Book Description
What is capitalism? Is capitalism the same everywhere? Is there an alternative? The word 'capitalism' is one that is heard and used frequently, but what is capitalism really all about, and what does it mean? The book begins by addressing basic issues such as 'what is capital?' before discussing the history and development of capitalism through three detailed and absorbing case studies ranging from the tulipomania of seventeenth-century Holland to the recent Enron crisis in America. Fulcher addresses important present day issues, such as New Labour's relationship with capitalism, the significance of global capitalism, and distinctive national models of capitalism. He also explores whether capital has escaped the nation-state by going global, emphasizing that globalizing processes are not new. He discusses the crisis tendencies of capitalism, such as the Southeast Asian banking crisis, the collapse of the Russian economy, and the 1997- 1998 global financial crisis, and asks whether capitalism is doomed. The book ends by asking whether there is an alternative to capitalism, discussing socialism, communal and cooperative experiments, and the alternatives proposed by environmentalists.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent but omits ecological challenges.......2006-03-13
This was the first book I read in the "Very Short Introduction" series. I was surprised by how substantial it is. It also seems quite balanced. References, suggestions for further reading and a 5 page index are included.
My overall impression is how strong capitalism is world-wide. That supports Fulcher's conclusion that reform must take place within capitalism rather than seeking a replacement for capitalism. However, when Fulcher writes that a "search for an alternative to capitalism is fruitless ... and no final crisis is in sight, or, short of some ecological catastrope, even really conceivable", how improbable is that ecological catastrophe?
As the globe warms and the oceans die, will the rich hold out expecting to be able to use their wealth to make their lives bearable as the rest of us suffer? Just how will capitalism respond to a growing pressure for sustainability? By not exploring the ecological challenges to capitalism, Fulcher has indeed introduced capitalism but not addressed its fate and ours later in this century. Although this is a "very short introduction", Michael Newman's "Socialism: A Very Short Introduction" and Colin Ward's "Anarchism: A Very Short Introduction" do address the ecological issue. Even if socialism and anarchism seem improbable and reform is possible within capitalism, it would have been useful to hear Fulcher's impression of whether and how capitalism might address the challenge of ecological sustainability.
Thought Provoking.......2004-12-26
Teaching capitalism in today's world is like describing water to a fish; we are surrounded by it, can't live without it and are unaware of the alternatives. Most have never experienced the depression, many have forgotten the days when communism was actually a threat. We are blind to the absolutely crucial nature of how our world works. Although we watched the stock market plummet in 1987 and have all learned valuable lessons from the internet boom & bust, I picked up this book because I wanted to know a bit more about how the scholars view capitalism.
The book takes the reader through a history of capitalism while briefly summarizing everything you forgot from college economics. While the discussion of the development of capitalism focused on some interesting questions of historical interpretation, the strength of this work is the description and analysis of how the capitalistic system works differently in different countries.
The power of capitalism is set forth as its ability to adapt. Where other systems--feudalism, communism, socialism, etc--failed was that they could not adapt to change. The book was an excellent overview; it was current, easy to read, and contains a fine list of resources for further study.
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We Want Jobs: A History of Affirmative Action (Studies in African American History and Culture)
Robert J. Weiss
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding
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ASIN: 0815327501 |
Book Description
This study examines the struggles of African Americans for economic equality. It argues that in their struggle for jobs and economic opportunities, civil rights activists rejected gradualism in favor of rapid gains, which generated widespread opposition in various segments of society. Civil rights leaders initially focused on grassroots activities and antidiscrimination legislation to achieve economic and social equality. With the passage of laws, the issuing of executive orders, and a general decline in grassroots protests, however, they increasingly relied on the courts and the federal bureaucracy to achieve their goals. In addition, the failure to achieve more than token progress toward equal employment opportunity convinced many civil rights leaders of the inadequacy of vague promises, and beginning in the 1960s, they came to champion more sweeping objectives that often included the use of numerical goals and timetables
As civil rights leaders and government bodies moved beyond the notion of simple nondiscrimination, opposition to the new goals and strategies arose in many circles, including labor unions and certain groups of intellectuals. As a result, affirmative action became one of the most controversial and volatile political issues of the 1980s and 1990s
(Ph.D. Dissertation, New York University, 1985; revised with new preface)
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Food for the Future: Conditions and Contradictions of Sustainability
Manufacturer: Wiley
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0471580821 |
Book Description
Ten years ago, sustainable agriculture was not considered a viable option within the food and agriculture industry. Today, it has become imperative, as resources are depleted, toxins enter the food chain, farmers lose their land, and children go hungry. Sustainability is the new framework for addressing these issues, and is promoted by agriculturalists, researchers, and visionaries alike. In this important work, fifteen leading scholars of food and agriculture present a detailed description of the social, economic, and political aspects of the sustainability concept. They address many important questions surrounding these issues, including: What do we want to sustain? Who should benefit from sustainable agriculture? What types of political, economic, and social structures will facilitate the development of sustainable agriculture? Food for the Future confronts the theoretical and practical aspects of a transformation to sustainability systems—aspects that are too often overlooked due to the current emphasis on production per se. This book presents new approaches to understanding and developing sustainability, the limitations and future potential of sustainable food and agriculture systems, and ways in which we can work together from different positions to achieve sustainability. This clear and far-reaching book is must reading for scientists, policy makers, students, and all others interested in finding comprehensive solutions to today's food and agriculture crises.
Book Description
Twenty-six beautiful designs (one for each letter of the alphabet) contain flowers and plants whose names begin with the letter shown on plate. Keys to plates help identify scores of common florals — from apples, azaleas and artichokes to zucchini, zinnias, and the zebra plant. Educational fun for colorists of all ages.
Customer Reviews:
Great Alphabet.......2006-03-18
Great flowers, very pretty when done, best to use color pencils instead of crayons
Book Description
As a sport, an art, and a fitness activity, nothing quite beats figure skating for excitement, grace, beauty, or fun. Now former U.S. Champion figure skater John Misha Petkevich shows how you can find your full potential as a figure skater.
Customer Reviews:
mixed feelings.......2005-08-17
As a newbie skater, this book offers some good general info and advice as most instructional books do.
My main complaint is that the pictures are not descriptive enough to follow a sequence and, let's face it, it's tough to show movement in book form anyway. However, the other issue is that the text is hard to follow as well, if you are trying to learn about a new move. Naturally the text and the pictures make more sense when you already know the move and want to improve on it.
So, depending on your ice-skating skill level, your ability to decifer instructions and your imagination, you might say this book is skating on thin ice.
This was one of the better skating books..........2004-01-18
This book has wonderful descriptions about just about everything in skating, except for take off technique. I dont understand why the author goes into extreme detail explaining how to do a three turn before a flip, but barley mentions how to take off into the actual jump.(This has been the case with just about every skating book I have read) Also the pictures are in black and white. The book has some very helpful tips and I think it is worth reading I just wish he would explain take off in a lot more detail.
"Excellent Instruction".......2002-06-03
This book is excellent for both beginners learning basic figure skating techniques and more advanced skaters who want to improve their overall ability on the ice. It includes helpful advice on improving your technical ability and provides possible mistakes that may slow your progress, so you can treat this book as a sort of "coach". It also includes pictoral descriptions for executing many of the moves, which I found very helpful. However, one downside is that this book was written in 1988 so it is a little old fashioned (there's mention of compulsory figures, which have since been eliminated from competition). However, it still contains all you need to know to improve your skating and I would highly recommend this book as one of the best I have read for skating instruction for both beginners and advanced skaters alike.
If you're a skater this is for you!.......2002-04-09
This book is THE BEST! it's got everything you need to know about the jumps spins and techniques of this sport! READ IT AND YOU'LL WANT TO KEEP IT WITHIN REACH FOREVER (if you're a skater) haha no really, it's great! BUY IT!
A life-long manual freestyle skate.......1998-08-03
This book by Misha gives the very comprehensive description to the basic spins and back spins, jumps from single rotation to multi rotational, and of course the fundamentals of skating, ie edges and stroking. The wonderful thing about this book is that Misha provided the possible faults to the failure of execution of a particular move. So one may treat this book as a 'coach'. I personally liked the illustration of the sketches of the tracing on ice and the precision that is shown by Brian Boitano featured for the jumps and spins. You get to watch a few frames of a quadruple toe loop too A must buy for any freestyle skater in advance technique. Truly a treasure of a life-time.
Book Description
"John Gardner was famous for his generosity to young writers, and (this book) is his . . . gift to them. The Art of Fiction will fascinate anyone interested in how fiction gets put together. For the young writer, it will become a necessary handbook, a stern judge, an encouraging friend."--The New York Times Book Review.
Customer Reviews:
Happy Customer.......2007-04-06
Got what I want in the condition I wanted when I expected. Good work.
2 Stars........2006-04-14
This book has many wonderful reviews. I ordered the book and was looking forward to reading it. So I read it, then read it again. I didnt find much that is helpful to new writers. Certainly no "Ah,Hah!" moments.
Gardner reminds me of something a professor once told me: "If you were lost in the Amazon jungle would you want an Indian to help you OR someone who knows a lot about Indians?" Gardner knows a lot about writers! This book showcases his knowledge of writers and literature. Very interesting book.
But what exactly it does to help new writers is a mystery. New writers are not Tolstoy or Dickens or Balzac. New writers need to know how to hobble a book together that will fly...later they can soar.
Fantastic Advice.......2006-03-08
This is simply one of the best books on creative writing I have ever read (a sizable list by this point.) Gardner not only breaks down the process very carefully but elucidates with such beautifully precise language that the book is a joyous as well as an instructive read. In addition, Gardner focuses on the purpose and history of fiction, bringing his extensive academic knowledge to the fore. Rather than a how-to book, Gardner explains how some of the best works were constructed and shows how different narrative structures achieve different effects on their audiences. Perhaps the only drawback, and only a drawback for some, is how vociferously opinionated Gardner is, never afraid to laud his favorites (Tolstoy) and censure those who don't cut the mustard (Steinbeck, Faulkner). Yet even if you don't always agree with him, you can certainly admire his analysis.
I recommend this book to anyone who cares about literature, drama, and narrative (I actually read it for a screenwriting course).
Infamous Bridge-Burner Offers Highly Subjective Opinion On Writing.......2006-01-18
No wonder John Gardner didn't write more fiction books. He was far too preoccupied with what he believes makes good fiction, rather than actually writing it. "Creative atrophy" I believe John Gardner himself would call it. If there's ever been a better example of the "those who can't do, teach" argument, I haven't encountered it. This is hardly the place a "Young Writer" should start. Instead, how about reading what you like and avoiding "ignoramouses" such as John Gardner? John Gardner is unable to accept the fact that many of the world's finest writers never made it through college, and many more didn't have the luxury of a "rigorous classical education." The most hilarious part is where Gardner mentions that only through a line-by-line university level discussion will anybody ever be able to fully enjoy Shakespeare. It's interesting to note how Gardner, who "taught" creative writing at the university level, fails to exhibit the critical thinking and objectivity he says one can only obtain through a college education.
The Path Hath Twists.......2005-10-19
What most people don't know about good writing could fill a book. This is probably that book. If you're considering purchasing it, don't hesitate. 'The Art of Fiction' is worth any price if you honestly want to learn to write. Gardner is the most readable authority. However, I offer one warning: His mathematical explanation of plotting profluence is cold. Profluance can be achieved more organically, I believe, and the process of artificially constructing emotive 'triggers' (as will be plain all over 'Grendel' after reading his instructional book) is, to use Gardner's own term, a little frigid. But then again, if it hadn't been for John Gardner, I might never have become that sensitive to linguistic nuances. Get this book, buy it for anyone who you believe wants to write. But do not be wooed into thinking John Gardner's mastery can be your own. 'The Art of Fiction' is a path, not a destination.
Book Description
“My parents suck ass. Banning me from the phone and restricting my computer privileges are the most tyrannical parental gestures I can think of. Don’t they realize that Hope’s the only one who keeps me sane? . . . I don’t see how things could get any worse.”
When her best friend, Hope Weaver, moves away from Pineville, New Jersey, hyperobservant sixteen-year-old Jessica Darling is devastated. A fish out of water at school and a stranger at home, Jessica feels more lost than ever now that the only person with whom she could really communicate has gone. How is she supposed to deal with the boy- and shopping-crazy girls at school, her dad’s obsession with her track meets, her mother salivating over big sister Bethany’s lavish wedding, and her nonexistent love life?
A fresh, funny, utterly compelling fiction debut by first-time novelist Megan McCafferty,
Sloppy Firsts is an insightful, true-to-life look at Jessica’s predicament as she embarks on another year of teenage torment--from the dark days of Hope’s departure through her months as a type-A personality turned insomniac to her completely mixed-up feelings about Marcus Flutie, the intelligent and mysterious “Dreg” who works his way into her heart. Like a John Hughes for the twenty-first century, Megan McCafferty taps into the inherent humor and drama of the teen experience. This poignant, hilarious novel is sure to appeal to readers who are still going through it, as well as those who are grateful that they don’t have to go back and grow up all over again.
Download Description
When her best friend, Hope, moves away from Pineville, New Jersey, 16-year-old Jessica Darling is devastated. Jessica is a fish out of water at school, a stranger at home, and now -- with the only person with whom she could really communicate gone -- more lost than ever. How is she supposed to deal with the boy-and-shopping-crazy girls at school, her dad's obsession with her track meets, and her nonexistent love life? Sloppy Firsts is an insightful, true-to-life look at Jessica's predicament, from the dark days following Hope's departure to her hopelessly mixed-up feelings about the intelligent and mysterious bad-boy who works his way into her life. Sloppy Firsts is right in line with some of the great teen crossover works of popular culture, like The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and is sure to appeal to readers of all ages who appreciate the inherent humor of high school angst.
Customer Reviews:
Light, funny, and somewhat cliche.......2007-10-17
Though we've seen countless novels like this one before, and countless characters resembling Jessica Darling, this book will make for a fun read. If you're in the mood for some teen-angst, high-school drama, this book hits the spot. There's nothing really unique about this novel, but Megan McCafferty still finds a way to make it so good, that you'll be eager for more.
Light, Fluffy, And Entirely Unmemorable.......2007-09-06
After reading all the praise this book has gotten from the legions of readers who seem to find it absorbing, humorous, and realistic, I was disappointed to find both the plot and the characters extremely clichéd and formulaic.
I'm not saying that I found the book horrible. It was very quick and light, written in a straightforward journal format, making it a fluffy, effortless read. If you're looking for a lightly humorous chick lit novel, this book will fill those requirements.
However, if you're looking for a smart, unique novel that you're going to remember in years to come, I wouldn't recommend this. Most of the characters are either stereotypical or one-dimensional, with the exception of Marcus, who was quite unusual. Jessica was the traditional "smart, misunderstood runner girl". You can find her type in all sorts of teenaged novels. She irritated me. She was incredibly intelligent, a gifted runner, and great at writing, and yet her attitude toward life was generally pretty negative.
With all of her talent, you'd think Jessica would be confident, not pessimistic, which is why she struck me as fake. As for her friends, they were like characters from a soap opera. The plot was monotonous and unsurprising, with no truly exciting twists, right up to the end, which was neither final enough to provide closure nor enough of a cliffhanger to have you eagerly awaiting the sequel.
Instead of this novel, read Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen, or Just Listen, also by Sarah Dessen. I found all these novels to be much more realistic depictions of high school.
Sloppy Firsts.......2007-08-27
I read this book a few years ago when I saw it in the book store. I'm a rather picky reader and thought this might be fun to pass some time. I was attached to the character Jessica Darling by the end of this book and even more thrilled to find out that there was a second out at the time. Even more so I bought the third one just as it had been released and the same thing now with the Fourth Comings. Megan has created a character that simply comes to life in the reading. I would suggest to most who like coming of age stories to read this. Its quiet heart warming.
Chuckle, Chuckle, Ha Ha, Hee Hee, Tear.......2007-08-16
The first time I read this book, I was in 8th grade and I still love it to this day! I have read it at least 15 times and have never grown tired of it. Jessica Darling is me in a nutshell...if I were a female track star. Everything else is me...yes, I graduated salutatorian of my class and am currently going to Columbia University. I LOVE this series and you should too...especially if you are an angst-filled teenager.
Welcome Back.......2007-08-10
As Charles Dickens once very aptly obsevered: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." Of course Dickens wasn't referring to high school, but the French Revolution. But today, in our current American society his words can be no closer to the truth when discussing the legally mandated ritual called high school.
Everyone has his or her story. From the glory days full of football games, after-hour parties, and social ruling to the lesser exuberant memories our being an outsider, not understanding anything going on around you, and the unfortunately bullyness. Yet despite the pangs of High School and the sometimes harsh memories that come along with it, it is a time in our lives that years removed somehow becomes glorified as "the best time of your life," wither that statement is true or not.
McCafferty has constructed an unlikely heroine who reminds us exactly why we hated high school so much... and exactly why we will probably always look back on it with fond memories of times pass. Jessica Darling is you. Jessica Darling is me. Jessica Darling is everyone. Whither you can relate to everything she says, or just a few of the experiences she goes through during these novels, there is a little bit of everything within our heroine.
Unlike the heroines of classic literature that defeat the sociality structures (Dicken's "A Tale of Two Cities"), learn the true meaning of love (a la Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice"), Jessica Darling's one true clam to fame is not only surviving high school, but figuring it out before she leaves the hallowed halls. Most people figure it out sooner or later, but usually when they are removed from the experience.
What McCafferty is trying to say to the audience at large is that life matters. Everything that has happened to you, is happing to you, and will happen you have an effect that you can never dream off. The point of life isn't just sitting back and waiting for the next step. But it is embracing the here and now.
McCafferty is able to do these through a narrative that reads more like a self-aware John Hughes script, rather than 95% of book one would find in their local "young adult fiction" section. And the true genius and charm of the book doesn't from Jessica's stories of high school. But through your own memories, that while reading this book you are able to relive again vicariously through the eyes of Jessica. This book was not written for the tween set as a way to drool over what those "magical four years" will be like (a la "Dawson's Creek"), but as a way for people past that experience to look back and realize just how much their high school years truly means.
I cannot recommend this book enough, especially to fans of the budding new genre of self-aware coming-of-age stories such as "Prep," "Boy meets Boy," and the "Rules of Attraction." In all honestly I must request that everyone in their post high-school years, but still young enough to remember the impact John Hughes has on society to order a copy of this book. You will not be disappointed in the least!
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Sloppy Joe's Bar: The first fifty years
Sharon Wells
Manufacturer: Key West Saloon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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ASIN: B0006YFQV8 |
Books:
- Changing the Game: Organizational Transformations of the First, Second, and Third Kinds
- Chasing Dirty Money: Progress on Anti-Money Laundering
- Chicken: The Dangerous Transformation of America's Favorite Food
- Clients for Life: How Great Professionals Develop Breakthrough Relationships
- Coaching Manual: The Definitive Guide to the Process, Principles & Skills of Personal Coaching
- Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves
- Competition and Chaos: U.S. Telecommunications Since the 1996 Telecom Act
- Complete Idiot's Guide to Financial Aid for College
- Contours of Descent: U.S. Economic Fractures and the Landscape of Global Austerity
- Creating Value Through Corporate Restructuring: Case Studies in Bankruptcies, Buyouts, and Breakups
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