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mequetrefe

"Este vocablo de origen portugués es empleado en español desde comienzos del siglo XVII, con el sentido de ‘sujeto entrometido e inútil’. Se trata de una palabra compuesta compuesta por meco (en portugués antiguo, ‘libertino’, proveniente del latín moechus (adúltero) y trefe (travieso), proveniente del hebreo ‘carne echada a perder’.En los primeros años en que se registra su uso, mequetrefe fue empleada en este trecho de Vida y obra de Estebanillo González, obra de autor anónimo publicada en 1646.Apenas había mi amo salido de casa, cuando se conjuraron contra mí todos los criados della, por haber sido mequetrefe metiéndome en aquello que no me tocaba ni era perteneciente a mi oficio."

Not Just Another Cover Band

Friday afternoon we had the pleasure of listening to the teenage band, Late Chaps, live in Kids' Place! Sean Clavere, Rob Mills, Marissa Olegario, and Tyler Walker played a soulful mix of blues, folk, country, and good ole' rock n' roll- both cover tunes and originals. Musically sophisticated beyond their high school years (they will all be seniors next term), these kids used their smooth and distinct voices to play skillfully with vocal harmonies, made finger twisting bass and guitar lines look like patty-cake, and rocked out on the drums. Most impressively, they accomplished something many musicians never do- they played for the space they were in, neither too loud nor too soft. It's not surprising that they beat musicians twice their age by winning a "battle of the bands" contest in El Dorado County in 2007. These guys (and girl) are just starting out, and it will be a joy to watch them musically mature. Keep an eye on them - they're definitely going places! Hear them here!

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bicoca

"Cosa de poco valor o poca estima.«Lo habían estado explotando por años y años pagándome una bicoca, que a mí de bruto me parecía un sol», comentaba un personaje de la novela Setenta veces siete, del autor mexicano Ricardo Elizondo. Bicoca es palabra usada en la mayor parte de los países hispanohablantes, si no en todos, pero pocos conocen su origen. Del italiano bicocca (castillo en una roca), procedente del bajo latín de Italia y de origen incierto, la palabra está documentada desde 1609 con los significados de ‘fortificación insignificante’ y ‘cosa de poco valor’.En el siglo XVII, bajo el reinado de Carlos V, en cuyo reino jamás se ponía el sol, España dominaba parte de Italia, pero los franceses, gobernados por Francisco I, quisieron arrebatar estas tierras a los invasores ibéricos y contrataron con tal fin a unos 15.000 soldados suizos, esguízaros, los más famosos mercenarios de la época. Estos guerreros llegaron a Italia armados con picas al mando del mariscal Lautrec y combatieron contra unos 4.000 soldados españoles comandados por el general Colonna y el marqués de Pescara, armados unos con picas y, los más, con arcabuces. La batalla se libró el 27 de abril de 1522 en la localidad de La Bicocca, población cercana a Monza, en el antiguo condado de Milán, donde el ejército franco-helvético fue diezmado casi sin ocasionar bajas a los españoles. Como resultado de este triunfo, aparentemente fácil, rápido y de gran importancia, se desmoronó la fama de los piqueros suizos y se afianzó la supremacía de los españoles en la zona. Otra consecuencia de la victoria de los españoles fue la incorporación al idioma de la palabra bicoca, para referirse a un bien muy deseado, que se obtiene de manera fácil."

Summer School

You'd be surprised how often someone says to me, "You librarians sure know everything!" Actually, that's only partly true. We librarians are more like information storage and retrieval experts. We have a good idea of where a particular piece of information might be found, based on past experience and knowledge of information organization schemes. And a lot of it is serendipity - we come across something VERY COOL while looking for something else, and file it away, too, for later retrieval.

But just like other professionals, we need to take continuing-ed classes in order to stay good at what we do. This summer, I and several other reference staff at Central Library are taking a four-week online course called Free, Fast and Factual: Top Online Reference Sources 2008. It is being offered by InfoPeople, an organization dedicated to helping California library staff keep up with new developments in library technologies, library management, and staff development. It is being taught by Sarah Houghton-Jan, the Librarian in Black. We are in very good company - a couple dozen other library staff from across California are taking it, too! I've added the list of web sites we will be examining to Central Library's Del.icio.us bookmarks.

Two mega-sites we looked at this week are the Librarians Internet Index, which leads to popular web resources, and InfoMine - which takes a more scholarly approach. Both are great alternataives to Google for finding authoritative web sites about topics you want to learn more about.

Photo taken by ZaCky and used here under the terms of its Creative Commons license.

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fecha

"Proviene de fecho, el participio pasado del verbo facer, ‘hacer’ en español antiguo (fazer en el portugués de hoy). Primero, significó no sólo indicación de tiempo de un escrito, sino también de lugar, puesto que una carta se iniciaba con algo así como 'fecha en Sevilla, el 22 de junio' o la carta de don Quijote a Dulcinea: 'fecha en las entrañas de Sierra Morena, a 27 de agosto'. Más adelante, fecha se convirtió en sustantivo con su significado actual."

Catch the Reading Bug ... and Dance

Tomorrow, Katherine Ambuhl and Ikhlas Haleem, instructors from Spotlight Dance and Fitness, will be on hand at Central Library to coach adult readers in a free East Coast Swing dance workshop!

This is the kick-off program for Central's Adult Summer Reading Program. Two addional dance programs, teaching the Fox Trot and Cha Cha, will be held on June 22 and June 29, respectively.

So ... this is a actually an advert for the new-this-year adult participation in the traditional Summer Reading Program, which starts today. The theme - "Catch the Reading Bug." To jazz up your reading experience, go to the library's home page and click the "summer reading" image in the left sidebar. A quick online registration, and you're good to go! Cross off the activities on your reading bingo card, and when you've got 5 in a row, you will receive a free library tote bag (one per participant), and an entry for the end-of-summer drawing for a $50 Target gift certificate.

May I have this dance?

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feligrés

"Feligrés es aquel que asiste y participa en los cultos de una determinada iglesia (en el sentido de templo o parroquia).Esta palabra apareció por primera vez en nuestra lengua en el siglo X, bajo la forma filiigleses y con su forma actual en 1245. Proviene del bajo latín fili eclesiae (hijos de la iglesia).En esta expresión fili eclesiae, la segunda palabra es la forma vulgar del genitivo el genitivo eccleasiae, procedente del griego ekklesia (asamblea) . En portugués la palabra adoptó la forma freguês, que se refiere no sólo a los fieles de una iglesia, sino también a los clientes habituales de un determinado comercio. "

Morrissey: A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

English singer/songwriter Morrissey (Stephen Patrick Morrissey) was recently voted by the British people to be the second most popular "Living Icon" in the UK. Ahead of Paul McCartney, David Bowie, and Michael Caine. Either Morrissey's talents have been understated, underrated and plain overlooked or there's been a serious cultural famine on a certain 'island in the silver sea.' Seriously, Morrissey is a talent; having started a three-decade-long career with the Smiths, he's made the jump into a solo career, producing a number of fine albums and dodging the limelight often with a trademark incredulity.

So, the Sacramento Public Library owns a few of Morrissey's solo works, with the best being the 2005 You Are the Quarry. My guess is that his 2008 Greatest Hits album with be soon to follow as a library purchase. What makes Quarry so good is Morrissey's endearing honesty about politics, himself, himself, and himself. Self-effacing, perhaps a bit too much at times, is his standard. But, his stance on politics and tolerance is just as common. "America is Not the World" and "Irish Blood, English Heart" are especially poignant in this regard, the former singlehandedly harpoons the American way of life with the nine words: "America, you know where you can shove that hamburger," while the latter rehabilitates, then assassinates Oliver Cromwell (1599 – 1658) for murdering 1 out of every 3 Irishmen. For the video of "Irish Blood, English Heart," click on the image below:



Into Morrissey's personal world the album takes us, often with a real feel of sympathy for the guy, mixed with the inclination to laugh. Strange contradictions dot his word: he's critical of the Americanism, yet chooses to live in LA; he laments his place amongst England's working class while growing up, but has recently conceded a yen for jolly, old England, and its gray skies. One almost gets the feeling that the significance of his lyrics is multilayered. There's no doubt that Morrissey thinks highly of himself, yet he's always so willing to pull his own tail, as we see in "Let Me Kiss You":

Close your eyes and think of someone you physically admire

And let me kiss you. Let me kiss you. But then you

Open your eyes and you see someone that you physically

Despise but my heart is open my heart is open to you.

Enjoy the album. It's serious, then funny, sometimes odd, but always heartfelt. Morrissey sees his music, his performances as real life. To call him a performer wouldn't be right. He equates performing with acting and his art is not an act.

A Tasty Diamond in the Very, Very Rough...

I know a book dealer who lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She runs an independent bookstore and is often summoned to do appraisals on book collections for estates and cases of probate. When she was recently called to a residence in the western part of the city, just at the base of majestic Cheyenne Mountain, she didn't expect anything out of the ordinary. Why would she?

As she entered the home, she noticed various curiosities: unloaded firearms, defused hand grenades, knives and a plethora of survival gear. She then made her way over to the book collection. The Turner Diaries. Mein Kampf. The Anarchist's Cookbook. Racism, hate, terrorism. The worst of us - humans - in print. Chilling was the feeling she had, but away she went with her task. The list of disturbing monographs continued to pile up. Then it happened.

Amidst the macabre of it all, she found it: The Joy Cooking. My friend could do nothing but smile. As much as the written word may divide us, it moreso brings us together. Commonalities build trust between us all, regardless of our starkest differences. Perhaps if our good appraiser - an avid food enthusiast herself - had a chance to sit and talk wine, bread, and mere poi with the deceased, an attitude or two may have been adjusted. It would have been a start...and a book would have been the point from which to embark.

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parásito

"En la actualidad, parásito es todo organismo vivo que se alimenta de otro sin contribuir a la supervivencia de éste.En la antigua Grecia, en cambio, los parásitos eran los altos funcionarios encargados de verificar la cosecha de trigo y la preparación del pan, así como los banquetes en homenaje a los dioses. Más tarde se extendió a toda clase de huésped y a los invitados a fiestas o banquetes, por su sentido etimológico de ‘comensal’. En efecto, la palabra griega estaba compuesta por el prefijo para- (al lado de) y sitos (trigo, pan, comida)."

Book Review : "The Color of the Sea"

"Color of the Sea" by John Hamamura. New York : Anchor Books, c2007

Hamamura has written an intensely personal - and autobiographical - exploration of the times bracketing the Second World War. In short vignettes, we see Isamu "Sam" growing from a young boy in Hawaii to a young man in Lodi, fulfilling his obligation to get a college education so as to become the "winning lottery ticket" for his family. We experience the disruption as his family is transported to camps after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and we share his unwavering devotion to Keiko. He is tapped by the Army to teach the Japanese language to interpreters.

The author continually explores the border between what I want and what others expect of me in themes related to immigrant labor, racial discrimination, family separation, "belonging", loyalty, personal integrity, love, and the horrors of war. It offers an insider's view of the events - a much different perspective than the one experienced by most other Americans living in California and Hawaii.

This novel is one of the 2007 winners of the Alex Awards for fiction written for adults, but with a special interest for teens.

Tired of catching all the wrong bugs?

There are some bugs which you really don’t want to catch, like Ebola and West Nile, and then there are the bugs that are actually good for you, namely the Reading Bug and the Jitterbug. Catch both bugs (the good ones, that is) by reading and dancing the summer away at Central Library!

Summer Reading starts Saturday, June 14th. Everyone from babies to adults can sign up this year. Central’s big kickoff is on Sunday, June 15th. Children can sign-up all day in Kids’ Place and have fun creating cool crafts and Father’s Day cards. Teens and adults can sign up online, then enjoy the first of three instructional dance classes sponsored by Spotlight Dance and Fitness. Learn the East Coast Swing on Sunday, June 15th, the Fox Trot on Sunday, June 22nd, and the Cha Cha on Sunday, June 29th. All classes start at 3 pm.

But why wait until you can officially sign-up online to get in the mood? Check out our Central Express and Kids’ Place displays for a wide selection of books and media. Pick up celebrity biographies, gardening books, great fiction, dance music, books and instructional videos in Central Express. Not sure what to read? Our teen librarian has set up a “What I’m Reading Now” display in Kids' Place. And before you start thinking that teen books are those horrible now-you-know-and-knowing-is-half-the-battle-after-school-special type of stories we were forced to read in high school, pick up a copy of Chris Crutcher’s Deadline.

For those of you who think, “Gee, I would love to come to Central, but the parking there sucks except for Sundays,” I have good news for you. For those who haven’t heard, Central patrons can park for free on Saturdays in the City of Sacramento public parking garages at 10th and I Streets or 10th and L Streets. So we hope to see you this Sunday having the time of your life. (No excuses!)

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clandestino

"Esta palabra se emplea como referencia a algo que se hace en forma oculta, porque es ilegal o socialmente reprobable. En la prensa en español es frecuente leer referencias a ‘organizaciones clandestinas’ o a ‘destilerías clandestinas’ entre muchas otras, pero también se suele calificar como ‘relaciones clandestinas’ a las que dos personas mantienen ocultamente al margen de sus parejas estables.La palabra proviene del latín clandestinus, formada en esa lengua a partir de ‘clam’ (en secreto, en forma oculta), como en Plauto 'clam uxore mea' (a escondidas de mi mujer). Clam provenía de la raíz indoeuropea kla- (ocultar, esconder)."

Great Press!

The annual budget dance the state, county, city, and library authority engage in often has staff in the dumps. There are funding cuts, fewer ways to economize, and many services we'd like to offer if we had more staff. So, when an article like this beautiful one in the June issue of "Inside the City" is published, it reminds us to pick up our heads and see the bigger picture: in spite of the apparent setbacks, we have managed to come a long way since the days of our childhood, and the romanticized memories of libraries as banks of card catalogs, old books and "Shh-ing" librarians. (It also includes a great quote from one of Central's children's librarians.)

Truly, the library has moved into the digital spere, and, in addition to all the online services mentioned in the article, we are also helping our users move there. Central Library offers free computer classes on Wednesdays, and other branches have also begun offering them as well. In fact, the array of classes will be expanding in the fall. Keep an eye out for the announcements.

And we couldn't do as much for our public without our Friends. The Friends of the Sacramento Public Library and the individual Affiliate Friends of our branches provide resources for programming, materials purchases, volunteers to help at the branches, and lots of moral support. Special thanks to McKinley Affiliate Friends for the great press this month!

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campana

"La campana se asocia desde la Edad Media con la Iglesia católica, que la emplea hasta nuestros días para anunciar sus oficios y los horarios de las oraciones. En otras épocas, cuando los relojes eran artefactos raros y caros, el sonido de las campanadas de las iglesias era empleado por la gente como referencia del paso del tiempo.En los primeros de nuestra era, las mejores aleaciones para fabricar campanas, las que permitían obtener un sonido más diáfano provenían de la región del sur de Italia conocida como Campania. El gentilicio latino de esa región era campanus y su femenino, campana, dio lugar en latín tardío a vasa campana (recipientes de Campania) y más adelante simplemente campana, que llegó inalterado a nuestra lengua."

Spring 1942 in Sacramento: Bitter Harvest

"A Country's Only as Good as its Love for its Children."

-Kiyo Sato


Wednesday evening, the talented Kiyo Sato stood before a group of patrons in the Sacramento Room and told tales from a dark time. The scene: 1942 in the current-day Rancho Cordova. Imagine being a nineteen-year-old being followed by the police as you drive home. Imagine being rent from your two dogs as they nervously run in circles, trying to corral you to safety, as you step toward transportation to your relocation center in Sacramento. Next scene: Poston, Arizona. Imagine using the bathroom at an interment camp, one room, twelve holes in the floor, no dividers, and no privacy. Imagine watching friends pass out - some dying - because of temperatures reaching into the 120s and 130s. If that's not sobering enough, imagine returning to your house three years later to see someone else living in it.

This is a sampling of Sato's recollections from her award-winning memoir, Dandelion Through the Crack. She took attendees from her father's strawberry fields in the extinct hamlet of Mills to the barren expanse of Poston, Arizona, where everything was saved, collected as a means to make life better. She even recalled teenage boys being sent into the desert to collect rattlesnakes for the eventual making of belts and other items.

Sato's hour-and-a-half was memorable, and you can watch for her to appear as a participant in the California of the Past Project which is active through June 21.

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canario


"Muchos creen que las Islas Canarias deben su nombre al simpático pajarito cantor que los ornitólogos llaman Serinus canarius, que es oriundo de ese archipiélago español. Sin embargo, fue la canora avecilla la que tomó su nombre de las Islas y lo divulgó a las más variadas regiones del mundo. El primer registro que existe de la palabra canario en lengua española es de Fray Luis de Granada, hacia el año 1580. Como gentilicio, canario se aplica no sólo a los habitantes de las Islas sino también a los vecinos del departamento de Canelones, en el Uruguay, que fue poblado inicialmente por inmigrantes provenientes del archipiélago. Lo cierto es que el nombre de las Islas Canarias ya tenía unos 15 siglos de antigüedad en los tiempos de Fray Luis de Granada y no proviene del de ninguna ave, sino de un cuadrúpedo: el perro. En efecto, en el siglo I de nuestra era, Plinio el Viejo narró una visita a las islas del rey de Numidia, Juba II, quien se sorprendió por la gran cantidad de perros que allí había. El rey volvió a su tierra llevándose una pareja de estos perritos y, además, denominó a este lugar Insula Canaria, en latín, Isla de los Canes. Ver también can."

Keep Those Calls and Letters Coming ...

Last month, Central Library staff answered 5,546 phone calls for the library system. This service began in 1992, when Sacramento Library branches were faced with a "down" economy and chose to centralize phone service in favor of preserving public service hours. We're still going strong, and answer all kinds of questions, ranging from library hours to help with library accounts, to all kinds of informational questions.

Here are a couple of questions we had fun with in May:

Q. What percent of the current world population is the population of the United States?
A. The Population Clock on the U.S. Census Bureau's web site on the day we answered the question showed a world population of 6,670,597,757 and a U.S. population of 304,193,202. So, a little bit of math later, we calculated the U.S. population is 4.56% of the world population.

Q. What is Sacramento County's credit rating?
A. With a free registration at Moodys or Standard and Poor, searching for "Sacramento County" yielded ratings ranging from BBB to AAA.

Q. What public transportation was available in Houston, TX between 1940-1945?
A. We found two web sites that yielded the following: There was a streetcar system owned by Stone and Webster and renamed Houston Electric Company. It began a transition to buses in 1929 to mitigate rising costs. In 1940 the rail car system was shut down, and HEC switched to an all-bus transit system. In 1940 there were 56 million riders; in 1945 there were a record 130 million riders. The web sites: Book Review: Houston Electric - The Street Railways of Houston, Texas and Houston Institute for Culture : Houston Timeline .

If you have a burning question, give us a call at 916-264-2920 or send an e-mail to askus@saclibrary.org. We'll do our best to answer it.

RINCON LATINO : PREMIO ALFAGUARA 2008

Uno de los premios de prestigio mundial es el Premio Alfaguara, el cual es otorgado a el escritor o escritora de mayor aplomo. Muchos nombres los cuales deberían recibir el premio no lo reciben por razones misteriosas. Pero cada año, el galardoneado es acosado es recibido por aplausos clamorosos día tras día. Eso es precisamente lo que sucedió al escritor cubano Antonio Orlando Rodríguez cuando fue despertado abruptamente a la madrugada de parte de los dirigentes de la editorial de renombre internacional Alfaguara.

Su obra : Chiquita. Y se trata de una tal Espiridiona Cenda ... una figurita verdadera la cual amasó una fortuna tremenda durante la época americana del siglo XVIII y del Vaudeville. En Nueva York se convierte en figura talismánica incorporando lo espeluznante del fin de siecle y el grotesco de una inmenza incertidumbre que afrentaba esa generación.

Chiquita se encontrará en nuestras estanterías muy pronto. Aunque este es un relato de ficción, Espiridiona Cenda existió de verdad.

¡Por favor reserven su copia en cuando puedan! Para ver más fotos de esta joven cubana por favor pulsen a la foto a la derecha.

Taking a Seat Next to History With the Chinese American Council of Sacramento

Sunday evening, June 1, at the Holiday Villa Restaurant, the Chinese-American Council of Sacramento hosted a book discussion and signing. The author: Historian Philip Choy. The book: Canton Footprints: Sacramento's Chinese Legacy. Choy's work - a compilation of photos, oral histories, and serious research writing - was eight years in the making, and was given a huge boost through the efforts of Doug and Karun Yee.

So, with the scene set - 300 attendees, filling out an ornate banquet room, and dressed in their Sunday best - Choy presented his research in 30 fascinating minutes. Preceding the author were the wistful comments of Sacramento native and former County Assessor Roger Fong, who grew up on the same block as today's Wells Fargo building on Fourth and Fifth and "N" Streets. Teenage summers planting celery at the present location of the Natomas Marketplace shopping compound, running around Southside park with bee-bee guns, and fishing out of that same park's pond were among the memories. Perhaps the most poignant recollection of Fong's related to what remained after hundreds of his Japanese-American neighbors were interned. Empty homes littered the "I" to "N" corridor. There were a few that Fong and boyhood companions would enter through open doors in complete bewilderment at the site of fully-furnished homes without any occupants.

Fong was the childhood friend of former mayor Jimmie Yee, who was also in attendance. Both men and many others contributed to the essence of Canton Footprints, which will soon appear on many a Sacramento Public Library shelf.

The evening's energy was infectious, and taking a seat at any table at the Holiday Villa was one that placed you right next to one of the deepest legacies in our fair city's history.

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álbum

"Aunque los antiguos no conocieron los medios modernos de comunicación masiva, lo cierto es que la necesidad de que las autoridades dieran a conocer al pueblo sus determinaciones era la misma que hoy. En Roma, los funcionarios escribían las decisiones de jueces y pretores sobre un panel blanco y encerado, que se colocaba sobre una pared enfrente del Capitolio, llamado album, forma neutra del adjetivo albus (blanco).Este nombre fue retomado durante la Edad Media, se usó en Alemania para designar lo que hoy llamamos ‘libro blanco’ y, a partir del siglo XVIII, se empleó en Francia como nombre de unos cuadernos en los que se había puesto de moda recoger autógrafos de amigos, por lo que se los llamó album amicorum. El uso de álbum en nuestra lengua está registrado desde principios del siglo XIX, aunque la Academia no lo incluyó en el Diccionario hasta la edición de 1869, con el siguiente texto:
Libro en blanco (albo), comunmente apaisado, encuadernado con más ó ménos lujo, cuyas hojas se llenan con breves composiciones literarias, sentencias, máximas, piezas de música, firmas y retratos de personas notables, etc."

Dandelion Through the Crack: Kiyo Sato, Heroism, and the Memory of Injustice

Kiyo Sato, a Japanese-American woman born in 1923 in Sacramento, has written the saga of the Sato family’s life in America: Dandelion Through the Crack. It is the compelling story of starting a family in California, coping during the Depression, being swept off to concentration camps, and ultimately surviving and succeeding despite terrible odds and oppressive prejudice.

Dandelion Through the Crack tells of a family formed both by ancestry and by the American way of life. Interwoven throughout are the haikuof the author’s father and his wise fables, drawn from his old and new homelands.

Joins us in the Central Library’s Sacramento Room on June 4 at 6:00 PM as Sato speaks about this important new book. Copies of Dandelion Through the Crack will be on hand for sale and signing.

Registration is encouraged by calling264-2920 or going to http://www.saclibrary.org/.

Book Review: Flyboys: A True Story of Courage

The story of War - its impact - is not so much about what happens during a given conflict or even after. Rather, what of life before the storm? Taken in perspective, this is where the essential tragedy of war-making lay. James Bradley's Flyboys: A True Story of Courage excels at exploring this question. 9 U.S. Naval airmen during the latter stages of the Second World War are shot down over the Japanese island of Ichi Jima, one a future President of the United States. Their fates vary, but taking one from being a soda jerk in rural Missouri to a desolate, sulphur-ladened, rock in the North Pacific makes for the thickest of ironies. Bradley tells the story well.

The author is also adept at setting the stage of the early War in terms of colonial aggression. Colonialism, back to its genesis has been the province of the white European: the English, French, Dutch, Spanish, Italians, Portuguese, Germans...heck, even the Vikings and their predecessing Normans were adept imperialists. However, when it came time for Japan to step forward and acquire its piece of the colonial pie, they were met with resistance. He acknowledges the West's hypocrisy, but never comes anywhere close to becoming a Tokyo apologist. This is, however, a refreshing view of the East Asian Co-prosperity Sphere (Imperialese for Japan's occupation of East Asia), and one that this librarian's not read before. Let's just look at this as a fuller view of history and certainly nothing more.

There's a lot going on in Flyboys, but if ever one were able to take that Missouri soda jerk and place him not more than a few degrees from Hideki Tojo, Bradley does. He pulls it off.

Also take note of the closing pages of the book. The sentimentality of the books final passage will leave you with a thoughtful smile.