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Shade is a portrait in Presidential contrasts, telling the tale of the Obama and Trump administrations through a series of visual juxtapositions. Here, more than one hundred of Souza's unforgettable images of President Obama deliver new power and meaning when framed by the tweets, news headlines, and quotes that defined the first 500 days of the Trump White House. There is no doubt Souza has deep feelings for President Obama. In this book he expresses some of those, ranging from dissatisfaction to outrage at what the following President attempted to do to Obama’s legacy and the “alternative facts” that were offered in support of the new Administration’s actions. Shortly after his release from jail, he causes the death of a man by his careless driving and, after finding a windfall of over a quarter of a million dollars in the dead man’s car, steals it. But as the story evolves, he realizes that he has stepped into the middle of a kidnapping, and that a little girl’s safety - - and perhaps her life - - are in the balance. Images of his own little girl, who he hasn’t seen in 13 years, since she was two years old, keep intruding on his thoughts, and his decisions. Anyways. He's that. And well, he's the epitome of a guy who never got enough of life's lessons. So the problems with the same morals were kept throwing to his way, he never really got it. Until this time. Look, he's always in a pinch and it's basically all his fault. The story is told from the point of view of Stokes, an habitual criminal with little empathy and less conscience, who blames the fact that, in his thirties, he has no family, no friends and no money, not on his own weak character and poor judgement, but on the fact that he's just never caught a break.
Hundreds of books about books have been published during the past century…I will not claim that this one is the very best of all time. Yet The Book is possibly the best of our time. Steven Heller, Eye Magazine Greg has managed to produce the equivalent to an atomic bond to take care of the ever stronger monsters that are being spawned. I like the grand scale and involvment of both the king and the army. It felt very real that such an invention would attract attention. I mean, I can't comment much on the mystery element, because, there wasn't much to solve in the first place AND out main character is not the brightest and he's quite the liar and the criminal. Well, he died a hero, a guilty criminal, and still quite stupid. And now, the man who had entered the field of politics by accusing Obama of having a fraudulent birth certificate was every day making it his specialty to play “how low can you go” as the leader of the American people and took the world hostage to play in the greatest live reality show project ever. With him in the lead role, naturally.The pacing was absolutely perfect. I didn't find myself getting bored or feel like the story was dragging its metaphorical "feet". The writing was brilliant as well and I especially loved how the words just flowed from beginning to end. The synopsis promises a fast-paced thriller - and it delivered it as promised! I was beyond thrilled. Now, look. Was Obama perfect? No. But he was a man of dignity and compassion who did his best-- or tried to. I didn't agree with all his policies but I also didn't think he was going to run the country into the ground. A claim I simply could not make with the orange menace. This book compares and contrasts the highs of Obama with the multiple lows of Trump and it's honestly pretty chilling. I liked that Souza ends with a call to action imploring people to vote and talk to their congressmen (and women) if they want change. I didn't love all aspects of the book. I started to tire of all of the problems that Stokes kept running into. It seemed that no matter what he tried thing would go wrong. It became a bit predictable and the excitement of the story suffered as a result. I also never really connected with the characters. I didn't dislike him but I didn't like him either. I never fully believed that he would really risk so much to save the girl. I enjoyed reading through these but have to admit after how great the documentary was, I was left wanting more.
Engaging typographical journeys […] Houston brings to life a history of ingenuity and imagination. Rose Wild, The Times He also didn’t give interviews or explain his motives to anyone publicly. Many said he was “throwing shade” on the sitting president. When he googled the expression, Merriam-Webster explained it as a “subtle, sneering expression of contempt for or disgust with someone—sometimes verbal, and sometimes not.”
There are two things I didn't like about "Shady Cross" The main one is that I could never quite buy Stoke's motivation for continuing to try to do the right thing, no matter how ineptly, rather than looking after his own interests. It's not that this wasn't explained, it's just that I didn't believe the explanation. The second thing is related to first thing and it's the way Stokes feels about how everything works out. I bought what happened in the end, just not how Stokes felt about it.
This is the first time that I have listened to Bon Shaw narrated a story and I really enjoyed his performance. He handled all of the voice really well and the dialogue in the story was flawless. The cast of character in this story really cover a wide range including men, woman, older adults, and children and he did a great job with all of them. I would not hesitate to listen to his work again in the future. When I first heard about this book, I could not wait to get my hands on it!! I thought about Pete Souza's 2017 release, Obama: An Intimate Portrait, and how good it made me feel. I thought that this one would evoke similar emotions. Maybe with a little humor and biting sarcasm thrown in for good measure. Little did I know what was hiding behind the cover. If it helps any at all, I have many many friends in the US and being an empath and always having had an interest in history, I live in constant alarm that the apocalypse could just be around the corner. In other words, a reminder that sanity lives among us too is always a helpful and even necessary and life-giving thing to cherish.Pete Souza was elevated to the status of "one of Sara's favorite people ever" when his first book "Obama: An Intimate Portrait" reminded me, however briefly, that the office of the president has not always been the utter farce it is today. Now he's cemented his place with this slightly more satirical, sometimes funny, sometimes deeply upsetting comparison of two men who, and I shudder to say this, share the title "president." I hope we can continue to investigate and continue to recover our history because it has such an interesting message,” she added. “It was a very, very peaceful society. We have not found even a single walled settlement.” The novel covers the next twenty-four hours, as someone is always on his trail, putting a kink in his plans, no matter where he turns. His plans change from one minute to another. The little girl Amanda has been kidnapped, and the killers demand the ransom, or they are going to kill her. They tell him they have someone on the inside (cops) and he cannot get them involved.
My partner just texted me. I told him I had just finished typing and needed to edit this review just now, so instead of my bland “definitely recommend this one” I’ll copy: This book is full of examples – both in the form of Tweets and “fake” news – demonstrating just how out of touch with the pulse of the nation the current President is. No matter your politics, it should serve as a reminder that the next time you go to the polls (whether it’s to pull red, blue or other) you should try to vote for someone who at least attempts to . . . . If Eats, Shoots & Leaves whetted your appetite on the subject of punctuation, then you have a treat in store. Shady Characters is an authoritative, witty, and fascinating tour of the history and rationale behind such lesser known marks as the ampersand, manicule, the pilcrow, and the interrobang. Keith Houston also explains the octothorpe — otherwise known as the hashtag — and my final comment on his book is #awesome. Ben Yagoda, author of How to Not Write Bad Shady Cross" has three things going for it that kept me hooked: constant tension that is delivered at an almost exhausting pace and intensity; a plot with so many unexpected turns and frustrations that you feel you have to keep reading so you can find out how it all works out; and the character of Stokes a fundamentally flawed man who is quite hard to like and almost impossible to trust but who I still found myself rooting for from time to time. NOTE: The spoiler is a HUGE SPOILER. You definitely don't wan't to see that BEFORE you read the book. Because there'd be nothing much to read.
I recommend this book as a friendly haven, a reminder of sanity and law, and a reminder that there ARE stark differences between good and evil, much as most in our time do not like those words. I am not saying that Obama was a saint, only that he lived with, by and under the law, tried to work with all branches of government as the Constitution would have him do. And he managed to be a family man and apparent loving husband at the same time. Well enough said. Quite possibly, too much! There are still a lot of gotchas. Though to be fair the narrator kinda warns about them when they happen
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