Thomas Fensch

Timeless (Pen) Names examines the writers behind four famous pseudonyms-Lewis Carroll, Mark Twain, George Orwell and Dr. Seuss-their lives, their books, their careers and why their books are so beloved over decades and decades. This book examines their early years, the publication of their books, how they conjured up their pseudonyms and examines-in each case-how their books have sold millions of copies and will continue to sell millions of copies into the future. There is a complete bibliography for reference.

This book begins with the Bubonic Plague that hit London in 1665-1666, that Daniel Defoe described in A Journal of the Plague Year -- written so many years after the actual event. The Spanish Flu of 1918-1919 has been described by a variety of authors, including Katherine Anne Porter and Thomas Wolfe.More recently, AIDS, Ebola and Covid-19 have been covered, as journalists would day, by Randy Shilts, Richard Preston and Lawrence Wright.There are graphic and horrific stories here about illnesses and deaths during plagues in the oast; and in the case of Covid-19 -- the plague that is with us still

First published in 1970, The Lions and the Lambs profiles the best pool players of that time. It followed the release of The Hustler, a highly acclaimed-and financially successful film-starring Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason. Until 1970, there has been no book about pool/billiards that separated the facts from the legends of this timeless sport. Shakespeare mentions billiards in Anthony and Cleopatra; Mary Queen of Scots played the game and Lord Bryon also mentioned billiards.Lions, in the language of the game, are gamblers or hustlers; those who can win when there is money on the table; Lambs are tournament players, but not necessary gamblers.The book includes both categories of players; each chapter is a comprehensive profile of the player-his (or her) attitudes toward the game and comments about other players. Also included is a Introduction about pool in the United States; a section about the film The Hustler and a lexicon of terms. It is illustrated with a wide variety of photographs, many taken by the author.The book went out-of-print after its original printing and the book publisher also disappeared. Copies available on the internet have listed at $200-$250 or more; this is a reprint of the 1970 edition.

Those who are regular readers -- or those who are addicted to books -- may have their own favorite titles from years or decades past and they often go back to re-read their favorites. George Orwell said that there was never a year went by that he didn't re-read parts of Gulliver's Travels.Echoes of Gulliver's Travels may appear in Orwell's Animal Farm, published in 1945.The Books That Haunt Us is a tour de force analysis of 18 exceptional books - -14 widely known; three that deserve reading and one impossible to find that contriubuted to the succes of Orwell's 1984.Thomas Fensch has been publishing books for 50 years; his first three were published in 1970; since 1970, he had published 40 nonfiction titles.

All readers have favorites from their personal history; "The Books That Haunt Us" is an analysis of 18 of the author's favorite books beginning with Steinbeck's "Tortilla Flat," 1935 up through "The Tattooist of Auschwitz," 2018. Other titles include: "It Can't Happen Here," 1935; "Address Uknown," 1938; "Darkness at Noon" 1940; "Hiroshima," 1946; "If This is a Man," 1947; "McElligot's Pool" 1947; "1984," 1949; "Night," 1960; "Black Like Me," 1960; "Eichmann in Jerusalem," 1963; "Slaughterhouse-Five," 1969; "The Plot Against America," 2004; "I Heard You Paint Houses," 2004;Two are less widely known: "A Desert Daughter's Odyssey," 2000 and "A Book of Great Worth" 2012. "The Woman Who Could Not Die," 1938, is now impossible to find, but was a major influence for George Orwell's "1984." Also contains the remarkable backstory of the 10 years before John Howard Griffin became black for "Black Like Me," which became an instant American classic. The backstory is not mentioned in "Black Like Me."

This is a short classic autography from a gifted writer -- the dog he had as a child; his marriage, the dogs he and his wife had together, and the sudden death of his wife; his second marriage and the long slow death of his second wife from cancer. The dogs they had together and the dogs he had as companions after the deaths of his wives, eight and one-years apart.

During the Nixon administration, lists were drawn up with names of people thought to be liberal and anti-Nixon; the list was orighinally to be 20 names-- politicans and entertainers, but eventually grew to be well over 700 names, on two lists. The Nixon administration wanted the Internel Revenue Service to audit their tax data and harass them; the I.R.S. refused to do so and made the scandal public. None of the Nixon people were charged with crimes, although some could have been. This scandal pre-dated Watergate and Watergate involved many of the same top Nixon appointees.This book includes a major summary of the Watergate scandal and the names of those Nixon appointees who were convictied of crimes involving Watergate.

George Orwell never came to America; he published five books before fighting in the Spanish Civll War against Franco. Shot in the neck by a sniper, he came within a fraction of an inch of dying on the spot. Returning to England he published Homage to Catalonia, his experiences in Spain; then Animal Farm, the Russian Revolution in fable form, then 1984, his masterpiece, while battling tuberculosis.1984 was instantly judged a classic and has remained so to this day.By now, 70 years on, his never-to-be-believed dystopic science fictiion is accepted as fact.America has gone 'way past all his warnings and, in one recent area, become involved in a horrific national debacle which Orwell -- or his Big Brother -- couldn't have dreamed of.

This book examines four novels and one short story: Herman Melville's last novel, The Confidence-Man; Mark Twain's short story, "The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg" in the 1935 novel, It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis; George Orwell's 1984; and Philip Roth's The Plot Against America, as classic works that foreshadow Trump.

Originally published in 1989. This diary of a news event looks at how the reporting happened as spread by the news wire system of the Associated Press service in America. Analysing the flow of information in this detailed way, this book presents how a major disaster, a fast-moving story with considerable spin, was fed out to the press via the Dallas bureau in 1988. Introductory chapters outline the workings of a press bureau office during a major story and present interview sections with key reporters on the story about how their role unfolded. Sidebar commentary alongside the reproductions of the news wires, organised by date and time, adds interesting discussion throughout the book, while a conclusion evaluates the coverage of the story. The Appendices include reproductions of Texas newspapers’ resulting pages about the crash. This is a fascinating case-study of the dissemination of news date before the internet, compiled at a time when computers were just large enough to retain in memory all stories relating to event ‘X’ in order for this kind of analysis to be attempted.

Originally published in 1989. This diary of a news event looks at how the reporting happened as spread by the news wire system of the Associated Press service in America. Analysing the flow of information in this detailed way, this book presents how a major disaster, a fast-moving story with considerable spin, was fed out to the press via the Dallas bureau in 1988. Introductory chapters outline the workings of a press bureau office during a major story and present interview sections with key reporters on the story about how their role unfolded. Sidebar commentary alongside the reproductions of the news wires, organised by date and time, adds interesting discussion throughout the book, while a conclusion evaluates the coverage of the story. The Appendices include reproductions of Texas newspapers’ resulting pages about the crash. This is a fascinating case-study of the dissemination of news date before the internet, compiled at a time when computers were just large enough to retain in memory all stories relating to event ‘X’ in order for this kind of analysis to be attempted.

"at the dangerous edge of social justice" is a searing indictment of reprehensible -- and murderous -- racist behavior in America and a tribute to those who had the courage to confront hatred, knowing full well the cost. Chapters include; Emmett Till, murdered in Mississippi at 14, in 1955; Medgar Evers, killed in Mississippi at 37, in 1963; Malcolm X, killed in New York City at 39, in 1965; Martin Luther King Jr., killed in Memphis at 39, in 1968; James Byrd Jr., killed In Jasper Tx., at 49, in 1998 and Trayvon Martin, killed in Florida at 17, in 2012. Additional chapters include homages to icons Rosa Parks and Fannie Lou Hamer; John Howard Griffin, who dyed his skin black to write the classic "Black Like Me" and Grace Halsell, who dyed her skin black and wrote "Soul Sister"; Rodney King and others. An Epilogue reveals how much America has yet to achieve to become a truly post-racial society: Black Americans are twice as likely as white Americans to live in poverty; Black Americans are twice as likely as white Americans to be unemployed; the median family income of black Americans is only 67 percent of that of white Americas -- and on and on and on. Contains an extensive Sources section, Suggested Readings and Index. This is a sad, tragic -- and powerful -- book.

at the dangerous edge of social justice is a book of profiles on courage on facing prejudice in America. Chapters include: Emmett Till, killed at 14 in 1955; Medgar Evers, killed at 37 in 1963; Malcolm X, killed at 39 in 1965; Martin Luther King, Jr., killed at 39, in 1968, James Byrd Jr. killed at 49 in 1998, Trayvon Martin, killed at 17 in 2012. Other chapters include: John Howard Griffin, who died his skin black and wrote the classic "Black Like Me"; Grace Halsell, who died her skin black and wrote "Soul Sister"; civil rights icons Fannie Lou Hamer and Rosa Parks, Rodney King and others. Fifty years after Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech," an Epilogue shows dramatically how far America is from being a fully post-racist society: blacks are still twice as likely as whites to live in poverty; twice as likely to be unemployed as whites; the net worth of white families is 22 times greater than black families -- and on and on -- This is a sad, tragic -- and powerful -- book.