The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations by Brian Fagan

Disappointed

Published in 2008 by Bloomsbury Press.

My mother in law bought me three Brian Fagan books for Christmas last year because they were on my Amazon Wish List. I read the first one The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History, 1300-1850 right away and enjoyed it. I gave it four stars. .

I was saving this one, hoping to enjoy it just as much. Now, I am worried that I'll never muster enough interest to read the third one.

The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations seems rushed - a poorly edited and a poor man's version of Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed with some global warming hype thrown in for good measure. Many of the cultures covered by Fagan were actually covered in Diamond's more detailed book.

Fagan looks at the time of the Medieval Warming Period, approximately from 800 AD to 1300 AD, and the effects of this slightly warmer time on numerous societies, including Western Europe, the Mongols, the Inuit, the Pueblos, the peoples of California, China, Easter Island and the Khmer of Southeast Asia. This is not a long book so there is just a snapshot of each civilization. Fagan notes that the data suggests that the Medieval Warm Period was a time of frequent droughts for nearly everyone but Central Asia and Europe. He points to research that suggests El Nino events caused or contributed greatly to the Medieval Warming Period.

Fagan theorizes that the Warming Period destroyed multiple civilizations and that we may suffer the same fate (pages 238-242). But, Fagan fails to note what he himself has written throughout the book - we do not understand climate systems. We think that some of these things may (might, probably, the data suggests - you pick the euphemism) be related but in reality we are unsure. Yes, we are warmer now than we were in 1860, at the end of the Little Ice Age but our warming may or may not have a thing to do with the warming of the past. They may be caused by different things. Fagan goes with the theory of man-made global warming which means his dire warnings from the past ("Today, we are experiencing sustained warming of a kind unknown since the Ice Age. And this warming is certain to bring drought..." - p. 239) are probably pointless since they were not caused by man-made global warming. Fagan points out the droughts during the Medieval Warming Period were caused by El Nino events that lasted for years. Were those events caused by the heat or did they create the heat? I suggest Fagan has fallen victim to the old causation/correlation trap. Certainly there is not enough hard data to suggest that the weather patterns of the Medieval Warming Period will be repeated in the 21st Century.

Fagan's thesis of man-made global warming (and the near-constant nagging throughout the book) is weakened by his own charts on pages 17 & 19 which clearly show a cooler period ending about 800 AD, a warmer period from 800-1300, a cooler period from 1350-1860 and a warmer period from 1860 to the present. The pattern is cool-warm-cool-warm. All of the comments about how we don't understand climate and the cool-warm-cool-warm pattern negate a good portion of the book.

There are other niggling details, such as the self-contradictory paragraph on page 123 that notes that NO ONE in the history of the entire world depended on acorns as much as the California Indians. Except, of course, for the Syrians that depended on them for their ENTIRE diet 14,000 years ago that he mentioned earlier in the same paragraph. His explanation of why the Pueblos were abandoned by a Anasazi flies in the face of more recent scholarship. Fagan makes it sound orderly ("Fortunately, the ancient traditions kicked in and people adjusted by moving away, household by household." - page 136) even though there is evidence some Pueblos were burned and were hastily abandoned (their belongings were left behind and scattered about) and there may have been widespread cannibalism (he poo-poos it as a bit of "ritual cannibalism"). To me that sounds like chaos, civil war or possibly invasion, not a gradual decline and walking away from a civilization.

For me, the final straw was the offhand comment on page 153 that maybe the Mayans could have stopped Cortes from invading Central Mexico and defeating the Aztecs if they hadn't have collapsed due to the Warm Period. Cortes landed in Veracruz. Veracruz was not a Mayan area. They were influenced by trade with Mayans but they were not Mayan. 

I am hardly an expert, but if I spot these problems how many more are there?

So, my final assessment in a word: Disappointed.

I rate this book 2 stars out of 5

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations by Brian Fagan.

Reviewed on November 6, 2009.

Tray Chic: Celebrating Indiana's Cafeteria Culture by Sam Stall

A fun, fascinating read

Published in 2004.

Cafeterías.

"They're about as state-of-the-art as a brontosaurus. And almost as rare. Unless you live in Indiana." (p. 6)

Indiana, with its love of tradition (or is it fear of change?) has somehow kept the traditional cafeterias open and thriving, especially in central Indiana.

In Tray Chic: Celebrating Indiana's Cafetería Culture, Sam Stall explores the history of cafeterias in general and then explores the particular restaurants that have survived from those days of the dinosaur until today, including the recently closed "Laughner's"(the granddaddy of them all), MCL (the biggest chain), Gray Brothers (probably the best), Poe's (located just a stone's throw from Gray's - it gets a lot of their overflow business) and Jonathan Byrd's (with the biggest cafeteria line in the world.) Add to that a cafeteria in Oolitic and Shapiro's, a cafeteria that disguises itself as a deli, throw in a discussion concerning the differences between a cafeteria and a buffet, add lots of humor and great interviews with these successful business owners and you have the recipe for a fun, breezy read about a bit of Hoosier culture.

A must for that proud devotee of that Hoosier culture.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Tray Chic: Celebrating Indiana's Cafeteria Culture by Sam Stall.

Reviewed on November 6, 2009.

Appaloosa DVD

A western for grown-ups. It's not about the guns, horses or bullets. It's about friendship, sex and, ultimately, love.

Movie released in theaters in 2008.

Be warned right now - this movie review is mostly one giant spoiler. Here's the non-spoiler parts right up front. This is a movie that strives to look authentic. The two main characters have known each other for years and have no need for a lot of dialogue - they know each other well, they know each other's habits and their conversations are spare.

Many reviewers have missed the whole point of Appaloosa. It was not about two buddies/lawmen bringing peace to a town, although that does happen (mostly) and the gun fights are quick, brutal and ugly. The movie is about what happens when such a partnership is disrupted by a woman. Look at the DVD cover art and you can see it symbolically represented - there is Renee Zellweger standing between Mortensen and Harris.

****Spoiler alert****The rest of the review is just full of spoilers******

In this case, the woman is a pathetic, despicable thing. The movie comes from a Robert B. Parker book and his books are full of people (mostly women, but not always) that claim to be in love but really they are psychologically needy and act out sexually in strange, disruptive ways.

There are four main characters in this story: Marshal Virgil Cole, Deputy Everett Hitch, Bragg (a rancher/hotel owner) and Mrs. French, a pathetic woman that leeches onto powerful men out of some deep seeded need that we never quite have explained. Suffice it to say, Mrs. French is a survivor because she uses sex to endear herself to the most powerful man in her immediate area.

Many other reviewers have misinterpreted (in my opinion, anyway) the "big" fight scene at the end. Here's my take:

Hitch kills Bragg, but not to defend the honor of Zelweger character, Mrs. French, because she has none to defend. Instead, it is to restore Cole to his rightful place - top dog. Cole won't do anything about it because he loves Mrs. French. She's the first woman he's ever actually talked to about anything except food, sex or meaningless pleasantries - and he loves her despite her messed up, trampy ways. That is his fatal flaw.

Hitch, out of love as Cole's friend, cannot stand to see Cole shamed by Bragg so he defends Cole. Hitch kills Bragg, but in doing so he is now the top dog, rather than Bragg or Cole. In order for Cole to stay in town with the woman he loves and for that relationship to even exist, Hitch has to leave town. If he stays, Mrs. French will just try to seduce him and the Cole/Mrs. French relationship will end. Also, the Hitch/Cole relationship will end.

So, out of friendship, Cole kills Bragg so that Cole has the chance of keeping the woman he loves, even though it ends the Cole/Hitch relationship. Deputy Hitch sacrifices the friendship in order to give his friend a chance at happiness with Mrs. French. Truly, a beautiful moment, although subtly played.

I rate this movie 5 stars out of 5 stars and it can be found on Amazon.com here: Appaloosa.

Reviewed on November 21, 2009.

Crazy Like a Fox: One Principal's Triumph in the Inner City by Dr. Ben Chavis and Carey Blakely

Comments from a veteran teacher

Published in 2009 by NAL Hardcover

This is my twentieth year of teaching. I've taught in the inner city, way out in the country in a school surrounded by cornfields and currently teach in a school that is a crazy mix that ranges from urban ghetto to suburban McMansion neighborhoods.

There is nothing in Crazy Like a Fox: One Principal's Triumph in the Inner City that I can disagree with so far as the methods that Chavis espouses. He introduces an extreme quantity of discipline, accountability and rigor to an inner city environment that is seriously lacking in those three traits. He preaches respect for private property, pride in your school and rewards students with cash and prizes for doing well.

He blows up the concept of the mega-high school (I teach in one and it does NOT work well) and keeps his school small so that it has a family feel - everyone knows everyone.

Dr. Ben Chavis

But, this is not a traditional public school. It is a charter school - students choose to go there and because of that Chavis is free to institute his ultra-disciplined system. He is also free to jettison students who will not quickly adapt to his program, two things that regular public schools cannot do, nor will they likely every be able to do that due to the compulsory nature of public schools - because everyone has to go, courts have often ruled that the rules cannot be too extreme (this wipes out many dress code rules, etc.). The regular public schools cannot exclude students, even those that everyone knows will disrupt everything until they have had their "due process", a restriction Chavis does not have to deal with.

As a veteran teacher with a family I know that I could not teach in a Chavis-run school. He wants them young and without families so that they can devote every waking moment to his school. He comments that he wants them right out of college and then only for 3 or 4 years. I cannot cheat my own family like that so I have to stop being teacher for a little while and be a dad and husband. (That being said, I'll be grading late into that night tonight and most nights of this long Thanksgiving weekend!) He is also a little too enamored of hiring students from big name colleges like Harvard, Yale and Berkley. I'm reminded of a certain doctor of education who came to my school because she wanted to try out some of her ivory tower theories in the classroom. She had tiny classes (6-8) and could not control them. She also failed to do a darn thing with our reading scores and went right back to the university. Diplomas don't equal any ability to teach.

I only rate this book 4 stars out of 5. Why only 4 stars? I grew weary of the first person format - at times it sounded like Chavis was saying, "Me!Me! Me!" way too much. Also, he spends several pages towards the end of the book addressing petty gripes he had with former staff members - that stuff should have been kept in house, rather than lamenting about "the biggest insult of all is that the teacher would accuse me of cheating them out of money after everything that I had done for them." (p. 253)

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Crazy Like a Fox: One Principal's Triumph in the Inner City by Dr. Ben Chavis and Carey Blakely.

Reviewed on November 25, 2009.

Update June 2, 2025. Dr. Chavis left his school and moved to North Carolina soon after this book came out. He was accused of financial shenanigans by state and federal authorities. Also, it turns out he owned the buildings his charter schools were located in and the charter schools were leasing them from him for several million dollars. That is not illegal, but, in my opinion, this is a very shady business practice. Lots of charter school operators do this. See more here about Dr. Chavis.

The Overlook (Harry Bosch #13) (audiobook) by Michael Connelly

It had to happen eventually...

Published by Hachette Audio in 2007
Read by Len Cariou
Duration: 6 hours, 37 minutes
Unabridged

I've read and reviewed almost all of the Harry Bosch books and they've all been enthusiastic 5 star reviews. Connelly falls out of the stratosphere with The Overlook. Note, he doesn't crash and burn but this is simply not as good as the rest.

Brian Doyle-Murray

To begin with, the plot is fairly simple and straightforward compared to the usual brooding, complex story lines. I heard this as an audiobook and it was just flubbed my veteran narrator Len Cariou. All of the male characters sounded like a bad impersonation of character actor Brian Doyle-Murray. It was not a pretty scene.

So, I can now confirm that Connelly is now a mortal among writers - he has written a merely pedestrian, run-of-the-mill police procedural.

I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: The Overlook by Michael Connelly.

Reviewed on December 3, 2009.

Turbulence by John J. Nance

This thriller hits the same notes over and over again but it sucks the reader in

Published in 2002.

Turbulence is not a subtle book - Nance hits on two themes over and over again with an enthusiasm akin to that of Animal from the Muppet Show pounding on a set of drums. Those two themes are: airlines often have poor customer service that needlessly aggravates the travelling public. Secondly, airline employees can be poorly trained and inadequate to the challenges of international travel.

However, he does make an interesting little novel here about an airplane full of people who have been pushed too far by rude employees, senseless delays on the runways and incompetent decision-making by the pilots. Throw in a violent misunderstanding and you've got the makings of a passenger mutiny and a sharp thriller.

4 out of 5 stars.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Turbulence.

Reviewed on December 4, 2009.

From Peanuts to the Pressbox: Insider Sports Stories from a Life Behind the Mic by Eli Gold

An enjoyable read from one of the true nice guys in American sports broadcasting

Published in 2009 by Thomas Nelson Inc.

I've listened to Eli Gold for years as one of the radio (and from time to time TV) voices of NASCAR. He's always come across as a nice guy and a straight shooter who is not out to grind any axes.

From Peanuts to the Pressbox: Insider Sports Stories from a Life Behind the Mic is Eli Gold's story of how he went from being a peanut vendor at Madison Square Garden to being a nationally known sports announcer. Eli tells it in an entertaining, light-hearted style and keeps it classy by not airing anyone's dirty laundry.

He does include lots of funny and interesting stories, including his tale of the day that he went to the airport with David Pearson, Bobby Allison's distinctive ritual when he flew his plane home after a win and the strangest thing Richard Petty ever signed (a duck!). The revelation that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is a big NASCAR fan who attends in his own RV was a bit surprising.

A good gift for the NASCAR (or Alabama or hockey) fan that has everything.

4 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: From Peanuts to the Pressbox: Insider Sports Stories from a Life Behind the Mic by Eli Gold.

Reviewed on December 15, 2009.