Dustin Kelley

Important Book!

Revisado: 08-14-19

Note: One reviewer recommended avoiding the audio version because of terrible narration. I've certainly heard better, but also many worse. She does a serviceable self-narration.

Andrea Pitzer provides a necessary history of the world’s concentration camps. These recent inventions (she argues beginning during in Cuba prior to the Spanish-American War) are camps where civilians are separated from the rest of society without due process and where those held lack most freedoms. It is important to read about acts of dehumanization in both our past and present in order to right errors now and hopefully prevent/limit future atrocities. This book is paced well and its mostly chronological order helps in keeping things straight. Guantanamo Bay’s current camp is the book’s nexus, serving as both the introduction and final chapter.

I was unaware that the term “concentration camp” pre-dated the Holocaust. It was fascinating (and angering and depressing) to learn about the various camps employed during the two World Wars and other more regional conflicts. The chapter on Chile and Argentina provided mostly new (to me) information. I’d known about concerns related to communism, but not about a camp in a large soccer stadium (Santiago). Chapters on Cuba, Kenya and Myanmar are also impactful.

Pitzer quotes journalists who during various wars risked their lives and/or societal standing to visit camps and report on their abuses. Emily Hobhouse’s work during the Boer War was especially notable. A great reminder to get involved.

Pitzer certainly made choices as to what to include. Some have argued for greater inclusion of war camps or refugee camps. She certainly alludes to both and also notes that various camps encompass a variety of definitions. Ultimately, I applaud her choices.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Not as good as the original...

Revisado: 08-06-18

Bob Goff’s second book is a significant drop off in quality. The first one had an overuse of dad jokes and asides, but this one is even more blatant. Bob is an awesome guy, doing amazing things, but someone please get him a better editor!

I’ve heard him speak, and he is far better in that role than writing. If you’re unaware of his work in Uganda, I’d recommend doing some research. Really cool stuff.

A couple favorite quotes:
“When joy is a habit, love is a reflex.”
“Sometimes when we ask God for an answer, he sends us a friend.”

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

The Defender Gets The Biography It Deserves

Revisado: 11-03-17

Ethan Michaeli gives the Chicago Defender the biography it deserves. Well-written and definitive, this book chronicles the founding by Robert Abbott and it's rise to prominence in American-American communities throughout the country. Abbott used his platform to encourage the Great Migration, becoming "Black Moses" in the process. The Defender pushed for the desegregation of the military and was part of the process in switching the African-American electorate from Republican to Democrat.

I had previously read Isabel Wilkerson's The Warmth of Other Suns and this coincides nicely. I highly recommend, despite a few glitches (e.g. Harry Truman was part of the Kansas City machine, not St. Louis, etc.). I also wished Michaeli would have spent more time covering the 1980s-2000's. Seemed rushed in comparison to the pace of the first 80%. Again, highly recommend...

Especially wonderful narration by William Hughes. I'll be aiming to listen to him in the future.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Fascinating Person! Biography could be better...

Revisado: 09-09-16

I don't envy Larry Tye. Satchel Paige is probably one of the people most difficult to profile in a biography of all time. He is a baseball legend, a true celebrity from baseball's pre-integration years who is a mix of truth and lore. He was both unappreciated (lack of coverage, press time) and exaggerated (claims about his playing days sometimes stretched beyond reality). Again, I don't envy Larry Tye.

But he gave it a good go. He obviously spent his time researching. However, there was a clear lack of flow in places and the overall organization needed improvement. I would have liked more time spent covering his years with the Kansas City Monarchs and also more time in his later barnstorming years. Both of those eras seemed glossed over in comparison with his Pittsburgh, North Dakota and major league years.

3.5 stars

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Excellent narration! Unclear thesis.

Revisado: 08-09-16

I read Ta-Nehisi Coates' most recent book, Between the World and Me, earlier this year. It gave me a new perspective on racial divides and the African-American struggle. I am white and grew up in a rural northwestern town without even one African American family. Coates has invoked in me yearnings for knowledge of racial injustice and desire for change of the status quo.

These newfound yearnings led me to Coates' first book, The Beautiful Struggle, a memoir of his boyhood, adolescence and journey into manhood living in Baltimore. He discusses his blended family, his father's history with the Black Panther movement and later transitioning towards activism through writing and publishing. He discusses the violence of local neighborhoods and schools. What Coates describes best, though, is the mindset of an adolescence. The awkwardness one feels during that time is ineffable to most, yet Coates weaves through the chaos of it all beautifully. His lack of self-awareness, his lack of understanding of the bigger picture in life, his lack of a purpose. These attributes know no racial/cultural/gender boundaries. We all struggle through adolescence on a quest toward adulthood.

If this was the struggle to which Coates was writing about, he would have completely succeeded. However, he seemed to be writing to an overarching racial struggle but there was no clear thesis. Also, I could not tell his audience. Was he writing to African-Americans? To whites to better understand the African American struggle? He seemed to vacillate between the two and thus both over and under- explained his points.

Coates uses superb diction and the choice of narration for the audiobook was superb! Glad I read this book, but definitely not as masterful as his more recent work.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

FLUFF. REPETITIVE.

Revisado: 07-17-16

FLUFF. REPETITIVE. I agree with several other reviewers who note that this book would have been better implemented as a blog post or magazine article. I did appreciate the intention of the author, the steps toward creating a morning self-improvement routine, hence the 2 stars. However, it was full of needless repetition (felt like a high school student's first draft or like the publisher wanted more words...) and self-promotion.

My favorite part of the book was a suggestion to write to friends/family/colleagues and ask for an honest assessment of strengths and weaknesses. Sounds like a potentially beneficial exercise.

If you do feel the need to read this book, DO NOT LISTEN TO THE AUDIOBOOK. Nothing against the narrator (not his fault), but find a hard copy and skim it in an hour.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Just watch ESPN's documentary

Revisado: 08-05-13

As the book began, Mallozzi gave the impression that this was an authorized biography. Near the end of the book, as he switched to the skeletons in Erving's closet, it suddenly became apparent that was not the case. In fact, Erving was not pleased by this rendering of his story. Overall, the book was ok I suppose, but Mallozzi used flowery language and was very repetitive. After reading this, I watched the documentary and ESPN tells most of the story in 1 hour as opposed to this 8 hour menace. And the documentary actually shows his dunks. Erving's life is made for a documentary. Baseball is better for books...

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Highly Informative

Revisado: 02-05-13

Any additional comments?

This book is a must-read for people wanting to know more about Afghan culture. Rory Stewart is a Scottish historian and writer who culminates a walk across the Middle East with a roughly month-long walk across Afghanistan in the weeks immediately following the fall of the Taliban. He walks through deserts, mountains and valleys. He meets new government officials and soldiers, simple village folk, mullahs, Taliban-loving villagers, etc. He only survived because he spoke Persian, was respectful of Afghan culture, and was given a dog for protection in remote and dangerous areas. After reading this, I realize more than ever that Afghanistan is a bit of every stereotype. He encountered jihadists (quite few in comparison) and peaceful villagers who didn’t even know about the United States. It is a misunderstood country that needs to be met with fresh eyes.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Love of Books. Love of Family. Perfect Combination

Revisado: 02-05-13

Any additional comments?

This book was an absolute pleasure to read. Will Schwalbe writes in a very accessible manner that is refreshing. He’s a book publisher from a well-educated and influential family. His world is changed however when it is learned that his mother, the cog in the family is diagnosed with cancer and is given roughly six months to live. They are a family of readers, so it isn’t a shock that he asks her “what are you reading?” This begins a strange book club, with only two members, a son and his mother. The books they read are fantastic to be sure, but it’s how the books help them cope that inspires me. It gives them an avenue to approach difficult conversations.

My mother has Muscular Dystrophy and it is very hard to watch her muscles deteriorate and pain increase. I don’t know how many more years she has left. A difference between Schwalbe and I is that I’ve had 17 years to prepare mentally. But you really can’t prepare for it. This book helps. It shows that just being there as a family is most important, to make them feel special. I love my mom so much and hope she lives many more years, but this book helped me realize I’m less alone and showed me things to say…

A sad book to be sure, but less sad than I’ve probably made it out to be. It’s really a story of love. A love of family and a love of books. Is there a better combination?

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña