5 comments about Pulitzer: A Life in Politics, Print, and Power.

1. This book is fascinating on so many levels. It's a great chronicle of an important part of American history -- the birth of mass media. It's a compelling portrait of a media giant who rivaled Hearst and Howard Hughes in his eccentricities. And it's a classic American Dream tale. I highly recommend this biography!



2. "I don't care a damn how ugly he makes me, but he shouldn't misrepresent me," Joseph Pulitzer once told a sculptor working on his likeness. "There are elements of romance and tragedy." And so there are, aplenty, in this wonderful, compulsively readable biography. James McGrath Morris captures the romance and tragedy of Pulitzer's life, his era, and his profession. This is truly an American rags-to-riches story: A Hungarian immigrant, Pulitzer made his way to this country as a mercenary. After a short stint at soldiering, he ended up sleeping in doorways, shoveling coal, and tending mules. He taught himself English in the St. Louis Mercantile Library, got a toehold at a German-language newspaper, and never looked back. At times, I felt like I was reading a novel by Edith Wharton or Henry James, from the description of the glittering "Patriarch's Ball" at Delmonico's on 5th Avenue (and ostentatious parties where hosts wrap gold bracelets in their guests' dinner napkins) to darker passages dealing with the open antisemitism directed at Pulitzer and his newspapers.
   
   But this is not only an outstanding portrait of the time. The author has uncovered extraordinary new materials, and he offers a nuanced and complex account of Pulitzer's bruising battles with Teddy Roosevelt and what the publisher himself called "that so-called militarism." As this country picks up the pieces after yet another foreign war championed by the media--newspapers included--an understanding of this episode is not only fascinating; it is essential.



3. In the style of Ron Chernow and Jeane Strouse, James McGrath Morris has provided a robust and sterling account of one of the most important, yet very complicated giants in American history. In the hands of this sublime biographer the tale of Hungarian-born Joseph Pulitzer leaps in grand fashion from each page as we follow Pulitzer across the Atlantic in 1864 and then are whisked through a life that saw its fair share of triumphs and tragedies. While most people know of the award that bears his name, readers will find on these pages that Pulitzer was more than a newspaperman turned mogul, a man driven with ambition to whatever endeavor or cause he pursued. Utilizing sources never before mined Morris literally fleshes out the life of Pulitzer not only within the context of his times but with a nuanced and balanced portrait of Pulitzer the mortal, a man who could easily turn on the charm, win your trust, but could also be a nefarious liar. Chronicling his ascent to power and fame in the arena of nascent modern journalism readers will no doubt have mixed emotions as Puiltzer descends into severe neurosis and lonliness, making his life all the more tragic. A must read, PULITZER: A LIFE IN POLITICS, PRINT, AND POWER, belongs alongside the recent monumental biographies that have been penned about the pantheon of greats including J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and Cornelius Vanderbilt.



4. After the gripping ROSE MAN OF SING SING, James McGrath Morris's previous book, I wondered who he would tackle next. What subject could be more fascinating than Charles Chapin (the titular "rose man") for professional accomplishment, personal psychodrama, and narrative scope?
   
   The answer: Joseph Pulitzer.
   
   The result: defintive.
   
   Simply put, this is everything a biography should be: scrupulously researched, consistently readable, with a subject fully deserving of such sustained attention.
   
   My only question now, Mr. Morris: who's next?



5. If you enjoy biography and history, this book will provide you with days of pure pleasure. Morris not only makes the reader feel as if he is a bystander at the events described, but also gives real insight into the political and social environment of the times. And what a time it was. Wild machinations in politics and society and the evolution of Pulitzer into a certifiable neurotic madman, fantastically wealthy, controlling his family and newspaper employees from his increasingly cloistered life on yachts and rented European mansions. A fantastic read.

5 comments about An Education.

1. I was given this book and would probably never have sought it out myself to read - i have never heard of Lynn Barber and throughout the book i was left amazed that this woman had read English Literature at Oxford and had had a very successful career as a journalist. Her writing was lackluster and whilst she clearly had an interesting life story to tell, it was written with so little emotion, so little personal insight and was so painfully brief, I couldn't really fathom out why she had bothered writing it in the first place (although she does comment in the introduction that if you are going to write it may as well be for money...). As for the book being funny - the only time a wry smile past my lips was when she condemned a degree in Philosophy and Psychology from Oxford as 'useless' but then went on to ridicule anyone who couldn't see the sense in a Media Studies degree. Hmmm. The film of the same title, written by Nick Hornby, is only based on this book's first chapter and really it seems as if it sparked an idea for him rather than being a compelling story in it's own right. Lynn Barber herself admits that he made up many more elements to jazz it up and then had to fabricate an ending because the real story just petered out. I haven't seen the film but it sounds more interesting than this dull little book.



2. It should be noted that the movie is based on only about 25 pages of this book, and they're much less detailed and in depth than what is presented in the film. So if you're interested in reading this book because you want to hear more details about weekends in Paris and the relationship presented in the movie etc this isn't worth buying (though there were small details I found interesting like the author buying Je Reviens perfume instead of Chanel No 5 like what's presented in the movie.) It's also interesting that Lynn's character (Jennie) was made more innocent and naive in the movie. In the book she never has many feelings for Simon (David) and is soon suspicious and bored of his character, and even tries to leave him after she gets too bored with him and has to study for her entrance exams (this is the reason why Simon proposes to her, which makes a lot more sense than what's presented in the movie.) Though this book is interesting, it's a very light read. It reads more like outline than a novel, I feel, given the lax description of anything. I can definitely tell that a journalist wrote this book. I am impressed with the way Nick Hornby expanded so much and truly made a work of fiction just based on something light like this. It's interesting that instead of a book being turned into a movie and the movie being just a shortened version of the book, the movie was actually more detailed. Worth comparing the two if you're interested in book to film translations.



3. I really liked this book which I bought after seeing the movie and reading Lynn Barber's long interview in The Guardian. It is refreshing to read a straight-forward, honest autobiography/memoir. What was missing in the movie was that she got tired of Simon long before her parents found out he was a liar and a creep; in the movie, you get the impression she was having the time of her life and was shocked to find out that Simon was anything other than what he told her he was. The record is set straight in the book where we learn that she thought he was weird at best and would have stopped seeing him but for the encouragement, almost insistence, of her parents, especially her father. The education she got from Simon was that people are almost always NOT as they appear. Hello Tiger Woods? (sorry)
   
   I did like this book, though, which I thought was well written. It is always interesting to read about other people's lives to see why they took the directions in life that they did. In this case, Lynn Barber wanted to be a journalist, and she worked as a journalist wherever she could get a job. Her first job was at Penthouse magazine. Sobeit. She learned and moved on. She also became a wife and mother, jobs she didn't think she wanted or was cut out for but that she ended up loving after all. All in all, she was a lucky lady.



4. When she was 16, Lynn Barber got into a car with a strange man. Soon - and with her parents' blessing - this obviously dodgy character was showing her a good time in London's West End and eventually he proposed. She was going to Oxford, but why bother, her parents said, when a man with money presented himself? How typical of the Striving 60s! Barber says this experience taught her to doubt the claims people make about themselves - no bad thing for a journalist. She never lost the readiness to go for it that got her to Oxford and glittering prizes that include five awards and gigs with Penthouse, the Observer and Vanity Fair. Grab the chance to read this entertaining memoir while it's being republished alongside Nick Hornby's film adaptation. When she describes her husband's final illness, this entertaining, artfully shaped memoir segues into a moving coda.



5. I was so moved by a searingly honest excerpt of Lynn Barber's "An Education" that appeared a couple of weeks ago in the Guardian that I ordered the book forthwith. I was a little leery doing so, since, as I'd never heard of Lynn Barber before then, I was dreading a biography that would go on and on about a person I knew nothing of.
   
   Mercifully, however, Lynn Barber's "An Education" is a swift read: 182 pages that can probably be finished in an afternoon.
   
   So who is Lynn Barber? In brief, a British journalist who's famous for controversial interviews. In the 70's, she worked at Penthouse, which at the time was quite the louche thing for a Oxford-educated lady to do.
   
   The reason this book is getting a bunch of press is that its third chapter, "An Education," has been turned into a movie starring Carey Mulligan, with a script written by the much-praised Nick Hornby. That's also the excerpt I read in the Guardian, and yow, is it fantastic. Here's a paragraph:
   
   "But there were other lessons Simon taught me that I regret learning. I learned not to trust people; I learned not to believe what they say but to watch what they do; I learned to suspect that anyone and everyone is capable of 'living a lie'. I cam to believe that other people -- even when you think you know them well -- are ultimately unknowable. Learning all this was a good basis for my subsequent career as an interviewer, but not, I think, for life. It made me too wary, too cautious, too ungiving. I was damaged by my education." (pp. 55-56)
   
   As for the rest of it, I found it pretty forgettable. Part of the problem is that, since I'm not British, I'm lost with all of the Fleet Street name-dropping. Whatever effect it was intended to have is lost on me. Here's a sample of what I'm talking about:
   
   ". . . . so I assembled a good backlog of interviews for Stephen Glover to choose from. In the very first issue he ran an interview I did with John Aspinall in which - I always believe - Aspinall admitted to having seen Lord Lucan after he murdered his nanny." (p. 133)
   
   Other than third chapter, the only other part of the book that I felt was worthwhile was the end, where Ms. Barber finds that her youngish husband of thirty years is unexpectedly dying of a rare disease. She really put her heart on the page in those final pages, and it shows.
   
   As for the impression you get about the life Barber has achieved, it seems like it doesn't sum to much. As quoted above, she blames her relationship with Simon for her being ungiving, but she struck me as just another typical baby boomer. Her life was one series of self-indulgent antics after another, and, though she does mention her kids, she doesn't seem too interested in them. Seems like her whole life has been more about getting rather than giving. Sadly, the author, now about 65, has apparently yet to realize this.
   
   Quotes that creep the reader out are frequent. Here's one:
   
   "I probably slept with about fifty men in my second year [at Oxford]. My fantasy in those days was to meet a stranger, exchange almost no words, jump into bed, and then talk afterwards." (p. 67)
   
   In short, a poorly lived life.

5 comments about Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan.

1. I heard about Tokyo Vice from the Daily Show and another friend who read the book. I finally started reading it and couldn't put it down. Jake Adelstein is great story teller and his experiences in Japan were incredible. I didn't know anything about the yakuza before reading the book, I'm interested in finding out more now. I highly recommend this book!



2. Tokyo Vice is one of my favorite novels of all time. Not just because of the content within the confines of the hardcover, but because of the support the author has put behind it. This story covers such a wide spectrum of Jake Adelstein's life that writing it seems to have become his lifestyle. Which makes this book never ending. Once you finish the novel it points you towards a website: <[...]>. I read about this website with great doubt, the only reason I went to it was to see the one post I would expect on a personal website attached to a recent novel: "Sorry I can't update that often, very busy doing a book tour, etc., etc." Instead I found multiple posts as long as chapters in the book describing recent events that have happened since the novel finished. Not only are the posts well written like the novel, but he comments back in full to each comment left on his posts! Or in my particular situation I left him my e-mail and he sent a personal e-mail to me providing contact information since I was curious about going to Japan in the near future.
   
   I can not believe the support behind this novel and I may pick up an extra copy to have in pristine condition (I have a tendency to rough up my novels when I read them the first time.) This is a novel for a new age where people are always connected to the internet, Jake's Twitter also provides access to any book tours that he may be on or whether he is going to have a reading here in America or back in Tokyo.



3. When I started reading this book I had a very different expectation as to its content based on my perception of Japanese culture. This book opened a fascinating window on darker aspects of that culture I was only peripherally aware of. It is also an interesting tale of slow self corruption where the fall is not from on high. Rather a fall from a place of moral ambiguity at best to a place that is way dark and twisted. One wonders if there is any true recovery from such a place but hopes that there is.
   
   I highly recommend this book as a fantastic (if dark) read and a real page turner.



4. Having lived and worked in Tokyo in the 80's and 90's, I found Jake Adelstein's detailed narrative about Japan's criminal underworld fascinating. Most of his book is written with wry humor and the no-holds barred approach of a young, street-wise, foreign reporter fluent in the local language, who can explain the nuances and details of Japanese culture. Ultimately it is a horrifying tale of criminal exploitation, human cruelty, horrific violence and human misery -- very unsettling. Japan and Japanese culture have so many positive and admirable aspects, but this well-written book paints a horrifying look at the underside.



5. This is how great Twitter can be: when I was just 20 pages into Tokyo Vice, I posted this update:
   "Jake Adelstein's TOKYO VICE makes me want to be yakuza"
   
   He responded the next day with:
   "@calebjross It's supposed to have the opposite effect. :)"
   
   Considering that this exchange was completely unanticipated, I was quite surprised by the direct line of contact with the author. I anticipated the exchange ending there. But, then I finished the book, and I realized how insulting my first comment could have appeared. Tokyo Vice is such an amazing story, one that, though filed under "true crime" touches on memoir. Adelstein's position as a reporter with the unique opportunity to out certain immoral (to say the least) yakuza behavior, bleeds into his personal life in deeply affecting ways. As soon as I finished the book, I posted again on Twitter:
   "@jakeadelstein I must apologize for my earlier statement of wanting to be yakuza. I just finished TOKYO VICE. Incredible story, sir."
   
   And he came back with:
   "@calebjross Apology accepted. :)"
   
   Such a gentleman. Tokyo Vice goes highly recommended.

5 comments about Enemies of the People: My Family's Journey to America.

1. Enemies of the People brought back many memories from the past. As a chid of the 1950's "cold war", I can remember this time and place in history. My uncle Joe of European heritage, hated the communists and as a child,I was subjected to his long conversations with his fellow countrymen. Reading Enemies of the People has given me a deeper understanding of communist rule. I am so overwhelmed by the courage of the Marton family. I admire the author Kati Marton,for having the inner strength to re-live this terrible time in history and in her own life. I highly recommend reading Enemies of the People,it will give you a true sense of what freedom really is.



2. I truly thought I would love this book. I loved Annie's Ghosts: A Journey Into a Family Secret and I thought since the vine recommended this for me that this book would be similar: Family intrigue, old world versus new world, but actually more compelling since Kati Marton's personal history deals with communism, real-life spy parents, and escape. Unfortunately, she became bogged down by details--too many irrelevant details. It slowed the story and made it difficult to continue reading. I know many people liked this book, some even loved it. But for me it is just too tiring to enjoy.



3. Hard times should be remembered. The communist dictatorship was such a time. The reaction in the free world was exagerated.
   Kati Marton went through an enormous amount of documents the uncover those years.
   The reading is both informative and entertaining



4. This book is very informative and very well written. I could not stop reading it. The book is a good example for those who write autobiographies. I wish my book were at least one half as good as the "Enemy of the People." Learn and enjoy at the same time.
   
   Ludwik Kowalski, Ph.D.
   Professor Emeritus,
   Montclair State University



5. Book review of Kati Marton (2009) Enemies of the People: My family's journey to America. NY: Simon & Schuster, by Leslie Kriebel.
   
   In spite of the fact that much of the content of this book is derived from the archives of the Hungarian secret police dating back to the communist era, this is the memoir of a child. How many of us could reconstruct our lives from zero to pre-teens, and if we did, how would it come across? Apart from some written materials by her parents, and some interviews, Kati Marton has done an admirable job piecing very complex parts of hers and her parents' lives together; it is an impressive feat. That said, the book needs more editing, and begs for a more complex explanation of her parents' behavior; indeed one comes away wondering what was their actual strategy, or were they flying by the seats of their pants - as their desperate attempt to find boats that would ferry them across the Danube, at one point, suggests? Their ultimate escape from Hungary, coupled with her own revelation that her father was approached to spy for Hungary in America, certainly is the stuff of any good cold war drama.
   
   This is not a story of your average Hungarian family, let alone an average Budapest family. Kati Marton was the daughter of two journalists who were descended from Jews who had either lost their lives or all their belongings in the Nazi occupation of Hungary. Contrary to what one would expect if the story had started out this way, her parents did not keep their noses down, out of sight, and clean - which is what most Hungarians did at this time (1950s) even if they were not of Jewish descent. Her parents stood tall as if they carried a precious cultural tradition with them that had been shattered by the establishment of the Iron Curtain. This tradition is urban, sophisticated, erudite, imperialist, bourgeois, and materialist. Her parents embodied it and perhaps appeared to their fellow Hungarians not so much as "naïve" but more likely as "well connected." The Chinese describe someone who dares to display controversial behavior as having a "roof," meaning: protection in high places. The Martons no doubt appeared to many to have such a protection - otherwise how could they get away with such behavior? Of course implicit in this popular view of protection, is the notion that the communist leadership and their families lived by one set of rules and standards while the rest of the population lived by another.
   
   Marton's explanation for her parents' admittedly reckless behavior while living in Budapest during the Stalinist era (driving one of only a few private cars, wearing western clothing, fraternizing almost exclusively with western journalists and diplomats..) is that they were either extremely naïve, or they had a great deal of bravado. Given that both parents suffered significant loss of family and wealth in the Nazi period, it is difficult to believe that they would have emerged so utterly naïve. She herself admits that her parents were oddballs - and she knew this even as a child. She was sent to school in outfits which drew attention to their bourgeois-type lifestyle at a time when average people feared being noticed by any officials. This story necessarily lacks a contrasting outsider perspective such as another character whose life we also see at an intimate level but with which we could contrast hers. One gets the impression that the contact she had with other, "normal" Hungarians, was indeed limited.
   
   It occurred to me as I read this book that her parents were not in the least bit naïve. Rather, they may well have decided that life without freedom was not worth living. Unlike Kati's grandparents (one pair killed in Auschwitz the other gone into hiding only to flee the country), her own parents took a bet on their own bravado and beliefs, and on the possibility that the foreigners they befriended would assist them if the need arose. (This was also perhaps a bet made by the Nagy government in 1956, but as we know the west turned a deaf ear.) Perhaps for some young Jews emerging out of the Nazi period this is one possible, fatalistic approach to life. Lack of trust in a socialist government which ultimately turned over their relatives to the Nazis and seized their property is understandable, and this might have led to an inflated view of the ability of westerners in Budapest to be of assistance. Once the war was over, the only force or authority to be trusted, from their point of view, was that of the Allied presence in the form of the foreign press and the small diplomatic core.
   
   Marton does us a service by contrasting over and over the strong values which are implicit in the western attitude towards a free and independent press with the complete lack of reverence for these values as signified by the behaviors of the communist led Hungarian government. Her parents and she paid a price to deliver information to the world about life in Hungary - particularly during the 1956 Revolution - and it is easy to take this hidden cost for granted in the west, particularly at this moment when respect for investigative reporting is at its lowest. Her family was far more fortunate than the Hungarian nation as whole, as the Soviet tanks rolled in to crush the liberalizing regime of Imre Nagy. This could potentially work as a film if taken on by a director sensitive to the socialist reality of the times and who can create contrast between hers and even a fictional local family, so that the risks the Martons took are most fully appreciated and the sufferings of the Hungarian people are accurately conveyed.

5 comments about Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise.

1. If you liked Ruth Reichl's other books, you will definitely like this one. The description of foods is amazing and literally leaves your mouth watering for more! Needless to say, I eagerly await her next release.



2. I have not gotten around to reading it yet but I cannot wait to dig in. From the few pages that I have read, I know it is a good read.



3. Not only do I love Ruth Reichl's writing, but the emphasis in this book is psychologically fascinating. It's a must read for fans of food, dysfunctional family dynamics, actors, and the socially curious among us.



4. Although it was entertaining to read about resturants I will never get to eat at, I found the dialogue,style, and story boring.
   I don't know what I was expecting, but my book club wanted to do this book & I did not enjoy it. Maybe newspaper articles are better.



5. Ruth describes getting her new job at the New York Times, the odd characters she works with and picking restaurants. I do like the fact that she would go to a restaurant at least three times before rating it, usually once as herself and other times in disguise. I did not enjoy the descriptions of the disguises, they seemed to go on and on. I more enjoed the descriptions of the staff at the restaurants and how she was treated. I liked the way she picked the places, one time she followed someone into a sushi place. I enjoyed her relationship with "Carol" but kept wondering where he little boy was during all the times she was eating and spending time with Carol.
   
   Overall, not bad. Definately not one you couldn't put down.

5 comments about When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa.

1. The history and events surrounding the rise to power of Mugabe and Zimbabwe's race and economic troubles are reflected in this memoir which is entertaining, educational, compelling, and just a plain old good read.



2. When our book club agreed on this book for our next selection, I thought, 'Oh great, another heart-rendering sob story about all the tragedies that have been visited upon Africa'. Boy, was I wrong. As I progressed into the book more and more facts about what truely has happened - at least in Zimbabwe and the countries in Southern Africa - over the past two decades - began to make that history quite clear. One of the facts that came out was that if development had been left to the ordinary person - white farmer - black worker - that Zimbabwe probably would be developing into the great country it looked like it would years ago. But, somehow, black, greedy, utterly violent egomaniacs took over with the result being a total disaster for this country. If you really are interested in what is happening in Africa read this book. It will open your mind.



3. Devastating, haunting, beautiful.
   
   If you've ever had a parents, if you've ever seen something you love go to bits, or if you've ever seen your roots grow distant, this book will speak to you. Regardless of the specific settings and circumstances of this book.
   
   Having picked it up primarily to catch up on Zimbabwe (and it does a very good job of conveying that country's recent history, although it's obviously a memoir and not a detailed political study), I was soon hypnotized and drawn in by the human element - the memoir.
   
   Beautifully, soulfully written - a real classic.



4. This memoir, about the son of white British parents who grows up in Africa, is superbly written. While Mr. Godwin has written other memoirs of his earlier years, this one focuses on his adulthood. As a journalist now living in America, he takes as many writing assignments as possible that will allow him to travel back to Africa to see his now-aging parents. Zimbabwe is in terrible turmoil, and this is the thrust of the memoir--how this turmoil impacts his parents, who still live there, and everyone else in the country who is not on the side in power.
   
   There is so much ugliness in what he's writing about--civil war, ruthless leaders, corrupt government, rapes, beatings, and injustices that we in America can't even imagine but, somehow, what I came away with was not ugly at all--it was the tenacity of these people to survive it all, and to do so with dignity.
   
   It is a testament to Mr. Godwin's marvelous writing that, in a story of such unspeakable brutality and injustice, my takeaway was positive. It is also a testament to the author's parents, and his relationship with them, which was empowering enough to help balance the tragedy.
   
   Yes, there are times that his prose gets a bit too flowery, his analogies a bit too clichéd, and the story moves slowly (especially in the first half), but these are only minor criticisms and not ones that distracted me substantially from enjoying this marvelous memoir. Highly recommended.



5. Peter Godwin has consistently written accurate assessments of Zimbabwe's hopes and tragedies. His writing is always flavored with vivid descriptions of the land and its people. He offers numerous perspectives on how things have gone so horribly wrong in the country - despite many people's best intentions to address the injustices of the past. He doesn't pull any punches on how the country's Dictator, Robert Mugabe, has single-handedly brought this once-properous nation to its knees economically. The old blisters of greed, nepotism and the almost complete breakdown of an independent judiciary system - sanctioned by the country's leader - have reduced Zimbabwe to being one of the poorest countries in the world with the highest inflation rate. I find Godwin's writings on Zimbabwe particularly credible - because unlike so may writers who cover the region - he was raised there and has an intricate knowledge of where the country has been (the war of Independence in the 1970s); how it progressed - briefly, and where it is today. His vast pool of knowledge (gained from numerous visits back to the country) has resulted in this engaging and personal story of Godwin's relationship with his parents, and the tragedy of their demise in a country that they love dearly. The chapters on the illegal farm take-overs - from hard-working people who have kept the Zimbabwean population alive with the fruits of their labor - highlight the counter-productive route that Robert Mugabe has sanctioned. I found this book well worth a read and factually accurate.

5 comments about The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood.

1. Journalist Helene Cooper does a admirable job of recouting her life at her family compound in pre-war Liberia. As she vividly described her home and the goings-on of her parents, her sisters, and Eunice, you could tell that as a child, as much as she disliked the remote location of her home, the author truly loved Sugar Beach. I found her lineage particularly fascinating in that both her father's and mother's forebears had a hand in contributing to the development of Liberia. The passages about wartime Liberia were pretty gruesome and riveting. The reconnection with Eunice seemed to be rather brief. I would have liked more about that part of her life. Solid 3.5 stars!



2. I found this memoir a disappointment. Superficial...the author is so focused on her little girl response it sometimes seems that in the telling she forgets readers might be looking for more than her child story. Instead she seems frozen in time, without insight or depth. This memoir never shines.



3. This book has given us an insider's experience of the Liberians' journey. Ms Cooper is a great storyteller and she held my attention from beginning to end.



4. This is a good story of one person's experience of a complicated and horrible situation. Also recommend the autobiography of Ellen Johnston Sirleaf.



5. I was not engaged by the first third of this book, and felt no connection with the characters. The historical parts were fascinating, but not enough to compel me to keep reading. So I gave up.

5 comments about The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World.

1. Within the first two pages of the book, A. J. Jacobs commits three syntactical errors: he says that he "brought D. H. Lawrence novels on vacation," when he should say he "took" them; he refers to the years since "graduating college," when he should say since he "was graduated from college," or at least " since graduating from college"; and he says that he remembers "a couple things" from college, thought apparently one of them is not the fact that he needs the preposition "of" in the expression "a couple of things." I stopped reading the book at this point.



2. interesting, witty, funny, and just generally entertaining. this won't be the most profound book you'll ever read, but it is good fun, with a bunch of really great trivia facts thrown in. the writing is done in a simple alphabetical format, following the exploration of the britannica in chronological order, with lots of personal memoirs and journalist-like commentary of the actual feat itself.
   
   the writing style made this an easy book to read in short segments without really breaking up the flow of the story in any way, which i appreciated. the facts, most of which i've forgotten now, were at times hilarious, depressing, or just weird. i found myself sharing the more random facts with my boyfriend (who i'm sure appreciated them just as much as jacobs' wife, which most of the times means not so much), but, the information was often just too interesting not to share.
   
   i would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves trivia, random information and subtle humor, but i could understand that it would not be a book for everyone.



3. I came across AJ Jacobs when I picked up the book that followed this one, where he literally lives by the Bible for one year. Throughout that book he made many mentions to the Know-It-All and I added it to my "must read" list. After all, I'm not just interested in the Bible and people's interpretations, but also general trivia. And I'm glad I got around to picking this up.
   
   This isn't just an A to Z highlight of the Encyclopedia Britannica (though there is a lot of that as well) but also how reading it cover to cover has impacted his life. I was quite entertained on how people would react to just hearing the news of his quest to read the Encyclopedia. A couple were supportive, a lot were disbelieving, and a lot seemed to scorn him for such an endeavor. There are also several side stories including his relationship with his immediate and extended family, especially his father, and his desire to prove himself to others he considers to be very smart. His attempts to get onto a game who to financially benefit from his new-found knowledge, not to mention the outcome of such endeavors, are a great read. Also, one side story was AJ's desire to become a father and what him and his wife, Julie, had to endure in order to achieve this. I was also very enthralled by his journey to figure out what makes the smartest person on earth. Is it the one who gets to the elite of the Mensa clubs? Is it one who has all the facts? Is it the one who can apply them in every situation? Who really has the answer to that?
   
   I got a lot out of this book, and it wasn't just the interesting tid-bits of knowledge he picked up and found interesting enough to write about. It was the story of his life as he accomplished this amazing feat. By the end, you come to love AJ and his family and look forward to other books that he comes out with in the future. You come to enjoy his brutal honesty and he doesn't seem to leave anything unbarred during the time it took to do this.
   
   Anyways, I wouldn't change a word of this book. I enjoyed it cover to cover, probably a lot more than AJ enjoyed reading the Encyclopedia. I loved it and I continue to look forward to other books.



4. The Know-It-All reading experience for me was not too unlike reading the complete Encyclopedia Britannica - it kind of bogs down around the letter M.
   
   On the surface, the above statement may sound like a panning of the book (and to some extent it is), but it's more a reflection of the subject-matter than the quality of the content.
   
   The book is one man's abbreviated journal of his successful attempt to read the EB from front to back - a daunting task for any determined reader. Throughout the book the author shares with the reader numerous bits of trivia, facts and abridgments of entries that he found interesting. And were it a book that only offered to digest the contents of the EB then it would have failed miserably (imho). But Jacobs deftly intermixes an ongoing story of how the task of reading the EB impacted him, his wife, his friends and family and what legacy his mission might leave for his unborn child. The end result is a recounting of a moderately touching personal journey that most anyone could enjoy.
   
   If you don't get bogged down in the myriad of facts that Jacobs draws from the EB, then you'll be rewarded with a nice story and a happy ending. And, if you're looking for some tidbits of trivia to wow the folks at your next cocktail party then you've just found your next book to read.



5. In The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World, the author, A.J. Jacobs, chronicles his year long quest to read the entire Encylopaedia Britannica. There is no question that the book is funny, as in have to put the book down and just laugh out loud for several seconds funny. I don't see how this could possibly even be in question with positive endorsements from Jon Stewart and P.J. O'Rourke; two very funny men in their own right. However, it is not just a bit of humor for the sake of humor, it is also a very heart-warming vignette into the life and family of the author at a very crucial time. The author's father had once attempted the same feat and made it only to the B's. The author mentions over and over again that his father and his grandfather are very successful and famous attorneys in New York City. It is clear he feels that as an Editor for Esquire Magazine he may not have lived up to the family expectations for him. Also, during the year of his quest, the author and his wife are trying to conceive their first child and are frustrated by the lack of progress and the fact that their friends and family members all seem capable of producing attractive offspring at will. The authors warmth and charm, the admiration he has for his family all come through in his self-deprecating brand of humor. But, what this book is really about is the story of a man, who on the eve of fatherhood himself, comes to accept himself and his accomplishments and the realization that his father always has.

2 comments about Days of Fear: A Firsthand Account of Captivity Under the New Taliban.

1. "In the name of Allah Most High and All-Merciful, Sayed Agha, Ajmal Naqshbandi and Daniele Mastrogiacomo are sentenced to death for acts of espionage within Taliban territories."
   
   In 2007, Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo, his interpreter Ajmal Naqshbandi and his driver Sayed Agha hope to interview a Taliban military commander Mullah Dadullah. Instead, they are take prisoner by the Taliban, Agha is killed, and Mastrogiacomo is held for two weeks. (Ajmal Naqshbandi was later killed as well.)
   
   This book is an exceptional description of the psychological terror Mastrogiacomoa feels -- except for his chains and two blows from a rifle butt he was not physically mistreated -- his certainty that he will be killed, and then "Then, suddenly, I feel that they won't kill me. I'm certain of it. I don't know why. My instincts tell me so. I want to believe it. Maybe my death is too absurd an eventuality for me to imagine, or perhaps I'm too important for our captors. I know that they won't do it. Not yet, not now."
   
   Between his capture and his release, Mastrogiacomoa learns a great deal about himself and very little about the Taliban from his young guards. He is able to describe the execution of his driver on a river bank; his account is written in a flat, descriptive manner. The terror described in this book comes from Mastrogiacomoa himself, and he makes that terror come alive for the reader in an extraordinary manner.
   
   Mullah Dadullah eventually tells Mastrogiacomo: "In the end, you have obtained much more than an interview. You have seen how we live and how we think. Do you think yourself capable of telling the truth about us? You journalists never do. You owe your life to our Supreme Commander. It was Mullah Mohammed Omar himself who suspended your death sentence. He decided not to have your head cut off."
   
   This book describes a terrifying ordeal and Mastrogiacomo's human reactions to his captivity.
   
   
   Robert C. Ross 2010
   
   Note: Francis X. Rocca has published a superb review of this book in "The Wall Street Journal" which is free online at the link set forth in the first Comment. B.



2. Daniele Mastrogiacomo (b. 1954, Karachi, Pakistan) is an Italian correspondent for the "La Repubblica" newspaper in Italy. He has been an active reporter in the Middle East and in 2007 was kidnapped by Mullah Dadullah's henchmen inasmuch as the brutal Taliban thought that Mastrogiacomo worked for the British military. Once the Taliban found out that he was a reporter for an Italian newspaper, to release him they stipulated that Italy withdraw their military force in Afghanistan. As the Italian government stood firm, the Taliban made a recording of Mastrogiacomo, his driver and another colleague, kneeling and blindfolded before armed Taliban terrorists. The video also had a recording of one of his colleagues being beheaded by sawing off his head with a sword. This resulted in Mastrogiacomo pleading to help him....
   
   I will not provide the ending and ruin the captivating, yet disconcerting story, but I recommend this book as a moving and revealing work on the mindset and culture of the Taliban.
   
   Readable, interesting, powerful, fascinating, and unforgettable. Great book for a long flight or vacation read.
   There Are Moral Absolutes: How to Be Absolutely Sure That Christianity Alone Supplies

5 comments about Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas.

1. Why oh why did our generation waste so much ink lauding Hunter S Thompson when we have someone with true talent in our midst, with the gonzo ethic of Thompson and the talents of Gladwell? Not that Klosterman is truly overlooked (he makes a fine living I'm sure), but heavens you would think he would be mentioned in the same breath as the other coffeetable must-haves that are relentlessly rotated on the "'what white people like" lists (not that there's *anything* wrong with those writers, and, no, not only white people like them!)
   
   Chuck Klosterman IV is a must-read, as is nearly everything else he has ever written, whether on a stained cocktail napkin or on fine bond letterhead.



2. This is the first Chuck Klosterman book I have read and I loved it. I've since read Sex, Drugs & Cocoa Puffs and Killing Yourself to Live and am just letting my eyes rest before getting my next fix. It's hilarious, thought-provoking and just a really great read.



3. This is the first book I've read by CK and I found it, for the most part, to be pretty funny. When I picked it up and thumbed through it I happened (apparently) among the more funny stories. After reading it, I will say that I enjoyed the book although the intellectualism gets a little heavy towards the middle. I remember thinking, "wasn't this book cracking me up the other day? Because right now, not so much." It was still interesting but more in a (begin finger quotes) lecture-y/think-y (end finger quotes) sort of way.
   
   I would recommend this book to most people. I think there are a few stories in here that most people will find pretty amusing. It's a nice book to read while you're waiting for stuff because each essay/article is reasonably short.
   
   I will admit, though, that I did not read the fiction piece at the end. I chose this book because I didn't want to read fiction! It wasn't bad but just not what I was up for plus I had read the previous 100 pages while I was stuck in the desert so I think maybe I overdid it.



4. This book collects about three dozen Chuck Klosterman essays, mostly reprints from SPIN and other US magazines, with new introductions from the author. The first and strongest half of the book "Things That Are True" centers on music and includes profiles of modern greats Radiohead and Jeff Tweedy as well as classic legends like Robert Plant and Billy Joel. He documents a week of eating nothing but McDonalds' McNuggets (eight years before the film "Supersize Me") and watching 24 hours of VH1 Classic (and learning it repeats every eight hours). The next 100 pages are "Things That Might Be True" and feature more subjective content. The final section is a 35 page novella. I enjoyed the majority of these segments but liked Klosterman's other books better than this collection.



5. It felt a little like my birthday when I found Klosterman's latest book on CD, read by him, in the Border's bargain bin. I picked it up with two lesser known Hemmingway's to justify my consumption of what has come to be known as intellectual guilty pleasure ( a topic he incidentally takes up with his usual skill and misdirection in one of the essays). It is better than Killing Yourself to Live and not as good as Cocoa Puffs.
   
   Audio is the medium for Klosterman for several reasons including: his irony voice, it is not exactly the kind of literature that requires you to take notes, and the strangely melodical way he pronounces the word f*!#ing. After listening to IV I acquired Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs on CD despite having read it, based solely on the notion that it would be more poignant and entertaining when performed by the author. It was a good bet.
   
   CK IV opens with a very good reflection on dread and high school basket ball. It includes several fascinating interviews with popular figures. Note: You could not intice me to read a story on Brittney Spears by another author, but CK had me transfixed. Finlly he ends with a bit of fiction that is not without merit, but is not his best work. On the whole, however, If you liked CDaCP, CK IV is worth the time...especially in the audio version.