Book Description
Imagine America on the first day of the 21st century. At the break of dawn, a thousand space ships descend from the sky, landing on the shores of the East Coast, bearing treasures of gold, safe nuclear power and detoxifying agents that could pay all debts and save the earth's environment. In exchange for these goods, guaranteed to rescue America from the excesses of its past, the Space Traders want just one thing -- to take all African Americans back to their home star.
What would our leaders do? White Americans were once capable of rationalizing Black slavery; would they be capable of justifying the trade of all African Americans to space, to improve their own lot on earth?
The situation is a chilling fantasy. But for Derrick Bell, the prominent civil rights activist and former Harvard Law School Professor, the danger is very real. In Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism, Bell uses allegory and historical example to argue that racism has always been an integral, permanent and indestructible component of American society.
Customer Reviews:
Challenging but flawed.......2004-05-21
This is a challenging but flawed book. This book is well researched and uses court cases to show the permanence of racism within American society. He brings up this points in a narrative style that is meant to challenge the reader not only on the basis of his facts but how those facts fit in with American society.
However, his characters become stereotypes themselves. One can see the roles that each of the characters in the story is supposed to play. His fiction continues the beliefs that he attempts to criticize.
Even with this flaw, this book is an important book and should be read by those who are concerned with racism.
Thought-provoking, powerful book.......2002-09-23
Bell is a true storyteller. He possesses the ability to capture your attention and keep you riveted and engaged. This book provides powerful, enlightening "accounts" of racism in America. Every American of every race, nationality, religion, creed and sexual orientation should read this book.
The Well is a distorted mirror..........2002-03-31
Harvard Law Professor Derrick Bell's book, Faces At the Bottom of the Well defines America's racial divide in terms of the book's subtitle; "The Permanence of Racism". Throughout the book, he uses fictional settings to illustrate his theory.
Derrick Bell was a controversial professor at Harvard Law, until he left over the school's refusal to hire a black female law professor. Harvard argued that other applicants had much stronger backgrounds and credentials, but Bell, a strong proponent of race based preferences, claimed that "diversity considerations" outweighed any "purely academic requirements."
After leaving Harvard, Bell was subsequently hired by NYU's Law School, where he continues his dual career as law professor and writer/activist.
Two of Bell's most vivid fictions involve blackmailing Space Aliens and a fictional land call Afrolantica. In the first scenario, the Aliens demand that all the blacks in America be handed over to them, so that they can be taken back to their planet. They refuse to divulge what they intend to do with America's black citizens. In exchange the remaining Americans will be given enough gold to eliminate taxes for a year and the technology needed to eradicate all of the effects of pollution. There is also the hint of violence if America's blacks aren't turned over.
In the second scenario, a fantasy about a fictional land called "Afrolantica," an island upon which only black people can survive and where white people can't even breathe, starts a controversy. Some blacks argue that all American blacks should move there and start their own nation, many whites support that plan.
Bell asks some interesting questions with this book, "How deep are the ties that bind us a nation?"..."How close to the surface are our grievances and distrusts?"
The problem with Bell's thesis is that it is limited by its complete one-sidedness. To Bell an Irish-American who seeks to live in a predominantly Irish neighborhood, or a Chinese-American who decides to reside in China Town, NYC are suspected "racists," while a black-American who chooses to reside in Harlem is not.
Contrary to Bell's assertions, the fact that most people identify with one ethnic group or another is merely a fact, not an indictment. That many people feel more comfortable among people more "like them" than not, is not an indictment either. What Derrick Bell is most guilty of is "Special Pleading" or perceiving anything that benefits "his side" or his point of view, as "good" and all that runs counter to that, "bad." As a result his writing takes on a harsh and bitter tone that often makes him appear as guilty of the bigotry he condemns in others.
If Bell's intention was to use the image of "the well" as a mirror, in order to force his readers to examine the racism that continues to exist, he has failed, because his own bitterness colors his arguments with decidedly racist observations and attitudes.
Bells' strength lies in asking questions, his weakness is that he offers no answers and in fact accepts the inevitability of racism. His writing pales in comparison to other contemporary scholars who've dealt with the isue of race in America, such as Thomas Sowell and Walter E Williams.
Bell makes it known, racism will always exist. Sad isn't it.......1999-02-02
After reading this book, Professor Bell became one of the main reasons I chose to attend NYU School of Law. Bell poignantly tells the story of an oppressed race through allegory that at once is entertaining and educational. Two stories in particular made such an impact that I still feel it a full 5 years after reading the book. The first, Afrolantica, focused on the accomplishments that African Americans can make when working toward a common goal. The ending points out that if African Americans focus and produce we can achieve anything, even the seemingly impossible by using cooperation and productivity. The last story literally reduced me to tears. Though the premise was a little far-fetched it brought home to me the realization of African Americans' importance (or lack their of) as people with hearts, minds and souls to those that form the majority in this country. At first it left me feeling hopeless, but then it made me want to fight harder. And after having met the Professor Bell and sat in his classroom I am certain that my later reaction is what he was after. The other stories are definately worthwhile also, but I point to these two because of the profound emotional effect they had on me. A must read for the believers and non-believers of the theory that racism is so ingrained in American society that it can never be eradicated.
Much-needed realism concerning race relations!.......1998-08-02
Professor Bell takes the bold step of examining, and relating, a crucial truth about US society: the oppresion of people of color has been, and remains, integral to the maintenance of this society as we know it. Using a number of fictional vignettes that containing an alarming amount of reality and possibility, he demonstrates how--contrary to the naive belief that the country is making so much progress--African Americans (and others of color) will continue to be used for the purposes of European Americans and their desire for control. In a particularly harrowing story entitled "The Sapce Traders," Bell portrays a deal, made between the United States government and and alien race, to trade all African Americans in exchange for new fuel and gold reserves and environmental aids. Indeed, the apsect of the story that requires the greatest excercise of imagination is the existence of the traveling aliens; the description of how this government and society would ! use African Americans for their own purposes is all-too believable! Those of all races who would examine this country and themselves should read this book at the first opportunity!
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Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism. (book reviews): An article from: Michigan Law Review
Stephen R. Reinhardt
Manufacturer: Michigan Law Review Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
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ASIN: B0009204SC
Release Date: 2005-07-28 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Michigan Law Review, published by Michigan Law Review Association on May 1, 1993. The length of the article is 3605 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism. (book reviews)
Author: Stephen R. Reinhardt
Publication:
Michigan Law Review (Refereed)
Date: May 1, 1993
Publisher: Michigan Law Review Association
Volume: 91
Issue: n6
Page: 1175-1182
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Customer Reviews:
Wallmart On-Line.......2005-10-08
I never received the product despite desperately trying to correct your error in persisting to consider my two-year's old address current. And because you refuse to have any vital contact with your customers but merely treat them as numbers I've decided never to do business with your Brave New World monolith again. Thanks for nothing. The money I lost due to your policy of disconnectedness from your buyers was well worth the result.
Three screenplays by the Modern American Chekov.......2002-04-28
I still remember watching "To Kill a Mockingbird" in the theater, absolutely stunned that the jury had convicted Tom Robinson when it was so clear, so perfectly clear and obvious to even a kid in grade school, that Atticus Finch had proved he was innocent. Horton Foote's screenplay for "To Kill a Mockingbird" is one of three collected in this volume, along with "Tender Mercies" and "The Trip to Bountiful." They represent three different types of screenwriting experiences since the first is adapted form a novel, the second from Foote's own stage play, and the third a work originally conceived as a film. Perhaps it is somewhat ironic that Foote won Oscars for the two adaptations. All three reflect Foote's emphasis on character development and dialogue rather than action and spectacle.
I taught Harper Lee's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" and screened the movie for an assignment in which students had to compare and contrast the novel with the film. Perhaps the best testament I can give to the quality fo Foote's script is that while students would always come up with favorite scenes from they book they wish had been in the film (number one choice was the hermaphrodite snowman the kids built), there was never a serious argument that Foote had left out something important. For me what stands out is how Foote picked up on one of my favorite parts of the novel, which was the nobility of Jem. The story is primarily about Scout and Atticus, not to mention Boo Radley, but it was Jem who also impressed me, and Foote captures that nobility in several key scenes. If you have a copy of the screenplay, then it is a lot easier to help students with that particular assignment, which always produces solid results.
Great Book.......1999-06-23
This is a really great book for people who like Foote's work. If you do not especially enjoy reading Foote (or watching his plays), I would not suggest this book. The character devolopment in each of the stories is fanatical and the introductions show what was happening at the time when he wrote each play. Also, you get three plays in one book. For a Foote fan, not much could be better.
Book Description
Businessman Georges Gerfaut witnesses a murder-and is pursued by the killers. His conventional life knocked off the rails, Gerfaut turns the tables and sets out to track down his pursuers. Along the way, he learns a thing or two about himself.... Manchette-masterful stylist, ironist, and social critic-limns the cramped lives of professionals in a neo-conservative world.
Jean-Patrick Manchette (1942-1995) rescued the French crime novel from the grip of stodgy police procedurals-restoring the noir edge by virtue of his post-1968 leftism. Today, Manchette is a totem to the generation of French mystery writers who came in his wake. Jazz saxophonist, political activist, and screen writer, Manchette was influenced as much by Guy Debord as by Gustave Flaubert.
Customer Reviews:
4 1/2 stars........2007-05-01
a gloriously fun read this was. jean-patrick manchette is a gas. "3 to kill" is a fresh, startling crime novel, completely free of cliche. georges gerfaut, the main character, is quite unlike any other creation i have encountered in a thriller. i finished this book in one evening, and immediately purchased another manchette book, "the prone gunman." highly recommended to fans of noir fiction.
Hilarious and Bizarre.......2007-02-09
I really enjoyed this book! The main character's situation occasionally verges on a form of slick but deadly slapstick that turns into a saga of man's endurance. A little gem. Read it in one sitting last night. Thanks to Cohenour for the recommendation!
One for the List.......2006-02-01
Neo-noir and a touch existentialist, 3 to Kill reads a bit like a Charles Willeford and James M. Cain novel. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I found the veering plotline to be the most satisfying aspect of the novel. Protagonist Georges Gerfaut is a traveling salesman pursued by hitmen--this experience, in isolation, and the choices he makes in response, inform the socio-political critique, albeit an ironic one, of the novel. 3 to Kill is also reminiscent of a story within the story in The Maltese Falcon where Marlowe recounts a missing person case: A man, nearly killed by a falling beam as he walks down the sidewalk turns up missing. When Marlowe finds him he is living in a nearby town with a new life nearly identical to his former one. Marlowe's point, and one of Manchette's as well, is that while our response to a life-changing event might be dramatic, in the end, the change in our character is nominal. This dense, fast-moving read is something that any reader of Hammett, Chandler, Cain, Goodis, Willeford and Derek Raymond will want to check out.
Good New Discovery.......2003-12-01
Only two Manchette books have been translated into English and this is the first one I read. The book is tightly written and exciting, which, of course, is why one would read a crime noir book in the first place. The lean plot provides enough to explain the episodic spurts of violence contained within, but is not so detailed as to turn the book into a traditional mystery. My complaints, which prevent a five star rating, are that the main character takes a hiatus away from the action which I found a bit unrealistic (I don't want to provide more details and spoil anything) and the ending was a bit more loose and unresolved than the rest of the book. Nonetheless, I look forward to reading Manchette's other translated book, The Prone Gunman, and hope other translations will follow.
Still Fresh 25 Years Later.......2002-07-22
Originally published in 1976, this slim French crime novel has just now been translated into English. The story follows a typical noir theme: an average man thrown into an underworld intrigue entirely by chance. Georges is a mid-level manager in Paris with a wife, two young daughters, and a collection of West coast jazz records. His life has gotten a little humdrum, and so fate thrusts him in the path of two nasty and well-drawn hitmen. After he unwittingly witnesses a murder, the duo track him down in order to tie up loose ends. Although the plot trods a familiar path, Manchette's terse prose, filled with dark humor and ably translated, keeps it fresh and absorbing. And as in much noir, Manchette exhibits an underlying thread of anti-confomism. Manchette wrote nine other crime novels for Gallimard's legendary Série Noir imprint, another of which (The Prone Gunman) is also being published by City Lights.
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The deer kill;: A play in three acts
Murray Mednick
Manufacturer: Bobbs-Merrill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | 18th Century | 19th Century | 20th Century | African American | Asian American | Classics | Collections & Readers | Drama | General | Hispanic | History & Criticism | Humor | Jewish American | Letters & Correspondence | Native American | Poetry | Short Stories | Women Writers
ASIN: B0006C0TQM |
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The Girl from Ipanema Wants to Kill Me
Vinnie and the Stardusters
Manufacturer: Simple Sense of Superiority
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Comic Strips | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
General | Graphic Novels | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 189052901X |
Book Description
Put on your 3-D glasses (included) and bust a gut to the vaguely 3-D, headache-inducing comic of an Archie spoof of the Vinnie and the Stardusters' story. The kit includes trading cards and a 7 inch 45rpm of a spoof of Jobim's bossa nova classic and on the flip is the Radio K hit spoof of "Que Sera Sera" as "Quesadilla (a Tortilla with Cheez)." Already the single has gone tin! (more than 500 copies sold) And has been included on two (count them) compilations in Japan.
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Witchblade: Revelations Vol.1, #1 (STAR11813) (Witchblade)
Christina Z. , and
Michael Turner
Manufacturer: Top Cow Productions/Image Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Witchblade, Vol. 1
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Witchblade: Prevailing, Vol. 3
ASIN: 1582401616 |
Book Description
Top Cow Productions is proud to announce the completion of the second highly anticipated Witchblade Deluxe Collected Edition Revelations! Including the classic story lines of Anne Bonnie the Pirate Witchblade and Sara's quest to discover the true Microwave Murderer's identity this huge collected edition has it all! Featuring issues 9 through 17 and boasting an all new cover by Michael Turner this is your opportunity to own some of those hard to find issues you've always been wanting and explore a few of the greatest moments in the Witchblade's history!
Average customer rating:
- Excellent
- A great resource!
- Knowing what to expect makes the unknown easier to approach.
- Give this book to every pregnant woman
- Fine guide book
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The Post-Pregnancy Handbook: The Only Book That Tells What the First Year After Childbirth Is Really All About---Physically, Emotionally, Sexually
Sylvia Brown , and
Mary Dowd Struck
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Get Your Body Back: Lose Weight, Gain Energy, and Get Fit After Having Your Baby
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The Girlfriends' Guide to Surviving the First Year of Motherhood
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Eat Well, Lose Weight While Breastfeeding: The Complete Nutrition Book for Nursing Mothers, Including a Healthy Guide to the Weight Loss Your Doctor Promised
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The Breastfeeding Book: Everything You Need to Know About Nursing Your Child from Birth Through Weaning
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Outsmarting the Female Fat Cell After Pregnancy: EVERY WOMAN'S GUIDE TO SHAPING UP, SLIMMING DOWN, AND STAYING SANE AFTER THE BABY
Accessories:
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philosophy hope in a jar daily moisturizer
ASIN: 0312316267 |
Book Description
Women buy many books on being pregnant, but after having the baby, they're left wondering, 'what do I do now?' Finally, here's a book filled with practical advice for new mothers about surviv-ing that first year after delivery. Including both conven-tional medicine and alternative remedies, The Post-Pregnancy Handbook gives the whole truth about: The First Few Days: -Recovering emotionally and physically -Possible immediate medical complications The First Few Weeks: -Developing new lifestyles and routines, including returning to sex -Difficulties encountered in breast-feeding The First Year: -A complete physical recovery-how to get back in shape from the inside out. No other book on the market offers more thorough and comforting guidance on the post-pregnancy period.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent.......2007-03-19
This is an excellent book as it gives great info regarding depression DURING pregnancy. Well written.
A great resource!.......2005-09-30
I read this before my first child was born and it was so helpful. It was very honest and informative, but NOT SCARY like so many other books that I read. I highly recommend this book for first timers and beyond.
Knowing what to expect makes the unknown easier to approach........2004-06-29
For many women, the time period after giving birth is an unknown -- How will they feel? Is there any pain involved? What can I expect? Even though each pregnancy and after birth experience is different, if a woman has never given birth before, she is much in the dark about what she can actually expect.
The book "The Post-Pregnancy Handbook," by Sylvia Brown, explains in detail what new mothers can expect to feel after giving birth. It discusses recovery and any problems you might experience; caring for and getting your body back after you get home; breastfeeding; relationship issues; sex; and exercise.
MyParenTime.com recommends this book -- it answers many questions that women might be afraid to ask their doctors, and aims to reassure women that they can recover from pregnancy...physically, emotionally, and sexually. If women know what to expect after childbirth, they will be more equipped to deal with post-pregnancy experiences.
Give this book to every pregnant woman.......2004-02-27
When I was pregnant I read a ton of pregnancy and baby books, but none prepared me for the post-pregnancy realities. All pregnancy books ended at labor and all baby books started with baby. But I had a really difficult time after the birth of my first baby and there was nothing available for ME. This book gives new moms honest information to help them get back to themselves in every way -- emotionally, physically and sexually. Now I give this book to every pregnant friend. It is the best shower gift.
Fine guide book.......2003-11-07
THE POST-PREGNANCY HANDBOOK provides a wide scope look at post-partum issues that mothers face in the first year following the birth of the child. The self help book came about because Ms. Brown found little guidance amidst the available but scattered literature as her body continued with the change process that pregnancy caused.
The guide is a general help tool on a myriad of topics (this reviewer doubts any were left out or at least cannot think of any), but by attempting to be so comprehensive, depth is somewhat lacking. When I showed my husband the statistician some of the supporting numbers, he groused that the statistical support lacks specificity making it unreliable as a source of information.
Still this is an easy to follow book and appears comprehensive in terms of including all the issues (medical and societal). Used correctly as an all-purpose guide that needs follow-up with a personal professional, THE POST-PREGNANCY HANDBOOK is a strong tome assisting the new momma with one source that furbishes possible answers to a host of questions and doubts.
Harriet Klausner
Books:
- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Other American Stories (Modern Library)
- Final Appeal
- Flashman and the Angel of the Lord
- Flashman in the Great Game: A Novel (Flashman)
- Glamorama (Vintage Contemporaries)
- Handling Sin
- In Danger's Path: Corps 08 (Corps)
- Indecision: A Novel
- Kokoro
- Last Car to Elysian Fields: A Dave Robicheaux Novel
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