Pocket Book of Patriotism (2005)Unfair as it may seem to criticize a text for fulfilling its titular purpose, there's a tad too much pocket here, not near enough book, and, with the exception of a brief Introduction, almost no author. Don't get me wrong, what's here is very good--a stellar design job that includes old flags; a detailed timeline of world and American history; excerpts from key documents, great speeches, poems, and songs; lists of the presidents and the states in their order of joining the Union; quotes about patriotism; a section on the Medal of Honor; and even a bit about flag etiquette and American oaths and pledges. But it's kind of like having someone share a few peanuts or potato chips with you--no matter how good those few taste, you're left hungry for more. I guess that's not a bad thing though, assuming that folks who read the book, youngsters in particular, do seek out more in the same vein. Still, I can't help feeling that would have been interesting to hear more from Mr. Foreman himself in these pages. He was after all a notoriously opinionated movie critic for the New York Post; the son of Carl Foreman, who wrote the screenplay for High Noon, and was blacklisted during the '50s; was embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq; and, to top it all off, was born in London because of his Dad's troubles. Wouldn't it seem like his views on American patriotism would make for fascinating reading? Ah, well, maybe that's his next book... (Reviewed:) Grade: (B+) Tweet Websites:-AUTHOR SITE: JonathanForeman.com -Member Bio: JONATHAN FOREMAN: NEW YORK POST (New York Film Critics Circle) -ARCHIVES: Jonathan Foreman (City Journal) -ARCHIVES: Jonathan Foreman (Rotten Tomatoes) -ESSAY: Our Dad was no commie (Amanda Foreman and Jonathan Foreman, 3/26/1999, New Statesman) -ESSAY: Winning Over India: Smart Bush policy has promoted pro-American sentiment. (Jonathan Foreman, 11/02/04, National Review) -ESSAY: Wrong in Ramadan: Let’s hope we don’t make the same mistake this year. (Jonathan Foreman, 10/15/04, National Review) -ESSAY: After the Atrocity: Changing impressions (Jonathan Foreman, 4/07/04, National Review) -ESSAY: American soldiers really aren't spoilt, trigger-happy yokels (Jonathan Foreman, 25 Jul 2003, Daily Telegraph) -ESSAY: Bad Reporting in Baghdad: You have no idea how well things are going. (Jonathan Foreman, 05/12/2003, Weekly Standard) -ESSAY: Scenes From the Next Evolution: The 64th Armored Regiment stops fighting and starts trying to befriend Iraqis and rebuild Iraq. (Jonathan Foreman, 04/30/2003, weekly Standard) -ESSAY: The Scandal of the Army's Mail: Some troops on the front lines haven't received mail in two months. Our soldiers deserve better. (Jonathan Foreman, 04/15/2003, Weekly Standard) -ESSAY: Shame on journalists who insult the dead (Jonathan Foreman, 26 Sep 2001, Daily Telegraph) -ESSAY: Blandinavia! (JONATHAN FOREMAN, Daily Mail) -ESSAY: Censored: The real Central Park story: Shocked by the bizarre attacks? Don't be. This was just a small taste of what life is like for black and Hispanic women in many parts of New York. (Jonathan Foreman, June 23, 2000, Salon) -ESSAY: The Stadium Game (Jonathan Foreman, Summer 1998, City Journal) -ESSAY: Green for Greening (Jonathan Foreman, Spring 1998, City Journal) -ESSAY: Fractured, yet Whole (Jonathan Foreman, Spring 1998, City Journal) -ESSAY: Toward a More Civil City (Jonathan Foreman, Winter 1998, City Journal) -ESSAY: Bombay on the Hudson (Jonathan Foreman, Summer 1997, City Journal) -=ESSAY: My Life As An Associate (Jonathan Foreman, Winter 1997, City Journal) -ESSAY: Politically Wired (Jonathan Foreman, Winter 1997, City Journal) -ESSAY: America Curries Disfavor (Jonathan Foreman, November 20, 1995, The Weekly Standard) -INTERVIEW: Mob happy: Edie Falco was plodding along a well-trodden route to film stardom: drama school and waitressing. Then 'The Sopranos' came along, changed her life and made her a must-have for the high priest of Indie movies. (Interview by Jonathan Foreman, 13/07/2002, Daily Telegraph) -REVIEW: of The Passion: THE GORIEST STORY EVER TOLD (Jonathan Foreman, NY Post) -REVIEW: of The Two Towers: HOBBIT FORMING (Jonathan Foreman, NY Post) -REVIEW: of Master and Commander: Mastering the Seas: Hollywood does justice to Patrick O'Brian's naval saga. (Jonathan Foreman, 11/15/2003, Weekly Standard) -REVIEW: of Gangs of New York: Scorsese's film portrays racist mass murderers as victims (Jonathan Foreman, Daily Telegraph) -REVIEW: of The Four Feathers: The Empire Strikes Back: Victorian virtues, Hollywood vices. (Jonathan Foreman, 10/14/2002, weekly Standard) -REVIEW: of The Patriot: The Nazis, er, the Redcoats are coming!: The savage soldiers in "The Patriot" act more like the Waffen SS than actual English troops. Does "The Patriot" have an ulterior motive? (Jonathan Foreman, July 3, 2000, Salon) -REVIEW: of Vanity Fair (Jonathan Foreman, National Review) -REVIEW ESSAY: Furst Among Equals: The spy novels of Alan Furst (Jonathan Foreman, 11/4/2004, Weekly Standard) -DISCUSSION: REEL POLITICS The Michael Moore film "Fahrenheit 9/11" opened today to heated debate about its tactics and tone. Arts Correspondent Jeffrey Brown discusses the feverish reception to the politically charged film with movie critics Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times and Jonathan Foreman of the New York Post. (Online Newshour, June 25, 2004, PBS) -AUDIO DISCUSSION: Jonathan Foreman and Steven Rosenbaum: In the fifteen-month period after Daniel Pearl was murdered, 44 other journalists lost their lives on the job. Reporter Jonathan Foreman and documentary filmmaker Steven Rosenbaum talk about the many dangers faced by journalists and why these issues often go overlooked. (Leonard Lopate Show, 11/24/03) -ARCHIVES: "Jonathan Foreman" (Find Articles) -REVIEW: of The Pocket Book of Patriotism (Warren Kelly, BlogCritics) CARL FOREMAN: -Carl Foreman (Wikipedia) Book-related and General Links: -Charters of Freedom (National Archives and Records Administration) -Magna Carta (British Library) -Mayflower Compact 1620 (The Avalon Project at Yale Law School) -A City Upon a Hill: A Modell of Christian Charity by John Winthrop (1630) -The American Crisis by Thomas Paine (1776) -Declaration of Independence (National Archives and Records Administration) -Constitution of the United States (Library of Congress) -LETTER: George Washington's Letter To a Hebrew Congregation in Newport, RI (1790) (Touro Synagogue) -Gettysburg Address (American Rhetoric) -Lincoln's Second Inauguration (March 4, 1865) (Library of Congress) -SPEECH: Woodrow Wilson Address to a Joint Session of Congress (April 2, 1917) (FirstWorldWar.com) -SPEECH: FDR's Four Freedoms: Annual Message to Congress (January 6, 1941) (Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum) -SPEECH: Learned Hand "I am an American" Day (Central Park, New York City, May 21, 1944) -General Dwight D. Eisenhower: Order of the Day June 6, 1944 (The Dwight D. Eisenhower Library) -JFK Inaugural Address (January 20, 1961) (History Channel) -SPEECH: Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I Have a Dream" (August 28, 1963) (Seattle Times) -SPEECH: Ronald Reagan: Remarks at the U.S. Ranger Monument (Pointe du Hoc, France, June 6, 1984) -SPEECH: President Bush Discusses Freedom in Iraq and Middle East (20th Anniversary of the National Endowment for Democracy, United States Chamber of Commerce, Washington, D.C.) The Star-Spangled Banner (American History Museum) -My Country 'Tis of Thee (Samuel F. Smith, 1832) -Concord Hymn (Ralph Waldo Emerson) -Battle Hymn of the Republic (Julia W. Howe, 1861 -Marine Corps Hymn -Home on the Range (Daniel E. Kelley) -America the Beautiful (Katherine Lee Bates, 1893) -Over There (George M. Cohan, 1917) -"God Bless America" (Irving Berlin, 1918) -This Land is Your Land (Woody Guthrie) (The NPR 100) -POEM: Paul Revere's Ride (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, April 19, 1860) (National Center) -POEM: Emma Lazarus, "The New Colossus" (1883) -POEM: Pioneers! O Pioneers! (Walt Whitman, 1900) -Medal of Honor Citations -Federal Flag Code |
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