5 comments about The One that Got Away: A Memoir (Lisa Drew Books).

1. Even though I was not going to write a review about this book, the many critiques posted by other reviewers made me pause and then decide to add my thoughts. For the fisherman who has done any amount of fishing, you find that sooner or later, you discuss just about everything on your mind with your fishing buddies.
   
   This book does meander over quite a bit of territory, both, literally and figuratively. Howell travels the world to engage in his beloved flyfishing hobby and catch the elusive fish of wherever he lands. He also muses on his career, life, and personal values.
   
   The forward and backward in time writing technique seems a little forced sometimes and towards the end it does seem that there has been a little repetition, but, overall this is an interesting book written by a man who has seemingly made peace with himself and life.
   
   To any potential readers, if you are a neo-conservative that can't stand a sentence or two of criticism of Fox News and the Bushies, then maybe you should pass. However, if your skin is not so thin, you wonder about what a smart man thinks when in his 50/60's, and you enjoy a fish tale or two, then read this book.
   
   The reader is engaging and the story is pretty good.



2. Author is a major liberal, and there is way too much politics and way too little fishing. Not a bad book, but certainly not a good book...



3. If you're looking for a journalism memoir, you've come to the wrong place, really. You'll have to wade through much tedium about fishing, through which Raines tries to come to epiphanies about life and loss. I found myself flipping through about 85 percent of the book to get to what I thought were the good parts: his recollections of how Jayson Blair wrecked his NYT career. Raines paints himself as a saviour of what he thought was a hidebound newspaper. There may always be a debate about what he really achieved. He should have stuck to either fishing or journalism to make this book work. One wonders if something this muddled could ever make it past the gatekeepers at the evolving Times of today.



4. Howell Raines' memoir, The One That Got Away, is a sequel to his best selling Fly Fishing Through the Midlife Crisis, and is an account of the latest years of his life including his remarriage and his career as executive editor of The New York Times.
   
   It is also a book about fishing. If you're looking for a lot of details about the plagiarism scandal that ended his 25 years at The Times, you will be disappointed. On the other hand, if you love fishing, especially fly fishing, you will be in heaven.
   
   In The One That Got Away, Mr. Raines takes you around the world to a series of well-known (and little-known) fishing spots, where he describes his equipment and explains his techniques for catching the elusive salmon or bonefish or trout. You'll discover his love for this catch-an-release sport, especially in the tale of his epic battle with a marlin that he hooked in the South Pacific and fought for over seven hours.
   
   You also might find yourself speculating about the absolute veracity of these fish tales as well as the other events he describes in his book. After all, aren't "fish stories" synonymous with "lies" in the English language?
   
   His credos on journalism ("to see events wholly and coldly and try to write about them for the informational benefit of the Republic"), and The Times newspaper (to deliver high quality fact-based information and analysis about news that is found out, rather than imagined") were sorely tested when that "small, amiable, brown-skinned young man known as Jayson Blair" was exposed for publishing lies in The Times.
   
   Howell Raines says he had "no way of knowing and no cause to be consulted" about Jayson's rapid promotion from trainee to reporter, his lack of professionalism, or his frequent errors. But, as the guy "at the end of the chain of command," he took personal responsibility and demanded a complete disclosure. When the dust settled the "Gray Lady's" reputation was saved, but the editor found himself without a job.
   
   The One That Got Away is a book about confronting loss, be it fish or career. Howell Raines learned that in relinquishing his former identity as a newspaperman, he actually got what he wanted. As much as he loved journalism, the dream of escape was always there.
   
   As far as his relinquishing that marlin...what do you think?



5. Raines uses the metaphor of hooking and losing a large fish to describe his career; the surprise of getting a job that was beyond his expectations (hooking the fish), the long tedious years of work (fighting the fish), and his unexpected firing (losing the fish). Raines' first fishing book outlined his political agenda. In his second book, he explains his management oversight that resulted in his dismissal. I prefer fishing literature that makes an environmental point, an ethical fishing point, or is just an entertaining story. I am finished buying Raines' books because I do not care to spend my entertainment money to listen to his personal agenda. Raines' books are editoral pages thinly wrapped in fish.

5 comments about The Skeptic: A Life of H. L. Mencken.

1. I seldom (actually, never) read a book that I like, yet choose not to recommend it to friends. This biography of HL Mencken has all the ingredients - entertaining writing, compelling characters, thorough research - and I readily admit that I enjoyed reading it. But biographies of any prolific author are risky business, simply because they are prolific. The subject has written a great deal of prose, autobiographical material and correspondence which reveals a lot about who he is. The biographer takes on a heavy load in seeking to re-interpret that body of work. Too many times while reading this book, I was tempted to "adjourn the proceedings" to re-examine the evidentiary body of Mencken's own writing. Res ipsa loquitur.
   
   Teachout combines extensive research of what must be Mencken's massive library, with the right narrative touch and selection of quotes from Mencken, his correspondents, and his critics. He inserts copious quotations without being excessive, appropriately for a literary character who has left such a long and wide trail. He reveals a bit about the people in Mencken's life and how they influenced him. It's not necessary to disagree with some of his conclusions, however, to question whether they needed to be articulated at all.
   
   For instance, he declares the essay "In Memoriam: W.J.B", which is Mencken's commentary on William Jennings Bryan's defense of creationism, "among the great masterpieces of invective in the English language." That it may be, but he then concludes that it reveals Mencken "to have been something of a poseur," disproving his previous claims to be more amused by democracy in action, rather than angered by it. No one can disagree with that charge, but for any social commentator or satirist, contradictory personas are part of the deal. It's more an observation of the obvious than a revelation.
   
   Likewise, on the oft-debated topic of Mencken's anti-semitism, Teachout presents considerable evidence of Mencken's personal biases (ironically, one of his best known works is entitled Prejudices), much of which is further testament to the contradictions inherent in the personality of an assertive iconoclast. But ultimately, he feels compelled to state the obvious: "that he was an anti-Semite cannot now reasonably be denied." Any good trial lawyer will rest his case on the defendant's own words, if they are self-incriminating. That he expressed prejudicial views about a number of people and institutions, could never be reasonably denied, and is self-evident from his own words. The biographer's judgment seems redundant; I find more in Mencken's own My Life As Author and Editor to indict him on that score, but to do so in richer context.
   
   These quibbles are more a matter of defining "biography" than debating whether this book is a good read. Teachout is both an accomplished biographer and journalist, which qualifies him more than most to write such a book. In the end, I would rather have spent the time reading more of Mencken's considerable body of work and his personal memoirs, than this admittedly entertaining and very skillfully rendered portrait.



2. Like blind men explaining the form of an elephant to the touch, Teachout has shown that one man can't possibly accomplish the task of disecting Mencken. I have read a few of Mencken's work and was hoping this book would shed more light on the man, the word, and the music that sprang to paper. All I got was a dark, tedious, and unsatisfying work that I had hoped would act as a catalyst allowing me to enjoy Mencken's craft/content/output even more. I'll stick with reading more Mencken. Hunter S. Thompson was probably a mean, cranky, reclusive loud mouth - and much like Mencken, I don't think a biography on HST would ever be as satisfying as enjoying the man and his craft on it's own merit.



3. Mencken said: "it has been my firm belief that all persons who devote themselves to forcing virtue on their fellow men deserve nothing better than kicks in the pants."
   
   "One read the Smart Set to learn from Mencken and Nathan what was fresh and new, and laugh with them at all that was tired and stale. Everything else was filler."
   
   In 1946, about his publisher Alfred Knopf: "He realizes himself that there are now too many Jews in his office."
   
   A prophetic observation about women: "Now that women have the political power to obtain their just rights, they will begin to lose their old power to obtain special privileges by sentimental appeals. Men, facing them squarely, will consider them anew ... as free competitors competitors in a harsh world."
   
   "A man -Mencken- who had grown too hard to pity anyone foolish enough to believe in anything" ... but then... "he also believed that 'the white man is actually superior to a [...] and on almost all accounts'".
   
   All in all a pretty disgusting man, pitiable, laughable in many senses, but a celebrity in his time who could write well, which is more than one can expect today.
   
   I picked up this book because I like the author's style of writing, and I was interested in what was going on in America around those years, the turn of the century and first quarter of the 20th century. But, though Mr. Teachout is always entertaining and easy to read, I found that in this case he stays too close to his protagonist all the time, so we can't anything of the bigger picture of the times he lived in. And the more I read, the less I cared about Mencken. He seemed so arrogant and incapable of loving anybody. And then he was a mama's boy! The irony.
   
   I was a little disappointed because nothing but Mencken's comings and goings, and the most trivial things about him are mentioned, but nothing practically about the world he dwlt in, or about why we should care about him in the first place.
   
   Still, if you are really interested in this man, you'll find plenty of detail here; and the book is saved only by the author's reader-friendly style.



4. I already knew a lot about Mencken when I bought this book. I learned a lot from reading it. I think it does a great job of compressing a large life into a workable package without missing much of the important events and people.
   
   On the otherhand the reading is a bit tedious. The introduction was marvelous, though. Mencken's diaries are tedious reading, too.
   
   The book is a nice addition to my Mencken collection.



5. H.L.M. was one of the greater journalists who ever lived in America. More so than almost anyone, he lifted an intellectual class up from the chains of religious orthodoxy. He had an amazing gift for epigrams, penses, and bon mots. He also promoted several authors we take for granted today into the limelight which first shone upon them. Finally, he wrote some of the best books (e.g., Happy Days) about turn of the century life.
   
   However, he was also an anti-Semite (although he had many close Jewish friends) and was utterly blind to the evils of Hitler. As he gets older, his grasp of world begins to weaken.
   
   Today I'm sure the politically correct crowd writes him off without thought as 'a dead, white, male', little appreciating the high irony that H.L.M. created virtually single handedly the liberal atmosphere of discourse on which they depend.
   
   Teachout has done a superb job of updating his life from numerous sources which have only become available recently. It is a tale rich in period detail and interesting characters. Dreiser, Sinclair, Knopf, Bryan, Twain and others walk through this narrative and each leaves a memorable wake behind them.
   
   You should read this book for the quotes from H.L.M. alone. The period details and the famous personages in the narrative will significantly compound the reward you get for reading this book.

5 comments about Katie: The Real Story.

1. I've read through the other Amazon reviews regarding `Katie: The Real Story' and I find myself surprised by two things: 1) how little the public seems to resonate with such a public figure in this forum (only 20 such reviews as of this writing) as compared to, say, Sarah Palin's `Going Rogue' (851 reviews!); and 2) how much behind the times I seem to be in responding in cyber-space to this biography.
   
   Well, maybe there's a question here also: "What's the Big Fuss regarding Katie Couric at CBS News?" I've found her competent, forthright and dynamic, and frankly prefer her to the alternatives. And if she carries a bit of Liberal bias into her journalism, so what? Take a look at Fox and you'll find the same sort of thing from the Conservative perspective. And you'll probably find anything in between if you look about. That's one of the things I find compelling about the 21st Century - Diversity of perspective and personal Choice!
   
   My early presumption of Mr Klein's book was that it would be more of a gossip-oriented, tell-all tabloid-styled exposé. It was the only thing I could find at the time and I had become interested in Katie's back-story and persona. But through the author's lens of a popularly focused career biography I found the work to be thoroughly researched and carefully documented, including its almost 200 interviews. Mr Klein ascribes to attempting to be scrupulously fair and I accept the book on these terms.
   
   The biography is said to be `unauthorized,' which as defined by the author means that Ms Couric neither participated in the research of nor in the writing of the book. She refused to be interviewed or otherwise contribute or respond. In addition, she apparently encouraged family, friends and colleagues not to participate. It is intimated that she actively tried to squelch publication as well.
   
   Mr Klein focuses on Ms Couric's professional climbing through the ranks of local television markets, television magazines and national broadcast news. If the author seems less than complimentary regarding Katie's choices, it may be because she became such an excellent student of working the system. He avers that her goals were lofty and significant enough that even romantic choices and personal behaviors were often the means to an end. That she assumed this strategy is well-supported and very persuasive. She is presented as yet one more public figure that's sometimes less than appealing under the facade of her professional image.
   
   Tell you what though - and here's a place for continuing debate - this writer feels that even public figures have the assumption of a personal life and a basic right to privacy. How well would the common folk among us respond to such scrutiny?
   
   I found the writing to be crisp, focused, compelling, interesting and well paced. It's a good bit of work and will fill a void until Katie (or someone else) comes back with something more substantive and `complete.'
   
   Four Stars out of Five then.
   
   Russell de Ville
   26 December 2009



2. MR KLEIN DOES A NICE JOB TELLING THE READER ABOUT THE LIFE AND CAREER OF KATIE COURIC. I FOUND HIS BOOK TO BE VERY WELL WRITTEN AND EASY TO READ. THE SUBJECT OF THIS BOOK IS ANOTHER STORY. ARROGENT, NO CONSCIENCE, SELF IMPORTANT, ASS KISSER AND VERY MUCH HATED IS HOW I WOULD DESCRIBE THIS BIT-H. TALK ABOUT SOMEONE VERY UNDER PRODUCTIVE AND VERY OVER PAYED. IT DOESN'T MATTER THAT SHE DOES NOT HAVE TALENT IN THE NEWS BUSINESS SHE HAS IT BETWEEN THE SHEETS WHERE SHE HAS CONTINUALLY USED PEOPLE TO GET WHAT SHE WANTS. HER MARRIAGE WAS A JOKE AND I HARDLY CONSIDER ANYTHING CLOSE TO BEING A MOTHER. A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THIS IS HER RELATIONSHIP WITH A MAN THAT IS 17 YEARS YOUNGER THAN HER, WHAT AN EXAMPLE SHE IS. I DO RECOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR FANS OF KATIE (ARE THERE ANY OUT THERE?)AND THOSE WHO ENJOY GOSSIP AND ARE CURIOUS ABOUT BEHIND THE SCENES IN THE NEWS WORLD.



3. Who really cares about Katie Couric?!? She has never really been that relevant and is not a good solid television news journalist. Katie Couric is your typical ultra-liberal "face-girl" who has always slanted her stories and is not shy about tipping her pro-democrat hand while attempting to report the nightly news. She and the "mainstream media" needs to get a clue and start reporting the news impartially with no agenda, hidden or not.
   
   Why do you think the viewership numbers have been eroding over the years for the evening news? It's the same as the dwindling numbers for the newspapers as well. People are tired of being presented with overtly pro-democrat propaganda. If they would go back to reporting in an unbiased fashion they would see their viewership and subscriber numbers jump.
   
   Don't waste your money on this book. Katie Couric brings absolutely nothing to the table that is remotely interesting or worthy of being published in a book ever.



4. Seemed more interested in telling about what she did to get where she is & who cares???? I still have the book opened with about 1/4 to read & may never even finish it..... when usually I read a book a day, if it's god.



5. Edward Klein, author of "The Truth About Hillary," "The Kennedy Curse," and "Farewell Jackie," has turned his attention to one of America's most important media icons, Katie Couric, in his "Katie: The Real Story." Klein felt that there were many unanswered questions about Couric - What explained her extraordinary success in the world of morning television? Who helped her on the way to the top? - and set about to find the answers.
   
   After two hundred interviews with both her critics and most ardent supporters, he has produced the first unauthorized biography of Couric with the claim that "Katie" was not based on a negative premise. He intended to be scrupulously fair while saying something true and important about this media icon.
   
   The book is a tightly woven story of Couric, "America's Sweetheart," from childhood (Arlington, Virginia) to her role today as anchor for CBS Evening News. Klein's inside sources describe Katie in her early professional years as young and hungry - "one of the most ambitious women I have met."
   
   She has abundant self-confidence, is cheerful, carefree, and fearless but is easily hurt, quick to tears, and susceptible to feelings of embarrassment and humiliation. She projects an image of a strong and independent woman but privately she is extraordinarily needy and dependent on the support of men.
   
   Couric's father is a soft-spoken man with conservative values. He was a reporter then publicist for the National Association of Broadcasters. Katie showed her father's fascination with journalism, particularly TV journalism. He always said that the number one job was Walter Cronkite's, as anchor for CBS Evening News.
   
   "Katie" provides plenty of background, not only on Couric's rise to the top, but also a behind the scenes look at CNN, NBC, and CBS. Klein provides little known tidbits on how Katie barely escaped from being fired by CNN, her years at CNN Headquarters, and the help she received from the CNN executive, Guy Pepper, with whom she had a long-standing affair.
   
   Some of the juiciest tidbits of the book center on the NBC's Today Show and Couric's rise to America's Sweetheart including departure of Jane Pauley, the rise and the fall of Deborah Norville, the difficult Bryant Gumbel and his eventual dismissal, a growing rivalry with Diane Sawyer, her marital strife with husband Monahan, and her efforts to become more glamorous. Through it all, Couric transforms into a diva with all of the perceived negatives.
   
   The book contains sixteen pages of pictures detailing Couric's life. While this is a fast read, it took some time to get through it as my wife kept taking my copy to read for herself. That is about as good a recommendation anyone can give for this book!

5 comments about And You Know You Should Be Glad: A True Story of Lifelong Friendship.

1. Bob Greene and Jack Roth are very lucky men. Very few of us meet our soul mates (even if we are one of those lucky enough to make that close a friend at some point in our lives) when we are five years old, but it happened to these two during the first few days of Miss Barbara's kindergarten class. Jack, always the one sensitive to the feelings of others, stood and announced to Miss Barbara that Bob was suffering a bad nosebleed and needed some help, something that Bob was too embarrassed to do for himself - and a bond was formed between the two that was destined to last their lifetimes.
   
   Now, more than fifty years later, Jack's cancer is threatening to end one of those lifetimes and Bob can hardly imagine life without him. Jack, Bob and three other Bexley, Ohio, boys were practically inseparable all the way through high school but the bond between Jack and Bob remained a special one even within their friendships with the other boys. After high school, as always happens, real life intruded on old friendships and the men saw less and less of each other. But Jack and Bob remained close and spoke often despite Bob's relocation to Chicago, and Jack and Chuck, another member of the group, even became brothers-in-law after marrying identical twin sisters.
   
   When Jack's four friends gather in Bexley to show him their support they find the old friendships are as strong as ever. What they bring to Jack - old stories, inside jokes and countless memories - are exactly the things he needs to keep him going despite the ever-worsening news he receives from his doctors.
   
   As Jack and Bob walk the streets of their childhood, revisiting old haunts that are vivid reminders of the years they shared in little Bexley, the reader experiences Jack's longing to revisit his memories one-at-a-time, one final visit for each with nothing skipped. And because Jack has lived in Bexley almost his entire life, every one of their walks brings him past the physical markers of his lifetime, each marker triggering one of the memories he so earnestly seeks.
   
   Jack Roth was a man blessed with the ability and time to make the most of his last days and he was lucky to have four good friends willing to revisit the past with him. When together, the five of them joked and laughed just as they always had in a vain attempt to hide their feelings about what was happening to one of their own. Jack understood that and welcomed the chance to push his worries aside for even a few minutes, the best gift his friends could give him. Best of all, though, since Jack's best friend in the world, Bob Greene, is not a man afraid to express his feelings and emotions, the rest of us can learn from Jack's example in "And You Know You Should Be Glad."
   
   You really should be.



2. My opinion about this book is really three opinions! First, just basing it on what it is on the surface, a memoir about the life and death of a best friend, one that has been a friend from kindergarten until both friends are in their late 50s. That aspect of the book is done wonderfully. Jack sounds like a remarkable man, one of the few pure good people out there, a rare breed that is almost like the opposite of a sociopath, a person who is just plain good. It sounds like he deserved this tribute, and it's a heartfelt one.
   
   Secondly, though, there is the writing. I've read a lot of Bob Greene, and I think this is the most over the top sentimental I've seen his writing. Perhaps it's the topic. But he seems to feel the past is always better than the present, and everyplace he visited with Jack seems to lit in a glow of wonder when they remember it from their childhood. Either Greene had the most glorious childhood the world has ever known, or he's just a bit overly living in the past. Every moment for him is important and weighted down with sentiment. After a while it gets to be too much.
   
   The third thought that kept coming to my mind---when reading the book, I was vaguely aware some sort of scandal had arisen in Greene's life, but didn't know the details. After I read the book, I read more about it, it was a scandal involving a barely legal girl who had interviewed him and with whom he later had an inappropriate relationship. Soon after all that came out, his wife died. Certainly a life changing few months, but from the vague references in this book you have no idea how they really affected him. Of course, this is his right, but it seems like someone who makes a living talking about other people's lives and feelings should be more willing to write about his own. The thing that bothered me most was when he mentioned he had a son in his senior year in high school still at home. When Greene was spending so much time with his friend Jack, who was with the boy? Although he may have been old enough to be alone, surely you would want to spend all the time you could with a boy who had fairly recently lost his mother. It made me think about how living too much in the past can certainly take away from what we should be doing in the present. I don't know all the details of Greene's life, and maybe he is saving much writing of his grief over his wife for another book, but it kept coming to my mind while reading this one.
   
   Overall, I think this is worth a read if you are dealing with the death of a friend. My husband recently lost his best friend,quite suddenly, and I know how life-changing an experience it can be, and probably one without much written about it. I have enjoyed Greene's writing over the years, and I hope this was sort of a transitional book and he will write more.



3. My mother-in-law read this book in one weekend and loved it. I haven't read it yet but I'm sure to enjoy it from what she said.



4. Mr. Greene has written a terrific tribute to lifelong friendship. Jumping back and forth between how the ABCDJ group was during their youth and into the present in which they are all dealing with the deterioration and ultimate death of Jack is very effective. Mr. Greene attempts to convey the conflicting emotions that come with the death of an important element in his life. It made me appreciate how truly lucky I am to have similar relationships with my own group of five lifelong friends. This book is a keeper and I intend to give one copy to each of my four cronies.



5. I am about 16 years younger than Bob Greene, I grew up in Arizona, and not in the mid-west, but I can really relate to this book. I too have four great friends that I am still close too, we have watched each other's back for over 30 years. We have stood by each other through thick and thin. Right now one of us is very ill, and I worry that I am going to live what Green when though all too soon.
   Good book, sad subject.

5 comments about Eleni.

1. fascinating piece of investigative reporting by the son of eleni who was killed by the communist guerilla insurgents during the civil war. more than a war story, a story that illuminates all wars and especially civil insurgencies. also a gripping read from start to finish.



2. I'm Greek-American and read that book in about 2 days, with little sleep. The movie was horrible. Gage is an excellent writer, always has been. The schism between the children and father was common for that generation, since the fathers came to the US to begin busnesses and build a life here so they could have their families with them. My paternal pappou came, but in the early 1900's, and was very successful. He and his brothers all got out before WW II and more Turkish slaughters.
   
   Gage is very open about the feelings for his father since, as in many Greek families, the "mana and yia yia", were everything. The father was an anonymous figure far away. It was the women who were the strong ones at that time... they had to protect hearth, home, and teach the Greek way of life. Their roles were all-encompassing and the execution of Gage's mother, which couldn't even be truly adknowledged properly, out of fear, shaped his entire life.



3. Excellent book, I would like to find it in English also so my daughters can read it



4. I am a high school history teacher and had never realized the impact of the Greek civil war following WWII. This book is a must read for those interested in the communist influence following WWII.



5. I started this book thinking that probably it would be a bit over dramatic and sentimental since it was written by the son. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is dramatic, but in a way that places you right in that village, fighting alongside the village people, outraged and helpless. It is sentimental. Gage paints vivid characters you feel as if you've met. An amazing and heart-rending story. A well-written and interesting history. A piece of Communist injustice. Definitely worth reading.

5 comments about Hemingway.

1. As some others have said here, Lynn clearly hates Hemingway. You can read the entire book, as I did, and discover not one redeemable thing about Hemingway, amazing since he is still considered one of the most important writers of the 20th century, one who formed many lasting friendships over the years while he was changing the course of American literature.
   
   Lynn is one of those critics who, as one writer put it, is like the partisans who come down out of the mountains after the battle and shoot the wounded. Lynn's analysis of the effect that Hemingway's mother had on her son by dressing him in girls' clothes in his youth is laughable, nickel psychology that would embarrass Lucy in Peanuts.
   
   I heard Hemingway's son Patrick at the Oak Park centennial celebration of Hemingway's birth describe Lynn as, simply, "a liar." I'm inclinded to agree.
   
   Read Michael Reynolds' bio instead.



2. The author, professor of history at John Hopkins and formerly chairman of Harvard's graduate program in American Civilization, depicts Hemingway as a deeply troubled man whose "fight with his own inner demons produced some of the greatest American fiction of the twentieth century". This is a far more dynamic biography than the earlier serious work by Carlos Baker, and therefore more controversial. Lynn methodically shows how incidents (or imagined incidents) in Hemingway's life reappeared in the content of his books. Basically, Hemingway almost always wrote about himself, but rarely honestly. Lynn roots out the lies told about himself which other biographers, especially later hangers-on such as Hotchner, swallowed whole. As a man, Hemingway was a macho bully showing no loyalty to friends. Lynn argues that Hemingway's persona was shaped by his anxieties about his sexual identity. Although clinically paranoid by the end of his life, distrust and envy of others, particularly perceived literary rivals, was part of his make up from earliest days.
   
   While distrusting some of the analytic conclusions about Hemingway's persona--Lynn is not a psychiatrist--there is a considerable body of research that supports many of Lynn's theories about the man. Book has extensive notes and bibliography.



3. I have had the pleasure of reading several (actually, quite a few), biographies concerning Hemingway over the years. Some were good, others not so good and some were absolutely horrible. With each book tough, good or bad, I did learn something new about E. Hemingway and/or his writing. This is a good thing. This particular biography by Kenneth S. Lynn is yet another take on the man and the ledged who was Ernest Hemingway. No I am not a big fan of Hemingway's novels, but am a great fan of his short stories, but overall I find that the "man" Hemingway is actually more fascinating that the "writing" of Hemingway. That being said....
   
   This work by Kenneth Lynn probably addresses Hemingway's actual work more than most of the biographies I have read. Most of his major and quite a number of minor works are covered here. The author discusses these works in conjunction with what the author knows, or has speculated, of Hemingway's life. It has been mentioned by a couple of reviewers that this is a revisionist view of Hemingway and his work. I personally do not look at it as such. Even a cursory review of Hemingway's work reveals a very troubled man behind the words and the story. There is really nothing "new" here, only a different way of looking at the facts we all pretty well can figure out for ourselves with a bit of attention. This work, like all works of this nature has pros and cons. First the pros:
   
   The work is well done, well written and certainly holds readers attention. As far as I can tell, the author has done his research and done it well. The author has given us some great food for thought as we read Hemingway's work and I know, I for one, will read EH in a bit of a different light from now on. This is good. The author has presented his arguments and observations in a very forceful and convincing way. Each statement he makes, each speculation, is backed up with quite sound logic. The author has written an interesting biography, one well worth the read. The Background information, in particular that of the literati establishment in Paris during the twenties and thirties, is quite well done in this work. We get great glimpses of some very famous people. I think most readers will learn a lot from reading this work. I know I did. Now for the cons:
   
   Like another reviewer here, I simply do not know the qualifications of Kenneth S. Lynn as to the validity of some of the speculations he makes about the influences Hemingway's family had over his work. I do not know what the qualifications are of the author as to how he can speculate what was actually going on in HM's mind as he was writing a certain piece. It would seem that everything that HM ever put on paper had some sexual deeper meaning to it, according to Lynn. I find this difficult to fully believe. Some times a story is just a story and nothing more. Next, I felt the author was one of those that jumped on the "lets bash Hemingway" band wagon that seems to pop up about every twenty years, as this certainly is not a book that admirers of HM will appreciate. (It is childish of me, I know, but I would love to be in a room with Lynn and Hemingway as Lynn reads this book to Hemingway). Everyone the poor man ever knew or spoke to, seems to have written a book about him or is trying to. (At least Lynn did not rant on for over 600 pages trying to prove that HM was a homosexual as Mellow did in his work "Hemingway, A Life Without Consequences." This author, Lynn, as far as I can tell, feels HM is only suffered from gender confusion, or something like that.
   
   All in all this book is well worth the read. It gives us just one more slant of the life of a fascinating man. I do recommend though, that the reader check out, read and discover several other biographies on HM as this one being reviewed here is certainly not the beginning and end of all Hemingway biographies. I would also suggest you read the fine work by Noel Riley Fitch, "Sylvia Beach and the Lost Generation." Some of the folks, writers, artists, publishers, etc. are not all that well know today to the general public, are pretty obscure now, and a bit of knowledge of these people will make reading Lynn's work much more pleasurable.
   
   Overall, recommend this one highly. I am giving it five stars, not because I agree with or believe everything the author has written, but because he, Lynn, has written it well and it has given me something to think about...something I always appreciate.



4. Kenneth Lynn's biographical treatment of Ernest Hemingway is thorough and magnificent. It satisfied me for several reasons--not the least of which was the cheap z shop price I paid for it. What I liked about the narrative best is Lynn's habit of discussing Hemingway's work and life simultaneously. Just as with the man, the fiction blends in seamlessly with the non-fiction. The body of the text is almost 600 pages long and a solid half is devoted to those halcyon years of productivity; that wondrous decade of artistic bliss between 1920 and 1930. Due to the expansiveness of the biography and literary analysis I found those pages to be highly addictive reading. Indeed, I've just purchased Finca Vigia edition of his short stories and will devour them with a keen level of appreciation due to the efforts of Mr. Lynn. Personally, I did not find this biography to be revisionist. There was a great deal of atmospherics inherent to the masculinity of Ernest Hemingway. How much the macho corresponded with his true essence will always be subject to debate. This is not a controversial statement as Gertrude Stein, Zelda Fitzgerald, and countless others noticed the disingenuous, "tries too hard" aspects of his personality. He was a caricature in many ways, but I continue to find his style beguiling and life mesmerizing.



5. Lynn's book is the third Hemingway biography I've read (others: A. E. Hotchner, Carlos Baker). I found KSL's book to be quite readable, and his arguments well rationalized and thought-provoking. His exploitation of the psychological perspective is unique among the Hemingway biographies I've read or heard of, and in the abstract, his thesis is plausible. That there could be a neurotic, unconsciously destructive mother (or father for that matter) who could cause severe and lasting psychological damage to her children, is hardly news. However, getting inside another man's head is risky business - all the more so when the associated analysis will run into hundreds of pages and involve articulating the life long effects of childhood damage, character flaws, etc and following them into and back from Hemingway's work. The possibilities for misinterpretation, misunderstanding, and unconscious personal bias etc., are infinite.

   In the final event, I found I couldn't give full credence to this style of biography, at least not without having certain knowlege of its author's powers of mind, life experience, and his ability to judge another man's character - things that a reader typically can not know about an author. Notwithstanding, I'm glad to have read the volume, and it offers a counterbalance to Carlos Baker's biography of Hemingway, sometimes criticized as too uncritical of the man. I still prefer Baker however, perhaps because his emphasis on literary analysis is of more interest to me and less 'risky'. And, Baker's companion work, "Hemingway, The Writer as Artist" dovetails nicely with his biography of Hemingway.

5 comments about Remembering Mr. Shawn's New Yorker: The Invisible Art of Editing (Mehta, Ved, Continents of Exile.).

1. Ved Mehta's eighth volume in his autobiographical series "Continents of Exile" is about his time at The New Yorker magazine during the William Shawn period. It's often described as a biography of Shawn, which may account for much of the criticism that the book has attracted. But it is not primarily about Shawn, and this must be remembered: the book is first and foremost concerned with the world of Ved Mehta and how William Shawn fit into it.
   
   It begins with Mehta's first meeting with Shawn in the old New Yorker offices on West Forty-third Street and passes through Shawn's editorship of Mehta's first submissions to his time as a staff writer to the fatal day in 1987 when Shawn was fired. Mehta's prose is engaging and his view of chameleon-like Shawn no more right or wrong than anyone else's.
   
   I recommend this book for both the subject matter and the writing. It was an unexpected treat.



2. I'm surprised three of the prior four reviewers found this title deserving of just four stars. I found this book to be an illuminating work, exposing the intriguing convergence of factors that made The New Yorker great in its formative years. It wasn't Mr. Shawn alone, but the culture he created. He created it by example, and his example drove the magazine's writers to a level of excellence rarely seen since.
   
   The author's success in capturing the tone Shawn set is powerful testimony to Ved Metha's skill as a writer. But beyond that, his book brings into focus a management style sorely lacking in today's enterprises, be they magazines, professional offices, retail stores -- whatever. That style is one which prizes pleasing the customer over profits, because it recognizes that happy customers are the KEY to long-term profitability.
   
   Should we be surprised that our publications have become cursory instruments which place a greater emphasis on flashy advertising than on editorial substance when the vast majority of "publishers" have climbed the accounting side of their particular corporation's ladder, rather than the editorial side?
   
   Editors of Mr. Shawn's caliber no longer exist because what used to be their primary job -- ensuring the accuracy and quality of editorial content -- no longer exists. Gone are the fact checkers and the grammarians, not to mention intelligent writers, able to produce 5,000 incisive words on the economy as easily as 7,000 on border disputes in the Middle East. And those writers are gone because their publications' ownerships lack the business sense necessary to build a following (or the attention span to appreciate any article which does not end on the same page upon which it begins).
   
   And as sure as these bean-counting bottom liners have no business being publishers, any editor who hasn't read this book shouldn't be editing anything.



3. I urge everyone to collect these wonderful books. Ved Mehta writes with care, and from an unusual point of view. I have enjoyed this book in particular. His attention to detail is nothing less than amazing. He is a well-educated man, very scholarly, and it does come through in his books. As good as Churchill, Camus, and Ignatieff, if not better.



4. Intriguing and informative look at a title (and by extension, an industry) in transition. Clearly illustrates both the reasons for and effects of corporate acquisition of magazines. Mehta's tone of hero worship for Shawn is occasionally grating. In fairness, this may be earned, as the Mr. Shawn in this book has many qualities you'd expect from a quiet hero. Fascinating stuff.



5. Ved Mehta is my favorite writer. I've bought nearly all his books, even old ones out of print that I've found through Amazon. Ved Mehta's endearing personality and superb writing style make an irresistable combination. Having said that, I must also say that Remembering Mr. Shawn's New Yorker is the Mehta book I like least. It is the latest volume in Ved Mehta's autobiography, but it reveals too little about Mr. Mehta and redundantly much about Mr. Shawn. It tells more about the New Yorker than I really care to know, although I have been a New Yorker fan for years. Perhaps this book simply lacks the editorial guidance Mr. Shawn gave to Mehta's previous books. On the other hand, an unexpected gift I found in Remembering Mr. Shawn's New Yorker is an explanation of the background behind other Mehta books written while Mehta was on the New Yorker staff. I do recommend that all Mehta and New Yorker fans read this book, but don't set your expectations too high.

2 comments about CBS's Don Hollenbeck: An Honest Reporter in the Age of McCarthyism.

1. Are you now, or have you ever been a communist? A chilling phrase that lead an era. "CBS's Don Hollenbeck: An Honest Reporter in the Age of McCarthyism" tells the stories of one of the few people in the mainstream media of the time to stand against the witch hunt that was launched during the dawn of the Cold War. Hollenbeck fought hard to be fair and honest about how he felt about the McCarthy Communist hunt, and for his efforts, he was fired from several major networks, divorced thrice, and assaulted endlessly by radical conservatives towing the McCarthy line. A tragedy of a good man's life destroyed for simply standing up for what's right, "CBS's Don Hollenbeck" is a solid piece of media history, enthusiastically recommended.



2. Author Loren Ghiglione begins his introduction to "CBS's Don Hollenbeck" by saying, "When I started this book thirty-five years ago"...and the conclusion to this lifetime effort is an absorbing, psychobiography of one of the most inspirational journalists of the McCarthy era. A deeply gifted and troubled man, Hollenbeck put a stamp on integrity that would be hard to find today. The times brought out the best of his talents and in a perfect storm, killed him. His legacy has long outlasted his relatively short life but it is all captured wonderfully by Ghiglione.
   
   A native Nebraskan whose mother also committed suicide, Hollenbeck had a hard work ethic, a sense of purpose and a personal life that saw him consumed by three marriages and alcohol. How often it is that personal demons which can engage a person's genius can also have the opposite effect. Hollenbeck, while disciplined in much of his work, could also be rash and irrational in his outbursts, causing his many dismissals and resignations. While the first few chapters of "CBS's Don Hollenbeck" are more traditionally presented, the book really catches fire when Hollenbeck, having bounced around a good deal by the time he was in his early forties, finds a niche in "CBS Views the Press". From that first broadcast it's a rather fast track to his death.
   
   Ghiglione structures the second half so that Jack O'Brian, Hollenbeck's nemesis from the Journal-American and possible igniter of Hollenbeck's suicide, is summed up in a few short biographical chapters. By not giving O'Brian a huge amount of "ink", the author reminds us that O'Brian doesn't need much exposure. He was a bully of the worst sort at a time when public attacks against liberals (and therefore supposed Communists) were seen as necessary patriotic moves by those who supported McCarthy and his tactics.
   
   Hollenbeck held on, perhaps as long as he could, given his increased drinking and continuing assaults by O'Brian. While fellow journalist and friend Edward R. Murrow counseled Hollenbeck to ride out the O'Brian storm, it seems likely that Hollenbeck was already "gone" in a sense. His continuing referrals to suicide, increasing aloofness (although Hollenbeck was always a loner), the dissolution of his third marriage, his inability to keep O'Brian at bay....and, the booze...allowed Hollenbeck to paint himself into a corner from which he could not escape.
   
   Ghiglione helps to balance Hollenbeck by pointing out that others of the time also committed suicide, yet many more who did not, survived and thrived... the point being that Hollenbeck should not be pitied but be understood. After reading this book, I do, indeed, feel that while empathy is certainly due Hollenbeck, his inner self was on a crash course to an early end. One of the most telling quotes (and there are many) is this one offered by his third wife, Anne..."he was a young man in search of a way to die".
   
   As a narrative, the author builds a slow crescendo...the story is never hurried...and Hollenbeck's decency, courage and his reporter's eye for finding the truth is well-established. The sense and temperature of the McCarthy years add color to this terrific biography of a man whose talent and torture intersected with tragic consequences at the height of one of the worst eras in American history.

3 comments about She Made Friends and Kept Them: An Anecdotal Memoir.

1. Fleur Cowles died this week (June 5, 2009) at the age of 101 in a nursing home in England. What a life Florence Friedman (her real name at birth) lived. She created a fantasy and lived it. Reading the book (there is a name dropped every other sentence) I asked myself, "HOW did she get sent on all these exotic trips to meet all of these world leaders?" My other question is: How much of this is true? We will never know the answer to that. From her book it appears everyone who was anyone on earth adored her and confided in her at the drop of a hat. Right.
   
   I remember one of the stories from the book that was published when the book came out about her special Tea with the Queen Mother at Buckingham Palace. It upset me reading it then, and again today when I re-read the book. Apparently, she and the Queen Mum got on like a house afire. She was invited to have Tea ALONE with Her Majesty one day. Evidently the Palace went all out to bake her very special cakes and scones and set the tea out in a Samovar for her. And what did she tell the Queen Mother? "My doctor won't let me drink tea." And she also refused ALL the cakes and sweets! So the Queen Mother said, "Well, I won't have any, either." Can you imagine the conversation after Ms. Cowles left the palace? Imagine the faces of the pastry chefs who worked so hard on the special Tea!
   
   This woman was born in NYC at the turn-of-the-century and managed to make herself into the most important woman in the world. The only problem is, in 2009, how many people even remember who she was? This book just made my teeth itch with its self-importance. And not once in the entire book did she acknowledge her Jewish heritage or her humble beginnings in NYC. Now that she's in that big Celebrity Salon in the Sky, let's see how many people rush up to greet her. They're too busy with Pamela Harriman and Truman Capote to notice.



2. Not one of the "cameos" in this book is more that a page or two or (rarely) three. Many are less than one page. After a while, this book becomes simply frustrating; lacking depth, completeness and continuity. I found it monotonous and superficial.



3. Five stars-- this book entertains as well as educates even if the education is mostly on a superflous level.

   While on bed rest with one of my pregnancies, one of my girlfriends loaned me this. Like Kirkus Reviews indicates, it is full of triavialities and stupid tidbits. But what fun they are to read! No, I couldn't call up my girlfriends and gossip about these things-- not many 25 year olds know a lot about Gloria Swanson or have heard about the movers and shakers of two generations ago. It was fascinating to read of someone's life while in the midst of the people who were defining her era (including Fleur Cowles, herself.) Her contemporaries were true stars, people whose influence is still looked to by the flash-in-a-pan celebrities of today. She dined with Royalty when they were still powerful and knew people who had affairs that would make Bubba blush, but had enough class to be discreet about them.

   From someone who lives on "the other side" I cannot help but wish I had some of this woman's problems and scrapes, not to mention her panache at dealing with my own! Martha Stewart, on gracious living, doesn't hold a candle up to Fleur Cowles and for that matter-- I don't think that anyone does or ever will!

5 comments about A Mighty Heart: The Inside Story of the Al Qaeda Kidnapping of Danny Pearl.

1. I've seen the movie and also read the book - both amazing. I had the privilege of interviewing Mariane Pearl for my blog recently and I can't wait for her next projects. I also loved her Global Diaries column in Glamour as well.



2. I finished A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life And Death Of My Husband, Danny Pearl the other day. In some ways it reminds me of Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. Both take place mostly in Pakistan and both are so powerful that you reflect on them for days and even weeks to come. Both have some rough language but it was nearly transparent to me as the heart-wrenching frustrations in each story resulting in such words were so overwhelming that I hardly noticed the harsh and sometimes foul words, normally foreign to me.
   
   I remember when this occurred as the world held it's breath for five long weeks, sending up prayers in many languages for Danny's safe return. He was a reporter and the South Asia Bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal. Danny put himself in harm's way to shed some light to the side of the news that might bring about world understanding. Instead, in this instance, it brought a type of horror that proved to be both universal and yet painfully personal for his wife, Mariane, who was pregnant with their first child, a son.
   
   On January 23, 2002, on his way to what he thought was an interview at a village restaurant in Karachi, Pearl was kidnapped by the militant group, "The National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty." This group claimed Danny (of Jewish heritage and an American) was a CIA agent. Before he left for the interview, he told Mariane that he might be late for dinner. He never returned.
   
   Mariane's riveting account of realizing her husband was missing and working to help the authorities piece it all together, leading up to Danny's eventual and brutal murder will leave you forever changed. Mariane is also an award-winning journalist and shares a very detailed step-by-step account of what took place. Surprisingly, interwoven throughout every page of the book, is a love story so intimate, intense and tender that you'll find often yourself smiling and feeling very privileged to "know" these remarkable people, including those surrounding Mariane... each with their own "mighty heart."
   
   I listened to this as a "book on CD" which is read by Mariane. You really need to concentrate to understand her as she was born of an Afro-Chinese-Cuban mother and Dutch-Jewish father in France. Mariane was raised in Paris and with her interesting heritage she has a very unique accent, to me anyway. It's a good thing that you have to listen so carefully as you want to catch every detail and no one else would ever be able to tell the story as she does. It's a story I shall not soon forget. It makes you grateful and also sad but leaves you in awe of the courage of so many of our brothers and sisters half-way around the world, especially Mariane, whose heart is every bit as mighty as her husband's.



3. I had put this book on my Amazon wish list awhile back, around the same time I saw the movie adaptation starring Angelina Jolie. I knew that the movie stayed as true as possible to the book, so I really wanted to get a more in-depth look at the life of Danny and Mariane Pearl.
   
   The portrait Mariane Pearl paints of her husband, their friends, Pakistan, and those who were a part of the massive effort to find and bring Danny Pearl home is detailed and incredibly perceptive. She made me feel as if I knew these people, as if they were mutual friends that we were discussing.
   
   Reading this book, I felt Mariane's tremendous love for her husband, and for the life they had together as seekers of truth through responsible journalism. I also felt her incredible frustration with the Pakistani authorities, who seemed to not care so much about Danny's kidnapping as they did about how it made their country appear in the eyes of the world. I also understood the affection and trust she felt for those who did their best to bring Danny home - Captain, Dost, Randall Bennett and the many others she worked alongside during the weeks that Danny was kidnapped.
   
   A Mighty Heart showcases both the best and the worst of human nature. Mariane and her family were victims of the worst of human nature, but they found some of the best in those who came to their aid.
   
   At times, I had tears in my eyes. Tears of rage. Tears of anguish. Mostly I asked myself, how can someone hate that much? I can't understand it. How can anyone hate so much that they have to destroy anything and everything that doesn't conform to their viewpoint?
   
   I agree with Mariane. We need to begin a dialogue. And we need to keep it going, no matter what. We have to make things better, because no one is going to do it for us. Mariane Pearl is a woman of tremendous courage and understanding. We could all learn a lesson from her.
   
   
   I swear I will not dishonor
   my soul with hatred,
   but offer myself humbly
   as a guardian of nature,
   as a healer of misery,
   as a messenger of wonder,
   as an architect of peace.



4. Marianne Pearl is an amazing writer. I do not agree with some of the reviews that say this book lacks feeling and emotion.She talks of being suicidal, and grieving quite a bit, the gentle way that only the two of them were, "the way we were" kind of emotions. She's a frothy writer though and some people do not get that, or can't read the emotion there. There are times that seem a little light on emotion, but also understand that the human mind is complex and it has to free itself to laugh sometimes in the darkest hours.
   The story is the sad story of the loss of her husband, journalist Danny Pearl. It can be hard to read at times, and hard to follow. The time line is not always clear. She does repeat herself a lot, but it becomes necessary because of the amount of people involved in the story. She references other things, which in my opinion attribute to her credibility as a reporter...it's their way.
   
   Other reviews have slammed this book stating that Gilani is innocents,etc. I wonder if they even read the book as Mrs. Pearl does explains the outcome in the book.
   
   Yes, there are a few grammar issues, but not anything to the extent of which one review slammed the book for. Not more than most books I would say. This book is really beautifully written. It does try to be objective though...again Mrs. Pearl is a report by trade too.
   
   
   The letters in the back of the book are nice. This is a sad book, but a great book to read. It makes you think, and realize how different our world has been since 2001. I think I have always been the kinds to ask when journalists disappear what they were doing there to begin with. Delivering us the truth. This book made me realize that journalists are soliders of the truth, just like our American soliders fighting for justice. Without them we lack the whole truth, and they risk themselves in the pursuit of this. I will never think of journalists the same again.



5. Even after seeing Michael Winterbottom's compelling 2007 film adaptation starring Angelina Jolie, I cannot imagine the unrelenting nightmare Mariane Pearl, five months pregnant, must have felt for those endless weeks back in early 2002 when her husband, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, was being held hostage by radical Islamic terrorists in Karachi. It is a tribute to her as both investigative reporter and grieving widow that she has written such a moving and cogent book about her husband's kidnapping and expands the picture to include an unblinking portrait of the man responsible, Omar Shiekh. His conversion into a jihadi is treated just as comprehensively as Pearl's more personal account of her relationship and eventual marriage to her husband. I was particularly moved by her story about how they went to Cuba to return her mother's ashes to her birthplace. As a former reporter herself, she is never overly sentimental, but you cannot help but be touched by the loving portrait of her husband, a tough-minded reporter who was also a charming dilettante and avid mandolin player. Her lucid narrative paints a marriage of great passion and mutual trust, and she successfully articulates his mission of building understanding between Islam, Christianity, and his own Judaism.
   
   I have to admit some part of me felt Daniel Pearl sealed his fate when he chose such a dangerous assignment, risky not just for an American and all the more so for a Jewish-American. But his widow gives me a much greater understanding of his mission and the passion he had to carry his mission through the most horrifying circumstances. It has since been reported that he was fully aware of his inevitable execution and refused to be sedated during his final moments of life. This added knowledge makes her book an even greater abject lesson in courage, which she delineates in the most poignant yet clear-eyed way. This could have been easily sensationalized into a clarion call for anti-Islamic hatred stateside, but her book is remarkably controlled and free of self-pity. Mariane Pearl goes well beyond my expectations in documenting not just a personal tragedy and ultimate triumph in survival but a true lesson in reconciling one's immediate circumstances with the greater purpose of building tolerance. Beyond remarkable books like Bob Graham's Intelligence Matters or Michael Scheuer's Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror, it is her book that captures the power of the human spirit against terrorism and will continue to resonate well beyond the upcoming election.