5 comments about Sound and Fury: Two Powerful Lives, One Fateful Friendship.

1. Howard and Ali were pals...you can feel their love for each other in this book. We miss both of these players...



2. Where else but in American sports can an old, white, Jewish veteran befriend a young Black Muslim draft dodger? They may not have been friends who loved each other, but it was convenient for both of them. If you can't take advantage of a friend, then he's not. They had things in common. Both were driven. Both had over inflated egos. They were the greatest. If you don't believe it just ask them. Well, Howard Cosell is dead & Ali doesn't talk any more. Their early life & struggles are covered well so that you understand where they came from. Cosell was a World War II vet. He earned a law degree then decided he wanted to do sports on television. He was brash, obnoxious & smart. His relationship with Ali & Monday Night Football made him a nationally recognized sports journalist. Ali, originally Cassuius Clay had a fairly normal upbringing. Then he won Golden Gloves Championship & Olympic gold metal in 1960, that propelled him into his pro career. Before he was finished he had became & is the most recognizable man on earth. He was the world Heavyweight Champion, that most singular of all championships, three times.
   Ali was despised for his faith, his refusal to serve in the military & of course his race. Eventually, he overcame all these obstacles. The U.S. government pursued him, denying his draft deferment status. As a result he was also denied the right to box for several of what would have been his most productive years. He lost millions of $$$ & was stripped of his championship. Eventually, he was aquitted. Cosell covered him all along his journey. The author, Dave Kindred spends quite a bit of time on Ali's three fights with Joe Fraizer & rightly so. Ali's life has become an inspiration to kids on all continents but especially the impoverished millions in Africa. He was persecuted by his own government & cheated by the leaders of the Black Muslim faith that managed him. He apparently is now a quiet soul bearing no malice to anyone. Cosell on the other hand became embittered after his MNF gig. He wanted to be taken seriously as more than a sports announcer. When he wasn't he didn't take it well. Poor health eventually claimed him. A good sports book for all us fans of a certain age that remember Cosell & Ali in their prime.



3. Dave Kindred has done lovers of sports and history a favor with Sound and Fury.
   
   Using two cultural giants - Mohammad Ali and Howard Cosell - he has produced a fresh and readable social history of the latter half of the Twentieth Century. Let me be clear. I love Ali. Kindred refers to him as the most influential sports figure of the last century. In my mind, he understates the case; Ali is the most influential person of the last century.
   
   Cosell, on the other hand, may have hesitated to tell you he was. He was not. Trained as a lawyer and gifted with the ability to articulate complexity, he brought a thinking man's view to radio and television sports journalism.
   
   Individually, they were interesting. Together, they were hypnotizing. They produced controversy, drama and comedy almost every time they appeared together.
   
   Dave Kindred tells the story of this alliance from a unique perspective. As a newspaper and magazine sports columnist with nearly 40 years experience, he covered Ali's early fight days as a reporter for the Louisville Courier-Journal before moving on to the The Atlanta Journal- Courier and The Washington Post. He draws upon his experiences to re-create the Ali-Cosell story in ways I have never seen attempted.
   
   The result is a fascinating portrait of two outsized figures - their heroics and their demons. Drawing on personal observations, fresh reporting and interviews, Kindred writes a page-turning treatment of two lives that together changed sports, television and I would argue, the world, forever.



4. Sound and Fury (14 hours, 11 cds, unabridged, Blackstone Audio) is a duel biography of Howard Cosell and Mohammed Ali.
   
   Sport writer Dave Kindred knew both men, he has written a bio that transcends his knowledge of both men. His text is an honest, no hold barred , warts and all biography. When a third person (like Kindred) writes a biography, he tends to put his personal touches with his own bias, this book is NOT that.The book showed an unlikely partnership created by media hype.
   
   In the audio narrative hands of Dick Hill, this audio project seems more like a docudrama in its scope. Hill's narrative voice takes on verbal personas of Cosell and Ali, without mocking them. His talent has grown from the days at Brilliance Audio.
   
   Sound and Fury is an amazing production . . . you won't forget it audio, long after you heard it
   
   Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD



5. David Kindred has written what amounts to a duel biography of the controversial odd couple that is Muhammad Ali and Howard Cosell. The author tells us that Ali elected to not join the military because the Muslim Nation told him not to. To cross them was to literary toy with his life. The assassination of Malcolm X being used as an example. While not necessarily agreeing with Ali's decision Cosell supported Ali stating that taking his heavyweight championship away from him without any semblance of due process was completely wrong. There appears to be evidence that Cosell may have already been experiencing dementia when he came out with his second book entitled I Never Played the Game. Aware of the criticism in his book of his cronies in the TV booth for Monday Night Football Cosell was asked before publication whether he wanted to include these strong opinions. Since he always prided himself on telling it "like it is" he felt it would be hypocrisy of him not to do so now. Cosell was a devoted family man while Ali ventured into nocturnal delights. It was hard for sports fans to be neutral in regard to either of these men, but boxing was the ingredient that brought these two men together first in mutural respect and then in friendship. Incidentally, page 247 has a hilarious anecdote of Howard using his colorful vocabulary in breaking up fisticuffs involving teens in Kansas City. Whether you are a fan of either man or the part they played in sports you will find this to be an extremely enjoyable book to read.

1 comments about Thurgood Marshall (2 Cassettes).

1. In the book 'Thurgood Marshall, Supreme Court Justice' Lisa Aldred acurately tells the story of lawyer/judge Thurgood Marshall and his struggle to fight racial inequality. This book is very detailed and helpful. It mentions interviews with Marshal, speeches he made, and comments his family made about him. Wonderful!

No comments about May Sarton: Excerpts from a Life : Journals and Memoirs.

No comments about The Rockefellers.

2 comments about One Man Great Enough: Abraham Lincoln's Road to Civil War.

1. A basic history of Abraham Lincoln's political journey from Illinois to Washington, D.C. Nothing in this book will be a surprise to dedicated readers on the Civil War era.
   
   The author writes in a folksy style, sourcing quotes from local press accounts of the time, memoirs, and early Lincoln biographies. Mr. Waugh uses the Little Giant, Senator Douglas, and his long-time and somewhat unusual relationship to the up-and-coming Lincoln as a common thread throughout his book.
   
   Not broad or deep scholarship, but worth reading for one in need of an introduction to, or reminder of, the greatness embodied in the one who finally ended slavery within our land.



2. There are a raft of Lincoln books published seemingly every year. Each author has a slightly different take on the Great Emancipator, seeing him in a slightly different light. Most think him as great as the name implies, nad I tend to agree. So does the author of this current book, who takes a look at Lincoln's political philosophy, especially as it relates to the issue of slavery. Author Waugh spends only a little time dealing with incidents in Lincoln's life: his marriage, the death of his son, and so forth are all dealt with very cursorily. His father's death is only mentioned in passing, when the author is recounting something that happened a decade later. The majority of the space in this book follows Lincoln's transformation from a Whig who had only vague opposition to the institution of slavery into an abolitionist of sorts who had very definite views about pretty much every aspect of the issue.
   
   I've never read a book by John C. Waugh before. On one or two occasions, people have recommended books by him to me, and I think I have a copy of one of his books floating around here somewhere, but I never did get to it. This book crossed my path, and the time was right so I read it. I have to say I think I'm going to have to find that other book, because this volume is very well-written and interesting. I really enjoyed it.

No comments about West With the Night: Library Edition.

No comments about Hungry for Home.

5 comments about Buddha's Child: My Fight to Save Vietnam.

1. After reading his book, it occurred to me that perhaps Nguyen Cao Ky has faulty memory of many events that happen during his tenure as the Prime Minister of South Vietnam such as the Buddhist Rebellion in Central Vietnam in 1965. In this book, Ky claimed that he formulated the plan to put down the Buddhist rebellion in Central Vietnam in 1965, this is incorrect. In 1965, there were two different Buddhist group vying for power in South Vietnam. One was the An Quang branch headed by the militant Thich Tri Quang, the other is the non-violent Vietnam Quoc Tu branch headed by Thich Tam Chau. The An Quang branch was the violent, "militant" branch who wanted to create a government headed by monks, many of the monks in the An Quang group armed themselves with sub machineguns, they block the roads using Buddha statues and they were able to entice thousands of soldiers from the 1st ARVN Division to desert and joined their cause. Libraries were sack by the militant Buddhists, books were burned and people of different religious faith were beaten. It was at this time that Cao Van Vien the Chairman of the ARVN Joint Chief of Staff formulated a plan of using the Vietnamese Marines to quell the unrest, Vien pretended to withdraw the Marines from their area of operation in Binh Dinh to Saigon then on the day of the withdraw, other Marines battalions were airlifted to the Quang Ngai airfield under the command of General Ngo Quang Truong and Truong was able to use the Vietnamese Marines to subdued the rebellion. Aalthough Ky did not play an important role in this event, Ky claimed that it was he who formulated the plan to put down the rebellion.
   
   There were a few important events that some how was missing in Ky's book. On the last few days of April 1975, with the NVA closing in on Saigon, Ky made an appearance at Ho Nai, standing in front of thousands of people Ky encouraged people to "fight on to the last men" and that Ky will stand by them to the end. Hours after his speech, Ky flew out to the American carrier abandoning the very people he has asked to fight to the death. Recently Ky went back to Vietnam to work for the Socialist Republic of Vietnam government. In one of the recent interview to Viet Weekly, Ky was asked about the current rampant corruption in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, especially the PMU18 scandal where government officials who made only $200 U.S dollars a month bet on horses to the tune of $2 million U.S dollars each month for the last 10 years. Ky said that such corrupt government officials should not be prosecuted and should be allow to keep all the money they have stolen from the people as long as these officials would not take bribes again. Ky comment tells you all you need to know about him as a former Prime Minister of South Vietnam and as a person.



2. This book is supposedly the autobiography of the author's experience in the Vietnam War. But it has a rather bizzare conclusion: the author alleged that China is now a threat to world peace and may well bring the world to another World War!!
   The author then proposed that surrounding asian countries ally themselves to the West( ie. USA ) to encircle and contain China.
   
   This anti-China rheotric is totally irrational and paranoid. I hope that the author will further explain his weird theory in future editions of this book.



3. In all honesty, I have learned some historical facts that I had not known before reading the book. Before I delve into the content the book, let me say that the book is well written. I enjoyed the audiobook, however, the producer of the audiotape should have consulted with a Vietnamese before attempting the Vietnamese proper names. The reader butchered the names horribly! It is ashamed that such an undertaking of almost 12 hours of taping did not go through this quality check. The publisher must have known that there are more than non-Americans who seek to learn about Mr. Ky and the Vietnam war. I could barely make out the names of the generals and the politicians involved. The names of geographical areas of Vietnam were horrendously mispronounced. It is unfair for me, in spite of the political 'dryness', has some humors and at times quite entertaining.
   
   My. Ky is as boastful as he's ever been. There are endless mea culpas and monday-morning-quarterbackings throughout the book. But one cannot come to any other conclusion that with the leadership of Mr. Ky and his cohorts helped to lose the war in Vietnam.
   He painted a picture of mass corruptions, shameless abuses of power, government properties, US aids, etc.. From president Ngo Dinh Diem to Nguyen Van Thieu, with questionable goals and intent, together brought south Vietnam to its deserved fall.
   
   Mr. Ky failed to recognize that what he did during his youthful days was reckless and in a different setting such as the U.S, he would have been indicted on many charges. He was accused of derelict of duties by allowing his pilots to smuggle contrabands into VN not to mention allegations of drug smuggling. He used and abused government properties recklessly to woo girls by hovering aircraft on top of civilian neighborhood. He treated government asset as his own. He claimed that he did not take money from the people but he enjoyed his good life in many other ways. All of this would have been intolerable in western countries.
   
   He conveniently left out the comment on how Hitler is his only hero (while he was in London , 1965). I believe that Mr. Ky did not corrupt the way many other generals did such as Gen. Dang Van Quang and Pres. Nguyen Van Thieu etc.. All in all, he was so wishful to think that he could have done any thing different better to 'save' Vietnam, it's almost laughable!
   
   To his credit, I think Mr. Ky is a man of character, flawed as it is, few would have accomplished what he did during the war. He is an honest man!
   
   Footnote: as critical as I am about this book, I did enjoy reading and did learn something from it. I have also obtained an autograph of the author.



4. How could it be anything else being written by one of the players. I think Cao Ky Nguyen confirmed many truths and it was important for that to come from a South Vietnamese leader. All that you need to do is keep in mind that he is trying to portray himself in a more favorable light than he deserves as he was just as politically immature as the rest of the inept leaders he comments on.

   The American lessons from Vietnam in essence are the old sayings that you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink, and that if you want something done right do it yourself. When you put Nguyen's rationalizations in a more accurate perspective, he makes this clear.




5. This was, in many ways, a painful book to read. I was in elementary school at a school for missionary children in northern Japan when I read in my Weekly Reader that Nguyen Cao Ky had become the new prime minister of South Vietnam. I remember the news gave me a sense of hopefulness about the war, which we were kept informed of by the Far East Network (armed forces radio) and the Voice of America. I can also remember my feeling of confusion when I read that Theiu had replaced Ky as Vietnam's leader.

   Without belaboring the point, I have long been frustrated by the American handling of the war, which, I believe developed out of our abdication in Korea. I don't want to spend time talking about that, because it is a tired and painful subject. Suffice it to say that this book confirmed my feelings, but added some new insight.

   For example, this book adds some insight into the resentment that many Vietnamese nationals felt toward the French, whose colonialism was largely exploitive, and financed by the Americans in amounts that Everett Dirksen would call "Real Money." In addition to that, I did not know, until I read this book, that Westmoreland was fully informed of the North Vietnamese intention to stage a major invasion during Tet, but decided to keep this from the South Vietnamese army! This appalling mismanagement of the crisis produced a disastrous and completely unnecessary problem for the Cao Ky, but it was a challenge that the South Vietnamese met and overcame. While Tet had a demoralizing effect on the American public, it was actually a victory for South Vietnam, and a major defeat for the North Vietnamese.

   The book also addresses some more familiar themes, such as the legendary ineptitude of McNamara, but the most poignant event in this book is Nguyen Cao Ky's impulsive decision to abdicate leadership in favor of Thieu. Nobody (including Nguyen Cao Ky himself) knows why he did this. Perhaps it really was a selfless act of a patriot who had no interest in promoting himself, and was just trying to do what was best for his country. Or, perhaps, he had become bored with the monotony of leadership, and decided to abandon his responsibility, just as he discarded his wives, one after another, when he got tired of them.

   To his credit, Nguyen Cao Ky takes full responsibility for his fateful decision. And it would not be fair to say that he abandoned his country completely, because he was always ready to serve, and to lead when the chips were down. In that sense, we must give credit where credit is due, and call him a patriot. But this is small comfort for the painful realization that the war effort was doomed by his decision, although I am still not sure if I believe that it was more significant than the moral exhaustion of the American culture, which rendered the Americans all but impotent to save Vietnam.

   Read this book. Nguyen Cao Ky is a very good storyteller, and a man of adventure who liked to live on the edge. You will almost certainly come away better informed about the first war the Americans lost. It is a sad story, but one which can have a certain measure of redeeming value if we are able to learn from our mistakes, and adapt to the very different place that east Asia has become.

5 comments about Let's Face It: 90 Years of Living, Loving and Learning.

1. This is a surprisingly well written biography by an actor whom we thought was only a pretty face. He tells us some inside facts of his thoughts, his life and marriage and how he has grown and changed. The tittle says it all and then he fleshes it out. I'm giving this book to a lifelong friend who was a huge fan of Kirk Douglas 50-60 years ago.



2. I could not put the book down ,I had to read it from cover to cover . He is a one of a kind person It shows how you will always go back to your roots



3. I have read past books by Kirk Douglas which were much better, mainly because they told a story, and this book is mostly ramblings. It is okay to pick up and read a bit from time to time but not a book you will be engrossed in.



4. Kurt does it again. At ninety he is still feisty and funny. And his life- story which he has told in two previous books is only enriched by another retelling. He opens with the story of his ninetieth birthday party, a gala family event in which he laughs and is laughed at as well as celebrated and appreciated. The little kid from Amsterdam did not do so bad. He may have started out as a poor hungry kid robbing eggs from the neighbor's chicken coop but he with a lot of moxie and ability made it to the top of the American entertainment world. In this book which comes across as a series of small essays or talks he wanders all over the place but always interestingly. He in his long career knew a lot of remarkable people and he tells about many of his old buddies. He also in the course of this speaks about how much he misses many of them, one of the sad consequences of a very long life. He also speaks about the tragic death of his youngest son, whose grave he visits twice a week.
   Kurt did not make it the easy way. A heart attack, a helicopter crash which set him back a lot, a stroke which took his speech from him. The stroke however did not take away his will and through great effort much help he fought back to speak and think clearly again. Part of his wake- up process was a decision to explore Judaism which he had sort of forgotten about in his prime acting years ( Except for his yearly Yom Kippur synagogue visits, and the movies made in Israel which he is a staunch supporter of) His strong desire to help young people to educate them to moral dignity and lives of contributing to making a better world is also expressed here. Also he tells the story of his fifty- three year and running marriage to his second wife,Ann, and how this has been the great love story of his life.
   Kurt has guts and heart .He is a tough, caring person, who will always of course be most known for some of his remarkable performances on the screen ( Lonely Are the Brave, The Champion, Spartacus, The Clown, Lust or Life) but his works as a writer also have great entertainment and educational value.
   A wonderfully enjoyable little book by a great human being.



5. 
   You have to be tough to face your own mortality and Kirk Douglas faces it feisty, reflective, and sometimes furious. In addition to great stories from his life that he hasn't told before, this book tells of the things that, 90 years on, move his heart and his soul. I was surprised, delighted and stirred all the way through.

5 comments about What A Party!.

1. First, this book is a lot of fun to read. McAuliffe's stories are great; he's a life-of-the-party type and it comes out in his writing and his recounting of many incidents.
   
   Second, it's an important book for anyone concerned with / interested in the politics of the last couple decades:
   
   - He gives a great insider's perspective on the failures of the Kerry and Gore campaigns, which are instructive to anyone who cares about elections.
   
   - He gives insights into the rebuilding of the DNC and the function of a national party machine in modern politics.
   
   - His behind-the-scenes stories about big-money fundraising are fascinating
   
   - And probably most importantly, with his unique vantage point as a friend and advisor to Clinton, he gives many behind-the-scenes insights on Bill Clinton from throughout his presidency that any Clinton fan will find extremely interesting.
   
   I thought it was a great read - enjoyable and educational.



2. In his book, Terry McAuliffe himself, as DNC chairman, writes about enforcing the very rules he now thinks should be broken. Now that he's chairman of Hillary Clinton's campaign of course. The book is interesting, and gives good insight into the character of Terry McAuliffe today. The word hypocrite comes to mind.
   
   From Terry McAuliffe's own book
   
   "I'm going outside the primary window," [Michigan Sen. Carl Levin] told me definitively.
   
   "If I allow you to do that, the whole system collapses," I said. "We will have chaos. I let you make your case to the DNC, and we voted unanimously and you lost."
   
   He kept insisting that they were going to move up Michigan on their own, even though if they did that, they would lose half their delegates. By that point Carl and I were leaning toward each other over a table in the middle of the room, shouting and dropping the occasional expletive.
   
   "You won't deny us seats at the convention," he said.
   
   "Carl, take it to the bank," I said. "They will not get a credential. The closest they'll get to Boston will be watching it on television. I will not let you break this entire nominating process for one state. The rules are the rules. If you want to call my bluff, Carl, you go ahead and do it."
   
   We glared at each other some more, but there was nothing much left to say. I was holding all the cards and Levin knew it.
   
   [Source: McAuliffe, Terry. What A Party!, p. 325.]



3. It's really interesting to read this book as Terry McAuliffe masterfully provides you a window to the Clintons, most esp President Clinton whom he helped greatly particlularly in fund-raising.



4. I have to say first of all that I am a member of the Terry McAuliffe choir. I sing second tenor on the songs "Bill Clinton Was a Great President", "Rush Limbaugh is a Big, Fat Idiot" (with words by Al Franken), "The Republicans Stole the 2000 Election Like the Thieves They Are", "The Republicans Should Be So Ashamed of Themselves That They Should Shut Down Immediately", etc. That said, not everyone who conducts that particular choir writes with as much panache, elan and joie-de-vivre as this man does. This is a wonderfully, wonderfully written book about the down and dirty of politics, and Terry McAuliffe certainly does the down and dirty of politics just about as well as anyone. He was a close Friend of Bill and offers really touching portraits of President Clinton and also Hillary Clinton. You can hear him smacking his lips as he talks about the way in which he savages Republicans and how disappointed he was in the wooses who surrounded Jim Kerry and made him play nice when Bush and his Darth Vader vice president were playing as evil as they could possibly be. This is a top-of-the-line political book for anyone who is interested in party and presidential politics in the United States, and I recommend it with every bit of my being!



5. The first hundred pages of this book almost gave me whiplash. When he claims to be hyperactive, I totally agree, because he jumps from story to story with no seeming connection. But once Clinton takes office, I assume he had the daily logs to guide him, and things got a little more linear.
   
   That said, I loved every page for its entertaining stories and enterprising spirit. This guy really made a difference.