5 comments about Memoirs of an Unfit Mother.

1. Anne Robinson was the weakest link in her own life matters for a very long time.
   
   Her autobiography, which I've only read recently and is probably a bit outdated by now, is written as one would expect her to, a sort of mirror image of the character we are used to watch on TV. Lucid, cool, a bit acerbic with a hint of dark humour. And yet, here we discover the other side of the story.
   
   After an honest description of her Irish family and background, Anne takes us through a journey describing her life in England as a journalist, young spouse, mother, divorcée and, eventually, the spiral leading her to be hopelessly alcohol dependant. A drunk. The wound, immense, of having had her young daughter Emma, then aged two, taken away from her. We see her struggling and eventually coming to terms with her addiction, a years-long battle made even worse by the raw knowledge of loss. Loss of Emma's custody, loss of her work, loss of self-respect. Loss. But she struggles. And survives. And gets better and better. She marries again and a new life starts, the wheel finally turning in the right direction.
   
   This is also an interesting insight of the struggle of women in 1940's Ireland and 1960's England, despite feminism starting to take off back then.
   
   Back to Ms. Robinson, I am glad that her ordeal and battles against her alcohol addiction were successful and that throughout it all, she was able to retain Emma's love and respect, the most precious gift of all. Definitely NOT the weakest link any longer, well done.



2. Like me, I think that many mothers have a nagging doubt that they're in some way falling short. In some way - 'unfit'. Ann Robinson's memoirs is an honest description of her own roller-coaster experience of motherhood. It leaves you feeling that if she could go through all that and still create a balanced and happy daughter there is hope for the rest of us!



3. I always watch "The Weakest Link" here in Europe with sort of a fist in my mouth - how can that woman be so horrible to people, and what an utter delight it is when someone gets one up on her. This biography talks not only about the way in which a truly dedicated woman got to the top of her field, but also about the way in which this "unfit mother" really did turn out to be a wonderful mother, with a wonderful daughter and with a wonderful relationship with said daughter. I suppose that Anne Robinson must be feeling sort of like Boris Karloff these days - he wasn't really Frankenstein's monster, and she isn't really the iron-fisted dominatrix of the television show. I read every word with great pleasure, and I recommend the book to everyone. The reason for four instead of five stars is that there are about three paragraphs in the whole book about "The Weakest Link". I really would have wanted to hear a lot more about the author's thoughts about what is a phenomenal show. Other than that, though, it was a great, great read.



4. In this brisk, mostly no-nonsense book, Ms. Robinson lays out her life like a feature story in the Sunday Times. She paints a witty portrait of her mother (who deserves her own book), a domineering, beautifully dressed, luxury-loving, hard driving businesswoman and a protective overbearing mother. Interestingly, this description fits author Anne like a glove.

   In affairs of the heart, Anne calls herself a "belligerent doormat." I loved this phrase! I doubt that many of her long-term love interests would have agreed with the "doormat" part, but she felt/feels she takes to heart every criticism made of her and goes into a passive/aggressive mode. Though she seems very bare bones honest in reporting her emotional entanglements, there are strange gaps. For instance, how in the world did she make her second husband-to-be so angry with her that he testified against her in the custody trial for her daughter?

   "Memoirs--" is worth the price if for no other reason than Ms. Robinson's honest and bleak reporting of her crippling alcoholism and how she gradually climbed out of this life-threatening spiral of devastation. And it did ruin her career and almost kill her. Interestingly, Ms. Robinson, though she spares herself very little, is a champion grudge holder. She clearly has never forgiven the court for the judgment that caused her to lose custody of her daughter. Yet at the time, she was a non-functional alcoholic who was totally undependable.

   She turned her life around big time, and went on to become a highly successful reporter, radio and TV personality, which I found quite inspiring. I admit I have not yet seen "The Weakest Link," but now cannot wait to see her. I am sure Ms. Robinson can triumph in any and all situations. The book is well written, just what you would expect of a top-flight reporter. She has an excellent, if acerbic, sense of humor that makes her story even more enjoyable.




5. I disagree with the Library Review's comment: "Only die-hard fans of Robinson will find this even mildly interesting." I am not a die-hard fan, but I could not put this book down. It is refreshing and even exhilarating to hear someone being honest about their own faults, especially when everyone nowadays wants to be the victim. Robinson does just that, pointing out that obviously her mother contributed to her life in negative ways as in positive ways, but her mother did not make her a drunk and her mother did not get her dry. Anne got to both of those locations herself, and candidly describes each journey. After reading this book, I HAVE found myself to admire this lady and even want to emulate her in many respects. I believe anyone with an open attitude towards her would have to say the same. Evidently the Library Reviewer was already predisposed to disliking Anne Robinson--a bad predisposition for journalists, in my opinion!

1 comments about An Orphan in History: One Man's Triumphant Search for His Jewish Roots.

1. I read this book many years ago, and still remember it. Cowan was raised a secular Jew, in a wealthy family, in one of the richest suburbs of Chicago. His parents did raise him to be proud of his culture, and to remember the tragedy of the Holocaust.
   After he attends elite schools (one Episcopalian), and moves to Manhattan as a journalist, he becomes interested in Judaism, especially its spiritual aspects. He studies it; attends synagogues; and becomes very open to it in every way. He eventually takes up its ancient rituals, such as putting on tfillin (phylacteries) and praying.
   His wife, a non-Jew, observes him carefully, and also becomes extremely involved in Judaism, eventually converting.
   He also interviews others about Judaism. One interview which is particularly compelling is of a Jew who had attended the elite Episcopalian school with the author, where all students had to pray (Christian) prayers every morning in the chapel. He revealed to Cowan that he had been raised as a Jew, and even had had a Bar-Mitzva. He became very upset every day in that chapel, being forced to say
   non-Jewish prayers, but could reveal his feelings (and his background) to no one.
   This book is one of the best-written describing a person's tremendous attraction and exploration of Judaism. It is not easy writing about one's spiritual experience, but Cowan does a tremendous job.
   I feel sad that more people have not read this book. Also tragic is that the author died (from leukemia) in his forties, so that his work is not well-known. However, his wife, Rachel Cowan, has continued her own exploration of Jewish spiritually, eventually becoming a Rabbi. She carries on the essence of this book.

No comments about O America.

5 comments about Flirting with Danger: Confessions of a Reluctant War Reporter.

1. I read this book so fast, couldn't put it down... Ms. Darrow is a fascinating writer, taking you on a fast paced adventure through some of the most important events that happened in recent years. The book stays with you long after you finish reading it, highly recommend it!



2. I thought this book was pretty good. It was really intriguing to hear what a person in those situations really thinks about. She's had a very interesting life. She is a very intellectual writer.



3. This is a great story; well written, humorous, and full of fascinating "behind-the-scenes" glimpses of life as a CNN correspondent. In the end, however, the thing that really makes this book worth the read is the author's willingness and ability to share her own personal journey. Her story moved me deeply and made me freshly aware of the joys and challenges of my own life. It also left me wanting to hear more! When is her next book coming out?!



4. This is one of the best books I've read this year! Darrow is witty, warm, and wise. I found myself comparing my own childhood experiences with hers, and was amazed by how much we have in common. Darrow was honest enough to share the pain and humiliation she suffered growing up without much money, and I could relate.

   Siobhan Darrow is a refreshing voice of truth in modern day autobiographies. I recommend this book to everyone! She will transport you all over the world in her global adventures, sharing her unique brand of humor and self-reflection. The book was so exciting, I read it in one evening and the next day began to read it again! As a young woman in the media, I am thankful to have such a great role model.




5. Flirting With Danger takes the reader on a fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at the day-to-day life of a foreign correspondent. Siobhan openly shares her ambivalence at being an eyewitness to many of the pivotal events that shaped the back end of the last century. Her work took her to some of the most dangerous places on earth and even blasted her into outer space. When she asks herself "what am I doing here?" she embarks on the toughest assignment of all - the one taken in pursuit of self-discovery. An honest, courageous and thoroughly enjoyable autobiography.

5 comments about Lost Black Sheep: The Search for WWII Ace Chris Magee.

1. Chris Magee, the enigmatic "Wildman" of Pappy Boyington's Marine "Blacksheep" fighter squadron of World War II, disappeared in the late 1950's after serving as a fighter pilot in Israel's fledgling Air Force and also after serving several years in an American penitentiary for robbing two banks in one day. Then journalist Robert T. Reed discovered that the "Wildman" was his biological father. And through an astute process of "investigative reporting," Mr. Reed has pieced together a thoroughly fascinating portrait of a gifted pilot, talented and sensitive human being and quintessential "free spirit." Mr. Reed's book constitutes a fine addition to the annals of those whom Tom Brokaw has designated America's "Greatest Generation." It's indisputable that the efforts of extraordinary men like Chris Magee were crucial in bringing victory to the Allied Powers in history's greatest conflict.



2. If you are a fan of WW II VMF-214, "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and "Once They Were Eagles", this is a must read. Two stories in one. That of "Bandanna Maggie" before, during and after WW II. Also, a determined author's quest about a Marine hero he did not know until too long. Follow the trail of a Marine I'm sure Gregory Boyington admired as a great fellow warrior after the "big one" and his attepts to find himself in war and peace. (Success, or failure? Yes? No? You decide.) A remarkable book for those who are interested in the men of 214. As I said, if you liked the two first books mentioned, you will love this one written by the one man who would have done it.



3. If, like me, you read Baa Baa Blacksheep and Once They Were Eagles, this is for you. The mysterious life and whereabouts of Chris Magee almost haunted me after reading Frank Walton's Once They Were Eagles. The information about Chris Magee in Walton's book and the fascinating letter it contains left many questions about Magee that begged for answers. I knew this would be an interesting book before I read it and I was not let down. I did not know it would be emotionally provocative. I won't spoil the surprises. Don't read too many reviews lest you not get the full effect. Pick it up soon.



4. In Lost Black Sheep: The Search For WWII Ace Chris Magee, Robert Reed reveals saga of an extraordinary man in a real-life story of war and peace, crime and punishment. Chris Magee was one of the legendary Black Sheep Squadron under "Pappy" Boyington's command. He grew up with stories of World War I aviation heroes and joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1941. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Chris transferred to the U.S. Marine Corps and went to the South Pacific where his personal bravery and skills as a combat flier earned him the Navy Cross and the respect of his peers. After the war ended Chris spent the next twelve years as a black marketeer, bootlegger, volunteer fighter pilot for Israel, courier for a covert American group involved in Latin American politics, and finally a bank robber. In his middle years he turned his life around and became a respected journalist. By age 70 he was living in retirement in a rustic apartment on Chicago's North Side. Then Chris found an envelope slipped under his front door with a note that compelled him to revisit parts of his past he thought long buried. Several of Magee's letters, poetry, and other writings are woven into the text (including a short story titled "Keep Moving". Lost Black Sheep is a fascinating, superbly written biography of a very unusual American unusal life.



5. I received my copy of Bob's book two weeks after I had scheduled a trip to Waterbury Connecticut to the 56th reunion of my own father's WWII military group. My father passed away last year after a long battle with alzheimers, and I too was on a quest of sorts. I was never able to get my father to open up about his war experiences on the beaches of Normandy and beyond, and know now that their generation was truly the "great generation" of our time. This book really hit home. The content was interesting enough that I read the book at one sitting, and it provoked questions of a very personal nature to me. For those of us who are members of the "baby boom" generation I hope we all start asking our Fathers, Mothers, Uncles, Aunts - anyone with personal experiences about this remarkable time in our history to share their stories with us while they are able. We should also give them a sincere Thank You for their sacrifices.

5 comments about Permanent Midnight: A Memoir.

1. The reader who began his review with the header Beautiful Loser was spot on. Of course, this book has plenty of the scandalous details about hepatitis C, vomiting, blood, nodding and assorted weirdness. But the real strength of the book is the consistently poignant way in which Stahl describes his feeling of absolute alienation from everything. These passages are touching, accurate, moving and eloquent. For a slightly less eloquent version of the exact same terrain of alienation as seen through addiction, try Dee Dee Ramone's autobiography.



2. If you don't want to shoot up for years and figure it out on your own, please read this book. If you wonder why your genius-kid is out shooting up, please read this book. If you think you might go and shoot up, please, please, please read this book (instead). It is a 100% accurate portrayal of the highly intelligent, not to mention highly creative, mind under the influence of a completely destructive upbringing and eventually a completely enslaving opiate habit. You will see the hypocrisy, both short and long term, any addict must justify or at least fog out in order to continue the cycle (a cycle most people will never understand). You will, after more or less going through it with Jerry (what, with the friendly and familiar choice of words, stomach-dropping descriptions and gut bursting humor), reach the end of this book with a thoughtful and understanding tear in your eye and, if you were lucky enough to have read it instead of having to go through it (which usually goes down without the $6000 a week to spend), a new and broader understanding of people you might have otherwise summed up and dismissed (at a less informed time of your life). Take interest in a problem which affects our families as well as ourselves. Please read this heart-felt masterpiece.



3. After reading this book it sure soured me on McDonald's. And I live in Phoenix.



4. Surprisingly, I found this book to be an excellent read. Stahl's extremely honest and no-holds-back dipiction of his "arrival" into Hollywood and his "departure" into heroin addiction, was incredibly exciting and moving. I've read 'em all (regarding addiction) and this is right up there on top. As a recovering addict myself, I find it hard to find an author who is genuinely honest of where the drugs and alcohol take them, and just how hard it is to get back, without having ego replace honesty. Hats off to Stahl for being able to accomplish the far and few between.



5. I thought I would hate this book because the guy seemed like some rich Hollywood type who romanticized his bout with drugs. The saving grace, was that the book is completely hilarious.

1 comments about Visions of Infamy: The Untold Story of How Journalist Hector C. Bywater Devised the Plans That Led to Pearl Harbor.

1. William Honan has done history buffs and strategists alike a signal service in presenting this exciting biography of Hector C. Bywater. Not content with a biography of this journalist, spy and prophet, Honan attempts to do more: understand Bywater's intellectual development--a transformation which led him to foresee what others felt was absurd: a trans-Pacific war between the U.S. and Japan. Honan unearths Bywaters public debates with none other than Franklin D. Roosevelt--at that time a naive pacifist--as well as coming close to proving that Japan's Admiral Yamamoto seized on Bywater's ideas to create the Japanese strategy that culminated in Pearl Harbor and the rout of MacArthur in the Phillippines. For strategists, Visions of Infamy carves a statue to what it really takes to think with vigor and independence.

No comments about Bury me in an old press box;: Good times and life of a sportswriter,.

No comments about Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America-and Found Unexpected Peace.

2 comments about Nightmare Years: 1930 - 1940.

1. In this superb memoir, William L. Shirer describes life inside Nazi Germany from his six-year perch (1934-1940) as a foreign correspondent for newspapers and CBS radio. Readers get a feel for everyday life in Nazi Germany as Hitler consolidated his power, crushed (or killed) his opponents, and put the jobless to work building a war machine for future conquest.
   
   Shirer begins by describing his days in Vienna, Afghanistan, Spain, and France, but the book's heart comes with his posting to Berlin in 1934. Readers learn about Gestapo terror, prewar rearmament, increasing anti-Semitism, and the devotion of many (but not all) Germans to their violent Fuehrer. Shirer also examines the inexplicable appeasement policies of France and Britain - policies that leave one as baffled today as in the 1930's. The author recounts joining Ed Murrow at CBS Radio in 1938 and then broadcasting events such as the Anchluss (takeover) of Austria, the betrayal at Munich, and the German invasion of Poland. Shirer also recounts traveling with the German army as it tore through Belgium in 1940, seeing Paris under Nazi rule, and broadcasting the French surrender. The book's nicely readable prose vividly recreates the stifling atmosphere and the unfolding, utterly preventable tragedy.
   
   Journalist-author William L. Shirer (1904-93) wrote superbly readable eye-witness accounts of 20th Century history. This 1984 memoir was his final bestseller on Nazi Germany, and every bit as readable as the earlier two, BERLIN DIARY (1941) and RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD REICH (1960).



2. Shirer writes a wonderful, exciting memoir of what it was like to be in Europe as Hitler began his rise to power.
   
   As I read, I became aware that Hitler could have been stopped many times before the U.S. became involved. Had the French or the British acted in a timely manner, Hitler could have been squashed like a bug before all the destruction and loss of life. But politics got in the way and everyone seemed afraid to call Hitler on his obvious, transparent lies and bold treaty violations. Churchill had his number, but he was criticized strongly. Everyone believed Hitler's lies, they closed their eyes and allowed him to grow powerful. He bluffed everyone.
   
   I enjoyed the book and found it good reading. Now I am reading Shirer's Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. I recommend The Nightmare Years as a good preface.