Robert Pavlovich has narrated 4 audiobooks on Listento.it by 4 authors. The most-rated is Act Now.
Causes Won, Lost, and Forgotten
Summary
More than 60,000 books have been published on the Civil War. Most Americans, though, get their ideas about the war why it was fought, what was won, what was lost not from books but from movies, television, and other popular media. In an engaging and accessible survey, Gallagher guides listeners through the stories told in recent film and art, showing how they have both reflected and influenced the political, social, and racial currents of their times. The most influential perspective for the Civil War generation, says Gallagher, is almost entirely absent from the Civil War stories being told today. This lively investigation into what popular entertainment teaches us and what it reflects about us will prompt listeners to consider how we form opinions on current matters of debate, such as the use of the military, the freedom of dissent, and the flying of the Confederate flag.
©2008 The University of North Carolina Press (P)2014 Audible, Inc.
Mutiny at Fort Jackson
Summary
New Orleans was the largest city - and one of the richest - in the Confederacy, protected in part by Fort Jackson, which was just sixty-five miles down the Mississippi River. On April 27, 1862, Confederate soldiers at Fort Jackson rose up in mutiny against their commanding officers. New Orleans fell to Union forces soon thereafter. Although the Fort Jackson mutiny marked a critical turning point in the Union's campaign to regain control of this vital Confederate financial and industrial center, it has received surprisingly little attention from historians. Michael Pierson examines newly uncovered archival sources to determine why the soldiers rebelled at such a decisive moment. The mutineers were soldiers primarily recruited from New Orleans's large German and Irish immigrant populations. Pierson shows that the new nation had done nothing to encourage poor white men to feel they had a place of honor in the southern republic. He argues that the mutineers actively sought to help the Union cause. In a major reassessment of the Union administration of New Orleans that followed, Pierson demonstrates that Benjamin "Beast" Butler enjoyed the support of many white Unionists in the city. Pierson adds an urban working-class element to debates over the effects of white Unionists in Confederate states. With the personal stories of soldiers appearing throughout, Mutiny at Fort Jackson presents the Civil War from a new perspective, revealing the complexities of New Orleans society and the Confederate experience.
©2009 The University of North Carolina Press (P)2014 Audible Inc.
Collections of Nothing
Summary
Nearly everyone collects something, even those who don’t think of themselves as collectors. William Davies King, on the other hand, has devoted decades to collecting nothing - and a lot of it. With Collections of Nothing, he takes a hard look at this habitual hoarding to see what truths it can reveal about the impulse to accumulate. Part memoir, part reflection on the mania of acquisition, Collections of Nothing begins with the stamp collection that King was given as a boy. In the following years, rather than rarity or pedigree, he found himself searching out the lowly and the lost, the cast-off and the undesired: objects that, merely by gathering and retaining them, he could imbue with meaning, even value. As he relates the story of his burgeoning collections, King also offers a fascinating meditation on the human urge to collect. This wry, funny, even touching appreciation and dissection of the collector’s art as seen through the life of a most unusual specimen will appeal to anyone who has ever felt the unappeasable power of that acquisitive fever. "What makes this book, bred of a midlife crisis, extraordinary is the way King weaves his autobiography into the account of his collection, deftly demonstrating that the two stories are essentially one.... His hard-won self-awareness gives his disclosures an intensity that will likely resonate with all readers, even those whose collections of nothing contain nothing at all." (New Yorker) "King's extraordinary book is a memoir served up on the backs of all things he collects.... His story starts out sounding odd and singular - who is this guy? - but by the end, you recognize yourself in a lot of what he does." (Julia Keller, Chicago Tribune)
©2008 William Davies King (P)2019 University of Chicago Press
Act Now
Summary
The Ginsu Knife, the Great Wok of China, the Food Saver, Tony Little's Ab Isolator--all have sold millions and have become household names thanks to Kevin Harrington's insightful vision to bring the traveling salesman's pitch to television. Since the late 1980s when Harrington's first infomercial aired, the extended commercial, or infomercial, has become a social institution and an intriguing way for anyone with drive, determination, and a good product to become wealthy beyond his or her dreams. Some people take life as it comes; some grab it by the ears and shake and shake. Kevin Harrington is one of the shakers. When he has an idea, he 'acts now!' and he doesn't get discouraged by challenging situations--he finds a way around them. The story he tells in Act Now! is partly about his role in bringing about changes in the industry and the business methods, marketing tactics, and strategic decisions he's made along the way. Budding entrepreneurs, creative inventors, and ambitious businesspeople will reap the benefits of Harrington's insights - how he chooses his products, what criteria he demands of his infomercials, and the details surrounding his choices in spokespeople, timing, and synergy.
©2009 Kevin Harrington (P)2009 Audible, Inc.