Books about Troublemakers from Amazon.com

Few people have been more involved in shaping postwar U.S. education reforms--or dissented from some of them more effectively--than Chester Finn. Assistant secretary of education under Ronald Reagan, and an aide to politicians as different as Richard Nixon and Daniel Moynihan, Finn has also been a high school teacher, an education professor, a prolific and best-selling writer, a think-tank analyst, a nonprofit foundation president, and both a Democrat and Republican. This remarkably varied career has given him an extraordinary insider's view of every significant school-reform movement of the past four decades, from racial integration to No Child Left Behind. In Troublemaker, Finn has written a vivid history of postwar education reform that is also the personal story of one of the foremost players--and mavericks--in American education.

Finn tells how his experiences have shaped his changing views of the three major strands of postwar school reform: standards-driven, choice-driven, and profession-driven. Of the three, Finn now believes that a combination of choice and standards has the greatest potential, but he favors this approach more on pragmatic than ideological grounds, arguing that parents should be given more options at the same time that schools are allowed more flexibility and held to higher performance norms. He also explains why education reforms of all kinds are so difficult to implement, and he draws valuable lessons from their frequent failure.

Clear-eyed yet optimistic, Finn ultimately gives grounds for hope that the best of today's bold initiatives--from charter schools to technology to makeovers of school-system governance--are finally beginning to make a difference.

Kinky Friedman is back, and with 'Scuse Me While I Whip This Out he gets it on with all manner of egos. In this collection of twisted takes on life, the Kinkster gives us funny, irreverent, and insightful looks at outsized personalities from people he's known, like Bill Clinton, George W., Willie Nelson, and Bob Dylan -- not to mention Joseph Heller and Don Imus -- to people he's known in spirit, such as Moses, Jesus, Jack Ruby, and Hank Williams. With his meditations on subjects ranging from sleeping at the White House, marriage, his pets, fishing in Borneo, country music, and cigars to the tribulations of possessing talent, Kinky doesn't deny us the "flashes of brilliance and laugh-out-loud observations" (Rocky Mountain News) that are present in all his other work.

Hilarious, irreverent, and passionately twisted, 'Scuse Me While I Whip This Out reads as if it were written by a slightly ill modern-day Mark Twain.

Thousands of small groups with few resources spend large amounts of time trying to influence decision-makers. For the most part, these groups are made up of ordinary citizens driven by a desire to make a difference beyond their own lives. Governments and corporations call these people "troublemakers." Those who study complex problems ranging from health care to global warming say we need far more troublemakers, far more active citizens.

Unlike similar books that are aimed at nonprofits with paid staff, The Troublemaker's Teaparty is specifically designed to help small, volunteer citizen groups. An invaluable resource, it answers the basic questions of citizen action: How to get others involved? How to respect different views, but work cooperatively? How to make progress when decision-makers refuse to listen? How to find the time and resources?

The Troublemaker's Teaparty starts where most people start-on small actions focused on local improvement-then shifts to larger actions that transcend place. It includes:
How to create healthy group relationships.
How to build local community.
-How to avoid the pitfalls that drive people back into private life.
How to put the screws on government.
How to use the media to get results.
How to think strategically.

It also includes:
Project design, planning and evaluation.
Negotiating, campaign, and confrontational tactics.
A summary of what works in social movements.
New possibilities for direct action and web action.

Clear, concise, accessible, and down-to-earth, this will become the definitive citizen guide.

Charles Dobson has authored one of the best on-line organizing manuals available. He teaches creative problem solving at the Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design, and lives in Vancouver, BC.