5 comments about It Takes a Village Idiot : Complicating the Simple Life.

1. DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT . I PICKED THIS BOOK UP AT A SWAP AND IT WAS THE BEST MONEY I NEVER SPENT . THIS BOOK IS SO TONGUE-IN-CHEEK AND AT TIMES LAUGH OUT LOUD IT DESERVES 5 STARS . I WON'T SPOIL IT BY GOING ON & ON AS SOME REVIEWERS. HOWEVER, JUST KNOW, IT'S KIND OF A " FISH OUT OF WATER " REAL LIFE STORY OF CITY DWELLERS MOVE TO THE COUNTRY ! STORIES WHICH ARE ALWAYS FUNNY . SO IF YOU CAN'T BUY IT, THEN AT LEAST GO TO YOUR LIBRARY AND TRY TO GET IT . SO WORTH YOUR WHILE . NOT AS TWISTED AND LAUGH OUT LOUD AS THE DAVID SEDARIS BOOK OF " ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY " , BUT, THIS BOOK IS FUNNY WITHOUT BEING OFFENSIVE . VERY ENTERTAINING. IT WILL FIND A PERMANENT PLACE ON MY SHELVES TO LOAN TO FRIENDS .



2. OK, so, you know before you open the book that city dweller finds peace and happiness in the heartland after many poignant and sweet things happen to him to sway him. So he starts out being the unwilling partner in this move outside of NYC, and gradually he comes to love it in the countryside.
   
   But throughout the book, I felt like every time he was gradually starting to sway toward the country life, he'd then turn around and say something to the effect of how he's only doing this for his wife and that if he had his druthers, he'd live in their Manhattan apt instead. And it wasn't in a sweet sort of way, as though he were battling his own feelings. It was more like the chapters were not in chronological order. That was my beef #1.
   
   Beef #2 was the story about the author's completely gruesome and totally gratuitous, hateful torture of a woodchuck that was a pest in their garden. This, after he went on and on about how he and his wife went to pains to use only cruelty-free traps in their garden. It was just so gross and nasty and it made me feel so sad and dark.
   
   Otherwise, I would say it was a good, very quick read. There were funny parts and it was decent (if a bit snarky) writing. And I love any book that has chucking it all as its main theme.



3. Like some of the other reviewers said this was a quick read. Not just because it is light. It is also a likeable book. It has a cute ending in that he winds up liking Delaware County very much.



4. Jim Mullen has written an hysterically funny, insightful book that is a must read for those wavering between living in the City or living in the country. Mullin is a rare writer who can get humor out of real life -- side-splitting humor at that. This is a great book for anyone interested in big laughs and great insights.
   
   Frank Scoblete: author of Golden Touch Dice Control Revolution! and Golden Touch Blackjack Revolution!



5. I was enjoying It Takes a Village Idiot up until page 183 when suddenly, outta no where, Jim & Sue turn into cruel vicious killers.
   
   "Patrolling the perimeter (of their garden) one day" Sue spotted a woodchuck down by the barn and yelled for me to come help. I grabbed the first thing I could find--my five-iron-and ran down there.
   We had him cornered and I started clubbing it. It was like something out of Goodfellas. Each smack made a sickening thump, but the thing wouldn't stop twitching. I didn't want it to suffer (yeah right. can you believe that?), but I couldn't seem to finish it off.
   Finally I came down with a mighty stroke right on its head. Woodchuck blood splattered all over me, my shirt, my pants, my face. But it stopped moving."
   
   I don't know about you but that makes me ill. How cold blooded can you be? To physically beat something to death. Woodchucks = Marmots = Groundhogs
   All they had to do was lower that fence they put up around the garden (to keep deer out), a foot or two below ground. Where's their brains. That's what I did. It was plain common sense. When you see something digging under your fence--lower it!
   Heck! with the money they had they could of poured a two foot concrete wall below their fencing. I used rocks and junked bricks.
   
   Then on page 206 there's this
   "On the way to the store, we passed a fly-covered deer carcass on the shoulder of the road. Sue looks at it unsympathetically and says, One down, three hundred thousand to go." " Ouuwee where'd she get all this hate from? What an ugly person she turned out to be.
   
   Then they turned into arrogant rich country snobs, belittling everyone who does not live/think as they now do. What an about face. In the beginning Jim and Sue Mullen seemed like OK people but in the end you see that they really aren't.

No comments about E.L. Godkin: A Biography.

3 comments about A Life of Privilege, Mostly.

1. As the split screen cover photos suggest, Gardner Botsford (`is this a real name?' asks my wife) chronicles two sides of his extraordinary life. First, "the feel of fear" as an infantryman entering World War II at Omaha Beach on D-Day and his surviving countless adventures as the Allies drive to Berlin. Liberation of Paris, the surrender of an entire town to him personally, meeting Patton...one begins to think he is an erudite Forrest Gump - he is simply everywhere at the important moment. Second, his colorful career in journalism, from covering death-row executions in Florida as a young beat reporter through his long career at the center of the literary world as editor of The New Yorker.

   "`Before I blow out your brains' - what a way to talk! What melodrama! What had happened to me?" As a GI, Botsford wrestles in Europe with the demons of war...perhaps solid preparation for future traumas he would witness at home in New York. Booze, mental depression and suicide were to elite wordsmiths what heroin became to jazz musicians, and Botsford's life is touched repeatedly by the loss of his colleagues.

   One expects chapters upon chapter of WASPy high society lifestyles, but Botsford indulges the reader only with a taste of his pre-war jaunts through Hotchkiss, Yale and the Ubangi Club. Neysa McMein, famous socialite and illustrator, (but not Botsford's mother as indicated in the PW review posted here) is featured: a fellow native of Quincy, Illinois, Neysa introduces the author's parents to New York. Alexander Wolcott, Genet (Janet Flanner), Wolcott Gibbs, AJ Leibling, and scores of famous New Yorker writers and editors are recounted. Naturally, Ross and Shawn, the great legends of the magazine serve as bookends to the Botsford career. But you don't have to be a great student of The New Yorker to appreciate this memoir.

   Maeve Brennan's insouciant letter detailing a Christmas in the Hamptons ("It will be a long day before I have `house guests' again.") is a scream, and worth the price of the book alone. You'll also enjoy Wolcott Gibbs' 10 general rules for editing New Yorker writers. Equally amusing is Gibbs' editorial answer to a book publisher in Chicago with six accompanying notes ("#4. `For it was apple-blossom time in Normandy' is, I'm afraid, arch at best, and the ragtime beat is not appealing to the ear.")

   Mr. Botsford's keen sense of humor echoes throughout the memoir. He constantly watches for those taking themselves too seriously, and finds a treasure trove of these unfortunates in the US Army, in American politics, and in the editorial corridors of New York City. Even his best friend before the war, Bill Verity, (aka, Monsieur Calvini) does not escape his wit...alas "he took up the corporate ladder, became more stone-minded, was appointed as Ronald Reagan's Secretary of Commerce - he was lost forever." Those who are too officious find little room in the privileged life of Gardner Botsford. Thank you, Robert, this was a treat.




2. The two photographs on the cover of Gardner Botsford's extraordinary memoir explain the "Mostly" in the title: While the book gives a funny, detailed description of life in the top tier of New York society, it also takes the reader into the not-so-funny life of a young soldier who fought in the bloodiest battles of World War II. The war parts are without self-pity. The privilege parts are similarly cheerful and accepting. The author, a former top editor at the New Yorker Magazine, also gives a backstage view of some of the power struggles he witnessed there. And some of his delicious anecdotes about famous New Yorker writers leave the reader weak with laughter. This is a book to relish and buy many copies of for all your friends and relatives.



3. This glimpse into the life of a gentleman is riveting. Mr. Botsford relinquishes a life to the reader of a time gone by, when a gentleman was something people aspired to be. From true gentility to personal heroism and adventure during the war, each page brings you deeper into the life of a fascinating man. This is the kind of tale that people used to sit around a cozy fire to share, when television was science fiction and storytelling was not a lost art. Mr. Botsford makes you nostalgic for that kind of entertainment, and glad that you can still find it if you know where to look. So turn off the TV and pick up "A Life of Privilege, Mostly", you'll be glad you did!

1 comments about Mark Twain: A Biography.

1. Samuel Clemons lived 75 years; fifty of them writing under the pseudonym Mark Twain - while numerous critical works about his writings abound, surprisingly there are very few in-depth biographical coverages that reveal Mark Twain's personal life. Biogapher Connie Kirk uses established Twain resources and adds new research and perspectives gleaned from Twain's personal letters and her discussions with family members: the result is an in-depth modern survey of Twain for new students of his works.

No comments about Henry R. Luce and the Rise of the American News Media.

4 comments about Parting With Illusions.

1. This book was a present to me when I was a senior in college and what a gift it was! The Russians often painted as the cold number one enemy came to be just as human as anyone. The author's struggle between being a journalist in a communist country certainly makes me, a journalist in a world that protects free speech, feel very humbled and fortunate.

   It's humanity's greatest test when one is forced to question your own country's integrity. Yet the author has succeeded in standing by his principles. Extremely educational (and easy reading for students) for those who are not familiar with Russian history and diplomacy. It's been years since I read it and I look forward to picking it up again.




2. A truly excepional book and my all time favorite... An incredibly personal account of an extraordinary life of a true citizen of the world ... along with an insightful look into the drama of modern Russian history.
   Pozner talks about his childhood, his parents, first glass of vodka and his first love, his marriages, career, spiritual and political struggles...
   Plus a personal account of WWII, Stalin's purges, the Thaw, the Iron Curtain and Perestroika.



3. This writing by Pozner provides an honest look into his life personally and his perceptions of the U.S., world, and the Soviet Union, as a Soviet citizen. He was not the average Soviet citizen however. He was one of the fortunate few who were allowed to leave his country and spend time abroad. He was afforded the rare glimpse of American life and culture during his time there in the 1930s. This obviously is a part of him, as is his other numerous experiences. In addition, he also candidly shared his personal life with us. (When he saw his old-flame coming the opposite way on an escalator, for example). Pozner is down-to-Earth and it's easy for a reader to like and to relate to him.

   I read this book when it first came out and went over it again recently, 14 years later, finding it in an old box of mine. His writings prove that he had good instincts on where his nation and culture, and the world was heading at the time he wrote "Parting with Illusion." He has the oration and writing ability to explain his viewpoints as well as the perceptions of many Russians when he wrote this book in 1989. He discussed Stalin and his legacy, and the graft and corruption that crept into the USSR, becoming commonplace by the 1960s.

   Now, 14 years later, I wonder: where is Vladimir Pozner? I haven't heard or seen him since the late 1980s or perhaps early 90s.

   At the time, he was articulate, and an astute observer of current affairs. Possessing a gifted knack for passing his observations on.

   Today, in 2003, where is he now?




4. I don't like writing reviews but I believe I owe this one to Pozner. To those of you who don't know him, he is not only a man of incredible destiny but arguably on of the smartest men in Russia.

   So much in one book: history of Soviet Union, family history, intense human relationships etc.

2 comments about The REPORTER WHO WOULD BE KING: A BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARD HARDING DAVIS.

1. .
   Highly recommended for the adventurous at heart.

   When I began reading Lubow's biography, I knew nothing of RHD, other than he was a well-known journalist at the turn of the century. A major discovery was in store. During this most interesting read, I became fascinated with his persona, his rise to fame, his peculiar first marriage, and most especially his experience and adventures in covering (so many!) wars.

   Equally fascinating is the criticism that followed him.

   His writing was "overblown." He put on airs of royalty. His fiction was simple-minded, etc. etc. etc. Deserved? Maybe on some points. He wrote a certain way for a certain time. It may not all have been high art, but it worked, famously. So what really nagged his critics? HE WAS TOO POPULAR.

   We can only imagine how big a star he'd be today. He was the best known journalist of his day. He was startlingly handsome. He wrote best sellers. He worked in New York City. He built a dream house in the country. He loved to party with famous friends. He enjoyed plays on Broadway. He WROTE plays for Broadway. He was a member of a social elite few could ever join, and fewer would ever want to leave. Enough? Now add his European, Latin American, South African and Far Eastern war adventures, some of which were astonishing, and you've got the makings of a major, major modern day celebrity.

   I was happy to make his acquaintance.

   It is unlikely that another so detailed biography will be written of RHD. It is as factually correct as any will get (footnotes abound). Yes, there could have been more analysis and commentary, but as written, we are left to make our own judgments about the man. Read the book, if you can still get it, and you will be happy to discover Richard Harding Davis.

   A final word. When he died, Theodore Roosevelt and Winston Churchill were among those who wrote him tribute. But most memorably, here are the final lines offered by Booth Tarkinton:

   "Youth called to youth: all ages read him, but the young men and young women have turned to him ever since his precocious fame made him their idol. They got many things from him, but above all they live with a happier bravery because of him. Reading the man beneath the print, they found their prophet and gladly perceived that a prophet is not always cowled and bearded, but may be a gallant young gentleman. This one called merrily to them in his manly voice; and they followed him. He bade them see that pain is negligible, that fear is a joke, and that the world is poignantly interesting, joyously lovable. They will always follow him."

   Wow.




2. I know less about the times of Richard Harding Davis than I should, and was pleased to learn a little of it by peaking over his well-clothed shoulder. I would, however, enjoyed learning about the character of RHD more if the author liked him better. There's certainly something to be said for a biographical author who is not also a sycophant, but there's also something to be said for having at least a modicum of respect for your target. Yes, RHD certainly seemed silly, prissy, pretentious, sentimental, overdressed, and moderately rediculous - in fact, a charicature of his own public persona - but I would quite like to have figured that out for myself without Lublow constantly, and in so many words, calling the man ridiculous. He certainly wrote the rest of the book well enough that we would have figured it out for ourselves.

3 comments about Soldiers of God: With the Mujahidin in Afghanistan.

1. Robert Kaplan did what few Westerners dared to do in the 1980s: he entered the killing fields of Afghanistan to report on one of the century's most brutal wars. This book is a searing and eloquent account of what he witnessed. It is largely anecdotal and linear and follows his travels from the Pakistani frontier into the heart of Afghanistan. Among the topics he explores are the brutal extent of the Soviet campaign - which includes a trip to the razed city of Kandahar - the role of the Pakistani ISI in aiding the mujaheddin, and internal feuding between resistance groups. This book was written in 1990, well before the overthrow of Najib, yet it is highly prescient in forecasting the rise of fundamentalist Islam in Afghanistan. In that sense, it retains all the force and relevance it had at time of writing.



2. An engaging trip into afghanistan during the civil war in the 80s. . . Kaplan does a great job in describing the mentality & motivation of players during this war. I would love to see this book reprinted with an extra chapter or two devoted to what became of the key players in the 7 muj factions after the Soviets left Afgahnistan and the taliban took power. A difficult to find book these days, but one well worth trudging to the library for.



3. Soldiers of God provides a good account of Afghanistan in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The book may seem a little dated because Kaplan doesn't mention the Taliban, though they probably weren't that powerful when the book was published in 1990s. Soldiers of God focuses on the history of Afghanistan such its creation. It deals with the Soviet invasion of the 1980s and American involvement in that war. The different factions and ethnic groups are dealt with giving a useful background into understanding the conflict. The role of women and islam in society are also dealt with.

3 comments about Veronica Guerin: The Life and Death of a Crime Reporter.

1. This book, I would give, -10 out of 10.Based on sensitivity and fact. It was plain to see that Emily O'Reilly did not like Veronica. Even though Veronica's family and Real Friends asked for nothing to be written, filmed or published in that short space of time she went ahead and did it. I would not advise anybody to buy this book. From knowing Veronica, I do know different. Veroncia would never put her darling cathal at risk. She knew what she was doing bringing him along to a meeting.

   I think it was terribly insensitive of Emily to write this book. Does she have any idea how much it upsetted Veronicas's REAL friends to hear about this book or even read it. I did read it, out of couriosity. To write about a person is one thing, which is easy, but to know the person, love the person, idolise the person is another.....Emily....it was cruel of you to put her real friends through this...just so you could make money from it.

   This my friend, is a horrible thing to do, also, get your facts straight.




2. This book is as good as it gets if you want to know the Veronica Guerin story. It is thoroughly researched, clearly presented, and as balanced as possible under the circumstances. It offers extensive interviews with Jimmy Guerin, Veronica's younger brother, and has good interview material from many others who knew and worked with her, such as Damien Kiberd, former boss and editor of the Sunday Business Post. There was some unfortunate pre-press publicity by the publisher that got up the nose of her employers at the Sunday Independent, and they refused to contribute, as did her husband, so if the book is in any way one-sided, it's simply because the other side (if there can really be such a thing) refused to be interviewed. The Sunday Independent was the paper where she built her reputation as a crusading anti-crime journalist, and was her employer at the time of her death. Others that were working there at the time, notably Eamon Dunphy, did however contribute, and I believe sufficient fact is presented that readers can make their own judgements as to Emily's thesis. She believes that the Sunday Independent, and Veronica herself were largely to blame for her own death. Personally, I don't really see the point of trying to apportion blame, and the only criticism I would have of the book is that it spends a bit too much time obsessed on that issue.

   One of the reasons Veronica's husband was against the book was that he felt it was being written too soon after her death. Given that it was ultimately published nearly two years after the murder, I find that sentiment a bit odd (the Sunday Independent was using her image in its advertising a month after her murder, and the husband apparently had no problem with that). Whatever about the actual date of publication, it was vital to at least do the research as soon as possible, while the facts were fresh in people's minds. To date, no other book I know of has been written about Veronica, apart from one focused more on John Gilligan, the man ultimately blamed for, but not convicted of her murder (he was sentenced to twenty-eight years for importing cannabis - one might be forgiven for suspecting that he was sentenced for the murder regardless of the fact that there was no case strong enough to convict him).

   In my six years in Ireland, I've found Emily O'Reilly to be the most consistently excellent journalist working here today. Her writing is always clear, complete, balanced, and accurate. This (unfortunately) puts her head and shoulders above almost all other journalists working in Ireland, and it's a great loss to Irish journalism that she has recently accepted the post of Information Commissioner and Ombudsman. Veronica appears to have been quite excellent herself, but she died the year before I moved here. It sounds like her talents were rather wasted on the crime journalism, and it's ironic that she in fact began her career with some truly groundbreaking stories on business and politics.




3. I have no connection to Ireland or Veronica Guerin, but I was curious to read this book when the movie was announced a few years ago. I actually found it to be quite porrly put together, not quite as balanced as the other reviewer.

   Having little to no knowledge of the situation beyond what O'Reilly provides, I found her purported insights into the media pretty banal. And it is infrequent that I read a journalistic account whose authorial voice I found quite as unlikeable.

4 comments about On The Road With Charles Kuralt.

1. This is a wonderful book that recaptures the many stories from his on the road segments for TV. He finds the most interesting people and places; his stories tell of the inner passions of ordinary people. Another great book with similar stories--and great pictures--is Positively Connecticut by Diane Smith. She says she was inspired by Kuralt's work.

   Terry




2. After reading this book, I felt a sense of renewal and satisfaction that there are still candles lending their beams to the world. I picked up this book for a report at school. I thought that it would be just another boring book that we are often forced to read in school. Wrong-O! I loved it! From the team that had lost every single one of its games to the train depot that served soldiers during WWII, I found myself emersed in each of the stories. Each of these average Americans had a not so average story to tell...



3. Charles Kuralt had the gift of seeing a story in the littlest thing. He took the thread of everyman's life and wove a tapestry of America and then gave it as a gift to us.



4. I've never seen Charles Kuralt on television. This book is my only experience with him, and that may explain the review that is to follow.
   
   This is the most insipid, cheese-ridden pile of bushwah I've even had the displeasure of picking up. Perhaps Kuralt has an indefinable quality that somehow brings some authenticity to the words that are printed on these pages, but the material itself is just terrible.
   
   I was reminded of a Simpson's episode in which Bart Simpson wins admiration from everyone by peddling schmaltzy "human interest" stories on a children's news program they've started. Now, the fact that I watch Simpson's and am criticizing Kuralt may be indicative of a generation gap that is the root of the problem, but I don't see how anyone of any age could give credence to the heavy-handed moralism that Kuralt trots out, not just occasionally, but in virtually every single segment.
   
   A truly do appreciate the value of nuanced, small town life and the individuals who dare to go against the grain in some way. But is it necessary to spotlight someone who has given their nine children rhyming names (Terry, Sherry, Jerry, etc.)?
   
   There's something about Kuralt's line that seems insincere. Clearly, at times, he's stretching to find greater meaning in something that is maybe a little interesting, but ultimately meaningless. This leads me to think that all of it is insincere, that Kuralt is going to find the cuteness and greater meaning in everything, truth be damned. Even aside from the heavy-handed schmaltziness, it seems like a lot of the people portrayed in this feature are being capitalized on. Some of the people will certainly be ridiculed by most of the viewers; at any rate, they have had their quirky individuality processed and used for the very corporate interests that they flout.
   
   If you are a fan of Charles Kuralt, I think that the tv segments that you fell in love with should probably be where your love affair ends. Kuralt may be a winning personality and a good salesman; if that's true, I recommend that you stick with the news broadcasts, where you can enjoy him as he grew famous: a little bit at a time.