5 comments about Fargo Rock City : A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota.

1. I'll keep this one short and simple...if you feel the desire to read a Klosterman book...this is the one. I truly enjoyed this book. Although I am a bit older than Chuck I cold relate to his experiences and thoughts. Now, you want some good advice? Stay away from Eating The Dinosaur and Killing Yourself To Live...both are garbage, pure and simple, they're terrible. Dave in Mass



2. I picked this up expecting a portrait of Klosterman's youth in rural ND and how it, and he, was affected by music--I was sorely disappointed. There is no odyssey, only Klosterman's opinions of the 80's metal scene (some interesting, some annoying, and some flat out dumb). Fine for anyone between the ages of 35-45 who actually obsessed over hair bands as much as he did, but if you were born after 1975 (I was) and aren't interested in a meaningless avalanche of names and dates (I'm not) don't bother reading.



3. I liked Cocoa Puffs more than Fargo but both are very good. I disagreed with his takes on Rush being Christian rockers and Queensryche being just like Dream Theater, but it's hard for me to quibble with a guy who's so self-deprecating and makes me laugh out loud. His description of Poison on Page 63 is a highlight, as is three year hiatus on reviews for calling a particular cheesy album 'stellar.' I just ordered IV. The man can write.



4. I have to admit, I really enjoyed this book. It was enjoyable because with each chapter I would remember a point of my life as a teenager. My husband who is nine years older than me and never really understood "hair bands" also read the book. He liked the writing and humor, but didn't get into the topic as much as I did. I would certainly recommend this book to other people around my age group, but if you were not seriously into the "heavy metal hair bands" of the 80's I do not think you will enjoy this book very much. The writing is exceptional, but the enjoyment really comes from reliving periods of your own life, as you read each chapter. If you do not have that connection with the music this book may not be as enjoyable to you.



5. Fantastically funny read for anyone who grew up a teenager in the last 80s age of glam rock and heavy metal. Long live Poison, Motley Crue, and GNR!

5 comments about Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72.

1. This is certainly one of Thompson's more substantial (heavy) works--not the easy page-turner for those who've only read "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"--but those who take the time to read this book will find the same beautifully acidic wit and ingenious insight that Thompson brings to the craft of storytelling.
   
   Here, more so than in FaLiLV, Thompson's "Gonzo" journalistic-style becomes apparent--at one point Thompson reveals that one Democratic Presidential hopeful (Musky) is being seen regularly by a South American with doctor who's prescribing various questionable "medicines" for the politician, which explain his "strange" emotionally erratic behavior.
   
   Interestingly, Thompson, himself, would later note the power that a journalist's reporting of "the facts" can have in the political world when that politician rescinds their candidacy.
   
   If there's anyone who enjoys reading anything slightly heavier than Harry Potter left these days, I'd highly recommend they pick this up and give it a read--a truly curious and insightful look into American politics in the Seventies.



2. I just finished reading this book, and loved it. Thompson has a unique perspective on things -- cynical and hopeful at the same time. The amazing thing, as others have commented, is how similar the issues, debates, rhetoric, and tactics of the 1972 campaign are to both the 2008 campaign and the current debate on health care reform. Anyone who likes Thompson's writing style, is interested in American cultural history, and curious about how we, as a nation, have been arguing about the same things and in the same way since at least 1972 will enjoy this book.



3. I am fascinated by elections and campaigns, and the election of 1972 was especially interesting, and there is much to learn from it as many of the events in 1972 seemed to repeat themselves in 2004 and 2008. In 1972 and 2004, we were involved in a war that was beginning to lose support, scandals had broken (Watergate in 1972, Plamegate in 2004), and the Democratic candidate just couldn't seem to get his act together.
   
   In 1972 and 2008 we had Democratic campaigns that were described as "grass roots". Obama's victory is, in a way, McGovern's victory 36 years later. Obama did what McGovern did, but did it competently.
   
   So I really wanted to like this book. I already read Theodore White's "The Making of the President 1972", so I knew the facts, but I thought Hunter S. Thompson would provide more of the gritty details that White may have found too unappealing to describe.
   
   And, in a way, Thompson did that, but the book is so much more about Thompson and his drug habits than it is about the election. It could have taken place under any circumstances. Let's say Thompson went on a European vacation and got drunk and stoned . . . probably would end up being a pretty similar book.
   
   I got more than halfway through the book, and actually enjoyed how Thompson described his loathing for Muskie and Humphrey. I've never read such hateful prose about those two, and it was pretty funny.
   
   But I got frustrated by his stream-of-consciousness prose and complaints about how he couldn't meet his deadlines, so he'd just toss out some quick, unorganized thoughts. Very lazy. And yes, I'm aware that drink and drugs were involved, influencing his ability to write comprehensibly and timely.
   
   I think if you enjoy books like "The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test" you'll like this one. I don't.



4. On C-Span's "In Depth" program, Brian Lamb interviewed Richard Norton Smith and Douglas Brinkley. Richard Norton Smith is probably the most notable living historian specializing on the American Presidency, having had a part in many of the presidential libraries and so forth. Douglas Brinkley is widely regarded as the most prominent living American historian.
   
   Smith cited this book as the best work ever written about the U.S. Elections process, and Brinkley concurred. For those of you who know Smith and Brinkley by reputation, that says far more than anything I could write here. It's not only some of the best political writing of all time, it's some of HST's best work, too. Fantastic.



5. I have read a number of Hunter Thompson's books. Some were very good and some were just too "over the top". There are elements of both in "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 1972". This book focusses on the 1972 Democratic campaign for President beginning with the start of the primary campaign. Thompson has his favorites in the race and it is helpful that one of them, George McGorvern, wins the Democratic nomination. Along the way to the nomination, we are treated to Thompson's vile opinions of others in the race such as Edmund Muskie and, especially, Hubert Humphrey.
   
   Thompson's book is essentially a compilation of articles that were written for "The Rolling Stone" throughout the campaign. The articles meld together well. Thompson appears to have been treated nearly the same as other "main stream" reporters although there are times that he seems to be off on his own. The book concludes with a helpful insight to the reasons behind the catastrophic loss suffered by McGovern.
   
   I enjoyed this book for the insight and the recollections that it provided me. I was 20 year's old in 1972 and, thanks to President Nixon, able to vote in my first election. I was an avid supporter of McGovern back then. I understood his reasons for dropping his running mate, Thomas Eagleton, after disclosures of Eagleton's past mental health treatment became public. In the week that followed that revelation, the only news that the press seemed to write about the McGovern campaign was an on-going analysis of Eagleton's suitability for the office. With nothing coming out about McGovern or his issues, it seemed an unfortunate inevibility to have to cast aside Eagleton to be able to refocus on McGovern. Of course, that only made matters worse and McGovern's campaign never recovered from it. Thompson gives a fair amount of insight to that event that helped me to understand it better. There were other insights as well but that leads me to my objection of Hunter Thompson's book. There were enough scenes of the standard drug-crazed observations that made me realize that I couldn't be sure what was fact or what was a sort of morning after effort to recollect the foggy night before. Some things clearly seemed impossible to be true. Some things seemed clearly a representation of factual inside information. However, there were enough questionable accounts that I had to set aside because of Thompson's wasted pages spent building up his persona. Were these events real or imagined like the mescaline deal taking place outside his motel window? Were these quotaions accurrate or just as imagined as the various mind-altering drugs that Thompson was sure some of the various candidates were taking? The problem with Hunter Thompson is that you never know what to believe. He took on a worthy topic and had a lot to share. A lengthy transcript of one of his interviews betrays a fairly normal, intelligent journalist's questions of a candidate. If he had played it straight, this would have been a much more significant contribution to the Presidential Campaign of 1972. As it is, it's an interesting mixture of fact and fiction that a reader can take or leave.

5 comments about Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America.

1. A MUST READ for Americans and anyone who sincerely cares about the REAL threat of Radical Islam, and how it will be (and presently is) affecting the future of their country. POWERFUL - PERTINENT - SCARY!! It was a miracle the author survived her early life in the Middle East! She tells the TRUTH about Radical Islam. Read this book as well as "They Must Be Stopped" to see for yourself.



2. I found this book to be very enlightening, it makes you realize that our news organizations have been spinning the truth for years.
   
   This book should be read by everyone from middle school up.



3. If only we could get everyone to read this book it would go a long way toward solving many of America's problems. Gabriel speaks the truth that we had damn well better heed!



4. My wife and I felt very fortunate to have heard the story of Brigitte Gabriel. The author narrates the audio book and does a great job, you can hear her conviction and emotion that only she could give.Her story had some very sad and changing moments in it, yet it is from that experience that she is the person she is today. Because of her experience she is a very valuable asset to America and should be listened to at the highest levels in Washington DC.



5. Almost as bad as two jihadis
   
   Critique of Brigitte Gabriel (revised 30 Jan 10)
   
   
   Executive Summary: This Gabriel broad is a g.d.m. liar.
   
   
   The first thing I have to say about this Gabriel broad is that she's a g.d.m. liar. She belongs to that murky, ignominious syndicate of vipers who professionally propagate lies about history. Perhaps she was commissioned by the Pentagon to write this garbage. Her description of the Lebanese civil war is a masterpiece of insidious propaganda. Goebbels himself would be proud of Gabriel's daring redesign of history.
   
   Gabriel's role as a cog in the propaganda machine of the GOP appears to be to distract the attention of the populace from that sudden reversal in American foreign policy under Bush I, when Moscow surrendered unconditionally to capitalism.
   
   As soon as Communism collapsed, the Islamic fundamentalist movement that the USA had been nourishing and fostering for decades as a foil against Soviet imperialism and Arab nationalism, abruptly ceased to be useful for purposes of US strategy. That had immediate budgetary consequences and the Islamists were outraged. They still are.
   
   In German they call it gleitender Übergang, a smooth transition from one policy to a radically different one, when the priorities are rearranged as discreetly as possible so that it all appears to be one more phase of a single triumphant march toward victory.
   
   It was that delicate Orwellian moment when the good guys transmuted into the bad guys and vice versa (up to a point).
   
   You sneer? Before, the US supported Hamas against the PLO. But now, the US supports the PLO against Hamas, is it no so? A key milestone in the change of alliances was when in 1993 State Department diplomats ceased meeting regularly with the top brass of Hamas.
   
   Gabriel projects the US-jihadi rift into the past, anticipating it by 15 years.
   
   Gabriel's mission is apparently to have the old bad guys fade into the scenery to make way for the new bad guys -- without anyone noticing the switch!
   
   She makes every effort to conflate the old bad guys: Marxist-Arab nationalist guerrillas - with the new bad guys, the devout, unshaven but lethal jihadis (who, of course, used to be the good guys, as long as the dollars kept rolling in). She artfully juxtaposes words and images so that a completely smooth transition is accomplished.
   
   The curious thing is that I don't remember the title of the book, and I don't recall a single incident that occurred in it. The only memory I have of the book is the incessant drumbeat of the propaganda message. When I started reading it, the events she related seemed quite plausible I spent a few weeks in Lebanon once. I'm not necessarily disputing that the events she described really happened.
   
   
   I was immediately struck by the way the reader is firstly never told that there is a difference between the bad guys then, the Arab nationalist and socialist crowd that swore by Marx, and the relief team of bad guys that was waiting in the wings, the Mohammedan fundamentalist hordes, who swear by the Koran. And the hadeeth. And the Sunnah.
   
   For that matter I seem to recall she gives short shrift to Lebanon's notorious ethnic diversity, too. The phrasing and choice of vocabulary are chosen in such a way that the message is constantly reinforced that the enemy is a compact and homogenous Mohammedan mass. The reader is expected to draw the conclusion that the enemy of then is the same as the enemy now. Nothing has changed.
   
   Perhaps it's a way of saving America's honour.
   
   Actually, I chose to review one of her books at random, because the insistence of the propaganda message was so intense that I'm sure all her books repeat it ad nauseam. Therefore all her books are exactly the same. Accordingly the same criticism applies to all of them.
   
   As they say in French: Madame, chapeau!

5 comments about Somewhere Towards the End: A Memoir.

1. I think what I liked best about this book is its absolute frankness. Athill has nothing to hide. She knows she has done certain things in her life that are perhaps less than admirable or honorable, and that she can be, and often is, quite selfish. So what? She cites the example of 103 year-old Alice Herz-Sommer, also a professed atheist, who said -
   
   "We are born half good and half bad - everybody, EVERY body. And there are situations where the good comes out and where the bad comes out. This is why people invented religion, I believe."
   
   Athill does admit to having some regrets, but refuses to dwell on them. She is simply grateful for the life she has had and amazed that she's lucky enough to still be here. Which makes sense to me.
   
   After more than fifty years as an editor in the publishing business, Athill became a successful memoirist in her seventies and eighties. And she makes no bones about her joy at this: "... easily the best part of my old age has been, and still is, a little less ordinary. It is entirely to do with having had the luck to discover that I can write."
   She goes on to tell how much enjoyment she has gotten from her late-found celebrity, however minor it might be. Having published my own first book at the age of sixty (and three more since then), I can relate. It's been a kick. This is a fascinating little book about growing old, and not at all sad or negative. I'm glad I found it, and plan to pass it along now to my mother, who at 93, is a year older than Diana Athill. I'm sure she'll like it too. Who knows, maybe it will nudge her into writing more about her own life. I hope so. Go for it, Mom. - author of the REED CITY BOY trilogy and LOVE, WAR & POLIO



2. Perhaps those Brits have a different idea of what a memoir is. This book, to me, is a collection of essays. It has no story, no narrative arc (or at least not one that appeared in the first half of the book, which is when I gave up on reading it). I wish the book had been billed as an essay collection, as it then wouldn't have set my expectations for a *story*.



3. When was the last time you encountered someone new and the word 'wisdom' popped into your head? Not very often lately? Me neither. Until last week. I read right through this book, "Somewhere Towards the End," as soon as I finished reading right through Diana Athill's earlier book, "Stet."
   
   I bought "Stet" because it was the memoir of a superb book editor, a job I had done once myself, though not superbly. She had been one of the founders of a small, elite British house and worked with Mailer, Vidal, and Updike to name but three of their stable.
   
   I bought "Somewhere Towards The End" because I was wondering what it is like to be old. I knew about arthritis, wrinkles and a sense of irrelevance. Who doesn't? I had been wondering if there was anything more appealing to be said for it. Diana Athill was close to 90 when she wrote this book, and the answer she personifies is 'Yes, there is.'
   
   You see from the first page that she herself is a wonderful writer, a very unusual writer, and she must have been hell on wheels as an editor. (Not in the way you may be thinking though; Gordon Liss she is not. Her insights are penetrating, but her touch is very light., just short of self- effacing.) She embodies more than a few paradoxes. She she did not bring the kind of clear, rational insights to her own personal and financial life that she invested in her authors' books. She is quite frank about it, but never self-pitying. Fortunately for the reader, she made interesting mistakes with interesting people. One of the things that charmed and fascinated me is how lucidly and candidly she writes about her misadventures.
   
   One minute she seems quite eccentric and the next you may realize that you've done the same thing for the same reason but never quite admitted the latter to yourself. She is extremely discrete about the affairs of others but not at all politically correct about her own sexual history. Nor does she romanticize the emotional history that went along with it. And outlives it.
   
   I hope I have done this book and this writer justice. She has had a real impact on the way I look at some things, and I hope many others will get the same opportunity.



4. Diana Athill's beautifully-written new book, Somewhere Towards the End (Norton, 2009) has the unique quality of being a memoir of being very old and happy about it without the maudlin set pieces or generic nostalgia one might expect in a fin de siecle.
   
   The 90-year-old Athill was during her 20th century career a notable British editor who worked with Andre Deutsch in setting up one of Europe's most-respected publishing houses. She worked with such authors as Jean Rhys, V.S. Naipaul, Philip Roth and John Updike to name a few. She has also been, occasionally, an author herself of several highly-respected volumes, mostly memoirs but also a book of short stories and one novel (the one, she says, she "squeezed" out).
   
   Somewhere Towards the End is composed to sixteen relatively short chapters, all of which center on Athill's experience of being, as she terms it, "very old." She has had a rich and varied life, not necessarily glamorous but well-lived. Although she has never had (nor wanted) children, it is clear she is a motherly figure in the way she has taken care of people in her life, including her mother and a past lover.
   
   Athill, who frankly discusses topics such as being post-sexual, not being around to see the full growth of a tree she has planted, and so on, relies very little on metaphor to make her points, instead filling the pages with concrete little treasures of experience, such as this passage when she discusses her pleasure in being around young people:
   
   "So if when you are old a beloved child happens to look at you as if he or she thinks (even if mistakenly!) that you are wise and kind: what a blessing!... [it] does make you feel like a better person while it's going on and for an hour or two afterwards... It does seem to me that the young nowadays are often more sophisticated than I used to be, and that many of them... relate to their elders more easily than we did; but I am convinced that one should never, never expect them to want one's company, or make the kind of claims on them that one makes on a friend of one's own age. Enjoy whatever they are generous enough to offer, and leave it at that."
   
   Her spirited championing of youth belies the stereotype of the rebellious youth we think many "old people" maintain, and so in her writing Athill breaks another stereotype that many of us have about old people, namely that they are narrow thinkers, static and unwilling to change and so very much "post life." Among many other points to ponder, the book made me think that it is somewhat ironic, of course, that old people should be so marginalized in Western societies given the universal inevitability of growing old (and dying). In one of the more moving passages of the book, Athill writes:
   
   "What dies is not a life's value, but the worn-out (or damaged) container of the self, together with the self's awareness of itself... That is what is so disconcerting to an onlooker, because unless someone slips away while unconscious, a person who is just about to die is still fully alive and fully her or himself... The difference between being and non-being is both so abrupt and so vast that it remains shocking even though it happens to every living thing that is, was, or ever will be."
   
   Far from being a depressing swan song, Somewhere Towards the End is a wonderfully uplifting and amazing exploration of what it is to be alive and human.



5. ...without the `support' of religion and having to face the prospect ahead in its bald reality."
   
   I really enjoyed this memoir by an elderly lady with a great attitude. We all should age and look at the twilight years in such a positive way! Although I disagree with her philosophically on some issues (e.g., marital infidelity - see Ch 2 and p 81), I still enjoyed reading her words of wisdom: (p 20) "a broken heart mends much faster from a concussive blow than it does from slow strangulation;" (p 75) "...once past eighty one has no right to complain about dying...;" (p 127) a wonderful plant metaphor about what keeps persons "going through the motions of care;" and the best of the best (p 148) "Do Not Think Yourself Important."
   
   It's interesting to learn what she has to say about the bible and death considering she is an atheist. She never had children or married, but she did have lovers, related details of which she shares quite unabashedly. She also shares experiences she's had with others in her life. Ms. Athill's memoir provides a thought provoking, intriguing view of life, especially the twilight years, by a well-versed, well-read woman Somewhere Towards the End. Also good: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, god is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens.

5 comments about Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time.

1. I'll have to admit, it takes a lot to keep my attention when it comes to a book and this book did it for the most part. There were a couple chapters that I wasn't too happy about reading but towards the end, I found myself crying like I was 5 years old again. Sheffield made me laugh and he made me cry.....I adore this book and am so glad I picked it up on a whim. It made me realize how much I love life and the own mix tapes.
   
   Thanks for the inspiration.....



2. Mix tapes defined my life from middle school through college. Whether it was taping songs from the radio (complete with commercials and DJ chatter), creating mixes for friends and significant others, or making mixes for particular moods or occasions, I believe it was these early days that lay the foundation for my obsession with music. And the most unbelievable thing is that 5-10 years from now, many young people will have no idea what a "mix tape" is.
   
   Rob Sheffield's Love is a Mix Tape is easily one of the best books I've read in a long while. Part the memoir of a lifelong music lover, part a funny and heartbreaking love story, this book grabbed me at page 1 and never let me go. Not only do I want to download every song mentioned in this book, I want to find others who were as captivated by the story as I was. Sheffield's style is wry, a little sarcastic and unafraid to embrace the emotions that this boy-meets-girl, boy-marries-girl, girl-dies story brings out. I had never heard of this book before finding it at Borders but I am so glad I did. Honestly, if you love music, if you love memoirs or if you just love love, this is a book I hope you'll read and treasure.



3. I feel privileged to have read this book. It resonated on so many levels that it felt like it was written for a younger version of me. Given the universality of music and loss, I am confident that anyone who reads this love letter will feel the same.
   While reading this book I visited many places, but none more frequent as an afternoon in June 2005 when I was stabbing westward towards California across the Iowa or Nebraska plains during a Midwest crackling and hissing thunderstorm of frightening and glorious proportions. In my car seats I carried a few material remnants of a former life, my guitar, a blaring new mp3 player, an old cassette from an old flame in my car player which I haven't dared turn on for a few years, and a few communing ghosts. Ozone permeated every pore and memory while I conversed with a friend in Cleveland ([Rocks] Ohio! Cleveland is by far the most magical and underappreciated city in the Union.) about tapes, mp3s, and their respective players. The advantage of mp3 players is that they allow shuffle mixes, which you may be inclined to believe are random or guided by an intelligent design. If you elect to believe the latter, you could wonder and relay your queries and concerns to the tune of a song playing at the time, to none other than the Great DJ in the Sky. Any song that played afterwards - be it by title, lyrics, or intent - would be your response. But you had to be a believer.
   This book confirms this and many other impressions.
   There is salvation in every song and every genre.
   People are songs.
   Communities are mix tapes.
   People and communities have a way of giving you back old songs, and introducing you to a new love and mix tapes.
   I could almost smell the ozone and hear the ghostly crackle and hiss of that mix tape while reading the last paragraph of Rob's book.
   Thank you for sharing this love letter to what was, and what might have been.
   
   Sepehre Naficy



4. This is one of my favorite books. It's heartbreaking and affirming. Being a teen in the 90s, the musical references were spot on for me. They were lost on my mother, but I expected as much. Still, the truth of the story reaches you, whether you know the songs or not. The creation of a mix tape is one that hasn't fully transferred to the creation of a mix CD, and Sheffield makes me miss the days of 90 minute time constraints. Beyond the music and mixes is a love story that is relatable. His love for his wife and the solid foundation of their relationship is something that probably everyone hopes for. His coping after her death is real, human and poetic for those reasons. A worthwhile read, and a book I read over and over again.



5. I'm from the '80s, and I'm a die-hard fan of the simple, accessible, durable, abuse-taking technology that is the cassette. So of course I really appreciated a book that extolled the virtues of cassettes, which are talked about in thorough and extensive detail, from the different kinds of tapes, to the reasons why they are better than CDs (and they are).
   
   The characters in this book have an amazingly diverse taste in music. They also manage to be simultaneously on the forefront of hip while being incredibly cheesy--sometimes in that annoying "ironic" way that OKs it in pop culture, and other times lame beyond the point of any irony. In a way that makes the writer seem very honest, and also not that concerned with image despite having met rock stars. So you see, even the writer for Rolling Stone listens to country music and buys burritos at Wal-Mart!
   
   If you don't know the music (or the '90s pop culture) he is talking about, it will go right by you. But if you are familiar with it, you'll say "hey!"
   
   His writing was very reflective of Rolling Stone--loaded with pop-culture references, including over-analysis of them. Some of this started to give me a headache, especially his half-serious interpretation of male/female new-wave duos, but I also found it funny.
   
   He talks a lot about his relationship over the years. In some parts I felt like he had too many inside-jokes or things that are special and meaningful to himself, but to the reader comes off like a couple gushing about themselves--and listening to two people's exclusive happiness is usually boring to others. The chapters also stayed in one place for awhile, just talking about mundane couplehood.
   
   His wife dies, and he describes the feelings and stages that he goes through. The death was very sudden, and having the status of "widow" or "widower" at a young age is also uncommon. He writes honestly, without any feelgood sentiments tacked on. People who have lost someone will probably identify. For awhile he doesn't do much of anything. Eventually he is able to move on, though a little sad at moving on because it is without her. This book is his tribute to his life with her.
   
   This was a quick, fun book, which also dealt with serious subjects at the same time.

5 comments about The Last Day of My Life.

1. Truth half-told is not worth telling; and it certainly isn't worth $15, plus shipping and handling.
   
   So, the next time you decide to "help your fellow man," please employ a bit of rigorous honesty (and try to not conveniently leave out the juicy, sordid bits -- such as skulking in hotel rooms with a certain misled blond),
   
   You know -- the kind of thing you seem to have no trouble "reporting" about a great man such as Tiger Woods.
   
   Excuse me -- I meant, "gossiping," NOT reporting.



2. Jim Moret is an inspiration. For anyone who has ever suffered through depression or tough times, Jim helps to shed light and hope for the reader. He helps put life into perspective and allows you to remember that there are so many others who love you. I highly recommend this book for anyone who has ever gone through a tough period in their life, because Jim helps you realize how precious and special life really is.



3. I had watched Jim's career for many years, knowing he had a famous father. He spoke on a tv show about this book. He gave me enough information to warrant buying this book. I wanted to read this book to learn more about his troubles and what kept him going. When I received this book, I could not put it down. It is an easy read with a deep message of loyalty, love and the gift of forgiveness. As the reader, you can relate to the many difficulties and happiness that occurs throughout our lives. Jim dealt with life's burdens in his own way, sometimes not focusing on a positive solution. This book is a journey of finally reaching your success in life.



4. Since I watch Jim Moret often on TV and knew that James Darren was his father, I was very interested in this book. I never realized that there was an estrangement between them so I found this very surprising. Since I am an Italian I found this very unusual.
   I enjoyed the book very much and am passing it on to others. Gayle Ciraolo



5. There are things not to like about this book (and some of them would normally cause me to lower the star rating of the book). Some of the writing is pedestrian. Some of the actual content is a bit superficial, even saccharine at times. In the end, however, I don't care about that. What I do care about is the idea of the book and the way in which the author works out the idea for himself in his life.
   
   Here's the thing: all of us have some glib, superficial, sentimental ideas hidden inside of us. If we write honestly, and prolifically, then some of what we write is less than profound. But the *idea* of this book, which I encountered just when I needed it most, is very powerful. And it's even sort of comforting to see someone else willing to be honest enough to share not only the profound insights, but the superficial, sentimental, and cliched ones. It's a measure of this book's honesty that these parts are there, along with the wisdom, compassion, and clear vision that the author possesses.
   
   It's an all-too-human book about being all-too-human. That is such an uncommon, humane achievement, that I am forced to consider this book astonishing, despite its faults.

5 comments about Cheerful Money: Me, My Family, and the Last Days of Wasp Splendor.

1. I'm a couple of chapters into this book I'm amazed by how boring I find it. I went to school back east & understand this culture a little bit from the outside looking in. Friend sure is taking his time peeling back the layers. To continue or not. I'm not sure. I expected it to move along



2. Ok- I will admit it: These are my people. I read hilarious parts out loud to my cousin- and he looked blank. Ah! He was raised in California! My Jewish friends also look blank, or look at me sympathetically. It may well be that this book is only interesting to fellow WASPs- and those non-WASPs struggling to understand their WASPy mates. I guess for me it is vindication that our family was not the only one encumbered by these odd culture traits, rituals, shortcomings and apprehensions. I find myself nodding, smiling,or cringing in empathy. Periodically I have to stop reading to wipe tears of laughter away. I admit that it is like looking at a family album belonging to a cousin- all familiar- just a slightly different perspective. Having escaped that world (you kind of have to), I have no problem owning it- and can view my parents and ancestors - and all Tad Friend's family- with sympathy, humor, and horror- all of it. We're all just human. "The full catastrophe" as Zorba would say. This book says it all- which is probably more than you want.



3. One segment of society which has thankfully been under represented in our memoir-tapping, TV-confessional culture has been the Chosen Frozen, and with good reason: for all that life can thrown at one, if there's boarding school, an ivy, a summer house and the like to help weather whatever blasts come over the hedges, you're better off than 95% of the rest of the world. So why does Friend feel the need to run it out? For 300 pages? Nice that he spent five figures on a therapists couch to help I suppose, so is this the way to recoup his squandered inheritance? This may well have been a cathartic exercise for him, but were he not tapped into the literati-publishing world via The New Yorker and a wife at the Times, would a page of this have seen the light of day? If Louis Auchincloss and Dr Phil went in on a project together, this would be the transcript. I play squash, went to boarding school and our dinner tables were never soul-bearing tear fests either ...so where's my book deal? Hope you're feeling better Tad, but glad I rec'd the book as a loaner.



4. My local librarian asked me why there was a long list of requests for Cheerful Money. "It must be good," she said. When I told her that it really wasn't very good she said, "well, it must have some kind of appeal." And it does...to a limited audience.
   
   First of all, Cheerful Money is indeed not a very good book, but it will find a place in the genre of Wasp chronicles. The structure is meandering. At points the book is truly boring. And the characters never really come to life. I could see these flaws when I spent about 30 minutes in the aisle of my local book store giving it a speed-read and deciding that it was not worth buying. And yet, a few weeks later I was one of those who requested it from the library. I think if you have little or a lot of WASP in you or have lived close to one or many of them you are drawn to reading about this world and its dissolution in the second half of the 20th century. Maybe I needed that assurance that the WASP world had lost its relevance so I would feel safe in abandoning any aspirations that might have lingered from my own Seven Sister/ Ivy League college days.
   
   Admittedly I skipped over many paragraphs and at least twice considering abandoning the book. But I was glad I finished it, even though the whole bit towards the end about the author's psychoanalysis and failed relationships was lame. Mr Friend is a good writer, better than shows in this book. He has a knack for finding just the right metaphor.
   
   You will enjoy the book if you are interested in a glimpse into this bygone world. For a tighter and more interesting narrative of the same subject, George Colt's Big House has more poignancy and a surer social (as well as artistic) compass.



5. Mr. Friend's writing is beautiful and precise, always, and even more so when he writes about his own family. I find the subject matter of Cheerful Money painfully true, and so appreciate Mr. Friend's honesty and clarity. I also sense echoes of Walter Stegner's amazing novel Crossing To Safety, as well as to George Howe Colt's enlightening memoir The Big House.
   Mr. Friend's memoir is not just a chronicle of the decline of WASPdom and its influence in 20th American culture, but also a virtuoso portrait of various aspects of human nature. He quotes his Uncle Paddy as claiming that his lovely and haunting portrait of his mother in the New Yorker was not 'gray' enough, too black and white; but almost every 'character' in this memoir is subtly drawn up so that we neither feel too much dislike or like for any of them. Everyone has their own foibles, even if they are WASP's.

5 comments about The Last Resort: A Memoir of Zimbabwe.

1. Received this book as a Xmas gift from someone who knows I enjoy reading about Africa, but didn't immediately pick it up as I've read a number of books about Zimbabwe in the past few years. My mistake!! This is a wonderful, refreshing story about two people reinventing themselves continuously in an effort to remain in the country they call home. I was touched by the honesty and humor of their story, and finished the book with great admiration for their efforts. It is as much a story about a son's growing understanding and appreciation of his parents, as it is about their daily struggles in a country that is constantly being turned upside down. I particularly enjoyed the author's perspective-a candid look at how his parents face the changes that confront them daily, and his fears for their safety (as well as his own!). I found myself thinking about Mr. Roger's parents long after I put the book down...



2. Bribery - yes, corruption - yes, greed - yes, fear - yes, tenacity - yes, brutality - yes, justice - hardly. This book totally depicts all of the above in one small corner of one of the most beautiful countries in Africa. The ugliness and brutality of those in power against so many who had hoped for a better, prosperous and happy future after the bitter war to end colonialism. A vivid picture of how a despot and his government continue to take what was once the bread basket of Africa, into ashes.



3. I can't stop thinking about this book. I recently visited my family in South Africa (I left in 1983), and I was struck -- yet again -- by their amazing sense of humor, despite all of their difficulties. This book reinforced the feeling of awe I have for them. It is the same feeling I now have for all of the people depicted in The Last Resort. Their lives are tragic, yet heroic; difficult beyond comprehension but full of determination and courage. What makes the book so powerful is how Rogers compels us to empathize with everyone, regardless of their race, ethnicity or political affiliation. They are simply human, born into circumstances not of their own making, swept up by events they can't quite control. Their actions, though sometimes unethical or immoral, are driven by an evolutionary will to survive. They are unapologetic, yet their ability to adapt and even change gives one hope in the human race. Ultimately, it is not power or money that allows Rogers' family to endure; rather, it is the small gestures -- of respect and kindness -- that keeps them on their land in their beloved Zimbabwe; their encounters with individuals, long forgotten, whose connections suddenly mean everything. This is a tale that teaches us that lives can be changed by tiny, seemingly inconsequential interactions between ordinary people, and reminds us to strive to be better every day.



4. Most American's think of Zimbabwe, if at all, just long enough to shake their heads. The country has gone from breadbasket of Africa to a complete economic basket case, due entirely to the choices of its leaders. We hear of white farmers being dispossessed and their productive farms run into the ground, urban blacks being cast from their slums to go live...where? All the while with President Mugabe being honored at the Rome food conference and treated like a normal president by neighboring states. It is a place that cries out to be disregarded as too exhausting to think about.
   
   Douglas Rogers' wonderfully titled "The Last Resort" is a cure for that sensibility. It is a funny, moving and eye-opening story about today's surreal Zimbabwe. It tells the story of his parents, trying to hold on to their property that was once a famous backpacker's lodge and bar in the countryside that has now fallen on hard times along with every other part of the economy. But it is not just about them and certainly not just about the burdens of whites holding on amid chaos. It tells the tales of their employees and friends, black and white, as well as of their oppressors as they all try to navigate a Mad Max world. The book gives context to how migration, commerce, foreign intervention, war and modern racial politics has brought the country to this pass. It dispels the cartoon-like impression most American have of Africa and replaces it with a real sense of the people and their place, even if both sometimes seem more like a Monty Python skit than actual people in an actual country. It is a wonderful book and we should hope for a sequel.



5. The Last Resort is a highly personal story about Douglas Rogers' return visits over a few years to Zimbabwe to visit his parents. It is a rich and penetrating portrait of Rogers' homeland and what is happening there under the rule of Robert Mugabe - not only what is happening to the remaining white settlers but to the native black population. Douglas Rogers' parents, Lyn and Ros have run a game farm and backpackers lodge for many years in the eastern part of the country. This is a moving story of their will to survive in their own home against odds that would overwhelm anyone. They are survivers who have learned to adapt to the dramatic changing condition of this calamitious land. From the opening pages describing Roger's plane landing at the airport at Harare when he first returned home one feel a cloud of dread as to what he will find as he thumbs rides to The Drifters, his parents resort. But what is overall the theme of the story is the desire of the human spirit to survive and to outlast the evil that is around them. The book is filled with dramatic happenings to these people but also with great humor. They did not lose their sense of life's joys. There are some very funny scenes of going to Miss Moneypenny who is the money changer, to get bundles of Zimbabwe dollars. The book reads much like a novel as you just don't know how it will end.
   
   I was disappointed that there were no photos in the book until I went to Douglas Rpgers' wedsite [...] and found the photos by Stefan Ruiz. Look at the photos before, during and after you read the book. They are of the characters and the area of the story. They show beautiful noble people. Also it would be great to stay at The Drifters. Even if one is not that intereted in Zimbabwe the book is a wonderful story of survival and the human desire and will to last. I would love to meet Lyn and Ros.

1 comments about My Times in Black and White: Race and Power at the New York Times.

1. I was deeply absorbed by this book. It is a revealing portrait of a talented and troubled man, a newspaper journalist who succeeded, whose ambition ate at him, and who retained a touching humanity perhaps half of his time at the top. He ultimately fell victim, both to unlucky timing and to the blindness that can come with ambition.
   
   My views are subjective. I knew Gerald Boyd. I am one of many hundreds of journalists who worked with him and, in my case, had him as a boss when he was the editor of Metro section of the New York Times, where I was a reporter. I thought he was an uneven leader. He could be insightful, intimidating, charming, instructive, rudely dismissive, and also a bestower of tough love. His positive attributes rained on me when I was in favor with more senior editors, and his negatives came when I stumbled. I was not one of his favorite reporters, but I had my moments. I was in the middling crowd, those who needed better guidance from him. And yet the limited guidance he did give, when he spoke honestly and even tenderly to me, was among the most effective I ever got.
   
   His personal story is remarkable. It is one thing to hear vaguely, as we all did on the Metro desk, that he was raised poor in East St. Louis. It is quite another to read about what it was like to go to his mother's funeral at age 3, to go hungry, to use his smarts and charm, leavened by his innate caution and fear, to see chances and make the most of them.
   
   Race is a steadily undulating theme in this book. Boyd describes his growing consciousness, as a child, of black and white worlds of St. Louis. His militant episodes at college, when he changed his name to "Uganda X" are a comic backdrop for his constructive activism there. His entry to the NYT and the racism he endured there is arresting. Editors look at his clips and ask, "Did you really write these yourself?" When he prepares for a new assignment, editors ask: "Do you think you can handle this?"
   
   Boyd was not a fine writer. This book is direct, almost workmanlike in places. It doesn't matter. It's a strong story. How he made it through school, to a newspaper, through college, to covering Washington, to succeeding in the NYT newsroom - it's a fine tale. The holes and shortcomings are revealing. He admits having difficulty trusting anyone, but wonders why he has few friends. He torches wife #2 for dragging him to couples therapy, but later acknowledges how essential therapy was for his maturity and judgment.
   
   The real juice, for those of us who care about the Times, comes in the section of the book covering his rise to the top during the Howell Raines era. For all Boyd's talent and smarts, for all his ability to navigate politically choppy waters, for all his relentless determination to succeed, he is at last hobbled by his ambition and defensiveness. When Raines names Boyd to be managing editor, effectively number two in the newsroom, it seems a crowning achievement. But it is virtually an impossible job. Raines emerges as a megalomaniac, and Boyd can only go along as Raines's psychotic schemes inevitably bleed the paper's correspondents and desk editors, undercutting their integrity and morale. It's painful to read Boyd's descriptions of trying, and failing, to provide any balance to Raines's autocratic mismanagement. When the Jason Blair incident unfolds, it opens up the cauldron of resentment among the NYT staff, and Boyd reveals a sorry lack of understanding of why the revolution came. Boyd professes to believe in the Raines mission to heighten the paper's "metabolism", but it's clear that Boyd's own advancement was so identified with it that he had no useful perspective on its glaring failures. Even though he himself chronicles Raines's shortfalls as an editor and leader, he is surprised that his reporters and editors are all so angry. Boyd becomes collateral damage, and doesn't get why no one speaks up to defend him.
   
   Like many victims, Boyd cannot see the reality and instead identifies villains responsible for conspiring against him, Joe Lelyveld, Bill Keller, Jon Landman. His accusations against them ring hollow. It is deeply sad, after his telling and sensitive descriptions of the racism he endured throughout his life, when he lapses into a simplistic citing of racism as the cause of his fall. It is even more sad, after his devastating loss of his job and his sense of identity, when he finds partial solace in his wife and their young son, only to be diagnosed with lung cancer and to quickly succumb to it.
   
   His wife, Robin Stone, says that she edited two unfinished manuscripts together, after Boyd died. I feel grateful to her, for not letting them sit unfinished. She did a good editing job, yielding a result that reads as one coherent whole. Stone's afterward, where she describes some of her grief, are very moving. I put the book down and for a moment tried to imagine what it might be like for Boyd's young son to read it once he has grown up. And I also wondered about all those others who worked with Boyd and who, like me, enjoyed his tenderness, endured his limitations, and admired his life.

5 comments about Corn Flakes with John Lennon: And Other Tales from a Rock 'n' Roll Life.

1. I appreciate the efforts of Robert Hilburn and, in some parts, the book came across lucid and interesting. I believe his purpose was to highlight the artists who may have had the biggest cultural impact through their music. No denying Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Public Enemy, Run DMC, Bruce Springsteen and U2 fit such a category at some point in their careers.
   
   But so too have The Who, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Eminem, The Kinks, KISS, Pink Floyd (pre- and post-Syd Barrett), The Ramones and R.E.M. It was as if their contributions were minimal. Compared to the aforementioned bands, they either don't measure up or Hilburn just chose to ignore them. That disappointed me, for all of them moved the cultural needle. In all respects, only Elvis and the Beatles have arguably sustained unblemished cultural influence.
   
   Over a 30-year writing span, for a major media outlet such as the L.A. Times, I was hoping for more.
   
   Besides including more about other groups, and less about Dylan and Springsteen, I thought Hilburn could have done a better job of taking the reader inside the music industry.
   
   On page 232, Hilburn states that "the sales charts are a constant reminder of how music buyers settle for mediocrity." Agreed. But why? It was a wonderful opportunity to delve into the reasons why: namely marketing, underhanded deals, the fact that record companies used to 'bribe' radio stations across the nation to get songs played, etc. But the sales charts are also an indication of what helped put the greatest artists on the map and kept them there.
   
   I agree that too many great artists are swallowed into the black hole that is obscurity, but I never got the sense Hilburn felt that way.
   
   Too much was made of Dylan and Springsteen. Hilburn mentioned them ad nauseam. There were instances where Hilburn, clearly clouded by Dylan and Springsteen's past reputations, became an apologist for both. (And I happen to appreciate and like Dylan and Springsteen). Just an example of how the book could have been tightened, or how Hilburn could have focused on other groups that mattered.
   
   More important, it led me to query whether he could give a proper critical review of their work. There was a reason why Springsteen's "Tom Joad" was a commercial and artistic flop; Hilburn touted it as an artistic masterpiece. Of all those who bought "Tom Joad," I wonder how many of those copies continue to gather dust?
   
   Then there's Dylan, who hasn't been relevant in years. Yet older critics still hold onto this facade that Dylan's '60s work is just as powerful and even today. I would like to believe that Hilburn influenced Dylan's setlists, as Hilburn subtly suggested, but I'm keen on believing it was more of a coincidence that Dylan injected different songs during different concerts. He's done it his entire career.
   
   I did find his recollections fascinating about Lennon and Presley, and grew to admire the country stars (like Waylon Jennings) he wrote about. It inspired me to check out some of the country acts Hilburn favored. John Prine caught my attention as well, and I doubt I would have ever thought twice about Prine without Hilburn's book.
   
   All in all, though, the book simply struck me as uneven as a memoir, a reflection of cultural icons, or wherever it was supposed to go.



2. Being that my three favorite things in life are books, music, and my daughter, I was extremely excited to read this book. It had two of the very best ingredients in the world for me (if a picture of my daughter had been on the back cover, it would've earned my nomination for the best book of the year.) :)
   
   Robert Hilburn is the pop music critic and editor for the Los Angeles Times, and has been since music REALLY became music. Not only is this man highly respected, but in this wonderful book he offers the reader a chance to see underneath all the innuendos, glamour, false biographies, etc. of some of the superstars we've loved and lost along the way. This man also, after reading this book, is psychic. He just has to be. He knew, sometimes before anyone else out there, who was going to be at the top of the charts. And not only in pop. There are some extraordinary looks into the country music scene, as well as others. I want to go into some of my absolute favorites.
   
   The introduction is by Bono who, yes, at one time I thought was simply a "bullhorn" who wanted to "campaign." But after various songs that I've listened to, and The Joshua Tree, of course, and the indepth look from this book, I know Bono is a man who was on a mission - just, at the beginning, a slightly confused one. Robert Hilburn took me into Janis Joplin's life. She loved Kris Kristofferson. This brash, loud, rock 'n' roller was a quiet young woman. Without the music to set her heart and soul on fire, she was found sitting alone, talking quietly - if at all, with her bottle of alcohol sitting in her lap. Hilburn makes a statement that after meeting Janis, he realized that the "best music doesn't just fill a void in the listener, but it also fills the void in the artist. Joplin's music filled her, but...not enough. The loneliness got her. A posthumous release of her song with Kris, "Me and Bobby McGee" was her only No. 1 single and what the author remembers was the line she sang, "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." Janis was a true artist, unfortunately one who had nothing to lose, but her life.
   
   I was so thrilled when I found myself with Johnny Cash at the 1968 Folsom Prison Concert. He was an idol of mine, as well as my father's. Johnny didn't have to be the best singer, or the campaigner for the points of the world. Johnny could touch you with the simple fact that he was Johnny Cash. He had things set deep within his mind and heart that made him want to tell his stories. And, boy the stories he told. My daughter listens to Johnny Cash, now. The man never fades, and I hope parents for years will tell their kids about Cash and play them a song so that this magic man never leaves the spotlight.
   
   The author took me into Phil Spector's life, as well. I felt my skin crawl as I read about how this man always seemed to find a bottle of wine, and always seemed to have a gun in his hands, making sure people didn't leave his house until he deemed it appropriate. I was also taken with Michael Jackson when he was just "coming up". Jackie Onassis had asked Michael to let a book be written about him, and Mr. Hilburn got the job. Michael was astounding, but he also broke my heart. This was the consummate child. He wanted nothing more than to stay in childhood - and, apparently, wanted the mighty Prince and his hit "Purple Rain" to go away as fast as it had come. Michael liked the chase...the fans...too bad he didn;t like himself more. I think his concert that he was planning for would've placed him back atop the "King of Pop" mountain for all eternity. But, unforunately, we'll never know. Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan weren't a big surprise. I think my sister, when we were young, had spent her babysitting money to hire a private eye to follow "The Boss" around. She knew everything about Bruce. It was uncanny - and a little frightening all at the same time.
   
   I think, as always, the one who tugged my heartstrings the most was Mr. Lennon. I wasn;t even alive when he was shot, but the words that he wrote have stayed like a white cloud of hope over this country. The feeling and the power that he held inside his soul was amazing. He was one of those people that you knew - and still know - was on this Earth for a very specific reason. I don't think it was just to make good music. The man was here to unite an entire country with his words, and he's still doing it today. He had some "falls" just like everyone else in the music world. But he and Yoko did love each other deeply. They struggled to make sense of the outside world, but the love they had for each other and the support network they gave to each other made them able to stand up and shout from the rooftops - and MAKE the country understand what we needed to back then. During an age of war, we still had our innocence in a way. Not like it is today. Today the music is angry. We're angry. I've yet to hear someone my child can follow...someone they can garner hope from. I hope that the next Lennon is out there just waiting in the wings to appear, or we may just become the Roman Empire, and take a really big fall.
   
   And, of course, Elvis. What can I say? It never mattered to me what he'd become. It doesn't matter to my mother what he became, or how he ended. He was, is, and will remain the King of it all. When you listen to Elvis when he began, he not only was just about the most handsome thing on two legs, he was the young man from Memphis who made you want to dance, live, and celebrate life. I agree with the author, his "gospel" moments were the best things he ever did. I wish he'd done more with that. But no matter the drugs, weight gain, etc., the man could've ridden a horse naked in the middle of Bourbon Street...and he would still be Elvis. He accomplished the one thing that alot of superstars try to do but simply can't. Elvis became a legitimate icon. Plus, I've seen Graceland, too, guys. And, don't forget. Elvis didn't become famous because he could decorate or dress well. Leave that to Tim Gunn and others out there. Elvis was a God, and he still is.
   
   There are "interludes" that the author has added that will show you quotes, snippets from interviews, and concerts with the music royalty past and present that you will really enjoy. This is an indepth look at lives we always wanted to know about with moments of sheer pain, joy, frustration, and havoc, but, above all, love. Mr. Hilburn loves his job. He's not only good at it, but I can see that the faith and concern for the people he knew - the artists that "wowed" him, came from his soul. He was like their protector. Take my advice, guys and gals: Read this book; listen to the stories; marvel at the real talent that has shaped us as a country. Turn off American Idol, and meet the real heroes that have made our lives worth living. I'd love to have corn flakes and cream with Mr. Hilburn. That's officially a new entry on my wish list.
   
   Amy Lignor, [...].



3. This book is written well and easy and great to read. It tells very personal stories of well known rock stars that are great to hear. I truly like this book and I also gave it to a rocker who also teaches voice and guitar. He really liked it and appreciated it too.



4. Back in the dawn of time, Modern Era, popular music wasn't even as interesting as it is now in this synthesized, American Idol age. Then along came musicians who knew rhythm and blues, who knew how important it was to be young, who knew there is nothing like a backbeat to get people to listen. Robert Hilburn was there when things really began to take off -- getting rebuffed by Colonel Parker in his attempts to meet Elvis, following Bob Dylan through his ups and downs over the decades, talking his editors into letting him go up to Folsom Prison to see a country singer named Johnny Cash perform.
   
   Stories of those times, up to the death of Michael Jackson, are included in this memoir by the longtime Los Angeles Times music critic. Whether it's early recognition of Elton John and being lauded as a starmaker, recognizing the talent of John Prine and watching the rest of the world ignore his albums or being an early advocate of Jack Whyte's talent, for decades Hilburn has been in search of the next big thing that will keep rock 'n roll alive.
   
   He's known them all and been close to many. The title comes from a time he was with Lennon on tour who was delighted to be eating corn flakes with cream on them. That was the height of luxury to the poor lad from Liverpool, even after the Beatles and the world's continued attention through his house husband days. Kurt Cobain used Hilburn to get a favorable report how he loved his daughter published while Social Services was investigating whether to take Frances Bean away from him and Courtney Love. Michael Jackson chose him to work on a book project that Jackie Onassis was editing, but was more interested in watching cartoons. Dylan finally opens up after years of taciturn behavior when he's playing for small audiences at small colleges. But his revelations about songwriting when Hilburn proposes a series about the subject are indeed revealing.
   
   Hilburn's astute interview skills bring out such observations as Bono's that rock music has something no other kind does -- it is a combination of rhythm, harmony and top-line melody to appeal to the body, the spirit and the mind. Hilburn concludes that the artists he most admires have something in common. They have idealism and commitment. They believe ideas and music matter.
   
   The reader can reach the same conclusion while tracing the careers of Cash, Dylan, Lennon, Springsteen, U2 and Jack White through the years Hilburn has known them, talked to them, listened to their music, questioned them and cared about them. Hilburn provides ample proof of how idealism expressed through music has inspired people. He is more reticent about his own life, with a few tidbits thrown in to provide some background to a particular idea or anecdote. But that's because like any good journalist, Hilburn knows it's the story that matters, not the reporter.
   
   Hilburn also knows to not stretch the story beyond its scope. He admits not knowing what's going to happen to rock in these days of corporate plastic singers with synthesized voices and celebrity celebrated over talent. But he also believes that genuine music will continue to move people.
   
   Rock on, Bob.



5. This is a fun read if you love music. Kept me interested the whole way through.