Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition

Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition
By: Daniel Orkent

I challenge anyone who does not believe that well written, well researched, history can be every bit as fascinating as the best novels to read Last Call and still hold that position. With a panorama of remarkable characters set against the backdrop of a social issue that makes the current abortion debate seem somewhat milquetoast Daniel Okrent has served up a smashingly good read that both illuminates our national past and present.

Prohibition was not something that arose overnight. The battle that led to the enactment of the eighteenth amendment took place over at least a half a century. On the surface it seemed a marvelous social experiment. Imagine a place where there was no alcoholism, no drunkenness with its attendant evils of crime, poverty and abuse. This was the drive behind Prohibition. When it was finally enacted it seemed that the dream had come true. A golden age was dawning. In fact, the dream had simply become a nightmare. The light at the end of the tunnel was a train.

There are several powerful lessons to be reaped from this look at our past. One of the most striking, and curiously encouraging, was the realization that both sides of this issue were totally willing to lie, cheat, and steal in order to advance their cause. The reason I found this somewhat “encouraging” is because I was of the opinion that we had grown worse in our national character in this regard over the last few decades. It seems that we have in fact always been this bad. You might expect this from the “wets” who represented the vested interest of the liquor industry, but it seems that the fanaticism of the “drys” led them to believe that almost anything was justified in pursuit of their envisioned utopia. (This should have been a red flag regarding the results they ultimately achieved.)

Another lesson that stands out is that when it comes to social engineering the results of our meddling are rarely what we expect. The same applies to the economy of things. When Prohibition was passed some of the vineyards in the Napa Valley rushed to uproot their grapes and plant other crops. Of what value would grapes be with wine virtually illegal? Ah, but there is a huge gap between virtually illegal and completely illegal. People were still allowed to produce their own wine for home consumption but you can’t make wine at home without grapes. Grapes that sold for under $10 per ton some ten years earlier peaked at over $300 per ton during Prohibition. A lot of grapes had to be replanted. Likewise, the expected fall in criminal activity following the enactment of Prohibition seriously failed to materialize. Just the opposite occurred. With the advent of Prohibition there was suddenly serious money to be made in criminal activity. Every increase in enforcement activity forced organized crime to become more organized. It could strongly be argued that National Crime Syndicates owe their start directly to Prohibition.

Most people would point to Viet Nam as the first war the USA ever lost. Militarily speaking that is likely true. But Prohibition was where we lost our dream, or at least where the dark behind the dream could no longer be hidden. We created a great land of freedom and opportunity and even though other cultures paid the price for our “opportunity” we could ignore them since their stories weren’t really told. We had the slavery issue, but we fought a great heroic war that brought “freedom” to the slaves and even though it would take another hundred years for them to share in our opportunities we could overlook that and sing the praises of our Civil War heroes. Then we finally enacted Prohibition and nothing could stop our glorious social momentum; nothing except a train wreck. And while Okrent gives a quite balanced appraisal to the players and motives on both sides of Prohibition, even he has to concede that the light at the end of the tunnel… was indeed a train.

Why I Failed in the Music Business: and How NOT to Follow in my Footsteps.

Why I Failed in the Music Business: and How NOT to Follow in my Footsteps.
By: Steve Grossman


This book would seem to have a very limited niche market. After all, how many people are in the music business? Actually, if you include those who want to be in the music business I suspect there would be several million. But even that is too limiting. The title of this book may sound like an extremely boutique offering but in reality its usefulness extends well beyond those interested in winning Grammys.

First off the book is fast paced and engaging. This is generally quite important these days but it is particularly important when dealing with artistic types who think that books dealing with “business” are a waste of time and creative energy. Grossman blows that idea away pretty quickly and before you know it you are hooked. This is a good thing because the ideas presented here really do have useful practical application. Grossman comes from the unique background of having been a professional musician for twenty years before discovering that he really enjoyed business as well.

I would suggest this book highly for anyone in the performing arts, not just music. This book will both enlighten and challenge such readers. Grossman not only gives valuable insight into what is really needed for success in the arts but in the same process he causes the reader to consider what is really needed for success in life regardless of your chosen profession.

This brings me to my main complaint. I understand why Grossman titled the book as he did, and it is an arresting title. However, the insight provided by this book applies to virtually every field of endeavor. It’s unlikely that anyone is reading this who isn’t interested in going into the music business, but if perhaps you are considering buying this for a friend you might want to get two and keep one for yourself.

The Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman

The Memoirs of W. T. Sherman
By William Tecumseh Sherman

Time travel is fun. Some authors are extraordinary for being able to transport you to another time period. Some authors don’t have to transport you to another time because they are already from another time.

A few years back I found myself reading the Memoirs of U. S. Grant. It seemed that for a few months I kept running into statements claiming that General Grant had written the finest set of memoirs ever penned by a Unites States President. I took and plunge and discovered a fascinating life described in a beautiful clear lucid prose. Grant could write!

I only mention Grant’s memoirs because they were the incentive to tackle General Sherman’s memoirs as well. Much to my surprise (though I don’t know why I was surprised) I discovered that Sherman could also write. The prose is a bit wordy but straightforward, clear, and penetrating. You can see how such thinking made a real difference in the outcome of the Civil War.

There is something beautiful and simple about reading Sherman’s accounts of the war and the times. He tells of captured officers being invited to dine with the Union commanders and offered horses to ride befitting their rank. At other times he muses about how cavalry can never overcome infantry but will always be necessary for a successful war campaign. He talks about the need for a good supply of coffee and discusses the merits of some coffee substitutes.

You also discover that General Sherman did more than march through Georgia. During the Mexican American War he was stationed in California. This assignment placed him in the bay area in 1848 when gold was discovered at Sutter’s mill. Later he managed a bank in San Francisco when the vicissitudes of the gold rush created severe panic as well as boom times. It would surprise many to learn that when Lincoln was elected Sherman was leading a small military school in Louisiana that would later become LSU.

Anyone who has even a passing interest in this period of American history will find this a fascinating read. There is much to feast on here. My two favorite moments are probably Sherman’s encouragement likely keeping Grant from resigning after Shiloh and the striking circumstances surrounding Sherman being notified of Lincoln’s assassination.

It’s a fairly long book and filled with a lot of source material such as letters and battle reports, but altogether a book well worth reading.

Love Wins

Love Wins
by Rob Bell

I am not a Rob Bell fanboy; however, I do have a generally positive opinion of the little exposure I’ve had to his ministry. When Love Wins was first being reviewed and its author was being held up in many quarters as satan’s chief apostle my first instinct was ignore it. (There are only so many books one can read.) Finally, the clamor reached so close to home that I had to give in and read it for myself. I don’t like to let third parties do my thinking for me.

The uproar is understandable. Bell has a habit of asking hard questions. He also has a tendency to not provide definitive answers to the hard questions he asks. And when those questions concern the issues of heaven and hell and the possibility of universal salvation...well, the sacrificial fat is clearly sizzling on the altar.

It is hard to pin down Bell’s position and I am strangely OK with that. I suspect the reason is because these are some very complex questions and the Bible is somewhat lacking in absolute clarity. Where the Bible is lacking in absolute clarity we extrapolate dogma at our own risk. Honestly, when it comes to eternal things I think the Bible gives us the best picture we can possibly process from our finite frame of reference. Sometimes that picture seems confusing because things that seem exclusive of each other in this world can actually be essential to each other in the various dimensions of eternity. (What sense does it make in this world to die in order to live?)

Do heaven and hell exist? Of course they do, and Bell would be one of the first to assert their reality. He does have a little different take on what, and when, heaven and hell are but he certainly doesn’t deny their existence. Far from making them smaller and less meaningful he actually makes them bigger and more meaningful. I think there is room for disagreement among true believers on this topic especially since none of us have ever really been to either place. I actually find Bell’s concept of heaven to be challenging and somewhat more exciting than big mansions and streets of gold.

The real problem most Evangelical believers will have with this book concerns the question of universalism. Is everyone going to be saved? Can a person find redemption after this life? My inclination on both of these questions is to say, “No.” However, “No” does give rise to some legitimately serious questions and both positions can be argued from scripture with some powerful verses backing up each camp.

At this point I feel compelled to point out that Bell’s position on universalism is essentially identical to the one held by C. S. Lewis. Having read almost everything by Lewis my thoughts had already turned to The Great Divorce and The Last Battle as well as various quotes from his lectures. I was not at all surprised when Lewis was cited in the end notes. Both Bell and Lewis seem to essentially hold the position that God is going to save everyone He can. They both believe that a person can go to hell but they have to really want to go there. That assertion is not as strange as it may sound. Lewis’ The Great Divorce is a fantastical story but it shines a big bright light on human nature.

Am I comfortable with the notion that if everyone is going to be saved, or can be saved after this life, then strenuous efforts need not be made to bring people to Christ in this life (and the sooner the better)? Not at all, and that is not what I hear Bell saying. Am I comfortable with allowing God the right to do what He wants however He wants and would I be thrilled if everyone did get in to heaven? You bet. Do I know exactly what God is going to do about all of this? No, but I trust Him.

This is a short book and Bell doesn’t even try to tie up all the loose ends. (I would be quite interested in hearing his take on the “second death”.) What he does do is open a conversation that the vast majority of Christians who have ever lived would be comfortable having. It is only in the Western (mostly North American) church and over the last two to three hundred years that these issues have been considered resolved and beyond discussion. Hopefully once the journalistic hype and reactionary hysteria have died down this little book can make a positive contribution to the advancement of God’s kingdom. Frankly, after all the hate and vitriol in the current Evangelical dialogue I'm quite ready to see love win.

I'm Feeling Lucky

I’m Feeling Lucky
(The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59)
by Douglas Edwards


In 2000 only a handful of people saw the value of pure search clearly, and many of them already worked at Google. Quietly, steadily, and without even a hint to their colleagues down the hall, the engineers were building a plan to share their vision of a perfect hammer with a much wider audience.
Because they knew the world was full of nails. (p.140)

In 1999 Douglas Edwards was a successful middle aged marketing and product development manager for the San Jose Mercury News. He was married with three children and a mortgage. This seemed to be the perfect time to leave the security of a well paid semi-prestigious position and go job hunting in the wildly uncertain jungle of dot com start ups. Most people in his position who followed that rainbow ended up with a ticket on the Titanic. Doug ended up on Apollo 11.

There are some moments when is seems that Doug just wrote this book to rant about some gal named Marissa; however, even those moments often come off entertaining due to the engaging style of writing. Everyone has a Marissa in their life and while she tends to drive us crazy, in this case the author at least gives us some appreciation for her strengths. It seems that everyone at Google has strengths. When a company starts out with smart people and has a policy of not hiring anyone who isn’t at least as smart as you are... well, things can escalate pretty quickly.

In addition to being quite entertaining I’m Feeling Lucky offers clear insights to what makes Google click. It’s called being Googley and it is a dynamic mixture of brilliance, very hard work, very hard play, vision, and a creed that basically consist of “Don’t Be Evil.” It also consists of an aversion to the standard rules by which Corporate America tends to operate. Sergey Brin, one of the two company founders, once seriously suggested that they take all of their marketing budget and use it to inoculate Chechen refugees against cholera. Why not increase your customer base by saving lives? (That’s a new one for corporate America.)

From the free candy and good home cooked meals, to the company wide ski trips, to a corporate mindset for frugality that innovated placing fifteen hundred servers in a rented space where most companies only placed fifty, this book is a revealing insider’s view of one of the most fascinating corporations on the planet. All through out the book a corporate DNA emerges making it pretty clear that Google’s secret search algorithms are only one ingredient in the “secret sauce” of their astonishing success.

Doug Edwards writing style is lucid and generally does an excellent job of making sense out of what appeared on the surface to be a fairly incoherent slice of history. Who should read this book? Anyone who is interested in computers and the internet. Anyone who is interested in corporate structure or entrepreneurship. Anyone who is interested in marketing, or the lack thereof. And finally, anyone who is having trouble with any gal named Marissa.