No comments about Confessions of an Advertising Man (Newstrack Executive).

5 comments about About This Life: Journeys on the Threshold of Memory.

1. Barry Lopez is widely known for his books about the far north, ARCTIC DREAMS and OF WOLVES AND MEN, and for his frequent appearance in HARPERS where he has been a contributing editor since 1984. Lopez is part naturalist and part philospher and the direction of his writing circles constantly from outward observation toward introspection. Ever aware of the cultural biases that comprise our mental baggage when we venture across national, biotic, even temporal lines, he sees through the veils and helps the reader step outside assumptions that bind.
   This assemblage of previously uncollected material does not disappoint. From the urban landscapes of his youth, the author carries readers to the four winds and seven continents, touching down in remote Japanese islands, Antarctica, Johannesburg, Seoul, Amsterdam, south Georgia, and among wolf packs in his old Arctic haunts. He climbs over linguistic walls, endures considerable physical discomfort, wonders at the oddments of terrain and biota, and returns again to the collective self. What are our motives? How can we better understand?
   While he is best known for naturalistic jaunts, the author is nothing if not curious. What is this business of modern air transport? Start at the beginning: and so he does, visiting Boeing to watch the final assemblage of a 747 - 6 million parts that all fit, precisely. Thence to the skies: logging 50,000 miles in cargo bays and cockpits, reporting on the freight, the flights, the crews, the vibes, and always the terrain. Rockets expode far below over Chechnya, the steel grey ocean shimmers along the Siberian coast, ice runs off to forever
   in the polar reaches, and new galaxies of electric illumination range across the planet. Steel pipe, ostrich meat, thoroughbred horses, Ferraris, sneakers, computers, flowers, gold ingots, frozen fish, tropical fish, and 132 tons of stage equipment for a Michael Jackson concert in Buenos Aires are the flotsam and jetsam of air transport these days.
   "Perishable" has taken on new meaning as deadlines and fashion collide, making the latest shoe style as perishable as an unfrozen fish in the spoiling heat of just-in-time delivery.
   A fine read, rich and alluring, thoughtful and deep.



2. This book covers a wide range of subjects that cross the threshold of memory and stop the reader in her tracks. A whole chapter on the wonder of hands - A Passage of the Hands - causes the reader to consider their own hands and those of a young child with a sense of their history and their possibility.
   
   I recommeded the chapter on wood firing of pottery - Effleurage: The Stroke of Fire- to friends who are potters. The world of anagama kilns was opened to me.
   
   About traveling , Lopez states:"If I were to now visit another country,I would ask my local companion, before I saw any museum or library, any factory or fabled town, to walk me in the country of his or her youth, to tell me the name of things and how, traditionally, they have been fitted together in a community. I would ask for the stories, the voice of memory over the land. I would ask to taste the wild nuts and fruits, to see their fishing lures, their bouquets, their fences. I would ask about the history of storms there, the age of trees, the winter color of the hills. Only then would I ask to see the museums."
   
   Read this book and enjoy the journey.



3. For me, Mr. Lopez always provides a cerebral and emotional journey with his amazing use of the written word. I was introduced to Barry Holsten Lopez's writing in 1982 with "River Notes" and became a fan instantly. This latest work is less poetry and more prose; focusing on personal revelation. It provoked several emotions, including a sense of loss, throughout the chapters. The book will be a reward for fans as he reveals some personal history in the last set of chapters. When he was a visiting scholar at the University of Georgia, I was sorely dissapointed to not meet him personally, so these chapters were a consolation prize. It was also a challenge to read - more than once I had to dive for the dictionary to discover the nuances in his choice of words.
   Enjoy.



4. This book is full of beautiful imagry, a must for people who crave to go places and see things. His essays/memoirs excell above all others. The writing reflects his thoughts so vividly you would swear you were there. If you like reading about far away places and the experiences and adventures of a very cultrued and passionate writer, than this is the book for you.



5. I understand some people like this book very much, but I have a dissenting opinion. I did have the pleasure of hearing him read in person and he is indeed very captivating. But keep in mind what this book is about. It is basically a set of essays about places he has been and his insights and knowledge of those places. When it works, it works brilliantly. The essays I liked I could read several times over--he does some fascinating things (traveling on a cargo plane for several weeks comes to mind, or staying with a pottery community also comes to mind). However, when it doesn't work, you realize that not much is really happening and it feels very slow, maybe even unreadable. I just had to stop reading some of the essays after awhile. So it was really hit and miss with me.

   What the other reviewers say about his attitude towards life and nature is right. He is very concerned with geography, not just the physical geography of a place, but also the emotional geography of a place. In a time when we don't always feel very connected to places, reading this book could help you feel connected again, to glimmer what it is like to really feel a part of the place in which you live.

5 comments about On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.

1. From rough draft to finished product, you see King's writing life develop into a fine story. King once again shows why he is a master story teller, even if the story is his own. A MUST read for writers no matter what stage in your career you are at. King does a fantastic job of showing you then telling you. This is very true for the last section of the book as he gives you an example of 1st draft "1408" and then the edited version with written notes. Several times I had to fight the urge to put the book down and get writing!
   Another great part of this book is you truly get an appreciation of Stephan King the man; the love of his wife is very endearing.
   I recommend this book to anyone who loves to read; you get a great story and a better understanding of how it's done.
   
   James A. Forrest - Eye of the Storm



2. I was never a fan of Stephen King's novels. I tried to read The Stand, The Tommyknockers, and The Gunslinger, but they bored me to tears. On Writing is terrific. I laughed at all of his funny childhood stories, wanted to hug him when he shared his painful memories, and learned a lot from his writing advice. This book is not only useful, it's deeply entertaining. Read On Writing if you want to be a better writer, or for fun.



3. I didn't expect this book to be as funny as it was. I bought it for the writing tips (which were great - VERY helpful) but it's a great read even for non writers.



4. I was not sure what to expect. Could the master of horror truly keep me enthralled with a book on writing? Stephen King delivered far beyond my wildest expectations. It was an enjoyable and insightful read and completely recharged my writing. I read it from cover to cover in one sitting. I highly recommend this book to writers and aspiring writers. You will laugh, you will learn and when you put it down you will never see the blank page in quite the same way.



5. It's really half memoir and half writing tips. Most writing suggestions I have heard or read before but it's always helpful to be reminded of fundamental writing techniques. Non-writer King fans will probably enjoy autobiographical segments, but most info "on writing" will be of little use or interest. For fancy-pants writers who think King is a no-talent hack...well, he is published. Are you?

5 comments about We Are Our Mothers' Daughters (Nova Audio Books).

1. This book made me proud to be a woman! I learned a ton about women athletes, scientists, politicians, etc that I never knew. I also learned that even though I'm not a professional athlete, scientist or politician....we share many of the same experiences as women, wives and mothers. It's a great book and well worth the read. I recommend it for all women (and their spouses/significant others).



2. Interesting history of women in different fields, and, importantly, shows why they don't have the same interests as men in all the same numbers.
   
   Avows that neither gender has the desire to be the other, nor wants the other to be the same as them. Something that many of today's so-call social thinkers seem confused about. Many such thinkers seem not to want either gender to be the way they are, or not to want anyone to be an individual with their own values and choices.
   
   Roberts demonstrates that it is the women who hold a free society together -- who make it a society, who tend to keep associations with old friends and family, while men tend to neglect these. While men and women share more than they differ psychologically, their differences are important. At their best they form a partnership, gaining more from life -- each with different, but overlaping roles.
   
   (I've never had much use for Cokie Roberts as a political commentator, and as shown by the politicians she admires in this book, and as you would expect from government supported radio, NPR personnel are pretty much knee-jerk left wingers, favoring expanded government regulation and management of citizen's lives on all fronts. Fortunately, this is unimportant in this book.)



3. Beautiful work by Ms. Roberts. A treasure for all women to read and enjoy. The essays are poignant and well documented. This is a book that should live on through history and handed from one woman to another.
   recommending also: Founding Mothers,Secret Life Of Bees,Three Junes,Lonely Hunter,Nightmares Echo



4. This is a gentle book of celebration. Cokie Roberts is an attractive lady from a large family of achievers. She shares part of her life story with the reader and writes valuable information in the form of essays, about amazing women past and present; many of whom we have not been aware of.

   I thoroughly enjoyed this easy to read book. I recommend it as encouragement to all women especially those hiding their talents.
   Mostly though, it is a reassuring book in that we women are reminded to appreciate each other, ever learning, ever discovering new ways to contribute, even if our best efforts go unnoticed for a time; willing to step back or go forward as the need arises, and always share the credits.

   With all due respect to the author, I find the title to be unworthy of this fine book. I am my daughter's mother; some women have no daughters, some daughters have no mother to encourage them - anyway perhaps I haven't gotten the point. Do read this book, enjoy it, and give it your own title!




5. I remember my mom telling me once that when she asked my grandfather for the money to take the college entrance exam he told her she should go to secretary school like all the other women. There was a time that women weren't allowed to seek their own destiny, be it successful stay at home moms or successful career women. I think my generation of women has forgotten about that and grown too comfortable with delegating our social and political responsibilities. I borrowed a copy of this book from a woman who is my mentor and bought a copy for my mom. But every woman my age and younger should read this so that they remember what came before us, and quite frankly as a career woman who still gets limited by my gender in the workplace, it is important to realize how far we've come and how far we still need to go. I didn't realize how good we have it, having lived on my own, bought my own cars and houses (the book talks about women not being extended lines of credit or losing lines of credit if their husbands died or divorced them --- as late as the 80s). The book has perhaps the best overall message that no matter what path you choose as a woman, what career or life choice, you have that choice now because of the women who came before us... our collective mothers. And it is our calling as daughters to make our mothers proud by not forgetting how valuable that choice is.

5 comments about Bill Gates Speaks: Insight from the World's Greatest Entrepreneur.

1. Bill Gates Speaks provides plenty of insight including numerous pertinent quotations. Those with little knowledge of Gates yet an interest in his views will find value in this book; however, I struggle to rate this book above three stars as it is merely a scattered collection of thoughts as oppose to a well organized account. With that said, I would also be hard pressed to rate this book negatively as the subject attracts intrigue on its own right and Lowe appears to be at least both informed and well-researched on the topic.
   
   If you have a keen interest in Bill Gates, I would read this book; otherwise, I would search for something a little more engrossing.



2. This is one of a series of books that covers highly successful, highly visible individuals and how they got that way. These books are targeted at school age teens to inspire them to follow their paths for success. The author seems to cover the life stories of Bill Gates and adds quotes where appropriate to boost the storyline. There are occasional segments on subjects related to Gates as shown in the Amazon's "Look in" review. It's an easy read with only 230 pages. If you read any of the other books such as "Gates" or "Hard Drive" you'll get the feeling of reading this book before. Since the work isn't original and seems to heavily reference other books I give it 3 stars. The only question I have is whether the author actual sat down with Bill Gates and talked to him or did she really just go to the library, the Internet, etc. to get info on the book. As a first book on Bill Gates life, it's still a good read for young adults looking to be inspired.



3. It's an easy to read story of Gates, but there's nothing new here. In fact, the whole book is made up of quotes from other books and articles. You can't really tell if they are taken out of context or not. There's just not much original stuff here.



4. I like to be told a story. Although the book starts with a good story on how Bill Gates got started, it quickly digresses. This book is an accumulation of facts and boring accounts about Bill Gates and Microsoft. It never gets into the meat of things. I would have liked to have read more about the litigations against Microsoft. Maybe some more about Nescape's lawsuit. It mentions very little about the Antitrust lawsuit that I was looking forward to learning about. Instead we get quotes from Bill Gates that do not enhance the book, but instead interrupt it. The author references websites about Microsoft's and the government's claims about the lawsuit. It's like the author got lazy. Don't waste your money on this book. A very big dissapointment!



5. While this book was well written, I was dissapointed with what I learned about Bill Gates. There was not enough detail and the book was pieced together from a number of different quotes, which is ok for many biographies but the extent of the number of quotes compared to the varied sources did not complete the picture.

   The books cover claimed 'Insight From The Worlds Greatest Entrepreneur' but I did not feel an insight.

   Despite the above, if you like Bill Gates and want to learn a little more about him, I recommend this book. There are some fun stories and some things to be learned about the man. It is put together nicely, it makes a high claim but does not completely deliver on this claim.

2 comments about A London Child of the 1870's (Reminiscence).

1. Mary Hughes was born Mary Vivian Thomas in October 1866, and in 1870 she and her parents and four older brothers moved to a house in Canonbury, north London, where they lived for nine years. They were a moderately well-off family; they did not feel themselves rich, though they had a couple of servants.
   
   Hughes tells the story of those years with wit and interest. She's a great story-teller, and has a naturally cheerful outlook; coupled with happy memories that would have been enough to make this an entertaining book. But she is also sharp and insightful, and has strong powers of observation. The result is a fascinating view of a child's life one hundred and thirty years ago. I love history for all sorts of reasons, but I got more pleasure from this book (and its sequels) than from many history texts I've read, because at the end of it I felt I not only knew and liked Mary Thomas, but I knew what it felt like to be a child in Victorian London.
   
   Hughes talks about every little detail: wooden playing blocks, window-shopping, walking in the neighbourhood, visiting cousins in Cornwall, learning Latin at home, favourite books, religious aunts, children's games, and much more. It's an enchanting read.
   
   The book is also strong in feeling. There are tragic deaths in the book, and I found these more affecting than any fiction, feeling as I did that the family were now friends of mine.
   
   Highly recommended.



2. An autobiography of Molly Hughes who grows up in 1870s north London. Family life and early schooldays. Lots of period detail about London life and a fascinating read. The first of a series (later books deal with her education at North London Collegiate School, her training as a teacher in the very early days of teacher training colleges, her marriage, and her work as an inspector of schools. The books were first published by Oxford University Press in the 1930s and 40s, appearing as very popular OUP paperbacks in the 1980s. The paperbacks frequently appear in the secondhand market. Highly recommended.

5 comments about The Voice of Hope.

1. Now in an expanded second edition including an interview with U Gambira (a leader of the All-Burma Monks Alliance that organized the protests of September and October 2007), The Voice of Hope: Aung San Suu Kyi Conversations with Alan Clements is an extensive interview with Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Laureate, mother of two, and practicing Buddhist who led the pro-democracy movement in Burma in 1988. The movement was harshly crushed by the military junta that renamed Burma as Myanmar. Alan Clements, the first American ordained as a Buddhist monk in Burma, met with Aung San Suu Kyi after her release from her first house arrest in July 1995. She delivered her perception of engaged compassion and spoke of how she maintained her hope and optimism despite continued governmental oppression. "You must not forget that the people of Burma want democracy. Whatever the authorities may say, it is a fact that the people want democracy and they do not want an authoritarian regime that deprives them of their basic human rights. The world should do everything possible to bring about the kind of political system that the majority of the people of Burma want and for which so many people have sacrificed themselves." A singularly powerful and also deeply spiritual testimonial on behalf of a troubled nation.



2. In this book, as in "Freedom from Fear" and "Letters from Burma", Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi exposes to the world the grim realities of her land and her people, seen through her very eyes. As always, she is able to jump with great ability from more personal and sentimental accounts of the situation, to hard data, from recollections of her childhood, to perspectives on Burma's future. Always filled with thrill and dense with emotions, her writings are for the expert and the ignorant alike, easy to understand, yet of high value historically and academically. For anyone wishing to know more about Burma and the struggle of her people for human rights, this is must reading.



3. I have always been fascinated by Burma in all its aspects and I wanted to be more informed on the current political and social situations. The subject is certainly very interesting but I personally found the book itself very boring and repetitive: The concepts and ideas are repeated dozens of times in different chapters, over and over again. This book would have been much more powerful and appealing with 100 pages instead of 300.



4. This book shocked me awake to the realities of countries where freedom is not enjoyed as in the United Sates. The government's repression and horrific inhumantiy are just unbelievable. But, more amazing is the dedication to nonviolence which Aung San Suu Kyi and her party follow in their democracy movement. Her manner in speaking of Burma's serious situation is so calm, hopeful, and loving that it makes one reinterpret and recast their interactions with their own worlds. One may also reflect on one's place in humanity and see that Burma's tragedy, Burma's fate, is our own and we must act now. Aung San's hope and strength are qualities we would do well to adopt as our own. I do not think it is possible for one to read this book and NOT feel urged to take some form of real action (via letter writing, publicizing the issue, etc).



5. I have been intrigued with the situation in Burma since watching the movie Beyond Rangoon some time ago. It was therefore with great interest that I ordered this book as soon as it was available. In "The Voice of Hope" Alan Clements brings us into the present with this tragic situation through the person of Aung San Suu Kyi and her incredible life. But what sets this work apart from histories, biographies, and oddly enough even self-help material - is the powerful integration of beliefs and action found in Aung San Suu Kyi's life and philosophy. In reading chapter seven alone, ("Saints are Sinners who go on trying") I was personally and deeply moved by the clear connectedness described between her experience with a repressive government and the need for thinking people everywhere to courageously fulfil our potential as thinking, "questing" individuals. The repressive government in Burma is shown to be an extreme and yet still relevant metaphor for intellectual repression in all its forms. And Aung San Suu Kyi's message offers specific insight together with believable emotional support for those who struggle to reconcile what we discover and know through our own searching with what we are expected to believe by others. If it helps anyone who is deciding whether this book is worth the money - I can only say that as one who buys and reads more than 100 books a year - this book has earned a unique place in my library and in my heart. I would trade every other book I have read this year for Alan Clements' latest contribution. Thank you.

No comments about Age and Guile Beat Youth and Innocence: 25 Years of P.J. O'Rourke.

1 comments about A Life of Shakespeare (Naxos Audio).

1. A new addition to the generally excellent series of Naxos Audio Books is Hesketh Pearson's (NA 221612). Here we have a 2:27 hour abridgment read by the now internationally known British actor Simon Russell Beale, with very short scenes read by David Timson, Daniel Philpott, and Caroline Faber.

   Many scholars might carp at the choice of authors, since Pearson takes things from an actor's point of view; and a good deal of his assumptions are based on the "fact" that running a theater back then differed little from Pearson's own experiences in that field.

   He tries to run a careful course between using passages from the plays as "proof" that Shakespeare must have thought thus and so and realizing that what a character says in a play may not (and probably doesn't) reflect the author's personal point of view. (Often the former method is valid. For example, Shakespeare almost never makes a positive reference to dogs or a negative one to highly spiced foods. One can reasonably assume he disliked dogs and bland food.)

   Yet Pearson often makes statements that rest on lines from the plays but do not really prove anything. Can we really take Othello's plea before killing himself as Shakespeare's own? Especially annoying is basing claims that the actor Shakespeare played certain parts on mere say so's that have been passed on from one generation to the other. It would be nice to know, for example, that Shakespeare acted the Prologue to "Henry V" so he could point to himself as "the bending author"; but this seems wish-fantasy on Pearson's part rather than even reasonable surmise. But Pearson is never boring and that is what also counts in a recorded reading such as this one.

   Beale's delivery cannot be faulted, nor can the short contributions of the three assistants. I know that I will play this many times again, especially on long car rides. I opted for the CD version (which I transferred to tape for the car), and there are enough tracking cues to make finding what you want pretty easy. Highly recommended.

5 comments about A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints.

1. I saw the movie before I purchased the book. I really enjoyed the movie and I had to buy the book to make the comparison. While I found them to be quite different I really enjoyed both in their places. The book was scattered at times but always honest. You really get a sense that you are hearing about Dito's life with out a filter, the flaws as well as the triumphs. I would recommend this book to anyone between 16 and 60 (especially if you've ever lived in New York).



2. There are stretches of this book that sound like the writer is
   channeling Jack Kerouac. In fact, sometimes the channeling is so
   faithful that you could even mistake it for plagiarism. But this really
   isn't anything like The Dharma Bums (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition). Instead it's more a narcissistic, disjointed story
   of a borderline sociopath (who may or may not be the author).
   The key is in the beginning pages when the author describes his hero's
   adventures in Astoria. It's a record of meanness and violence that has
   its echoes through the rest of the book.
   The movie, I'm told, has some promise, but you could do better to skip this little piece of drivel and try On The Road by Jack Kerouac Poster by Len Deighton, 24" x 34" instead.



3. I really liked the movie version of "Saints" for its gutsy portrayal of Dito's experience coming of age in Astoria. Unfortunately, the screenplay is far superior to the book. The book starts with Dito's early years but merely skims the surface and proceeds to a disjointed, sprawling narrative about Dito's adventures (mostly drunken or drug addled) as a punk rocker. He drops a lot of names but the story never goes anywhere. It sounds like he dictated this into a tape recorder and had someone transcribe his musings. And I'm not convinced he didn't make a few things up along the way. And, by the way, Yogaville is not close to either Farmville or Richmond and Raleigh, North Carolina is not a small town (if you read the book you'll understand the references). There's really no point to this book and after a while his stories are pretty tedious.



4. I just finished watching the movie.I got goosebumps.
   I grew up in the neighborhood and moved out to Long Island about 6yrs ago.
   I went to Immaculate Conception Grammar school and graduated in 86'
   Dito captured Astoria down to the very minute detail
   
   Too bad they didnt show Father Angelo in the movie. He was the best !
   
   I hope the movie gets some awards, it was eerie watching your childhood caputured in such astounding detail by such a fine writer.



5. Really enjoyed the book...........not to mention Dito was a neighbor of mine in Astoria.....