I admire the author's thoughtful words, but by ignoring the Reorganized LDS church, which the Prophet's son Joseph Smith III founded in 1860 with Emma Smith's assistance, a huge part of church history goes unmentioned. The RLDS (now called Community of Christ) has in it's headquarters in Independence MO, two portraits, one of Joseph Smith Jr, and one of his wife Emma Smith. I believe these were painted during Joseph's lifetime, thereby making the statement in the back of this book's jacket that the cover portrait is the only one painted during Joseph's lifetime inaccurate.

This short biography of the man now considered "My Joseph" by author Robert Remini, covering the life and death of the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith, is a well-researched, even-handed and concise examination of the life of a unique and great American. Drawing from sources as far apart as Joseph Smith's Personal Writings and John C. Bennett's Expose of Joe Smith and Mormonism, from scholars across the spectrum such as Fawn Brodie, Richard Bushman and Donna Hill, Remini has synthesized the important historical, biographical and often controversial information to be found about the life of Joseph Smith. The work is brief, as necessitated by the series, and can easily be read in one sitting.
Divided into nine chapters, Remini first introduces the reader to the American political and cultural context of the early 19th century, as the extent, fanaticism and individual, similar occurences to those of Smith during the Second Great Awakening are not a well-known part of his story. Indeed, Mormon readers well versed in the subject matter may find these interjections scattered throughout the book some of the most interesting and challenging material. Here and throughout the rest of the work Remini casually implies that Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon and much of what has become the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was a product of timing, a product of the unique American environment during the nation's infancy. Tracing and lightly touching Smith's ancestry, the author mentions episodes from Smith's adolescence he believes helped shape the character and disposition of later years. Smith's angelic and divine visitations are covered, along with the origins of the Book of Mormon and the beginnings of the Church. The reader is present during the fantastic events of the Church in Kirtland and its near subsequent collapse, for the wars with the old settlers of Missouri and during the flourishing, while controversial, period of Nauvoo and polygamy. The biography closes examining and ultimately denouncing the assassination of Joseph Smith, not as a slain prophet, consistent with the author's non-partisan stance, but as a great American, a victim of a society that bordered on the fringe of lawlessness.

As already mentioned, the book is even-handed and mostly accurate, the occasional detail, a misquotation from the Book of Mormon, for example, excusable for a reputable scholar undertaking this kind of endeavor. Mormons will disagree with some observations while non-Mormons will others. Not uncommon verbage found throughout the book often reads, "Mormons support or agree...while critics point out..." and vice-versa. All readers will find an entreating and page-turning presentation of Joseph Smith the man, innovator, prophet, politician, leader, family man, military leader and American.

"Smith admitted that some accused him of 'pretending to be a Savior, a worker of miracles, etc. All this is false...He is but a man, he said; a plain, untutored man, seeking what he should do to be saved.'"

To readers interested in a similarly unbiased, scholarly appraisal of the Book of Mormon, I would suggest the recent book By the Hand of Mormon by Terryl Givens, a professor of English at the University of Virginia. While Joseph Smith reads like an artistic biography, By the Hand of Mormon scrutinizes the possible origins of the Book of Mormon, internal and external evidences of its veracity, arguments on both sides of the divide and other topics.

I found this book pretty interesting because I was never really exposed to Mormonism and its prophet before. Most people have a very superficial view of the Mormons. If you asked the common man what they knew about Mormons, the first thing they would say is probably "polygamy". Of course, the truth is much more intriguing than that. This book is a good place to start, for it concerns the man whose "visions" sparked one of the most fascinating entries in American religious history.

Author Robert Remini does a great job of importing his wealth of knowledge concerning Jacksonian era America and using it to really explain the social context of Mormonism. His brief but interesting description of the Second Great Awakening really sets the stage for Joseph Smith's transition from failed farmer to holy prophet. At the time, especially in upstate New York, many Americans were swept up in religious fervor that involved fiery preachers and large-scale public rituals that seem to resemble mass exorcisms. Smith's family was very intoned with this sense of religious longing, and it no doubt influenced his future pursuits.

Remini is fair when he tackles some of Smith's religious "visions". This is hard because, frankly, if you look at the situation in a purely rational view, Smith is only a few degrees below a David Koresh figure. In fact, as I read the book, I could not help but to draw parallels between the two American messiahs. But that's my opinion, and Remini holds his own as an impartial historian. I felt, however, he sometimes looked too sympathetically on Joseph Smith. Although Smith does not seem to be a bad man, he did makes some "revelations" that could easily be identified as self serving, such as the amount of money he would take in, his unpaid debts, and his legalization of polygamy. Remini also treads too lightly on some of the Mormon's historical views, which are blatantly false.

Remini had a very hard job though, and these minor complaints I have do not take away from the books overall quality. I am sure Mormons will probably complain that Remini was too hard on Smith, so he really is stuck between a rock and a hard place. In summation, if you want a good starting place to study Mormonism and its early history, this is as best place to start as any.

I'm not sure that this book can be a guide better than the Starcraft Campaign Editor Help. Who read the Help for Programmers can say: I have not reason to buy it. Is this the truth? Well, developing a new Data Disk for Starcraft, I met big problems, as the trigger for open the doors in the Installation. So, this book can be the true solution at all your problems, a complete guide that will go working your Campaign Editor well. Now, buy it and read it, so you can give me an opinion.

To the people who say the book Is bad, YOU ARE WIERD! This damm thing tells you more on how to make better maps, COOL triggrs, Nice names, IT TELLS YOU ALL TAHT TO SC MANUAL DOESNT AND MUCH MORE. BUY IT!

This book is the best! It tells you how to make your Starcraft game do neat things (like make a football game)and other great stuff. It also comes with a suggestion for a scenario, and that really helps. If you're a fan of Starcraft and want to make a scenario, this is a superb buy. Hey, before I got this book, I was struggling to figure out what "triggers" are.

This is my second experience reading Wambaugh, the first being "The Golden Orange". Wambaugh's strength lies in his sharp, cynical, sarcastic and blackly humerous use of language. I laughed out loud at his witty and dark brand of humor. His command of the English language and cynical look at Americana seen through the eyes of cops and robbers is worth the price of admission alone. This novel works mostly through his style, and the plot is greatly enhanced through his wordplay. I learned more about Americas Cup racing than I ever wanted to know, yet was never bored throughout "Floaters". A lesser writer might not have been able to make such a plot work, since the finale is laced with coincedence and irony, yet Wambaugh's style more than makes up for any potentially lame plot twists. This is not to say that the plot is poor or predictable; it's neither. But the fact is that few writers would be able to pull off such a tale.

If you like Joseph Wambaugh's books, you'll love this one! (If you don't, of course, you'll still hate him.) It's the freshest and most fascinating book he's written since Golden Orange. Full of sleazy characters and sizzling dialog. I found the plot easier to follow than some of his more convoluted offerings. A fun book to read during a weekend in the mountains

Well written and a cop's book. Wonderful plot and as usual, great one liners. I have read most, if not all of Wambaugh books, and this is one of the best.

I have much respect for Mattie and I think that he is very strong and smart but, after reading his poems, I was extremely disappointed. Like another young poet *cough* Sarah *cough*, Mattie has been ridiculously over hyped because of his age (and this time sad physical and emotional situation.) I am a young poet myself and regularly enter poetry contests because they usually have ceremonies for the winners that resemble "Open Mic Night" at most cafes and give me an opportunity for meet other poets (which, through experience, have realized to be VERY funky.) There are so many peeps that I have heard about through these ceremonies that deserve to have books published and are SO much more talented than Mattie. His poems wouldn't stand a chance at these contests where the judges only know your name and age when choosing winners. I know someone's going to ask why I'm not published if I'm so much better than Mattie (even though I didn't say that, someone ALWAYS assumes.) The answer is obvious: I don't want to be a child star, I don't want to be over hyped because of my age and I don't want to read my books when I'm an adult and be embarrassed. I am definitely not jealous of Mattie and his "gifts", to all you ASSUMERS, I just believe that his is being recognized for the wrong things (his poetry, not his physical and emotional strength.)

Mattie Stepanek, the young poet and peacemaker who wants to spread peace throughout the world through his poems, returns in Hope Through Heartsongs, a powerful book that speaks through the voice of a young child and reveals the powerful message of hope in many touching ways. It is a book that can be enjoyed by about everyone, not simply because it is a special book, but because it is written by a young and very special person. From age three and beyond, Mattie's poems reflect positive and sometimes sad meanings, in which he wants people to understand the simplicities of life with a newer, more hopeful meaning. The poems are all written with power and feeling, and they are very touching in their own ways. It is obvious that he is very gifted person who views his suffering as a message more than as pain. My favorite poems in this book were "Beyond the Pain",Possession"
and "Only One", just a select few of some of the powerful poems that can be found in this book. Mattie's poems also speak about the subjects of terrorism, and more so on the recent national tragedies in some of his poems. Hope Through Heartongs must be read especially if you have read his previous two books, Heartsongs and Journey Through Heartsongs. But even if you haven't read any of Mattie Stepanek's previous Heartsongs books, Hope Through Heartsongs will still manage to capture your heart and amaze you with the brilliance and wisdom of a person who, someday, may accomplish the dream of worldwide peace through the messages he has presented in his three wonderful books.

Mattie is truly a remarkable writer of prose and poetry. He will tug at your heart and mind with every page. I have given this book to friends who are experiencing health problems. I believe he can lift anyone spirits with this book.

in my view. Its too short, lacks detail and needs to be supplemented by other books. It can be used as a supplementary book but not as the MAIN book for USMLE step 3 exam.

this is a good book and very well written for the step 2 USMLE. I rank it 5 STAR for the step 2. but it is insufficent for the step three. it can be use as a source for the fast refreeshment of your memory but not for preparation to sit for the step 3.

I highly recommend this book for STEP 3 cause it gives you the keys of the exam although it is a little bit difficient in some areas such as Surgery but you can add the defficient information by reading some difficient topics. But this book makes you concentrated on the important topics of medicine such that Emergency , rabies and tetanus in which there are many questions about them in the STEP 3 but I wish there will be a new edition which contains more ethical mediine cause there are many items of Ethics of Medicine in the exam. I read many books for the exam but this book was the best. But please if you are preparing for the exam I wish you will read the difficient topics thet I mentioned in my preview.

Joseph Heller wrote one great book, Catch-22. Nothing else in his long career ever came close to capturing the absurd tragedy and comedy of the modern world as that book did, but they were interesting and readable nevertheless. Alas, the same cannot be said for Portrait of an Artist, as an Old Man. This "novel", which deals with an aging author struggling to find a new subject to write about, fails on almost every front. It isn't funny or insightful. It doesn't really tell a story. It presents, instead, a series of false starts to novels that the author then gives up on as being no good. And for good reason - they ARE no good. The frustration the author feels seems real enough. The reader, unfortunately, experiences the same frustration and it is never resolved. Frustration is a good plot device if the story then resolves the issues that caused the frustration. That doesn't happen here. There are some touching scenes in the book, but they aren't really integrated into the whole. Indeed, there doesn't seem to be any sense of this series of bits and pieces being a "whole" anything. Supposidly Heller "finished" this book just before his death. If that is true it doesn't come across in the reading. It seems incomplete and fragmentary, and a sad exit for a great writer.

It's somehow unsurprising that "Portrait of an Artist As An Old Man" was Joseph Heller's final novel. It feels like a final novel, both autobiographical and a musing about the art of writing. People who haven't tried to write probably won't appreciate this odd little novel as much as those who have.

Eugene Pota is a well-known author who produced an immensely successful modern classic many years ago. Though his books since then have been critical and monetary successes, all of them have been compared to that first book. Now, in his mid-seventies, Eugene reflects on the changing literary world and wants to write a mega-success, a fantastic book that will be loved and appreciated and possibly made into a movie. That's a pretty tall order.

So he begins writing various books, such as the Biblical parody "God's Wife," a book about Greek legends from the goddess Hera's point of view, a parody of "Tom Sawyer," and a novel about a husband viewing his wife's "transgressions." All of them don't quite work out...

Exactly how much of this book is autobiographical isn't clear -- between the witty final line and the stuff about Coney Island and "God Knows," it's clear that much of Pota is actually Heller. One thing that Heller did in this book (besides homage himself) is reflect on the authors who have gone before him. There are lots of references to Henry James, Mark Twain, Jack London, and plenty of others; at the same time, he mulls over the tragic qualities of their lives. (The aborted "Tom Sawyer" parody includes Tom going around looking for them)

This book, technically, is not about writer's block; rather it's about the frustration of feeling required to top yourself, and of a basic lack of inspiration. Not being able to write in the middle of a book is bad enough. But it's even worse when you have trouble just figuring out what you want to start out with. Eugene's dogged attempts to do the impossible -- to top himself -- are pleasant to read about.

His writing is funny and insightful, but occasionally becomes a bit self-indulgent. And I wasn't sure what to make about the passages about Polly, Pota's wife. Meaning, I wasn't sure if she was based on his actual last wife and whether he was frustrated with her.

Some witty dialogue, amusing false starts and some genuinely poignant soul-baring fill this book. It's a shame the "Old Man" passed away before it was even published.

This novel is about the only reasonable way that Joseph Heller could have closed the book on his tumultuous and probably very frustrating career. Being cursed with the blessing of having his very first book, Catch-22, hailed as a literary masterpiece still read by high school juniors everywhere, there was no real way to eclipse his initial offering. When you start at the top, the only place to go is down, and with each successive book, this became painfully apparent. Even his decades later sequel, Closing Time, fell very flat and very far short of Catch-22.
So I was very surprised and very pleased when his final book, Portrait of an Artist as an Old Man, turned out to be vibrant and refreshing and about as good as it gets. It is a frank and honest thinly veiled autobiography about the joys and terrors of being a writer of some acclaim who seems to have run out of steam. The false starts and stops of what this book could have been make the novel even more enticing. Resistant to the idea given by his editor of writing about the process of writing, Eugene Pota is trying to end his career with a grand magnum opus on par with Tom Sawyer or The Odyssey or even a scandalous book about his wife's sex life. And aren't we lucky that he ditched all of those ideas and brought us this rare treat instead. An original work about a writer trying to figure out what to write about.
It is short, it is original and it is a very good read. Bravo on such a courageous choice to close the book on a career that started out with one of the best novels written in the English (or any other) language.

A book that concludes with the declaration that biological races do not exist and that the concept of Race . . . was socially constructed arising from the colonization of the New World and the importation of slaves, mainly from western Africa? (p. 193) merits a salute right off the bat. Of course anyone can just say such things, and a public bombarded by claims and counter-claims might be tempted to dismiss such statements as simply manifestations of ?political correctness.? In this instance, however, the author, Joseph L. Graves, Jr., is a lab geneticist, and he has made his case based upon solid science and not on feel-good social motivations. Of course, the social circumstances cannot be ignored, and in this case, the author, who identifies himself as ?an African-American intellectual? (p. 2), can speak from personal experience. The intentions are declared in the first page with the words, ? Specifically, my goal is to show the reader that there is no biological basis for separation of human beings into races and that the idea of race is a relatively recent social and political construction? (p. 1). It is race itself and the grip it has on the public mind that he is presenting as the emperor without clothes. If races are social constructs and not manifestations of biological reality, how did the universal acceptance of their existence ever come about? The structure of the book is an exploration of the development and application of that perspective from the Greeks to the present day. It gets off to a somewhat rocky start. Aristotle is credited with authorship of the Systema Naturae and the idea that living creatures are hierarchically organized in a scala naturae. In fact that title was used by Linnaeus in the 18th century. Aristotle?s Historia Animalium may have qualified him as the ?Father of the Biological Sciences,? but in it he did not arrange the creatures described in a logical hierarchy of differential worth. It was the Enlightenment application of Aristotelian logic that actually accomplished the construction of that ?Great Chain of Being,? and Linnaeus did embody that approach. After that somewhat bumpy beginning, the book gets better and better as it goes on. It really comes into its own with the discussion of the establishment of eugenics in the 19th century. In Chapter 6, Pseudoscience and the Founding of Eugenics, he characterizes its founder, Sir Francis Galton, as ?an intellectual mediocrity, a sham, and a villain? (p. 100), and he backs this up with a demonstration of why that was the case. This is worth the price of the book in the first place. In chapter 7, Graves makes the case that the leader of the American eugenics movement, Charles B. Davenport, director of the Eugenics Records Office at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island, had engaged in ?one of the largest medical frauds of the twentieth century: the pellagra cover-up? (p. 121). The next chapter, Eugenics, Race, and Fascism, is subtitled ?The Road to Auschwitz Went Through Cold Spring Harbor.? After the subsidence of eugenic enthusiasm following the realization of its applications in Nazi Germany, Graves traces its resurgence in chapters 9 and 10. In the latter, ?The Race and IQ Fallacy,? he declares that ?No one better typifies the return to scientific racist ideology in the period after World War II than eugenicist Arthur Jensen? (p. 159), Professor emeritus of Educational Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. Jensen, most recently in The g Factor: The Science of Mental Ability (1998), takes race to be a self-defined entity and assumes the existence of racial differences in mental ability as his ?default position.? This constitutes his null hypothesis although there is nothing null about it. It is a racialist assumption by definition. Graves goes on to discuss the misunderstanding and misuse of the concept of heritability by Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray in The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in America (1994). Joe Graves is a laboratory scientist which is both a strength and a weakness in the book. His scientific grasp and up-to-date sources puts his presentation on a rock-solid basis. On the other side of the coin, many of his most important points are backed up in the kind of crabbed and minimalist writing that is de rigeur in scientific journals, ultimately being rendered in symbolic form as equations. This is no problem for the scientifically literate, but it will be less satisfying for the general public who could well stand to benefit from the case that is being made. The text is only 200 pages long, and could easily have been fleshed out for the general reader. As Graves shows when the occasion demands, he is quite capable of rendering things in perfectly fluent prose. One could only wish that he had kept that up throughout. Even with this caveat, however, The Emperor?s New Clothes is a fine start for thinking about race at the dawn of a new millennium.

C. Loring Brace University of Michigan

Contrary to the aimless rant of a previous viewer who accused the author of The Emperor's New Clothes of special pleading (Whatever that means), Joseph Graves presents a calm, highly rational and well researched refutation of two centuries of theories propounding the inferiority of people of African descent. I won't pretend to understand the very technical arguments he puts forth to reinforce his very factual claims, but I do have a grasp of the history of scientific racism and its origins. Joseph Graves does a tremendous service to the lay reader by combining hard science with a clear, socio-historical presentation and anylsis of his topic. The format of the history segment is chronological, enabling the reader to get a sense of how the fallacies of racial differentials, underpinned by warped science progressed and adapted through the decades even when discredited. Its a shame really that a book like this has to be written;a bigger shame that those who cling to ideas of the inferiority of any group in the human species makes this scholarly endeaver a necessity. But, as Graves points out, in regard to the American context, many people still believe that there are innate racial differences. Hence, out of these assumptions spring the stereotypes that are often damaging to the group so stigmatized. One thing Graves did not delve into, which I wish he had, was how dominant groups in other societies maintained control over disadvantaged, disenfranchised populations. By showing, for example how Japan's Korean minority has been the object of much of the same derision suffered by African Americans would have gone even further in bolstering the author's historical side of his argument. It would show that a group, racial, ethnic,religious, etc, wishing to stay at the top of a social hierarchy will concoct negative propaganda about lower echelon groups to maintain its position. No matter how adherents to the concept of black inferiority may argue its scientific validity, the fact remains that the architects of this thinking, as Joseph Graves has shown, were supported by an establishment bent on maintaining its power and position over dark skinned people. Of course dark skinned people were not the only victims. Whites who did not fit into the Anglo-Saxon mold also fell under the lash of this spurious science. Like the fairy tale emperer, this book does an excellent job of exposing the lies of scientific racism. The public should be saturated with more literature of this kind. It would, hopefully, bring greater enlightenment to individuals lingering in the darkness of erroneous racial ideas.

As a medical scientist at Duke University, I would like to commend Dr. Graves on a superb overview of genetic differences between human populations from different parts of the world. This book makes a very clear statement of what is now mainstream science, though unfortunately it may be difficult to understand for readers without sufficient scientific background. What makes this book especially remarkable is its expert weaving of a tale involving the history of research in this area with the parallel history of social concepts of race. Given the importance of its topic in the world today, this book should be more widely publicized.

This isn't a particularly bad book to read, there are worse, but I agree with a previous reviewer in that there's not much new. You can get that same messages by going right to the source, the Bible, or attending sermons by a good minister. So my recommendation is go to church! This book also has an annoying quality that is common to many modern religious "spiritual" texts, which is the practice of cramming all sorts of oriental philosophy into western religious themes. Maybe just a pet peeve of mine but it's been going on since the 60s and there are books that haven't been adulterated in this way, see Billy Graham's writing for the best example.

One very popular view of things--a "secular view" to give it a name--is that things just happen to you in life with no rhyme or reason. Thus, you just happen to be reading this review of The Road to Damascus, just as you just happened to have been conceived, born, are now alive, etc..

That secular view will not survive a careful reading of this book. It will prove to you that nothing ever just happens to you. It will puncture the secular superstition that you are just a chip-in-a-stream, carried along by chance, unnoticed, uncared for, unloved. Once read, you will understand, perhaps for the first time, an exhilarating truth, namely, that it is time for you to shed the secular skin that has bound you in a tight embrace of being just one of billions of your species and essentially anonymous, literally nameless.

Yet, you do have a name! And if you listen carefully to yourself, that name is the bedrock of your consciousness and personal identity. It is the name "I am."

No one can say it for you, or take it from you! It is so real a name that it is yours forever, beyond death, possessed by you outside of time!

You are an "I." That is who you are and, if this is enough for God, it surely must be enough for you!

Well, is it enough for God? Read the book of the Exodus, 3:14. Do something to escalate your sense of being a somebody. An "I."

Joseph Pierre has crossed your path with this book of his. He wrote it for you personally. Don't miss your chance, your golden opportunity to credit yourself as the unique miracle that you represent and are. It's a sweat to read it, but Joseph Pierre has done most of the work for you already. He has put you on "cruise control." All you have to do is enjoy the fascinating ride!

John Cantwell Kiley, M.D., Ph.D., is a beneficiary of what Joseph Pierre knows. He is the author of some ten books, the latest being the forthcoming (in November, 1999) book, "Is the Pope Catholic?"

I feel that the author has acquired a superior grasp of many fundamental aspects of science and philosophy. His book is well written and conveys a message to readers that they should trust their own faculties of reasoning, rather than accept the teachings of "authorities" just because such opinions reflect a popular point of view. I recommend it to all who would seek a more realistic perspective.

I wanted to like this book. Whatever its aesthetic merits, "elevator music" and its cognates -- easy-listening, Muzac, mood music, etc. -- have been such a pervasive phenomenon that the subject deserves serious investigation. Unfortunately, Lanza wants to extend his case beyond the seriousness of the subject to arguing that elevator music deserves to be regarded as serious music.

Maybe someone out there is capable of sustaining that argument; Lanza can't. For starters, his grip on other forms of music that many of us do take seriously (such as classical, jazz and rock) is shakey at best. What do you make of an author who describes the jazz trumpeter Bobby Hackett's stints with Muzak as a departure from "improvisation dementia"? In addition to being a broad and inaccurate swipe at jazz, the comment demonstrates complete ignorance of Hackett, a musician famed for his golden tone and smooth, melodic interpretations of Dixieland and popular songs.

Or consider the following regarding easy-listening interpretations of famous rock songs: "Many from Bob Dylan, the Doors, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Mamas and the Papas, R.E.M., the B-52s, U2, and Van Morrison have been refurbished from loud, plodding, adolescent thunder to something tasteful, airy, and mystical." Dylan, adolescent? Van Morrison, plodding? The Mamas and the Papas, loud? But the root problem -- and authorial prejudice -- is in his assignment of the adjectives "tasteful, airy, and mystical" to music that's best described as bland, flat, and deliberately unengaging.

"Mystical," is a term Lanza frequently applies to elevator music. Bottom line: he cannot distinguish the amniotic state of neutered consciousness that Muzak acheives from the genuine achievement of goodness, truth and beauty that can be enjoyed in better music, whether it be folk, rock, jazz or classical.

In the end, Lanza's posture shifts from being one that provokes curiousity to one that seems downright perverse. Lanza concludes his book with a sympathetic reading of the "emotional engineers" in Huxley's "Brave New World." As I read Lanza's praise of the artificial ("most of us, in our hearts, want a world tailored by Walt Disney's 'imagineers'") I couldn't help but think of George Orwell and the sad conclusion to "1984" in which the hero, numbed by falsehood, confesses his love for Big Brother.

Despite the fact that this book is endorsed (on the back cover) by no less than Wendy Carlos (a fairly well-known composer and musical traditionalist), and despite the fact that I personally like a lot of "easy listening" type music, Lanza still fails here in his attempt to write a good book.

Part of the problem, in my opinion, is that there really is no definable genre that could be called "moodsong." All music creates a mood of some sort, when it comes right down to it (whether by accident or design, what's the real difference?). And Lanza does a poor job of covering the history of the Muzak Corp. or any specific area of "easy listening" (all are drastically short-shrifted in a mere 233 pages). In defining the genre, it seems Lanza defined it too broadly -- it would take a thousand pages at least to really do justice to the material he covers -- not to mention, a lot more in-depth research than he apparently did or was willing to do.

What's more, his speculative arguments fail to convince me... I do enjoy most of the music (aesthetically) and am not ashamed to say so, but it's my right-brain, emotional side that likes it. Lanza's attempts to analyze or 'justify' easy-listening and mood music in general fall flat, and his utopian speculation just ends up sounding silly and contrived. I agree with most of the points the previous reviewer made.

Lanza's exploration of elevator music, easy listening and all things moodsong is the definitive book for anyone who has an interest in a very misunderstood genre. As someone very close to the Easy Listening and Mood Music programming that quietly ruled FM radio for much of the 70's, let me tell you... Joseph Lanza nails his subject matter impressively. Whether you consider yourself a Percy Faith, Roger Williams or Mantovani fan... or are just curious about these plush, melodic sounds, "Elevator Music: A Surreal History Of Muzak, Easy Listening and Other Moodsong" makes for enjoyable reading. This isn't a book that seeks to cash in on what someone recently decided to call lounge music but an evenhanded evaluation of fascinating, mostly instrumental adult pop music with melodies that always lingered on.

The first few pages almost turned me off because I thought it was a run-of-the mill mystery. But then, after leafing through the proceeding pages, I got a glimpse of Kafkaesque characters in the two stupid cops, who are arguing, philosophically and pathetically, whether the dead man, Tommy Reynolds, was already dead before one of them shot him. I got hooked. I couldn't stop turning the pages until I got acquianted with a network of psychotics and maniacs. Although each author kills more people in every succeeding chapter, the taste of violence is somehow offset by the authors' wits and creativity that revealed the authors' intention to turn Yeats is Dead into a literary piece rather than an ordinary mystery. In Yeats is dead, 15 Irish authors created their dream world, where every living person is a literati. Consider these: a garbage collector, who reveals his aversion to the language of Mills and Boon; a cop who writes poetry; some drunken old bums and a bimbo who can appreciate the value of James Joyce's missing manuscripts; and crime bosses who can enumerate a long list of Irish authors. This is a wild and fun read!

Fifteen Irish writers take their turn (one chapter each) at ratcheting up the silliness while developing a story centered on the discovery of James Joyce's final unpublished work. Organized crime, organized crime fighters, and Irish society in general take on a generous helping of ribbing while each author does his or her best to out do the previous. What is funny is how many of the authors take what was written before and then throw in a bizarre twist. Or just simply kill off a character nurtured and developed by a previous writer. One poor soul about halfway through makes some attempt at stabilizing the story, only to be completely blown out of the water by the next. And yet at the same time, a couple of gags presented near the beginning of the book find their way into every chapter up to the end.

All in all it is a very fun collection of work, and edifying as well in the sense that the reader may find a new author or two to try out after putting this one down. Because of the nature of this type of work, naturally the writing styles and quality vary greatly from one chapter to the next. This fact in itself will disturb the reader that attempts to take the novel too seriously. Although why this feat is even attempted when you are reading about a ginger haired young Irishman who likes to speak in American ghetto slang is beyond me.

I was recommended this book by amazon.com. I just can't recall why, but I had it put on my wish list when my brother decided to give it to me for a birthday gift last summer. After going through a long horrendous, yet exciting read of another Irishman John Connolly's "Every Dead Thing", I welcomed the change to the light hearted when my fiance thought it would be cool to go ahead with a story as witty as this one. Witty is one thing, but there were some parts that was truly laugh out loud.(...)

Yeats is Dead is a story without being a story itself. Written loosley by 15 Irish authors just out there to have some good old fashioned fun. Theyd o an excellent job with the idea and all, but fall extrememly short when it comes to ending the whole story. Under each author, the characters just seem to be suffering from some sort of schizophrenia with their feeling jumping from one point to another. It's just unbelievable to conceive, unbeliveable to believe, but truly enjoyable to go through it along through the end.

The book is an excellent read at just any setting. The beauty of it being not truly knowing how the tory is going to twist and turn so that you come out with the final chapter. I think Frank McCourt just didn't know what to do with it and hastily ended it. All in all, this is a funny book that deserves all the attention. You just love reading an Irishman's (or woman) tale. When they're drunk and in the tell tale mode they're funny and when they're sober, you still can't take anything they say seriously. And that's exactly how it is with this very one book.