For example, Ritholtz believes that the federal government "affordable housing" regulatory fetish contributed nothing to the crisis, and fully exonerates the biggest buyers of subprime paper, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as innocent victims of the evil mortgage originators. Huh?

As the chapters unfold, Barry touts big government and offers childish-regulatory solutions. He does a classic liberal dance, shifting the blame from the left to the right and protects the real villains (Rep. Barney Frank, Sen. Chris Dodd, Franklin Raines, Maxine Waters, et al). He blames Bush - naturally - and excoriates Alan Greenspan, minimizing the fact that Greenspan stopped the '87 crash in its tracks, prevented the Asian meltdown from devastating the U.S. economy and warned of the "irrational exuberance" of the mid-'90s stock market. The spendthrift Congress - a wasteful, pork-laden bunch regardless of which party is at the helm - mostly gets a pass from Barry.

The book ends with a hodgepodge of poorly though-out suggestions. Many are ludicrous. This could have been a great book. It began with promise. It was sad to watch it deteriorate with every chapter. (posted 6/23/10, permalink)

'Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition' by Daniel Okrent

This is a well-researched, interesting and entertaining book on the Great War on Alcohol. Okrent describes in detail the factors leading up to the crafting and passage of the 18th Amendment and offers a fascinating glimpse into this unfortunate segment of American history.

I learned many things from this book, including:

• In 1810, the average American imbibed three times as much alcohol as today. Town bells would ring at 11:00 am and 4:00 pm to signal 'Grog Time'.

• Most prohibitionists were smug liberals. In 1872, the Prohibition Party endorsed many causes including forest conservation and the elimination of the electoral college. Many were vegetarians as well. Later, Prohibitionist forces were an odd alliance of suffragettes, the Klu Klux Klan and anti-Jewish, anti-German and anti-Catholic forces as well as Boston puritans and rural sharecroppers.

• Carrie Nation was a destructive unabashed self-righteous lawbreaker, who employed terror tactics - not unlike a modern-day Earth Firster.

• Many Darwinist Progressives believed that "alcohol, by killing off generation after generation of the unfit, was acting as a progressive factor in natural selection and improving the race."

• Anti-German sentiment was so high during World War I, that sauerkraut was rechristened as Liberty Cabbage. (And I thought it was just a Grandpa Simpson joke.) German books were burned in Wisconsin and playing Beethoven in public was banned in Boston.

• A Packard Motor Car executive publicly blamed the brewing interests for encouraging "the drunken darkies' orgies and white slavery." He later apologized under orders from Packard's president, Henry B. Joy.

• The Thompson machine gun was nicknamed the Chicago typewriter.

• The 18th Amendment was potentially devastating to bar owners, distilleries, breweries, wineries and other involved in the production, distribution and retailing of alcoholic beverages. At first, Congress considered compensation for the affected parties but it was opposed by people like Rep. Daniel F. Garrett of Texas who declared that after the 13th Amendment abolished slavery, four billion dollars of "property" had been rendered valueless. Liquor and beer interests must "pocket their losses just as our fathers had to pocket theirs when you took their niggers away from them."

The Congressional Record noted that his statement provoked "applause and laughter."

• One Prohibition cocktail, a mix of gin, brandy, apricot brandy and lime juice, was named the Bridge Table because "after a few of these, your legs will fold up."

Overall, 'Last Call' is a remarkable and enjoyable history book. (posted 6/18/10, permalink)

'Anything Goes: A Biography of the Roaring Twenties' by Lucy Moore

Recent decades have seen the rise of local food and wine festivals, designed to promote nearby eateries and purveyors of drink. The idea of offering a vignette - a sampler of a bistro's culinary offerings - as an inducement to get prospects into the establishment for a full-priced meal seems to work.

In the writing biz, vignettes are short, impressionistic pieces often published in magazines that provide a trenchant impression about a character, era or event. This sampler hopefully induces the reader to go out and purchase a book by the author. Or a selection of the author's vignettes strung together in book form. Tom Wolfe has made this into High Art, moving deftly from a newspaper features editor to an Esquire vignette producer to an accomplished writer of novels.

Lucy Moore has produced a collection of vignettes, proffering the book as a history of the Roaring Twenties. It is not. It is a breezy, uneven tome full of flappers, bootleggers, jazz and assorted literary characters.

I'm by no means a historian but in casual reading picked up more than one error. To wit: She describes the modern '20s woman's yearning for nylon stockings - more than once - when they weren't commercially available until 1940. The versatile thermoplastic compound wasn't even invented until 1935 and was first used for toothbrushes (1938), not stockings. And the renowned crown of the world-famous Chrysler Building in NYC was not "chrome-plated." (It was fabricated of Nirosta stainless steel.)

The 1920s decade was a flavor-packed America era, full of compelling personalities with great stories - a literary feast with many sauces. Moore offers mostly meringue - initially entertaining and sweet but ultimately unsatisfying. (posted 6/9/10, permalink)

'Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight' by Karl Rove

A self-confessed political junkie, Karl Rove ran the national College Republicans at age twenty-two, turned a Democrat-dominated Texas into a Republican stronghold and made George W. Bush a household name. Because of his success, Rove has been accused of everything from campaign chicanery to ideological divisiveness.

In this frank memoir, Rove responds to critics and defends the choices he made on the campaign trail and in the White House. He paints Democratic stalwarts like Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama and Tom Daschle as cynical and two-faced, providing lots of examples.

As in any memoir, 100% objectivity isn't possible but I think Rove tries to present a fair picture of events. I was taken with his unique perspective on what transpired on September 11th, as someone who spent the entire day with President Bush.

I was riveted (and often angered) by many of the behind the scenes stories: Despite Bush's push for meaningful Social Security reform in his 2005 State of the Union address (with specifics offered), his plan "was rebuffed by Democrats and Republicans alike." Thanks, Congress.

As to the financial mess, in April 2001, the Bush Administration had warned Congress of problems with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. A Bush-proposed bill "would have subjected Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the kinds of federal regulations that banks, credit unions and savings and loans have to comply with. No Democrat supported it and, most important of all, Senator Chris Dodd threatened to filibuster if Banking Committee's chairman Richard Shelby, Alabama's senior senator, attempted to bring it to the floor. Dodd got his way - and thus helped pave the way to the largest financial crisis since the Great Depression."

In 2003, the Bush Administration's concern grew when Freddie "had to restate its earnings for the past three years because of accounting problems. On its board during part of this period was Rahm Emanuel, who later became President Obama's chief of staff." Oh, that Rahm Emanuel. Connect the dots.

Rove has written a thorough and compelling account of how he and the 43rd President reached the White House. A self-taught political strategist, Karl Rove has produced a book which should be required reading for anyone who wants to succeed in politics. (posted 5/11/10, permalink)

'Closing Time: A Memoir' by Joe Queenan

This autobiography is the Philadelphia version of 'Angela's Ashes' told with a decidedly nasty bent. Joe Queenan takes readers from his 1950s Philadelphia elementary school days through the death of his abusive father in 1997.

Queenan is a humorist, critic and author with several books and numerous magazine pieces under his belt. But this tome is unexpectedly weary and burdensome. Reading it, one would think that every Irish Catholic family was full of besotted cruel-but-charming rogues.

Mr. Queenan writes that his parents "were charter members of an ethnic group that lacked the capacity to enjoy anyone else's good fortune." And: "We told great stories, we had an odd, unsettling sense of humor, we were fiercely devoted to our mothers without actually enjoying their company, we wished our fathers were dead, we spent most of our lives being depressed, we drank ourselves to early graves, we were Irish."

That's an insult to a mostly-fine ethnic group and certainly not representative of the Philly Irish-Americans I have known.

Much of the book is devoted to his childhood poverty, with occasional insightful comments: "Poverty goes far beyond not having money or food. Poverty means that when you do have money and food, the money gets spent unwisely and the food is not nutritious. ... Poverty is ... an agglomeration of bad habits."

Queenan paints himself as an upbeat lad dedicated to self-improvement, generously crediting uncles, employers and his friends' parents with teaching him positive habits and values. But when this industrious, drug-shunning student tries to commit suicide with a handful of pills, the reader is left mystified as to the run-up, cause and any insights gained from later therapy.

He makes much of his Catholic upbringing - positive and negative. The Church appears frequently throughout the book. But the former seminarian never explains how he went from active Catholicism to not believing in God at all. Or why.

Queenan's father was a deadbeat, a drunk and a child-beater. Two of his sisters cut the old man off and even refused to visit him on his deathbed. But Queenan mawkishly drifts in and out of his dad's life and remains conflicted even at the end, as his father lay dying of cancer: "I didn't want him hugging me. The nerve-endings he was trying to reach had been dead for thirty-five years. ... He had done bad things to God's children, and now God was doing bad things to him."

This is a sad, uneven 'Daddy Dearest' book, lacking in nobility. Verdict: don't bother. (posted 4/28/10, permalink)

'Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong' by Terry Teachout

The Louis Armstrong I remember was an aging black gentleman who played a pretty good trumpet on the Ed Sullivan Show, usually in between Señor Wences and a plate-spinning act. By then Armstrong was well-past his prime and, like many elder performers, relied on playing his old stand-bys rather than keeping up with the times.

I found this biography to be quite an eye-opener; there was more to Satchmo I ever realized. Terry Teachout has penned a very comprehensive tome and he is well-qualified to do so - a professional musician, music scholar, historian and writer. 'Pops' examines the legendary Mr. Armstrong, not just as a musician, but as a creative force, who reshaped jazz and American culture. And, as a man who responded with dignity and creativity to the various injustices he encountered throughout his life.

Louis Armstrong was one of the greatest musicians of the twentieth century and, even as a sixty-something, managed to knock the Beatles off the top of the charts with his rendition of 'Hello Dolly'. The success of Satchmo's record caused the producers of the musical to change its name from 'Dolly: A Damned Exasperating Woman'. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Born to a prostitute in the poorest part of New Orleans and saddled with a rocky, hardscrabble childhood, Armstrong was more complex - and a lot tougher - than most people realized. Teachout paints an interesting, touching and inspiring story on the canvas of the oft-unfair and prejudiced America of Satchmo's era. Teachout explained, "Faced with the terrible realities of the time and place into which he had been born, he didn't repine, but returned love for hatred and sought salvation in work."

Louis had quite a sense of humor, too. During a 1949 private audience with Pius XII, the Pope asked if Armstrong and his wife had any children. Satch replied, "No, Daddy, but we're workin' on it."

This is a wonderful book - full of surprises which will engage readers and maintain the interest of musicians and non-musicians alike. (posted 4/14/10, permalink)

'Banquo's Ghosts' by Richard Lowry and Keith Korman

I read a lot of fiction - there's always a paperback on my bedside table - I just don't usually write about it. I'm making an exception for this book.

National Review editor Richard Lowry and fiction-writer Korman have produced an intelligent, supercharged thriller chock full of action, assassination and international intrigue.

The writing is smart and funny - several notables are parodied: look for thinly disguised clones of the New York Times' Frank Rich (Neville Poore) and The Nation's Katrina vanden Heuvel (Josephine von Hildebrand).

It starts with Peter Johnson, a buffoonish, drunken liberal writer, being recruited by CIA agent Stewart Banquo for the assassination of a top Iranian nuclear scientist. And gets better every page from there. A great read. (posted 4/5/10, permalink)

'Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One' by Thomas Sowell

The heavily-reworked 2009 update of Sowell's 2004 classic book is nearly 50% larger than the first edition. It now includes a chapter on the economics of immigration and new topics such as the 'creative' home financing that led to the subprime mortgage crisis.

Sowell's tome is a fascinating read; he explains everyday economic concepts with real-life examples - both contemporary and historic. He explains how politicians are always in search of stage one 'quick fixes' which often lead to bigger problems and more economic woes in the longer term.

I found the section on the economics of slavery very enlightening: "Where they were expensive and not easily replaced, as in the American antebellum South, the need to preserve the existing slaves often led their owners to hire Irish immigrants to do work considered too dangerous for slaves. During Frederick Law Olmsted's celebrated travels though the antebellum South, he was puzzled to see black slaves throwing 500-pound bales of cotton down an incline to Irish workers who were at the bottom, catching these bales and loading them onto a boat. When Olmsted asked about this surprising racial division of labor, he was told that slaves "are worth too much to be risked here; if the Paddies are knocked overboard, or get their backs broken, nobody loses anything."

It was likewise common to use the Irish for other work considered too dangerous for slaves, such as draining swamps that might be malarial, building levees that might collapse on the workmen, building railroads, or tending to steam boilers that might blow up."

Sowell also offered an interesting story on the futility of foreign aid, noting that "South Korea is a country whose rise from abysmal poverty to one of the more prosperous nations in the world began right after the United States drastically reduced foreign aid." In 1960, South Korea's real per capita income was below that of Haiti. But, by the mid-1960s, Korea had turned itself around and achieved an unprecedented near-double-digit growth rate.

Applied Economics is never dull; I enthusiastically recommend it. (posted 3/23/10, permalink)

'Liberty and Tyranny' by Mark R. Levin

Proclaimed as a "conservative manifesto," this book was penned by nationally-syndicated conservative talk radio host Levin. Having read some of his postings at National Review Online, I anticipated an interesting read. Ten minutes into 'Liberty and Tyranny', I fell asleep.

Levin is a lawyer by training and the book reads like a lease contract. Principles were expounded with textbook-like dullness. In laying out the grand history of the United States, its Declaration of Independence and Constitution, Levin utterly failed to bring exciting history to life.

Anyone exposed to conservative talk radio, blogs or books will learn nothing new. All has been presented before by more talented, entertaining and persuasive writers - Jonah Goldberg, Ann Coulter, Bill Bennett, Thomas Sowell, etc.

Sum-up: Don't bother. (posted 3/23/10, permalink)

'1960 - LBJ vs. JFK vs. Nixon: The Epic Campaign That Forged Three Presidencies' by David Pietrusza

The 1960 presidential campaign season was dominated by three men, each of whom became president. One was assassinated, one was shamed out of office and one resigned in disgrace - just ahead of impeachment.

David Pietrusza chronicles the tales of each, the interactions, the flaws and the election itself where race and religious bigotry played major roles. 1960 was the first presidential race of the modern era of campaigning, using media and branding. The author relates the events seemingly without bias; even after completing the book, I couldn't guess his political leanings.

The supporting cast is amazing: meddlesome old Eleanor Roosevelt, the witty, and indecisive egghead Adlai Stevenson, a bitter Harry Truman, mob boss Sam Giancana, Judith Campbell Exner, the mistress Giancana shared with JFK, explosive-tempered Frank Sinatra, calculating Chicago mayor Richard Daley, professional SOB Bobby Kennedy, an overwhelmed and outgunned Hubert Humphrey, a skeptical Republican-leaning Martin Luther King Jr. and many more.

I remember the election of '60; it was my political awakening during high school; the campaign, personalities and issues were much discussed amongst my friends. But there was so much new information that I learned from this book:

• How much Ike had dumped on VP Nixon, seemingly at every opportunity over eight years

• The anti-Catholic propaganda put out by the Humphrey campaign in Wisconsin and West Virginia

• Richard Nixon's tempestuous Iowa backseat meltdown

• John F. Kennedy's amphetamine-fueled debate performance

• Why Nixon looked like death warmed over in the first televised debate

• Lazy, patrician Republican VP candidate Henry Cabot Lodge took afternoon naps in his pajamas on the campaign trail and wouldn't work after 6 pm.

• Boston's Cardinal Cushing boasting that he and Joe Kennedy got JFK elected

• Lyndon Johnson's overt racism. Robert Parker, LBJ's long-suffering manservant, said, "He especially liked to call me 'nigger', in front of Southerners and racists like Richard Russell (senator, D-GA)." Johnson told Parker he'd never be called by his Christian name: "Let me tell you one thing, nigger, as long as you are black (and) you're gonna be black till the day you die, no one's gonna call you by your goddamn name ... you're just a piece of furniture." Wow ... just wow.

• Frank Sinatra berated Teddy Kennedy when Teddy showed up at a campaign stop in Honolulu with three cheesy-looking bimbos. Sinatra, his sense of decorum offended, loudly cursed Teddy for hanging with seedy hookers and told him off in front of dozens of high level Kennedy supporters. Teddy quickly left. In the end, nearly every state Teddy K. oversaw lost to Nixon.

• On Election Day, Richard Nixon ran off to Tijuana, Mexico and lunched on enchiladas.

This book is not merely dry history; Pietrusza has created a riveting, larger-than-life page turner. I highly recommend it. (posted 3/11/10, permalink)

'Going Rogue: An American Life' by Sarah Palin

The author paints an intimate portrait of growing up in the wilds of Alaska, her political endeavors (local, state and national) and the joys and frustrations of trying to balance family life and a high-profile elected office. She explains who she is and defines clearly what she stands for. Her story is compelling and her words resound with folksy sincerity.

Her strong Christian beliefs resonate throughout the book. She writes frankly yet lovingly about her five children. She acquaints the reader to the specifics of hunting, fishing and raising babies. The book is well-written, interesting and an easy read. I strongly recommend it.

Some East Coast press reviews opined that this was a get-even book, with Sarah vindictively criticizing those who opposed her. My impression was that she truthfully related events, without mean-spiritedness. Many of her tales were self-deprecating, written with good humor. If that irritates Katie Couric, so be it.

I was, however, disconcerted by multiple references to 'moose lasagna'. I remembered Moose Lasagna as a South Philly loan shark. In Alaska, there's apparently a dish named after him.

At the end of the book, she discusses a way forward for America, espousing what she calls 'common sense conservatism'. Many of the Beltway 'experts' - including conservative pundits - are dismayed that she's not doing the Things Everyone Must Do to be a viable political candidate: hobnobbing at D.C. functions, making rounds at the appropriate cocktail circuits, spending time in Iowa, releasing high-toned Policy Position Papers on International Matters, schmoozing with top-tier journalists, etc.

Instead, Sarah is posting her opinions and reactions to important news developments on her Facebook page, where her musings are unfiltered and uncontaminated by the mainstream media. That may be the Ultimate Smart Move, an end run around political business as usual, and the beginning of 21st Century Politicking in America.

Time will tell. (posted 1/8/10, permalink)

'Common Sense' by Glenn Beck

This is a not a bad book but quite brief (192 pages, including a reprint of Thomas Paine's original work of the same name) and not particularly deep. It stresses that this country was founded on liberty, the right to self determination and personal responsibility, noting that our government has strayed substantially from these ideals.

Beck points out that Congress continues to pass laws that apply to others but not Congress and that our legislators and president think they know what's best for people instead of letting individuals make their own decisions. Nothing to disagree with here but I have found other conservative tomes far more insightful. (posted 9/8/09, permalink)