  darth (209.104.139.33 - 209.104.139.33) |
Along the lines of the most challenged books thread. The 3 most controvercial books in Detroit (at least when they came out). Sorry if I mispelled any authors names or book titles. 1)Unsafe at any speed - Ralph Nader 2)Devils Night and other true tales of Detroit -Z'ef Chafets 3)High and Mighty: SUVs--The World's Most Dangerous Vehicles and How They Got That Way -- by Keith Bradsher Honorable Mention 4) The Betsy - Harrold Robbins Any comments from those who have read them? Any other suggestions? | ||
Lowell (165.247.229.120 - 165.247.229.120) |
Good choices Darth, but I would toss in, "The Day We Almost Lost Detroit" by John G. Fuller about the partial meltdown at Fermi I. | ||
gratio (141.211.161.9 - 141.211.161.9) |
"The Day We Almost Lost Detroit" was good, but it got very tedious at times with all the people, agencies, community groups, etc. involved with the project. It seemed like a few chapters were devoted soley to the interactions between a small group of people who were intimately involved with the design and approval process. It did get the point across that building an experimental nuclear reactor near a large population center is as much a political venture as an engineering challenge. But the chapters that cited examples of the capabilities, both in producing electricity and in producing a deadly explosion were quite informative. The workings of a few different type of reactors were explained in plain language and the comparison between the reactors really made fermi 1 look like an engineer/capitalist wet dream. The reactor, a breeder type, would produce more fuel than it would consume. Several tons a year more. And the coolant, used to keep the reactor from melting down, was also highly toxic, and it would explode when exposed to oxygen in any form, including water. | ||
Rasputin (67.38.17.50 - 67.38.17.50) |
Try these couples: The Algiers Motel Incident, John Hersey with an introduction by Thomas J. Sugrue Detroit: I Do Mind Dying: A Study in Urban Revolution, by Dan Georgakas and Marvin Surkin Foreword by Manning Marable Living for Change, Grace Lee Boggs The Mad Monk ...  | ||
gratio (63.212.150.107 - 63.212.150.107) |
"Detroit: I Do Mind Dying" was pretty good. Well written and easy to read/follow. It has great insider insight to many of the local labor movements of the latter 20th century. The one thing I enjoyed most about the book was the familiarity of many of the characters in the book. Many of the names of the labor movement instigators and leaders are still around today and are pretty active in the community. It's pretty interesting to see where they came from and what they have become, as well as the movements and ideas they supported. | ||
Al T. Publican (67.25.214.31 - 67.25.214.31) |
How To Win Friends and Influence People In Palmer Park by Truman Capote | ||
mcwm - running on 7 cylinders this morning (68.40.179.145 - 68.40.179.145) |
I didn't quite get that last one. Please elaborate. | ||
the rock (67.218.17.134 - 67.218.17.134) |
Don't forget the "Compiled Ordinances for The City of Detroit" I guarantee that "book" has faced more challenges and has been the subject of more discussions and litigation than any other book mentioned so far. | ||
Al T. Publican (12.2.196.17 - 12.2.196.17) |
We Had To Destroy the City In Order To Save the City by Coleman Young | ||
mc5rules (148.61.97.36 - 148.61.97.36) |
How about "Guitar Army" by John Sinclair -- Detroit's favorite cigar-chomping psychadelic gangster (to use Pun Plamondon's description). | ||
Chris (65.179.177.43 - 65.179.177.43) |
How about HI...GOOD-BYE, DETROIT!, by Robert E. Beckwell. It's a true story about growing up on the East side (my old area) in the fifties when Detroit was a great place to live. | ||
ISLD (12.241.148.103 - 12.241.148.103) |
I liked "A Place for Summer" by Richard Bak. It was not only about baseball in Detroit, but also had quite a lot of history of the city itself. | ||
=SC= (206.187.88.130 - 206.187.88.130) |
My favorite is 'Devil's Night and Other True Tales'. A more caring book you won't find. Hev grew up in Detroit in my era and genuinely loved the city. Read it and ignore all the jerks who criticized it without reading it. =SC= | ||
=SC= (206.187.88.130 - 206.187.88.130) |
'The Day We Almost Lost Detroit' is a very good story of the Walker Cisler/Detroit Edison fiasco at Enrico Fermi. Gives a good background of the nuclear industry and some history of Detroit. I read it when it came out about 25 years ago and reread it about a year ago. Much of the information about the nuclear industry and its attempts to mislead and sidestep the citizenry is still true today. Recommended highly even though about a quarter century old. =SC= | ||
Al T. Publican (12.2.196.17 - 12.2.196.17) |
Traversing the Great Historic Vacant Lots of Detroit by George Pierrot | ||
Fury13 (209.69.165.10 - 209.69.165.10) |
LOL!!! | ||
Fury13 (209.69.165.10 - 209.69.165.10) |
"We Do Good Work For An Exorbitant Price" by Mr. Belvedere | ||
Rasputin (67.38.30.158 - 67.38.30.158) |
Chris, Detroit is still a great place too live. In fact, it may be a better place now that you're gone. Go figure! Those attitudes SUCK .... The Mad Monk .... | ||
Fury13 (209.69.165.10 - 209.69.165.10) |
Ras, Detroit's Golden Era ended about 1960. FACT. | ||
Al T. Publican (209.69.165.10 - 209.69.165.10) |
The Fabulous Streetwalkers of Detroit by Chris Cavanaugh. Ouch | ||
Chris (65.179.136.194 - 65.179.136.194) |
Rasputin, how much better would it be if you were gone? I was only stating my opinion, but I guess in your slanted view I'm not entitled to that! | ||
Rasputin (67.38.30.158 - 67.38.30.158) |
Where do you live now, Chris? I thought this site was/is called "DetriotYES!" Go figure .... as you slant Detroit! Hell naw, I wouldn't want you, yo momma or your dog for my neighbors with that attitude .... Your opinion? "Whatever!" The Mad Monk .... | ||
einar (141.211.150.85 - 141.211.150.85) |
I suspect that it might be considered "contraversal" so I'll toss in Robert Conot's, American Odyssey. For those not familiar with it ,it's a social history of Detroit. Einar | ||
Friend in D.C. (205.188.208.135 - 205.188.208.135) |
Has anyone read this? Thoughts? Worth reading? STALKING DETROIT. Daskalakis, G., Waldheim, C. & Young, J. 2002, 176 pp., 50 color, 60 duotones. '...The most thoroughly modern city in the world' has come to represent not only the temporary nature of urbanism in the context of increasingly mobile capital in the first half of the 20C, but also the resultant loss of much of its population in the second half in the face of global capital markets and decentralized production methods. Includes essays, photos, and projects which create a picture of Detroit at the end of the 20C. | ||
Rasputin (67.38.17.227 - 67.38.17.227) |
Read it FIDC. Let us know your POV. einar mentioned an outstanding book about Detroit. It was commissioned by the Mayor Cavanaugh. Black-atcha ....  | ||
Al T. Publican (12.2.196.17 - 12.2.196.17) |
Palmer Park: An Oral History by Truman Capote | ||
Al T. Publican (12.2.196.17 - 12.2.196.17) |
The Robert Conot book on Detroit 'American Odyssey' is on the dry side but a good one that feels in the blanks about the city. Like, duh. I wonder who Riopelle was?... | ||
Yo Mom (66.73.178.40 - 66.73.178.40) |
"Excuse me, sir, did you drop that chicken bone?" by Bill Bonds | ||
The Ghettoman (152.163.189.167 - 152.163.189.167) |
Here's something for you Rasputin. Read Untold Tales, Unsung Heroes: And Oral History of Detroit's African American Community by Elaine Latzman Moon. You get a charge out of this. | ||
Rasputin (67.38.8.234 - 67.38.8.234) |
Read it, GhettoMan. A copy sits on my coffee table.... Thanks for the recommendation, anyway. Black-atcha | ||
Chris (63.183.209.138 - 63.183.209.138) |
Rasputin - I haven't been on-line for a while so I'll tell you - I moved west about forty years ago because of my work. If you say I have an attitude because I remember Detroit when it was a great, vibrent, safe, productive city with a populace proud to say where they live, not as it is now with everyone complaining about poor commumity services, a rotten police department and terrible politicians, I guess I do! I feel sorry for you and generations of Detroiters to come, because you'll never have those memories! | ||
Chris (65.179.128.126 - 65.179.128.126) |
Hey Raspuckin - I forgot to say stay as black as as you are! | ||
Al T. Publican (67.25.222.218 - 67.25.222.218) |
The Pheasants Have Come Home To Roost by Malcolm Little |
