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HomeShop at BookSurgeFictionRomanceHistoricalTumultuous Affairs: Uncertain Politics and Unlikely Romance During a Turbulent Time 1964 - 1975 |
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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 3 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
city politics, sex, and dirty laundry Mar 17, 2010
By Sam Kuczun
It was about half a dozen years since I left the mythical Massachusetts city of Riverbridge when the book, Tumultuous Affairs, begins. This is a rare look at the miasma of a middle class former industrial city as semi-fiction. So much of current literature is about politics at the state or national level whether fiction or an attempt at truth. Author Durham Caldwell is mixing the ingredients in a well written and interesting book. It gives you a grassroots look at democracy in action, but includes sex and the dirty laundry of the good and bad actors with appearances from the Kennedys, Nixon and Hubert Humphrey and the national political conventions of both parties.
The guts of the controversy is the civil rights movement at the city level beginning in 1960s and how eventually the bad actors are overcome and a tense settlement occurs. The author has written several novellas previously, but in this quality paperback has room to develop characters and plenty of plots. You will find yourself flipping the pages with more than a few surprises. However, if you were familiar with Riverbridge, it will be difficult to identify the characters because the names have been changed and even the identities made to conform to the plots.
After reading this, you will look differently at your city government and enjoy trying to get at motives and compromises which are not reported by the media.
Ludlow Senior Center Book Club Review Mar 03, 2010
By C. Roberts
"LSC Book Club"
We found that the author provided a very realistic description of "character behavior" in this book. He used true to life situations concerning racial prejudices and the political "fever" during this timeframe. A good example of this is the school segregation problems of that era. We feel that this book was a good read and that others will enjoy it regardless of geographical location or setting. Many will relate to similar situations in their own areas. Everyone, regardless of their age, should read this book.
The Tumultous Affairs in the Life and Times of a Newsman Feb 02, 2010
By R. McNally
"Journalist"
In "Tumultous Affairs," Veteran Journalist Buzz Buckley covers some of the most controversial and complicated news events of our time, all the while living a life of deception and shocking immorality.
Long-time Western Massachusetts TV and radio reporter and news director Durham Caldwell does a masterful job of recreating a framework of the years 1964-1975, chronicling political and civil rights struggles on a national, statewide and local level. Barry Goldwater, Hubert Humphrey, the Kennedy brothers, Richard Nixon, and many figures well known to Massachusetts residents are among the newsmakers in the world of Buzz Buckley.
Caldwell's research and memory are impeccable, as he takes the reader, and newsman Buckley from one news event to the next, whether it's the national political conventions of 1964, the Watergate scandal, the inner workings of Massachusetts politics or the evolution of forced busing in the fictional city of Riverbridge.
While all of the events of history are unfolding, Buzz Buckley, a recent widower, has no trouble involving himself in relationships that could tear the lid off a mayoral race and destroy the only family he has left
"Tumultous Affairs" is a fascinating tale that opens the doors to the secret backrooms of politics and the inner workings of the mind of a well respected journalist with some very serious personal flaws.
Whether the title of the book applies to the times it depicts, or to the life of Buzz Buckley will be left to the reader.
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