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by J. William Middendorf II
ISBN: 0465045731
Binding/Media: Hardcover - 303 pages
Condition: Used: Like New
Comments: Sold with pride and shipped with confirmation for US addresses. No publisher marks, no shelf wear.
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Customer Reviews
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He Lost Me At Hello
Rating  (3)
Date: 2009-04-07
It is a great subject, told by an insider. But the book is a disappointment with little detail on many major points.
Middendorf quickly berates the Eastern establishment Republicans of Rockefeller, Henry Cabot Lodge and the like. But as soon as he starts talking about himself, you realize the author is a traitor to his class because he is one of those Republicans. That fact resounds throughout the book and is never even addressed by the author.
Nor is the change that Kennedy's murder brought upon the country and Goldwater's campaign. The author glosses over all of that.
The book reminds us why Rockefeller's divorce was such a big thing against him. Even in those days, divorce was no big thing. But having your new wife desert her family does not win you political admiration.
None of the reviewers talk about the large section of the book devoted to Nixon and the 1968 campaign. He ignores the Vietnam war in that section, barely mentions Bobby Kennedy and omits Gene McCarthy.
Just like Goldwater ignored his political-savvy staff, the author probably ignored his editors in order to write the book the way he wanted to. The result is a big disappointment.
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Awesome Insight Insight into the 1964 Presidential Election
Rating  (4)
Date: 2008-02-18
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
Before reading A Glorious Disaster my knowledge of the 1964 presidential election was shallow. I knew Lyndon Johnson defeated Goldwater in a landslide, but I never really knew anything about the nuts and bolts of the campaign. The 1964 election is an odd one. Johnson had just become president after the Kennedy assassination (killed by a Marxist; go figure). As senator, Johnson served as a conservative southern Democrat. He voted against every Civil Rights bill while he was in Congress. Johnson only shifted his opinion later because of the popularity of the measure. Johnson's ambitions were much stronger than any ideology. Wishing to leave his mark on history, Johnson moved rapidly to the left as president.
Goldwater become the conservative choice in 1962. The liberal wing of the Republican party was always hostile to a Goldwater nomination. Unable to rally behind the candidate, it was Nelson Rockefeller and George Romney (Mitt Romney's father) who ultimately torpedoed any hope for Goldwater. Early on they branded the Arizona Senator as a tool of the extreme right. It was an absurd accusation, but one that Goldwater was never able to shake during the campaign.
I got the sense reading this book that Goldwater wasn't exactly warm and fuzzy. His campaign was run by a bunch of Arizona loyalists who weren't involved in the draft movement. From the beginning Goldwater was consigned to defeat. He didn't want to run against Johnson, whom he felt would do anything to win the election. Goldwater's fears were indeed founded. LBJ used the CIA and FBI for campaign surveillance. These abuses of power by the executive branch dwarf anything Nixon ever did, and perhaps anything anyone has done who's ever served as president. However, it's not likely it affected the outcome of the election. Goldwater never communicated a clear vision, and was constantly on the defensive. The campaign was run poorly and most of the major newspaper editors throughout the country were adamantly opposed to Goldwater.
Despite the election setback it was the birth of the conservative movement. I don't think Goldwater was ever really the right person for the cause. He didn't communicate well enough, but at that time he was the closest thing to an electable candidate. During that election the former actor Ronald Reagan made his now famous "a Time for Choosing" speech that would ultimately make him the face of the conservative movement. His speech is still relevant today.
The author of the book J. William Middendorf II, served as the treasurer during the campaign and later for the RNC. His meticulousness attention to detail paints a clear portrait of that period. Middendorf later went on to serve as the Ambassador to the Netherlands under Nixon and later became the Secretary of the Navy. The book is a nice little historic insight into the birth of the conservative movement. A movement that ultimately changed our current political landscape and brought us Ronald Reagan.
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An Insider's Look at the Beginnings of a Movement
Rating  (5)
Date: 2007-06-25
4 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
Bill Middendorf offers a delightful insider's view of Barry Goldwater's trailblazing 1964 campaign for President.
As a true insider -- he was on the inner circle as campaign treasurer, a key fundraiser, an early Draft Goldwater leader and a seeming voice of seasoned maturity (at age 37) -- he certainly offers a view that is signficantly more robust than most historical accounts.
It's a very enjoyable read.
Of course, Goldwater was utterly shellacked in 1964. But in losing, his principled admirers won by helping establish the foundation for a conservative movement that would build and last for decades.
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A fascinating insider account
Rating (4)
Date: 2007-02-26
25 out of 26 customers found this reveiw helpful
J. William Middendorff II, A Glorious Disaster: Barry Goldwater's Presidential Campaign and the origins of the Conservative Movement ( 2006, basic books, new york, 303pp)
This is a fascinating and lively insider report from someone who really was an insider. Ambassador Middendorf played a significant role in the rise of modern conservatism within the Republican Party. As a Connecticut Republican with many friends in the moderate wing of the party he nevertheless early on saw the need for a new approach and a new movement.
Bill was part of the draft Goldwater effort and part of the Goldwater Campaign and then Treasurer for the Republican National Committee as it bounced back from the disaster of 1964. He was in on an amazing number of meetings and worked with virtually every major conservative of that period.
His observations are insightful and in some cases unique.
Even though I had lived through virtually every campaign this book covers I still found myself with new reflections and new insights.
From the perspective of 2007 the most stunning reminder was the level of ruthlessness, dishonesty, and viciousness which characterized the Lyndon Johnson campaign and Johnson's entire behavior. It is worth reading as a reminder of what a 2008 Clinton campaign might be like.
Middendorf repeats a story I first heard from Tim Russert about Goldwater and Kennedy agreeing that in 1964 they would tour the country on Air Force One holding a series of debates and proving that there could be civility and collegiality even in presidential politics. Building on the debates of 1960 and enjoying each other's company a Goldwater-Kennedy contest would have led to a much healthier America.
Middendorf also reminds us that results can shift with remarkable speed. The Goldwater defeat was seen as the beginning of the end for the GOP yet two short years later in 1966 there was a remarkable rebound. The GOP lost 529 legislative seats in 1964 and gained 700 in 1966. The GOP lost 37 house seats and gained 47 in 1966.
One other fascinating reminder about how the world can change is the question of being a frontrunner for the nomination. On the Friday before the 1964 California GOP primary Nelson Rockefeller was ahead by 49 to 40 and on Tuesday Goldwater won the primary and with it the nomination. After the 1966 elections Governor George Romney was the front runner and polls showed him beating President Johnson 54 to 46, After he said "the greatest brainwashing that anybody can get when you go over to Vietnam....they do a very thorough job" his campaign collapsed.
This is a useful book for anyone who would like to understand the rise of modern conservatism and anyone who would like to better understand presidential politics.
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Interesting memoir, but not historical analysis
Rating (3)
Date: 2007-02-14
3 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
When I read the title of this book, I expected an in-depth analysis of why the Conservative movement started with Barry Goldwater's failed candidacy for the Presidency in 1964. Unfortunately, that did not turn out to be the case.
The author of this book was a critical player in the Goldwater campaign, and, as such, has tremendously valuable memories of Goldwater's unsuccessful attempt to become President of the United States. This book, however, is nothing more than a political memoir - how this one individual got involved in the Goldwater campaign and what the ride meant to him. It is filled with exciting and fun stories, and is an enjoyable book to read, but most assuredly is not for the historian.
I believe that this book is a good start towards understanding whether or not Goldwater's ascendancy to the head position in the Republican party really did start the Conservative movement that has been so powerful in the last 25 years, but it certainly does not live up to its title.
I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an enjoyable political memoir - if the reader is conservative, this book will delight. Even a liberal will enjoy the book, though some of the disparaging remarks about LBJ or Jimmy Carter may not bode well with those who possess a leftist slant.
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by Sheila Isenberg
ISBN: 0375502211
Binding/Media: Hardcover - 368 pages
Condition: Used: Good
Comments: Sold with pride and shipped with confirmation for US addresses. Book in very good condition with VERY LIGHT reading wear. EX LIBRARY copy which did not spend much time in circulation before being released. Library markings present but no further markings or imperfections.
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Customer Reviews
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Isenberg's "Fry" inspires our own activism
Rating (5)
Date: 2002-03-01
3 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
This is a must book for book clubs and reading groups! Isenberg's writing is engaging as she tells of Varian Fry's dramatic actions that saved so many people from harm. But, more thrillingly, through skillful use of private documents, she shows her readers how a man who showed little previous signs of special distinction, not content to stay a bystander, was willing to put himself at risk to help strangers whose lives were in danger. The book will spark discussions, not only of the holocaust, but of our continuing search to lead ethical lives today in the face of widespread violence, famine and continuing human rights abuses.
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a perfect book club choice
Rating (5)
Date: 2002-02-25
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
this story, of a true 'hero,' makes a compelling read. how amazing that fry managed to save so many important artists of the last century and was little known until isenberg's book. a good read while learning an important bit of our history. i will definitely recommend this to my book club.
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An Inspiring Page-Turner
Rating (5)
Date: 2002-01-30
4 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
I read Sheila Isenberg's marvelous book, A Hero Of Our Own, in one sitting. What made it compelling was the author's logical, step-by-step approach to the stunning chaos of her hero's dilemma.
Varian Fry's defining year in Marseilles came alive line by line, stroke by inspiring stroke in clear logical matter of fact tones. The work is poignant and powerful, mythic documentary proof of a bona fide hero and his heroic friends confronting the petty viciousness of evil with clear-eyed will. A beautiful important book. This is History as it ought to be written. Should be required reading in high schools and colleges round the globe.
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"A Hero of our Own" by Sheila Isenberg
Rating (5)
Date: 2002-01-30
4 out of 5 customers found this reveiw helpful
For someone like myself, who enjoys a really exciting story, preferably about a real person,one need go no further than to read "A Hero of Our Own" by Sheila Isenberg. Varian Frye, a not-so-ordinary American, feels impelled to leave his comfortable life as a writer and editor and go to France as a member of the Emergency Rescue Committe (ERC) and risk his life to save as many refugees (mostly Jews) as he can from the Nazis. Frye is the only American to be honored at Yad Vashem (Israel's Holocaust Memorial) because of his work in saving thousands of Jews. If I didn't know it was a true story, I'd think it was fiction because his adventures read like a fast-paced thriller, a veritable realization of the classic "film noir" of the forties. In fact, I feelthe book cries out to be made into a movie which I would be happy to see. Of course some of the book's revealed facts about our own State Department trying to keep refugee Jews from entering the United States when they knew it mean certain death was quite shocking and disturbing. However, all in all, I'd recommend the book to anyone who enjoys reading a fast-paced book about real heros and history.
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a biography that's a page-turner
Rating (5)
Date: 2002-01-29
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Varian Fry was an American hero, risking his life to save others, unrecognized during his lifetime, but, fortunately, with Isenberg's new biography, now about to become a well-known figure. Called the artists' Schindler, Fry saved about 1,500 artists, writers, teachers, labor leaders, activists, and others from Hitler -- Max Ernst, Marc Chagall, and Hannah Arendt among the group. A Hero of Our Own tells Fry's story in a lively, compelling style. One can't wait to turn the page to find out what happens in Nazi-ridden, Vichy-controlled Marseille 1940. Who will be saved? Who will be turned over to the Gestapo? Why did Fry risk his life? This book answers all these questions in a fascinating story that is well worth reading -- as Fry is well worth remembering and honoring.
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by Alan Wolfe
ISBN: 0472098659
Binding/Media: Hardcover - 336 pages
Condition: Used: Like New
Comments: Sold with pride and shipped with confirmation for US addresses. No publisher marks, no shelf wear.
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by Jacques Lusseyran
ISBN: 0863155073
Binding/Media: Paperback - 247 pages
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comments: Sold with pride and shipped with confirmation for US addresses. No writing, no highlighting. Light reading wear.
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Customer Reviews
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Moving and IIlluminating
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-02-11
3 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
This is one of the most beautiful and interesting books I've ever read. It's a story of an exuberant, sensitive and intelligent boy growing up and, incidentally, overcoming a handicap (of special interest to me was his sensory experiences -- how he felt and experienced space, colors, objects, movement, landscape, etc, after losing his sight). It is also a dramatic tale of resistance under occupied Paris, and surviving being interred in a death camp. And it is much more -- get it and have your own eyes opened.
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courage,intelligence,spiritual light radiating love of life
Rating (5)
Date: 1997-04-02
6 out of 6 customers found this reveiw helpful
The autobiographical book, And There Was Light, by Jacques Lusseyran, was to me, a must read for all people! I am in awe of Jacques Lusseyran. His courage through adversity was a beam of light! The quote by him, "Light is in us, even if we have no eyes," tells of a person, only physically was blind (age of 8 in 1932). In 1939 as a teenager, he founded a student resistance, The Volunteers of Liberty.
When Dr. Lusseyran was asked, what is your reason for loving life, only then did he find the real subject to write about his life. He said, ".... since I have maintained this love of life through everything: through infirmity, the terrors of war and even in Nazi prison. Never did it fail me, not in misfortune nor in good times, which may seem much easier but is not".
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by Michael O'Higgins, John Downes
ISBN: 006098404X
Binding/Media: Paperback - 304 pages
Condition: Used: Like New
Comments: Sold with pride. Gently read copy in like new condition.
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Customer Reviews
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Amazon Doesn't Carry It, Why Advertise it?
Rating (5)
Date: 2009-09-21
0 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
I was researching "Dogs of the Dow", and Amazon had an advert for it. Oh, but turns out they don't carry it, they give me alternate selections.
BUNK!
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Some excellent material but not really enough for a full book
Rating (4)
Date: 2007-06-01
0 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
2nd edition (2000) with Johns Downes, 259 pages
O'Higgins' basic method for selecting out of favour stocks from the Dow Jones Industrial Average can be explained in a single sentence: list the ten stocks from the Dow with the highest dividend yield, and then select the five with the lowest share prices from these ten. Buy an equal weighting in each of them and after one year, sell and start again.
So you could be forgiven for wondering how he manages to fill a book. I found significant chunks to be of little interest in understanding why and how his method has worked. For example, I didn't find his introduction on why stocks are the best long term investments, or his potted history of each of the Dow constituents (which takes up just under half the book) added much. (The history of the Dow stocks also reads as if at least the updates for the 2nd edition were written in a considerable hurry.) However, if you are new to equity investing these parts may be more useful to you. Even so, I cannot understand why O'Higgins included the addresses for each of the Dow stocks in the main body of the book when his method is a mechanical one which requires that you do not do any specific stock research or have any contact with companies.
I bought this book with a particular aim in mind: to understand the background better to see how it could be applied in the UK. For example, some people try to apply it to the FTSE 100 and others to the FT 30 index and others use the lowest market capitalisation rather than the lowest share price as the second filter.
After reading the book I concluded that the FT 30 index with lower share prices (i.e. with minimum changes to O'Higgins' original method for the Dow) would be most appropriate. This is because the FT 30 index is modelled on the Dow and has greater stability than the FTSE 100. Even so, there are differences between the FT 30 index and the Dow, which might mean there is greater specific stock risk in the FT 30 (for example, FT 30 stocks are only replaced if they are taken over or fail, whereas Dow stocks can be replaced by the editors of the Wall Street Journal).
Regarding the choice of low share price or low market capitalisation for the second filter, O'Higgins specifically states that the most relevant factor is "simply the phenomenon that the less expensive a stock is, the more it is prone to greater percentage moves." O'Higgins also believes UK companies are more prone to cutting their dividends in difficult periods compared to US companies and that this may mean a mechanical method based upon dividends would work less well in the UK.
Anyway, notwithstanding my gripes above about the padding in the book, the good parts are very good and the book carries an excellent central thesis: that simplicity not only entails less work, but also often produces better results.
By the end of the book I also understood why the method is likely to continue working. Historically the method did not work every year (for example during the last few years of the dot com boom), but produced good results over the long term. As O'Higgins states: "It's the occasional off-year that allows anomalies, like the strategies we'll be discussing next, to exist." The second, critical factor is that the method automatically enforces a contrarian discipline. I like the way O'Higgins puts it:
"In an investment world addicted to complexity, it can almost be said that keeping it simple is itself a form of contrarianism. It can certainly be said that for a system like mine to become too popular to work, contrarianism would have to become conventional wisdom. That would mean turning human nature on its head."
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Great system
Rating (5)
Date: 2006-12-10
0 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
This book simply suggests listing the 30 Dow components and then buying the lowest price stocks in the group that also has the best yield (Dividend %).You skip the lowest priced because that one probably does have issues versus being a value. You can either put your $5000 in the second to lowest priced with the best yield, or the 2nd-6th stocks, or the 2nd to 11th stocks that are the lowest priced with the best yield. He shows the back tested history of this method as delivering huge gains. It is a system to think about or use it to develop your own.
The biggest thing I got out of this book was the direction to read books by Yale Hirsh. This was very profitable for me to discover the November-May stock market pattern, the presidential election cycle and the days of the week. You must read The Almanac Investor(by his son), it is VERY valuable, I made $10,000 from Sept 1st 2006 to Dec 9th 2006 due to my aggressive stance in November and December.
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intro to 1 style mechanical (ie. rigid rule based) investing
Rating (4)
Date: 2004-08-06
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
O'Higgins writes nicely... and identifies with specificity one generally agreeable style of mechanical stock investing... it doesn't particularly work well recently... but it is a useful text to introduce the idea of rule-based (non-emotional) trading decision making. assumptions of money management particularly out of phase with first tier thinking.. but i like the book.
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Not a totally bad method of choosing stocks
Rating (3)
Date: 2002-03-13
"Beating The Dow" by Michael O'Higgins offers the following simple investment strategy. You simply buy the ten highest dividend paying stocks among the Dow Industrial Averages. The Philosophy is that as the value of the stocks increase, via stock price lagging or falling below the market, the dividend yield will tend to rise. (i.e. the assumption is that dividend yield is a proxy for value. One problem is that not all Dow stocks pay out the same level of earnings, so some stocks will tend to have higher dividends.)While I tend to be skeptical of any investment strategy that is too simple, if you must use such a simple strategy, then you could do far worse selecting the highest dividend paying stocks from the Dow. Of course, the other option is just to index your money in a mutual fund that buys the entire stock market. Vanguard Funds is the leader in such index funds. But, I like dividends. The difficulty with simple investment strategies is that they tend to be arrived at via data mining. The proponent of the investment method asks "What worked in the past?" and then tries to draw up a canned investment method. Almost always, the proposed method then starts to lag behind in the present and future stock market performance. (the recent performance of this strategy is discussed in another person's great book review. See that.) This is not due to market efficiency or that the method is becoming well known. It just means that the method wasn't entirely valid as a predictive method. There is the old joke about the "X investment strategy." When a computer was asked to vigorously evaluate the stock market and look for predictors of future investment success, the computer spit back the answer, "Invest in stocks whose name begins with an 'X' and whose name ends with an 'X.' " Xerox was the top performing stock over the period. "Beating The Dow" is one of those books, if read all by itself, might mislead a new investor into an over-simplified investment strategy. Yet, you might enjoy reading it. And, as stated, you could do worse than holding the ten highest dividend-paying Dow stocks. "Beating The Dow" also mentions what Michael O'Higgins calls the "Penulatimate Profit Prospect (PPP)" which involves buying just one stock. The Stock with the second lowest price among the ten highest yielding stocks. I consider that Penidiotic. We conservative investors do love our stock dividends, and the focus on dividend yield gets "Beating The Dow" a solid honorable mention. Peter Hupalo, Author of "Becoming An Investor: Building Wealth By Investing In Stocks, Bonds, And Mutual Funds."
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by Cynthia Waring
ISBN: 1883862108
Binding/Media: Paperback
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comments: Sold with pride and shipped with confirmation for US addresses. No publisher marks, no writing, no highlighting. Light rubbing on the edges.
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Bodies Unbound is a transforming experience!
Rating (5)
Date: 1999-02-05
5 out of 7 customers found this reveiw helpful
Cynthia Waring's book has transformed my life, inspiring me to a higher level of honesty with my self! Cynthia's candid revelation of her life's most painful experiences lets the reader really get to know her inside, evoking feelings of compassion. Her courage is admirable! Her story brings with it remarkable philosophical insight into the wellspring of life. Not only did her story move me, it inspired me to begin writing my own life story as part of my own healing process. Thank you Cynthia, for an unforgettable experience.
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by Barbara Hope
ISBN: 1556052979
Binding/Media: Paperback - 199 pages
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comments: Sold with pride and shipped with confirmation for US addresses. Used copy with minimal reading wear. No writing, no highlighting.
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Body Scripture: A therapist's journal of recovery
Rating (5)
Date: 2000-06-14
8 out of 8 customers found this reveiw helpful
Body Scripture by clinical social worker, Barbara Hope, is a well-written, engrossing tale of a therapist's complex journey through her own recovery from childhood trauma. Since reading this compelling story of human courage and frailty, I have recommended it widely to friends and colleagues. The book will appeal to a broad audience: individuals who have experienced childhood trauma, therapists who work with trauma survivors, and those of us who care about friends and family members who live with the memories of childhood abuse.
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by Ben Mezrich
ISBN: 0743249992
Binding/Media: Paperback - 257 pages
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comments: Sold with pride. No writing, no highlighting. Copy in very good condition with minimal reading wear.
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Jawsome!
Rating (4)
Date: 2010-05-27
Entertaining story, well read audio book. Convenient format, and quick shipping. Couldn't be more pleased.
Unless this was an adaption of the early ninties cartoon called "Street Sharks." I really like the street sharks. That would have been 5 stars then.
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Intense, Intriguing, and Fun for Everyone
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-04-23
19 out of 19 customers found this reveiw helpful
After reading the book, Bringing Down the House, I was excited and intrigued with the world of card counting and the lives of the card counters. I plan to read more books about the subject. From the book, I got the feeling that Mezrich's goal throughout the book was to captivate and teach people about the world of casinos and card counting. He met one of the characters at a party and was fascinated enough to put the story into a book to enthrall everyone who reads it. I can guarantee to any readers of the book, that they will feel mesmerized by the casino life and more educated about the subject. This book will be a quick read that the reader will not be able to put down. It will interest a wide variety of people, from those who love to gamble and go to casinos all the time to those who have never stepped foot in one in their life. I know this from reading the reviews of the people before me. Many of them said that they gambled before, but a surprisingly large number of them said that they had never gambled in their lives.
In response to a few of the negative reviews, I read through many of them and have a few major disagreements to point out. First, J. Danielson, you talked about how you went to MIT and that Mezrich got a few of the details wrong about the school. To tell you the truth, when people read this book they won't remember the little details of graduating with honors or not, they'll remember the intense casino scenes. This brings me to the next topic of yours that I disagreed with. You talked about how you have been banned from a casino before and that they don't rough you up the way Mezrich made it seem like in his book. Well, there are more than a few casinos and what actions they take when kicking someone out will probably vary between them. Now, to Critical Reader, you say that you did research on Wikipedia after reading the book and found that some of the facts that Mezrich talked about were false. If you want to accuse someone of using false facts, you might want to try a reliable source next time. Finally, to the "crimsonwildcat," in your review, you accuse Mezrich of having what comes off as false conversations with the people in the book. If you haven't met any of these people, then I don't think you can really tell if it was false or not. However, I must agree with the negative reviews when you say that some parts of the book got repetitive. That was definitely a weakness, but Mezrich had many more high points, like expressing the tension between characters and showing the excitement of Las Vegas and a card counter's life.
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A Narrative History of 21: fact mixed with fiction
Rating (4)
Date: 2009-12-22
I enjoy playing a little blackjack here and there, some poker at times, so I was interested to read 21, especially after I had watched the movie. I was extremely surprised to find that the book was so much more that the boiled down movie. Granted, I know books are always better than the movie it is based off of, but this seem to be in a complete different ball park. That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the account of the MIT card counters in Las Vegas.
The book is interesting because you get a progressively more and more complex and threatened lifestyle as you move through time. This injects natural adrenaline and action into each new chapter. There was always the threat of violence in the background, even though counting is legal, so you continually read on as you anticipate the conflict as it brews. I was sad when I was done reading it and there was no more to read, but in the same light it had also come to a natural conclusion that felt right.
On the other side I was a little saddened as well by a simple Google search that showed that Mezrich admitted to slightly fictionalizing some of the story. This goes without saying in most nonfiction, though, as the narrative effect that makes it so readable, that I expected this was the case before I did a little research. Obviously a lot of the sidelines of the other characters, like Fisher and Martinez when they went out of country to gamble, where fiction, building a story around rumor (such as hearing that they had conflict and were banned, and that Fisher had a black eye; the guess is the narrative around this story that Mezrich used).
In the end I really didn't care. I know there was truth to a lot of the basic facts of the MIT team, and that there was fiction around some of the more fascinating aspects, but when it all came down to it it was an enjoyable read. Enough said for me. I would recommend to others despite learning that some of the story was fictionalized.
4 stars.
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Loved the book!
Rating (5)
Date: 2009-12-01
A great read. Also enjoyed the movie "21" after the book. It's the story of a group of M.I.T. students who count cards as a team in order to win money playing blackjack. I particularly enjoed watching Liza Lapira!
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Disappointed to learn it is mostly fiction
Rating  (2)
Date: 2009-10-03
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
I picked this up after seeing the movie '21.' I knew the movie was largely fiction, and wanted to see what really happened.
The book is a good read; the author can definitely write. However, I have learned that the book is at least 50% fiction! Look, anybody can make up a story. Just be up front about it. This book should not be in the non-fiction section. (Maybe it should be on the same shelf as that slimebag Fry's "A Million Little Pieces").
I'm thinking about writing about my gambling escapades. I think I have a pretty good imagination, too.
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by John L. Allen, John Allen
ISBN: 0826412653
Binding/Media: Hardcover - 340 pages
Condition: Used: Good
Comments: Sold with pride and shipped with confirmation for US addresses. Book in very good condition with light reading wear. EX LIBRARY copy which did not spend much time in circulation before being released. Library markings present but no further markings or imperfections.
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Useful facts, lots of hostility
Rating  (1)
Date: 2007-09-05
3 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
John Allen's shows his hostility toward Ratzinger in his choice of verbs and adjectives to describe what Ratzinger has done to preserve Catholic ortodoxy. Mr. Allen would have a Catholicism where everyone thinks and does as they please, and still be in good terms with the Church. However, I still managed to finish the book and to leave it with an increased admiration for the current pope. On the plus side, Mr. Allen does provide useful summaries of the theological views of those whom then-Cardinal Ratzinger opposed, as well as some of his reasons for doing so. But the way he finishes the section on Other Religions ("What is at stake"), implies that Ratzinger's views have contributed to the civil wars that- like Kosovo and Northern Ireland- are fought under the disguise of being religiously motivated. Suggesting that Ratzinger's work has contributed to those conflicts is completelely over the top and inflammatory, not to say untrue.
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Simply Terrible
Rating (1)
Date: 2007-07-20
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
I take it as an affront that the author of this book is the Vatican correspondent. He is so liberal that I find it hard to believe he is Catholic. I assume he "disagrees" with much of Roman Catholic belief.
His heavy handed attacks on Ratzinger and his obvious respect for Church dissidents like Matthew Fox and the former priest and homosexual advocate John McNeill is sickening.
This book is a real turkey but the author is, I'm afraid, a much bigger one! Beware this prolific misguided writer.
Better books on the subject of the life and beliefs of Joseph Ratzinger are Pope Benedict XVI: His Life and Mission by Stephen Mansfield a non-Catholic and Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977 Pope Benedict's own autobiography.
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A Liberal look at Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before he was Pope
Rating (2)
Date: 2007-02-01
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
This is a biography of the German cleric born Joseph Ratzinger in 1927. John Allen Jr. is a journalist for the 'National Catholic Reporter' and in this book traces Ratzinger's rise to prominence as a cardinal during the Second Vatican Council as a firm proponent of Vatican II's progressive theology an opponent of tradition. The author then uses documents to outline the pope's conservative theological views on controversial subjects as the Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
This book was originally titled 'Cardinal Ratzinger' and should have been left with that title. Though I suggest all read this book for another point of view, by no means let this be the only book you read. Allen himself wished to re-write what he wrote but the publisher went ahead with his original biased writings. Before you make up your mind be sure to read Ratzinger's own writings in their complete form and draw your own conclusions.
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JOHN ALLEN JR HAS DONE BETTER SCHOLARSHIP
Rating (2)
Date: 2007-01-01
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
It's too bad that in this volume John Allen Jr. doesn't shine with the outstanding scholarship of his 2005 book "The Rise of Benedict XVI: The Inside Story of How the Pope Was Elected and Where He Will Take the Catholic Church." This earlier excellent volume presented a compelling and convining argument for why Cardinal Ratzinger was by far the logical choice for Pope. I'm not convinced the Pope's biography presented here is consistent with Mr. Allen's conclusions about Pope Benedict XVI immense and extraordinary gifts for the benefit of the Church.
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A useful introduction to the pope
Rating (4)
Date: 2006-10-15
1 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
This new edition of the book Cardinal Ratzinger - The Vatican's Enforcer Of The Faith, first published in 2000, was released shortly after Cardinal Ratzinger became Pope, with a new Publisher's Preface. It is an excellently written, in-depth study from his youth growing up in the shadow of Nazi Germany until the year 2000. Allen's meticulous research, undertaken over many years, bears fruit in the way the new Pope's life-history is set out. Not merely painting a portrait of the man today, Allen also describes the changes of opinion and thought of this great theologian from a `reformer' at the time of Vatican II to a conservative Cardinal. This book is an excellent resource for those wishing to understand the history of the new Pope, the way in which his life experiences have changed his view of his own personal history, and the way in which they have shaped his dealings with the church.
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(Larger Image)
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by Scott Dikkers, Peter Hilleren
ISBN: 0743565576
Binding/Media: Audio CD
Condition: New
Comments: Sold with pride and shipped with confirmation for US addresses. Brand new, factory sealed.
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Customer Reviews
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Decieved and dissappointed
Rating (1)
Date: 2009-11-02
0 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
It appears the in my case the authors are smirking and sneering behind my back because their deceitful cover achieved it's apparent purpose. I went to library to grab several books on CD to accompany a long road trip and was totally taken by surprise by the first words spoken as I listen to the first CD. It took about thirty seconds to discover that this was not a real autobiography. So then I shifted gears thinking, Oh well, it might be funny. Wrong. George W Bush is certainly not perfect and I did not agree with many of his policies, but the vitriol hatred that seems to remain burning in a percentage of Americans is beyond me. This book is nothing more than intellectual eight grade humor lacking substance and factual research. If you are still wasting your energy on hatred for a man who did many good things for our country then this book will probably thrill you. Otherwise don't waste your time. Actually, even if you despise President Bush, you may be disappointed, this book is not even funny.
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C+
Rating (3)
Date: 2008-12-30
A parody mocking President Bush's fictional attempts at writing an autobiography, one would expect to find biting satire and witty observations. This is true to a certain extent. The authors aren't creative in what they choose to spoof - Bush's malapropisms, for example, are quite abundant - but when they hit the mark, they really shine. There are some truly delicious lampoons, including a hilarious chapter on Laura Bush, and the way in which they have their fabricated protagonist twist the truth is always entertaining. Much is made about his impact on history, and the line, "I say to my critics, let history be the judge of my legacy, not the historians," is what the reader can come to expect from the text. However, the parody becomes wearisome and repetitive after half of the book, so that it takes some slogging to get through the rest. By the time the last page has been read, one realizes that they haven't really gained any new humorous insights - it feels like an over-extended joke. So, while there might be some clever aspects, the material here isn't particularly hilarious.
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Duh-duh-dubya revealed
Rating (5)
Date: 2008-02-09
Love the pictures of Jesus as guardian angel throughout Mr. B's life. And it's about time that someone was willing to take a look at the shadow side of Laura (a heroine to some (or should I say "heroin"?)). Such is the price of being in the public eye.
The writing is typical for a book in this genre (nothing new, making stuff up, and uneven writing, but full of good laughs, wow sorta like Limbaugh and O'Reilly and Coulter and ... (Franken can actually write and cite)). I only buy these type things in the bargain bin, but it was really worth it for at the very least the pictures. I think the authors could have paid more attention to the conclusions of chapters, doing better tie-ins at those points, that's the main weakness.
After 16 years of Bush (he was my governor for 8 years), I'm relieved that there is less than one year less of disaster left. Just like he left us Texans with a 160 million dollar "campaign contribution" to pay off (his property tax cut), he is leaving a legacy for the US that we, our children, and our children's children will have difficulty paying off. Get back to work! (do you have a second job yet? apparently I've not been rich enough yet to receive a tax cut.)
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The White Man's Burden
Rating (5)
Date: 2008-02-02
6 out of 6 customers found this reveiw helpful
GEORGE W. BUSH: PORTRAIT OF A LEADER. THE GEORGE W. BUSH LEGACY. THE BUSH TRAGEDY. Numerous biographizers have biographized about George W. Bush, the 43rd and 44th President of the United States, respectfully, but these biographies all suffer the same fatal flaw: they're filled with facts. Thusly, Mr. President - or King George, as he's fond of being called - has written the definingest account of his own life and times, entitled DESTINED FOR DESTINY: THE UNAUTHORIZED AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GEORGE W. BUSH.
More faithier than THE FAITH OF GEORGE W. BUSH, more partisaney than BUSHWHACKED, more funner than THE GEORGE W. BUSH COLORING BOOK - indeed, rawer than the finest sushi made by the most hard-workingest Chinamen, more unfiltered than even Ward Cleaver's Lucky Strikes - DESTINED FOR DESTINY tells George W. Bush's life story, in his own vernacular.
In this unauthorized, semi-autobiographical autobiography, President George W. Bush recounts his life's biography, touching upon a number of touchstone issues, including:
* His childhood struggle against excessive wealth and crippling privilege: "Like ROOTS, only white."
* His love for Laura: "I was blessed with the good fortune of meeting a wonderful small-town Texas woman who had a dazed and clueless stare reminiscent of a goat that had been struck between the eyes with a tire iron - a halting kind of beauty which every man desires in a woman."
* His non-battle with a drinking problem: "The day I realized that I was not an alcoholic changed my life."
* The Greatest Love of his Life: "Jesus."
* Al Gore: "I did not have a nickname for him because I did not have warm feelings for him. I only felt for him what one might feel for a calculator or other type of inhuman thinking box."
* The multi facets of 9/11: "9-11, September the 11th, and the events of 9-11, 2001."
* John Kerry: "[The Democrats] turned to dark forces, and created a candidate using perverted science. John Kerry was what they called it. He had the tall, lanky torso of Abe Lincoln, and the brain of my previous opponent, Al Gore. He also had Michael Dukakis's hair, Walter Mondale's charm, and the strong lower jaw of Herman Munster, the great Democratic President of the 1960s."
* His brave crusade against gay marriage: "We worked to protect marriage from the wrongful marriers."
* His enduring legacy: "I strongly believe that a large statue is called for, and I propose that this towering likeness be built in the glorious city center of the new, rebuilt New Orleans."
Our Dear Leader also ponders age-old ponderables, such as:
* Is our children learning?
* Will the highways on the Internet become more few?
* Does Brazil have blacks, too?
* Should steroids be banned from baseball?
* Is Brownie doing a heckuva a job, or the heckuvaest job?
In sum, it will leave meat-huggers and meat-eaters alike wanting a hot dog. Perhaps even one dipped in chocolate. (But not dark chocolate; in the words of dubya, full-time decision-maker and part-time wiener connoisseur, "A truly American snack treat must be covered in milk chocolate only.")
Because George W. Bush is no fan of words, or collections of words called books, he has generously shouted DESTINED FOR DESTINY into a sound machine so that his adoring subjects can read it with their ears. Even so, he urges you to buy a copy of each edition, as the book-with-words also contains never-before-seen family photos and super-secret governating documents, while the book-with-sounds has bonus extra soundy stuff, like never-before-heard radio addresses. Besides, if you don't buy at least one copy of each book, the terraists win. You should probably also buy a paperback edition when it's released, just to be safer. The US of A can never be too safer. From terraists. Did I mention the terraists? They perpetuated 9-11, you know.
Also, if you like George W. Bush, and you liked the book George W. Bush wrote about the story of George W. Bush's life, then you may also like Dr. Stephen T. Colbert, DFA's story about his own life story, entitled I AM AMERICA (AND SO CAN YOU). Although Dr. Colbert is an sinning Catholic, who has said some unkind sayings about The True Christians, he is still a rich, snow-white, heterosexual man-boy, and is a loyal supporter of both George W. Bush and Jesus. Says Our Dear Leader: "Stephen Colbert: great punditer or The Greatest Punditer (tm)?".
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Mean Spirited Low Shots
Rating (1)
Date: 2008-01-14
2 out of 18 customers found this reveiw helpful
Satire has it's place - poking fun at the high and mighty is certainly necessary.
But the humor in this book is mean spirited and about as funny as listening to a comedian spout obscenities to get a laugh. The authors consistently demonstrate a lack of knowledge about their subject and have created nothing more than a regurgitation of the blog garbage that has been over-circulated about a very successful, competent man.
Simon and Schuster should be ashamed for allowing the publication of a CD which pretends to be a legitimate title. The cover of the CD set communicates through pictures and words that this is a serious effort - not an attempt at comedy. It goes so far as to state that the authors are friends of the President and produce his weekly radio show (photoshopped picture included).
Then again, perhaps it's the author's and publisher's disdain for honesty and integrity that makes them despise the President so much.
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