I started and finished A Sense of Direction in one evening; I couldn't really stop thinking about it, so I couldn't put it down. I found it...
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One of my all time favorite books. It is a 'ripping yarn' about the first solo voyage around the world: in a sail boat, no radio no navigation aides in 1900. However, Sailing Alone Around the World is much more than an adventure story, it is about being at peace with one's self, finding harmony with nature and how to greet each day with joy, no matter what it brings. It is a book to live by. Again, I am buying a couple copies for gifts to loved ones. To top it all off, this edition is a bargain in a well crafted hardback.
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(2 of 4 readers found this comment helpful)
Morone seeks to retell American history as a struggle between moralists and pragmatists. In doing so, he has written a masterpiece: a huge book that combines profundity and knowledge with anecdote, humanity and even humor (did you know that Chinese laundries were once villified as fronts for kidnapping white women into prostitution in opium dens?). There isn't a dry word in the book, Morone is a humane and vivid writer along with being a much honored historian. Even though the book is over five hundred pages you will regret it coming to an end. When you finish it, you not only will have enjoyed it, but you will have gained a deeper understanding of our country, who we are, why we are what we are and where your beliefs fit into our political structure. A great book for reading groups and book clubs.
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(1 of 3 readers found this comment helpful)
The Gay Place is a winner in so many ways: an absorbing, deep novel, a historical novel about a key time in our history, an accurate an perceptive regional novel (about my home town, Austin!) and, the best novel on American, or maybe any, politics ever written. Billy Lee Brammer was a speech writer for Lyndon Johnson who was fascinated by the world where a sentence could start with high minded political goals and end in crude bullying. A world where bribery, humiliation and blackmail were tools of the trade, often for worthy purposes. A must-read American classic that grows in reputation as time passes.
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(6 of 9 readers found this comment helpful)
When a book is suspenseful, emotionally gripping and inspiring, you don't expect it to be the work of high school graduate, mother of five and native of an obscure shrimping town in Texas. But Diane Wilson has written as masterpiece about her brave and lonely fight against corporate polluters in Seadrift. Texas. Wilson is a woman of unassuming courage and steadfast dedication. This book will become a classic and an inspiration to future generations. To read it is to get to know Diane Wilson and to know greatness from the bays and bayous of Texas first hand.
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(2 of 4 readers found this comment helpful)
Ms. Tait raises issues that are crucial to every working person: how are we going to achieve dignity on the job, decent educational opportunities for our kids, freedom from fear of sickness and old age and how to restore a decent standard of living. The answer is to breathe life back into the Labor movement. But how? Ms. Tait has more good ideas on this then anyone else I know of, and they are backed up by solid, real life examples. Her writing is clear and readable, and most of all, important. Read this book, share it with your friends, then organize!
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(17 of 21 readers found this comment helpful)
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Paul Sherr has commented on (5) products.
Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum
Paul Sherr, October 27, 2007
One of my all time favorite books. It is a 'ripping yarn' about the first solo voyage around the world: in a sail boat, no radio no navigation aides in 1900. However, Sailing Alone Around the World is much more than an adventure story, it is about being at peace with one's self, finding harmony with nature and how to greet each day with joy, no matter what it brings. It is a book to live by. Again, I am buying a couple copies for gifts to loved ones. To top it all off, this edition is a bargain in a well crafted hardback.(2 of 4 readers found this comment helpful)
Hellfire Nation: The Politics of Sin in American History by James A Morone
Paul Sherr, August 26, 2007
Morone seeks to retell American history as a struggle between moralists and pragmatists. In doing so, he has written a masterpiece: a huge book that combines profundity and knowledge with anecdote, humanity and even humor (did you know that Chinese laundries were once villified as fronts for kidnapping white women into prostitution in opium dens?). There isn't a dry word in the book, Morone is a humane and vivid writer along with being a much honored historian. Even though the book is over five hundred pages you will regret it coming to an end. When you finish it, you not only will have enjoyed it, but you will have gained a deeper understanding of our country, who we are, why we are what we are and where your beliefs fit into our political structure. A great book for reading groups and book clubs.(1 of 3 readers found this comment helpful)
The Gay Place: Being Three Related Novels by Billy Lee Brammer
Paul Sherr, August 12, 2007
The Gay Place is a winner in so many ways: an absorbing, deep novel, a historical novel about a key time in our history, an accurate an perceptive regional novel (about my home town, Austin!) and, the best novel on American, or maybe any, politics ever written. Billy Lee Brammer was a speech writer for Lyndon Johnson who was fascinated by the world where a sentence could start with high minded political goals and end in crude bullying. A world where bribery, humiliation and blackmail were tools of the trade, often for worthy purposes. A must-read American classic that grows in reputation as time passes.(6 of 9 readers found this comment helpful)
An Unreasonable Woman: A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters and the Fight for Seadrift, Texas by Diane Wilson
Paul Sherr, June 17, 2007
When a book is suspenseful, emotionally gripping and inspiring, you don't expect it to be the work of high school graduate, mother of five and native of an obscure shrimping town in Texas. But Diane Wilson has written as masterpiece about her brave and lonely fight against corporate polluters in Seadrift. Texas. Wilson is a woman of unassuming courage and steadfast dedication. This book will become a classic and an inspiration to future generations. To read it is to get to know Diane Wilson and to know greatness from the bays and bayous of Texas first hand.(2 of 4 readers found this comment helpful)
Poor Workers' Unions: Rebuilding Labor from Below by Vanessa Tait
Paul Sherr, May 11, 2007
Ms. Tait raises issues that are crucial to every working person: how are we going to achieve dignity on the job, decent educational opportunities for our kids, freedom from fear of sickness and old age and how to restore a decent standard of living. The answer is to breathe life back into the Labor movement. But how? Ms. Tait has more good ideas on this then anyone else I know of, and they are backed up by solid, real life examples. Her writing is clear and readable, and most of all, important. Read this book, share it with your friends, then organize!(17 of 21 readers found this comment helpful)