Birthing the Nation is a remarkable work of anthropology as well as an important political document. It is one of those books that, by taking a narrow topic and exploring it thoroughly, offers stunning insights on everything from the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to the nature of modernity itself. It also is a fun read, filled with hilarious anecdotes and fascinating details. (It is, after all, about sex.)

The author is both an American and Israeli citizen who grew up in a Palestinian village in Israel. She speaks fluent Arabic, Hebrew, and English and did her advanced schooling in the U.S. This special background makes her uniquely qualified to explore such a topic. Because she was raised in a Palestinian village, people from that area were willing to talk to her freely about their private lives. Because she is American-educated and has lived in the United States (and is married to a Jewish American), she knows how to describe Arab culture to Western readers. She knows what we will be interested in, and knows what needs explaining. Kanaaneh devotes a decent amount of time to Israeli government policies regarding reproduction and Israeli political rhetoric on these issues. But the heart of her book is her fieldwork -- hundreds of hours of interviews with Palestinians about having children and having sex, and how the people themselves take stock of such things.

The book's main contention is that in Palestinian communities in Israel, reproductive decisions are used as a way of measuring modernity. For example, for many Palestinians, a family's decision to have few children is seen as an indication of how advanced they are. For others, having many children is seen as an indication of how dedicated they are to their national cause. Either way, reproductive decisions are interpreted in a highly politicized manner (by the people involved in them, not by Kanaaneh). The same is true for birth control methods and sex education programs.

The book is chock full of surprising details. Kanaaneh presents a picture of a vibrant, changing society that is not quite so "backward" as some of us like to believe. One detail that surprised me particularly was that in Palestinian sex education classes, masturbation is taught as a safe alternative to sex. When a U.S. Surgeon General suggested such a thing during the Clinton administration, the American political establishment went into a delirium (both Democrats and Republicans) and she was quickly stripped of her position! Another thing that is evident is that sensual pleasures -- for both women and men -- have always been an important part of Arab culture, and in some ways the Palestinians are more open about these things than we have been.

As a way of "getting into" another culture, this book can't be beat. And given the rapidly changing nature of Palestinian society (and its sadly uncertain future), one feels as though one is reading a historical document in the making. This is a real find.

I am so sorry to see that this title is out of print . . . I bought it in a small bookshop a few years ago, and it has haunted me ever since. It is about the Chinese in California's Central Valley who developed and lived in their own town: Locke. As the work subsided and the next generation grew up, they moved away one by one, until by now it is almost a ghost town. A few of the original Chinese founders remain, however, and the author has interviewed them as well as others he has tracked down. So, the book is a compilation of autobiographical sketches by the day laborers who were, if nothing else, most certainly over-worked and under-paid. As an oral history, it is unsurpassed in honor, honesty and sweat of the brow. Each interview is accompanied by photos; some are "then and now", and are most interesting! I hope this returns to print soon so we can all know the hard work and injustices that so many of our minorities lived with.

Academic study of the Black pimp subculture in the Bay Area. Truly a fascinating book!

If you are interested in the history of the USS California, or just life aboard a US battleship in the 20s, 30s, or 40s then this book should delight you. It covers everything about BB-44, from the pre-building politics that made her the only battleship ever made on the west coast, to her construction and launching at Mare Island, service between the wars, the tragic sinking at Pearl Harbor, her triumphant return to serve with the Pacific Fleet, and her final demise in Philadelphia. This book combines contemporary newspaper accounts regarding the California, journals of day-to-day activities, and interviews with crewmembers to create one of the finest ship histories I have ever read. Heavily illustrated with photos and drawings, this book also contains profuse footnotes and a large bibliography. Produced by the Associates of the San Francisco Maritime Museum Library, this book is not only a great reference source, but also a thoroughly enjoyable read from cover to cover.

A friend of mine recommended the Gil Yates series and I picked up Bluebeard's Last Stand on a whim. I didn't know what to expect, and it turned out to be great! It was such a quick read, mainly because the style is so informal and enjoyable. Plus it was funny! I can't remember ever having laughed out loud while reading a mystery before this one. I recommend this book to any mystery lover who wants a new slant on the genre.

On the way back from Lake Tahoe, my parents and I stopped by Bodie and I am telling you that place is so great to go to. This book is history and I think it would be a great history book to give your kids. That place is from the 1800's. I recammend this book to everyone. It might be small book but it is still great for learning.

This is an excellent book, obviously a work of intense research and profound appreciation for the town and people of Bodie, California. The author touches upon myriad aspects of the town's development and decline, including anthropology, technology, and geology. The book also deals with the human side of this hard-scrabble community, and includes many personal reflections of actual Bodieites. The author also infuses the book with a unique sense of humor, which perfectly suits the subject matter. Highly recommended!

I'm James Dalessandro, the author of Bohemian Heart. I'm a veteran screenwriter who returned to his first love, fiction, out of frustration with Hollywood. I'm amazed at the reception of Bohemian Heart, many reviewers compared it to the work of Dashiell Hammet, Raymond Chandler, Scott Turow, etc. It covers 100 years of San Francisco history in a contemporary mystery, and it's full of the politics, corruption and colorful characters who populate one of the world's great cities. It's prequel "1906", about the San Francisco earthquake and similar issues, is scheduled for a winter, 2000 release. A film adaptation of Bohemian Heart is on the way. I think it's funny, literate, and constantly surprising. I hope it finds its way to more and more readers....James Dalessandro

This book is a very good example for little girls, because it shows a girl in the role of the main character who is very intelligent and thinks for herself. Amanda opens up shop selling pies to the miners in a California boom town and has quite a successfull business very quickly. Unlike many historical fiction stories where the main girl character is portrayed almost as a goody-two-shoes, Amanda has a style completely her own. She pulls the reader into the story and keeps them intereted the entire way through (no easy task when the target audience is in the preschool to second grade age group).

I should also mention that this is the second book in a series about Amanda and her family, and I feel that all of the books keep the same lively attitude as this one. Since this book is part of a series, it is possible that younger children could get confused if they are read out of order, so the people who read to them should keep that in mind. I think that these books, when used in a classroom setting, would be a very good segue into a unit on the Wild West or pioneers, especially since they portray girls and women as having minds of thier own and not just as extensions of their families.

This is especially important because many books about the Old West are focused more on boys, and these books have a girl for the main character. All in all, I would recommend this book without any hesitation and I consider it to be a very strong sequel to a powerful first book.

This is, by far, most interesting and the easiest reading that I have done on the homeless. It is about homeless people living under the bridges in Los Angeles. Mr. Underwood constantly visits these particular people and actually spends some time living with them. He gets to know them personally, so he gets past their facades and their fantasies. He tells of their lives and the impossibility of ever changing their situation in today's system. His lack of judgment gives truth to the story. The homeless do try to change their lives, but as they take one step forward, they are thrown two steps back. Mr. Underwood documents this. He mentions people by their first names. As I read this book, I became very interested in a man he referred to as Larry. As I anxiously approached the end of this book, I was pretty certain that I knew Larry very well. As my husband of 4 1/2 years also read this book, he confirmed what I had suspected. We are both quite certain that my husband is the Larry mentioned in this book written in 1993. Larry and I met 10/93 at the Dome Village in Los Angeles and we married 12/4/93. Jackson Underwood mentions Justiceville as a homeless activist group in L.A. This is the group who opened the Dome Village on 11/5/93. Little did I know how much I would be rewarded for this volunteer work - Larry is the best gift the Universe could have given me! This book talks of the homeless people as the "just like you and me - but without resources" human beings they really are and the hopelessness they feel when they try to succeed using the "system". This is the only research book about the homeless that I have read that speaks like this about the homeless, about their particular lives, and about the reasons they cannot escape their homelessness - vs. numbers and statistics. I found a priceless treasure within the homeless in L.A. and I know many other treasures who are still there.