5 comments about A Clearing In The Distance: Frederick Law Olmsted and America in the 19th Century.

1. This is a brilliant account of an American legend. His career was a remarkable adventure: surveyor, sailor, farmer, merchant, social commentator, author, abolitionist, planner, construction manager, wartime administrator, mining executive, and (finally) consummate landscape architect. The author skillfully conveys these transitions in an lively narrative that ably portrays 19C America as well.
   
   Olmstead's creativity was served by a pragmatic versatility capable of working wonders. Anticipating dense urbanism and frontier encroachment, he pioneered municipal parks and wilderness preserves that today remain invaluable oasis's. Though largely self-taught (like Washington and Lincoln), he collaborated as an equal with the luminous figures of his day (most formally trained: Vaux, Richardson, McKim, Mead, White, Post, Burnham, Root, Hunt, Saint-Gaudens). He was interested in new technology (electric boats and lighting, drainage, transportation) and took a leading edge to incorporate it in his work.
   
   Ultimately, his legacy is not only one of exceptional work (enjoyed by many cities, including Hartford -his birthplace), but the invention of a skilled professional discipline that continues to enrich human life today.
   
   This work (illustrated and annotated) was a delight. Highly recommended. I wish it was available when I attempted to make my way through Laura Wood Roper's torturous `FLO: A Biography of Frederick Law Olmstead' in 1973 (it sits on my shelf yet half unread).
   
   Also recommended: Cynthia Zaitzevsky's `Frederick Law Olmsted and the Boston Park System' (1982) a great record of Olmstead's Boston park development (with plans and photographs).



2. As a Landscape Architect Olmsted holds a special place for me in the American story. This book is an easy and pleasant read. Most people do not know of the diverse and remarkable path that Olmsted's life traced. Witold's retelling of Olmsted's life covers in adequate depth and breadth the extraordinary tale without bogging down or over emphasizing any particular phase of FLO's life. Olmsted was not only the designer of Central Park but he was an influential member of society in his day and his legacy is as valuable in social terms as it is in environmental.



3. The life of Olmstead was a mystery to me. I read about him in the "Devil in the White City" I had to learn more.
   
   This is a capable biography, covering his life seemingly thoroughly. I didn't buy into the convention the author used when he would describe moments in Olmstead's life in a semi-fictional way. Otherwise, good really good stuff.



4. A Clearing in the Distance is a great biography about a man who had great strength and deep sorrows. The first half of the book covers Olmsted's life before becoming a Landscape Architect. He was basically a very talented man who could not find his calling. Once he found it, he pursued his passion with commitment and daring that changed the way that subsequent generations have thought about their environment and surroundings.
   
   The book provides valuable insights into both Olmsted the man and the world in which he lives. There are musings that are the author's thoughts and are obviously not historical, but they are interesting too in that they give us insight into the author's biases and interests.
   
   Overall, A Clearing in the Distance is well worth reading.



5. Olmsted's life is fascinating and Rybczynski does an adequate job of presenting the highlights, but the writing style is something less than engaging. In addition, the author spends too much time on trivial matters while neglecting more important things. For example, he writes page after page about Olmsted's failures to connect with a romantic mate. Goodness, he wasn't much of looker or a lady schmoozer and this plagued him for years. There, I said it in one sentence. Had the author done likewise we might have learned more about the details of some of Olmsted's projects. If the author wanted to play up relationships to give the reader a fuller appreciation of Olmsted's psychological make-up, he would have done better to delve deeper into the parent-child relationship.

5 comments about Duty: A Father, His Son, and the Man Who Won the War.

1. It's been awhile since I remember reading a Bob Greene column, and my memory was that they were charming and well-written. Not this book. It is padded, repetitive and remarkably dull a lot of the time given the subject matter that should be full of opportunity for a skilled journalist. Other reviewers here have put it best when they said the book is really a magazine article stretched too far. Greene has an interesting concept--weaving in his own father's life, war service and death with the story of Paul Tibbets, of Enola Gay fame. But he never comes close to making it work most of the time. For instance, he seems to quote everything Tibbets says, no matter how mundane. It's rather amazing that he barely dips more than toe deep into the man's life before, during or after Enola Gay. In the end, Tibbets just comes across as a slightly cranky uncle who you really don't want to see except at the holidays. In the same way, Greene's dad seems to be a complex man--and at times Greene taps into that. More often than not, his dad's recorded statements are better written than his son's writing.



2. We received the book very timely. And it is a great read. I would recommend it to anyone.



3. This was absolutely a wonderful read. The author, through the time he spent with his dying father AND the time he spent with Paul Tibbets, brings to the reader two remarkable stories in one. It is a great book historically, and , I think, enables some of us to understand our own WWII fathers better. In any case, you will love this one!



4. Great book, I have grown to really like Bob Greene. I have bought many of his books and and reading them as fast as I can. This book brings the people who fought WWII for us and why they did it and makes them real. I am learning to really appreciate their sacrifices.



5. This is a good work. As one disgruntled reviewer pointed out, this is not a history book, but rather a memoir and tribute from a son to his father and to one of the many heros of WWII. Having been raised by a father from that era, it is quite apparent to me that my relationship with my father was my no means isolated, but somewhat the norm. This work struck pretty close to home. Having spent over twenty years in the military myself, I can understand some of their thoughts, but even that cannot bridge the entire gap. Those guys looked at life differently than my generation. The author has approached the subject with great sensitivity and through his conversations with these men, I feel, has been able to understand not only them, but himself. I highly recommend this one to any father and any son. Well done Mr Greene.

5 comments about Life's a Campaign: What Politics Has Taught Me About Friendship, Rivalry, Reputation, and Success.

1. Chris Matthews is great! I love his show and I love his book! Fun to read advice.



2. I expected more from Chris Matthews. I think this is a light-weight book written for fast money. I would NOT recommend wasting your money.



3. Easy to read and great ideas on bottom line ways of increasing ones chances for a successful career and also a happier life in general.



4. Chris uses his life story to explain how the American system works, he is not judgmental, he just states the reality. HE lays out the rules of the road, many recent immigrants to the US should read this book - it will make the "Who send you question" more understandable and less intimidating! Have a plan, learn the rules, follow the rules and you win big! Chris Mathews is a living example, coming to Washington from a stay in Africa, he knew the rules but nobody, he hard his plan within the rules and executed perfectly!



5. Chris tells it the way he sees it - a competitive world where hard work and persistent effort are necessary ingredients for success.

5 comments about Late Edition: A Love Story.

1. I don't know whether to like Bob Greene or not. Unquestionably he is a great observer of human nature. If you read any of his books it is easy to become intrigued by the sensitivity and the depth he uncovers within the people he meets.
   
   On the other hand, he tends to occasionally drag me to boredom when he seems to just be filling pages. Late Edition is his latest example.
   
   You will find this tale to be a revealing story of his memories as a young student while working at the Columbus Citizen. He intersperses information about the newspaper business in general along the way. Unfortunately, much of it is presented as unnecessary and laborious. On the other hand, his remembrances of the people he met and the events in which he was involved is interesting and enchanting (how many people get chastised by Woody Hayes for the way they answer the phone?!). Even his description of the sports department and the area where he worked is creative and well-explained. On the other hand, all too often he leaves his life and seems to be responding to an editor's plea to add more copy.
   
   Greene became a favorite internationally by writing fascinating tales about people and their strange and unusual situations. He is at his best when examining people. He should stay true to his strengths.



2. There have been inestimable love stories written about men and women... there have been fathomless love stories concerning date and time... but you'd be hard pressed to find such a poetic... romantic... infatuation... between a young man and a crumbling industrial industry such as the newspaper business. The author Bob Greene's reminisces regarding his youthful... loving abandon... to the written word... that was captured by individuals that the author places on mighty pedestals... with the exalted title of *REPORTER*... is akin to watching Romeo and Juliet perform with their clothes smudged with printers ink. As the reader progresses into the story it's as if you're being dragged in by the velvety glove of an otherwise ink stained type setter in a 1960's middle-America Newspaper office.
   
   It all starts when an eleventh-grade Columbus, Ohio student named Bob Greene who always dreamed of being a writer is in English Class and President John F. Kennedy is assassinated. The future author sat down and began to type: "THE CLASS SITS IN STUNNED SILENCE... NOT QUITE ABLE TO REALIZE THE FULL IMPACT OF THE SITUATION. A GIRL IS QUIETLY WEEPING AT HER SEAT...".
   
   After class... on his own he went downtown to an old building at 34 South Third Street... the home of the "COLUMBUS CITIZEN-JOURNAL" and the "COLUMBUS DISPATCH"... the place where the daily newspapers for his hometown were created each day. The author painstakingly recreates the bliss of daily life... that wouldn't be a complete day... without a family's daily newspaper. You couldn't start the day without the morning paper... and you couldn't finish the day without the evening paper. And inside this utopia is where young Bob's goals and aspirations dwelled. As he warmly recreates his begging for a chance... a job... an internship... hell... even just to be a "go-fer"... if that's what it took to get him inside this mystical newspaper business... that some might call a job... but to him it was his dream of dreams. He brought in his five-hundred-typed-words that described his view of the immediate effect of JFK's assassination in his Ohio classroom to the Citizen Journal. Being in that building was like what a trip to Disneyland for any other teenager would be. But Instead of magic carpet rides and Peter Pan... he saw reporters... copy editors... and typesetters. As the author cracked open the door to squeeze inside in an attempt to get a foothold towards his future... unbeknownst to him and the entire industry... the newspaper industry as we knew it... was already on a rapidly increasing downward spiral.
   
   There were hints and clues all around him... but in the midst of his passionate fascination with the written and reported word... he and the world were blind.
   
   "MY FATHER WOULD PUT DOWN THE "DISPATCH" EACH NIGHT A MINUTE BEFORE WALTER CRONKITE-BEFORE *THE NEWS* ARRIVED IN OUR HOME. HAD I BEEN SMARTER-HAD I BEEN PAYING PROPER ATTENTION-I MIGHT HAVE SENSED WHAT THIS SIGNIFIED."
   
   As the years passed computers replaced typesetters and proofers. On-line newspapers and bloggers were updated around the world with the clicking of a key... the morning paper "news-flashes" were already old news due to the web. Who would pay for a newspaper when it was free in your home without putting on your slippers to go outside. If you were in Tokyo and wanted a copy of the New York Times you didn't have to wait days for the mail... you simply clicked a key. In 1985 the "CITIZEN-JOURNAL" was no more.
   
   The author introduces his narrative from his current position in the inner-sanctum of an electronic-computerized-satellite-communication CNN Election Express bus... where each character he types shoots off into outer space and around the world in a micro-second... but each chapter of his story is dripping with his tears... from the oh-so-long-ago memories of a love that is no more.



3. In "Late Edition," Bob Greene gives us yet another heartfelt journey through a world which, unfortunately, seems to be slowly winking out. Greene's keen eye and his honest emotion make this book both a triumph and a somewhat bittersweet tale. In the future, there will hopefully still be at least a few writers like Bob Greene and someone at a City Desk such as Sam Perdue who will say: "Nothing to write? There are PEOPLE out there!"
   
   Thank you, Bob Greene, for once again sharing your passion with us. I would recommend this book to anyone with a passion. Actually, I'd recommend it to anyone with a pulse.



4. I have read many of Bob Greene's books over the years, and LATE EDITION is one of the best. He writes in a way that is easy to understand and paints a beautiful picture. I look forward to his next book.



5. Bob Greene, as he has demonstrated in his twenty-two books, has a knack for revealing the simple pleasures and tragedies of life told through his own experiences. As in his two previous books, AND YOU KNOW YOU SHOULD BE GLAD, and BY THE TIME WE GET TO SURF CITY, Greene blends happy stories of youth with the inevitability of death, but does it in such an upbeat manner that joy triumphs over sadness.
   In his latest memoir, Greene shares with readers the five summers, beginning in 1964, he worked for Columbus's morning paper, THE CITIZEN-JOURNAL. Greene was seventeen when he became a copyboy, looking forward to college and looking back in pain, as most youth of his generation did, following the assassination of President Kennedy. It was JFK's death that moved Greene to submit a piece to the CITIZENS-JOURNAL, one that went unpublished.
   The book shares Greene's joy of seeing his byline attached to articles he wrote, which was a revelation for a young man who discovered his life's calling at the C-J. Also included are engaging stories of the gumshoes and editors who brought the paper to life everyday, capturing the pulse beat of Columbus, when newspapers ruled the news world. Greene shares his feelings about interviewing mass murderer Richard Speck, who first confessed to Greene the horrific killings; swilling beers in a local bar with up and coming rocker, Bob Seger; covering the tumultuous 1968 Democratic Convention and the follow-up Chicago 7 trial; and learning telephone etiquette from legendary OSU football coach, Woody Hayes.
   The book's most poignant chapters tell about the sense of loss brought about by the demise of the CITIZEN-JOURNAL in 1985, and how over the last twenty years, technology has driven ink-stained papers to the brink of obsolescence. Greene's book will not disappoint his many readers. This is a book that will be enjoyed by those who enjoy a good coming of age story, Greene's forte, and one that should be read by those bold enough to major in journalism because they will learn more about what their profession has lost than to what they have to look forward.

5 comments about Still Waters.

1. This is a sequel to the Blackbird story by Jennifer Lauck. It depicts her struggles once she is freed from her terrible step mother and enters when she meets her grandparents. Lauck then lives with an aunt and uncle who treat her as second class. I cried and cheered for Lauck throughout the story and you will too.



2. I thought "Still Waters" was boring and self-indulgent. Maybe it would have helped to have first read "Blackbird", but I didn't and had a hard time finding sympathy for the main character. Reading this was a waste of time.



3. At the end of Blackbird, Jennifer Lauk's first memoir, 12 year old Jennifer's wicked stepmother (literally) finally relinquishes custody of her and her brother Bryan and we are left to believe she is finally safe. Unfortunately it was not to be.
   
   This book opens with the police report chronicling Bryan's suicide. We know then that maybe there is no happy ever after. Jennifer is first cared for by her grandparents, slowly settling in. She soon learns it is temporary and that her brother is living with one aunt and uncle, and she is going to live with another. Peggy and Dick Duemore eventually adopt Jennifer, but she is valued more for her Social Security check and housekeeping skills than anything else. She stumbles through her life unloved and barely cared for. Upon finally going to college and freeing herself from her `family' she begins to carve out a new life for herself, eventually finding the courage to face her past and her brother's death.
   Again a deeply sad story and although one can sense the anger in this memoir one is also rewarded with the knowledge that Jennifer Lauck has found some measure of peace and happiness in her life. She has a wonderful writing style and voice that makes you care deeply about her.



4. This book is a sequel to the author's first autobiography, 'Blackbird: A Childhood Lost And Found.'
   
   'Still Waters' affected me even more strongly than the first book, because it more closely mirrored my own childhood and young adulthood. There are millions of kids who are not foster children but what I call shuffled kids, sent from one relative to the next, from one family friend to the next, and back again.
   
   At one point in the book, Lauck writes about staying a few days at a relative's house, where there are no other children, and she is comfortable and happy, and there's more than enough room for her to live there without being in the way. Yet inexplicably that relative sends her off to live with someone else and no real explanation is given.
   
   Despite being shuffled around like a deck of cheap cards, Lauck found the inner strength to grow up intact, and this book affirms the incredible resiliency of children to thrive even under less than ideal circumstances.
   
   This is also a disgraceful and shameful retelling of what happens when relatives turn their back on children who are blood relatives and allow them to be raised by strangers. It is truly a gift and a miracle that Lauck made it to adulthood without becoming a criminal or a drug addict, because her family certainly didn't provide the guidance and nurturing that every child deserves.



5. All I can say is, Wow. I picked up Lauck's first book, "Blackbird" at the library and loved it. So right after I finished it I bought Still Waters. I read it in about 2 days.
   
   A lot happens in her life. A lot happens in many of our lives. But the way Lauck sees things that go on in her life and in the world, are special. Her books opened my mind and my heart.
   
   Saying this is a memoir about a dysfunctional family does not do this book justice. Yes, her family is dysfunctional, but her attitude and experiences and how she draws these into her world view, are all woven through her book in a way that I wanted it to never end.
   
   Another thing, many sequels re-hash much of what happened in the first book. And for those of us who have read the first book, it's a bore to read about all this re-hashing. "Still Waters" does not do this. I really appreciated the fluidity with which Jennifer Lauck wrote her sequel.
   
   I look forward to more from this gifted writer.

5 comments about Dijiste Que Me Querias: Como Sobrellevar lo Impensable (Spanish Edition).

1. es un ***EXELENTE LIBRO*** y no me aguanto para que salga su proximo Maria A. es mi heroina de la vida moderna, la gente que se encarga de criticar a esta MUJER es por que de otra forma no lograrian llegar a ella. la admiro y respeto mucho su trabajo sus libros(que los he leido todos) me han arrancado llantos, risas, pero sobretodo he aprendido mucho de cada uno de ellos sobretodo de este viacrucis que llevo cuesta arriva no se si hubiera tenido el coraje que tubo, lo recomiendo este y todos los demas mi hijastra que se ha convertido en tu fiel admiradora a sus 15 anitos y yo estamos ansiosas por que salga ya su proximo libro Sara Balibrera San francisco CA



2. La verdad yo no le diera ni una estrella a este libro pero si no le pongo la estrella no puedo publicar mi comentario. Me parece un libro en el que ella fue muy cruel con el esposo que estaba muriendo de cancer. En todo el libro ella se puso como una gran persona, un heroina. Me parece tan cruel que ella le reclamara acerca de el pasado cuando el estaba muriendo en el presente. Si ella lo hubiera dejado alguien lo hubiera cuidado igual porque ios pone angeles el el camino de uno.Si ella fuera realmente la gran persona que quiere parecer ser lo hubiera cuidado y ya.Que bueno que no compre el libro porque si no pediria mi dinero de regreso.



3. Uno de los mejores libros escritos por Maria Antonieta Collins. Es un excelente libro que ademas de contarnos la historia que vivio' la escritora, nos brinda informacion y consejos sumamente importantes para lidiar en situaciones dificiles.
   El libro trata de como Maria Antonieta descubrio la infidelidad y enganos de su esposo. En el libro, hay senales de alerta para darnos cuenta de cuando estamos siendo enganadas. Les recomiendo 100% este libro al igual que "Cuando el Mounstruo despierta" de la misma escritora.



4. I really enjoyed this book. I could not put it down! It teaches you about love, and loyalty through the worst of times. I cried three times while reading it. I also liked that it came quickly and that the price was very good. I am saving it for my mom to read when she comes to visit for the holidays. I know she will love this real life story. One of the best stories I have read! I highly recommended this book to all my friends.



5. Este es un gran libro basado en la realidad de los hechos, y que nos hace reflexionar profundamente sobre nuestras relaciones de pareja.
   Se lo recomiendo a todos.

5 comments about Almost a Woman.

1. Almost a Woman is a beautifully detailed memoir written by Esmeralda Santiago. In this book she writes of events that occur between her fourteenth and twenty second years, just after she, along with her mother and siblings, moves from a rural town in Puerto Rico to her grandmother's tiny apartment in Brooklyn, New York. Santiago describes her struggles and triumphs in adjusting to a new lifestyle in the United States, embracing her culture, and maturing into the woman she wishes to be.
   I really enjoyed this book. Santiago writes in honest detail about the adventures she has in attempt to become independent from her restricting, "old-fashioned" mother and performing in theaters of Manhattan. Most entertaining are her accounts of unique relationships with various men. I didn't know whether to laugh or to remain in shock as Santiago recalled such things as, "he was thirty-seven, the same age as Mami, seventeen years older than me," or, "it hit me that I was about to marry a man who stole planes for a living." The events are amazingly unpredictable and quite engaging. Only the clarity and specification of her words reminded me that I was not reading an imaginative, fictional story, but rather the true and eventful life of quite a remarkable woman!
   I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to understand the challenges of moving from one very different environment and country to another, while embarking on the journey into adulthood. This memoir will not fail to entertain, as well as teach the reader many important life lessons.



2. Wow.. I thought I had a strict upbringing.. Esmeralda's takes the cake. This memoir picks up where "When I Was Puerto Rican" stops (well, the first chapter or 2 basically repeats the end of the first book for those that did not read it) and covers her teenage years. She had a mother that bore eleven children and never married, but was apparently so concerned that her daughter not follow her example, she did not let Esmeralda date and kept her on a very short leash. Esmeralda finds ways around it tho like any spunky rebellious teenager. I found parts of it engrossing. I felt embarassed with her during the retelling of her Mami showing up at a party simply because she forgot to call. However, I did not find this one as humorous as "When I Was Puerto Rican". I also do not care to read an entire novel about the Turkish guy she meets at the end, which the next novel covers. Basically what I am trying to say, is that unlike "When I Was Puerto Rican," this memoir, although good, does not make me want to keep reading. However, I am going to read the next one just to find out if Esmeralda ever asked her mother "Mami, why do you not use birth control?" I am dying for the answer at this point.



3. Esmeralda Santiago was born in Puerto Rico, and spent her early years there. Her mother moved with her children to New York City (Brooklyn) to start a new life, hoping for newer and greater opportunities after various setbacks in the Caribbean island. Esmeralda tells the story of her beginnings in New York, her struggle to learn English, to cope with the school system, to cope with a new culture and to deal with gangs and crime. The book portrays a strong and proud mother who struggles to maintain her family in the midst of poverty, and who despite an already large family keeps adding to it. The author, in a sort of painful honesty, describes her own passage through adolescence which includes her efforts to earn money,have friends, pursue drama, date and form relationships with men. The one relationship in particular is rather unusual and interesting and I won't spoil the pleasure of reading it for the first time by providing more details. Nor will I spoil her most heroic moment of triumph in the book, a moment which truly leaves one gasping in awe. All in all this is quite a moving and interesting book, written simply and directly but with passion and power.



4. Her life is not easy, but she has made the best of it growing to be an excellent human being, a great writter and an inspiration on success if your really try and have specific goals. Like her books. She is Puerto Rican to the bone.



5. I read this for my Latino Writing class. Other than that I was bored througout the whole book. The only times I really enjoyed this story were when we discussed this in class.

1 comments about Bet the House: How I Gambled Over a Grand a Day for 30 Days on Sports, Poker, and Games of Chance.

1. You won't be gambling on this book - it's a winner. Roeper's easy read style and outrageous story will lasso your interest. If you love sports betting and gambling in general it is a must-read.
   
   James Alexander

5 comments about Cancel Your Own Goddam Subscription: Notes and Asides from National ReviewPM.

1. Willam F. Buckley was a Genius, Hilarious and intellectual. A Conservative Pioneer and A Catholic hero for me.Although I am 27,I sense these modern times can use Someone Like Mr.Buckley,His wit and Wisdom along with Replies to readers of National Review are in this book.Nevermind Chomsky,Mailer and other washed out so-called intellectuals.



2. I miss William F. Buckley. This book is a wonderful collection of his best. It's so nice to hear an intelligent conservative speak on the issues, rather than the crackpot nutjobs that I occasionally listen to on the radio now.



3. Bought Mr. Buckley's latest offering and read it in one sitting. Of course, I was sitting in front of the computer the whole time so that I could look up terms and latin quotes.
   
   Love the way that most of his writings (can't stand his fiction) exercises my mind. I agree with none of his foreign policy positions but most of his economic stands. However, setting aside ideology, simply reading this collection of "Notes & Asides" from National Review made for great entertainment and an increase in my personal lexicon.
   
   Interestingly, just before receiving this book, I had written an essay and submitted it to a friend for review. The review comments included "Well, I did find it a bit dense, discursive and anti-climactic." One of the first Notes & Asides in Mr. Buckley's book pointed out similar failings in one of WFB's articles. "One way of putting the problem is that it's not discernibly heading anywhere; it ambles along, stuffing more and more odds & ends into its elastic bag, until it simply decides to sit down." Yet another quote that WFB includes is from Lee Barnes, the, then, editor of the Fort Pierce (FL) Tribune who explained his decision not to carry Buckley's column - "We have a policy here that we will only use columnists who write in English." WFB's response? "Qualis anus equi!"
   
   I told my still-current-friend-in-spite-of-his-review, "Although I'd love to be considered very like WFB in intellect and wit, my resemblance to him in sentence structure is less gratifying."
   
   So many things about this book appealed to me (but I hate the title):
   
   1) A very young man started writing to WFB but, after receiving his help to enter and graduating from College (Yale, I think) and taking a position with the State Department with a letter of recommendation, never contacted WFB again. I am so curious about this. I even tried to find this young man (no longer so young) on the web and was unsuccessful. Wonder why the correspondence stopped?
   
   2) I don't care how many times WFB explained it, I still don't understand "Immanentize the eschaton". I don't care that I know what the words mean - the phrase makes no sense to me.
   
   3) Similarly, WFB states that his favorite saying and motto is "Quod licet Jovi, no licet bovi." Well hell, it seems intuitively obvious to me that Jupiter (God) has more license and power than an ox but what does WFB find so meaningful in this saying?
   
   4) LOVED the correspondence with Art Buchwald!
   
   5) Yes, I am very strange but I lifted my fist in a "YES!!" gesture when WFB instructed the NR editorial staff with (according to him) his only mandate during his term as Editor:
   
   "A ukase. Un-negotiable. The only one I have issued in seventeen years. It goes: "John went to the store and bought some apples, oranges, and bananas." NOT: "John went to the store and bought some apples, oranges and bananas." I am told National Review's Style Book stipulates the omission of the second comma. My comment: "National Review's Style Book, effective immediately, makes the omission of the second comma a capital offense!"
   
   I, too, come to a full halt when that second comma doesn't appear in such sentences and was just overjoyed to find WFB of the same mind - although I would have said "non-negotiable" rather than "un-negotiable."
   
   6) The give and take between WFB and John Kenneth Galbraith, the far ends of the ideological spectrum, demonstrates the pinnacle of Civil Discourse.
   
   7) WFB's eulogy and last words re colleague Bill Rickenbacker made me cry. Mr. Rickenbacker had come alive in this book to me as I knew of him only by name prior to this reading. What a fascinating person he must have been.
   
   8) Although Rickenbacker's final days brought tears to my eyes, my real sorrow was plumbed by why the Notes & Asides feature was eventually removed from regular appearances in NR:
   
   "I regretfully conclude that `Notes & Asides' can't continue as a regular feature of National Review. The reason is: We aren't getting enough letters that qualify as N&A material - inquisitive, zany, confused, annoyed, piquant."
   
   That is truly sad. The readership, both fans and foes, had grown stale and less erudite. I think that is true for our nation overall. That, IMO, is cause for real sorrow.
   
   If Mr. Buckley's book sells well, perhaps that means that this state of affairs is on the mend. His recent passing further reduced the nation's collective intellect.



4. "National Review" magazine began publishing November, 1955. After awhile, Buckley began to set aside unorthodox letters sent for publication, and this brings together material chosen from that collection. The material is presented chronologically, divided into four sections. Section I runs up to Nixon I, II goes through Watergate and the Carter malaise, III brings in the Reagan years, and IV goes through the end of the Cold War and on to the next set of challenges.
   
   Buckley's equanimty and good humor are astounding - funnier than any comic. Early on the fun begins when he founds the "National Committee to Horsewhip Drew Pearson" for besmirching Shirley Temple, establishing honorary members, selling buttons, etc. Some of his critics are pretty erudite and witty themselves - eg. an English professor tongue-in-cheek's critiquing Buckley's grammar and sentence structure.
   
   It's all pretty much apolitical, and at times even a bit irreligious, but almost all (except for a bit of spite back and forth with Arthur Schlesinger) light-hearted. If only I could write half as well!



5. I can highly recommend this book if you are a fan of William F. Buckley, Jr. It is just so typical of him. Read and enjoy.

2 comments about La Vida Loca (Always Running): El Testimonio de un Pandillero en Los Angeles (Spanish Edition).

1. This book was excellent! I read it in just a couple of days. Since I first started I couldn't take my eyes of what I was reading. The story is shocking and rude, yet interesting and mind-opening. It explicitly tells the struggles of growing up in a foreign country with everything against you and yet find the way to a new world full of possibilities. Excellent for tenagers, parents, and students.



2. THIS WAS ONE THAT COULD NOT BE PUT DOWN FOR LONG.I DO NOT READ ALOT BUT I TOOK A GLANCE AT THIS AND CONTINUED READING TILL THE END. IT WAS REALLY SOMETHING GREAT TO READ.MY EYES COULDNT GET ENOUGH.