MO

i found this book to be a struggle to read.It is painfully obvious that the authors have attempted to build a minor engagement into something just short of Bull Run and/orGettysburg. They try hard but in my opinion they do noy carry it off.

Piston and Hatcher have produced an excellently detailed overview of the events and participants in the battle and over the surrounding region during the summer of 1861. By beginning with unit histories of the various units engaged, the reader gains a sense of identity with the men who fought and died there. The method itself is excellent, but would be difficult to apply to later engagements in the war. The central arguement, that Civil War soldiers were motivated by strong allegiances to their home communities, is well substantiated, but may also be useful only for engagements at the outset of the war. Other authors have successfuly shown that this motivation waned, and that national ideology and identity with the adopted community, the unit, sustained men later in the war. The book's major fault is an unbalanced interpretation of events, especially when the leaders of both forces are concerned. Lyon is labeled a madman and Sigel is portrayed as grossly incompetent, while southern commanders are lionized and noticeably escape criticism. The author's assertion that the Missouri State Guard somehow represents a lawful military force evaporates when that same force, guaranteed under the Constitution, raises arms against federal authorities charged with protection of that same Constitution. Overall, the work is excellently researched, especially from local sources, and improved my comprehension of the tragic confrontation.

I love a book that can pull you into it. This ones certainly does. It's been several years since I toured the battlefield at Wilson's Creek, but Piston and Hatcher do an excellent job in bringing out map details and troop movements that it felt like I was on the battlefield again but this time feeling the intense battle struggle between the two sides. The details on each regiment that fought at Wilson's Creek, North and South, was excellent.

How does one write a generic autobiography? Keene has given us an example. In telling of his upbringing in St. Louis, we learn of the flight of whites from the suburbs into which Afro-Americans had moved, we learn of the heritage of the city as multi-cultural, of growing up with an alcoholic parent, of growing up gay etc. Only occasionally is the narrative "personal" in the sense of revealing something about the narrator which we could not know without the self-revelation of the narrative. The result is wonderful prose, interesting structure, and literature that exists only for itself - never revealing something new, specific about the human condition.

This anorexic novel (I tried stuffing mashed plantains in between the pages) is a minor masterpiece. It's small, and you can use it to slide it into the jamb of your door in case you get locked out. Another good use: you can slice someone's head off with it. There's a lot of big words here, words that were like elephants being stuffed into a sandwich bag. You can hear the words grunting in agony as you read the book. It's divided into several chapters with long paragraphs without any speed bumps in them. Whenever there's a red light Keene doesn't let up, he goes right through and ignores the ominous white policeman on the scooter trying to hail him down. I think John Keene is a tiny genius. He can live in a mousehole with a Mrs. Mouse. But he needs to write a bigger book, something that matches the density of a phone directory, something a midget can sit on if the table is too high. Only then will the flora and fauna of his verbal fireworks (illegal in most tropical enclaves) will truly have a chance for a decent stretch exercise.

Have you ever been reading a book and wanted to know what was going on somewhere else in the story? Or earlier? Or later? Or in the author's head? *Annotations* gives you the sense that you are looking out over the story and deep within the characters at the same time. Such a patient, delicate, tight weave. Tight, so there's a firmness to this writing, too. On the one hand, we get to see what's going on inside as we see the surfaces of things. The narrative is not left vulnerable to readers' whims, though. The constantly shifting perspectives teach us not just how to get through the book, but also what to make of it.

The author and a number of others around town claim my father, Dave Hitzert, is one of the ghosts in this book. I'll say this, the claims that he has been mischief making, he took his job very seriously- he never missed a day- ever, are almost as hard to believe as the existence of his ghost. Another concern I have is that neither my mother or I was consulted for the book. I have a few interesting details that would have illuminated Ms. Courtaway's account. If Ghosts exist, I might have an idea of my fathers motives for sticking around. You can look into both the play he was working on and the day of the year, not the date but it's significance, or you can e-mail me at...
sonny_clips@yahoo.com, and I'll fill you in. My father was a great man and his story, ghost or otherwise, deserves a little better research.

Best,

Jason Garrett Hitzert

As a resident of the Greater St. Louis area, I was immediately drawn into the stories in this book. I was REALLY weirded out to know that the Book House, which is a store that I have visited in the past, is supposed to be haunted.

The fact that the book didn't contain any "pictures" of ghosts lost it a point.

Excellent book!! Anyone who grew up in Saint Louis or has lived here for more than a few years will really enjoy this book! The author Courtaway knew what she was doing by making the chapter about the infamous "Exorcism" the last chapter in the book. This is one of those books that is hard to put down. The authors writing style is at times given to confusing participles but for the most part is pretty fluid.
She definitely has done her homework on this one! It is a fantastic book and I would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the supernatural or just in local history.

Gerteis' book is valuable to those who are interested in the intricacies of the larger Civil War and to those who are interested in the history of St. Louis. I fall into both categories and loved the book for those reasons alone. Two categories of the times about which I had read very little were the roles that women filled in during the war and how filling those roles lead to social changes after the war (like a prelude of Rosy the Riveter) and also about the role of first runaway slaves, then contraband slaves, and then African Americans of all sorts filling the cities of the border states. The details of some of the characters in history for these two moments--women's roles and integration of black into society--are ones that I will carry with me forever.

Gerteis is a story-teller. He really knows how to make the material move, and it was fun just learning about the intertwining families of St. Louis and how their relationships played out in odd and sometimes violent ways. Very good writing.

(...) Gerteis, professor of history at University Missouri-St. Louis, has created the best single work on the subject yet produced. The breadth of this book is its greatest strength, starting with the lynching of Francis McIntosh in 1836 and ending with Reconstruction in the 1870’s. In between is the expected cast of characters like Thomas Hart Benton, Dred Scott, the Blairs, Gratz Brown, Basil Duke, Claiborne Jackson, Franz Sigel, James O. Broadhead, Sterling Price, Joseph W. Tucker, the Fremonts. . . well, you get the picture. The list could continue to impressive lengths, and does so in Prof. Gerteis’ book. Abraham Lincoln isn’t elected president (en passant at that) until page 77.

Of particular pleasure was the inclusion of significant material on lesser-known, but important, figures like J.E.D. Couzins, James E. Yeatman and the Western Sanitary Commission, Rev. John Richard Anderson, and James B. Eads and the river navy. Prof. Gerteis also does an excellent job of weaving the German thread
into the Union quilt as seamlessly as it has ever been done.

I have not read this book but I was told about it by someone on my Clinton Main Street Board. The book evidently does not include Clinton, Missouri in its data. I would like to visit with the author regarding her statistics and question her as to why Clinton, Missouri was not included in the 2-hour radius of Kansas City, MO. Clinton has recently received an award as an All America City for the year 2000. With a population of approx. 10,000 and close in proximity to Truman Lake, we have a lot to offer. We are approximately 1/2 way between KC and Springfield, as the "crow flies". I am Project Manager for Clinton Main Street and can be reached at the above email address or my phone # is 660-885-2121. I would like to invite Shifra to our community and would like her to reconsider Clinton, Missouri as a viable tourist area within a 2-hour radius of KCMO.

Thank you - Marsha Dark Project Manager Clinton Main Street PO Box 173 Clinton, MO 64735

Whenever I feel stressed out, I get on a two-lane highway, with this book in hand, and go to off-the-beaten path places that are great fun. Last week I went to two small towns only 30 minutes from where I live in Kansas City and shopped at antique stores, had lunch at a fabulous cafe, and got some great gifts thanks to this little guide. Indispensable. Wouldn't be without it!

John Dean's many enemies didn't have to worry about discrediting him - his wife takes care of it in her self serving memoir.
John Dean is Mo's third husband. When they first met he didn't bother telling her that he was still married to a wife he later divorced and throughout the book he treats her like dirt. Their falling in love is described in a sickeningly fairy tale way. And it only gets better. Mo does let John have his say and attack his enemies through her book - She hates whoever he hates so there is a repeat of the pettiness in blind ambition, particularly the attacks on John Ehrlichman and Jeb Magruder.
I like this book because it is so ridiculous that it is humerous.

This little book is a must-have for anyone who joined the national Watergate fan club immediately after the scandal broke in the early 1970s. Maureen Dean's account, speckled delightfully with detailed descriptions of the clothing/accessories other Watergate women are wearing, is comically young-minded. Even so, its emanations form an illuminating penumbra (if that's possible) that reveals the spirit of the Nixon White House; a good example is the style of the fake-serious interoffice memo which John Dean submitted to Haldeman asking for time off to marry Mo.

An excellent companion piece to this book is "Silent Coup," which adduces other, darker facets of John's and Mo's relationship. Read "Mo" first, while you're still in the mood for levity.

Author Mallon gives a textbook account of the 1904 first American Olympic Game. The individual scorings are meticulously done and the bibliography is most complete. Anyone researching this event has an array of sources at his disposal. The only fault here is in the lack of pictures of this event logo, its outstanding competitors, and local color scenes. This work however does fill an important gap in the usual commentary on modern olympic history.

If computing is to achieve its fullest potentail, it is vital that EUC is leveraged to a greater extent than at present. Certainly, the EUC area has matured considerably in the past few years. This maturation is evidenced by this book which makes a vital contribution. It is unique in its focus on a broad range of areas: medical informatics, the contribution of various factors to succesful EUC development of IS, and the role of tools in EUC. It represents the leading thinking by a range of expert researchers and practitioners in this vitally important area.

This book offers the reader a well researched and presented account of the Battle of Belmont, the first battle in the Western Theatre and one of the first battles fought by Ulysses S. Grant. The book covers Grants attack on the Southern forces under the command of Leonidas Polk and Gideon Pillow at Belmont on the Mississippi River in Missouri on the 7th of November 1861. The maps in the book are easy to understand and guide the reader through the fighting, the narrative runs smoothly and offers a good overview of this battle. There is extensive notes and bibliography to assist the reader with further studies. Overall a decent book covering this battle of the American Civil War. An enjoyable read.

BLUE BEAT SYNCOPATION by Stanley E. Banks chronicles his works of
poetry from 1977 to 2002. The selections are historical and
contemporary pieces that reveal much about the author in terms of
how he views life and the world.

BLUE BEAT SYNCOPATION is hard in some instances, yet real and
understandable as it defines his style of poetic writing. I was
very impressed with several of Mr. Banks' selections. He allows
you to flow along with him and visualize soft blues playing in the

background as you read and interpret the deep significance of his
writings.

My favorites were 'Introducing Myself,' which was relative to events
of the present, and of course, the selection 'Blue Beat Syncopation,'
which had me tapping my feet as I felt the beat.

Stanley E. Banks is an author to watch, as he has already made a mark
in the poetic community. His poetry collection On 10th Alley Way won
the Langston Hughes Prize for Poetry.

Reviewed by Kalaani
The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers