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

1. I'm not a reader of Stephen King's fiction, nor am I fiction writer, but this book is a fine gem that will provide an afternoon of lively entertainment to those who love to read as well as those who love to write. I bought the book on an online recommendation. Though I've not read his novels, I have admired his consistent, reliable, disciplined creativity. For those who wonder how writer can be consistent, reliable, and disciplined through a long and productive career, this book provides great insights. His secret, I begin to see, is his approach to writing both as a craft and as a trade. This book offers insights into both.
   
   I was surprised and delighted by how personal the book is. In his book, King is generous in sharing the experiences that contributed to his becoming a writer and how these experiences shaped his approach to the trade. Without going into great descriptive detail (this is done thoroughly in other reviews here), I can assure you that the first half of the book, which describes King's early life and his first successes as a writer, is wonderful. This is very personal material and I suppose it must be in order to communicate the essential character of the writer himself.
   
   Among other wonderful insights were the revelations of his early jobs - scut work really - supporting his growing family and trying to perfect his writing. I enjoyed his description of working in a professional laundry by day and writing in a cramped closet by night. I also appreciated hearing about his family life during this period: this really helps put in perspective the pressure to succeed and the kind reassurance of his wife (who is also a writer). This is sound and very personal advice for anyone starting out in any chosen profession, including writers.
   
   Perhaps not surprising to King's avid readers, the book is tremendously funny. It should come as no surprise to anyone that the book is also entertaining. Yet the humor and entertainment colors a superb description of writing as a profession. Herein are both tricks of the trade and a workman's shop-talk. This is essential material for all writers. However, it's also fantastic material for those non-writers who are interested in how novel are made.
   
   Other reviews here contain details of the practical advice King gives on writing so I won't go into this except to say that it seems useful. I will say, however, that it is rare to see a writer of King's professional stature approach the task of writing about writing with humility and common sense. The resulting modest tone is perhaps the most impressive and wonderful aspect of this book. I appreciated his reluctance to wax artistic or pedantic.
   
   Among its other practical aspects, one I appreciated, was his willingness to talk about the writing of other writers. This, I learned, grows from his belief that any professional writer must always be reading the writings of others and learning from them. In this book we see King's critical evaluation of what works and what does not work in the writing of others. He also generously provides a list of the novels that he read during the course of his writing.
   
   This book is a good addition to the shelf in your library that contains style guides, dictionaries, thesaurus, and other recommendations on writing. It is also a fine addition to the shelf that contains memoirs. Surprisingly, it's also a good beach book.



2. 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



3. 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.



4. 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.



5. 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.

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 King of the World (Nova Audio Books).

1. It is, as many have said, one of the great sports biographies of all time -- but it's also one of the great history narratives of all time. It's not just Muhammmad Ali profiled here, but the trio of heavyweights who dominated headlines in the early 1960s: also Floyd Patterson and Sonny Liston. And in many ways, those two are more fascinating because, before I read "King of the World," they weren't accompanied by the same pre-fight hype. Here's Liston, a dangerous and sullen felon who's achingly lonely; there's Patterson, a great athlete but at the same time so thoughtful and intelligent he was plagued by a boxer's worst enemy, self-doubt.
   
   And that's not to say anything of the portrait of the time, of Black Muslims, Malcolm X, Norman Mailer, the media, John F. Kennedy... Trust me, even a non-sports fan will be mesmerized.



2. Bertz / Randall
   
   "Almighty god was with me! I want everybody to bear witness! I am the greatest! I shook up the world! I am the greatest thing that ever lived! I don't have a mark on my face, and I just upset Sonny Liston, and I just turned twenty-two years old. I must be the greatest! I showed the world! I
   talk to god every day! I am the king of the world!" shouts Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) to the sporting press, after defeating Sonny Liston in 1964. This statement enraged boxing fans all over the world. Here was a twenty-two year old nobody with a big mouth, and he just defeated Sonny Liston. At the time, Liston was viewed as invincible. Liston was an experienced fighter who was known for defeating his opponents in two rounds or less. Not only did he lose the heavyweight championship to Ali, but he quit without being knocked down once. This declared Ali the king of controversy. "King of the World" by David Remnick is the story of the rise and fall of Muhammad Ali. Remnick does a fantastic job of showing us the different sides of racism. He focuses greatly on Ali's devotion to the Nation of Islam. The book showed many similarities between the Nation of Islam and the Klu Klux Klan. Remnick explained that both the Nation and the Klan were for segregation and that they both use methods of violence and terror to enforce their beliefs. After reading this book, I realized that the similarities are uncanny. Remnick's numerous references to these similarities proved to me that Remnick is a non-violent integrationist. I believe that one of the main points of the book is that segregation is wrong. The book greatly describes how the Nation of Islam had interfered with Muhammad Ali's personal life. For example, Remnick noted Ali's marriage to Sonji. He went into great detail how strong Ali's love was for Sonji, but he couldn't accept her inability to conform to his
   religion. This became a problem for them and they eventually got a divorce. Remnick also noted the emotional distance between Ali and his father being caused by his decision to join the Nation of Islam. Remnick goes even further in describing the way Ali turned his back on his best friend Malcolm X. He also wanted to let the reader know that religion should never get in the way of your personal life. The book said that the only thing in Ali's life that Ali regrets is "his cruel and hasty rejection of Malcolm." Now days, Ali looks back at Malcolm X with great respect. The main point Remnick was trying to communicate with his audience was that Ali stood up for what he believed in. Not only in the boxing ring but, also with his religious and political beliefs. In 1966, Muhammad Ali refused to be drafted to fight the war in Vietnam. The government threatened to take away his heavyweight championship and throw him into a federal prison for the next five years. Ali still refused. When they asked him why he refused to fight in the Vietnam war, he replied "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong." Eldridge Cleaver described Ali as a "genuine revolutionary" and the "first `free' black champion to confront white America." Writer, Jill Nelson, called Ali's refusal of the draft a "supreme act of defiance." However, not everyone supported Ali's refusal of the draft. Conservative boxing fans
   called him an unpatriotic bum. They thought he was hiding behind his religion because he was lazy. Remnick took a much more liberal stance on the situation. The author seemed to support Ali's decision. For many years, Muhammad Ali would be both loved and hated by boxing fans of all races. Some people believe that Ali should not have been allowed to be exempt from the war because of his religion. Others looked at his exemption as an amazing defeat. The only thing anyone could agree on was his amazing abilities in the ring. In 1997, during the summer Olympics, Muhammad Ali was invited to light the Olympic torch. In my opinion, this proved Ali to be a very patriotic man. It proved that the world had never forgotten about Ali, and it
   never will. Lighting the Olympic torch is one of the highest honors any athlete could be given. "King of the World" was published in 1998. Exactly one year after he lit the Olympic torch. I think that's why this book was written when it was.
   The ignition of the 1997 Olympic torch was Ali's return to the public eye. And this book was written to honor him.



3. King of the World by David Remnick was one of the best books I've ever read. It is the true story of a champion and how he got there. I recommend anyone who likes stories about winning and glory, to read this book. If you also like reading about dudes getting smoked by a champ. Read this book.



4. For me, this book should have been titled "Death of One of My Heroes," which should become self-evident if you read this entire review. I believe the book is mostly accurate, and it is a well-written book.
   
   Remnick (the author), in my opinion, devotes too much time to Floyd Patterson and Sonny Liston. I also wish he had given more details about Ali as Ali got older and continued to box.
   
   Without question, Muhammad Ali, in his prime, was the greatest heavyweight fighter that has ever fought.
   
   "DEATH OF ONE OF MY HEROES": I did not realize how much Ali allowed the Nation of Islam (NOI) to influence him. Because he let the NOI influence him--yes, Ali DID have a choice!!!--Muhammad Ali: (1)lied about throwing his Olympic medal over a fence, (2)divorced his first wife, (3)broke off a friendship with Malcolm X, and (4)claimed to be a "minister" to avoid the draft. If you think the above describes a "hero," your definition of "hero" differs from mine.
   
   The book is good. Unfortunately, it killed one of my heroes.
   
   Buy it and read it. It is well worth the $$$.



5. The Titans Reigned Supreme

   Fantastic book - more than just the Ali Story -

   This is one of the best-written and thought out books of the happenings amongst a small circle of the greatest heavy weights.

   You get a rare insight into the lives and minds of Floyd Patterson, Sonny Liston and Cassius Clay - and the awakening/becoming of Muhammad Ali

   I went into this book wanting to feed my hunger for knowledge of Muhammad Ali and came out of with a craving for more Sonny Liston - I now want to know all I can about him.

   Only a brief period in time is covered - but it's an in-depth look at that time and the people and the places that made up boxing and some of the world outside boxing.

   This is a great book for anyone interested in these titans - for anyone interested in Patterson, Liston and Ali - for anyone interested in the history of legends.

   One of the best books I've experienced - I truly felt like I was there at times - in that era - that energy of the people and the times

   This is one of those books where you wish there was a part 2

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.

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.

No comments about Reader's Digest My Most Unforgettable Character.

5 comments about Once Upon a Time: Behind the Fairy Tale of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier.

1. You can't go wrong with a biography by J.Randy Taraborrelli! Again very well researched and again you get hooked after the first sentences.For all who want to know more about the actress Grace Patricia Kelly who became the Princess of Monaco and her life with her husband and family behind palace walls,I highly recommend this book.



2. Taraborrelli was clearly fascinated by his primary subject, Grace, but it appears it was Prince Rainier whom he truly fell in love with.
   
   He never once mentions Rainier's notorious infidelities, which began as soon as Grace married him, and continued until she died. According to Wendy Leigh's new book "True Grace", she strayed too, but her affairs started off as quid pro quo for Rainier's constant mistresses (and continued from isolation and loneliness).
   
   This omission is profoundly prejudicial to Grace because it makes it look like she was just too shallow to give up her attachment to her movie career and thus made herself morbidly unhappy with her new life in Monaco. In fact, she did struggle with that loss, but her greatest heartbreak in Monaco was that she married a philandering, obnoxious, overbearing, insensitive and dismissive popinjay of a prince.
   
   Taraborrelli should have waited for Rainier's death to write Grace's biography. Maybe then he wouldn't have been so tempted to whitewash Rainier into the caring, tender, appreciative and supportive husband he most certainly was not.
   
   Shame on you Randy.



3. This book details the lives of Grace Kelly and Rainier Grimaldi otherwise known as Princess Grace and Prince Rainier of Monaco both before and after their "marriage of the century."
   
   Grace Kelly was born in Pittsburgh, PA. In 1929 to Jack and Margret Kelly. She had an older sister Margaret (Peggy) and older brother Jack Jr (Kell) as well as a younger sister Elizabeth Anne (Lizanne). From the time that she was young she wanted to be an actress. When she was a teenager she modeled to pay for an acting school and thanks to her uncle George got some early work on the stage. Soon after she started making movies such as High Noon (with Gary Cooper), Mogambo (with Clark Gable) and won an Oscar for her portrayal in The Country Girl. It was because of this that she was offered the opportunity to go to Cannes to the Cannes Film Festival. During her time in France she also was offered the opportunity to go to Monaco to visit Prince Rainier little realizing that the visit would change her life.
   
   Prince Rainier was born in 1923. His mother was the illegitimate daughter of the Prince of Monaco and married a French Duke in 1920. Rainier had a younger sister named Antoinette. When Rainier was six his parents divorced and he and Antoinette were mostly raised by their grandfather. Rainier was educated in England and France and in 1949 became heir to his grandfather's throne after his mother and sister renounced it. He became Prince of Monaco in 1950. During this time he was single, but dating an actress. Shortly before Grace Kelly's visit he and the actress broke up.
   
   Several months after the meeting between Grace and Rainier he came to the United States. Grace and Rainier used this time to better know each other and shortly after Christmas they became engaged. After several months of negotiations they where married in Monaco. Nine months later they had their first child, Caroline, and five months after that Grace was pregnant with Prince Albert. They later added to the family with princess Stephanie.
   
   The marriage between Princess Grace and Prince Rainier was not always the best, but ultimalty they loved each other and their three children. When Grace was killed in 1981 after a car crash Rainier mourned her for the rest of his life.



4. This book gets 5 stars for research, 5 stars for presentation (simply a photo of Grace in THAT wedding dress justifies a book existing) and 4 stars for a good read; It's not that it could have been any better, it's just that the story is ultimately sad. However, I think the subject matter was taken very seriously by the author, and unlike other reviewers here, I consider the thoughts expressed to be well thought out and supported by the material that was uncovered in the process, including that from interviews. What other material is ever likely to be uncovered on this subject?? This book is better than 3.5 stars.



5. Like Jackie Kennedy, Grace Kelly was born to a very privileged life in Philadelphia and was a debutant before she was a Hollywood Star. Cool, poised, aloof, and classy she was the blonde counterpart to Kennedy's dark mysterious allure. But her fairytale life had no happy ending and despite its glamour was all too human.

5 comments about Ava's Man.

1. If chronological order is important to you, Ava's Man should be read as the first in the series of Rick Bragg's three biographical novels. Charlie Bundrum's story is the first of what we will learn is two family's lives in the rural south during turbulent times. Then, as now, when life is hard people find many different ways to survive. Generations later, we have the luxury of looking back with a critical eye. That's easy. When you're cold and hungry, the view is different.
   
   In this book, Bragg shares with us the life to Charlie Bundrum who, along with Ava manages to rear a house full of children who survive with him and sometimes without him. One of those children is Margaret, Bragg's mother. Hard working and hard living, Charlie did all he knew to do to get by.
   
   More than in either of the other two books in Bragg's trilogy of his family, Ava's Man tells us more about the history of region, industry, and the impact of war, all of which contribute to the making of the man, Charlie Bundrum.
   
   While Bragg writes, he always manages to let the characters tell the story...in their own words. That language, and the crafting of the true tale he tells, leaves this "their story." On the other hand, Bragg's own turn of a phrase is "my language," that upon which I was reared. And is that which makes me feel like going home.



2. I have read all of Rick Braggs books and thia was the best. I felt like I just wanted to keep on reading. He is such a powerful writer. I just wish he had more books out there, but the ones he has written are the best. You will not be disappointed reading any of his books. There is no wondering why he is a Pulitzer Prize winner.



3. I have only read one other book from this author (about Jessica Lynch). This is a very personal story of the author's grandfather who died an early death before Bragg was born. It is heartfelt because the author describes both the qualities and faults of his granddad. His grandpa liked homemade corn mash moonshine and sometimes was dead drunk when he came home. However, he provided a loving family life for his wife, sons, daughters, and grandkids. This man set a certain morality to how he lived and died. His was a small tragedy that he never lived to see how famous one of his grandchildren became.
   
   Along with his grandfather's life, one also discovers the hardships of life in the depression era South. People who lived in the country did not go hungry if they knew how to hunt and fish. However this family was frequently evicted or moved from their rented home. This is a nice little story about a true family.



4. I've never much cottoned to white male Southern writers, not even to Mr. Faulkner. They too often seem swollen, full of machismo, overly conscious of their Great Literary Tradition. But not Rick Bragg. Bragg is a real story teller without all the Southern Writer baggage.
   
   Take his Ava's Man. That man is Bragg's grandfather, Charlie Bundrum, dead before Bragg was born but still living inside people who knew him. Using their memories, Bragg rebuilds his grandfather's life and the life of the woman who loved him, Ava.
   
   I cherish Bragg's book for four reasons:
   
   1) It's well-paced, written in short chapters that often left me with a swift intake of breath.
   
   2) It has marvelous characters, vividly drawn. My favorite minor character is Hootie. Bragg writes, "He had a face like a pickax. His nose was long and hooked, and pointy on the end, like he had bought it at the Dollar Store and tied it on his face with a string, and it curved all the way down past his lips."
   
   3) Bragg has a instinct for apt comparisons, often as striking as these:
   
   of Bragg's great-granddaddy: "[He] moved like a shadow through the forest, his hobnailed boots soft as velvet slippers in the dry leaves."
   
   of his ancestors: "they grew in [that culture] the way a weed grows in a crack."
   
   and my favorite, of Ava: "there were spiders and broken glass in her voice."
   
   4) To top it off, Bragg writes with clarity and compassion about his grandparents and their world. This book features Brundum, Ava's man, but it also paints a glowing picture of Ava who is just about as feisty as they come.
   
   Read Ava's Man. You'll like it.
   
   Marilyn Coffey is an award-winning writer of poetry and a widely published author of prose. Read her work: Great Plains Patchwork, Marcella, or KANSAS QUARTERLY Vol. 15 No. 2.



5. Rick Bragg has done a great job in telling it exactly, and I mean EXACTLY like it was in the South in the 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's. He takes a seemingly insignificant character- an illiterate carpenter, roofer and moonshiner- and brings out the full flavor of the man.
   
   Laughs? Plenty. Like coming home drunk on his mule, trying to get the mule to rear back like Tom Mix's saddle horse, but instead having the mule dump him off on his head. Heartache? Having to bury an infant daughter because there was no money for medicine- let alone doctors. Character development? No shortage at all.
   
   The book slowly hooked me, and I just couldn't put it down. His staying one step ahead of the "revenue men" (who never did catch him), his trying to find steady work to support his large family, the descriptions of the kids growing up in a series of small houses with no electricity, and all in all, the pure fun in a man who loved to entertain.
   
   If you can, get the audio book version of this excellent book- Rick reads it himself. "It don't get no better than this."

1 comments about The Life of Frederick Douglas.

1. Fredrick Douglas was literally one of the greatest minds of all time. As a slave he wanted to be a free man. He was illiterate and learned to be literate. In the end, he shared his thoughts and his life with us all so that all men could be free and have freedom not only the slave. The greatest lesson this man could teach anyone is that the key to freedom is through education and learning. Any form of slavery can be freedom if you simply learn and educate yourself. If you choose to be a slave to what you are a slave of then you are a slave. If you wish to be free,learn and be free.

5 comments about Paper Lion.

1. During the summer of 1963, Plimpton became a rookie for the Detroit Lions, after joining their preseason camp as a 36-year-old rookie quarterback wannabe. He ended up sticking with the club through an intra-squad game before the paying public a month later. He traveled from the east coast to Michigan where he spent four weeks at the Lion's training camp learning how to call plays and take snaps. He ran formations, dressed in thick layers of padding and tried to tackle his opponents. He played cards with the coaches, played pranks on the players, bunked in the dormitories and debriefed in the locker room. Wearing the number zero, he finally was put in the game in a scrimmage, managing to lose yards on each play.
   Throughout his book, Plimpton describes the grueling physical aspects of this sport, and through conversations with many of his teammates, he also captures the mental training these players go through. But, because he immersed himself so deeply into this culture, Plimpton also captures a sense for who these players are. He listened to their stories, learned about their backgrounds and became one of them. This memoir sticks out for its insights into the personalities of the players and the coaches. Compared to a memoir like The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer, Plimpton sticks to his journey to make the team, rather the venturing off about his life. He's not afraid to take detours, such as explaining who Harry Wismer is and his failure as the owner of the AFL team the New York Titans. Reading this classic work of literary nonfiction today, the reader sees that Plimpton not only captured a sense for what football was like in 1963, but what the world was like back then.



2. A talented journalist joins the Detroit Lions to get get a greater insight into what it is to be a professional American football player. Some amusing moments because of his ineptitude.
   
   This was a top class team dominanting their opponents, so they wangled an agreement that if they got a big enough lead they could put George in as a last string quaterback.
   
   Top quality sportswriting work here.



3. Long before ESPN cameras and behind-the scenes television programs, George Plimpton went out on a mission to the magical world of the NFL, looking to bring back an original insight on the dream life of a professional football player. In Paper Lion, Plimpton arrives in Michigan for a month of training camp and a preseason scrimmage with the Detroit Lions, having brought a suitcase of clothes, some cleats, and a minimal trace of athletic ability. Though he was not a very skilled or successful member of the Lions, his role is an essential one for us as readers. Plimpton does a marvelous job of painting the picture of a profeesional football player with vivid details and intriguing technique, most notably simile. He details aspects of the training camp with clear references for the everyday reader. This helps explain feelings and strategies such as the Lions' kickoff coverage: " the downfield rush was straight, like a ruler sweeping crumbs off a table." (178). Plimpton also captures the emotions of the players during camp and reproduces them through simile as well: "When a player was hurt in a scrimmage, the others seemed to point their backs pointedly...as if an injury were communicable, like mumps." (194). Another example comes on page 253 when he compares the physical toll of football to "Bronco riding." These details and relatable comparisons are what help Plimpton to bring the reader into the setting and let him experience training camp as if he too were wearing shoulder-pads.
   
   While Plimpton does an excellent job of depicting the setting and emotions that go along with training camp in the NFL, at times he seemed a little too out of place. Plimpton was a writer for Sports Illustrated and thus should have a keen sense on sports and what the players go through. However, there were times in the book where he approached the situation as if he had come from another planet, rather than a different occupation. Such is the case on page 180 when he asks a running back: "do you close your eyes when you run for the middle of the line?" As a sportswriter and an intelligent person it would seem that he would know that a professional athlete would keep his eyes open and not shy away from the contact of the line in a game situation.
   
   George Plimpton's Paper Lion is a great read as well as an entertaining passageway to the world of sports. Plimpton's ability to accurate scenes and vividly detail characters makes a reader feel as though he has not so much holding a book but in fact his own personal uniform on the Detroit Lions.



4. Back in the 1960s, writer George Plimpton began "covering" a variety of sports through participating on/with pro teams/athletes and reporting on it through books, magazine articles and TV specials.
   
   Perhaps his most famous was in the early 1960s when he was "signed" by the Detroit Lions as a 36-year-old rookie trying to make the club as a third-string quarterback. Plimpton - wearing jersey number 0 - practiced with the team for one month.
   His quarterbacking culminates with his appearance in a scrimmage where Plimpton calls a number of plays under game conditions.
   
   The book leads the reader through the highs and lows of Plimpton as a player, along with great anecdotes on the teammates and coaches.
   
   A reprint is slated for publication in September 2006. I hope the TV special on Plimpton's training camp and QB play gets dusted off during the upcoming NFL season. Anyone reading this inside that large campus in Bristol, Conn.?



5. A very interesteng read, If you are old enough to remember all the players.