Biblio Files is a site for bibliophiles. Please look at the index, and post any feedback you can think of. Comment on posts. If you are interested in writing a review or more for this blog, let me know.
Animals In Translation Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior by Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson
Cattle and autists are visual thinkers. Most mammals, along with autists, are hyper-specialists. These are the facts that Grandin takes advantage of. Because she notices the little details that verbal thinkers don't, she can see what is spooking a group of cattle, what is bothing a horse. Grandin discusses animal behavior in great detail. She cites many studies, describes the evolutionary reasons for such behaviors, and follows the history of humans and animals. Grandin also discusses what happens when animals are bred for certain traits, and how animals change without purposeful breeding. The voice of this book is Grandin's; I guess Johnson just editted. Comment: Cite a study on autism or animal intelligence that you enjoyed. Happy reading.
Many Deaf people have described the feeling of being in a Deaf environment for the first time; although among strangers, they were at home. This feeling is what has lead to the Deaf community. It is bound by a common language, experiences, and the treatment of a hostile world. Deaf does not mean deaf. Capital D Deaf is generally used to indicate members of the Deaf community, generally those who became deaf in their teens or earlier. Schein describes the factors that cause a Deaf community, the organizations of the deaf community, the difficulties deaf people face in the hearing world, and what the Deaf community is. His descriptions of the finances of Deaf people are out date. The statistics in general are not well explained enough. When a statistic describes Deaf families, the reader should be told what a Deaf family is. Does a Deaf family mean families with one Deaf child? Does it mean a family that belongs to Deaf culture? Who are these statistics describing? In describing organizations and history of the Deaf, Schein does much better. Happy reading.
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks
The right brain shows how essential it is by being defective in some. Those folks are included in this book, from those with Korsakov's amnesia to Touretters to autists to Parkinsonian elderly. The title story is about a Dr.P, who lost the ability to recognize objects. He had to guess at what they were by putting together the small details he did see. He could not remember seeing things in wholes, and he resorted to singing his way through things. My first confusion in reading this book was in trying to figure out when it had been written. The first copyright date listed was 1970, but Sacks referred to things that had happened after 1970 in the stories themselves, and far later in the postscripts that accompany every chapter(of which there are 20). Finally Sacks stated the year in which he was writing: 1985. As usual, Sacks frustrated me in his stubborn attempts to see his patients as damned, and their differences as bad things. Sacks gives a sympathetic view of Tourettes, syphilis, and a certain sort of seizure, but sees all other neurodiversity presented as negative. Happy reading.
The Book of the Spider From Arachnophobia to the Love of Spiders by Paul Hillyard
Drugged spiders spin distorted webs. Spider fighters of South Africa, Malaysia, and the Philipines feeds dragonflies to spiders before hunts. All but one type of known spiders use poison; 1/70th are poisonous to humans. Miss Muffet of arachnophobic fame was the daughter of a man who kept spiders and lectured on their greatness and beauty. The tarantula was blamed in Italy for causing a fever in which victims needed to dance and sweat to live(giving name to the dance called the tarantula), but the real culprit was a Mediterranean black widow. The cross hairs of telescopic guns were spider hairs during WWII. Chinese farmers build houses for hibernating spiders so that the spiders will eat the pests in their fields. Whereas most spider webs have more radii on the bottom half, those built by astronaut spiders were symmetrical. Professor B.G. Wilder discovered that Nephila plumipes spiders could purposely change the color and thickness of their silk, in 1865. Hillyard, in describing the attitudes on people towards spiders, shows a bell graph with those who enjoy spiders at one end and arachnophobes at the other end. Those who are apprehensive towards spiders are in the middle. Although Hillyard expresses the hope that his book will allow those who dislike or fear spiders to gain real knowledge and understanding of spiders, I would not recommend this book to anyone with anything greater than apprehension towards spiders. Hillyard's chapter on spiders who are dangerous to humans will frighten, and his enthusiastic descriptions of spider hunting may make you more convinced of the spider's menace. The author has a very obvious love of spiders which shines throughout the book, and is at times infectious. Citations of other spider accounts are frequent throughput this book. Hillyard cites a wide range of sources. While he prefers to cite who by far predate him, he cites his contemporaries as well. Charlotte's Web is also frequently quoted. Hillyard refers the reader to other parts of the book with annoying frequency; he already provides an index, why do I need an interruption in my reading? Since this book was published in 1994, some parts are probably out of date. For example, the U.S. military does not generally run the same tests for a decade, so either spider's silk has already proven useful for bullet proof vests, or it hasn't. (Just googled it: research is still ongoing- oops.) Question: Are you afraid of spiders? What types of spiders have you seen? Happy reading.
The Causes of the American Civil War Second Edition Edited and with an introduction by Edwin C. Rozwenc
In the generation of the war, it was generally blamed on the writers' opponents. The south blamed the north for conditions unfriendly to it which made it seem necessary to secede, and the north claimed that the south was running the country for its own interests and ruining the north. The first historians to look back at the Civil War saw it as inevitable, although not necessarily for the same reasons; some blamed moral differences, some blamed economic differences, and some blamed Southern nationalism. The third school of thought did not believe in irrepressible conflict between North and South, but instead blamed fanaticism, irresponsible agitators, etc.. The fourth group shows the differences in the North and South(without the venom of the War's contemporaries), and examines earlier works. The fifth group debates the idea of inevetability, compares it to other world conflicts, and further examines peaceful possibilities. Rozwenc has chosen four essays by the first, second, and third groups, three by the fourth group, and two by the fifth group. It can not avoid being about the causes of the civil war, but it focuses more on the attitudes of historians towards the causes of the civil war. A short introduction to each essay is provided, guiding the reader to contemplate the differences between the writers. Someone has written copious notes in the margin of my text, making this an easy read for me- ask to borrow my copy! Some writes have written with decidedly outdated wording, and the last part includes a selection by a Britishman whose wording is erudite and verbose. This book is not politically correct by the standards of 2005, as it includes selections which are exceedingly racist. Serious reading.
The Imprisoned Guest Samuel Howe and Laura Bridgman, The Original Deaf-Blind Girl by Elisabeth Gitter
When she was born on 29th December, 1929, Laura Bridgman met the expectations of all. She learned to speak, single words and then phrases. Disaster hit the Bridgman family in the form of scarlet fever when Laura was two. Laura's two older sisters died. Having rallied from her deathbed, the crisis was thought to have passed for Laura when the infection returned in Laura's head. The doctor informed the Bridgmans that Laura's sight was gone. Due to her invalid status, the Bridgmans were slow to realize that Laura's senses of hearing and, to a lesser degree, taste, had also been removed. After two years, Laura was no longer an invalid; she enjoyed exploring with an adult friend, and could sew, churn butter, knit, braid, and set the table. At seven, she was sent to the Perkins Institute for the Blind, where she was taught to read and write raised letters, as well as to finger-spell. As a girl, she was displayed for large audiences who enjoyed the romantic image of a pathetic blind-deaf girl and who contributed to the Perkins Institute. Dickens spent almost a chapter on her in his American Notes. Laura was used to defend and demonstrate philosophical ideas on education and the absorption of knowledge. While Laura enjoyed the attention of Perkins' director, Samuel Gridley Howe, during her early education, she fell out of favor with him after his return from his honeymoon, during which Laura underwent puberty. Although Howe continued to be very involved in overseeing Laura for the rest of his life, it was no longer with the affection and intimacy from before. To improve Laura religiously, he found a companion for Laura who lived with her for years but then married. Laura spent the rest of her life going between the Perkins Institute, her family's home, and visiting her teachers. Samuel Howe was an enthusiastic proponent of many causes, each of which he heartily pursued for a limited time. Howe was very opinionated, always certain of his own position. Returning from the Greek Revolution, Howe found himself well known and well thought of in Bostonian circles. Bostonians had already the funds and a board for a school for the blind, but lacked a director. Howe presented himself, and was accepted. He was sent to Europe to study European schools for the blind, but was sidetracked in Paris by the Polish rebellion against Russia. He became so involved in the cause that he was jailed for a month in Prussia, and was therefore unable to study schools for the blind in Prussia or in Prussia's ally Austria. Nonetheless, Howe returned to Boston with the conviction that Europe did not have decent schools for the blind. He would instead build his own program. With a printing press, Howe printed books in raised print for the blind to read. His school curriculum encouraged the blind to read, write, be active, and to learn normal mannerisms such that the blind could be integrated into normal society. While his pupils were not, for the most part, integrated into society, they were educated such that Howe received much acclaim and imitation schools sprung up. Howe, not content with his success, wanted something larger. He wanted to educate a blind-deaf child, preferably a girl. One such at Gallaudet was proficient at sign but not English, which disgusted Howe, an oralist. A friend found Laura Bridgman, and Howe wasted no time convincing Laura's parents to send her to him. Due in part to her success and the fame that she garnered him, Howe treated and addressed Laura as his daughter. She and her teachers ate and lodged with Howe. Despite her actual impulsive behavior and stubbornness, Howe wrote of her as a docile and perfect being. Having taught(or more accurately, ordered taught) Laura English and shown to his satisfaction that one without sight and hearing could learn language, Howe decided to make Laura an example of his religious convictions. He believed that children naturally knew of God. To prove his beliefs, he forbade any from mentioning God to Laura, theorizing that Laura would, through her observations of the world around her, come to belief in God without teaching. It is impossible to gag people entirely about what matters to them most, which is often God, and Laura gained knowledge of God through people. She had many questions concerning Him. Howe went on his honeymoon, and on his return, over a year later, Laura had found God. Howe set about finding her a teacher who believed in his same religious convictions. Bridgman was then isolated from all but her teacher in order to instill in a docility and obedience as well as knowledge of God. After the teacher married, Howe and the Bridgmans traded Laura back and forth. Howe promised another teacher, but did not deliver. After Howe's death, Perkins Institute was left in the directorship of Howe's son in law, who was head of Perkins Institute when the Kellers asked for a teacher for their daughter Hellen. The teacher sent, a graduate of Perkins, had learned finger spelling and had formed her theories on the education of the blind-deaf, from knowing Laura. Gitter compares Laura Bridgman to Hellen Keller often, to compare their fame, education, and pull to the general public. Gitter cites numerous contemporaries of Laura who assumed that their readership knew of Laura's story or marvelled on her great fame. In this way, The Imprisoned Guest reminded me of Seabiscuit. Gitter explores the social climate causing the events of this book, and grounds her story very firmly in its times and place. Gitter's writing style is highly erudite. While the wording is generally concise, some points were repeated in different parts of the book, almost verbatim. Why Gitter considers Laura the original deaf-blind girl is unclear; Gittman even compares Bridgman's usurpation in the public eye of Julia Brace as the deaf-blind girl to Helen Keller's usurpation of Laura Bridgman. Pictures, endnotes and an index are included. Happy reading.
David Yaffe didn't finish his senior year of high school because he was on trial for the murder of his girlfriend, Emily. Now he's moved in to the apartment above his aunt and uncle to be away from his fame and to repeat his final year of high school at the school his cousin Kathy went to. He is, in fact, living in the apartment Kathy lived in. But Kathy is dead. She is supposed to have committed suicide in this same apartment, while her younger sister Lily was there. Lily, maybe because of her sister's suicide, is now a total terror, a scary not-child. David can hear Kathy's ghost whispering to him. Kathy says, save Lily, save Lily, save Lily. But David doesn't know how to save Lily; he's not sure he knows how to save himself. This book unfolds slowly, revealing the distant past as it isrelevant to the present. David and Lily and her parents are all struggling with their own demons. Most of the characters in this book are shown as denying something important about their own lives. Question: When is it better to remember a painful past than to forget it? Does remembering the past help it to heal? Happy reading.
Biblio Files Month 13 Books Reviewed:21 Total Books Reviewed:297 Days Blogged/Days In Period:10/28 New Members:none Total Number of Members:2 active Number of Hits This Data Period:248 Toal Number of Hits:2259 Features Added: none Comments: I promised to blog at least once per week in the beginning, and I think I'm starting to slow down to that pace. The guestbook was down for a few days- sorry about that. I would really appreciate it if all of the readers would sign it. Please?
God, Guts, and Guns: A Close Look At the Radical Right By Phillip Finch
The right wing of the American political scene includes a vast number of small radical groups. Radical is defined herein as those groups which are racist; this book could just as well be titled A Close Look at the Racist Right. Finch covers a diverse group of radical groups; he chooses to cover the largest ones, the most influential ones, and a few smaller ones he sees as typical. Finch discusses why these groups exist, who belongs to them, why they feud, and who they are. Each chapter discusses an aspect of the Racist Right- the anti-tax movement, for example, and then has a section titled "witnessing" giving examples of right-wing sentiment backing him up, in this case an account by Ron Boggs who was convicted of failure to file an income-tax return. Phillip Finch remains objective and does not cover his own political views, although he does seem confused as to the motives of many on the right: he is not a member. He does disprove some of the more credible claims of the extreme right, and credits what sense he sees in it. This book was published in 1983 and discusses right-wing extremists from 1960 until about 1981. Therefore it should be read as a history. Happy reading.
No One's Perfect by Hirotada Ototake, translated by Gerry Harcourt
He was born in 1976 without legs, feet or hands, and some parents would have been dismayed to have him. Ototake's father did not show him to his mother until he was three weeks old, for fear she would be dismayed. She wasn't. Ototake's parents raised him to be himself, to see his differences as only that- differences. Ototake did not see himself as disabled until he was 20- his classmates, parents, and teachers allowed him to be himself, a normal kid. They found ways to include him- baseball included the Oto-chan rules, whereby Oto-chan could hit a homerun if the ball made it out of the infield. His favorite class was P.E. Oto-chan was popular, and his disability did not cause him to be teased or taunted. His childhood was the popular sort that many children only dream of. Unable to choose a profession, in college Ototake realized that there was one he was most suited for- barrier free access advocate. The inability to go places and do things because they were not wheelchair accessible or because those in wheelchairs were considered a burden had hampered Hirotada, and he began to speak against it. On the back of this book is a box with What people are saying, and one says, "Bless him for being so brave." This person has missed the point: Hirotada has not been brave. His life as a disabled person has not been heartbreaking, it has been a normal life. He does not feel disabled or disadvantaged. In his epilogue, Hirotada Ototake states,
It was to send this message-you don't have to be born perfect to be happy-that I chose the English title No One's Perfect. Some people are born able-bodied but go through life in dark despair. And some people, in spite of having no arms and no legs, go through life without a care. Disability has got nothing to do with it.
Gerry Harcourt has translated this book well; the Japanese flavor of Ototake's narrative is preserved, and the Japanese cultural differences are noted where needed, but for the most part the narrative goes on seemlessly. Question: Ototake argues for inclusion of disabled people into mainstream activities. Is he right? Is there a difference in how people with different disabilities should be or whether they should be, mainstreamed? Happy reading.
In 1943, Chevigny was informed that his retina was detaching, and that he would go blind were he to attempt a return home to Los Angeles from New York, he would go blind. He stayed in New York and underwent surgery, but went blind anyhow. Chevigny then learned what it is to be treated as an invalid, a blind person. He quickly learned that, as a blind person, the world was eager to take of him and to take over every aspect of his life. He found that he received a poor reception whenever he wanted to do things for himself- that the world was not willing to give independence or responsibility of any sort to a blind person. Although he was capable of a great many things, the world was not willing to let him be capable. He found a different attitude at The Seeing Eye, where he learned to be independent, with the aid of his guide dog, Wizard. The title of this book derives from the best treatment he received after going blind: the dignified treatment at The Seeing Eye. Chevigny goes on and on about how coddling blind people leads to their becoming invalids; I got the point much more quickly than it took him to make him. I would have liked him to move on to his rehabilitation faster. Some of Chevigny's complaints are no longer valid now; the U.S. educates blind people far better now, for more futures. But the reluctance of employers to employ the capable blind persists even now, almost 60 years later. A dated but interesting aspect of Chevigny's experience is the racial aspect. The Seeing Eye had Negro students as well, and Chevigny saw how they were treated when the students went out with their dogs. He also found himself unable to perceive race, and speculates that if the blind were in charge of the world, there would be no racism. Happy reading.
Losing Matt Shepard: Life and Politics in the Aftermath of Anti-Gay Murder by Beth Loffreda
October 6th, 1998, Matthew Shepard left the Fireside Bar with two other men. They drove one bumpy mile, tied him to a fence, and beat him until they were convinced he would die. On October 12, 1998, Matthew Shepard died. Shepard was a gay college student. He died because, in the words of his killers, he was a faggot. Shepard's death sparked outrage. The press came into Wyoming from all parts of the country, vigils and concerts were held in his honor. Folks came together and spoke about gays, about fear, about life and death. But an equal rights bill still didn't pass in the state legislature. Fund-raising concerts did not send money to gay organizations in Wyoming or in Laramie. And although New York had 8 murders of gays during the trial of Shepards' killers, Shepard's death was capitalized on. He was portrayed in an asexual manner by fundraisers, who skirted the very issue they wished to confront. What caused the mixed the reactions to Shepard's death? Loffreda is the faculty advisor to the University of Wyoming at Laramie's LGBTA club. In this book she quotes her students and fellow faculty, as well community members of Laramie, examining their outlook on Matt Shepard and on homosexuals. Thoughtful reading.
Congratulations! It's Asperger Syndrome by Jen Birch
Early on, Birch learned not to talk about her passions. Where other girls were interested in dolls or cooking or boys, Jennifer was interested in poultry. When her father died, Jennifer was 11 years old, with no one to talk to. She became very depressed and upset following the death of her father. She also believes that her father's death stunted her sexual growth. After she completed high school, Birch knew that she was not mature enough to go on to study at a university. Instead she took a job as a library assistant, working with books. Jen grew progressively more and more tired, and finally her mother took her to a doctor, where she was diagnosed with myxoedema. As the myxoedema was treated, Birch found that she was more able to join others' world, but was increasingly aware that she was still very different. This lead to much soul searching, and she decided, based on her discomfort with gender, that she was lesbian. This turned out not to be true. Through much soul searching, job changes, etcetera, Jennifer could not find the place where she fit in. While attending university in her 40s, Birch attended seminars which seemed interesting. One was about a developmental disorder called Asperger Syndrome. It described her perfectly! She obtained an official diagnosis and began volunteering at Autism NZ, which she continued doing until she got a job which took over her time. Getting a diagnosis explained a lot for Birch and she feels that getting a diagnosis opened new doors for her. Happy reading.
Jacob has been having awful headaches, accompanied by dizziness and a strange sensation. Jacob is afraid it's sight. Sight- something that his ancestors eschewed, something that Jacob has been raised to know is deceitful and bad. But Jacob's sight has been revealing to him some things he doesn't want to know. His community is not as idyllic as it seems. Jacob can see that members of the community engage in theft with none to see them. Most scarily, he can see that his mother is having an adulterous relationship! Confronted with the deception of his community, Jacob has to decide what to do. Truesight leaves too much unexplained. Why does Jacob gain sight? How is he able to understand what he sees? The corruption hinted at in the town- is it centralized? How does the town function- do they use Braille or is everything on tape? Why do the people need their technology when the advantage of blindness is that blind folks are generally able to get around with far less? This book is similar to Lowry's The Giver, with less philosophical food and an inefficient attempt at explaining how the community came to be. Although the concept of a blind community, blind by choice, is a tantalizing concept which ought to make a good story, Stahler has flubbed it. Poor reading.
Rudy Tock's dad was dying at the same time that his son was being born. His father made ten predictions about his grandson. He also warned his son to beware the clown. The clown was also an expectant father. When the doctor announced that his wife had died, the clown, Konrad Beezo, went on a killing spree, then took his son and left. Rudy Tock left with his son and five dire predictions, dates which were to be the worst of his life. The son, narrator Jimmy Tock, comes to the first one unsure as to what he should expect. When he goes into the library that day, he is taken hostage and held, along with a beutiful woman, by a maniac bent on revenge against the town. All five days are linked to this first one. The story is meant to have many surprises and so I won't reveal them. Koontz uses many characteristics he's already used; a villain who eats spiders, for example. Incorporating the name Snow into everything, for another. This book has a surreal quality to it; despite the constant danger present, there is no feeling that anyone panics or gets terribly upset. The perception of humor is something a little off kilter too; a character without ANY sense of humor doesn't feel that others are crazy when they laugh, he feels that he is stupid because he can't understand the concept of humor. Question: Is it possible to have no sense of humor at all? Happy reading.
Stranger at the Gate: To be Gay and Christian in America by Mel White
He grew up an evangelical Christian in the 1940s and 50s. His grandmother had gone town to town preaching and his family's plan for him was to save him from hellfire and to hope that he would save many other people. Young Mel, or Jim as he was called, Believed. He witnessed to everyone he met, he ran a bible study class, he went to church and he believed. And he prayed that God would take away his secret, his attraction to men. He learned to avoid looking at guys he found attractive. He already knew not to discuss what he was feeling. Jim witnessed and dated a fellow senior in high school, Lyla, who later became his wife(she wrote the Forword to this book). He attended a Christian college, where he sometimes counseled other gay students, but didn't admit to his own homosexuality. One of the students he counseled cut off his own testicles in an attempt to escape the evil he was sure he was. His brother Denny died biking off of a cliff while visiting Mel. Perhaps spurred by the thought that God had punished him by killing his brother, Mel went to see a christian psychologist, and admitted that he was attracted to other men. The psychologist advised him to tell his wife. He did. Then Mel started down a long road which led him nowhere, multiple attempts to change his sexual orientation. These attempts include electroshock therapy, staying on an island alone for three weeks, and prayer. A devoutly Christian friend of Mel's dies of cancer, and Mel thinks, If God won't heal him, why would heal me?, and doubt creeps its way in. Mel successfully makes many movies promoting Christianity, and ghost-writes for many leaders of the Christian right. Mel and Lyla adopt a daughter and nine months later have a son. But Mel cannot keep his homosexuality in check, and he has an affair. Then he gets a boyfriend, and another. He tries living with Lyla and having a boyfriend on the side(with Lyla's approval!), but it doesn't work out. Finally Mel attains a divorce. He moves in with his boyfriend. However, he is still leading two lives; one acknowledged by his heterosexual friends, and a different home life. Eight years into his relationship with his partner, Gary, Mel closes the closet door behind him, and comes out to his former friends, to new friends, to the world. He becomes a gay activist, fighting for the right to be a gay christian. White combines his account of his life with attacks on the christian and political right in America, as well as a history of gays in America and elsewhere. He compares the rise of the Christian right to that of the Nazi in the 1930s. However this book was published in 1994, and a decade later, gays in America have not lost the rights White feared they would. White discusses biblical passages used by Christians to condemn gays. He points out that there is no evidence and little likelihood that the sin of the sodomites was what we call sodomy, that most christians wouldn't think of following the other prohibitions accompanying the verse in Leviticus(although he doesn't mention it, some do follow those rules). White argues that it is UNchristian to damn gays. He argues that if he could have changed his sexuality he would have. He can't. Read.
