I meet the author of this very moving story, in a small horse pasture, in southern Alabama, where we landed our Huey helicopter there in October 2002. We were there to interview John for the documentary film about the Vietnam experience called "In The Shadow of The Blade". It was there that I found a true real life hero. A man of great courage and great faith. I have found his life story to be both a spiritual, as well as historic look at who he was and who he has become. This is a must read for anyone wishing to go deeper into the understanding of the war and how it changed lives forever. John is a mountain of a soul and reading his book will inspire you. I do not think anyone can come away from the reading of his book without gaining much more respect for those men who "danced with the devil" in so many hot LZs in Vietnam. He fought the good fight and and paid the price with the loss of his leg - but he gained so much more heart and soul! This is a must read! I highly recommend it.

This book is full of emotion! A true Southern Gentleman from the heart. Many men faced the same tragedies, some are better for it and some not. Thanks to Mr. Givhan's southern heritage, he was and is able to cope with the emotions that I am sure he deals with on a day to day basis. The friendship that was concived and the ones that still exist are basied on the family values he has! This comes from a southern heritage, hard work and LOVE from family! This war took from us many special people, and left some here to deal with the TRUTHS that have finally been uncovered all these years! Our Government asked these young men to put their lives on the line for a cause, that I am not sure, was a CAUSE! The cover ups and lies that have been uncovered only make me wonder more about our Government! This book is well worth your time in reading. It made me more aware of this "war". It has stirred up a inquisiviness that I find has me thirsting for more knowledge about this "war", and it also let me know that there is still a "TRUE SOUTHERN GENTLEMAN" living in the south.

This story of one man's journey through life focusing especially on relationships and bonding during war time and the lasting effects this period had on his life moved me emotionally more than once. I learned more about men and war from this book than from my husband who also served in VietNam. I imagine many men and women can relate to this story though not many could tell the story the way John Givhan has. It has humor. It has warmth. It has love. This man searched deep to relate his experiences and it tells the story from an angle only those who have been there could know. But he made me see it all so vividly in my mind and heart. The story does not end when he left VietNam. It continues on to the years and discoveries he made about what really happened to him the day he was hit in a helicopter on a mission in VietNam. Intermixed with his experiences of the war are his experiences of his youth. They could be the memories of anyone's youth but these are his stories of how he grew up and it just happens to be in the south. This is a book on war but also a book on what war has done to this man and to families all over the world.

Dollar Cotton, written by John Faulkner, is by far the best depiction of the life and times in the flat, "black dirt", alluvial fan known as the Mississippi Delta during the era when "cotton was king". The book is an excellent read for anyone, but will hold a distinct fascination for those who are familiar with the south in general and the "Delta" in particular.

Otis Town is not Faulkner creation, as stated on the book's back cover, but rather a composite of men who came to the Delta from the hills of Tennessee and Mississippi and carved an empire out of a virtual wilderness. Having grown up in the "Delta" I have known several "old man Towns", one of them being my father. Each and every anecdote mentioned by Faulkner happened in the "Delta", not necessarily to one man, but they all happened. Faulkner describes perfectly the habits and mind-set of the black and white inhabitants of both the "Delta" and the "Hills".

Dollar Cotton is a must for anyone interested in life in the rural south.

Initially, John Faulkner was heading toward being the "writing Faulkner.' Although clearly eclipsed by his brother's fame, John is a fine writer and stylist in his own right. John has his own voice and own style, even if the heavy influence of the Faulkner family and the Mississippi delta can be clearly heard. This book, althoug essential reading for any student of William Faulkner interested in the family and its history, stands firmly on its own feet. Highly recommended.

Hannah Duston is captured by marauding Indians in Massachusetts along with several children and nanny. She ultimately escapes and kills her captors, scalping them as proof of her story. She finds her way back home and receives 50 pounds from the government as reward for killing the Indians. Early Massachusetts was settled by Puritans. They forbade any "modern romance pulp fiction" stories, but stories concerning Indian capture was allowed and widely read. This narrative was particularly famous and commanded separate writings by 4 famous writers including Cotton Mather and HD Thoreau. The Narrative is most enjoyable as each writer has a different set of facts and writing style. My favorite is by Thoreau, but then I am a big fan of Walden and Civil Disobedience.

A lovely ramble with a fascinating old gentleman, quaint, charming, sunny and a true picture of one aspect of a bygone age and of the way our great-great grandfathers talked and lived. The fishing lore and natural history are hopelessly out of date but who cares? Has been in print for centuries and deservedly so.

I would like to start off by saying that I know precious little about Clarence Jordan. I found his "Cotton Patch" translation of the New Testament at my university library about 8 years ago, and the book made a definite impression on me. I don't know if Rev. Jordan would be happy with my understanding of his work, but I love it, and am happy to own a copy, and am happy to share with you the thoughts inspired in me by this amazing work.

I don't think that the point of the Cotton Patch translation was to provide yet-another translation of the New Testament. Rev. Jordan was a scholar of NT Greek, and undoubtedly, he knew a lot about the NT. Rather, this work is a photomontage or imposition of images from the New Testament re-created and re-enacted in Gainesville, Georgia, where Governor Herod is seeking to kill the Baby Jesus; Where John the Baptist, "dressed in blue jeans and a leather jacket", "living on corn bread and collard greens" is baptizing Protestants and Catholics in the waters of the Chattahoochee river... You can't help but smile.

But what is this place? Where is this place? What is happening here? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us "For instance, when you make a gift to charity, don't make a lot of noise about it, like the phonies do at church and at civic clubs... The truth is, such praise is all they'll get out of it." Fair enough, but "Church and civic clubs" ?? This isn't even close to being a translation! That a scholar of NT Greek should translate the Sermon on the Mount like that is proof positive that he had something in mind other than providing a translation.

And the Gospel unfolds, and there is no mystery to it, except the mystery of how we could all be so blind: [John, chapter 8]

"But we are blue-blooded white folks, and have never been anybody's slave. Why then are you telling us, 'You'll be liberated'?" Jesus answered, "Everyone who is addicted to sin is sin's slave." ... "Our father was the original white man," they retorted. "If indeed you are sons of the original white man, you would act like it. But here you are trying to lynch me, a man who has told you the truth that I got from the Father. A really good white man would never stoop to that. Yes, you're behaving like your father's children all right."

And now the mystery is revealed, if there ever was any mystery in the first place: The Cotton Patch books are about racism and Christianity, and by extension, racism and religion: Is there room for racism in the Church? Can racists be considered "the children of God" ? I think that to most people living today, the question must seem trivial, but "back then," when the book was written, some time in the 1950's, there were many white seperatists that were comfortable with and saw no contradiction between their racism and with their religion. The Cotton Patch "translations" are Rev. Jordan's way of arguing that there is no room for racism within the Church. Rev. Jordan's argument isn't a theological one, probably because the point isn't worth arguing theologically, and because Rev. Jordan's works seem to have been grounded in practical, everyday human life: Rev. Jordan argues his point by super-imposing New Testament characters -- Jesus, Mary, John the Baptist, Herod, and others, on modern day self-righteous and self-contented racism and bigotry in American society, and he trusts our good judgement to see the screeching, dissonant absurdity of it.

The mystery isn't a very big or complex one, but it is a worthy point that Rev. Jordan is making, and his words are simple and eloquent and beautiful. Besides, we live long after St. John cried out at the end of the book of Revelation, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus". If you ever feel as if the events of the NT happened way too long ago, be confident and happy that the Voice still cries in the Wilderness, and John the Baptist is still baptizing the children of God in the Chattahoochee river. :)

This book is a very interesting short explanation of the processes involved in making blue jeans. It uses simple words, but is not a dumbed-down narrative. It's great for that budding process engineer in your household - the one whose favorite question isn't "Why?", but "How?"

The book is illustrated with a variety of stock photographs, many with children as the focal point. This helps grab and maintain youngsters' interest.

Since blue jeans are a common item in most kids' lives, this overview of where they come from can serve as a springboard for many interesting discussions of where other everyday things come from.

The book does contain some unfamiliar words, but at about one sentence per page, the book will not frustrate newer readers - probably 2nd grade level or advanced 1st grade level. It's also a great book for reading to younger kids.

Highly recommended.

I have my personal copy of Land of Cotton cookbook and having found it to contain very good and easy recipes. Have never been disappointed yet. I highly recommend it. I often give it as gifts.

I bought this little treasure just to understand the thinking of my ancestors.

Good, fun stuff.

This little book was a standard primer from the seventeenth through the eighteenth century in America. It teaches reading and vocabulary based on Biblical and theological facts. My children love it.

Its theology is reformed theology, with which I am often in disagreement, however it provides an excellent basis for imparting Biblical values while teaching children to read.

For over one hundred years this book has been the basic textbook for new readers in America. Most of America's heros most likely learned to read using this book. Isn't it a shame that today it is against the law to use this textbook because of the quotes from the Bible. All parents should keep a copy of this book in their possession to remind them of the roots by which we have all come!

Cotton Bowl Days" is the story of the EARLY Dallas Cowboys, well before the franchise became known as "Americas Team". We read how they suffered as an expansion team during those early seasons in the distinctly unglamorous, blue collar, beloved, inner city Cotton Bowl. Cowboy fans will remember the guys from the early days: Billy Howton, Don McIlhenny, L.G. Dupre and a "messenger quarterback" system featuring veteran Eddie Le Baron and, fresh from the SMU campus, Don Meredith. Of particular interest is the early 60s battle between the NFL Cowboys and the AFL Dallas Texans (now the Kansas City Chiefs) for the limited supply of local football fans. We suffer as the new franchise struggles. It proceeds to suffer the double edged sword blessing of attaining success in the late 60s, only to lose 2 NFL Championship Games to the Green Bay Packers, 2 Eastern Division Titles to the Cleveland Browns, and Super Bowl 5 to the Baltimore Colts. In the course of the 1971 season, the franchise moves to the distinctly more upscale Texas Stadium- with prices to match- and finally wins a big one, Super Bowl 6. "CBD" ends here, with the albatross of "losers" removed. The author, a Dallas native, is plainly dismissive of yuppified Texas Stadium and its, unrowdy, sedate, suburban fans. They probably drank white wine instead of Lone Star! Any New Yorker who remembers the old Madison Square Garden on 8th Avenue will identify. "CBD" is fine as far as it goes, but contains a few weak points: There are too many tales of the Eisenberg family. The narrative often has the feel of newspaper clippings accurately and timely researched but coldly strung together. I would have enjoyed reading where more of the early guys are today. Eisenberg's failure to secure an interview with Don Meredith, or to even mention his Monday Night Football Days, is a huge minus. The author also fails to cover the arrest of receiver Bob Hayes. What happened to him in the joint? Does the author care? Could one write of the Kennedy Administration and leave out Jackie and Robert? This reviewer could still honestly recommend "CBD" to a limited audience of football junkies, those who crave sports tales from the 60s, and most natives of "Big D". For them, there is much tradition between the pages of "CBD". Others should think twice. The author, now a Baltimore native, may have proven that you can't go home again. His forthcoming history on the Baltimore Orioles may be more to his calling.

I was never a Dallas Cowboys fan. I'm too young to remember the 1960s and the Cowboys playing in the Cotton Bowl. The superior, upper-crust image they took on after moving to the posh and expensive Texas Stadium in 1971 is what brought on the America's Team moniker, and which has caused so many fans to hate the Cowboys. But I wish I'd been around in the '60s because the 'Boys of those years were a team of real men, a blue-collar, hard-scrabble, hard-luck team.

Eisenberg does an excellent job detailing the formation and early years of the Dallas Cowboys. I especially found interesting the three-year inner-city battle against the AFL's Texans, as well as the impact of JFK's assassination to the psyche of the city. His interviews with former players and fans also gives a good feel of what the team and the fans experienced.

Eisenberg does focus a bit too much on his own personal and family experiences, in my opinion, which hurts the flow and continuity of the story, but that's the only knock I have against the book. It's definitely recommended reading for fans of football during the Golden Age of pro football when players and fans could relate to each other so much better than today.

Hard as it is for me, Mr. Cowboy-hater, to admit it, this was an absolute joy to read. Much of the book comes across as Eisenberg's autobiography, but his writing skill and journalist's eye combine to provide a wonderful insight into the Cowboys-and the NFL-of the 1960s, as well as what it was like to be a fan.

For those who mourn the passing of pro football's greatest decade, and weep over what the game has now become, this is an easy book to warm to, one of the best I have ever read.

Participatory management is a system of industrial relations purporting to involve employees in workplace decisionmaking. In its various guises, such as quality circles, self-directed work teams, and the like, participatory management has been adopted by thousands of U.S. corporations. It is widely endorsed by business leaders, academics, politicians, and even some union leaders. Yet despite a mountain of book and articles on the topic, participatory management also remains poorly understood.

The literature remains disappointingly vague when it comes to explaining how and why employee involvement has beneficial results. At the risk of being flippant, one can summarize much of the literature as follows: Participating employees are happy employees and happy employees are productive employees. Ergo, participating employees are productive employees. Unfortunately for the conventionally wise, the evidence simply does not support this claim. To be sure, there is some evidence that participatory management has positive productivity effects. But the evidence is highly tenuous and far from conclusive. Lots of interesting questions are still unanswered by any study, let alone a methodologically sound one. As to those questions that have been addressed, studies differ radically in their specification and measurement of dependent and independent variables. Methodologies differ widely ranging from collections of anecdotes that scarcely rise above the level of testimonial to rigorous econometric studies. Even as to methodologically rigorous studies, there is good reason to doubt the quality of the data sets. Failures tend to be under-reported. Hidden costs are ignored. Many data sets are inherently subject to a selection bias to the extent that they focus on firms that have adopted participatory management. Such firms are a self-selected group, whose predispositions may affect the success of participatory management.

John Cotton's "Employee Involvement" is a comprehensive review of the literature that is fair, intellectually rigorous and honest. Cotton summarizes the empirical work through the mid-1990s as reaching conclusions that are all over the map, ranging from finding no benefit to inconclusive results to finding substantial gains. Usefully, while he provides an overview of the entire field, Cotton focuses his analysis by dividing the universe of employee involvement programs into 7 distinct forms. Each form is described, both generically and with an illustrative anecdotal example, which is followed by a careful summary of the empirical literature. In the last chapter, Cotton draws some appropriately cautious conclusions. One conclusion that I think is indisputable is the importance of firm culture. Employee involvement programs vary a lot, and a key determinant of their success is the culture of the firm. Neither firms nor workers are homogeneous and programs that work well for one will flop at another. Because managers often approach employee involvement programs the way teenagers approach the latest fad, Cotton's analysis provides a useful cautionary tale.