DWD's Reviews

Published by HighBridge Audio in 2011. Multicast Performance Duration: 2 hours, 7 minutes Photo by Pharaoh Hound NPR's Driveway Moments collection are called "Driveway Moments" because the idea is supposed that the stories are so good that the listener sits in the driveway and listens to the end of the story when he/she gets home rather than just turning off the car and going on into the house. In this collection, the emphasis is on dogs and this collection covers all sort of dogs. From homeless chihuahuas in Los Angeles  to massive sheep dogs in Turkey. There are celebrity dogs, blind dogs, war hero dogs and dogs that go to church. We also hear from two different dog trainers, learn about DNA testing for dogs and learn about a mother dog that adopted a nursing tiger Cub.  The collection is up-and-down but the strong stories are good enough for me to rate this collection 4 stars out of 5. Reviewed on March 7, 2015

Should be called "Funny People in Rather Boring Interviews"   Published by HighBridge Audio in 2010 Multicast Performance Duration: 2 hours, 12 minutes This collection of performances from NPR's vast radio library is the second volume of "Funniest Driveway Moments." They are called Driveway Moments because the idea is supposed that the stories are so good that the listener sits in the driveway and listens to the end of the story when he/she gets home rather than just turning off the car and going on into the house. But, most of this 2 CD set should be called "Funny People in Rather Boring Interviews."  The collection starts out with a run-of-the-mill interview with Joan Rivers (Sorry NPR but discussing her husband's suicide is just not funny) and the most boring interview with Harry Shearer that I have ever heard. There was an interview with Harold Ramis about how to write comedy that was vaguely humorous and I was really beginning to w

Published by Berkley Windhover in 1974 Bruce Catton (1899-1978) Bruce Catton was the most famous Civil War historian of his era and mastered the art of writing narrative history for the masses. I freely admit that I am an unabashed fan of Catton. I am quite sure that he kick-started my interest in the Civil War that has caused me to fill my shelves with over 100 Civil War books. Catton tells the story of Gettyburg in slightly more than 100 pages His approachable style is in full display here. For example, his description of Confederate General A.P. Hill: "...a heads-down slugger always willing to take a blow in order to land one." (p. 20)   No one is better at telling a Civil War story than Catton and Gettysburg is the single biggest story of the war. He knows how to keep the story moving but to add just enough detail to make it feel like a special re-telling. The book is full of great maps, illustrations and photographs and is well worth the time of a student of

Published in 2009 by HighBridge Audio Multicast Performance Duration: about 1 hour. National Public Radio has combed through its broadcast archives and found 13 different stories about the great American institution - the road trip. But, these aren't just any stories. These are stories that feature another great American institution - the roadside attraction.  The stories cover a variety of quirky attractions including the Elvis Is Alive Museum, The Velveteria (featuring black velvet paintings of Elvis and lots more!), the world's 2nd biggest ball of twine, a series of backyard folk art exhibits in Michigan and even a couple of more famous attractions like Florida's Cypress Gardens and Seattle's Space Needle. A slightly off topic, but very interesting, story about the famed Burma Shave signs is also included. The stories wind up with the story of an epic musical piece written in the classical style about the trials and tribulations of the family car-bas

Published in 2005 by W.W. Norton and Company This wonderful set of nine essays is just about as complete of a discussion of the South, the Civil War, Reconstruction, family, home, historical research and some practical applications of the lessons of the Civil War for us today as I have read . It seems to me that most of these essays have been published somewhere else first. That being said, Ayers has arranged them in a rough chronological order based not on the historical topic of the essay but on Ayers's own life. He starts with his own childhood in Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina and his own growing understand of what it means to be a Southerner. As the essays go along, Ayers goes to college, travels the world a bit and eventually returns to the South to do research and eventually teach at the University of Virginia.  As Ayers moves through his education and his career he develops a perspective on the Civil War and that perspective changes as he grows in his

  Victor Davis Hanson Delivers Another Quality Book Published in 2013 by Bloomsbury Press Victor Davis Hanson, best known for his works on Ancient Greece, looks at five different generals from five different time periods and discusses how these generals became what he calls "Savior Generals". This book is very similar in structure to his 2003 book Ripples of Battle . Hanson picked five generals to discuss. All are from the West and he notes that this is not an all-inclusive list. They are not even particularly spread out well over history. One is from Ancient Greece, one from the early Byzantine Empire and three of them are American generals. In my opinion, not all of them fit the mold perfectly. In fact, I think only two of them do. To be a Savior General you have to have been on the outs with the establishment and then, when everything has fallen apart and the situation is about as dire as possible, the establishment command structure looks to you to come in with y