5 comments about The Jim Morrison Scrapbook.

1. I am a big fan of the Doors, and Jim Morrison (went to his grave in Pere La Chaise twice) and I had long been looking for a coffee table book on Jim that was both interesting to look at and a fine read, too. This pop-up book has pockets and slides of letters, photos and mementos so well reproduced they look like originals; it's a must-have for anyone who loves arts and crafts and The Doors! Enjoy it!!



2. The Jim Morrison Scrapbook *****
   
   With the abundance of material that has been released and re-released and alternately released from the Jim Morrison estate in the past decade very little of it has been any good. It is mostly things that had already been released on one thing or another deeming it pointless to own, but not The Jim Morrison Scrapbook. Oh-no! This is phenomenal and a must have for Doors-geeks like myself. This shows sides of Morrison rarely or never shown.
   
   Chronicling the genius from birth, poet, songwriter, lover, performer, and death. This is a book explaining all of those things about the man, but with actually tangible documents like his will, report cards, letters, his handwritten lyrics, rare seen photos; some of which have never been released to the mass public.
   
   The Jim Morrison Scrapbook is the first in a series of "scrapbooks" being released of famous legends. As of right now a Bob Dylan, and John Lennon version is also available. This is essential for all rock fans! A must read!



3. I am a devoted Jim Morrison/Doors fan but wasn't aware of this book until my nephew mentioned it to me while we were at a Ozzie/Rob Zombie concert. I promised to give it to him for his birthday. I bought it from Amazon and before I wrapped it I spent at least two hours going through it. This is the most well-conceived, cohesive, unbelievably put-together book I have ever seen. I could not stop going through it and taking all the papers out of their pockets and reading Jim Morrison's letters to his mother, report cards, letters to Jim from his pastor, teachers, etc. Every insert looks like the original document. I cannot say enough good things about this book. I gushed over it so much I hope my kids get the hint and give it to me for Mother's Day!



4. Excellent collector's edition book for any Jim Morrison/The Doors fan. Full of never before published pictures, handwritten lyrics and letters by Jim Morrison. A must buy for any Doors fan.



5. 
   Wonderful book! Great infos for everyone who is a true Doors fan, even Morrison school records...

5 comments about The Burgermeister's Daughter: Scandal in a Sixteenth-Century German Town.

1. This book was as interesting as my professor said. It was hard to put it down at night. Steven Ozment does a phenomenal job of interweaving history, politics, religion, and actual firsthand accounts of life in the sixteenth century.



2. My son is a history major at college and needed this book for class. The price was affordable and a book he will have for many years to use in his teaching career.



3. 
   There are few stretches of the imagination by which Anna Büschler can be called typical of her time and place. First, she was a member of the embryonic bürger urban middle class in a society that was overwhelmingly rural and peasant. Secondly, she had the audacity consistently, and vocally, to defy authority. And finally, but most importantly by the standards that early modern historians, there is actually a fairly large record of what she did and what historian Steven Ozment argues was the consuming passion of her life: undoing the wrong done to her by her father disinheriting her in 1527. Through Ozment's interweaving of the social, political, and legal minefield which Anna was forced to navigate in her attempt to redress the wrong done to her by her father--an extremely interesting man in his own write--after he found a cache of love letters she both wrote and received. The reader is also given a bird's eye view into the workings of a fairly typical German town during the renaissance, Swabian Hall, and how its residents felt about the operation of the legal system in her regards. This is micro-history at its best.
   
   Anna Büschler should have been able to enjoy as comfortable a life as a middle class woman was able to have by sixteenth century standards by the time she was thirty years old. Instead, she found herself locked in her father's home, perpetually chained to a table leg. The chain of events that led her to this unhappy situation begins with interpretations of her past behavior. By her father's account, the legendary bürgermeister of Hall who had twenty years before brazenly petitioned the Holy Roman Emperor on behalf of the common people of Hall, the sexual relationships she had with a member of the local nobility and a mercenary were enough for him to label her as poisonous snake--imbued with the moral character of a whore. By her interpretation, she behaved as she did because her father had shirked his paternal duties and had not found a suitable suitor for her. After escaping from his clutches, Anna began a quarter century long fight to be compensated for the wrong he had done to her which would ultimately climax with the large cross section of Hall society which knew her interpreting her actions.
   
   Ozment's brilliance lies in how he explains Anna's behaviors in the light of sixteenth century moral and legal norms. While Anna was cavorting with her lovers, she was also playing with fire hot enough to consume her completely, and thoroughly burn her father's reputation. By modern standards, and the standards of several centuries preceding the sixteenth, the punishments for premarital sex were draconian in their treatment of the people who engaged in it. Furthermore, the reputations, and often livelihoods, of parents who were exposed as having promiscuous children could be completely destroyed by their behavior. These facts go a long way in describing the extremity of Hermann Büschler's initial banishment of his daughter from his home and then a bold, brazen, and extralegal kidnapping of her after she began legal proceedings against her father. What it does not explain is why a man with such large reputation takes such an action when he certainly had a political future to think about. Ozment thankfully does not dwell on the possibility of incestuous behavior between the two of them because he can not marshal the evidence for any such argument, but it is a question that he nonetheless raises.
   
   Throughout the narrative, Anna rightly comes of as rebellious, strong willed, and nonconformist in her behaviors. But, it is after she escapes from her father's imprisonment that the metal of her character becomes the most visible. She constantly and consistently fought against the marginalization which her disinheritance and her status as a woman imposed upon in every venue that she could gain a hearing in--even initially receiving a 5,000 gulden judgment against the city of Hall for its allowing her to be kept captive in her father's home under extremely suspect circumstances. Though this judgment would be overturned upon appeal and would have to spend the rest of her life fighting in the courts gain any of the money which she felt entitled to--and then only after she had found husbands who were willing to represent her and follow her through the murky recesses of 16th German law. Though only to a limited degree, Anna's story shows that women were not completely at the mercy of men during what is being increasingly regarded as one of the nadirs of women's status in the European history. As the court records which Ozment musters show though, Anna was not the only one, male or female, who questioned this status at least with regard to her.
   
   A retelling of Anna's story to the degree which Ozment was capable would not have been possible were it not for the fact that dozens of her letters between her lovers and herself as well as the depositions from the legal proceedings she used had not survived to the present. In this respect, Ozment has a leg up on other early modern historians because of a relative cornucopia of evidence. Where the extremely good micro-historical biographies written by Natalie Z. Davis and Carlo Ginzburg ultimately have to invoke some very imaginative connections to close their works, Ozment simply does not. For that reason alone he deserves to be read.



4. Stephen Ozment is my favorite historian, and this is my favorite of his books (closely followed by Three Behaim Boys). The story of Anna, both the love story and the tragedy of her later life, are fascinating. Ozment has a talent for making history real, present, and accessible, and this book is a shining example of what an in-depth historical study can be. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in 16th century history, women's history, or the history of law.



5. The Burgermeister's Daughter is a fascinating and highly readable study of a ... scandal that errupted in the German city of Schwabish Hall during the early years of the Reformation. The central figure, Anne Buschler, the daughter of a former Burgermeister and long-time city councilman, was a girl who liked to test the limits and would often have tongues wagging over her--for that day and age, at least--wild behaviour. It came to the point where she was having intimate relations with two guys, Erasmus of Limpurg and Daniel Treutwein. When this was discovered by her father, he disinherited her; but instead of allowing herself to be cast adrift in this manner, she fought back and thus ensued a protracted legal battle against her father, and, after his death, her siblings. In the end, we are presented with an extra-ordinary glimpse into the lives of (upper class) Germans during this era, German culture and society, the status of women, and the intricacies of the German legal system. It's a rare treat to find a book that is so meticulously researched but so readable. Highly recommended.

5 comments about Maid of Heaven: The Story of Saint Joan of Arc.

1. Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RNE87Q7CFIJMO Great inspiring video about Joan of Arc with historic pictures.



2. Maid of Heaven was the third book I recently read about Joan of Arc. While I don't typically read poetry (that is I may be a bad judge), this particular poetry was definitely not to my liking. The book was essentially a short biography of Joan 's life told in a manner that seemed forced and not particularly appealing; the poetry aspects seemed almost non-existent to me other the some basic rhyming (I have read some really good poetry, some that captures your imagination and lets your drift into deep thought, not this one). The reason to add this review was to provide some counter-balance the 10 other 5 star ratings (!?) -- you may love this, but the book didn't excite my imagination at all.



3. Everyone knows of the general legend of Joan of Arc - a young and illiterate girl hears voices from God and leads France against the invading English. "Maid of Heaven: The Story of Saint Joan of Arc", however, tells the complete and through story of a sixteen year old girl who rose up to stand against insurmountable odds. Nonfiction, but written and reads like fiction, "Maid of Heaven: The Story of Saint Joan of Arc" is expertly composed and highly recommended to world history shelves and for anyone who wants a complete understanding of this enigmatic teenage girl who was anything but.



4. The symbolism in this poem is awesome! The whole battle of light verses darkness in the life of St. Joan is beautifully portrayed throughout Maid of Heaven. The very first stanza references St. Joan's birth on the Epiphany and from there her great spiritual journey unfolds in a way that make it clear what the focus of her life was: serving God.
   
   If you only read this poem as a history of Joan of Arc you will come away with a good understanding of the major events in her life. BUT if you allow the poem to take you deeper you will transcend beyond the obvious conclusions about St. Joan of Arc and better understand why she truly deserves to be called a saint.



5. I've read many books about France's Partron Saint, Joan of Arc, but never seen one like 'Maid of Heaven' by Ben Kennedy. It is Joan's life portrayed through beautiful poetic form. Mr. Kennedy does an amazing job of putting such a lyrical story into capitivating lyrical form. It is the kind of book that catches your attentiion, and then never lets go. Once I started, I was compelled to continue to the very end. The poetry is lovely and well versed, and the historical perspecties reflect an accurate accounting of Joan's amazing story. Most importantly, Mr. Kennedy doesn't neglect to include the spiritaul perspectives and implications in his work, and we are all the better for it. I highly recommend this lovely and most original approach to Joan's life.

5 comments about Gandhi the Man: The Story of His Transformation.

1. This book was recommended to me by a friend who teaches English at the local college. What a great book! It's not a hefty read - but you feel you get a complete overview of the man and his life's contributions. Highly recommend this book at anyone whether they are a long time Gandhi fan, or someone who just wants to know more about this amazing world leader.



2. Gandhi, in my opinion, is one person we must not forget to get acquaited with if we are searching for the truth about ourselves. He became known for his contributions to the independence of India through his philosophy of non-violence. There have been many books written about the historical events comprising that journey. But, as he himself had said, the more significant journey that he took was one that was internal. The real "war" he was fighting was the spiritual war inside him. This book by Eknath Easwaran is a rare book that focuses entirely on that aspect of the great man. I would highly recommend this book if one is trying to find one's way to the heart of the "great soul".



3. The outstanding story of Gandhi's life shows us how a shy, insecure young man could transform himself into a political, social and spiritual giant. Gandhi, as a supreme representative of a very old culture, understood the momentum of the age he lived in and was able to translate his wisdom into practical solutions using the power of non-violence. Amongst others, he convinced the British to leave India, and was the living example of the power of love, respect and non-violence. Illustrating the power of universal truths common to all religions I highly recommend this book to everyone interested in human values and our future.



4. This is a very readable and insiring book about one of the greatest figures of the 20th century, with many photos that make Gandhi's life feel even more real. The effectiveness of Gandhi's application of nonviolence is well explained, both in his life history and in an interesting appendix about nonviolence in the world today.



5. This book gives great insights into Gandhi's spiritual life - which was the basis of all his social and political movements.

5 comments about Into Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley and Livingstone.

1. I've always been intrigued by stories about the jungles of Africa, and this was the one story I'd often heard referenced in popular culture and knew very little about. This book was a fantastic overview of the historic search for Dr. Livingstone, brought to life by vivid imagery and excellent pacing.
   
   I particularly enjoyed the relevant facts about Livingstone and Stanley's background and personal lives prior to their African adventures and all of the discussion of what was occurring in both America and Europe at each point in the journey.
   
   I highly recommend this!



2. The fact that Dugard kept me turning pages and wondering if Stanley would live to see Livingstone, is a testament to his prose. A great 'adventure story' with vivid background, scene description and character study. Dugard captures the essence of the mettle of the great explorers, creates a vivid picture of the 'safari' before land rovers, helicopters and malaria pills.



3. Ever since I read "The Last Voyage of Columbus," I have been a Martin Dugard fan. In "Into Africa," Dugard does an admirable job of mixing adventure story-telling with important historical details to make this a fun, historically-compelling read. As a young child I thrilled at the adventures of Livingstone and openly wished to be like him. Now, many years later, Dugard's prose has pernitted me to relive that childhood adventure while also allowing the adult in me to savor the gritty reality of Livingstone's near-fatal treks.



4. A good story, though not extraordinarilly well written. It does serve well enough as a casual introduction to the story of Stanley and Livingstone.



5. Henry Morton Stanley, who's real name was John Rowlands- he was left at a horrible Victorian workhouse after his grandfather died (his mother having abandoned him), was a remarkable man. He certainly had his flaws, but considering his lack of family from age five, he did rise to a prominence that would certainly make a Horatio Alger book pale by comparison. By contrast the missionary David Livingston, was a crusading anti-slavery activist who became distracted by the then popular obsession- the source of the Nile. Despite his more prim upbring Livingston had his flaws, which emerge in his journals and letters. He was also a remarkable man and certainly endured (as Stanley did) hardships that should have killed him before they finally did.
   
   This fascinating story, including many details I had never encountered in earlier books, are well recounted in "Into Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley and Livingston" by Martin Dugard. This is a real page-turner and a story that is not censored to make either man look better than he was. I did find several errors in fact (elephantiasis is not a form of leprosy and one GENUS of mosquitoes transmit malaria, not one species as implied by the author!) However, despite such lapses and an occasional purple passage, Dugard has written a most interesting account of the famous expedition to find Livingston. The reader will also start to realize why Africa is in its current state, what with inter-tribal warfare, Arab and other slave trading, constant raids, murder, endemic disease and colonialism, it is hard to see how anything else could have resulted. The wonder is that any African states are stable at all after their fairly recent history.
   
   A good read and a worthwhile examination of two lives that unexpectedly intertwined.

No comments about Autobiografía de un esclavo.

No comments about Cleopatra: Last Queen of Egypt.

3 comments about Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography (Norton Critical Editions).

1. If you are looking for "the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin," this is the volume to get. It is a Norton Critical Edition, perhaps the gold standard of anthologies, and it is edited by Lemay and Zall.
   
   I believe Lemay and Zall are the "experts" in the autobiographical writings of Benjamin Franklin.
   
   Critical essays include essays written contemporaneously with this autobiography (including David Hume and John Adams); in the 19th century (including Edgar Allen Poe, Herman Melville, Mark Twain); in the 20th century (including D.H. Lawrence, W. Somerset Maugham). The critical essay by D. H. Lawrence is a classic, but it is clear that Lawrence "misread" Benjamin Franklin, and having read it, I have lost some admiration for Lawrence.
   
   Watch for this volume at discount book stores and independent books sellers through Amazon.com.



2. Anyone who has ever taken a literature class in college knows the Norton Critical Editions: an absolutely first-rate version of the text, a healthy supply of contemporary responses and letters, and the best essays yet written about the text. This edition of Benjamin Franklin's "Autobiography" is no exception. The quintessential American Enlightenment figure, Franklin is far more complex than most people think, and far funnier. When it came time to write the Declaration of Independence, the Congress wouldn't give it to Franklin alone, in large part because they were afraid he'd hide a joke in it. One of his most infamous pieces of writing was under the guise of a prostitute being brought before the court for having yet another illegitimate child -- and then attacking the court for making it necessary for her to pursue her profession! And the letter Franklin wrote his own illegitimate son about how to keep a mistress is a classic in and of itself. The only great flaw in the autobiography is that it stops before Franklin ever reaches the Revolutionary War, and thus we don't have the inside story of that perilous time. But anybody wanting to understand Franklin's life, the means to wealth, or the evolution of a brilliant mind will love this text. It's mandatory reading for every American, in my mind.



3. How many books have you read that you remember thirty-six years later? Ben Franklin's insights into principles of self-improvement, and his love for the adventure of life were not only inspiring to me when I discovered his autobiography in the Holmesburg Library in Philadelphia at age 14, but they still remain motivational for me at age 50! Ben Franklin was the Dale Carnegie of his age. He realized that by following basic core value principles, and by constant practice in the adventure of life, he could not only creatively change himself, but he could positively impact those around him as well. Ben Franklin led a purposeful, creative life. I am thankful that he had the foresight to pass his exhuberance along to us in this his autobiography. It was fun to read. I think I'll read it again. Thanks, Ben.

5 comments about Behind the Urals: An American Worker in Russia's City of Steel.

1. A very good account of life in 1930s Russia under the Bolshevik regime led by Lenin and then Stalin. Stalin's policies of collectivism of agriculture and rapid industrialization is very apparent throughout the book. What stands out is the dim view held by many Russian citizens of the capitalistic society of western nations including the United States which is clearly exploited by Stalin to pursue his objectives of social engineering and absolute power. You even find yourself buying into Stalin's propoganda as seems to be the case with the author, John Scott. But Stalin's brutal tactics must not be overlooked. He does create impressive cities and a very strong army, but at a great cost to the Russian people.



2. Other reviewers have done a good job pointing out the positives of this book; it's a unique look at a moment in history in a region most westerners have never heard of. One issue that needs to be made clear, however, is that this book is under no circumstance to be considered unbiased. In reference to Stalin's purges, John Scott makes such statements in as "Often they tried the wrong people, but in Russia this is relatively unimportant" and "Most of these people were innocent, but some were guilty, and some might have become excellent Nazi fifth-columnists. Stalin considered this investment a good one" without a hint of remorse. He plays the apologist, by constantly citing figures like pig iron production or cement tonnage, which are somehow supposed to negate the Stalinist terrors. Yes, the author is a victim of that same blind denial that kept Jews in concentration camps and the Gulag full of innocent Soviets. After reading Eugenia Semyonovna Ginzburg's "Journey Into the Whirlwind", her account of her life in Stalin's prison system, I almost felt physically ill when I reexamined "Behind the Urals". I can not blame Scott for what so many other Soviets fell victim to, the Cult of Stalin, but you have to go into this book with the mindset you would an uncritical book about the wonders of arms production in Nazi Germany. "Behind the Urals" is full of history, but it needs a liberal dose of critical interpretation, and an understandings that his political views should best be taken as an historical curiosity.



3. This book is a first-person account of work life in the Soviet Union in the 1930s. Disenchanted with opportunities in Depression America in 1931, Scott takes off for the Workers' Paradise. He finds a job as a welder building the massive steelworks in the new Soviet city of Magnitogorsk in the Ural Mountains. Altogether, he spent six years living and working in Magnitogorsk until he lost his job due to Stalin's purges.

   The conditions that Scott found himself working in are simply incredible. He rose well before dawn and went to work outdoors in -30 degree temperatures with no breakfast. Lunch, the major meal of the day, was a hunk of bread and some watery soup with perhaps a slice of tough meat. Work place injuries were extremely common, due to the cold, lack of food and lack of training or safety equipment. For example, Scott describes an incident where he was working high above the ground and saw something, or rather, somebody, go sailing past only to the pipes below. As a foreigner, Scott knew some first aid, so he was always called on to care for such injuries when they occurred at the work site. In addition to describing work life and living conditions, Scott also discusses the educational and training systems that were in place and spare time activities such as vacations. He also includes some anecdotes about ex-pat workers who he met in Magnitogorsk.

   Scott remains objective throughout the book, making the message of the book extremely powerful, much more so than if he had pressed political arguments or personal viewpoints. A particularly interesting facet of the book is its discussion of the purges of the 1930s and speculation on their cause. Few other outsiders were living inside Soviet society at the time, so Scott's views can be uniquely enlightening about how Soviets perceived what was happening to their society and why. Scott identifies several possible causes for the purges, but seems to place great emphasis on the fear of foreign saboteurs and does not mention Stalin's personality at all as a possible cause. Area specialists and historians will find much of interest in this book, as will casual readers.




4. This is a great first hand accont of Stalinism at work. John Scott five year experience in Russia gives us a fairly good overview of some of the accomplishments (such as increase production of pig iron three fold in a decade) and also the problems usually involving poor planning or lack of materials. Scott as an American working in Russia gives us an unusual perspective that is quite refreshing. His writing is easy to read and includes many entertaining and revealing anecdotes. Also his writing is not bogged down by the didactic language and relentless facts that plague most works of history. True there is a history of Magnitogorsk that drags a bit but it is over soon enough. Generally, this is considered the definative work on everyday Stalinism



5. John Scott gives us the reader an interesting point of view of Stalin's Soviet Union. His epic journey is not one to bew taken lkightly. He was in an era when disillusionment was high -- the Great Depression and he believed in the fream of work, even in the figid vastlands of the Urals. Scott gives a good account of what wlife was like, but the book goes by either very quickly or very slowly and does not capture a medium of speed that is accpetable to some readers. However, it is a brittlant account of first hand experence if you are looking for suh an account, Scott is your man.

5 comments about Everybody Was So Young: Gerald and Sara Murphy: A Lost Generation Love Story.

1. I recently discovered this book so will try not to repeat the favorable reviews of others. I have visited most of the locations in this book and will try to search out the Murphy's history the next time I go. They lived magical lives in a period of tremendous artistic creativity. The 1920s in Paris were a unique period for American literature. That the Murphys were at the center of it makes this book required reading for anyone who wants to study the period. I have been in Sylvia's Beach's Shakespeare and Company, still there on the left bank, but the magic is gone. What must it have been like to be part of this generation of expatriates ? Read the book and find out. It is terrific.



2. The world of the rich-and-famous is ever fascinating. Here we're given entree into the Murphy world. If this is your favorite genre, you'll like this. However, I became satiated very early on too much richness, too many names, too many details. I found it over written, over talky. Everyone is charming (one way or another) and I can see why celeb advocates would adore this. Not I.



3. I had to go out and buy this book after seeing "Making It New: The Art and Style of Sara and Gerald Murphy" at the Williams College Museum of Art in Williamstown, MA. The book is terrific, but if you're interested in this period, its writers and artists than track down this exhibit. It's a wonderful and extraordinary show about the Murphys and those they were friends with. Paintings, theater pieces, diary entries, letters, amazing photographs, home movies and more illustrate that the Murphys were really an essential part of the 1920s and 1930s. An argument can be made that they were the center that everything spun out from. It is absolutely sensational.



4. Zelda Fitzgerald died on March 10, 2005. Hers was a terrible death --- she was a patient at the Highland Mental Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, and the building caught fire, and because the patients were locked in, Zelda and eight others died. She was 48.
   
   Her life had, effectively, ended years earlier, when she had the first of her breakdowns and was diagnosed as a schizophrenic. Or had it ended earlier than that? Perhaps with the death of her estranged husband, the once glamorous, then ruined F. Scott Fitzgerald, in 1940. Or maybe even earlier, on the Riviera, in 1924, when she had a dalliance with a French aviator that so enraged that her husband she tried to kill herself a few months later. Or even earlier, when Scott started appropriating her personality and her ideas for the characters in his novels.
   
   Yes, but for a few years there, they had it all, didn't they? They were the Golden Couple, the personification of the '20s: young, beautiful, gifted. But not smart about fame, although, back then, almost no one understood how the flame of media draws you in, consumes you for the amusement of an uncaring public, and leaves you with ashes in your mouth and regret in your heart.
   
   No, wait. Some people did grasp that. The Murphys did. And, as Amanda Vaill tells their story, they are considerably more interesting than their friends, the drunk and disorderly Fitzgeralds.
   
   And can we talk about turning life into art?
   
   Late each morning in the summer of 1922, Gerald went outside his home in Antibes and created something never seen before --- a beach! --- by raking the seaweed and stones. For this, he is said to have invented the idea of the Riviera as a summer destination.
   
   Moments later, Sara would join him and, on a blanket, read or write. She wore a white linen dress or bathing suit. And, always, a long strand of pearls, which she looped around her back so she wouldn't mar her tan (and, she said, because the sun was good for them). For this, she became a style-setter and muse.
   
   Gerald and Sara together were not two but one. They were "The Murphys," a young and rich American couple who used their youth and money to establish themselves at the center of a cultural elite in which everybody was young, talented, acclaimed. Cole Porter, Stravinsky, Picasso (who was in love with Sara), Cocteau --- though they were stars on their own, they orbited the Murphys. "There was a shine to life wherever they were," Archibald MacLeish said. "It was as though custom and habit had been wiped away and the thing itself was, for an instant, seen. Don't ask me how."
   
   Then F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway showed up.
   
   If you've read Tender Is the Night, you know that Fitzgerald took the Murphys as models for the Divers. Whatever its merits, the novel reduced the Murphys to "Beautiful People." In fact, Gerald was an accomplished painter, an American Leger. He and Sara were experts on African-American spiritual music. They financed theatrical productions and helped worthy friends (Hemingway, for just one).
   
   And they were far from untouched by the troubles of ordinary mortals.
   
   First their young son Patrick came down with tuberculosis. Then, suddenly, their younger son died of meningitis. "Fancy. There's no other word for it," John Dos Passos said. "They could have thought & thought for a million years and they wouldn't have been able to think of one like that." And then, "fancy" again, a few years later, when Patrick died, and the Murphys had to carry on for their one remaining child.
   
   It gets, if possible, more intense. Gerald returned to America to run his family business, a posh New York leather store named Mark Cross. He sent money to the faltering Fitzgerald. He had some deep poetic attachments with young men. And then he died. Dorothy Parker sent his widow this telegram: "Dearest Sara Dearest Sara." The widow staged a funeral that was described as "courage disguised as taste." But that was his life. And hers.
   
   It's easy to read a book like this for the anecdotes about the mighty. But Fitzgerald comes across here as an eternal college boy and a bit of a fool, Hemingway as cold and manipulative. In contrast, the Murphys seem like explorers of the rarest kind --- blessed with money, they set out to find beauty and harmony. That they also found tragedy only makes their story more fascinating.
   
   College kids majoring in Gender Studies can find much in the life of Zelda Fitzgerald to ponder. I'm not knocking that --- there are lessons galore in that roller coaster of a life. But when you're further along the road, the Fitzgeralds start to be, at bottom, a lot of noise --- spoiled children breaking things.
   
   The Murphys, in contrast, look more substantial, more worthy of a sustained view. The Murphys, for all their money and privilege, seem real. These days, I don't want to read about the Fitzgeralds; I want to read Fitzgerald. But the Murphys --- they're well worth 500 pages.



5. This delightful story is like watching a wonderful old movie from the 30's-40's! And I learned a thing or two about history!!! I'll be urging my book group to read this.