"Harriet Beecher Stowe" Book Review

Harriet Beecher Stowe by Suzanne M. Coil
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The engrossing story of the imaginative and extraordinarily intelligent author of the American classic Uncle Tom's Cabin and more than 30 other books.

No one's body of work represents the phrase, "The pen is mightier than the sword" more than Harriet Beecher Stowe. When she met President Lincoln in 1862, he allegedly said to her, "So you're the little lady who wrote the book that made this great war."

Ms. Stowe is a fascinating person and has an even more interesting family that I did not know had been famous in her time. It's odd to read about her almost puritanical life and realize that she existed at the same time as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Percy Shelley, and Lord Byron. In fact, she loved Lord Byron, but she hadn't yet started writing before he died.

I had read Uncle Tom's Cabin a few years ago while in college. It was a great book and I'm glad to have finally read about the author. I hadn't realized she was so prolific and that she had written other books and many articles.

She was a pretty strong person in her family as well. She wasn't always the bread winner, or at least not until her book sold. But she held the family together and was the smarter than her husband at times.

It sort of annoyed me that people slandered her after she described Lord Byron as the loathsome creature he was. She had become friends with his widow, and when her friend died some people said foul things about her, so in retaliation and also to spread the truth around, she wrote articles describing the kinds of things he had done or that it wasn't her friends he acted that way. Last year, I had read a short biography about Byron and he is a terrible person and I would go so far as to say that he was probably a sociopath. But enough about that....

While this is a short biography, about 200 pages long or so, I would say that it was just long enough to maintain my interest, but any longer and it would have been fairly boring. It was written with a young audience in mind. It has a pretty decent selection of pictures of the author and her family. While I wouldn't read more about her, I would certainly read more of her work. I would also read about her siblings, especially Henry Ward Beecher, a preacher who stood for equal rights for woman and the abolishment of slavery.

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4 out of 5 Beecher preachers.

"The True Story of Pocahontas: The Other Side of History" Book Review

The True Story of Pocahontas: The Other Side of History by Linwood Custalow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The True Story of Pocahontas: The Other Side of History incorporates the sacred oral history of the Mattaponi that has been passed down to Lin "Little Bear" since his childhood, by his father, the late Mattaponi Chief Webster "Little Eagle" Custalow; his uncle, the late Mattaponi Chief O. T. Custalow; and grandfather, the late Mattaponi Chief George F. Custalow; and those that came before. The Mattaponi Indian Tribe, along with the Pamunkey Tribe, was one of the original core tribes of the Powhatan Chiefdom, which the English colonists encountered in the 17th century while establishing Jamestown. For nearly 400 years people have heard the Euro-American rendition and interpretation of events that transpired between the English colonists and the Powhatan Indians. The True Story of Pocahontas is the first public publication of the Powhatan perspective that has been maintained and passed down from generation to generation within the Mattaponi Tribe, and the first written history of Pocahontas by her own people.

This is a written account of the true story of Pocahontas, as told by her people in the oral history of the Mattaponi tribe. The Powhatan, of whom Pocahontas was a celebrated member and whose father was the main chief, are no longer the tribe they once were, but her descendants live on with the Mattaponi tribe.

There is a saying, that history is written by the winners, and for the most part that has been true. I don't think I have heard of another account like this from anywhere else. It is usually only through the persistence of historians that we look back at cultures and people who were destroyed, either by time and/or invaders, and realize they weren't barbarians who were doomed to die off.

I'm a bit shocked by how different the actual happenings of history and what has been passed down in popular culture. In a way I didn't want to think that she had been abused and forced to do things that 'history' credits her with doing out of love, like marrying that English commoner when she was already married and had a child. I also can't believe she died so young. Portraits painted of her make it look as though she had been in England for a lot longer than she actually was.

I really enjoyed learning about the history and customs of the Powhatan and how their hierarchy worked. The repetitive nature of the story didn't bother me too much. In my mind it was like those old Greek tales sans poetry, "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" where they had to repeat everything for the benefit of the listener.

I'm glad I read it. Though general consensus is that John Smith was a lying jerk that not too many people liked, his version is the one most likely to be remembered, so I'm glad they decided to print out what they knew about the events.

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4 out of 5 werowances.

"Lion in the White House" Book Review

Lion in the White House: A Life of Theodore Roosevelt by Aida D. Donald
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"New York State Assemblyman, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, New York City Police Commissioner, Governor of New York, Vice President and, at forty-two, the youngest President ever-in his own words, Theodore Roosevelt "rose like a rocket." He was also a cowboy, a soldier, a historian, an intrepid explorer, and an unsurpassed environmentalist-all in all, perhaps the most accomplished Chief Executive in our nation’s history. In Lion in the White House: A Life of Theodore Roosevelt, historian Aida Donald masterfully chronicles the life of this first modern president. TR’s accomplishments in office were immense. As President, Roosevelt redesigned the office of Chief Executive and the workings of the Republican Party to meet the challenges of the new industrial economy. Believing that the emerging aristocracy of wealth represented a genuine threat to democracy, TR broke trusts to curb the rapacity of big business. He improved economic and social conditions for the average American. Roosevelt built the Panama Canal and engaged the country in world affairs, putting a temporary end to American isolationism. And he won the Nobel Peace Prize-the only sitting president ever so honored. Throughout his public career, TR fought valiantly to steer the GOP back to its noblest ideals as embodied by Abraham Lincoln. Alas, his hopes for his party were quashed by the GOP’s strong rightward turn in the years after he left office. But his vision for America lives on. In lapidary prose, this concise biography recounts the courageous life of one of the greatest leaders our nation has ever known."

At long last, I have finished this biography. I enjoyed it, but I wouldn't call it the definitive work on his life. Anyone can tell that by the short length of it alone.

I feel as if "The River of Doubt" was a better book if only about a very short period of his life. It captured the intensity of that journey and was very well-researched.

This book was also well-researched as the author herself stated in the Acknowledgements section. I got this at a bargain price and was looking forward to reading it. I like Theodore Roosevelt but I wanted to become more educated about him and his legendary status. This book should be used as an introduction to his character. I'm working myself up to his autobiographies. He is a whirlwind of a personality and I want to prepare more before facing it completely.

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I hereby declare thee book worthy of 4 out of 5 stars.

"Flapper" Book Review

Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern by Joshua Zeitz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"Blithely flinging aside the Victorian manners that kept her disapproving mother corseted, the New Woman of the 1920s puffed cigarettes, snuck gin, hiked her hemlines, danced the Charleston, and necked in roadsters. More important, she earned her own keep, controlled her own destiny, and secured liberties that modern women take for granted. Her newfound freedom heralded a radical change in American culture.

"Whisking us from the Alabama country club where Zelda Sayre first caught the eye of F. Scott Fitzgerald to Muncie, Indiana, where would-be flappers begged their mothers for silk stockings, to the Manhattan speakeasies where patrons partied till daybreak, historian Joshua Zeitz brings the era to exhilarating life. This is the story of America’s first sexual revolution, its first merchants of cool, its first celebrities, and its most sparkling advertisement for the right to pursue happiness.

"The men and women who made the flapper were a diverse lot. 

"There was Coco Chanel, the French orphan who redefined the feminine form and silhouette, helping to free women from the torturous corsets and crinolines that had served as tools of social control. 

"Three thousand miles away, Lois Long, the daughter of a Connecticut clergyman, christened herself 'Lipstick' and gave New Yorker readers a thrilling entrée into Manhattan’s extravagant Jazz Age nightlife.

"In California, where orange groves gave way to studio lots and fairytale mansions, three of America’s first celebrities—Clara Bow, Colleen Moore, and Louise Brooks, Hollywood’s great flapper triumvirate—fired the imaginations of millions of filmgoers.

"Dallas-born fashion artist Gordon Conway and Utah-born cartoonist John Held crafted magazine covers that captured the electricity of the social revolution sweeping the United States.

"Bruce Barton and Edward Bernays, pioneers of advertising and public relations, taught big business how to harness the dreams and anxieties of a newly industrial America—and a nation of consumers was born.

"Towering above all were Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald, whose swift ascent and spectacular fall embodied the glamour and excess of the era that would come to an abrupt end on Black Tuesday, when the stock market collapsed and rendered the age of abundance and frivolity instantly obsolete.

"With its heady cocktail of storytelling and big ideas, Flapper is a dazzling look at the women who launched the first truly modern decade."

I've always liked and had an interest in the flapper and the 1920's. It seemed unusual that in such a short amount of time, not even two decades, the flapper changed the course of women in American society and it was fascinating to read about how and why this occurred. All of these changes happening at once: women entering the workforce, people moving en masse to cities, the proliferation of ready-made clothing, a whole new genre of music being played in the streets, the Feminist Movement, Prohibition and speakeasies, the movie industry and the birth of Hollywood and celebrity, and with that, the new gossip rags. It seems sad that, with the flick of a switch, the flapper was no more. The economy grew so large that it couldn't contain itself and it collapsed. Very like what just so recently happened.

Some of it I already knew about, like how the advertising business started (I have a degree in graphic design and we had to learn about it), I knew most of the authors and the Lost Generation set, the clothing and their designers (although I did not know about Mademoiselle Vionnet and Paul Poiret), and I had heard about the Hollywood starlets, but didn't know much about them so that was interesting.

Lois Long/Lipstick was a fascinating person and I would love to read more about her. Her persona reminded me of the tv series and book series "Gossip Girl". It wouldn't surprise me at all if the original author had been inspired.

I didn't realize how racist everything was, but that shouldn't really be a surprise I guess. Sadly, this book was very white-washed. African American flappers were briefly discussed, but there was no mention of musicians, or how Jazz music started, no Langston Hughes?! Come on now, his poetry is absolutely beautiful and some of the only poetry I ever liked! A Chinese American actress was mentioned, but she wasn't spoken about in depth like the other actresses in the book. I would've liked to have known where she came from and where she ended up. Jazz music was such an important part of this time period and, as an American, I take pride in it because it is one of the few art forms that America came up with and gave to the rest of the world. Think about it, most other popular music forms started elsewhere and is very old and steeped in tradition. In comparison, Jazz is very new to this world.

Also, artists of the time and the Art Deco movement was missing completely. Not even mentioned. Very disappointed with that. Cole Porter and the Ziegfeld Follies were mentioned, but they weren't the only things happening on Broadway.

Even with all that information missing, I enjoyed reading it. It was more of an incomplete summarization of an era, rather than a well thought-out history. It could've used some more psychological assessment of the people of the age. I mean, Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung were right there. Overall, I would consider this a good book to start off reading about the 1920s. Just don't expect A LOT of information about the era.

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I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Comic of the Week: "What Do Rednecks and Aliens Have in Common?"

That's exactly what it is now.... :(

Also, ghosts. I forgot ghosts.

Copyright 2013 by Kara Muller.

"The Island of Lost Maps" Book Review

The Island Of Lost Maps by Miles Harvey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"In 1995, a watchful patron alerted a librarian at Johns Hopkins University that another patron, a middle-aged and well-dressed man, was behaving suspiciously. The librarian called the police, who discovered that the man, a Floridian named Gilbert Bland, had cut four maps from a set of rare books. On investigation, the police were able to attribute dozens of similar thefts to Bland, thefts that had taken place at a score of the country's best-regarded - and, presumably, best-protected--scholarly institutions.

"Like countless other readers, Miles Harvey, a writer for 'Outside' magazine, encountered the news of Bland's arrest as a brief item in the back pages of the morning newspaper. The story stayed with Harvey, who wondered why otherwise law-abiding people behave so badly around antiquities.

"In 'The Island of Lost Maps', a wonderfully rich excursion into the demimonde of what might be called cartographomania, Harvey follows Bland's tracks from library to library, reconstructing the crimes of the man he deems the Al Capone of map theft, following the contours of Bland's complex, sinister character. Along the way, Harvey examines the history of cartography generally, and the ravenous market for old maps - once the quiet province of a few knowing collectors, now invaded by speculators. These maps are just another corner of the overpriced status-symbol commodity market--and one that richly rewarded Bland's nefarious work.

"Harvey's winding narrative, full of learned detours, adds up to a superbly rendered tale of true crime (and, many readers might object, of insufficient punishment), one that will appeal to book lovers and mystery buffs in equal measure."

- Gregory McNamee

*Warning: Use of profanity and, probably, spoilers.*

I originally picked this book up when it had just been published and I was a little girl. I liked it because of the book's size and shape and the cover was pretty without being overdone. I showed it to my mother who made me put it away, laughing "You would never read that." I did eventually get this book, this year actually, at a mini-golf while I was vacationing in Rehoboth Beach. ("Fye upon you, mother!") So, it is finally mine and after having read it I'm not quite sure if I would've enjoyed it at that age. I was always a weird kid though, so maybe.

I enjoyed this book. I found the information regarding cartography, maps and their many contributions to history very interesting. I love reading about those little bits of history. This would've been perfect as a History channel documentary or something. I never realized it before but those maps sounded beautiful and it was such a shame that you could only see bits and pieces of them in the book.

There were only a few problems that I had with this story. I didn't like the bad guy at all and he was the main protagonist. He was a dead-beat, a thief and a lousy business owner. The only reason to have included him in this at all would be to use him as an example of people that librarians and archivists need to watch out for.

I LOVE books and I couldn't stand it that he would cut them up, right in the library, like the useless douche that he is. I mean I can understand doing it for the artwork and stuff, if it's your book or if you have someone else more specialized in books do it so as not to needlessly harm the rest of the book, but to do that to nearly priceless works that you didn't pay for, I hope you loose your dick somehow. That's like cutting up a Monet for one flower.

Anyway, there were about a hundred other more interesting people that the author could've made the book about and still talked about maps and cartography on top of it, but he didn't. I mean, those explorers were far superior in their talents and goals and they were even better at being outright thieves: they got people needlessly killed just so they could look at mountains, steal gold and even steal other maps, off of ships! Gilbert Bland is a pathetic footnote in the history of maps and somehow he's the main protagonist. If he needed someone contemporary, he could've used the map dealer, W. Graham Arader III, he was interesting, colorful and very successful.

The other problem I had was with the author. He inserted himself into it, which is okay, but it is a bit jarring. This same thing happened in "The Pirate Queen: In Search of Grace O'Malley and Other Legendary Women of the Sea" by Barbara Sjoholm. They really ought to change the title of that book because it is blatant false advertising. I thought I was going to be reading about O'Malley but it was mainly little stories about Norse sea goddesses, which was interesting and I liked that. But then the author would break in and start talking about what is was it is like braving the Irish Sea today and it was like "no, the only thing that's interesting about you is your name and that was given to you".

I'd rather read about the maps and cartographers than about the author quite frankly. And I realize as a journalist he probably doesn't get to write himself into the story very often, because the editor would cut it out (because it was needless and doesn't help the story progress), so I can understand that he was "finding himself" (usually lost). But because he put himself in the story the book ran on too long. I would say that he could've taken those last two chapters out and it would've been fine, at the very least that last very pointless chapter needed to go.

It was enjoyable, but it could've been better.

Ironically, just came across this list of the "7 Must Read Books on Maps".

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"Byron in Love" Book Review

Byron in Love: A Short Daring Life by Edna O'Brien
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"From one of our greatest novelists comes this luminous portrait of the world’s first literary rock star. 

"Acclaimed biographer of James Joyce, Edna O’Brien has written an intimate biography that suits her fiery and charismatic subject. She follows Byron from the dissipations of Regency London to the wilds of Albania and the Socratic pleasures of Greece and Turkey, culminating in his meteoric rise to fame at the age of twenty-four on the publication of Childe Harold. With her prismatic eye and novelistic style, O’Brien eerily captures the spirit of the man and creates an indelible portrait of Byron that explodes the Romantic myth. From his escapades with John Edleston, the fourteen-year-old Cambridge choir boy, to those with a galaxy of women that included his half-sister, his wife of one year, and the Italian countess who forsook her satyr-like husband for “the peer of England and its greatest poet,” Byron scandalized the world and inspires “Byronmania” to this day. Byron, as brilliantly rendered by O’Brien, is the poet as rebel, imaginative and lawless, and defiantly immortal."

This was an interesting and brief biography. I grabbed it because I have a huge interest in this part of time: authors and the very important people in general are awesome.

I found that I don't like Byron the man at all. He was cowardly, abusive, incestuous, uncaring and unfeeling. He only realized what he should have done with a lot of the people in his life after they died, which makes it look like he really didn't care anyway.

The writer, Edna O'Brien, was kind of annoyingly snobbish with her unexplained French and Italian statements and the way she wrote wasn't very enjoyable. She kept changing tense which was informative at first and then became confusing because I couldn't remember what year it was supposed to be that he was in Italy then Greece. I would've liked more information, but I knew from just looking at the size of the book that there wouldn't be much. She doesn't list any sources at all, which annoys me to no end. Maybe she should just stick with writing fiction.

Ms. O'Brien obviously loved and admired Byron, but after reading this I cannot completely understand why. The only things from him that were any good, were his poetry, which I haven't read so I can't judge it, and his daughter Ada Lovelace (what a beautiful name), one of the first computer programmers I have ever heard of. In fact, "the computer language Ada, created on behalf of the United States Department of Defense, was named after Ada Lovelace. The reference manual for the language was approved on 10 December 1980, and the Department of Defense Military Standard for the language, "MIL-STD-1815", was given the number of the year of her birth. Since 1998, the British Computer Society has awarded a medal in her name[68] and in 2008 initiated an annual competition for women students of computer science." (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Love...)

Interesting man, but if I ever read about him again, I'm going to get a better researched and more informed book about him.

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