All humor is composed of incongruity and surprise. It is verbal unexpectedness. You hear it or read it, it surprises you and muses. That is the intention of this book. The verbal incongruity creates the surprise. One gets a double deal in effect. In other words, we expect one thing but get another which is surprising and sometimes humorous. I published a previous book in 2006 entitled Double Dealing. This is a similar book: Double Dealing II. The first seven chapters contain different categories of verbal unexpectedness. The eighth chapter contains poetical musings.
How did the United States move from a position of nuclear superiority over the Soviet Union at the beginning of the 1960s to one of nuclear parity under the doctrine of mutual assured destruction in 1972? Drawing on declassified records of conversations three presidents had with their most trusted advisors, James Cameron offers an original answer to this question. John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon struggled to reconcile their personal convictions about the nuclear arms race with the views of the public and Congress. In doing so they engaged in a double game, hiding their true beliefs behind a fa ade of strategic language while grappling in private with the complex realities of the nuclear age. Cameron shows how, despite reservations about the nuclear buildup, Kennedy and Johnson pushed ahead with an anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system for the United States, fearing the domestic political consequences of scrapping both the system and the popular doctrine of strategic superiority that underpinned it. By contrast, the abrupt decline in US public and congressional support in 1969 forced Nixon to give up America's first ABM and the US lead in offensive ballistic missiles through agreements with the Soviet Union, despite his conviction that the US needed a nuclear edge to maintain the security of the West. By placing this dynamic at the center of the story, The Double Game provides a new overarching interpretation of this pivotal period in the development of US nuclear policy and a window onto current debates over nuclear superiority, deterrence, and the future of American grand strategy.
He’s got his first plum assignment. But has this travel writer bitten off more than he can chew? Frank Dodge can’t wait to dig into what he hopes is the biggest story of his career. Hired by a national magazine to pen a piece on the Midwest culinary scene, he brings his appetite for a scoop to a small river town’s food convention. But he’s forced to put his story on the backburner when a suspicious fire claims two innocent lives… After the blaze is ruled accidental, the ambitious journalist isn’t convinced and vows to search for the truth. And with his scheming rival out to steal his article, and a bitter feud between an ice cream maker and a chocolatier heating up, if he’s not careful he may lose more than his lucrative engagement. Can Dodge get to the bottom of a barrel of bad apples, or is this job a recipe for disaster? Double Dealing in Dubuque is the second book in the quirky Frank Dodge mystery series. If you like complex characters, atmospheric Mississippi River settings, and great food, then you’ll love Dean Klinkenberg’s delicious whodunit. Buy Double Dealing in Dubuque to enjoy the icing on a crime-baked cake today!
