He went to a lot of trouble to express hate and disdain
581392
As chief of the Atlanta fire and rescue department, this author has shown through his words that his faith is in conflict with his legal obligation to run a fair and diverse department.  Calling gays and lesbians perverts on the level of those who have sex with children and animals does not demonstrate the kind of attitude that would give his employees confidence that he could be trusted to act without discrimination.  Distributing this book among his department's employees suggests not just private beliefs, but an attempt to persuade others in a way that seems a violation of his position of power.  So buyers of this book should be aware that it is on the extreme end of attitudes, with the above only one example of views expressed in such a hateful way that most religious people  would not wish to be viewed as on the same level as he. He went to a lot of trouble to express hate and disdain, and to promulgate those views.
4803401
He certainly hid his dark side well.  After reading the book, I felt sorry for him.  He was one mixed up dude, and it was apparent that he had great difficulty in expressing his emotions or holding an honest and caring relationship. I came away feeling that he was one lonely man, and all the money in the world wouldn't change that.  He should have received some kind of help to get past the feelings he had for his Mother.  She was incapable of a kind word, and it appeared that he was scarred by that for life.
2513792
I like this book for the picture the author paints of humans migrating to the planet's and moons. I felt anger and despair that the naive lower colors were virtually enslaved while miles above ground higher status colors led substantially better lives. Once again the rich get richer and ensure the rest of the civilzation carries their load in so many demeaning ways.
A good man is unwillingly chosen to foment  rebellion and start to lead a force of reckoning. He has many tasks to start him along the path of savior. The technology he encounters when facing action might perhaps cause our hero to pause. Yet he is powered from within due to the rage he keeps banked against sight. Never forgetting he will use that rage and his unique talents to overthrow
 the cruel rulers and their bioenhanced  slaves and armies  and try to bring closure to  earlier injustices. As his cause gains momentum he too grows stronger attracting  more capable followers to strike deeper and more painful flowering the Golds.
3374587
First part was hilarious you could tell the man knew he was going to get heckled through out his lecture so he went with it and poked jabs at the audience. Everyone is fuming and calling him names and being down right disrespectful and he's poking fun. Good on him.
4187541
Probably the most important impediment to Lord Ragsdale and Emma being friendly was their mutual hate for each other's countrymen.  It was clear that each had valid reasons for intensely disliking the other person's compatriots. Ragsdale had lost his father to Irish soldiers who slayed and abused his father's body.  Ragsdale still had nightmares over the horrible things he saw (Ragsdale was severely wounded at the same time, including losing an eye).

Emma's hate for the English was for a slightly different reason; but the outcome was the same. Emma saw her whole family destroyed by the British. Ragsdale and Emma are mutually hostile towards the other's countrymen.  Knowing this, Ragsdale did an amazing thing when his American cousin went gambling, lost all his money and wanted to use Emma (she was an indentured servant) for the next turn of the cards.  Ragsdale traded his two best horses so Emma would not fall into the hands of the men at the gaming table.

When trying to figure out what to do with Emma, Ragsdale looked at his meager options.  Earlier, he had let it slip that he needed help turning his life around.  Ragsdale was a notorious gambler, drinker and kept a mistress (with whom he was bored to tears).  Emma offered to be his secretary and help him change his life.  Ragsdale needed help with his correspondence and bank accounts, so he agreed.  He also needed the Ton to recognize the changes in him so he would be deemed worthy to marry Lady Clarissa Paltridge.

Ragsdale had not tended to the crofters on his lands and their homes were in pitiful shape.  He really did not want to talk with his tenants because he thought he could not do the job as well as his father had. When Emma noted that the tenant's homes had not been attended to by Ragsdale's father, he became enraged with Emma's error in judgment.  Later he finds the truth; thereby learning that his father, although a good man, had not worried with the needs of his workers.

This was a well-told story but I wasn't sold on some of the actions of the characters.  To me, the resolution of Ragsdale's American cousins (at the end of the story) simply didn't ring true.  I was stunned by Lord Ragsdale's actions at the end; part of me could see why he did it, but I'm still shaking my head.  To be fair, I plan to read this book again and see if my attitude changes about the last pages.  Don't get me wrong -- I'm glad I read this novel -- it was well-written.
4652745
I hate his book which is good because it taught me how to find the inner hate and grumpiness is harbor inside.
1681607
What I dislike about this book is Bart being a big jerk to everyone around him and farting rudely at them and causing issues for everyone. What I liked was his gramdma catching word of the trouble he was causing and stepping up to teach Bart a lesson. I also liked Bart having a change of heart at the end.
3221026
Okay, I don't mind people who think differently than me, which is why I read this.  But name-calling and temper tantrums are not my idea of a thoughtful presentation of ideas.  This guy either is using white rednecks to line his pockets or he's the most terrified man I have ever encountered in print:  scared of queers, scared of immigrants, scared of women. . .and he hates them all.  A sad book.
2143404
Wow what a hard time this poor guy had from day one. He never fit in as a kid and then as an adult he had never figured out the right thing to say.  Of course love steps in and puts him and the family on the right course.
4366093
lots of personal feuds and opinions masquerading as on-the-spot reporting, with Thompson setting himself up as some kind of threat to the established order, more than the cosseted icon he really was by the time this was written(How many outlaws hang with Johnny Depp?)
3011463
This book is an extremely lengthy and anger-filled attack on numerous US government monetary and fiscal policies adopted during the past 100 years.  Stockman moves back and forth between distant and recent economic history to weave his story of good and evil.  The good guys (Presidents Hoover, Eisenhower, Clinton and Fed Chairman  McChesney Martin) fight against federal deficits, the military-industrial complex and excess money printing.  The bad guys (FDR, Nixon, Reagen, both Bushes, Obama and Fed Chairmen Greenspan and Bernanke) encourage federal deficits, money printing, and speculation.  Stockman uses numerous descriptive adjectives such as feckless, insidious,faulty, panicked and perfidious to describe the evil ones and their doings.  He describes complex decisions and complex historical events in extremely simplistic terms, making it sound like his main characters have powers like the Gods of Olympus to move the US economy this way and that.  Stockman is particularly upset about recent events and spends many pages bashing everyone, from Obama to Romney to hedge fund managers to Treasury Sec. Paulson, to Bernanke to specific LBO deals, etc.  This approach makes for a sometimes amusing but usually tiresome morality tale.  The book finally and thankfully ends, but only after Stockman has provided us with a list of unrealistic and often outlandish recommendations such as abolishing deposit insurance, social insurance and health insurance and, just for good measure, eliminating multiple federal agencies.

The message that Stockman is trying to convey- that the US cannot live forever on free money and excess debt- is an important one.  It is very unfortunate that Stockman chose to make his book so lengthy and so full of diatribes.  This style makes it very hard to wade through the book.  I fear that this book will be read by people already convinced of Stockman's message but will be quickly put down by most other people.  It is a pity that Stockman was unable to write a book that would find a larger audience.  Americans clearly need to hear his message!
2328926
Story had a great flow until the author started to inject his obvious hatred for police and anyone who disagrees with his beliefs.  Great drinking game would be to take a drink every time the word "bigot" is used.  Fair warning though, you will be dead of alcohol poisoning by the 2nd book.  This could have been an entertaining story and a great series if only the author has left out the politics.  You can feel the authors hatred for a certain type of people after awhile.  I hope that he gets over the anger and hatred and starts to just tell good stories.  I'm afraid I won't be reading anymore of them though.
4505793
This is an awful, ghastly book, full of hate and anger. One can certainly understand why the author, a German Jew, would be so quick to see anti-Semitism in Erasmus' works. However, this topic was addressed with far more erudition and intellectual integrity by Shimon Markish, another Jewish scholar, in the book Erasmus and the Jews.
The book is filled with angry rhetoric and verbal excesses. He calls the German people of the time "semi-illiterate". He manages to apply just about every invective he can to his victim: cowardly, brutal, stupid, vicious, hypocritical, hate-filled, shameless, and on and on. It really is an embarrasmment to read.
Avoid this book! Read instead Erasmus and the Jews by Shimon Markish.
4634115
Tough audience and lifeless delivery, the dark material worked to better effect later in his career, though by then he had learned to balance the horrible with the hilarious, bringing out the humor in his messed up past while downplaying the anger enough to let the material breathe.
It is somewhat painful to watch, but you'll still laugh if you invest the time and try and overlook the flawed routine.
4926698
It is worth reading to understand some of the conflicts of interest affecting the securities industry.  The rest is just his ego and his desire to get revenge against some people by dissing them in a book.  In the end I understood why some of the people he smears would not talk to him.
1129319
There is a lot of torture and bloodshed, which makes it hard to get through.
He is an excellent writer; we're sure to see his name on best-seller lists
in the future.
1469551
Poor guy had so many issues. You didn't know whether to hug him or Punch him!!
He was just awful to Daisy! Poor girl, but she didn't give up....until he found out her secret and totally humiliated her. He redeems himself so don't worry!