Review of "Inside Amazon: My Story," by Gisela Hausmann

 Review of

Inside Amazon: My Story, by Gisela Hausmann, ISBN 9781732421189

Five out of five stars

The inside story by an expert

 Few people can match the breadth and depth of experience of Gisela Hausmann in the area of book publishing as well as dealing with Amazon. She has extensive business and managerial experience outside of Amazon and her experience with Amazon began before the year 2000, when Amazon was still a fledgling company where many people questioned its survivability. The capstone of her experience with Amazon was her working in an Amazon warehouse. It was here that she was exposed to many of the ways that Amazon actually functions at the worker bee level.

 My experience with Amazon also dates back to before the year 2000. At the time, I was the book reviews editor for “Journal of Recreational”  and my first interaction with Amazon was when an author asked me to post my review on the Amazon site. I was hooked and at one point was briefly ranked number 48 in their top reviewer list before it became popular. I have also sold books on their site since the early 2000’s. For these reasons, I also have a lot of experience in dealing with Amazon.

 Therefore, there were some things mentioned in this book that I already knew. For example, as a follower of employment issues, I knew that Amazon treats their warehouse workers as automatons. Their work can be described by the phrase, “Grab next object, move it from here to there, repeat as quickly as possible.” Amazon does not offer their workers even the smallest of perks if they do not have to.

 Yet, I was surprised at how much I learned from reading this book. Hausmann is an excellent expository writer, and she gives enough of her history, so the reader understands her perspective when she walks into her job at Amazon. I have had both positive and negative experiences with Amazon and now I understand many of the reasons for that.

 In the final analysis, there is one thing that Amazon is an expert at, avoiding a federal tax bill and getting massive state and local subsidies. Hausmann provides some explanations as to the mechanisms employed by the Amazon executives to achieve this goal. Especially striking is how Amazon hired more workers  during the pandemic so that they could achieve tax savings. The executives at Amazon even manipulated this into their advantage.

 Whatever you think of Amazon now, that will change when you read this book.

Review of "The Mighty Thor 006," by Marvel Comics

 Review of

The Mighty Thor 006, by Marvel Comics

Five out of five stars

The gods behaving as the ancients thought

 What I really like about this comic is that it portrays the Norse gods as the ancient Norse and Greek peoples thought of them. Superhuman and immortal to be sure, but also with an emphasis on the human. These people considered their gods to possess the human emotions of needing to be loved, hence the requirement that they be prayed and sacrificed to.

 The plot of this comic is essentially a rivalry between Thor and Loki. The main human is Bodolf, a king that prayed to Thor before every battle and in repayment, Thor fought with him. Consequently, Bodolf never lost a battle and grew rich and powerful. Yet, he reached the point where he no longer thought he needed Thor’s help, which proved his undoing. The Viking equivalent of destitute, Bodolf is then approached by Loki and with his help, grows powerful again.

 The constant tension between Thor and Loki is nothing more than human sibling rivalry. This, along with many other human emotions is how the ancient Norse people viewed their gods. Therefore, this comic is entertaining and a lesson in mythology.

Review of "War of the Worlds," DVD version starring Tom Cruise

 Review of

War of the Worlds, DVD version starring Tom Cruise

Five out of five stars

End of humanity? Not so with some help from our natural enemies

 I have read the original novel by H. G. Wells at least four times, considering it the seminal story of interplanetary warfare. Wells demonstrated that he was a science fiction writer of the first magnitude, portraying a human victory at great cost.

 I have also watched the movie starring Gene Barry several times, it was an incredible special effects marvel for the time. The Martian warships looked menacing, and their action of their weaponry was believable.

 This version of the classic tale is a worthy addition to the saga of the original Wells story. The acting is superb and of course the special effects are dazzling. The human interest of a man that was not much of a father transporting his children through dangers both Martian and human made this a great human tale.

 Some of the scenes, such as the burning train and Humvee are classic war scenes adapted to the fight with the Martians. However, nothing can top the clothes falling from the sky. This is a great movie, a worthy extension of one of the best science fiction stories of all time.

Review of "Home Games," by Bobbie Bouton and Nancy Marshall

 Review of

Home Games, by Bobbie Bouton and Nancy Marshall, ISBN 0312388462

Five out of five stars

Another tell-all by a Bouton

The book “Ball Four” by Jim Bouton, former major league pitcher, was a game changer in the area of books written about professional sports by people that played them. Before that revelation, when athletes and sportswriters wrote books about sports, they kept the sordid details out of the ink. Bouton destroyed that unwritten wall and from that point on, writers about sports were free to tell all, no matter how personal and unbecoming. Therefore, it is fitting that a book about the lives of the wives of professional athletes should be authored by the wife of Bouton.

 The format is a series of letters between Bobbie Bouton, the wife of Jim Bouton and Nancy Marshall, the wife of major league pitcher Mike Marshall. It spares nothing in the way of language and little in the way of detail regarding what big leaguers do when out of the sight of their wives. One very significant point is how low the pay was for players in the minor leagues and how their families struggled to make ends meet.

 There was also the stress of travel and moving. While a move up in the farm system was a positive career event, it generally meant a move, sometimes across the country, for the family. These women at first were the supportive wives that did whatever was necessary to make the best possible home life for their husbands. However, once their husbands were successful, they discovered that their efforts were not rewarded. Furthermore, when both men suffered their inevitable falls from their peak performance, they tended to blame their wives for their professional demise.

 This is a depressing book, pulling away the magic curtain of what it is like to be the spouse of a celebrity. Mostly they toiled in the shadows while their men experienced their fleeting fame and took them for granted in all respects. Both women eventually divorced their husbands and made an independent life. The seedy details of those divorces are also included.

Review of "Danny Dunn and the Fossil Cave," by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin

 Review of

Danny Dunn and the Fossil Cave, by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin

Five out of five stars

An adventure in cave exploration

 The Danny Dunn adventure series for young adults is a good one for all ages, not just the target one. In this case, Danny has discovered a cave and having no light, decided to come back and explore it. Fortunately, geologist Dr. Tresselt is visiting Professor Euclid Bullfinch, Danny’s guardian. With Danny’s friends Irene Miller and Joe Pearson, the two professors and Danny set out to investigate the cave.

 Their actions are a lesson in some of the features of caves, including what is normally found in one. There is some danger, but as is the case with young heroes, they manage to overcome all the difficulties and when they are lost, Danny comes up with the clue that allows them to find an alternate exit.

 What is a bit different about this book is that Irene is portrayed as an effective member of the investigatory team.  She is smart, capable and willing to follow the others into danger. That was not always the case in books published in the sixties. It is a fun read for people of all ages that enjoy basic adventure books and has aged well.

Review of "Kung Fu: The Master, the Book of Kitabu," by Vernon Kitabu Turner

 Review of

Kung Fu: The Master, the Book of Kitabu, by Vernon Kitabu Turner, ISBN 9781937907655

Five out of five stars

Poems that express the martial arts mentality

 Poetry can be used to express the complete spectrum of human activity, from emotional strain to observing the natural world. In the hands of a master, even the standard daily actions of a human can be made profound, interesting and entertaining.

 The author is a martial arts master, and this collection of poems expresses the mentality associated with a master. All are short, few extend beyond a single page. There is a wide spectrum of topics, my favorite is on page 95 and the title is “Black Lives Matter.” The first few lines are:

Surely all lives matter,

That is a given truth

But when black lives are routinely

Taken under suspicious circumstances

And there is no justice despite overwhelming

Evidence to the guilt of

white police perpetrators,

The cry black lives matter

Means black lives matter too.

 The last line is the most important point. When the phrase “Black lives matter” is stated, there are some that interpret it as diminishing the lives of others. That is not the case, the word “too” is implied.

 These poems have the form and cadence of what one would expect a person in martial arts to create. They grip you in the way a martial arts master would barely touch you but put you on the ground.

Review of "Rethinking the Soviet Experience: Politics & History Since 1917," by Stephen F. Cohen

 Review of

Rethinking the Soviet Experience: Politics & History Since 1917, by Stephen F. Cohen ISBN 0195040163

Five out of five stars

Makes you rethink the Stalin effect

 It is nearly an article of fact in the Western countries that Soviet ruler Joseph Stalin was a monster. His policies led to the transformation of Soviet society from essentially an agrarian one into an industrial power. That transformation took place in only a few years. In the early 1920’s, the Soviet Union was an incredibly weak country, struggling to stay together after having several countries spin off at the end of the First World War. The Russian Civil War did not end until 1922-23.

 Yet, less than 20 years later, the Soviet Red Army was engaged in a battle to the death with the forces of Germany. In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that it was the Soviet Union that defeated Germany and the collection of Axis powers. When you compare the casualty levels of all the Allied nations, the number in the Soviet Union dwarfs all other belligerents in the European theater.

 While there were many allies of Stalin, there is no question that he was the driving force of the transformation of the Soviet Union into a superpower. It is realistic to say that the postwar Soviet Union was the last true empire on Earth. Through its’ ideology exported on the backs of the Red Army, it retook control of the Baltic States and Ukraine as well as the countries of Eastern Europe, including approximately half of Germany.

 Therefore, in the Soviet Union, he is widely thought of as a person that saved the country from ruin, despite having made some major mistakes, rather than as a murderous monster. Those two competing threads of thought are the main topics of this book and it was refreshing to read of the position inside the Soviet Union that Stalin was a success in the Machiavellian sense.

 It was also informative to read that the ouster of Nikita Khrushchev was a reaction to his pace of reformation and criticism of Stalin. There was a strong conservative backlash to this, the consequence was the elevation of Leonid Brezhnev to power. Something similar happened again after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when there was a strong movement of glasnost or openness. One major theme of this was to open archives and air out what happened during the years when Stalin had absolute power. Once again, there was a conservative backlash, leading to the rise of Vladimir Putin, who is now the de facto President for Life.

 One cannot understand history in general and that of Russia in particular, without looking at leaders in their totality. If Western leaders do not accept that the Russian people do that, then it will be difficult for the United States to make inroads in their dealings with the current Tsar-equivalent now occupying the Kremlin. This book is a good place to begin that process.