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Moreover, the complexity of his stories with their psychologically compelling narratives make Porat's fiction eminently viable to our dangerous modern age. Running the gamut from soldiers to deceivers, false messiahs to ghosts, Porat is more than suited to the intricate themes he handles, bringing readers into unseen worlds, allowing them to view life from expanded parameters. There is nothing predictable in his plots.
Elisha Porat is an enthralling writer, and the haunting portrayals one finds in his fiction also run throughout his equally excellent poetry. He deserves a much wider reading, to be on the forefront of literature, not relegated to the background, underground, or some musty bookshelf in a university. His literature is the kind that will endure. Alan Sacks has done English readers a great service through this high-quality translation. Porat comes with my highest recommendation.
In sum, brevitatis causa, Porat's collection of stories is engaging, poignant, sensitive, thought-provoking writing.
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During a terrorist hijacking at a nuclear plant news photographer Michael Moran suffers a debilitating headache and mutters a word he sees from the wrong side of a glass door. And is transformed.
But people don't know what to make of a man who is invulnerable and can fly, and that includes Moran's wife. She asks why she'd never heard of MiracleMan and his now-remembered superfriends, and he has no answer. And the truth of the matter is world-shaking, literally.
This is just an outstanding book. The series hit a very dark spot in a later volume, one which I found personally distasteful, and it seemed to lose its focus by the time Neil Gaiman took it over; unfortunately it was never finished. Nonetheless, an excellent and enduring deconstruction of the idea of the superhero.
I'd recommend Moore's "V for Vendetta" to those who like this book.
One point: the graphic novel edition (the one that I have anyway), is missing several pages which were included at the beginning of the original comic. The comic began with a deliberately cheesy Captain Marvel-style story about time travel, but suddenly froze at the end of the story and zoomed in on MiracleMan's face, panel by panel. "Behold I teach you the superman: he is this lightning, he is this madness!" -Nietzsche, "Thus Spoke Zarathustra". The next page was the beginning of the graphic novel, with a far more realistic art and writing style. A very effective demonstration of what Moore planned to do to the cliches of the superhero genre. I don't know why it was eliminated.
Of course Miracleman (Marvelman in England) is the British version of Captain Marvel. In reincarnating him, Alan Moore (as is his want) completely reinvents him for a new age. Miracleman is 'aufgehobened' for a new era. For me, the best superhero comics like this, The Watchmen, and Marvels, try to portray their larger-than-life heroes as realistically as possible and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, put them in the real world, populated by real people, with real consequences for their actions. In Mike Moran's universe, Superman is well-known...as a comic book character. When Miracleman bursts onto the scene (literally) we imagine what it would be like if a super-hero really appeared in our world. But then, the adventure begins...
His hero isn't some rock-jawed alien or identity disassociative with a predilection for flying rodents. He's a normal person, and Moore doesn't forget this for a second; when Moran, or Miracleman, is being laughed at by his wife (obviously the voice of Moore in this instance) as he describes his absurd past as a superhero, he shatters a table in frustration.
This book, along with it successive volumes The Red King Syndrome and Olympus, are Moore's legacy to the world of the super hero. Neil Gaiman ties up the package nicely with The Golden Age. In the end, you're left with a lot more questions than answers...but then, that's the point, now isn't it?
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This is THE classic on jazz music and writing. Crazy stories, crazy times, with the unbelievable spinner of tales Jelly Roll holding the floor. Lomax could have just printed Jelly's comments verbatim and this would've been great, but he went to the trouble of tracking down a bunch of people who knew Jelly or were otherwise around New Orleans in the early daze, and this added detail spices the pot considerably. Alan Lomax's own commentary and observations are witty, charming, and spot on.
This edition is made definitive by a scholarly afterword bringing the reader fully up-to-date on modern Jelly Roll research. Quite a few pertinent details are now known that weren't when Lomax was writing this.
Up there with Mezz Mezzrow's "Really the Blues" as essential an text in the American music pantheon.
Written with flair and never boring, Mr. Jelly Roll is a book that you will read more than once. Its a look at a legend and a glimpse into a world we can only know of through books and music. Get this if you want a good read and a look at Mr. Morton's life. A true classic.
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I have read many financial books including the Rich Dad/ Poor Dad series and "The Millionaire Next Door" by Stanley, and this book blows them all out of the water.
Trust me: This book is one of the better kept financial secrets. Its too bad these authors don't promote it more because it is fabulous. If there is any one financial book that you should read and give to your children, this one is it!
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In contrast to the traditional view, Prof. Schwartz presents a convincing and extremely well written case that President Johnson successfully guided American foreign policy towards Europe. The book tells a story of a talented power politician whose astute understanding of his allies and foes domestic political environments, enabled him to hold NATO and the Atlantic Alliance together, while maintaining a viable global economic system and effectively moving towards détente with the Soviet Union.
The book weaves together the complexities of Johnson's personality and the dynamics of his inherited administration into a compelling and clear historical narrative shedding new light on the usual uninspiring vision of the president.
The book attempts to break away from the Vietnam bias of historical accounts of Johnson's foreign policy. However even for someone interested in Vietnam, this book provides many missing pieces of the puzzle and clarity of insight into the functioning of the Johnson Administration's foreign policy that are invaluable in understanding the era.
Well worth the read!
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