No comments about Great Time Coming: the Life of Jackie Robinson From Baseball to Birmingham.

5 comments about Running in the Family.

1. Ondaatje seems to be trying too hard. The language is overly flowery and the plot is often lost beneath the mound of words. It does have a few good moments, some funny, some touching. But in general, I spent most of this book irritated by the grandois manner of the author, as if by writing in a vague and pretty-fied manner, his words will sound important and deep.
   Maybe it's just me, but I find that vague does NOT equal meaningful.



2. I read this book for a Canadian fiction class and really liked it. The language was so interesting and different from anything I had read before. It is a wonderful story about a wacky family. There are good times, bad times, funny stories, tragic stories, and just plain wacky events. It really makes you want to take a look into your own family and find out all of the "juicy" details. I really liked the book and I would recommend it to anyone looking for an interesting story.



3. fans of michael ondaatje's poetry will no doubt like this book; however, do to the hit and miss nature of each chapter, i doubt that this book would win him many new fans. an impressionistic collage of place & family members, this book is closer to the ethic of poetry, forsaking narrative structure for short pieces that jump here and there to paint a family in an exotic place and time. plenty of good prose, but lots of the pieces are too random and are just not interesting. worthwhile, but not highly recommended.



4. Considering that this is in fact an autobiograpy, one can not judge it's contents. After all, you can not judge ones life, either you like it or not in a sense of discussing literature. But, what you can discuss is the manner in which that biography is written. Ondaatje present's life of his family trough generations who lived on Ceilon (Shri Lanka), in a series of random images, which are more like picture, than prose. Many times he stops to grasp certain individual and present his little history, his life, which than influenced the rest of the family in some perverse way. When reading this book, experienced reader will find such compositions that corresponds in that what crtics call 'modern', others will find interesting and compelling story, which never grows in boredom, with fluent narrative style that keeps ones eyes fixed on pages long after the lights went out.
   Comparing the Ondaatje with other authors of the modern world,
   Ondaatje lacks the one thing that he "must" have when presenting himself in a way he does. By focusing himself merely on a problems of his own, of a personal character in every (which, of course, includes this one)book, he voluntarily forgets that there is other life, other world going around him. When tending to write intelectual prose, one should, at least in one way, give some focus on that matter too.
   But, when all this comes to conclusion, if you like (auto)biograhies - buy this one, if you don't, skip it. It's simple as that...



5. This book was just so enjoyable and hilarious but yet so beautifully written. From the beginning till the end Ondaatje opens up to the reader (in a journal entry) this magical and beautiful world. Onddatje's adroitness to include the reader right there in the conversations he has with various family member will bring you to tears. His captivating sytle takes the reader back in time with him trhough such tear jerking and amusing experiences.

   This memoir will give you a deatiled verbalization of each city and place in Ceylon, so that the reader has a clear picture of what it was like to actually be there. His simple structure of setting things up, will make you feel the temperature and jungle like atmosphere by his entailed descriptions.

   Ondaatje reminds me of Stein in certain passages because of how he holds nothing back from the reader. It's as though he's sitting down and talking to you while showing photographs and stories of his exuberant and loud family.

1 comments about The House of Barrymore: Library Edition.

1. Grandmother Louisa Lane was a fabulous person: actress, theater manager, and she held the family together. Once her husband and her sister went on a long, long tour. Then they presented her the baby they "adopted". Louisa was a good sport: she presented them the baby she "adopted". Her daughter Georgie, who married matinee-idol Maurice Barrymore died of tuberculosis when their children Lionel, Ethel and John were very young. Maurice suffered the consequences of syphillis and spent his last years in an asylum.
   
   Lionel was the one with the long MGM career. His Macbeth flopped but he won an oscar in Hollywood. He shocked his family when he left his first wife to marry his brother's ex-mistress. She was wasteful, domineering - but he worshipped her. He was also very secretive: Was he morphine-addicted? involved in John Gilbert's downfall in order to please Louis B. Mayer? Why did he die penniless?
   
   Ethel Barrymore could have become Mrs. Winston Churchill, but she married Russel Colt instead. He was an accomplished wife-beater. She deserved the name "First Lady of the stage" for the length of her career. She financed a big house with many servants and when she reached middle-age and lost her figure she had a problem. She drowned her sorrows in the bottle, but later cured herself and won an oscar for "None but the lonely heart". She too died impoverished.
   
   John nursed his beloved grandmother all alone when she died. His father's mental illness traumatized him. Not that he needed more problems: his stepmother seduced him when he was a teenager and his subsequent alcohol-addiction ruined his life. He had the potential to become America's greatest actor - attractive, charming, well-bred, quick-witted, immensely gifted - and he succeeded - on stage: Justice, Peter Ibbetson, Redemption, the Jest, Richard III and his epoch-making, incestuous Hamlet (Michael Morrison describes these performances in detail in his excellent book: John Barrymore, Shakespearean actor).
   
   John was also unbelievalbly self-destructive: He fell in love with the wrong women. His first wife, a society lady cuckolded him. His second one, a strong-willed, vindictive poetess, misused their daughter in order to hurt him (Diana was allowed to visit her father only when chaperoned by her stepfather!).
   
   He seemed at the height of his career when he left the stage for Hollywood but his downfall had already begun: drinking was considered "manly" then, but his frequent stays in detoxication centers prove how much he suffered under his addiction. He and Dolores Costello (Drew Barrymore is their granddaughter) became Hollywood's dream couple but his film career is uneven: He wasted his talent on insipid scripts, the Hollywood smart set resented his brilliance, his producers resented his mocking performances and he squandered his fortune at a breathtaking rate. Everybody fleeced him...
   
   "Counsellor at Law" (1933) and "Twentieth Century" (1934) were his last hurrahs. Then he could no longer remember his lines: Korsakoff's syndrome - loss of short-term memory. His marriage exploded under dramatic circumstances and he fled to India out of fear that his wife might commit him to a mental institution.
   
   During his stay at a New York hospital, Elaine, a 19 years old aspiring actress visited him. He moved in her one-bedroom apartment where she lived with her parents. They enjoyed the fashionable restaurants. And the publicity! The interest of the yellow press was insatiable. Despite his provocative manners John remained moral at the core: he accepted the most humiliating roles in order to pay his taxes & alimony. Elaine wanted to work on stage with him so they went on tour with "My dear children" (1939-40)- a monstrous hit. Critics wept. Some colleagues tried to help him, others turned their back on him. His last films show a broken man, humiliated by his co-stars in order to squeeze some laughs out of a sadistic audience. His death was surrounded by family wars - then his creditors pounced upon his belongings.
   
   642 pages on which not one word is wasted. Thorough investigation. Margot Peters offers not just a biography but the psychograph of her peerless protagonists. This is not a scandal-mongering book: she writes with deep sympathy even when she describes the most hair-raising events. This is the most touching and absorbing star biography I read in my entire life. Read it, and read also John Kobler: "Damned in Paradise - the life of John Barrymore" - you won't be disappointed.

5 comments about The Boy Who Would Be King: An Intimate Portrait of Elvis Presley.

1. Earl Greenwood was no relation to Elvis nor was he an employee or press agent - his account of himself is a fabrication from start to finish. I'm not sure what is more appalling - that Greenwood/Tracy invented this book, or that the Library Journal (and David M. Turkalo) would publicly laud such a blatantly false work.



2. If you are not a big Elvis fan this is not the book to read because there is so many untruths in it, you will get the wrong impression of the man Elvis was. I have read a great number of books on Elvis and this one has to be the worst one. No one that knew Elvis even knows who this guys is??? He made numerous errors in telling his story. Such as he said Gladys, Elvis's mom went to Germany with him and then died in 1960!! Untrue - she died in 1958 before he left for Germany. He dated Dixie Locke before he made it big but was still dating her when he was signed to Sun Records. She did not break up with him because he asked her to marry him. They had talked of marriage but unforuntaely it did not last long because he was gone so much. He dated Anita before going to the army and for a while after he was discharged. He did not play in Vegas while he was making movies in the 1960s!!! And so on and so on. There are to many to mention here but I can say that this was a BIG DISSAPPOINTMENT and a waste of my money. DO NOT WASTE YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY ON THE PIECE OF TRASH BELIEVE ME YOU WILL BE SORRY.



3. I've read many books on Elvis as I'm always trying to gain new information to help me understand his complex personality. I had high expectations for this offering because of its focus on Elvis' early life and relationship with his mother. However, I found the general tone of the book to be sensational. The sex "revelations" don't seem to be anything more than lurid details the like of which can be found in any tabloid. Everyone knows Elvis was a wonton womanizer. It's hardly news at this point. I found there to be many mistakes and inconsistancies throughout the book. One is so careless as to describe Elvis' first girlfriend, Dixie Locke, as a blond then two pages later she is in picture showing a girl with black hair. The whole thing just read like a trashy novel to me.



4. I read Mr. Greenwood's book and found it very informative and personal. The book takes the reader through Elvis' personal life and marriage and numberous love affairs. It depicts the Colonel's control over Elvis and possible black mail. It depicts how the people he was associated with over the years were mainly there for the gravy. An excellent book.



5. EARL GREENWOOD PRIMARILY FOCUSES ON ELVIS' HUMBLE BEGINNINGS AND HIS TRAGIC CHILDHOOD FROM THE PERSPSCTIVE OF SOMEONE WHO KNEW THE FAMILY INTIMATLEY. HE EXPLAINS ELVIS' GUILT OVER HIS TWIN BROTHER'S DEATH AND HIS INCONSOLABLE SADNESS OVER HIS MOTHER'S DEATH. GREENWOOD TELLS OF AN ELVIS WHO NOBDY REAALY KNEW, A BOY WHO WAS BULLIED AND RIDICULED AND WHO EVENTUALLY BECAME ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS ARTISTS IN HISTORY. IN SHORT THIS BIOGRAPHY IS TOLD WONDERFULLY.

5 comments about The Hoax.

1. A pretty good description of a con. The author details how he hoodwinked McGraw Hill and was eventually caught. The coup of this story is how far he was able to go with his cleverness.



2. Well I can't review this book silly Amazon, your website is so non-surfer friendly I didn't see that it automatically defaults to my last SENT address, rather than MY current address which is my billing address. Would make sense don't you think to default to the billing address. So I never recieved this product. I'm still drilling for oil up above the Arctic circle (-60F), hope your car is running nicely.



3. Love him or hate him, Clifford Irving sure can write. The Hoax is an absolute page turner from start to finish; I am about three quarters of of the way through the book and counting the minutes until I can return home and dive into it again. Clifford Irving lived an incredible life even before turning to forgery: living on a houseboat in Kashmir, living in Mexico, a couple of European wives, an internationally famous mistress, and then fleecing a major US corporation. It is just a great read!



4. The drama of this tale makes it a page turner (or in the case of an audiobook a long-listener). Yet it is, at its center, somewhat unsatisfying because the author and main character seems blissfully unaware of how his behavior might affect others. As he flies around the world on his mad adventure, enjoying his extramarital affairs with seemingly little reflection as his wife is committing bank fraud for him at home, he lies to friends and business partners as if the whole matter were out of his control.
   
   The amazing coincidences, strokes of luck and close calls are the stuff of great fiction. As the author writes himself into his own movie, his fictional autobiography and the fiction he must create for the people at McGraw Hill become simply two parts of one elaborate writing project. As you see him encounter one close call after another, you want him to get away with it, yet you know that there is only one possible outcome. He's going to be caught.
   
   The book becomes much less satisfying as it moves into Irving's downward trajectory as his hoax is unraveled and the consequences loom, as it certainly was for the author. The pain inflicted on his wife through both the legal ramifications of the hoax and the revelation of Irving's affairs are difficult to read. Irving does express remorse for that and for lying to one or two friends, but in general he seems to view his hoax as a victimless joke.
   
   McGraw Hill is a corporation done in by greed in his tale, and the people who were duped and whose reputations surely took a beating, most likely would find that compounded by this book. Their crime was believing Irving and standing behind him, and for that the author says at one point that he sometimes thought he should cheer about what he had done-- that he had exposed the limits of corporate greed and stupidity.
   
   I was especially bothered by way one of the editors, a woman who he chose as his first patsy because she had been loyal to him throughout his career, was voiced in the audio book edition. While it is difficult for an actor to differentiate between all the character's voices, I found it distracting that this publishing professional spoke like a bubble-headed valley girl. She may not have come across as quite so unintelligent and easily fooled in the Irving text, as she did in the audio version in which she spoke like an unreflective teenager discussing the latest MTV reality show. This seemed particularly unfair to this listener.
   
   So why were the McGraw Hill team so easily hoodwinked? I do not believe it was a simple case of greed and corporate stupidity. There was certainly some group-think and excitement over possibly having the coup of their careers might have clouded their judgement. But they were fooled for the same reason the story fascinates the reader-- who would have the audacity to claim to have written the autobiography of a living person and think they could get away with it? Only someone truly crazy would think that the living person and his organization would ignore such a thing. The unlikeliness of such a scenario is bound to make people believe. The lie is more credible than the truth.
   
   In the end, I was left with the feeling that the damage his caper caused to other people (with the exceptions of his wife and children) was more fictional to the author than the Howard Hughes he created in his mind.
   
   When he is asked if he would do it again, he says he would not. But his remorse is not for others. He says he would not repeat his fraud because "I have lost too much."
   
   I was taken by the audacity and cleverness of the hoax, and propelled by the drama, I would like to have had a more sympathetic main character. Of course, that is a lot to ask from a book by someone with the personality to pull such a thing in the first place.



5. This book hooked me from the first chapter on. I listened to it on audio CD's read by Joe Barrett, who has the perfect voice for the role. I recommend them highly.
   
   The book is told from the point of view of the affable and daring hoaxter. It provides remarkable insights into humanity--why a successful writer would risk his family and career on such a reckless fraud as inventing the autobiography of the richest, most intriguing person in the world, and why a powerful publishing house bought into it hook line and sinker. Mostly, though, it's just a pleasure to read or listen too. The plot is tight, intriguing, and funny. Especially funny.

5 comments about Jack Nicklaus: My Story.

1. This book provides Nicklaus's views on his championship golf and on relevant aspects of his thinking and life. Since Nicklaus is the greatest champion ever by a distance (for the time being), and it is his thinking that's credited by his peers and himself for much of his success, his exposition is interesting in itself and as something for golfers to learn from. So far so good. Unfortunately Nicklaus's book is let down by the ghostwriter, Ken Bowden, who is, frankly, a poor writer. There's little variation of tone or pace or, even, vocabulary. Accounts of Nicklaus's many incredibly exciting championship battles (e.g. vs. Hogan and Palmer at the US Open; vs. Miller and Weiskopf at the Masters; vs. Watson in the British Open; vs Ballesteros at the Masters) fail to capture the excitement of those great contests. A comparison of this book with Nicklaus's early autobiography with Herbert Warren Wind illustrate what a wonderful writer Wind was and what a positive difference a really good writer can make.



2. Certainly one of the leading sports figures of our times and beyond a doubt one of the best golfers of all times, this autobiography of Jack Nicklaus is both interesting and informative. Nicklaus, like Palmer, Jones, Player, et al, are a passing breed. Not only are they great atheletes, but they are gentlemen in every sense of the word. Mr. Nicklaus' approach to the game and to life reflects this at every turn. This is a work that can be enjoyed by both golfers and non-golfers equally. I have probably ran into better writers that Ken Bowden, but hey, he did an adequate job and certainly got Jack's story across. Enjoyed this one a lot and very much recommend it.



3. In fact, I have only very minor complaints about the book. One is that his "contributor", Bowden, uses some phrases ad nauseam. I don't know how many times we read that Jack finished the third round 3 shots "adrift" of the leader. Not trailing by three, or behind by three, but "adrift" by three. Using that term for variety is okay, but it's used to death. I think he's a golfer, not a sailor.

   Again, though, that's a minor distraction that doesn't take away from the enjoyment of reading about the greatest.




4. Jack Nicklaus' career is one of the greatest in all sports. Especially famous are his 18 major victories (20 if you count the US Amateur), and this book is a story about those victories, and his life in between. His book is divided into 20 chapters - one for each of those major victories, and in them he discusses the events which transpired before that particular tournament, and the tournament itself. What a natural yet perfect structure for a book like this!

   The best aspect of the book, I felt, was the immediacy with which Nicklaus writes. When you read this book you almost feel as if Nicklaus is talking to you, just yourself, at points.

   Each chapter talks about a particular tournament and what happened before it. Particularly amazing is the clarity with which Nicklaus can recall those tournaments he describes. He describes individual key holes, what was going through his mind, and the general up and downs which accompany a round of golf. After reading this book, we know Nicklaus is a champion: he can win not only when he's up, but also when he's (to some extent) down. Also, as an interesting side note, Nicklaus also gives a few golfing tips - perhaps no one can become as great as him, but it never hurts to try!

   And the last aspect of the book I found enjoyable were the photographs. True, they were black and white, but show how he changed over time, and chronicle some of the most memorable moments of his major career wins.

   You come away more convinced than ever of Nicklaus' greatness. A great book to read anywhere, anytime.




5. Insights into this champion and our time in golf will be read by the future generations through the Bear's eyes. Humble yet intense, this guy never quits. Especially enjoyed his sharing of what was going on inside with his famous finish at Turnberry in 1977. He's a guy you respect for his game and his person.

No comments about Benjamin Franklin You Know What to Do Read-Along (Another Great Achiever Read-Along Series).

5 comments about Edward Hopper: An Intimate Biography Part 1 of 2.

1. Do not be intimidated by this book's length. I am not an art buff, but have become interested in Hopper and plan to attend the upcoming exhibition of his work at the National Gallery of Art in DC this Fall.
   I approached this book with trepidation, but found myself drawn into it. I read it compulsively to the finish. There is tremendous detail presented in a simple austere style. It tries to make Hopper's life speak for itself. Thus, the book is a work of art about it's subject--a Hopper.
   My only caveat is that you must also have a separate copy of Hopper's works (or at least many of them) to consult. Surprisingly and I think mistakenly, the book does not include copes of the many of the paintings. However, if you are familiar with his work, this is no impediment.



2. Gail Levin's book -Edward Hopper: an Intimate Biography- is about the life of a famous artist, Edward Hopper, as well as that of an obscure artist, Josephine Hopper (the former Josephine Nivison). Mrs. Hopper's detailed diaries, kept up faithfully for decades, are a major source of information for Levin's book. Since this necessarily puts the perspective of the book heavily on Jo's side of the story, no one should consider this one-stop shopping for finding out what made Edward Hopper tick. The Hoppers were a two completely opposite personalities who both complemented and aggravated each other. What I most like about Levin's book is that probably no one else has ever been in Jo Hopper's corner before Levin. Jo usually comes off as the stereotypical shrewish wife who dominated her poor henpecked husband. What a different picture is presented in this book! Instead, their marriage was much more complex, and the love/hate dynamics never seem to have leveled off during the many years they were together. Their story defies my own stereotypcial notion that as people grow old, their emotions level off and they are like two old bookends. Not with these two! I also enjoyed finding out that Edward Hopper was a Bette Davis fan, that he liked Jo to wear her hair down, that Jo's idea of cooking was opening up cans, and that Hopper had to haul buckets of coal up from the basement to feed the coal stove that heated their studio/living quarters. Much of these intimate details are provided courtesy of Jo's diaries, which served as an outlet and a refuge from her stolid husband. Perhaps best of all is the theatricality and eroticism suggested by Jo's descriptions of how they worked together as she posed for many of his paintings. In one of Edward Hopper's last paintings, Two Comedians, he portrays two shy actors taking a little bow: a loving tribute to their long and histrionic collaboration together, in life and in art.



3. Gail Levin's biography is a thorough review of Edward Hopper's life and work, spanning his early childhood, his struggles as an artist paying the bills by illustrating for magazines, his success, and his consistently remarkable artistic output. The surprise for me came from the revelation that his wife Jo, usually a marginal and minor figure, was a remarkable woman and an artist herself. Although one is tempted to wonder how her career would have gone if she hadn't married Hopper, Levin avoids sensationalistic speculation and, aside from occasional comments, sticks strictly to the facts.



4. While the book was interesting it was also redundant of some of Ms. Levin's other works. Unfortunately, I believe she got at least one fact messed up, which, of course is curious, and, makes one wonder if anyone is doing any editing out there. At 45 bucks a pop, you'd think someone would be doing some fact checking. I believe I'm correct in pointing out that Christian Hopper was Edward Hopper's grandfather, not great-grandfather as she so states. His father was Garrett Henry Hopper. His father was Christian Hopper. Christian Hopper married Charity Blauvelt, and together they had Garrett Henry Hopper, who, together with Elizabeth Smith Hopper, had Edward Hopper. I thought some of the events like Jo's trying to get the car out of the garage were a riot, not to mention hearing about her cat, Arthur. Unfortunately, Arthur disappears about midway. Leaves you wondering if she named him after Chester A. Arthur, Arthur Godfrey, etc. He had an odd sense of humor, but he was Dutch and you know how they are. Not too abnormal, tho. Your typical stingy, grumpy man who hasn't a clue about women. Other than that, it was a good read.



5. Gail Levin, the curator of Hopper's works at the Whitney Museum in New York City, had the exclusive privilege of Josephine (Mrs.) Hopper's journals that extend from the 1920s to the 1960s. Jo was an artist herself and her frustrations are paralled with Edward's successes. Maybe too much of the book is about poor Mrs. Hopper and her unsuportive Husband, but Levin crafts the history so well that I didn't hold it against her. Each of the major oil paintings are covered from a making-of perspective which I found illuminating. I picked the book up originally just to glance through it, but I ultimately read the whole thing.

3 comments about Edmund Burke: A Genius Reconsidered.

1. In this easy to read volume Russell Kirk provides a succinct biography of "the first conservative of our time of troubles." Burke's political philosophy is clearly explained and Kirk introduces the reader to Edmund Burke the man.
   
   The book basically deals with the four major issues of Burke's life: his resistance to Jacobinism, England's relationship with the American Colonies, the prosecution of Warren Hastings, and the stifling of George III's domestic authority. Kirk provides wonderful quotes throughout the book and thorough, balanced analysis.
   
   Those looking for a critical assessment of Burke will not find it here, as Kirk, the great conservative thinker of our time, was a proponent of Burke and felt that his voice was still applicable in today's political climate. However, this does not compromise the integrity of this volume.
   
   This book is a must read for anyone interested in political theory, politics, and/or history.



2. Edmund Burke deserves better than this biography. The author Russell Kirk is full of admiration for Burke, but his unqualified praise of his subject is more deserving of a 19th century hagiography than it is a modern work. At no point in the book that I can remember does Kirk ever put anything but the most positive spin on the 18th century statesman/philosopher's actions. Burke is undoubtedly everything Kirk claims -- a great man, a genius, and his influence in both England and the United States largely underestimated - but even the greatest and wisest of men have blind spots and moments of weakness. Was Burke perhaps overzealous in his sixteen-year pursuit of Warren Hastings? Did Burke hide his Irish Catholic roots out of fear for what they could do to his ambitions if brought out in the open? Was his political philosophy less than consistent? Not according to Kirk.

   Edmund Burke: A Genius Reconsidered" does have its good points. It's well-written -- far more accessible than the Conor Cruise O'Brien biography "The Great Melody". (To be fair to O'Brien, his biography is not a straightforward work, but presents Burke's life thematically.) Kirk's book also makes some valid points about Burke's legacy, convincing the reader that Burke's philosophy is underappreciated by modern audiences. But a more balanced approach to Burke's life - without all the Great Man gloss -- would have made this point just as effectively.




3. Kirk's introduction to the life and politics of Burke is essential to understanding Edmund Burke in his time and ours. More of a Political biography than a general biography, it is still a book whose prose is very readable and understandable. A biography of a great man by a great man.

No comments about Just As I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham; Part 1 (11 Cassettes) and 2 (9 Cassettes).