5 comments about Marilyn's Last Words: Her Secret Tapes and Mysterious Death.

1. Alot of things in this book corresponded with what I had previously read but I dont think it is all true. If you want to read a real biography of Monroe look elsewhere. One thing I can say about this book is it kept you interested in everyway and was not boring. At the time of reading it it was one of my favroites, now not so much but I still think it deserves 5 stars however it is not as good or accurate as many other Marilyn who-dun-it books.



2. After researching and reading many, many books attempting to explain the extremely complex and perplexing events surrounding the death of Marilyn, Matthew Smith's book presents a very detailed and well researched account weaving together the many threads in Marilyn's life with sobering logic. The book takes the reader on a journey through Marilyn's personal and business relationships, as well as the motives of those who sought to use her toward their own ends. It reads like a terrific mystery novel and like the pieces of a puzzle, comes to a unique and logical conclusion as to "who did it".
   
   The only piece missing is the newest evidence, which came after the publication of this book, of the release of the secret CIA file on Marilyn Monroe. This new information through, only strengthens Mr. Smith's case that rogue agents of the CIA had a hand in her murder, as to publically embarrass the Kennedy brothers and force their resignations from public office (many other authors place the Kennedys as the main orchestrators of her death - a claim that never factually made sense). When one looks at the convergence of political struggles during the early 1960's and the many players including J. Edgar Hoover, Sam Giancana, Jimmy Hoffa, the Kennedy's, the CIA, the military industrial complex, etc., Mr Smith's logical conclusion makes the most sense.
   
   Unfortunately, for Marilyn, she inadvertently got herself personally caught up the biggest political mess of the last 75 years and paid for it with her life. Because the perpetrators failed to nail the Kennedy's for her murder because of an amazing public relations campaign from 20th Century Fox studios buying the Kennedy's time to cover their behinds, it ultimately backfired on the Kennedy's and they all ended up dead as well. So if Marilyn had somehow lived, American history would be dramatically different.
   
   Bravo, Mr. Smith on your crusade to get to the truth of Marilyn's murder.



3. why do you and others continue to perpetuate the movie magazine stories and call them non fiction even da vinci code is fiction
   please guys do your research and find the marilyn monroe foundation and her daughter nancy miracle who wrote a great play which tells the heretofore untold real story ofthe person behind the image it's about time not the same old story not again please it's 2006



4. I have read many books about the life and the death of Marilyn Monroe, so when this "revealing" new book came out, I wanted to see what it had to say. What I found was trashy, questionable material. I was wary right away, after reading the Acknowledgements section, where the author gives a large amount of thanks and credit to two people who appear as sources in many Marilyn bios, both of whom have been completely discredited by other (more believable) biographers. They barely even knew the woman, and have spent the years since her death trying to cash in on her memory. The fact that the author relied on these people told me that the material in the book was going to be questionable at best. After reading the entire book, I was left feeling very sad that Marilyn has been exploited yet again. If you want to read a real biography of Marilyn Monroe, I recommend "Marilyn Monroe: The Biography" by Donald Spoto.



5. thank you thank you thank you
   
   I can't stress that enough. I have believed and it's so obvious that the Mob and Kennedy's were behind this the whole time. Anyone can do there own research and declare the same truth but, most decided it's preposterous to think some one like the "Kennedy's" could conjure such a horrible thing. WAKE up people and give me a break. Do your history research of Joseph Kennedy and the government alone. There's crap they get away with constantly don't be naive. There's has been so many facts about this I can't believe it took this long for the justice of Marilyn Monroe. I am a huge fan and now she CAN rest in peace.
   
   ashley mosely
   (...)

4 comments about Howard Hughes And His Flying Boat.

1. I was initially put off by the title, thinking that this might be written for junior readers. But once I began reading it I realized that this was far from the truth.

   The book is very well written, and very informative. It gives a very mature insight into the HK-1 project, as well as Howard Hughes himself.

   I highly recommend this book to anybody wanting a detailed account of the events pertaining to Howard Hughes and His Flying Boat.




2. During the last 30 years I've had the rare opportunity to read every known autobiography ever published on Howard Hughes, along with incalculable magazine and newspaper articles. In fact, only recently, my "Letter-to-the-Editor", regarding the major overlook as Hughes as one of the Top 20 industrialist of the 20th Century...appeared in the 1998 Man-of-The-Year issue of Time magazine. I guess you may call me a Hughesonian? With this in mind, I must rate Charles Barton examination at the life of Howard Hughes in his 276-page book titled, "Howard Hughes and his Flying Book", as the finest ever published to date. While Barton does not touch on or go into great depth on Hughes' life in motion pictures, Las Vegas, the oil business or any of the plethora of activities the genius of Hughes took on, he does give you an amazing insight into Hughes and the building of the Spruce Goose. It takes a brave writer to delve into the life of Hughes. Few man, if any, have left such a legacy which include multi-billion dollar corporations. I myself have written and published more than 25,000 articles, yet to tackle and succeed with a story on Hughes would be a challenge only worthy of a dedicated and admirable writer like Barton. Not only is Barton a wordsmith but he has done extensive research on Hughes and his association with the Spruce Goose. You are literally taken into the mind and world of Howard Hughes and his associates. Unlike other Hughes biographies which paint just a bizarre human being, we see, true an eccentric man, but one who knew what he was doing and was always one step ahead of the game. While the construction of an enormous airplane like the Spruce Goose might be only of interest to engineers, the reader is brought to believe that the Spruce Goose had a life of it's own...an extension of Hughes. All bases are covered in "Howard Hughes and his Flying Boat" which includes one of the most extensive collection of Hughes photographs ever published along with a catchy book cover drawing of Hughes and his Spruce Goose. Rumour has it that actor Nicholas Cage has in the works to do an epic movie on the life of Howard Hughes. I recommend that Cage, if looking for an Oscar, read over this epic tale of the Hughes, the aviation genius.



3. This book was written by, and with, aircraft pilots in mind, but you don't have to be a pilot to enjoy reading it. It covers all aspects of Hughes' brilliance, life at the time, quirks, and headaches with the US Government over the "white elephant" that came to be known as the "Spruce Goose". Terrific reading for anyone who wants to know more about Hughes, or this amazing feat of design. A thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying read.



4. This book was written by, and with, aircraft pilots in mind, but you don't have to be a pilot to enjoy reading it. It covers all aspects of Hughes' brilliance, life at the time, quirks, and headaches with the US Government over the "white elephant" that came to be known as the "Spruce Goose". Terrific reading for anyone who wants to know more about Hughes, or this amazing feat of design. A thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying read. This book may still be available at the souvenir stand if you should go to see the Flying Boat in person in California.

4 comments about The Guggenheims: A Family History.

1. initially i thought this was a poorly written book, too conversational, ungrammatical at times, reciting what twigs and leaves on the gugenheim family tree did or are doing in a linear, list-making sort of way.
   
   but after a while, the book really grew on me and i became comfortable with the writers' colloquial style and found the book interesting, especially in telling the story of the building of the gugenheim fortune in copper, tin and other metals, and then the story of how, after that business went caput and the fortune with it, certain gugenheims, mainly solomon and peggy, became giants in the world of 20th century modern art, enabling the gugenheim name to live on forever.
   
   the first part of this book tells how a german jewish immigrant, isadore gugenheim, and his seven sons built a fortune in copper and tin out west and in south america. the gugenheim's jewishness and way of dealing with it is a fascinating topic that recurs throughout the book, evoking stephen birmingham's "our crowd" and irving howe's "world of our fathers."
   
   the gugenheims alternately embraced and denied their judaism, and their struggle with their own identity and the identity that gentile society imposed on them is a running commentary and reflection on the decrease in antisemitism over the decades in this country, as schools or clubs that excluded earlier generations of gugenheims eagerly admitted their descendants to where their jewishness became virtually a non-issue.
   
   the gugenheims encountered less antisemitism than many similarly situated jewish families of the early to mid 20th century, partly because they picked their spots and tried to "pass" and sometimes succeeded and avoided potentially difficult situations, or maintained their jewishness and made it a point to befriend gentiles and assimilate and get along, which made for a smoother ride in business and socially for the family.
   
   the middle part of the book tells how harry gugenheim, the most dynamic of founding father isadore's descendants, became a major figure, from the 1920's to the 60's, in trying to preserve the family fortune and good name, and a pioneer in american aviation and friend of charles lindbergh (ironic in light of lindy's favorable feelings for nazi germany, which harry glossed over) and rocketeer robert goddard, whom harry helped fund. but for harry's money and the influx of german rocket scientists after the war, our space program would not have gotten "off the ground."
   
   harry was astute not only in the family metallurgy business but also the newspaper business, cofounding newsday with his second wife, alicia patterson, and as a sportsman, a horseman and yachtsman, with a hunting plantation in south carolina and baronial estate on long island that is now a museum.
   
   harry was the most superior person of the whole gugenheim clan and one of the tragedies of the family is that it did not produce his like again -- and he was painfully aware of that as he got older and saw the family in decline and tried unsuccessfully to pass his mantle of leadership onto one or another of his heirs or even recruited surrogates such as bill moyers.
   
   the book also tells the cautionary tale of the decline of the gugenheim fortune due to bad business decisions and less able successor family members in key positions, and finally, no gugenheims willing or able to take over and lead the family business or steward its fortune, much to harry gugenheim's chagrin. the authors tell this in a way that evokes the old saying of "shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations" -- although with the gugenheims, it took more like five generations to go from their aristocratic heights back down to the upper middle class...
   
   the last part of the book tells of the family's foray into the arts, mainly painting, and particularly of solomon gugenheim, who wisely built the famous frank lloyd wright-designed museum in midtown manhattan, and the eccentric peggy, an expatriate who lived in venice, hobnobbed with the lost generation, collected empty booze bottles and lovers, married dadaist max ernst -- and astutely put together perhaps the finest private collection of modern art ever assembled.
   
   the book wraps up reciting in laundry-list fashion the names and stories of current gugenheim heirs, some of whom are eking out livings in out-of-the-way places, not at all carrying on in the classic manner of descendents of robber barons or industrial titans or patrons of the arts, much less even still carrying the name of gugenheim. when one compares the gugenheims with the rockefellers or vanderbilts, their wealth has come and gone. but their name -- now associated with the arts -- remains, and that, in the end, has proven to be their lasting legacy.
   
   by the time i was done with this book, i felt i had learned all i needed to know about not only the gugenheims, but in a broader sense, also about how family fortunes are made and lost and how families handle fame and fortune -- or don't -- and how all of this happened iduring the last century and a half, against the backdrop of all that was going on, here and abroad.
   
   that was the real achievement of this book, and what made me think in the end that it was worth the read. i recommend it, along with the biographies of rockefeller and morgan by ron chernow and jean strouse, and edmund morris's two-part biography of teddy roosevelt, to gain a complete picture of what this era and this family was like.



2. This biography was very thorough in the way it captured the mining, nitrate explorations of the Guggenheims. But it lost steam when it focused on more present-day Guggenheims and their work in making Twentieth Century Art especially in America of great importance. It seemed to lack a soul and a family tree chart. If it had a soul, it would have given the reader a chance to feel empathy with a Guggenheim and if it included a chart, it would have helped the reader keep track of each offspring. Overall, it shed light on a family that helped to enrich America.



3. I can think of several reasons to read this fascinating story of an iconic American dynasty. A reader might want to know why the name Guggenheim is on a number of important art museums around the world and want to know how they got there. Another might know about the glory days of the seven brothers when they ruled copper mining and smelting. Another might know about the flamboyant Peggy Guggenheim and want to get more context for her life. Then there is Harry Guggenheim and his participation in and support of early aviation (he actually participated in air combat in BOTH world wars), his support of Robert Goddard's early rocketry research, and his friendship with Charles Lindbergh.
   
   Personally, I am fascinated by multi-generational family stories. How was the success that founded the dynasty achieved? How is the next generation formed to continue that success? Because business changes, the family will have to adapt. Can they continue the success? How do they hold things together or why does it fall apart? Splits within the family are inevitable simply because people will want to establish their own lives apart from somebody else's path.
   
   This book has a huge cast of characters because there were so many people coming in and out of this family. There is a great deal of divorce, faithlessness in the marriages that do occur, a shocking amount of suicide, and proof that money, fame, hedonistic sex, and intoxicants do not lead to happiness. This book does tell the story of certain members of the clan more fully. The story of the seven sons of Meyer Guggenheim (who founded the dynasty a $5,000 dollar investment in a mine in Colorado) is quite fascinating.
   
   One of the sons, Ben, went down with the Titanic. The strongest son and the one who became the head of the family after Meyer was Daniel. However, another brother became a United States Senator, and all of them made their contributions to the family dynasty. Even so, the youngest brother, William, did split with the family and that has had repercussions to the present day.
   
   Solomon lived the longest of the seven brothers and it is his name on the spiraled Frank Lloyd Wright museum in New York. The story of how that museum came to be is itself reason to read this book. What a strange cast of characters brought that loved and derided institution into being.
   
   The second generation was ruled by Harry Guggenheim, younger son of Daniel. He led an amazing life, however unsuccessful in marriage. He was an early pilot in WWI and created a private foundation that accomplished a great deal to make commercial aviation safe and reliable (if not profitable). One of his friends was Charles Lindbergh and through Lindbergh's advocacy, he funded Robert Goddard's early work in experimental rocketry. He raised thoroughbreds and his horse, Dark Star, won the 1953 Kentucky Derby. Through his third wife he founded Newsday and ended up running that for many years and sold it at a huge gain. You will find his life very interesting and its pains awfully sad.
   
   Of course, the most famous of the Guggenheims nowadays is the art collector and flamboyant socialite, Peggy Guggenheim. The book recounts her life and struggles. Her demons were many and it ends up being a sad story. Even her art collection, her life's triumph, is surrounded with a pathetic air because of the way her obsession with it walled her off from so much else in life.
   
   There is so much more that this story has to offer that I will simply urge you to take the time to read about these lives and what happens to people, both ordinary and extraordinary people, when they find themselves in possession of a dream of great wealth. It seems that too often they end possessed by the money and it ends up doing them as much personal harm as it does anybody any good.
   
   Of course, being miserable without money is fairly easy to accomplish as well. By the fourth and fifth generation most of the family has settled into comfortable lives in the various reaches of the middle class. Many do not have much personal connection to the Guggenheim story and that is also a very interesting story that this book tells.
   
   Fine job, and recommended to everyone interested in business, American social history, and dynastic families as well as those personally interested in the Guggenheims.



4. Most family biographies are hard to read and even harder to follow, as the generations begin to amass, narrative thrust seems to take a vacation. So it is with great pleasure that I can report THE GUGGENHEIMS by Irwin Unger and Debi Unger "good to the last drop." The authors begin with a panoply of anti-Semitism in Europe and make it clear just how limited career prospects were for Jews of the second millennium, when they were forbidden all but the very lousiest jobs, and the jobs most guaranteed to annoy their Christian "brethren" (such as collecting rents and taxes). Unike the other great Jewish families of "Our Crowd," the Guggenheims made their money primarily from mining, in the farawy and exotic paradise of Chile (mostly in copper, and silver and lead as well). By the turn of the century (1900) they were well on their way towards their legend.
   
   The biography has sweep and a certain falling grandeur, but I liked best the authors' marvelous pen portraits of the many younger Guggenheims. I liked finding out that Gladys Guggenheim wrote two cookbooks and was named "nutrition commissioner" of New York by Thomas Dewey in 1934. There's the shocking battle between the sisters Hazel and Peggy, over who could score with the most men sexually--when each got up to a thousand, the numbers started to blur. I bet! And then the terrible story of Hazel's 1928 rooftop tragedy. She had taken her two little toddlers, Ben and Terrence, up to an unlikely section of her apartment's roof garden, and somehow the two tykes tumbled off t their deaths. She was suspected as being some kind of Alice Crimmins-type Medea, but the family turned up a window cleaner nearby who claimed to have witnessed the whole thing and said Hazel was innocent and had indeed tried to save the kids!
   
   Who remembers now that Harry Guggenheim, the bigwig of the third generation of Guggenheims, once owned Dark Star, the horse that beat Native Dancer to the 1953 Kentucky Derby? Harry and his wife, Alicia Patterson, started NEWSDAY, the Long Island paper, and he seemed to share her with the Democratic also-ran Adlai Stevenson with whom she fell quite desperately in love.
   
   The Ungers also tell the story of Diane, Harry's daughter, who sought escape from hr family in an unlikely place, the postwar "folk music boom" that led her to Ireland, of all places, where she began an intrigue with young Liam Clancy, then a teen and not yet famous for sparking the Clancy Brothers + Tommy Makem. Diane changed her name and began recording her own folk music, which made me curious to hear what she did with her career. She seems to have been kind of a Peggy Seeger, and just as adventurous.
   
   The last half of the book brings forward Solomon, whose legacy was the Guggenheim museum, and Peggy, the art dealer who married Max Ernst, discovered Jackson Pollock, and invented "Art Of This Century." In each case, the Ungers surpass all previois biographical treatments of their very complicated subjects. Peggy in particular comes to life, not as a freak or a groupie, but as a woman with a particular historical and aesthetic mission which she graciously fulfilled. Good for them. I expect this book will do quite well, and may restore some of the tarnished luster of the Guggenheim name. In any case you'll be reading it all night long trying to get to the end before morning.

5 comments about Beyond the Laughter...: A Daughter's Story of Curly's Post Three Stooges Years.

1. ive read all these reviews claiming the story is lies backed up by the other 3 stooges books out there ...whos to say they aren't lying? is it really because they came first ,they must be true? this book has been on the market for quite a few years now,and some people say the author should be sued?..... have you ever looked into the people comedy 3 does sue for using 3 stooges material? an artist for recreating images on tshirts ...you know they have by this time seen this book ,yet no lawsuit,wonder who is scared the truth may come out? ive read comedy 3 is claiming curly was jerome howard, i have a vhs of the 3 stooges that ive had a long time that has moe larry and curly ,and featuring jerome howard .. how could curly be both people ,some of these neigh sayers might research some of the older 3 stooges material and compare it to the newer releases it might be a real eye opener for them



2. I beg Three Stooges fans to not purchase/read this book! I have been collecting Stooges-related items for many years and assumed this book would be worthy of adding to my collection. I am greatly ashamed to have paid money for it! If you are a casual/beginner fan, PLEASE do not take this complete fiction tale as fact! There are many other reputable, non-fiction Stooge books out there...just look at some of the other reviews...there are many wonderful suggestions.



3. This is a total waste of time and money. The author, who claims to be a teacher, should be ashamed of herself. If this were being sold as fiction, it might have some merit. The problem is, it's being sold as non-fiction.
   
   The story srarts out somewhat believable. By the third chapter, it's obvious that the writer of this pathetic trash just picked the name "Curly" out of the air. She, I guess, figured he was an old-time movie star who no one knew much about.
   
   Well, people DO know about him. The statements in this book are too rediculous to even discuss. The author did zero research. If she had, she would have either made some observations that actually made sense, or simply abandon the whole foolish project.
   
   Well, I for one feel ripped off. I'm going to try to track down the author and demand a refund. I won't get one from Amazon, that's for sure.
   
   I hope the Howard family files suit against this nutcase. She deserves to be trated as badly as she treated the subject of this garbage disguised as a book.



4. So imagine: you go to a restaurant, order a hamburger, take a bite and then another bite and realize something is fishy; that maybe it's a fish sandwich.Well, that was sort of the experience (the analogy is rather kind) I had when I started reading this fraudulent book. First I thought, how strange, I never had any idea Curly lived this type of life. I knew he drank too much. He married many times. But this? Curly in the mob? And then, yes, I thought, this cannot be; a guy named Horwitz from Brooklyn, N.Y., happens to have an uncle named Guido and needs to visit Sicily on his behalf. The author says in the forward that she did research "and it took a year to gather the information needed to write her story and to verify certain aspects of it." This is the most ridiculous, misleading book I've ever encountered. Sadly, I bought it. Amazon and the book itself should clearly label it "fiction" or better yet, garbage.. If you read the forward, you would think this is the real thing. I was excited at the thought of reading some insights into Curly. I read a few chapters, scratching my head along the way before I put it down for good. As someone earlier wrote here, I would rate it zero if I could. Anyone who bought this book should get a refund from Amazon or the author. And yes, it's not very well written..



5. If you're expecting a warm memoir from Curly Howard's oldest daughter, about a period of struggle in the great comedian, when family and friends helped to sustain him, this "book" is so far off the beam not even to qualify as an historical curiosity.
   We've all been "burned" by misleading advertisements, or mis-labeling on products, i.e. records with a familiar name on the label and it turns out to be another singer, but the titling here is simply irresponsible. It's been written that the Publisher believes the work is basically fictional - okay - where's the prefacing statement to that effect? And that's not accounting for the absence of any show business/period references, scholarly research, which the editors apparently thought couldn't help the "story".
   If this "Author" chose to write a book (or essay) exploring how such a story can even be imagined, it may have some use. Without that stretch, we are left with something very disrespectful to the publishing world and to fans. Is it possible that this writer's enthusiasm for this project clouded her professional instincts?
   Curly Howard brought plenty of joy to this world; continues to do so. This book brings disappointment and depression to the eager readers.
   Of course, the readers should be reminded of, or referred to, the excellent book, easily accessed through Amazon, actually written by Joan Howard Maurer of Jerome Horwitz, which covers alot of ground in that somewhat "mysterious" time in the life of one our most beloved actors.

No comments about Marlon Brando - Actor and Activist (Biography).

5 comments about William's Princess: The Love Story that will Change the Royal Family Forever.

1. I am a big Fan of Princess Diana and collect anything and everything I can
   of her. Since her death, I have followed stories on her sons and I admire
   them alot and think Prince William is doing a great job of keeping his
   Mother's legend alive and with his new love interest, she is adorable and
   I know Princess Diana would love her as a daughter in law. I enjoyed this
   book so much and if anyone is a great Fan like me of the Royal family to
   learn so much about what Diana and the boys are like, you'll love this
   book! Tami



2. Prince William and Kate Middleton had dated for many years and actually lived together for a while also, but considering the track record of the royal men up till now I think that the author should have waited to see if this relationship would lead to marriage (which it oviously did not) before writing a book with this title.



3. I didn't think it was necessary to write this book until - and if - William and Kate are married. I enjoy reading about Diana, William and Harry, but it just wasn't as interesting as I expected.



4. WILLIAM'S PRINCESS: THE TRUE STORY OF THE ROMANCE THAT WILL CHANGE THE MONARCHY is a pick for any who love the British Royal Family and want to know the latest. Such an audience may already be aware of Prince William's love life; but WILLIAM'S PRINCESS delves deeper into the romance and what it will mean for the monarchy overall, and is a satisfying exclusive account of how it happened. Public libraries will find it a popular leisure lend.



5. As an American living in London, I am treated to Robert Jobson's Royal coverage in the Evening Standard. Now, after reading his book, I am really looking forward to his articles covering the surely soon to be royal marriage of William and Kate. I hope before long he will share with us his speculations on her engagement ring. Will it be an heirloom or a new design? The intrigue of a Royal Wedding!

No comments about Sheikh Abdullah: A Biography.

2 comments about Antonin Kratochvil: Incognito.

1. I own this book. Very good, maybe a bit too commercial but his pictures are terrific. Try also other titles under Kratochvil's name you will not be disappointed.



2. Incognito is the second book of photos presented by an artist renowned for his portrayal of catastrophe in Eastern Europe. In this collection he departs from this side to reveal the spectrum of entertainment in Europe today, with black and white photos mostly taken on assignment for four publications. His celebrity portraits have never appeared in book form before, making this accomplishment especially notable.

1 comments about The Intentional Leader.

1. I used Shaw's book as the text for my graduate Foundations of Educational Leadership course last spring and will use it again this fall. Shaw's book provides students with an opportunity to self reflect and analyze their skills. As one of my students stated, "Self-reflection and making an honest analysis about my leadership skill development is something that I truly struggle with. I've learned a great deal using Shaw's text this semester." Another student stated, "The ideas in Shaw's book were quite eye opening. As I read, I found myself saying, Yeah, that makes sense."
   The Intentional Leader provides a comprehensive look at leadership skills and abilities. The book is very user friendly and well written.

1 comments about People: Yearbook 2006 (People Yearbook).

1. This is a great magazine to have! It has all kinds of interesting stories and people. This is definitely something to keep on your coffee table! It's full of great pictures as well. If you love People magazine, you need to get the Yearbook 2006! A great collector's item.