5 comments about Lucy in the Afternoon: An Intimate Memoir of Lucille Ball (G K Hall Large Print Book Series).

1. Jim Brochu's bio was an interesting read for this avid Lucy fan - but take it - the entire dish - with a grain of salt.
   I was aleady forewarned that Brochu exaggerates his friendship with Lucy (I found myself rolling my eyes plenty of times). This is filled with historical innacuracies matched only by Brochu's continual lapses into fantasy - he claims he and Lucy's hubby Gary Morton sat on the lanai one afternoon discussing deal-making with a TV network.
   Why oh why would Morton discuss anything of the kind with Lucy's new backgammon bud?
   A much better bio (endorsed by Lucie Arnaz) can be found in Lee Tannen's excellent biography of Lucy's last ten years in which he was her close friend. Unlike Brochu who knew her the last eight months of her life, Tannen really was there. And the guy can write.
   I found it amusing (or was it alarming) that Brochu reports with great authority on incidents he was not involved in - Tannen was, incidentally but Brochu never mentions this. He glosses over Tannen like he does everything else that's real in the bio. His daydreams (he claims they are real dreams)about Lucy and his scary eyes in the phhotos tell me Lucy dropped dead to escape him.



2. why should anyone else??? Her own daughter says it is filled with inacurracies and indeed, the author makes it a point in every page to make himself the ONLY friend Lucy ever had. As Lucie Arnaz herself said, "skip this one".



3. I find it highly unlikely anyone allegedly getting these old Hollywood stories from Lucille Ball herself would have gotten them so inaccurately. Approximately two chapters into the book, I began to strongly suspect this man never knew Ms. Ball at all. He supports their "intimate friendship" with an insert of photographs, all of which were obviously taken on only two different occasions, my guess is they were taken right before she had him arrested for stalking. Passing up no opportunity to toot his own off-key horn, the author tends to paint Ms. Ball as a bitter old clown who apparently hated everyone in the world except Jim Brochu, wildly incongruent with virtually every other existing account of Lucille as a generally warm and generous soul who was well loved by those who knew her. Brady's "Lucille", Andrew's "Lucy & Ricky & Fred & Ethel" and Ms. Ball's own "Love Lucy" are only three of a number of infinitely better, more entertaining, and more accurate books on this subject that I can think of without even looking it up. This book is total garbage, it should be read only to placate the author's obvious need to display his psychosis to the rest of the world, and then kept on hand in case the reader should run out of loo paper one day.



4. As with other reviewers here - this guy thinks too much of himself in relation to Miss Ball. I wonder if there are not a few splinters in the windmills of his mind. While searching through Lucie Arnaz' website I found this quote in response to a fan looking for reading material: "The Jim Brochu , "Lucy in the Afternoon" book (which was released moments after her passing) is littered with inaccuracies, and totally fabricated stories. Skip THAT one!" Unfortunately, I read this book before realizing any of that. I do believe this book to be JUNK



5. I have read every book that has been written about Lucille Ball and this is by far the least accurate, odd, book that has been written about the legend. Timed for release, immediately after her death, "Lucy in the Afternoon" chronicles one boys obsession with the entertainer that he, later in life, confuses with a soul-mate type frendship. Very odd reading. Stories are quite obviously fabricated and I find it highly unlikely that Lucy went into great depth with this man about her life. Covering everything from her broadway days to her ex-husband to her movie and televison career. These are highly personal topics to be discussed with what was a stranger. An aspiring writer. This book should deffinetly be skipped by avid Lucy readers and just readers in general. There are far better books about Ball out there.
   
   I would suggest the most recent release "Ball of Fire" or the excellent "Desilu, the story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz". T

No comments about Tell Me More (Charnwood Large Print Library Series).

1 comments about Miracle Man: Nolan Ryan : The Autobiography (G K Hall Large Print Book Series).

1. I am still reading this book. I'm just impressed to get a super sports star's thinking on the way of life.
   He insisted on the importantance of moral in the society.

No comments about Stars at War (Isis Large Print Nonfiction).

5 comments about Marilyn Monroe: The Biography (Paragon Large Print).

1. Donald Spoto, a very well respected biographer, has written what is probably the best biography of the 50s icon. Contrary to a previous review here, he does not spend that much time on her death; what he DOES do though is give very plausible facts from inside sources that make sense. The hysterical theories and ravings of conspiracy loons that abound out there are not to be found here, and Spoto easily strips away their credibility. Spoto has obviously interviewed people that actually knew Marilyn, not fans who have one snapshot taken with the star that they turn into a career. Get this book--it is the one to refer to.



2. It is hard to imagine the kind of painstaking research that went into creating this comprehensive work of exquisite detail. Spoto not only captures the unique essence of MM's engaging personality, he includes the minutiae of her life experiences to such a degree that even someone who did not grow up surrounded by her iridescent image would feel a part of this era. Especially interesting are the intricate details of her early life, which would later so greatly affect her vulnerable psyche.
   
   Unfortunately, what put me off were the conclusions he draws regarding the controversial circumstances of her death. He offers some bizarre theories, apparently of his own supposition, based on less than concrete evidence and woven to fit unanswered questions. You may find his theories plausible; you may find them ridiculous. Although he does argue a somewhat convincing case, I have never seen or heard of any other documentation that would support these claims. I believe the only real conclusion to be drawn is that we will never fully answer all the questions surrounding the mystery of her death.
   
   This is the story of a very special lady, a lost and deeply lonely little girl who would reach her whole life for an intangible dream of fulfillment that would slip again and again through her fingers. This comprensive work does well in capturing the spirit of that struggle, and those who exploited it. Judge for yourself the validity of Spoto's allegations. Beyond that, you will find this a thorough and engrossing portrayal of our most luminous screen goddess.



3. This is one of the best biographies I have ever read
   about the icon "Marilyn Monroe".
   
   Highly recommended.



4. I have read many Marilyn biographies and all have inconsistencies.
   
   Spoto's version is just the same -- he spends a lot of time pontificating about the details and the aftermath of Marilyn's untimely death.
   
   Minute details were also different from other Marilyn bios I have read.
   
   Mugsy, her dog, according to Spoto was male and adopted by Marilyn.
   
   In another bio, the dog's name is spelled Muggsie is female and was purchased by Jim Dougherty to be a companion to Marilyn during his Merchant Marine days.
   
   I figure if writers can't get that small detail correct (both authors claim to have interviewed Jim Doughtery), how can the authors get the real version of Marilyn's death correct?
   
   I doubt anyone will ever know the truth about Marilyn's life and death.



5. I bought my first book on MM back in 1982 (Yep, it was Robert Slatzer's book!). Since that time, I have read close to 20 books on MM. I think for anyone who wants the closest thing to the truth regarding, among other things, Marilyn's death, her supposed "secret marriage", and her reported "affairs" with both John and Robert Kennedy, this is the book to read. Great job by Donald Spoto! He captures the real woman behind the MM mystic. I love the chapter of MM entertaining the troops, and how great an experience it was for both her and the soldiers.

5 comments about I Thought My Father Was God.

1. This is not a book by Paul Auster. It's a book by me. And you. And your smart neighbor. No, the other one, the smart, creative one.
   
   I know this because, if you're reading this review, you're that neighbor (and you have a neighbor or two like you). When you read this book, and you should, you'll read stories by folks who, like you, think once in a while, "I should write that down." "I can think in adjectives and adverbs about that, and that is something I think someone else might want to see, too."
   
   Someone has told you, "You should write a book," but you've never really sat down to do that because, even though your life is full and rich and there have been sorrows and amazements and happinesses and crime and death and dogs and your father's car on a hot vacation trip sitting next to your cousin, your life is too full to take the time to sit and do something as mundane and time-consuming as write.
   
   But these 179 people did just that. I have to warn you that you can't read this like a regular book. Its rhythm is single drumbeats, not cascades and bar after bar. Each story is itself. Each story is introduced in the first paragraph, which is so different from the last paragraph of the story before that if you allow yourself to read like you usually do, your eyes will simply register the individual letters of the next story while your mind is still absorbing the last. It will be mulling, savoring, feeling like the woman whose father heard her first words speaking of life's responsibilities after spending her first really full day at his mortuary, that last sentence seeping into crevices of your grey matter and prying out little (and big) thoughts and hopes and connections and worries hidden because you haven't yet had time to write.
   
   You'll need to stop your eyes moving halfway through that next story, because you'll have missed the first paragraph of these stories that are over in an eyeblink but carry weight, most just a little, some considerable, but in sum giving you the reason you've always needed to sit with your word processor and add to the tome.
   
   Go back and read from the beginning. It's worth the time and effort. Then sit and write another. -- rg



2. Heard I THOUGHT MY FATHER WAS GOD, edited and read by
   Paul Auster . . . this is a collection of stories that came as a result
   of a call to listeners of National Public Radio's WEEKEND ALL
   THINGS CONSIDERED . . . more than 4,000 were submitted.
   
   I couldn't really tell whether they were fact or fiction; it really
   didn't matter . . . after taking me a while to warm up to them,
   I quickly became interested in what others had to say about such
   subjects as Animals, Families, War, Love, and Dreams.
   
   Some stories were mundane, but many others were quite
   moving . . . in particular, I was touched by the one involving a
   small boy's realization that his mother has pawned her wedding ring
   so that she can buy him a school uniform.
   
   As the author notes: [I was most interested in] stories that defied
   our expectations about the world, anecdotes that revealed the mysterious
   and unknowable forces at work in our lives, in our family histories, in
   our minds and bodies, in our souls. . . . I was hoping to put together . . . a
   museum of American reality."
   
   He has succeeded . . . my only criticism has to do with the
   narration . . . Auster handled the stories from male readers just
   fine . . . I would have preferred a member of the opposite for
   stories from female readers.



3. The sheer variety of life experiences gives the reader a new perspective on their own lives, seeing how sometimes simple events can have a profound effect upon oneself or others. Helps you realize today's "disaster" may be the event that leads to tomorrow's SUNSHINE. Covering the USA, I ran into a story from a nearby town in which a dear friend of mine was mentioned by first name only, but instantly recognizable because of her loving kindness toward a family member of the storyteller. Adults (young and old) can pick up valuable "life lessons" without the preaching that usually accompanys them.



4. I had heard about this book from a friend. I not only enjoyed reading it, as I did so it gave me a greater appreaciation for my own father. As my father laid dying, my brother and I took turns reading selected stories to him. It gave us a chance to tell him how much we (now as adults) appreaciated his years of parenting. I highly recommend it.



5. I love the stories in this book. I love how they are written by "real" people, not professional writers. I love how they are true, and how every one, no matter how short, makes you feel or learn something strong and beautiful.
   After reading each story, though, you will struggle with trying to decide if you should pause and feel the new emotion each one gave you, or if you should quickly flip through the next page, asking for more. I'm a greedy reader and I usually did the latter while reading this. But for the second read, I will force myself to reflect.

5 comments about Morrie: In His Own Words.

1. The book is a companion read of "Tuesdays with Morrie." Although both books cover similar material, the difference is the originality of the material. Morrie explains his prospective living and dying in addition to his other life experiences. The reader will get insight on such topics as "handling frustration" and "reaching acceptance" to "relating to others" and "being kind to yourself" or understand Morrie's view regarding "It's not too late to develop new friendships or reconnect with people." Or "It's not to late to...ask yourself if you really are the person you want to be, and if not, who you do want to be."



2. After reading the wonderful 'Tuesdays with Morrie' I was craving for more wise lessons from Morrie Schwartz. Eventually I came across this little booklet written by the man himself. It's filled with the same inspiring wisdom and lessons you'll also find in 'Tuesdays', but there's one big difference. In 'Tuesdays' Morrie was teaching his old student Mitch how to live a better life. As such that book is enormously relevant to everybody who reads it. In 'Morrie in his own words' the focus is more towards helping the dying and terminally ill deal with their situation, settle some important relational 'unfinished business' and reach acceptance and closure. About 75% percent of the book seems to be aimed at this specific group of people.
   
   It still includes valuable lessons and especially Morrie's interpretations of Buddhist concepts appeals to me, but for most people this book will be less relevant than 'Tuesdays'. Having said that, Morrie remains a remarkable man and among his inspring lessons is one about accepting that we'll eventually all die, so we better learn to accept it and make the best of the days that are given to us. So, even the lessons in dying in this booklet will become relevant sooner or later. As such it certainly doesn't hurt to have this little booklet in your collection for when the time comes ...



3. I wish I had read this book when my husband was dying of ALS. It should be a must for everyone who'd been given a Medical Death Sentance and their family who have to stand by helplessly while their loved one diminishes and then dies before their eyes. It's compelling and would at least ease the sorrow that becomes part of their life.



4. This book makes you realize that Morrie was such an amazing person. It makes you wish you had known him. But it is also more a book for a person who knows he is dying. Or for someone who loves someone who is dying, you could read it together. It offers positive thinking for a person who has already accepted his imminent death.



5. The shipping to Guam was VERY FAST although it was only USPS priority mail. If you are a Mitch Albom fan, this book is literally in Morrie's own words. So the style is not quite the same. If you just want a little more in depth of him (Morrie), this is must. My 17 yr old has to do a project quarterly and read all of Albom's books, and this is the last one.

5 comments about The Best That I Can Be.

1. Rafer Johnson, to me, exemplifies the perfect American athlete. Besides winning the 1960 Rome Olympics Decathlon in record points, he also won gols at the 1955 Pan American Games and took silver medal at Melbourne, AUS Olympic Decathlon! Rafer was known for promoting special olympics, and won numerous awards for sportsmanship over the years! Mr Johnson was one of those few in every million or so that truly set and still sets the standard of what being a true American, athlete and humanitarian is all about!!!!!!!!!! Rafer excelled in high school in football, averaging 17 yards a carry, batted .400 in baseball, averaged 17 points a game in basketball and averaged over 9 yards a carry in football while in high school. But Rafer's specialty was track and field. Going to UCLA, Rafer was offered a scholarship to play football but his real love was track and field. His high school coach took him to a decathlon meet near where 2 time decathlon winner Bob Mathias lived in Tulare, CA. Rafer told his coach:"gee coach, I could have beaten most of those guys there"! Rafer took on and beat such greats in the 50's as Russian decathlon whiz Vasily Kuznyetsov and fellow UCLA teammate and later his arch rival in '60 Rome Olympics CK Yang. Mr Johnson was flag bearer for USA Team in '60 games and also lit the torch at '84 Olympics in Los Angeles Games. Mr Johnson also acted and has done much in his lifetime promoting great charatible events and things for America's youth and good sportsmanship!!! Rafer Johnson is about the best example, to me, of an American, a true American and sportsman. A real leader, sportsman and humanitarian now and always!!!!!!!!!!!!! He has always and will continue to always inspire my life and millions of others the world over now and forevermore!



2. I was so glad to learn that you've finally come out with a book, Rafer! I have always been fascinated with your decathalon vs CK YANG, and wish that there could be more films and pictures (book) just on the 1960 Decathalon, alone! I remember old tv ads with you in them years past and your roles in TARZAN movies. I knew from watching you that you would always be my life's role model! The "new" generation we live in today has so much technology and modern tech toys; but something "REAL BIG" is lacking! True greatness and love of (SPORT) for the love of it, from your heart, and not big money! Men were real men then, and athletes were real athletes! I have always dreamed of meeting you in person oneday! You and Ethiopia's ABBEE BIKILA were, are and always be two of my all-time favorite role models and athletes, forever! Sure wish that more could be done and written(pictures and films) of 1960 Olympics, especially the decathalon and marathon! You're truly a "great" man, and a "fine" american athlete of our time and the 20th century! write more books soon!



3. It was nice to learn about what has happened to Rafer Johnson over the years. The Best That I Can Be was a wonderful reminder of a marvelous athlete and competitor from years past plus an added bonus of hearing Rafer's incessant optimism and enthusiam. Gold Medalists come and go but few do so with the class and human decency that Johnson has displayed over a long period of time. If ever one is looking for a role model who demonstrated overcoming adversity with a smile on his face, it was Rafer Johnson. I only wished I had read this sooner.



4. I grew up hearing and reading about Rafer Johnson all of my life. Track was never a sport I paid much attention to before Johnson. He made it bigger than life for me, as Tiger Woods does for golf. A few years ago I was introduced to Rafer and was stunned to find him remarkably shy and guarded, very much unlike the dynamic man I saw as an athlete. I could tell that he was warm, but very, very careful. It wasn't until I read THE BEST THAT I CAN BE that I understood the man, that I understood how much one's background can flavor an entire lifetime. This book not only gave me his remarkable story, it left me with an insight that I carry with me everyday.



5. I was expecting much more from this book

5 comments about The City of Joy.

1. An outstanding book. Highly recommended as essential reading for any thinking person and any person who truely cares about the world and the plight of humanity.



2. One of the best boooks of Dominique La Pierre, makes you see reality as is, the acceptance with joy of the life you are to live.



3. One of the reviewers below described the book as "cardboard cut-out disease porn" and that is the most apt, succint way to describe "City of Joy". The book dives into rampant filth, disease and raw physical suffering with about as much preamble and relish as any porn video dives into sex. It is about as uplifting as self-flagellation, and as inspiring as Fear Factor.



4. "...The 'City of Joy' shall be remembered as the best account of the life of the people in Calcutta's slums; of the city's never-say-die attitude. The book presents a very emotional account of the daily lives of the poor in the city, and makes the reader fall in love with these little heros, who daily fight the battle of life to mete out a subsistence existence. The book is an eye-opener to the people who have never faced the adversities of life. The author has done a brilliant job in portraying the poor with compassion and empathy. A true masterpiece..."



5. No other book I had ever read has ever made me more proud about the fact that I am an Indian or importantly, a human being. The moving story, that the author claims is based on facts is probably based on a true one. What is truly remarkable though, is the fact that this is probably not an unusual story or for that matter even an uncommon one! It happens, more so in India that anywhere else, despite 200 years of British rule the Western had not been able to take from these people what they prize most, their dignity. People trying to live a decent life, who hope to live with at least an ounce of self-respect going to great extremes to attain it.
   
   It doesn't surprise me to know this today, nor does it surprise me to know it took so long for the world to know this. What amazes me is that so many Indians have written such bad reviews about this book. It seems ironic that a book that tells a story about the majority of Indians who are uneducated is not appreciated by the minority that are. It makes sense though. This book doesn't directly attempt to glorify India's culture, its traditions or values. Instead it speaks about the bitter realities of a ghetto that almost all educated Indians with a modern outlook likes to pretend don't exist. These are the people that Westerners mostly interact with, these are the people who want to impress India to the rest of the world, and the truths in this book are not what they would think is impressive. It still impressive none the less. In fact it is more than impressive that even at the lowest of low of economic degradation a man can still try to live a life of dignity - the kind that every human being deserves to live with.
   
   IF AFTER READING THIS BOOK YOU SHED A TEAR, either of joy or sorrow, GO TO THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE MOST AND TELL THEM HOW MUCH YOU LOVE THEM, thank them for who they are and after that thank God for the beauty that is your life and lastly thank yourself because you are a wonderful human-being.

5 comments about Positively Fifth Street: Murderers, Cheetahs, and Binion's World Series of Poker.

1. McManus has written a deft, funny, and literate work that is hard to put down -
   if you like poker, that is. For non-poker enthusiasts, or those unwilling to at least learn the basics of Texas Hold'Em, the many detailed descriptions of Bad Jim's amazing run at the WSOP will undermine the power of this terrific book.
   McManus has many things going for him. He's an intelligent novelist who brings his keen observation to the worlds of poker, Las Vegas sleaze, and the murder trial of Ted Binion. He's also a fanatic poker player ( and a very good one, better than even he realized when he first landed in Vegas to cover the World Series ). He is well read in a variety of subjects, and thus the book has a Moby Dick feel, with Good Jim the writer making countless excursions into other areas and interests in his investigation of poker, sex, power, addiction, and art. Best of all, Good Jim has an ironic detachment about himself and his own weaknesses, and is not afraid to play the part of nebbish, though he is anything but one. Some of Good Jim's digressions don't really lead anywhere and slow the book down ( i.e., the pointless two pages on his former student, humorist David Sedaris ). And some of the digressions into psychology also bog down a bit. But these are compensated for by his quick, funny portraits of some of poker's great characters. All in all, a classic.



2. I still cant' believe the guy made it to the final table. What an incredible feat. He writes really well too. Great story, well written. Ah, the catch is, this is definitely a GUY book, whatever that mean.



3. An amazing book. Somehow the author is simply telling the story of how he played in the World Series of Poker but also weaves in all of the following:
   
   - Murder
   - Adultery
   - The history of poker
   - The history of cards
   - The history of Las Vegas
   - The mob
   - What constitutes "cheating" on your wife?
   - High ethics
   - Discussions of game theory
   - His own family tree
   
   And just about everything else. All of it in brilliant prose that makes it fascinating.
   
   At the same time he brings you to the poker table and you feel the tension of re-raising TJ Cloutier with the author. I felt sick a few times as the author described playing pocket jacks aggressively.
   
   If you love poker or gambling or marriage or reading or life, read this book.



4. McManus has taken several plot lines of varying interest and wrapped them into one messy book. The real-time WSOP diary part of the book is outstanding--funny, gripping, and a great way to live out every small-time rounder's dream vicariously. It's well worth the price of the book. The rest of it... I wasn't nearly interested enough in McManus as a personality to enjoy the insights into his poker-playing youth, and the coverage of Ted Binion's weird life could have been cut without me missing it.
   
   At half the length, this would have been a positively five star book.



5. For decades, I went to the World Series of Poker as a side-game player and a writer. Like so many, I played mostly and wrote a little. All the writers I met over those years just have to be jealous of James McManus. He played well and made the final table and the big bucks AND he wrote a best-seller about it. I am a poker writer, but I do not pretend to have a fourth of the skills of the eloquent Mr. McManus. He is the Dean of American Poker Writers. England has some fancy wordsmiths. This book is not just for poker players. It would make a great gift for anyone. McManus throws in the saga of Teddy Binion, to boot.
   Johnny HughesTexas Poker Wisdom