DWD's Reviews

Good summer fun! Originally published in 1994. Flintlock is the frontier nickname of Nathaniel Jones, a deadeye shot on the Kentucky frontier. The book is ostensibly about Aaron Burr and his attempt to break the American West away from the rest of the United States in the early 1800s. For those of you not familiar with Burr, he was the former Vice President (Jefferson's first term) who killed America's first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton (the guy on your $10 bill) in a duel. This ruined his political career and he was accused of conspiring to turn the US territory East of the Mississippi and west of the Appalachians into a personal dictatorship. Aaron Burr (1756-1836) The book has a rather large prologue (almost 1/2 of the book) that concerns young Flintlock's exploits as a teen in the Revolutionary War on the Virginia/Kentucky frontier. To be honest, that is the only complaint that I have with the book - its back cover does not accurately describe ...

Holds up well - even after 50+ years The Day of the Triffids is a classic end-of-the-world sci-fi novel set in England. Two bizarre things happen at the beginning of the novel to create disaster. Number 1: Science "discovers" walking plants that are named Triffids that can communicate among themselves. Our narrator, Bill Masen, believes that they are the result of Russian military testing, possibly meant to be a weapon, but they quickly spread all over the world. The Triffid is harmless enough until it grows to be man-sized. Then, it is able to walk by using its branches to swing its trunk, similar to the way a man on crutches walks. Once it walks, it is also able to hunt with this long whip-like tentacle with a poisoned tip. The Triffids like to eat putrid, rotting meat, much like a Venus Flytrap. It tears the meat loose with its tentacle. The Triffids are more of a curiosity to the world, though until bizarre thing #2 happens: There is a meteor shower one night - it ...

Originally published in 1978. Winner of the National Book Award The Book of the Dun Cow is a simple fable of Chauntecleer, a rooster. He is in charge of a small animal kingdom and is confronted by the evil Cockatrice, a half snake/half rooster who is the son of the devil, an evil serpent that is trapped beneath the surface of the earth but is trying to get out to destroy God's creation. The book revolves around the efforts of the animals to come together to confront the evil threat and the costs that such action entails. It also has much deeper themes such as the nature of love and forgiveness. I really was not looking forward to reading this book - in fact, I only picked it out of my pile of books because I thought that I had remembered a friend had read it while we were in high school. Much to my surprise, however, I loved it. It was well-paced and the main characters had depth. I recommend this book enthusiastically. I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. This book can be f...

A "Must" for All Students of the Civil War Published in 2009 by Oxford University Press. This Mighty Scourge: Perspectives on the Civil War is a collection of 16 essays by well-known historian James McPherson on a number of Civil War-related topics. Some of the essays are brand new, but most have been published before but have been re-worked for this book. The essays fall into five broad categories: 1) Slavery and the Coming of War;  2) The Lost Cause Revisited;  3)  Architects of Victory;  4) Home Front and Battle Front;  5) Lincoln. McPherson discusses the causes of the war in the first essay - a brilliant essay entitled "And The War Came." McPherson directly confronts those that insist that slavery had no part in causing the war. Please, read this essay if you are one of those people before you make that argument again (if you don't want to buy the book for fear of supporting someone who skewers your particular point of view, get it at your library, ...

I have found a new hero from history Published in 2008. I've known about John Quincy Adams's post-Presidential career ever since I read Profiles In Courage  by JFK many, many years ago. However, what I most remember about that description of him was that that he argued against slavery in the Congress when he could have just coasted along in a comfortable political semi-retirement. In the well-written Mr. Adams's Last Crusade , Joseph Wheelan does us all a favor by elaborating on John Quincy Adams's amazing career. Wheelan briefly covers John Quincy Adams's early career in the first 65 pages. As a teenager, John Quincy Adams was an assistant to his father while he was an ambassador to Europe during the Revolutionary War. He served as ambassador to several European countries after the War and also as Secretary of State (the Monroe Doctrine is as much his as Monroe's) and finally President. Oddly enough, that amazing career was only a prelude to his post-Presi...

It was not only a joy to read but also well worth the effort Published in 2007 by Salem Books I read D'Souza's What's So Great about America last year and I enjoyed it. To use a food analogy, What's So Great About America is like a 4th of July dinner of hamburgers, chips and a soft drink - filling but also fun and easy to consume.  What's So Great About Christianity is a much more complicated work. If it were a meal it would be like a 3 course porterhouse steak meal - more challenging to consume, more work to prepare and, in the end, more filling. But there's a lot more chewing. This is a work that requires a lot more thought and more time to read and properly understand.  D'Souza systematically delves into all aspects of Christianity - from the areas of the world to where it is growing today to science to miracles to the "problem" of evil to the charges that more have been killed in the name of Christianity (and other religions)...

Fascinating, entertaining and important Published in 2009 by Stockade Books. For those of you who are not aware, Mark Steyn was brought before three courts of Canada's Human Rights Commission for violating the human rights of some Muslim students and the Canadian Islamic Congress. You see, in Canada, your right not to be offended is more important than your right to speak your mind (except in the hypocritical cases Steyn has fun with throughout the book). What was Steyn's crime? Maclean's magazine printed excerpts from his book America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It . This was a bestseller in America and Canada but if he was found guilty the books would be pulled from all Canadian bookstores and Maclean's would have to be minded by politically correct nanny censors. Steyn is continually amazed that "large numbers of Canadians apparently think there's nothing wrong in subjecting the contents of political magazines to the approval of agents of the...

A Classic Tom Brokaw's The Greatest Generation is a classic. This is not sophisticated writing and the format is basic but Brokaw's interviews with dozens and dozens of veterans of World War II, their wives, their children and their comments on how the war affected them and the way they lived the rest of their lives is a loving tribute to his father's generation. Brokaw has sections on regular footsoldiers and sailors, soldiers who went on to become famous such as Casper Weinberger, Bob Dole, Andy Rooney and Julia Child. He also addresses the racism and sexism of the time (and incorrectly asserts that only the Japanese were forcibly removed - several East Coast Italians were removed to western states and their fishing boast were confiscated, although clearly the Japanese were treated much worse as a group). He also talks to soldiers who were wounded during the war and how that affected them. Tom Brokaw Interesting comment from former pacifist Andy Rooney about ...

Published in 2007 by Zondervan Read by the author, Lee Strobel Duration: 10 hours, 45 minutes Unabridged Lee Strobel has written several "The Case for..." books. The Case for the Real Jesus: A Journalist Investigates Current Attacks on the Identity of Christ explicitly counters the arguments from many different sources that question Jesus, the teachings about him and the integrity of the New Testament. Critics argue that Strobel is not an expert on the things he writes about. I believe he would agree with that - at most he is a well-informed layman. But, Strobel did the best thing that one can do to create a rebuttal these arguments - he went out to the experts and questioned them (because, really, who is a qualified expert in all of these fields?). Strobel asks them the questions that the "anti-" crowd would ask (really a wide range, from Muslim teachers to Hollywood directors to college professors to former Christian clergy to internet bloggers). Lee S...

Villi the Clown A fascinating look at the Soviet Union from the 1930s to the late 1970s William Campbell was the stepson of John Ross Campbell, a noted international communist from Scotland. William Campbell decided to move to the Soviet Union in 1932 since he could not find work in London. Villi the Clown is the story of his time in the USSR, from 1932 until his defection in 1977 and it is a fascinating ground-level look at the USSR during the Stalinist years, the Purges, World War II and the Cold War years of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Campbell's first job in the USSR is at an airplane factory. He has no qualification except that he is familiar with how a car is put together, which makes him a relative expert in the mechanical engineering when compared to most of his colleagues at the factory. His musical and acting skills are noticed and soon enough he leaves the factory and joins a number of touring musical acts. This gives the reader a chance to see behind the Iron C...

Two incompatible ways of life symbolized by one young man Some books stand the test of time, so do not. The Light in the Forest  was originally published in 1953 and it still rings true - both historically and as a story. Based in Pennsylvania during the years preceding the French and Indian War, the story revolves around True Son, a young man who had been kidnapped from his family by Lenni Lenape Indians at age four. True Son is adopted by an honorable, respected man named Cuyolga to replace a son who died from disease. Over time, True Son forgets his white parents and becomes a full Lenni Lenape. However, a treaty is signed that requires that the white "captives" be returned to their white families. True Son is returned and the bulk of the book concerns itself with True Son's reactions to the white society he was forced to leave more than a decade earlier. Eventually, True Son escapes back to his adopted family and settles back into his comfortable way of life. ...

My first exposure to Vonnegut and I liked it! Originally published in 1985. The premise in Galapagos is that a group of people get stranded on an island in the Galapagos and end up becoming the sole survivors of the human race, due to war and famine. Their gene pool decides the fate of humanity biologically, which is why it is set in the Galapagos Islands (thank you, Charles Darwin). I could tell you the plot, but that would just gloss over all of the intentionally contradictory themes of the book (for instance: the importance of the individual is emphasized vis-a-vis evolution, but the individual is also not important because the individual is also swept away in several instances due to his stupidity and/or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time). There is actually some meat on the bones of this book - a nice change of pace when compared to some others I've read lately. Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) P.S. for those Hoosiers out there - as you may know, Vonnegut is fro...

Originally published in 1990. Hocus Pocus starts out at the end and you spend the whole book reading little stories to see how the character ended up where he is now. Eugene Debs Hartke is a prisoner being held in the library of Tarkington College. The book is his collected memoirs which were written on numbered pieces of scrap paper. The future he lives in is dominated by the Japanese economy and the American foreign and domestic policies are consumed by "The War on Drugs." Racism is much more prevalent. Eugene Debs Hartke was a teacher at Tarkington College, a college for very rich Special Education students who would not graduate from a traditional university. Across the lake is a maximum security prison that holds 10,000 prisoners - most of them were Special Education students who turned to crime to make a living. This is a good book, but it starts out a little slow. There are similar themes as other Vonnegut books I've read, especially his focus on how life...

Originally published in 1994. Slow start - but then its a roller coaster! Allan Folsom (1941-2014) I almost put this book down because it was going anywhere after the first 50 pages, but things picked up and for the next 675 pages it was one wild plot twist after another. It truly is a fun book to read, but I must warn you - don't get too attached to any of the characters because the author treats any and all of them as expendable. It involves a man who sees his father's killer at a Paris cafe and his pursuit of the man brings him ito contact with an Interpol investigation of an entirely set of unrelated crimes (or so it seems...) Good pacing, after the first 50 pages. The end was a bit disappointing, but just about any ending would have been after all of this adventure. I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. Reviewed August 21, 2004. This book can be found on Amazon.com here: The Day After Tomorrow by Alan Folsom.

Published by Picador in 2001. The Year of Jubilo is the second book by Bahr that I've read. In fact, I bought this one because I enjoyed his novel, The Black Flower: A Novel of the Civil War so much. This book is different than the The Black Flower: A Novel of the Civil War , which was heavy on texture and feel. This book is every bit the equal of the first, but much more focused on plot and theme. So, what is the theme? It's in the title. The Year of Jubilo refers to the Old Testament Hebrew tradition called the Year of Jubilee. Every 7 years, all slaves were forever released from bondage. This novel explores freedom of all sorts in a (barely) post-Civil War Alabama town. There is, obviously, the newly-won freedom of the slaves, but that is barely brushed upon in favor of deeper themes. There is freedom (or not) from the past, guilt, the entanglements of family, family honor, regional honor, friendship, obligations of social position and even love. All of this is mostly...

  One of the best albums I have ever heard for driving, listening and singing along.  I bought this album on the recommendation of a friend and boy am I glad I did! The lyrics are poignant and yet work. You can tell that he inherited his dad's ( Lonesome Dove author Larry McMurtry) ability to mold and use the English language. But the great thing is that the music is just as good as the lyrics - you'd be singing along even if the words were meaningless. This album was made with John Mellencamp's band - sort of on loan. The music is very solid, but the stories told by the lyrics steal the show. I gave my only copy to a friend (and fellow fan who had worn his cassette out) that was called up to active duty after 9/11 - I knew that he could use the boost more than me. Every McMurtry album has great songs but this one is strong all of the way through! I rate this album 5 stars out of 5. Reviewed on August 14, 2004. This album can be found on Amazon.com here: Too Long...

    Awesome album - the first 5 songs are ... ...as great together as any combination that I've ever run across on an album. They remind me of my rural Indiana roots - "Rain on the Scarecrow' starts us out at the farm, 'Grandma's Theme' reminds me of my own grandmother's voice, 'Small Town' and 'Minutes to Memories' link the urban and rural Indiana experience and 'Lonely Ol' Night' captures that restless, lonely spirit that we've all had. Perfectly put together. This is not Mellencamp's best album overall ( Uh-Huh is his best overall album, in my opinion) but it does have many of his absolute best, including 'Lonely ol' Night' and 'Small Town'.  Truly a great album.  Wonderful. I rate this album 5 stars out of 5. It ...

Great read - not really a courtroom thriller Originally published in 1993. Synopsis: The story of a small Pennsylvania oil town that has seen its better days and some of the unique characters that come together to expose a devious plan to dump toxic wastes into the surrounding countryside. My review: This is a great read. It is advertised as a courtroom thriller but that is just as accurate as saying the movie The Princess Bride is a childhood bedtime story. True, it is, but it is so much more. In this case, the story is framed by about 10 pages of courtroom stuff just to give the story a bit of context, but it really is just a plain old novel - with all the foibles and follies that accompany good character creation. I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Winter in the Heart . Reviewed on August 10, 2004.

Entertaining, Thought-Provoking, Funny, and Sad Released in 2012. Train of Life is a World War II Jewish Holocaust comedy, if you can believe it. It is in French w/subtitles and it concerns a little Jewish village that knows the Nazis are coming to deport their village. Everyone is panic-stricken until the village idiot has a brilliant idea - the village should get a train and "deport" themselves all of the way to Palestine. The movie is all about their purchase of a dilapidated old train, its refurbishment into a Nazi-style train and their escape across Europe and the chase by the Nazis. Along the way, there are all kinds of humorous encounters with Nazis, the French Resistance, Gypsies and Communists. Parts of it are "Keystone cops" and parts of it are "Monty Python-esque". I will not tell you how it ends, because the ending packs a powerful emotional punch. However, I do wholeheartedly recommend the movie. I rate this movie 5 stars out of 5. R...

Originally published in 2009.   By my count, this is the 21st book in the Kinsey Millhone series. I have read most of them over the years - some are good, some are great and one or two have been duds. U is for Undertow is a strong one. A very solid story, although not a very difficult mystery. Sue Grafton has kept Kinsey Millhone in the year about twenty years ago in the past. An author has to make several choices as he continues to write about a character over the years. James Bond never ages> Robert B. Parker's Spenser moved forward in time but never seemed to age. He was a Korean War vet (making him at least around 75 years old in his last book) and he still got into fistfights and chased bad guys all over the place. Tony Hillerman aged Joe Leaphorn and just moved on to the younger generation when it was time for action. The storyline of U is for Undertow most resembled an extended episode of the CBS police drama Cold Case and is different than the rest of her books. K...