(Larger Image)
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by Jimmy Carter
ISBN: 0743284577
Binding/Media: Hardcover - 224 pages
Condition: Used: Like New
Comments: Sold with pride. Gently read copy in like new condition.
More Product Infomation
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Customer Reviews
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A Gloomy Book that doesn't reveal anything we don't already Know
Rating  (2)
Date: 2010-02-12
Although I agree with Mr Carter's values, and believe he may be the best living president, I didn't like this book because it describes what is wrong with America, yet doesn't give any advice on how to correct it.
What a depressing read. I believe Mr Carter could have written a better book if he would have added advice on what people that share his views could do to improve the situation. Am I to believe there is nothing that we can do? Is that why he has a look of dispair on the front cover?
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A "highwayscribery" Book Report
Rating  (3)
Date: 2010-01-26
At highwayscribery we like to say Carter's the best mistake America ever made.
His book "Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis" is something of a radical tract done in a civil way. The treatise, a searing indictment of the Bush administration, provides left-wing viewpoint with the "cover" of Carter's being a good Christian. He prays, but he still thinks things stink (stunk); much the way the guy with dreadlocks and drum in the street has been saying for, oh, ever now.
Not everybody loves Carter, and this literary, frontal assault made him no friends among the screeching heads.
Which is why people in other countries do things like invite him to monitor the fairness of their elections and give him Nobel Peace prizes. Because then we'll have to pay at least a little attention to him.
The book provides a nice (Christian) insider's view of how fundamentalists slowly assumed leadership of Christian movements in the U.S. and committed them to political action. Very similar, Carter points out, to what we are grappling with in the Muslim world (and everywhere else).
Rather than go back over the book we'll discuss how the Bush crowd bungled the whole business with North Korea by way of example.
According to the book, Carter had then-President Clinton's blessing to work out a deal with Kim Il Sung, dad of the current leader, Kim Jong Il. What he got was a commitment by North Korea to cease its nuclear program at Yongbyon and permit International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to ensure that spent fuel stayed spent fuel.
Sung died and Jong kept the old man's word. In South Korea, Kim Dae Jung held out a whole bouquet of olive branches to the northern nemesis and gained the Nobel Peace Prize for 2000.
Peace, compromises and olive branches.
Then came W.
"North Korea," Carter writes, "was publicly branded as part of an `axis of evil,' with direct and implied threats of military action against the isolated and paranoid nation, and an official policy was established that prohibited any direct discussions with the North Koreans to resolve differences."
Things fell apart, of course. IAEA inspectors got booted from the Korean peninsula and N.K. dropped out of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a document Bush has never cared much for either, according to Carter.
Everybody hated everybody and nuclear testing ensued; the diplomatic equivalent of the middle finger, but more dangerous than a mere symbol. Now this nut has the bomb.
What happened? Here's the former prez: "The primary obstacles to progress are a peremptory United States demand that North Koreans renounce all nuclear activity and a decision that communication between our two countries will be accepted only within six-nation forum, while Pyongyang leaders have insisted on resumption of bilateral discussions and a clear statement from Washington that American leaders have `no hostile intent' against them."
Bush wouldn't give them that and so we got nothing.
You can't just talk to people you like around the world. You have to talk to those you don't like. That is the essence of diplomacy. The news out of Pyonyang was the essence of its failure.
Anyway, Carter's book is blessed with things you didn't know, but should. He's been there when a lot of stuff has gone down, sat in the meeting as it were, and the eyewitness expertise lends weight to the argument and a degree of fascination to the account.
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|
Our Endangered Values
Rating  (5)
Date: 2010-01-17
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
I agree with those reviewers who think all Americans should read this book. Since leaving the White House with a rather dismal accomplishment record, Jimmy Carter has established himself as the sage of Plains and a much sought after public figure. His work with Habitat for Humanity and the establishment of the Carter Center have brought much good to the world.
This book is a testimony to a man whose views speak of common sense and offers alarming insight into many problems facing modern day America. Many of these problems America has either created or helped bring upon itself. We are a people willing to allow our leaders to misguide us and who are often unaware that soe of the problems even exist. Both Democrats and Republicans share the blame, but recent White House leadership shoulders much of the responsibility for America's loss of status as a true leader in the world.
Our nation cannot "lead" just because we have bigger and more guns than anyone else. Iraqi insurgents are proving this to be true. We cannot lead if we fail to recognize the world is heading in one direction and we another. We cannot lead if our people do not realize fewer and fewer nations look up to us as champions of our own beliefs. We are not leaders if we fail to recognize "all men are created equal" or that there is only one God of all, not a separate God for America and another for everyone else.
Carter tries to show how his Christianity is in part responsible for our deplorable image in the developing world. The SOuthern Baptist Convention has hijacked American policy and ethics and corruted our image from campaigns if misinformation and the joining of church and state. Carter seeks a new course for his religion and the country in general. Unfortunately, he misses one point in his belief that if America just change its ways we may once again be the true leader of the world. He fails to understand that many countries do not want us to be their leader and will do anything to prevent it.
But still this is a well written and well thought out book. I found myself in either full or partial agreement with Carter on many of his points. He truely is an idol many should and could look up to if they only would take the time to read this and other works by Carter. He's the perfect example of how an ex-president should conduct himself. The is just simply a very, very good book.
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|
An examination of American policies
Rating  (4)
Date: 2010-01-07
Many books have been published in the last few years about America's lack of consistency in the last 9 years or so. Former Vice President , Al Gore, wrote The Assault on Reason which was a bold move for a former politician. Carter's 'Our Endangered Values' is in a similar vein.
Carter, backed by meticulous statistics, shows issues that are often overlooked by the popular press. For example, the US budget for malaria has been $90 million, but 95% is spent on consultants, and less than 5% on mosquito nets, drugs, and insecticide spraying to fight the disease. Federal policies from global warming to preemptive strikes are criticized.
Why didn't Carter do anything while president some might ask. Carter goes over his administrations policies and views, which almost all were removed by succeeding presidents.
There is hope. Many countries (The Netherlands, Germany, etc) are staunch on reducing carbon emissions, increasing peace, and increasing foreign aid. America can quickly follow their lead if people demand so.
|
|
Hope for America again
Rating (4)
Date: 2009-11-01
I've recently read Jimmy Carter's book Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis. Written with great influence from his Christian perspective, the book veers from the oft touted rhetoric of many of today's more outspoken Christians, but aligns with the growing number of those who are calling themselves "red letter Christians".
I wasn't politically aware during President Carter's administration, but have been extremely impressed with the work he has done since his time in office. Through The Carter Center, the Nobel Peace Prize winner has worked exhaustively to promote peace and social justice, and has served as a shining example with his work with Habitat for Humanity. Though his presidency doesn't stand as highly revered or auspicious as many others who've served in my lifetime, his track record of having a relatively bloodless administration and the humanitarian efforts he has championed since give me great hope that there are still good leaders alive in America.
Throughout the course of the current administration, I have found it harder and harder to hold my head up high as a proud American. From entering into a pre-emptive war to opting out of the Kyoto protocol and not doing our part to protect the environment, there have been many times that I have actually felt ashamed. And with the rise of fundamentalism overtaking Christianity through heightened judgment and lust for war, I all but dropped my association with that tradition.
However, reading President Carter's book, with its call to uphold the true values of both America and Christianity, I am given new hope in the future of both. I feel that I can once again say "God bless America" without feeling like a hypocrite.
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(Larger Image)
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by Jimmy Carter
ISBN: 0743284577
Binding/Media: Hardcover - 224 pages
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comments: Sold with pride. No writing, no highlighting. Copy in very good condition with minimal reading wear.
More Product Infomation
|
Customer Reviews
|
A Gloomy Book that doesn't reveal anything we don't already Know
Rating (2)
Date: 2010-02-12
Although I agree with Mr Carter's values, and believe he may be the best living president, I didn't like this book because it describes what is wrong with America, yet doesn't give any advice on how to correct it.
What a depressing read. I believe Mr Carter could have written a better book if he would have added advice on what people that share his views could do to improve the situation. Am I to believe there is nothing that we can do? Is that why he has a look of dispair on the front cover?
|
|
A "highwayscribery" Book Report
Rating (3)
Date: 2010-01-26
At highwayscribery we like to say Carter's the best mistake America ever made.
His book "Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis" is something of a radical tract done in a civil way. The treatise, a searing indictment of the Bush administration, provides left-wing viewpoint with the "cover" of Carter's being a good Christian. He prays, but he still thinks things stink (stunk); much the way the guy with dreadlocks and drum in the street has been saying for, oh, ever now.
Not everybody loves Carter, and this literary, frontal assault made him no friends among the screeching heads.
Which is why people in other countries do things like invite him to monitor the fairness of their elections and give him Nobel Peace prizes. Because then we'll have to pay at least a little attention to him.
The book provides a nice (Christian) insider's view of how fundamentalists slowly assumed leadership of Christian movements in the U.S. and committed them to political action. Very similar, Carter points out, to what we are grappling with in the Muslim world (and everywhere else).
Rather than go back over the book we'll discuss how the Bush crowd bungled the whole business with North Korea by way of example.
According to the book, Carter had then-President Clinton's blessing to work out a deal with Kim Il Sung, dad of the current leader, Kim Jong Il. What he got was a commitment by North Korea to cease its nuclear program at Yongbyon and permit International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to ensure that spent fuel stayed spent fuel.
Sung died and Jong kept the old man's word. In South Korea, Kim Dae Jung held out a whole bouquet of olive branches to the northern nemesis and gained the Nobel Peace Prize for 2000.
Peace, compromises and olive branches.
Then came W.
"North Korea," Carter writes, "was publicly branded as part of an `axis of evil,' with direct and implied threats of military action against the isolated and paranoid nation, and an official policy was established that prohibited any direct discussions with the North Koreans to resolve differences."
Things fell apart, of course. IAEA inspectors got booted from the Korean peninsula and N.K. dropped out of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a document Bush has never cared much for either, according to Carter.
Everybody hated everybody and nuclear testing ensued; the diplomatic equivalent of the middle finger, but more dangerous than a mere symbol. Now this nut has the bomb.
What happened? Here's the former prez: "The primary obstacles to progress are a peremptory United States demand that North Koreans renounce all nuclear activity and a decision that communication between our two countries will be accepted only within six-nation forum, while Pyongyang leaders have insisted on resumption of bilateral discussions and a clear statement from Washington that American leaders have `no hostile intent' against them."
Bush wouldn't give them that and so we got nothing.
You can't just talk to people you like around the world. You have to talk to those you don't like. That is the essence of diplomacy. The news out of Pyonyang was the essence of its failure.
Anyway, Carter's book is blessed with things you didn't know, but should. He's been there when a lot of stuff has gone down, sat in the meeting as it were, and the eyewitness expertise lends weight to the argument and a degree of fascination to the account.
|
|
Our Endangered Values
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-01-17
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
I agree with those reviewers who think all Americans should read this book. Since leaving the White House with a rather dismal accomplishment record, Jimmy Carter has established himself as the sage of Plains and a much sought after public figure. His work with Habitat for Humanity and the establishment of the Carter Center have brought much good to the world.
This book is a testimony to a man whose views speak of common sense and offers alarming insight into many problems facing modern day America. Many of these problems America has either created or helped bring upon itself. We are a people willing to allow our leaders to misguide us and who are often unaware that soe of the problems even exist. Both Democrats and Republicans share the blame, but recent White House leadership shoulders much of the responsibility for America's loss of status as a true leader in the world.
Our nation cannot "lead" just because we have bigger and more guns than anyone else. Iraqi insurgents are proving this to be true. We cannot lead if we fail to recognize the world is heading in one direction and we another. We cannot lead if our people do not realize fewer and fewer nations look up to us as champions of our own beliefs. We are not leaders if we fail to recognize "all men are created equal" or that there is only one God of all, not a separate God for America and another for everyone else.
Carter tries to show how his Christianity is in part responsible for our deplorable image in the developing world. The SOuthern Baptist Convention has hijacked American policy and ethics and corruted our image from campaigns if misinformation and the joining of church and state. Carter seeks a new course for his religion and the country in general. Unfortunately, he misses one point in his belief that if America just change its ways we may once again be the true leader of the world. He fails to understand that many countries do not want us to be their leader and will do anything to prevent it.
But still this is a well written and well thought out book. I found myself in either full or partial agreement with Carter on many of his points. He truely is an idol many should and could look up to if they only would take the time to read this and other works by Carter. He's the perfect example of how an ex-president should conduct himself. The is just simply a very, very good book.
|
|
An examination of American policies
Rating (4)
Date: 2010-01-07
Many books have been published in the last few years about America's lack of consistency in the last 9 years or so. Former Vice President , Al Gore, wrote The Assault on Reason which was a bold move for a former politician. Carter's 'Our Endangered Values' is in a similar vein.
Carter, backed by meticulous statistics, shows issues that are often overlooked by the popular press. For example, the US budget for malaria has been $90 million, but 95% is spent on consultants, and less than 5% on mosquito nets, drugs, and insecticide spraying to fight the disease. Federal policies from global warming to preemptive strikes are criticized.
Why didn't Carter do anything while president some might ask. Carter goes over his administrations policies and views, which almost all were removed by succeeding presidents.
There is hope. Many countries (The Netherlands, Germany, etc) are staunch on reducing carbon emissions, increasing peace, and increasing foreign aid. America can quickly follow their lead if people demand so.
|
|
Hope for America again
Rating (4)
Date: 2009-11-01
I've recently read Jimmy Carter's book Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis. Written with great influence from his Christian perspective, the book veers from the oft touted rhetoric of many of today's more outspoken Christians, but aligns with the growing number of those who are calling themselves "red letter Christians".
I wasn't politically aware during President Carter's administration, but have been extremely impressed with the work he has done since his time in office. Through The Carter Center, the Nobel Peace Prize winner has worked exhaustively to promote peace and social justice, and has served as a shining example with his work with Habitat for Humanity. Though his presidency doesn't stand as highly revered or auspicious as many others who've served in my lifetime, his track record of having a relatively bloodless administration and the humanitarian efforts he has championed since give me great hope that there are still good leaders alive in America.
Throughout the course of the current administration, I have found it harder and harder to hold my head up high as a proud American. From entering into a pre-emptive war to opting out of the Kyoto protocol and not doing our part to protect the environment, there have been many times that I have actually felt ashamed. And with the rise of fundamentalism overtaking Christianity through heightened judgment and lust for war, I all but dropped my association with that tradition.
However, reading President Carter's book, with its call to uphold the true values of both America and Christianity, I am given new hope in the future of both. I feel that I can once again say "God bless America" without feeling like a hypocrite.
|
(Larger Image)
|
by Jimmy Carter
ISBN: 0743284577
Binding/Media: Hardcover - 224 pages
Condition: Used: Like New
Comments: Sold with pride. Gently read copy in like new condition.
More Product Infomation
|
Customer Reviews
|
A Gloomy Book that doesn't reveal anything we don't already Know
Rating (2)
Date: 2010-02-12
Although I agree with Mr Carter's values, and believe he may be the best living president, I didn't like this book because it describes what is wrong with America, yet doesn't give any advice on how to correct it.
What a depressing read. I believe Mr Carter could have written a better book if he would have added advice on what people that share his views could do to improve the situation. Am I to believe there is nothing that we can do? Is that why he has a look of dispair on the front cover?
|
|
A "highwayscribery" Book Report
Rating (3)
Date: 2010-01-26
At highwayscribery we like to say Carter's the best mistake America ever made.
His book "Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis" is something of a radical tract done in a civil way. The treatise, a searing indictment of the Bush administration, provides left-wing viewpoint with the "cover" of Carter's being a good Christian. He prays, but he still thinks things stink (stunk); much the way the guy with dreadlocks and drum in the street has been saying for, oh, ever now.
Not everybody loves Carter, and this literary, frontal assault made him no friends among the screeching heads.
Which is why people in other countries do things like invite him to monitor the fairness of their elections and give him Nobel Peace prizes. Because then we'll have to pay at least a little attention to him.
The book provides a nice (Christian) insider's view of how fundamentalists slowly assumed leadership of Christian movements in the U.S. and committed them to political action. Very similar, Carter points out, to what we are grappling with in the Muslim world (and everywhere else).
Rather than go back over the book we'll discuss how the Bush crowd bungled the whole business with North Korea by way of example.
According to the book, Carter had then-President Clinton's blessing to work out a deal with Kim Il Sung, dad of the current leader, Kim Jong Il. What he got was a commitment by North Korea to cease its nuclear program at Yongbyon and permit International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to ensure that spent fuel stayed spent fuel.
Sung died and Jong kept the old man's word. In South Korea, Kim Dae Jung held out a whole bouquet of olive branches to the northern nemesis and gained the Nobel Peace Prize for 2000.
Peace, compromises and olive branches.
Then came W.
"North Korea," Carter writes, "was publicly branded as part of an `axis of evil,' with direct and implied threats of military action against the isolated and paranoid nation, and an official policy was established that prohibited any direct discussions with the North Koreans to resolve differences."
Things fell apart, of course. IAEA inspectors got booted from the Korean peninsula and N.K. dropped out of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a document Bush has never cared much for either, according to Carter.
Everybody hated everybody and nuclear testing ensued; the diplomatic equivalent of the middle finger, but more dangerous than a mere symbol. Now this nut has the bomb.
What happened? Here's the former prez: "The primary obstacles to progress are a peremptory United States demand that North Koreans renounce all nuclear activity and a decision that communication between our two countries will be accepted only within six-nation forum, while Pyongyang leaders have insisted on resumption of bilateral discussions and a clear statement from Washington that American leaders have `no hostile intent' against them."
Bush wouldn't give them that and so we got nothing.
You can't just talk to people you like around the world. You have to talk to those you don't like. That is the essence of diplomacy. The news out of Pyonyang was the essence of its failure.
Anyway, Carter's book is blessed with things you didn't know, but should. He's been there when a lot of stuff has gone down, sat in the meeting as it were, and the eyewitness expertise lends weight to the argument and a degree of fascination to the account.
|
|
Our Endangered Values
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-01-17
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
I agree with those reviewers who think all Americans should read this book. Since leaving the White House with a rather dismal accomplishment record, Jimmy Carter has established himself as the sage of Plains and a much sought after public figure. His work with Habitat for Humanity and the establishment of the Carter Center have brought much good to the world.
This book is a testimony to a man whose views speak of common sense and offers alarming insight into many problems facing modern day America. Many of these problems America has either created or helped bring upon itself. We are a people willing to allow our leaders to misguide us and who are often unaware that soe of the problems even exist. Both Democrats and Republicans share the blame, but recent White House leadership shoulders much of the responsibility for America's loss of status as a true leader in the world.
Our nation cannot "lead" just because we have bigger and more guns than anyone else. Iraqi insurgents are proving this to be true. We cannot lead if we fail to recognize the world is heading in one direction and we another. We cannot lead if our people do not realize fewer and fewer nations look up to us as champions of our own beliefs. We are not leaders if we fail to recognize "all men are created equal" or that there is only one God of all, not a separate God for America and another for everyone else.
Carter tries to show how his Christianity is in part responsible for our deplorable image in the developing world. The SOuthern Baptist Convention has hijacked American policy and ethics and corruted our image from campaigns if misinformation and the joining of church and state. Carter seeks a new course for his religion and the country in general. Unfortunately, he misses one point in his belief that if America just change its ways we may once again be the true leader of the world. He fails to understand that many countries do not want us to be their leader and will do anything to prevent it.
But still this is a well written and well thought out book. I found myself in either full or partial agreement with Carter on many of his points. He truely is an idol many should and could look up to if they only would take the time to read this and other works by Carter. He's the perfect example of how an ex-president should conduct himself. The is just simply a very, very good book.
|
|
An examination of American policies
Rating (4)
Date: 2010-01-07
Many books have been published in the last few years about America's lack of consistency in the last 9 years or so. Former Vice President , Al Gore, wrote The Assault on Reason which was a bold move for a former politician. Carter's 'Our Endangered Values' is in a similar vein.
Carter, backed by meticulous statistics, shows issues that are often overlooked by the popular press. For example, the US budget for malaria has been $90 million, but 95% is spent on consultants, and less than 5% on mosquito nets, drugs, and insecticide spraying to fight the disease. Federal policies from global warming to preemptive strikes are criticized.
Why didn't Carter do anything while president some might ask. Carter goes over his administrations policies and views, which almost all were removed by succeeding presidents.
There is hope. Many countries (The Netherlands, Germany, etc) are staunch on reducing carbon emissions, increasing peace, and increasing foreign aid. America can quickly follow their lead if people demand so.
|
|
Hope for America again
Rating (4)
Date: 2009-11-01
I've recently read Jimmy Carter's book Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis. Written with great influence from his Christian perspective, the book veers from the oft touted rhetoric of many of today's more outspoken Christians, but aligns with the growing number of those who are calling themselves "red letter Christians".
I wasn't politically aware during President Carter's administration, but have been extremely impressed with the work he has done since his time in office. Through The Carter Center, the Nobel Peace Prize winner has worked exhaustively to promote peace and social justice, and has served as a shining example with his work with Habitat for Humanity. Though his presidency doesn't stand as highly revered or auspicious as many others who've served in my lifetime, his track record of having a relatively bloodless administration and the humanitarian efforts he has championed since give me great hope that there are still good leaders alive in America.
Throughout the course of the current administration, I have found it harder and harder to hold my head up high as a proud American. From entering into a pre-emptive war to opting out of the Kyoto protocol and not doing our part to protect the environment, there have been many times that I have actually felt ashamed. And with the rise of fundamentalism overtaking Christianity through heightened judgment and lust for war, I all but dropped my association with that tradition.
However, reading President Carter's book, with its call to uphold the true values of both America and Christianity, I am given new hope in the future of both. I feel that I can once again say "God bless America" without feeling like a hypocrite.
|
(Larger Image)
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by Tim Kendall
ISBN: 0802313132
Binding/Media: Paperback - 258 pages
Condition: Used: Acceptable
Comments: Sold with pride and shipped with confirmation for US addresses. Tight binding. Minimal shelf wear. Decent reading copy. This book is an EX LIBRARY copy. No highlighting/ writing apart from library markings.
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(Larger Image)
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by Jack McKivigan
ISBN: 0737715235
Binding/Media: Hardcover - 176 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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(Larger Image)
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by Doug Crandell
ISBN: 1556525524
Binding/Media: Hardcover - 272 pages
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comments: Sold with pride and shipped with confirmation for US addresses. No shelf wear, no writing. This book is an early release from circulation, EX LIBRARY copy in a like new condition. Library markings present.
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Customer Reviews
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Great book!
Rating (5)
Date: 2009-11-19
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Having grown up on a farm not too far from where Crandell did (I attended the same school only about 15 years earlier) there were so many things I could relate to in this story. That being said I have a feeling there are many other people out there who can relate to a lot of things in this story no matter where they grew up. I got a kick out of the things young Doug thought about the things going on around him-reminding me of things I misunderstood as a child. I did not want to put the book down right from the start. It was great to see how his writing ability came to be-you could tell early on in his life that he was destined to be a writer-how many 7 year old boys keep a journal? I highly recommend this book.
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A serious memoir full of lighthearted moments
Rating (4)
Date: 2009-09-12
I wasn't sure what to expect from Doug Crandell's memoir Pig Boy's Wicked Bird. I didn't know if it would be funny or serious. As it turns out, it was a little bit of both.
Pig Boy's Wicked Bird recounts Crandell's experiences growing up in the summer of 1976 on his family's pig farm. This was the summer that a young Doug severed and nearly lost his finger in a piece of farm equipment. It's also the summer that he manages to save and raise a family of runts.
I laughed out loud at the story of the matching bicentennial outfits his mother makes for the family. Many of the stories capture the lighthearted moments of childhood and family life, but the book is at heart a serious memoir.
Crandell attempts to make sense of his childhood memories, his family's financial problems and this strange but wonderful thing called a family. Crandell has an easy to read style that recreates this summer from his youth. He describes both the tough subjects and the lighthearted ones with enough details to bring readers into the story.
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A thought provoking memoir
Rating (5)
Date: 2008-09-28
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Doug Crandell has written a poignant memoir that cannot fail to touch your heart and mind. Doug must have been a complete mystery to his family as a child. He was so sensitive, so intelligent, and so different from the rest of the family. The unconditional love and acceptance from all in the Crandell family shine as a steady beacon in his well written book. I became so caught up in the family story, and Doug's individual story, that I was almost holding my breath hoping that all would turn out for the best.
Mr. Crandell's memoir made me want to hold a piglet too- preferably a runt! I learned a lot about pig farming on a small farm from his story. I don't think I'll ever want to eat a ham sandwich again! His descriptive powers were so great that I could almost see the piglets long eyelashes and hear their contented breaths in the little pen.
I do wish that I knew if Doug was ever able to use his hand in any way. I kept thinking, "if only you could have seen a hand surgeon when this happened". But alas, there was never enough money and everyone did the very best they could without a lot of medical help, or really any kind of outside help.
You will love this book.
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Humorous and Poignant.........a must read!!
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-04-05
I grew up in neighboring Illinois not far from `Pig Boy'. So, in reading this lovely memoir I found myself transported back into my own childhood memories of growing up. I was tired of reading at the time and therefore hesitant to give this memoir a chance. When I finished, I found that the author had reignited my passion for reading. This memoir will make you want to read again...to write again. The author truly captured the very humorous and.... yes poignant business of growing up, families and the unique value that every person brings to this world. Get this book, you will be glad you did.
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The Three D's
Rating (5)
Date: 2005-05-31
5 out of 5 customers found this reveiw helpful
First of all, I really enjoyed this book. I was skeptical going in, thinking it was just another outbreak in the rash of memoirs that has erupted on the best seller lists. This one is different. On the surface, it's a coming of age story, a story about self worth, self awareness, and the impact of family (the family in question being "the seven D's" - all of Doug Crandell's brothers, sisters, and even his parents have names that start with D.) But it turns out that what the story is really about is the three D's: disability, disfigurement, and just being different.
Two of the author's fingers are essentially severed in a childhood farming accident, leaving the boy disabled, disfigured and different. This leads to an awareness and an appreciation of those three D's -- that turn out to be everywhere in young Crandell's world: his mother who is "no longer a woman" due to a hysterectomy, a man with cerebral palsy who connects with the author, the runt pigs destined to be destroyed but saved by Crandell, a grandmother with a humped back, a sister with scoliosis, even the oldest brother is left changed by a never fully explained abduction reminiscent of Mystic River. (Most everyone in the book is marked in some critical, defining, and not always obvious way. Some, like the landlord's son, are, to quote John Lennon, crippled inside.)
Sherwood Anderson and his collection of grotesqueries, Winesburg, Ohio is the influence pointed out by Doug Crandell for helping him sort out his confused world of being marked different as well as leading him on the path to becoming a writer. What I noticed were the influences of William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, and in particular Carson McCullers. For a story of the Midwest, Pig Boy's Wicked Bird has a distinct Southern Gothic feel. (One person's physical characteristics are described as "crooked," "twisted," and "warped" in the space of a single paragraph). Like The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, or even Truman Capote's Other Voices, Other Rooms, these disabled, disfigured, and different people will live with you forever.
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by Arthur L. Johnson
ISBN: 0814333702
Binding/Media: Hardcover - 288 pages
Condition: New
Comments: Sold with pride and shipped with confirmation for US addresses. New, unread copy.
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Customer Reviews
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Truly insightful, moving and powerful!
Rating (5)
Date: 2009-04-06
1 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
Steve Palackdharry shares an incredibly remarkable story of Arthur Johnson's journey and plethora of contributions to social justice in Detroit.
Arthur Johnson's rise from the South to the "Motor City" is beautifully presented. Johnson's encounters during his drive to eliminate racial discrepancies in Detroit's economic, medical and social arenas are beyond enlightening.
For many the reality of two Americas (one black, one white) is hard to accept. Still, the evidence is everywhere. The Black/White issue is always there, in America's subconscious. Interesting is where this leaves the rest of us.
You would think anyone who knows history would have a difficult time denying there's still much to be done to remedy U.S. racial issues, but as Johnson said, the racist power structure cons and confuses.
Racism was blatant during the "urban renewal," white flight and redlining. Then, as Johnson mentions, there are times when traditional racism isn't so simple to detect. Michigan's 2006 favor of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI) is a perfect example... and the main reason why when "reverse" and" racism" are used in the same sentence my stomach churns... the term screams of flagrance and sheer ignorance.
Another interesting piece is Johnson's belief that African Americans "cannot be fairly charged as racists." It's easy to see Johnson's point--I cannot fault him, though many would. Still, people like Pamela Newkirk, a Black journalist who writes about racial injustice within newsrooms across the nation, would agree with him. As a response to those who say racism is no longer a significant issue,
Newkirk said, "Disregarded are the ways in which unconscious racism was still responsible for the persistent racial disparities in income and other social measures."
To learn that only two years ago Detroiters paid three times the national average in insurance premiums, and how those rates add to the city's stigma, further proves both points. It's so easy to overlook the ways in which injustice prevails. Which is to blame, ignorance or complacency?
I cannot argue with the notion that racism runs through the veins of this country. Johnson's belief that "no past gains in the struggle for racial justice are fixed and settled" remind me of a certain responsibility I have as a Latina, Detroiter and a woman.
I appreciate this book primarily because it is replete with historical, social and spiritual wisdom. At my age it's all too easy to go searching for the good life, instead of living it! I love Johnson's 5 keys. Definitely a great lesson.
Palackdharry has written a true gem. To say it's an enjoyable read replete with potent historical knowledge is an understatement. Well worth the money and time to read--at least TWICE!
~*~*~*~I.Pérez--Broadcast Journalist
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A top pick for anyone who wants to read about the life of a civil rights warrior
Rating (5)
Date: 2008-11-14
1 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
Civil rights weren't always a given for black Americans. "Race and Remembrance" tells of Arthur L. Johnson, a man who fought for civil rights during its toughest battle during the sixties, and has spent much of his life since fighting those battles. A peer to Martin Luther King Jr., it's a look into an old man's life and struggles through rough and turbulent times faced with such a harsh struggle to make the progress that has been made today. "Race and Remembrance" is a top pick for anyone who wants to read about the life of a civil rights warrior.
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by (Creator: Macmillan Reference Usa)
ISBN: 0028653629
Binding/Media: Library Binding - 399 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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by Army Corporal Bill Ahnen, Pearl Kastran Ahnen (Foreword: Medal of Honor Marine Corporal Duane E.)
ISBN: 0615135196
Binding/Media: Hardcover - 357 pages
Condition: Used: Like New
Comments: Sold with pride and shipped with confirmation for US addresses. Gently read copy in like new condition.
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