No comments about Past Forgetting: Memories of the Hammer Years (Isis Series).

5 comments about Foxe's Book of Martyrs.

1. The whole truth that will be visited upon us again. Foxe's Book Of Martyrs: An Edition for the People (Ambassador Classics)



2. Foxe's Book of Martyrs was often read from as a family after reading the Bible. It reminds us that living the Christian life always costs something. I also remind my own children that there have been more Christian Martyrs in the past century than any other century. Christians around the world are dying for Christ everyday.
   
   I gave this version of the book as graduation presents with gift cards inside. The book is hardcover and is in readable English, unlike some older translations. I highly recommend this copy for gifts.



3. I bought two versions of this book, the other being in the original English of Foxe. I would recommend this version over the other since it is a lot easier to read, follow and understand. I wish it were hardcover, but it is a good choice otherwise.



4. This is such a moving about how and why we should be able to suffer for our faith in our God. If this book does not inspire you to be a christian on your faith in God alone well I just don't know how you could call yourself a christian and hold your head up. This book has inspired me by the faith of others gone on before me to be able to withstand anyone or anything for who and what I believe in. To read in the Bible what some christian went through and it doesn't really go into full detail (the Bible) and then to have the Spirit to lead you to this book well it made me feel ashame of the way I have acted about people making fun of me because I am a disciple of Christ. I am a student in the word of God. I would highly recommend this book to weak christians or those being persecuted because of your faith in our Saviour.



5. This the the most pure, most sincere book on Christians ever (next to the Bible, of course). Its pages are blood-soaked testimonies to men and women who did nothing much else, than give their lives for the cause of Christ.
   
   *there is a publication solely devoted to John Calvin, titled, 'God the Creator, God the Redeemer' which is also a Bridge-Logos book. Calvinists are not targeted by the New Foxe's Book of Martyrs, which is true to the original.

5 comments about First Lady of Song: Library Edition.

1. Reading this book left me feeling that while the author is passionate about is subject matter, he felt entitled to make snarky comments throughout and who proof read this book? Errors abound. This book was published before Ella's death so it ends paying tribute to her remarkable career more than the subject herself. There are two errors that I know of, one regarding a song and one a television appearance. Dinah! did have Lucille Ball as a guest on a referred episode and was quoted correctly a comment to Ella, but the broadcast featured not Elizabeth Taylor by satellite but Beverly Sills on set, the song "Ordinary Fool" was not recorded by Karen Carpenter for her last album, Karen recorded her version during the "Kind Of Hush" sessions in 1976, Ella recorded hers in 1977, it was impossible for Karen to follow Ella's vocal line as suggested and Ella couldn't follow Karen's because Karen's version wasn't released until 1983. The author credits himself as the writer of the liner notes for Ella's "First Lady Of Song" 3 disc set released by Verve in 1993, I feel this is unnecessary bragging on his part.
   I've looked for this book for years not understanding why it went out of print until I found it at a book discount shop. It's giddy, self-congratulating, and arrogant. Who is he to refer to Ella as "Miss Fitz?" and the photo section has personal captions not unlike a photo album one would have at home. The one good section is the discography located in the back that contains every recording made including the outtakes.



2. I'm a huge Ella fan, but not much is available about her personal life. This is a decent book if you want to know more about Ella's career; in that respect, it's pretty exhaustive and very detailed. I was a little disappointed in the overall quality of the book, however. It has a cheap feel to it, the paper is shoddy, the pictures look as though they were run through a copier, and there are many, many typos and punctuation errors. I also wasn't crazy about the writing style. But for you die-hard Ella fans, I would suggest that you read the book and get what you can out of it.



3. Ella Fitzgerald is my favorite singer. I think that her best work is outstanding. I wish that this book was too. This is an okay biography of Ella's life and career. The author is clearly a fan and has some trouble being objective about some of Ella's work (especially her later work in which she had clearly lost a lot of her voice due to illnesses); however, the book gives you a detailed overview of Ella's numerous appearances on television, her performances with Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong, and her extensive recordings.
   There is another book about Ella by Stuart Nicholson that you may want to read too. It is rather dry in comparison to this book, but I found that by blending Mr. Fidelman's almost-giddy prose with Nicholson's workman-like style, I did come away with a feeling for the woman who Ella was.



4. The reviews are a little unfair. This is accurate and written with passion. The tone has clearly offended. However I do believe that the definitive biography has yet to be written. I hope somebody is putting it together as I write; maybe Will Friedwald or David Ritz will do it.



5. I must first commend Fidelman for his relatively thorough documenting of Ella's recordings, concerts, and television appearences; if this book is at all worthwhile, it is to learn more about the lady's career.

   That being said, the author has here penned one of the most unprofessional works of biography ever published. He sets the tone early, recounting the ways he was denied access to Fitzgerald's inner circle with all the righteous, catty anger of the dorky girl excluded from the popular group in middle school. He punctuates various passages with tangents that have little or nothing to do with Fitzgerald's life and legacy, including a plea for record labels to reissue the works of the great stars of the mid-twentieth-century, and mentions of his having written liner notes for certain Fitzgerald releases. The majority of the book's narrative is written in a silly tone which belies any attempt by Fidelman to cast himself as a serious biographer. His insight into Fitzgerald the woman is nil. This is all in addition to his highly questionable and tabloid-esque recounting of a tragic interview with Joe Pass, suffering from terminal cancer, which seems only to be included due to Joe's saying he doesn't know why he's telling Fidelman this - perhaps an attempt by GMF to indicate some sort of personal relationship with the legendary guitarist.

   I would not go so far as to tell Fitzgerald fans to avoid this book, nor would I send them running to Stuart Nicholson's dull, fact-heavy tome; a compelling, authoritative biography of the great jazz singer has not yet been written. I would instead advise possible readers to approach "First Lady of Song" with very low expectations, and then purely from an informational standpoint.

1 comments about How Was It for You? (BBC Gold).

1. Add a star if you are an Anglophile. Current readers are familiar with Bombeck, but Lipman more closely resembles Jean Kerr (Please Don't Eat the Daisys) in that she combines the domestic humor with show business (Kerr was the wife of a prominent theater critic; Lipman is an actress). Lipman describes her struggles with her plumbing or her car interspersed with trying to make it to auditions, rehearsals or meetings. Some of the show business names she drops are familiar to British Comedy fans, although her own shows do not appear to have crossed the Atlantic. The domestic humor should be accessible to most US readers, although appreciation increases if the reader has a working knowledge of recent UK politics and theater. Some comments depend on a knowledge of the personalities of UK politicians who are practically unknown to most of us.

No comments about Esther a Woman of Strength and Dignity.

No comments about Sam Houston.

No comments about Roosevelt.

2 comments about Diana, Princess of Wales: A Tribute.

1. I listened to this audiobook on my commute to/from work. Even after arriving home, I actually sat in my car, in my driveway, to continue listening to it. It is a fascinating account of a beautiful, courageous person who learned to use her resources and privilege for the greater good, making the most of her (short) time on earth. If you question how she could have been the most popular and loved woman on earth (and still is), then this book will answer that for you.



2. I'm genuinely shocked there are no reviews to date of this double CD!
   
   Beware of a BBC documentary! Boy, can they dig out the dirt and have absolutely no problem at all with rubbing it into the person's face forever more! I guess they couldn't (or wouldn't) do that with Diana, Princess of Wales, as this was released within months of her death.
   
   Either way, this is an excellent audio documentary that chronicles Diana's life from birth to death and seemingly every major detail in between - from the intense media scrutiny that followed her for a good portion of her life, to the excitement leading up to the "Wedding of the Century," to the birth of her beloved sons, to her marital difficulties that the world is very familiar with by this point in time, to her well-publicized battles with depression and bulimia, and, finally, to the unprecendented outpouring of emotion in England - the depth and scale of which was never experienced in recent memory there - that followed her death (and I don't think I'm exaggerating by stating that).
   
   I am 31 and, truth be told, I wasn't a fan of the late Princess's when she was alive. I didn't hate her, but I wasn't crazy about her, either. It was only after her sudden death that I got into her (and, no, I will never, ever forget what I was doing when I heard the news). I've since read countless books about her life and respect her for the fact that she was able to come from a broken home and, eventually, a broken marriage herself, and try to turn it into something positive by helping the people who needed it the most.
   
   At one of the lowest points in her life (which probably would have been in the early-90s), she bravely fought against the very well coordinated palace machine that set out to destroy her by conveying to the public an image of Diana as a loony bin ready to kill herself at any moment. Through it all, though, Diana prioritized and remained a committed mother and a devotee to the charity work that, as it turned out, was one of the only sources of comfort to her (besides her beloved William and Harry).
   
   What comes through crystal clear with this documentary is the fact that Diana was on her own when it came to the continuous press inquiries into every detail of her life. The palace staff, and the always up-to-date and in-touch Queen herself, stood by the sidelines and watched Diana with the philosophy of "sink or swim." Naturally, a young woman who's all of 19 when the press first trained their cameras on her would have had zero idea of how to handle herself with the media and would become friendly with, and even dependent on, photographers because she sure wasn't getting any help from the palace!
   
   Some could assume this is a fluff piece on Diana designed to make money from her death, and that could very well be true to some extent. But the BBC didn't attempt to rewrite history and presented the facts as they happened and that's what makes this audio documentary a pleasure to listen to and absorb.
   
   The two CDs run for about a total of two hours, but it's so worth the time if you want to get a better picture of Diana. (A bonus that was included with the original CD was a {very!} abbreviated copy of her pedigree.) - Donna Di Giacomo

No comments about The Aye-Aye and I.

5 comments about The Diaries of Kenneth Tynan.

1. I suggest reading this as a cautionary tale: how a man with so much promise, talent and intelligence, saddled with insecurities and a taste for hedonism, left him broke and feeling like a failure at the end of his life. How terribly tragic. But this book is definitely not a downer.
   
   However, knowing that Kenneth Tynan was a British literary critic, I had reservations about delving into this. I thought it could be a very dry read. Instead, it turned out to be laugh out loud funny, with some serious dish about famous people (the man knew EVERYBODY) and at the same time introspective and melancholic. This book is not for everybody, but for those with a love of brilliant prose and serious wit, the rewards are rich. - Susan Sayles



2. From THE DIARIES OF KENNETH TYNAN: "Whenever we solve the problem of dreams, we shall not be far from solving the root problems of human identity and creativity. Has anyone noticed the really inexplicable thing about our nightly narrative tapes? They have suspense. This occurred to me last night, when I was involved in a Hitchcock-type chase dream---in which, I suddenly realised, I did not know what was going to happen next. I did not know who would be lurking behind the next door; and I wanted desperately to know. What part of one's mind is it that harbours secrets unknown even to the unconscious? (For in dreams we are surely privy to the unconscious in full flood.) The theory that in dreams we tap a source of energy outside the individual psyche is powerfully reinforced by the presence of suspense."
   
   After Tynan left his job as dramaturg at the National Theatre, he pretty much floundered around for the rest of his life. I wish he had gone back to doing theater reviews. But I guess he was burned out on theater. Maybe he grew bored with the very medium of theater. He said he was profoundly bored with everything ("I shall die writhing in apathy"), but I'm not too convinced of that claim. I wish he had felt an artistic duty to his audience and had then carried out that duty. While reading this thing, I had an overwhelming urge to slap that cigarette out of his mouth and that hairbrush out of his hand and to sternly command him to "do do that voodoo that you do so well".



3. I remember Kenneth Tynan from an appearance on The Dick Cavett Show shortly before his 1980 death. Until this book, I was unfamiliar with his work. Now I see what I was missing.
   
   Not only was Tynan a highly skilled writer of prose, but as a critic he saw things for what they were, even if the majority disagreed. He gives Warren Beatty's pretentious and mystifyingly overrated film Shampoo the swift kick to the rear that it deserves, and even finds a fault with Paddy Cheyefsky's Network that I had not detected prior to reading his assessment of the film in his diaries. Tynan also has his say on economics ("Inflation rides high and I believe intentionally" he writes in 1973) and a myriad of other subjects including his preoccupation with spanking.
   
   Overall, these diaries reveal a melancholy soul who found some solace in writing about his life and its disappointments in his journal. Most published diaries promise more than they deliver. Not Tynan's. His diaries are a compelling read.



4. Kenneth Tynan was a marvellous journalist. There is no-one writing for magazines or newspapers today (perhaps with the exception of Christopher Hitchens) who can so readily draw upon an apparently limitless well of wit, and do so in perfect sentences. All of his books are worth reading if you can find them second-hand: his early collection of drama criticism, 'Curtains', and the collection 'Profiles', are probably the places to start. For devotees of Tynan, who bemoan the paucity of his output in the last fifteen years of his life, the Diaries, splendidly introduced by John Lahr, can prove very frustrating. It seems everything conspired against Ken sitting in front of the typewriter and working his magic. His health was abysmal -- emphysema worsened by a heavy cigarette habit; he was preoccupied by a strange strain of socialism, which allows him to finish one entry with a call for action on the part of the workers and begin the next with an account of a tour through France, eating at three-star Michelin restaurants all the way; and he was rather excessively waylaid by a spanking-based dalliance with a mistress. That he managed to eke out portions of 'The Sound of Two Hands Clapping' and the profiles collected in 'Show People' is, on the evidence of the diaries, something of a miracle.

   The diaries themselves make for very entertaining reading. There is plenty of celebrity gossip and, as befits writing not meant for public consumption, a good deal of invective. Sir Peter Hall, referred to throughout as 'P. Hall' is dealt with particularly harshly, and the relationship between Laurence Olivier and Tynan is fraught with ambiguity. There is also Tynan's almost comical political naivete; while there is certainly much that can be said for socialism and sexual liberation, Tynan's blatant hypocrisy (there are several references to his employing servants and nannies) and his very middle-class hatred of anything at all tainted by being middle-class, does not make for a convincing advertisement. I can only imagine how awful his 'spanking film', which he spends several years trying to find backers for, would have been. But these are, believe it or not, minor cavils, and actually add to the enjoyment of looking over Tynan's shoulder as he unburdens himself of his daily thoughts. (He certainly does not let himself off lightly, frequently despairing over his lassitude.) And the concluding entries, shadowed as they are by the reader's (and Tynan's) knowledge of his imminent death, are genuinely moving. I trust and hope there is more Tynan to be reissued soon. He's a fine companion.




5. To paraphrase another wit: This is some of the best fun you can have with your clothes still on. Was Kenneth Tynan the most sophisticated and intelligent critic of his generation? It's hard to think that he wasn't, especially after reading these diaries. Not only does he give you a grand notion of what theater can be, but he also gives you a guided tour of the international theater scene in the late twentieth century. What a grand tonic his intellectually sharp viper tongue is in these days of spineless critics. Bravo!