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- All History is Gossip
- Reading Jailbird is not a bad sentence
- A bumbling antihero, stumbling through the great events of the century
- The Standard Vonnegut
- The conscientious civil servant
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Jailbird
Kurt Vonnegut
Manufacturer: Dial Press Trade Paperback
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Vonnegut Jr., Kurt
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Mother Night
ASIN: 0385333900
Release Date: 1999-01-12 |
Book Description
Jailbird takes us into a fractured and comic, pure Vonnegut world of high crimes and misdemeanors in government...and in the heart. This wry tale follows bumbling bureaucrat Walter F. Starbuck from Harvard to the Nixon White House to the penitentary as Watergate's least known co-conspirator. But the humor turns dark when Vonnegut shines his spotlight on the cold hearts and calculated greed of the mighty, giving a razor-sharp edge to an unforgettable portrait of power and politics in our times.
Customer Reviews:
All History is Gossip.......2007-05-30
Poor Walter F. Starbuck. He should have been a servant to those who make history because he certainly wasn't any good at participating in history. He serves a short sentence for being in the general vicinty during the Watergate mess. His crime seems to have been incurable obliviousness. He also was questioned during the Commie witch hunts of the 50's. He exonerated himself by telling the truth but witlessly ruined another man's career. Not every man who goes to Harvard is enlightened by the experience. A weak witless fool who goes to Harvard is an educated week witless fool when he graduates. School doesn't teach morality or common sense, neither does power. Certainly not power. Power corrupts and degrades and serves to expose, for all the world, weaknesses. Walter F. Starbuck wanders through the wreckage of history & his life and others and comments on it all in a dispirited "what a mess" tone. Neither bitter nor enlightened just exhausted.
Reading Jailbird is not a bad sentence.......2006-02-02
Vonnegut writes another book with a slightly offbeat structure to it. Yes, Jailbird is a book that jumps from the present to the past and then to the future without a definite pattern that reminded me of a slightly demented stream of consciousness. Even with these random jumps between events I still thoroughly enjoyed the book. In fact, the random jumps were part of the reason I enjoyed the novel so much because at the end of the story all of the stories finally came together.
Obviously I had a few other reasons that made me give this book a rating of four stars. One of the major themes I located in Jailbird caught my interest. This theme is that when people act for themselves, ignoring money and other influences, they will be happier with the way their lives turn out. This theme was illustrated in the protagonist Walter Starbuck, who is both controlled and independent in different parts of the story.
This book immediately caught my attention because of the style in which it's written. Even though the story is written in first person it contains a disconnected tone to the whole story. Whenever major events in Walter Starbuck's life are described the description doesn't portray them as being as important as they should be. It reminded me a great deal of Slaughter House Five's "so it goes" comment whenever someone would die.
This is an interesting book for a multitude of different reasons. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is a fan of Vonnegut's offbeat writing style. Even though this story is nothing like the books I normally read for enjoyment, it was definitely worth my time.
A bumbling antihero, stumbling through the great events of the century.......2006-01-26
This is a story of Walter Starbuck, WASPified son of immigrants, who, pushed along by various forces outside his control, attains a brief taste of the American Dream (TM), loses it all, gets it all back with a bonus, then loses it all again. It's told with great humor, a sharp wit, and a stinging criticism of government and capitalism.
The Standard Vonnegut.......2005-06-06
Vonnegut has done it once again for the fans of his work. his humor is clever and it shows. this may see a little but dry however for the first time reader. definetly a must read for the avid Vonnegut fan.
The conscientious civil servant.......2004-08-21
Walter F. Starbuck, the lovably pathetic hero of Kurt Vonnegut's "Jailbird," makes a potentially fascinating subject for a novel: son of immigrant servants of an eccentric wealthy man, Harvard graduate, ex-communist, well-meaning bureaucrat, squealer to the House Un-American Activities Committee, President Nixon's special advisor on youth affairs, and most recently a record company executive. Oh, and for two years following his service with Nixon he was a distinguished guest of the federal prison system for his circumstantial involvement in the Watergate scandal.
The novel is constructed almost like an autobiography in which Starbuck looks back on the vicissitudes of his life with fatalistic humor. The day that is clearest in his memory is the day he is released from his minimum-security incarceration and flies to New York to resume whatever remains of his life, and this day becomes quite momentous for him as he bumps into some old acquaintances who will change his fortunes possibly for the better.
Starbuck is a compassionate but unemotional observer of the consequences of war on both sides of the Atlantic. His wife Ruth was a Holocaust survivor whom he had saved from poverty when he met her in Nuremberg just after World War II, and his job in Nixon's administration as a youth culture watchdog was a response to the notorious gunning down of four student protesters at Kent State. Corporate encroachment on private enterprise is another theme, as Starbuck finds that the mysterious RAMJAC Corporation is acquiring everything from McDonald's to the New York Times.
"Jailbird" is not at all, as some might expect, a lampoon of Nixon's presidency, but a very general satire of the effects of governmental failure and mass corporatization on American society by the end of the transitional 1970s. This is a comical portrait of a well-educated but wishy-washy man who wanted to be a civil servant because he "believed that there could be no higher calling in a democracy than to a lifetime in government," became a communist pitying the downtrodden workers symbolized by the martyred Sacco and Vanzetti, joined a Republican administration, and eventually moved up to big business. Only in America, as they say.
Vonnegut's humor consists primarily of springing non sequiturs that shock by the nature of their contrast but whose significance becomes apparent later in the story; these can be very funny and clever at times, but after a while one longs for the subtlety of Evelyn Waugh or the erudition of Thomas Pynchon, both of which Vonnegut forgoes in his reckless attempts at meaningful absurdity. Still, "Jailbird" lacks nothing for which Vonnegut is famous; but what it does lack could have made it more than just another Vonnegut novel.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting Indeed.......2006-12-03
Another excellent edition of the DC Comics' Factoid Press "Big Book" series. This one focuses on a variety of criminals, from small-time hoods to organized crime. Not terribly morbid, but interesting all the same.
Masterminds and simpletons of the underworld.......2004-08-09
In this new installment of the "Big Book of..." series the level of artistry and research stays high as it had in all other pieces so far.
I own most of the installments that have hit the market over the past few years and simoultaneously I'm an avid comic-fan. That being as it is I can safely say that this happens to be one of the very best comics publications I've ever seen.
Particularly to this book, it's a history of some of the most notorious underworld figures in the United States. Except for the masterheads of crime it also includes some characters which became famous rather for their lack of intelligence. In the 63 stories included are also figures which were well known in their time and faded into history afterwards but whose story is extremely interesting nevertheless.
Impeccably researched (as usual) and with that subtle sarcasm or cynicism that this series is well known for, this is an absolutely must-have item.
It's been often after I've read issues of the Big Book series that i went on to further reads because of what i discovered in these books. That i think, is a huge compliment in itself. If you're not acquainted with this series start over here with the "....Little Criminals" part. A pure gem.
Look At This Book of Crooks!.......2000-04-23
One more excellent volume from Paradox Press! In this book, you learn about criminals from history, from small-time hoods to organized crime. This is the volume that demonstrates just how crime does not pay!
Little Criminals Big Crimes.......2000-03-24
All these Big Books are simply marvelous. The contributing artists number in the fifties so the artwork never becomes boring. Factoid books has done a remarkable job of fusing top rate artwork with extemely accurate short tales or biographies. For anyone interested in the less successful side of crime or for more obscure matters like the midget member of the Gallo gang this book is a goldmine......the whole series is fantastic popcorn for the mind....hard to put down till you are finished.....read one and rush right out and buy another....I have all fifteen and reread them often
Product Description
3 KURT VONNEGUT Books - 1) - Welcome to the Monkey House / 2) - Cat's Cradle / 3) - Jailbird- (Unboxed Set) in either Hard or Softcover, (See Seller Condition
Comments), Shipped in one package to save on shipping
costs.
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Jailbird
Sound Editions
Manufacturer: Random House Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
General
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ASIN: 0871881896
Release Date: 1985-09-01 |
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Jailbird
Vonnegut Kurt
Manufacturer: Delacorte Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OPGXCA |
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Jailbird
Kurt Jr. Vonnegut
Manufacturer: Delacorte Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NTEEMI |
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Jailbird
Kurt VONNEGUT
Manufacturer: Jonathan Cape
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OPLWJE |
Average customer rating:
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Jailbird
Kurt Vonnegut
Manufacturer: Dell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000RMQZ1O |
Customer Reviews:
Passionate! Passionate! Passionate! WOW!.......2000-06-22
This book was totally breathtaking. From the first page I was hooked. Susan is a genious at writing love scenes, and the best part is that the charactors are in love before they submit themselves to one another. Totally sensual, and leaves you "wishing!" My only suggestion is to read her books in order because they are all relative, meaning she uses the same charactors in every book thus far. The story continues with the same family but amazingly enough you do not feel like some things were left un done at the end of the book, it just graudally picks up in the next book. I highly recomend this book, its a must read.
White Flame.......2000-02-06
Beautifully written...couldn't put it down. Can't wait to read White Wind and White Wolf!
Exquisite characterization.......1999-12-05
This was a wonderful read, a richly romantic adventure. I read the last one hundred pages in one sitting because I simply could not put the book down. The suspense kept me on the edge of my seat, and the relationship between Emma and her hero-to-die-for Striking Thunder was hot enough to heat up this cold winter night. Well done, Ms. Edwards! I can't wait for White Nights next April.
Average customer rating:
- Why White Flame will keep you up at night
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White Flame: A Novel
James Grady
Manufacturer: Dove Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0787109037 |
Amazon.com
From James Grady, the author of Six Days of the Condor, comes a tightly written and expertly paced thriller about an ex-con and former Black Panther named Faron Sears who is marked for assassination. Sears has turned himself into a billionaire and philanthropist and is reluctant to declare himself a candidate for the presidency, despite his obvious appeal to an electorate hungry for the visionary leadership he seems to offer. When it becomes clear that someone within his organization has set him up to be killed, a pair of F.B.I. agents and a D.C. cop are assigned to protect Sears and find the traitor.
Customer Reviews:
Why White Flame will keep you up at night.......1996-06-13
By the time I got to page three, I knew I would be up allnight, every night, till I read this book to the end. An arresting plot twists around characters so real you fight to catch your breath with them on a rollercoaster ride of conspiracy, betrayal, and murder. These are real people with ideals, hopes, nightmares, and regrets which are tried by fire in the crucible that is White Flame. No one, not even the reader, is left unchanged by the end. Jim Grady's insider knowledge of Washington politics lends a chilling reality to it all. This story is so plausible, you almost expect to read about it in your morning paper. I won't give away any of the plot; you must experience that for yourself. If you like John Grisham, Tom Clancy, or any other writers in the genre, you'll LOVE White Flame. I read one of Grady's previous books, Thunder, when it was first released. If that was thunder, this is lightning!
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The flame of white ; & The rose of life
Pensatia
Manufacturer: Bond & Bacon [distributor]
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books | Adolescent Psychology | Applied Psychology | By Topic | Child Psychology | Clinical Psychology | Cognitive | Counseling | Creativity & Genius | Developmental Psychology | Education & Training | Ethnopsychology | Experimental Psychology | Forensic Psychology | General | History | Hypnosis | Industrial Psychology | Logotherapy | Medicine & Psychology | Mental Illness | Movements | Neuropsychology | Occupational & Organizational | Pathologies | Personality | Philosophy of Psychology | Physical Illness & Psychiatry | Physiological Aspects | Psychiatry | Psychoanalysis | Psychobiology | Psychopharmacology | Psychosomatic Medicine | Psychotherapy, TA & NLP | Reference | Research | Sexuality | Social Psychology & Interactions | Statistics | Suicide | Testing & Measurement
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ASIN: 0935490027 |
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Princess White Flame,
Gertrude Crownfield
Manufacturer: Dutton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
Fairy Tales | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B00089VPT8 |
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The pure white flame
Alice Hartich
Manufacturer: Golden Quill Press
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: B0007GTZ9Y |
Book Description
An alien fortress had crashlanded on Earth. But the most recent arrival from the galaxy's more sinister side had been brought down deliberately. Now it sat silently overlooking Monument City, as though daring someone to penetrate its dark mysteries.
And who better to test the mettle of that ship than Dana Sterlings 15th Squadron ATACs -- after all, they had brought the thing down to begin with!
The mission read like a one-way ticket to doom; but for Dana it was a chance to get a glimpse of the glories of her ancestor race. And perhaps a chance to glimpse at the pilot of the red Bioroid who haunted her dreams -- an alien called Zor........
Customer Reviews:
An over-all good book.......1999-04-20
The 2nd book of Southern Cross, it has a fair amount of action, a pretty good, though somewhat cheesey, storyline, and some of the best thought-out characters in the series. A good book to read if you've read the first few or seen the TV series. Better than most of the Macross series
Product Description
multiple books ship as one item. save on shipping/handling charges.
Product Description
Multiple books shipped as one item for your convenience. Save on Shipping/Handling charges.
Book Description
Embracing the World is your guide to finding a deeper relationship with God through prayer and to seeing how your prayers can contribute to healing the world. Author Jane E. Vennard helps you understand how to best use your spiritual gifts and graces to serve God as well as the cause of peace and social justice here on earth.
Embracing the World reveals the twofold nature of prayer: as both contemplation and action. Vennard explains that prayer is a cycle where prayer leads to service and service leads to reflection and back to God. Throughout the book, she explores many different forms of outward-reaching prayer and includes a wealth of vivid descriptions, helpful explanations, captivating stories, and biblical and theological reflections.
Customer Reviews:
Change the World Through Prayer.......2006-11-27
In the face of so much injustice and coercion in the world, many people feel immobilized or overwhelmed by the flood of needs and opportunities for action. Grounding her vision in a expansive view of prayer as relationship with God, Jane Vennard teaches the reader many forms of prayer through which we can embrace the world and focus our lives on seeking God's peace and justice in the world. We don't all have to do it all. We are all invited into relationship with God.
This work is based on a circular process of prayer as involving a pattern of intercession, transformation, renewal and action. Vennard explores how praying in each of these modes both engages the world and transforms the person(s) who pray. Her writing is clear and evocative, carried along by wonderful stories from many persons, communities, and traditions.
For individuals or communities seeking to integrate lives of contemplation and action, this is a very helpful and practical guide.
Discovering the quiet activist within.......2003-04-04
Jane Vennard's new book, Embracing the World: Praying for Justice and Peace is a touching response to the terror, fear and grief present in today's world. The book provides illustrations of the many ways that spirituality connects with the work of justice and peace, and helps us to discover the quiet activist within. Vennard's book emphasizes the relational aspects of prayer and the need to make room for God's guidance, action and grace in our hearts. It also helps us to understand the ways in which prayer draws us more completely into the world.
Jane Vennard's style is embracing and accessible. She has written a book that can speak to us differently at different times in our own lives or the world's history.
Peace A Way of Life.......2003-02-26
Embracing the World....Praying for Justice and Peace by Jane E. Vennard Jossey-Bass 2003
"Teach a course connecting spirituality with the work of justice and peace? When I have never ever marched, when I had never been involved in the civil rights movement, when I had lived abroad in the sixties and lacked awareness and inaction during a critical period of a nation's history, when I had never been on a mission to a poor country, never even spent Thanksgiving in a food line serving the homeless and the hungry? How could I teach a course and then turn the contents of the course into a book?"
A wise spiritual director set me straight," wrote the author. "You have many advantages. You are white, educated, economically comfortable. How can you use your gifts to serve God?"
As the author reflected on her own life, she discovered she HAD served God by praying and acting for justice and peace. What actions did Vennard find in her life that would promote peace and justice? She told of these actions in her lectures and later included in her book her own struggles to be a peaceful and just person. She taught about issues of sexual orientation, lessons which she experienced after her 38 year old ex-husband said he was gay. Her ministry in the Center for Women and Religion helped heal wounds of oppression for women. She began to see herself as a peace-maker among her family and friends.
In her lectures she included stories of stay-at-home moms who learned to solve family conflicts; young adults who spoke out against prejudice; teenagers protecting a youngster from a bully. Without too much delving, Vennard discovered activities in her own neighborhood. She found enough material for a course, and then opened up the prayer arena, relating examples of intercessory prayer, action prayers, prayers of renewal, transformation, and prayers of discernment.
What was the result? A timely bridge-building book which offers powerful personal stories and practical guidance for those seeking to bear witness as peacemakers in our day.
Making Peace.......2003-02-15
During this time of fear of terrorists and the threat of a major war that would be so devastating to many countries, it is difficult to remain hope filled. This book has helped me regain hope and be more aware that I can be a peacemaker in many ways. Reading it, I am reminded that many people doing small acts could change our world.
A unique guide specifically written for Christians.......2003-02-07
Embracing The World: Praying For Justice And Peace by Jane E. Vennard (Iliff School of Theology, Denver, Colorado) is a unique guide specifically written for Christians who place their faith in the wisdom and mercy of God. Individual chapters offer helpful advice and penetrating insight for praying through actions, praying for renewal, living in God's light and according to his Will, as well as the power of spreading prayer as love for God and for one's fellow human beings. Embracing The World is very highly recommended to the Christian community as a profound, meaningful, and reverential treatise on changing the world through the power and practice of prayer.
Books:
- Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams: Short Stories, Prose, and Diary Excerpts
- La guerra del fin del mundo
- LA Plaza Del Diamante/the Diamond Plaza
- Le Mariage
- Macho Camacho's Beat
- Mocha Love: A Novel of Passion, Honesty, Deceit and Power
- Monsieur Teste
- Mouchette (New York Review Books Classics)
- Mrs. Pringle of Fairacre
- My Life and Ethiopia's Progress: The Autobiography of Emperor Haile Sellassie I (Volume 1) (My Life and Ethiopia's Progress)
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