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 Had it stayed on topic... May 27, 2007
Bob Miller, The Business of Assassination (Booksurge, 2006)
The Business of Assassination is something of a misnomer as a title for this book. Miller's political screed (bounced off narrator Nan Kilar, a freelance journalist associated with Miller's website, and who is more than willing to throw in opinions of her own on a fairly regular basis) only extends for about the first third of this small (170pp.) volume. The rest is comprised of what, in the music world, we'd call a sampler: excerpts of three of Miller's previous books (Taciturn, My Friend Zabar, and Toto Coelo). The first of them does have a bit to do with the subject matter outlined in the title, as it's an excerpt from a novel of Miller's (semiautobiographical, Kilar tells us) that dabbles in the politics of assassination and revenge as applied to the Vegas mob. Zabar is a collection of excerpts from eight of the ten stories in the collection of that title having to do with Zabar the angel (who, of course, has little if anything to do with assassination, being an angel and all), and the last--well, another wag summed it up in his review as a series of Christian one-liners, and that's about as accurate a description as I could come up with. So first off, be aware that what you see is not what you get.
For the most part, the usual problems with vanity publications (the ubiquitous spelling and grammar errors) are absent here; you'll find no more typos in The Business of Assassination than you would from any major-press book these days. The writing style, though, still pegs it as pay-to-publish; as with most books that find their way through the vanity-press grist mill, a good copywriter or line-by-line critic would have been an immense help to the book. As I always say with vanities, though, if that's not the kind of thing that bothers you, then add a couple of stars to my rating; I mark off more for writing style in books like this than I ever do for subject matter or the like. In fact, as far as subject matter goes, if the Business of Assassination had stayed on topic, it probably would have gotten one of the better ratings I'd given a vanity pub in the last couple of years; while Miller's ranting (and I use that term in the best possible sense) is, of course, not substantiated with any sort of data whatsoever--if it were, it wouldn't be a rant, would it?--there's certainly all kinds of food for thought to be found here. There are a number of allegations worth looking deeper into for the reader with a propensity for doing research, and those alone might well be worth the purchase price for the more grounded conspiracy theorists and political pundits reading this. As well, Miller, a Republican, seems to have no qualms about alienating readers of either of the big political parties in America here, and anyone who's willing to throw stones at both sides of the aisle gets points in my book. Still, some substantiation, some editing, and a willingness to either expound on the topic at hand or release a shorter book would've served The Business of Assassination in good stead. * ½
 Not about Assassination May 13, 2007
This is a complicated book to read... or so I thought until I decided to treat it as its four constituent parts: an eleven-chapter non-fiction rant, a four-chapter fiction excerpt from Taciturn, a seven-chapter fiction excerpt from An Angel Named Zabar, and a four-chapter non-fiction excerpt from Toto Coelo. I honestly could not figure out why they were joined in the same book other than as a story collection, so I treated them individually.
Assassination--If ever there was a man born not to suffer fools gladly then that man would have to be Bob Miller. At 65, Bob is a licensed and experienced curmudgeon. (I'm only 58 and still have two years on my apprenticeship.) I would have liked to see the three follow-on excerpts removed from the book and the space devoted to filling in the missing details of Bob's life post-Vietnam. Without those details, the book starts a lot of interesting stories but leaves them at the innuendo stage. As such, those stories might appeal to the already-convinced, but if the goal is to change attitudes, they fall a bit short.
Taciturn--A wonderfully gritty, noir crime-thriller, set in modern day Las Vegas. Reminiscent of Raymond Chandler. I liked what I read so much I ordered the book.
Zabar--Bob shows his southern roots here with a collection of stories about an angel named Zabar. The writing here reminded me of Flannery O'Connor. I'll probably order this one too.
Toto Coelo--This one didn't do much for me. I'm probably the world's first fundamentalist agnostic, and hence, have a difficult time swallowing a book full of inspirational one-liners from a George Burns style comedian. Again, this one is probably affirming to the already-convinced, but too glib and too cutesy for me.
--Ejner Fulsang, author of "A Knavish Piece of Work", Aarhus Publishing, 2006
1 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 Reason To Look Apr 25, 2006
It seems to me,that Bob Miller's writting "alway's present" reason for one to look inside him or herself.As well as the kind of World we are living in today.Thank's Bob
0 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Just because it's true, I don't have to like it. Mar 12, 2006
A few years ago, I read a review about another book by this same author: "The statements in this book question the reality of the experiences. The words contain enough truth to bring tears to your eyes. A must read for an in-depth look in to the soul of mankind."
I'm sorry. I hate redundancy too, but this old review says exactly how I feel about this book. I've done a little research on this author, and I don't like him as a person, but he has paid his dues. Each time I think of him, his books, articles or speeches, I think of what William Blake the English poet, 1757-1827 said, "He who desires but acts not breeds pestilence."
As I read this book, I didn't have a difficult time understanding why the Secret Service had locked him away in a VA hospital for being a possible threat to former President George H.W. Bush, 1990-91. What I don't understand is why they released him.
 This guy's predictions have been 100% right on! Mar 04, 2006
This book contains some of the author's speeches dating back to 2001 and articles that were published even before that. It is unbelievable how this guy was able to deliver a blow-by-blow account of what Americans could expect from Bush and Cheney years in advance. One of his speeches in this book entitled "Democracy Took The Day Off" is one he gave at an annual song writer's convention in 2004 where he said, "With the backbone of the Democratic Party, William Jefferson Clinton, out of the way and the Bush Storm Troopers in place, democracy took the day off. Then this war-for-profit crew moved forward with their plans as if world opinions were irrelevant.
"Now that the moment of glory has passed and the long years of blood, sweat and tears are upon us, they will yet again -- according to plan -- take their spoils and move on, leaving the rest of us to bury the dead and balance the checkbook.
"Think about it... $[...]million dollars and instant naturalization given to an Arab who provided the whereabouts of Saddam's sons in order that Bush, Blair and the major armed forces of the world could at least find someone or something, if not weapons of mass destruction.
"I am grateful for the many invitations to join the Democratic Party, but Ill stick it out here. I mean, how could it possibly get any worse than having the second most hated man to live in the last 200 years as your candidate?
"I'm not campaigning against a fellow Republican. The truth is Bush does not represent the Republican Party or any other party for that matter. He represents the Bush dynasty. Is it not bad enough that another four years of his dictatorship will produce yet more unemployed, homeless and demoralized Americans?
"Can we also risk having to cope with his uncontrollable ego? The leadership of this father and son team can be critiqued using a term that epitomizes their presidencies: Collateral Damage. Clearly, America's integrity and economy fall into this category when they clash with the prosperity of Bush and his accomplices."
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