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Book reviews for "Abourezk,_James_George" sorted by average review score:

Unauthorized X-Files
Published in Hardcover by Fine Communications (September, 1998)
Authors: James Hatfield, George Burt, and Mjf Books
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A Great Guide to the X-Files
This is an excellent book-perfect for any X-Files fan. It has descriptions of the episodes, characters, and conspiracies. It contains the information that the viewers want to know. I usually only read the official guides, because the information is assuredly accurate. However, Unauthorized X-Files is almost perfect! I have read the book cover-to-cover and have not found any mistakes.


Vocabulary of the Greek Testament
Published in Hardcover by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (June, 1980)
Authors: James H. Moulton and George Milligan
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A Classic returns
This useful tool for background research in the New Testament, long out of print, is now affordably available through Hendrickson Publishers. It provides listings of NT word occurrences in the papyri and other background literature. Saves a lot of work which others have already done.


XAIPE
Published in Paperback by Liveright (December, 2003)
Authors: E. E. Cummings and George James Firmage
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Xaipe: poetry for both eye and ear
In an afterword to "Xaipe," the book of poems by E.E. Cummings, George James Firmage notes that the title is derived from a Greek word whose simplest transliteration is "khi-ra" (with accent on the first syllable). Firmage further notes that the book was published by Oxford in 1950.

Xaipe is a curious collection of sequentially numbered poems. Many of the poems are very visually oriented; Cummings plays with with word division, punctuation, and the arrangement of words on the page. He often warps and reshapes language like a sculptor using clay; reading some of these poems is like deciphering a series of strange hieroglyphics.

Much of the book is also ear-oriented. Cummings demonstrates his mastery of rhyme, meter, alliteration, and repetition. He even includes a number of sonnets; sonnets, that is, as channeled through his experimental sensibility.

The tone of the book varies: cynical, satiric, revelatory, even tender. Cummings often uses seemingly invented words: "livingest" (from poem #1); "unteach" (#5); "fingeryhands," "whying" (#14); etc. One of my favorite poems is #22, a sonnet that begins "when serpents bargain for the right to squirm."

But is there an overall theme to "Xaipe"? I'll leave that to each reader to answer. But I sensed in the book as a whole a distrust of officialdom and a wariness of war, and a sense of skepticism about humanity; I felt at times that Cummings was resisting the rationality and formality of language and seeking a pure experience and attentiveness that actually transcends the written or spoken word.

"Xaipe" feels like a prolonged experiment, and while the experiment may not be wholly successful, it is nonetheless marked by flashes of genius. Definitely a volume of poetry worth exploring. For a stimulating companion text, try something by the philosopher J. Krishnamurti.


Arms and the Man
Published in Audio Cassette by CBC Audio (March, 2000)
Authors: Bernard Shaw, George Bernard Shaw, Elizabeth Brown, and James Roy
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George Bernard Shaw and "Arms"
Community Playhouse in Long Beach did the show this August. As it played, the plot didn't come through, but the wit of Shaw did. The playhouse didn't have the costumes of the military men, nor the actors to carry-off the pomp and bravado of these would-be heroes. In a time when G.W. Bush is fighting his own phantasmic enemies this play should have lapooned the whole spectre of military madness. George Bernard Shaw gave us the theme it will take some imagination and talent to make it contemporary and equal to the madness of our times. Anon

An early social comedy by Shaw on the horrors of war
George Bernard Shaw takes the title for this play from the opening life of Virgil's epic poem the "Aeneid," which begins "Of arms and the man I sing." Virgil glorified war and the heroic feats of Aeneas on the battlefield. However, Shaw's purpose in this play is to attack the romantic notion of war by presenting a more realistic depiction of war, devoid of the idea that such death and destruction speaks to nobility. Still, "Arms and the Man" is not an anti-war drama, but rather a satirical assault on those who would glorify the horrors or war.

Shaw develops an ironic contrast between two central characters. The play begins with accounts of the glorious exploits of Major Sergius Saranoff, a handsome young Bulgarian officer, in a daring cavalry raid, which turned the war in favor of the Bulgarians over the Serbs. In contrast, Captain Bluntschil, a professional soldier from Switzerland, acts like a coward. He climbs up to a balcony to escape capture, he threatens a woman with a gun, and he carries chocolates rather than cartridges because he claims the sweets are more useful on the battlefield.

In the eyes of Raina Petkoff, the young romantic idealist who has bought into the stories of battlefield heroism, Saranoff is her ideal hero. However, as the play proceeds, we learn more about this raid and that despite its success, it was a suicidal gesture that should have failed. Eventually Saranoff is going to end up dead if he continues to engage in such ridiculous heroics. Meanwhile, we realize that Bluntshcil has no misconceptions about the stupidity of war and that his actions have kept him alive.

"Arms and the Man" is an early play by Shaw, first performed in 1894, the same year he wrote "Mrs. Warren's Profession." The ending is rather tradition for comedies of the time, with all the confusion between the lovers finally getting cleared up and everybody paired up to live happily ever after. The choice of a young woman as the main character, who ultimately rejects her romantic ideals to live in the real world, is perhaps significant because serving in the army and going to war is not going to happen. Consequently, her views are not going to be colored by questions of courage in terms of going to war herself. I also find it interesting that this play understands the horrors of war given that it was the horrors of World War I that generally killed the romantic notion of war in Britain.

Like the chocolate cream soldier - tasty and satisfying
A starving, exhausted soldier running for his life bursts into a young woman's room, finds outrage, criticism, solace, chocolate creams, and unexpected love -and that's just the opening scene. This clever, witty, subtle, and surprising treat from the author of Pygmalion still holds up well more than 100 years after its writing. Shaw fashions the subjects of false ideals, heroism, romanticism, and the fake glories of war into a well-constructed farce which sustains through the very last line. Can't wait to see a new production of the play, and a great read meanwhile....


By Love Possessed
Published in Hardcover by Harcourt (March, 1957)
Author: James Gould Cozzens
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Overblown, pretentious and overrated
There are three subplots in this novel that intertwines around the life of attorney Arthur Winner. Sometimes interesting, this book is a chore to read as Cozzen's style is, well, wordy and ornate.

There is a scene where the central character and his sexually-repressed wife are in the sack ("Her." "Him", "Her", "Him." )...the instructions on how to program my VCR were more stimulating. Give me a break.

Maybe by today's overly PC standards this book could be considered mildly racist and bigoted, but I fail to see where. Catholics do take it on the chin, however.

This was almost a good novel. John Cheever does this type of thing much better.

Cozzen's Winner Is Not

By Love Possessed chronicles an eventful weekend in the life of Arthur Winner, leading attorney and citizen in the small town of Brocton. No grasping uncouth Snopes, this Winner serve as living proof that virtue is not necessarily its own reward. When lesser lawyers offer a quid pro quo, he deigns to accept only with silence.

The novel's narrative frame begins and ends with Amor Vincit Onmia, frozen forever and eternally ambiguous. The intriguing characters surrounding Winner in this modern Man of Lawe's Tale range from pillar of legal acumen with something to hide to an unfaithful wife converting to Catholicism to a precise drunk who becomes a victim of petty theft. In the end, one wonders if the most important character in By Love Possessed is not the raccoon that freezes in Winner's headlights and is run over with only a thump to mark its passing.

The high point of By love Possessed is a masterly courtroom scene that strikes at the heart of what it is to be a parent. The novel is full of murder and suicide (intentional and unintentional). Events between the sexes range from a first date to a distasteful allegation of rape. In the end, when an untimely death reveals legal matters best left in darkness, Cozzens concludes that self-interest conquers all, at least in the world of small-town privilege.

By Love Possessed moves through so many beginnings and endings that the novel seems somehow complete by its end, although all loose ends are left hanging. Read this book; it certainly does cure nostalgia for the 1950s.

Powerful, brilliant expose of mid-20th century truths
I'm not surprised that By Love Possessed has received such polarized views from readers. It's not an easy book to digest: it has a baroque, almost arcane style and features views of race, religion, and homosexuality that are quite uncomfortable in today's age. Yet it is a novel that I cherish.

Cozzens' novel covers 49 hours in the life of Arthur Winner Jr., a small-town Pennsylvania lawyer who has prided himself for living his life according to a strict regimen of reason and yet finds all those around him seemingly throwing their lives away to emotion. Rape, suicide, jealousy, and greed mark the behaviour of his friends and relatives, much to his consternation. Not until the end, when a deep secret is revealed, does Arthur Winner realise that an emotional reaction is sometimes the only recourse to an unreasonable situation; indeed, it may be a neccessary reaction.

Because of its style and conservative stance, I've always been surprised that By Love Possessed was such a huge bestseller when originally published; perhaps its title and small-town setting confused readers that it was another Peyton Place (which, ironically, it replaced at #1). But it IS an incredible book, very influential (just read anything by Scott Turow), and a must read for those who want to understand the mindset of the middle-class American male in the mid-20th century. Personally, I find Cozzens' prose fascinating--the more a book makes me reach for the dictionary the better. And as a gay man, I take less offense at Cozzens' occasional prejudices than I do with those politically correct readers who only blindly see bigotry and not a man truly trying to understand the world around him.


Little Mac : Demise of an American Hero
Published in Hardcover by Xlibris Corporation (February, 2000)
Authors: James M. Ridgway Jr. and James M., Jr. Ridgway
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Style Counts
Ridgway's essay on McClellan suffers from two serious deficiencies that are unrelated to its theme. First, it is poorly written and edited. Second, it is in form neither fish nor fowl, trying on the the one hand to avoid academic formalism by not utilizing footnotes and giving incomplete references, while on the other hand "lowballing" its intended audience -- presumably avid amateurs and professional military historians -- by oversimplifying the conventional view of McClellan it seeks to debunk. The combined effects of slangy prose and loosely constructed narrative combine to give the book a panegyric tone that weakens the merits of the case -- there are merits -- that Ridgway is trying to make. He would have been better served carefully studying (and emulating) Thomas Connelly's de-bunking of the Lee myth in the latter's estimable "The Marble Man", a passionately argued piece that nonetheless observes form and respects the sophistication of its audience.

A Revisionist View
He was charismatic, a natural born leader graduating second in his class at West Point, and at the height of his fame during this countries darkest moment. So why is George B. McClellan so poorly regarded today? After all, as author James M. Ridgway, Jr. conveys in his newest book, Little Mac: Demise of an American Hero, McClellan was extremely well educated, superbly trained, experienced, and absolutely revered officer. It was common knowledge that McClellan was adored by his troops, a known steadfast patriot, and after the war remained so popular as to be decisively elected governor of New Jersey. Nonetheless, most historians have chosen to regard such a man with sarcastic disdain; so much so, that, as Ridgway points out in his Introduction, that at the end of the twentieth century, McClellan is often defined by a few choice Lincoln phrases - "he has the slows," and "he will not fight." What Ridgway offers in this revisionist study is a fresh landscape of facts from which the reader can make his own interpretation of George McCellan's worth as a military leader. Author Jim Ridgway, a Civil War Round Table veteran whose passionate interest in the Civil War narrates a powerful a story that shreds the radical Republican view of the general as propagated by such renowned writers as Stephen W. Sears. Ridgway's work illustrates how McClellan's stalwart reputation was crushed by a unique combination of circumstances. He bases his conflicting premise on the actions of a conniving political enemy in Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton and McClellan's refusal to play the political game of the time. The actions of radical Republicans like Stanton coupled with the ascension of Lincoln as America's principal political icon, is what Ridgway proclaims conspired to insure the historical demise of one of America's greatest generals. George McClellan was an undeniably clever young general who believed that the easiest way to the Confederate capital of Richmond was from the east. However, his approach would take his army out of a position to protect Washington and many senior Union officials, to include Stanton, began to wonder if McClellan meant to give the Rebels the capital. In fact, Ridgway correctly points out that McClellan was in no position to act bold or rash for many reasons. For instance, his confederate nemesis, Robert E. Lee, had the advantage of studying northern newspapers where McClellan movements and intentions were brandished by the general's opponents and any act out of the norm would have easily given the South the edge. Another argument Ridgway convincingly makes is that if McClellan had received the necessary backing from the Republican radicals hat Lee had with his government, then he would have had the required resources to decisively defeat the confederates in Richmond, leaving no doubt to his allegiance. More importantly, his so-called demise would not have occurred. Less than a year after offensive campaign to the confederate capital McClellan was labeled as timid and slow and was subsequently pulled from the Peninsula battles. Subsequently, the Union inability to prevent a confederate escape after the bloody Battle of Antietam causing Lincoln to lose faith in the general. In the end, Ridgway's conclusion is that the Republican propaganda machine of the 1860s spun discredit on McClellan. Only a handful of books have dared to buck the massive anti-McClellan tide and to tell the general's side of the story. McClellan himself tried to clear his name, but the account he wrote was fatefully destroyed in an 1881 fire and then any further attempt was thwarted by his unexpected death in 1885. While General George McClellan's reputation stands the scrutiny of time, Ridgway's Little Mac: Demise of an American Hero provides a contradictory glimpse of the general and his worth as a military leader.

Explaining why (and how much) McClellan mattered
This is a radical break from current ACW historiography, going beyond the standard lip service that McClellan was a great organizer, popular with the troops, etc. Ridgway presents the case (once better known in America) that McClellan mattered profoundly and that his dismissal by the Lincoln Administration was a national tragedy. This is the McClellan as millions knew him during the war, the Little Mac that the historical record continues to validate. The style of the book is easy, even popular; the writing is very good; and both general and specialist readers will have trouble laying the book down. For those new to the ACW, this is a great place to meet one of America's outstanding personalities. Older ACW buffs will recognize strains of the great Warren Hassler in Ridgway's project. Very exciting, highly recommended.


Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential
Published in Hardcover by John Wiley & Sons (21 February, 2003)
Authors: James Moore, James C. Moore, and Wayne Slater
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Pay attention to the man behind the curtain...
Jim Moore and Wayne Slater watched closely for a long time to understand the deeply symbiotic relationship between the two most powerful men in the country. George W. Bush is the actor and Karl Rove is the director/screenwriter in this story of Texas and U.S. politics. Bush's Brain reveals how the two men interact, how Rove mapped out and executed a strategy to propel a Dallas businessman with a famous father and a deep political pedigree into the Governor's Mansion and into the White House.

The book details -- while laying open some long-simmering political stories and controversies -- the bag of tricks Rove assembled over the years in his ambition to be at the center of the political world. Bush isn't painted as a dummy, despite the book's title, but it's clear that neither of these men would live in Washington, DC, right now without the other's skills.

Some of the best stuff here is in the history; it catches the consultant honing the tools he used later in the presidential campaign, and that he's still using today. It catches Bush before his ambition for the top political job was apparent. And it does a nice job of pulling back the curtains on the political manuevering that takes place in campaigns in Texas and everywhere else. The writers covered both men for years as reporters in the Texas press corps and then on the presidential trail in 1999 and 2000, and it's clear they've done their homework. At a time when consultants are regularly canonized just because their guy won, Slater and Moore make a case for why it's important to know as much about the consultant as about the candidate.

All that and a great read, too!

Good Read, Great Research, Sad Story
I am a political consultant who has worked in Texas for almost a decade, roughly the same period chronicled in this terrific book, and I am surprised on many fronts. One, there's a lot of stuff in this book that I knew that I can't believe they got people to talk about. Two, there's stuff in this book that I never knew. And three, there's some very sad stories about the lives that Karl Rove has ruined in his single-minded rise to the top of the heap. It's like Robert Caro stopped being repetitive and wrote this book.

The choices we make
This book was a great read and long overdue. It is well documented and researched and it's clear that both authors know their subject well. They ought to because they spent many years covering Karl Rove in Texas.

Bush's Brain also serves two very important public policy goals. First it shows that President George W. Bush is in fact politically motivated -- the decision on the steel tarrifs alone makes that case. It seems rather odd for that to be such a revelation ---the president is after all a politician -- but this White House has tried to nurture the myth it is only motivated by the public interest. With this book perhaps we can set that aside.

But the most important aspect the book reveals is the manner and form that information gets to the president. I believe people have been drawn to the president back during his campaign, and even more so since 9/11 because they think he is decisive and tough.

But, as we approach war with Iraq -- and the subsequent rebuilding process of that country as well as relations with our oldest allies -- as we confront a troubled economy and a fiscal crisis in state and federal government -- the president has to be decisive and tough but also wise and right.

Bush's Brain shows how the president is guided to political decisions in the choices he makes. That's vital information as we come to terms with the choices we make in assessing his leadership.


The Harmonious Circle: An Exploration of the Lives and Work of G. I. Gurdjieff, P. D. Ouspensky, A. R. Orage, Maurice Nicoll, Jean Toomer, Rodney col
Published in Hardcover by Putnam Pub Group (April, 1980)
Author: James, Webb
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A Lot of Form, Very Little Sustance
Don't get the wrong idea. This book IS an entertaining read, but that is about it. There are many books in the "Gurdjieff field." Several are vitally important and many are useful to varying degrees, but there are quite a few that are a mere litany of second hand accounts, innuendo and gossup. Such is The Harmonious Circle.

There are a few authors that do the subject justice: De Hartmann, Anderson, Peters, however, James Webb is NOT one of them. Other books are first hand accounts and though subjective too, reading of the difficulties that those students encountered, as well as the insights they experienced, can be useful to those seeking a path. On the other hand, this book is written by an author who is unfortunately not qualified to write about Gurdjieff (or his "followers"). This book is far from being "the best" (maybe the "best" of the worst).

Full of a few interesting stories and much conjecture, this is not a book for those looking at gaining a deeper understanding of the significance of Gurdjieff's ideas or an accurate picture of the man. However, water does indeed seek it's own level and for those wanting a good fix of the superficial, this book is for you - an easy read especially if you like reading rambling opinions. I'd be careful about buying this book as a gift. Try James Moore's Anatomy of a Myth, instead. I give The Harmonious Circle 2 stars because it might be of some use - like lining the cage of your American canary.

certainly the best bio of Gurdjieff
This book avoids the devoutly worshipful attitude of Moore, Patterson, Bennett and thier moon-mad ilk, and likewise doesn't fall into the pit occupied by the kinds of ignorant dismissals and outright misrepresentations of fact found in so many other books, like those fairly recent things written by some well-known Brits--a psychologist, a lit professor and a famous occult writer. This is a complete presentation of the lives of G. and O., drawing the only conclusion possible: G's ideas are a brilliant but derivative hash made out of a random assortment of old occult documents and a little bit of hearsay, and G. himself just yet another trickster guru--if we give him the benefit of the doubt and say he's that much. But the book says all this with a remarkable grace, depth and style; this man knows what he is talking about and knows how to say it. Rare in this genre.


Principles and Procedures of Statistics: A Biometrical Approach
Published in Hardcover by McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math (December, 1980)
Authors: Robert George Douglas Steel and James H. Torrie
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There are better books out there
This book is descent but a poor substitute in light of better alternatives, namely Zar's Biostatistical Analysis or Sokal and Rohlf's Biometry. Zar's book is my favorite. I am not as familar with Sokal and Rohlf's but know enough that I prefer the organization and context of Zar. The limitations of Steel et al. is the needless use of matrix algebra, the lack of calculations in many cases (instead, the linear model is presented without decomposition into formulas), the brief discription for many of the analyses, lack of good examples, and difficult to follow writing. On the positive side, Steel et al. have a chapter on experimental design, which Zar and Sokal and Rohlf lack, although it is not an easy chapter to follow. My recommendation is to use Zar as your primary "go to" reference on biostatistics.

Great tool for the Educator
I found that Steel et al. covered a broad range of methodology needed for biological research, and that the scope of this text is comparable to any statistical manual available. It is very functional as a reference material for troubleshooting any design or analysis problems. As a professor of research methodology, I highly recommend consulting this text for improving the statistical analysis of biological research.


Short & Tall Tales: Moose County Legends Collected by James Mackintosh Qwilleran
Published in Audio Cassette by Putnam Pub Group (Audio) (10 October, 2002)
Authors: Lilian Jackson Braun, James Mackintosh Qwilleran, and George Guidall
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I didn't *want* to be disappointed...
I was really looking forward to anything else by Braun that dealt with Moose County inhabitants, et al., but although it does indeed live up to its title, this small book has little of the charm of the longer "Cat Who..." novels. Jim Qwilleran is the collector and faithful scribe of these tales; there is (appropriately although sadly) no sign of either KoKo or Yum Yum to brighten the pages. The tales are for the most part VERY short as is the book itself (see previous review re: white space and value for $$) and didn't last me an hour altogether. I was disappointed as the tales themselves didn't seem to have the color of Braun's other novels and short as they were, seemed to drag. I *love* the actual "Cat Who" series and even though the series has deteriorated somewhat (there have been almost 30 of them, after all), I look forward to the next installment!

Probably just a book for series fans...
"Short and Tall Tales" is the book that readers of Lilian Jackson Braun's "Cat Who" mystery series know that James Mackintosh Qwilleran has been working on for several novels now. Well, he's finally finished and this is the book.

Fans of the series may recognize many of the stories in the book as having been told to JMQ in other novels. However, I didn't remember a lot of them and I love the idea of having all those great Moose County legends collected in one place.

This is a quick read - most stories are about three pages long - and a delightful one. It's good for picking up while in line somewhere or just reading in one sitting. I wouldn't recommend this book for anyone who has not read at least one or two of the "Cat Who" mystery series - I don't know how much sense it would make!

A book for The Cat Who fans
The purpose of my review is to say whether or not, in my opinion, a book is worth buying. If you are one of Lilian Jackson Braun's "The Cat Who. . . " fans, then, Yes.

This is a book you can read in one sitting if you like. It is not a mystery, but rather just what the title says, a collection of little "tall" tales that are written as though the main character in the series, Mr. Q, would write if he were a real author.

I thought the book was exceedingly charming and although I can barely wait between publications of Bruan's mystery books, I thoroughly enjoyed this little collection. The idea of it is extremely novel and I would say it is a success from her fans' point of view.

Some of the stories were already mentioned, or alluded to, in some of the author's other "The Cat Who. . . " books, but that was OK. It was a good refresher and the stories really do cement the flavor of Moose County.

Again, I cannot say how much I just enjoyed the "chit-chattiness" of this little, easy-to-read volume. Ms. Braun has an amazing imagination--that is, she is able to reign it in and make it "fit" the imaginary people of Moose County. My railroader father especially enjoyed the tale about the hoghead.

I also enjoyed the size of the book. It was light and easy to hold and felt very comfortable in my hands.

I am looking forward to getting my hands on The Cat Who Brought Down the House soon.

If you are new to Ms. Braun, this book is probably not the one you should start out with. But buy it anyway and set it aside until after you read a few of The Cat Who books. After you are well introduced to the characters of Moose County, pull out this little book. If you wait, you will be able to really enjoy it better that way.


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