Month: December 2010

books, Interviews, Permanent Press1 Comment

Interview with Martin Shepard, co-founder of the Permanent Press

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The Permanent Press is a small publisher based in Sag Harbor, New York.  With high standards and a small staff, the Permanent Press possesses both the longevity and critical acclaim usually associated with larger publishers.  Martin and Judy Shepard approach the business of publishing with small print runs and putting out only a dozen new titles every year.  Unlike the mainstream conglomerates, the Permanent Press is more of an artisan than an agent of mass production. Martin Shepard, co-founder of the Permanent Press I had the opportunity to ask Martin Shepard, co-founder of Permanent Press, some questions about the book … Continue reading Interview with Martin Shepard, co-founder of the Permanent Press

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The Reckoning by Howard Owen

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In Howard Owen’s ninth novel, The Reckoning, the lives of George James and Freeman Hawk meet again after decades of separation.  Freeman was an African-American civil rights activist who fled to Canada to avoid getting drafted.  George James was a scion of the old money South and an heir to the Old Dominion Ham Company.  Owen shifts between past and present, reflecting the tense relationship between George James, widowed and alcoholic, and his son Jake.  Freeman Hawk returned to George, but George’s idealization of Freeman makes the opaque circumstances harder to pick up.  George tells Jake how Freeman led the … Continue reading The Reckoning by Howard Owen

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Contracts: the Essential Business Desk Reference by Attorney Richard Stim

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Contracts are everywhere.  Richard Stim makes this obvious in the introduction to Contracts: the Essential Business Desk Reference. Enumerating everything from employment contracts to those involving insurance, credit cards, toll roads, and music and book downloads, contractual relationships are everywhere and nowhere.  Because of this situation, Contracts is an essential tool for navigating the occasionally intimidating aspect of signing the dotted line.  Following or breaking contracts have real consequences for all involved. The book organizes the various terms associated with contracts in alphabetical order.  Aided by cross-references, it provides easy navigation of topics.  Nolo, the publisher, also boasts dictionary definitions … Continue reading Contracts: the Essential Business Desk Reference by Attorney Richard Stim

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5000 Pages of Kissinger, book reviews, books, Critical Appraisals, film2 Comments

Years of Upheaval (1981) by Henry Kissinger

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A Second Term and a Third-rate Burglary Now Watergate does not bother me Does your conscience bother you? Tell the truth. “Sweet Home Alabama,” Lynyrd Skynyrd (1974)   Years of Upheaval, the second volume of memoirs by Henry Kissinger, continues his personal account of public service, spanning the time of Nixon’s re-election to Nixon’s resignation following the Watergate scandal.  The memoirs record a short span of time although it encompasses a plethora of geopolitical, domestic, and personal events.  In the words of Homer Simpson, this volume has it all, “the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles.” Riding on … Continue reading Years of Upheaval (1981) by Henry Kissinger

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