Salem-News.com News Feed for articles tagged with book-reviews www.salem-news.com 2013 The Islamic Republic of Iran is much in the news these days with the spectre of nuclear warfare now looming in the background. What was life like in Iran just before the return of Ayatollah Khomaini to his native land in early 1979? A new book by Robert Bangor gives one spectator’s view of the country, neatly dressed in an entertaining tale. http://salem-news.com/articles/november102011/burnt-city.php http://salem-news.com/articles/november102011/burnt-city.php Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:18:00 PST In his new book “The Wandering Who”, Gilad Atzmon reflects on his transforming journey from an IDF “Israeli”, a racist tribalist, self-ghettoized Zionist, with exclusionist mentality, who was greatly influenced as a child by his “veteran Zionist terrorist” grandfather, into simply a Universalist and Humanist. A courageous and enthralling journey that began in the most unexpected places, in one of the suburbs of occupied Jerusalem, Al Quds, and by no other tool than a musical instrument, a saxophone! http://salem-news.com/articles/november062011/gilad-atzmon-ni.php http://salem-news.com/articles/november062011/gilad-atzmon-ni.php Sun, 06 Nov 2011 03:10:00 PST A wave of understanding accompanies Gilad Atzmon's new book, 'The Wandering Who' and it is no wonder that his opponents, who support apartheid laws in Israel, are fuming. Truth is a dangerous drug and Gilad overdosed his share of readers with this one. Gilad is only one of Salem-News.com's writers who doubles as an author, but none have drawn the response that we are seeing with this clever-titled book that rips the lid off of the racism that sets the stage for Israel's very existence. http://salem-news.com/articles/october032011/wandering-who-ga.php http://salem-news.com/articles/october032011/wandering-who-ga.php Mon, 03 Oct 2011 14:34:00 PDT While many Americans, and many American Jews, may not know it, Jewish opposition to Zionism has a long history. Rabbi Elmer Berger, a long time leader of the American Council for Judaism (ACJ), was probably the best known Jewish anti-Zionist during most of his lifetime, particularly from World War II through the l967 Six Day War and its aftermath. http://salem-news.com/articles/september202011/rabbi-outcast-ab.php http://salem-news.com/articles/september202011/rabbi-outcast-ab.php Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:07:00 PDT Though the number of critical voices concerning Israel, Zionism and Jewish power is growing steadily, a clear distinction can be made on the one hand between contributors who operate within the discourse and are politically oriented, and others who transcend themselves above and beyond any given political paradigm. The former category refers to writers and scholars who operate 'within the box,' accepting the restrictive measures of a given political and intellectual discourse. http://salem-news.com/articles/july232011/great-games-ga.php http://salem-news.com/articles/july232011/great-games-ga.php Sat, 23 Jul 2011 13:15:00 PDT Tillamook Passage is historical fiction that journeys back to the early days of the coastal Indians. This new novel for young adults and up is the latest book in an adventure series by award-winning author Brian Ratty. The novel’s storyline is spun around the 1787 passage of the ship, Lady Washington, under the command of Captain Robert Gray, and his discovery of the Tillamook Indians and their large, pristine bay. http://salem-news.com/articles/july182011/tillamook-passage.php http://salem-news.com/articles/july182011/tillamook-passage.php Mon, 18 Jul 2011 17:29:00 PDT A new book tells of the remarkable air combat achievements of the brave men who flew in the now legendary U.S. Navy squadron - Fighting 17 the Skull and Crossbones Squadron in World War II. Amongst Fighting 17’s many heroic exploits was shooting down 152 enemy aircraft in aerial combat in only 76 days. http://salem-news.com/articles/june092011/squadron-17.php http://salem-news.com/articles/june092011/squadron-17.php Thu, 09 Jun 2011 22:40:00 PDT Here’s a strange and sparkly, jumpy and tightly-packed little book by PULSE’s own Belen Fernandez, in which our heroines (Belen and the photographer Amelia Opalinska) hitch-hike through Lebanon and Syria a few weeks after the war of summer 2006, consuming far more caffeine than is good for them. Beyond Gonzo, it doesn’t pretend to journalism at all. Instead it recounts a fairly lunatic, fairly random sight-seeing tour towards ‘the dark force’ Hezbollah. http://salem-news.com/articles/december122010/coffee-hezbollah-.php http://salem-news.com/articles/december122010/coffee-hezbollah-.php Sun, 12 Dec 2010 14:20:00 PST There is no kind or easy way to state the simple fact that America is a society of unremittingly ignorant people. I started Susan Jacoby’s book The Age of American Unreason (2008) and she hit my pet peeve immediately on the first page. http://salem-news.com/articles/april102010/american-unreason-dj.php http://salem-news.com/articles/april102010/american-unreason-dj.php Sat, 10 Apr 2010 14:40:00 PDT Willamette University history professor William Smaldone’s latest book, “Confronting Hitler: German Social Democrats in Defense of the Weimar Republic, 1929-1933,” tells the stories of how ten Social Democratic leaders addressed the impending threat of Nazism and communism. Full of relevant historical context, the book explores the constraints and political choices these leaders made in the shadow of Hitler’s chancellorship and their struggle for political freedom and social justice. The book examines how circumstances and events shaped party leaders’ perspectives and decisions. http://salem-news.com/articles/march282010/hitler-author.php http://salem-news.com/articles/march282010/hitler-author.php Sun, 28 Mar 2010 23:26:00 PDT Great insight with very real conclusions made a bit dry and academic. A paragraph made six sentences too long with six five-syllable words. A complex issue made more incomprehensible by convoluted language. There is much to learn and grasp with this issue; the audience that needs to be reached will not have the time to dissect the language. Activism and policy change will only happen with the broadest of populations. http://salem-news.com/articles/march282010/humanitarian-impulse-aa.php http://salem-news.com/articles/march282010/humanitarian-impulse-aa.php Sun, 28 Mar 2010 23:17:00 PDT Mr. Spirko’s ability to blend fact within the spires of fiction is candescent to the passing on of traditions and folklore. His ability to take the most complex of issues in a part of the world that is blanketed by questions; countries vying for a voice and place, and to bring them together through a peace treaty is truly astounding. http://salem-news.com/articles/january022010/pal_aa.php http://salem-news.com/articles/january022010/pal_aa.php Sat, 02 Jan 2010 23:10:00 PST Glen Bledsoe began drawing weekly comics for Salem-New.com in August of 2006. Since that time he has created more than 170 sixteen panel comics. But the cartoonist has many other talents: he is a teacher, a magician, and a writer. His eighteenth published book The Charity of Ebenezer Scrooge is his first work of fiction. http://salem-news.com/articles/november272009/cartoonist_to_novelist.php http://salem-news.com/articles/november272009/cartoonist_to_novelist.php Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:47:00 PST A new book by Reporter/Author Marc Yablonka, Distant War: Recollections of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. chronicles eighteen years of Yablonka’s reportage on American involvement in Indochina, and the people affected by America’s connection to that part of the world. The reports in this newly-edited compilation account for a time that in Yablonka's view, that left an indelible mark on American history. http://salem-news.com/articles/october142009/recoll_vn_tk.php http://salem-news.com/articles/october142009/recoll_vn_tk.php Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:43:00 PDT BOOK REVIEW: The Pagan Christ: Recovering the Lost Light Tom Harpur, Author Hutterites are literalists in that they take the second commandment literally and brook no variations or relaxations. This phenomenon, argues Tom Harpur, is the source of the overwhelming harm that religion inflicts on society. “Most of the atrocities committed by the Church and its more rabid followers down through the ages have been directly inspired by literalist thinking. http://salem-news.com/articles/september142009/pagan_christ_dj_9-14-09.php http://salem-news.com/articles/september142009/pagan_christ_dj_9-14-09.php Mon, 14 Sep 2009 02:22:00 PDT NY Times best-selling author, Steve Alten, famous for his thrillers that include MEG and The LOCH, wrote his latest novel, The SHELL GAME as a cautionary tale because he felt compelled to warn the American people to start getting the facts regarding oil, specifically what lies ahead when world reserves finally run out. http://salem-news.com/articles/may092008/oli_release_5-9-08.php http://salem-news.com/articles/may092008/oli_release_5-9-08.php Fri, 09 May 2008 09:48:00 PDT No sitting president has visited Salem, Oregon, since Harry Truman in 1948. In contrast, between 1880 and 1923 six presidents came through Salem. The transportation revolution enabled Americans to travel farther and faster than ever before, so why did it result in presidents seeing less, rather than more, of their fellow citizens? These and other puzzles in the history of presidential travel are explored in Presidential Travel: The Journey from George Washington to George W. Bush, a new book by Willamette University Professor Richard Ellis. http://salem-news.com/articles/april282008/ellis_book_4-28-08.php http://salem-news.com/articles/april282008/ellis_book_4-28-08.php Mon, 28 Apr 2008 18:48:00 PDT The plight of World War One’s only African American pilot has a lesson for every living soul. Eugene Bullard, the son of a slave, made his dreams take flight long before the first time he soloed in a biplane, and no amount of interference or meddling was ever enough to bring him down. Author Craig Lloyd has brought this great aviator and hero of France back to life, where his legacy is finally allowed an opportunity to shine in all of its greatness, against all of the adversity that was his. http://salem-news.com/articles/september222006/bullard_lloyd_92206.php http://salem-news.com/articles/september222006/bullard_lloyd_92206.php Fri, 22 Sep 2006 14:37:00 PDT Sin city meets hard truth in a new book by Dennis N. Griffin called The Battle for Las Vegas; The Law vs. The Mob. Never again will the reader see those characters who ran Vegas during the hard years in the 70's and 80's in the same light. http://salem-news.com/articles/august132006/griffin_review_81306.php http://salem-news.com/articles/august132006/griffin_review_81306.php Sun, 13 Aug 2006 20:25:00 PDT