Triumph Reviews

One of the best and most eurudite studies of Rock music as a cultural phenomenon and sociology. Pattison is both a critic and fan of Rock music, but the latter function doesn't turn him into a sniveling sycophant full of pretentious drivel like the usual Rock music magazine writers. He hits the nail right on the head with his comparison to romanticism. Pattison doesn't take his study far enough, however, as he ignores his own glaring exposes of the neo-pagan/religious dimensions of Rock music. He performs an intensive study of why Rock music is such mindless, vulgar pagan "jungle music" that people react to without thinking, a powerful cultural force. But in the last few pages he tries to discount everything he has written and substantiated in his book! He cannot accept the very conclusion he has so devestatingly exposed! He realizes that he seems to have come too close to the stance of the Christian right (and most of traditional Christianity) in its attack on Rock-n- Roll as "devil's music." As a true Rock fan (no true "holy roller" Rock detractor could have as much crucial information about Rock music and its details as Pattison), Pattison doesn't want to push his argument to its logical conclusion and condemn the music he so loves, therefore he makes a pathetic jab at the Christian right at the end and chicken's out. He is docked a star for this. Nevertheless, this is the best, most intelligent and objective study of Rock music that I have read, I have read a hell of a lot on the subject--most of it is drivel.

I keep finding myself coming back again and again to this excellent study from Pattison which convincingly argues that rock's aesthetic is a vulgarized form of the ideals behind the great romantic poets. Far from the clueless, absurd academic piece that one may fear, Pattison proves to be a real fan of rock music, in fact he is in many ways more thoroughly versed in rock than many respectable big-name rock critics like Marcus or Marsh. Black Flag, the Fall and the Meat Puppets are just a few of the groups touched on. The most insightful chapters, in my opinion, are the ones dealing with the white romanticization of black Americans as "soulful" others, as well as the myth of the noble lower-class hillbilly. Pattison provides the only believable explanation (too complex to go into here) as to why the racially divided south produced the great black-white musical hybrids of our time (country, blues, jazz and rock n' roll). Pattison doesn't see the pagan roots of rock n' roll or romantic poetry as negative.

This is the best single book ever written on the general subject of rock and roll. It is free of the both the sloppy hype of trashy works on popular culture, and the ludicrously inappropriate jargon of high-toned academic treatments of the subject. Pattison demonstrates very convincingly rock's roots in nineteenth-century pantheism, and shows how, to a surprising extent, all of pop music's "rebels" conform to its tenets. The author is clearly a knowledgeable fan of rock but doesn't make outrageous claims for it; he shows amazing taste and discretion. A book as enjoyable and stimulating as it is neglected; I've never seen a reference to it in the rock press or met anyone else who has read it. It's definitely worth the effort to find it.

This book is an account of an elderly man (over 70) with several kinds of cancer. He has two sons. One a medical doctor. One is a nutritionist. The author discusses his use of both methods to treat the illness. I am over 40. I have given this book to every parent of any friend who has been diagnosed with cancer later in life. They have all been grateful. Mr. Lerner is not a Christian, I am. His spirituality is his own. Lerner provides some useful practical infromation about fighting cancer in later life. He method was a success. He lived through it.

After reading this book I made some severe life changes. I have begun to live, and explore my world. Do you know how glorious a sunset can be, and that there will never be two identical sunsets? This is just one slight example of the brilliance and sense of life that Lerner provides his reader with. To hear an eighty year old man speak of living, and continuing to learn from others, not to mention setting goals for himself, makes the average human cringe with guilt for laying around the house. This book inspires even the most unobservant, unmoved person to go out and "suck the marrow out of life." (Thoreau)

Max Lerner writes with great insights and litererary skills about dealing with life threatening illness, in his case cancer at a late stage in life.However, the basic insights are applicable to any age, and any serious illness.This is an important and beautifully written book.

No NASCAR driver showed greater grit and determination than Robert Arther Allison. Born in Miami in a large family, Bobby Allison learned competitiveness right away. He started racing in Hialeah, Florida under an alias, and his mother's first sight of his racing came when he tumbled down the frontstretch right in front of her.

Ben White, of Winston Cup Scene, authors this overdue look back at a stock car career filled with triumph - and ultimately destroyed. He includes voluminous quotes from Bobby Allison on the entirety of his career.

Allison, his new wife Judy, and their year-old son David Carl moved from Miami to Hueytown, Alabama in 1962 to race on that state's rich short track circuit. Bobby was soon joined by younger brother Donnie, and the two built a race shop that soon became famous throughout the sport. It was in Alabama that Bobby struck up a friendship with Charles "Red" Farmer, perhaps the state's greatest short tracker, and a future winner of Daytona's Permatex 300 for superspeedway Late Model Sportsman cars. Bobby and Donnie would also take under their wing a happy-go-lucky pipe fitter who competed against them, named Neil Bonnett.

Bobby Allison competed in NASCAR's Modified Tour and finished high in points several times, but his goal was the Grand National Series. He began competing there almost immediately with his own equipment, and in 1966 at Oxford, Maine, he drove a well-worn Chevrolet to his first Grand National victory. He won several more times that year and early in 1967, but then came the first big break. Holman-Moody was the primary raceshop for Ford's Grand National efforts, and with Richard Petty driving his Plymouth to 27 wins that year, Ford went berserk looking for a driver who could stop him. Fred Lorenzen recommended Bobby Allison, and at the tail end of the 1967 season, Allison won at Rockingham and at Ashville-Weavervile, NC. The win at Ashville came after a heated car-banging duel with Petty - but the first of such showdowns.

By 1969 Allison had left Holman-Moody and joined up with Mario Rossi of Dodge. Campaigning Rossi's #22 Dodges and those fielded out of his own Hueytown shop, Bobby ran for the Grand National title, but finished a frustrating second to Bobby Isaac in 1970.

Along the way, Bobby had acquired sponsorship from Coca-Cola, and it proved vital over the next two seasons. The withdrawal of the factories from NASCAR injured the sport greatly, even though in 1971 Winston cigarettes came on board with a series sponsorship package that would eventually overcome the recession caused by the factory withdrawal. Without the factories, Allison left the defunct Rossi team and was very hard pressed to campaign his own cars. Finally, in May of that year, Ralph Moody of Holman-Moody came calling again, and Bobby took his Coke sponsorship into what would prove to be one of the strongest rides he'd ever had. Bobby rocketed to nine wins in the Holman-Moody Mercury and during this stretch challenged Richard Petty week in and week out. The result was some of the most exciting racing the sport had ever seen - and some of the nastiest, for no two personalities clashed more viciously than Richard Petty and Bobby Allison. The most dramatic clash of the two in 1971 came at the Talladega 500. Three wide with Pete Hamilton in the final mile, Allison slapped doors with Petty, sending him into Hamilton and sending both off the track.

When Holman-Moody disbanded after 1971, Allison took his Coke backing to the Chevrolet team of Charlotte Motor Speedway president Richard Howard, a car wrenched by winning team owner Junior Johnson. The key to the pairing was the hiring of engine builder Robert Yates, with whom Allison had worked at Holman-Moody. The combination pulled down ten victories and led over 4,000 laps, and it too everything Richard Petty could muster to win eight races and stave off the hard-charging Allison in the 1972 points race. This was most decisively shown at North Wilkesboro, NC in October of that year. The two fought ferociously over the course of the final 50 laps, and when Allison became trapped behind a lapped car, the resulting wreck would have eliminated anyone else, but Petty and Allison still went at it, Petty winning with a hard last lap pass. The crowd nearly rioted afterward, and Petty had to be taken to safety after a fan accosted him.

Such feuds were common with Bobby. White unwisely underplays the feuds Bobby had with other drivers, notably Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, and Terry Labonte. Such feuds deserve retelling if for no other reason than for their frequency and ferocity. Allison's determination to win was his greatest strength, but also his greatest weakness, for it led to incidents that were generally avoidable.

One such incident was the controversial National 500 at Charlotte in 1973. Allison protested the 1-2 finish of Cale Yarborough (in the Howard/Johnson Chevrolet) and Richard Petty, claiming both cars ran engines with more cubic inches than allowed by the rules. It turned out Cale's engine was indeed illegal - White implies that Petty's engine was likewise illegal, failing to note that only three of Petty's eight cylinders were checked, and that they averaged out to the then-legal limit of 431 cubic inches - and when the race results stood, Allison filed a lawsuit against NASCAR, a suit dropped after a closed-door meeting with NASCAR president Billy France.

Losing the 1972 title contributed to Bobby leaving the Richard Howard-Junior Johnson team to try again with his own equipment, but each time he ran his own team, "he broke himself," said Donnie Allison. It got so bad that, in 1977, his health deteriorated, and he required trips to the Mayo clinic - trips that seemed to catch most observors off guard.

Allison continued to win in the 1970s, driving for Roger Penske and Bud Moore, but it was with DiGard Racing that Allison achieved his goal of the Winston Cup championship. This time Bobby's arch-enemy was Darrell Waltrip, in the Junior Johnson car. Allison missed no opportunity to taut the Waltrip/Johnson pairing as the NASCAR-approved "company car," and also missed no opportunity to beat them on the track. Allison's 1982 season was what any racer could want - sweeps of races at Daytona and Pocono, and wins at Dover, Michigan, Richmond, and Atlanta - but no championship. The title finally came in 1983, and was the apex of a superlative career.

It was downhill after that. DiGard team owners Jim and Bill Gardner - known in the sport as money guys, for their status as businessmen rather than racers - were essentially con artists, and their race team, built more as a tax write off than anything else, was neglected, especially after the 1983 championship. Ben White provides the alternately fascinating and depressing details of the fall of DiGard Racing, a downfall fully consummated when first Allison, then Robert Yates and crew chief Gary Nelson, quit in 1985.

Allison wound up with Bill and Mickey Stavola, and by the 1988 Daytona 500 his son Davey was a Winston Cup star. The two finished 1-2 in one of the sport's most poignant finishes - a poignancy that took on a more tragic quality that June. On the opening lap of the Miller 500 at Pocono, Allison hit the wall in Turn Two, slid low, and was slammed through the driver's door at full speed by part time racer Chauncy "Jocko" Maggiacomo. Only quick work by the track's safety crew kept Allison on the threshhold of life, but even though he would recover, the crash destroyed Bobby's career.

And it was just the beginning. Bobby formed a race team out of the remains of the team he had won Daytona with, and campaigned for seven seasons with such drivers as Hut Stricklin, Jimmy Spencer, and Derrike Cope. Bobby had a strong deal with Buick, and with them made a very strong effort for race wins in 1991, but when GM disbanded all non-Chevrolet racing efforts other than Pontiac's for 1992, it started the downfall of Bobby Allison Motorsports.

The deaths of Bobby's sons Clifford and Davey - followed by the death of Bobby's lifelong friend and protege Neil Bonnett in 1994 - accelerated the downfall, and affected Judy Allison all the worse. Everything - the race team, and the marriage of Bobby and Judy - finally collapsed in 1996, and by 1997 Bobby was essentially a ruined man; even the mammoth collection of racing trophies he had acquired over his years of racing had to be sold off.

It is a depressing story, not made any better by a somewhat overly optimistic quality in White's retelling. Even the title is a bit deceptive - what had been a Circle Of Triumph has become a Circle of Futility.

But for all that, Bobby Allison's life - and this excellent book - remain worth remembering

This man had an uphill climb right from the get-go,and it seems that EVERYTIME he got almost to the top, SOMETHING or SOMEONE would chop him off at the knees.Then he would start all over again. The WORST thing a father can do is bury a child... HE did 2, plus a couple of close friends along the way AND if that ain't enough.. his wife leaves him! HE starts climbing again. GET the book!

Get your mental sledgehammer ready!!! Be prepared to spend some time marshalling your mental resources to take full advantage of this book. The seven principles of full spectrum thinking, although intruiging, will tax your mental energies while you spend time mastering these new skills, these are not light concepts. Mastering the systems matrix, the conceptual template for your problem-solving activities, will prove to be a rugged challenge indeed. This new approach to problem solving emphasises that you must consider what you central purpose is among other things and create a system of support structures around that purpose. Get the headache pills ready. And, by all means accept the challenge!!! Don't be discouraged. Who knows what you may accomplish!!!? Good luck!!!

Having read "Breakthrough Thinking" the creative solution finding was just as great.

I would suggest that anyone who has read Drucker, Juran, Deming and Crosby will find that Nadler & Hibino work just as meaningful

The Doctors Olson have assembled a thorough but precise history of the Cuban-American culture in America. This well-written history covers the story of the Cuban-American society from the earliest Cuban civilizations to modern times using American, Cuban, and Spanish primary sources. The narrative is detailed without being dry, and the themes are relevant to today's most salient issues. A "must read" for anyone studying Cuban-American ethnicity.

This book details the history of Cuban Americans. It is interesting to read about Cuba's success in their Revolution with Spain during the 1800s. The authors write how Cubans have succeeded in America and the powerful impact they have had on America since the ninteenth century to recent years. This book is well organized and very informative.

Far too often, the thoughts of Black youth are presented to us through well meaning, but biased sociologists or historians. It's refreshing to catch a glimpse of childhood memories from memoirs and autobiographies, rather than from the pages of yet another treatise on the plight of Black America. One section incudes the memoirs of William Holtzclaw, founder of the Utica Normal and Industrial Institute. It includes a description of an arrangement between Holtzclaw's uneducated father and the landowner for whom they all sharecropped. The father had an agreement to keep one quarter of the crops the family grew, but at the end of each season the landowner would calmly explain that Holtzclaw's family "ate" their share of the cotton harvest during the year. This young child's introduction to political powerlessness, interest rates and creative bookkeeping has far more impact than anything that you're likely to find in every financial self-help book ever published. The book also contains the childhood memories of Malcolm X., Angela Davis, Booker T. Washington, Maya Angelou and more. But it is merely a series of excerpts and it lacks the editorial voice that could connect these stories. That's either good or bad, depending upon what you're looking for. If you're looking for a comprehennsive understanding of Black youth, this isn't it. But if you're looking to connect with the stories of a culture that you already know, this book is a must have.

Of all of the so-called minority groups in the United States, African Americans occupy a special place. They were brought over to America as slaves and attempts were made to deny their humanity, strip them of their culture and rob them of their souls. It didn't work. Not only did the Africans survive but they thrived and gifted America with its own unique culture.

Growing Up Black is the story of the childhoods of those African progeny who survived the sordid racial hatred of America. Unlike other books in this series, this text is exclusively non-fiction and culls the works from the authors' autobiographical memoirs. The young people represented (now old) are a diverse group from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Learn about what it feels like to be called a "nigger" as a child and going home to get an explanation from your parents. Walk through a mob to attempt to integrate a school which would deny you your education. Experience being a light skin Black who can melt into the white majority culture. These are the varied experiences of these young people who show courage, great tenacity and creativity in growing up in a land which would deny them their humanity. Read about these young people for they point to hope for our future.

This very readable book interweaves Roman Imperial Art from the second century of our era with evolving Christian traditions. The reader comes away with a nuanced and richly textured picture of place of Christian art in the broader visual culture of the Late Empire. Altogether a wonderful single-volume treatment of this complex period. This book shows us what can be lost when we study art in narrow catagories. Once you read it you won't soon forget that Early Christian art is also Roman art. I found it a very good read.

Historians today are in the process of taking a closer look at periods traditionally seen as "outside" the high points of history. As Jas Elsner demonstrates, the period usually seen as the decline of ancient Roman tradition was in reality a period of rich tradition as people continually reworked their traditions to produce a society just as interesting in its own right as that of Charlemagne or Augustus.

The many illustrations to this book are excellent at illustrating the main points, though they could be larger. That aside, Elsner vivid writing style makes the complex changes of this period easy to understand even to one new to the field. This is a must-read, not only for those interested in Roman art, but for anyone interested in cultural change or art in general.

Excellent coverage of a variety of issues relating to the Glory Days of Army Football - pre, during and post. Well told story but I found the extensive, play-by-play details of far too many football games somewhat distracting. Still, if you love the Academy, this is a fascinating period to read about.

The work is meticulous. One must like details. And if one takes the time which is well spent, it is a great book. The Academy was under critical fire for this difficult period where a lot of things were breaking down, from a Cheating Scandal to conflicts between the academic and athletic departments, the Korean War rages on and is always in the foreground, a nationally ranked football is descimated with resignations. The title says it best. A great read and wonderful historical review and analysis of a very difficult time.

At the time she wrote, Julian's "showings" were not considered completely compatible with Church doctrine. However, she was not censured by the people of Norwich or the Church. She is famous for her audacity, in that she claimed her writings were as inspired as the Bible. Moreover for her specific doctrine that God is our Mother as much as he is our Father. Meaning only that his character transcends the way we think of gender and especially the roles we have attribute to it. Julian also stated that in God there is no wrath. I recommend this book to anyone reading for fun, for theological insight, or for any combination of feminist or spiritual curiosity. She was an amazing woman whose work is perpetually relevant as a religious and as a feminist text.

Julian's work is a rich combination of ascetic, sacramental, and doctrinal theology, presented with a haunting simplicity and charm. Through referring entirely to her revelations, apparently a singular incident, Julian, with obviously burning love, manages to set forth truths with great understanding and depth. Readers will miss much of this, if they read it solely as a feminist statement - her treatment of God as Mother, for example, includes references to numerous doctrinal and sacramental implications.

Superb work for anyone interested in Christian mysticism at its best.

If you enjoyed "Seabiscuit" or have been following the saga of the jockey José Santos as he attempted to ride Funny Cide to a Triple Crown (alas it was not to be), then you might be interested in learning more about today's top American flat-racing jockeys.

There were several unexpected retirements this year, including Eddie Delahoussaye, Chris McCarron, and Ironman, Laffit Pincay, Jr., so the list of top jockeys who are still race-riding is a bit out-of-date in "Ride of Their Lives." However, it is still a very interesting 'ride.'

If you think "Seabiscuit's" jockeys had a rough time of it during the Great Depression here in America, read the story of Jorge Chavez who was born in a Peruvian slum, never had a real family (he thinks he might have a dozen brothers and sisters, but knows of only three), slept on the street, and worked any job he could get. At age nineteen he visited a race track one day and fell in love with the horses. He didn't get to ride right away, though. He started out by mucking stalls and had to work his way up the ranks to acquire his jockey's license. He became the top rider at the Hipodromo Monterico in Peru, then decided to try his luck in America. It took Jorge roughly ten years in the States before he started to get the top horses. Nowadays, if you watch any of the big grade-one races, you're almost sure to spot Chavez, whose unique riding style has earned him the nickname, 'Chop Chop.' His first Derby winner was Monarchos, so if you'd like to learn more about Chavez, read "Horse of a Different Color" by Jim Squires.

The tragic story of Chris Antley opens this book, balanced by the more hopeful and unfinished story of Pat Valenzuela, who has come back out of the hell of addiction and is riding top horses once more. Good luck, Pat!

Lenny Shulman tells the stories of fourteen top jockeys in all: Chris Antley; Jerry Bailey; Russell Baze; Jorge Chavez; Pat Day; Eddie Delahoussaye (Patient Eddie is one of my all-time favorites); Kent Desormeaux; Mark Guidry; Chris McCarron; Corey Nakatani; Laffit Pincay, Jr.; Mike Smith; Gary Stevens; and Patrick Valenzuela. Reading these biographies will give you an appreciation of the physical suffering these jocks go through to stay at the top of their game. I personally feel they are the best, bravest professional athletes in the world---they and their Thoroughbred mounts.

I had one minor problem with this book in that it didn't spend enough time on the horses. I would have liked to hear all of the top jocks talk about their best mounts. Some do, but not all, and not in enough detail to get a flavor for what it's like pounding down the track at thirty-five miles an hour, balanced on the tips of your riding boots, and trying to squeeze your thousand-pound mount into a hole between two other horses whose jockeys don't want to let you through.

Whew! Even without those added details, "Ride of Their Lives" is well worth reading.

This book captures what I love about sports in general and particularly horse racing. It is written to expose the personal side of the jockeys that make horse racing such a great sport. After reading the book, I feel that I have insight in to what the individual riders are about as people as well as their career accomplishments. It will make each of my many trips to the race track more meaningful as now I feel that I "know" the riders.