3 comments about Fire In The Wind: The Life of Dickey Chapelle.

1. The book is very factual and an easy read because the author is a journalist herself. However Ms. Ostroff tends to engage in some hero worship with her subject, which came as something of a disappointment to me. Overall not a bad book but not one I'm keeping on my shelf.



2. Interesting book about Dickey Chapelle. She wanted to be a pilot, but became a photojournalist--the first woman photographer to get accredation to cover the war in the Pacific in World War II. After that, she was present at nearly every noteworthy conflict or event there was--if something was going on, Dickey wanted to be there, and usually got her way. She worked for Life, Reader's Digest, National Geographic, and many other magazines and papers. She was killed in 1965, while with the Marines in Vietnam.

   Her personal life was not always smooth sailing, and I find it incredible that she achieved all she did.

   What I found most interesting about Dickey was her spirit--she didn't let conventions or anybody stand in her way. She was a trailblazer in her field, and I'm glad that Roberta Ostroff wrote this book--Dickey certainly deserves recognition for her courage and and heroism.




3. I was actually a bit annoyed to find this book, since I didn't know anyone had written Chapelle's biography, and I had thought of doing it myself. That said, Ostroff has written it much better than I could have. While what drove Dickey Chapelle to her achievements and disasters remains a bit hard to grasp, Ostroff has done an excellent job of tracing her cliffhanger career. There are nitpicks: Ostroff puts herself in Chapelle's head at times, as if she knows exactly what Dickie was thinking, and there is no mention of Chapelle's spiritual beliefs or lack thereof. Despite these slips, the book is an excellent tale, well told. I've recommended it widely.

2 comments about George Orwell: A Life.

1. Having been encouraged from about the age of twelve to read the essays of George Orwell I read Bernard Crick's recent meditation on him with a sense of gratitude. I haven't read any other work on Orwell which so perfectly conveys his inexhaustibility.
   Crick's real achievement here is a mastery of Orwell's tone. Orwell's essays keep a reader up until dawn and this book did the same to this reader.
   I can't say I agree with everything in the book, and have to say that sometimes I didn't grasp Crick's arguments. The chief pleasure of this book is its style; learned from one of the greatest defenders of expressed thought.



2. The book had every thing i was looking for. It showed his life in different episodes. It was very easy to research in it.

1 comments about Publisher.

1. Tom Maschler's life story: how he became editorial director of moribund publisher Jonathan Cape in his twenties after an apprenticeship with legendary Penguin publisher Allen Lane, transformed their fortunes by innovative and creative publishing of literary fiction and intellectually groudbreaking non fiction, founded one of the worlds most well known literary prizes, the Booker Prize, and published a vast number of the great and good writers of the last few decades, is so remarkable that it is impossible to mess up. That said, Maschler makes a pretty good fist of it. His writing style is plain and un-self aware to the point of autism, he name drops famous writers like a glossy magazine columnist and clearly fancies himself as a raconteur, a bon viveur, though clearly he has upset many more people than he realizes. Many stories end along the lines of: and he/she never spoke to me again. I can't help thinking I am owed an explanation.
   
   Mashcler's monstrous ego aside (at one typical comically un-self aware moment he writes of the pride he felt when a secretary said she could feel his presence in the Cape building even when she hadn't seen him arrive), his contribution to publishing is undiminished. He worked tirelessly to promote serious and intelligent books, and had a remarkable talent for spreading a buzz about his titles like bushfire through the publishing world. Publishers and booksellers knew that with Maschler behind a title you were guaranteed a: quality and b: (more important in publishing) sales. All this for comparatively little financial reward himself. Towards the end he writes of the buy out of Jonathan Cape by Random House when it could no longer survive as an independent company. Buy that stage, Maschler and his managing director were paying themselves only £40,000 a year, far less than many of his authors were earning as a result of Maschler's tireless support.
   
   Maschler will go down as one of the post war greats of the British publishing world (though equally is important is Liz Calder (now of Harry Potter house Bloomsbury), also vital to the Cape story and chronically undermentioned by Maschler. He mainly takes gleeful spite in boasting of authors he poached from Liz at her expense. Perhaps it is the case that good publishers make good writers, but great ones can't string a sentence together (for that is why they publish, rather than write). The entrepreneurial flair of the Maschler's of this world don't often go hand in hand with reflective, literary skills. Maschler's life story will be magnificently told one day, but by an authorized biographer, rather than the man himself.

1 comments about Have a Seat, Please.

1. The first half of this book consists of a multitude of "human interest" stories regarding condemned Texans walking the "last mile."

   The second half of the book, though, is a soapbox for overbearing anti-death penalty rhetoric.

   If you think you can tolerate the second half of the book, the first half of the book is worth it.

2 comments about Amber, a Very Personal Cat and Conversations With Amber.

1. and anyone who isn't "owned by a cat", as Taber puts it, will want to be.

   In these two books combined into one volume, Taber writes of her day-to-day relationship with her Abyssinian cat named Amber. Taber has intuitive insights into the workings of the feline mind and through this work clearly shows how important pets can be to our daily lives and welfare. Amber was a fortunate cat indeed to have such an owner, or rather, to own Gladys Taber!

   Reading this book has made me think of writing my own book about my cat, it was so enjoyable to read about her cat.

   I thought of taking one star away due to some of Taber's inaccurate medical advice for cats (i.e. do NOT ever give aspirin to a cat as Taber indicates), but her intentions were good. Just remember while reading this book that for medical advice concerning your cat, see your veterinarian.




2. I loved this book from the first page to the very end. It's a perfect book to read to lift your spirits or to escape into a different world. I absolutely reccomend it to everyone who loves cats.

1 comments about Turn Left at Greenland: In Search of the Real America.

1. Mark Little was an Irish TV correspondent in D.C. for several years. If his reporting was as good as this book, he's sure to enjoy more success.
   
   I admit that I'm a sucker for a great first chapter title. Thus, when I opened this book in an Irish bookstore and saw: Chapter One--The Potato-Sucking Moron, Little had my attention. He never lost it. He lived long enough in the United States to come to know us perhaps better than we know ourselves.
   
   The problem with European authors writing about us, Americans that is, is not that they're usually wrong. We usually deserve whatever lumps we get. The real consistent problem with Eurowriting about the USA is that the Eurowriter tends to hypocrisy--to fail to also see our strengths and his or her own nation's weaknesses. Being lectured about our violent, racist society rings pretty hollow from the continent that birthed two horrific world wars and even now faces extreme-right nationalist movements that promote xenophobia.
   
   That's what I like best about Little: he does not roll the same tired old gutterball. His observations about politics, society, commerce and climate are all tempered with balance and no small amount of wit. A case in point is his inside look at the latter days of the Gore 2000 presidential campaign: the marketing focus, the cynicism, the utter absence of actual principles and ideas. For my money, he summarized the faults with our current political climate better than any American has yet done.
   
   _Turn Left at Greenland_ is a worthy purchase. Special-order it if you have to.

3 comments about Mostly on the Edge: An Autobiography.

1. I have two main gripes about this book:

   1) It wasn't particularly well written -- there were reflections, within reflections, and all sorts of lengthy non-essential asides -- especially in the earlier chapters. Ironically, several of these annoying interludes occurred when the author was talking about what it takes to be a good writer!

   2) The author stuck me as somewhat hypocritical. How can you be a libertarian as well as a major proponent of the bill of rights and yet be an unapologetic collaborator with the HUAC & Joe McCarthy? It seems to me pretty hypocritical to be a rabid anti-communist and participating in the ruin of people who were utilizing their 1st Amendment Rights, but expressing a view that the author just happened to disagree with.

   There were hints at real humanity and a number of interesting ideas, but I had hoped for more stuff about his time in WV, his refusal to pay taxes, his interest in self-sufficiency, etc. I'll try to find "Dear America" and see if it has more of what I was looking for.




2. In 1976 I had the opportunity to write a review for Karl Hess' "Dear America," and this new autobiography contains much of the same material covered in that first autobiography. I had hoped for a more personal glimpse into his family life but strangely only about two sentences are devoted to his first marriage which produced two sons. It was odd that Mr. Hess could not even mention his first wife's name. His relationship with his sons is also largely ignored. These omissions, together with little or no discussion of such historical figures such as Nixon, Reagan, Ford, and Carter and their respective policies, made the book less than it could have been. HOWEVER, "Dear America" is out of print! Also, one must keep in mind that this book was put together while Mr. Hess was suffering from his terminal heart disease and was basically unfinished at the date of his death. His son, Karl Hess, Jr. has performed a labor of love by getting this book out on the market. It is a treat to read about Mr. Hess' early days and I believe that portion of the book was completed while his health was fairly good. I also enjoyed his discussions about his conversion from the right to the left and how the right and left have much in common. I consider Karl Hess to be one of unsung heroes of this century's political scene - a thinking political and moral man - all at the same time! I had hoped for his observations and his comments on the Nixon regime, Watergate, Reaganomics, etc. but I am still content with this autobiography and recommend it to anyone interested in Karl Hess, a 20th century Thoreau.



3. Karl Hess's journey through the 20th Century takes the reader through the intellectual development of a self-taught genius. His optimistic brand of community life is a model for the 21st century.

No comments about Along with Youth: Hemingway, the Early Years.

1 comments about Praise, Vilification and Sexual Innuendo, or How to be a Critic: The Selected Writings of John L. Wasserman, 1964-1979.

1. This book brings back the John Wasserman I knew, and I miss him all over again!

   The writing is just like John himself: quirky, funny, a bit self-indulgent, but always interesting and with unexpected twists. Wasserman's range of knowledge and interests was wide, and his sardonic view of the world is as refreshing as a glass of lemonade after some overly-sweet candy.

   These were newspaper columns and thus topical, but they have lost little interest over the years. The Wasserman touch remains individual, the quotations marvelously apt, the conclusions clear. While the book will be of most interest to those who knew John's work when he was alive, I hope it will bring this remarkably talented and sadly short-lived writer's work to a wider audience.

1 comments about The General and the Journalists: Ulysses S. Grant, Horace Greeley, and Charles Dana.

1. The inherent problem with this book is that it's stretched too thin and tries to cover to many personalities. Charles Dana and Greeley are ancillary players in the civil war drama; there's enough material on Grant and journalists to warrant a study of him alone. In addition, Charles Dana deliberately muddied the historical waters by having others ghostwrite his memoirs and constantly changing this stories or giving conflicting testimony about various events.

   Maihofer writes well and certainly displays a prejudice in General Grant's favor. There are few factual errors and the pace is lively. However, the book would have been improved had he restricted the narrative to U.S. Grant and eliminated Dana and Greeley. Ultimately this makes for a somewhat disjointed book and one is sorely temped to skip over the chapters with the two minor supporting players.