5 comments about Profiles of Genius: Thirteen Creative Men Who Changed the World.

1. Great book insightful the only book i think is better is another one of his books! So far i have 4 the best of which is Profiles of Power & Success.



2. This book has a deceptive title that suggests that it is objectively focusing on the concept of genius. I think that if you were to ask the average person to start naming the smartest people in the world, you would end up with names like Einstein and Mozart, Michelangelo and Bobby Fischer. Even given that Landrum was going for people who have displayed genius in the last forty years, I'm sure that there are people who rate higher on an IQ test than the thirteen men Landrum has chosen.
   
   And so, this book is much more a measure and study of what goes into business success than it is a blueprint for genius. By identifying thirteen men and thirteen characteristics that can be emulated for financial gain, Landrum is giving business advice to aspiring entrepreneurs, and I wish that the title of the book reflected that.
   
   Aside from that, I'm not sure that the book does a good job of identifying thirteen separate personality traits that drive success. For one thing, many of the traits seem to overlap or even seem somewhat synonymous. The personality traits of being competitive, driven, and passionate are extremely similar, if not identical. For another thing, all of the personality traits are described in glowing, positive terms. Where are the traits of ruthlessness, greed, and insecurity that also drive some of the market forces that drive success?
   
   I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade, and I realize that this book can serve the valuable function of inspiring those who undertake the very difficult job of being an entrepreneur. I started and ran my own business for seven years, and realize that there is some sound business advice in this book that can help someone to make their own dreams come true.
   
   But I don't want anyone to think that this book is something that it's not. It's not a book about genius, nor is it a scientifically sound piece of research. I'd recommend it to business owners or inventors, but not to those who are truly interested in the nature of the human mind.



3. Maybe I'm biased for being a Ted Turner fan ... but this book will make you cry with inspiration and hope!



4. This excellent book fills a need for biographies of entrepreneurs who have shaped the modern world. The chapters pack a lot of useful information with a clear focus on what is important. They cover childhood and education as well as adult business life. The personality theories used help to relate the stories to the professional literature, but do not detract from the richness of the descriptions. These portraits will be useful to anyone thinking of life as an entrepreneur as well as to parents and educators dealing with creative youth.



5. This is a good overview of how and why people create. Lots of good and varied case studies.

5 comments about Marilyn, Are You Sure You Can Cook? He Asked: A Memoir.

1. Are you hungry for HAMBURGER HAMLET? Here is the book. The history of HAMBURGER HAMLET as created by Harry & Marilyn Lewis. I'm hungry and ready to drive to the closest one! Or maybe better yet, to a Kate Mantilini or the Gardens on Glendon still the home of the Lewis' cuisine.
   
   & yes her life as Cardinale is also well covered in this story
   
   a great read - now go get that HAMBURGER ( a #9 or a #11 ? which one?? it must be rare-yum)



2. Anyone with any sense of the entertainment industry in Hollywood is familar with Hamburger Hamlet. An ancient haven for the Rat Pack and a current haunt for celebs like Matthew Perry and Elton John, it's great to finally have a book that tells us the ups and downs of this great eatery and the two talented people who started it.
   
   Marylin Lewis, not daring to let humility get in the way, spins us through nearly 40 years of burgers, gossip, high fashion and lobster bisque. Her first hand accounts of her own struggles and transformation into the diva of the restaurant industry is nothing short of inspiring.
   
   Heck, this book is almost as good as the burgers and bisque. Thank goodness we still have a few of her old joints still preserved today. My advise? Grab the book, duck into a dark corner booth at the Sunset Strip location, and sink back into the days of legend when a "B" actor and an inspiring dress designer could become the darlings of Sinatra, martinis and a damn good burger.



3. Anybody in the business world or on the inside track of Los Angeles life knows who Marilyn and Harry Lewis are; their building of the Hamburger Hamlet dynasty is legendary. What makes this truly fascinating book come to life though, is the "true Marilyn" who jumps from the page. With many autobios, you can read it cover to cover and not know a whit more about the real person behind that public visage when you're done.

   Not here. There's a lot more served up than some famous recipes and a few anecdotes; Lewis manages to capture the Zeitgeist of the time in which she and Harry lived and loved; a period of Show Business and Big Business colliding an L.A. full of fashion and film and some sad realities along the way.

   I'd love to give details but I'm not blowing any surprises. Suffice to say the book is a surprise a mix of personal and public life, and every darn thing that happens when you're a woman with boundless talent and the energy of a high school sprinter. For instance, did you know that under a completely different name,in a completely different world, Marilyn Lewis was also famous for something that had nothing to do with her culinary crown? Double-famous in two different worlds: that's not luck. This is an extraordinary woman.

   Marilyn Lewis's own peronal story is downright fascinating; from such humble beginnings she became the Grande Dame of Los Angeles's love for food, fashion, and passion. You can't put Lewis in a box.....her proven "wins" in evrything from film to filet mignon come with a story, a real story, about a real woman who was ahead of her time and made a lot of people plain catch up.

   Written with the class you'd expect from one of the shining stars of Los Angeles social life, Marilyn tosses class and candor like a salad, and the result is a can't-put-it-down page turner.

   I give this prize of a book my highest recommendation. The Marilyn Lewis you're going to meet in this book is probably not who you thought was on the menu. But I'd put her compelling voice and prolific humanity up against any creme brulee in town: Mrs. Lewis emerges like a creme brulee, in fact: a tough cookie and nobody's fool on the outside, and downright delicious, smooth and all class on the inside.

   Give this book a read; it'll show you a Los Angeles (and a world) that may not even be possible anymore.....unless another Marilyn and Harry Lewis show up in town. For now, I'll take the originals....and they're both right here in plaintive sight. Enjoy the meal, and boy, does she know some of the juciest tidbits of Los Angeles's golden age. Enjoy, and don't forget to tip well.




4. I savored every page of this smart memoir. Marilyn Lewis' writing is as delicious as her recipes.



5. "Marilyn, are you sure you can cook?" is the best written memoir I've ever read. What a fascinating life...told with humor, candidness, and an ability to put words together that makes one think Charles Dickens was whispering in her ear.

2 comments about The Man Everybody Knew: Bruce Barton and the Making of Modern America.

1. Richard Fried wrote a fantastic book on US Cold War homefront pageantry (THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING!) a few years back, but he's perhaps not the world's most dramatic writer, and his new biography of legendary adman Bruce Barton is serviceable, but nothing outstanding. Fried estimates that Barton was the 20th century's most famous man for whom no full length biography had ever been attempted. That may be so, but maybe there was a reason no one else had tried to get Barton into hard covers.
   
   From what I can make out, his achievements are paltry, and boosted by hot air (he was, after all, one of the kings of Madison Avenue, though not a particularly original designer or thinker). As Fried reveals, Barton was so well-known at the time that many credited him wrongly with every advertising campaign that got noticed; thus he was like the Dorothy Parker of advertising (Parker got the credit for every halfway decent quip uttered at the Algonquin Round Table.) His agency, BBDO, made the Campbell Kids popular on TV, and Carton thought that their creation Chiquita Banana, a talking banana developed for United Fruit, was a masterpiece. Values are screwy in the ad world, and yet Barton had the balls to write one of the all time best sellers of the 20th century (the #1 nonfiction book of 1926), a life of Christ called THE MAN NOBODY KNOWS in which he attempted to paint Jesus Christ as the ultimate businessman, good at molding little people into good workers, a glad hand for everyone, the kind of guy who pats you on the back at a Kiwanis luncheon.
   
   Barton played up his marriage as something sacrosanct but he got caught with his pants down in the early 1930s, when a conniving pre-Code type of minx got her hooks in him and threatened to expose their office affair unless he paid her off to the tune of $25,000. When he did, and she came back again with renewed demands, he went public with his affair, and charged the woman with blackmail. He handled the whole sorry mess with aplomb, but it left his reputation a little dog-eared, poor guy.
   
   Oh well, it was worth a try but at this date it might be too late to try to rehabilitate one of the dumbest careers of modern times. Fried does his best but fails to convince us that Barton's life was any more interesting than that of, oh, someone like Dick Clark. There's shallow, then there's mad shallow.



2. This is a well-written, well-researched, long-overdue biography of an important figure in advertising and American life.
   A glaring omission, however, is the lack of any mention of or reference to Joe Vitale's pioneering book on Barton's methods: The Seven Lost Secrets of Success.
   For anyone who wants to know the principles by which Barton accomplished what he did--and how they can put Barton's methods to work in their own business or career--Vitale's Seven Lost Secrets of Success is the book to get.

5 comments about Murdoch.

1. Rupert Murdoch is one of the most interesting business men of our day. His growth at the Fox Network and other various news outlets has made him one of the most powerful men on the planet. Shawcross does an excellent biography telling about his life in Australia up through his dominant position in America today. It covers the start of the fourth network as well as the New York post and battles with government regulators. It stops before the Fox News Channel really gets going but this still remains the best biography on Murdoch that has been done to date.



2. When I read William Shawcross' "Murdoch" back when it was originally published (early 90s), I thought it was one of the best biographies I had read. I especially liked the author's focus on his subject's "pre-News" days, most notably a very memorable discussion on Murdoch's infatuation with Marxism during his university days.

   Murdoch explains that period away with the following answer: "If you're 20 and not a communist, you have no heart; and if you're 40 and not a capitalist, you have no head."

   Shawcross then painstakingly builds a portrait of a man who - over the next 30 years - slides clear across the spectrum to become Maggie Thatcher's biggest champion. There's a great blow-by-blow of Murdoch's battle with the press unions at Wapping, with Thatcher's tacit support.

   Of course, things in Murdoch's world move quickly, so Shawcross put out an update edition (this one) in 1997. Now, we need an update to the update. So much has transpired in these six years. We need Shawcross' take on:

   - The continued rise of the Fox Network (expecially Fox News)
   - Lachlan and James Murdoch's increasingly large roles at News Corp.
   - The DirectTV takeover attempts (Part 1 and 2)
   - Continued efforts to penetrate India and China
   - Wife #3 Wendy Deng + two new young children

   ...and much, much more. Never a dull moment with the man who fellow (now ex-) mogul Ted Turner heads up the world's leading "evil empire."




3. Very well documented personal (a combination of gambling instinct and dour puritanism) and business biography of the media tycoon. The rise of Murdoch from an owner of a small newspaper in Australia to a global media tycoon. His motif: "power, not money." The power to influence political/social history through his colossal media empire. Murdoch believes that the Americanizing of the world is not only profitable for his business, but a great good in itself.
   The author situates the ascent of Murdoch within the world political history (cold war, Thatcher, Reagan ...) and gives an incisive portrait of some of his collaborators: Barry Diller and Kelvin Mac Kenzie (editor of his milk cow 'The Sun').
   Written with a good sense of humour, e.g. "... Giles should assume the title of Editor Emeritus ... Giles asked Murdoch what this title really meant . It's Latin, Frank. E means exit and meritus means you deserve it." Or, after Murdoch banned alcohol on the working place, someone replied "Free drunks produce better newspapers than sober slaves". The tycoon was even asked by the Vietnamese government to make communist-controlled television more popular!
   Besides, the author gives a sneer at Unesco for attacking freedom of information. One minus point: on different occasions, the author refers to big financial troubles for the media empire without giving the numbers.



4. The book is quite exhaustive about his beginnings - and his attitude towards competition, employees and enemies, I was hoping to read more about the political favors that he most definitely got in other countries besides the US, Aus and the UK.
   I also wanted to know how these political wheelings and deelings have helped him - because lets fase it - with the amount of money/ business that he inherited, it may not have been too difficult for a few others to achieve the greeatness that Murdoch has achieved in his lifetime.
   Also the fact that he is still working might have taken away some of the liberty from the author to shed more light on the ugly side of Murdoch. I would have also liked more coverage of the 90s, when the floodgates were opened for him to capture Europe and Asia.



5. Murdoch is, to say the least, one of the more controversial figures in media today. His name still inspires visions of the pitched battles that have arisen around the pieces of his empire and the ethical debates about the role of journalism and issues of media ownership. There is a tremendous amount to be learned from studying Murdoch and the way he built his kingdom, and this book is not to be missed, particularly for people studying media history or the media industry.

   Shawcross presents a very balanced picture, light on both censure and praise, and manages to give enough personal detail to illuminate the public Murdoch without veering into a personal melodrama. The writing is occasionally a bit dry, but generally of a high quality & the source notes and bibliography are quite valuable in and of themselves.

2 comments about Dear Donald, Dear Bennett: The Wartime Correspondence of Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer.

1. Before browsing through Dear Donald, Dear Bennett, the reader should immediately peruse a copy of At Random, Bennett Cerf's memoirs, so he has a chance of understanding what he is reading in this book. I can't believe Random House would treat the personal letters of their founders in such a shabby fashion. Virtually no footnotes, no annotation, no index---nothing. They might as well be putting out the memoirs of Anna Nicole Smith, rather than the keepers of one of the great literary storehouses of the twentieth century. Before spending any money assembling this volume for publication (if indeed they spent any at all!), the editors should have acquired a copy of The Noel Coward Diaries and followed it religiously as a guide. In that volume, Graham Payn and Sheridan Morely obviously spent months poring over every inch of copy, meticulously footnoting each and every name and archane reference so that upon completion, the reader would easily be able to tell the difference between Bob Menzies and Bobby Andrews, the Duke of Kent from the Duke of Windsor, and easily tell whether Sir Noel was writing about Elizabeth Taylor the film star, Elizabeth Taylor the English novelist, or Elizabeth Taylor the non-celebrity dear friend to Coward's inner circle. Here, the editors (who are unnamed and rightly so) merely say that Saxe Commins was a senior editor at Random House and Robert Haas a partner without furthur definition. (More time is spent discussing the typeface of this volume than virtually anything else.) Most readers of these letters would be interested in the details such annotation would provide. Yes, the letters do paint a wonderful picture of the day-to-day operations of the company, the trials and tribulations of America at war, and the deep affection between the two men. It's a shame the present-day editors at Random House did not see fit to put together a better tribute of their founding fathers.



2. I waited for a few months for this book to come out, and was truly not disappointed. Of course, I believe that you must be a hardcore Bennett Cerf fan to enjoy it. If you are not a Cerf fan, the book is still an interesting capsule of the World War II era. My obsession with Mr. Cerf began with "What's My Line", I have since obtained most of his books. I recommend reading "At Random", Bennett's recollections of working at Random House Publishing. When you know the story behind these two gentleman, you will appreciate this book more. Mr. Cerf ran in several circles, and it shows in the book. It would be an interesting contrast to have this go against a modern day publishing house letter exchange. Reading this gives the feel of the day. It seemed that the business world, even though still busy, was much more laid back. The letters these two friends mailed back and forth really show the value of personal written communication, a waning part of relationships.

5 comments about The Cookie Never Crumbles: Practical Recipes for Everyday Living.

1. Just finished reading such an inspiring book by Wally Amos. My husband and I have been self employed since we have been married (32 years now). I so thoroughly connected with the wonderful advice Wally spoke of. His personality reminded me so much of my husbands who also is a great one for turning lemons into lemonade. After visiting the "chip and cookie" website I must say Geez I know Christine must be a loving and strong women in her own right. It just would have been nice had she also been African American



2. The Cookie Never Crumbles is the manual on how to live an extraordinary, abundant, loving life. What flows from Wally's heart is nothing less than the secret ingredients of living. I keep this book nearby when I need to find my center in courage, joy, compassion and gratitude. I am so blessed to call Wally Amos my friend.



3. This is a terrific book Wally! I'm moved by your passion and determination to see life at its best and not its worst.

   This book will inspire people to look past their challenges and forge forth toward their future. Keep making those cookies for life no matter how many may crumble!

   Philippe Matthews
   CEO, EmpowerMag.com & HowYouMakeMillions.com




4. I so enjoyed this book. I read spiritually and emotionally uplifting materials all the time. Some are sooooo heavy. And I must admit that sometimes I need the weight of the information, in the same way that I need and enjoy Thanksgiving dinner. But Wally's book is pure dessert, just like his cookies. When I need a quick energy lift I return to his book. I not only found myself vicariously enjoying the honest and fun loving individual, Wally (Famous) Amos, but I felt that I met a soul mate...a lover of life and a believer in the positive powers of the universe.

   I have to admit, he should have written the book sooner. He might have saved my marriage. When he speaks of the process and power of his determination and commitment to keeping his marriage in tact inspite of some "infractions" I realized the impact positive, powerful, decisive action can make.

   I share excerpts of the book with my graduate students(educators who are stressed). I give them bite size pieces of positive energy at the beginning or ending of the class. That way they can begin the session or end it with a smile.

   I do plan to try the recipe for his famous cookies for Christmas. I'll be glad to let you know if they turn out famously.




5. This book is just like a bad cookie. The material is stale, bland and crumbles to pieces when the reader searches for an in-depth understanding of the issues that are discussed. Wally is no doubt a good businessman and his cookies do mealt in your mouth, but this book mealts in your hand because it is so bad!

No comments about Inventor of the Disposable Culture: King Camp Gillette 1855-1932 (Short Lives).

2 comments about The Wave Maker: Story Of Theme Park Pioneer George Millay And The Creation Of Seaworld, Magic Mountain, And Wet 'n Wild (Sea World Education).

1. George Millay died on February 6, 2006 but his legacy lives on. Millions have visited Sea World and Wet and Wild. What sparked these two theme parks was George's experiences in the restaurant business. You'll have to read the book to see how he made the leap.
   
   The book describes how George went to various them parks to get ideas, such as the wave generation machine for Wet and Wild.
   
   Sea World was the first to use an ozone purification system. When the Marine Mammal Protection Act was enacted in 1972, Sea World started a captive breeding program to replenish its stock of animals.
   
   George was a visionary and a problem solver; however, even these were not enough. Sometimes he had to depend on luck. On more than one occasion, George came to the brink of financial disaster.
   
   Once I picked up the book, I couldn't put it down. Highly recommended reading even it you're not considering opening a theme park.



2. This book reveals how he created Sea World, Wet'N Wild and Magic Mountain. What a deal maker and career breaker. It was a wild ride. Hilarious tales of boom, bust and triumph. Read about the peacock's infamous flight. Twists and turns follow George building two aquatic empires. I woke my wife up from laughing so hard while reading it in bed. I couldn't put it down. Get the story from the ultimate insider of amusement parks.
   
   George Millay launched two successful amusement industries almost single-handedly: Marine-life Parks and Water Slide Parks. He seems to have made a bigger splash than Shamu. Millions still are entertained in the wake of his creations: Sea Worlds, Wet `n Wilds and Magic Mountain. Wave Maker is a big splash!

1 comments about The John Deere Story: A Biography Of Plowmakers John & Charles Deere.

1. "The John Deere Story" tells a great tale. It focuses on John Deere's development of the modern plow, his successes and failures as a businessman and his business-minded son Charles' success in promoting what is now an international brand. But what also makes this story great is the insight into the 1800's modernization of agriculture and the development of a modern Midwestern city (Moline, Illinois). Because industrialization was still young, it was interesting to read about trademark rights, competition, sales, antitrust arguments and other modern business practices that were being established at the time the Deere family was beginning to make its mark.
   
   There is a lot of detail in this book, so follow the names of the cast of characters closely. It's worth a read!

5 comments about Winfield: Living in the Shadow of the Woolworths.

1. Ever since Gatsby glorified it, the Golden Age of Long Island's North Shore continues to fascinate.
   
   Monica Randall's inspired quest to save as many relics of this fading era as she could had me rooting for her all the way. I gasped when I read about the bulldozer operator who took delight in destroying the alabaster fireplace after an unsuccessful bribe. By the time Monica moves to the scene of the 1955 Woodward murder, I was hooked. I have to disagree with some of Randall's "facts" related to that murder. For example, she says that Truman Capote got Ann Woodward to confess that she murdered her husband which I believe is untrue. That was the way Dominick Dunne wrote it in his novel. In actuality, there was a man named Bill Sudduth, now gone, who was part of the circle that Truman Capote and Dominick Dunne ran in. He worked for the cruise line and was put in charge of Ann Woodward in exile after the death of her husband. It was he who provided inside information to Capote and Dunne. I have never read that she confided anything about the "murder" to him over the years they knew each other.
   
   Monica Randall is foolish-brave and not easily spooked. She is self-confident, a model who has worked for Pierre Balmain, the premiere designer in Paris at the time. And she has dreams of a life lived on the Gold Coast during the Gatsby Years or perhaps slightly before. She realizes she seems to have psychic abilities when she sees a "still" of her dream in a turn-of-the-century photograph in the newspaper archives.
   
   From here the book becomes something else, more of an exploration of the spirit world and her own and others' psychic abilities.
   
   A shadow of implausibility hangs over some scenes, however, especially at the end, and I wonder about some of the characters (and rodents) Randall fails to mention in the thoughtful afterword she provides. What happened to her fiance'? I also wondered why, without giving anything away, that a certain area wasn't more fully investigated by the subsequent owners and reported on in the book since it is such a crucial element.
   
   Still, I found the book to be totally engrossing and well-written. I found Randall delightfully odd, especially when describing one of the antique dresses she wore to a party with a real Woolworth who lived in back of her in a large mansion. Her description of the disintegration of this dress had me laughing on the subway.
   
   The entire book has a ghostly feel to it, even the photograph of the author posed in an antique gown with a feather fan. She is ethereal and otherworldly, slightly out of focus against a grand piano. And that's how this book reads -- a lovely tour through the remnants of a forgotten era.



2. One of the best books I have read in a long time. If you love beautiful old homes and the supernatural, this book is for you! This author knows how to write in such a descriptive way that I felt that I was actually there.



3. This book is a bit hard to assess.
   
   I must say that the first "third" of this book is quite interesting because it describes what the GOLD COAST looked like and what it has now become. That point alone should peak the interest of the readers wanting to know more about the GOLD COAST mansions (...but plz remember that only 1/3 of the book is about the actual GOLD COAST mansions.The rest is not,unfortunately).
   
   Thus, there are indeed some interesting "facts" in the first third of the book. BUT, as stated above, I only wish the author had continued the book along these factual lines. But instead, she did not.
   
   
   Instead, the author chose to write the rest of the book as a semi-novel and/or ghost story.
   
   In summation, the next "third" of the book is basically a novel about the author's experiences while living in Winfield. In this portion of the book, the author describes her strange relationships with various people involved in her "Winfield experience" (such as: her ex-fiancee` Andree; or the movie producer/director Gordon, that used the mansion for a photo shoot; or the psychic reader that the author often called on the phone in the middle of the night (Katia?); or Andree's semi-mute thug-assistant that lived in the mansion's East wing [before he disappeared!] etc...).
   
   The last part of the book is confusing because it describes a combination of ghostly experiences, but unfortunately, leaves out many details.
   
   The most frustrating thing about this book is that the author mentions so many photos & documents that she came across, however, only a few photos were shown in this book!.... Too few, in my opinion. I truly wish the author had shown more photos in this book, and I'm sure many readers feel the same as I do.
   
   Also, the book seems unlikely in many parts, and I get the impression that the author left out so many important details (for example: if the author felt so uncomfortable and frightened in living at Winfield, then why did she continue to live there for so long? She stated that she was emotionally drawn to the mansion, but why? Example: Andree'(her fiancee`) basically left her in the lurch, and the mansion's past also revelaved too many contradictions! So why did she continue to stay?).
   
   Also, how could a single woman live in such a HUGE structure with nobody to watch over her, --- for basic safety reasons. There was no alarm system on Winfield so the mansion was easily accessible to thieves! In addition, the author mentions all the weird vandalisms that took place all over the GOLD COAST.Therefore,what made the author think that some lunatic vandal or rapist would not have broken into the Winfield mansion while she stayed there all those months (especially, when all alone in her bedroom?)? Thus, I found the story hard to comprehend and accept most of the time.
   
   The author says she does not believe in ghosts, but then she says she does. Back and forth. And... the most frustrating part of the book is that when "apparitions" were mentioned, (eg: in photos) the author never expands on those important experiences! It makes me wonder if this book was not a half-truth book, written by somebody wanting to make money off the book sales.
   
   Sorry to say this, but I just did not buy it.
   
   P.S.: I am surprised that Dominick Dunne rated this book as high as he did, because I really like (and respect) Dominick Dunne, and normally,I truly value his opinion. It's a puzzle to me as to why Dominick raved about this strange book.



4. I read until 4;00 AM finishing this fascinating book. It kept my interest and exceeded the high recommendation from another reader. The experience of actually living in that house must have been heaven for a person who has such a strong interest in the houses of that era.



5. Ms. Randall is very passionate in her interests of the former Gold Coast of Long Island. Her passion carries through clearly in this book of Woolworth's old estate in Glen Cove. Having visited the estate several times in the past I can say she's right on target in her descriptions. She ties the present to the past of Winfield together very well. As you read this you can almost picture yourself standing in the midst of the characters; its that descriptive. If you have never seen the old estate there are photographs as well to bring you there. While non-fiction, one can't help but feel some creative license has been taken in the writing. No matter, since the book is entertaining in the oddity of Winfield's present, as well as in it's less than stellar heyday due largely to it's eccentric owner, Frank W. Woolworth. Well worth your time