Larry Powell

If one knew nothing about John Wayne's early films, this might be an interesting basic primer. But one would not learn much of interest that would not be as easily and more entertainingly gained from watching the movies described herein. And "described" is the word. The vast majority of this book consists of often excruciatingly detailed synopses of the plots, followed by "review" comments from other writers, many of them non-authoritative fans who happened to make comments on IMDb (and the authors refer to these fan comments using only the writer's last name, as if it were a name we should already know). There are a couple of handfuls of mildly interesting information about the films (release dates, working titles, and continuity errors, all of which are also available on IMDb), and where Powell and Amsbary are at their best is in evaluating how Wayne is seen by his fans and the world at large, which he does near the end of the book. But the excessive detail in plot synopsis of each film (as though many of these B-Westerns weren't so similar in structure as to be almost indistinguishable [and I like them!]), the errors of spelling and fact scattered throughout, and a tendency to repeat information every few pages almost verbatim, led me to be disappointed in this book. My own first published work was on Wayne's career, and I've read most, if not all, the meaningful books on that career. If you're just starting out watching Wayne's movies (and there are scores more worthy than the B-Westerns listed here), this could be enjoyable. I'd wait, though, for James Neibaur's upcoming book on the same B-Westerns. Neibaur is a remarkable writer and film scholar, and if there's anything worth evaluating in these pictures other than their general entertainment value, he will provide a useful guide to it. Powell and Amsbary's book is, aside from the errors and repetition, not bad. It's just not that interesting.… (lisätietoja)

This book repeats the same ideas as the other handful of books in this review set on this topic. I just needed practical advice on building a website, a handout and other materials for my mayoral campaign. I ran a search for all newly released titles on this subject and requested them from several different publishers. While before, most of my requests might have been rejected, it seems that since I’m approaching reviewing 500 books, publishers have just started “yes” to nearly all of my requests that touch on anything released in the last couple of years. Sadly, this experiment demonstrated how similar books in any given narrow category are to each other even if they are released from different publishers, different countries, and are written by different authors. All of the writers consult the other competing titles and repeat the main topics and components. If I was contracted to write a new textbook on “political campaign communications”, I might have also consulted past releases and mimicked some of these same movements. Since everybody is doing this, writing a book with entirely innovative and unique ideas is likely to generate a rejection from the publisher. A book that breaks these modes and formulas screams out a declaration of war against the other titles’ repetitions. Publishers mimic books in fields like this in the same way cell phone manufacturers release models that are similar to the top-selling brands. It cannot be an identical copy, and some features might be trademarked, but general attributes can be imitated without infringing on legally protected rights of intellectual ownership. A dozen books on the same subject might not have identical passages, but the summary of the communicated information is likely to be interchangeable. I view this as a catastrophic problem because students who see these repetitions are likely to view plagiarism as an extension and they might be more likely to outright steal paragraphs of text they find online, pasting them into their essays. Publishers who make millions from textbooks sold into classrooms have the resources to demand wholly original content. If there are a dozen political communications books in the market, the next book should find new research into uncovered strategies, or it should not set out to bring another twin into this overcrowded space.
Here is the summary: “political campaigning through the eyes of both an academic and a political consultant. Unlike others in its field, this text takes a broad view of political campaigning, discussing both theories and principles, along with topics such as political socialization, the role of money, ethics, and critical events.” No, it is not “unlike others”; they all look at campaigning broadly in theory and practice, and cover money and ethics. It promises to consider “changes in the American political environment, with fuller examinations of women and gender, the involvement of social media in political campaigning, political money, and ethics.” There have been no changes for women in politics, unless perhaps there have been some negative changes: like the new total ban on abortions in some states, or the continuing lack of a gender rights amendment to protect discriminatory salaries.
Here is a quote from the section on gender: “Before 1970, few women held major public office at either the state or city level… By 1999, women held more than 20 percent of state legislative offices and were governors of three states. Long gone are the days when Lurleen Wallace campaigned for the governor’s seat in Alabama as a surrogate for her husband, George, who was prohibited by law from seeking an additional term. Today’s female candidates campaign on their own merits and on their own issues” (114). This summary is too general and does not represent the reality of women in politics. I found a Rutgers University Center for American Women and Politics table called “Women in the U.S. Congress 2019”, which shows that in 1917 there were no women in Congress. The numbers barely climbed up across most of its history through the 101st Congress in 1989, mostly hovering at 20 congresswomen up until this point. Then the numbers began climbing upwards annually without turning back until the total reached 130 or so in this last 2019 congress, with the last election showing the biggest leap since 1994 or so. The climb in Congress has been steeper than in governors and senate positions, where women still make up not much more than 20 percent. I recall seeing the 1970 number in other books about women and politics but it reflects more of the popular notion that the 60s were culturally and politically revolutionary rather than the reality of when the statistics turned in women’s favor. 1989 and not 1999 or 1970 was the main turning point. And the days of the governor’s wife running for office are nowhere near gone. Clinton utilized her husband’s credentials to run for office. Many female politicians in congress and the senate today are there because their husbands died or could not run for added terms. I did a study of this a while back, and the number of self-made women there because of their established political, legal or business careers is a tiny portion compared to the overwhelming number of women who got there via their family relations. Smart, independent women are still hardly ever voted into office. Making hyperbolic statements that suggest the problem of discrimination against women has been solved in textbooks gives people a false sense of ease, which stops activists from protesting and righting the disaster that rules our political situation.
I hope a publisher reads these reviews and contracts a writer to come up with some new ideas on this over-recycled subject. This is a horrid book unfit for civilized reading.
Pennsylvania Literary Journal, Spring 2019 Issue… (lisätietoja)