerous one is the perceived superiority of Afro-Caribbeans to African Americans. She deflates this and other myths with a combination of sharp scholarship and dead-on analysis. --Eugene Holley Jr.

Book Description

The story of West Indian immigrants to the United States is considered a great success. Many of these adoptive citizens have prospered, including General Colin Powell. But Mary Waters tells a very different story about immigrants from the West Indies, especially their children.

She finds that when the immigrants first arrive, their knowledge of English, their skills and contacts, their self-respect, and their optimistic assessment of American race relations facilitate their integration into the American economic structure. Over time, however, the realities of American race relations begin to swamp their positive cultural values. Persistent, blatant racial discrimination soon undermines the openness to whites the immigrants have when they first arrive. Discrimination in housing channels them into neighborhoods with inadequate city services and high crime rates. Inferior public schools undermine their hopes for their children's future. Low wages and poor working conditions are no longer attractive for their children, who use American and not Caribbean standards to measure success.

Ultimately, the values that gained these first-generation immigrants initial success--a willingness to work hard, a lack of attention to racism, a desire for education, an incentive to save--are undermined by the realities of life in the United States. In many families, the hard-won relative success of the parents is followed by the downward slide of their children. Contrary to long-held beliefs, Waters finds, those who resist Americanization are most likely to succeed economically, especially in the second generation.

Black Water
Average customer rating:

Reviews by Nan Kilar and Bobby Miller

3rd Times A Charm for Merci Rayborn

So-So

Disappointed In This One

One of the best writers in the genre

Black Water
T. Jefferson Parker
Manufacturer: Hyperion
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0786890169

Amazon.com

Merci Rayborn, T. Jefferson Parker's stubborn, principled Orange County detective, is almost alone in believing that deputy Archie Wildcraft didn't kill his beautiful young wife and then turn his service weapon on himself. The evidence against Wildcraft--now hospitalized with a bullet lodged in his head--seems overwhelming. But Merci, who's still unpopular for exposing an old police scandal that caused the death of one cop and the ruination of others (The Blue Hour), is resisting pressure from her boss and a headline-hunting D.A. to arrest Wildcraft and charge him with murder.

Then the deputy, who's lost his memory and maybe his mind as a result of his injury, goes missing from his hospital room, intent on tracking down the real killers and managing to stay a step ahead of Merci. Soon, they both begin to realize that Gwen Wildcraft wasn't killed because she got in the way of an attempted hit on her husband--it was the other way around. Parker, whose skills at characterization are as well honed as his expert pacing and intricate plotting, has penned another standout that will keep readers guessing and gasping until the last dramatic page. --Jane Adams

Book Description

Welcome to a cat and mouse game that only bestselling novelist T. Jefferson Parker could script. A beautiful young woman is dead in the bathroom of her home. Her husbanda promising young cop named Archie Wildcraftis shot in the head but still alive. It looks like an attempted murder/suicide, but something tells Detective Merci Rayborn that theres more to the story. When the suspect vanishes from his hospital bed, he draws Merci into a manhunt that leaves the entire department questioning her abilities and her judgment. Is Archies flight the act of a ruined mind, or a faithful heart? Is his account of the night his wife was murdered half-formed memory, or careful manipulation? Merci and Wildcraft head for a collision in a dizzying succession of cryptic clues, terrifying secrets, and painful truths. This sharp new thriller will satisfy Parker fans across the countryand leave first-time readers clamoring for more.

Customer Reviews:

Reviews by Nan Kilar and Bobby Miller.......2006-05-19

Archie and Gwen Wildcraft have just returned home after celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday. He's a county Sheriff's deputy; she's an artist and musician. They made big bucks on a stock deal and live well...seemingly beyond their means. Archie hears a noise during the night and goes to check it out. The next thing he knows, he's waking up in the hospital, his wife is dead, and he's the prime suspect for her murder. Sergeant Merci Rayborn thinks Archie might be innocent; her partner isn't so sure. Then Archie disappears. Why was Gwen murdered? Will the real killers be found?

This is the first book by this author that I've read. A good portion of the story deals with Merci and her demons from a previous story. It's an OK story, but nothing great. Perhaps if I had read this author's books in order, I'd have a better opinion of this particular book.

3rd Times A Charm for Merci Rayborn.......2006-04-04

Merci Rayborn returns in Black Water for her third go aroung as Parker's lead detective. If you haven't read Blue Hour and Red Light, you might be a little confused, as this woman comes in with ALOT of baggage. While I didn't really care for her in Blue and I couldn't stand her in Red she actually grew on me in this final(?) book that features her. The plot is pretty good and it mirrors circumstances that she dealt with in Red Light so she doesn't want to make the same mistakes again. Overall the story worked for me, but it does get slow from time to time and I have to agree with the others about Tim, the kid, being a little too smart and really annoying but atleast she wasn't looking in the damn backseat every other sentence. I'm loooking foward to reading Cold Pursuit next.

So-So.......2005-07-31

Merci Rayborn is a tough-as-nails female cop with a small son, a suspicious partner and half the department against her because she blew the whistle on some dirty cops a long time ago. Who cares you ask? Exactly. This is my first Merci novel, and while I liked parts of this book other parts I could care less. Namely, Merci's office politics, and the shunning by other officers- boring. Her stay-at-home-mom-dad. Likewise boring. The alcoholic neighbor who manages to provide most of the major evidence? A little too good to be true.

Archie? While a good character he lost me about 2/3rd's of the way through the book. Come on, we invested a lot of time in Arch. And this is how you end it? Wings? Silly. And Gwen? Ohhh...Kay...... I agree with other reviewers about the child character. A little overdone.

3 stars. I found Black Water to be an unsatisfying and somewhat depressing read. No good resolution for anyone, and a lackluster cast of characters. I might pick up another if I can find it used but this book left me with a flat feeling.

Disappointed In This One.......2004-10-30

Orange County Sheriff Deputy Archie Wildcraft hears a disturbance in his home in the middle of the night. He investigates and is shot in the head. He survives, but his young wife is killed. This book had a promising beginning, but the plot was transparent and the pace dragged considerably at times. I did like the character, Archie, but the detective investigating the case, Merci Rayborn, was mostly just annoying. Frequent references to Merci's mysterious past were intriguing at first, then tedious. I am a big fan of T. Jefferson Parker's and can usually count on a good tale from him, but I felt let down by this one.

One of the best writers in the genre.......2004-03-05

One of the best writers of the genre is the 2002 Edgar Award winning author, T. Jefferson Parker. He is capable of, not only writing a superior mystery ,but of writing it in style. His books delve deep into the psyche of the main protagonists. SILENT JOE, his Edgar winning stand alone is quite typical of this. The characters are unforgettable and alone can make it a worthwhile read. Detective Merci Rayborn is also a character well examined in his work. In Parker's hands she becomes a living breathing creation.
Merci Rayborn is assigned to look into the death of a young woman. The dead woman was the wife of Deputy Archie Wildcraft, a young talented cop. Archie was also shot and suffers from a bullet wound in the head. Prosecutors are pointing the finger at Archie in that the gun was found in his hand. They think it was a shooting death and suicide attempt. Merci, however, feels Archie is innocent and wants to prove it. Her investigation, once again, puts her reputation at stake. However, Merci follows her personal conviction and attempts to discover the true killer.
T. Jefferson Parker's strength as a writer is on full display in this, his latest novel. Merci is tough and an individualist. The plot is compelling enough to keep the pages turning. However, it definitely went on a bit too long. By the end, Merci and the reader have had enough. A bit of a tighter plot would suit Parker's books quite well. However, he is and should be listed among the best there is writing today.

Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-63

Average customer rating:

Excellent and Informative
Moving storytelling
The origins of a revolution
A Great one, very very good.
If I could only recommend one book, this would be it

Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-63
Taylor Branch
Manufacturer: Simon and Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0671460978

Amazon.com

The first book of a formidable three-volume social history, Parting the Waters is more than just a biography of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during the decade preceding his emergence as a national figure. Branch's thousand-page effort, which won the Pulitzer Prize as well as the National Book Critics Circle Award for General Nonfiction, profiles the key players and events that helped shape the American social landscape following World War II but before the civil-rights movement of the 1960s reached its climax. The author then goes a step further, endeavoring to explain how the struggles evolved as they did by probing the influences of the main actors while discussing the manner in which events conspired to create fertile ground for change.

Timeline of a Trilogy

Taylor Branch's America in the King Years series is both a biography of Martin Luther King and a history of his age. No timeline can do justice to its wide cast of characters and its intricate web of incident, but here are some of the highlights, which might be useful as a scorecard to the trilogy's nearly 3,000 pages.

King The King Years

Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63

May: At age 25, King gives his first sermon as pastor-designate of Montgomery's Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. 1954 May: French surrender to Viet Minh at Dien Bien Phu. Unanimous Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board outlaws segregated public education.

December: Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a public bus, leading to the Montgomery bus boycott, which King is drafted to lead. 1955

October: King spends his first night in jail, following his participation in an Atlanta sit-in. 1960 February: Four students attempting to integrate a Greensboro, North Carolina, lunch counter spark a national sit-in movement.
April: The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee is founded.
November: Election of President John F. Kennedy

May: The Freedom Rides begin, drawing violent responses as they challenge segregation throughout the South. King supports the riders during an overnight siege in Montgomery. 1961 July: SNCC worker Bob Moses arrives for his first summer of voter registration in rural Mississippi.
August: East German soldiers seal off West Berlin behind the Berlin Wall.

March: J. Edgar Hoover authorizes the bugging of Stanley Levinson, King's closest white advisor. 1962 September: James Meredith integrates the University of Mississippi under massive federal protection.

April: King, imprisoned for demonstrating in Birmingham, writes the "Letter from Birmingham Jail."
May: Images of police violence against marching children in Birmingham rivet the country.
August: King delivers his "I Have a Dream" speech before hundreds of thousands at the March on Washington.
September: The Ku Klux Klan bombing of Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church kills four young girls. 1963 June: Mississippi NAACP leader Medgar Evers assassinated.
November: President Kennedy assassinated.

Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963-65

November: Lyndon Johnson, in his first speech before Congress as president, promises to push through Kennedy's proposed civil rights bill.

March: King meets Malcolm X for the only time during Senate filibuster of civil rights legislation.
June: King joins St. Augustine, Florida, movement after months of protests and Klan violence.
October: King awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and campaigns for Johnson's reelection.
November: Hoover calls King "the most notorious liar in the country" and the FBI sends King an anonymous "suicide package" containing scandalous surveillance tapes. 1964 January: Johnson announces his "War on Poverty."
March: Malcolm X leaves the Nation of Islam following conflict with its leader, Elijah Muhammad.
June: Hundreds of volunteers arrive in the South for SNCC's Freedom Summer, three of whom are soon murdered in Philadelphia, Mississippi.
July: Johnson signs Civil Rights Act outlawing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
August: Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin resolution authorizing military force in Vietnam. Democratic National Convention rebuffs the request by the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party to be seated in favor of all-white state delegation.
November: Johnson wins a landslide reelection.

January: King's first visit to Selma, Alabama, where mass meetings and demonstrations will build through the winter. 1965 February: Malcolm X speaks in Selma in support of movement, three weeks before his assassination in New York by Nation of Islam members.

At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-68

March: Voting rights movement in Selma peaks with "Bloody Sunday" police attacks and, two weeks later, a successful march of thousands to Montgomery.
August: King rebuffed by Los Angeles officials when he attempts to advocate reforms after the Watts riots. March: First U.S. combat troops arrive in South Vietnam. Johnson's "We Shall Overcome" speech makes his most direct embrace of the civil rights movement.
May: Vietnam "teach-in" protest in Berkeley attracts 30,000.
June: Influential federal Moynihan Report describes the "pathologies" of black family structure.
August: Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act. Five days later, the Watts riots begin in Los Angeles.

January: King moves his family into a Chicago slum apartment to mark his first sustained movement in a Northern city.
June: King and Stokely Carmichael continue James Meredith's March Against Fear after Meredith is shot and wounded. Carmichael gives his first "black power" speech.
July: King's marches for fair housing in Chicago face bombs, bricks, and "white power" shouts. 1966 February: Operation Rolling Thunder, massive U.S. bombing of North Vietnam, begins.
May: Stokely Carmichael wins the presidency of SNCC and quickly turns the organization away from nonviolence.
October: National Organization for Women founded, modeled after black civil rights groups.

April: King's speech against the Vietnam War at New York's Riverside Church raises a storm of criticism
December: King announces plans for major campaign against poverty in Washington, D.C., for 1968. 1967 May: Huey Newton leads Black Panthers in armed demonstration in California state assembly.
June: Johnson nominates former NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court.
July: Riots in Newark and Detroit.
October: Massive mobilization against the Vietnam War in Washington, D.C.

March: King joins strike of Memphis sanitation workers.
April: King gives his "Mountaintop" speech in Memphis. A day later, he is assassinated at the Lorraine Motel. 1968 January: In Tet Offensive, Communist guerillas stage a surprise coordinated attack across South Vietnam.
March: Johnson cites divisions in the country over the war for his decision not to seek reelection in 1968.

Book Description

Hailed as the most masterful story ever told of the American civil rights movement, Parting the Waters is destined to endure for generations.

Moving from the fiery political baptism of Martin Luther King, Jr., to the corridors of Camelot where the Kennedy brothers weighed demands for justice against the deceptions of J. Edgar Hoover, here is a vivid tapestry of America, torn and finally transformed by a revolutionary struggle unequaled since the Civil War.

Taylor Branch provides an unsurpassed portrait of King's rise to greatness and illuminates the stunning courage and private conflict, the deals, maneuvers, betrayals, and rivalries that determined history behind closed doors, at boycotts and sit-ins, on bloody freedom rides, and through siege and murder.

Epic in scope and impact, Branch's chronicle definitively captures one of the nation's most crucial passages.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent and Informative.......2007-05-11

I am about halfway through this book. Even though I have not finished yet I feel compelled to comment on it. I believe it is extremely important for African Americans of my generation to get a more complete understanding of the civil rights movement. So far this book has opening my eyes and changed the way I view our African American experience.

What is best about this read is it flows like a history book. I give much credit to Mr. Branch for simply telling the story and not adding too much of his own commentary and opinion. That is one of my pet peeves with many of our `writers' today. They want to impose their opinions and biased interpretations. We do not need opinions. We need to educate ourselves with facts and draw our own conclusions. Okay, I will get off the soapbox.

Anyway I highly recommend this book. It is a very long read, but if you seek a deeper understanding of the African American experience this is a great start. Many of the issues we face today can be interpreted more accurately by getting a more complete account of our past.

Moving storytelling.......2007-03-18

By most accounts, Branch's three volume history of the Civil Rights Movement is the authoritative account of Dr. King's life. But beyond the facts and history, this particular volume is an example of masterful storytelling. I read this book during my morning and evening commutes, stuffed between strangers on the train. Branch transported me to another time and place, at times on the brink of tears. Branch devoted decades of his life to crafting this story. His efforts leave us with an honest and beautifully told story - one of our nation's most inspiring and tragic.

The origins of a revolution.......2006-08-27

This is the first of a trilogy of books on the civil rights struggle in the USA as centered around the Reverend Martin Luther King Junior. Covering the 1950s and early 1960s, this book lays the groundwork for many of the pivotal events that would take the civil rights movement onto the international stage and eventually legend. All the key characters of this movement would enter the stage of history here... Bayard Rustin, the gay, pacifist communist, would play a key role in organizing the March on D.C. LBJ, the master of the Senate, and then vice president would come to realize the need of the Civil Rights Act, as segregation was intertwined with poverty and to defeat one, he needed to defeat the other. Malcolm X would rise in the Nation of Islam, paving a path to glory and his eventual death. And the central character that bound them together; the Reverend Dr. King himself, would change history by trying to tie together the lunch counter sit-ins, freedom rides, marches, and legal debates into one cogent movement.

All of this and much, much more is laid out in careful, chronological detail by Taylor Branch. Backing every word, every name, and every date with citations to court documents, newspaper records, first-hand interviews and countless other sources, the author brings this period to life, vividly with raw emotion. This book lays bare the soul of America at this time, from the inner politics in the White House and courthouses throughout the South, to pressrooms, jails, and public squares. We, the reader, see how the Civil Rights movement ground forth one city, one law, one riot at a time. Incredible! Highly worth the time to read thru from cover to cover.

A Great one, very very good........2006-07-27

This more than fills in some blanks. Number one book on civil rights, more than a must read.

If I could only recommend one book, this would be it.......2006-06-25

This book provides incomparable insight into the bowels of the early civil rights movement. While most accounts are only superficial, focusinging only on the "significant" events, Branch takes his readers into the heart of the storm to show how intricate political pressures, ideologies, spiritual upliftings, violence, non-violence, press coverage, rivalaries, and extroardinary courage entangled to "lift a despised minority from oblivion."

Any less thorough of an account than Branch's would seem to distort the rich history. Do not be intimidated by the 1000 pages (only part of a 3 volume set). In fact, Branch's prose is so melifluous and the history is so engaging that you will regret that the book isn't twice as long.

I am envious of you, new readers, for I wish I could relive the incredible experience of reading this book for the first time. Be prepared to have your heart strings tugged, your passion inflamed, your mind stimulated, and your committment to justice solidified.

Water Sleeps: A Novel of the Black Company (Chronicles of The Black Company)

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An improvement over the last 2 titles...
Home, Home on the Plain
Great Gritty Real Read
Much better...
Water Sleeps

Water Sleeps: A Novel of the Black Company (Chronicles of The Black Company)
Glen Cook
Manufacturer: Tor Fantasy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0812555341

Book Description

Regrouping in Taglios, the surviving members of the Black Company are determined to free their fellow warriors held in stasis beneath the glittering plain. Journey there under terrible conditions, they arrive just in time for a magical conflagration in which the bones of the world will be revealed, the history of the Company unveiled, and new world gained and lost....all at a terrible price.

Customer Reviews:

An improvement over the last 2 titles..........2006-08-23

This novel is a vast improvement over the last two titles; I found Bleak Seasons very convoluted with Murgen's temporal ambling and She is the Darkness to be an notable improvement. This novel is certainly a good story, though there are a number of issues which could be brought up.

Notable that there is no military organization called the black company in this novel, rather there are a few survivors of the last few years acting as a sort of insurgency/conspiratorial group.

It takes place 14 years after the previous novel, and the only characters with any development time previously are goblin/one-eye, soulcatcher (who has not resembled the character depicted in The Black Company at all in the last few novels), the local nobles, and a couple of cameos. I think that inevitably, by devolving to other narrators and removing central characters from his story, cook is losing the character of the black company stories as compared to the initial trilogy.

Cook appears to have simply ignored the elephant in the living room, which is that Soulcatcher's true name is known (both by Lady and by being derivable from the Annals from the time in the north, croaker would have known this, he knew what names the dominator tried to use on the Lady, and was present when she was named IIRC) and there is really no excuse for her not having been shut down quickly upon becoming not dead. As I noted above, Soulcatcher is quite a different persona from the character in the first black company novel, who was very quiet, focused and enigmatic, never raising her voice or losing her cool. That worked well with her apparently non-telepathic character insights, but this current soulcatcher is a raving loony.

I did find sleepy's ongoing rambles about her god and all the obligatory phrases annoying, especially as she tried to reconcile later events in her monotheological framework. Pointless and annoying. Tobo was annoying in general (maybe an accurate description of a 14-year old).

The ideas revealed about the glittering plain shown in this book are really interesting. I think he pulled off resolving some major plot threads very well, there was plenty of potential to screw up and he avoided those pitfalls.

One question that comes to mind - why did soulcatcher leave the standard with murgen at the end of She is the Darkness? This was a valuable artifact she could have used to escape the plain in a less threatened fashion.

All in all this is a good book, though unlike Dread Empire, where he kept Ragnarson as the central persona in his story throughout despite a large number of everyone else dying at one time or another, here he has removed his main characters and you really end up with a story that feels quite different.

Home, Home on the Plain.......2006-07-31

Once again we get a switch in annalists - of necessity since Soulcatcher dropped most of the main characters (other than Goblin and One-Eye) into a stasis trap in the depths of the Fortress With No Name. It is Sleepy this time, who got some slight mention in She Is The Darkness, mostly because she was masquerading as a he. Sleepy, along with Murgen's wife Sahra are hard at work getting even with Soulcatcher, Mogaba, and the usual select crew of bad guys. When they aren't pulling someone's chain they are trying to find a way to re-enter the Glittering Plain and release Murgen and all the other Black Company regulars.

The story takes place almost entirely in Taglios, which is now the center of Soulcatcher's 'protectorate.' I'm not sure why the witch chose that title, since the only thing she ever protects is herself. And she is more than content to spend the lives of innocent citizenry if she feels the least bit threatened. Sahra and Sleepy and the remaining fragments of the Black Company have gone into hiding with the help of the Nyueng Bao. They wage a war of irritation with the Protector and the Radisha. They spy, paint slogans on walls, and even resort to kidnapping in order to keep everyone off balance while they engage in a desperate search for a key to the Glittering Plain and some knowledge on how to rescue the captives.

Murgen, the only one of the captives still conscious is still around as a disembodied source of intelligence and advice, and Tobo, Murgen and Sahra's son also plays an important part as he begins to display significant skills as a sorceror. This is a tale told in small, detailed steps, both by Sleepy and by Cook himself as he gives us frequent updates looking over the shoulders of the villains. What with Murgen's ghostly presence and Sahra's day job as a housecleaner in the palace it's no wonder that Mogaba finally remarks that keeping a secret is hardly worth the effort.

Glen Cook always manages to have things work out differently from the reader's expectations and Water Sleeps is no exception. This includes the discovery that there is a fourth volume in this trilogy, which has already covered a lot of ground. But there always seems to be more to find out, and one more volume to read.

Great Gritty Real Read.......2005-08-12

Glenn Cook captures the life and times of a mercenary bad with gritty realism.

I higly recommend the Black Company series.

Much better..........2005-07-07

than some of the other more recent books. Solid and a nice return to form.

Water Sleeps.......2003-08-11

The second to last Black Company installment.

This one did not work so well for me as some of the others.

Sleepy, the narrator, is a less than successful character for me: snappish, intolerant, periodically mentioning a dark past which never gets revealed enough to create sympathy for her. Many of the other important characters are either imprisoned in this volume or getting old, and the new upcoming ones don't hold a lot of interest for me. It's hard to see here how anyone could have ever fallen in love with Sahra, and Murgen, a favorite of mine, gets pushed to the perimeter. Only the return of Willow Swan, whom I've always liked, gives this book character interest for me.

The plot progresses, though I found the resolution of one fairly long-term suspenseful thread anticlimactic, accomplished easily and almost offstage. Particularly at the end, events become hard to follow and jump around. There's a sense of ennui about the whole thing, of "so what?". Followers of the series will nevertheless want to see what happens and progress to the (so far) final volume.

Customer Reviews:

Best of its kind, with one annoying flaw.......2002-11-18

Alberto Manguel - anthologist extraordinaire - put together this definitive collection of fabulist fiction almost twenty years ago, and it's yet to be surpassed. It covers an immense range of themes and an eclectic international mix of writers. Moreover, it's one of the few anthologies in which almost every story appeals. What appeals less, however, is Manguel's immensely irritating habit of revealing key elements of most of the stories in his pithy introductions. Such editorial spoiling is always annoying, but it's especially frustrating when applied to 'fantastic' fiction because so much of its effect depends on mystery, surprise endings, and the wonderful disorientation of not knowing precisely what is going on. Here, story after story is derailed by Manguel telling us up front that it's a 'time travel story' or a 'ghost story', or how it ends, or that it achieves its effect in a particular way. My recommendation is that you read the introductions only after you've read each story - and do read them, because apart from spoilers, they quite often reveal savvy observations, unusual connections, and interesting biographical notes. Dates of composition for each story (where known) would have been a helpful addition. You can in some cases deduce these from the copyright acknowledgements at the front of the book, but not always. Manguel's preface to the volume is illuminating: it strikes just the right balance between personal memoir, academic apparatus and useful information.

Bring back this astounding anthology........2001-02-05

I have a very old, bent copy of this incredible anthology that's falling apart because I've read it through six times. What's so great about it is that editor Alberto Manguel understands that the term, "fantastic," does not preclude the sublime. Entries here range from slow creepers like Julio Cortazar's unsettling "House Taken Over" and Horacio Quiroga's "The Feather Pillow," to more classically fantastic fare such as Poe's "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" and Ray Bradbury's "The Playground." What's more, Manguel does not limit his sources to North and South American fiction. The multinational anthology includes entries from France, Germany, Italy, Denmark and Japan. The more than 70 entries are also a great sampling of over a century of world literature. A comparable sequel, "Blackwater 2," followed, but it's this one that will leave you chilled, stunned and pensive after every selection.

Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam (Bluejacket Paperback Series)

Average customer rating:

Excellent Introduction to the Brown Water Navy in Vietnam
Wonderful introduction to an obscure subject
Fine military history...
Great, factual account of the "River Rats"!
A must read for ALL Sailors and Naval/Warfare Historians

Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam (Bluejacket Paperback Series)
Thomas J. Cutler
Manufacturer: US Naval Institute Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1557501963

Book Description

The men of the U.S. Navy's brown-water force played a vital but often overlooked role in the Vietnam War. Known for their black berets and limitless courage, they maneuvered their aging, makeshift craft along shallow coastal waters and twisting inland waterways to search out the enemy. In this moving tribute to their contributions and sacrifices, Tom Cutler records their dramatic story as only a participant could. His own Vietnam experience enables him to add a striking human dimension to the account. The terror of firefights along the jungle-lined rivers, the rigors of camp life, and the sudden perils of guerrilla warfare are conveyed with authenticity. At the same time, the author's training as a historian allows him to objectively describe the scope of the navy's operations and evaluate their effectiveness.

Winner of the Navy League's Alfred Thayer Mahan Award for Literary Achievement in 1988 when the book was first published, Cutler is credited with having written the definitive history of the brown-water sailors, an effort that has helped readers better understand the nature of U.S. involvement in the war.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Introduction to the Brown Water Navy in Vietnam.......2004-10-02

In an interesting plot twist, the 2004 Presidential Election has brought a little known arena of the Vietnam War to light. Because Senator John F. Kerry, the Democratic nominee, made his valorous service in Vietnam a central component of his primary run and the centerpiece of his nomination speech at the Democratic Convention, a group of fellow veterans has challenged his version of events that occurred in Vietnam and ran a series of commercials attacking his credibility and calling him to account for the accusations that the young lieutenant had directed at his fellow veterans after coming home. The angry rhetoric that these two groups of veterans have exchanged has been the impetus for the press to write and speak about warfare on the coffee-brown waters of Mekong Delta back in 1968. Unfortunately, it seems like many members of the press haven't done their homework and thus the stories lack the valuable background and contextual information that would have made them more accurate.
"Brown Water, Black Berets" (which is still available) is one of the few books that have been written about the fresh water and coastal navy in Vietnam and I wish it were in wider circulation. It mainly covers the southernmost part of Vietnam, which the military cut into four tactical zones, so the bottom of the country was IV Corps. If we look at a map of Vietnam, we can see that there is a wide river, the Mekong, which empties into a vast delta, just south of Saigon. Because the Mekong ran right into the heartland of South Vietnam, it became a conduit for the North Vietnamese to smuggle arms and supplies into the south in order to equip their allies, the Vietcong guerillas. To interdict these vital supplies, the United States Navy and the Vietnamese Navy had to equip a force of boats that was small enough to navigate the rivers and yet strong enough to fight off attacks from well armed guerillas. Additionally, the Vietcong brought supplies down the coast using sampans and other small boats, requiring offshore Navy and Coast Guard patrols to chase and intercept them.
To fight this new type of war, the United States Navy created a new force of light including the little "Skimmer" a tiny "Boston whaler" used for offshore use, equipped with an outboard engine, the PBR (Patrol Boat River) which was a purpose built 31 ft. long, fiberglass hulled, diesel engined boat with a jet drive (it was made by Jacuzzi - a name familiar to many suburban homeowners) which enabled it able to turn on a dime. Then, there was the Louisiana built "Swift Boat" or in the Navy parlance, the Patrol Craft, Fast (PCF). The now famous Swift was built on the hull of a transport boat that ran crews on and off the oil drilling platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. These Swifts were a bit larger craft, fifty feet long, with an aluminum hull, powered by twin diesels, with screws, not the jet drive of the PBR. The boats were fast - about 28 knots - and powerfully armed with a pair of twin .50 caliber machine guns mounted over the pilothouse, with another mount on the fantail, this one an over/under arrangement of a single .50 over a 81mm mortar. Despite their weight and the firepower that allowed them to put a great deal of lead on target, the Swift Boats had a shallow 3 ½ foot draft, making it possible to get up small rivers and canals.
In addition to these craft, the Navy had larger boats designed to transport ships upriver and even constructed "Monitors" which were powerfully armed with a 40mm cannon in a rotating turret, hence the name. All these craft were necessary because in the vast delta, there were few roads and the waterways were the easiest way to get around for friend and foe alike. The men of the United States and Vietnamese navies used all of these craft to interdict the enemy's supplies and to transport ground troops and Navy Seals up river. Confronting the small boats of the Vietnamese was a perilous activity because in South Vietnam, every sampan could carry innocent peasants or a Vietcong guerilla with the machine gun or grenade. Additionally, the enemy would lie in wait along the canals, ready to seize the opportunity to ambush the patrol boats with heavy machine guns, mortars and small arms fire.
As the war went on, the Navy came up with some innovative programs in order to take the fight to the enemy, so about the time John Kerry volunteered for them, the Swift Boats and PBR began to operate more aggressively, operating in small flotillas to provide cover to each other. So, up until the later years of the Nixon administration when the United States Navy began winding down its operations, the men of the "Brown Water Navy" performed a difficult task and by all accounts, did it well. As a result, a large percentage of Navy losses in Vietnam - extremely light for offshore sailors - were on the small boats of the inland navy.
"Brown Water, Black Berets" is an award-winning book that interweaves personal stories of heroic fresh water sailors with the "big picture" of the strategic decisions. It also includes information about the design and deployment of the boats. The author, Thomas Cutler, was a veteran of the "Brown Water Navy" and his service in the last year of the war gives him the authority and experience to tell his fellow veteran's story well. Solidly written and well researched, this book will please anyone interested in military history, the Vietnam War or someone who is just curious about the type of boats Senator John F. Kerry commanded as a young lieutenant some thirty-five years ago.

Wonderful introduction to an obscure subject.......2004-09-12

This is a great introduction to the US Navy's river war in Vietnam. Well written, informative, excellently researched, and very fair, it really is a must have for Vietnam history buffs. Plenty of black & white photos. I wish the Cutler had included more maps to go along with the firefights he describes so well, but this is about my only complaint.

Fine military history..........2001-10-09

An excellent and highly informative narrative of the nearly unknown world of the United States Navy's small craft fleet in Vietnam. A fine reminder to the sailors of today that individual heroism in a war fought with the machine gun and not missles is part of the recent naval tradition. If anyone can say they followed the path of John Paul Jones and went into harm's way, these sailors can, and LCDR Cutler has told their story well.

Great, factual account of the "River Rats"!.......1999-02-24

I was in the Naval Advisory Group at the same time as LCDR Cutler and I know where he's coming from. He did a great job of research. I'm really surprised at the volume of good factual info he managed to scrape up! BRAVO ZULU from an ex advisor at Rach Soi, Qui Nhon and Cam Ranh Bay.

A must read for ALL Sailors and Naval/Warfare Historians.......1998-01-11

As a modern day "River Rat," I started reading this book, while waiting to kick off that little invasion down in Panama, affectionately known as "Operation Just Cause" in Dec 1989, and managed to finish reading it in between "Brown Water & coastal Patrols." It's hard to put down once you start reading, and CDR Cutler does this small, sub-community of Navy Special Warfare Sailors justice (pretty unique thing to do for an officer). It's the roots & history of the U.S.N.'s "Brown Water Navy", the combat tactics and actions that are still in use to this date. I highly recommend this literature work to any person(s) that's interested in the Navy, and the and the personnel that forged the Brown Water Navy's history in the volatile rivers, canals and coast line of Viet Nam. A true reflection of courage, human spirit and dedication in the most adverse conditions. PBR= Proud, Brave & Reliable! Keep the Faith

Black Water (Contemporary Fiction, Plume)

Average customer rating:

Joyce Carol Oates is at it again
Surprised
Suffocation by Manipulated Narrative Structure
Someone's little girl
A True Look at Politicians

Black Water (Contemporary Fiction, Plume)
Joyce Carol Oates
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0452269865

Book Description

Based on National Book Award-winner Joyce Carol Oates' novella about the Chappaquiddick scandal, this tragic and beautiful new opera enthralls as a handsome Senator used power to enchant, seduce and carelessly destroy.

Customer Reviews:

Joyce Carol Oates is at it again.......2007-06-04

I am a fan of Joyce Carol Oates and believe that even her worst work is better than most. She is a prolific writer and this "practice" is evident in all she does. No one can touch her ability to tell a good story. Black Water is just that- a good story. Not her best but very good. The focus on a girl's loyalty to an image is what propels the reader to keep going. This idealism, if understood by the reader, makes this an entertaining read. However, as with some of her writing, she repeats pharses or events for effect and in this book it comes through as being boring and kind of annoying. SUPER summer read.

Surprised.......2005-10-11

This book surprised me on several fronts. A book club choice I'd not heard of, I looked forward to it because I'd never read Oates (caveat: I'm not much into fiction), though I certainly am aware of her reputation. The subject was absolutely a surprise, especially given the publication date and an author of repute. I remember the event well and would sooner expect to see a story like this headlined in the rags next to the checkout counter at the supermarket.

Frankly I don't see the worth of it. It's a short read and easy enough, but I am seeing very little depth in it. The senator is a shadowy character seen only through the eyes of the girl, the girl's most important quality seemingly her sexual proclivities. We learn very little else about her in the book, even though it's written from her perspective. She had her (most recent? longest? most fulfilling?) sexual relationship with G----, as he is identified in the book. What, they think we might know him? Better than we know who The Senator is? Most of the book takes place in the car, in the water, the girl dies over and over and over again.

Not for me, however, soon or definitively enough.

Oates gives me more credit than I deserve. More, she, and the publisher of this little tome, think me more curious about such things than I am.

I've read several novels lately - McEwan's The Atonement, Puzo's The Family come to mind - and have been reconsidering my position. This one has reminded me why so much fiction leaves me so cold.

Suffocation by Manipulated Narrative Structure.......2005-04-13

"Black Water" is one of Joyce Carol Oates' masterpieces. Being predisposed to lean toward her short fiction, I was surprised to find myself so in love with this book.

To answer a few questions, yes it does bring to mind a certain senator who is a member of "America's Royal Family." And yes, it does completely abandon the traditional guidelines for storytelling.

Howecer, only a truly magnificent writer can take these rules and throw them out the window with such skill. This novel begins with its central character drowning in a car accident. In fact, every single chapter details the exact same event. Oates' tale is like a memory. We are looking at the same thing over and over until we finally understand its origin.

This is not the only truly amazing thing about "Black Water." Oates makes us drown too. This is something that is said all too often about way too many writers; however, in this case, it would be true. It brings to mind earlier work. I find myself reminiscing over the way I felt for Connie when I first read "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" I am excited to see how fast she will make my heart beat in the future.

Someone's little girl.......2005-02-27

Joyce Carol Oates has produced a relatively tasteful rendition of a tragedy filling U.S. headlines. She uses her imagination and writerly skills to reconstruct what could have happened. The story is told from the point of view of the young woman, victim, who catches the attention of the charismatic liberal political figure at a holiday party. Tellingly, the political figure and the accident victim share the same Irish-American identity. The young woman in Oates's story has an expectation the political figure will return to the scene of the accident and save her.

A True Look at Politicians.......2004-05-14

People say this novel is about Ted and Mary Jo which is correct to a degree. However, it is also about the extraordinary efforts elected representitives will go to save their own hides when things go badly for them both privately and publicly. We saw that in 1969 and are seeing that now in regard to Iraq. Joyce Carol Oates is not only a great writer but also a woman who has enormous prescience and perception of the troubled world we live in.

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