The American Spectator : Books for Christmas

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Books for Christmas

From the December 2011 - January 2012 issue

Our annual list of holiday gift suggestions from distinguished readers and writers.

(Page 6 of 8)

Ron Maxwell

ONE OF THE GUYS of reading in a cozy stuffed chair on a cold winter’s night is the delightful reassurance that you’re not out there. Outside. There’s nothing like a good book of outdoors adventure to make one really appreciate central heating and roofs that don’t leak, not to mention that hot cup of tea, the down pillow and comforter just waiting for the first drowse to hit.

Those of us still alive after the passing of a few decades must marvel that this is so—considering the really dumb things we’ve done along the way. As someone who has tried blue water sailing, river rafting, downhill skiing, and back-country hiking, I’ve probably had more than my fair share of close calls. A few more pounds of pressure on that boom that knocked me overboard east of Block Island, a few more seconds held submerged by that hole in the class-4 rapid on the Salmon River, that tree just a few more inches in my path during my barely controlled descent at Mammoth, another 20 minutes without the ability to start that campfire at a distant shore of the Queen Charlotte Islands, a drop or two more of that venom injected into my bloodstream by that black widow spider in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and I wouldn’t be enjoying this evening by the fireplace, surrounded by my dogs.

What’s chilling in the recollection of these near-death experiences is that had they gone really bad there would have been no one to blame but myself. Hubris isn’t reserved for all-conquering megalomaniacs. We can all succumb to it, in small ways with potentially lethal results. In each of my close calls a decision had been made, well prior to the event itself, that set an inexorable sequence of events in motion. In other words, I had charted the course and nearly sealed my own fate without knowing it.

Every rag-bagging old salt knows that as soon as you think about lowering sail you should go ahead and do it. To delay is to invite catastrophe. Kayakers know you do everything to avoid getting caught in the hydraulic, because once caught in the vortex no human can escape it with only his own wits or physical strength. Only the river can let you go. You should never ski downhill when overly tired and never faster than your skills can control the descent. You never, ever wade into freezing water without the certainty of being able to dry off and warm up quickly, and only certified fools pick up stones or branches in the wild with their bare hands without looking carefully first, especially at dusk.

Over the years I’ve discovered a handful of books that describe this syndrome of fate in the great outdoors. The stories range across much of the activities done all the time by regular Joes and weekend warriors, but include as well the nearly mind-boggling accounts of seasoned sailors, expert rock face climbers, and that rare breed of super-human that ventures into the Himalayan peaks above 18,000 meters.

My recommendations: Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why by Laurence Gonzales (Norton), Last Breath: The Limits of Adventure by Peter Stark (Ballantine), Panic Rising: True-Life Survivor Tales from the Great Outdoors by Brett Nunn (Sasquatch) and in a more historical vein, Stellar’s Island: Adventures of a Pioneer Naturalist in Alaska by Dean Littlepage (Mountaineers Books), an account of Vitus Bering’s harrowing journey of discovery across the North Pacific in 1741. Heat up the hot chocolate and go for it!

Ron Maxwell wrote and directed the movies Gettysburg and Gods & Generals.

*****

Veronique Rodman

READING and recommending: In My Time, by Dick Cheney. In Defense of Thomas Jefferson: The Sally Hemmings Sex Scandal, by William G. Hyland (Thomas Dunne). Detective novels—in particular any book by Linda Fairstein or Donna Leon’s Venice-based detective.

Veronique Rodman is director of public affairs at the American Enterprise Institute.

*****

Donald Rumsfeld

Witness, by Whittaker Chambers.

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Letter to the Editor View all comments (16) | Leave a comment Leave a comment

J. Edgar Hodgkins of Ole Miss| 12.14.11 @ 8:37AM

Please allow me, a retired history professor from Ole Miss, to recommend a few of my Christmas selections, dear readers:

TOYS FOR BIG BOYS by Ben Stein. Ben shows off his cars, boats, motorcycles, etc. Lovely photos of Ben barechested in his boat, leather-clad on his motorcycle. This coffee talbe book will appeal to both men and women. $175 Rizzoli.

NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED by Margie (a children's book). It's a story about a little girl who loans her lovely doll to her friend, and her friend, in a fit of anger, bashes the doll's head on a radiator pipe. $5.99 Tulip Press.

LOVE IN THE TIME OF DEATH PANELS by Garcia Gomez-Phillipe. A psychological thriller about a man who's been in a vegetative state for 15 years, and the hospital decides to pull the plug. The wife not only objects, but demands that fresh flowers be delivered to her husband's room daily. $29.95 Fascista Press.

WHEN JESUS LAID HIS HANDS ON ME by Ken (Old Texican). Ken tells about the time he pulled a muscle in his right shoulder while helping his friend Margie move an upright piano up a staircase. I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but the theme is this: Jesus will answer your prayers if you really believe. $17.50 Glory Road Press.

A SEXUAL HISTORY OF THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CHURCH by Miss Alabama. Miss Alabama, an Episcopalian and social and cultural doyenne of the South, writes about the ravenous sexual appetites of Southern Baptist men. Using her husband, Hank, his male friends and relatives, Miss Alabama rips open a sordid social fabric of unbridled sexual depravity. You'll need to turn on the air conditioner before opening this steamy tome. $45.00 Pavlova and Bertolucci.

Betty Jean Dowless| 12.14.11 @ 10:48AM

Can't wait to read Miss Alabama's book. Having been invovled with alot of Southern Baptist men, I can testify to their disgusting sexual appetites.

All I will say is that they left me bruised and battered and leave it at that.

But I could go on and on about their peculiar "tastes."

Seek| 12.14.11 @ 1:26PM

But these men profess Christian piety and virtue. Is there, then, a credibility gap?

Prunella S.| 12.14.11 @ 10:52AM

Betty Jean, honey, a lot is two words: a lot.

Example in a sentence:

I loved Rufus a lot, but he was an unfaithful S.O.B. and got the choir director of our local Baptist church pregnant!

Vern Crisler| 12.14.11 @ 10:58AM

I was a little shocked that Bandow would blame Christianity for the Civil War, but I guess when it comes to purist libertarians, such nuttiness is to be expected. Amazingly, many of these same libertarians are defenders of Southern intransigence, witness the foolish writings of Tom DiLorenzo.

Peppermint Tea| 12.14.11 @ 11:09AM

In order to understand Mitt Romney, conservatives and liberals alike should read Lexi Bjornholt's "My Boyfriend is a Mormon Vampire." Find on amazon.

David March| 12.14.11 @ 11:22AM

My recommended reads,

West of Honor, by Dr. Jerry E Pournelle, a good solid story of a soldier on a far frontier who has a chance to do something right. Pournelle himself was apparently a job at this magazine, so Im sure his work is familiar to somebody.

General Kenney Reports: A Personal History of the Pacific War, by General George C. Kenney. A great story of the pacific war told by MacArthurs senior airman. The Pacific comes alive as you relive the stories of his fights with rear areas, his attempts to keep his planes a fly and his coverage of several areas of battles that are not well remembered in these days of the island hopping campaigns.

A State of Disobedience by Tom Kratman. A story set in the near future when a Democrat Presidents policies leads to an armed insurrection in the south. Very scary and very realistic stuff, a foreshadowing of things to come.

David March is a contributor to a World at War and Against the Odds Magazines. His recent articles included the Mau Mau Insurgency and The Battle of Loos.

Purp| 12.14.11 @ 11:24AM

"The strategic genius of Roosevelt and Churchill in encouraging Stalin to take more than 90 percent of the casualties in fighting Hitler, as between the three major allies, while snatching Germany, France, Italy, and Japan, all hostile dictatorships at the end of 1940, back into the West as democratic allies, is rigorously but very readably recounted. " - Really? Do you really think this lesson was lost on the Soviets? Is this not why they felt justified overrunning Eastern Europe as their prize for so many casualties? How was that strategically brilliant?
Moreover, France was no dictatorship in 1940, where did you get that factoid?

Naturalborn Texicanette| 12.14.11 @ 2:50PM

Book reccomendation:

"Beautiful Outlaw" by John Eldridge

Margie| 12.14.11 @ 8:46PM

Every true Christian ought to read this book on the Reformation. It is being read aloud on Christian radio daily right now. It is the best book I have heard of, ever on the subject.

"The Reformation in England", by By Jean Henri Merle d'Aubigné.

Originally published in 1866, reprinted by Banner of Truth Trust, 1972.

"The introductory material in Volume 1, Book 1 is especially interesting as it deals with the planting of apostolic Christianity in Roman Britain, its later subversion by the forces of the Papacy, and the beginnings of reformation in the work of Wycliffe and the Lollards. This is great history and the reader is encouraged to read and study those events that in God's providence were used to reestablish apostolic and Biblical Christianity among the English speaking peoples." ~americanpresbyterianchurch.org.

Titles of some of book one chapters:

CHAPTER 1 Christ Mightier than Druid Altars and Roman Swords
CHAPTER 2 Iona versus Rome
CHAPTER 3 Rome "Converts" Britain
CHAPTER 4 The Conflict with Papal Supremacy
CHAPTER 5 The Iron Age of Spiritual Slavery
CHAPTER 6 Grosseteste and Bradwardine
CHAPTER 7 Light Streams from Lutterworth
CHAPTER 8 The Morning Star of the Reformation
CHAPTER 9 The Lollard Burnings
CHAPTER 10 The New Learning and the New Dynasty
CHAPTER 11 War, Marriage and Preaching
CHAPTER 12 Wolsey’s Rise to Power
CHAPTER 13 The Need for Reformation

Jesus is LORD~ Merry Christmas christians!

Sister Anna Maria Spiccata| 12.14.11 @ 9:06PM

And Merry Christmas to you, Margie.

Take time to listen to "Ave Maria," Shubert's version, and meditate on our Blessed Holy Mother as you drink in the divine melody and lyrics.

Margie| 12.14.11 @ 9:13PM

I prefer Handel's Messiah.
The lyrics are all from the Bible, which do not include any such "Holy Mother." That's bunk, and I never did go for bunk.
Merry Christmas Troll~ oh, and remember to keep the CHRIST in Christmas!

Nick| 12.14.11 @ 11:57PM

Margie,

Why are you promoting the Presbyterian church? I thought you didn't believe in denominationalism?
Aren't Presbyterians also a bunch of lying Papists? Isn't RCV a Presbyterian?
Merry Christ's Mass, and God Bless!

Vlady| 12.15.11 @ 9:03AM

"remember to keep the CHRIST in Christmas!"

Even better, it seems old Margie is promoting the Knights of Columbus.... Isn't that one of their yearly things, keeping Christ in Christmas?

POST American| 12.15.11 @ 1:02AM

"Understand, religion is the KEY
to history. Among the Christians, ONLY
the Calvinists possessed the faculty for
self-government, and ONLY the Calvinists
would fight."
-Lord Acton

"John Calvin was America's REAL founding
father."
-George Bancroft
America's First Historian
1830

SO, start grabbing that Geneva Bible,
start downloading that John Gill, John Bunyan
and John Calvin.

START cleaning out your churches or staring your own.

Make a defintive break with RED China wampum, franchise slum X---Miss.

---------YOUR LIFE NOW DEPENDS ON IT---------

Vasu Murti | 12.24.11 @ 3:23PM

(The folk song below receives airplay on KFOG 104.5 here in the SF Bay Area during the holiday season.)

"Well, Jesus was a homeless lad
"With an unwed mother and an absent dad
"And I really don't think he would have gotten that far
"If Newt, Pat and Jesse had followed that star