No comments about Lost In a Desert World : The Autobiography Of Roland Johnson (as told to Karl Williams).

No comments about Charles Dickens: A Concise Biography (Pocket Biographies).

1 comments about Just Julie.

1. Julie Goodyear MBE may not be well known in the world except where Coronation Street is shown. Unfortunately not in the United States, Julie Goodyear is a brash, no-nonsense, caring and terrific lady. She has started her acting career at the Oldham Repatory Theater in Northern England. Julie would be a single mother and aspiring actress and model. She would gain fame as Bet Lynch on the British soap, Coronation Street, which she had for 25 years. She even married for the fourth time last year to a man who is 26 years younger than herself. They have been together for 11 years. She has had a lesbian fling too and pursued love and romance all over the place. She's not your typical grandmother. She is a survivor or breast cancer and of life in general. She has never forgotten her home roots and has lived in Heywood, Lancashire, England for most of her adult life. She still looks fabulous in her sixties. She was awarded the M.B.E. (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 1996 for her services to television drama. She still looks and feels fabulous at her age which more than I can say for myself.

No comments about Robert E. Lee, A Biography.

5 comments about The Beatles.

1. about The Beatles, this is one. Excellent and balanced. Another is "Shout! The Beatles in Their Generation". Both -- note -- were written by journalists who actually knew The Beatles over years, and were appreciated because they weren't sensationalizers or backstabbers.
   
   Those two stand head and shoulders above the trashy "The Love You Make," the author of which Lennon said only came in at the tail end, took three-martini lunches, and was one of those angered by the break-up because it ended the "gravy train".
   
   Those sorts of realities about books about The Beatles are essential for those who don't realize the relative qualities of the books and authors of them, and as result fall for the Browns, Goldmans, and Guilianos. Do a little additional research and determine, for example, how many authors of books about The Beatles claim to have been "insiders" but in fact could not have been. (How many "fifth Beatles" were there? One would guess "One," right? It must be hundreds by now, most of whom never even met The Beatles, let alone got their autographs.)
   
   This is one of the few essentials. Read it and rely on it as a measure against all the others.



2. Ah, I remember first reading this classic biography in the early 1980's, and reading it over and over again. I was a pre-teen and had just become a Beatles freak - - I'd thought I found the holy grail. It didn't occur to me until much later that this was an authorized biography, written from a fan's perspective. As such, looking back on it, it succeeds. Hunter Davies was there with the Beatles, knew McCartney fairly well and hung out with all of them for a time. He could've really written a major work had he waited till after the break up, but chose to get it out quickly and after approval from the Beatles. It is very intimate and light, the structure allows for a breezy and anecdotal approach. The Beatles really talk to the public of 1968 in a serious and intimate way that they hadn't done in their many press conferences. Emphasis apparently on early years, their rise as Davies puts it, and on the magazine style profiles of each Beatle (to 1968). The chapter on George Harrison is surprisingly thorough on his new found religious beliefs. It does include an update for the break up and decades following, but this adds little. (besides, Peter Brown's more gossipy "Love You Make" handles that period better)
   It's rather weak on the incredible development of the Beatles music from LP to LP, and devotes one brief chapter on it - - actually, that he was present at a couple of John and Paul's songwriting sessions is a plus. Otherwise, Davies is rather hopeless in giving readers insight on this vital area of Beatles. But to be fair very few have succeeded in discussing the Beatles music anyway. (OK, I'll give a nod to Mellers, Schafner and McDonald)
   I also like the photos in this book, as they complement the introductory nature of the text very well, especally as done in this "illustrated" edition.
   Overall, I still consider this a great book (hence the 5 stars), a nostalgic favorite of mine - - the 2nd book I'd ever read on the Beatles (Miles' "Beatles In Their Own Words" was 1st), when I was hungry like a pig for more. I recommend this to be the first book new fans read if they're seriously interested in the history of the great Beatles. This will do!



3. I own the 1996 version of this book. It's fun to read--not because you will discover anything new about The Beatles.This book is a time capsule of the type of book you'd read in the 60s that wasn't written to embarrass it's subjects. It's how The Beatles wanted their fans to view their lives--as "normal" working guys with wives and kids! The Beatles were music visionaries but they did not foresee the future of tabloid publishing where all-things-Beatle would be exposed by anyone who came in contact with them because it is a cash cow. Mr. Davis updated the orginial book with his later experiences with the Beatles up to 1985 in my version.Those updates start to reflect the current "tell all" bios. The most famous story in the updates, is a recounting of Paul calling Mr. Davis in 1981 and ranting about things Yoko said about him (Paul) after John's death -- exposing Paul's insecurities and (I thought) his obvious grief over John's death. It is hard to believe after all The Beatles have accomplished that anyone of them could be insecure but that is one of the themes of this book. They are after all, human and Mr. Davies succeeds in showing that side of them.



4. As a fan of nearly 30 years, this was one of the first Beatles books I ever bought, and it remains a worthwhile buy for today's new fans. It may not be as detailed or as enlightening as the Mark Lewishon-type of books, but it benefits greatly from being written in the sixties - and having a firsthand access to the band. Hunter Davies includes many stories and insights that would simply not be available to today's writers - because they weren't there. The chapter that describes them writing 'With A Little Help From My Friends', for example, is as amusing as it is amazing. And I very much enjoyed the prologue, where Davies explains the difficulties he had with Queenie Epstein and Aunt Mimi. And his meeting with Pete Best in the mid-sixties is as poignant a scene as you will ever get in a Beatles book. It is stories like those that make the book worth buying.



5. This is the only biography authorized by the Beatles themselves, and it gives a detailed account of the rise to fame of the Fab Four, and many details of each band member's life. Davies was asked by Harrison not to print certain details, and an aunt suggested he revise some of the account of John's early life to make it sound better. Some details couldn't be divulged at the time, such as Brian Epstein's gay orientation, and the extent to which John was into drugs, although you get a sense of this from some brief passages in the book although Davies obviously avoids dwelling for too long on these issues. Still, despite glossing over a few negatives like these, Davies nevertheless had access to information that no other writer had, and no doubt the book benefits from that despite its being slightly sanitized.

   One thing that distinguises this book from all the other bios is Davies spent a year living and travelling with the Beatles and observing them in their day-to-day lives. The year was 1967, and although the group was soon to break-up, 1967 was still a great year for the band and Davies gives many fine insights and details into the life of the group during this period. Davies enlivens the account with anecdotes and stories from many relatives and friends who knew the Beatles best.

   I want to take a brief detour here to tell you about a funny piece of Beatles trivia I discovered recently, and I just have to mention it here, since I don't recall seeing it in the book. Supposedly The Beatles loved cartoons, and a friend of mine who is a big Beatles fan and trivia buff and I got to talking about it, and since I'm sort of a trivia nut myself, he suggested an unlikely cartoon, which was Popeye the Sailor, and challenged me to find a connection to the Beatles. Well, it's not known if this was a cartoon the Beatles liked or not, but after doing only about an hour of research on the web, I came up with a funny but true connection.

   I found out one of the songs the Beatles often performed during their Hamburg years, before they were writing all their own songs, was "Falling in Love Again," by Sammy Lerner, an important songwriter of the 40s and 50s. But it so happens that Lerner also was enlisted to write the theme song for the Popeye the Sailor cartoon, which he did. So it turns out that there is indeed a connection between the Beatles and Popeye in that Lerner composed songs for, shall we say, both groups of singers. :-)

   Anyway, I hope you didn't mind my little digression, but getting back to the book, this is a fine biography of the Beatles and is especially strong in its treatment of their early years and rise to fame. Although updated in the later edition, there isn't as much information about the post-1970 years, but as others have pointed out about the book, it's about the famous band's rise, not about their fall.

No comments about Elias / Elijah (Heroes of the Faith (American Bible Society Spanish)).

No comments about Lawrence Olivier.

4 comments about Miss America 1945: Bess Myerson and The Year That Changed Our Lives.

1. I just finished reading the book "Miss America,1945:Bess Myerson and the year that changed our lives" and i tell you it's very thought provoking book about what Bess Myerson went through during her reign as Miss America with all the prejudices that she went through.Although it's set in 1945,It's still holds true today.You can honestly say that from the end of World War 2 up to the late 1940's was an important period of change in America where a Jewish girl from the Bronx achieved the dream of every girl who wanted to win the crown of Miss America and two years later Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball.Over all it's a great book and it's something that everyone must have for their book collection.



2. There she goes, Miss America. And Bess Myerson was America's first (and still only) Jewish Miss America, an groundbreaking achievement that makes for riveting cultural and social history. This is not a new book --- it is the first paperback edition of Susan Dworkin's landmark collaborative biography that was first published in 1987, and it is still an important one. Dworkin weaves together oral histories, research and commentary to present not only a vivid portrait of pre-feminist America in the '30s and '40s, but one of Jews, of women, of the anti-Semitic riddled Miss America pageant and of Myerson's own life. A crowning success. Still.



3. Ably narrated by Bess Myerson and Adam Grupper, Miss America 1945 is Susan Dworkin's engaging rendition of Bess Myerson's memoirs of her self as a naive Jewish girl from the Bronx, a scheming beauty pageant promoter, and rampant anti-Semitism within the context of a national post-war euphoria. What is particularly fascinating is Myerson's candid revelations of what it was like to be the first (and only) Jewish Miss America and her emergent political activism that resulted from her experiences with the beauty pageant. This abridged-by-the-author audiobook edition features flawless production values and has a running time of 5 hours, 10 minutes. Miss America 1945 is an ardently recommended addition to personal and library audiobook collections.



4. Absolutely intriguing portrait of a truly fascinating and remarkable woman, not to mention a unique era in history. Bess Myerson symbolized so much, at a very important time in American history. Well worth reading/listening to!

No comments about Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay, Pt. B.

No comments about Runaway Jonah and Other Biblical Adventures.