Wendell Steavenson is a female journalist who is British. She was trying to find out why Iraq was ruled by Saddam Hussein for so many years. Why those in power didn’t rebel. Did they feel loss, remorse, fear, guilt, for their actions or lack of actions? She interviews the family of General Kamel Sachet. He was an honorable man caught in a corrupt system. He tried to protect his family to the best of his ability. The feeling is similar to Germany during World War II. What could I do? I was just following orders. Who could you trust? Power of any type is illusive, corruption lasts longer.

3 out of 4 Stars

Reviewed by: Anne Egger, Library Services

I read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which I just loved. So when I heard she had another book out I had to read it. This book is good, but not as good as Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Peony falls in love with a stranger, her father had already arranged a marriage for her. She dies of lovesickness. She doesn’t find out until near her death, that the srtanger was to be her husband. As a ghost, she watches over him. It is a lovely book, but doesn’t have the weight of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.

3 out of 4 Stars

Reviewed by: Anne Egger, Library Services

True story — Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was lying in bed recovering from hip surgery and perusing a catalogue of items up for sale at an auction. He came across one item which struck his fancy. The doctor had ordered him to stay in bed, so he sent a colleague to the auction to place a bid for him. He received a true treasure several days later, the narrative of a slave who successfully escaped from bondage in North Carolina and ended up in New Jersey. The author, Hannah Crafts, could not only read and write, but she wrote in the style of Louisa May Alcott and Dickens.

Henry was stunned this manuscript had never been published. He gives several theories why it had never been published. My own theory was Hannah became a preacher’s wife. Perhaps the women of the church would disapprove of her making a spectacle of herself. It is a true treasure on many levels and I hope you will read it.

3 out of 4 Stars

Reviewed by: Anne Egger, Library Services

A girl friend of mine said, “Anne, I’ve seen this movie at the Manor it is called The Reader and you’ve got to go see it.”

I thought, “Well, I don’t know if I’ll get to the movie, but I’ll buy the book.”

My co-worker the next day said, “Anne, I’ve seen this movie at the Manor it is called The Reader, I think you would enjoy it.”

I thought, “Okay that’s a sign.” I purchase the book and it sits on my bedside table for a while.

Then I go to my book club and I mention this book as a possible selection, even thought I had just started the novel. A lady at the other end of the table who hadn’t heard my recommendation said, “You know what we should read, The Reader.”

I read the book and was really blown away by it. It is a profound book. One of the blurbs on the back of the book says, “A masterly work… The reviewer’s sole and privileged function is to say as loudly as he is able, Read this and Read it again. ” by: Georg Steiner. I completely agree. This isn’t just a book it is literature. Michael is a fifteen year old boy who is sickly in nature and quite lonely. He has a relationship with Hanna who is 36 at the time when the relationship starts. The story is set in postwar Germany. The story is beautiful, haunting, and sad. There are consequences for everyone’s actions. I won’t give it away, but you must read this book.

4 out of 4 Stars

Reviewed By: Anne Egger, Library Services

In 2004 Bill Cosby spoke at an NAACP celebration for the 50th Anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka. They were expecting Bill Cosby to be funny, sweet Cliff Huxtable, that is not what happened. Bill Cosby chastised the black community in public. He talked about behavior within the black community that was harming itself. 70% of poor black women are unwed mothers, the plague of drugs, crime, and illiteracy among poor blacks. These comments are acceptable in private, but Bill Cosby made them public. There was a lot of criticism towards Bill Cosby, but there was a lot of truth in his speech. I found this book fascinating and I highly recommend it.

4 out of 4 Stars

Reviewed by: Anne Egger, Library Services

In the book Animal Farm, George Orwell presents to us important themes in the development of social stratification and political corruption. His story is an allegorical representation of the power struggle that took place in the Soviet Union between political figures Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin. Essentially in Animal Farm, George Orwell has turned a bunch of farm animals into civic characters, each symbolizing a different part of communist society (the Soviet Union was communist back then). The two main characters of interest, however, are the pigs Snowball (who stands for Leon Trotsky: intelligent, passionate, determined) and Napoleon (who stands for Stalin: militaristic, cunning, confident). In the end, the plot focuses solely on the conflict between the two pigs and their manipulation of the innocent farm animals. I highly recommend George Orwell’s masterpiece. Animal Farm is not only intriguing but also possesses the exhilarating plot of a fantasy novel.

3 Out of 4 Stars

Reviewed By: Gary Li, Myers Park High School

So, why should we read yet another biography of Jesse Helms? Righteous Warrior by William Link plows over familiar ground, detailing how Helms was involved in the most racist- and red-baiting campaign in modern N.C. history, the Dr. Frank Porter Graham-Willis Smith Democratic primary of 1950. Though Helms always denies accusations that he instigated the worst of these deceitful tactics, Link en-courages the reader to examine his later campaigns.

In his first U.S. Senate race in ‘72 against Nick Galifinakis, a U.S. Congressman of Greek descent, he brandished the slogan, “Jesse: He’s One of Us.” That Galifinakis was a Marine Corp veteran and Duke Law graduate did not prevent Jesse from questioning his Americanism and patriotism. Carolina residents may recall the controversial “white hands” TV ad, in which the Helms campaign falsely accused opponent Harvey Gantt of favoring minority hiring quotas. After a look-see at such ugly stuff, Link suggests, readers may draw their own conclusions about the accuracy of Jesse’s denials. Link also probes Helms’ cozy relationships with nearly all Central and South American dictators, such as General Pinochet of Chile and Robert D’Aubuisson of El Salvador. Despite the mountains of evidence these neo-fascists secured and maintained their power through mass murder, repression, and terror, N.C.’s senior Senator defended them and their death squads because he believed they were buffers against Communism. Even when a Socialist government was democratically elected, as in Chile, Helms would label it “Communist” and then support its opponents, often militaristic authoritarians.

Perhaps one of the most disturbing episodes is how Helms exploited the Soviet downing of KAL 007 in 1983 as a political opportunity (KAL 007 was a Korean passenger plane the Soviets insisted they thought was a spy plane). The Senator had met two pre-school age girls in the airport before they boarded the fateful flight, and he gradually embellished the story of their brief encounter throughout that election year. Eventually Helms claimed he had played a child’s game with the two girls, witnessed their mother read Bible stories to them, and that the youngsters had blown kisses to him as they boarded the plane. Jesse’s conscience permitted him to use this much exaggerated and tear-jerking story in fund-raising letters in his 1984 Senate campaign as well as on the campaign trail.

Link suggests that despite all his attention-getting bluster, Helms was not as effective as he appeared, as many of the issues he fought for over his many years in the Senate are no longer on the public radar. For examples, he opposed Martin Luther King Day, and he advocated putting prescribed prayer back in the public schools. In fairness to Helms, Link also reports how the former Senator’s office admirably served his individual constituents and how Helms himself genuinely loved an adopted son, Charles, a victim of celebral palsy. Indeed, Helms seems to possess a generous, pleasant, and even courtly personal side that conflicts with his public persona. In addition, Helms did seem to soften in his later years regarding his views on poverty in third-world countries, homosexuality, and the AIDS epidemic. However, Link hints these modifications in his positions are mere footnotes in a political career marred by intolerance and unapologetic appeals to racism.

I read Righteous Warrior because a couple of questions had always nagged me about ole Jesse. First, how did Jesse get to be Jesse? Second, how could many North Carolinians who voted for progressive candidates like Terry Sanford and Jim Hunt support him, too? Link indicates Jesse got to be Jesse while a commentator at WRAL-TV in Raleigh in the 1960s. On several of his Viewpoints editorials, Helms accused a young UNC English instructor of attempting to morally corrupt his freshmen by teaching the classic poem, “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell. Even after Helms knew an investigation that included interviewing each student had cleared the teacher of any wrongdoing, Helms continued to repeat the unfounded allegations on his TV program. Link concludes when Jesse realized he could get away with such falsehoods on the public airways, he was encouraged to continue the practice. How Jesse enjoyed getting votes from some folks who also supported more progressive candidates is partially explained in a poll taken after the 1984 Helms-Hunt Senate race. One question asked if Helms had run against Hunt for governor instead of Hunt running against Helms for Senate, how would they have voted? Surprisingly, Hunt would have won in double digits! Why? The poll concluded: “Voters liked having an ideologue for senator and an effective manager for governor.” I suspect many fellow North Carolinians — both native Tar Heels and transplants — have similar questions that may have nagged them about this politician who represented us in the U.S. Senate for thirty years. Righteous Warrior is 643 pages of solid data, interestingly told, about one of the longest serving U.S. Senators in history. Furthermore, Link’s biography reminds us that many of the issues Helms exploited during his three-decades will be with us in the 2008 election and beyond. May the Almighty have mercy on us!

4 Out of 4 Stars

Reviewed By: Mike Shinn, Academic Learning Center

Greg Palast started out as a Chicago School of Ecnomics educated forensic economist, championing the common folk against the energy conglomerates who ran up the cost of heating their homes, and negotiating contracts for steel and iron workers. Through his work he became a nationally recognized expert on government regulation and acquired an office on the 50th floor of the World Trade Center. He is probably best known in the United States for investigations and breaking reports of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Enron meltdown, and the voting irregularities of the 2000 presidential election. Palast spares no one in either of these books, taking to task both party members and officials, as well as domestic and multinational corporations, in their eternal quest for wealth and power. He follows the money which, in turn, explains the relationships of power brokers in both the public and private spheres, and describes the complexities of their manipulations with a sharp wit and ironic delivery that makes an extremely convoluted and abstruse subject accessible and wryly humorous. These books fill an important gap between consumer-oriented news and political history with in-depth, fully documented investigative journalism. This information will arm the constituency to make more carefully considered judgments about our administrative practices and policies, and promote an understanding of a certain intangible, “values” framework surrounding our national culture that hampers our achieving those inalienable rights held so dear — life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness –f or all.

4 Out of 4 Stars

Reviewed By: Kimberley Balcos, Library Services

Wax is a federal public defender in Oregon who details the effect of the ‘war on terror’ on two innocent men – Brandon Mayfield, the Portland attorney wrongfully accused of involvement in the Madrid train bombings, and Adel Hamad, a Sudanese relief worker wrongfully arrested in Pakistan and held for more than five years at Guantanamo. The book is part legal thriller (Wax does a good job explaining the complexities of his cases – he defends both men – and habeus corpus litigation) and part critique of civil liberties abuses. Wax has an unshaking belief in the rule of law and cannot comprehend why the government continues (despite multiple rebukes from the Supreme Court) to refuse to actually charge and try (the Kafka metaphor is an apt one) the men it claims are “the worst of the worst” (a claim that Wax illustrates as false, at least in the cases of his clients). No idealist, he knows that terrorism represents a real threat, he just argues for operating both within the legal system and the Constitutional system of checks and balances that has served the country well for over 200 years.

4 Out of 4 Stars

Reviewed By: Jennifer Arnold, Library Services

Very readable, eye-opening essay on how Disney, museums, parks, etc. not only display history, but interpret (define?) the culture of Americana. By their choices of what to display, how they display them, and the descriptions given, they emphasize certain aspects of society and culture while giving a rose-colored glasses view of history and/or an inspirational, what to strive for message. Using Disneyland’s theme park, Henry Ford’s park, and others, Wallace explains the image portrayed and how that image can warp perception and influence the viewer, both by what is there and what was left out. In today’s world of political ads and debates, Mickey Mouse History shows that politicians are not the only ones to distort or gloss over history.

4 Out of 4 Stars

Reviewed By: Abby Rovner, Library Services