5 comments about Benjamin Franklin : An American Life.

1. A very entertaining and highly informative bio. It seems as though Mr.Franklin gets slighted in other subjects bio's, mainly for being away from America for so long during the Revolutionary years. But you'll find in this enjoyable bio that he was hardly sitting around doing nothing during his time in France. His strength was in diplomacy and knowing how to manipulate France and Britain to our benefit, and was a major influence in the outcome of our quest for freedom. Also, take a good look around you, chances are that he had something to do with the invention or idea that brought whatever it is you're looking at to fruition.



2. When I took US History in College, the various instructors took pot shots at Benjamin Franklin, not really giving the poor old guy a chance. This book give a more balanced look at Ben's whole life and the events that changed his outlook on life. I still take to heart his creed to never speak sharply or argue in anger with anyone, speak softly and use reason to convince your fellow man (woman). This advice alone has allowed my to make headway in places that I would have never been able to before. This book also gives the reader the sense of sadness regarding Franklin's family, especially the very long time periods that he was away from his wife. Tragically, his wife died without him while he was in France. Franklin gave much to this country, I appreciate his contributions to this day and I read this book years ago.



3. This is exactly what I look for in a biography -- it's about one of the most important people in the history of our country, and after I was about a chapter into the book, I could not put it down. I found myself reading it every time I had a free moment. It is easy to read and loaded with useful and interesting information about a fascinating man. I would recommend this to anyone, whether it be a history buff or just someone who enjoys a good read. On a side note, it's funny to me how differently the Franklin-John Adams relationship is portrayed by Isaacson compared to how David McCullough described it in his Adams book.



4. Isaacson persuasively portrays Franklin as the cultural father of his country. Washington may have been more important from a political perspective, but culturally he was part of an aristocratic, noblesse oblige, and chilvaric tradition that is more European than American. Franklin was the champion of middle class values -- the protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism and the virtues of the common man.
   
   Presidents starting with Jackson ran as the embodiment of Franklin, not of Washington. No one wants to be portrayed as elitist, and Franklin's promotion of social mobility and middle class virtues became the standard.
   
   Isaacson's book is readable and interesting. He certainly makes a persuasive case for Franklin's seminal importance in American history.



5. The Ben Franklin of elementary school (or high school, for that matter), history texts has little in common with the wittty, brilliant, bawdy and sophisticated Franklin of Walter Isaacson's biography. The book is (unusually for a serious biography) a "page turner." Exceedingly well-written, with a graphic and entertaining sense of place. Isaacson's descriptions of late 18th century Philadelphia and Paris are awesome. I have recommended the book to a number of friends who, undaunted by its size , have greatly enjoyed it.

5 comments about Work in Progress.

1. Michael Eisner put out this book, which covers the first half of his tenure at the Disney corporation, in order to justify what he has done so far. While the man is convinced he is Walt reincarnated which will lead to problems later on this book does show what Eisner has accomplished. The modern movie industry would look very different if Eisner had not been on the scene. Overall I would take this book in stride and enjoy the story of everything Eisner touching turning to gold and then having it be someone else fault when it falls apart.



2. I bought this book on special - ... Can't complain!!

   But I must tell you it was a brilliant book and one that you will read right through and look forward everytime you pick it up. It was brilliantly written and about things that you know of. Movies you've seen or heard about. So it involves you in all his business ventures. In between all the stories is great advise and great ideas which you can relate to your own business.
   Overall just really enjoyable and well worth looking at.




3. I got this book during my last visit at Disney and I can say I was not disapointed. The book starts with Mr. Eisner's visit to the hospital and then goes all the way back to his summer school years. You might ask, so why is it interesting at all?

   Well, the writting is very engaging and all sorts of names start to pop up like rabbits in a very natural way; like if you were speaking of your friends and collegues. The only thing is that your list of partners might not include George Lucas, Robert Redford, Clint Eastwood, among the several celebrities mentioned.

   Eisner, however, details his hits and misses with the apparent upmost sincerity. Like the first time he tried to close a deal and how he got mad because the other party tried to take advantange of the situation at the last minute...

   I come from a business background and I have experienced many of the situations that Eisner covers in his book. It is very nice to read his point of view on many topics and affect all business managers every day.

   I think his dealing with Jeffrey Katzenberg was debatable and each party tried to get the most water for their own well and forgot to see what was best for Disney. At the end I think they all lost...

   The book is very good indeed. Don't think is it another way to spend your money on a Disney product because if it is, you will be getting the best part of the bargain.




4. The whole book is about Michael Eisner and the Disney Kingdom.

   Michael Eisner is the soul of the Disney Kingdom. He creates the success of Disney by his innovation and good managaement skills.

   From this book, I learnt that the critical success factor for a entertainment business is innovation. People want something new and exicting, if you fail to fulfill their needs, you are the loser of the game.

   After reading this book, I know how to increase my bargaining power, and how to put myself in a supervior position during a negotiation.

   This is really a good book!!




5. After the Death of Frank Wells and the fallout from Katzenberg and Ovitz all i had heard about was how Michael Eisner was hard to work with. This book gives Eisner's account of the events.It gives a account of Eisner's career through his point of view.It does exactly what a autobiography should do without resorting to perticularly harsh blows to others.

5 comments about She Said Yes : The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall.

1. Because I'm in school to study some form of criminology, I started to research the Columbine shooting about 2 months ago. Having read roughly 500 pages of the Columbine Report (which is basically an 11,000 page report containing interviews and such from the teachers and students that were present at Columbine High School on April 20th, 1999), I knew that Cassie Bernall was NOT asked the infamous "Do you believe in God?" question so when I saw the title of this book, I was a bit curious as to why Cassie's mother would sort of "cash in" on the rumors/myths surrounding the shooting death of her daughter. I bought the book in hopes that it would answer my question. And here is what I learned.
   
   The truth is (and believe me, I'm not trying to preach about my views on religion... I'm trying to express my views on this book by debunking the Columbine myths that make this book not credible), a girl named Valeen was asked the "Do you believe in God?" question. She at first said no, then said I don't know, then said yes. When asked by Eric Harris why she believed in God, her response was something along the lines of "Because that was how my parents taught me". She was shot but survived. The only thing that was said to Cassie was "peek-a-boo". It is highly disturbing in my opinion that the ignorant public (led on by the media) including, apparently, Cassie's mother (in the book she says "People say that nothing happens without a purpose--that perhaps Cassie was fulfilling a divine plan, or that in standing up for her beliefs, she was being used by God to further His kingdom. At a certain level, I take comfort in these thoughts. They give meaning to what others have called a "senseless" tragedy, and remind me that a life cut short need not to be a wasted life."), attempt to make Cassie's death more admirable than the other 12 innocent victims. If Valeen had not survived, I'm sure that people would disregard the fact that she said "no" at first. Because, apparently, being religious makes one's death more honorable than those who are not religious.
   
   Look, the book isn't written badly. However, the title of the book and the deep inferences that suggest Cassie died because of her religion honestly disgust me. Those who do not know the truth behind her death will be lead to believe that she WAS asked the question, said yes, and ultimately paid the price by losing her life. This book is NOT supposed to be fiction. So to write it the way it was written make parts of the book lies.
   
   That being said, had the book been mainly about the alleged question she was asked and her answer, I would have easily given this book 1 or 2 stars. But because Misty explains everything from the highlights AND the lowlights in Cassie's life (including Cassie's struggles with wanting to murder her parents) and she admits that Cassie would be upset that people are labeling her a martyr, I found myself able to get through the book rather quickly. Further, "She Said Yes" made me think about my own life and what I would want people to remember me for. For that, I chose to give this book 3 stars.
   
   I'd recommend this book if you want to learn more about the Columbine massacre. The average person must know, however, that although Cassie might've said yes if she was asked the question, the fact is that she wasn't.



2. I feel that even if it wasn't actually Cassie that said I believe this is still so important to show the humanity of the people that were killed. I definately would NOT say it's a Christian myth that the shootings were at least partly blamed on religion. The boys did ask the girl beside her if she believed in God. And what about Rachel Scott. She was shot after confessing her faith. This was not just about trying to kill jocks or popular kids. These boys hated religion and mocked God and basically were saying if you believe in God let him save you. By letting the other girl survive it's almost their sick game of playing God and deciding who lives and dies. It's a terrorist scare tactic. But Cassie did believe in God and right before she was shot she was praying to God out loud to just let her go home. Then one of the boys pounded on the table she was under said peek a boo and shot her. If you don't believe her killing was motivated by her beliefs read Rachel's Tears and be assured it played a big part in who they killed.



3. In this book, a girl named Cassie Bernall had got shot at her very own school. But she was only one of the many who were killed . Her mom ,Misty Bernall, wrote this book in memory of her loving daughter. In this book, it tells how Cassie grew up and what memories she has left of her daughter. Her mom also interviewed Cassie's friends and put what memories they had left of her, too. Cassie was always writing notes to her friends about how bad her life was and how she wanted to run away. In this book, she shows the notes she had writen them. But in the last note she ever wrote, she gave to her friend right before she died. It had said that she had belived in God. Right before she got shot, she said the same thing. I look up to Cassie Bernall because she is a strong person who sticks up for what she belives in. I know that if I were in her situation, and they had asked me if I belived in God, I probably would have said, "I don't know" and just cooperated with them. But then again, everything does happen for a reason. So maybe she was meant to go. If I had to rate this book out of 10, it would be a 10. I think this book should be required to read because it is a true life story, and it could happen to anybody. I would also love to see the movie.



4. In this book, a girl named Cassie Bernall had got shot at her very own school. But she was only one of the many who were killed . Her mom ,Misty Bernall, wrote this book in memory of her loving daughter. In this book, it tells how Cassie grew up and what memories she has left of her daughter. Her mom also interviewed Cassie's friends and put what memories they had left of her, too. Cassie was always writing notes to her friends about how bad her life was and how she wanted to run away. In this book, she shows the notes she had writen them. But in the last note she ever wrote, she gave to her friend right before she died. It had said that she had belived in God. Right before she got shot, she said the same thing. I look up to Cassie Bernall because she is a strong person who sticks up for what she belives in. I know that if I were in her situation, and they had asked me if I belived in God, I probably would have said, "I don't know" and just cooperated with them. But then again, everything does happen for a reason. So maybe she was meant to go. If I had to rate this book out of 10, it would be a 10. I think this book should be required to read because it is a true life story, and it could happen to anybody. I would also love to see the movie.



5. This heartbreaking book is really sad. This book talks about an innocent girl who is shot during the Columbine shooting in Colorado. Her name was Cassie Bernall.It explains how one day started off fairly good and then the next few days were filled with curiosity and tears. Parents wondering where their children are and when their coming home. Well in this book Cassie doesn't make it home. She was shot by one of the shooters from Columbine just from one word, YES .She was the type of girl who wanted to fit in with the cool groups and just dropped all of her other friends.I really liked this book. It was the most sad and heartbreaking story I have ever read.I rate this book with 5 stars.

5 comments about Titan : The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. (Cassette/Abridged).

1. This is a really excellent book on Rockefeller. It made me laugh; it helped me to understand who he was as a person; it showed how he became who he was; and it gave me a true and complete understanding of Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Sr. in an unbiased way.
   
   I read the negative reviews on here, and I want to refute them. Some say the author clearly favored Rockefeller; I felt quite the opposite at some points and think a really objective depiction was achieved. Others say the editing was poor; I didn't find a single spelling or grammatical error during the read. In terms of its editing, it was fine.
   
   If you want to know who Mr. Rockefeller, Sr. was, this is the book for you.



2. Hopefully it is good, Kinda Long but I am looking foward to having time to read the whole novel.



3. Rockefeller is reported to have searched endlessly for golf balls lost in an attempt to recover them, yet could nearly buy the world - why?
   
   Objective biographies are important to show that it is rarely money or greed that inspires the mind of man; it is the pursuit of the solution to the particular problem that he has defined worthy of solution. Both great inventions and great works of art have been formed as a result of the tiny seeds of construction or of destruction that engage the human spirit.
   
   Without it, are we not all merely reduced to automated machine status, the robots of today for the future of tomorrow?
   
   Is the mind of man made for the pursuit of money, or for the pursuit of satisfaction of what he perceives is worthy of addressing, focusing his attention upon the manner and the object of his passion?
   
   What makes people tick is a source of inspiration often overlooked in the attempt to idolize or endow humanity, and far too often, misconstrued by mistaken others who aim to profit from that misinterpretation.
   
   Molded soles, like molded fingerprints, rarely sit anyone else. Why then do we not concentrate upon the perspective of what men aim for, and why, rather than what they accomplish, and its yield?



4. 
   This book is the best biography I've read thus far.
   Ron Chernow has a deep understanding of
   economics and history. He uses this understanding to
   paint an accurate, balanced and complete picture of
   the Rockerfeller dynasty with J.D. Rockerfeller as the
   center of their powerful universe.
   
   
   To emphasise just how well this book was written,
   consider the fact that I spent my whole
   Christmas weekend reading it! I couldn't move from my
   library or sleep until it was done. Though the book
   weighs in at approximately seven hundred pages, it is
   reads like a novel, a trait which makes it both
   palatable and pithy.
   
   

   Synopsis

   
   Rockerfeller has all the traits of a classic self made hero. His
   antecedents are not amazing. He grew up in a poor
   family featuring a bigamist foot-lose father who was
   hardly ever around. His father taught John painful
   lessons in business and human behaviour. John's father
   would regularly tell John to jump from his high chair
   into his father's arms. Once, in order to teach John
   never to trust anyone, he told John to jump. He then
   walked away, leaving John to slam painfully into the ground.
   John's mother was the backbone of the family; quiet,
   anassuming and hardworking. He assumed the role of
   surrogate father and dedicated his life to ensuring his
   mother and the rest of his family were safe, secure
   and happy.
   
   
   When Rockerfeller got into the business world, he
   began as a book keeper. It was from these early
   beginnings that he showed the traits that would be the
   core of his success. He was meticulous and diligent
   when keeping financial records and accounts. He would
   manage his own funds as well as the company's money down to the
   decimal point! Like Warren Buffet after him,
   J.D. Rockerfeller would emphasis that "numbers are
   everything."
   
   
   J.D also proved that discipline is more important than
   intelligence. In school, he wasn't the sharpest blade
   in the set but his slow, diligent, determined and
   disciplined approach to study ensured his success. He
   emphasised this in his business dealings as well. With
   this method, he created the jaggernaut monopoly of
   Standard Oil. He began by consolidating the mass of oil
   refineries and wells in Cleveland under his umbrella.
   Later, after recruiting his alter ego, Henry Flagler,
   they would proceed to dominate the oil industry
   thoughout the world.
   
   
   Rockerfeller also exemplified a reticence that would
   inspire respect and fear in his enemies while planting
   admiration and loyalty in his friends. At board
   meetings, he was often known to lie back in a settee
   with his eyes closed as he let his leiutenants debate.
   Later, he would discuss these issues in great detail,
   as though he had absorbed and understood everything
   without skipping a beat. Within his company, he was a
   ghost. Employees would never see him arrive or watch
   him leave. However, they were made acutely aware of
   his presence when he popped up at some underlings desk
   and discussed their jobs and records in great detail. He
   knew everything and everyone.
   
   
   Later on, Standard Oil would become the focus of the
   anti-trust movement. The Spellman Act was passed in
   order to curb its power. In later years,
   Rockerfeller's juggernaut would be split up with
   unforseen results. Instead of destroying his wealth,
   as his detractors and politicians had hoped, his
   wealth and that of his shareholders trippled!
   Rockerfeller's success was enduring and could not be
   stopped or limited.
   
   
   Rockerfeller dedicated the first half his life to becoming the
   richest man on the planet. He then dedicated the
   remaining half to becoming the greatest philanthropist
   in the planet. His medical foundations brought
   back the disciplined approach he applied to business to
   the medical field that had erstwhile been dominated by
   quacks and homeopaths. Were it not for Rockerfeller's
   contributions to medicine, modern health might not be
   as advanced as it is now.
   
   
   After living to the ripe old age of ninety eight,
   Rockerfeller had achieved more than most people achive in a
   hundred lifetimes. He was one of those individuals so
   powerful that he forever changed the destiny of
   humanity forever.
   
   
   
   Something in the nature of J.D. Rockerfeller had to
   occur in America, and it is all to the good of the
   world that he was tight-lipped, consistent and
   amazingly free from vulgar vanity, sensuality and
   quarrelsomeness. His cold prsistence and ruthlessness
   may arouse something like horror, but for all that he
   was a forward-moving force, a constructive power.
   
   --H. G. Wells. The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind.
   
   
   

   Conclusion

   
   This book is mandatory reading for all students of
   success. It teaches the nature of the monopolist, the
   spirit of the leader, the hunger of the rich, the
   ambition of the visionary, the structure of a dynasty
   and the soul of the innovator.
   
   
   I've idolized Rockerfeller my whole life. Reading this
   biography gave me an understanding of both his faults
   and his virtues. It humanised him. The fact that
   Rockerfeller is so much like a next door neighbour
   leads the reader to a very important conclusion:
   success is not about nature, it's about nurture. It
   is not about intelligence but of intent. It is not
   about destiny but of decision. It is not about magic,
   it is about method.
   
   Each of us can make the decision to be successful. All
   we have to do is practice the method by mimicking that
   of the giants who have come before us. That is the
   Billionaire Way.



5. 
   We do want to know what made John D tick, and about his family as well. Are we surprised to know it was mostly do-ray-me with some Calvinism thrown in? Perhaps not. At least we are glad to know that he could spare those dimes... And that he enjoyed his twilight years gofing in sunny Ormond Beach!
   
   If we are from Southwestern Pennsylvania, we have heard the unsavory stories of how he consolidated his power and even if we aren't we have Miss Tarbell's journalism to fall back on.*
   
   Chernow relates this part of the tale well. Would that there were a bit more about the surreptitious doings of Mr. R's agents and underlings. Ah well, the good people of Oil City and Titusville remember...
   
   If we want to know what happens to the children of the rich and famous, Chernow has that too, and there is nothing quite like this book's sad account of John D's daughter's ill-treatment in the hands of a rather well-known psychoanalyst. The train, the Rolls and the waving handkerchief will remain long in the reader's memory.
   
   *The History of the Standard Oil Company : Briefer Version by Ida M. Tarbell, David M. Chalmers (Editor) (Paperback)

1 comments about Chosen by a Horse: How a Broken Horse Fixed a Broken Heart.

1. I bought this book for my daughter (10) for a present. I decided that I should read it first to make sure it was appropriate. I found this book so moving, captivating. Not only can horse lovers relate to the story but any audience who finds comfort in the most unlikely of companions. I highly recommend this book. I plan on reading it again after my daughter has finished it.

5 comments about Pimsleur Language Program: Russian.

1. I first found this book by checking it out in the public library, and I fell in love with how easy it was to pick up the basics, and then the intermediate!
   
   I loved it so much I bought two copies: one for traveling and one for my home use. Thanks to this and many other self taught Russian books, I am finally abble to move to Russia with a little more confidence!
   
   Although not yet fluent,I am able to pick up words and phrases very quickly thanks to THIS audio program.
   
   
   
   Thanks a bunch and please buy this phenomenal set!
   
   
   Vladimir Pravda.



2. It really works, I previously spoke almost no Russian aside from "yes" and "no." But wanted to learn more, so I checked out this set of tapes, and two others at the local library. Guess which one taught me better? No question, this one did. It really teaches you how to speak in an easy way, so with a little practice most people can pick it up. This is a great set of tapes.



3. Yes, the Pimsleur method does work! The eight lessons will give the listener a vocabulary of about 100 words, more than a few useful sentences, the ability to construct their own sentences, correct pronunciation (written Russian is not as phonetic as the books led me to believe), and a strong desire to find out more about this charming language.



4. I'm going on a trip, and these tapes have really given me a base of conversational Russian to use while in the country. I am, however, trying to learn the alphabet on my own. Not all that easy. If you want to be able to communicate and do so quickly, these are the tapes for you.



5. I studied Russian in college, but let my knowledge lapse. I love the language, and recently decided to refresh my skills. I went through three other audio programs before trying this one. The others were all "survival" and "travel" phrases that did nothing to help me regain my former abilities. This program's teaching style is excellent. Although I didn't learn much new vocabulary, it gave me outstanding practice at speaking and listening. However, what you're able to say after the eight lessons included in this program is pretty basic. Thus my caution... If you're really serious about learning Russian and want to do so with the Pimsleur method, you're going to have to buy not one, but two (or maybe three) complete 30-lesson programs that retail for around $345 each! It's probably worth it to a serious student and I'm leaning toward taking the plunge, so if you get hooked on the method, beware of the cost! Nevertheless, this introduction is an excellent way to discover if you want to learn more of this beautiful language.

5 comments about Flyboys: A True Story of Courage.

1. This book really surprised me. It was the first one I read by this author (and I will now certainly read Flags of Our Fathers), and I thought it would be a super-patriotic book about how brave the American airmen were and how awful the Japanese were to them. What really surprised me is that Bradley gives such a balanced view of the two sides in the war, and, while not favoring the Japanese in any way, helped me as a reader to understand the war from their perspective. It also pointed out how horrific and dehumanizing war is to soldiers on both sides who are fighting each other, and how they come to cease to view the enemy as human beings. I certainly came away from the book heartbroken over what happened to the American flyboys and how much their families suffered their loss. I also came away from the book convinced that one should be very wary when a government demonizes people on the other side of a conflict, and how important it is never to forget that all people are human beings with the same needs for love, family, security.



2. This book had promise of telling a story that needed to be told of Japanese atrocities during WW2. However, the author was not focused in his efforts electing instead to tell the story of airpower in the military and trying to justif the actions of the Japanese by telling of what the Japanese held as US atrocities. In fact he himself indicates thet he might have crossed the line when he stopped just short of calling one naval aviator he interviewed a babykiller as a result of a mission he had flown. Interspersed within these pages was an effort to tell in very graphic detail the story of the death of several US Naval Aviators. Overall a poor experience and would cause me to stop and think before I read another one of his books



3. This book made me re-think what I thought I knew about WW2 and the Pacific War. Bradley's writing has an amazing way of bringing faceless characters to life. As a man in my 20's, most of my experience with WW2 has come from the History Channel and other documentary type footage. This book reads as a suspense novel. It follows the lives of a few brave men who volunteered to be navy pilots, fight the japanese, and defend America. The stories of these men's home lives was as fascinating as their wartime experiences.
   
   The horror begins when the pilots are shot down, and taken prisoner by the Japanese. There are many points in this book when the romantic view of the war is shattered. The sacrafice of the soldiers in this book is amazing, and makes me pray that soldiers today do not face the same atrocities.



4. Not as advertised. This book feels like its thrown together. The focus is not on aviation so much as on the brutality of the Japanese and the fates many American aircrew faced when captured. Also the first 3rd of the book has very little to do with aviation. The author discusses the growth of the militaristic regime in Japan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many references to the American Indian wars, American occupation of the Philippines, etc. Lots of info that sets the scene for a story that never really develops. Its all valid but the book ends up really being about torture, suicide, cannibalism, etc. It's a story that should be told but just know that, that's what you are getting, not a book about military aviation. The flying anecdotes seem almost secondary when compared to other great aviation books. Who knows, maybe if all military related books spent so much time on the brutality, there would be less interest and more focus on ending violence in our world. I am very interested in reading about WWII aviation and recognize how horrible ANY war can be. Recommended if interested in war atrocities of the worst kind.



5. This is a tremendously moving, yet horrific story.
   
   It details the lives of a handful of very young U.S. Navy pilots in the Pacific during World War II, touching on their motiviations for joining the military and their greatest fears. Among them was George H. W. Bush, who won the Navy's Distinguished Flying Cross for gallantry in action in the Pacific airwar.
   
   The centerpiece of this book is the suicidal U.S. Navy attacks on the Japanese island of Chichi Jima. Located less than 200 miles from Iwo Jima the island was the home to a vital Japanese radio relay station that controlled communications between Imperial Japan and Asia. The Americans attacks were a failure and more than half a dozen U.S. pilots went down over or near the island and were captured. Almost all were deliberately executed by the Japanese defenders. Two were beheaded, two were killed with bayonets, and another was beated to death by a brutual and drunken Japanese officer with a club.
   
   The story is based on the secret courts-martial preceedings against the Japanese officers and soldiers involved in these executions. What makes it horrific is the apparently widespread practice among some Japanese officers of eating the flesh of their victims, a practice they learned in their war with China. The livers and other body parts of four of the U.S. flyboys were consumed by several Japanese officers on Chichi Jima. Prior to the publication of this book, the exact details of the deaths of these American flyboys had been kept from their families.
   
   This is a tale of courage and horror, of war at its ugliest, and of reconciliation between former enemies.

5 comments about Hallelujah! The Welcome Table: A Lifetime of Memories.

1. None comes better. The recipes are honest and measure up to the quality of the author! Props to Sister Angelou !



2. A wonderful mix of story and recipe.
   As I try these wonderful southern dishes I recall her stories and I can sense the history of the dish.
   the caramel cake is worth 10x the price of the book alone.



3. I love this cookbook. I have already tried some recipes from it. Almost three weeks passed, however, before I received it. I am very satisfied with it.



4. My daughter reproduced the same Caramel Cake that Maya made as a guest on Martha Stewart's show, for my birthday last fall...oh my gosh, it was so good!
   
   So good that I gave her Hallelujah! The Welcome Table, for Christmas.
   
   It is a warm and wonderful book, chock full of memories and yummy recipes...including the Caramel Cake.



5. The book is great, I also bought the cd which is great and expected recipes to be read on it and there were none except for a few on recipe cards. Good that I bought the book because I was really looking for the recipes.

5 comments about Lazy B: Growing Up on a Cattle Ranch in the American Southwest.

1. I loved reading this memoir about growing up on a huge cattle ranch in the American southwest. Sandra Day O'Connor and her brother H. Alan Day write from the heart in an easy to read book with lots of pictures. This is a tribute to their parents, a portrait of a colorful childhood in a remote setting on the Arizona border. The Day family raised cattle for a living; real cowboys worked the ranch, broke wild horses, built and mended fences, rounded up cattle, drilled wells, and built windmills. The children participated in all aspects of ranch life.
   
   The story is about three generations of a family surviving on an arid and strange land - what the land taught them and how they coped with extremes of drought and distance. Individual stories of the cowboys, their love of horses and cattle and other animals are portrayed in a warm and loving way, as if the authors are smiling as they remember those happy days and their parents who taught and encouraged Sandra, Alan, and their sister Ann; the fun times, hard work, windmills and wells, rodeos, the first train thru the area, school, and so much more.
   
   Short chapters, wonderful pictures, and a pleasure to read about a part of America where it truly was "home on the range", and where the cattle industry flourished over a span of a century. Thank you authors for sharing. The quotations are priceless. Here is one of them: When Time, who steals our years away, Shall steal our pleasure, too. The Memory of the past will stay, And half our joys renew. (Thomas Moore, "song")



2. "Lazy B," like the title implies, is the story of Sandra Day O'Connor and her younger brother growing up on a ranch in south-eastern Arizona. They grew up in an isolated environment that mandated self-reliance and initiative. Sandra received much of her formal education through riding the train to El Paso to stay with her maternal grandparents while attending a local girls' school. Her father had wanted to attend Stanford but the responsibilities of taking over the family ranch prevented that. Sandra O'Connor was able to achieve that for him, where she excelled academically, was then inspired by one of her instructors to study law (also at Stanford), met her husband (and also dated classmate William Rehnquist), and then struggled to begin a law career at a time that women had almost no such opportunity. (Despite Sandra graduating from Stanford Law #2 in her class, her early job searches were at best met with "Can you type?")
   
   Then it was on to Phoenix where she started a law partnership, then moved to the Attorney General's office, became elected to the State Senate, became a Superior Court Judge, was promoted to the Arizona Court of Appeals by Governor Babbitt (D), and then selected by President Reagan to the Supreme Court.
   
   Personal Note: In the late 1970s I appeared in Judge O'Connor's court as a witness and was astounded at her astute (and polite) questioning of one of the attorney's. Later, I witnessed the buzz as those who knew her stopped to congratulate her Supreme Court appointment. And most recently I had the opportunity to hear her and her brother give a presentation on this book - very insightful, witty, and again - polite. (She autographed my copy!)
   
   An inspiring person!



3. This book meant a lot to me on many levels, a special tale for this transplanted Southwesterner. I was attracted first because of the co-author, who is one of Our Country's great ladies. She and her brother have put together an inside look at life in the Southwest, the cattle ranch family life, that is no more. A whole chapter on rain and what it means in an arid land. Their loving but reserved father and how he made a living off the land. It reminded me of my own stern but loving father - when dads were supposed to be that way. The ranch life, the family and characters that inhabited it are fascinating. Wonderful story of a different place and time.



4. This book is a colorful portrait of the world O'Connor grew up in. It is simple and lovely - very little mention of her later life in the law.



5. This book contains the childhood memoirs of Justice O'Connor and her brother, H. Alan Day. They grew up on a ranch in Arizona in the 1930s and 1940s where their lives revolved around cattle, horses, and water. In this book, they describe what ranch life was like during those times. They tell stories about the cowboys who worked on their ranch, the roundups they participated in, and some of their favorite animals. Growing up on the ranch entailed a lot of hard work, and their father, a perfectionist himself, kept very high standards for his help and his children.
   
   O'Connor and Day begin the book by tracing the history of the ranch, how it came into their family, and how their family developed it over the years. A central issue in the book is water, how they established and maintained their wells, how water sources were used in determining grazing rights on public lands, and how they managed water use over the years. Towards the end of the book, they discuss the changes brought about by the mushrooming of land use regulations. They were quite disturbed by seeing the offices of land management, once staffed by 2-4 people, eventually being filled by hundreds of employees, all needing tasks to engage in, and many lacking practical experience on the land. As they describe it, the overstaffing and over-regulating of the land management agency made it much more difficult for ranchers to make ranching pay in the Southwest.
   
   The stories of ranch life are absolutely fascinating for the window they provide on this part of American history. This is very much a book about cowboys and cattle, and not a book about O'Connor's professional life, so there is very little material included about her higher education or career. Instead, we come to see her as a simple ranch girl, married in a barn, with seating on hay bales covered with canvas. Who would have thought that a kid growing up on a ranch an hour from town, who had no running water or other amenities, would eventually find herself serving as a justice on the Supreme Court? While the book is quite engaging, it can be a little repetitive in places, perhaps because of the dual authorship. The political commentary about the land management agency can also be a little heavy-handed, given the general nature of the rest of the book. In general though, as a storehouse for memories of cowboy life, this is a great resource coming from a somewhat unexpected source.

3 comments about Acting Strangely: A Funny Kind of Life.

1. The virtues of Martin Jarvis's breezy, insightful and well-crafted autobiography have been noticed here and elsewhere. I can report that the pleasure to be derived from it is increased ten fold by listening to Martin Jarvis reading it. The voice is beautifully modulated, and apparently undamaged by forty years of theatre, TV, film and radio work. Not only is the text beautifully read, but there are also many demonstrations of Martin's Jarvis's uncanny ability to mimic and adopt other voices. You'll not only hear what Sir John Gielguid, Sir Alan Ayckbourn and Harold Pinter say, you actually believe they are there, speaking to you. Even the great radio actress Marjorie Westbury, to whom Martin Jarvis pays a high tribute, is somehow heard again in Jarvis's reading. There is also a Polish film director, and a Hollywood agent whose impersonations you will never forget.

   Whether you're a theater enthusiast, an admirer of Martin Jarvis's work, a budding actor, or just someone who likes to be amused and entertained, you'll find this audio book set to be a great investment.




2. Loved Martin Jarvis's acting stories. It's a lesson to some of us who might have thought, in our dreams, that it's all champagne and roses. This elegant Brit warns that it ain't as easy as he and some of his fellow performers make it look - life on stage and screen can be full of downs as well as ups. Jarvis's sense of adventure makes the book a page-turning treat. His Hollywood tales are nothing short of compelling, not to say hilarious. And I have never read a better account of what it is like to be on stage in some of London's most noted theatres. A beautifully written autobiography, bursting with fun, information and wise thoughts about acting. I recently had a good time in the theatre watching this British star play the title role in the Lloyd Webber/Ayckbourn 'By Jeeves, on its way to Broadway. Look out NYC. Will Jarvis be writing about his adventures on the Great White Way? Hope so.



3. This autobiography by versatile British actor Martin Jarvis answers just about every question you've ever wanted to ask concerning the mysteries - and absurdities - of his profession. Whether he is writing about his experiences in Royal National Theatre productions with Sir Peter Hall or the intense atmosphere on the set of James Cameron's Titanic, Jarvis is never less than spellbinding. He is fascinating, too, about the detailed work that has gone into his many starring roles in the plays of Alan Ayckbourn, Harold Pinter and David Hare. And the account of his Theatre Royal Hamlet is a comic classic. His pen portraits of Sir John Gielgud, Robert Duvall, Angela Lansbury, Leonardo di Caprio, Kate Winslet, and the incomparable Dame Judi Dench leap from the page with a glittering perception. I adored the stories about the author's introduction to Hollywood - the character of the hysterical manager, Travis, has to be read to be believed. But beneath the humour, Jarvis' elegant prose conveys an extraordinary sense of the value and worth of being an actor. He is moving, too, as he takes us back to his beginnings at school in South London and his early successes (and failures) at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. I particularly appreciated the tales of student work with Anthony Hopkins, Mike Leigh and Patrick Stewart. This is the best book on the secret world of actors since William Redfield's brilliant 'Letters from an Actor'. I wholeheartedly agree with Dame Judi's assessment, displayed on the cover of this unmissable paperback: "Marvellously written - I laughed and Laughed!"