Perhaps not surprisingly for a first novel, it was a little choppy and started slow; a little rough around the edges you might say. But once it gets going in has a pretty good pace and there is a flurry of activity and resolution at the end.
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Greenstein’s Job is a bold, highly original challenge to centuries, if not millenniums, of scholarship and theology. It is a no-holds-barred assertion of a new way of looking at Job, the honest, upright gentile who, in the biblical book, is afflicted with waves of misery from God and asks the Deity: Why me?
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Fox News’ Harris Faulkner has written a book that may help all of us in living a more complete life – 9 Rules of Engagement: A Military Brat’s Guide to Life and Success. The book is filled with practical advice that Faulkner has used to find success. Her advice comes from growing up as a… Continue reading
An ode to the vanished West that captures the splendor of the Rockies as much as the small human mysteries that pass through them, this svelte stand-alone has the virtue of being a gem in itself, and, for the uninitiated, a perfect introduction to Johnson.
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Most Americans have a fairly good understanding of the American Old West. However, few have that same understanding of the history of the West in Canada. J. Edward Chamberlin brings some clarity on the subject in The Banker and the Blackfoot: An Untold Story of Friendship, Trust, and Broken Promises in the Old West. Chamberlin… Continue reading
We are where we are in American politics, in part, because all these big-picture projects succeeded in enriching private interests … but failed to achieve their stated public goals. The “shock therapy” delivered to Russia midwifed Putinism instead of a prosperous American ally. The war in Iraq ushered in a regional conflict that’s still burning to this day. Chimerica worked out better for the Chinese than for many working-class Americans, and far better for the Chinese Politburo than for the cause of liberty. And the self-justifying doctrine of the present elite — that you can serve the common good while in office and do well for yourself afterward — became far more implausible when the elite’s projects kept failing even as the officeholders kept on cashing in.
To sum it up in one sentence: It’s a quirky coming of age adventure with a dark sense of humor and a lot of John Calvin quotes.
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Prohibition – most people think this American experiment in outlawing alcohol sales and consumption was an abysmal failure. Not only did it encourage otherwise law abiding citizens to break the law, but it also spawned modern organized crime in this country. One of the early crime bosses was George Remus in Cincinnati. Bob Batchelor chronicles… Continue reading
It took me a while to get used to a protagonist who is a first class jerk. But the futuristic set-up, supporting characters, and numerous plot twists kept me listening and held my interest.
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