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Soccer is the world's most popular sport, which makes it the most multicultural of sports. From this it should follow that the multicultural movement here in America would strongly support soccer.But instead of embracing the sport of the "Other," the movement has ignored sports, and while younger multiculturalists may be soccer fans, the older ones have generally clung to America's own sports.Soccer in America has ended up being a sport for those in the middle or even on the right rather than for those on the left. The people who show up at soccer games include fraternity jocks, sorority girls and members of the military, none of whom are thought of as multiculturalist or open-minded by those on the left.This book is about sports in America and the rest of the world. The many topics it explores include soccer's place in the world, a comparison of the sports environments in America and England, a critical examination of America's sports, the history of prejudice against soccer in America, and the failure of many of America's leftists to overcome that prejudice. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

I haven't read it - but it's wonderful!
Just to balance out the other review here from someone who admits he hasn't read the book but only gave it two stars anyway. Hilarious!

Politics of Sport
Recently, there's been an effort to politicize the sport of soccer. One writer on the left recently accuse all conservatives of being racists because a couple of conservative commentators had pointed out the obvious--that for all the frenzy soccer creates in its fans, the sport is actually rather dull, with guys merely running around in circles, falling down occasionally, and games often ending 0-0.

Judging by the product description, John Pepple has a different take. He blames the "older" multiculturalists on the left for abandoning the game to "fraternity jocks, sorority girls and members of the military, none of whom are thought of as multiculturalist or open-minded by those on the left." It is "prejudice," according to this Mr. Pepple, that leads them to think that way.

I certainly wouldn't see myself on the left, but I do believe that anyone, whatever their politics, has a right to dislike soccer or any other sport without having their political views attacked and their motives impugned. All this fuss is silly. There's no inherent virtue in liking soccer and disliking it doesn't make you a bigot.

Michael W. Perry, author of Untangling Tolkien: A Chronology and Commentary for The Lord of the Rings ... Read more

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Governing Fortune: Casino Gambling in America provides the background needed for citizens and policymakers to make informed decisions about gambling in America.

Edward A. Morse and Ernest P. Goss draw on their legal and economic experience to offer important insights to those wrestling with the policy dilemmas presented by legalized gambling. Rather than a polemic against gambling or an apology for it, Governing Fortune is an acute analysis of the industry, designed to help policymakers and interested citizens make informed choices.

Distinguishing Features

• Evenhanded treatment of pro and con arguments for casino gambling.
• Lucid and understandable explanation of the legal framework for regulating gambling, including both state and federal sources.
• Comprehensive information on contemporary developments in gambling, including Internet gambling and problem gambling behaviors.

Governing Fortune is an essential guide, offering sound and reliable information on the complex of factors involved in any calculation of the social costs of legalized gambling. ... Read more

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" One would like to think that the U.S. Supreme Court, the highest Court in the land, is the one island of sanity still remaining. But if what you folks are about to read is any indication, we've all got a lot to worry about. The question that presents itself is whether the near pathological dizziness and irrationality in our society has so invaded this nation's marrow that, like a wild-infectious virus, even the Supreme Court is not immune."
--from NO ISLAND OF SANITY

Now, in the powerful premiere of the Library of Contemporary Thought, Vincent Bugliosi takes a timely swipe at the Supreme Court's decision in Paula Jones v. Bill Clinton. Famed as the prosecutor of Charles Manson and author of the classic bestseller HELTER SKELTER, Bugliosi argues that the high court has rarely been proved so wrong, so fast.

NO ISLAND OF SANITY is only the beginning of an ongoing dialogue with some of the most original writers working today. Each month, the Library of Contemporary Thought will bring you a different voice on a hot-button topic in American life, politics, and culture. From Mickey Mouse to Tiger Woods, from how we age to how we read, no subject is too controversial or too unlikely for these powerful and provocative books.Amazon.com Review
Vincent Bugliosi, the former L.A. County prosecutor who chronicled his successful efforts to put Charles Manson away in Helter Skelter, isn'tafraid to let people know what he thinks. Others might be content to labela Supreme Court decision "incomprehensible and terribly flawed," but few would go on to raise the question of whether that decision reflected"near-pathological dizziness and irrationality" on the part of the nine justices as Bugliosi does in No Island of Sanity, aspirited, 132-page essay that launches Ballantine's monthly Library of Contemporary Thought series.

Although it takes 30 pages of a general rant against modern society forBugliosi to address the case of Paula Corbin Jones v. William JeffersonClinton, once he starts, he gets right to the crux of the matter: What on earth compelled the Supreme Court to decide that Paula Jones's private lawsuit against Bill Clinton was of a higher priority than serving the public interest by having a chief executive undistracted from his work? The problem, as he demonstrates, is that Clinton's lawyers tried to convince the Court that a lawsuit against an incumbent President was a violation of constitutional separation-of-powers doctrine, in that it would allow the judiciary branch of the government to have undue influence on the executive branch's fulfillment of its duties. The president's team never tried to argue that the public interest was better served by delaying the Jones suit until after Clinton left the White House.

There are individual points on which one might quibble with Bugliosi--forexample, whether America really deserves to be taken seriously by foreigners when scandals such as Clinton's alleged sexual conduct erupts. But Bugliosi's central thesis, that Bill Clinton's request to have Jones's lawsuit delayed was not an extraordinary request, and that consideration both of legal precedent and the public interest ought to have led to the granting of that request, is convincingly argued with passionate rhetoric and vigorous factual support. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

Better than six months of law school
This book is a treasure.I read it when it came out, and was floored at how well-reasoned, commonsensical and spot on it was.

To me, the "30-page rant" at the beginning of the book, disparagingly mentioned in the editorial review, was truly brilliant.The book's title is "No ISLAND of Sanity."An island is a piece of dry land in an ocean.Before one describes the submerged island, one must discuss the ocean, the context surrounding the island.That is why Buugliosi had to first discuss the insanities of present-day society, the better to place in context the insanity of the Supreme Court's decision in Jones vs. Clinton.

What the author accomplishes is masterful:He analyzes the opinion from a constitutional law, a statutory law, an appellate advocacy, a commonsense, and a legal scholar's point of view.He looks at the opinion from a low-brow, mid-brow and high-brow perspective.He rightfully skewers the justices of the Supreme Court, as well legal pundits and newspaper editorial boards, in ten different ways.

This book is so refreshing, because it deals with an issue that has political overtones in a most apolitical manner.Bugliosi is an insighful legal commentator who has brilliantly exposed the justices of the Supreme Court as emperors without clothes.

One important point. One hundred pages too many.
I've read and appreciated several of Bugliosi's books, and he has a way of boiling large issues down to their basics without sacrificing argumentative rigor. This isn't a book, though. It's an article run amok. Bugliosi makes one very good, very valid point: The Supreme Court should have weighed the interest of Paula Jones to have her case heard right away (rather than wait until Clinton's term of office was over) against the interest of the American people to have a President who wasn't endlessly distracted by depositions and trial dates.

This point is valid, but before we get there we are treated to 25 pages of bragging and ranting about how successful Bugliosi's book about O.J. Simpson was, about how Bugliosi is more insightful than the average person, about how Bugliosi thinks that Rush Limbaugh sucks and that the media are not liberal, and about how society is going crazy. It really doesn't have much to do with the topic of the book, no matter how hard Bugliosi tries to make links.

When the argument starts, it's typical Bugliosi: solid, persuasive argument hampered by relentless ad hominems and name-calling. Bugliosi does persuasively argue that the Supreme Court did wrong by the American people in finding against their number one elected official. But then he keeps arguing it and keeps arguing it. He repeats himself. He adduces a dozen cases to prove a small point, where a handful would have sufficed. And then he makes his same point again.

Save your time and money; avoid this book. I give it two stars for one valid point.

Interesting
Good book, makes you think of how ridiculous things are in the states with regard to litigation. One wonders if this case interrupted Clinton s presidency enough todistract him from perhaps eliminating the master mind of 9/11 -> namely osama bin laden, since he did have a chance to assasinate him at one point.

not a classic;makes its point
Bugliosi begins with an irrelevant social commentary.When he gets to the subject,he makes his point well.The Jones v. Clinton decision of the Supreme Court was a tragic mistake,a travesty of justice that has forever altered the balance of power in the three branches of government,and may do untold harm in the future.

Any fair reading of the FERERALIST PAPERS leads one to conclude that the founders could not have intended for a federal district judge to have the power to compel a sitting president to answer a civil suit.Bugliosi uses Fed.69,by Hamilton,to argue that a sitting president could not even be arrested for murder without first being impeached and removed from office.
Bugliosi correctly sketches the true meaning of the case.The Supreme Court now views itself as the "first among equals" and wields the power of judicial review to assert iteslf against the other two branches,with no repect for precedent or original intent.
Bugliosi also takes on the question ignored by Mr. Clinton's lawyers:the need of Mrs. Paula Jones' interests to be balanced against the interests of all other Americans.Even a soldier undergoing basic training enjoys "temporary immunity" from lawsuits,but the President apparently does not.
On the negative side,Bugliosi's writing style is colloquialistic and unfocused.He can sometimes depart from sober analysis and launch into hyperbolic editorialism in the very same sentence.There is too much slang,and too much "tough guy language",and this does not serve to support his thesis ina meaningful way.
I believe that the Rehnquist Court has waged war against the rights of private citizens and against the traditional balance of the separation of powers.Bugliosi argues convincingly that the latter is,at least,the case.This book was written before the Clinton Impeachment.A revised edition is now in order.However,the legal reasoning would be the same.

Vincent Bugliosi Is Not Sane
This book starts out giving Bugliosi's rather skewed view of the world, in which the problems of our society can evidently be traced to the fact that naughty girls where short skirts. Then he promptly proves how smart he is by telling us how right he was in his assessment of the OJ Simpson case. Given that he is obviously an unbiased source, how can one doubt? Of course, one might wonder what this has to do with the Supreme Courts decision in the Paula Jones case, and the answer is, of course, absolutely nothing. Bugliosi, truth be told, has no interest in the issue at hand, he is just excited about tooting his own horn and making himself seem important. Really, his whole argument in the Clinton matter is simply this, he is brilliant and everyone else is an idiot and we should feel blessed that he deigned to make any argument beyond this at all, given that he so much smarter than everyone else.I did not pick up this book expecting an unbiased discussion of the issues surrounding the Supreme Court's decision to let the Paula Jones case move forward, but I did expect it to be reasonable. It certainly is not. Bugliosi's argument (in as much as it exists at all beyond the `I'm so smart' posturing) despite his denials is; The President Is Above The Law, no more and no less. He never seems to acknowledge that even if the Presidency is as important as he asserts (and it certainly is not clear that it need be) it does not automatically follow that the President himself is irreplaceable. What would have happened if Clinton had handed the reigns of government to Gore (who after all, was duly elected along with Bubba) to concentrate on the Paula Jones case? Would the World have been turned on its head? It seems unlikely, considering the similarities of their outlook. Worse than the weakness of his arguments, of course, is his colossal arrogance, evidently all the justices of the Supreme Court are idiots, as is anyone else who disagrees with his assessment of the issues. Such dismissive arrogance makes the book insulting and frankly unreadable. Better he just published a book that said simply, I AM RIGHT and YOU ARE AN IDIOT, it would be more honest, and frankly more interesting. ... Read more

Product Description

From the immemorial humans have lived together in groups. What it means to be a human being has no other basis than the interactions that take place in these groups. Politics then is the shaping of the necessary fact of social interaction. This volume concerns itself with the role of the individual in this social and political order. Including selections from both classical writers such as Plato, and contemporary scholars such as George Kareb, Michael Sandel, and Donna Haraway, the work examines one of the most fundemental questions of human society: what part do individual desires and concerns play, and what part should they play, in political society? How can we negotiate the relation between individuals and society, between the will of one and the mandate of the multitude? Strong's lengthy introduction provides an excellent framework that serves to unify these semial writings.

Product Description
The Duke of Havana is the inside story of Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, fallen hero of the Cuban revolution. Banned by the Castro government for plotting to defect and shunned by Cuban society, the finest pitcher in Cuba's history fearlessly turned his internal exile into a political crusade. He ultimately escaped his country in a twenty-four-foot boat and, nine months later, triumphed in the World Series with the New York Yankees. Present throughout his story are the immensely talented Cuban players whose lives reflect the slow death of Cuban socialism. Also present is the Castro-hating Miami-based sports agent Joe Cubas, whose audacious, secret plots have transformed him into a major political figure in the Cuban exile community's relentless war to topple Castro.These personal stories illuminate the rising political and social tensions in Cuba, the growing status of the Catholic Church in the country's affairs, major league baseball's astonishingly corrupt system for recruiting players, its systematic violation of the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, and the historic role of baseball in U.S.-Cuba relations.Reported in the United States and Cuba by two award-winning journalists who became part of the story they were reporting, The Duke of Havana is a riveting story of sports, politics, and greed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Fascinating
You cant put it down until you finish.
This is a fascinating book, that you read almost as a good crime novel.
The story of Orlando Hernandez is extraordinary to everybody, but very typical for the common Cuban living in the island. Talented professionals who live in very modest and minimalist conditions, while in another country they could make much more money than that.
The authors are sharp with the interviews, they got exactly what they needed to spice up the book. And find the exact analogy to make any ordinary passage a notorious one.
5 stars all the way!!

The Duke of Havana
As one would expect of a book written by newspaper journalists, this books holds the readers attention from cover to cover.Although this is the well-known, true story of Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, Cuban exile turned world champion New York Yankee, the reader is led to believe each page will have some new detail that they have never heard before.Through their extended research and one hundred plus interviews, Fainaru and Sanchez seem to have done their homework thoroughly because these new details are ever present.There are even points in which the reader wonders if the authors actually lived the life of the Cuban baseball player, instead of just researching it in October of 1996 when the ordeal was nearly over.Fainaru enhances this story using the experiences of other ball players and agents that were involved in similar defections.Also, Fainaru adds the strange facts about the relations between the U.S. and Cuba that make the story more interesting.Overall it was one of the more interesting and entertaining non-fiction books I have read, though I will admit that having knowledge and interest in baseball helped.

Duke is worthy
Ray Sanchez and Steve Fainaru give a good presentation of the occurrences surrounding the defection of Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez from Cuba in their book The Duke of Havana: baseball, Cuba, and the Search for the American Dream.They explain his reasoning for defecting and denounce stories that arose out of the sudden defection in the late 1990's.
Delving deeper past the main story, the authors present the Cuban Athletic Ministry and its product athletes in hopes of better explaining the seeming mass defection of many members of the Cuban National team throughout the mid and late nineties. By using interviews with defectors, the U.S. sports agents helping them, and baseball and government officials on both sides of the Florida Straits, the stories are presented with validity in a somewhat fair way politically and socially.
The book can be read as a good story of a man's determination to fulfill his childhood dreams and oppression or as an example of the political and social aspects of the circumstances. It ties these facets of the account to the basic central story without being exceedingly academic in the presentation.

Duke of Havana
The Duke of Havana is an enjoyable reading piece, written by two newspapermen, which shows the combination of baseball with Cuban history/ politics through the telling of the story of Orlando `El Duque' Hernandez and his journey from ideal Cuban sportsman to starting pitcher for the New York Yankees.Through baseball the history of Cuba is told from the period just before Fidel Castro came into power in the 1950s, his change of the baseball game in Cuba into one that exemplified the glory of the state, to its current troubles (Special Period of Time in Peace) since the Soviet Union's collapse that can be mirrored in baseball by Cuba's current hemorrhaging of Cuban baseball players defecting to the United States.
Overall the authors use baseball to show the state of the average Cuban in Cuba today and how it got to be this way through world events spanning back to the 1950s.It also demonstrates Castro's amazing political prowess through his ability for political weathering in where he has been able to adapt to the times to keep his hold on Cuba.It also, to some extent, tells the story of the anti-Castro forces against him on the other side of the Florida Straits.
While the story is written well and it is easy to follow the events/ history presented, a rudimentary knowledge of baseball history and rules as well as some knowledge of Cuban history is needed to fully understand this book.Some of the immigration rules/ situations are also not entirely explained but with some basic assumptions what is going on can usually be determined.The book was primarily researched through first hand interviews and this lends a very intimate feel for the material presented.

A Story of Inequality
Fidel Castro controls everything in Cuba.He governs not only the political aspects of the country, but also dictates every detail of life for the people under his leadership.Steve Fainaru and Ray Sanchez describe Castro's influence on baseball in their book, The Duke of Havana: Cuba, Baseball and the Search for the American Dream.Baseball serves as the ultimate venue for Castro to execute his power over Cuba because the sport incorporates the politics, economics, religion and entertainment for the country. For the participating professional athletes, baseball is not only a game, but also a way of life for them and their families.The sport separates the athletes from the rest of society by paying them higher salaries and providing them with nicer homes along with other advantages.

Fainaru uses the story of El Duque's defection to evoke sympathy for Cuban baseball players willing to take any risks to live out their dreams in the American Major League Baseball.However, the special treatment given to the athletes in the Bahamas further illustrates how sport sets its competitors away from the rest of society.Allowing the Cuban baseball players to leave while the other passengers remain in the Bahamian detention center emphasizes an overlooked injustice that exists in countries with professional athletic teams.

The Duke of Havana: Cuba, Baseball and the Search for the American Dream leads readers to believe baseball operates as the great equalizer.It plays upon the image of a poor, black Cuban rising above all odds to come to the United States and win the World Series.The underlying themes in the book, however, are far more thought provoking.The separation between professional athletes and the rest of society speaks volumes about the values of the different countries.In this area, the United States and Cuba are far more alike than either country would like to admit.Many hurdles subside along the road to becoming a professional athlete and individuals who achieve this goal should be rewarded even though the exponential rate at which players receive validation for their hard work undermines the contributions of others.Unfortunately, nothing will change until people open their eyes to inequality they perpetuate with their own pocketbooks. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Mind blowing
This book is out of print now, and it's 20 years old, but it is *so* worth reading.A detailed discussion of U.S. intervention in foreign governments by a journalist who knows his stuff.This book completely changed the way I view American foreign policy.If you're willing to have your eyes opened, check it out.

First Class Research
Kwitney, as a professional journalist (Wall Street Journal), does an excellent job of presenting the facts that tell the ugly side of U.S. international politics.Kwitney does not always go into the motivations for certain policies - that would border on conspiracy theory and a good journalist must stick with the facts - but he does present plenty of evidence to prove that the motivations are in interest of groups other than the American public.

For insight on earlier U.S. international relations, reads book by or about General Smedley Darlington Butler.

Endless Stupidity Means Endless Enemies
Jonathan Kwitny (1941-1998) was born into a Jewish family who then became devout Catholics. He studied journalism incollege and earned a graduate degree in history. Jonathan Kwitny (JK for the sake of convenience)was an uncompromising historian and journalist. His historical studies gave him insight that many current shallow journalists sadly lack and do not even know of their lack of historical knowledge. JK's book titled ENDLESS ENEMIES was first published in 1984, and the book is a solid precise of actual events that have plagued stupid U.S. foreign policy at the expense of the many unfortunate victims overseas and now U.S. citizens.

JK began this book with a summary of U.S. blunders in Africa, the Orient, Western Asia, Latin America, etc. The start of the book is an outline of what to expect. JK wrote clearly and was blunt and terse in his diagnosis and prognosis of failed U.S. foreign policy capers that often exploded into such rebellion as to shock the stupid policy makers who created such resentment.

JK's analysis of events in parts of Africa during the late 1950s and early 1960s undermine the lying propaganda that somehow the wicked Soviets had their minions there to spread commumism. The facts were that U.S. diamond executives used such lying nonsense to keep the price of diamonds and other natural resources high. The Africans, especially those in the Congo, wanted a more equitable exchange for diamonds and other natural resources. The media and government claimed that parts of African were in the interests of the American citizens. The fact was that Ameicans were not remotely threatened,and the only interests that were threatened were those of the directors of diamond cartels. One sad anecdote was the reporting of some poor African woman who thought she had a fortune with $65 worth of diamonds which sold for millions on international diamond markets. Events in Zaire, Angola, etc. were politically violent when such violence was unnecessary. The only reason the Soviets had any influence in Africa in the 1960s and 1970s was due to U.S. intervention which caused so much political upheaval and misery for many Africans.

American policy makers never learn from the blunders of others or their own blunders. When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979, the Soviets foolishly believed that they would be welcomed as saviors and heroes by the Afghan people. JK explained that the Soviets faced fierce armed resistence which led to a "tar baby" war and Soviet defeat. Yet, the Americans tried the same stunt by intimidation in the late 1990s and invasion in the early 21st. century with predictable results.

Other events that JK examined were in Iran. JK undermined U.S. media and political lying that Mossadegh was a communist. The reality was that the Iranian president Mossadegh was opposed to the Soviets and pressured the Soviets to get their troops out of Northern Iran in the early 1950s. These troops were in place to insure oil supplies to the USSR during W.W. II. Yet, because Mossadegh insisted the Exxon, Mobile Oil, etc. pay more for oil royalities, he was suddenly designated as a communist. In fact, Mossadegh outlawed the Iranin Communist Party (the Tudeh)which got no attention in the U.S. press or political announcements. The CIA moved against Mossadegh who died as a result and ushered the Shah's tenure of power in Iran from 1953 to 1979. What is interesting is that U.S. policy and support of repression (the torture happy SAVAK Iranian secret police)eventually undermined the Shah and U.S. influence. Both U.S. policy makers and the CIA were taken by surprise. The CIA were simply too stupid and arrogant over their intial successful coup in 1953 and displayed no understanding how U.S. policy was resented in Iran.

JK then turned his attention to events in Latin America and drug dealing. When Fidel Castro & co. got power in Cuba in 1959, Castro tried to get U.S. diplomatic support only to be rebuffed. U.S. policy makers stopped trade with Cuba and ended sugar imports under the guise that Castro was a communist. Castro played this card very well and got support from the USSR. The CIA,with their usual blundering, said that an invasion of Cuba by anti-Castro would result in a Cuban uprising. There was an uprising AGAINST the U.S. invasion. Whatever creditility Castro may have had in Cuba, the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion gave Castro & co. credibility and support that they may never have had otherwise.

JK's reporting of the CIA and Latin American drug trade shows just how corrupt U.S. policy is. In the 1962, supposedly anti-Castro thugs were arrested on charges of murder and weaponsviolations only to be released by CIA intervention. In 1978,the Broward County, Florida police arrested men on charges of drug trafficing and weapons violations. Those arrested were aquitted due to CIA intervention into the trial. The undersigned recommends JK's book THE CRIMES OF PATRIOTS re the U.S.government, the CIA, and international drug trade for a more comprehensive examination of this sordid business.

JK had much to report re events in the Orient. He undermined the nonsense that the Chinese Communists wanted to expand their boundries in the Orient. JK undermines a lot of false notions re the Korean War (1950-1953)which made many of the self appointed Cold Warriors look foolish. He demonstrated that U.S. policies undermined Phillipine good will toward the U.S.

What may be more familar is the Vietnam War. The press and media lying re the start of U.S. intervention in this war was clearly exposed in this book. Supposedly, the North Vietnames attacked a ship called THE MADDOX in 1964. The members of the U.S. Senate foolishly gave then Pres. Johnson carte blanche power to conduct the Vietnam War based on false reporting. What actually occured is that U.S. Naval forces had shelled North Vietname coastal areas. THE MADDOX was not attacked until the men on that ship fired first. Yet, the U.S. had to lose over 57,000 young men and women and retreat all based on lying and cowardly political posturing. A brief summary yet very good summary re Communist China and Vietnam can be found in Hannah Arendt's book THE CRISES OF THE REPUBLIC (page 29). As an aside, Arendt reported documents that Ho Chi Minh and Mao Tse-tung approached U.S. Presidents Roosevelt and Truman for diplomatic and political support because of fears of colonialism and Chinese fears of the USSR. None of this was ever brought to the public's attention until 1969. JK could have enhanced his book by citing this material.

JK concludes the book with commentary of whom Americans should be as opposed to U.S. policy. American policy makers have ruined and destroyed countless lives of innocent men, women, and children. U.S. reputation has been badly damaged, and Americans should at least ask why. In other words, American ideals have been badly undermined by American actions.

This is an important, well researched, well written book. The undersigned strongly recomments that readers get the cloth bound edition of ENDLESS ENEMIES which is uncensored. Many of the paperback editions have been badly censored due to legal actions, and there are either blank pages or missing text in paperback editions. Anyone who has "residual intelligence" can appreciate this book.


James E. Egolf
May 2, 2009

A timeless foreign policy critique.
I became aware of this book from footnotes of another book I recently read. Mr. Kwitney also wrote the Introduction to "The Hoffa Wars" which was authored by his friend Dan Moldea.

"Endless Enemies" was printed in 1984, but remains very relevant to U.S. foreign policy yet today.
The fiascoes examined in this book are a matter of history repeating itself today, only with some new characters in the cast.

"The corruption of foreigners cannot be accomplished without the corruption of Americans." That quote from page 94 all too often accurately depicts the results of foreign policy.

Jonathan Kwitney exposes how Exxon, Mobil, and British Petroleum(Known than as Anglo-Iranian Oil) in collusion affected the overthrow of Iran's Premier in 1953 and what the motive really was. He got ahold of "journalist" Kenneth Love's correspondence with Allen Dulles regarding his involvement in the action.

He examines the power and influence of major oil companies dating back to pre-WWII agreements between Exxon and I.G.Farben. He details how oil companies in particular have set the agenda for U.S policy abroad often at the expanse of the taxpayer. That brought to mind the secret meetings between Cheney and the energy companies early in Bush's first term.

I found his investigating of the heroin sources and C.I.A.(Air America) transportation of it fascinating.

He used the Dulles brothers as prime examples of the allegiances of international businesses, large law firms like Sullivan & Cromwell, and the C.I.A. in setting foreign policy and covert actions.

"Endless Enemies" is a revealing, critical look at U.S. foreign policy in several countries covering many administrations. This is one of the more impressive books on the subject, I would put it in the same league as Chalmers Johnson's books. It's great as a history of this subject.

A classic you must read...
This book was published in 1984, and it's no longer in print, although there are plenty of used copies available. It deserves at least one new review every year. It appears as though I will be the first for 2008.

I agree with the first Amazon reviewer of this book (Marion Delgado in 2002) that reading it will increase your IQ significantly in any discussion of world events. That is even truer today than it was when the book was first published. It's that good. If there were only one book I would make required reading for every United States citizen, this would be the book. It has the advantage of being written and published before the occurrence of the absurdly extreme political polarization of our two party system. That's not to say that republicans and democrats weren't quarreling in 1984, they were. But they're not quarrelling today, they're demonizing their opponents and expressing desires to execute them for treason. That's a big change in just 25 years.

Unfortunately, this book demonstrates clearly and succinctly why today the United States is in extreme decline, and why it is probably too late to effect much reversal of fortune. Mr. Kwitny's concept of the United States is essentially the same one I learned growing up - that our country is fundamentally sound and noble, that it is fundamentally free and open, that it is fundamentally a beacon of hope for the rest of the world. Our strength and nobility derive from the fact that our government and culture are based on basic principles of freedom and democracy as stated in our Constitution and Bill of Rights. And from that basic concept, Mr. Kwitny demonstrates, with astonishing insight, understanding and documentation, how the US has almost systematically deviated from those principles since the Second World War with regard to foreign policy, substituting instead an extreme fear and hatred of communism. This displacement of our basic principles in favor of a shortsighted (indeed blind) conflict-by-conflict struggle against a largely mythologized enemy (the USSR), has slowly converted the world neighborhood into a very distrusting and sometimes even hostile planet. Our values, principles and way of life, rather than being well served by this deviation, have been severely damaged, with direct consequences (both political and economic) to the American people. Our foreign policy has been a total failure not only in terms of the harm it has done to the rest of the world, but also equally in terms of the harm we have done to ourselves. And world events since the time of first publication have shown dramatically how true that was then, and still is today.

What is frightening however, is that Mr. Kwitny showed us all this in 1984, when it still appeared possible to mend our ways and find our way back to our founding principles. Since then, US foreign policy has evolved from awful to terrifying. The evils perpetrated then as a result of a culturally ignorant, misguided and narrow-minded government, are being perpetrated today by willful greed, lust for power, and a completely conscious disrespect (bordering on contempt) for the very principles that Mr. Kwitny (and millions of Americans) hold out as our only hope.

The world today was eminently foreseeable in 1984. "Endless Enemies" saw it all too clearly, even predicting (unknowingly) very specific world events that actually unfolded (Afghanistan > the mujahadeen > 9/11). I recommend this book wholeheartedly to anyone with one caveat - reading it may induce a profound sense of loss, sadness and nostalgia for an American zeitgeist that was still present in 1984. The world that "Endless Enemies" warned us was coming if we did not rectify our foreign policy is upon us. But I don't think Mr. Kwitny is shaking his finger at us from the far side of the grave and mumbling "I told you so". I think he is weeping, as many Americans are, for the great light and hope in the world that has been extinguished. ... Read more

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In a highly publicized February 1997 shootout, two rifle-wielding thugs managed to outgun LAPD officers armed only with handguns after a botched North Hollywood bank robbery. It was not until responding SWAT officers armed with rifles arrived on the scene that the suspects were finally neutralized, but not without police casualties. Though not the first incidence of police officers being outmatched by criminals' superior firepower, this one was pivotal in bringing about a serious re-examination of the use of the rifle for urban law enforcement. In this book, Gabriel Suarez, founder and senior tactical instructor of his department's Tactical Rifle Team, exposes the myths that have long kept the rifle from being considered for use in urban policing. In addition, he details the many advantages the rifle affords the inner city police officer or SWAT operator in a wide range of deployment situations and presents innovative techniques that are replacing the "traditional" ones among agencies that have adopted the rifle. As we progress into the 21st century, the rifle is likely to become an increasingly integral part of the police officer's tool bag. This book will serve as a valuable guide to police tactical riflemen, making their jobs easier and safer as they make the criminal's job more difficult and hazardous. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Real-world tactics for Law Enforcement!
This is an excellent basic training manual for law enforcement officers desiring to include the rifle in their tactical "toolbox". Concentating on the AR-15/M-16 system, Mr. Suarez gives a good basic overview of modern tactical rifle training and requirements. I am the firearms instructor for my department, and have found all of Mr. Suarez' books to be of great use in teaching my people. I am eagerly awaiting Mr. Suarez' upcoming book on the AK47 weapons system.

Excellent training guide!
Gabriel Suarez has yet again shown you in a practical way the best usage for the Tactical Rifle, I gained a vast amount of knowledge from this book that allowed me to sharpen and hone my skills with a carbine.Highly recomended to anyone that uses or will be using a rifle in a Tactical situation.

Tactical Rifle
Good book.Good tactical basics.It supplemented a tactical rifle course I taught recently.I would go in more detail and cover more on basic marksmanship.

Straight Forward
Whether or not you agree with Suarez's political veiws, this book is nothing more than a technical manual on how to kill human beings with a 5.56mm carbine. Whether you do it for your country, in self defense or as a leisure time activity is the reader's own business.

Solid, but not very detailed
This is the second book by Gabe Suarez, who has become a leading figure in realm of defensive shooting. The backround Suarez has in law enforcement is very visible in the book, more so than is his newer books. But then, the book is aimed more towards law enforcement agencies than private citizens.

The book is intermediate level. It does cover the basics, like different firing positions, and principles of marksmanship, but it does not treat the subjects in enough detail to enable its use as basic textbook. On the other hand, there is not much of the advanced stuff, either.

Major portion of the book is devoted to different shooting positions, carry and ready positions and deploying the rifle from sling-arms. Each of the subjects are handled with aid of very good and clear photographs. Although there is not very much text in these chapters, the pictures make it easy to understand what Suarez is teaching.

There is also some stiff on zeroing the rifle, low light operations, shooting on the move, reloading and clearing malfunctions, and so on. The gun-specific techniques are explained for AR-15, because it is the most common rifle in police use, but for the most part the techniques presented are not gun-specific.

To sum it up, this is a good but not very detailed study on use of rifle in police operations. It's very easy to read and the techniques presented seem very realistic. The main drawback is the lack of detail. ... Read more

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A small town newspaperman's life story telling his experiences in sports, entertainment, travel and as assistant news editor. ... Read more

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The Beijing 2008 Olympic ceremonies were spectacular performances and technological accomplishments by the People’s Republic of China. However, the audience in Beijing was only the most overt element of a global audience receiving the message of the Games. For this global audience, the Beijing performances were a harbinger of wider regional and international ambitions; a message of intent that pointed to a larger Chinese plan to a degree not seen since the Ming dynasty. New Chinese ambitions embrace both soft power and hard power. The actor in this political drama of international scope is the Chinese state and its political ambitions on the world stage. The Beijing Olympics can be seen as its opening act, and the audience as global. Rather than the kind of "morality" play that is typically used in China to educate the people in politics, this new production—a production on many levels—was one aimed at audiences all around the world, and one that was a calculated expression of realpolitik.

This book was previously published as a special issue of the International Journal of the History of Sport.

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"Are you a sports fan distraught over your home team's move to another city? Or someone whose city has just lured a team to your home turf with a brand new stadium? Or maybe you don't follow sports, but as a taxpayer are outraged over cutbacks in school funding and other services."--BOOK JACKET. "Forget about the false tales of "welfare queens" who supposedly rode around in Cadillacs. Field of Schemes introduces you to some real welfare kings."--BOOK JACKET. "A used-car salesman turned baseball owner promises to pay for a new stadium out of his own pocket, if the state government just agrees to move a highway to clear the land. Several backroom deals later, the state is raising a quarter-billion dollars towards the stadium costs - and the team owner is getting his stadium scot-free."--BOOK JACKET. "The billionaire co-founder of Microsoft wants to buy a football team, but only if the state will build him a new stadium first. So he pays the $4 million cost of a referendum - even as his camp spends millions more in advertising to make sure he wins. In exchange, he gets at least $300 million in public money to build his team's new home."--BOOK JACKET. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Trenchant analysis of a troubling phenomenon
"Field of Schemes" is an accessible but no less incisive critique of an often overlooked aspect of the corporate welfare phenomenon: professional sports team owners and the seemingly insatiable lust for obtaining ever-more-lavish stadiums to be built at public expense. Sports fans Joanna Cagan and Neil deMause combine original and secondary research with interviews to successfully chronicle and analyse the public stadium building boom in an entertaining yet thought-provoking manner.

Cagan and deMause paint a picture of a playing field that is decidedly not even. Local communities are pitted in a struggle against powerful coalitions of wealthy sports moguls, politicos, real estate developers and other related businesspeople (which oftentimes includes the local media, since sports helps sells newspapers and TV advertising) over the allocation of increasingly scarce public tax revenues. The authors show that public education in particular seems to bear the brunt of the burden whenever the community loses the fight and sees its funds siphoned away to build these private sports palaces.

Cagan and deMause detail specific cases where owners have successfully blackmailed communities and strong-armed local politicians. These case studies reveal a formula that the authors term "the art of the steal", a step-by-step game plan for owners who plan to fleece their communities for free sports structures. Shamelessly exploiting the community's emotional attachments to the home team and ruthlessly working the good-ole-boy business networks to which local politicians are beholden are a few of the key ingredients that helps to make these schemes work, the authors claim.

Cagan and deMause interview individuals associated with a few of the grass-roots organizations that sprung up to oppose various stadium initiatives. While such groups often experience initial success, they are usually overwhelmed in the long run by the persistence of the powerful forces lined up against them. Citing numerous opinion polls and voter referendums where citizens strenuously opposed the use of tax dollars to fund privately-owned stadiums, the authors suggest that the reason owners win more often than not is due to the greater political power at their disposal, and not the democratic process.

Indeed, the cost to society as a whole is often great. In Chapter 8, "Bad Neigbors", Cagan and deMause brilliantly relate baseball's current preoccupation with the recreation of a mythic past (through the construction of "old time" ballparks such as Camden Yards in Baltimore) with the real decay of America's inner cities. The authors discover that many urban centers have actually been subjected to a corporate "structural adjustment" program akin to those experienced in many Third World nations. They contend that a core problem is a system of private enterprise that privileges the profit motive at the expense of ordinary people.

The authors wrap up the book by alluding to signs that the public stadium-building frenzy may be slowing down, but sadly this appears to be the case mainly because most cities large enough to support a sports franchise have already been tapped out. Fortunately, the authors propose common-sense ideas that, if legislated, could discourage some corporate welfare give-aways. For example, the authors wonder why recipients shouldn't be required to report the public subsidies they receive as taxable income? This would vastly diminish the value of such subsidies and encourage private financing for these deals, which is where the authors contend they rightly belong.

I strongly recommend this book for both sports fans and non-sports fans alike who may be pondering how our society's infatuation with sports fantasy may be harming the real world in which we live.

Less than Comprehensive Perspective
The book is a must-read for any community considering investing in a private, for-profit sports facility. Nevertheless, it provides a less than comprehensive perspective. I would recommend reading the book along withMinor League Baseball and Local Economic Development for a wider view ofwhat communities might encounter when making this major, and occassionallyunnecessary, investment.

Whose money is it anyway?
If you thought you had to have a stadium and you had to pay for it, read this before you vote.Wonderfully documented and thouroughly researched. I knew we all were getting screwed but until I read this book I didn't knowhow bad it could hurt. A good primer on the language of stadium larceny.

Read this book before you vote on the next bond issue!
As a life-long resident of the Detroit area, I know this tale all toowell.It is one of lies, cheating, embezzlement, and ultimatelydisappointment.

Right now there are two huge holes in downtown Detroit. Any day now, we'll begin filling them with our tax dollars so they can failto end the years of decay this city has undergone.It's possible that ifanyone had cared to study the history of this practice, like deMause andCagan have, we could have avoided this whole mess.

Maybe another team cankeep its Tiger Stadium because of this book.

Well-researched & well-written; dirt on pols & media, too.
I like sports a lot and thought I wouldn't enjoy this book.Before reading Field of Schemes, I thought it would bore me with trivial facts and numbers and I thought corporate welfare to the sports industry was the least of America's worries.I was very wrong.The authors have exposed some of the deepest current urban conspiracies between newspaper owners, local politicians and real estate developers.

I know a lot about politics, economics, urban development and corporate welfare, but I was amazed at what I learned from Field of Schemes.And everything is irrefutably documented.

This is one of the last books the "powers that be" want people to read.Read it.Every concerned citizen or activist in the US needs to know what is in this book. ... Read more

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Now in its fourth edition, "Park and Recreation Maintenance Management" provides an overview of the total maintenance program. Through gaining a foundation of the multidisciplinary fields that make up park and recreation settings; and by using an evaluative criteria; one will be able to make the necessary decisions to operate an effective and successful maintenance program in their organisation. ... Read more

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"A Turn in the South" is a reflective journey by V. S. Naipaul in the late 1980s through the American South. Naipaul writes of his encounters with politicians, rednecks, farmers, writers, ordinary men and women, both black and white, with the insight and originality we expect from one of our best travel writers. Fascinating and poetic, this is a remarkable book on race, culture and country. 'Naipaul's writing is supple and fluid, meticulously crafted, adventurous and quick to surprise. And, as usual, there's the freshness and originality of his way of looking at things ...a fine book by a fine man, and one to be read with great enjoyment: a book of style, sagacity and wit' - "Sunday Times". 'A tissue of brilliantly recorded hearsay, of intense listening by a man with a remarkable ear' - "New York Times Review of Books". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

The Bible Belt for the Outsiders
This book gives you an insight into the Southern way of life.It is difficult for people brought up outside of this region to understand the culture, subculture and counterculture.Naipaul is not judgmental and assembles his encounters with locals and people's experiences into a grand painting of the South.His style is similar to his other travelogues.He is less critical than his other travelogues however, which makes this book slightly bland. He doesn't unleash his scorching criticism like say of India in India: A Wounded Civilization.The book remains relevant today and can offer some backdrop to newer political movements in the United States.

makes lots of unlikely creepy but helpful links
Naipaul reminds us of the creepy, unlikely, weird but true links among the southern cities, Africa, Caribbean slave trade, that there was a triangle of economic dependency and competitiveness.He also gives a readable account of the intrigue and competition among the colonial powers.

While these are captivating narratives and cutting commentaries on the south from a decidedly non white, non black, non American, still, I think he is best at fiction.

To explain, I was uncomfortable by the long, long quotation from real life-style writing, as though he is not adding but is merely coldly retelling what some local guide person told him.It's like Naipaul is admitting that he hasn't internalized and sublimated the experience, just regurgitating what some dude told him, and he can't take responsibility for the horrors they've conveyed.

I am guessing the very talented fiction writer sometimes takes long breaks from what he does best because he needs to regroup and use different parts of his brain.

Race, Religion, & Rednecks
Globetrotting author V.S. Naipaul turns his eye to the American South in this fascinating, multifarious examination of culture and attitudes prevalent among blacks and whites from Tallahassee to Charlestown to Nashville.

The title is a bit misleading. "A Turn In The South" suggests a change or culture shift Naipaul is tracking, for better or worse, in the Southland. In fact, the story here can be summarized as more of the same, a region so steeped in tradition it's almost choking from it like kudzu. Naipaul is not particularly critical; in fact his book is remarkably even in tone and light in judgment. But if there's one message in this book, it's that the South remains the same, for good and ill.

Unlike the better-known Southern guidebook "Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil," Naipaul doesn't focus on just one city, He moves around, and you don't get a strong sense of place much of the time. People and ideas interest Naipaul more, and there are some wonderful portraits like the Forsyth County sheriff who says a racial crisis in his county is now "dead" because everyone involved got their 15 minutes in front of the camera and the black activist who promotes his civil disobedience arrest record to the point of carrying a toothbrush in his jacket pocket.

Writer Anne Seddons notes Americans are born protesters, "It's what we know how to do." Many talk raptly about their religious faith, which leaves the non-religious Naipaul respectfully puzzled. Naipaul makes clear that there is intelligence in the devout, and that even the more doctrinaire and conservative sects allow room for questioning and self-expression. This is something many Americans have a hard time picking up on.

When I told a relative I read this book, he recalled it was the one with the redneck in it. That's probably what "Turn In The South" is best known for, the account Naipaul gives of a zesty conversation with a self-styled "neck" named Campbell which provides a great deal of comedy and insight as he describes the men and women who make up the South's best-known subculture (though perhaps counterculture is a better word.)

"He's probably thinking, with that hair and beard, that he's God's gift to the world," Campbell tells Naipaul after spying a fellow redneck in a hotel lobby. "But he's just a neck. He's as lost as a goose. He's never been on a tiled floor in his life."

"Turn In The South" is not always so zippy. Naipaul moves carefully, and while he's great at relating dialogue, he's not as certain about what makes Southerners tick. He often pulls back and likens the Southern experience to that of his native Caribbean, which gets repetitive after a while and adds little. He's justly famous for describing cultures in India, Africa, and Trinidad, and this feels more like an attempt to broaden his palette than say something new.

But what's here has value and readability. Many of the characters stay with you, and since Naipaul doesn't linger on anyone for more than a few pages, often much less, there's a lot of narrative churn to keep your interest even when individual characters don't.

"Turn In The South" is a good, solid, refreshingly humble, and non-P.C. account of what makes the South tick, how, as Naipaul puts it, it is a place of "optimism in the foreground, irrationality in the background," and why, for all its faults, crimes, and travails, it is still a place people are proud to call home.

Naipaul's Only Look at America
I bought this book after a fair amount of consideration. Most foreign writers, from Dickens to Camus, have visited the US and come away with nothing good to say. It become a rote right of passage for Nobel-bound authors to visit the US, find it lumpen and lame, and then bring out a margin travel book about the experience.

There is none of this Naipaul's book, which, true to the title, is concerned with the Southern states. Anyone familiar with Naipaul's other travel works will recognize the form: This is not a book about the writer in a strange place; this is a book of stories about people and their experiences with home. Naipaul meets lay preachers and famous writers (Eudora Welty) and bible-thumping Southern politicans. He meets the self-described, proud "rednecks" (who fascinate him: Only a foreigner, and perhaps only VS Naipaul, could beautify these people, and in them find a sort of culture and heroic resistance in their Cat hats and beer guts). Race, religion and the tragic Southern history are the dominant themes of this book. If you read it, you will come away with a new sense of Southern history and Southern people. It may not be the truth, but it's close to it.

A Kind Turn After All
V. S. Naipaul went to visit the American South with the intention of writing a book about race relations, but as he traveled from state to state, or rather from community to community, he found that racism was less the defining episteme of southern culture than a pervasive devotion to mythology--the core myths of fundamentalism, the myths of ante-bellum splendor and gallantry, the myths of special southern providence. Elvis, tobacco, and fatness are all integrated into Naipaul's perception of a South wallowing in self-mythology, a culture that abounds in self-consciousness without ever achieving relativism. Nonetheless, Naipaul finds, he likes traveling in the South, and in the end he writes a book which is as gentle and sympathetic to his subject as could reasonably be desired.
Not an American, neither White nor Black, certainly not a man of religion, Naipaul credits the comforts and strengths that religiosity brings to Southerners of both races, while he also identifies the stifling consequences. This is easily the most accurate and insightful portrayal of the South that I've ever read, not even excluding literary giants like Faulkner and Welty.
The writing style is remarkably casual, almost off-hand, not at all high-brow, yet the reader will find that Naipaul knows exactly what he wants to say and where he thinks the "turn in the south" will take us. ... Read more

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Walter LaFeber's timely analysis looks at the ways that triumphant capitalism, coupled with high-tech telecommunications, is conquering the nations of the world, one mind—one pair of feet—at a time.

With Michael Jordan and the New Global Capitalism, Walter LaFeber has written a biography, a social history, and a far-ranging economic critique. From basketball prodigy to international phenomenon to seductive commercial ideal, Michael Jordan is the supreme example of how American corporations have used technology in a brave, massively wired new world to sell their products in every corner of the globe. LaFeber's examination of Nike and its particular dominion over the global marketplace is often scathing, while his fascinating mini-biography of Michael Jordan and the commercial history of basketball reveal much about American society.

For this new paperback edition, LaFeber has added a chapter on globalization in a changed world, after mass protests and since September 11.Amazon.com Review
Not everyone embraces the "American Way." But as historianWalter LaFeber demonstrates in this highly original look at theeffects of global capitalism, not everyone has a choice. Usingpowerful communications satellites in the 1980s and, later, unbridledcapital, transnational corporations such as McDonald's and Nike andtheir media-mogul counterparts have infiltrated cultures from Paris toBeijing, understanding perfectly that what the world sees the worldbuys (in this case, Big Macs and anything plastered with a Nikeswoosh). Of course, it helps when hoops legend Michael Jordan--theworld's most idolized athlete--is pitching your products. Hisinfluence is pervasive: "McDonald's, blaring Michael Jordan'sendorsement, operated in 103 nations and fed one percent of theworld's population each day. 'Within the East Asian urbanenvironment,' one historian of the firm notes, 'McDonald's fills aniche once occupied by the teahouse, the neighborhood shop, thestreet-side stall, and the park bench.'"

LaFeber transitions smoothly from Michael Jordan biography tosocioeconomic commentary, first exploring Jordan as the great Americanhero, then turning a critical eye on Nike and its shoddy overseaslabor practices. Jordan can certainly sell shoes, but at what cost? Inthe final chapter heading, LaFeber asks whether Michael Jordan is the"Greatest Endorser of the Twentieth Century" or "An Insidious Form ofImperialism." He presents evidence of both, but ultimately The NewGlobal Capitalism becomes less about Jordan's marketing prowessthan America's influence over the world's consumer habits, and,subsequently, the havoc that power can wreak. LaFeber's short (164pages), lucid study gives readers a fresh perspective on the battlebetween capital and culture. Recommended. --Rob McDonald ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Nice shoes!
Despite some rather glaring typos, this is a fascinating read. I never cared about basketball until reading this book. Very interesting insights into Nike, Turner, Jordan, and 9/11.

Capital vs Culture
LaFeber was well-known and loved by his students at Cornell as a spell binding lecturer and is widely respected as an expert on the history U.S foreign relations.So at first I wondered what about Michael Jordan could possibly interest a distinguished and conscientious scholar of American history, someone not normally associated with forays into pop culture.But it's a really fascinating, thoughtful, and surprising essay.LaFeber argues that Jordan is even bigger than we think--not as a sports icon but as both a symptom and cause of revolutionary change in the global order of things.Yes, the world changed with the fall of the Berlin Wall and with the end of the cold war, he says, but the rise of Jordan is an even bigger watershed moment in world history.The real kicker comes late in the book and is somewhat understated--that there is a war between culture and capital and capital is winning.The implications of this idea are enormous and mostly frightening.This is the maelstrom Marshall McLuhan was trying to warn us about.For anyone interested in media studies, cultural criticism, or a scholarly historian's perspective on global capitalism, this book will be eye-opening and mind-expanding. And the bits about Jordan himself are pretty fascinating.

A must read for all world citizens
Just a short note to say that this is one of the most important books I have read in the past 10 years. It tackles capitalism, race, & the role of the individual in the global context in an engaging yet very well informed manner. As a History professor, I have tought this book at several major universities and it has always met with much approval from my students.

Simply Wonderful book. Definitely recommend it.
This book was absolutely riveting. Provides in-depth information about anything to do with Michael Jordan and basketball in terms of its relations to the world. You will not have any questions when done reading. Gives a whole new perspective on the marketing of the NBA and how things work and evolve. The author shows how one person can affect millions, even billions of people. It allows us a glimpse of how something small can be so big at the same time.

There Is More To Michael Jordan Then Playing Basketball...
In Michael Jordan And The New Global Capitalism, Walter LaFaber uses his ability to research and write about something to express to the readers how important advertising is to any corporation or business.For the Nike Corporation, they partnered up with Michael Jordan and worked out a plan to advertise him and their products through worldwide telecommunications.When Michael Jordan won (which was something he did a lot), the Nike Corporation won too, because everyone wanted to be "like Mike," and the only way to be "like Mike" was to buy his footwear and apparel or other Nike footwear and apparel.This book is a good awakening to anyone interested in how our economy works for big businesses, and its also a good book for anyone interested in basketball and or Michael Jordan.This is a definite must read all in all, because even if you end up not liking this book, you will be better off having read it. ... Read more

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Dubious Achievement Awards of 1971. Television News, R.D. Laing, Witch of Las Vegas, Von Voight, Fiction by Gabriel Garcia Marquez ... Read more

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Sighs and Whimpers from the Sixties Generation, Too Many Laws, The Big A, Out of the Rough and into the Slammer, Sam Shepard, The War of the Razors, more ... Read more

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Whos Man Enough for This Woman? Cher cover. Next Depression by Tofler, Jaworskis Conscience, French Fries, Young Hollywood (Spielberg, Lucas, Scorsese, etc.) ... Read more

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Dubious Achievement Awards. Homegrown US Marijuana, Abe Rosenthal of the New York Times, VMI Academy, Allan Carr Interview ... Read more

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Groucho Marx at 81. Sex After Liberation by Nora Ephron, Buyers Guide to Sports Condominiums, Fiction by John OHara & John Gardner, Rex Harrison, Hoovers Memorial ... Read more

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In Praise of Womens Muscles. Tom Hayden and Jane Fonda, 1980 Baseball Preview, George Hamilton, Poetic Food License ... Read more

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Playing the Celebrity Shuffle. Nine Golf Tips from Jack Nicklaus, Swiss Banks, Walter Cronkite, Oscar Levant, Allen Ginsberg, Frank Perdue, The Martini, Wrestler Dan Gable ... Read more