5 comments about Diana & Dodi: A Love Story.

1. I found this book to be the best Diana book I have read. I do belive this story. I think Diana and Dodi did care for each other and I think Rene is telling it like he saw it. the book lets you see the personal side of Diana as well as Dodi.the book also tells you what happened the night of the crash. this book is the only book on Diana that I did not get bored with.a great love story.



2. I've probably read all or nearly all the books on Diana. Somehow I'd missed this one until a friend gave it to me as a gift. While I didn't give it 5 stars for its great literary qualities, I thought that for Diana fans, it delightfully delivered the goods - it is a pleasing intimate portrait with plenty of detail (food, clothes, toiletries, habits) yet with a real sense of affection, humor and respect.
   
   Setting this apart from most Diana books is the uniquely likeable voice of the narrator. Delorm is a class act, a man who respected and liked his boss, Dodi Fayed, and who seems to view everyone from his wealthy employer to his fellow cooks, butlers and masseuses with generosity of spirit and an open mind. This is a refreshing contrast with the self serving busybody tone of Patrick Jephson's Diana book, or any of the royal "experts" who simultaneously envy, fawn and snipe.

   The author's joie de vivre and eye for detail turn this book into a lovely little vacation on a yacht, along with two people we might have enjoyed knowing very much. And unlike many books published after their deaths, it does not lay on the pathos, but instead is more of a celebration.

   All in all, this is an intimate book you can enjoy without feeling like a voyeur, and a very welcome read for anyone who misses Diana. She sounds like a lot of fun.

   A great escape read in these glamour-free times. Highly recommended.




3. Rene Delorm, Dodi Fayed's former Butler, was clearly devoted to his former employer and this affection shines through these memoirs.

   The scene is well set with a brief thumbnail sketch relating how his and Dodi's paths originally crossed, before the more eagerly-awaited period is focussed upon. Never overstating his case, Delorm recounts the beginnings of Dodi's affair with the Princess of Wales with disarming candour and seems to me conscious of the temptation to embroider upon his recollections or, worse still, hypothesise on what the future for the couple may have held. This temptation he scrupulously avoids and it is to his credit that he refers only to what he saw and heard and shies away from hearsay and speculation.

   While necessarily anecdotal in content, the book gives a charming, if simplistic, insight into their last days together and makes an interesting addition to the huge library of titles dealing with the demise of Diana and Dodi, by one who was well-placed to observe their intimacies. Paul Burrell, Diana's Butler, (whom she referred to as her "rock") is arguably in a better position to reveal her state of mind in these last weeks but has, to date, sensitively deferred from comment. Delorm's book, though, is an affectionate and poignant recollection and his grief on hearing the devastating news is tangible.




4. This book was very warm, discreet and also revealing of a mgical romance. Anyone that loves Diana will be extremely happy with this book.

   In this book you can feel that Diana is being a real person- happy, smiling, laughing, eating, and falling in love, relaxing- an image she never got by hundreds of people- it is sad that her life was cut so short. She was a lovely, gracious woman who left way to early in life. Her time with Dodi- was to start a lifetime of romance that was ever so sweet. that was cut very short too.Now we will never know if they were to ever marry or not.

   I am a greatful of Rene for sharing his memories with the world of Diana- allowing people to see and to hear about her romance.




5. A starry-eyed account of the doomed pair's romance by Dodi's butler. So protective is Delorm of his late boss that he never mentions model Kelly Fisher, whom he must have known Dodi was two-timing after Diana came along.

   But Delorm's devotion can be touching. "You left me," he wrote in the condolence book at Dodi's funeral, and then dissolved into tears.

   A very one-sided look into a doomed duo's romance.

No comments about Mr. America: How Muscular Millionaire Bernarr Macfadden Transformed the Nation Through Sex, Salad, and the Ultimate Starvation Diet.

5 comments about Citizen Hearst: A Biography of William Randolph Hearst.

1. I got this book while visiting the Hearst castle which I felt to be so beyond ostentatious as to be offensive. And, truth be told, I read it over months. Not that it was bad. In fact the book was delightful. But there is so much to read about and Hearst is so, well, unimportant!
   
   I have felt for many years--ever more so after visiting the castle--that William Randolph Hearst was the US equivalent of Joseph Stalin. He had more power than he knew what to do with, more control than was reasonable, and less integrity than most. The book didn't surprise me much. If a reader is well informed on, say the Spanish American war, s/he wouldn't be surprised at the quote from Hearst that, you provide me with the photos and I'll provide you with the war. (To that effect).
   
   He was a mass of contradictions. He paid his staff well, better than the other newspapers, but he was also ruthless with critics and opponents. The author stresses that frequently, especially in the last chapter (where, for a second, I thought I was reading a treatise on Hearst's integrity. On the contrary, Swanberg denies that integrity.) But that "compassion" that Hearst seemed to express was to those who played the game according to Heart's rules. And that's the key trait of a hard-core narcissist!
   
   There was perhaps a little less stress on the sensationalist nature of the Hearst press in the text. (And, unfortunately, its low-brow nature I think has affected the nature of American media to this day!) But I don't want to downgrade the text any points as I may have gotten caught up in other details and lost track of that which almost goes without saying.
   
   While I tend to be cynical of the American electorate, the book suggests some items that redeem us: Hearst had run for office (I think he was elected to the House for one term) but he had his eye on the presidency. Not only was he not nominated or elected, but, as the author points out toward the end of the book, to be endorsed by Hearst was almost the political kiss of death. Candidates whom Hearst endorsed were almost sure to lose!
   
   And his self-service also affected his politics: He was ostensibly the candidate of "the little guy" earlier on, but once he reached wealth beyond belief, he was adamantly opposed to things like income tax--while he had supported the concept earlier!
   
   If I have a negative comment on the book, it may be, I confess, due to my preconceptions of Hearst: the author refers periodically (not obsessively) to Hearst as a "genius" because of his business expertise, etc. Well, I contend that if many people had the resources Hearst had, they could "make it" and be proclaimed genius too. Indeed, I'm amazed at Hearst's spending habits. Even deep into the Great Depression, if Hearst saw something he wanted, whether worth $50,000 or $14 million, he got it. And he got it again, for himself, for Miss Davies, his mistress, for his friends (those, again, who played his game). He finally, when things started looking pretty bad, had to sell a few castles and assorted other ostentations.
   
   When the economy came around, he took off again. Big deal. He still had virtually unlimited resources at his disposal so referring to Hearst as a "genius" gives him more credit than he deserves.
   
   The book was full of detail, and there were footnotes on nearly every page lending credibility to the detail.
   
   If you're into Hearst--either love or hate him--I recommend the book. But keep a few things in mind, e.g., Heart's incredible narcissism, and how he virtually destroyed Orson Welles after the release of "Citizen Kane," quite obviously a critique of Hearst. Of course, I can understand why Hearst may have been offended by it, but he had an inordinate amount of power by nature of his wealth and his ability to INFLUENCE through his senstationalist, low brow media. And that's unforgiveable.



2. William Randolph Hearst, an only child, was born at the time of the Civil War to a successful gold and silver prospector and a former school teacher. His mother had thwarted cultural ambitions and poured all her energy into raising her son. He was a victim of a drastic amount of spoiling, creating an emotionally unsatisfactory human being. All three Hearsts possessed physical vitality.
   
   His father bought the San Francisco Examiner to settle a debt. William's interest in newspapering began with his service on the Harvard Lampoon. He persuaded his father to let him take over the Examiner. The newspaper embraced the gee-whiz emotion. Hearst wooed the masses, not the rich. He surrounded himself with eccentrics including Ambrose Bierce and Joaquin Miller. The newspaper attacked Huntington and the Southern Pacific Railroad.
   
   To staff his New York paper, the Journal, Hearst raided the Pulitzer paper. Hearst had the capacity to offer enormous salaries since his mother had sold her interest in the Anaconda Mine and given him the proceeds. In the presidential election Hearst opted to fight for William Jennings Bryan whom the Wall Street interests hated.
   
   Richard Harding Davis and Samuel Remington, an artist, were sent to Cuba. Remington complained of boredom. Hearst told him to send the pictures and Hearst would furnish the war. Stephen Crane and others covered the Greco-Turkish War.
   
   Newspaper jingoism is evidenced in the Hearst coverage of the Maine disaster. The public was deceived, misled, tricked. Hearst had a fixation about circulation, believing that advertising dollars would follow.
   
   The man was a mass of contradictions. His colossal egocentricity put him at one remove from others. Lincoln Steffens interviewed him five times to penetrate the mystery of his character. He was incurably romantic. Hearst was hobbled by his journalistic recklessness, political unintelligibility, and personal eccentricities in his path through life.
   
   The book, a life and times treatment, is filled with colorful personalities and events.



3. Everything I knew about William Randolph Hearst I learned from the movie CITIZEN KANE. So when I found a cheap, second-hand copy of CITIZEN HEARST, I decided to pick it up and educate myself. Not only was this informative, but highly entertaining. A man capable of rousing such fiercely diametric emotions from people reading his biography decades after his death must surely have raised the ire of his contemporaries something fierce. It is with very mixed emotions that the modern reader comes to understand the events of Heart's life, but those feelings probably aren't a million miles away from what was felt at the time. While reading this biography I kept leaping between admiration and loathing for the subject -- an experience I've never quite had before.
   
   My copy of CITIZEN HEARST is over six hundred pages and written in a smaller than average font size. Yet, as the biographer points out, with the sheer amount of stuff that Hearst accomplished (or at least attempted) in his life, it would be easy to dedicate an entire volume just to single individual activities. But, W. A. Swanberg does a great job of summarizing the main details of Hearst's life without being overly superficial. I even enjoyed the opening sections, dealing with William Randolph Heart's childhood. Many times in biographies, this ends up being a list of dates, schools and relatives; yet Swanberg defies the norm and gives the child Hearst an interesting story.
   
   Of course, the main account is everything that Hearst did after his early-twenties, when he took a fancy towards the journalistic world and obtained a newspaper from his wealthy father. Hearst's subsequent ideas of journalism, his later political ambitions (he fixed his sights on the White House, but never did get higher than the United States House of Representatives), and his obsessive collection of art and property are all laid out meticulously and clearly.
   
   And the information imparted is absolutely unbelievably fascinating. We think the media is pretty bad today, but after reading this I realize that the today's Ted Turners and Rupert Murdochs have absolutely nothing on the yellow journalism of that era. Organizing divisions of reporters to arrive at the scene of a crime before the police do or staging an elaborate midnight rescue of a Cuban "princess" from the Spanish army -- can we really imagine Bill O'Reilly or Aaron Brown attempting those ratings stunts?
   
   In addition to detailing Heart's business and political aspirations, Swanberg also delves into an aspect of Heart's life that was brilliantly captured in Orson Welles' portrayal of Charles Foster Kane (the thinly veiled fictionalized version of Heart himself). Just as Welles' character was a ruthless and ambition man, who is also shown happily spending hours using silly shadow puppets to entertain a sad, lonely girl, Swanberg introduces us to a serious, focused, cutthroat and dangerous man who was exceedingly soft-spoken, kind on a personal level and who would easily break into goofy vaudeville-style dances to amuse his friends.
   
   This biography not only informed me, but also got me curious on a variety of related subjects that I intend to study further. I knew almost nothing, for example, about Hearst's intervention in the lead up to the Spanish-American War (Swanberg practically gives him sole credit for the entire enterprise). Now, I'm dying to read more about it.
   
   This is definitely one of the best biographies I've read, though certainly not about one of the best people. Based on the information provided, Hearst was an impossible man to pin down and understand. Swanberg posits a metaphor of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Hearst could be one man around some people, the other in different circumstances. In any case, this biography would appear to be an almost impossible task, and yet Swanberg has done a yeoman's service. I'd recommend this even to someone with no interest in the area because the writing and the subject are just too compelling.



4. It isn't often that one reads a well-respected, full-length biography of a prominent American personality, only to put the book down with a newfound, passionate and complete disgust for the central character. That is how W.A. Swanberg's 1961 classic "Citizen Hearst" made me feel about William Randolph Hearst. I can say that about no other biography I've ever read.

   Indeed, the derogatory adjectives that apply directly to William Randolph Hearst are virtually inexhaustible: irresponsible, pampered, egotistical, hypocritical, lascivious, presumptuous, adulterous, rapacious, etc. One searches in vain for admirable or redeeming qualities in Hearst. Even supposed acts of benevolence and charity - which usually centered on the one thing that meant nothing to him, money - always seem to smack of insincerity and self-interest. None of this, of course, is meant to detract from Swanberg's phenomenal account of the publisher's life, which is truly engrossing and highly recommended by this reader.

   Hearst was born in the lap of luxury and never knew the value of a dollar earned by a day's work, yet for over half-a-century he fashioned himself the defender of the common man and was a leading voice in Progressive politics. Far from creating a profitable media empire, Hearst's newspapers lost money at a staggering rate for well over a decade (Swanberg's account is frustrating in that he never clarifies exactly when Hearst's efforts turned profitable). The simple secret of Heart's success was that his deceased father's mines could churn out precious metal at a faster pace than he could squander the profits on his newspapers and chasing the chimera of the presidency. He took a mistress half his age when he was in his fifties and married with five children, and devoted all his immense energy and resources into making her the biggest film star in the world, despite her rather limited talent. An early hero to the radical left, in old age he reversed course and emerged as one of the earliest and most virulent anti-communists and opponents of the progressive income tax - a measure he once championed.

   Swanberg delivers this amazing life in an extremely fluid and engaging - indeed, exciting - narrative. He notes that people have never been able to adequately explain William Randolph Hearst. The instinct was - and still is - to use the world "great" when describing him, but great in what way? Swanberg offers up his own conclusion: Hearst was the greatest loser of his generation. Not exactly a flattering assessment, but nonetheless a very accurate one. In the end, Hearst failed in business, in politics, in marriage, and in the movie business. For better or worse, he left an indelible stamp on the American experience, and for that he should be remembered, if not exactly revered.




5. I call this book a must read for anyone interested in learning about our history during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Although its not a history lesson like you would get in school, it is a fascinating look at how W.R.Hearst was able to shape it through his publications. This man was someone who seemed to think that his money supply would never run dry. He spent coutless dollars on art masterpieces and other antiquties. If you have ever been to or just been curious about his castle at San Simeon CA then you will find it entertaining to learn how he went about putting this landmark together. You also get a look into his personal life that is equally interesting. I found this book to be one of those books that really does keep you up at night turning the pages. A well written book indeed.

5 comments about I Survived Swiss Boarding Schools.

1. A witty, poignant, and sensitive description of an era that is hard to imagine for most people. Profligate wealth combined with refinement, hedonism, and cold hearted detachment. Almost everyone will be interested in this perspective of a young boy who finds his unique voice in a rigorously structured environment.



2. An excellent, well-balanced book. I was concerned, given the beginning of the book, that the remainder might be about someone wallowing in self pity. However, the author clearly did NOT take that path; rather, he decided to take charge of his life and free himself. References to wealthy and famous people are related as part of other facts and not with any self aggrandizement. The book is well written with "teasers" at the end of each chapter to urge one on to the next (which it did). A most interesting book, both about the setting and the author's "self-discovery". All in all, a very good read!



3. I Survived Swiss Boarding Schools is a fascinating, inspiring book. Rene Silvin, the author, recounts the seemingly insurmountable obstacles he overcomes in his truly Dickension experience as a very young child in boarding school. He also gives us a fascinating glimpse into life in that almost mythical Swiss boarding school, Le Rosey. Among the book's many powerful images, one of the most vivid is of the author's competitive rowing as an adolescent on beautiful Lake Geneva. And then there are the many extraordinary people Rene encounters among his classmates and their parents...This book was hard to put down!
   
   Mary Adams, New York City



4. I picked up this book last night intending to read only a few pages before falling into bed. Ended up staying up way too late thinking with the turn of each page, I'll just see what happens in this one incident and then I'll put it down. An intimate and powerful story told with great sensitivity.



5. I was riveted from page one. An amazing story of how the grass is not always greener. Wealth, privilege, celebrity,this book has it all. A wonderfully written true story that at times will tear your heart out, and at others makes you cheer. A book you will not forget.

1 comments about The Houdini Principle: Discover Harry Houdini's Secrets of Creativity and Confidence.

1. Author Tim Kenning has done something I consider to be very clever. On one level The Houdini Principle is an fascinating introduction to the life and work of the enigmatic escapologist, filled with interesting anecdotes, photographs, challenges and newsprint. On another, it uses Houdini as a metaphor for personal freedom and growth. How do we escape from the binds of our lives? What do Houdini's remarkable feats offer as learning to us? The book brings out thought-provoking points about using one's strengths, taking control, changing what one believes about oneself (and about what's possible), making the most of situations and increasing creativity. We're challenged to wonder how unlimited we could each be if we could learn to have unreasonable amounts of self belief for ourselves. In short, it is an excellent book for self coaching.
   
   The idea of using metaphor as a way to express personal development isn't new, but by using such an enigmatic reference, Tim Kenning's book is a more entertaining and enlightening experience than many of the academic personal development books around. By using a real-life reference, the stories and learning comes alive.

5 comments about Affair to Remember, An.

1. If you like/love Tracy and Hepburn in movies, you'll love this book. It's a true account of their lives and how their affair came about, how it was hidden to the world (insiders in Hollywood knew all about it). In fact, it was so well hidden (Kate used to always slip in the back way at hotels), that Tracy's wife upon meeting Hepburn told her she was shocked, that she thought the affair was only a rumor. A very good read, you won't be disappointed.



2. I have always thought that Tracy and Hepburn were a Great couple in Movies, but they were amazing in real life too. The book was a very good history of each of their lives and how they became intertwined. I think it is one of the best books that I have ever read.



3. I have been looking for years for a Spencer Tracy biography and this is about as close as I could find. I have to say I was very pleasantly surpried by this book. First off, it is a quick and easy read and is especially well written for one of these Hollywood tomes. Secondly, rather than just telling the story of the Tracy/Hepburn love affair, it gives you so much background on both stars that I feel as though I have gotten my long sought after Tracy bio. Finally, the book helps the reader to understand that there really is no understanding a love like Tracy and Hepburn shared. Neither could put it into words and neither seemed interested in doing such. Rather than a lot of psycho babble that you usually get in these types of books, the author realizes that there is no accounting for taste and there is no explaining love.



4. These two screen giants met on the set of Woman of the Year in 1942 and were together until Spencer died of a heart attack, shortly after wrapping up Guess Whose Coming to Dinner in 1967. This book chronicles their remarkable, romantic pairing in an era where a movie star's private life could remain hidden from a prying public. Spencer was married to a devoted Catholic, Louise, and he refused to divorce her. He also felt a tremendous sense of guilty about his deaf son. So marriage was out of the question, but Kate didn't care, she just wanted she be with Spencer, and she was, following him all over the world to sit worshipfully at his feet.

   Andersen dutifully chronicles the nine classic Tracy-Hepburn films and gives some intriguing behind-the-scenes glimpses into each movie. There is also much information about Tracy's legendary bouts with the bottle, his brief fling with Gene Tierney in the early 50's and Kate's affair with Howard Hughes in the 1930's. All the bases are covered, but I wish Andersen would have interviewed more people close to the duo. Still, an engrossing read and essential for anyone enamored with either Spencer or Kate.




5. I found An Affair to Remember a truly remarkable portrait of Hepburn and Spencer's lives (before and after they met). The book was interesting and well written. A great pick for anyone interested in either actor.

5 comments about Sons and Brothers: The Days of Jack and Bobby Kennedy.

1. First of all, let's get it out of the way. I really love the Kennedys. I enjoy most of the books about them and always learn something of each (yes, even the crazy conspiracy books). This book was a little different. I learned a lot. I enjoyed how it was put together. It starts with the 1950's and then takes 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963 and then Bobby Alone as separate topics. It has stories from their growing years in each as if looking back to show why they were doing what they were doing at that time in their life. I really got in the Bobby Alone section from 1964 to 1968. It showed how Bobby totally changed his views and what he went through in order to come to the conclusion that he needed to run for President. Mr. Mahoney does drag out the New Orleans, Cuban, and Mafia stuff but it's ok. Most nowadays do. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a well rounded book on the Kennedy boys.



2. Richard Mahoney is to be commended for putting together a highly readable and cogent account of the life and times of JFK and RFK, as well as their dealings with the Mafia (that led to the death of JFK). Well done.
   [...]



3. ive read other books on JFK and none of the other books can quite compair to the realism in this book. the things i didnt understand in the first few books where explained more in depth than before and i came to realize that half of the things that kennedy was blammed for after his death were not acctually his fault. for example, vietnam.



4. I was raised in a conservative household and consider myself conservative in many ways (though I'm a registered independent). That said, I am 29 years old and both these men were dead before I was even born. However I have had a fascination with JFK & RFK since I first started studying history and the impact that the changes in the 1960's would have on future America. The picture on the cover is very telling about how different these brothers were -- black and white. What this book is really about is how co-dependent these two men were, with Jack more so upon Bobby. Many disturbing facts have come out about the Kennedy brothers in the last twenty years. Much of it does bother me as a moral and religious person. But that doesn't erase the fact that Jack and Bobby were very intelligent and gifted men and when it is all said and done, their idealism and determination positively impacted our nation's history.



5. this is not a biography,it's a fiction and it's stupid, boring.
   the author was surely drunk when he wrote it.
   this book is a shame to the legacy of the kennedys.
   there are a few photos.
   buy abetter book like: rfk and his times....

No comments about Elvis: A Celebration in Pictures.

4 comments about Shakira: Woman Full of Grace.

1. GREAT BOOK TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SHAKIRA. SHE IS AN AMAZING ARTIST AND UNIQUE (BEFORE SHE DIED THAT HAIR BLONDE). sHE IS NOT JUST A FAD, SHAKIRA IS AND INTELLIGENT SONGWRITER AND THIS BOOK WILL GIVEYOU AND INSIGHT.



2. Hey, this book is pretty good. I find it interesting to read about where she comes from, her blended family and etc. It is a good book to build your Spanish vocab. Espero que lo leas!



3. I loved this book. Loved reading about the integrity and hard work and perfectionism this artists brings to her music. Shakira's the real deal. We can all learn from this kind of dignity and sense of self. What a hero -- especially in this age of inflated egos and marketing hype.



4. As a big Shakira fan I bought this book the minute I saw it. This book is fairly good. If you are a new Shakira fan, I reacommend it. It tells the story of how this Latin Pop/Rock Icon became the huge star she's today. It tells the struggles and problems she had to overcome for reaching her goals and dreams. If you have known Shakira for a while you'll have already herad almost they say here...

1 comments about Pedro Infante: El idolo inmortal.

1. Jose Ernesto Infante Quintanilla has made evident the true spirit of a man whom has become the quintessence of Mexico--Mexico's most loved actor in its golden era of movies, Pedro Infante, breathes anew through Infante Quintanilla's crisp writing. The work is well formulated, journaling the icon's life, films, and discography; although, I would have preferred the book be written in three volumes: Pedro Infante the man, Pedro Infante the actor, and Pedro Infante the singer; considering, 6, 205 of the 14, 175 + days of Infante's life comprised his career, I'm certain that a great amount of information is yet to be shared with the world since Infante has and still is serving as a roll model for many generations to follow; even the most mundane aspects of Pedro Infante's days are the fodder that gives purpose to a world of incongruities and chaotic confusion. May I as one of the many that constitute his enduring and loving public, some day have the privilege and honor of reliving the Infante's whole essence.