5 comments about Yo Soy la Hija de Mi Padre: Una Vida Sin Secretos.

1. self serving and extremely boring. i still can't figure out why i was given this book as a present.... maybe they are not really my friend!



2. Esta es una de las autobiografias mas sorprendentes y al mismo tiempo encantadoras porque describe la historia de amor de sus papas como muy linda. Sufrida por parte de los dos, porque tuvieron que dejarlo todo y vivir en un lugar y en otro, cuidandose y protegiendo a sus hijas y mantiendolas alejadas de su propia familia.



3. Story of a woman's pursuit of her father's previous life before marriage to her mother, and consequent discovery of his secrets and his whole side of her family.



4. Atrapa tu atencion y te lleva sin esfuerzo a traves de una historia que no queres que termine por diferente y culturalmente interesante; con situaciones que a veces te podes identificar. A pesar de algunos errores de redaccion, fue un placer leerlo en espanol.



5. This book is her own autobiographical sketch from the viewpoint of a daughter of an immigrant, journalist and social commentator; she puts together her whole as a person and brings the reader down to the conclusion that as an individual we are what are parents shaped us to be. As a reporter she documents and researches her family roots that she thought she knew until her fathers best friend gives her fathers box of secrets, then and there she realizes that she really didn't know who her father really was. From that point on she goes through a chilling journey of discovering her own roots and eventhough she doesn't find all the correct answers , every step of the way she discovers more about herself and how important family values are for the individual. This is my own conclusion from her readings, we are who we are do to our predessesors.

5 comments about My War.

1. Lately I've been reading stories about war, an unfortunate constant of human history, I'm afraid. Tales about WWII, or "The Last Good War" (a book I read many years ago), as Studs Terkel called it, abound, but I especailly recommend this one. My War, by Andy Rooney (yep, the same bushy-eyebrowed old grump you see on 60 Minutes every week), is a true gem, full of his homespun self-deprecating bits of humor and wisdom, along with the expected grim and grisly stories about the carnage that is war. As to the importance of his wartime experience, Rooney says right up front, "My life was never the same again." As a young reporter (his army ID photo looks startlingly like Audie Murphy, who of course penned his own memoir, To Hell and Back) for The Stars and Stripes, Rooney got up close and personal with both the air and ground wars in Europe, and also traveled to India and China, rubbing shoulders with Ernie Pyle, Bill Mauldin and Walter Cronkite. One particular line from the book has stayed with me: "I laugh, bitterly, when I hear the phrase, 'He gave his life for his country.' No one gives his life. His life is taken." Rooney is a newspaperman and a reporter, but more than anything else he is a damn fine writer who simply tells it like he sees it. - Tim Bazzett, author of Soldier Boy and Love, War & Polio ([...])



2. This memoir by Andy Rooney of CBS of his army days during World War II mixes humor, cynicism, and tragedy. Rooney recounts how he was drafted into the artillery in 1941, and then transferred to the army newspaper STARS AND STRIPES. The author recounts his army experiences with a mixture of nostalgia, humor and sadness. The author admits his distaste for the military, and considers him self lucky to have drawn duty as a correspondent. Yet his service record was hardly risk-free. Rooney accompanied B-17 crews on raids over Nazi Germany, then infantrymen as they battled their way after D-Day. Rooney recounts much of the war's horrors and describes several friends and acquaintances that died in combat. The author's irreverent and at times cynical tone (particularly regarding General Patton) reflects both himself and many of the GI's that served in that deadly conflict. The book is generally very readable, although it does slow in a couple spots. Still, this moving 1995 memoir written half a century after Rooney's discharge is worth reading.



3. This is a great book. Andy Rooney, who I hate, is likable here in his stories about the GReat War. He tells stories, and jokes, and rubs elbows with all sorts of famous people, and, yet, doesn't seem to be bragging as much as telling. Also, his descriptions of tanks running over bodies and the air war are heart wrenching, beautiful, and terrifying. This book isn't my favorite overall, but it is the biggest surprise I've ever read. I really did love it.



4. My grandfather was in the Army Air Corp during WWII and would tell wonderful stories about his time in the war (the good and the bad). I think he would have liked Andy Rooney.
   
   I found the book very interesting particularly his insights on Patton. I have an great uncle who served under Patton. His mind never was the same.



5. Andy above and beyond potrayed his position in WW2 if anything played down. Yes he was a private that lucked out as many do in the service,but it seems he is able to tell the truth about it and feels no lesser for the facts. He tells of several heroes and some not so good officers. We have all known those. All in all I found the book very enjoyable and would highly reccomend it to all.

4 comments about Song for My Fathers: A New Orleans Story in Black and White.

1. The irony is that I had known the parents of Tom Sancton since 1972 (his mother, Seta, and I worked for the Tulane University Library from 1972 until 1979 when I became a social service worker); still, I knew nothing of what Tom Sancton writes in this book. Obviously, he learned both from his parents who taught him by example rather than just words, and from the Preservation Hall musicians. I hope he is proud of the fact that he, by his actions, contributed to the breakdown of racial barriers. He certainly has demonstrated that New Orleans can be a community where people can be together regardless of race, color or creed; and the book clearly reflects that.



2. As a fan of New Orleans and Dixieland jazz, I ordered this book as soon as it became available, and consumed it immediately. Tom Sancton met all my expectations, and also provided me with recent history of my favorite musicians, the Olympia Brass Band. He honestly described people and an era that will never be recaptured, with love, and affection, but without guilding the lily. These were real people, shown by Sancton with all their warts, and I miss them all greatly. On a visit to the Preservation Hall recently, I enjoyed the music provided by all white musicians and one black drummer, but was so aware of the loss of those originals. The drummer's father, one of the Fathers described by Sancton, is now gone, and we cried on each other's shoulders, over the loss of a music that can be preserved, but musicians who can never be duplicated. I am just so appreciative to Tom Sancton for producing this book, especially now that Katrina has erased so many of his memories.



3. Sancton has written an outstanding account of his coming of age in 60's New Orleans while learning trad jazz clarinet from George Lewis and other "old mens" at Preservation Hall in the French Quarter. Whether you love New Orleans and trad jazz, or not I think you'll enjoy Sancton's memoir. His story of being an Uptown white boy spending a lot of time with black musicians in the a world apart from where most of his comtemporaries were growing up is nothing if not unique. Sancton's day job after a Harvard degree turned out to be a correspondent for Time Magazine. So, he can definitely turn a good phrase. In addtion to documenting his interactions with the musicians, Sancton also writes about race, culture, and history in New Orleans. He also explores his relationship with members of his family, especially his writer father, who has an interesting story of his own, probably the subject of another book.Just a delightful read.



4. Jealous
   Boy, am I jealous of this guy! He lived a dream life as a teenager.
   Every musician that reads this will envy this story. Well written and boy am I jealous!

5 comments about What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love.

1. I didn't really care for it, from reading the front flap I thought this book would be much more intresting than it really was. I was never able to really get into the book, and was seen forcing myself to finish it. The only reason I made myself finish the book was to read the ending, about John and Carolyn's accident and the way Anthony passes away.



2. I just finished this book and I loved it. i love carole Radzwill's story telling style, loved it! Her stories are poignant and honest. There is much humor here also. She loves information and she gives it out to others who want it too. I hope she will continue to write.



3. Charlie Rose interviewed Carole and I remember thinking, "My, he's so dismissive of her." I can see why now. She never makes any of these people come to life.
   
   That's the tragedy of the whole thing...you never get to know any of these folks. I mean Carolyn forgets her toothbrush when she stays in the house that all of them share. So? I mean that is about as deep as she is going to get into this woman.
   
   At the end of Charlie Rose's interview with Carole Radziwill he left her feeling so miffed that SHE had to tell HIM that people thought she told her story well. He just shrugged. He was right.



4. The author made you feel a part of life and was truly able to make you understand the challenges she faced without ever making you "pity" her. The story is so beautifully written and taught me so much about life.



5. If you are like me, you are a hopeless romantic at heart. Therefore, when you pick up a book that is based on a marriage between a real life prince and a working-class woman, you hope for a "happily-ever-after" ending for the couple. But in the case of What Remains, I knew from the start that this was no "happily-ever-after" story. I knew the ending before I knew the beginning. I knew that I probably should have a box of kleenex nearby as I read. And I knew that I had to read the book despite all of that.
   
   Because of the never-ending interest in the "American royal family"--the Kennedys, I picked this book up to read about the friend of the wife of John F. Kennedy Jr. What I didn't realize was that in reading Radziwill's account of deep friendships, love and loss, I would find validation for some very real thoughts and feelings of my own.
   
   At the age of nineteen, Carole DiFalcoe left her small town existance in Connecticut to head to New York City in the hopes of a new life in journalism. A volunteer position at ABC News eventually turned into a career and the opportunity to meet a colleague who would later become her husband, Anthony Radziwill. Anthony was a member of a Polish royal family--a real life prince. He was also the nephew of President John F. Kennedy. Without the pretenses of his royal background, Radziwill worked in the news industry and was on assignment when he met Carole DiFalcoe.
   
   In fairy tales, the handsome prince marries the commoner, and they live an idyllic life. In the case of Anthony and Carole, the handsome prince is diagnosed with a rare form of cancer before they marry, and the woman who would be a princess is catapulted into a life of emotional upheaval, uncertainty, and constant fear of loss. Their marriage is a life of doctor visits, surgeries, follow-up cancer screening tests, and escapes to vacation spots to celebrate a temporary cancer-free state. They live their life in the landscape of "If we can just get through this next hurdle, we will be fine."
   
   One of the constants in their life is their friendship with JFK Jr and his wife, Carolyn Bessette. John and Anthony were friends above and beyond their family ties. Carolyn was Carole's closest friend. Together they faced the emotional and physical ups and downs of Anthony's disease. Together they weathered the constant barrage of photographers and journalists hungry for a glimpse of or a story about John and Carolyn. Life was anything but normal for either of the young couples. It held so much promise for one of the couples and so much heartache for the other couple. Together they were there for one another no matter what the emotional temperature of the moment. As Carole was coming to grips with the fact that her husband was dying from the unstoppable metastatic fibrosarcoma, John and Carolyn were there by her side. But her whole life unraveled when John and Carolyn's plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. Planning for her husband's death and memorial service was hard enough to comprehend. Dealing with the unexpected loss and grief of her family and friends to the sea in such a violent manner was beyond comprehension.
   
   What Remains is the story of friends and family, of life and love, and of overwhelming grief and loss. It is told in gut-wrenching honesty with a sensitivity that can only come from one who has known the highs and lows of such a life firsthand. The book is a gift to all who read it. It is a haunting and touching tribute to those whom Carole loves and misses deeply. What Remains gives credence to the fears and constant longings of those battling cancer and wishing for a reprieve from the uncertainty, wishing for the ability to look to the future without trepidation. As one who lives daily with these same fears and concerns, the poignancy of their personal and emotional struggles rang true and touched my heart deeply. It is one of those books that must be read and then savored for the beauty even in the sadness of the story. It is one of those books that, even though you know the ending before you read the first line, you will never forget the beautiful way in which the author chose to tell her story.
   
   by Lee Ambrose
   for Story Circle Book Reviews
   reviewing books by, for, and about women

5 comments about Art and Sex in Greenwich Village: A Memoir of Gay Literary Life After Stonewall.

1. Felice Picano is the man who was there and who did the work. He devised SeaHorse Press and built it up into a larger agglomeration called GPNy, with a pair of other likeminded publishers and dreamers. SeaHorse was responsible for some of the very best books of the 1980s, some authentic landmarks like Dennis Cooper's IDOLS and SAFE, Bob Gluck's JACK THE MODERNIST, Brad Gooch's JAILBAIT AND OTHER STORIES. And plays like FORTY DEUCE by Alan Bowne and the book that put SeaHorse on the map, TORCH SONG TRILOGY. Along the way, as Picano describes it, he encountered everyone from Robert Mapplethorpe to Nico and he lived to tell the tale.
   
   The subtext of the book is survival, one man's survival through the worst of the AIDS crisis in Manhattan. No sooner do we come to know a writer, an artist, a lover, a friend, than he is carried off by the disease and that which he left behind becomes more precious. This terse threnody runs all along the underside of this delicately written book like the runner of a carpet; just when it seems to be all about publishing trivia and how many printings had this or that forgotten volume, Picano's novelistic sense surges forward and real human interest takes its place on center stage.
   
   And the book has its own humor too! Gore Vidal averts Picano's overtures towards the republishing of MYRA BRECKINRIDGE with his own King Charles' head, the alarming spread, even in youth, of American men's backsides, and how the Germans do these things so much better. Boyd McDonald, the notorious editor of STH, perplexed by a royalty statement; James Purdy, genius among plebes, equally baffled by niceties of copyright. SeaHorse and GPNy didn't last very long--not nearly long enough in my view--but the very compression of the period provides Picano with exactly the right amount of material for his project, a book which brings back all the glory days, and much of the terror, of a certain era in literary and artistic history.
   
   I had a great editorial experience with him even though, in the end, SeaHorse passed on my book of memoirs, and the press was running down when I sent it in. He took the trouble to read the entire thing and made one enormously sweeping editorial suggestion which actually saved the whole thing and made it hang together, rather than the ragbag of halfassed New Narrative experiments it had previously been. I'm sure there are hundreds of younger writers who can attest also to Picano's generosity and, what would you call it, in Scotland it would be that he is a canny man. In the USA, he's a mensch.



2. Felice Picano's Art and Sex in Greenwich Village is an informative and entertaining history on the emergence of gay literature in the 1970's and `80's from someone who was not only there, but helped pioneer it.
   
   With his own SeaHorse Press and later Gay Presses of New York, Picano published the works of then- unknown gay writers such as Harvey Fierstein, Brad Gooch and Dennis Cooper.
   
   With his no-holds-barred candor, razor-sharp memory and quick wit, Picano recollections (from visiting Fierstein's tiny Brooklyn apartment to an after-hours private photo session with Robert Mapplethorpe) are, at times, dishy and gossipy, yet always incredibly fascinating to read. Picano also settles some scores and puts a few rumors to rest along the way, too. I also enjoyed the many photos of book covers, artists and writers of the era.
   
   But I was mainly touched by Picano's stories on lesser-known writers, many who died too young to establish great literary legacies. Although never becoming big names, these writers' contributions were no less important, and Picano's book reverently honors their place in gay literary history.
   
   Salvatore Sapienza, author of Seventy Times Seven



3. As a writer and poet in the 21st century, I owe my success to people like Felice Picano, who opened doors for all of us in the business. His newest effort, Art and Sex in Greenwich Village: A Memoir of Gay Literary Life After Stonewall, a non fiction recount of the creatively rich, landmark period during the 1970s and '80s when the first dedicated gay presses arose in New York City. Focusing primarily on SeaHorse Press and the seven writers that formed the Violet Quill: Andrew Holleran, Christopher Cox, Edmund White, George Whitmore, Michael Grumley, Robert Ferro, and, of course, Felice. He covers the two decades following the 1969 Stonewall riots, outlining how he (and others) fostered a GLBT literary tradition that continues today, with writers such as Edmund White, Andrew Holleran, Larry Kramer and, of course, Picano.
   
   As an HIV survivor, I am aware that we have lost two generations of GLBT history; one to HIV/AIDS, and the other to The Vietnam War. We have kids under thirty years old that have no idea how the GLBT movement, much less our literature, came into existence. Most of them take them for granted. For me, personally, Art and Sex in Greenwich Village: A Memoir of Gay Literary Life After Stonewall is a reminder that we should continue the struggle, and, at the same time, we need to be thankful to those who led the way, when most of us were too afraid and closeted to do what needed to be done.



4. Picano, Felice. "Art and Sex in Greenwich Village: Gay Literary Life After Stonewall", Carroll & Graf, 2007.
   
   A Look at Our Lives
   
   Amos Lassen and Literary Pride
   
   Felice Picano is one of our A-List authors. He is a pioneer in gay literature and one of our best loved authors. In "Art and Sex in Greenwch Village" he gives us a deep look into what brought about contemporary gay literature as well as gay culture as he looks at life in New York in the 70's and 80's. He, himself, has written more than 20 books of fiction, non-fiction and poetry so he is well equipped to provide this look.
   When gay liberation began with the Stonewall riots in 1969, a new era in the history of our community began. It seems that politics were affected and, in fact, everything else felt he change except for the arts--literature, movie, and drama. Sure, there were films and plays and a few books written but most did not deal with our newly won liberation. It was not until six years later, in 1977, that things began to take a turn. Picano founded a small press to be devoted to publishing gay books to be known as Seahorse. Coming along to launch another new venture was author Larry Mitchell who began his own press for gay books, Calamus Press. Terry Helbing also began JH Press to publish his plays. In 1981 the three men joined their separate presses together and formed Gay Presses of New York which was to become the most influential gay press of the time. It published books by some of the giants of gay writing including Harvey Fierstein, Martin Duberman, Dennis Cooper, several women writers and brought in some up and coming writers. Here was the beginning of gay literature as we know it and Gay Presses of New York influenced popular culture greatly. What Picano gives us is a behind the scenes look at that press and what it produced. Those days in New York were a time of moving ahead in gay writing and publishing which held both frustration and fascination. Picano relates stories to us in his beautiful eloquent writing and he also tells us about the writers of the time. We learn about the gay bookstores in New York and the famous Violet Quill writers group and how difficult it was to get gay literature both written and published. This was a time when the pressures of society were great and AIDS was affecting our lives so terribly.
   . Picano tells it like it was and to show how brave he and the others were. It is so interesting to compare this where we are today--seeing mainstream publishers publishing out work and not having to have special houses to do so. We can look back ay and see how things were but we must remember that we are where we are today because of what some heroic people did for us.



5. A memoir of the heady days of gay writing and publishing, the 70's and 80's in New York City, which is alternating fascinating and frustrating. Fascinating in the stories Picano has to tell in his fluent, readable prose style: the development of "Torch Song Trilogy" and Harvey Fierstein's early career, the personalities behind Three Lives Bookstore and Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookstore (Greenwich Village institutions), the Violet Quill writers circle, the trials and tribulations of getting gay and lesbian literature written at all when societal prejudice continued to create obstacle upon obstacle, the devastations of the AIDS epidemic upon multiple budding careers.
   
   Frustrating in the narcissism with regard to the author's contribution to gay literature, the myopia that conflates historic significance with literary worth, the overvaluation of minor writers (his friends) and the undervaluation of major ones (not his friends):
   
   "I'd begun writing what would end up being the first part of my first memoir and I was intensely aware that I believed I'd accomplished a kind of breakthrough in the form". (page 166)
   
   "Today the criticism my book received then seems silly when it isn't hypocritical". (p.171)
   
   A little of this goes a long way - and there is alot of this.
   
   Picano is out to dish the dish, settle some scores and make perfectly clear how heroic his (and some others)efforts were. It isn't so much as I disagree with his assessment of some of his accomplishments as his manner of seeing them all in the same rosy glow.
   
   While I frequently found this book compulsively readable, I episodically had to slow down to step around the little piles of egocentricity.

5 comments about Cable News Confidential: My Misadventures in Corporate Media.

1. Jeff Cohen, founder of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) had some faith in the budding, at the time, cable news. It was, he felt, a phenomenon that could take the place of that joke which we colloquially refer to as TV news. He was surprised.
   
   As a little background, I won't allow television news on in my house. Long, long ago I was a television addict; that's what I used to keep myself occupied in my lonely days in high school. However, the summer before I was a senior in high school I was in a nearly fatal automobile accident which kept me in the hospital for some time. While there, I had little to do but watch television. Like a bad hangover can cure a potential drunk, being forced to watch the idiot box convinced me that the television is an idiot's medium. So I've sworn off it.
   
   In Cohen's case, he was an ACLU attorney. He was disillusioned with what he saw as a right-leaning medium. When "cable news" came about, CNN, the pioneer, offered him a job.
   
   Now, I don't want to go into details of Cohen's life then. Read the book if you want to find out about that. But he opened my eyes to a few things. First of all, while I've never been a CNN fan, it seemed better that Faux. ANYTHING is better than Faux, right? That's why I was surprised that Faux was not first on Cohen's list. But Cohen admits early in the book that Faux didn't start the rightward swing, but the pioneer, CNN did. Cohen pointed out that all his tenure at CNN consisted of was the shouting matches. It's drama so it sells...
   
   The 2nd section of the book is on Faux, for which Cohen worked for 5 years. (!) His witty descriptions of his time there include, of course, his run-ins with o'leilly. In fact, I appreciate his description of Billow, that o'leilly is a good debater, but ill-prepared, for example, and that o'leilly really does see himself as the little guy taking on the big, bad "liberal" monster. That o'leilly is grandly deluded is not a surprise to anyone, I suppose, but it's interesting to hear it from someone who worked so closely with him.
   
   Another interesting tidbit of Jeff's tenure with Faux is that he was to debate the Grande Dame of shock jocks, Ann Coulter, but, despite Jeff's extensive preparation for the experience, Coulter wouldn't appear with him! That demonstrates what I've always believed of Coulter, that she has no guts, just the right lines for the audience she knows all too well.
   
   Then onto MSNBC. Now, I'm an Olbermann fan. I don't watch him on the tube but I do tune into his web page frequently as I think he as something intelligent to say. (And I can tell he does as the "right" despises him!) So I was surprised to hear of their, for a start, gutlessness. Cohen took a job with them as he was happy that MSNBC was hiring Phil Donahue. Indeed, Cohen was Donahue's producer. But even those "liberals" who tuned into Donahue did so less. It seems MSNBC's management was telling Donahue that he's too far left, that your flag waving "silent majority" was, in their focus groups, rather turned off to him. Cohen's role was dwindling too; he was limited in how he was allowed to help Donahue prepare.
   
   Cohen was game to how Rupert Murdoch, Faux's owner and grandfather of right wing radio, was making headway. He focused on a particulary demographic. He wasn't going to appeal to everyone, but Faux knew the type to whom, say, o'leilly appealed. And to them, Faux sold. But MSNBC wasn't interested. So eventually, Donahue lost his job as he was perceived as too "anti-war."
   
   The focus of the book, alas, is that cable news is hopelessly "corporate." War sells, as do shark attacks and alleged kidnappings. Cohen would have a shouting match with someone and the stations' staffs would comment on how good it looked, without so much as a syllable on the content.
   
   Yes, there is a lot of cynicism focused on the media today. The "right" claims that the media have a hopelessly "liberal bias." Cohen not only challenges that, but shows that the cable networks in particular are centered on the almighty buck. So they go for the drama, the show, rather than on any substance.
   
   There is a word of optimism at the end of the book, though. There are alternatives developing. So those of us completely disillusioned with cable noise can begin to tune into those alternatives, many of which Cohen lists.
   
   If you're expecting a dry dissertation with refernces up the wahzoo, this may not be your cup of tea. But if you want an insider's story, a broad outline of why the media are getting as bad as they are, I recommend this witty milestone.



2. A big thanks to Jeff Cohen for confirming that I'm not crazy. He "found inside cable news was a drunken exuberance for sex, crime and celebrity stories, matched by a grim timidity and fear of offending the powers-that-be -- especially if the powers-that-be are conservatives. The biggest fear is of doing anything that could get you, or your network, accused of being liberal." If you keep in mind, it's not news (never was), then it makes it easier to swallow. After reading Cohen's account, you realize that Walter Conkrite would never get hired today in the face of fools like Chris Matthews, Sean Hannity, and Biff O'Really.



3. I really enjoyed reading this book, and highly recommend it to everyone...especially people who don't really understand what a joke this all is..and how it became to be such a complete farce and and absolute threat to Democracy and so many other things sane human beings 'round these parts cherish.



4. A good read. Although the book felt a little short - I guess I'm used to novels - Cohen does get through his points without a lot of extra, unneeded pages. Some good anecdotes and references, and kept the story going at a good pace. You probably won't read this cover to cover in one sitting, but it still works read over a period of time.



5. An excellent insight into the inner workings of cable news. I had no prior understanding of the increadable bias that exists on cable TV news. I highly recomment this book!!!!

5 comments about A Futile and Stupid Gesture: How Doug Kenney and <I>National Lampoon</I> Changed Comedy Forever.

1. "The Life & Death of a Comic Genius"...so said the October 1981 cover of Esquire magazine about its story about Doug Kenney. As a huge fan of National Lampoon, "Saturday Night Live," and NATIONAL LAMPOON'S ANIMAL HOUSE, I was just starting my freshman year of college and looking forward to living my own Toga Party.
   
   Doug Kenney died in August of 1981. Then John Belushi died of an overdose in March 1982. The party was quickly racking up a death toll.
   
   But American humor would never be the same.
   
   If you were a fan of anything I've mentioned, you should enjoy this book. As sad as Kenney's story ultimately is, I still found myself laughing at the memories of Lampoon stories. The 1964 NATIONAL LAMPOON YEARBOOK parody is one of the funniest things I've ever seen (fortunately, a reprint is available and I definitely recommend it).
   
   I really didn't get too much more than I did from this book that I already got from the Esquire article. Kenney's novel "Teenage Commies from Outer Space" didn't survive and he obviously spent a lot of time alone so there are a lot of pages chronicling the bickering and backstabbing at the Lampoon offices while Kenney ran off to live in a tent or make millions of dollars in Hollywood.
   
   There have been millions of laughs in the years since Lampoon and ANIMAL HOUSE...it's just too bad Bluto and the Stork weren't here to hear them.



2. I'm incredibly happy that I read this book, but I found it a ragged read.
   
   Karp's research appears to be fabulously comprehensive. Cobbling together all these recollections and many years of social and cultural history into a unified whole must have been quite a job. The result is a book that never quite decides if it is biography of Kenney or of the magazine.
   
   Karp is at his weakest when moves away from reportage he enters into analysis of Kenney. He lacks the insight and the prose of a sophisticated biographer and for every insightful chunk of prose, there is a clunky deposit of pop psychology.
   
   Still, the book is an utter success at creating much of the present-at-the-creation of the magazine and its many children (radio projects, theatre projects, films, tv...)



3. Josh Karp's biography of Doug Kenney is as meaningful as it is engaging. He ressurects the memory of the almost forgotten humorist Doug Kenney. Mr. Kenney, perhaps most easily recognized for playing Stork in ANIMAL HOUSE, was also one of the principle authors of said film and a comedic giant in his own right. Karp's biography chronicles the many ways in which Kenney shaped American comedy in the late 20th century and then thoroughly recounts the mysterious circumstance surrounding his untimely death in 1980. The book is a must read for any student or devotee of THE HARVARD LAMPOON, THE NATIONAL LAMPOON, SECOND CITY, SNL and of course ANIMAL HOUSE.
   
   Thank you for this long overdue story of this brilliant and complicated man who brought us so much joy in the form of unbridled laughter.



4. Say the name "Doug Kenney", and you're likely to draw blank stares and numerous "who"s from the average comedy fan. But say "Animal House", "Caddyshack" or "National Lampoon", and they'll likely know what you're talking about. That's the time to tell them why the first name is so important.
   
   Doug Kenney was a shadow figure in the history of comedy, a magazine writer and co-founder of the Lampoon's national version who managed to write some great articles, the scripts for two legendary comedy classics, and numerous other artifacts of his time all before his death in 1980, of an apparent suicide or accidential fall from a cliff in Hawaii. The fact that he died so young and so unheralded outside the insular world of comedy is a shame, especially considering what a legacy he left.
   
   In Josh Karp's book, Kenney is even a minor character in his own life story, as whole portions of the book focus on the hangers-on at the Lampoon (various writers and other talents whose lights shined more brightly than that of Kenney or his co-founder, Henry Beard). But this is not a fault of the biographer: Kenney's own story is inevitably tied to the magazine and entertainment empire he helped found, and which owes him more than the current crop of "direct to DVD" releases and smarmy Paris Hilton cash-ins currently under the banner of "The National Lampoon".
   
   Kenney's gift and his curse was his talent, one which produced masterpieces like "Animal House" and Nancy Reagan's "dating tips" but also let him down when it came to writing his "great American novel" of TACOS (Teenage Commies From Outer Space). Karp gives us a peek inside the mind of this elusive character and reveals a man of deep contradictions whose short, happy-sometimes-sad-othertimes life was offset by the impact he and his cohorts made on the world of American humor in the Seventies.
   
   If you're an admirer of the Lampoon's golden era, or simply curious thanks to Animal House or Caddyshack, do yourself a favor and get this book. Whereas Tony Hendra's memoir of his time at the magazine (Going Too Far) is grandiose and self-congratulatory, this book offers a great history of one of the leading lights of American humor, and a man who arguably should be listed with the greats.



5. The first book I have read straight through in a LONG time, and I read lot of books. Very acute social history of the period--having myself been a bright Midwestie (from Dacron, Ohio) in a an elite east coast college circa 1962-6, I could fully understand Kenny's insider/outsider conundrum and Beard's drive to succeed on his own terms. The mix of types and personalities on the the creative side was well deliniated, and their continual tension with the business end--but for whom they would not have had careers--was the heart of the story. The book appears to be thoroughly researched and clips along nicely. The "what happened in the year" intros to each segment were seriously useful. Anyone who watched SNL when it was funny or looked at the parody yearbook and mistook it for his or her own MUST read this book.

5 comments about The Everlasting Stream: A True Story of Rabbits, Guns, Friendship, and Family.

1. The Everlasting Stream, by Walt Harrington, is a hunting book that isn't a book about hunting. I had read a brief review about this book being a good addition to the pro-hunting literature. Well, it was, in a sense. Harrington is a fine writer, and most pro-hunting books tend to focus on the charismatic megafauna like deer and elk. Harrington's focus is on the common and ordinary, the prolific cottontail. No trophy hunting here; this is all about hunting for meat.
   
   What does Harrington say in defense of hunting?
   
   "Animals bleed. Live with it" (p. 146).
   
   "It doesn't matter to a rabbit what kills him - fever, flukes, worms, weather, hawks, or me. The rabbit is dead" (p. 184).
   
   "Killing an animal doesn't deaden the human conscience; it enlivens it" (p. 184).
   
   "Hunting isn't golf or tennis, which demand only technical mastery. Hunting isn't merely an exercise in male bonding, as so many believe. Hunting has moral gravitas" (p. 185).
   
   "It is people who enjoy the fruits of the kill without feeling the ominous responsibility of the killing who are morally delinquent" (p. 186).
   
   "I'm not supposed to hunt without guilt. I'm supposed to hunt despite the guilt" (p. 187).
   
   "Long ago, a woman at my table said to me, 'I can't believe you killed those little bunnies.' I now know what I should have said in response. 'I can't believe you ate those little bunnies without killing one'" (p. 189).
   
   
   Harrington isn't perfect. He confesses a time when "I fire, and the rabbit tumbles, heels over head. When I reach down, the rabbit suddenly kicks his hind legs violently and drubs my hand twice before I can pull away... I use the butt of my gun like a deadfall and club the rabbit's head. After I do, his left eye dangles from its socket. I take out my knife that I will give to Matt at Christmas, slice the eye free, and put the rabbit in my bag" (p. 214).
   
   I certainly hope he removed the shells from his shotgun before using it as a club. And although Harrington did not appear to be apologetic for his act, there is a line between killing an animal and torturing it. It is this line that society scrutinizes. He hints at its existence with his "It doesn't matter to a rabbit what kills him..." comment; however, it does matter to society, and I would say it should matter to the hunter as well.
   
   With this said, this book is much, much more than a book about hunting. Harrington explores issues of manhood (and boyhood), parenting, memories, and livelihoods. He discusses race relations (Harrington's hunting buddies are black while he is white), politics, friends, and folklore. He reflects on his passions, and eventually makes some drastic, life-altering decisions.
   
   All in 217 pages. The subtitle says it all: The Everlasting Stream: A True Story of Rabbits, Guns, Friendship, and Family.
   
   Harrington's father repeatedly said to him, "Everything's beautiful if you look at it right." I'd say this IS the theme of the book.
   
   If you are not a hunter, keep reading through the hunting scenes. Harrington keeps springing new topics and ideas upon the reader.
   
   There is something here for everyone.



2. 
   brand new book for a great price
   
   a most excellent book
   my husband is enjoying



3. Having married an African-American woman, journalist Walt Harrington found himself expected to maintain the family traditions by going rabbit hunting with his father-in-law, and his friends, every Thanksgiving. At first, Walt looked down on these course, back-country men as throwbacks to an earlier, more primitive way of life. With time, though, he came to realize that these men shared a different, stronger bond than he had ever known. Unconsciously, they showed him what being a man could be all about, and he learned many lessons as he (and later him and his son) hunted rabbits in the hills of Kentucky.

   This book came as quite a surprise to me. I tripped across it by accident, and am quite glad that I did. It's written in a stream-of-consciousness style, which allows the author to skip forward and backward through time, showing his development throughout. Indeed, if you are interested in men's books (such as those by Robert Bly), then I highly recommend that you get this one. It is a fascinating look at life and being a man.




4. A thoughtful, beautifully written, almost poetic meditation on hunting, tradition, friendship, nature and human nature. It is ostensibly about rabbit hunting, but that is not where this book's meaning lies nor where the heart of its story is. Its story and meaning lie with the people, and Harrington writes in a voice so personal that you feel you know him and his family and friends. This is not a book for the PETA crowd, or for those who call rabbits "bunnies." If you've ever hunted, or if you understand the true nature of Nature, you'll enjoy The Everlasting Stream. (Note: This review has been written by a woman who, although she does not hunt, has shot the occasional rabbit when its depredations in her garden have become intolerable and the Hav-a-Hart trap proved ineffectual.)



5. "The Everlasting Stream" is a tale about male relationships, about self discovery and about hunting that does justice to all three subjects. While many books use one story as a vessel to carry another, this develops all three stories simultaneously and completely.

   Author Walt Harrington portrays himself as a snobby Washington Post reporter who finds himself tramping around Kentucky fields, shooting rabbits with his father-in-law's hunting buddies to prove he is not above them.

   Through the Thanksgiving hunts, Harrington comes to respect the men. He comes to understand himself and to wonder how he so misplaced himself. He grows up with his son and reconsiders his relationship with his late father. Through it all, he thinks deeply about the experience of hunting, turning inside out his initial revulsion to it. In the end, the hunts lead him to make a profound change in his life.

   Harrington finds answers, real-life answers, and not the clear-cut, no-regrets answers of cardboard stories.

   As Harrington re-evaluates his life, male friendships and hunting, you will, too. It's a journey worth taking, and Harrington is an engaging guide.

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

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



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



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



4. Bob Greene has written a touching and emotion-filled book about two men who influenced the outcome of World War II; his own father and Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the Enola Gay. Greene's father served as an infantry soldier in Italy, while Tibbets was training his men in Wendover, Utah for a mission which would hopefully end the war.

   Tibbets and Robert Greene, Sr. lived in the same town in Ohio, but had never met. Bob jr. writes about how his father would speak of Tibbets and call him "the man who won the war". While Bob jr. was back in Ohio to be with his dying father, he drew on his memories of Tibbets. Finally, Bob went to meet Tibbets. What occured was the beginning of an unlikely friendship that spanned a generation and allowed Bob to discover things about his father and his father's generation that he never understood before.

   Bob found Tibbets to be a very honest and straight-forward man. There was no nonsense from him; everything was in plain terms. Tibbets talked frequently about his mission to Hiroshima on that fateful day in August, 1945. He said several times that he had no regrets for what he did and he always slept easy at night. Tibbets' stories enabled Bob to see that his father and many other men just like him also played large parts in winning the war. Tibbets never liked the phrase "the man who won the war". He was always quick to give credit to the soldiers as the real heroes, just like Robert sr.

   Perhaps my favorite part of the book is the several chapters which deal with the trip to Branson, Missouri. Bob, Tibbets, Tom Ferebee (bombardier), and "Dutch" Van Kirk (navigator) took a trip to Branson over Memorial Day weekend and they were treated like conquering heroes by the public. But what impressed me was the candor and openness that these men spoke with. I learned a lot about the Hiroshima mission that I never knew before.

   I found this book a little slow at the beginning, but it definitely picks up over the second half. Read this book and learn about the generation of men who won the war.




5. A great book about a true hero and other's worthy of the same label. A very easy and engaging read. I highly recommend this book.

5 comments about An American Story.

1. Excellent book autobiography of Ms. Dickerson, well written gripping story of her life experiences and her realization of her own self worth.



2. how is it that you can write a book about racial unfairness and then make proclaimations about someone else's 'blackness'? how are you any less of a racist than those people who unfairly judged you?



3. I am 62 years old and found Debra's story to be my story. Her historical journey allowed me to revisit what was going on in my life and how I got this far and as fate or God would have it came at a time when I am making big changes again like Debra.
   
   Because of the historical and psychological journey I feel this book is a most read for African American and women of all ages to see what we share in common. In the current political and economic era we are in, its important that women pull themselves up by their bootstraps as the covers have been certainly been pulled off in wake of Katrina and Rita.
   
   An American Way, I feel is a recipe with many variations on how to get to get from point A to point B.
   
   Although Debra mentions being a student of the Bible in her early years, it is not mentioned or maybe my oversight that she doesn't mention praying to God for answers.
   
   I am recommending this book to all of my friends and a must read for my son. For women I feel this is the equivalent to "Think and Grow Rich-A Black Choice by Dennis Kimbro and Napoleon Hill.
   
   I'm looking forward to reading The End of Blackness.



4. Typical whining Harvard Law School brainwashed product, nothing to say and says it poorly. (I know, I graduated from HLS). Avoid



5. Debra Dickerson's memoir looks back on the first 40 years or so of her life with seeming self-consciousness. It can be criticized for being too inwardly focused, but then what is a memoir for? Documenting not only her own experiences but her internal reactions to those experiences helps the reader to gain both admiration and insight into Dickerson's accomplishments.

   Best of all it spotlights Dickerson's incredible writing, which is the product of someone who has known and loved books all her life and formed a committed relationship with them as an adult. Though she herself admits it took a long time for her emotional intelligence to catch up with her book one. It helps that she doesn't spare much time for self-pity in her self examination.

   This is the kind of book I'll be recommending to friends, especially women friends. Of memoirs written by women, I found it perhaps the most enjoyable I have read since "And So It Goes," by Linda Ellerbee--another southern woman. Dickerson is not as funny as Ellerbee (neither is she trying to be) but like her she earned my admiration on sheer quality of writing.

   The memoir is hardly free of humorous incident. I really enjoyed the way a young Dickerson turned her father's punishment of having all books but the bible removed from her bedroom, combined with an insistence that all children must recite a bible verse at the table before being served, against him.

   I admire Debra Dickerson and I look forward to reading her next book.