5 comments about The House on First Street: My New Orleans Story (P.S.).

1. When reading a book of non-fiction, as this one purports to be, it is generally important for the narrator's voice to be one that the reader trusts and is willing to accept information from as a valid point of view. Julia Reed's voice throughout this tome is one which made me want to move in to the other room to get away from her blatant self-importance, banal name-dropping, blase' socializing (read drinking)and disdain for any sensibllity about spending money or making other significant decisions. I did not find the narrator sufficiently sympathic or interesting or informed to make the time spent getting through this bore worthwhile.



2. This Mississippi girl is an asset to New Orleans and all of Louisiana. Her writing is funny, touching and so witty! She is an advocate for her adopted state,it's food, architecture, culture and now it's enviromental disaster! Her descriptions of the people,restaurants, homes, Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest and, especially, the food make you want to "beam yourself" to New Orleans in a nanosecond. I never had a bad time there and you won't either, reading anything from Julia Reed or watching her on CNN!



3. Friends raved about it. I found it disappointing. I am a New Orleans native and couldn't get past a wrong fact that she said Shreveport is three hours west of New Orleans. Try FIVE hours NORTHWEST. Just don't know how you can get that wrong.



4. Ms. Reed is a fine writer, as evidenced by how wrapped up I got in her home renovation project, and heck, I'm pretty much an apathetic caveman regarding home improvement stuff. I also enjoyed her descriptions of New Orleans and her own brand of New Orleans life. Sure, she enjoyed a quasi-alcoholic life there that I couldn't begin to afford, but that's okay. The life of the affluent can be quite interesting, and New Orleans is a great place to live a privileged, quasi-alcoholic life.
   
   But, she left me a little cold when it came to connecting with the pain of everyday people in the aftermath of Katrina. She was insulated from much of the pain suffered by common folks in New Orleans, and in the latter part of the book, I almost felt resentful of being asked, as a reader, to commiserate with her version of post-Katrina "pain." I'm not inclined to slam this book; it's quite interesting and well-written. It just seems to be missing something. Like heart.



5. Yes, I agree, unfortunately with those who found this novel wanting: while Ms. Reed writes fluidly, and seems like a good-hearted person, I was rendered queasy by the tone of noblesse oblige. Maybe she spent too long at Vogue; the namedropping and luxury merchandise cataloging are relieved by tales of helping out colourful local characters (read drug addicts). The disconnect is breathtaking, as she and her well-heeled friends rescue cases of champagne and party their way through the devastation of post-Katrina New Orleans. As other reviews note, she does try to help, and has some feeling for common folk - especially those that she knows personally (as servants at her fun-filled, madcap parties). But it generally reads like a thirties comedy in which wealthy, elegant people make the best of the Depression by being quirky and drinking a lot. My God the drinking! On every other page her relish for and quantity of alcohol consumption suggest a serious booze problem, dressed up as "laissez les bon temps rouler"

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

1. This volume ranks its somewhat like a first time author, James McGrath Morris, up with Ron Chernow, David McCullough, and H.W. Brands. I do not believe there is a more complete work on Pulitzer. Besides the life of Pulitzer the parallel story, a history of modern journalism runs through this biography.
   
   Morris traces Joseph Pulitzer from his roots in Hungary to his arrival in the US as a Civil War conscript through his career in the dual arts of journalism and politics. He is a hard driver of himself and others. Pulitzer is impossible to work for, be related to or be around in general. His generosity and concern for the common man stand in contrast to the many stories that illustrate his lack of consideration for others. As he aged, the emotional cruelty he dished out seemed to intensify. As he became wealthy, he became more sympathetic to the needs of business.
   
   Pulitzer's relationship with his brother Albert certainly raised my curiosity. Here are two brothers, both arriving separately in the US not speaking English, and both independently (of each other) establishing successful English language newspapers. Joseph's treatment of his brother, like his treatment of almost everyone else, is abominable. Hopefully, someone, maybe Morris, will produce a book on this relationship alone.
   
   The chapter on TR Roosevelt and the Canal Zone was fascinating. A movie could be made on this episode alone with wonderful espionage scenes in Panama and Colombia. Roosevelt was wrong to use the apparatus of government to prosecute, but the newspaper (and perhaps Pulitzer) was equally wrong to hammer away on unsubstantiated charges. In this instance, Pulitzer finally met his match.
   
   Through Pulitzer's story you see both the power and limitations of the press. It is clear that it is not the pen that is mightier than the sword, but the ownership of that pen and the apparatus to distribute the writing. You also see the limitations of this power. Pulitzer could get himself elected but not always, and his editorials could only make a deciding factor in close elections. He had to worry about competition and as today, he withheld stories when he felt they would spur the ire of someone important to his business or as in the period of the Canal related litigation, legal concerns.
   
   The story is huge and Morris delivers it at a good pace. It was hard to remember all the reappearing journalists and editors, but the good index helped.
   
   I highly recommend this book for readers of biography and history. I'd like to see it nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.



2. The standard high school American History course speaks extensively about the Robber Barons, but hardly mentions Pulitzer who used the power of the press to advocate for the workingman and against the monopolies and trusts that ruthlessly dominated the country through the late 1800s. Morris' biography reintroduces us to this important figure in the development of a modern press and in politics. The illnesses and ailments that diminished him by the 1890s may have reduced his ability to contribute, but his influence still remained significant. Moreover, every time Pulitzer seemed to be on a path that caused me to lose respect for him as a person, he seemed to resurrect his old fire and commitment to responsible government and fairness and take a surprisingly positive action. His battle with Theodore Roosevelt over freedom of the press has been ignored even by some of Roosevelt's biographers, but should not be.
   Having just read Harold Evans' My Paper Chase which traces the development of the press from pre--World War II England to present day America, I found Morris' work to be a fascinating prequel that sets the stage for a broader picture of why an independent media is critical to the survival of a democratic government.



3. I read this book about a month ago and just read the many articulate reviews published here which have detailed what has been covered within the pages of this book. Given that I am probably going to rehash some of the information already provided.
   This is a remarkable bio even given that it was published during a recent period with more than a fair share of outstanding bios and histories. Based upon some of my own reading choices I've gone through quite a few books that have seemingly married issues such as life stories, public policy, journalism, and newspaper publishing. What gives this book a certain distinction is that it reflects modern newspaper reporting/publishing from an earlier time time frame than even the Hearst era. It heralds to the era of publishing giants and newspaper syndicates that is sometimes viewed as fading in our times based on the fact that our information is obtained off the internet and newspapers are seeing their circulation plummet.
   Pulitzer's story is compelling and seemingly a study in contradictions. A jew from Hungary, Pulitzer came to the United States in his teens and fought in the civil war. Afterward he migrated to central Missouri and eventually landed in St. Louis where his publishing career began in earnest when he bought his first newspaper. A defender of the common man, he took on the common man's concerns and causes. As his holdings and wealth increased he morphed into a power wielding mogul who worked harder and more vigorously to defend his empire from things like trade unions. Still there were the efforts to grab onto a good story and make it a great one and keep the public aware and interested. There was also a flirtation with yellow journalism and sensationalism which guaranteed good newspaper revenues. Eventually Pulitzer's empire was permanently based in New York and he was the ruler of his own fifedom. In the ensuing years, he became more isolated from his wife, family, and the people around him. Detached retinas in both his eyes led to blindness (a particularly cruel irony given his life's work) and his later years were spent in physical and emotional darkness as he was enveloped in pain.
   Often overshadowed by his competitor Hearst whose persona has grown to mythic proportion, this was a story just begging to be told. I really didn't know all that much about Pulitzer at the outset, but walked away having a better sense of what his accomplishments were as well as what his failings were. Small things surprised me as did a lot of the big things such as the story about fraudlent dealings relating to the construction of the Panama Canal. Overall I got a sense of how quickly the newspaper industry evolved and how many parallels can be drawn to the way stories are reported and handled today.
   James McGrath Morris, the author, did a good job pulling all the facts together and fleshing out the person who was better known by his self-named award. This book is a great resource for anyone interested in american history, journalism, newspapers, moguls, influence peddling, print media.



4. Given last week's awarding of the Pulitzer Prizes (congratulations New York Times and Washington Post), now seemed like a good time to look deeper into the life of the award's namesake, Joseph Pulitzer.
   
   We begin by pointing out that there has not been a complete biography published on the turn-of-the-century media scion in nearly forty years. That is, until the recent release of James McGrath Morris' new book `Pulitzer: A Life in Politics, Print and Power.' (Harper). (A book, much like Walter Issakson's `Einstein,' that is at least partially the result of the discovery of a mass of new papers, in this case, discovered in the incestertial archives of Pulitzer's late brother, Albert.)
   
   In it, Morris (an award winning biographer and editor of the publication `The Biographer's Craft') covers the range of Pulitzer's life from his arrival as a Jewish Hungarian immigrant to America in 1864, to his early days in St. Louis political circles to his 1878 purchase at auction of the St. Louis Evening Dispatch (which he later merged to form the region's Post-Dispatch), his eventual move to and creation of a New York power-base with the New York World, to his ultimate untimely bout with blindness and an eventual lonely death.
   
   Along the way, Morris details the vast influences on Pulitzer's life, from the emergence of the industrial revolution, to his calls for political reform to his many run-ins with powerful political figures (even resulting in then President Teddy Roosevelt attempting to put Pulitzer in prison for his many anti-TR pontifications!) Eerily reminiscent of some of the media barons of today, Pulitzer was both an engaging activist and a sometimes pugnacious media lord (a precursor to the Murdochs and Turners of today's media world) though his ultimate demise much more closely resembles the life of another tormented recluse, Howard Hughes.
   
   Either way, young journalists or even the prize winners themselves, would be well served by Morris' detailed account of a man who long ago forged the way for the Hearsts, Paleys, Luces and the other media moguls of the 20th century to do what they did in the name of journalist endeavor. And for all those who know little more than the name (much like, say, Alfred Nobel), `Pulitzer' fills the gaps in an important piece of our domestic history.



5. A conventional biography of a prominent man in American history of late 19th century and early 20th.
   
   The author, James McGrath Morris, clearly lays out the facts of Joseph Pulitzer's life, with an emphasis slightly more on the personal than on the times.
   
   One will learn some worthwhile things from reading this book: how the Union enlisted European immigrants to help fight the Civil War; the way the Statue of Liberty came to be built at last; the fact that Teddy Roosevelt was deeply flawed as evidenced by his misuse of federal libel law against Pulitzer; and, the genesis of the famous Pulitzer Prizes.
   
   Still, after investing the time to read this book, I doubt if I would redo the effort. Joseph Pulitzer just is not worth it. He was difficult with employees, bad to members of his family, and, all in all, an extremely rich and self-centered jerk.

5 comments about Kaputt (New York Review Books Classics).

1. This book meanders around Europe and wanders aimlessly from scene to scene, most of them unimportant and trivial in nature. It doesn't take long to realize that his descriptions of the Germans are pure caricatures, they are all cold, evil killers. The Russians, on the other hand, are always noble, innocent and chivalrous. Its enough to make a communist blush. The one sided portrayal of events made me suspect his political leanings and yes indeed, after reading more about him, I found that Malaparte "joined the communist party after the war". More like he had been a communist since the late 20's and this colored his view of events and leads me see this book as nothing but period propaganda instead of unbiased reporting which I was hoping to find. I was hoping it might be similar to the works of Douglas Reed. Anyone who enjoys this subject matter would enjoy reading Reed's Disgrace Abounding. His works are available for free online as PDF's.
   
   [...]



2. Malaparte's book is a superficial documentary about the horrors of the Second World War, the arrogance of the nobility, the cynicism of the fascist leaders and some aspects of fascist international policies.
   
   The killing of the intellectuals
   One major aspect of the fascist regimes was the division of the world population in masters ('Herren') and slaves. The slaves and the slave nations would have a `Persian' education system as formulated by Xenophon: `For I know that in Persia everybody except one man is educated to be a slave rather than stand up for himself.'
   `Polish intellectuals Himmler had ordered to be shot'; and `Russia must be cleared of all this learned rabble. The peasants and workers who can read and write too well are dangerous.'
   
   The war scene
   Malaparte depicts `a Europe humiliated by hunger'. There are horrible scenes of ghettos, pogroms, rotten bodies of men and horses and stench all over the place and even cannibalism (`Russian prisoners who fed on the corpses of their mates under the impassive gaze of German officers and soldiers.')
   
   Mentality of the powerful
   Those wielding unchallenged power (the fascist leaders, the nobility) didn't have absolutely no respect for individual lives. With their arrogant, morally indecent and racist behavior, they considered their `human servants' as not more than pieces of wild beasts which could be shot at all day long and even killed (also children).
   
   This book is not without a certain amount of exhibitionism (`I saw it'), overacting (`crucified horses') and unacceptable positive portraits (e.g., the Ustase leader Ante Pavelic).
   It doesn't delve deep into the why's and the who's behind the fascist leaders and the war scene. It never goes as far as the question Xenophon asked Socrates: `If people uses it superior power to enact measures against the propertied classes, will that be violence rather than law?'
   
   All in all, a disappointing book.



3. This is among the strangest books dealing with WWII that I've come across. Part novel, part memoir- Kaput is a compelling, grim and often shocking book. It shocks not only because of the gruesome scenes that Malaparte records but also because of the matter of fact and distanced way in which he observes and records them.
   In some instances his writing reminded me of Camus, existential , unemotional yet witnessing and absorbing minute details of human cruelty.
   
   The basic outline is that Malaparte was an Italian army journalist traveling somewhat freely through the Eastern front. His social circle includes obscure royalty from Sweden as well as diplomats from other European countries. He also dines with some high ranking Nazi officials in Poland. Throughout he is either relating stories of things he's observed at the front,or hearing the same from others. Some of the stories are quite shocking but Malaparte himself seems unmoved and unemotional in his telling, never really drawing any conclusions about what he's witnessed or heard.
   
   It is hard to judge how much of what is contained is absolutely true, or how much is only loosely based on things Malaparte had either seen or heard.
   
   Nevertheless he writes in a very descriptive fashion recording minute details of observation and frequently leading up to some horrible tableu- his language is very visual. These are images that will stick with the reader for some time.



4. 
   A very detailed -yet sometimes raw depiction of the postwar Europe in 1945. A must-read for anyone.



5. 
   I read a news article that this was one of Walid Jumblatt's favourite books, he presented it to Robert Fisk, with the above inscription. http://news.independent.co.uk/fisk/article3010168.ece
   This is hardly a good reason to read a book, but there you are. It is written by an Italian diplomat, who had the freedom to travel through Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe. There are many shocking things in the book, initially the casual treatment of dead bodies in war-zones, but eventually the absolute lack of morality at many levels of society. Through all this, the author, Curzio Malaparte, moves with an air of studied neutrality, despite the barbarities he witnesses, and the psychopaths he interviews.
   In terms of style, there are many flashbacks and references, which can lead to layers of removal and make the narrative difficult to follow. In the end I became quite immune from the shocking barbarity described. I think the book is useful in the sense that it shows the accommodations which occupied societies engaged in during the way years.

5 comments about D.V..

1. The noted architect Christopher Alexander describes "The Quality Without a Name." It is found in art and life. We instantly recognize it, but it cannot be defined. It is when something or someone is fully alive, harmonious, true to their essential nature. D.V. has this glorious characteristic. Her evocation of the 1920's to 1960's is priceless and more valuable than any history book. She is so true to herself, honest, larger-than-life, and filled with strong opinions without being narcisisstic. D.V. shows that style comes from within and that fashion is just a tool. I adore this book.



2. look like she is talking to me in her living room while we are drinking some tea!!!



3. I've heard that not every word of "D.V." is necessarily, you know, true. Well, whatever. In an age of fraud and being less than truthful to the public, it's permissible here because D.V. has such a good time, and really, we'll never know with someone who led a life that epitomized the meaning of glamor and style. D.V. is from the era just before tabloidery, going commando, and movie stars traveling with stylists, and her memoir is less about real events than how one person decided to do it all in grand style. While I usually balk at any personal histories that seem a bit too much on the "so privileged, la-di-dah" side, D.V.'s prose reveals only her elegance and her joy at being around style and trendsetting in all its forms - art, achievement, derring-do.
   
   Her madcap writing, asides, and tangents provide little snippets about how she felt people ought to comport themselves, and if you aren't terribly on the very serious side, you will enjoy it or at least enjoy getting to know Mrs. Vreeland. Let's hope that we make a return to style being something more than where you got your hat. Or let's bring back hats.



4. I saw Mary Louise Wilson play Vreeland in the one-woman show "Full Gallop" in New York in 1996. I knew nothing of Vreeland before "Full Gallop," and couldn't wait to learn more about her after. "D.V." reads just like the character Wilson played on stage--larger than life, perhaps a little shallow, but a hell of a lot of fun to have a drink with. Not in the same league as memoirs by Moss Hart and Lillian Hellman (who, like Vreeland, was accused of doing a little fabricating in her memoirs), but "D.V." remains a pretty entertaining way to spend an afternoon.



5. It's time the world rediscovered Diana Vreeland. She's the maven we'd all love to be. Friend to all the rich and famous, she moved freely in high society, imprinting it with her personal style and never losing her earthiness. When she made her faux pas, they were so hilarious that nobody even thought of suing her. Owners of major European fashion houses gave her their clothes because they knew that they'd be seen by all the best (read "richest") people, who would no doubt pay the clothes more attention than they did dear Diana's plain face (she acknowledged it as so herself). If ever a person made the most of every card she was dealt, it was Diana Vreeland. And "DV" is a narrative of her very own world with details you never knew before. (I'll give you one tidbit as a hint: Edward VI made up his mind that he didn't want to be king LONG before he met Wally Simpson.) Buy this book and enter Vreeland's parlour for some revealing and often amusing gossip about nearly every high society character of her times--royalty, high profile politicians (including the Kennedys in their prime), artists, authors--everyone who made the news worth reading. Warning: once you enter Vreeland's world, you'll never want to leave. A person like this comes along at best once or twice in a century. A marvelous read and look at a world we'll probably never see the like of again.

5 comments about Disappeared: A Journalist Silenced.

1. My unfortunate American need to have a happy ending has made Irma Flaquer's still unsolved disappearance difficult to bear. However, it was Viana Maza Chavarria's words at the end of the book that brought tears to my eyes when she acknowledged that her diverse friendships were made possible through Irma's struggle. These friends are made up of descendents of both political enemies and complacent strangers. This is the legacy that Irma has left behind! If Irma's disappearance could provoke unity in her country and make friends out of enemies then perhaps that is better than a happy ending. Perhaps that is the happy ending Irma was fighting for all along...This book is a captivating read and an inspiring journey!



2. Erlick's book is a journey through Irma Flaquer's life and Guatemala's history from the 40's to the 80's. It is also an accurate and careful reconstruction of local conflicts between government and guerrilla as well as of part of Guatemalan press freedom struggle on the 20th century. The book is filled with details and Flaquer's insights. It is impossible to put down.



3. This book is difficult to put down. This is a story about an amazingly brave and determined woman who was passionate about her country and her right to express herself and ended up paying for that passion with her life. Erlick has done a magnificent job of chronicling both her story and that of Guatemala during one of its most turbulant eras. She is a great writer who obviously feels deeply for Flaquer, the people of Guatemala and all of Latin America.



4. This is a fascinating and fantastic read. As an American living in Guatemala, it had the added benefit of helping me to understand (really, for the first time) a less chronicled but no less interesting period of Guatemala's recent history: that from 1954 to 1978.



5. I can't believe the way I was drawn into the world of this book. I do not have an educational background of Latin American studies. As much as "Disappeared" covers Guatemala's history, the book is also a story about a young woman who takes up journalism, and then keeps on writing, even when it threatens her safety. Without spoiling the plot, Irma Flaquer has so many opportunities to walk away from her journalistic career, but her passion won't let her. "Disappeared" is terribly haunting, but I also think it's a hopeful story, and I can't seem to get it out of my mind. As a freelance journalist myself, it has made me question the merit of the types of things I spend my time writing about.

5 comments about Daughter of the Queen of Sheba: A Memoir.

1. I was attracted to this book after seeing the author on Oprah Winfrey. My reason for this attraction was deeply personal. I, too, have dealt with the challenges of living with a bipolar disorder. It is no walk in the park!
   
   This is a beautiful and sensitively written story about a daughter's journey with her mother who suffers from manic depression. Despite the horrifying aspects of the illness with its inherent and dramatic unpredictability, the author manages to embrace her mother with love and look at the humorous side of a sad situation.
   
   Yes, it is dark. That goes with the territory. Yet it will open doors of understanding to those who have no comprehension of what is a prevalent though highly treatable form of mental illness. It will especially mean a lot to people who have borne the trauma of the disease within themselves or among those they love.
   
   Davis Aujourd'hui, author of "The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude"



2. the book if fantastic, very well written. However the experience of getting the book was horrific. Be sure to note the company that is sending you the book because it is not always amazon. It took 5 weeks to get a book that I needed to complete an assigment in a 10 week course.



3. National Public Radio announcer, Jackie Lydon, has written a memoir of life with her colorful family and manic depressive mother.
   
   While in the throes of mania, Delores, Jackie's mother, is brilliant, delusional, dangerous and colorful. Jackie is torn between her mother as the manic 'Queen of Sheba' vs. the regular Delores. The demands places on Jackie and her family by her mother's illness, and the fine line between respect and protection of self and others is explored. Lithium finally brings the manic depression in check but there is also a loss of that part of Delores that is especially creative and unpredictable.
   
   Lydon captures the manic frenzy and metaphorical race of inner life in a marvelously lyrical way. She charts the inner mind much as she'd learn the workings of a new culture while doing a story for NPR. This is a very fine book. I recommend it for anyone with an interest in manic depression or living what it's like to live with a family member who is mentally ill.



4. This book was written by someone from my hometown, thus I know the characters. She changed the names and the places, yet I still knew what she was referring to. She left out any reference to her two younger brothers so were my age. This book was written in a very choppy fashion...hard to tell her current experiences from her past experiences in her writing.



5. I basically just skimmed the last half of the book as she lost me early on. Too bad. A fascinating subject, just extremely badly written.

5 comments about In the Hamptons: My Fifty Years with Farmers, Fishermen, Artists, Billionaires, and Celebrities.

1. I thought this was an excellent story of the Hamptons and the people who live there. It shares the history of the area as well as more current day events. Each chapter deals with a different story of the area. Dan Rattiner is a good storyteller!



2. Dan Rattiner published the Montauk Pioneer in the early 1960's and eventually branched out to several free papers now offered as Dan's Papers. Rattiner has been eyewitness to significant social changes and the increasing awareness of the Hamptons as a social hotspot. As a local, he has brushed elbows with artists, musicians, actors, and heads of industry, old money, new money and politicians. His weekly writing places these social notables in everyday pursuits and places...though perhaps a bit tonier than the places around my neck of the woods.
   
   In the Hamptons, My Fifty Years with Farmers, Fishermen, Artists, Billionaires and Celebrities is Rattiner's recollections of Hampton's life. From the moneyed seasonal visitors to the local fishermen (real life shark hunter Frank Mundus) and even writer John Steinbeck, he recalls the people who have crossed his path with affection and restraint. His insights are sharp but not barbed. In the Hamptons is a great summer book, or a book to read when you find yourself longing for summer ...Rattiner has a dry wit and an eye for details. This book could have been another (yawn) tell all about a place that has become a must for anyone who thinks they are anyone...but Rattiner has chosen to keep the tabloid element at bay and instead, writes about his hometown.



3. This book opens your heart, and your eyes. And makes you laugh outloud. Dan Rattiner is the writer I would most like to emulate. He is the Mark Twain of our times. I shared this book with my niece before her first visit to the Hamptons, and it really made us appreciate the quirky, confident style that defines the people here.
   Great writing, even if you are NOT headed to the Hamptons, or you lost your patootie in the market and are headed OUT! I also read Dans Papers online every week, to get my Dan fix.
   There is something seductive about a culture or community of people that can laugh at itself, while being an absolute magnet for riches. It amazes and inspires me that a middle class drugstore owner's son, Dan, (and now his son,as well)has been so unstoppable that he designed a life where he can somehow afford the real estate in the heart of this culture zoo. This book is like a prose version of National Geographic visits Monte Carlo. Except the women are not topless. Just Botoxed. I loved this book so much I savored one chapter a night, right before going to bed, and was sorry when I reached the end.



4. DAN'S PAPERS are a local institution in The Hamptons, where I live myself. And, yes, there really is a Dan.
   
   And it's Dan Rattiner who, for about the past 45 years, has made his papers great. (Actually, by now, there are just two editions, a small one for Montauk, at the extreme end of Long Island, where Dan grew up himself, and a large one that serves a widespread region.)
   
   Though Dan was not born in The Hamptons, he did move here as a teenager, more than a half century ago. From the reminiscences in his memoir, IN THE HAMPTONS, he always had the keen eye of an observer, even when he still was an architectural student at Harvard.
   
   Dan writes in an easy, effortless style and he appears to miss no details -- ever. Except when the subject is serious, his pieces are suffused with humor, and he does not suffer fools gracefully. Issues of DAN'S PAPERS may have as many as six, even eight, pieces that he has written.
   
   I feel fair in saying that everyone who lives in The Hamptons -- indeed, everyone on the entire eastern end of Long Island -- loves this weekly news magazine.
   
   So it was with great interest that most of us awaited the publication of IN THE HAMPTONS.
   
   Knowing Dan's style, the book is everything one could expect. He effortlessly covers the long history of this area, first settled in 1639, when the Gardiner family arrived from England.
   
   By virtue of his long tenure here, he pretty much has seen it all and he definitely remembers all that he saw.
   
   Dan offers wonderful anecdotes about the ROLLING STONES, Bianca Jagger, Andy Warhol, the family of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and the other early-arriving socialites -- Mrs. Onassis actually was born in East Hampton -- the rock stars such as Billy Joel and Paul Simon, the visitors like Bill Clinton, so many artists and writers that they have an annual charity softball game, and on and on. And on.
   
   All of Dan's anecdotes, without exception, are fascinating, and each one is reported in Dan's literally inimitable prose.
   
   On the other hand, in an area so rich in history and accomplishment, Dan obviously had to choose among his favorite topics to tell his story, and he had to have left out more than he could include. Lots of authors, media people, fine artists, rock stars, movie stars, billionaires, and leading classical musicians were not even mentioned.
   
   I can't wait to read the sequel of IN THE HAMPTONS.



5. I've been around as long as Dan's Papers and remember in the early years Dan Rattiner had several summer papers such as the East Hampton Summer Sun. the Sag Harbor Pilot etc. The stories Dan wrote were always great and my favorite was local history. As Dan's business grew all these local summer weekly throwaways were incorporated into one paper, Dan's Papers. With the exception being I believe the Montauk Pioneer. Anyway, This new book from Dan is great. I remember alot of this stuff from the 60's and 70's, as it appeared in his paper, but he has rewritten it and it is still an enjoyable read. A book I would highly recommend to anyone. I still long for the time in the 1960's, when I could pick up a copy of the East Hampton Summer Sun at the A&P on Newtown Lane, but that of course is not possible. Thank you Dan for 48 years of pleasurable reading. P.S. Was anyone ever electrocuted for copying that local map you use to have in the back of your newspaper?

5 comments about I Can't Believe I'm Sitting Next to a Republican: A Survival Guide for Conservatives Marooned Among the Angry, Smug, and Terminally Self-Righteous.

1. This book was more of a commiseration for our plight rather than a discussion of tactics. I was hoping for an answer of how to shoot down the smug while keeping friends & colleagues.
   
   As it stood, it was a good "oh, boy have I been THERE" book to read.



2. To give you an idea about how serious of a conservative I am, my bookmark was a copy of "Imprimis" (Hillsdale College's free newsletter featuring excerpts from speeches by conservatives). I picked this book up sight unseen figuring it would be organized like one of those "Guide for Dummies" books.
   
   The book is intended to be a "survival guide" for Conservatives that are out of place - the conservative college professor, social worker, or in my case, the conservative active and involved member of a teacher's union. As I said, I thought it might be a hoot, especially if it were organized like one of those "Dummies" books, imagining categories like "What to do if you are a college student and your professor is quoting Al Gore like he's the latest prophet from on high..." Perhaps if the Politically Incorrect Guide folks would have published this one and focused it more I'd have enjoyed it more.
   
   Instead, it is sort of Ann Coulter "lite". Ann goes after name brand Liberals (Gore, the Kennedys, and so on) with awful (and true) stories of flawed liberal reasoning and horrible hypocrisy. Harry Stein mostly talks about his neighbors and people he used to work with using the same style.
   
   Parts of the book work like a charm, especially the chapters on Hollywood, the book publishing industry, public schools and universities. Others are just sort of creepy, like the one in which Stein's wife tape records her friends and the one with the conservative talk show host harassing the liberal in a pet store.
   
   Final thought: mixed bag, good for the hardcore conservative with a funny bone on your gift list.



3. I wish some of the liberals who spout off about republicans or Conservatives could learn to appreciate the differences in our society without name calling. This is what Harry Stein is all about! I enjoyed the points he makes about tolerance or lack thereof in our society for other points of view. A good read with a lot of humor.



4. A lively, fun discussion of liberals and their sentiments is presented in a tour of liberals and right-wingers and the interactions between them in "I Can't Believe I'm Sitting Next to a Republican". Here's a whimsical yet pointed view of what it means to be a conservative in a blue state and more, offering a conservative's guide to live, friendship and living in a liberal environment. A fine pick for any general collection.



5. Harry Stein's one of my favorite writers; his satirical wit when discussing the perplexing motives of the predominantly liberal residents in his suburban New York City home-town are hilarious & of course, quite accurate. Although I'm more of a centrist, his depictions of the liberals inhabiting this slice of the Big Apple, have me constantly nodding my head in agreement.
   
   The book's cover is classic; a reminder of those cheesy B flicks from the '50s depiciting the horror the poor young lady experiences from the attack of the Republican zombies; coming to a theater near you. That would make a great poster.
   
   If you think the pendulum has swung too far to the left in Obama Nation, and have a terrific sense of humor, you'll love Stein's latest cult classic.

No comments about Rising from Katrina.

5 comments about Ancient Gonzo Wisdom: Interviews with Hunter S. Thompson.

1. This collection of Dr. Thompson's interviews over a period of several years reflects his essential, irascible attitude. His widow, Anita Thompson, who assembled and edited this important work, has unique insight into the real Hunter behind the Gonzo image.
   Highly recommended!



2. This book is fabulous the Interviews allow one to see his genius though his eyes not just his published work



3. Your pleasure or displeasure in this book will depend entirely on your liking for and tolerance of the late Hunter S. Thompson.
   
   I happen to have enjoyed most of Thompson's writings but considered him just another ill-mannered, self-absorbed and self-referential celebrity of the dawning of the age of celebrity. The times favored Thompson with his let it all hang out style: open drunkenness and drugs, outrageous commentary. But he had keen powers of observation and turned in craftsman like sentences and had a devilish wit. He was also opinioned and, in my opinion, dead wrong.
   
   In any event, for those who are interested - and the interested are the only ones who will appreciate some of these interviews - Thompson's widow has collected and edited 48 interviews of Hunter S. Thompson spanning the years 1967 through 2005. Like Andy Warhohl, Thompson kept the publicity machine whirring for a long time, fueling it with an endless succession of weird episodes.
   
   Some of the interviews are hilarious with self-revering interviews who are - in their own mind's eye - great public intellectuals approaching the Great One. Needless to say, these interviews are trite: "Do you still live life at a fast pitch?" "Due to your hedonistic misbehavior, do you find it hard to discipline yourself to write?"
   
   Other interviews have more depth.
   
   Does this collection add only to the wealth of Thompson's estate? Or does it add to our understanding of Thompson?
   
   I think the latter, but only in the sense that Hunter S. Thompson understood better than most that publicity was good and that publicity about being the "bad boy" was even better. Do we gain insight into the mind and character of Hunter S. Thompson? I don't really think so.
   
   But this collection of interviews to a someone like myself who is a mild fan of Thompson Is still interesting and an enjoyable read.
   
   Jerry



4. Thompson's shining Gonzo Intellect is displayed here with humor and insight. Thompson was a seer, a visionary, an immovable force of which our culture will have to contend with for decades to come. His interviews read like his prose - evidence that what you read in print was the Good Doctor himself without pretense, without a mask. The earth's axis has shifted since his departure and we are all at a loss with his absence.



5. Always interesting and often funny, Hunter Thompson rations answers to helpless interviewer's and public forum's questions giving insight to his writing, lifestyle, philosophies and opinions from the 70's till just before his passing in 2005. A wealth of nutritional info and sages for our times included as well.