|
FROM FARB TO PARD: A story of Civil War Reenactment | 
 enlarge | Author: Kip Grunska
Publisher: IUniverse
Buy New: $18.95
New (19) Used (10) from $11.68
Media: Paperback
Pages: 248
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6 x 0.6
ISBN: 0595263437
Dewey Decimal Number: 973
EAN: 9780595263431
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Down the road a person goes early on a friday morning. He is dressed in a blue woolen uniform that is getting rather warm in the summer air. He stops for gasoline and is asked if he is going to be in a movie. He replies, "That he is off to fight the 133rd battle of Valle Verde." This man is known as a Civil War reenactor and lives for this adventure no matter where the location and state. This is a very fast growing hobby and hundreds make up the fighting men and while thousands of people watch and get thrilled.
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Worst Book Ever November 21, 2008
John C. Ketcherside (Norfolk, Virginia)
This was one of the worst books ever written. If you are interested in the subject, you can try to plow through the numerous, constant misspellings and childish grammar to find his ignorant racism (use of the term "wet'back") and his treatise that derides modern day soldiers.
Do not buy this book. Do not read this book, and tell everyone you know the same.
Thanks
Chris
 Good natured guy August 15, 2003
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
A peek at the introduction of a curious Farb (novice) into an experience of the real past.
Realizing the Civil War was not exercised on concrete or asphalt parade grounds, the author. exerted much energy getting to the location and put his wife through quite an ordeal. I think his wife deserves a hurrah. He was fortunate to be in the third reenactment of the season, where he could learn and not be exposed to all the hardships of previous events. I don't imagine he'll ever forget his canteen again. The uniform he had was not complimentary to start with, but he figured an ingenious way out..
I found the author to be good natured in accepting orders and taking some rather salty remarks. I think you will find this book interesting. H. L.
Entertaining August 13, 2003
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a great book. Interesting and educational. I always wondered about CW reenactments. Easy to read, very enjoyable material. I would recommend this book to those who were curious, like me.
Great entertainment July 21, 2003
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I found this book not only interesting but funny as well. It was great light reading, each chapter complete as to that particular adventure. It may not represent the technical points of civil war reenactment but it sure captures the flavor of the camaraderie and various activities which take place, some just plodding and exhausting, others exciting and adventuresome,but never dull or boring. Since the author respresnts himself as a real novice, it is written from that point of view, with all the embarrassing mistakes thrown in for good measure. This is what makes it fun for the rest of us who are curious as to what goes on in this fast growing popular hobby.
Interesting viewpoint but not completely truthful July 3, 2003
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
I had some serious qualms about spending my $ on a book like this. As a fellow reenactor with six years in, and by no means an expert on anything, I was apprehensive about Mr. Grunska's assertion that he could learn everything about artillery in the course of a 'single afternoon'. I have put time in with every branch [infantry, cavalry and artillery] and both sides of CW reenactment and I can tell you that you'll never know it all. Nor is artillery to be learned in a single afternoon unless you want to flirt with certain injury or death.
Mr. Grunska seems to feel that his limited time as a reenactor makes him something of an authority to be able to write this book. I personally know the people he's written about and am shocked by some of the things he has said of them. I'm given to wonder what exactly the motive was for him to write this. I also wonder why he didn't sit down with his 'pards' outside of an event and have one-on-one talks with them before he wrote about them. Perhaps the drive to actually find out more about them was too long? He does state in his book that the meetings were always held too far away for him to regard them as meaningful and worth the trip. Did these folks even know they were going to be thrown into his written version of a Petrie dish?
If he had actually bothered to take time to know these men outside of the events, he would have learned far more than he ever stated in his book. Reenacting is not only about showing to events- it is about meetings, drills, talks, research and personal effort outside of battle events. Mr. Grunska is coming from shaky ground with only having a few such events to recommend him. Especially when you begin talking about the 'pards' you think you know so well.
The book lacks being properly proof-read and Mr. Grunska has made some terrible errors with the facts. I wish he'd spent more time reviewing and thinking before sending this to print. He also should have spoken to the Artillery Company of New Mexico folks before writing about them.
As for me, I wish I'd never spent the $ to purchase this piece of ego-driven writing. My opinion.
Buy this book at your own risk and only if you are truly interested in what a modern-day 'shrink' thinks of Civil War reenacting.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
top