Peter Hildebrandt

Prepare for your assumptions to fall away.

Reviewed: 05-10-25

Great book and I cannot imagine getting a better profile of this amazing man. Now, over two decades later current cuts by the current administration feel even more gut wrenching. Despite medical advances, greed and cruelty— things not even conceivable in this 2003 book — have taken hold. Paul Farmer we need you more than ever. You left us too soon.

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Gripping book, a few rather glaring errors easily fact checked.

Reviewed: 09-18-24

I like the random arrangement of people, details, time frames giving this the feel of your memories being corrected or refreshed in real time. I did note that RFK Jr. was 14 when his father was murdered. The statement of “nine” is his age when his uncle was killed. Jr and I share a birth year. Also, RFK jr. was not the oldest male in his family. His brother was Joseph Kennedy III same age as my brother. Joseph had problems of his own with the women in his life. I am ashamed to admit that all through my lifetime I have given the Kennedy men a “pass” out of sympathy for the so-called Kennedy curse. Just as with RFK’s malignant conspiracy theories real danger comes with that. Think of the 83 measles deaths of children in Samoa 🇼🇸 directly resulting from Kennedy visiting and persuading their leader not to vaccinate. When pressed on his role in those deaths he actually stated that he had absolutely nothing to do with them. Gaslighting is not even a strong enough word. Wish poor Mary had been able to dislodge that rope from her neck. Visions of the film “Get Out!” So much about our culture its “celebrities” is truly vile, sick, twisted,

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Perfect all around

Reviewed: 04-15-23

Loved this book and having it read by the author was the icing on the cake. I appreciate how Nathaniel Philbrick did such a good job of including important details such as the complexity of dealing with the freedom of those enslaved by him and his family. This, along with his pursuit in anger of one of his wive’s slave Ona escaping let us see how he was “just a man,” as the legend goes by so many at the time. Only the pronunciation of Edisto was incorrect, just something only those who live down here in this state would probably notice :) wish man dad had lived to read the book as he was as in the American Revolution round table, loved Washington and one of his favorite generals who did so much to help turn the tide and win the war, Benedict Arnold. There’s a great idea, travels with Arnold. (We have made his first name one none in the US dare name a baby boy!) But I guess I digress! Another excellent book by Mr. Philbrick.

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1 person found this helpful

Read this book, or listen to it

Reviewed: 02-09-23

Worthwhile read or listen. Actually listened twice! Basic message: give up fretting over stupid stuff and live. Anyone can find something useful here. When I was about six or seven I found a dead robin and buried it in the woods. For some reason I thought “I want to be buried here when I die.” I wasn’t scared, just wise beyond my years and at peace. Death comes for us all. Make the most of life, let go of 99% of the stuff you’ve been “giving a f**k about.

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Can this reader learn what the letter “t” sounds like?!

Reviewed: 12-17-22

Fantastic book from which I learned so much and got a feeling for what women comics have done. Only gripe: the narrator needs to learn that the t is pronounced In Manhattan and hundreds of other words contain that help letter! Who says manhaain?! Only the person reading this book I guess.

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Excellent

Reviewed: 12-02-22

Great book! Lots to chew on here. Love books that make connections and teach me much I never realized. Always wondered why Humboldt fills maps out west.

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Perfect read

Reviewed: 10-24-22

Michael Grunwald knows his Everglades, our Everglades. He is a master of getting to basics and bottom of his subject. The book actually reads like a suspense tale and the final outcome is unknown. But thanks to this book I both understand and have great hope for its future. Bitterly ironic that the name of the book’s hero — who lived to 108, as feisty as ever until the end — is now linked to another place of death and destruction, Margory Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland Florida. The narrator has the perfect voice. My one and only gripe, coming on the last pages of the book: the pronunciation of kudzu! Codzow? Close, but I don’t think I have ever heard it said that way :)

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Great telling of another side of Josephine Baker’s amazing life

Reviewed: 10-11-22

A brief review in The New Yorker described this book. Glad I followed through and gave it a listen. Here is the story of someone driven away and with the guts to go from the US by its racial caste system to secretly fight for that country and the rest of to be free from fascism. With the US on the brink of destruction from within— again due to metastasized racism— this book is a timely breath of fresh air. We need some Madame Bakers right now.

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2 people found this helpful

Great book, great start at understanding falconry

Reviewed: 09-17-22

Nice book on falconry, catching the essence of this very ancient sport. I accompanied a NC falconer who had a pair of Harris hawks and a red tailed hawk. They, birds are clearly in charge. I don’t know that Montgomery mentioned— or maybe she did and I didn’t catch it — that an important point is to distract the bird from its prey ASAP and not to all it to eat. Keeping the bird hungry keeps it around and you can get it frozen/ defrosted chicken hearts to temporarily distract/ feed it with a snack. What is good too, is the book can be enough in itself or lead you to lengthier works on this fascinating subject.

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Great book

Reviewed: 07-30-22

This work gives me much hope for the future with the research and long study to back that claim up. Things are getting better as they have been since the dawn of our species. Despite what the pundits and news outlets would have us believe.

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