This was a very informative, readable book. Wishes I have though are for pictures and descriptions of philosophical/theological differences between the different Hasidic courts. I think there was too much about various conflicts between the rival groups.

Jerome R. Mintz is a Hasidic scholar that speaks of the real life experiences that the Hasidic community has encountered since arriving in the United States. While he focuses mostly on the positive traits and achievements of the Hasidic community, he also challenges their identity and exposes the dark clouds that have plagued the community and have made it so insular - a world of its own.

It is uplifting and inspiring, a researcher's guide to the ethnography of the Hasidic community. Mintz makes clear distinctions between the different Hasidic dynasties and describes their place in "the New World."

Although the subject matter of "Hasidic People" is comparable to several other books outlining Hasidic life in the United States, notably Robert Eisenberg's "Boychicks in the Hood; Travels to the Hasidic Underground", it is written in a more scholarly tone and from an insider's perspective. This allows for a deeper understanding and appreciation of the life of the Hasidim.

I ordered this book along with, "Police Officer Exam California : The Complete Preparation Guide (Learning Express Law Enforcement Series. California)," for my brother as he was taking the test to enter the academy. I must say that he did pass his test with help from these books, but it took him a couple tries, and I don't think this book accurately prepared him for testing. But it did help a little. I would say that these a generous three stars.

Most of the stuff in this book is some of the things you would hear from a law enforcement officer, like I do (dad is a cop and I will be the 1st female in the family). This book is pretty good if your want to see what a real exam will look like. It also give alot of tips for you application and interviews. It tells you what your training will probably be, and gives you tips on how to do some physical training, with alot more information on other things. So, if your getting into law enforcement, I can say this is a right book to get. But if you know a police officer asks them for some insight on the field, too.

AND FOR ALL THE WOMEN OUT THERE IF IT'S YOUR DREAM OR THIS IS THE PROFESSION YOU WANT TO GO IN TO I COMEND YOU, FOR I AM A WOMAN, AND I BELIEVE IF YOU FEMALE OR MALE GO FOR YOUR DREAMS AND THE THINGS YOU WANT IN LIFE!!!!!!!!!!

Mostly bereft of scenery or any notice of local lifeways, hardly a travel book at all, Hindoo Holiday strikes me as being a vicious portrait of his host and benefactor, a maharajah who, like Ackerley, was on the self-defeating quest for the devotion of an Ideal Friend, and, like Ackerley, looking in all the wrong places for love. Ackerley's book is condescending to Indians in the colonial British manner that was abhorrent to Foster both in his time in India and in his masterpiece A Passage to India, Hindoo Holiday is notable for a lack of empathy on Ackerley's part, but, then, in his entire oeuvre, it is only the irritations and heartbreaks of his surrogates that matter. Ackerley was far too solipsistic to be a novelist.

E. M. Forster, whom Ackerley emulated in going to India in the 20s to work as private secretary for a maharajah, has a character in A PASSAGE TO INDIA named Miss Derek, who is private secretary to a rani and who "regarded the entire peninsula as if it were a comic opera." That basically describes the attitude Ackerley adopts in HINDOO HOLIDAY, which treats an indian princely styate as if it were wildly wacky. No doubt that might have been true to Ackerley when he visited in the 20s, but this book's humor has worn somewhat over the years and seems at times a bit condescending. What has remained interesting and vital are Ackerley's observations about Indian (particularly Hindu) customs and manners, and his deft sensitivity and understatement in his portrayal of the maharajah's (and his own) homoerotic desires: Ackerley's keen observational intelligence, fortunately, outweighs the dated cross-cultural comic aspects of the narrative. While this isn;t nearly at the level of one of his later works like MY FATHER AND MYSELF, it's an intriguing read for anyone interested in India during the raj or early 20th-century homosexuality.

This is one of those books that I will always keep by my bed as a reminder not to take myself too seriously in any capacity. I found this a terribly funny book, mostly becuase it rang so true. Ackerley is fabulous company, shockingly observant and brutally honest, even when it plunges him into bad light. We tip-toe so carefully around so many of the subjects he faces head on - racism, homosexuality, class and privilege. He doesn't flinch.

I'm surprised this travesty is still in print. "Not in McLuhan's style" is a kind understatement; Powers demonstrates flagrant misunderstanding and confusion of basic McLuhanesque ideas. Try 'Laws of Media' or 'Understanding Electric Language' instead.

This book is for the McLuhan enthusiast who would like to figure out the ground on which McLuhan stands. It is chock full of McLuhan's ideas, but not presented in McLuhan's typical style. Published 9 years after McLuhan's death, it seems likely that co-author Bruce Powers assembled the material for publication.

If you are not already very familiar with McLuhan's thoughts and earlier writings, this book is not for you. If you are already very familiar with McLuhan's words, you won't find anything new, but you will find some of McLuhan's basic ideas amplified and extrapolated.

Essentially an essential book for the McLuhanite.

Powers says that this book is not about "final answers." By God he's right! And he proceeds to effloresce a wondrous garden wrought of the print medium brimming over with fresh probes, "osmic space," brains "astonied," the secret lives of "sense ratios," and other electrific, outsized insights and invitations into the futurepresent. One could readily argue and effectively so that "The Global Village..." is indeed a worthy extension of the medium of Professor McLuhan himself, ringing true and resonating orchestrally with the spirit and vivacity of that bright, iridescent, warm and radiant bulb which, tragically, went out suddenly and left us in darkness on New Year's Eve, 1980.

Feed forward 9 years. Powers'/McLuhan's "tetrad" is a mesmerizingly rich metaphor lending clarity and intensity to McLuhan's seminal 1964 probicon, "Understanding Media--The Extensions of Man." This "new" 1989 book is a MUST-read, a reverent continuance of McLuhan's oeuvre, a virtual channeling of his spirit, and in various ways easier to grasp perhaps, more accessible even, than the monumentally revolutionary/visionary UMTEOM.

The beauty of McLuhan and by protraction Dr. Bruce Powers here is that these men are not pedants but facilitators. Their goal, much like that of Carl Rogers or George B. Leonard or Joseph Campbell, is not to pound stuff into brainpans, but to gently yet insistently open up minds to possibilities, perils, challenges, potentialities and joys imperative in the present reality/"reelity?" or whatever one wishes to term the agardish within which each of us swims, breathes, eats, creates, dances, defecates, procreates and seethes.

If McLuhan is the sorcerer, Bruce Powers is his worthy apprentice, now successor. In fact he veritably invites all of us to be successors (McLuhanatics?), to become involved (the essential definition of "cool"). This book is exciting, invigorating, pulsating, intensely involving and above all, highly rewarding. We need more extensions of McLuhan like this one. This is a superb nonbook, a hybrid medium, and a seamless read. TGV will get your probing juices flowing. It's as revitalizing as pure MDMA (as far as "the mdma is the message" goes). Buy this deceptively modest paperback, and step into it like a hot bath.

This pioneering study suffers from the absence of a clear thesis, although it seems obvious that Cross wished to challenge Turner's frontier thesis as applied to antebellum reform. Investigating the social, economic, and intellectual currents of antebellum western New York, he argues that settlers on the primitive frontier did not have time to engage in religious and reform enthusiasms. Only with the coming prosperity did settlers divert their attention to these matters. Moreover, the New England heritage of the "Yorker" settlers greatly influenced their openness to the revivals. Despite some flaws in the work, his correction to the frontier thesis was convincing, but I believe that his greatest contribution to the scholarship was his demonstration than meaningful investigations into the reformer's mind were possible. Cross was one of several students of the great Arthur Schlesinger Sr. who criticized the frontier thesis: for others, see Timothy Smith's Revivalism and Social Reform (1957) and Charles Foster's Errand of Mercy (1960). Students of antebellum reform looking for community studies may wish to try the more recent Shopkeeper's Millennium (1978) by Paul Johnson or The Democratic Dilemma (1987) by Randolph Roth.

As a collector of the Dover series of books on NY through the ages, it seems to me that the closer we get to our present time the less interesting the city seems to appear. It maybe because having been in NY on many occasions, the very modern era seems so familiar with nothing new on an architectural or cultural point of view. Maybe that's too unfair. It could be that it is amazing to compare today and what was there at the turn of the 1800/1900s. The change is so obvious, whereas , apart from the clothes, NY seems to be the same as 30/40 years ago.

We have been searching for a guide to wildflowers specifically for New York State and this is the first such book we have found. While it does show and describe at least 350 varieties, we have found 2 wildflowers so far on our own property that do not seem to be in this book. The color photos show the flowers of the plant clearly but we feel that there should have been more effort to include the leaves of the plant in the photo or a pencil and ink drawing of the leaf next to the photo. The written description of each plant inlcudes a description, i.e. basal, etc. of the leaf and the plant growth but this is rather difficult to understand where a photo or drawing would have been easier.

"War of the Godfather's" is not that bad of a book. Roemer does write a great story in the first half of the book, it is filled with action and suspense. The last half of the book is the weak part of it. Roemer constantly pats himself and the other agents on the back, only to get egg on their faces when the Chicago boss, Accardo, walks. By mixing fact with fiction, it does give a good story, thats what is missing in the last half.

Have to agree with Lars: Accardo is by far the most powerful mob boss in the history of this country. Where the New York mob was split and disorganized and ran a relatively small part of the country, Accardo and the outfit ran practically every other area, not just Chicago, but LA to Vegas to Kansas City and most points in between. The fact Accardo never spent a night in prison is enough to show you how good he was at what he did. Of course, Bonanno was small potatoes compared to the other NY Godfathers, so we'll never be able to tell who would have won a "real" war.

What does a Canadian know about the Chicago Outfit? Accardo was the Godfather of all Godfathers. He ran Chicago for half-a-century, without splitting power like the NY families, and then ran Vegas, too.

I am rather ambivalent about the graphic format, so perhaps I was destined to feel disappointed in this book. But after reading this incredibly short work -- I am left mostly with a feeling of confusion. Who is this work aimed at, what was it trying to convey ?

The blurbs and the introduction talk about the idea that Delany is presenting a radical or even revolutionary idea: love with a dirty, homeless man. Yet the ideas presented are familiar territory to any Delany reader who has read his more provocative works. The truth in Bread and Wine is a tame, cleaned-up version of the harrowing fiction presented in both Hogg and the Mad Man. There is also not much new material introduced for those who have read his autobiography, and any of his autobiographical short stories. We learn almost nothing more of Delany the man, or Delany the writer. Although it has been written in Salon that Delany has become an exhibitionist by sharing so much, he appears to be using exhibitionism in place of true sharing or self-revelation. This work is much closer to the clam-like Heavenly Breakfast than it is to the self-revelation found in Motion of Light and Water. With Delany so closed up, the work suffers from a lack of emotion regarding Delany as a character, and as the other half of the relationship. If Delany is unwilling to share -- why tell such an intimate tale ?

If you are new to Delany as a writer, a critic, a gay man, there is very little meat or detail about him presented at all. In fact we learn more about Dennis the homeless lover, than we do about Delany. Most importantly we never learn what keeps Delany with this homeless man. The male objects of desire running through many of Delany's works have been down and out, working class, and decidedly grubby, so Delany's initial interest is understandable. But what common ground can they occupy years later that allows such a relationship to endure ? Perhaps it is love, but that too seemed missing from this book. There seemed to be companionship, and lust -- but little else other than watching Delany rescue a homelss man. Dennis got a home and a life, and Delany got -- what ? It was left to the illustrator in the written comments to mention that they act like they are in love. I felt that whole aspect was missing from the graphic portion of the book.

The shortcomings of the graphic portion of the book were so obvious that a written dialog was included where the various characters chime in and try to flesh this work out -- but it falls flat. Why use the graphic format if it didn't work. If a written text was to be added, why not some of the writing that Delany is famous for.

The result is that this book seems like something that was put together by committee, during a rainy day at summer camp, or during a pajama party when the popcorn ran out, and the card games paled. In the end it lacks purpose, voice and presence.

To be frank, I can't recommend Samuel Delany's newest graphic novel effort 'Bread and Wine" to the casual fan of either comics or science fiction. I am unhappy because Delany is a personal hero of mine. To be candid, before Octavia Butler, Steven Barnes and I presume Jamil Nasser, his was the only face of color that I had ever seen in science fiction circles. In fact, until the cover of "Heavenly Breakfast" I didn't know he was an African American. And the thing I really liked about Delany is that he's not a token, but that he's really really good. He is one of the consummate stylists of our time (within science fiction and out) and his speculation is top notch and imaginative. I suppose, when you think about it, the graphic novel takes away from his two strengths because it doesn't lend itself to descriptive passages and this particular topic matter is not science fiction. Don't get me wrong, there was some fine writing. Here's one example of what a spectacular writer Delany can be even in this graphic novel: "The sad and almost weekly reiterated truth is That I am not happy here. Walking in the snow-blanketed morning, and wander- Ing across the great orange rug (My mother's) in The study, to gaze out on the snow blurred dawn, Wrapped around with fog, I'm confronted with The fundamental peacefulness and serenity of The town as a physical place. But the moment The fog burns off, I'm confronted with its equally Fundamental impoverishment-financial, cultural and social." Not bad. But there really isn't anything else that reaches his usual level of poetry. He seems to have lapsed into a conversational narrative, which might actually be better in a comic form, but takes away from his great strengths. What it is about: Delany's strange, olfactory shattering relationship with what sounds to be a partially deranged homeless man. By the way, this is a true story. For the record, Delany is a twofer. He is not only the most prominent black science fiction writer on Earth, he is probably the most prominent gay science fiction writer on Earth. But that doesn't mean he doesn't like women. He was once married to poet Marilyn Hacker and has a daughter, who makes a shy appearance or two in the book. Look, I say live and let live and there's nothing wrong with Delany's lifestyle choice. But, at the risk of sounding like the stereotyped Jewish mother, couldn't he have found a nicer boy? Surely, that nice horror poet Clive Barker would be a better catch and there must be thousands of effeminate male english majors who would love to jump into bed and be tutored by such a "Legend". This book, by the way, is full of mostly gay graphic sex. Not my cup of tea. I guess this is the way women might feel whenever they see pornography, slightly unsettled. It is honest. Wrenchingly so I might add. In fact, I now know more about Delany that I ever wanted to know to paraphrase Neil Gaimen's sarcastic praise in the back of the book. Bread also sets a record for a series of grisly pungent descriptions. Other critics have pointed this out as well. Apparently, his homeless seductee was so dirty that he turned two tubs of water jetblack, before finally giving into a shower. Delany also describes this guy's scent as "shit-and-vinegar sourness". Yeech. I also don't know what to make of the ending. Apparently, he lives happily ever after with his cleaned up formerly homeless lover, his daughter and a few friends. Everything about this story suggests to me that his lover is not all there. Tomorrow, if I read Dennis stabbed Delany and his daughter in the head it wouldn't surprise me. Really wouldn't. The other thing is I can't figure out is why Delany would have a relationship with someone who wasn't his intellectual equal. I mean, in all probability, Delany beats Dennis' IQ by about a 100 points. And I'm not kidding about that. That would not be unlike me marrying a cat and calling it a relationship. And why would your basic crazed homeless guy turn down a relationship with anyone, let alone a guy with a house? I mean, I don't like rejection--but what were the homeless guy's options? Chip probably looked like Cleopatra to this guy, or at least a pudgy male middle aged bespectacled version of Cleopatra who lived in a nice warm house. Smart guy that he is Chip probably knew it to. Artwise I would say artist Mia Wolff does a decent job. It feels a little sketchy at times, but it works. She does a number of interesting things with her art. As grungy as the sex scenes get, she's always tasteful. I suppose she gets the work done. This is truly a unique work. There just is not a lot of interracial-gay-relationshipbetween-noted-writer-and-crazed-homeless-person comic book fiction out there. I mean I've looked at the row between the X Men and Green Lantern, but I just didn't see it. Bottom line, if you're a Delany groupie, for example you've read "Hogg" over and over again and comprehend all his crit lit pieces (good luck) then run out to the store and grab this up. If you've never heard of Delany, then I would first suggest his novels "Triton" and the aforementioned "Stars like Grains..." And if you're the kind of person who considers books like Gravity's Rainbow and Ulysses light reads, then I wholeheartedly recommend that you pick up Delany's massive work: "Dhalgren".

This is a "graphic novel" put out by Juno Books, which in an earlier incarnation (Re/Search) put out some of the most unusual and interesting large format takes on fringe culture in the last decade. Delany has done a autobiographical account of his romance with a homeless man, but being Delany, he offers quite a bit more than that. The book is as much the artist's, Mia Wolff's, in that her visualization of the relationship establishes much of what the reader/viewer makes of it. Her style is not complex, but it has depth and at times surprising jumps of fantasy. Throughout the book, Delany reminds us his title is taken from a famous poem by Holderlin (a German Romantic who wrote brilliantly and then went mad); by quoting several passages from Holderlin's meditation on the inevitable failure of reconciling the classical past to the present, he gets a postmodern buzz into an otherwise straightforward love story. Anyone bothered by (literally) graphic depictions of sex between men should probably pass on the book, but that should still leave quite a few of us. What finally predominates is a touching depiction of unlikely lovers. Much of what happens would be cliched if the partners were hetero, but the gay version puts a spin on the material. Anyone who really likes Delany should be interested, and anyone concerned with the progressive edge of the graphic novel format will enjoy it. My only quibble is that at times Wolff depicts Delany like a fond Santa Claus, and that seems a bit much considering the material presented.

I tried to read this book for an urban studies project. It is completely unreadable. It's easily one of the top-10 dullest books I've ever come across.

If you like specialized books about city governance, you would probably like Mayors and Money.

New York City in the 1920s and 1930s got reform, but it never got good government. Why?

Chicago has the country's last machine, yet garbage is collected, snow plowed, and taxes lower than in some Sunbelt cities. How?

Mayors and Money is the counterintuitive argument that a political machine is actually less draining on a city treasury than the most common alternative, eg undue influence of public sector unions. In New York a mayor must make very expensive promises to the transit workers, sanitationmen, teachers, hospital workers to get elected, in Chicago a mayor is chosen more by the insiders of the Cook County Democratic organization. Yes, a Chicago mayor must build things with no-bid contracts and provide patronage jobs, but these cost less than the demands of city employees.

If I have a problem with Fuchs' argument it is that she denies that Chicago and New York have different political centers of gravity. New York has this big liberal intelligentsia, plus a large Jewish population. New Yorkers pay higher taxes than Chicagoans in part because there are powerful constituencies in New York that want or tolerate more spending.

Unlike the other review, I found Fuchs' book very readible, though I thought there could have been more anecdotes. For instance, Daley's getting the State of Illinois to assume responsibility for the courts and welfare are awesome feats. No where else in the country to cities win political battles against suburbs. Fuchs implies that Daley got those things because he was a boss, but doesn't go into detail. Also, unions were and are a part of the Chicago machine, so I think Fuchs is exaggerating the differences.