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 Burton: A Biography of Sir Richard Francis Burton.

1. Burton by Byron Farwell is the fourth biography of Sir Richard Francis Burton that I have read -- I might have a little bit of an obsession. But, in my defense, since I want to BE him, it is necessary to do the research. Burton was a giant among the several 19th century explorers of Africa and the Middle East, a brilliant linguist and a prolific (if prolix) geographer and scientist.
   
   As emphasized by Farwell, Burton is most fascinating in his complexity, in the numerous conflicts that comprised his character. Burton longed to suffer the fevers and hardship associated with an overland caravan, but he could not tolerate (without copious complaints) the minor inconveniences of more civilized travel. Throughout his life, he remained loyal to Queen and Country, while at the same time confrontationally challenging the policies and patients of his supervisors in the Foreign Office. A student of all religions but practitioner of none, he married a woman for whom her God was everything. Burton vigorously sought fame and fortune through his actions and endeavors, but he could never come up with a consistent plan -- instead, he favored get-rich-quick schemes. Eventually, he was knighted and struck it big with his publication of A Thousand Nights and a Night, and then... he died.
   
   Of the Burton biographies that I have studied, Farwell's treatment has certain advantages for the amateur Burtonologist. The prose is well written, fast paced and insightful. The details are ably researched and the author comes off as an unbiased admirer without an agenda beyond trying to understand the Man. Other volumes on Burton, while more dense and scholarly, tend to be a bit more slanted.



2. Having read "footsteps" and "the devil drives" one so esoteric the other an oversimplification, it was a plesant surprise to read about Capt Burton and not just his journeys as a detached observor. It is hard to believe that a man of such an intellectual force in so many areas is almost unknown to the common person.
   Farwell's recount the life and the adventures of this remarkable man is an enjoyable read. The book left me shaking my head and muttering, "unbelievable". If you are interested in this Capt Burton this is the book.



3. Richard Francis Burton lived a fantastic life packed full of enough exploits, adventures, and accomplishments to make any ten men famous. As such, no single biography is sufficient to capture the whole man, and anyone truly interested in exploring his amazing life will do well to read several treatments of it. That said, Byron Farwell's excellent biography of Burton is an outstanding place to begin.
   Farwell captures Burton's driven, restless spirit, from his wild youth wandering nomadically about Europe with his family, to his old age, when gout and heart disease finally put an end to his adventuring, leaving him to his literary explorations which continued to the day before his death. His years in the Sind soldiering for the East India Company, his mastery of twenty-nine languages, immersion into Eastern ways and culture, adventures and explorations in Arabia and Africa are all thoroughly covered without bogging down into unnecessary detail. Likewise covered are the frustrating years of unofficial exile by his government to forsaken consulate posts on the West African coast and in Brazil, years of brooding, bitterness, and dark depression. And finally, the long twilight of his life as the consulate at Trieste is explored, where failing health slowed his restless travels, but allowed him the time to complete literary treasures, such as his unmatched annotated translation of The Arabian Nights, or his original Sufi poem The Kasidah.
   Farwell paints Burton's life on a grand scale - capturing not only his outstanding adventures, explorations, and impressive anthropological and literary accomplishments, but his prejudices, his drinking problems and dark moods, his often difficult personality, and other flaws that were writ just as large as his positive accomplishments. Farwell's frank and honest appraisal of Burton, warts and all, go a long way toward explaining why this giant among men was continually slighted by the Government he served, and never recognize or rewarded in proportion to his outstanding service.
   No biography of Burton can ignore his odd marriage to Isabelle Arundell. Isabelle has often been demonize, her influence on Burton question, and her burning of his papers after his death condemned as foulest crime. Farwell, however, shows great sympathy to Isabelle. She emerges as odd, romantic, devout, and utterly devoted to a husband who was also her hero. Farwell makes it clear that she was a good match for Burton, and powerful force behind the scenes in his career.
   This is a first rate biography of a unique and amazing life. I recommend it highly.
   
   Theo Logos



4. Kudos to Farwell for his insightful biography of one of the most charismatic figures of the 19th century British Empire. Richard Francis Burton has always been one of my personal heroes and the author has done a fine job of bringing the exploits and foibles of this extrordinary soldier, spy, rogue, linguist, explorer, and author, to light.



5. I have read several biographies of Burton and this is by far the best. Byron Farwell has produced an excellent biography of a unique Victorian who led a life of incredible energy and movement. In fact, Burton seemed to find it impossible to stay in one place. Not always a likeable fellow, Burton lived for adventure. His dangerous journey into the Islamic holy city of Mecca , dressed as a Muslim and speaking fluent Arabic, vies with his discovery of Lake Tanganyika (with Speke) as the most famous of his exploits. But Farwell also describes many less well known adventures - Burton travelled to Salt Lake City in 1859 where he interviewed Brigham Young. He was British Consul in West Africa, Damascus, and Santos, Brazil. Burton usually completely ignored any duties he was given by his employer (Farwell says he was "unemployable"). Incredibly, much of his exploring was done while on dubious sick leave from the Indian Army. Farwell brings out Burton as an explorer of cultures and a scholar as well as a geographic explorer - Burton translated the Arabian Nights and other major oriental works. I particularly enjoyed the chapters on Burton's early life, starting as an extremely naughty boy and maturing into an exceptional young swordsman who wrote a book on bayonet drill later adopted as the standard work by the British Army. Farwell is clearly fascinated, as well as sometimes exasperated by his subject.

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.....

1 comments about As Nature Made Him.

1. This is a wonderfully written book and a fascinating look into the debate of nature versus nurture in the area of gender assignment. Intelligent and insightful, the author draws a compassionate portrait of a family who, faced with a decision in the wake of a tragedy, relies upon the advice of a well-respected doctor, which reliance turned out to be misplaced. The book details the aftermath of the family's fateful decision and the impact it was to have on them all.
   
   In August 1965, Canadians Janet and Ron Reimer gave birth to identical twin boys, whom they named Brian and Bruce. When they were about eight months old, they arranged to have them circumcised due to a medical condition that caused them pain during urination. Circumcision was to remedy the problem. Little did they know that the circumcision for Bruce would be botched, resulting in the loss of his penis.
   
   A plastic surgeon with whom the Reimers had consulted in connection with the catastrophe that had struck Bruce had spoken to a sex researcher who had recommended that they raise Bruce as a girl. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic had suggested that they ought to get a second opinion with regards to that suggestion. The parents then consulted with a doctor affiliated with John Hopkins Hospital, Dr. John Money, a renowned doctor in the area of gender transformation, who had been the driving force behind the then controversial surgical gender re-assignment procedure for which the hospital was becoming known.
   
   In 1967, the distraught parents met with Dr. Money and shortly after, Bruce became Brenda and clinical castration followed. Thus, their child, who genetically and anatomically had been born a boy, was for all extent and purposes now deemed to be a girl. Brian was now on the other side of the gender divide of his identical twin brother, the twin formerly known as Bruce.
   
   Moreover, Dr. Money now had a dream scientific experiment, because he had a set of twins for which the unafflicted twin could act as a control by which to measure the afflicted one. In 1972, Dr. Money disclosed his "twins case" to the medical world, giving a slanted version of the experiment that made it appear to be an unqualified success. Unfortunately, his analysis of the situation did not disclose the difficulties that Brenda was having and her seeming inability to adjust to being a girl.
   
   Apparently, though Brenda had no idea as she was growing up that she had originally been born a boy, she never felt that she was a girl. Years of follow-up visits with Dr. Money for both twins proved to be unsettling for them, as Dr. Money employed somewhat bizarre methods and procedures. Moreover, as Brenda grew older, she would resist additional surgeries and initially resisted the hormone therapy that was introduced on the eve of puberty. Even when confronted with a totally rebellious Brenda, Dr. Money, however, remained in denial about the failure of his experiment. He would continue to tout his treatment of Brenda as an unqualified success.
   
   It was not until March of 1980 that Brenda was finally informed by her father about what had happened to her years ago and what had been decided in light of the circumstances. It was a revelation that was to dramatically change Brenda's life. What followed was a repudiation of Dr. Money's assertions with respect to his treatment. The book details the changes that Brenda was to make in her life, changes that would find her living the life she was originally meant to lead. Brenda would now become David and live the life of a male. Unfortunately, happiness would continue to elude him.
   
   This is a simply wonderful, intimate look at a family that survived a hideous tragedy. It also sympathetically and sensitively details the personal journey of one family through the labyrinthine differences in opinion surrounding the age old debate over nature versus nature. I would certainly assert that nature, and not nurture, controls. This is a very well thought out book on the issue, grounded in the experience of one family. Bravo!

5 comments about Bogart: In Search of My Father.

1. I don't imagine any of us really know what it is like to be the son of a legend..the incredible pressure that must come with living up to your father..it sounds like a wonderful easy life but as Stephen Bogart let's us know it's not..a book full of anecdotes and stories, self-examination, a bit too much whining for my tastes but nevertheless some tasty morsels can be found in this book..



2. The book is a collection of stores from interviews conducted by Stephen. Who, after a battle with cocaine, removing the chip from his shoulder, and maturing, decided to find out who his fater was. The book is a fast read, has a few interesting stories, and the pics are good. Glad I checked it out of the library and didn't pay for it.



3. Heard BOGART: IN SEARCH OF MY FATHER, written and
   read by Stephen Humphrey Bogart . . . his son was only eight
   when he died and for a long time, it was difficult for him to
   deal with his legendary father . . . only with the encouragement
   of his famous mother, Lauren Bacall, was he finally able to
   come to terms with some of the anger he felt toward his father.
   
   I'm still not quite sure that I understand this feeling; it's almost
   as if he blamed his father for dying . . . however, Stephen
   Bogart did a good job of researching his father Humphrey, and
   he shares many amusing anecdotes that I not heard previously.
   
   In addition, I enjoyed reading about how Bogart and Bacall
   met and fell in love.
   
   BOGART: IN SEARCH OF MY FATHER gave me the impression
   that Humphrey had no idea how to raise his children, but it
   was clear that he did love them . . . Stephen Bogart now
   appreciates this fact, too.



4. Well written but hardly engaging, Stephen Bogart descends to the predictable far too often. Open any section and the recipe will be identical: Fascinating anecdotes about Humphrey Bogart & mid-century Hollywood are sandwiched between massive slabs of "oh my daddy died and thats why life has been so hard for me me me!" The mantra of selfpity continues throughout. For those who blame their parents for the crippling hardship of adulthood (!) this is the book for you. Bogart fans will perhaps be less pleased - 2 stars for fluid prose & the bits which actually deal with Bogie, icon & man



5. This book is the best biography I ever read! You learn what Bogart was really like when he wasn't on set doing a movie. You get a real good idea about how he really was in real life. Stephen Bogart tells wonderful stories that he's heard about his father and puts an end to some of the rumors about him. You learn about the last days Bogie was living and what everyone close to him went through. You get to read about the first time Bacall and Bogie met and their love story! Great book!

1 comments about The Age of Napoleon.

1. This is a good book about Napoleon the man. Alistair Horne is a supreme writer. He covers the good in Napoleon, but balances it with his shortcommings. He illustrates the influence Napoleon had back then and the impact he has on our lives today. This is an excellent book about the complex life of one of history outstanding figures.

2 comments about Black Elk's Prayer & Vision.

1. How to describe what ONE needs to hear? EagleMan's voice speakstruth and tells a story that each two-legged needs to be aware of. Thesinging and drumming create openings for Spirit to Move us. With the hearing of Black Elks songs-we can return the gift by repeating these songs. Blue Man, it is a good day to die!!Hokahey!!!!!



2. My desire to understand and commune withthe Great Spirit of the Native AmericanWays satisfies my sacred spirit in everygood manner when Ed McGaa speaks about Black Elk and the Vision.Joseph Campbell, the great Mythologist,called Black Elk's Vision the greatest example of imagery and spirituality.This inner locus of control to find our sacred spirit and commune within GreatSpirit with all good people seems to methe essence of our spiritual quest.During the last century, perhaps 1872, Black Elk had a Near Death Experience atage nine years. My NDE happened in 1945 at age seven years. My NDE, and many others, will be presented in a new book called "Children of the New Millenium" in early 1999 by PMH Atwater.The patterns of life that emerge in thelives of such children amazes me! Black Elk kept his fascination with life and all good people, from the enchanting description of his encounter in Londonwith Queen Victoria, called Grandmother England, to his own survival of the massacre at Wounded Knee!"In a Sacred manner I have made them walk..." sings Black Elk about his role as a healer among his people

5 comments about A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains (Classic Books on Cassettes Collection).

1. This book arrived in top condition and in time. In a college book store this book cost a lot more, so I am very pleased to be able to buy it from this seller.



2. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the descriptive way the author wrote. I have been through Colorado and have seen the beauty she described. Also enjoyed the story because there wasn't a lot of violence and if there was any sex, it was only in our imagination which is the greatest kind. I was amazed at how the lady rode for miles in rugged wilderness without seeming to get lost. The fact that she could subsist on meager food was also interesting.



3. I bought this book while visiting Estes Park, CO...hungry for books about life in the West that may not be so readily available here in NJ. I found it to be one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read! Isabella's descriptions of the Rocky Mountains and the climate through which she travelled are vivid and gripping. But more than that, she gives a detailed and honest account of what life was like for settlers on the frontier. How she managed to ride thru the mountains where the only "trails" were tracks of wagons or animals, when often those were covered with the seemingly constant snow, boggles the mind. Her love for Colorado sings out in every word she writes. I too was deeply touched by its beauty, and hope to return again, this time with an enriched appreciation due to this wonderful recounting of Isabella Bird's journey.



4. For many years I saw this book in National Park bookstores and passed it by thinking it would be an example of the overwritten, rather tedious journals of other Victorian travelers. When I finally found it at a used bookstore and rather reluctantly bought it, I was surprised to find out how exciting and relevant her story was.
   
   Because I live in Colorado, I recoginize and travel through many of the places she describes. Just this weekend as we traveled along Highway 67, my husband and I remarked on the likelihood, that this was the same route she'd taken out of Colorado Springs.
   
   Her accounts lend life to the grey, weatherbeaten cabins, abandoned roads and rusting rails that we see. Even though many parts of Europe and the US were relatively modern at the time of her adventures, it is surprising to read just how primitive and precarious was the life of many Colorado settlers.
   
   Even if you aren't from Colorado, read this book to become aquainted with a Victorian woman who found a way to live life fully. Read it to learn about life in the west. Read it just because it's a good read.



5. Did you ever read any of the BEANY MALONE novels by Lenora Mattingly Weber? In them I first read about Isabella Bird and her remarkable life in the American West. Beany's older brother, Johnny Malone, is a teenager when the series begins, a young Denver boy with a remarkable passion for unearthing the memoirs and daguerrotypes of Colorado pioneers and taking notes on the old-timers who settled the state. Their colorful lives make his ordinary life seem rather pastel, so he often sinks into a nostalgia of the past, while his family members tease him about the dreamy look in his eyes. He helps a veteran journalist, Emerson Worth, complete his magnum opus, OUR CITY HAS DEEP ROOTS. And among the pioneers Johnny obsessed about was none other than Isabella Bird, so when I found this book on a recent trip to Boulder, I added it to my rucksack.
   
   If you are reading on horseback, as Isabella Bird did, this is perhaps the ideal book to carry with you. She was a woman used to the English-style horse with its Ascot breeding and high carriage. What she found in Colorado were, naturally, the horses of the West, more perfectly adapted to the mile-high atmospheres, but slung somewhat lower than anything she's been used to and slightly swaybacked. Bird adapted quickly, and the fun of her autobiography is to see her taking in her stride a series of calamities and hardships that would have Job complaining bitterly! No matter if it's an insect infestation or tumbling right through a sheet of ice into zero degree river chills, for Isabella Bird it's all part of a day's fun. Travel writing in the 19th century was, of course, the leading genre of prose. From no other source were English-speaking readers able to find out more about other people's lives, and the curiosity was immense.
   
   You'll like Isabella, and her crazy love affair with Colorado. She remains very much a lady, but will challenge your preconceived notions of what a lady is and isn't. Most of all you will thrill to follow the course of her journeys up and down the mountains through which, now, there are some better trails but still the same amazing sunrises which she describes with the thrill of one for whom every day's an adventure.

No comments about The World is My Home.

5 comments about Lucky Man: A Memoir.

1. I bought this book on the recommendation of my Medical Terminology teacher. We were discussing neurological diseases and when we got to Parkinson's Disease (PD) she mentioned that she had read his book and how much she enjoyed it. So I got it. I was not a huge "Family Ties" fan but I have paid attention to Michael J. Fox's career especially of late since his disclosure of having PD. In the last few years he has been on a show here and there as a guest. He was on Boston Legal and I thought he was superb! You could clearly see that the camera did not stay on him very long but his acting was top-notch nonetheless.
   
   That said, his book is written with extreme openness, heart and humor. He has such a wonderful outlook on life especially in the wake of learning he has PD. He writes from a place that we wish more stars would be able to go - the very sincerest depth of his being - so much so that I found myself in tears a few times as I read. He writes as if he were telling you, the reader, the story in person. He is himself more in this book than I've ever seen him in an interview on TV. This is a very true, revealing, heart-warming story that definitely gives the definition of what it takes to be considered a Lucky Man today. I highly recommend the book.



2. Michael J. Fox opens his 2002 memoir in late 1990, in the moment he first notices the pinky-finger tremor that leads, a year later at age 30, to a diagnosis of Young Onset Parkinson's Disease (PD).
   
   Then he backs up for a hundred pages to describe his growing-up years in Canada and rising-star experiences in Hollywood -- including an interesting theory of "celebrity" (that it is a gone-haywire extension of the suspension of disbelief/emotional connection that are required of an audience during a performance). He devotes chapters to his PD diagnosis and treatment (including his concealment of it) and to his descent into career and personal crisis. Though it seems PD would top his list of problems then, he notices it doesn't even make the list which includes alcoholism. Fox finishes by describing his redemption, his "coming out" about PD, and his work toward PD research.
   
   The memoir's structure and writing exceeded my expectations and I wondered about a ghostwriter -- until I read Fox's acknowledgements, where he mentions the writing of it and thanks his writing-mentor brother-in-law ... Michael ("Omnivore's Dilemma") Pollan! Lucky Man is an informative, engaging, and insightful memoir.



3. I wasn't sure what to expect from this book. Would it be just about Michael J Fox's life or would it center too much on his Parkinson's disease. I'm not usually big on reading celebrity autobiographies and memoirs.
   This one is definitely worth reading! Mr. Fox shares his story with humor and humility and a wonderful honesty. He speaks honestly about his struggles with Parkinson's and trying to hide it in order to continue working. He also speaks honestly about his personal struggles with alcohol and depression. But the struggles don't dominate the book. There are many fun anecdotes about his years growing up in Canada and about the world of acting.
   In the end, what made the biggest impression on me was his gratitude. Gratitude for the life he was able to have as an actor, for his family, and ultimately, even for the disease that changed his life.
   This is a book that I would recommend for anyone who is interested in celebrity biographies. And I would especially recommend it for anyone who has Parkinson's disease or has a family member or friend who has this disease. When you have a disease such as this, it can be difficult to articulate to others just what it is you go through without sounding sorry for yourself.
   Now when I need to explain this to someone, I can just hand them this book and say, "READ IT. NOW."
   Thanks, Mr. Fox!!



4. Absolutely loved this book. I couldn't put this book down. I actually thought it might be a bit depressing but it wasn't. Michael J. Fox is such an inspiration. There are parts of this book that will make you laugh out loud. It is also a book I will read again and again.



5. It is humbling to read about someones journey back to reality. Michael had a huge career and was living his dream when he was diagnosed with Parkinsons and soon realized how much he had to be thankful about.