1 comments about Dispatches and Dictators: Ralph Barnes for the Herald Tribune.

1. Barbara Mahoney has captured the essence of time and person. Most people will find Ralph Barnes an unfamiliar name in the context of pre-war America, but Dr. Mahoney, right from the beginning provides the reader with a reason to continue reading, melding the importance of the period with the accomplishments of the man: "He lived and reported in an era unsurpassed for its complexity and peril. His story is its story."
   Three stories are harmoniously integrated into a compelling history of the time: the historical events of the period, the craft of reporting on those events, and the personal trials of having a family while constantly on the move. Above and beyond is Dr. Mahoney's contention that Ralph Barnes' interpretation and extrapolation of those events, was, for the most part, on target, unlike many of his contemporary colleagues. "Dispatches and Dictators" provides a unique look at a period of time that Ralph Barnes lived through and reported on, and appeals to both the professional and amateur historian. This is definitely a must read for anyone interested in the run-up to the signature event of the 20th century.

5 comments about Necessary Sins: A Memoir.

1. We all have to remember that a review (including this one) represents one persons opinion -- and the review must not ever be construed to be the opinion of the publication in which it appears. And while I respect Publishers Weekly and feel they get it right most of the time, I feel that the reviewer got it wrong on this occasion. Necessary Sins is a beautifully executed honest and totally absorbing memoir. What Darling refrains from doing is throwing everything possible in. She is judicious in what she gives us and although she is hard on herself, one ends up admiring her. The book has everything you could want: a driving narrative, proper reflection, limpid prose, a sense of restraint. I highly recommend it



2. Darling is best at capturing and identifying with the state of career women in the feminist decades: "The women I knew improvised." As a reporter for Washington Post Style, she becomes involved with the married head of the Style section; he divorces, they marry, and then Darling's interesting soul searching gets blunted by melodrama as he suffers the death of a son, they have a baby, and then he dies himself, leaving Darling to fare forward with her daughter.



3. I read a review in Quarterly Paperback Book Club and bought the book from there. Sorry Amazon! I did read the book and found it fascinating to read. I read it at a French restaurant in front of the fire and on the bus. Lynn Darling tells the story of herself as a writer and her encounter with Lee Lescaze a correspondent and editor.
   One never expects to fall in love with someone; especially if he's married with three children. That is what happened to Lynn. She fell in love with Lee and as time progressed, they faced ups and downs in their relationship and the final moment when he was struggling to deal with his cancer.
   Necessary Sins is a cathartic for the writer who is trying to understand her existence as a person and as a woman. She was a child of the sixties experimenting with love and sex. She talks about the women in her family and how they shape her. And she mentions her relationship with her husband's children. This book wasn't scandalous as affairs are made out to be. Looking at the title one may think that there is some dirty laundry but the cover illustrates the innocence of a woman and the risks that she is taking in having a relationship with a married man and co-worker.



4. While not directly involved in the events described in this book, I am very familiar with them and know most of the people involved, including the family for whom one can feel only the greatest sympathy. It is more difficult to sympathize with the narrator whose various guises of self deprecation are not sufficient to mask her deeper role in the tragedy she describes.
   
   This is the story from Darling's perspective of her involvement in the events leading up to the death of her husband, Lee Lescaze and that of his son, Adrien as well as the aftermath. But this does not include her role in the most profound sense; for there can be no doubt that by placing her own needs and passions ahead of others', she created a chain of causality leading to the death of 11-year old Adrien in 1989. From her initiative to seduce Adrien's father there unfolded a series of events that created the circumstances of Adrien's death. The facts are well known but not surprisingly, Darling fails to mention that while she was having her affair with Lee Lescaze, his wife was dealing with Lee's live-in mother, an invalid with full blown Alzheihemer's Disease. After the father left his family, his exhausted wife struggled to raise three children alone. His absence from the family culminated in that harried morning of mundane events in 1989 that led to the tragedy on the way to school. Such a moment was born not in the immediate persons and circumstances of the moment. It arose from the fundamental moral decisions that long preceded and led up to that terrible scene. Darling describes her success in removing Lee Lescaze from his family. As a result, the usual familial supports that manage to routinely convey a child safely to school were absent that day. That Adrien's mother admitted Darling to be part of the grieving family group was an act of generosity difficult to imagine, but it does not imply that Adrien's mother did not understand the deeper causality of her son's death, nor did this tragedy escape the conscience of the father.
   
   Subsequently, Lynn Darling profited from that death. As her book confirms, she had longed for a child, but was initially refused one by her new husband. Adrien's death shocked him into giving her the child she sought. No doubt her child's life is a blessing to the world, but so was Adrien's. Even more, from Adrien's life and death there have flowed a great many other wonderful, unforeseen blessings not covered in the book. It is only fitting that Adrien's memorial service filled the vast National Cathedral in Washington and his brief but charismatic presence on this earth is remembered by many with joy, gratitude and not a little wonder. Lynn Darling's appreciation and close observation of this remarkable child are the strongest parts of the book.
   
   We all may wish to sympathize at some level with the author who is but one of us. Who knows what tragedies, including death, any of us has thoughtlessly contributed to the pursuit of our own passions and needs? The problem is that this book does not pose such questions, nor do they even appear to press upon the author. Her remorse or sense of accountability, such as it is, would better have been reflected in unpublished silence, respectful of the family's loss and continuing grief, and in her deeper reflection on the ever-unfolding, unfathomable universe of cause and effect. The fact that she feels the need to recount this story in spite of the pain it must reinflict on Adrien's family speaks to the true nature of her self indulgent little book.



5. Although this book is well written by an author of established credentials, it is just another "tell-all" book of the "chick lit" variety, and it has a very one-sided perspective - that of the author. There was little sense of the personalities of the other members of the family described in the book except for the effect they had on the experiences of Lynn Darling, herself. This would be appropriate in a work of fiction. There, when the story is told in the voice of the main character, the limited perspective makes sense. But, even in good fiction there are still descriptive hints as to the reality of other characters in contrast to the overarching voice of the main character. This is a story about real people, but it comes off as more of a soap opera due to the lack of emotional insight. The narrator is trying to make sense of her life choices and the tragedies the choices have brought to her but only from an emotionally immature perspective. The trouble is that these tragedies affect the other real characters in the book in profound ways as well. The author has neither speculated upon this possibility nor dealt with it in any depth. Since the family she married into is a "real" family with "real" children, it would have been more empathetic if the author had protected their identity by using different names and details, or by creating a totally fictional account instead. Apparently the author had neither the imagination nor the insight to be so considerate.
   Darling's story is that of an ambitious woman, a journalist, who, feeling the biological clock ticking, fell in love with a depressed older man, who was medicating himself with alcohol and who held a high position at the Washington Post. He had already proved himself to be a top journalist during the Vietnam War and elsewhere and seemed to be a very accomplished person. She, a younger, aspiring person, held a lower position at the Post. This man had a real wife and real children, but one gets a sense in her book that Darling has purloined them into her universe - not just the depressed and alcoholic husband who fell for her charms, but the whole family. In the book it seems that she is trying to justify to herself the consequences that followed, albeit not very successfully. It is clear that the marriage was of no help to anyone but the author and her daughter, and only possibly the husband. The opening chapter describes a supposedly sexually liberated woman who finally fell in love, but such a woman is still responsible for her actions and the hurt that she does to others. This is not just her story. Until she has dealt with this fact in some greater depth, she should forbear to write about it or, at least, disguise or fictionalize it. That way she would show that she knows that it is only her difficult and sad story that she is telling.
   Reading between the lines it seems clear to me that her husband, Lee, descended into more depression in their marriage, especially after the death of his son, and that he may have been no happier than before he married her. It might be that he felt some sort of guilt for his carelessness to his previous family. There is no mention of that possibility in this book.
   In short, this story is about carelessness: the carelessness of the needy, the ambitious, the depressed and the emotionally undeveloped person. It is not an unusual story, and it shows no unusual depth of awareness or perspective. As nonfiction, it doesn't even give even a nod to the reality of the other people's stories. If one wants to read a great fictional book (or see the movie) showing the consequences of this sort of carelessness, re-read The Great Gatsby for depth, objectivity and good writing.

1 comments about Abraham Lincoln: A Press Portrait (The North's Civil War, No. 15).

1. This book, first published in 1971, presents the life and career of Abraham Lincoln through the pages of the newspapers that covered it. This work is, therefore, essentially a biography written with multiple voices and from differing perspectives by the journalists who watched Lincoln's public life. It contains all of the virtues and vices of the reportorial profession. At times the reprinted articles are eloquent and insightful, at others they present gross inaccuracies and exaggerations. All come together to offer a complex portrait of arguably the most significant president of the American republic. Overall, they offer a fascinating representation of Abraham Lincoln and his times.

   Editor Herbert Mitgang makes clear that the individual articles reprinted in this collection should never be considered objective accounts of Lincoln's activities. Instead, the newspapers of that era were overtly partisan. Even a relatively small city like Lincoln's Springfield, Illinois, had two newspapers, one ardently supportive of Lincoln and the Republicans, the other rabidly hostile. And both reported the same events in strikingly different ways. Readers see repeatedly in this collection the differing reportage of events in Lincoln's life. For instance, accounts of the Lincoln-Douglas debates are sensationalized toward one side or the other depending on the political allegiance of the newspaper reporting them. Mitgang appropriately notes that these reports "presented history in the rough" (p. xxiv).

   While this collection ranges across the life of Abraham Lincoln, well over two-thirds of the work is devoted to his presidential career and the Union's victory in the Civil War against the Confederacy. Almost every major military action is discussed in some detail, but more importantly the role of Lincoln in reshaping the nation with the abolition of slavery receives considered attention. The struggles to maintain a ruling coalition and to manage both the radicals of Lincoln's own party and the peace Democrats enter the discussion. Of course, the assassination of Lincoln and succession of his vice president to the oval office gains attention.

   This is a marvelous entrée for students into the primary sources of history. Newspapers have shaped our understanding of political events since the birth of the nation and this collection goes far toward illuminating the career or Abraham Lincoln. The reports and opinions of journalists show a person and a time in both its ambiguity and complexity. Its availability in this paperback reprint provides excellent grist for students.

No comments about Stop Press: A Life in Journalism.

No comments about A Life With the Printed Word.

5 comments about William F. Buckley, Jr.: Patron Saint of the Conservatives.

1. Buckley as Mephistopheles conniving for the soul of America - from enfant terrible' of the CIA's creature, the "Conservative Movement" - to old conjurer too pooped to Pope over the sinister Neocon realm he created.
   
   "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven." -- John Milton



2. I couldn't disagree more with cxlxmx's review of this book. John Judis has written a remarkably interesting book about one of the most important figures in the history of modern conservatism. It would be fair to say that William F. Buckley was the most important figure in the political history of the Right, as he provided an intellectual infrastructure for right wing thought.
   
   I read this book as part of a seminar I took in graduate school during the 90s, and fully expected to dislike William F. Buckley, given my own liberal politics. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Buckley played an important role in attempting to discredit the more crackpot elements within the Right, in particular, the John Birch Society. I was so intrigued by this idea, that I ended up writing my M.A. thesis on the Birch Society. This book was the original inspiration for my research.
   
   Judis gives a fair and fascinating account of a very interesting and misunderstood figure. I would recommend this book to anyone, and I believe it is an excellent source for understanding how Conservatives captured control of the federal government during the Reagan years and maintained their grip on power into the present day.



3. It's been ages since I read this book, but WFB's death yesterday has got me browsing through books by or about Buckley, and I was reminded how much I liked Judis's book. It's a pleasure (and seemingly so unusual nowadays) to get to read someone writing respectfully about someone with whom he strongly disagrees, whether it's the leftist Judis writing about Buckley, or Buckley himself writing moving obituaries of those on the left.
   
   From the perspective of a WFB fan who finds hagiographies tiresome, this book was a real treat, and I recommend it highly.



4. I just really like Buckley and have ever since I saw him on one of those 60-minute type programs back in the early '90s. This book provides some interesting information about him from interviews with friends and family, etc. In general, it is quite poorly written and a little boring, relying entirely on the subject's inherently interesting life rather than on the author's skill. Buckley fans will enjoy. Biography fans will yawn.



5. Great book; very objective, almost a love feast of fascinating Buckley quotes, but also very critical. I recommend Mr. Judis' biography of William F. Buckley, Jr. as a great way to understand the course of American conservatism in the last century, going strong into this one.

3 comments about Move On.

1. Not as completely entertaining as Ellerbee's prior book "And So it Goes," which focused on her career in broadcast journalism, this follow-up is a collection of unrelated tales from her life - each opening a window onto a different phase of it. I prefered Ellerbee's first (and funnier) book, but two tales from this volume are brilliant enough to give it a ratings bump.

   Ellerbee's story of overcoming alcoholism at the Betty Ford Center is as real and honest as memoirs get. Entering the program with a witty cynicism (masking fragile fear), Ellerbee eventually surrenders to the therapeutic environment and is ultimately softened by it. It's just the kind of story you'd expect from an intelligent satirist who (at first) feels she's above the 12-stepping and soul searching, but finally recognizes it as the only way to heal and become whole.

   My favorite chapter, though, is the smart and funny tale of young Linda's first summer job, "We Reserve the Right to Refuse Service to You." Linda spends her summer working at a resort owned by a friend of her father. After several weeks of mingling with the other young workers - one of whom is a radical looking to unionize - Linda learns valuable life lessons and eventually "sticks it to the man," her boss. In the end, the tale (and the title) becomes a metaphor for prejudice and stereotyping. This story alone is worth the cost of the book. Buy "Move On," read this chapter, then make photocopies of the chapter for your friends... it's the kind of thing you'll want to share.




2. This is nothing less than a work of genius, a beautiful story which is beautifully told. The thrilling exploits of this legendary giant of journalism are sure to enthrall everyone who reads about them. No other person, living or dead, could possibly have a more interesting story to tell, or be able to tell it in a more interesting way. Ms. Ellerbee is simply amazing, and her great talent continues to manifest itself on her wonderful news program which airs on Nickelodeon once per week, but which should be shown at least twice each day. Forget about Murrow, Cronkite, and all the rest - Ellerbee is the greatest!



3. Linda Ellerbee goes on and shows us more of her life. We learn of her friends, her life, and how these shaped her into the woman we've enjoyed for years on Overnight and telling us the real story where others just tell us what they want us to know.

1 comments about The Rise and Fall of the Press Box.

1. When it comes to sports books a book by writers such as Roger Kahn, Roger Angell, Fred Lieb, or Leonard Koppett you can be fairly certain you are in for a book that will educate as well as entertain you. If his final effort before his death Leonard Koppett tells us how the importance of the press box in which so many writers brought fans the news of the events on the field has changed over the last several decades. Print was the medium in which information was initially passed from reporter to fan. The advent of radio brought a new medium which supplemented newspapers. Now television brings information to us practically instantaneously, and many of the newspapers that used to serve the major cities in previous decades have gone out of business. The book is sprinkled with humorous anecdotes regarding some of the literary giants who populated the sporting scene throughout the 20th century. Koppett popularized the use of statistics in his columns written as a correspondent for The Sporting News, but he also provides examples how statistics can be misused or misleading. Ron Fairly and Koppett were discussing the high batting average of bunter Brett Butler when Fairly stated, "If you took away his bunts and dribblers he'd be hitting .260." Koppett answered, "Sure, and if you took away his outs, he'd be hitting 1.000." Pitch counts citing the number of strikes and balls is also deceiving, because it assumes every pitch swung at is a strike. He says the correct statistic should say, "96 pitches, 32 hit fair, 27 strikes (called or swung at and missed) or fouls, 37 balls." Koppett also covers the New York teams in all sports that he covered for the New York Times. After working in New York for several years he then moved to Palo Alto, California, and covered the New York teams when they came to play in California. This is not a traditional sports book, but concentrates on a newspaperman's view of the sporting scene and how the coverage of sports has changed over the years. The book contains 53 chapters, but each one is only from five to eight pages long. If you feel this subject would be of interest to you, I'm sure you would enjoy the book since you are reading it from a quality author.

No comments about The Rights of Reporters: The Basic Aclu Guide to a Reporter's Rights (An American Civil Liberties Union handbook).

No comments about Frances Power Cobbe: Victorian Feminist, Journalist, Reformer (Victorian Literature and Culture Series).