5 comments about Kiss and Tell.

1. Strictly a lightweight book, but interesting if you're a Shannon Tweed fan. Too much time on her pre-teen years and not enough on her film sex goddess years. But her rise to Playboy Mansion hostess is interesting and then her story kind of fizzles out after she meets Gene Simmons. But the middle hundred pages are fun.



2. This woman's confidence and intelligence are admirable. She has incredible insight into maintaining a healthy, long term relationship based on love not obligation only. An honest and interesting read. a great book!



3. First, why would'nt Gene Simmons be in the book? He has been the focal point of her life for at least half of it. For those who like pictures, this book will please you. I like an autobiography that gives more details & the individuals deepest held beiefs. There simply was not enough of that here. But, this autobiography does give some clear insights into the Canadian born playmates upbringing in Newfoundland, her later career in B movies, the Playboy experience, & her life with Kiss star Gene Simmons.
   
   On the positive side her meeting the latter at the Playboy mansion clearly changed her life for the better. She stopped abusing drugs & alcohol for him. He basically is a good guy who deserves credit for saving her life. But, if you want to see the deeper interaction & dynamics of their relationship with each other & their two kids, you should watch their show "Family Jewels."



4. This was a gift for my son who has followed KISS from it's early days when he was a boy. I'm sure he loved all the juicy info in the book.



5. i like how she described everything, and it gives some really good info on her and gene

4 comments about Shahrukh Khan - Still Reading Khan.

1. It is a book for all seasons; a book that should be on the coffee table-- picked up and read at any time; a book full of text and photos both inside and outside his cinematic life; a book of biography and filmography; an art book; a fun book featuring many photos of his film faces (remember Manu as a lady-of-the-night??) and much, much more.
   Mustaq Shiekh, author: 'the book is a tale of a journey that led from New Delhi into the homes, hearts and minds of innumerable fans all over the world, and a journey that transcended boundaries of nations and the artificial barriers of culture'.



2. If you like scrap book format coffee table books, then this is the book to get. Each page is filled with enough color and sites to keep any guest awake through the wee hours of a party when the crowds have thinned out or are too drunk to talk. The book is a lively walk through the actor's life from his parents' first meeting to his super stardom as the "King of Bollywood." But the story does not stop there, this is more than just an actor's ego centric ramble. The book takes you on a journey through Bollywood and Indian culture both in the past and today. I would recommend this book to anyone to loves Shah Rukh Khan, Bollywood or colorful visual adventures.
   If you want to see a good example of his acting then buy Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (Shahrukh Khan)



3. OF course...by far he is the best in Bollywood!!!! My sister was the happiest person in the world to receive this gift for her birthday! She loves KING KHAN!!! ......who doesnt???!!!!



4. I am happy with this wonderfully illustrated and written coffe-table book about the King of Bollywood! I haven't finished the entire book because I am trying to savour every page but it is a must have for any SRK fan.

5 comments about Robert Maxwell, Israel's Superspy: The Life and Murder of a Media Mogul.

1. There are some good things and there are some very bad things about this book.
   
   First though, with the good. Although it's far from a literary masterpiece, it is interesting in its own way and it does keep one going. The writers follow Maxwell's life and by describing his modus vivendi & modus operandi, attempt to justify their version of how Maxwell met his untimely death.
   
   They portray him as a boisterous, pompous, bombastic megalomaniac, with an "unswerving belief in his own greatness, his total invincibility and readiness to bully and destroy anyone who dared to move against him". Extremely charismatic at charming into submission friends and foes alike, he's depicted as essentially inept at doing business. Born into extreme poverty, a Jew from Czechoslovakia, he always held Israel close to his heart, so mush so that he gladly agreed to become a spy for Mossad. In fact, he became one of Mossad's most valuable assets, that is before the truth about the shambolic state of his financial affairs started surfacing and his mental health further deteriorated. He then became a liability, and as with all liabilities he had to be gotten rid of.
   
   Although not watertight by any means, the case presented by Thomas and Dillon is plausible and, all things considered, does appear very likely. But...
   
   ...Let's get to the bad stuff now. Never have I seen clichés used in such abundance; stereotypes all over the place as if both writers were too bored to actually do some thinking and come up with appropriate characterizations; or the word "terrorist" used so liberally and carelessly and with such disregard to potential implications. What's more, the mistakes in historical details, the misspellings of names and places beggared belief. I mean, come on, proclaiming the jewishness of the Dome of the Rock can't be anything other than idiotic. Surely, Abd-ul-Malik, the 9th caliph who had the place built must be turning in his grave, poor soul. In any case, I still can't decide whether the writers had an agenda, were just ignorant, indifferent, downright stupid, or any combination of the above.
   
   Bottom line, if there were so many inaccuracies about things I did know and could easily double check, what about all those things I couldn't possibly know and couldn't possibly check? Judge for yourselves.



2. What Carroll and Graf Publishers desperately need is 1. a fact checker and 2. a proof reader. Shameful display of factual errors. With sloppiness of this sort, why would I ever dream of believing the basic (and unbelievable) premise.
   Yvonne Adler



3. This is the story of the downfall of Robert Maxwell, a man who had almost everything that a simple mortal could dream with, a family, a billionary business, fame, important business and political contacts but with a huge megalomaniac complex that pushed him to play several dangerous games with the espionage of Israel, the industrial espionage and the underworld factions of the East mafias but his biggest mistake was when he try to play the blackmail game which put in jeopardy the security of the state of Israel and the Mossad agent around the world forcing then to "eliminate" this personage.
   Even though this is a wonderful work of investigation, I have some doubts about the sole responsability of Israel in this crime because of his several contacts within the Wall Street, the City of London moguls, the eastern mafias and the most important polititians of the world that he could put in danger with his downfall as a businessman or as a blackmailer, also it is very suspicious that many close collaborators died of sudden death or dissapeared.



4. This is an E-Ticket Ride; in other words, a read with a roller-coaster effect obsorbing the reader's full attention. The revelations of Maxwell's high treason against the United Kingdom is alarming. Yet, what is more alarmimg is the complicity of the U.S. Justice Department and U.S. Senator Tower's treasonous activity against the U.S. Government and his apparent blackmailing of the White House... all orchestrated by Israels' Mossad via their willing agent, Maxwell. At the literal risk of their lifes, Dillon and Thomas have metciulously recorded the breathtaking facts we seldom, if ever, see in American media. This super-page-turner is THE hottest book on the market.



5. This book reputes itself to tell the secret history of British media baron Mr. Maxwell. A better account and although a work of fiction a more plausible account can be found in Mr. Archers `The fourth of Estate'. Maxwell had connections with Israels Mossad and he did have many high level contacts in Israel and he was involved in dubious behavior with the Russians but this book goes one step to far and simply creates relationships that did not exist. Beyond Muckraking this book is mostly fantasy and conjectured accusations that for the Maxwell hator or for the uninformed may well seem accurate but the truth is far more likely to have nothing to do with Maxwell being murdered by the Mossad. In fact Maxwell simply failed in business and probably committed suicide. This is an interesting account but should be read with an eye of suspicion.

No comments about Being Armani: A Biography.

5 comments about Cagney & Lacey ... and Me: An Inside Hollywood Story OR How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Blonde.

1. To be fair, what I purchased ended up being an "uncorrected proof advanced reader copy" that had footnotes on nearly every single page, which was absolutely distracting and positively maddening. That aside, it took me nearly a month to get through this book (and I usually read from cover to cover in one night). I just didn't find it that interesting. I loved (and still do) the series, the actresses, the storylines, but the telling of this story left me cold. I probably would have preferred not to know that Tyne Daly is the ultimate diva, or that Sharon Gless is insecure. I would have liked to have known more about the lives of the supporting cast, but those actors are barely mentioned. Maybe I would have enjoyed the book more had Rosenzweig delved more into their lives and less into his own.



2. Barney Rosenzweig's memoirs of the 1980s are long on industry detail and short on self-examination, but that's Hollywood for you.
   
   CAGNEY AND LACEY was credited as being the first big feminist TV show and it was hailed as such by Gloria Steinem and other pundits in the pages of MS. Magazine.
   
   Rosenzweig was there from the beginning, after a checkered and mostly D-level career as a producer and sort of go-fer for more famous producers. He had worked his way up to a midlevel status when the job that made him notorious sort of fell in his lap. As he sees it, his then-wife created the show with another woman, and he managed to get it made and shown on the air, albeit with different stars. There was a version with Loretta Swit, another with Meg Foster, etc. Finally the lineup shifted to Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly, and after a year of threatened cancellations, CAGNEY AND LACEY became a huge hit and won Emmys for everyone involved with it.
   
   Rosenzweig's tale of what it was like producing the show is filled with ugliness. He savages some of his writers, including the man who went on to become the renowned thriller writer Robert Crais, but he saves most of his venom for his blow by blow depiction of the vanity and ego wars between his two leading ladies. Both equally insecure, Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly come off in Rosenzweig's rendition as supremely neurotic and paranoid, each one afraid the other was getting more money, perks, or directorial attention. Gless was a blonde beauty on the model, Barney admits, of Doris Day. But could she act? Tyne Daly could act, or should I say "act" in capital letters, but was she attractive enough for TV? Neither of them ever enjoyed a single happy moment, and made everyone miserable on the set and off for years and years. As a producer, it was Rosenzweig's job to keep them content, butter them up, flatter them outrageously, promise each one that the other wasn't getting anything she didn't have, and so on.
   
   This element of the book just goes on and on and on and on. You feel like you were in the stars' trailers for every beef they had. Gless would complain that Daly was married to the show's director, Georg Stanford Brown (another diva according to Barney). Daly would say that Gless was getting all the close-ups. The picture got even grimmer once Barney himself started seeing past the tantrums that Gless threw on a daily basis, and started falling for her, leaving his wife and eventually making Gless his number one woman. After the way he writes about her throughout the first three quarters of the book, I'm surprised he could stomach her, much less love her. And they're still married apparently! Life is stranger than fiction and this book proves it for sure.



3. When I first found out that Barney Rosenzweig wrote this book I just had to have it. I loved the entire Cagney & Lacey series from start to finish including all the movies they did later. What stuff Barney Rosenzweig went through to get that show on the air. It was very interesting to read how much work is involved in getting a TV show on the air - especially a show that was cancelled and then brought back. I would higly recommend this book to any Cagney & Lacey fan. For that matter, to anyone who is curious about how TV shows get on the air.



4. I loved this book! Even if you never watched Cagney & Lacey you will find the inside workings of getting and keeping a television show on the air fascinating. A true page turner for anyone into the behind the scenes of Hollywood. Temper tantrums, egos, sex and politics. It's all in there. Mr. Rosenzweig should have a real hit on his hands (once again) with this one.
   Enjoy!



5. I feel like I know Barney Rosenzweig better than ever! What a tremendous loyalty to this show he had - unlike anything seen today. Cagney & Lacey & Me is a marvelous history of possibly the greatest TV show ever made. Thank you, Barney, for putting it all on paper. And getting the blonde, too - how lucky can you get?!?!

5 comments about Things I've Said, But Probably Shouldn't Have: An Unrepentant Memoir.

1. Even though I haven't seen most of the films he talks about, his stories and comments about his films and the people he worked with make for a very lively book. I have now ordered a few of the films he talks about.



2. I've heard the expression ....once I started reading I couldn't put it down till I was finished but this is the first book that worked that way for me. I found the style that Mr Dern used to describe his history and the movies he was a part of to be very conversational and quite an easy read for me. Of course growing up watching him in the movies made a big difference as I knew all the pictures he was talking about and the people.



3. 
   Bruce Dern didnt have high visibility for me as an actor, but he can dish with the best. He knew and worked with a lot of people in the movie industry and they are all here in his book. I enjoyed it quite a lot. Mr. Dern is quite a character, and not a boring one. To read this book is to gain insight into just how egocentric actors can be.



4. I have always collected character actors that I really admire, Bruce was one of my first, he could creep me out like no one else. I learned he was actually from a prominent Chicago family and was amazed. I've always kind of wanted to know what made him tick. This book is answering that in spades. It sounds just like what I thought he might and it is fascinating so far. I'm not quite finished but the stories are wonderful. He knows all the great ones. I didn't expect to love him, and I don't, but he'd be a lot of fun to know. He's earned more acclaim than he has actually received. I hope this book gives more people the chance to discover his work and the true Bruce Dern.



5. At last a tell all memoir from the last remaining hold out of the famous Actors Studio in New York, the man who worked with Gadg and Robert Lewis and Lee Strasberg and Joseph Lewis and Stella Adler and all the rest of them. I didn't realize Bruce Dern was such a plutocrat and that the upper class snob character he portrays in THE GREAT GATSBY was a perfect fit for him, but in this book he comes out as a trust fund kid in a big way and he never loses that expansive country club manner. He was from a wealthy family in Lake Forest, went to New Trier High, and his family owned a huge department store chain. An uncle was the poet Archibald MacLeish with whom Bob Dylan once wrote a musical--and later on, much later, Dern himself was to co-star with Dylan in the famous flop MASKED AND ANONYMOUS. Some reviews say that this book suffers because of Dern's enormous ego, but I rathe enjoyed it. He's so old school it's laughable, but hasn't he earned it?
   
   He says that when he watched his best friend, Jack Nicholson, on screen in THE MISSOURI BREAKS, he could tell that Jack had made his co-star, Kathleen Lloyd, his mistress and what's more he divined right away she would never make another picture. He calls Carrie Fisher "damaged goods," and berates Robert Downey Jr. and Keifer Sutherland for being so chemically enhanced on the set of 1969 that they managed to injure him to such an extent that he still walks in pain every day. He's frank about paychecks as few stars are, and admits that never did he make a million dollars a movie; the highest he got was half a mil, for the flop sex cult picture TATTOO. By the way, he confirms the scuttlebutt of the time that when you see him and Maud Adams have sex in TATTOO, they were really having sex and what you see is what you get. But, he says, it was only because his private parts would fit nowhere else--what a defense! He names names and takes no prisoners. Robin Williams is talented, but not a genius. Jonathan Winters is a genius, but cuckoo. Ann-Margret insisted that he peel off his undershorts when it came time to do their nude bed scene together, and he didn't know if springing a boner or not springing one would be more insulting. "I'm just trying to be polite," he told her, as he manipulated himself under the covers.
   
   Ryan O'Neal could have been a contender, yet frittered away his talent, and yet all the best actors of today, like Matt Damon and Leo and Brad, imitate Ryan's acting. Never heard that one before!
   
   Hal Ashby's funeral was a disgrace and Jack Nicholson, Jane Fonda, and Jon Voight should be ashamed of themselves for not attending when they owed their best performances to Ashby. Bud Cort, who did show up, made an awful fool of himself with a self-serving eulogy.
   
   Florence Henderson is a fox. Well, everyone knows that. Nat King Cole's daughter (not Natalie, another one) was so trying on the set of COMING HOME that Ashby fired her. Mickey Rooney carried a picture in his wallet of the 18 year old Judy Garland nude and pleasuring herself. Gregory Peck was a gentle, dignified man who lost access to his own feelings when his son killed himself at 30. Dern could have fallen in love with Marthe Keller on the set of BLACK SUNDAY, but kept it in his pants in order to better intensify his explosive performance that people still talk about years later.
   
   Much of the last half of the book is young stars coming up to him and saying, "Wow, I can't believe I'm actually acting with the legend Bruce Dern." One or two such encounters are amusing, but after you hear dozens of renditions of the same old tune, you get tired a wee bit. He turned down many roles, including Donald Sutherland's part in Bertolucci's 1900, because the script had him acting like a monster. Michael Ritchie, who directed Dern in SMILE, was discovered by Barbara Stanwyck, who called him "Pablum" because he was so boyish.
   
   Mia Farrow accepted the part of Daisy Buchanan knowing she was 4 months pregnant and knowing that this would hobble the movie because there were so few ways to photograph her as she got further along. What happened to her with Woody Allen was like Nature's Revenge.
   
   Best of all in the book is Dern's account of the making of THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS. Now that we've read Ellen Burstyn's equally eye opening version of the filming of TKOMG, I wonder if Jack Nicholson will ever tell his side of the story.
   
   The ugliest part of the book, besides Dern's vanity which as I say is rather cute, is that James Lipton appears to have some kinf o vendetta against Bruce Dern and has never featured him on INSIDE THE ACTOR'S STUDIO even though he is a true Actor's Studio legend. What's going on, Mr. Lipton? Jealous much?

5 comments about The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst.

1. This book is a real winner! What a whirlwind of a life! I loved it!



2. An excellent, well-written book chronicling the life and times of an individual who may well belong in the first-tier, and certainly at least in the second-tier, of the most influential Americans of the twentieth century. The writing is lively, vivid and engaging. The times in which he lived are carefully woven into the story Mr. Hearst's evolution of thought and action over his life, demonstrating what an inconsistent, cipher of a man he really was. Much attention is paid to the many different characters surrounding "The Chief", which only adds to the overall high-quality of the book. A must read before visiting San Simeon.



3. This book is much more than I thought it would be. I'm really enjoying all the detail and learning so much. Life was so different back then and it's fascinating to be "transported" back to another time and another class.



4. I loved this book. I find Hearst fascinating. Imagine being such an important, rich and busy man--and he just loved playing solitaire and buying beautiful furnishings and accessories for his great ranch. I think he contributed a lot to society and I really enjoyed reading most of it. The political and parts where he got involved with the war, etc., I kind of either read over or skipped past as those parts of books come to an easy conclusion without having to read all the gory details. I wanted to read about the substance of what made a guy like this tick. I think I got a good idea of him through Nasaw's book.



5. William Randolph Hearst was loved and hated by millions. He became one of the richest and most powerful men in the world. He ran for President, created one of the grandest homes ever built, and lived one of the most complex, fascinating lives of the 20th century. Loving and devoted to his wife, Millicent, and their five children on the East Coast, he lived openly with his mistress, Marion Davies, on the West Coast. An avid supporter of unions and the "common man," he was one of the most ruthless "barons" and fought unions, communism and Franklin Roosevelt ferociously. He was the first to "vertically integrate" his businesses, leveraging the same material in newspapers, magazines, newsreels and movies. What a life!
   
   If they know anything about Hearst at all, most people think they know him from Orson Welles' movie, "Citizen Kane." While "Kane" is, without doubt, one of the very best films ever made (if you haven't seen it, by all means rent the DVD! It's fantastic!) it is unfortunately a terribly shallow and vindictive caricature of the real man. Welles was associated with political movements that had labeled Hearst "public enemy number one" in the 1930's, and the film reflects his point of view.
   
   While Hearst was selfish and ego-manical, his rampant collecting also saved vast warehouses of art and antiques from destruction, creating his "Enchanted Hill" in San Simeon, California. In 1959, when his estate gave the property to California as a park, it was valued at $55 million, and it is by far the most extraordinary personal residence ever built in the United States. If you haven't seen in, put it on your life-list of things to see!
   
   But why read the book? Here's my short list of essential reasons: (1) He was a man of courage. It's easy to disagree, or even have contempt for, many of his opinions and actions but he stood by them. (2) He was a visionary and many of the positions he advocated were ahead of his time. Our world today looks remarkably similar to what he predicted, and we can learn from that. (3) He was extraordinarily resilient. When his personal foibles combined with the depression to drive him nearly bankrupt in the late 1930's, he fought back. He never gave up.
   
   Nasaw does a remarkable job of telling a complex story and I found the book highly readable. This is great history and an inspiring story. To understand the 20th century, and to be personally inspired, read this book. You'll be richer for it.

5 comments about Five Sisters: The Langhornes of Virginia.

1. The only reason I bought the book is because the sisters are/were (whatever) cousins of mine. So, for me personally, being able to read more about them all was very interesting. That said, even if someone is a history buff - and I am - I can't imagine the general population being that interested in this book. I'm not that sure that the Langhornes during that time period were at all typical.
   
   However, as for a good bit of the other criticisms, you really can not lift these characters out of their time and examine them under todays light. Think of all the things we here now could be judged for in 100 years from now. You must leave historical figures in their own context as we should be allowed to remain in ours.



2. If you love the Mitford's of England you will love the Langhornes of Virginia. When I traveled to Virginia as a very young woman I kept hearing about them and finally I discovered Nancy Lancaster. These women changed the world and are a role model for me. You will love these stories written by a nephew and son who lived it first hand. Another world......long gone.



3. I had more fun looking at the pictures.
   
   To say I struggled through this book would be the understatement of the year. The teaser is "Gone With The Wind meets Pride and Prejudice". Really? Where? The text begins strong, with a gripping narrative about a family destroyed by the Civil War fighting to restore themselves and their fortunes to their prior grandeur. After covering the marriages of the five daughters, however, the text diminishes into a muddled mess of historical details interspersed with personal correspondence between the main players. I found myself skipping pages, sometimes entire chapters, in the hopes of finding something intriguing. Every now and then I'd be rewarded - a page or two about Bobbie's homosexuality and the resulting consequences; Winkie's boozing and recklessness with his money; Lizzie living luxuriously and expecting her wealthier kin to foot the bill. But these wonderful nuggets were few and far between.
   
   The main source of my discontent with this book was its focus on Nancy (Langhorne) Astor. How about equal playing time for everyone? There were five sisters, so why devote so much time, energy, and space to the acid-tongued malcontent of the family? I understand her social importance, but at the same time her harshness and cruelty reverberated through the family with devastating effects. Personally I would have liked to see more of fun-loving, free spirit Nora and level-headed, sensible Irene. Seems they only appear when something's gone wrong.
   
   BTW, I never finished the book. Couldn't bring myself to do it.



4. I didn't know that the author was related to the subjects of the biography until half-way through the first chapter. This relationship allows him access to many never-before studied historical documents, mostly letter between the sisters; however, it also provides him with an unfortunate bias. Within the first chapter, it seemed to me that he was stumbling over himself to extoll the virtues of his grandmother and her family. According to Fox, each of the sisters seems just about perfect in chapter 1, with the exception of Nancy, who is introduced as both needy and powerful and, honestly, sounds like the most (I almost want to say only) interesting sister in the bunch.
   
   I might have read further to see if there was further character development, but I was completely put off by what I saw as the author's disregard of historical fact in order to agrandize his own family. For example, I would enjoy reading more about Nancy Astor, as long as it was free of attempts to surreptitiously convince me that the Langhorne family slaves were really part of the family and they loved their masters. While I'll agree that Nancy Astor reminds me of Scarlett O'Hara, I think it's important to remember that Mammy and Big Sam are ultimately literary conventions and that the image of southern gentility painted in novels like "Gone with the Wind" is just that - an image.
   
   Additionally, while I'm sure it is admirable that his grandfather, Bob Brand, realized that forcing the Germans to pay reparations would breed economic and social instability, he was certainly not "almost a lone voice in trying to persuade the Allies." In fact, one of Brand's colleagues and an influencial economist of the day, John Maynard Keynes, not only recognized this, but also wrote an essay on the subject published in, I think, 1920 or 1921. In doing a Google search for "Bob Brand" and "The Wisest Man in the Empire," it appears that the only record on the Internet of this pseudonym is in this very book. While I'm sure that Mr. Brand was intelligent and influencial in his career, I found the author's idolization of his grandfather to be extremely self-serving.
   
   If you're looking for a book about sisters or about women in history who had to juggle their national and familial obligations with their own desires, fears, and personal weaknesses, check out "Victoria's Daughters" by Jerrold M. Packard. It's set around the same time-period, and there are even five sisters. It's not perfect, but I felt the character development was much more carefully done and the book is not so historically fluffy.



5. It was wonderful to reread an old favoritein such excellent condition. Many thanks for the quick delivery!

5 comments about John Wayne: American.

1. The acid test of any biography is does the personality of the subject come through the pages of the book? After the reader is finished, do they feel they have meet the man or woman they were reading about. Historians Randy Roberts and James S. Olson have done so with this book, which is very difficult for two distinct reasons: 1) Wayne left no papers; and 2) there is the legend of John Wayne that gets in the way of knowing Marion "Duke" Morrison, the man behind the famous stage name.
   
   Roberts and Olson have given their readers a well-written, engaging study that is both traditional biography of the actor, but a study of his status as an American icon. The authors also show that Wayne was a talented actor in addition to being a movie star and deserved the Oscar he won, even though he expected to lose.
   
   A decent and diligent son, he was never able to win his mother's love. For whatever reason, she showered her affections on her second son who was a mediocrity in life. Wayne was a conservative, but mainly because he was a classical liberal in that he believed in limited government that did little to impose on the liberties of individuals. Even though he was worth millions when he died, he had invested poorly and had gone bankrupt, squandered most of his earnings, and most of his fortune was the result of his having an honest business partner that had looked out for him.
   
   He went through three marriages, but was a loving, if removed father. In many ways, he placed more value in his friends than in his family. Perhaps because his friends could never hurt him the way his wives had.
   
   There will be other Wayne books, but it is difficult to see this book being surpassed anytime soon.



2. I had wanted to read a John Wayne biography for some time, but never got around to it until buying this book. I think I picked the right one. It is chock-full of interesting information regarding 'the Duke'. I was surprised to discover how nasty director John Ford could be to his actors, John Wayne included; and yet the two were good friends. Surely Wayne must have wanted to punch the guy out a time or two. Regarding Wayne's mother; I don't think the writers did an adequate follow through. In the first sections of the book, much was written about the relationship between mother and son, but there was no follow up later in the book. Did his mom ever come around and begin to appreciate him before she passed away, or did she remain cold and aloof until she died? As a reader, I felt like I was left hanging on this one. Otherwise, this was an excellent book, and I highly recommend it. The final sections, covering Wayne's last days were sad and disturbing, but the man left us with quite a legacy on film. There will never be another like him.



3. I enjoyed this book more than I can Say . Being 80 yrs. old ,
   
   I have grown up with John Wayne , more so than any other movie
   
   " STAR ". Buy this book , you will treasure it .
   
   Jack Yannuzzi



4. John Wayne (1907-1979) was a man of more complexity than many folks would suppose. Consider:
   1. He portrayed macho cowboys and military leaders in the movies but never served in World War II (which caused him a good deal of guilt in later years.)
   2. He was an advocate for strong family life (including strong
   male bonding with his friends) but was wed three times and
   had several affairs.
   3. He enjoyed drink, good food and profane activities with his buddies Ward Bond and director John Ford but was noted for his
   strong he-man appearance (he was 6'4' tall and at one time weighed over 260 pounds.)
   4. He was at one time a member of the John Birch Society and
   supported the right wing during the McCarthy era but could also
   express individuality in politics (he supported LBJ and was a
   friend of Jimmy Carter). He resigned from the Birchers and was
   a man who valued America freedom. He was constantly having money troubles with the IRS and disdained (loathed!) big government.
   5. He believed in God but did not become a member of an organized religion until converting to Roman Catholicism on his deathbed),
   6. He was a good but often absent father to his seven children.
   7. He was well read and memorized his lines quickly.
   8. He was an excellent actor who finally won his Best Actor Oscar for "True Grit."
   Randy Roberts and James Olson have told "Duke's story from
   his life in middle class Iowa and Glendale (his parents despised one another and later divorced)to football player at USC to work
   in the movies.
   Wayne's first film was a flop and for almost ten years he labored in the B Western factory in such minor studios as Republic and Monogram. Only with 1939's turn as the Ringo Kid
   in John Ford's classic film did the Wayne star begin to rise.
   Wayne will live forever in such classics as "Red River" directed by Howard Hawks in 1948; "The Quiet Man with his best
   screen lady Maureen O'Hara" the immortal Cavalry trilogy of John
   Ford: "Fort Apache" ; "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" and "Rio Grande:
   His best movie was "The Searchers" in which he portrays Ethan
   Edward's in the Ford film set in Monument Valley!
   Roberts and Olson's book is long; well documented; well written and their hard work has paid off. I found a tear in my eye as I read of Duke's last few months battling cancer which he called "The Red Witch."
   Wayne had many faults as a man. He was a chauvinist; did not
   understand women and could be rough and rowdy. His positive
   traits were many: a generous and loving heart; kindness to others
   a respect for his fans and a love for his country the United
   States of American. Take him all in all whether you be a liberal or conservative or indifferent to politics we will never see another John Wayne!
   I loved this book and recommend it highly. If you do not understand John Wayne you will not understand the America he
   loved so deeply, so long and with so much honor through a lengthy and lustrous career in the movies!



5. I agree with much of what has been said before, this book was the place to start -- books on Wayne seem either to attack him or deify him, and both have their uses, but this does read well, is thorough, offers enough of a view of all sides of the man that the reader can generally reach his or her own opinion on him, even one that might differ with the authors'. Somewhat overlooked, this is a worthwhile read.

5 comments about The Clarks of Cooperstown.

1. Enjoyed the book, it was educational for me, I am fan of biographys and history books and I was happy to have read it.



2. Having attended school in Cooperstown in the Otesaga Hotel, I found the book fascinating as I had not known of the Clarks as other than the rich family in town. Seldom there but respected by the townsfolk.
   The book was well written and, while not, a bestseller it gives a vivid portait of art collecting in this country.
   A good read.



3. An interesting topic but flawed book. It is mainly a history of how a family fortune was created (on the sewing machine invention of the wild Isaac Singer and the business shrewdness of Edward Clark) and then spent on art by generations of certain of the Clark family's men.
   
   The author is prone to exaggeration. The art purchased always seems to take great "bravery" to buy. "Why Stephen Carleton Clark fired Alfred Hamilton Barr Jr. is one of the most important questions of twentieth-century American cultural history." Really?
   
   Odd things are included, such as paragraphs spent on a cheap, obscure novel apparently about the Clarks, when almost nothing is said of one of the Clarks founding baseball's hall of fame. Much is made of an alleged plot by a Clark to overthrow the U.S. administration of FDR with little real evidence given to show any serious action by that Clark in furtherance of the "plot."
   
   After reading the book, I fail to have the same high enthusiasm and respect for this family of wealthy deadbeats as does the author.



4. I read biographies all the time and this one had the potential to be superb: Singer Company fortune, amazing art collections, fascist plot against FDR (yes!), surprising sexual liaisons, family feuds of a rarified nature. However, it feels tedious to wade through, because the author is not a gifted writer, gushes too much when he should be more objective, and spends far too much time rhapsodizing over individual works of art to the point where we lose sight of the people collecting them. An editor could have pruned what feels like endless repetitions of Sterling's shopping trips and pushed the author to analyze, not emote. I understand from a New York Times article (not the review mentioned by the other reviewer) that the book was rushed. It certainly feels like it missed a stage in the editorial process.



5. Debby Applegate in the May 20, 2007 NY Times describes this as a "flawed family biography" although she admits it is "fascinating." It is indeed a fascinating family saga which resulted in great legacies to the National Gallery in Washington, DC; the Clark museum in Williamstown, MA; the Modern and Metropolitan museums in NYC; and several cultural institutions in Cooperstown, NY; not to mention the "Dakota" apartment building in NYC. Don't be misled by Ms. Applegate's smart alecky review.