A HARD DAY'S WRITE

I picked this up a few years ago and finally decided to sit down and read it and I'm glad I did. Initially I was a little disappointed because I thought it was going to go into more details about the songs but this book provides more than that. It doesn't just explain what influenced the writer to write the song but they also discussed what was going on in his life at that moment. A lot of this information I had never seen or heard of before. This is only my second Beatles book that I've read with the ANTHOLOGY being my first. A great read for anybody who's seeking more info about a particular song or album!

Sounds interesting. I love the Beatles. Any interesting tidbits?





TIS

Many! For example, Savoy Truffle was written due to Eric Clapton's sweet tooth.

Once i get some money in the next couple weeks i'm looking to pick up a copy of "The Western Lands" by William S. Burroughs and a copy of "The Divine Comedy".

THE SAVAGE CITY by TJ English. It was interesting if a bit preachy. Not the best book i have ever cast my eyes over!!

Pardon Me, You're Stepping on My Eyeball!
by Paul Zindel

This has some surface similarities to Zindel's The Pigman. There's two teenage misfits, a houseparty that goes drastically wrong and some quirky kids and bullies. But this is a much darker tale. There's very real anger and even some ugly domestic abuse that came out of left field. If this book had been written today instead of the seventies that last would almost certainly be handled differently.

This book is about two high school weirdos and their encounters with each other, their dysfunctional families and their struggles to move forward in life. It's not quite a love story although there are some hints of that. Both the hero and heroine are in a special needs class.

Louis Mellow, or as he prefers to be called, Marsh, is an intelligent high school student who spends his days writing down lists of all the things he hates and why he hates them. He idealizes his absent father, whom he calls Paranoid Pete and hates his whiny mean drunk mother, whom he refers to as Schizoid Suzy. Marsh always carries a baby raccoon that he rescued in his jacket pocket. Marsh can be quite disruptive in class. He enjoys telling people outrageous stories about his adventures with his father and their supposed lecherous dalliances with women and girls in the continental United States and beyond. According to Marsh Paranoid Pete is locked in an insane asylum and about to be executed! Marsh can be cruelly dismissive or insulting to anyone who doesn't believe his stories.

Edna Shinglebox is a girl at Marsh's school that Marsh decides he likes, just because anyone who has the nerve to walk around with a name like Shinglebox must have some heart. Edna actually suffers from social anxiety and gawkiness. Her hair gets caught in escalators and she makes involuntary head jerks when she gets nervous, which is often. Her parents think she's going to die an old maid. Her mother is extremely sarcastic and cutting. Her mother is trying to fix Edna up with anything of the male persuasion, weird or not. Marsh wants Edna's help to rescue his father. Edna's not sure if she likes Marsh but after he insults her a few times she finds the backbone to stand up to him and change how she approaches life in general. She also rather quickly figures out the truth behind Marsh's stories and must decide if she wants to help. I can't say for sure of course but from the outside looking in I would think that Zindel wrote an extremely realistic young girl character.

Everyone has problems here, whether it's the overweight diabetic teacher who also knows why Marsh has issues and refuses to tell Edna or the rich girl who knows that the football player only likes her because she lives in a large house suitable for parties, or the malodorous psychic who wants to give Edna advice. The ending is at best bittersweet but also leaves room for growth, which is all you can ask for in life. Worthwhile reading. Edna's anger is awesome to see. This is also a very funny book. The title comes from the advice Marsh got from his father to not let anyone step on his eyeball.

Just read Carl Hiaasen's STAR ISLAND. I have read a few of his and he just cracks me up. Hilarious stuff

Just finished reading Michael Connelly's " Echo Park " which is the 12th book in the " Harry Bosch " series.

I just finished "Trunk Music" from the Bosch series, and am on the waiting list for "Angels Flight", which is next.

Oh Babe, i am reading them in order also, but just read ANGELS FLIGHT so i am one ahead of you. I'm not sure what is next actually, VOID MOON i think. They are great books though eh?

I am enjoying the series, but you might also like his "Crime Beat". It's various news stories he covered as a crime reporter. He also talks about Bosch and the cop he is based on that Connelly met when covering the crime beat.

I finished re-reading "Heisenberg's War" by Thomas Powers. This big (~500pp.) book tells in great detail the story of German scientists' efforts (or non-efforts) in working on nuclear fission for the Nazis. Powers' premise is that the German scientists deliberately led the effort "into a clothes closet" to prevent Hitler from getting and using atomic bombs. He cites Heisenberg, possibly Germany's greatest physicist at the time, as having used his prestige to discourage the Nazis from pursuing nuclear weapons.

I don't necessarily agree. Scientists believe science is knowledge, and they follow science wherever it leads them. Although Heisenberg and his colleagues weren't Nazis, I belive they would have built atomic bombs if they knew how and if Germany had the resources and the security to produce enough fissionable material for weapons. They would have done it for science, and for the Fatherland. But, they didn't really know how; there was no way they could have wheedled enough money and manpower from Hitler's wunderwaffen (rockets and jets), and even if they built the huge plants necessary to produce U-235 and plutonium, there was no way Germany could protect them against Allied bombing and sabotage.

I don't believe that Heisenberg and the other German scientists were conducting their own Resistance movement against the Nazis--they were simply being realistic when they told Albert Speer and other party and military officials that atomic weapons could not be produced by Germany until after the war.

SEINLANGUAGE

I must say that I was pretty disappointed with this book. I remember when it came out back in 1993 and wanting to read it but I never did. I recently came across it and gave it a shot since it had been such a long time since I'd thought about it. Most of the jokes in this book unfortunately were already heard during the SEINFELD series during the opening credits while Jerry was on stage. The jokes that didn't make the show were cut for good reason (they weren't funny). An easy read but not an enjoyable one unfortunately.

ON THE TRAIL OF THE ASSASSINS

I've had this and another JFK book about the assassination and I figured with this being the 50th anniversary of that event, now was as good a time as any to read them. Before I begin I will tell you that I 100% agree that Oswald wasn't the shooter and that there was a conspiracy to kill President Kennedy. This book provided many details on whom Jim Garrison believes was behind the assassination and why. In addition he provides many interesting questions which still to this day, have yet to be answered. All we can do now is wait another 25 years to truly find out the truth (that is if the government actually does reveal everything to us in 25 years). Oliver Stone does a great job with the movie as many of these chapters are portrayed with great accuracy on screen (accuracy in regards to the contents of the book - not whether you believe the information to be fact or fiction). The book doesn't really give anything more than the movie does. In fact some scenes I'm assuming were added by Stone or are part of the second book that the film JFK was based on, CROSSFIRE: THE PLOT THAT KILLED KENNEDY which is what I'm going to begin reading next.

However, after reading this book and seeing the film I am just in awe of what I like to term the Age of Innocence. What I mean by that is it just astounds me that people of that time period were so naive to think that our government is capable of toppling foreign governments for her own benefit but that somehow we aren't capable of doing it here in America with our own President. Even Oliver Stone said in a special feature on the JFK documentary how other countries like France and in parts of Europe laugh at us that we are so blind to see that our President was overthrown by individuals who no longer wished him to be there. Back when the film was released in 1991, a poll conducted at that time stated that at least 75% of people now believe there was a conspiracy to kill President Kennedy. Unfortunately, people have other things on their mind right now and this has gone by the wayside. I do believe though that Jim Garrison should be recognized as a hero as he was the spearhead to bring this investigation and reopen the murder of President Kennedy when so many people were against it and him.

Great comment. Who do you think was involved out of interest? I agree that LHO wasn't the lone assassin but i've not been able to believe in one conspiracy consistently.

Honestly, the C.I.A. and other parts of our government. Too many "coincidences" to me that point to a conspiracy and not just what the governments selling. A basic lack of respect for following proper police procedure immediately after the assassination. Why were no notes taken when Oswald's in custody after his arrest? Why was the limousine that Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connelly washed immediately afterwards without salvaging some form of evidence? Why were Connelly's clothes immediately dry cleaned? These are just but a few of the basic questions that need answering. Not to mention the fact that the government performed a nitrate test on Lee Harvey Oswald the day of the assassination to determine if he had even fired a gun that day and the test came back negative, indicating that he had NOT fired a gun that day at all!

Irish, did you read King's time travel book about the assassination? It was fascinating, and he must have done a ton of research.

I wish Plaw were still here. He was a real expert on JFK.

Finished "Captivity, Flight, and Survival in World War II" by Alan J. Levine.
Thank you once more, Turnbull, for the recommendation.

My favourite doc on the assasination if anyones interested it uses alot of newsreel footage

Not really a book, and I don't want to start another political thread, but speaking of JFK, I don't know what year this came out but had it saved to my favorites. Pictures of JFK 60 campaign. Those around my age will remember the campaign signs, candidates traveling by train. Pics of JFK sitting on back of open convertible (ie pic 15). I've said it before but I am proud to say I saw him during that campaign travel pass my school (in open convertible...little did we know).

I can not believe it will be 50 years this November. For whatever reason, the JFK assassination has and will always be a memory I'll never forget. A memory of a generation. I can almost recite what I did from the moment of hearing the announcement thru the funeral. Then, to add to the shock/grief, JFK was killed on Friday and Sunday we see Oswald killed on live tv. What a shocker that was. Nobody would have ever thought any of this was possible.

TIS


http://life.time.com/icons/jfks-1960-campaign-rare-photos-photos/?iid=lb-gal-viewagn#1

TIS, like you I can never forget that day in November. I had always wanted to work in government, but after that, nothing could deter me.

Since you mentioned the '60 campaign pictures, you might read Theodore White's the Making of the President. He wrote a series of them, but that one is his first.

Thanks Oli.

Did you notice several of the pictures are taken in Texas. Don't know if it's your neck of the woods or not.


TIS

Yes I did read it and enjoyed it! Really the only reason I read it was because it had to do with the JFK assassination.

This is probably the best book I've read this year. I like to think of myself as a well read, historically knowledgeable man. But I was surprised and embarrassed that I had never heard of this story's hero, one Mr. Newton Knight. Well there's no shame in being ignorant but there is shame in staying so.

Newton Knight should be as well known as John Brown, perhaps even more so because unlike Brown he was from the South. Knight stood up and did the right thing at great personal risk. He was anti-slavery and pro-Union, as much for religious and moral reasons as for class ones. He led an anti-Confederacy insurrection in Mississippi for over two years. He was constantly hunted and nearly killed many times. But at the high point of his guerrilla war, his home of Jones County Mississippi was a very dangerous, virtual no-go area for Confederate soldiers, and especially for Confederate tax collectors. Knight maintained two families, one black and one white and had both blacks and whites fighting and working under his leadership. This was quite scandalous.

By 1863 Knight had become the leader of Jones County "insurrectionists", mostly white men who swore Union allegiance. Armed only with shotguns, older muskets and terrain knowledge, they launched a pro-Union revolt. Eventually they received supplies from and shared intelligence with the Union Army. By war's end this force had become interracial. Knight also embarked upon a relationship with Rachel Knight, a woman previously owned by his extended family. Rachel Knight provided the group with food, medicine and most importantly information. She became Knight's common law wife, despite the fact that he was already married to Serena Knight.

After the war many of Knight's white neighbors and fellow soldiers, although they had been happy enough to take his food and protection during hard times, now looked askance at his default (interracial) bigamy and stubborn insistence on black political, social and economic rights. For example Knight provided the capital and much of his own labor to build a school for the county's children. But when the school opened Knight's black children by Rachel were turned away while his white children with Serena were accepted. Shortly afterwards the school was burned down and I'll give you one guess as to who did it.

This was alternatively an exciting and depressing book. The book detailed Mississippi's transformation into the terror state it would remain for a century after the Civil War. Knight gradually withdrew from public life but even as an old man his well earned reputation for putting people in the ground, protected his family, with a few tragic exceptions. I really enjoyed reading this story and learning about someone I had never heard of before.

Easily the greatest piece of historical fiction I've read in a very long time. The author, Stephen L. Carter, creates a "what-if" scenario. What if Abraham Lincoln survived the assassination asleep attempt by John Wilkes Booth, and continued to share as the sixteenth President of the United States, during the tumultuous time after the end of the Civil War?

It is 1867. The Civil War ended two years ago. Lincoln is Still President, but he is by no means the revered man that he is today. The Radical wing of the Republican party has decided to pursue an impeachment trial against the sixteenth president for crimes committed during The Civil War (shutting down newspapers, arresting political opponents, suspending habeus corpus, etc.). The story is told from the side of the defense; specifically, Abigail Canner, a recent graduate of Oberlin University. She's also black.

She arrives at the law office of Dennard & McShane, with a letter of recommendation from Senator Summer. She is under a impression that she is to be a law clerk for McShane, but he is missing, And Dennard has other ideas for Miss Canner, a role more befitting her status as a woman of color. She quickly befriends Dennard's other law clerk, Jonathan Hilliman.

Eventually, McShane is found murdered, in the company of a prostitute, and an investigation by Abigail and Jonathan ensues, which eventually leads to the discovery of a conspiracy against the President (don't worry, these plot points can be found on the back cover of the book, so it spoils nothing).

Abigail Canner is a captivating main character who often proves to be smarter and one step ahead of her white counterparts. Yet, due to her status as a woman (and a black woman at that) she is often left out of the more important proceedings. Jonathan serves as the perfect "sidekick" to Abigail, and their interactions with each other are quite charming.

The author takes a lot of liberties with the history involved in the novel, but it still fits perfectly within the context of the story. Some dates were changed here and there, and some dialogue was taken from different speeches and attributed to something else, but it all works. Many of the precedents set forth in this fictional impeachment of Lincoln were taken directly from the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson.

My complaints are few, but worth mentioning. This is a pretty big book (about 650 pages), and there are a lot of supplemental characters in the book. It would have been nice to have a "cast of characters" list to refer to, because it is easy to lose track of "who's who". Also, without spoiling anything, I thought the ending was a little safe.

All in all, though, this was a fantastic read. This is a definite must-read not only for fans of Lincoln and this era of history, but also for those interested in politics and law. I can't recommend it enough!

Thank you for the review. I have had this book on my Amazon wishlist for a while now. It looks very good.

CROSSFIRE: THE PLOT THAT KILLED KENNEDY

The second book that the Oliver Stone film JFK was based upon and this was an absolute FANTASTIC read. Coming in at a little under 600 pages, it provides great depth into every aspect of the assassination. It discusses topics such as the Cubans, Castro, the Russians, the CIA, the FBI but other theories such as did Oswald really come back from Russia? (Some researchers seem to believe he was replaced with a Soviet agent). It discusses Lyndon Johnson and J. Edgar Hoovers motivations for getting Kennedy out of the White House, how and why the Warren Commission and the House Select Committee on Assassinations was formed, etc. In my opinion, this is a VERY comprehensive investigation into the Kennedy assassination and I recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it.

I just finished Ilf&Petrov's "American Road Trip". It's a funny, naive and absolutely improbable story of two famous Soviet humorist writers. A few years before the Great Terror in Russia, before the heat of anti-communism in the US, before WW2, the two engaged in a road trip from coast to coast and back. Their unique perspective is amazing and funny.

I read "Oppenheimer: A Life Inside the Center," by Ray Monk. The author's premise is that the famous scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer was driven by a need to be "inside the center" of everything he did--and Monk makes a strong case that Oppenheimer's famous charisma reflected that drive. The book also gives a fascinating account of how the first decades of the last century saw tremendous advances in physics. Monk details the achievements of such scientific luminaries as Paul Dirac, Werner Heisenberg, Wolfgang Pauli, Paul Ehrenfest, Max Born, Ernest Lawrence, and others. Excellent reading.

Killing Lincoln, by Bill O'Reilly. Good stuff, quick easy read. Written like a non-fiction book. For me, a non-historical type person, it was as capsulized look back in history. I'm now reading Killing Kennedy by O'Reilly. Good so far