5 comments about Singing My Him Song.

1. Frank McCourt wrote the famous bestseller, ANGELA'S ASHES. In this book, you learn about the personality of Angela and the events just prior to her death. His version of the Irish funeral 'doings' at a fancy mortuary in New York whre they partied with lots of beer is almost sacrilege. He had suggesting putting her ashes in a body bag and leaving them on the curb for garbage pickup. He and Frank were in financial straits at the time, but brother Alphie was doing okay. Frank became the possessor of her ashes in an old bean can.
   
   Bob Miller wrote this account from McCourt's avid remembrances. Like Eddie Fisher's BEEN THERE, DONE THAT, he reveals the bad with the good. Malachy's narration is spelled almost phonetically, the Irish sayings Americanized, which I guess his fans would get a kick out of -- it reminded me of the old man in 'Brigadoon.'
   
   Since I don't watch soap operas I have not recognized him as a young man, nor at the age of 69 when he was diagnosed with cancer. He had a sad life in Ireland, but after coming to America drank his way around the world to forget his past.
   
   Part of this book is about the retarded stepdaughter and the experimental program they agreed to at the Willowbrook State School for the Retarded on Staten Island. To get a place for her, they signed consent for her to be used as a guinea pig in a hepatitis program funded by the U. S. Army. The place as described resembled the one in the movie, 'Suddenly Last Summer,' in which Elizabeth Taylor is committed by a demented aunt and she wonders out on a raised landing above a mass of humanity "driven totally mad" by the place in which they were drugged, abused and locked. These things actually existed, and he and his wife Diana witnessed it first hand.
   
   He tried to expose the horrible abuse through the media (radio and t.v.). He said, "Media types will come to the 'field of dreams', but don't ask them to cover the plains of nightmare." Finally, they were able to get Geraldo Rivera to tour the back wards with a cameraman. It took them two years to get heard in Court in 1972. It was a historic case, followed by similar suits across the country, that all people have a right to decent human conditions no matter what their mental status.
   
   He made his mark in Hollywood and New York in movies and plays, and was host of t.v. and radio talk shows. So I'm sure he has a vast following of those who've seen him -- and read his previous book, A MONK SWIMMING.
   
   He was the Boston police lieutenant in 1978 'The Brinks Job' and was in 'Mass Appeal' on Broadway in 1982. Then his soap opera career started in 'Search for Tomorrow,' 'One Life To Live,' 'Ryan's Hope,' etc. Now he has embarked on a career as a writer, or at least a storyteller to beat all. All in all, his is a success story.



2. After reading Angela's Ashes and Tis by Frank McCourt, I was looking forward to reading more about the McCourt family's lives from the perspective of another member of the family but Malachy McCourt definitely does not have the talent of his brother, Frank. He focuses too much on himself and I could sense his ego becoming more and more inflated as the story progressed. I'm sure he is charming and witty but an entire book by the author telling us just how charming and witty he is does get to be tiresome. And the fact that he is so proud to be such a total scoundrel is not admirable. I also read Malachy's book, A Monk Swimming: A Memoir, and in both books I was hoping to read more about the entire family instead 95% about Malachy himself and how pleased he is of his escapades.
   
   The book became tiresome to read and I had to force myself to finish it.



3. Vintage McCourt! This is a good one but reminiscent of A Monk Swimming by the same author. Mallachy McCourt is good, but I prefer his brother, Frank. Poor man, I wonder how many times he has heard it. But it takes nothing away from the book. What genius of a family. Poverty in childhood has turned out into prosperity for posterity. Thanks McCourt Brothers.



4. No, it won't be Angela's Ashes (though Malachy does tell the story of carrying the ashes back to Limerick in a defective airplane). The author is Frank McCourt's brother and shares with him the Irish ability to tell a good story.
   I haven't read his earlier book, A Monk Swimming, but this one can stand alone. In it, he wrestles with his alcoholism, finds the love of his life, tries to carve out a career as an actor, confronting his dreadful childhood and gives his opinions on American political failures of the past forty years. Somehow he melds all that together into a biography that holds your attention.
   Readers might also be interested in A Drinking Life by Pete Hamill.



5. This was a great book in my opinion. Although I am biased because I am Irish and loved all "the brother Frank" books. This sequel wasnt as great as Tis by Frank but still good. I couldnt wait to read Tis after reading "Angela's Ashes". After reading "A Monk Swimming", I was glad that Malachy got his act together. Being a recovering alcoholic myself, it was very refreshing to read how rewarding it was to Malachy to get clean. I recommend this book not just for Irish or alcoholics, but for anyone that wants to read a good story by a great story teller.

4 comments about Clark Gable: Portrait of a Misfit.

1. This biography is saddled with many flaws. It often reads like one of those silly romance novels one sees at the literature sections of such famous bookshops as Walmart, K-Mart, Walgreens and B.Daltons. It is filled with irrelevant gossip, much of it more suitable for a luncheon of late-middle aged hens rather than a serious biography. The author's interviews with Joan Crawford(one of Gable's many lovers) dominate too many sections of the bio; much of what Miss Crawford says is taken at face value with little to counter-balance her assertions. Most undefensible is the author's portrayal of intimate conversations as if she were there with a microphone and tape recorder. Many of the precise "conversations" alleged by the author were between two people long since dead. How would Jane Ellen Wayne know precise conversations between Louis B. Mayer and Clark Gable? Both have been dead for over thirty years. Did the author interview either man from beyond the grave? This technique of the author is most dishonest. However, this biography has some very good points. Gable's early life and rise are covered in great detail. The author's desriptions of the big studio milleu of pre-TV Hollywood are interesting. The author paints a thorough personality portrait of Gable- his calculated decisions, his high sex drive, his alcoholism, his love of the outdoors, his tight wallet. Gable's marriage to Carole Lombard is handled rather well. Oddly, the Gable-Lombard marriage reminds one of the marriage of the current First Couple in the White House, only Carole Lombard is better looking and much, much better humoured than Hillary R. Clinton and Clark Gable is much more manly than Bill Clinton. Clark Gable is worthy of a fine biography; Jane Ellen Wayne's is not it, however.



2. I didn't really like the book and the author seems to reiterate information from her different books into others. I had just borrowed the book from the library as well as the book on Grace Kelly and neither this or the book on Grace had any pictures to speak of and any author who cannot be resourceful enough to get pictures to include in the biography is lazy or did not try hard enough...others have been able to so why can't she? So you definitely can't say I am her biggest fan.



3. Started reading this book after the death of Katharine Hepburn. Gable is another one of those great stars I know and love only from GWTW and black and white movies on TCM. I knew little of his personal life, except for his storybook marriage to Carole Lombard. This book filled me in on his background. I had no idea he worked so hard on the craft he made look so effortless. Nor did I know how complicated he was. Knowing this will make me appreciate his work that much more. Does it bother me that the biographer writes as if she was in the room for some of the conversations? Not really. This is, after all, a movie star biography, not a history book. If Gable had been a politician or statesman, it might concern me more.



4. Hollywood's moral values were not those of the rest of the country even in the 1920's & 30's. Anywhere else Clark Gable is a cheating swine. Nobody knew this at the time because big brother MGM protected it's own from unpleasantness leaking out to his adoring public. His acting ability & magnetism allowed him to have any women anytime he wanted, if you believe the author Jane Ellen Wayne. She blows hot, cold & lukewarm on her subject. I guess that passes for objectivity.
   Gable was a whinner, over-sexed & never satisfied. His first two marriages to older mentors were shams. They served their purpose & were discarded. He cheated on them both regularly.
   His rise to stardom was slow & tedious, like the first two tapes of this audio version. But then it picked up. He was committed at first to the live stage. But, like many other legitimate actors, he was seduced by the $$$ to be made in Hollywood. His timing was excellent. Many silent era stars could not make the transition to talkies. His voice was very masculine & very sexy. He cleaned up his act with a new set of teeth & physique. He life was owned by MGM. He never had the backbone to defy Louis B. Mayer. He hated him & griped constantly, but did what he was told. MGM in turn, made him their biggest star, & his fans could not get enough of him. He was dubbed the King of Hollywood & never relinquished that title. He was a working actor & made many very good movies such as "It Happened One Night", "Saratoga", five with Jean Harlow, & of course "Gone With the Wind".
   The turning point in Gable's life was his marriage to THE love of his life, Carole Lombard. She died a hero's death as she returned to California from a bond drive early in the war. She was flying back rather than taking the train & her plane crashed in the mountains near Las Vegas. She had decided to fly because either she missed Clark very much (they were in love with each other) or she suspected him of cheating on her. Lana Turner, Joan Crawford, or ??? Take your pick. He was fooling around on the only women he ever really loved. He never recovered from her death or the guilt he felt. This made him a more serious, introspective & maybe better actor. He saw action in the Army Air Corps in World War II but was pulled out of the line of fire when it became more of a hassle keeping Hollywood's greatest star from harm than it was worth. A remake of the 1932 movie "Red Dust' was renamed "Magambo' with Ava Gardner & a young Grace Kelly was probably his most ballyhooed post war movie. Others such as "Run Silent Run Deep" were also pretty decent.
   A lifetime of abusing his body plus a lot of booze & cigarettes were
   taking their toll. The great male actors were dying in the 50's. Bogart, Cooper, Flynn, all gone. Gable died shortly after making "The Misfits" with Marilyn Monroe, also her last movie. His only child was born to his fifth wife, Kay Speckles, shortly after his death.

5 comments about It Doesn't Take a Hero.

1. I went into this read thinking that this would be another in a long line of self-serving autobiographies from officer blow-hards that are so full of themselves it is disgusting. I expected, like I have read in so many other memoirs, a tale where the main character is bigger than the times he served in.
   
   Not so with General Schwarzkopf. He is truly an American hero who was given an impossible mission during the first Gulf War and he pulled it off partly due to a sense of history, in part due to political accument, and in no large part because this took a lot of balls.
   
   The General starts the book out with a touching portrait of his childhood; his formative years were spent living in the Middle East, learning the customs, an appetite for the cuisine, and the art of falconry.
   
   He is no Gen. Eisenhower, to be sure, but he is still a larger than life figure that served our nation during a pivotal time in our Middle Eastern Diplomacy.
   
   "Stormin' Normin" is neither falsely self-effacing, nor does he "toot his own horn." He is what he is, and his not only has his biography born testimony to his greatness as both an officer and as an American, subsequent interviews with the gliteratti have done nothing but illumine the brightness of his "star(s)."
   
   A great read for the history buff, or a lover of biographies of great Americans.



2. "Cometh the hour, cometh the man" is an adage that was penned for men such as General H. Norman Schwarzkopf.
   
   It is very easy for Englishman to prefer British heroes over those from other countries. Some might say it is even easier for United States citizens to acknowledge the achievements of their own citizens whilst deprecating those of any other nation. Eisenhower, for example, was a great man - but so was Montgomery!
   
   This book, however, is about a man who is not in open comparison to any. He tells an account of his own life which, as others have already stated, is so honest as to be brutally so. How odd that the fickle finger of fate is able to steer any man towards his ultimate destiny. What if Eisenhower (or even Montgomery) had joined the Navy?, what if Norman Schwarzkopf had railed against his father's wishes and "not" joined the US Army?
   
   But they did and I am unable to avoid that cliché which demands that "the rest is history." Having said that, I would suggest General Schwarzkopf's contribution to that history is as great as any man's.
   
   Other reviewers have sought to express their views in their own ways and quite rightly so! Some of those reviews give the reader a quick impression - "it's a great book" and all that, whereas others seek to paraphrase the book and, is so doing give the reader a better impression of what is found within it's pages.
   
   Me, well, for the very first time in a long time, I feel as though I have read a book. Just think about that. Take a moment to look at any of my book reviews, then click on that button which says "see all my reviews" and you will see what I mean. Some of those books are on subjects I feel very passionate about. Some are great books and well worth the 5 star rating given. Others are less than ordinary and not even worth the single star one is required to donate to the charitable cause that best describes that particular offering in print.
   
   Then I find a biography from a retired general who came to prominence during the first Gulf War, the biography of a man who recognised it does not take a hero to order men into battle, the biography of an ordinary bloke who did good, served his country and the cause of freedom well and expects nothing in return.
   
   Buy it. Read it. Only then will you also appreciate what I mean by having "read" a book. There will come a time when you will read it again.
   
   NM
   Retired British Army major.



3. "Cometh the hour, cometh the man" is an adage that was penned for men such as General H. Norman Schwarzkopf.
   
   It is very easy for Englishman to prefer British heroes over those from other countries. Some might say it is even easier for United States citizens to acknowledge the achievements of their own citizens whilst deprecating those of any other nation. Eisenhower, for example, was a great man - but so was Montgomery!
   
   This book, however, is about a man who is not in open comparison to any. He tells an account of his own life which, as others have already stated, is so honest as to be brutally so. How odd that the fickle finger of fate is able to steer any man towards his ultimate destiny. What if Eisenhower (or even Montgomery) had joined the Navy?, what if Norman Schwarzkopf had railed against his father's wishes and "not" joined the US Army?
   
   But they did and I am unable to avoid that cliché which demands that "the rest is history." Having said that, I would suggest General Schwarzkopf's contribution to that history is as great as any man's.
   
   Other reviewers have sought to express their views in their own ways and quite rightly so! Some of those reviews give the reader a quick impression - "it's a great book" and all that, whereas others seek to paraphrase the book and, is so doing give the reader a better impression of what is found within it's pages.
   
   Me, well, for the very first time in a long time, I feel as though I have read a book. Just think about that. Take a moment to look at any of my book reviews, then click on that button which says "see all my reviews" and you will see what I mean. Some of those books are on subjects I feel very passionate about. Some are great books and well worth the 5 star rating given. Others are less than ordinary and not even worth the single star one is required to donate to the charitable cause that best describes that particular offering in print.
   
   Then I find a biography from a retired general who came to prominence during the first Gulf War, the biography of a man who recognised it does not take a hero to order men into battle, the biography of an ordinary bloke who did good, served his country and the cause of freedom well and expects nothing in return.
   
   Buy it. Read it. Only then will you also appreciate what I mean by having "read" a book. There will come a time when you will read it again.
   
   NM
   Retired British Army major.



4. This book was surprisingly good. It was straight forward. He said a lot of things that I hadn't expected to hear from a man in his position. My guess is that he received a lot of "poop" for it also.
   He has a lot of heart and a lot of good emotions.
   I have read some negative stuff about him also but all in all he seems to be a pretty good man - and a pretty good story teller.
   I haven't checked yet but if he has written something else, I would probably buy it. I think he has brains and insight and I don't think that he would be a paen to the established order - He would be loyal to his country of course - but I feel that he would tell it as he saw it without being afraid to be critical - if he felt criticism was necessary.
   I would like to see him write something on military history - past wars or battles or something like that.



5. I picked this book up in a used bookstore and bought it because I was curious about General Schwarzkopf's life and how he became the man he is.
   
   His life is very interesting and I learnt a lot from it regarding leadership to the extent I used one of his war stories in my book " Your Attitude Determines Your Altitude."

5 comments about Cary Grant: A Class Apart.

1. I wish I could say I wasn't disappointed in this book, since I was looking forward to a well-researched and engrossing book on a screen legend. However, I had to force myself to finish reading it and came away with very little enjoyment and appreciation for the subject. Very nearly ONE THIRD of the book (the latter portion) is not textual biography, but a glossary, filmography and voluminous footnote after footnote after footnote of data supporting the main body (2/3) of the book. Far too many distracting footnotes referenced on virtually every page of the book were significantly annoying, and in many instances a point was belabored ad infinitum. Many key points of detail and anecdotes relating to admired, classic CG movies weren't present, while others were - sorry - rather beaten to death. Supporting photographs were limited and failed to include more than good shots of the subject at a small, select time of his life. I expected a more linear, cohesive, colloquial narrative unencumbered by redundent grammatical 'precision.' The book was obviously well-researched, but extreme detail does not always do the subject or the audience justice.



2. Especially if your over 50. He looked, played & acted as the movie star he was. Women loved him. Men would have loved to be him. He was more often seduced than the seducer which was part of his charm. He never forgot who he was & where he came from: Archie Leech from Bristol, England. He was amiable & apolitical yet had a streak of independence & courage that led him to be one of the first stars to break with the studio system. That allowed him to be a free agent & pick the movies he wanted to do. It didn't always work out. Sometimes, the movies stank & he was the best thing in them. But most of his movies were money makers & that was really the only thing that counted. He was admired for his independence. He could be difficult to work with but was not tempermental. He was a professional working to perfect his craft as he liked to put it. This obsession with perfection did not work with the women he loved & he left four failed marriages in his wake. This failing apparently never occurred to him.
   He didn't have to be pushed into old man roles & retired on his own terms. A class act.



3. It's detailed and well sourced and actually has quotes from people who actually knew him and lived through these events with the man. I felt like I actually had insight to the man rather than the image and the decades of gossip which seems to have been taken as fact by most of the other Cary Garnt biographers. He tells Cary Grant's story respectfully, but doesnt white wash the facts. The anecdotes as told by Cary's friends are fascinting, sometimes hilariously funny and often sad. He approaches the gossip as a researcher would and doesnt try to speculate or parse subjects to support hiw own personal oint of view or agenda.
   
   This is the third biography I've read about Cary Garnt, and compared to the other very light offerings this was by far the best and most comprehensive. I learned for example that Cary Grant was not only a great charmer, but a shrewd businessman who consistently outwitted the studio bosses at every turn. I enjoyed learning about his incredible sense of honor which often times landed him in hot water and led to many of the vindictive rumors we are still hearing today. He hated the gossip columnists at the time and was embroiled in a very long and bitter battle with the likes of Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons, who he once told to mind her GD business. Got to love the guy.
   
   Great book.



4. This book would doubtless be better known, and better publicized, were it not published by a reputable university press. Don't mislead yourself, however. There's nothing tedious about McCann's book, which is very well written and measured in its judgments. Those wanting gossip and sensationalism should look elsewhere. Even those who know Grant's background and career will learn new things here. In a word: a splendid interpretation of an insidpensable performer.



5. Very intersting. My 2nd bio on Grant. I think you tend to rate things better if you are a fan of the person rated which I am. It put into a nice sequence the facts of his life. Kept me interested with photos, the factual and the gossip. Why else would we read about movie stars.

5 comments about Autobiography of a Yogi.

1. Unbelievable I say not as a skeptic, but as a true rational person. This same skepticism opens up other horizons in one's thinking - is this all true? Yogi Paramahamsa, the author, renders in this charming and lucid storytelling, facts he came across in his life - like his Master being able to 'know' that they will have guests arriving in the middle of the night; another yogi predicting the author's arrival and telling him of what he did miles away and many more such incidents.
   
   All this makes one ask - is this all true or is the author lying? I would want to think, given the book's and the author's reputation, this is all true. Believing so also opens up different realms of possiblities defying all rationality. Who wouldn't want to attain a state where they can exists without eating or sleeping for days together OR having the ability to read clearly and correctly into another's mind? Knowing the power of meditation myself, I won't doubt the power of an absolute calm mind.
   
   Aside from the skepticism, I totally am enjoying reading this book. The storytelling abilities is that of a master and an erudite author. Just seeing photos of sages in the 19th century is itself inspiring. The book provides a great understanding of a young man's mind who seeks out and believes in spirituality. The power of written expression is to be truly found in this book. There is a charming nature about this book you won't regret reading it.



2. This is a wonderful book. This book is valuable to me than all other books that I have read put together. This book has so much of wisdom that I cannot explain here in few words. This book is NOT about religion or is biased to any religion. Yogananda tells about the universal truth that everybody must be aware of. Please do not try to judge this book without reading, and you will know why after you read it. I am sure lot of your inner questions will be answered after you read this book. This book will definitely be an inspiration to seek the ultimate truth which can be attained by each and everyone of us.



3. Yogananda's message is potentially world changing. However, I got more out of the Autobiography of a Yogi published by Self-Realization Fellowship because it was full of added footnotes which I found just as important and meaningful as the text. Many explaining the essential oneness of western and eastern religions through biblical passages, etc.



4. Understand spiritualism and see the larger picture of life and existence through this autobiography, which breaks down barriers between religions.



5. I will have to go against the flow, here. So, some people can actually perform "miracles" like talking and seeing gods, teletransporting themselves, materializing objects and even entire castles out of thin air, appearing in two places at once, bringing back people from death, fighting and taming wild tigers armed with only their kindness, levitating, predicting the future, healing wounds and fatal diseases with only their will, reading minds, etc, etc? Sorry, I don't think so.
   
   I am almost finishing the book and if it were sold as a fiction piece I would give it more credit. But since it is the author's "biography" and all the fantastic events in it described as truth... sorry again, I just can't.
   
   As a philosophycal way of life it is still very interesting, though.

5 comments about The Master of the Senate (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume 3).

1. Caro is a master writer. I found his book 'The Power Broker' about Robert Moses easily one of my top ten reads of all time, five star all the way. Johnson to me was not quite as interesting, but nevertheless this is a top notch book showing how Johnson came into the Senate and transformed it. No matter what one thinks of Johnson, if one is a student of American politics, this is a worthwhile book as it shows the influence of one man and what can be done. He was no saint, but he did manage to get things done. I am slowly working my way through it, it's been about 2 years, I keep picking it up and putting it down, but learn something every time.



2. Despite what you think of LBJ, and I don't think much of him, Robert Caro's series on Johnson far surpasses any other books that have come before or after on Lyndon Johnson. In all three of Caro's volumes, he includes mini biographies of important people in Lyndon's life. In this volume, Senator Richard Russell, jr. of Georgia is given his due, and his importance as friend and adviser to LBJ. Also, the first 100 pages include a history of the US senate that could stand alone as a book unto itself. I can't wait for Caro's fourth volume, alas it probably won't be out for another five years.



3. Anyone know? This is a masterful book series. The one on LBJ's presidency should be the best.



4. I had read Robert Caro's book on Robert Moses, and I found Master of the Senate to be an equally well-written and insightful read about an even more complicated figure. Readers get a real sense of the dark character of Lyndon Johnson. The book also offers a revealing view of the inner workings of the U.S. Senate. His portraits of Richard Russell and Sam Rayburn are particularly poignant. This book is highly recommended for anyone interested in 20th-century U.S. history, and for anyone who enjoys monumental biographies.



5. Caro's triology on LBJ is unrivaled, and this volume might lay claim to the best of the bunch. LBJ's genius in leading the Senate is put on display, but also his raw ambition and dishonesty. Caro shows how LBJ is a model of how to lead and not to lead at the same time.

5 comments about A Reporter's Life.

1. This book contains the memoirs of Walter Cronkite, pioneering television journalist. Cronkite begins by describing his childhood briefly, noting that even as a youngster, he was pulled to journalism. He credits a volunteer journalism teacher in his high school for introducing him to the rigors of print journalism, but once started, he was hooked. It was this teacher who taught him the prime importance of getting the facts correct, a value that he would hold primary throughout his career. As a high school student, Cronkite competed in statewide journalistic writing tournaments, and won. After high school, he enrolled in college for a while, but decided that pulling in an income was more important than getting a degree (this was during the Great Depression), a decision which he later came to regret. On a lark, he landed a radio news announcer job in Oklahoma City. Later, he worked for UPI, where he honed his collating and rewriting skills under pressure of constant deadlines. The experience from all of these jobs was to prove invaluable later when he landed a job announcing the news on CBS television. Cronkite was not only one of the first early TV news broadcasters, but the word `news anchorman' was even invented just to describe what he did (or so he claims).
   
   In this book, Cronkite reminisces not only about his career, but also about the big news stories of day. He discusses how television came to play a strong role in politics, starting with the 1952 party conventions, which were the first to be televised. He enumerates the presidents he has known, from Hoover through George Bush, senior, and he compares the effectiveness of each, as well as their relations with the media. He analyzes the forces behind the fateful American build-up in Vietnam, and the eventual pull-out. He also relates how he inadvertedly became involved in negotiating peace between Egypt and Israel. All in all, his tales are fascinating. I usually find political discussion hideously tiresome, but Cronkite manages to make even politics interesting.



2. For me who watched Walter Cronkite almost every night from the 1960's to the 1980's when Dan Rather took over, this is most enlightening book. Behind the scene stories were given for a lot of news stories. Unlike Eric Sevaried, Cronkite never stated any of his personal feelings and comments on the air. Quite a lot of them were found in this book.
   
   Two things bother me. None of the chapters in this book had a topic so the reader is completely unaware of what is in there when he/she starts reading a chapter. In addition, no index is avalable and locating a topic or name is very difficult and time-consuming



3. In a fascinating and thought-provoking autobiography (1996), Walter Cronkite reflects on his career in journalism, from the earliest days in which he listened to radio on a crystal set, through his own participation in world events as a television journalist. Without the ego one usually associates with newscaster-celebrities, Cronkite gives the history of journalism--radio, newspapers, news syndicates, and television--by giving anecdotes from his own long career, always showing what he learned from his mistakes (which he is remarkably candid and often humorous in describing), and giving ample credit to the people who helped him. His thoughtful observations about the impact of television and its negative effects on voting participation, along with his predictions for the future of this country, offer a broader perspective and warning about our national vision.
   
   Cronkite's sense of excitement about journalism is obvious from the earliest days of his career, when he used brief, coded teletype messages to invent play-by-play accounts of football games for his radio audience. By career's end, he was participating in world events, his interview with Anwar Sadat and its follow-up bringing Sadat to Israel in a precedent-setting meeting with Menachim Begin and an eventual peace treaty. As he takes the reader step-by-step through this career, he describes his goals as a young man, his earliest jobs at local newspapers and radio stations, his work with United Press, his press responsibilities overseas during World War II, his work in Russia, and his early foray into television, when other serious journalists were avoiding this medium.
   
   The landmark TV coverage of the 1952 political conventions opened the eyes of the country to how the political system worked in reality. The Nixon and Kennedy interviews in 1960 (and Theodore White's book, The Making of the President), show the power of television to affect outcomes. He gives candid, personal insights into various Presidents, from Franklin Delano Roosevelt through George Bush Senior, including fascinating insights into Eisenhower (far more aware of issues than often thought), JFK (with whom he had mixed experiences), and Jimmy Carter (in his view, the most intelligent President).
   
   It is Cronkite's candor and his ability to see himself as a facilitator of communication, rather than as an ego-driven reporter looking for the landmark "scoop," that makes this autobiography so compelling. When, in his conclusion, he modestly offers his own observations about the end of the twentieth century, based on his experience, the reader pays attention. Mincing no words, Cronkite describes the social, political, and economic evolutions taking place around the world and their potential as revolutions, warning, "They have man's dreams on their side. We don't want to be on the other side." Elegantly written, this is a landmark book in the history of journalism. n Mary Whipple



4. To live the life of Walter Cronkite is to live a thousand years. For nearly half a decade Walter Cronkite served as the voice of reason to millions of Americans who looked to his print, radio, and television reports for information and reassurance. This autobiography covers the life of Walter Cronkite from his early life as a lowly radio announcer to his ultimate stand at the pinnacle of journalism.
   
   As usual, Cronkite's wit is second-to-none and comes through clearly in his prose. Still, he never pulls punches and minces no words regarding the multitude of famous and powerful men and women he met along the way. His engrained honesty and objectivity is a refreshing look to when journalism was an honest art, plagued not by corporate sponsorship.
   
   Cronkite's work not only serves as an interesting look at "Cronkite, the man," but is a work of modern American history, written by the man who lived and reported it all. For a readable, enjoyable look at Cronkite's America, "A Reporter's Life" is one of the best.



5. Walter Cronkite who at one time was among the most famous and celebrated Americans tells his life- story . He does this with the dry and clean prose of the good reporter. He tells of his childhood and early years in Kansas City and in Houston, of his work with UP and later on with CBS, his adventures as a war- correspondent. He traces his career in television including the dramatic coverage of what would be the most politically well- covered in his judgment convention of all, that of 1952. He also writes about his wife Betsy their three - children and his family. He in the end provides an analysis of TV journalism and where it has gone wrong, been replaced by considerations of entertainment. This is a decent book by a very decent and modest man.
   In his final chapter he says that he asked himself whether he could say he had really made a difference. Surprisingly and modestly his answer was 'no'. But for many Americans for many years he was the embodiment of the honest and reliable journalist.

5 comments about Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories That Heal.

1. I am presurgery and this book helps to calm me and encourage me to think positively.



2. For years I refused to read this book after a friend's recommendation thinking that it would be another "feel good" attempt . Boy was I wrong! This book is one of the most extraordinary pieces of writing I have ever encountered. I have read it over and over again many times (the stories are short enough that allow you to read at your own pace). It has actually become sort of a "guide to Life" for me. Furthermore, as story-telling itself goes, is simply masterful. Dr. Remen is a powerful communicator and her wisdom goes beyond "new age". It is a groundbreaking work about mystery, awe and Life with a capital "L".



3. Beautiful sweet touching book that helped me get me through some tough times. Celebrates the human spirit.
   
   I recently had the privilege of hearing the author speak. she is an amazing woman.



4. Rachel Naomi Remen believes in the healing power of stories. She trained as a pediatrician and expected to practice traditional medicine much as her father and other male members of her family had done before her, but something happened to change her carefully planned course.
   
   In the introduction to Kitchen Table Wisdom, Remen tells how her male colleagues frequently knocked on her office door to ask for her help with a crying patient. They believed that she, as a woman, would know what to do. Though she knew no more than they, she felt flattered that they came to her and felt that this helped her be more a part of their exclusive "Old Boys Network." She began to spend more and more time listening to patients share their fears and feelings of living with a terminal disease.
   
   Since the age of fifteen, Remen has suffered from Crohn's disease. As she listened to her patients, she began to feel less lonely and isolated. Probably, her guidance and uncanny understanding of her patients stemmed from her familiarity with physical and emotional pain.
   
   Kitchen Table Wisdom is a compilation of eighty-eight poignant stories that Remen heard over many years, as well as stories of her own life. Her stories demonstrate her belief that a larger process is at work in all our lives and that human beings are "unfinished, a work in progress." She believes we come into the world whole but lose faith in our wholeness and become discouraged by feelings of not being pretty enough, smart enough, etc. " ... our wholeness exists in us now," she writes, "Trapped though it may be, it can be called upon for guidance, direction and most fundamentally, comfort."
   
   No retelling of Remen's stories can do them justice. One of my favorites is "The Question"--a story told by a patient named Tim (now a cardiologist) of his experience at the age of fifteen with his father, who was in the last stages of Alzheimer¹s disease. At the time, his father had not spoken for ten years and was totally helpless. Tim and his brother were alone with their father when he suddenly slumped over and fell to the floor. The brother was calling 911 when both boys heard a voice commanding, "Don't call 911, son. Tell your mother that I love her. Tell her that I am all right." With those words, the man died. An autopsy later revealed that Tim's father's brain had been entirely destroyed by the disease. Tim never stops wondering who spoke those final words. He tells Dr. Remen, "Much of life can never be explained but only witnessed."
   
   The author believes that talking about and sharing one¹s feelings revives memories that can lead to important new insights about one¹s life, bringing about a healing that formal treatment is unable to offer. She says that Shamans believe illness is a direct indication of soul loss. The soul, she explains, is that which is aware of the sacredness we carry and the sacredness that exists in the external world as well. Losing our appreciation for our sacredness, living with sadness, with feelings of unworthiness can manifest illness.
   
   "Life is the ultimate teacher...," she writes. "It is through experience, and not scientific knowledge or expert academic training alone that we learn our deepest lessons." In her lectures and writings, Dr. Remen likes to tell of a sign on the wall of a room in Florida where the elderly come to play Bingo. It reads, "You Have to Be Present to Win." And so it is in life.
   
   by Duffie Bart
   for Story Circle Book Reviews
   reviewing books by, for, and about women



5. There was a seeming dual purpose motivating the author to write this book. Remen is a medical doctor who basically tells the stories about how her professional experiences moved her closer to, rather than away from, emotional involvement with her clients particularly as it pertained to the connection between one's spirituality and recovery,amongst other things.
   Remen also shares some very deep and moving stories that were shared with her by her clients once she became a therapist.
   It's a wonderful read and will be helpful to anyone seeking spiritual enlightenment and motivation.

5 comments about It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life.

1. A story of courage, transformation, inspiration, love, failure, success, it has absolutely every element of the most thrilling book you have ever read. Get this book if you want to laugh, cry, scream, shout and jump for joy. Lance's triumph over his bought with cancer will leave you feeling grateful, in awe, and thoroughly filled with life-affirming happiness.
   
   Sally Shields, www.TheDILRules.com



2. I had a meeting with VP in the company and as I got in his office you can sense he was a Lance fans. I'm not! Maybe for his way to act that he so well describe in his book! As an ex-athlete my self I could not hide my opinion about Lance. It was a nice and healthy conversation. Few weeks later I had another meeting with the same VP and as I walk in to his office he gave me this book as a present, knowing I'm an avid reader.
   
   I read it during the long flight back home! Great inspiring book! Never did read a sportsman biography but this one is worth each single word.
   
   You learn something new every day! I guess I learn something more about a great individual and athlete!
   
   PS - I have a colleague that is fighting a similar battle and I gave the book to him because sometime other peoples words are better then your.



3. I picked this book with trepidity. Having read scores of biographies from succesful sportspersons, I did not expect this one to be any different. They struggle, they compete, they succeed. I started reading this purely based my wife's strongly recommended this.
   
   And it just did move me completely!
   
   
   Once I started reading, there was no looking back. This is gripping cover-covcer. I guess the cycle races are such. We get so involved in the sport. Whern Lance talks about Cancer, it is not in absurd medical terms or over-simplification. He did carry me long - thtough his journry. I could vicariusly experience being with him in the ward in Idianopolis or at the Finish line of Tour De France.
   
   A narrative style that takes the audience at a leisurely pace, keeping the reder hooked and attached to the strory.
   
   Truly inspirational. A day after I finished the book, today, I am shaving my head for a cause - cancer patients!



4. A page-turner like no other, once I started it, I couldn't stop. Without a doubt, Lance is one of kind athlete, but that's not the point. The early achievements, the cancer battle, the return to the sport - it's an amazing story of the resilience of the human spirit, both on the account of people around him, and Lance himself. It's a gem of a book and an inspirational read, it reminded me of what we are all capable off.



5. as I was mid-way through this book, there were only two thoughts going on in my mind -
   1. this guy is human/normal like us with all frailties/insecurities
   2. and gosh what extremes are humanly possible!!... the triumph of human spirit! very humbling. very inspiring.

5 comments about Pale Blue Dot.

1. First, I must say that I am enjoying the book very much. I love reading Professor Sagan's books very much. So this rating applies more to the decision of the publisher than the book itself.
   
   I have never written a review on Amazon before, and I have been coming here for years. I had to say something about this. After I finish this, I plan on emailing the publisher with the same review.
   
   Wow. A book named Pale Blue Dot, inspired by the famous photograph of the Earth of the same name. It is referenced in the first few chapters heavily and Prof. Sagan asks us to visit and revisit the photo several times as he builds his introduction. I think to myself "Great! Can't wait to see it. Now where is it?" This then led to the disappointing finding that there are no pictures at all in this printing. None, not one, not even just the one of the Pale Blue Dot image itself. How can you publish a book inspired by a photo and not include the picture itself, not even a low res poorly printed picture? All you get is a few instructions to look at it, but you won't be able to look at it in here. Apparently, the hardback and first soft-back printing had photos. I guess I can understand (not like, mind you) why the decision was made to eliminate photos, but to get rid of the Pale Blue Dot photo is mind boggling. Surely this decision couldn't have been made on purpose. Surely, this was just an oversight. If this was a conscious decision, then it speaks volumes about how Ballantine views this work and it makes you wonder if they have any idea why it was written in the first place.
   
   Anyway thanks for listening.



2. Carl Sagan was an enthusiastic explorer of the universe. His passion for science and for understanding the universe became widely known through his 'Cosmos' television series. In this book he continues describing and exploring the universe- and projecting into its distant future. He does this while attempting also to put the human story in its cosmic place, and in a way diminishing any arrogance we might have. He points out that we live on a minor speck of the universe and the thin layer of earth upon which we live indicates the fragility of our existence. Sagan projects forward to those cosmic events which will eventually put an end to life on earth and considers various ways we might venture out into the universe. He is optimistic about our capacity to begin to inhabit and wander through the universe. However what is clear , and he is quite explicit about this, and this is something which deeply troubles me and limits my own optimism- is his sense that it is not humans as we know them but our ' successors' who will make this exploration. In other words implicit in what Sagan is saying is the idea that mankind is a transitional phase in the whole story of Intelligence and Life both on Earth and the Universe. Sagan is optimistic regarding the distant future and our possible successors. But I must admit that I am stuck with my sense that what I care about most is people- and that 'humanity' is of more value to me than any possible more intelligent 'successor species'.
   I in other words am troubled that Sagan does not see the loss of humanity in the future as something which disturbs him.
   What will it matter to you and me after all if millions of years from now some kind of 'mind' wanders through the universe without having human feeling and identity?



3. Dr. Carl Sagan's book "Pale Blue Dot" is very intriguing and of utmost interest to all people who seek intelligent answers to understanding the Universe and our Solar System. Sagan does interweave valid questions in relation to the existence of a creator or God in the text. He does take it to task and pretty much says that a God or creator is unlikely.
   
   "Look back again at the pale blue dot (picture of earth) of the preceding chapter. Stare at the dot for any length of time and then try to convince yourself that God created the whole Universe for one of the 10 million or so of life that inhabit that speck of dust. Imagine that everything was made for a single shade of that species or gender or ethnic or religious subdivision. If this doesn't strike you as unlikely, pick another dot (another star or planet in the Universe). Imagine it to be inhabited by a different form of intelligent life. They too cherish the notion of a God who has created everything for their benefit. How serious do you take their claim?"
   
   Sagan reduces religious arguments that persist in the notion that we (humans) are special, the earth is special etc... in a logical and systematic manner to highlight how fallacious this way of thinking really is in light of how miniscule we really are in this vast Universe.
   
   In terms of providing a historical background for scientific discovery and the development of scientific theory throughout history, Sagan does a fine job. The photographs in the book are superb. Nicely written book with many passages you will want to read twice to fully appreciate the eloquence of Dr. Sagan's writing.
   
   Some reviewers may discredit the book and say it is outdated. It was written in 1994. 14 years ago, but by no means ancient mumblings and rambling writings of a scientist from your grandfather's time. Being older myself, 1994 only seems like yesterday. A good book and it is packed with information and intelligent thought processes that will make one view the Universe from the perspective of a scientist.
   
   Dr. of Biological Sciences



4. It's hard to believe Pale Blue Dot has been with me for over 8 years, it is also the 8 year during which I was transformed by the intelligence and wisdom of Dr. Sagan, and of course, his other works Cosmos and The Demon Haunted World become my favorites.
   
   Pale Blue Dot reads like the sequel to Cosmos, but with more focus on our Solar System, and it shows a much more wide perspective than Cosmos, with a theme so haunting and thought-provoking that makes me really think something important even without that famous picture captured billions miles away.
   
   Newspapers, TV coverages is often inundated by slogans like "We only have one Earth", "Save the Earth", we are so familiar with that. But unfortunately, most of us do not quite understand what's truly behind that. And Dr. Sagan tells us all, we are here, in that point of pale light, a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. He starts the book with this humbling revelation.
   
   But with its insignificance, it's also the respiratory of all our potential. We touched moon with the rockets not yet designed when the project started, we explored the whole Planet in the system, our spacecraft hit the comet billions miles away, we healed our Ozone Layer, just as Dr. Sagan says, we are still capable of greatness if we do not destroy ourselves first!(in fact, if we can not handle our fallibility, our specie is hopeless)
   
   Pale Blue Dot is the history of human beings in terms of exploration, the very nature of us. Dr. Sagan perhaps gives hitherto the most precise definition of our species in the book, it's about our inclination toward mistakes, and more importantly, about our potential. We became the first specie on Earth which has the ability to wipe itself out, but don't forget, we are also the first to be able to leave Earth, to explore our future in the vast cosmos, to handle space mountains. That is, according to Dr. Sagan, what we should learn from that blue pixel in the sun beam.
   
   Dr. Sagan passed away in 1996, before I started to read this book. When we confront difficulties, when we are in trouble, I always recall the final chapter of Cosmos, Who speaks for Earth. If not us, who will? As Dr. Sagan says in Pale Blue Dot, "there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves". And still I see that we are making big progress, with the hard work of Al Gore, Bill Gates and others. Everytime I think of that, I can feel that we do learn something from Dr. Sagan, and, as Ann Druyan wrote in the epilogue of Billions and Billions, "They allow me to feel.........that Carl lives."



5. This wonderful Carl Sagan book does not include the wonderful color illustrations as the earlier version contains. Consequently, it is like a National Graphic Magazine without the pictures.
   
   I love the words of Dr. Sagan, but words plus the spectacular pictures truly make "music."
   
   Following is the edition you should get. I threw away the "Pale Blue Dot" paperback I received yesterday and today ordered a used hardback:
   
   Product Details
   Hardcover: 429 pages
   Publisher: Random House; 1 edition (November 8, 1994)
   Language: English
   ISBN-10: 0679438416
   ISBN-13: 978-0679438410
   Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.3 x 1.3 inches
   Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
   
   I hope this is helpful to you.
   
   Bob Cargill
   Minneapolis, MN 55347Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space